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SUBSTANCE 
 
 OF 
 
 THE DEBATE 
 
 IN THE 
 
 HOUSE OF COMMONS, 
 
 ON THE 15th may, 1823, 
 
 ON A MOTION FOR THE MITIGATION AND GRADUAL 
 ABOLITION OF SLAVERY 
 
 THROUGHOUT THE BRITISH DOMINIONS, 
 
 WITH 
 
 A PREFACE AND APPENDIXES, 
 
 CONTAINING FACTS AND REASONINGS ILLUSTRATIVE OF 
 COLONIAL BONDAGE. 
 
 LONDaN: 
 
 Printed by Ellerton and Hendersony Gough Square j 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 SOCIETY FOB THE MITIGATION AND GRADUAL ABOLITION OF SLAVERY 
 
 THROUGHOUT THE BRITISH DOMINIONS; 
 
 AND 
 
 SOLD BY J. HATCHARD AND SON, PICCADILLY ; AND 
 
 J. AND A. ARCH, CORNHILL. 
 
 1823. 
 
f-{-T/thS 
 
 (9-7/ 
 
PATRON AND PRESIDENT. 
 HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER. 
 
 VICE-PRESIDENTS. 
 
 THE MOST HONBLE THE MARQUIS OF LANSDOWNE. 
 
 THE RIGHT HON^le THE EARL OF BRISTOL. 
 
 THE RIGHT HON^le EARL NUGENT. 
 
 THE RIGHT HON^le LORD SUFFIELU. 
 
 THE RIGHT HONB'.e LORD CALTHORPE. 
 
 SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH, M. P. 
 
 HENRY BROUGHAM, ESQ., M. P. 
 
 JOSEPH BUTTERWORTH, ESQ., M. P. 
 
 THOMAS FOWELL BUXTON, ESQ., M. P. 
 
 THOMAS CLARKSON, ESQ. 
 
 WILLIAM DILLWYN, ESQ. 
 
 WILLIAM EVANS, ESQ., M. P. 
 
 GEORGE HARRISON, ESQ. 
 
 STEPHEN LUSHINGTON, LL.D., M. P. 
 
 W. T. MONEY, ESQ., M. P. 
 
 RICHARD PHILLIPS, ESQ. 
 
 WILLIAM SMITH, ESQ., M. P. 
 
 JAMES STEPHEN, ESQ. 
 
 SAMUEL CHARLES WHITBREAD. ESQ., M. P. 
 
 W. W. WHITMORE, ESQ., M. P. 
 
 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE, ESQ., M. P. 
 
 TREASURER. 
 
 SAMUEL HOARE, JUN., ESQ. 
 
 WILLIAM ALLEN, ESQ. 
 T. G. BABINGTON, ESQ. 
 G. G. IJABINGTON, ESQ. 
 DAVID BARCLAY, ESQ. 
 CHARLES BARCLAY, ESQ. 
 
 A. R. BARCLAY, ESQ. 
 PETER BEDFORD, ESQ. 
 IIOBERT BENSON, ESQ. 
 IIEV. JABEZ BUNTING. 
 EDWARD CARROLL, ESQ. 
 WILLIAM CRAWFORD, ESQ. 
 JAMES CROPPER, ESQ. 
 JOSEPH DIMSDALE, ESQ. 
 JOHN ELLIOT. ESQ. 
 T. F. FORSTER, ESQ. 
 EDWARD FORSTER, ESQ. 
 
 B. M. FORSTER, ESQ. 
 
 COMMITTEE. 
 
 ROBERT FORSTER, ESQ. 
 
 W. A. GARRATT, ESQ. 
 
 SAMUEL GURNEY, ESQ. 
 
 W. S. HATHAWAY, ESQ. 
 
 LUKE HOWARD, ESQ. 
 
 EDMUND JANSON, ESQ. 
 
 ZAGHARY MACAULAY, ESQ. 
 
 T. B. MACAULAY, ESQ. 
 
 HENRY NEWMAN, ESQ. 
 
 GEORGE STACEY, ESQ. 
 
 WILLIAM FOSTER REYNOLDS, ESQ. 
 
 ROBERT SIMPSON, ESQ. 
 
 THOMAS STURGE, JUN., ESQ. 
 
 HENRY THORNTON, ESQ. 
 
 REVEREND H.VENN. 
 
 HENRY WAYMOUTH, ESQ. 
 
 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE, J UN., ESQ. 
 
 SECRETARY. 
 WILLIAM L. HANBURY, ESQ. 
 
 871780 
 
,0~ 
 
 V 
 ' PREFACE. 
 
 It is thought right to prefix to the Substance 
 
 of the Debate on Slavery a republication 
 
 of -the Prospectus and occasional\Circular 
 
 ^^ Letters of the " Society for mitigatmg..aftd 
 
 \ /gradually abolishing the State of Slavery 
 
 ^ thrpugh^Hx the British Dominions." 
 
 V PROSPECTUS OF THE SOCIETY. 
 
 -j^"^ {Published in March 1823.) 
 
 y^ Among the manifold evils to which man is liable, 
 
 there is not perhaps one more extensively produc- 
 tive of wretchedness than personal slavery. 
 
 Slavery may, without exaggeration, be described 
 as inflicting on the unhappy subjects of it almost 
 every injury which law, even in its rudest state, 
 was intended to prevent. Is property ^n object 
 of solicitude ? The Slave, generally speaking, can 
 neither acquire nor securely enjoy it. Is exemp- 
 tion from personal wrong indispensable to comfort ? 
 The Slave is liable to indignity and insult, to 
 restraint and punishment, at the mere caprice of 
 another. He may be harassed and rendered 
 miserable in a thousand ways which, so far from 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 admitting of the proof that would be requisite to 
 obtain legal redress (even wliere any legal redress 
 is ostensibly provided), can perhaps with difficulty 
 be distinguished from such exercise of a master's 
 power as admits of no regulation or controul. 
 Even life itself may; with impunity, be wantonly 
 sported with : it may be abridged by insufficient 
 sustenance ; it may be wasted by excessive labour; 
 nay, it may be sacrificed by brutal violence, with- 
 out any proportionate risk of adequate punishment. 
 =^-"^ In short, the Slave can have no security for 
 I property, comfort, or life ; because he himself is 
 |\ not his own : he belongs to another, who, with or 
 
 j^^ ' without the offer of a reason or pretence, can at 
 
 \j^ "'' once separate all from him, and him from all which 
 
 w/^^\ gives value to existence. 
 lA^V / Again : What sense of moral obligation can he 
 
 ^ be expected to possess who is shackled with re- 
 
 /spect to every action and purpose, and is scarcely 
 I dealt with as an accountable being? AVill the 
 man, for example, whose testimony is rejected 
 with scorn, be solicitous to establish a character 
 for veracity ? Will those who are treated as cattle, 
 be taught thereby to restrain those natural appe- 
 tites which they possess in common with their 
 fellow-labourers in the team? Or will women be 
 ])repared for the due performance of domestic and 
 maternal duties by being refused the connubial 
 tie, or by being led to regard prostitution to their 
 owner, or his representative, as the most honourable 
 distinction to which they can aspire? 
 
PREFACE. VH 
 
 From this source of Slavery, then, flows every 
 species of personal suffering and moral degradation, 
 until its wretched victim is sunk almost to th&^ 
 level of the brute ; with this farther disadvantage, 
 that, not being wholly irrational, he is capable of 
 inspiring greater degrees of terror, resentment, and 
 aversion, and will therefore seem to his owner to 
 require and to justify severer measures of coercion. 
 \t^ And let it not be forgotten, that Slavery is itself 
 ■p^^ not merely the effect, it is also the very cause, of 
 the Slave Trade — of that system of fraud and 
 violence by which Slaves are procured. If Slavery 
 were extinct, the Slave Trade must cease; But 
 while it is suffered to exist, that murderous traffic 
 will still find a fatal incentive in the solicitude of 
 the Slaveholder to supply the waste of life which 
 his cupidity and cruelty have occasioned. Thus, 
 in every point of view, is Slavery productive of 
 the worst consequences to all the parties concerned. 
 Besides all the direct and wide-wasting injuries 
 which it inflicts on its immediate victims, it substi- 
 tutes for the otherwise peaceful merchant a blood- 
 thirsty pirate trading in human flesh ; and, by 
 ministering to pride, avarice, and sensuality, by 
 exciting the angry passions, and hardening the heart 
 against the best feelings of our nature, it tends 
 to convert the owner of Slaves into a merciless 
 tyrant. 
 
 The Society, be it remembered, are not now en- 
 deavouring to rouse indignation against particular 
 acts of extraordinary cruelty, or to hold up to 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 merited reprehension individuals notorious for their 
 crimes. They are only exhibiting a just picture 
 of the nature and obvious tendencies of Slavery 
 itself, wheresoever and by whomsoever practised. 
 They are very far from asserting, or supposing, 
 that every one of the enormities to which they 
 have alluded will be found to co-exist in all their 
 horrors in every place where Slaves may be found ; 
 but they know that in such places they have existed, 
 at one time or other, in a greater or less degree ; 
 that in many places they are even now in full and 
 fearful force ; and' that they are liable to be re- 
 vived in all. Should this picture appear to some 
 persons to be overcharged, they would refer them 
 to the most decisive and unquestionable authori- 
 ties. The felon Slave-trader, indeed, they con- 
 sign to the laws of England, and to the recorded 
 reprobation of Europe. But for the accuracy of 
 their delineation of the wretchedness and degra- 
 dation connected with the condition of Personal 
 Slavery, (most willing as they are to admit the 
 humanity of many of the owners of Slaves, and 
 the praiseworthy efforts which some of them have 
 made to mitigate, on their own estates, the evils of 
 colonial bondage,) they appeal to ancient and to 
 modern history, and to every traveller worthy of 
 credit who has visited the regions where that con- 
 dition of society prevails. Three thousand years 
 ago, a heathen poet could tell us, 
 
 Jove fixed it certain, that whatever day 
 Makes man a Slave takes half his worth away. 
 
PREFACE; IX 
 
 And this might be shewn to be the concurrent 
 testimony of all ages. 
 
 . The enemies of Negro freedom, in our own age 
 ^and couiitry, were so sensible, of this truth, that 
 with great shrewdness they disputed the claim of 
 the Negro race to be regarded as men. They 
 doubtless felt with Montesquieu, that, if " Ne- 
 groes were allowed to be men, a doubt might 
 arise whether their masters could be Christians." 
 This position, however, has been abandoned as 
 untenable; and we may therefore indulge a san- 
 guine hope of at length recovering for them the 
 indubitable rights of humanity, so long and so 
 ^cruelly withheld by the. strong arm of oppression. 
 ,r~*^ome persons, however, may here be disposed 
 ^ to ask, how it is possible, if slavery is an evil 
 so enormous as it has now been represented to be, 
 that it should not only have been tolerated, but 
 riscognized and established as a legal condition of 
 society, by so many polished and even Christian 
 nations, up to this very day? The Society admit, 
 that, to a humane and considerate mind, nothing 
 can seem more extraordinary, than that this and 
 other enormities, the removal of which lies obviously 
 within the compass of human ability, should yet 
 continue to torment mankind from age to age. 
 But our past supineness in no degree weakens the 
 obligation we are under to attempt their removal, 
 when their real nature has been detected and ex- 
 posed. Nor will the plea of prescription and an- 
 tiquity, or of previous connivance, justify the 
 
 b 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 prolongation of practices which both religion and 
 natural justice condemn as crimes. The African 
 Slave Trade, with all the abominations accom- 
 panying its every stage, had been carried on for 
 centuries, without attracting observation ; and, 
 even after it had excited the attention of a few 
 benevolent individuals, it cost many a laborious 
 effort and many a painful disappointment, before 
 a conviction of its inherent turpitude and crimi- 
 nality became general, and its condemnation was 
 sealed in this country. In the exultation pro- 
 duced by this victory, it was perhaps too readily 
 believed that the Colonial Slavery, which had been 
 ^ fed by the Slave Trade, would, when all foreign 
 supply was stopped, undergo a gradual, but rapid 
 mitigation, until it had ceased to reproach our 
 free institutions and our Christian profession, and 
 was no longer known but as a foul blot in our 
 past history. It was this hope, joined to a liberal 
 confidence in the enlarged and benevolent pur- 
 poses of the colonial proprietary, which prevented 
 the immediate prosecution of such further parlia- 
 mentary measures as should have at once placed 
 the unhappy Slave under the protection of the law, 
 and have prepared the way for his restoration to 
 those sacred and inalienable rights of humanity 
 of which he had been unjustly dispossessed. But if, 
 as is the fact, these hopes have proved illusory, 
 and have only served to render the disappoint- 
 ment more bitter and mortifying, shall the friends 
 ^ of the African race be now reproached for wait- 
 
preface; XI 
 
 ing no longer, when the real ground of reproach 
 is, that they should have waited so long? They 
 place themselves then on the immoveable ground 
 of Christian principle, while they invoke the in- 
 terference of Parliament, and of the country at 
 large, to effect the immediate mitigation, with a 
 view to the gradual and final extinction, in all 
 parts of the British Dominions, of a system which 
 is at war with every principle of religion and mo- 
 rality, and outrages every benevolent feeling. 
 And they entertain the fullest conviction that the 
 same spirit of justice and humanity which has 
 already achieved so signal a victory will again 
 display itself in all its energy, nor relax its efforts 
 until it shall have consummated its triumphs. 
 
 The objects of this Society cannot be more 
 clearly and comprehensively defined than in the 
 following Resolutions, which were unanimously 
 adopted at its first meeting. 
 
 ** That the individuals composing the present 
 meeting are deeply impressed with the magnitude 
 and number of the evils attached to the system of 
 Slavery which prevails in many of the Colonies of 
 Great Britain ; a system which appears to them 
 to be opposed to the spirit and precepts of Chris- 
 tianity, as well as repugnant to every dictate of 
 natural humanity and justice. 
 
 *' That they long indulged a hope, that the 
 great measure of the Abolition of the Slave Trade, 
 for which an Act of the Legislature was passed in 
 1807, after a struggle of twenty years, would have 
 
jm PREFACE. 
 
 tended rapidly to the mitigation and gradual ex- 
 tinction of Negro bondage in the British Colonies ; 
 but that in this hope they have been painfully dis- 
 appointed ; and, after a lapse of sixteen : years, 
 they have still to deplore the almost undiminished 
 prevalence of the very evils which it was one great 
 object of the abolition to remedy. 
 
 " That under these circumstances they feel 
 themselves called upon, by the most binding con- 
 siderations of their duty as Christians, by their 
 best sympathies as men, and by their solicitude to 
 maintain unimpaired the high reputation and the 
 solid prosperity of their country, to exert them- 
 selves, in their separate and collective capacities, 
 in furthering this most important object, and in 
 endeavouring by all prudent and lawful means to 
 mitigate, and eventually to abolish, the Slavery 
 existing in our Colonial possessions. - . 
 
 ** That an Association be now formed, to be 
 called * The Society for mitigating and gradually 
 abolishing the State of Slavery throughout the 
 British Dominions ;' and that a Subscription be 
 entered into for that purpose.'* 
 
 With respect to the means of carrying these ob- 
 jects into effect, they must, in some measure, depend 
 on circumstances. For such as are more obvious^ 
 particularly the obtaining and diffusing of infor- 
 mation, considerable funds will be required ; and 
 it will therefore be necessary to promote subscript 
 tions, not only in the metropolis, but in all parts^of 
 the kingdom. 
 
PKEFACEi Xlti 
 
 A BRIEF vjlEW OF THE NATURE AND EFl-ECTS 
 OF NEGRO SLAVERY, AS IT EXISTS IN. THE 
 COLONIES OF GRE^T ^H^TAIN.. 
 
 (Published in April 1^2^,) 
 
 The Committee of the Society for mitigating 
 and gradually abolishing the State of Slavery 
 throughout the Eritish Dominions^ understanding 
 that a strong and very general desire prevails, in 
 all part« of the country, to be furnished with a 
 compendious view of the nature and effects of 
 Negro Slavery, as it exists in the Colonies of 
 Great Britain, have thought it their duty to draw 
 up and circulate the following Summary of infor- 
 mation on that subject. 
 
 In the Colonies of, Great Britain there are at 
 this moment upwards of 800,000 human beings in 
 a state of degrading personal slavery. 
 
 These unhappy persons, whether young or old^ 
 male or female, are the absolute property of their 
 master, who may sell or transfer them "at his plea- 
 sure, and who may also riegulate according to his 
 discretion (within certain limits) the measure of 
 their labour, their food, and their punishment. 
 
 Many of the, Slaves are (and all. may be) 
 branded like cattle, by means of a hot iron, on 
 the shoulder or other conspicuous part of the body, 
 with the initials of their master's name; and thus 
 bear about them, in indelible characters, the proof 
 of their debased apd servile statq. 
 
XIV PREFACE. 
 
 The Slaves, whether male or female, are driven 
 to labour by the impulse of the cart-whip, for 
 the sole benefit of their owners, from whom they 
 receive no wages; and this labour is continued 
 (with certain intermissions for breakfast and 
 dinner), from morning to night, throughout the 
 yean 
 
 In the season of crop, which lasts for four or 
 five months of the year, their labour is protracted 
 not only throughout the day, as at other times, 
 but during either half the night, or the whole of 
 every alternate night. 
 
 Besides being generally made to work under the 
 lash, without wages, the Slaves are further obliged 
 to labour for their own maintenance on that day 
 which ought to be devoted to repose and religious 
 instruction. And as that day is also their only 
 market-day, it follows, that ** Sunday shines no 
 Sabbath-day to them," but is of necessity a day 
 of worldly occupation, and much bodily exertion. 
 The colonial laws arm the master, or any one 
 to whom he may delegate his authority, with a 
 power to punish his slaves to a certain extent, 
 without the intervention of the magistrate, and 
 without any responsibility for the use of this tre- 
 mendous discretion ; and to that extent he may 
 punish them for any offence, or for no offence. 
 These discretionary punishments are usually in- 
 flicted on the naked body with the cart-whip, an 
 instrument of dreadful severity, which cruelly la- 
 cerates the flesh of the sufterer. Even the un- 
 
PREFACE, XV 
 
 iiappy females are equally liable with the men to 
 have their persons thus shamelessly exposed and 
 barbarously tortured at the caprice of their master 
 or overseer. 
 
 The Slaves being regarded in the eye of the 
 law as mere chattels, they are liable to be seized . 
 in execution for their master's debts, and, without 
 arjy^ regard to the family lies which may he 
 /broken by this oppressive and merciless process, 
 to be sold by auction to the highest bidder, 
 who may remove them to a distant part of 
 the same colony, or even exile them to another 
 colony. 
 
 Marriage, that blessing of civilized and even of 
 savage life, is protected in the case of the Slaves 
 by no legal sanction. It cannot be said to exist 
 among them. Those, therefore, who live together 
 as man and wife, are liable to be separated by the 
 caprice of their master, or by sale for the satisfac- 
 tion of his creditors. 
 
 The Slaves in general have little or no access to 
 the means of Christian instruction. 
 
 The effect of the want of such instruction, as 
 well as of the absence of any marriage tie, is, that 
 the most unrestrained licentiousness, (exhibited in 
 a degrading, disgusting, and depopulating promis- 
 cuous intercourse,) prevails almost universally 
 among the Slaves ; and is encouraged, no less 
 universally, by the example of their superiors the 
 Whites. 
 
 The evidence of Slaves is not admitted by the 
 
XVI PREFACE. 
 
 .Colonial Courts, in any civil or criminal case 
 affecting a person of free condition. If a White 
 man, therefore, perpetrates the most atrocious acts 
 of barbarity, in the presence of Slaves only, the 
 injured party is left without any means of legal 
 redress. 
 
 In none of the Colonies of Great Britain have 
 those legal facilities been afforded to the Slave, to 
 purchase his own freedom, which have produced 
 such extensively beneficial effects in the colonial 
 possessions of Spain and Portugal; where the Slaves 
 have been manumitted in large numbers, not only 
 without injury, but with benefit to the master, 
 and with decided advantage to the public peace 
 and safety. On the contrary, in many .of our 
 colonies, even the voluntary manumission of Slaves 
 by their master has been obstructed, and in some 
 rendered nearly impossible, by large fines. 
 
 It is an universal principle of Colonid Law, 
 that all Black or Coloured persons are presumed 
 and taken to be Slaves, unless they can legally 
 prove the contrary. The liberty therefore, even 
 of free persons, is thus often greatly endangered, 
 and sometimes lost. They are liable to be appre- 
 hended as run-away Slaves ; and they are further 
 liable, as such, to be sold into endless bondage, if 
 they fail to do that which, though free, nay, 
 though born perhaps in Great Britain itself, they 
 may be unable to do, — namely, to establish the 
 fact of their freedom by such evidence as the 
 colonial laws require. 
 
FKEFACE. XVll 
 
 Let it be remembered also, that many thousand 
 infants are annually born within tlie British do- 
 minions to no inheritance but that of the hapless, 
 hopeless, servitude which has been described; 
 and the general oppressiveness of which might be 
 inferred from this striking and most opprobrious 
 fact alone, that while in the United States of 
 America the Slaves increase rapidly — so rapidly as 
 to double their number in twenty years — there 
 is, even now, in the British Colonies, no in- 
 crease, but on the contrary a diminution of their 
 numbers. 
 
 Such are some of the more prominent features 
 of Negro Slavery, as it exists in the Colonies of 
 Great Britain. Revolting as they are, they 
 form only a part of those circumstances of wretch- 
 edness and degradation which might be pointed 
 out as characterizing that unhappy state of being. 
 
 Confining, however, our view to the particulars 
 which have been specified, every enlightened 
 Christian, nay every reasonable man, must allow 
 that it is a case which calls loudly for interference. 
 Is it possible that any free-born Briton should 
 contemplate such a state of things, without the 
 liveliest emotions of shame and grief and indigna- 
 tion ; or that, satisfied with the recollection of his 
 own comforts, he should refuse to listen to the cry 
 of the wretched Negro ? These things being 
 made known to us, we are bound, without hesita- 
 tion or delay, to come forward and address our 
 
 c 
 
XVIll PREFACE. 
 
 earnest petitio\is to the Legislature, that a remedy 
 may be applied to such enormous evils, and that 
 our country may be delivered from the guilt of 
 participating in a system so fraught with the 
 grossest injustice and oppression to hundreds of 
 thousands of our fellow-subjects. 
 
 It will hardly be alleged, that any man can 
 have a right to retain his fellow- creatures in a 
 state so miserable and degrading as has been 
 described. And the absence of such right will 
 be still more apparent, if we consider hbw these 
 Slaves were originally obtained. They, or their 
 parents, were the victims of the Slave Trade. 
 They were obtained, not by any lawful means, or 
 under any colourable pretext, but by the most 
 undisguised rapine, and the most atrocious fraud. 
 Torn from their homes and from every dear re- 
 lation in life^ barbarously manacled, driven like 
 herds of cattle to the sea-shore, crowded into the 
 pestilential holds of slave-ships, they were trans- 
 ported to our colonies and there sold into inter- 
 minable bondage. 
 
 Great Britain, it is true, has abolished her 
 African Slave Trade, and branded it as felony ; 
 and it is impossible to reflect without exultation 
 on that great act of national justice. 
 
 The grateful acknowledgments of the country 
 are also due to the Government, for their persever- 
 ing efforts to induce other nations to follow the 
 same course, and thus to rescue Africa from the 
 desolating effects of the Slave Trade. Those 
 
PREFACE, XIX 
 
 efforts, though iiitherto unattended with all the 
 success they merit, it is hoped, will be strenuously 
 and unremittingly continued, until that nefarious 
 traffic shall be declared piracy by the concurrent 
 voice of all nations. 
 
 When the British Slave Trade was abolished, 
 a confident expectation was entertained that the 
 certain result of that measure would be the rapid 
 mitigation and final extinction of the colonial 
 bondage which had sprung from it, and which in 
 its principle is equally indefensible. 
 
 ,,. Sixteen years, however, have now elapsed since 
 the British Slave Trade was abolished ; but, during 
 that long period^ what effectual steps have been 
 taken, either in this country or in the colonies, for 
 mitigating the rigours of Negro bondage, or for 
 putting an end to a condition of society which so 
 grievously outrages every feeling of humanity, 
 while it violates every recognized principle both of 
 the British Constitution and of the Christian Re- 
 ligion ? 
 
 \ The Government and Legislature of this coun- 
 try have on various occasions, and in the most 
 Wemn and unequivocal terms, denounced the 
 Slave Trade as immoral, inhuman, and unjust; 
 
 rtut the legal perpetuation of that state of slavery, 
 which has been produced by it, is, surely, in its 
 principle, no less immoral, inhuman, and unjust, 
 than the trade itself. 
 
 Notwithstanding those solemn denunciations, 
 thousands of children are still annually born 
 
XX PREFACE. 
 
 SLAVES within the British dominions, and upwards 
 of 800,000 of our fellow-creatures (the victims 
 of the Slave Trade, or descended from its victims) 
 are still retained in the same state of hrutal de- 
 pression. They are vStill driven like cattle to their 
 uncompensated toil by the impulse of the lash. 
 They are still exposed to severe and arbitrary pu- 
 nishments. They are slill bought and sold as 
 merchandize. They are still denied the blessings 
 of the marriage tie, and of the Christian Sabbath, 
 And, in a variety of other respects, they continue 
 to be an oppressed and degraded race, without any 
 adequate participation in the civil privileges, or 
 in the religious advantages, to which, as British 
 subjects, they are unquestionably entitled. 
 
 Even if it were admitted, that inconvenience 
 might have arisen from immediately relaxing the 
 bonds of the actual victims of the Slave Trade, 
 or of their adult descendants, yet no satisfactory 
 reason can be assigned, why, since the abolition 
 of that trade, the children of those whom we pro- 
 claimed to have been unjustly deprived of their 
 liberty should continue to inherit the unhappy 
 condition of their parents. 
 
 It is by no means intended to attribute the ex- 
 istence and continuance of this most opprobrious 
 system to our Colonists exclusively. On the con- 
 trary, the guilt and shame arising from it belong 
 in perhaps an equal degree to the People and Par- 
 liament of this country. But on that very account 
 are we the more rigidly bound to lose no time in 
 
PREFACE. XXI 
 
 investigating the state of colonial bondage, and in 
 adopting such measures as shall bring it to the 
 earliest termination which is compatible with the 
 well-being of the parties who sustain its grievous 
 yoke. 
 
 But, besides our paramount and indispensable 
 obligations, on moral and religious grounds, to 
 relieve our colonial bondsmen from the cruel and 
 degrading state to which we have reduced them, 
 and to remedy as far as we can the numberless 
 wrongs of which we have been the criminal au- 
 thors; it is further due to the character of Great 
 Britain, in the eyes of foreign nations, that we 
 should act agreeably to the principles which, in 
 our discussions with them relative to the African 
 Slave Trade, we have professed to make the basis 
 of our representations. It would be vain to ex- 
 pect that they should regard those professions as 
 otherwise than insincere, or that they should defer 
 to our representations, however urgent, if we ex- 
 hibit in our own conduct the glaring inconsistency 
 of sanctioning as legal, in our own dominions, 
 practices of the very same nature, in effect, with 
 those which we reprobate and denounce as im- 
 moral, inhuman, and unjust, when they occur on 
 the coast of Africa. 
 
 It is therefore our clear and indisputable duty 
 completely to reform our present colonial system, 
 even if it should require a large pecuniary sacrifice 
 to accomplish that object. But the proposed 
 change, we believe, is prescribed to us not more 
 
} 
 
 J 
 
 XXII PREFACE. 
 
 by moral and religious principle than by the 
 soundest views of political expediency. In the 
 present advanced state of knowledge, it can no 
 longer be a question that the labour of slaves is 
 much less profitable than that of freemen, and 
 that it can only be supported at a very heavy ex- 
 pense to the community at large. In proof of 
 this, it will be sufficient to adduce the protecting 
 duties and bounties afforded to the growers of 
 w"^ . \ sugar in the West Indies ; and without which they 
 
 \,.*^^ 'declare it would be impossible for them to con- 
 \^ gi^ue its culture. Indeed, we are persuaded that 
 
 ^K^ /no institution which is directly at variance with 
 the will of the Supreme Governor of the Universe 
 can prove a source of permanent advantage either 
 to nations or individuals. And, in the present 
 case, it might be clearly demonstrated, that the 
 personal slavery which deforms the face of society 
 in the British Colonies, and stains the British 
 X ^ character, is as detrimental to the interests of the 
 
 ^ Slave Owner as it is cruel and oppressive to the 
 
 Slave ; and that its abolition, instead of proving 
 I an injury to either, will prove an unspeakable be- 
 nefit to both. 
 
 The Colonists say, that they shall sustain a 
 great actual loss by the proposed change of sys- 
 tem. If so, they will of course have an opportu- 
 nity of preferring and establishing their claim to 
 indemnity. But whatever the extent of that claim 
 may be proved to be, it is obvious that it attaches 
 not to the Negro bondsman, but to the British 
 
\ 
 
 > 
 
 PREFACE. XXlll 
 
 nation. It would be repugnant to every idea of 
 equity, if we were to discharge any debt we may 
 owe to the Colonists, not from our own resources, 
 but with the toil and sweat and blood of our 
 African brethren. 
 
 But, in whatever degree it may be found ne- 
 cessary to indemnify the Colonists for any loss 
 which may arise to them from the abolition of 
 Negro Slavery ; yet, while that state of society 
 continues unchanged, there will be an insuperable 
 objection in the mind of every conscientious indi- 
 vidual to the adoption of any measures of pecu- 
 niary relief, by means of protecting duties or 
 bounties on their produce, or otherwise ; because 
 it is obvious that such measures, however modified, 
 would involve the people of this country in the 
 farther guilt of upholding a system which, when 
 the facts of the case are known, it is impossible 
 not to feel to be utterly repugnant to the princi- 
 ples of justice and humanity, and to the whole 
 spirit of Christianity. 
 
 In any event, it is hoped that this momentous 
 subject will be taken into the earliest consideration 
 of Parliament, with the view of providing an ef- 
 fectual remedy for the evils of colonial bondage, 
 and raising the unhappy subjects of it, from their 
 present state of wretchedness and degradation, to 
 the enjoyment of the blessings of civil freedom 
 and religious light ; and it appears the unquestion- 
 able duty of the friends of humanity, in all parts 
 of the kingdom, to address their early and earnest 
 V. petitipns to the Legislature for that purpose. 
 
XXIV PREFACE. 
 
 The Committee subjoin a List of Publications 
 containing important information on the general 
 subject of Slavery — viz. 
 
 Ramsay's Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of Negro Slaves 
 in the British Sugar Colonies, 1784. 
 
 Debates on' the Slave Trade, 1791, 1792, 1806, and 1807. 
 
 Wilberforce's Letter to his Constituents, 1807. 
 
 Pinckard's Notes on the West Indies, 1815. 
 
 Collins's Professional Planter, 1804?. 
 
 Dixon's Mitigation of Slavery, 1814. 
 
 Watson's Defence of the Methodist Missions in the West Indies, 
 1816. 
 • Report of the African Institution on Reasons for a Registry of 
 Slaves, 1815. 
 
 Review of the Colonial Registry Bills by the African Institution, 
 1820. 
 
 Sixteenth Annual Report of the African Institution, 1822. 
 
 Stephen's Letters to Wilberforce on the Registry of Slaves, 1816. 
 
 Cropper's Letters to Wilberforce, 1822. 
 
 Singleton's Report of the State of Sierra Leone, 1822. 
 
 Pamphleteer, No. XVI., containing Coster on the Amelioration of 
 Slavery, 1816. 
 
 Wilberforce's Appeal to the Rehgion, Justice, and Humanity of 
 the Inhabitants of the British Empire on behalf of the Negro 
 Slaves in the West Indies, 1823. 
 
 Negro Slavery, as it exists in the United States and in the West 
 Indies, especially in Jamaica, 1823. 
 
 Cropper's Letter on the Injurious EflFects of High Prices and the 
 Beneficial Effects of Low Prices on the Condition of Slavery, 
 1823. 
 
 Hodgson's Letter to Say, on the comparative Expense of Free and 
 Slave Labour, 1823. 
 
 East and West India Sugar, 1823. 
 
 Proceedings in the House of Commons, on Slavery at the Cape 
 of Good Hope, 1822. 
 
 Declaration of the Objects of the Liverpool Society for Abolishing 
 Slavery, 1823. 
 
 Thoughts on the Necessity of Improving the Condition of the Slaves 
 in the British Colonies, with a View to their ultimate Emanci- 
 pation ; and on the Practicability, the Safety, and the Advantages 
 of the latter Measure : by T, Clarkson, Esq. 1823. 
 
 A Review of some of the Arguments which are commonly advanced 
 against Parliamentary Interference in Behalf of the Negro Slaves, 
 with a Statement of Opinions which have been expressed on that 
 Subject by many of our most distinguished Statesmen, including 
 Earl Grey, Earl of Livexpool, Lord Grenville, Lord Dudley and 
 Ward, Lord Melville, Mr. Burke, Mr. Pitt, &c.&c.&c. 1823. 
 
PREFACE. XXV 
 
 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 
 (Published in August 1823 J 
 
 The Committee of the " Society for mitigating 
 and gradually abolishing the State of Slavery 
 throughout the British Dominions," have for some 
 time been anxious to fulfil their promise of com- 
 municating to the Public a brief view of their 
 progress and prospects, and such suggestions re- 
 specting the farther measures to be adopted as the 
 state of their cause may seem to require. The 
 delay which has occurred has, however, been un- 
 avoidable. They felt it to be necessary, before 
 they made the promised communication, to ascer- 
 tain, with as much precision as possible, the in- 
 tentions of his Majesty's Government with respect 
 to this most momentous subject. 
 
 The circulation of the Society's various publi- 
 cations appears to have produced a more exten- 
 sive effect than could have been anticipated ; and 
 although the Session of Parliament was already 
 considerably advanced before the public attention 
 was engaged, no fewer than about two hundred 
 and thirty Petitions were spontaneously addressed 
 to Parliament, from all parts of the country, pray- 
 ing for the mitigation and gradual extinction of 
 Slavery; and it is certain that the multiplication 
 of similar Petitions was only prevented by the 
 parliamentary discussion of the question which 
 took place on the 15th of May. 
 
 d 
 
XXVI PREFACE. 
 
 On that clay, Mr. Buxton made a Motion to 
 the following effect, — 
 
 ** That the state of Slavery is repugnant to the prin- 
 ciples of the British Constitution and of the Chris- 
 tian Religion ; and that it ought to be gradually 
 abolished throughout the British Dominions, with 
 as much expedition as may be consistent with a 
 due regard to the well-being of the parties con- 
 cerned." 
 
 Had this motion been agreed to, it was the in- 
 tention of Mr. Buxton, as he stated succinctly 
 in his Speech, to follow it up, by moving for 
 leave to bring in a Bill, or Bills, which should 
 embrace the following specific objects — viz. 
 
 To remove all the existing obstructions to the manu- 
 mission of Slaves ; — 
 
 To cause the Slaves to cease to be chattels in the 
 eye of the law ; — 
 
 To prevent their removal, as Slaves, from colony to 
 colony, and, under certain modifications, their sale 
 or transfer, except with the land to which they 
 might be attached ; — 
 
 To abolish markets and compulsory labour on the 
 Sunday; and to make that day a day of rest, as 
 well as of religious worship and instruction ; and 
 also to secure to the Slaves equivalent time in each 
 week, in Ueu of Sunday, and in addition to any 
 time which independently of Sunday is now afford- 
 ed them, for cultivating their provision grounds ; — 
 
 To protect the Slaves, by law, in the possession and 
 transmission of the property they may thus, or in 
 any other way, acquire ; — 
 
 To enable the Slave to purchase his freedom, by the 
 
PREFACE. XXVII 
 
 payment at once of a fair price for his redemption, 
 or of a fifth part of that price at a time, in return 
 for an additional day in the week to be employed 
 for his own benefit:— 
 
 To make the testimony of Slaves available in Courts 
 of Justice, both in civil and criminal cases ; — 
 
 To relieve all Negroes and Persons of Colour from 
 the burden of legally proving their freedom, when 
 biM)ught into question, and to throw on the claimant 
 of their persons the burden of legally proving his 
 right to them ; — 
 
 To provide the means of religious instruction for the 
 Black and Coloured population, and of Christian 
 education for their children ; — 
 
 To institute marriage among the Slaves ; and to pro- 
 tect that state from violation, and from either for- 
 cible or voluntary disruption ; — 
 
 To put an end to the driving system ; — 
 
 To put an end also to the arbitrary punishment of 
 Slaves, and to place their persons as well as pro- 
 perty under the guardianship of the law ; — 
 
 To provide that all the children born after a certain 
 day shall be free, — care being taken of their edu- 
 cation and maintenance until they shall be capable 
 of acting for themselves ;— 
 
 To provide that no Colonial Governor, Judge, At- 
 torney-General, or Fiscal, shall be a possessor of 
 Slaves, or shall have a direct and obvious rever- 
 sionary interest in such property, or shall be the 
 agent of the proprietors of Slaves. 
 
 Mr. Canning, as the organ of his Majesty's 
 Government, expressed his concurrence in the 
 general object of putting an end, at some, though 
 perhaps no very early, period, to Slavery through- 
 
XXVlll PREFACE. 
 
 out the British Dominions. He abjured the idea 
 of perpetual Slavery. He further expressed his 
 concurrence in several of the specific measures 
 by which it had been proposed to effect the gene- 
 ral object. He objected, however, to the abstract 
 form of Mr. Buxton's motion, and he proposed 
 to substitute in its place the following Resolu- 
 tions, which, at the close of the discussioTi, were 
 unanimously adopted by the House — viz. 
 
 " 1st. That it is expedient to adopt effectual and 
 decisive measures for meliorating the condi- 
 tion of the Slave population in his Majest37's 
 Colonies. 
 
 ** 2d. That, through a determined and persevering, 
 but judicious and temperate, enforcement of 
 such measures, this House looks forward to a 
 progressive improvement in the character of 
 the Slave population ; such as may prepare 
 them for a participation in those civil rights 
 and privileges which are enjoyed by other 
 classes of his Majesty's subjects. 
 
 *' 3d. That this House is anxious for the accomplish- 
 ment of this purpose at the earliest period 
 that may be compatible with the well-being of 
 the Slaves, the safety of the Colonies, and 
 with a fair and equitable consideration of the 
 interests of all parties concerned therein. 
 
 *' 4th. That these Resolutions be laid before his 
 Majesty, 
 
 As these propositions embraced substantially 
 the general object which was contemplated in the 
 original Motion, there could be no hesitation on 
 
PREFACE. XXIX 
 
 the part of its supporters ia acceding to their sub- 
 stitution. It was of the very highest importance 
 that his Majesty's Government and Parliament 
 should be concurrently and unanimously pledged 
 to so unequivocal a declaration of the duty of 
 effectually mitigating and eventually extinguishing 
 the state of Colonial bondage ; especially as that 
 declaration, while it placed on record this inva- 
 luable principle, did not preclude the discussion 
 either of any one of the specific measures of re* 
 form above enumerated, or of the means by 
 which, with a view to the attainment of the general 
 object, those measures might best be carried into 
 effect. 
 
 The unqualified acquiescence of the West- 
 Indian body in the Resolutions proposed by Mr, 
 Canning, made it still more desirable to accede 
 to them. Even the advantage to be gained by 
 carrying the original Motion on a division, had 
 this been a matter of choice, was not to be com- 
 pared with that which could not fail to arise from 
 the unanimous adoption of propositions so unex- 
 ceptionable in themselves, brought forward as 
 they had been by his Majesty's Ministers, and not 
 opposed by any West-Indian proprietor in Par- 
 liament. 
 
 There still remained, however, considerable 
 difference of opinion, with respect both to the 
 specific plans of reform which were called for, 
 and to the means by which those plans should be 
 accomplished. 
 
XXX PREFACE. 
 
 On this last point, Mr. Canning proposed 
 that the Government should take the matter into 
 their own hands. By this course, he conceived 
 that whatever danger was to be apprehended from 
 public, and perhaps angry, discussion, might be 
 avoided, while the conflicting interests of the 
 various parties concerned might be more easily 
 conciliated. With respect to such of the Co- 
 lonies as had no local Legislatures, and in which 
 the Crown possessed the sole power of making 
 laws, the action of the Government would, of 
 course, be more free and unfetterred. There 
 they might legislate by an Order in Council, 
 which would also serve as a model of legislation 
 for the other Colonies. In the case of the latter, 
 all that it was intended to do, in the first instance, 
 was, to recommend the adoption of the proposed 
 reform to the Colonial Legislatures, whose full and 
 fair co-operation, however, Parliament, he said, 
 had a right to expect ; but, if an unlooked-for spirit 
 of resistance should manifest itself, his Majesty's 
 Government would then resort to Parliament for 
 counsel. 
 
 In specifying the measures which his Majesty's 
 Government have signified their intention of 
 adopting, the Committee will not confine the 
 specification to what actually fell from Mr. Can- 
 ning during the debate on Mr. Buxton's mo- 
 tion. Subsequent communications have enabled 
 them to modify the statement then made, so as 
 to present, if not a particular and detailed, yet a 
 
PREFACE. XXXI 
 
 ckar general view of the present purposes of his 
 Majesty's Government. They are as follow: — 
 
 That the existing obstructions to manumissions, 
 arising from stamps or fines, or other fiscal regu- 
 lations, shall be removed ; — 
 
 That the Slaves shall be protected by law in the pos- 
 session, and also in the transmission, by bequest 
 or otherwise, of any property they may acquire ; — 
 
 That means shall be provided of religious instruction 
 for the Slaves, and of Christian education for their 
 children ; — 
 
 That the driving system shall be peremptorily and 
 entirely abolished, so that the whip shall no longer 
 be the stimulant of labour; — 
 
 That an end shall also be absolutely put to the de- 
 grading corporal punishment of females ; and that 
 measures shall be taken to restrain, generally, the 
 power of arbitrary punishment, and to prevent its 
 abuse ; — 
 
 That, the means of religious instruction being pro- 
 vided, the Sundays shall be given up to the Slaves 
 for rest, recreation, and religious instruction and 
 worship (Sunday markets being abolished) ; and 
 that equivalent time shall be allowed them, on 
 other days, for the cultivation of their provision 
 grounds ; — 
 
 That the marriage of Slaves shall be authorised, and 
 sanctioned by law; and that they shall likewise 
 be protected in the enjoyment of their connubial 
 rights. 
 
 In respect to the proposal of causing the 
 Slaves to cease from being mere chattels, and 
 attaching them, under certain modifications, to 
 
XXXU PREFACE. 
 
 the soil, it was said, that whatever reform of this 
 kind was introduced must be prospective only, as 
 its retrospective operation might disturb the pre- 
 sent tenure of property, and take away, in many 
 cases, the only security on which money had been 
 advanced. The question was therefore reserved 
 for further consideration. 
 
 The admission of the testimony of Slaves in 
 Courts of Justice was also thought to be beset 
 with so many difficulties as to require a more 
 deliberate investigation. At the same time, 
 Government professed themselves friendly to the 
 principle of admitting the testimony of Slaves, 
 subject only to such modifications as the interests 
 of justice might for a time require. 
 
 The propriety of relieving Negroes and Persons 
 of Colour from the operation of that unjust prin- 
 ciple of Colonial law which subjects them to be 
 dealt with as Slaves, unless they shall be able by 
 legal proof to establish their right to freedom, 
 was admitted ; and it was signified that further 
 inquiry should be made as to the means for grant- 
 ing them the requisite relief. 
 
 It was also admitted to be desirable that no 
 Governor, Judge, Attorney- General, or Fiscal, nor 
 any of the religious instructors about to be ap- 
 pointed, should hold property in Slaves; and 
 though it might be unfair to give to this principle 
 a retro-active effect, yet that there could be no 
 objection to its being made to operate prospec- 
 tively. 
 
PREFACE. XXXni 
 
 Th€ only remaining points were, the granting 
 of facilities to the adult Slaves to purchase their 
 freedom ; and the liberation from bondage of all 
 children born after a certain day. In neither of 
 these propositions have the Government hitherto 
 sisnified their concurrence. Indeed, to the mea- 
 sure of freeing all children born after a certain 
 day, they appeared to feel a more decided objec- 
 tion than to any other that had been suggested. 
 Both the points were deemed of so much moment 
 as to render further information and more mature 
 consideration necessary, before they came to a 
 final decision upon them. 
 
 In reviewing the Resolutions adopted by 
 Parliament, and the declared intentions of his 
 Majesty's Government, the Committee see very 
 abundant cause of congratulation. They feel 
 much gratified both by the admissions which they 
 involve; and by the concurrent determination, 
 which has been expressed by his Majesty's Go- 
 vernment and by Parliament, to proceed to the 
 immediate redress of some of the existing evils, 
 and to secure eventually the extinction of the 
 very state of slavery. 
 
 Still the Committee deeply regret that the mode 
 of proceeding by Parliamentary enactment, in 
 effecting the Colonial reforms which have been 
 recognised as necessary, should not have been 
 preferred to that of leaving this great work to be 
 carried on through the medium of the Colonial 
 
 e 
 
XXXIV PREFACE. 
 
 Legislatures. Past experience, to say the least, 
 discourages any sanguine hope of their prompt, 
 cordial, and efficient co-operation ; and the Com- 
 mittee, therefore, lay their account in meeting 
 with much delay and disappointment, as the con- 
 sequence of this arrangement. 
 """ But, besides this disadvantage, it must be recol- 
 lected that there are some points, of great and 
 vital moment, on which no distinct hope of reform 
 has as yet been given. It has not been declared 
 that Slaves shall cease to be chattels ; that they 
 shall no longer continue, in this respect, as well 
 as for every other purpose of sale or transfer, on 
 the same degrading level with the beasts of the 
 field. They are still liable to be transported, as 
 the master's interest or caprice may dictate, from 
 one Island to another, and separated for ever from 
 their families and dearest connexions, and from 
 their native home. It has not yet been settled, 
 that their testimony shall be received in Courts of 
 Law, although without this the value of many other 
 provisions in their favour must be greatly diminish- 
 ed. No expectation has yet been given that they 
 shall enjoy facilities for obtaining their freedom 
 by their own exertions. And, above all, their 
 progeny are still doomed to be born to the same 
 wretched inheritance with their parents, notwith- 
 standing the undeniable injustice and cruelty of 
 such a destination. And with respect to the points 
 on which a more favourable decision has been 
 signified, they are yet to be fulfilled, and that in 
 
PREFACE. XXXV 
 
 the face, it is to be feared, of many unappreciated 
 difficulties. 
 
 l/^^Let not, therefore, the friends of our enslaved 
 fellow-subjects assume that their work is accom- 
 plished. In fact, it is only begun. We are only 
 entering on the field of our labours. We have 
 made, it is true, a fair and hopeful commence- 
 ment. The influence of the public feeling which 
 has been so remarkably displayed, has effected- 
 much. But the ground we have already gained 
 may be lost ; and, still more, our farther progress 
 may be delayed, or even wholly obstructed, if we 
 should remit our eftorts. Nothing which has oc- 
 curred ought to have the effect of relaxing, in the 
 very slightest degree, our vigilance and activity. 
 On the contrary, the success already obtained 
 should only stimulate us to increased exertion; 
 for whatever measures, with a view to the ultimate 
 attainment of our objects, were previously deemed 
 necessary, may be considered as no less imperiously 
 called for at the present moment. 
 
 In this persuasion, the Committee would parti- 
 cularly recommend that Associations should 
 be formed in every part of the United Kingdom, 
 for the purpose of co-operating to difibse infor- 
 mation, to procure the requisite funds, and to call 
 forth the distinct expression of public opinion on 
 the subject. 
 
 The Committee feel that their cause owes 
 much to those petitioners who, in the last session, 
 addressed Parliament with such |vrompitude and 
 
XXXVl PREFACE. 
 
 eftect. They trust that the same earnest plead- 
 ings will be renewed at an early period of the 
 next session. They trust that, not only from the 
 same places which have already raised their voice 
 in the sacred cause of justice and humanity, but 
 from every county and every town in the United 
 Kingdom, one energetic and concurrent appeal 
 will be made to both Houses of the Legislature, 
 in behalf of our enslaved fellow-subjects ; praying 
 that they may be admitted, at the earliest safe 
 and practicable period, to a participation in those 
 civil rights and privileges, and in those moral and 
 religious blessings, which are enjoyed by other 
 classes of his Majesty's subjects : and that this 
 nation may not be permitted to incur the farther 
 guilt (now that our eyes are opened to the flagrant 
 iniquity of such a course of conduct) of daily aug- 
 menting the miserable victims of an unjust and 
 merciless policy, by subjecting the Children, who 
 may hereafter be born, to the same state of abject 
 and degrading bondage to which we have been 
 the criminal instruments of reducing their pro- 
 genitors. 
 
 To activity, vigilance, and perseverance in this 
 course, there are the strongest motives to animate 
 us which can call forth the exertions of Britons 
 and of Christians. We have the cheering hope 
 of being instrumental in rescuing upwards of Eight 
 Hundred Thousand of our fellow-subjects from a 
 state of Slavery which outrages every feeling of 
 humanity, which violates every principle of the 
 
PREFACE. XXXVU 
 
 British Constitution, and is repugnant to the whole 
 spirit of the Christian Religion. And, still more, 
 we may indulge the hope of contributing to deliver 
 them from that more fatal bondage, — that yoke 
 of ignorance, vice, and irreligion, — beneath which 
 our institutions have continued so long to retain 
 them. May these considerations operate on every 
 mind with an energy which no delay or disappoint- 
 ment can enfeeble, and which no difficulties or 
 opposition shall be able to resist ; and, with the 
 blessing of God upon our zealous, united, and 
 unintermitted efforts, we may look forward to the 
 not very distant time when we shall be called to 
 rejoice together in the final accamplishment of 
 our work of mercy. 
 
 18 AldermanJmry, l^th August, 1823. 
 
 Petitions presented to the House of Commons for the 
 Abolition of Negro Slavery, 
 I 
 
 Alfreton. 
 
 Associate Congregations of 
 
 Allenby. 
 
 Linlithgow. 
 
 Ampthill. 
 
 Mid-Calder. 
 
 Aiidover. 
 
 Muckhart. 
 
 Appleby. 
 
 Peebles. 
 
 Asliburne. 
 
 Selkirk. 
 
 Ashley. 
 
 Associate Synod of the Secession. 
 
 Associate Congregations of 
 
 Attelboro'. 
 
 Alnwick. 
 
 Baldock. 
 
 Anthillet. 
 
 Ballitore, Kildare. 
 
 Auchtermnchty. 
 
 Banbury. 
 
 Biggar. 
 
 Barnard Castle. 
 
 Braehead. 
 
 Bath. 
 
 Cambusnethan. 
 
 Bawtry. 
 
 Carnwath. 
 
 Beccles. 
 
 Crail. 
 
 Bedwellty. 
 
 Cupar. 
 
 Belfont. 
 
 Dundee. 
 
 Belper. 
 
 Edinburgh. 
 
 BerghoU, East. 
 
XXXVlll 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 Birmingham. 
 
 Blytli, Northumberland. 
 
 Bolton, Great and Little. 
 
 Bootle, Cumberland. 
 
 Bradford, Yorkshire. 
 
 Brandon. 
 
 Braintree and Booking. 
 
 Brechin, N. B. 
 
 Bridgenorth. 
 
 Bridgerule. 
 
 Bridgewater. 
 
 Bridport. 
 
 Brigham. 
 
 Bristol. 
 
 Brosely. 
 
 Broughton, Great and Little. 
 
 Burslem. 
 
 Bury St. Edmunds. 
 
 Cambridge, University. 
 
 Cambridge, Town. 
 
 Calne. 
 
 Cardiff. : 
 
 Carlisle. 
 
 Carmarthen. 
 
 Castle Dorrington. 
 
 Cavill and Walls-End. 
 
 Charlbury. 
 
 Chatteris. 
 
 Chelmsford. 
 
 Cheltenham. 
 
 Chester. 
 
 Chesterfield. 
 
 Chester-le.Street. 
 
 Chipping Norton. 
 
 Cockermouth. 
 
 Coggeshall and Kelvedon. 
 
 Coggeshall. 
 
 Colchester. 
 
 Coventry. 
 
 Crickhovrel. 
 
 Cromer. 
 
 Darlington. 
 
 Derby. 
 
 Diss. 
 
 Dover. 
 
 Dudley. 
 
 Dumfries, N. B. 
 
 Dunmow. 
 
 Durham. 
 
 Eaglesfield. 
 
 East Dereham. 
 
 Eccleshall. 
 
 Evesham. 
 
 Exeter. 
 
 Eye. 
 
 Falmouth. 
 
 Farringdon. 
 
 Framlingham. 
 
 Frome-Selwood. 
 
 Gainsborough. 
 
 Gateshead. 
 
 Giggleswick. 
 
 Gloucester. 
 
 Gosforth. 
 
 Greysouthern. 
 
 Griningham. 
 
 Hackney, 
 
 Hadleigh. 
 
 Halesworth. 
 
 Halstead. 
 
 Hanley and Sheldon. 
 
 Harling, East. 
 
 Harrington. 
 
 Hensiugham. 
 
 Hertford, County. 
 
 Hexham. 
 
 Hinckley. 
 
 Hitchin. 
 
 Hoden, and adjacent pail» of 
 
 Holderuess. 
 Horsham. 
 Huddersfield. 
 Hull. 
 
 Huntingdon. 
 Inverkeithing. 
 Ipsvtrich. 
 Kendal. 
 Kenninghall. 
 Knaresborough. 
 Lanark) N. B. 
 Lancaster. 
 Leeds. 
 Leicester. 
 Leominster. 
 Lilliesleaf. 
 Liskeard. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XXXIX 
 
 Liverpool. 
 
 Llangattock. 
 
 Longlow. 
 
 Loiigliborough. 
 
 Lutterworth, 
 
 Madelay. 
 
 Maer Maxton. 
 
 Maldon. 
 
 Malton. 
 
 Manchester and Salford. 
 
 Manningtree. 
 
 Mansfield, Nottingham. 
 
 Market Drayton. 
 
 Maryport. 
 
 Matlock. 
 
 Mutford and Lothingland. 
 
 Nantwich. 
 
 Neath. 
 
 Needham Market. 
 
 Nether Wadsdale. 
 
 Newcastle-on-Tyne. 
 
 Newcastle-under-Line. 
 
 Norfolk, County of. 
 
 Norwich. 
 
 North Walsham. 
 
 Nottingham. 
 
 Olney, Bucks. 
 
 Ovingham. 
 
 Pakefield and Kirkley. 
 
 Pembroke, County of, 
 
 Penrith. 
 
 Plymouth. 
 
 Pontefract. 
 
 Poole. 
 
 Portsea Philalethan Society. 
 
 Preston. 
 
 Pyworth. 
 
 Rawden. 
 
 Retford. 
 
 Rochdale. 
 
 Rochester and Chatham. 
 
 ■Rossendale. 
 
 Rowinglass, Cumberland. 
 
 Royston. 
 
 Saffron Walden. 
 
 Salisbury. 
 
 Salop, County of. 
 
 Scarborough. 
 
 Shaftesbury. 
 
 Sheffield. 
 
 Sherborne. 
 
 Shiffnall. 
 
 Shoreditch, Parish of. 
 
 Society of Friends. 
 
 Southwark. 
 
 South Shields. 
 
 Stafford, County of. 
 
 Staindrop. 
 
 Staines. 
 
 Standon. 
 
 Stockton. 
 
 Stoke-upon-Trent. 
 
 Stone. 
 
 Stonehouse. 
 
 Stow Market. 
 
 Stroud. 
 
 Sudbury. 
 
 Sunderland. 
 
 Swansea. 
 
 Tewkesbury. 
 
 Thetford. 
 
 Truro. 
 
 Tynemouth. 
 
 Uttoxeter. 
 
 Uxbridge. 
 
 Wakefield. 
 
 Walthamstow. 
 
 Warrington. 
 
 Wells next the Sea. 
 
 Wellington, Salop. 
 
 Westoe. 
 
 Whitehaven. 
 
 Wickham Market. 
 
 Wigton, Cumberland. 
 
 Wirksworth. 
 
 Witham. 
 
 Woodbridge. 
 
 Worcester. 
 
 Workington. 
 
 Wyraondham. 
 
 Yarmouth, Great. 
 
 Yarrow, Durham. 
 
 Yeovil. 
 
 York. 
 
DONATIONS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS 
 
 TO THE FUNDS OF THE 
 
 S^otitiVf tot mitigating anti aftoUj^t)ing S^liTbett) 
 
 WILL BE RECEIVED 
 
 By the Treasurer, at itfiessrs, Hoareund Co.'s, Bankers,62 Lombard Street ; 
 
 — the Secretary, 18 Aldermanbury (to whom Communications may be 
 
 addressed) ; 
 
 — the Members of the Committee ; 
 
 — Messrs. Hatchard, 187 Piccadilly, and Messrs. Arch, CornhiU, Book- 
 
 sellers to the Society ; 
 
 — Messrs. Hoare, Bankei^s, Fleet Street; 
 
 — Sir P. Pole and Co., Bankers, Bartholomew Lane; and 
 
 — Messrs, Drummond, Bankers, Charing Cross. 
 
SUBSTANCE, 
 
 JVIR. Fowell Buxton rose, and addressed 
 the House nearly as follows. — 
 
 Sir — 1 feel so sure, that every gentleman is prepared 
 to ask me one obvious question, that I cannot do better 
 than save the time and curiosity of the House, by affording 
 that question an immediate answer. The question which, 
 as 1 suppose, gentlemen are anxious to put, is — Why do 
 you move in this question ? What right have you to in- 
 terfere in this great cause? Is there not in the House, 
 and even by your side, a man to whom, when a motion on 
 slavery is to be made, all eyes naturally turn ; a man who 
 now, for a period very little short of forty years, has been 
 the faithful, indefatigable, eloquent, and, upon one great 
 occasion, the victorious advocate for the Negro? I hopethere 
 is no one, who deems so meanly, and I will say so unjustly, 
 of me, as to suppose that I encroach uninvited on the 
 province of my honourable friend. It is in compliance 
 with the earnest request, it is in obedience to the positive 
 injunction of him whom I honour as the father of the 
 cause, and who, no matter who may introduce the subject, 
 must ever be recognized as its truest and best advocate. 
 It is at his express bidding that I now rise. 
 
 Before, however, I enter on the important, and, as 
 some gentlemen deem it, the very perilous question of 
 which I have given notice, I feel myself called upon to 
 advert to the advice which I have received, and to the 
 
 B 
 
warnings with which 1 have herni favoured, of dreadful 
 evils likely to he pr-sdurjcd in the West Indies by the 
 agitation of this subject. It is no slight matter, I have 
 been told — and [ admit it — to agitate the question at all. 
 It is no slight matter to excite apprehensions, even 
 the most groundless, in the minds of persons so respect- 
 able as those who signed the petition which has just been 
 presented by the honourable Member for Taunton. 1 can 
 truly say, that I feel no degree of animosity, I harbour no 
 species of prejudice, either against the whole body, or 
 against any individual of the body of persons connected 
 with the West Indies. I consider them as eminently un- 
 fortunate, particularly the hereditary proprietors, in this, 
 that their predecessors were tempted to embark their pro- 
 perty in a species of investment which, at that time, was 
 considered to be moral and consistent with justice; but 
 which, when the subject has been thoroughly sifted, is 
 found to be irreconcileable with the principles of justice 
 and humanity. With these feelings towards the West 
 Indians, deeming them rather unfortunate than culpable^ 
 I do consider it no slight matter to introduce any motion 
 painful to their feelings. 
 
 It is no slight matter to drag into public view before the 
 nation, and before surrounding nations, jealous of the 
 reputation of this country, the worst, perhaps the only 
 capital stain, on British policy ; at a moment, too, when 
 W© have felt so keenly, and expressed ourselves so warmly, 
 and all but incurred the hazards of war for the sake of a 
 Nation threatened with political servitude : it is, I say, no 
 slight matter to divulge the fact, that, of British subjects, 
 there are one million living in personal slavery ; — not 
 Spaniards, but our own fellow-subjects ; not threatened 
 with but enduring, not political interference, but per- 
 sonal slavery, — " pergonal slavery, in comparison of 
 which," said Mr. Fox, ** political slavery, much as I hate 
 it, is a bare metaphor." 
 
 I have heard much privately — and the House has heard 
 somewhat publicly — of the responsibility which I incur 
 
by the agitation of this question. And I admit, that a 
 man ought to be pretty sure that his cause is good, as I 
 am; and not only that the cause is good, but that the time 
 is discreetly chosen, as I am ; and that he is free from all 
 personal considerations and prejudices, as I am ; before 
 he ventures to reject such advice, and to incur such re- 
 sponsibility. Why, then, do I incur that responsibility? 
 First, because I am quite sure that the dangers, if not 
 absolutely groundless, if not utterly imaginary, as I believe 
 they are, have been much over-rated : and, secondly, be- 
 cause I am sure, that it is impossible to over-rate the real 
 and substantial blessings that will accrue to a million of 
 men, by the agitation of this subject in this House. I have 
 not a notion that slavery can endure investigation. It 
 must perish, when once brought under the public eye. 
 And I feel confident that a few minutes ago, we com- 
 menced that process which will conclude, though not 
 speedily, in the extinction of slavery throughout the whole 
 of the British dominions. 
 
 The good, then, to be obtained is incalculable. Now 
 let us consider, for a moment, the price we are to pay for 
 it. We have heard a good deal of late of the danger of 
 insurrection in the West Indies. If this were the first 
 time that slavery had ever been mentioned in this House ; 
 if I were the first rash man who had ever ventured to com- 
 miserate the condition of the Negroes, perhaps there 
 might be something alarming in the allegations of danger. 
 But, it does so happen, that this same subject of slavery, 
 and that infinitely more delicate subject of emancipation 
 from slavery, to name which in this House, said the 
 honourable Member for Taunton, is to shed blood in the 
 West Indies, have been debated again and again and 
 again within these walls. It does so happen, that a Com- 
 mittee of this House sat some thirty years ago, took evi- 
 dence on this subject, and, what was unusual then, pub- 
 lished it to the world. A Committee of the House of 
 Lords did the same. A Committee of the Privy Council 
 did the same. And it does so happen, that during those 
 
thirty years, every man of distinction in this House, with-' 
 out exception, has put forth his opinions on these sub- 
 jects : not only the men professing to be the most eager 
 for liberty, and who therefore might be supposed to over- 
 look all dangers in pursuit of their favourite object — such 
 men as Mr. Fox, Mr. Sheridan, Mr. Whitbread, and Sir 
 Samuel Romilly — but the very opposite of these in every 
 point, except in point of talents; men, whose whole 
 strength was opposed to the pursuit of ideal good, at the 
 expense of present danger. When such men as Mr. Burke, 
 Mr. Dundas, Mr. Pitt, Mr. Windham, and my Lord Gren- 
 ville : when such men as these unreservedly and repeatedly 
 avowed their sentiments on the condition of the Slave ; 
 when they saw no danger in the avowal ; when, of these 
 cautious men the most cautious, Mr. Dundas, and the 
 least addicted to change, Mr. Burke, each of them pre- 
 pared, and one of them introduced into Parliament, a 
 bill for the emancipation of the Negroes, which, if it had 
 passed, would have been in operation three-and-twenty 
 years ago, and would have liberated, by this time, half 
 the Slaves in the West Indies ; — when, I say, these men 
 thus thought, spoke, and acted ; when they did so, in 
 despite of those very arguments, and, as 1 will presently 
 shew, in defiance of those very warnings which have been 
 offered to the House this night, I should feel that 1 be- 
 trayed a good cause if I suffered myself to be intimidated 
 by any such extravagant apprehensions, or amused from 
 my purpose by predictions which the fact, hitherto, has 
 never failed to falsify. 
 
 It is at least a singular fact, that no motion was ever 
 made in this House, on the subject of Negro Slavery, 
 which has not been met with just the same predic- 
 tions. No matter what the motion was ; it was always 
 attended with the same predictions in almost the same 
 language. 
 
 In the year 1787, a very feeble attempt was made to 
 abate the horrors of the Middle Passage — to admit a little 
 more air into the suffocating and pestilent holds of the 
 
Slave-ships. The alarm was instantly taken. The cry of 
 the West-Indians, as we have heard it to-night, was the 
 cry of that day. An insurrection of all the Blacks — the 
 massacre of all the Whites— was to be the inevitable con- 
 sequence. In the House of Lords, a man of no mean 
 consideration in point of rank, the Duke of Chandos, 
 besought their lordships not to meddle with this alarming 
 question. He might, he said, pretend to know a little 
 more of the subject than their lordships — that his pockets 
 were filled with letters from his correspondents in the 
 West Indies, who declared, that the English newspapers 
 were read by the Negroes as regularly as the ships brought 
 them ; and that, so soon as they had come to the paragraph 
 announcing that their lordships had thought it fit to lessen 
 the sufferings of the Middle Passage, they would burst 
 oat into open rebellion ! The bill passed, however ; and, 
 somehow or other, the prediction was not verified. About 
 the same year, my honourable friend commenced that 
 career with which his name will always be coupled ; and 
 which he brought to a glorious termination twenty years 
 afterwards. Let any gentleman look to the proceedings 
 in any one of those twenty years, and he will find three 
 things: — First, an effort made by my honourable friend 
 on behalf of the Negro : next, on the part of the West- 
 Indians, a prediction of insurrection amongst the Blacks : 
 and, thirdly, that prediction contradicted by the events 
 of the year. Not only was each separate prophecy falsi- 
 fied by the fact ; but, it is really remarkable to observe, 
 if you place the whole train of prophecy on the one 
 side, and the whole train of events on the other, how 
 fully the latter refutes and overturns the former. Those 
 twenty years, which, if the West- Indians are true pro- 
 phets, ought to have been marked with perpetual violence, 
 bloodshed, and desolation, were, in point of fact, remark- 
 able for a degree of tranquillity in the British West-Indies, 
 unexampled in any other period of their history. 
 
 Again : at that time, this country was so greedy of the 
 gains of Slave-trading, that she not only supplied her own 
 
G 
 
 colonies with Slaves, but became the carrier of other 
 nations. My honourable friend, with his usual vigilance, 
 discovered this ; and introduced a bill to stop the practice. 
 The cry of danger was revived. " If you stop that trade," 
 said, in this House, the agent of one of the West-India 
 Islands, ** you will occasion an insurrection of all the 
 Blacks. You will cause the murder of all the Whites." 
 But this — perhaps the fiftieth prediction of the same kind 
 — was utterly falsified by the fact. Our Negroes actually 
 did not rebel, because we ceased to supply rival colonies 
 with Slaves. 
 
 In the year 1802, Lord Seaforth discovered a series of 
 the most horrid and shocking murders that have ever been 
 brought to light. I will not vex the feelings of the House, 
 by detailing the barbarous particulars. But many honour- 
 able gentlemen will, no doubt, remember tbem — particu- 
 larly the fact of the boy, who was killed in the gully. In 
 short, never were there greater cruelties, than those per- 
 petrated at that time in Barbadoes, by White men upon 
 Black. (See Appendix A.) Some persons were brought 
 to trial ; convicted upon the clearest evidence ; and punish- 
 ed with all the rigour of the law. And — what was all the 
 rigour of the law ? A fine, somewhat less than we, in 
 this country, impose upon a man for killing a partridge : 
 eleven pounds, four shillings, was the fine for these detest- 
 able murders. The Governor proposed to the Legislature 
 of the Island, that murder should be made a capital offence. 
 The answer was precisely the same, as that contained in 
 the petition laid upon the table this evening — " It will 
 cause a rebellion." The Negroes, no doubt, would have 
 been so shocked at the possibility of a White man suffer- 
 ing death, merely for killing one of themselves, that they 
 would have taken to arms 1 
 
 I will only notice one other prediction of the same kind.' 
 In 1817, little more than five years ago. Governor Max- 
 well stated, in a letter to Lord Bathurst, that " many 
 acts of undue and unlawful severity towards the Slaves 
 had come to his knowledge, and particularly some cases 
 
7 
 
 where iron collars and chains had been added to their 
 punishment, after they had undergone a severe whipping." 
 He then states the following cases : — 
 
 Cases of Negroes, ivlio ivere brought to Governor Max- 
 well in Chains, in which they were obliged to work, 
 by their Owners or Managers, during the last three 
 Months : 
 
 ** 1st, A boy, about fifteen years of age : a large iron 
 chain round his neck, fastened with a padlock, total 
 weighing 22 lbs. 
 
 ** 2d, Two girls, of twelve years of age, much marked 
 by [the effects of the cart-whip ; fastened together with 
 iron chains round their necks, padlocked, weighing 18 lbs. 
 
 " 3d, A full grown man, after a severe flogging with 
 the cart-whip, loaded with an iron collar and chains, 
 weighing 21 lbs. 
 
 ** 4th, An old man, apparently sixty years of age, after 
 having been severely beaten by his master, was placed in 
 the stocks, with an iron collar round his neck, and chains, 
 weighing 20 lbs. 
 
 ** 5th, A boy, about twelve years of age, loaded with 
 an iron collar, chains, and log of wooc), weighing 26 lbs." 
 
 What was the effect of the discovery of this abuse? 
 The effect was, that the Grand Jury of Dominica, wh© 
 met a few days afterwards, presented their Governor ab 
 a nuisance. Here is the Presentment — 
 
 Copy of Presentment of Grand Jury of Dominica, 
 dated 2Qth August, 1817. 
 
 ** The Grand Jury of our Sovereign Lord the King 
 do present: first. That they find the gaol in the same 
 state as in February last, notwithstanding the repeated 
 presentments of former Grand Juries : secondly. The 
 Grand Jury lament, that they are under the necessity of 
 noticing an improper interference, on the part of the Exe- 
 cutive, between Master and Slave, which has caused con- 
 
8 
 
 siderahle agitation and discontent amongst the NegroeSf 
 and, if persevered iu, is likely to lead to the most ruinous 
 consequences." 
 
 Now, Sir, if the Grand Jury had said, that these whip- 
 pings, and ** iron torments," as the Governor calls them, 
 had produced agitation amongst the Blacks, and that the 
 interference of the Governor had produced dissatisfaction 
 among the Whites, the Presentment would have been 
 very intelligible. But, when they say — and in such a 
 formal manner too — that the Slaves would be dissatisfied 
 at the interference of the Governor, which was intended 
 for their protection,- — as if they felt themselves, as of right, 
 entitled to be flogged, chained, ironed, and padlocked ; 
 and as if they were so tenacious of this, their precious 
 right, that they would burst into rebellion, if any symptom 
 were shewn of a disposition to rob them of it ; — this is 
 really a little too much for English ears ! 
 
 Precisely parallel, however, to this is the argument 
 against me. I interfere, it is true. I shall offer sugges- 
 tions, tending to improve the condition of the Negroes. 
 But, I should be glad to know which of these is likely to 
 produce agitation and discontent amongst them. One af 
 our first propositions is. That the Slave shall have Sunday 
 for rest and religious instruction ; and that another day in 
 the week shall be allowed him for the cultivation of his 
 provision ground. Is there any thing irritating in this ? — 
 Next, we say. That all Negro children, born after a certain 
 day, ought to be free — free from their birth — never sub- 
 jected to be bought and sold, and whipped, and brutalized. 
 Surely, such a provision will be far from producing dis- 
 content ! I am informed, on what I consider the best 
 authority — that of a person intimately acquainted with the 
 feelings of the Negro population, — that he knows of no 
 bond, so likely to secure their fidelity, as benefits conferred 
 on their children — the advantages of education— and free- 
 dom. — Next, we propose to get rid of the cart-whip. 
 Will the Negro be offended at that i Is he so fondly 
 
9 
 
 attached to the cart-whip, that, in order to secure the 
 continuance of its use, he will rise in rebellion ? In point 
 of fact, all we propose to do is this — to ameliorate the 
 condition of the Negro — to give him something like the 
 protection of British law— to reduce, not so much the 
 power, as the possible abuse of power, in the master — 
 and, above all, to rescue his children from that terrible 
 condition, of which he well knows the bitterness. And, 
 what is there in all this, calculated to rouse the furious 
 passions of the Negro ? On the contrary, I am fully per- 
 suaded, that security is to be found— and is only to be 
 found — in justice towards that oppressed people. If 
 we wish to preserve the \Yest Indies — if we wish to 
 avoid a dreadful convulsion — it must be by restoring to 
 the injured race, those rights which we have too long 
 withheld. 
 
 - I must notice one point requiring consideration, both 
 from the West-Indians and from the members of his 
 Majesty's Government : I mean the great change -which 
 has taken place, during the last twenty or thirty years. 
 What does the Negro, working under the lash, on the 
 mountains of Jamaica see ? He sees another island, on 
 which every labourer is free ; in which eight hundred 
 thousand Blacks, men, women, and children, exercise all 
 the rights, and enjoy all the blessings — and they are innu- 
 merable and incalculable — which freedom gives. Hitherto, 
 indeed, no attempt has been made, from that quarter. 
 The late Emperor Christophe, and the President Boyer, 
 may have been moderate men ; or they may have found at 
 home sufficient employment. But, who will venture to 
 secure us against the ambition of their successors ? It 
 would be singular enough, if the only Emperor who did 
 not feel a desire to meddle with the affairs of his neigh- 
 bours should be the Emperor of Hay ti. I touch lightly upon 
 this subject. Let Government — let the West Indians — 
 justly appreciate the danger with which they may be me- 
 naced from that quarter. It is a danger, however, which 
 is aggravated, by all the hardships you inflict upon the 
 
 c 
 
iO 
 
 Slave, and is abated exactly in proportion as you abate 
 tbe misery of bis lot. 
 
 ' Look at America. She may send at her own leisure, 
 and from tbe adjacent shore, an army to Jamaica, pro- 
 claiming freedom to all the Slaves. And — what is worse 
 still — she may do so in exact conformity to our own ex- 
 ample ; not only in the first American v/ar, but in the 
 recent contest of 1813. Surely there is a lesson in this. 
 And what is the lesson it teaches ? That we ought to grind 
 down the Negro, until almost any change will be for the 
 better — or that we shall upraise him in the scale of being', 
 till almost any change will be for the worse ? Mr. Pitt 
 declared, .that ** it was impossible to increase the happi- 
 ness, or enlarge the freedom, of the Negro, without, in 
 an equal degree, adding to the security of the colonies, 
 and of all their inhabitants." 
 
 I do not mean to say, that there are not very great 
 perils connected with the present state of the West Indies. 
 On the contrary, I am quite sure — as sure as it is pos- 
 sible for any man in the House or in the country to be — 
 that there is imminent peril at the present moment ; and 
 that that peril will increase, unless our system be altered. 
 For 1 know, wherever there is oppression, there is danger — ■ 
 wherever there is Slavery, there must be great danger-^ 
 danger, in proportion to the degree of suffering. But the 
 question is, how that danger can be avoided. I answer, 
 that it is to be avoided by that spirit of humanity which 
 has avoided it in other places — by doing justice to those 
 whom we now oppress — by giving liberty for slavery, 
 happiness for misery. But even supposing the danger of 
 giving to be as great as the danger of withholding; there 
 may be danger in moving, and danger in standing still — 
 danger in proceeding, and danger in doing nothing : then, 
 I ask the House — and ask it seriously — whether it be not 
 better for us to incur peril for justice and humanity, for 
 freedom, and for the sake of giving happiness to millions 
 hitherto oppressed ; or, whether it be better to incur peril 
 for slavery, cruelty, and injustice — for the sake of destroy- 
 
n 
 
 ing the happiness of those wretched beings, upon whom we 
 have already showered every species of calaniity ? 
 
 I now come to tell gentlemen the course we meaa 
 to pursue : and I hope I shall not be deemed imprudent, 
 if I throw off all disguise, and state frankly, and without 
 reserve, the object at which we aim. The object at 
 which we aim, is the extinction of Slavery — nothing 
 less than the extinction of Slavery — in nothing less 
 than the whole of the British dominions : — not, however, 
 the rapid termination of that state — not the sudden eman- 
 cipation of the Negro — but such preparatory steps, such 
 measures of precaution, as, by slow degrees, and in a 
 course of years, first fitting and qualifying the Slave for 
 the enjoyment of freedom, shall gently conduct us to the 
 annihilation of Slavery. Nothing can more clearly shew 
 that we mean nothing rash, nothing rapid, nothing abrupt, 
 nothing bearing any feature of violence, than this —that 
 if I succeed, to the fullest extent of my desires, confess- 
 edly sanguine, no man will be able to say, I even shall 
 \ be unable to predict, that at such a time, or in such a year, 
 Slavery will be abolished. In point of fact, it will never 
 be abolished : it will never be destroyed. It will subside ; 
 • '^t will decline ; it will expire ; it will, as it were, burn 
 j itself down into its socket and go out. We are far from 
 j ineaning to attempt to cut down slavery, in the full 
 maturity of its vigour. We rather shall leave it gently to 
 decay — slowly, silently, almost imperceptibly, to die away, 
 ^nd to be forgotten. 
 
 Now, see the operation of our principle. We say- — No 
 more Slaves shall be made ; no more children shall be en- 
 slaved. At present, we have in our Colonies, a certain 
 body of Slaves. This will be reduced (to use a military 
 phrase) by all casualities ; but it will not be replenished 
 and re-inforced by any new recruits. At present, the 
 number is about a million. Next year, that number will 
 be somewhat abated. In ten years' time, it will be visi- 
 bly diminished. In twenty or thirty years' time, all the 
 young, the vigorous, and those rising into life, will be free^ 
 
12 
 
 and the Slaves will be those who hare passed the meri- 
 dian of their days — who are declining into age — the aged 
 and the decrepid. Every year, then, will make a con- 
 siderable change : every child born will increase the one 
 body — every Slave dying will reduce the other. A few 
 years further, and you will find, only here and there, 
 scattered over the face of the country, a remnant of 
 Slavery. A very few years further, he too will have fol- 
 lowed his brethren, and Slavery will be no more. 
 
 Now observe. This is not speculation. It is not a 
 theory, which has never been tried : it is not one of the 
 ** new lights," to use the expression of the honourable 
 Member for Taunton : but it has taken place, and in a 
 country too with which that honourable Member is very 
 familiar. It may perhaps, nevertheless, be unknown to 
 part of the House, that just in this way Slavery has gone 
 out and expired in New York. Thirty years ago. New 
 York was what is called a Slave State ; that is, a propor- 
 tion of its labourers were Slaves ; and it was liable to those 
 evils which Slavery never fails to generate. The principle 
 which I now advocate was applied ; and — without rebellion, 
 without convulsion ; without a single riot, without any 
 thing that deserves the ntaue of inconvenience — Slavery 
 has gone out in the State of New York. The same thing 
 has been done in Philadelphia, New Jersey, and several 
 other of the United States. If any man asks me, with what 
 effect this has been done ; I answer, that there is not a 
 person connected with that part of the world, who will not 
 acknowledge, that much as it has contributed to the hap- 
 piness of the Blacks, it has in no less degree promoted the 
 happiness, the moral improvement, and even the pecuniary 
 prosperity of the Whites. The fact is, every American 
 from that part of the country is ready to acknowledge, 
 that the worst of all curses has fled away, and left them. 
 Here, then, the principle which I now recommend has 
 begun, and concluded, its operation. 
 
 There are other parts of the world, where the same prin- 
 ciple is now in action, where Slavery is gradually and quietly 
 
13 
 
 working itself out. And now, Sir, I am going to take a 
 great liberty — -just to put a question to each gentleman in 
 the House. Does he know in what part of the British 
 dominions this very principle is in action ? The point in 
 dispute, be it observed, is this. I say, that our principle 
 operates without noise and tumult. My opponents say, 
 that it will be attended with violence and convulsion. 
 Then, I put it to my opponent, if he know where this noisy, 
 turbulent, convulsive, principle is at work I If he do not 
 know, my point is proved— its quiet, peaceable, silent, 
 nature is proved. 
 
 It is in full operation, at this moment, in Ceylon ; and 
 has been so, since 1816. The activity of the Governor, 
 General Brownrigg, and of Sir Alexander Johnstone, 
 there introduced it; and, as yet, it has produced no 
 ill effect of any kind. The same thing occurred at 
 Bencoolen, under the administration of Sir Stamford 
 Raffles. The same, at Saint Helena. Now, this last 
 does tell positively in my favour. Public curiosity has 
 recently been excited, in an extraordinary degree. Books, 
 enough to fill a library, have been written, detailing the 
 administration of Sir Hudson Lowe. Acts the most slight 
 —anecdotes the most trivial — expressions the most 
 unmeaning, have been recorded with exact tidelity. 
 Generations yet unborn shall know, that on such a day 
 in July, Sir Hudson Lowe pronounced that the weather 
 was warm ; and that on such a day of the following De- 
 cember, Bonaparte uttered a conjecture that it would 
 rain in the course of the week. Nothing has escaped 
 the researches of the historian— nothing has been over^ 
 looked by the hungry curiosity of the public — nothing— r 
 Yes ! one thing only has never been noticed ; namely, 
 that Sir Hudson Lowe gave the death-blow to Slavery at 
 Saint Helena. 
 
 The same principle, only upon a much larger scale, has 
 been operating in South America. By a fundamental law 
 of Columbia, every child born after the day when the 
 Constitution was proclaimed, is, ij^so facto, free. They 
 
14 
 
 did that at which I am now aiming ; and they did more. 
 They liberated the children, but they also took measures 
 for emancipating the parent. They levied a legacy duty, 
 varying from three to ten per cent, upon all disposable 
 personal property : they set apart this fund for a special 
 -object: and they declared, that no power should exist in 
 the state to alter the destination of a single shilling. The 
 purchase to which that tax is devoted, is the purchase of 
 Negroes from personal slavery, and it is to continue till 
 no Slave remains in Columbia. If ever there was an 
 opportunity of trying, whether the principle was produc- 
 tive of peace or of convulsion, that opportunity was now 
 afforded. Columbia was overrun by hostile armies. The 
 masters were often obliged to abandon their property. The 
 Black population amounted to nine hundred thousand 
 persons. An honourable friend of mine, on a former occa- 
 sion, contended, that the numbers were inconsiderable. 
 He was mistaken. I have in my hand a letter from Mr. 
 Jlavenga, in which he states, that, in a population of 
 three millions, the number of Blacks and Indians is nine 
 hundred thousand. Now, of these a large number were 
 suddenly emancipated, Bolivar gave liberty to seven 
 hundred. Others acted in the same way. The law 
 to which I have alluded, which liberates all the children, 
 is rapidly liberating the adults. What has been the effect ? 
 Where the opportunities of insurrection have been so 
 frequent and so tempting, what has been the effect ? Mr. 
 Ravenga authorizes me to say, that the effect has been, 
 a degree of docility on the part of the Blacks, a degree 
 of confidence and security on the part of the Whites, un- 
 known in any preceding period of the history of Columbia. 
 Now for the application of this principle. What we 
 contend for is this, that we should cut off the supply ; 
 that we should intercept the fountain by which Slavery is 
 fed ; that ail Negro children, born after a certain day, 
 should be free. I have already shewn the safety and 
 ^ practicability of acting upon this principle. Will any 
 \ffnan deny its propriety and justice? A Negro child is 
 
^ 15 
 
 born to-day. What right on earth have we to say, that 
 
 •^^ that- child shall be a slave ! I want to know by what 
 
 authority we act, under what warrant we proceed, when 
 we say, that that child shall eat the bitter bread, and do 
 the bitter labour of a bondsman, all the days of his life? 
 I l^now the answer that will be given me: " The father 
 Wmine ; the mother is mine; and therefore the child is 
 
 ine." That is, you have made his parents eat the bitter 
 read, and do the bitter labour of Slaves ; and this crime, 
 
 hich you have committed against his parents, is to be 
 your apology for the crime which you design to commit 
 against him. 
 
 But, Sir, I hope that every man in this House, nay,, 
 that every man and woman in Great Britain, will seriously 
 weigh this question. By what principle of justice, by 
 what tenet of religion do we act, when we say to the 
 planter, " There ! a Black child is born to-day : take 
 him : do what you like with him : make him a brute, if 
 it so please you ; a brute in his labour, a brute in igno- 
 rance : feed him like a brute, flog him like a brute 1 " I 
 say, how are we authorised, on a child that has done no 
 ftS;ong, to pronounce that sentence, to inflict that curse l 
 
 It IS a crime to go to Africa, and steal a man, and make 
 him a Slave. For two centuries this was no crime at all. 
 It was most just and innocent commerce. My honourable 
 friend (Mr. Wilberforce) instituted an inquiry into this 
 innocent traflic, and it turned out to be a most intolerable 
 enormity. It is a crime, then, by the laws of England, 
 to make the full-grown African a Slave. And, how is it 
 less a crime, to make a new-born Creole a Slave? I say, ' 
 it is as great — it is even a greater crime. The African lias 
 at least passed a considerable portion of his life in free- 
 dom : for twenty or thirty years, he has tasted the in- 
 numerable enjoyments which liberty confers. But, the 
 child who is made a Slave from his birth, knows nothing 
 but servitude and misery. — Then, as to guilt. Formerly 
 we divided it with another party. The Black factor made 
 the man a slave : that was his share of the guilt. We kept 
 
le 
 
 him as a Slave : that was our share. But, in the case of 
 the child whom we enslave, the whole abomination is our 
 own. We make him a Slave, in the first place : we use 
 him as a Slave, in the second. It is a crime to murder a 
 man : it is no less a crime to murder a child. It is a crime 
 to rob a man : it is no less a crime to rob a child. It is 
 a crime to enslave a man : and, is it no crime to enslave a 
 child I 
 
 Now, Sir, let the House observe the moderation with 
 which we proceed. We say, " Make no more Slaves — 
 desist from that iniquity—stop — abstain from an act, in 
 itself as full of guilt, entailing in its consequences as much 
 of misery, as any felony you can mention." We do not 
 say, " Retrace your steps ;" but " Stop." We do not 
 say, " Make reparation for the wrong you have done;" but, 
 ** Do no more wrong; go no further." Slave-trading and 
 slavery (for they are but two parts of the same act), are 
 the greatest crime that any nation ever committed : and 
 when that day comes, which shall disclose all secrets, and 
 unveil all guilt, the broadest and blackest of all will be 
 that, the first part of which is Slave-trading, and the last 
 part Slavery ; and no nation under heaven has ever been 
 so deeply tainted with both the one and the other as we 
 have been. To a nation thus steeped in this species of 
 iniquity, can less be said than this : ** We do not ask that 
 yon should suffer punishment; we do not ask that you 
 should undergo deep humiliation ; we do not ask that you 
 shall make reparation to those you have wronged ; we do 
 not even say. Cease to enjoy those acts of criminality 
 which you have begun ; but, Take the full benefit and 
 fruition of past and present injustice ; complete what 
 you have commenced ; screw from your Slave all that his 
 bones and his muscles will yield you : only stop there ; 
 and, when every Slave now living shall have found repose 
 in the grave, then let it be said, that the country is 
 satiated with Slavery, and has done with it for ever." 
 
 This, after all, is the main point. It secures, a distant 
 indeed, but a certain extinction of Slavery, And I give 
 
17 
 
 notice to. his Majesty's Ministers — I give notice to the gen- 
 tlemen connected with the West Indies, that if they con- 
 cede every thing else, but withhold this, we shall not relax 
 in our exertions. The public voice is with us ; and I, 
 for one, will never fail to call upon the public, loudly to 
 express their opinion, till justice has so far prevailed as 
 to pronounce that every child is entitled to liberty. 
 
 Now, for the existing Slaves. Slaves they are. Slaves, 
 I fear, they must too generally continue ; but Slaves, under 
 a description of servitude considerably mitigated. 
 
 I cannot say I deserve any credit for abstaining to liberate 
 them at the present moment. I must confess, that if I 
 conceived it were possible for the Slaves to rise abruptly 
 from their state of bondage, to the happier condition of 
 freemen ; if we could clothe them, not only with the rights 
 and privileges, but with the virtuous restraints of social 
 life; if I did not know that the same system, which has 
 reduced them to the condition of brutes, has brutalized 
 their minds ; if, in fact, I deemed them ripe for deliver- 
 ance, my moderation, I confess it, would be but small. 
 I should say, " The sooner you cease from doing injustice, 
 and they from enduring it, the better." I should take no 
 circuitous course : I should propose no tardy measures of 
 amelioration: I should name no distant day of deliver- 
 ance : but thijs night, at once and for ever, f should pro- 
 pose to strike off their chains ; and I should not wait one 
 / inoment, from a conception that the master has the least 
 shadow of a title to the person of the Slav^.\ But, alas. 
 Sir! the Slave is not ripe for liberty. The bUterest^e- r\yKjA 
 proach that can be uttered against the system of slavery, t^ \ 
 \ that it debases the man, that it enfeebles his powers, that ^ 
 ; it changes his character, that it expels all which is naturally 
 good ; this, its bitterest reproach, must be its protection. 
 We are foiled by the very wickedness of the system. We 
 are obliged to argue in a most vicious circ'e. We make 
 the man worthless ; and, because he is worthless, we retain 
 Jiim as a Slave. We make him a brute, and then allege 
 hh brutality as a valid reason lor withholding his rights, 
 
 D 
 
18 
 
 Now, one word as to the right of the master. There 
 are persons (not in this House, I trust,) whose notions 
 of justice are so confused and confounded by slavery, 
 as to suppose that the planter has something like an honest 
 title to the person of the Slave. "We have been so long 
 accustomed to talk of " my slave," and ** your slave," 
 and what he will fetch if sold, that we are apt to imagine 
 that he is really yours or mine, and that we have a sub- 
 stantial right to keep or sell him. Then, let us, just for a 
 moment, fathom this right. Here is a certain valuable 
 commodity ; and here are two claimants for it — a White 
 man, and a Black man. Now, what is the commodity in 
 dispute? — The body of the Black man. The White man 
 says, " It is mine ;" and the Black man says, ** It is 
 mine." Now, the question is, if every man had his own, 
 to whom would that Black body belong ? The claim of 
 the Black man to his own body, is just this — Nature gave 
 it him. He holds it by the grant of God, That com- 
 pound of bone and muscles is his, by the most irreproach- 
 able of all titles — a title which admits not, what every 
 other species of title admits — a suspicion of violence, or 
 fraud, or irregularity. Will any man say, he came by his 
 body in an illegal manner? Does any man suspect, that 
 he played the knave, and purloined his limbs ? I do not 
 mean to say the Negro is not a thief; but he must be a 
 very subtle thief indeed, if he stole even so much as his 
 own little finger. 
 
 At least, you will admit this — the Negro has a pretty 
 good prima facie claim to his own person. If any man 
 thinks he has abetter, the onus prohandi is on him. Then 
 we come to the claim of the White man. What is the 
 foundation of your right? It shall be the best that can be 
 conceived. You received him from your father. Very 
 good ! Your father bought him from a neighbouring 
 planter. Very good ! That pknter bought him of a trader, 
 at the Kingston Slave-market: and that trader bought 
 him of a man-merchant in Africa. So far you are quite 
 safe! How did the man-merchant acquire him? He 
 
19 
 
 stole him — he kidnapped him! The very root of your 
 claim is robbery, violence, inconceivable wickedness. If 
 any thing on earth was ever proved by evidence, it was 
 proved, before the Slave-trade Committee, that the me- 
 thod of obtaining Slaves in Africa was robbery, man-steal- 
 ing, and murder. Your pure title rests on these sacred 
 foundations ! If your Slave came direct from Africa, 
 your right to his person is absolutely nothing. But, your 
 claim to the child born in Jamaica is (if I may use the 
 expression) less still. The new-born infant has done — 
 can have done — nothing to forfeit his right to freedom. 
 And, to talk about rights, justice, equity, and law as con- 
 nected with slavery, is to talk downright nonsense. If 
 we had no interest in the case, and were only speaking of 
 the conduct of another nation, we should all use the same 
 language ; and we should speak of slavery, as we now 
 speak of Slave-trading : that is, we should call it rank, 
 naked, flagrant, undisguised injustice. 
 
 But when I say, that the planter has no claim against 
 the Slave, I do not say, that he has no claim against the 
 British Nation. If slavery be an injustice, it is an injustice 
 which has been licensed by British law. But, whatever 
 may be the claim of the planter against the British Go- 
 vernment, he can pretend to none to the person of a child 
 because he happens to be born of Negro parents. 
 
 I will now take the liberty of reading a short extract of 
 a letter which, on the 11th of last April, I addressed to 
 my honourable friend opposite, in order to put Lord Ba- 
 thurst, and his Majesty's Government, in full possession of 
 our views and intentions on this subject : — 
 
 " The subject divides itself into two : the condition of 
 the existing Slaves, and the condition of their children. 
 With regard to the former, I wish the following improve- 
 ments : — 
 
 " 1. That the Slave should be attached to the island^ 
 and, under modifications, to the soil. 
 
 " 2. That they cease to be chattels in the eye of the 
 law. . 
 
20 
 
 ** 3. That their testimony may be received, quantum 
 valeat, 
 
 *' 4. That when any one lays in his claim to the services 
 of a Negro, the onus probandi bhould rest on the claimant. 
 
 '* 5. That all obstructions to manumissions should be 
 removed. 
 
 *' 6, That the provisions of the Spanish law (fixing by 
 competent authority the value of the Slave, and allowing 
 him to purchase a day at a time,) should be introduced. 
 
 *' 7. That no Governor, Judge, or Attorney- General 
 should be a Slave-owner. 
 
 ** 8. That an effectual provision shall be made for the 
 religious instruction of the Slave. 
 
 ** 9. That marriage should be enforced and sanctioned. 
 
 " 10. That the Sunday should be devoted by the Slave 
 to repose a id religious instruction ; and that other time 
 should be allotted for the cultivation of his provision 
 grounds. 
 
 *' 11. That some (but what I cannot say) measures 
 should be taken, to restrain the authority of the master, 
 in punishing His untried Slave, and that some substitute 
 should be found for the driving system. 
 
 ** These are the proposed qualifications of the existing 
 slavery. But I am far more anxiously bent upon the ex- 
 tinction of slavery altogether, by rendering all the Negro 
 children, born after a certain day, free. For them it will 
 be necessary to provide education. God grant, that his 
 Majesty's Ministers may be disposed to accomplish those 
 objects, or to permit others to accomplish them." 
 **- For all the blood spilt in African wars fomented by 
 English capital — for civil war which we contrived to 
 render interminable — for all the villages set in flames by 
 the contending parties — for all the horrors and the terrors 
 of these poor creatures, roused from their rest by the 
 yells of the man -hunter whom ive sent — for civilization 
 excluded — for the gentle arts which embellish life exclud- 
 ed — for honest and harmless commerce excluded— for 
 Christianity, and all that it comprehends, expelled for 
 
21 
 
 two centuries from Africa — for the tens and tens of thou- 
 sands of men murdered in these midnight marauds — for 
 the tens and tens of thousands suffocated in the holds of 
 our Slave-ships — for the tens and tens of tliousands of ema- 
 ciated beings, cast ashore in the West Indies, emaciated 
 beings, ** refuse men" (for such was the mercantile 
 phrase) lingering to a speedy death — for the tens and tens 
 of thousands still more unhappy who, surviving, lived on to 
 perpetual slavery, to the whip of the task-master, to igno- 
 rance, to crime, to heathen darkness — for all these, we 
 owe large and liberal atonement. And I do thank God, 
 we still have it in our power to make some compensation. 
 We have it in our power to sweeten a little the bitterness 
 of captivity — to give the Slaves of the West Indies some- 
 thing to render life more endurable — to give them some- 
 thing like justice and protection — to interpose a jury be- 
 tween the Negro and the brutality of his master's servant 
 — to declare that the Slave shall not be torn from the cot- 
 tage he has built, from the children he has reared, from 
 the female whom he loves — above all, for that is effectual 
 compensation, we may give him the truths of the Chris- 
 tian Religion, which, as yet, we have withheld. 
 
 For his children, there is a wider range of recompence. 
 We may strip them of every vestige of servitude ; and, by 
 taking upon ourselves, for a season, the whole burthen of 
 their maintenance, education, and religious instruction, we 
 may raise them into a happy, contented, enlightened, free 
 peasantry. I conclude, as I concluded my letter to Lord 
 Bathurst— God grant, that his Majesty's Ministers may 
 be disposed to accomplish these objects, or to permit others 
 to accomplish them ! — I move, 
 
 ** That the State of Slavery is repugnant to the prin- 
 ciples of the British Constitution, and of the. 
 Christian Religion ; and that it ought to be 
 gradually abolished throughout the British Colo- 
 nies, with as much expedition as may be found 
 consistent with a due regard to the well-being of 
 the parties concerned." 
 
22 
 
 • Mr. Secretary Canning. — The appeal to his Ma- 
 jesty's Cabinet with which the honourable gentleman 
 concluded his speech, makes me feel it my duty to 
 address myself to the House at this early period of the 
 debate, for the purpose of stating, without reserve, the opi- 
 nions entertained by myself and my colleagues with respect 
 to this most important, and I must say, at the same time 
 (notwithstanding what has fallen from the honourable 
 gentleman), this most fearful question. — I never in my life 
 proceeded to the discussion of any question under a 
 stronger impression of its manifold difficulties : not indeed 
 in reference to the principles on which my opinions are 
 grounded, nor with respect to the practical conclusion to 
 which I may think it expedient to come, but on account 
 of the dangers, which, even after all that the honourable 
 gentleman has said to the contrary, appear to me to attend 
 a discussion, in which one rash word, perhaps even one 
 too ardent expression, might raise a flame not easily to be 
 extinguished. 
 
 I mention these circumstances. Sir, not for the purpose 
 of imputing any blame to the honourable gentleman, or 
 to those friends in conjunction with whom he has brought 
 forward the resolution in your hands, nor for that of dis- 
 couraging fair and free deliberation ; but I take the 
 liberty of throwing out a caution to those who, in a more 
 advanced stage of the discussion, and when conflicting 
 opinions may have produced a warmth which I do not feel, 
 might be induced to colour more deeply the pictures 
 which the honourable gentleman himself has sketched with 
 no light hand ; and who might thus excite feelings which 
 it is not necessary to awaken for the accomplishment of 
 any practical good, but which, if awakened, might either 
 impede the attainment of that good, or expose it to gra- 
 tiritous hazard. 
 
 . And here the honourable gentleman must allow me to 
 ask. What had the latter part of his speech to do with his 
 present purpose? Why did he think it expedient to 
 recur to the former delinquencies of this country, \yhich, if 
 
23 
 
 capable of expiation, have been expiated? Why ditl he 
 go back to a state of things in the West Indies, to which, 
 so far as they could be remedied, remedy has been applied t 
 Why did he go out of his way to recal the horrors and 
 cruelties connected with the now abolished Slave Trade, 
 which were at former times brought under the notice of 
 Parliament? Why, when he was stirring a question 
 totally new, (and I mention that character of the question, 
 not as matter of blame but as matter of fact) — why did he 
 mix it up with that other odious question, often indeed 
 <3iscussed, but long ago decided, with which, during an 
 agitation of twenty years, it was never before placed in 
 jux fa-posiiion but for the purpose of being contrasted with 
 and separated from it i In all former discussions, in all 
 former votes against the Slave Trade, it cannot surely be 
 forgotten that the ulterior purpose of emancipation was 
 studiously disclaimed. I have myself frequently joined in 
 that disclaimer on former occasions. In doing so, I certainly 
 did not mean to advance so untenable a proposition as 
 that it was intended to purchase the abolition of the Slave 
 Trade by an indefinite continuance of Slavery. Un- 
 doubtedly that was not my meaning ; but what I at least 
 did mean— what in all fairness any man who took the same 
 distinction must be held to have meant — was, that the two 
 questions should be kept separate, and argued on their 
 separate grounds ; that the odium of that which we were 
 labouring to abolish should not be brought to bear with 
 increased intensity on that of which we were compelled to 
 allow the continuance. Slavery, not willingly but neces- 
 sarily, was allowed to continue. I do not say that it 
 is therefore to continue indefinitely; I speak not of it 
 as a system to be carefully preserved and cherished, 
 but as one to be dealt with according to its own nature, 
 and with reference to its inherent peculiarities. We 
 must be considered as having tacitly, if not expressly, taken 
 the engagement, not, on every subsequent discussion, to 
 look back to atrocities which have ceased, not to revive 
 animosities which have been extinguished, and to throw 
 
24 
 
 in the teeth of those whose interests are at hazard, cruel- 
 ties with which they in fact had no concern. After such 
 an implied pledge, it is somewhat hard in the honourable 
 gentleman to revert to those past-gone topics, instead of 
 confining himself to facts and arguments which properly 
 belong to the motion which he has introduced. 
 
 I will not follow the honourable gentleman through the 
 various matters of this kind which he has brought to his 
 aid ; but I will here take the liberty to dismiss the consi- 
 deration of the Slave Trade as of a thing forgotten and 
 gone by : and I will entreat the House to look at the pre- 
 sent situation of the West Indies, not as at a population 
 accumulated by a succession of crimes such as those which 
 the honourable gentleman has detailed, but simply as it is. 
 The honourable gentleman has treated this subject 
 rather with powerful declamation than with sober state- 
 ment : for I must beg leave to consider as a figure of 
 eloquence, rather than as a practical argument, the inti- 
 mation that we must deal with this question not as a matter 
 of justice and judgment, but of impulse and feeling. That 
 is not a ground on which Parliament can be called upon 
 to act. The manner in which the Black population of the 
 West Indies has been collected may indeed be the sub- 
 ject of reflection to the historian, or discussion to the 
 moralist : but, in calling upon the Legislature to adopt a 
 measure of the greatest importance, and of the utmost 
 difficulty, the honourable gentleman addresses himself, not 
 to the prudence, but to the feeling of the House, I con- 
 fess it seems to me that he pursues the course least likely 
 to lead to a satisfactory result. 
 
 Looking then at the present condition of the West 
 Indies, I find there a numerous Black population, with a 
 comparatively small proportion of Whites. The question 
 to be decided is, how civil rights, moral improvement, 
 and general happiness are to be communicated to this over- 
 powering multitude of Slaves, with safety to the lives and 
 security to the interests of the White population, our 
 fellow-subjects and fellow-citizens. Is it possible that 
 
25 
 
 there can be a difference of opinion upon this question I 
 Is it possible that those most nearly concerned in the pre- 
 sent state of property in the West Indies, and those who 
 contemplate the great subject with the eye of the philo- 
 sopher and the moralist, should look at it in any other 
 than one point of view ? Is it possible for a member of 
 Parliament, still more for a member of the Government, 
 to say that he does not wish, so far as is consistent with 
 other great considerations necessarily involved, to impart 
 every improvement which may tend to raise in the scale of 
 being the unfortunate creatures now in a state of servitude 
 and ignorance ? Undoubtedly, sacrifices ought to be made 
 for the attainment of so great a good; but would I on this 
 account strike at the root of the system — a system the 
 growth of ages — and unhesitatingly and rashly level it at a 
 blow ? Are we not all aware that there are knots which 
 cannot be suddenly disentangled, and must not be cut ; — dif- 
 ficulties which, if solved at all, must be solved by patient 
 consideration and impartial attention, in order that we 
 may not do the most flagrant injustice by aiming at justice 
 itself? 
 
 The honourable gentleman begins his resolution with 
 a recital which 1 confess greatly embarrasses me : 
 he says, that *' the state of Slavery is repugnant to 
 the principles of the British Constitution, and of the 
 Christian Religion." God forbid that he who ven- 
 tures to object to this statement, should therefore be 
 held to assert a contradiction to it ! I do not say 
 that the state of Slavery is consonant to the principles 
 of the British Constitution ; still less do I say that the 
 state of Slavery is consonant to the principles of the Chris- 
 tian Religion. But though I do not advance these propo- 
 sitions myself, nevertheless I must say, that in my opinion 
 the propositions of the honourable gentleman are not 
 practically true. If the honourable gentleman means 
 that the British Constitution does not admit of Slavery in 
 that part of the British dominions where the constitution 
 is in full play, undoubtedly his statement is true ; but it 
 
makes nothing for his object. If, however, the honour- 
 able Member is to be understood to maintain that th<^ 
 British Constitution has not tolerated for years, nay more 
 for centuries, in the Colonies, the existence of Slavery, a 
 state of society unknown in the mother country, — that is a 
 position which is altogether without foundation, and posi- 
 tively and practically untrue. In my opinion, when a pro- 
 position is submitted to this House for the purpose of 
 inducing the House to act upon it, care should be taken 
 not to confound, as I think is done in this resolution, what 
 is morally true with what is historically false. Undoubt- 
 edly the spirit of the British Constitution is, in its principle, 
 hostile to any modification of Slavery, But as undoubt- 
 edly the British Parliament has for ages tolerated, sanc- 
 tioned, protected, and everi encouraged a system of colo- 
 nial establishment of which it well knew Slavery to be the 
 foundation. 
 
 In the same way, God forbid that I should contend that 
 
 the Christian religion is favourable to Slavery. But I confess 
 
 i\ a strong objection to the introduction of the name 
 
 of Christianity, as it were bodily, into any parliamentary 
 
 \ question. Religion ought to controul the acts and to 
 
 ij regulate the consciences of governments, as well as of 
 
 ■J individuals ; but when it is put forward to serve a political 
 
 \ purpose, however laudable, it is done, I think, after the 
 
 / example of ill times, and I cannot but remember the ill 
 
 \ objects to which in those times such a practice was 
 
 applied. Assuredly no Christian will deny that the spirit 
 
 ' of the Christian religion is hostile to Slavery, as it is to 
 
 ; every abuse and misuse of power : it is hostile to all 
 
 'deviations from rectitude, morality, and justice ; but if it 
 
 '^be meant that in the Christian religion there is a special 
 
 jdenuueiation against Slavery, that Slavery and Chris- 
 
 ftianity cannot exist together, — I think the honourable 
 
 gentleman himself must admit that the proposition is his- 
 
 itorically false ; and again I must say, that I cannot consent 
 
 to the confounding, for a political purpose, what is morally 
 
 true with what is historically false. One peculiar charac- 
 
27 
 
 teristic of the Christian dispensation, if I must venture in 
 this place upon such a theme, is, that it has accommodated 
 itself to all states of society, rather than that it has selected 
 any particular state of society for the peculiar exercise of its 
 influence. If it has added lustre to the sceptre of the 
 sovereign, it has equally been the consolation of the Slave. 
 It applies to all ranks of life, to all conditions of men ; and 
 the sufferings of this world, even to those upon whom they 
 press most heavily, are rendered comparatively indifferent 
 by the prospect of compensation in the world of which 
 Christianity affords the assurance. True it certainly is, 
 that Christianity generally tends to elevate, not to degrade, 
 the character of man ; but it is not true, in the specific 
 sense conveyed in the honourable gentleman's resolution, it 
 is not true that there is that in the Christian religion which 
 makes it impossible that it should co-exist with Slavery in 
 the world. Slavery has been known iti all times and under 
 all systems of religion, whether true or false. Non vieus 
 hie sermo : I speak but what others have written on this 
 point; and I beg leave to read to the House a passage from 
 Dr. Paley, which is directly applicable to the subject that 
 we are discussing. 
 
 " Slavery was a part of the civil constitution of most 
 countries when Christianity appeared ; yet no passage is 
 to be found in the Christian Scriptures by which it is con- 
 demned and prohibited. This is true ; for Christianity, 
 soliciting admission into all nations of the world, abstained, 
 as behoved it, from intermeddling with the civil institutions 
 of any. But does it follow, from the silence of Scripture 
 concerning them, that all the civil institutions which then 
 prevailed were right; or that the bad should not be 
 exchanged for better ? Besides this, the discharging of 
 all slaves from all obligation to obey their masters, 
 which is the consequence of pronouncing Slavery to be 
 unlawful, would have no better effect than to let loose 
 one-half of mankind upon the other. Slaves would 
 have been tempted to embrace a religion which asserted 
 their right to freedom ; masters would hardly have been 
 
28 
 
 persuaded to consent to claims fonnded upon such au- 
 thority ; the most calamitous of all consequences, a hel- 
 ium servile, might probably have ensued, to the reproach, 
 if not the extinction, of the Christian name. The truth 
 is, the emancipation of Slaves should be gradual, and be 
 carried on by the provisions of law, and under the pro- 
 tection of civil government. Christianity can only ope- 
 rate as an alterative. By the mild diffusion of its light 
 and influence, the minds of men are insensibly prepared to 
 perceive and correct the enormities which folly, or wick- 
 edness, or accident have introduced into their public es- 
 tablishments. In this way the Greek and Roman Slavery, 
 and since these the feudal tyranny, bad declined before it. 
 And we trust that, as the knowledge and authority of the 
 same religion advance in the world, they will abolish what 
 remains of this odious institution." 
 
 The honourable gentleman cannot wish more than I 
 do, that under this gradual operation, under this widen- 
 ing diffusion of light and liberality, the spirit of the Chris- 
 tian religion may effect all the objects he has at heart. But 
 it seems to me that it is not, for the practical attainment 
 of his objects, desirable that that which may be the in- 
 fluencing spirit should be put forward as the active agent. 
 When Christianity was introduced into the world, it took 
 its root amidst the galling slavery of the Roman Empire ; 
 more galling in many respects (though not precisely of the 
 same character) than that of which the honourable gen- 
 tleman, in common I may say with every friend of hu- 
 manity, complains. Slavery at that period gave to the 
 master the power of life and death over his bondsman : 
 this is undeniable, known to every body: Itaservus homo 
 est! are the words put by Juvenal into the mouth of the 
 fine lady who calls upon her husband to crucify his Slave. 
 If the evils of this dreadful system nevertheless gradually 
 vanished before the gentle but certain influence of Chris- 
 tianity, and if the great Author of the system trusted 
 rather to this gradual operation of the principle than to 
 any immediate or direct precept, I think Parliament 
 
'29 
 
 would do more wisely rather to rely upon the like opera- 
 tion of the same principle than to put forward the autho- 
 rity of Christianity, in at least a questionable shape. 
 The name of Christianity ought not to be thus used unless 
 we are prepared to act in a much more summary manner 
 than the honourable gentleman himself proposes. If the 
 existence of Slavery be repugnant to the principles of the 
 British Constitution and of the Christian Religion, how 
 can the honourable gentleman himself consent to pause 
 even for an instant, or to allow any considerations of pru- 
 dence to intervene between him and his object? How 
 can he propose to divide Slaves into two classes; one 
 of which is to be made free directly, while he leaves 
 the other to the gradual extinction of their state of suf- 
 fering ? But if, as T contend, the British Constitution does 
 not, in its necessary operation, go to extinguish Slavery 
 in every colony, it is evident that the honourable gentle- 
 man's proposition is not to be understood in the precise 
 sense which the honourable gentleman gives to it ; and if 
 the Christian Religion does not require the instant and un- 
 qualified abolition of Slavery, it is evident^ I apprehend, that 
 the honourable Member has mistated in his resolution the 
 principle upon which he himself is satisfied to act. But 
 while I contend against the literal sense, and too positive 
 language, of the honourable gentleman's resolutions ; and 
 while I declare my unwillingness to adopt them as the 
 basis of our proceedings ; let me not be misunderstood 
 as quarreling with their intention. I admit as fully as 
 the honourable gentleman himself, that the spirit both of 
 the British Constitution and of the Christian Religion is 
 in favour of a gradual extermination of this unquestioned 
 evil : and I am ready to proceed with the honourable gen- 
 tleman to all reasonable and practicable measures for that 
 purpose. 
 
 On these principles I feel disposed to agree in much 
 that the honourable gentleman has said. To many of his 
 measures of detail I have not the slightest objection; 
 
30 
 
 without, however, admiltingthe solidity of all his ingenious 
 illustrations, or subscribing to the correctness of all his 
 arguments. 1 think the House will be of my opinion, that 
 at this time of day we must consider property as the 
 creature of law; and that, when law has sanctioned any 
 particular species of property, we cannot legislate in this 
 House as if we were legislating for a new world, the 
 surface of which was totally clear from the obstruction of 
 antecedent claims and obligations. If the honourable 
 gentleman asks me, on the other hand, whether I main- 
 tain the inviolability of property so far as to affirm the 
 proposition, that the children of Slaves must continue to 
 be Slaves for ever, — I answer frankly, No. If again he 
 asks me how I reconcile my notions of reverence for the 
 sacredness of property with the degree of authority I am 
 prepared to exercise for the attainment of my object, 1 
 answer Avith equal frankness, In accomplishing a great 
 national object, in doing an act of national justice, I do 
 not think it right to do it at the exclusive expense of any 
 one class of the community. I am disposed to go gra- 
 dually to work, in order to diminish both the danger to 
 be risked and the burden to be incurred. My opinion 
 is also, and I am prepared to state it (the honourable gen- 
 tleman having made his appeal to the Government on this 
 question some weeks ago) as the opinion of my colleagues 
 as well as my own — that in order that the object which we 
 have all in view may be undertaken safely and eflectually, 
 it is better that it should be left in the hands of the Exe-./ 
 cutive Government. 
 
 With that view I have taken the liberty of preparing 
 certain resolutions, which I shall propose to substitute for 
 those of the honourable gentleman. Between the two 
 sets of resolutions the substantial difference, it will be seen, 
 is not very essential ; but from the difference of respon- 
 sibility between the honourable gentleman and myself, I 
 must of necessity lay down my principles with greater 
 caution than he has done ; and proceed more coolly, and 
 
31 
 
 considerately, so as to avoid the liability to misrepresentation. 
 Not that I wish to shrink from particulars, so far as it may 
 be expedient to enter into them. 
 
 I may say then, that there are two or three points referred 
 to by the honourable gentleman, to which I cannot refuse 
 my concurrence. For instance, he asks if the present 
 mode of working — that which is described by the term, 
 driving — the slaves, by means of a cart-whip in the hand 
 of one who follows them, ought to be allowed? I reply. 
 Certainly not. But I go farther; I tell the honourable 
 gentleman, that in raising any class of persons from a ser- 
 vile to a civil condition, one of the first principles of im- 
 provement is in the observance paid to the difference of 
 sexes, I would therefore abolish, with respect to females, 
 the use of the whip, not only as a stimulant to labour in 
 the field ; I would abolish it altogether as an instrument of 
 punishment,— thus saving the weaker sex from indecency 
 and degradation. I should further be inclined to concur 
 with the honourable gentleman as to the insufficiency of 
 the time allowed to the Negroes for religious and moral 
 instruction, so long as the cultivation of his provision 
 ground and his marketing occupy the greater part of the 
 Sabbath. In this point I am anxious to introduce im- 
 provement into the present system. 
 
 These are points on which 1 have no hesitation in 
 agreeing with the honourable gentleman ; but there are 
 some others requiring more mature consideration in prac- 
 tice, although, in principle, I feel bound to say that I 
 agree with him. I agree with him in thinking that what 
 is now considered, by custom, and in point of fact, the pro- 
 perty of the Negro ought to l»e secured to him by law. 
 I agree with him in thinking that it would be beneficial 
 if the liberty of bequest were assured to him: perhaps 
 it might be made conditional upon marriage. I agree 
 with him in thinking that it may perhaps be desir- 
 able to do something with regard to the admitting 
 the evidence of Negroes ; but this I hold to be a much 
 more difficult question, and one requiring more thorough 
 
32 
 
 deliberation than I have yet had time to give to it. It is 
 a point of such extreme delicacy, and demands so much 
 local and practical knowledge, that 1 hardly feel justified 
 in pronouncing at this moment any decided opinion upon 
 it. Thus far I concur, that it well merits favourable and 
 patient investigation ; and for myself, and those who act 
 with me, I can say that we should commence that investi- 
 gation with a leaning to the view of the subject taken by 
 the honourable gentleman. More at present I will not say. 
 
 I agree further with the honourable gentleman in think- 
 ing, that (though great difficulties may be experienced, 
 not from the moral but from the legal part of the question) 
 the process of the writ of venditioni exponas, by which 
 the Slaves are sold separately from the estates, ought, if 
 possible, to be abolished. 
 
 I have mentioned these particulars as those which have 
 most immediately attracted the attention of his Majesty's 
 servants. I can assure the honourable gentleman and the 
 House, that they have looked at this subject with a sincere 
 desire to render all possible assistance to the undertaking 
 of the honourable gentleman, and to co-operate in every 
 practicable measure for ameliorating the condition of the 
 Negroes, 
 
 1 should ill discharge my duty this day, after the warn- 
 ing of the last few weeks, during which this great subject 
 has been in discussion, if I were not to say that, upon most 
 of the particulars which I have mentioned, if not upon all, 
 there is every disposition among those who may be con- 
 sidered as representing the colonial interests in this House 
 and in this country, to give them a fair, liberal, and candid 
 consideration. 
 
 The immediate question before the House may therefore 
 be narrowed to this point, — whether it is better to enter 
 upon this question in a temper of mind unembittered by 
 the retrospect of past evils and atrocities, and with a chance 
 of carrying with us a degree of consent on the part of 
 those most interested and most exposed to the hazard of 
 injury from any change ; or, at the risk of angry discussions. 
 
whieh, however innoxious in this House, yet, if echoed iti 
 other places, might be attended with the most frightful 
 consequences, to adopt at once the propositions of the 
 honourable gentleman. The question is, whether, upon 
 the declaration of principles now made to the House, the 
 ; honourable gentleman and his friends will be contented with 
 the resolutions which I shall have the honour to propose, 
 or will press his motion to a division, at all the hazards 
 which I would rather leave to be imagined than describe. 
 There is, however, one point in the honourable gentleman's 
 statement upon which I certainly entertain a difference of 
 opinion : I mean, the proposal of fixing a period at which 
 the children of Slaves shall be free. I doubt — not from 
 any peculiar knowledge that I have of the subject, but 
 upon the general principles of human nature — whether the 
 measure recommended by the honourable gentleman would 
 produce the degree of satisfaction which he anticipates, and 
 whether it might not produce feelings of an opposite nature. 
 I doubt whether in its operation it would not prove at once 
 the least efficient and the most hazardous mode of attaining 
 his own object. But I throw out these observations with 
 the same frankness -and candour with which I have ex- 
 pressed myself in approval of those points of the honourable 
 gentleman's proposition* in which I have had the pleasure 
 to concur. I desire not to be bound by these observations 
 any more than I feel myself bound to carry into effect, 
 at all risks, and at all hazards, those points upon which I 
 have given a favourable opinion. I declare openly and 
 sincerely my present impressions, formed after the best 
 deliberation that there has been time to give to the consi- 
 deration of the subject, I trust and believe that I have 
 not spoken positively upon any thing, upon which there is 
 a probability of my having hereafter to retract what I have 
 said. I speak doubtfully on some points, even where the 
 bent of my opinion is very strong : but the one thing I am 
 most anxious to avoid, is the declaration of any pledge of 
 an abstract nature ; the laying down any principle, the 
 construction of which is to be left to those whose feelings 
 
 F 
 
and prejudices and passions must naturally be awake to 
 these discussions, and who, when they learn by a decla- 
 ration of this House, that ** the continuance of Slavery, 
 and the principles of the Christian Religion, are incom- 
 patible," might imagine they saw, in such a declaration, 
 what, I say, in abstract reasoning I have, I think, shewn 
 they would be fairly entitled to see in it, their own imme- 
 diate and unqualified emancipation. Lay down such prin- 
 ciples I say, and those persons would have a right to draw 
 that conclusion ; and when the House had once made such 
 a declaration, the qualification would come too late. 
 
 I am therefore peculiarly desirous that the qualification 
 should be embodied in the same vote which affirms the 
 principle, and that nothing should be left to inference and 
 construction ; that even the hopes held out for the future 
 should be qualified with the doubts, with the delays, and 
 with the difficulties to be surmounted before they can pos- 
 sibly be realized. 
 
 I will now, with the leave of the House, read the 
 Resolutions which I propose to submit to the House for 
 its consideration. 
 
 ** 1st, That it is expedient to adopt feff'ectual, and decisive 
 measures for ameliorating the condition of the Slave popu- 
 lation in his Majesty's Colonies. 
 
 " 2d, That through a determined and persevering, but 
 judicious and temperate, enforcement of such measures, 
 this House looks forward to a progressive improvement in 
 the character of the Slave population, such as may prepare 
 them for a participation in those civil rights and privileges 
 which are enjoyed by other classes of his Majesty's subjects. 
 
 ** 3d, That this House is anxious for the accomplishment 
 of this purpose, at the earliest period that may be compa- 
 tible with the well-being of the Slaves, the safety of the 
 Colonies, and with a fair and equitable consideration of 
 the interests of all parties concerned therein." 
 
 If the House should be inclined to adopt these Resolu- 
 tions, I shall then follow them up with a 
 
 " 4th, That these Resolutions be laid before his Majesty." 
 
85 
 
 There now remains but oue point, which, after having so 
 fully expressed my sentiments to the House, I am pecu- 
 liarly anxious to impress upon its consideration j I mean 
 the mode of execution — the manner in which the Execu- 
 tive Government would have to act in respect of these 
 ; Resolutions, in the event of their adoption. The House 
 is aware, that over certain of the colonies in the West 
 Indies, the Crown exercises immediate power^ without 
 the intervention of any Colonial Legislature. In their 
 case, the agency of the Crown, of course, will be more 
 free and unfettered than in Colonies having their 
 own separate government. At the same time, I must 
 declare, that we have a right to expect from the 
 Colonial Legislatures a full and fair co-operation. And, 
 being as much averse by habit, as I am at this moment 
 precluded by duty, from mooting imaginary points, and 
 looking to the solution of extreme though not impossible 
 questions, I must add, that any resistance which might 
 be manifested to the express and declared wishes of 
 Parliament, any resistance, I mean, which should partake, 
 not of reason, but of contumacy, would create a case (a 
 case, however, which I sincerely trust will never occur) 
 upon which his Majesty's Government would not hesitate 
 to come down to Parliament for counsel. 
 
 I will not further prolong a discussion (which it has 
 been my object to bring to a close) by any general reflec- 
 tions further than this, that giving every credit as I do to 
 the motives which have actuated the honourable gentle- 
 man, I am sure he will feel that it is perfectly consistent 
 with a complete sympathy with his moral feelings, and 
 consistent equally with my duty, that I should look at this 
 subject more practically, more cautiously, and more dis- 
 passionately, and (if the honourable gentleman will permit 
 me to say so much) more prudently than the honourable 
 gentleman ; whose warmth, however, though I must not 
 imitate, I do not mean harshly to blame. 
 
 And further, I would assure those whose interests are 
 involved in this great question, that whatever may be the 
 
result of the present discussion, I and my colleagues are 
 not more anxious, on the one hand, to redeem the character 
 of the country, so far as it may have suffered by the state 
 of Slavery in the Colonies, than we think ourselves bound, 
 on the other, to guard and protect the just interests of 
 those who, by no fault of their own, by inheritance, by 
 accident, by the en<!ouragement of repeated Acts of the 
 -Legislature, find their property vested in a concern 
 exposed to inumerable hazards and difficulties, which do 
 not belong to property of another character; such as, if they 
 had their option (as their ancestors had it), they would 
 doubtless, in most cases, have preferred. If they have 
 stood these hazards, if they have encountered these diffi- 
 culties — and have to stand and encounter them still — 
 we may not be able to secure them against the conse- 
 quences of such a state of things ; but at least we have no 
 right to aggravate the hazards or the difficulties which we 
 cannot relieve. (See Appendix B.) 
 
 The original Resolution was then read by the Speaker, 
 and the question put upon the Amendment. 
 
 Mr. WiLRERFORCE. — Before I enter into any discis- 
 sion of the question before the House, I think it necessary 
 to say a few words in vindication of the line pursued 
 by my honourable friend near me (Mr. F. Buxton) on 
 the present occasion; more particularly with reference to 
 the proposition with which my honourable friend com- 
 menced his speech. My honourable friend addressed 
 himself to a British Parliament, and fully, fairly, and can- 
 didly, told the House what were his real intentions in 
 
 submitting his motion to its consideration, — a gradual but 
 
 ^ tOt«^l extinction of Slavery in the Colonies of this country. 
 With powerful eloquence, and the justest reasoning, 
 my honourable friend appealed to the understandings 
 of honourable Members, and called to their recollection 
 the sound and wholesome principles of the British Con- 
 stitution ; — principles which declared to be objectionable, 
 in the highest degree, the very existence of Slavery. But 
 
37 
 
 it is rather my wish to avoid any useless repetition of 
 points on which there is no dispute ; and to adopt the opi- 
 nions and principles which have already been fully ac- 
 knowledged, and indeed justly respected. 
 
 It is with no little pleasure that I heard my right ho- 
 nourable friend (Mr. Canning) accede to several of the pro- 
 positions made by my honourable friend near me (Mr. Bux- 
 ton). I refer particularly to the abolition of the system 
 of female punishment; the reservation of certain days to 
 the Negroes for labouring on iheir own account ; the dis- 
 continuance of the practice of working on Sundays ; the 
 abolition of the Sunday markets; the abolition of the 
 driving system, or of urging the Field Slaves to their 
 labour by the whip ; and, above all, the introduction and 
 universal establishment of a system of religious instruc- 
 tion, and of the moral reformation of the Slaves, of which 
 marriage was of course to be one of the principal par- 
 ticulars. But I wish my right honourable friend to con- 
 sider, what I think he does not seem suflSciently to bear 
 in mind, in relation to what has been often alleged of the 
 mischiefs likely to arise from the discussions of this ques- 
 tion, that whatever may be the dangers to be apprehended 
 from such discussions, there are yet no dangers so 
 great, or so formidable, as those which must arise from a 
 continuance of the present West-Indian system. And 
 therefore I must assure my right honourable friend, that 
 in directing a superintending and vigilant eye to the state 
 of things in the West Indies, and by endeavouring to 
 apply remedies to the existing grievances, with a fair 
 regard to the interests and well-being of all the parties 
 concerned, he is doing no more than discharging duties 
 powerfully incumbent on him as a Member of the British 
 Legislature, and still more as a Minister of the Crown, 
 and a watchful guardian of the general interests of this 
 Country. And now, Sir, let me say a word or two on my 
 honourable friend's having laid the grounds of his resolu- 
 tion in the principles of the Christian religion. — What 
 could be more reasonable, what more appropriate, in the 
 
38 
 
 Senate of a nation wLich calls itself Christian and ac- 
 knowledges th€(lDivine authopity of the holy Scriptures I 
 Again; let inS*~~retntnd my right honourable friend, 
 and the House, that it was necessary for my honourable 
 ' friend boldly to assert and maintain the rights and pri- 
 vileges of the Black population in the West Indies. At 
 I the same time, I am thoroughly convinced, that there is 
 \ no man more ready than my honourable friend (Mr. Bux- 
 \ ton) fairly to consider the situation in which many of the 
 ^West-Indian proprietors would be placed in the event of 
 the execution of his plans, the eifect of which undoubt- 
 edly would be gradually to extinguish Slavery in the West 
 Indies. I entirely agree with my right honourable friend, 
 in thinking, that nothing would be more unfair than to 
 consider those whose interests are involved in this ques- 
 tion, in any invidious point of view : but surely, on the 
 \\ \ other hand, if we are really desirous of putting an end to 
 y^'^ij.Ch slavery, it is absolutely necessary boldly to state that it is 
 j^ u,o^^^ great and intolerable grievance. ■ ^ ., 
 ^ ^ With respect to the darig.^s which may arise from a 
 
 discussion of these points, I can only state, that my right 
 honourable friend must enter into an investigation of the 
 requisite measures for putting an end to the evils acknow- 
 ledged to exist, with a recollection of the infinite danger 
 which must attend a continuance of the present system 
 of slavery. Many reasons present themselves to my mind 
 why it is far safer to get rid of these evils altogether, than 
 to modify them. But I must remind the House, that, 
 as to the discussion being so dangerous as has been 
 frequently alleged by those who oppose any alteration in the 
 present system, the notion has been in fact contradicted 
 and exploded by theWest-Indians themselves, who from time 
 to time have been in the habit of inserting in their colonial 
 newspapers articles which might be supposed to be of the 
 most dangerous tendency, calculated to inflame the minds 
 of the Black population, and even to tempt them to insur- 
 rection. Now, Sir, this fact, and it is impossible to dis- 
 pute it, is a great encouragement to us in the pre»e^it dis- 
 
3f) 
 
 cussion ; for the House must be now aware, tbat whatever 
 apprehensions concerning the effects, on the minds of the 
 Negro Slaves, of discussions in this House, might be 
 deemed reasonable by individuals resident in this country, 
 yet that these alarms have not been felt in the slightest 
 degree by those resident on the spot, where danger only 
 could arise, and where the probabilities of it might be most 
 justly estimated. There are doubtless, however, dangers 
 great and serious, and even formidable, to be encountered; 
 but they are such as arise out of the state and circumstances 
 of our West-Indian colonies, in relation both to their 
 insular and their continental neighbours ; and on the whole, 
 they are such as on the whole would be lessened rather 
 than augmented by the reforms in the contemplation of my 
 honourable friend. 
 
 I cannot forbear alluding to another point, which 1 
 confess has made a strong impression upon my mind. 
 We have had laid before us " Returns of the Slave / 
 Population of the West-India Islands." 1 do not know \/ 
 whether my right honourable friend is aware of this im- 
 portant circumstance, that there is every reason to believe 
 that, in all the West-India islands, the population has been 
 for some years past, and is at this very time, decreasing. 
 I beg the very particular attention of my right honourable 
 friend to this fact ; and let the House also attend to it, 
 because it will be a sort of specimen of the difficulties 
 we may in future have to encounter. It is an established 
 and well-known fact, that in our West-India islands, the 
 Slaves, though in a climate similar to their own, instead 
 of keeping up their numbers, have for a long series of 
 years been gradually decreasing; and though the decrease 
 has been gradually lessening, yet these Returns clearly 
 shew that it still continues. This decrease is the more 
 extraordinary, because the Negro race is found to have 
 greatly increased its numbers in every other country, 
 even in the, to them, uncongenial climate of North 
 America. The causes to which the Abolitionists chiefly 
 referred this deviation from the ordinary course of nature. 
 
40 
 
 this exclusion from the benefit of the fundamental law of 
 nature established by the Almighty on the first formation 
 of man, *' Increase and multiply," were over-working, 
 under-feeding-, and licentiousness. 
 
 The West-Indians themselves, though acknowledging 
 that the general licentiousness operated powerfully in pro- 
 ducing this effect, ascribed the decrease of the Black 
 population chiefly to the numerical disproportion of the 
 sexes, the number of the women, they alleged, being greatly 
 inferior to that of the men. We acknowledged, indeed, 
 that, of the original importations, the greater proportion of 
 almost every one consisted of men. But we maintained, 
 that in almost all our islands, more especially in the two 
 greatest, Jamaica, and still moreBarbadoes, as the numbers 
 born of the two sexes would only shew the ordinary small 
 deviation from a complete equality, the inequality arising 
 from the importations must long ago have ceased to exist. 
 The West-Indians, however, went on contending for a large 
 inferiority of number in the women, assigning in a great 
 degree to this the strange phenomenon that the Slaves 
 diminished, and thereby negativing the operation of those 
 circumstances in their treatment to which we ascribed 
 the diminution. At length, however, the establishment 
 of a Registry gave us a nearer approximation than ever 
 before to the real numbers of the Slaves ; and then what. 
 Sir, was proved to be the real fact ? That in every one of 
 the West-India islands, so far was it from being true 
 that it was this alleged disproportion which prevented the 
 increase of the Negroes, there has been in truth no such 
 disproportion existing ; and that in fact in all our islands, 
 except the lately settled island Trinidad, the women 
 are in greater numbers than the men. As the whole 
 population is made up of that of the different estates and 
 families of domestic slaves, and as every owner had an 
 accurate account of the number of his own, it is very sur- 
 prising, indeed quite unaccountable, how the hypothesis, 
 universally prevalent and enforced on us, could be believed; 
 and yet such was the account invariably given to us. Let this 
 
^ 
 
 41 
 
 then be a proof tliat we ought not to trust implicitly i<> 
 the accuracy of the statements received from the West 
 Indies. But the important inference to be drawn front 
 the decrease of the Slaves, even under the circumstance 
 
 yof an equality of the sexes, is, tjiat we must find the mean^v 
 of encouraging the natural increase of the Negroes, or that \^ 
 the Planters will lie under the strongest temptations to resort y^ 
 once more to the old source of the Slave Trade, carrying ^ 
 it on illicitly. Something must be done, to effect an// 
 entire reformation in the system, not merely with a view 
 to justice, and humanity, but also to sound policy: for 
 however this country may be determined not to permit the 
 recommencement of such a traffic, the temptation to renew 
 it, which the deficiency of Slaves would hold out, would 
 he too much for human nature, at least for human nature 
 in the West Indies. The Register Bills that have been 
 enacted by the different Colonial Assemblies, are altogether 
 inadequate to their effect. I freely confess that I cannot 
 depend upon them for producing the desired effect of pre- 
 venting the illicit importation of Negroes ; and let any one 
 who may have any. doubt on this head, remember what 
 was fo£*merly stated by the Colonial Assemblies themselves,' 
 that if the Abolition Law should be passed, it would be 
 practically impossible to enforce it. 
 
 There are only two other matters on which I am anxious 
 ia say a few words. First, I entirely concur with my right 
 honourable friend in thinking, that it is highly to be wished 
 that the conversion of the Slaves into a free peasantry should 
 rather be the gradual effect of tlie operation of moral causes, 
 than that it should be suddenly effected by an Act of Parlia- 
 ment. But he will allow me also to tell him, and to tell ] 
 the House, that when we consider the claims of these 
 unhappy people, and the time that has been already lost -^ 
 in accomplishuig this great and high duty, we ought not 
 to prolong their slavery an hour longer than is absolutely 
 necessary, with a view to their own benefit, as well as to y^ 
 the interests of other parties. I believe most sincerely / 
 that any reform which should convert the Slaves into a free 
 
 G 
 
42 
 
 peasantry would be no less advantageous to the planters 
 themselves than to those who are at present in bondage to 
 them. Still it is deserving of serious consideration, whether 
 it would be either wise, or just, or prudent, to leave to time 
 the emancipation of the Slaves, allowing it to become 
 general merely by the operation of principles such as have 
 been alluded to ; or whether it would not be fit to adopt 
 something like the plan recommended about thirty years 
 ago by the late Lord Melville, and which, if carried 
 into effect, would have left at this time scarcely a single 
 Slave in the whole of our AVest-lndian possessions. I 
 cannot reflect that this plan was not carried into effect, 
 -without deep concern. But there is another point of 
 extreme importance on which practically all parties ought 
 to agree. It is, whether the improving of the condition of 
 the Negroes ought to be the work of the British Parliament, 
 or whether it ought to be left to the Colonial Legislatures 1 
 For myself, I frankly confess, that if the Colonial Legis-? 
 latures would make the reform, I should greatly prefer it. 
 But how is it possible for me to expect that they will do 
 it 1 Have we not large experience on this head ; and does 
 not all our experience shew, that they will not do their 
 duty 1 Do we not remember that, from the first moment 
 when any proceedings were commenced for the ame- 
 lioration of the condition of the Slaves, the Colonial 
 Legislatures invariably opposed every endeavour of the 
 kind? There were no consequences so fatal, no injuries 
 80 great, that were not in the first instance predicted aa 
 certain to be the effect of any interference, even to 
 lessen the horrors of the Middle Passage ; by which, it may 
 be now pecessary to state, was meant the conveyance 
 of the wretched victims from Africa to the West Indies, 
 Let me also call to the recollection of the House, that such 
 was the case, not only when propositions of the kind 
 came from persons who might be looked upon as obnoxious 
 to the West Indians, or likely to be suspected by them, 
 but when they were brought forward by individuals most 
 ^respeptablg from their rank and fortune, and character. 
 
•4S 
 
 and who had long been regarded by the planters wltK 
 favour, as decidedly partial to their cause. In 1797, 
 an honourable gentleman now sitting opposite to m^ 
 (Mr. C. Ellis), who had shewed a disinterested spirit 
 of benevolence towards the Negroes on his own properties, 
 wished to prevail on the Colonists to adopt some general 
 reforms. The personal efforts he had used, and the sacri- 
 fices he had made, were a testimony of his unquestionable 
 sincerity. He was desirous of introducing a reform, that, 
 if carried into execution, he hoped might have had the 
 happiest results. But he v/ished his reform to be patronised 
 and carried into effect by the Legislatures of the West 
 Indies. The consequence was, that all his exertions were 
 ineffectual ; and that though his application was enforced 
 by the most powerful of all pleas, viz. that, if they did 
 not reform the system themselves, the British Parliament 
 •would infallibly pass the much dreaded Abolition Law, yet 
 even with this enforcement, the Colonial Assemblies would 
 do nothing. Again ; it is not to be forgotten, that Mr. 
 Bryan Edwards, the historian of the West Indies, and 
 one of their chief champions, himself suggested the 
 reform of one of the greatest practical grievances of the 
 West Indies, viz. that of the Slaves being liable to be 
 seized, and separately and even singly sold for the payment 
 of their master's debts ; and also the abolition of th6 Sun- 
 day market. He stated, that it was only necessary for 
 the former of these objects to repeal a particular law of 
 George II. We yielded most gladly to what he recommend- 
 ed. The law that stood in the way of this improvement was 
 repealed accordingly. But to this day not one of the thirteen 
 Colonial Assemblies has verified Mr. Edwards's prediction, 
 that, so soon as they should be able, they Would redress 
 this crying grievance. Nothing whatever has been done, 
 and the evil still remains in all its force. Will my right 
 honourable friend then say, that he thinks such reforms as 
 are necessary will be fairly and practically attempted by 
 the Assemblies of the islands 1 Can he think it pos- 
 sible that they will I I know my right honourable friend'$ ' 
 
44 
 
 talents and principles so ^vell, that I am willing to believer 
 lie will not suffer himself to be imposed upon in this re- 
 spect. But let him beware ; for if he does rely on them, 
 ^Lhc- will assuredly be disappointed. And, let it never 
 jHbie forgotten, as Sir Samuel Romilly used to exclaim, 
 Ihese poor Negroes, destitute, miserable, unfriended^ 
 degraded as they are, are nevertheless his Majesty's liege 
 \ subjects, and are entitled to as much — aye, let me remind 
 j^my right honourable friend, by the principles of our holy 
 ^J(^f''^rehgion, t^ more— of the protection of the B ritish C onsti- 
 ^^^ I tution^j^twtnrsrifelig^are deserted, destitute, and degrad^^ 
 f J ed'r On thisYery account, they have a peculiar claim to 
 ^\ //>^ttr sympathy and protection. The great and the power- 
 r 4, ful, the noble and the affluent, ought to feel it their special 
 duty to extend their aid to the weak, the helpless, and the 
 oppressed. The object, I trust, will be accomplished in 
 I one way or another: Slavery is a great moral evil, and a 
 great physical suffering; and I trust that, ere long, means 
 >vill be found to put an end to it. It is impossible, in the 
 present state of the world, and with all the knowledge that 
 has broken in upon us, to suppose that Slavery can exist 
 much longer. 
 
 I do not wish to enter into any invidious topics ; though 
 I confess my right honourable friend almost tempted me 
 to do so, when he took upon himself to compare the state 
 of the Slaves of antiquity with the condition of the Slaves 
 in the West Indies. Let me remind him at least of one 
 difference between the two : that among the ancients it 
 was not in general difficult for the Slave, by his industry 
 or by his good conduct, to obtain his emancipation in a 
 few years ; but we all know the extreme difficulty of doing 
 so in the West Indies : we all know how in fact, of late^ 
 obstacles have been thrown in the way of individual 
 manumissions. But upon this point I do not wish at this 
 time to go into any unnecessary discussion. I will only,^ 
 therefore, in conclusion, remind the House and my right 
 honourable friend, that the grand point to be kept in mind 
 i^, that the great changes that are contemplated, and tha 
 
45 
 
 benefits resulting from them, mnst not only he recom- 
 mended strongly to the Colonial Assemblies ; but the Go- 
 vernment at home must see them carried into effect. It 
 is a part of the duty of Government to see that what is 
 held out in the resolutions is in truth performed. I do 
 i)ot wish to state what is invidious; but it is necessary that 
 something should be mentioned on this head, because I 
 must say, without reserve, that hitherto neither Govern- 
 ment nor Parliament itself has done its duty. 
 
 On the whole, I congratulate my honourable friend 
 (Mr. F. Buxton) on the degree of success which has thus 
 far attended his motion. He has made his appeal to the 
 House and to the Country ; and that appeal has not only 
 been heard with attention, but has created the most 
 general and lively interest. Let us hope and trust that 
 my right honourable friend will pursue his course, the 
 course he has declared that he will pursue ; and that the 
 benefits he wishes to be communicated to these unhappy 
 beings may, in fact and practically, be secured to them^^ 
 After all that my right honourable friend has conceded, 
 I know not what my honourable friend proposes to do 
 as to the motion he has made; but it may be observed, 
 that we now stand in a perfectly new situation, entirely 
 difl^erent from that in which we stood at the time of our 
 entering the House, and when the motion was brought 
 forward. Let it be remembered, that we have now an 
 acknowledgment on the part of Government that the 
 grievances of which we complain do exist, and that a 
 remedy ought to be applied. We have also the assurance 
 that a remedy shall be applied. This state of things must 
 give the utmost satisfaction to my honourable friend, and 
 to all those who feel interested in the success of his ob- 
 ject ; and under these circumstances, I will no longer 
 detain the House, than by expressing my confidence that 
 we shall this night lay the foundation of what will ulti- 
 mately prove a great and glorious superstructure. 
 
 Mr. Ellis. — There is something so fascinating in the pe- 
 
4(t 
 
 r^oliar cliaracter of the eloquence of the honourable gentle-*^ 
 man who has just sat down, the topics also on which he ha^^ 
 /dwelt in his speech are calculated to appeal so forcibly to 
 / all the best feelings of his hearers, that it requires no or- 
 / dinary effort to rise in opposition to him on such a subject. 
 ^^But though I am sufficiently conscious of this disadvantage, 
 and of the still greater disadvantage of my own insuffi- 
 ciency, 1 feel myself called upon by a yet stronger sense 
 of duty towards the class of persons to which I belong, 
 -whose interests are deeply implicated in this question, 
 to stand up in support of their rights and in vindication 
 of their characters. For, notwithstanding the declaration 
 •with which the honourable gentleman who made this mo- 
 tion commenced his speech, I must take the liberty of 
 saying, that he did not very cautiously abstain from im- 
 putations of no light or uninvidious character; and I 
 trust, therefore, that the motive which impels me thus to 
 claim the indulgence of the House will induce them not 
 to withhold it. 
 
 In standing up, as I do, on behalf of the planters of 
 the West Indies, and as one of that body, I beg not to 
 he considered as the champion of Slavery. As a West- 
 India planter, I do not hold myself in any degree respon- 
 sible for the establishment of that system The planters of 
 the present generation, most of them at least, found them- 
 selves, by inheritance, or by other accidental causes, in 
 possession of property the fruit of the industry of their 
 ancestors or other predecessors, and of capital vested in 
 the West Indies by them, under the sanction of the Go- 
 vernment and of the Parliament of this countr}', through 
 their encouragement, and in reliance on their good faith. 
 Thus circumstanced, — their own property, and that of their 
 nearest connexions, intimately bound up with, and de- 
 pendent upon, the existence of the scheme of society 
 established in the Colonies, — what were the duties which 
 these circumstances imposed upon them? I conceive 
 them to have been — to administer that system with libe- 
 rality — to exercise the power placed in tbeir hands willi 
 
4» 
 
 lenity and Mmantfy ;--in a word, to do all that depended 
 «n them, consistently with their own safety and the se- 
 curity of their property, to mitigate and progressively 
 to improve the condition of the Negroes. If they have 
 failed m these duties, they have incurred a fearful respon- 
 JBibility; and to a higher Tribunal than this House. But 
 for the establishment of Slavery, for the inherent vice of 
 the system, for that original sin, they are not responsible: 
 the responsibility attaches upon the Government who 
 framed the system, and upon the Parliaments which have 
 repeatedly sanctioned it, and who framed and have up- 
 held it, for views of British policy. For be it remem- 
 bered always, in treating this question, that our colonial 
 system was not establi-shed for the sake of the Colo- 
 nies, but for the encouragement of British commerce 
 and manufactures ; for the purpose, to use the words 
 of the Navigation Act, *' of rendering his Majesty's 
 Plantations beyond seas beneficial and advantageous to 
 this kingdom, in the employment of English ships and 
 English seamen." It is the same with respect to the Slave 
 Trade. The Slave Trade, in its origin, had no reference 
 to our Colonies : there are on record Slave-trade voyages, 
 anterior to the period of our possession of the West-India 
 Colonies : it has been carried on for its own sake, and in or- 
 der to supply foreign countries withSlaves ; and the British 
 Parliament has invariably treated it as a part of that system 
 of navigation and commerce upon which our naval power 
 mainly rested, and with which the interests of the Colonies 
 were connected only as secondary and subservient, and as 
 being instrumental to the support of those great paramount 
 British objects. Parliament, for nearly a century and a half, 
 encouraged, watched over, and regulated that trade, not as 
 was the case from the period when the honourable Member 
 for Bramber undertook the subject for purposes of mercy 
 towards the unhappy victims of it, but for the purpose of 
 securing to British subjects the exclusive profits of the 
 traffic, and in order to render it, under our navigation 
 fews, one of the means of our maritime ytrongth. Pariia- 
 
48 
 
 mont enacted, tliat no Slave ships should be admitted into 
 ©iir Colonies but from British ports ; that they should be 
 British built, and navigated by three fourths British sea- 
 men. Let not Parliament then suppose, tliat it can throw 
 off from itself, and fix upon the planters in the Colonies 
 the responsibility for this long course of crime. The 
 planters, even if they can be considered as participators in 
 the crime of the Slave Trade, must be acknowledged to 
 liave been seduced into it by the mother country. For the 
 establishment of Slavery, therefore, they are in no degree 
 responsible : it was exclusively the work of the Govern- 
 ment and Parliament of Great Britain ; and whatever may 
 be the sacrifice involved in a due atonement for it, they are 
 bound to take it upon tliemselves. They have no right to 
 inflict it upon the Colonies. 
 
 It is admitted, on the part of those who bring forward 
 this proposition, or at least it has been declared, that it is 
 not their intention to injure or destroy the property of the 
 planters. All they ask is, the fair protection promised 
 under the faith of Parliament : Parliament is bound to fulfil 
 its duty equally to both parties — to the Slaves and to the 
 Planters. We are bound not to allow a natural propensity 
 to indulge an amiable feeling of humanity, to lead us away 
 from the discharge, however irksome or inconvenient, of 
 the obligations of justice : still less should we be warranted 
 in permitting[an intemperate zeal, in the performance of the 
 one duty, to lead us into a course which would produce 
 the violation of both of them. The force of this obliga^ 
 tion has been fully admitted by the honourable gentleman 
 on the other side, and especially by the honourable Member 
 for Bramber, in the speech in which he called the attention 
 of the House to the subject early in the present session • 
 Le then admitted, that we had not a right *' to pay a debt 
 of African humanity with West-Indian property." (See 
 Appendix C.) All I ask of him, and of the House, is the 
 equal performance of these duties: I would even be con^ 
 lent to rest the decision of this question, and my whole 
 argument on behalf of tl^e West- India planters, on the» 
 
49 
 
 fjjiir fulfilment of one of them ; namely, the duty which this 
 country owes to the Negroes. I entreat the House to 
 recollect that liberty, though the greatest of all politi- 
 cal blessings, is a blessing capable of being abused, 
 if conferred on persons not fitted to receive it; and 
 abused to the injury of those very persons upon whom it 
 is bestowed. If the result of emancipation were to be, 
 as at this moment it would probably be in Jamaica, or in 
 apy other of the islands, where there are the means of 
 subsistence in the mountains abundantly sufficient for all 
 the wants of savage life, and when there would exist no 
 stimulus to labour but such as arises from the artificial 
 wants of civilized society ; if the result were to be, that 
 the Negroes on their emancipation were to betake them- 
 selves to the mountains — to revert to their former habits 
 of savage life — if, forgetting the doctrines and truths of 
 Christianity as yet but recently and imperfectly inculcated, 
 they were to relapse into their former superstition — 
 if, abandoning the habits of peaceful industry, they were 
 to have recourse to plunder and violence for subsistence ; 
 U such were to be the result of emancipation, let me 
 ask whether we should have performed our duty towards 
 the Negroes. 
 f I conceive our duty to be very different — to be more 
 difficult and more complicated. T conceive it to be — so 
 to prepare them, by religious instruction, by the gradual 
 acquisition of civil rights, and by the habits of civilized 
 life, that the influence of those habits may be substituted 
 for the authority of the master whenever that authority 
 shall be withdrawn ; that they may become honest, peace- 
 able, moral, and industrious members of a free society, 
 and that the transition may take place without a convul- 
 sion. In a word, I conceive the only means of making 
 atonement for the original crime of the Slave Trade, and 
 the establishment of Slavery, to be, through the benefits 
 which we may thus confer on the progeny of those upon 
 i^hom we inflicted the original injury. 
 
 It is, because, in my opinion, the resolutions proposed 
 
 H 
 
50 
 
 by the honourable Member would not have the magic 
 power of effecting this object — because, I think, the con- 
 sequence of adopting them must inevitably be to produce 
 results in direct opposition to the purpose which I have 
 no doubt the honourable gentleman and his friends have 
 in view — because I am satisfied that the resolutions, if 
 passed, would operate lil^e a proclamation of enfranchise- 
 ment — because the declaration that their liberty had been 
 withheld from them, contrary to the principles of Chris- 
 tianity and the British Constitution, could not fail to be 
 considered by the Slaves as an admission of their right to 
 assert their liberty by whatever means of violence might 
 be in their power, that I must protest against this work 
 being undertaken by this House. If this House were to 
 resort to compulsory enactments, producing resistance on 
 the part of the Colonies, whether their resistance should 
 arise from unreasonable apprehensions, or our enactments 
 should originate in ignorance of the feelings and habits 
 of the inhabitants of the West Indies ; whichever party 
 might be in the wrong, it matters not : if you were to hold 
 up to the Negroes the spectacle of the British Parliament 
 legislating in their favour, and the Colonial Assemblies 
 resisting the benevolent intentions of Parliament ; would 
 not the Negroes consider the British Parliament as their 
 benefactors, and the Colonial Assemblies as their op- 
 pressors ? And could the existence of such a feeling be by 
 possibility consistent with contentment, or long even with 
 submission 't 
 
 I conceive that it is not fair or just to say, with the 
 honourable Member who spoke last, that the House is 
 driven to this extremity because the Colonial Legislatures 
 proceed so slowly in the work of amelioration. I beg the 
 honourable gentleman and the House to reflect what has 
 been the rate of progress by which the peasantry of Eu- 
 rope have arrived at their present condition from their 
 former state of villeinage ; how large a portion of Europe 
 is, even at this moment, inhabited by a population which, 
 if somewhat raised in the scale of society above the Ne- 
 
51 
 
 groes of the West Indies, are scarcely in a less degree 
 depressed below the state of freedom which is enjoyed by 
 the subjects of the Crown of Great Britain. It is there- 
 fore only fair to consider how far a slow progress may be 
 Essential to a peaceable transition from slavery to free- 
 dom, at all times and in all countries; and we must not 
 forget how much the difficulties are complicated and in- 
 creased, and the dangers augmented, I should say, almost 
 incalculably, in the case of our Colonies, by the dif- 
 ference of colour — by the feelings and prejudices asso- 
 ciated with that distinction — by the overpowering numbers 
 and physical force of the Slave population as compared 
 with the White inhabitants of the colonies — and by the 
 great political power which must of necessity be con- 
 veyed by an equal participation in all the civil rights which 
 are enjoyed by British subjects under our free constitution. 
 
 After taking into account all these considerations, and 
 giving due weight to the complications introduced into 
 the question, by the fears of the one party, and the 
 claims of the other, we shall find that this is a problem, 
 perhaps, of more difficult solution than any that was ever 
 submitted to the legislature of any country. It is only 
 by looking fairly at this difficulty, that we can judge the 
 right which we have to charge the colonial legislatures with 
 being culpably slow in the progress which they have made. 
 (See Appendix D.) 
 
 Perhaps I might be justified in resting their defence 
 solely upon these general grounds ; but as reference has 
 been made by the honourable Member who spoke last to 
 an Address adopted by the House, on a motion which I 
 had the honour to make in 1797, and as he has taken 
 occasion to reproach the Assemblies of the islands with 
 having paid little attention to the appeal then made to 
 them, I feel myself rather personally called upon to 
 advert somewhat more particularly to this part of the sub- 
 ject. I will frankly admit that the sanguine expectations 
 in which I at that time indulged (1 was then a very 
 young man) have not been altogether realized : I admit 
 
52 
 
 that 1 think more might and ought to have beeii done : 
 I believe that more may, and I trust will be done by the 
 Colonial Legislatures, when applied to, as there is reason 
 fo believe they will now be applied to, by the Government 
 at home. 
 
 But while 1 make these admissions, I trust I may be 
 allowed to state, on the other hand, that it is not quite 
 fair to say nothing has been done by the Colonial Legis- 
 latures ; and that much of the reproach which has been 
 cast upon them has been unmerited. Li confirmation of 
 this assertion, I beg leave to notice some of the enact- 
 ments which have been passed in the Assembly of Jamaica, 
 with a view to the improvement of the condition of the 
 Negroes. I am sorry to trouble the House by going into 
 these details ; but after the appeal which has been made 
 to me, and after the reproaches to which I have referred, 
 deeply implicating the characters of most respectable per- 
 sons, I feel that I am in a manner compelled to enter int6 
 them. In the same year in which the Address which I 
 have mentioned was voted by this House, in 1797, art 
 Act was passed by the Assembly of Jamaica, with a view of 
 promoting the religious instruction of the Negroes, and of 
 affording further encouragement to respectable clergymen 
 to establish themselves in Jamaica. In this Act it was 
 made part of the duty of the curates and rectors of every 
 parish to attend for a certain time on every Sunday in 
 their churches, for the purpose of affording religious in- 
 struction to the Negroes or Persons of Colour who might 
 be disposed to receive it. A fund was at the same time 
 established for the maintenance of the widows of the 
 deceased clergy. In the years 1801, 1807, 1809, and 
 1816, the consolidated Slave Laws were passed, forming 
 a consecutive series of revisions of the Slave Laws from 
 1787 ; each revised law containing new regulations in 
 favour of the Negroes. In the last law, passed in 1816, 
 some clauses were inserted specially for the purpose of 
 meeting some of the objections urged in this country 
 against the colonial codes : one of them furnishing new 
 
53 
 
 Ikcilities to manumission by will, and providing protection 
 for any Negroes detained in any jail or workhonse, alleg- 
 ing themselves to be free ; and making it imperative upon 
 the senior magistrate to summon a special session for the 
 investigation of such allegation. 
 
 This last revision of the Slave Laws was preceded by a 
 Committee of the House of Assembly, who made a long 
 and elaborate Report, in which they recommended. First, 
 the prohibition of the sale of Slaves under writs of vendi- 
 tioni exponas ; next, the prohibiting the purchase of 
 Slaves by middle-men, — a very improper practice, and one 
 which certainly required a remedy ; and, thirdly, the 
 enlarging of the powers of vestries as a council of pro- 
 tection, and the placing under their care the cases of all 
 Negroes who might have cause of complaint against their 
 masters. The two last of these recommendations were 
 adopted by the Assembly. The first of them was taken 
 into consideration by the House, with every disposition to 
 amend the law ; but it was found to involve difficulties that 
 had not been foreseen by the Committee — difficulties of 
 alegal character, which the Assembly were not able to sur- 
 mount. The Committee had also taken into their considera- 
 tion the question of attaching the Negroes to the soil. 
 The difficulties attending the enactment of a law of this 
 nature are stated fully in their Report. The objections 
 were such as either had reference to the inconveniences 
 which might result from it in point of law, or to the hardship 
 which the Negroes themselves might occasionally suffer, 
 from being attached to a barren and unproductive spoti 
 With respect to the enactment of this law, and the repeal 
 of that of venditioni exponas^ I have only to say, that if 
 the honourable gentleman can obtain a solution of the 
 legal difficulties from his Majesty's Attorney-General, or 
 from the noble lord who presides in the court of Chancery; 
 and, if the inconveniences affecting the Negroes them- 
 selves cannot be obviated ; I think I may venture to say, 
 no objections will be made of any other character — certainly 
 
54 
 
 none on the part of the West-India Planters, connected 
 with their own immediate interests. (See Appendix E.) 
 
 But this is not all that has been done by the Assembly, 
 In 1817, a Law was also passed to make it imperative on 
 every overseer or manager of an estate to give informa- 
 tion to the coroner of the death of any Slave who may 
 die otherwise than according to the common course 
 of nature. In 1816, also, an Act was passed for the 
 appointment of a curate in each parish with a salary of 
 300/. for the purpose of promoting the religious instruction 
 of the Slaves. It was notified to the Assembly that this 
 provision of 300/. currency (something more than 200/. 
 sterling) was inadequate. The Assembly did not say, as 
 they might have done, that the sum so provided was more 
 than double the amount of the generality of curacies in 
 this country, and even equal to the amount of many 
 livings ; but with great liberality they immediately in- 
 creased the salary to 500/. currency. 
 
 If gentlemen should say, as has been not uufrequently 
 the practice, that these enactments are a dead letter, I 
 must beg leave most positively to deny the truth of such 
 an allegation ; and I appeal to the general improvementwhich 
 has, as I understand, taken place in the condition of the 
 Black population, in proof of the correctness of my assertion. 
 In 1805, when I was myself in Jamaica, the treatment of 
 the Slaves, I can venture to assert from my own observa- 
 tions, was such as reflected credit on the liberality and 
 humanity of their masters ; and I have been informed, 
 and from authority which I cannot doubt, that since that 
 period a further and very considerable improvement has 
 taken place both in the habits and behaviourof the Negroes, 
 and in their treatment by the White inhabitants. Since 
 that period also, nearly the whole Negro population of 
 Jamaica have been baptized ; and I am further informed, 
 that in many districts marriages have become very frequent 
 among them. I do not state these improvements, as 
 claiming any great credit on behalf of the Legislature of 
 
55 
 
 Jamaica ; but I think I am justitied in saying, that they 
 boar me out in the assertion, that a general and progres- 
 sive improvement has been, and is still, going on in that 
 country. (See Appendix F.) 
 
 With respect to many of the regulations alluded to by 
 the honourable gentleman who opened this debate, I be- 
 lieve that no objection will be offered on the part of the 
 planters in the West Indies. For instance, as to the re- 
 gulation for securing to the Negro by law, that property 
 which he now possesses through custom only, I think I 
 can venture to say, there will not be made the slightest 
 objection. With regard also to a point which has been 
 made the subject of great reproach — I mean what is com- 
 monly termed the driving system — I must beg leave to say, 
 I do not believe, however confidently it may have been 
 asserted, that the whip is used as a stimulant to labour. 
 I believe it will be found that the whip is generally placed 
 in the hands of the driver — who is always a confidential 
 Negro— more as a badge of authority, than as an instru. 
 ment of coercion. I admit, that it may be — as the 
 appellation denotes — the remnant of a barbarous custom. 
 But it is, in fact, considered at present only as a symbol of 
 ofiice. (See Appendix G.) It is not, however, of import- 
 ance now to discuss this point ; for I am persuaded the 
 planters will make no objection whatever to the prohibition 
 by law of its use for either purpose. 
 
 With respect to another practice, the indecent punish- 
 ment of females with the whip, there can be no doubt as 
 to the propriety of passing a law for its prohibition. With 
 regard to the abolition of Sunday markets, and the afford- 
 ing equivalent tim^ to the Negroes to work on their own 
 account, I have no hesitation in saying, that the planters 
 would readily agree to such a proposition, provided that 
 the means of employing the time so given up to the Ne- 
 groes, in religious instruction, can, as I trust it will, be 
 afforded. (See Appendix H.) — With respect to some other 
 points adverted to by the honourable Member, I fear se- 
 rious objections, and greater practical difficulties than he is 
 
5G 
 
 himself aware of, may be found to exist. I have, how- 
 ever, no doubt, but that the West-India planters will con- 
 sent to every fair and reasonable proposal for the improve- 
 ment of the condition of the Slaves. But gentlemen 
 must not be surprised if modifications of detail, which 
 may not have occurred to them, should be found essential 
 to the safe or beneficial adoption of such improvements in 
 the colonies. It is with great reluctance that I trouble 
 the House by going into these details ; but there is another 
 point on which so much stress has been laid, that I cannot 
 pass it over. Much obloquy has been cast upon the colonies 
 on account of the general inattention paid to religious 
 •duties in those countries, and the licentious habits both of 
 the Black and White inhabitants. Xam far from meaning 
 to be the apologist of such a state of manners ; but I must 
 beg it to be recollected, that, among other paramount rights 
 which the mother country has retained, she has included 
 that of the superintendance and patronage of the Church 
 Establishment in the colonies. She has undertaken to pro- 
 vide them with religious instruction ; she has placed the 
 clergy nnder the jurisdiction of an English bishop ; and 
 she has given to the Governor of each colony, who is ap- 
 pointed by the Crown, the nomination of all the livings. 
 The sole and single duty left to the colonies is the charge 
 of providing salaries for the clergy. If that duty has been 
 discharged by them with a degree of liberality which sets 
 all reproach at defiance ; — if that very liberality has ope- 
 rated as a temptation to the abuse of the patronage so 
 reserved by this country ; — if clergymen have been select- 
 ed with less regard to their fitness for the due performance 
 of their religious duties than to their need of the large 
 profits of the livings ; and if the clergy, so appointed, did 
 not pay that attention to the moral and religious instruc- 
 tion of the Negroes which they ought to have done, and 
 which all admit to be so desirable ; if they have not ob- 
 tained that influence over, and that respect from, the White 
 inhabitants of the colonies, which belongs to their sacred 
 character, I ask where does the responsibility attac/h for 
 
57 
 
 the bad state of morals of a society so neglected, as to 
 that point upon which the morality of all society must de- 
 pend .' (See Appendix I.) I do not mean to insinuate, 
 that such complaints can be truly urged against the clergy 
 in the colonies at the present moment: I believe, on the 
 contrary, that the church patronage, in the isjand of Ja- 
 maica at least, is judiciously bestowed by the noble Duke 
 at the head of the government there ; and 1 beg leave to 
 offer to the right reverend prelate, under whom the clergy 
 are at present placed, the humble tribute of my gratitude 
 for the zeal and interest which he has shewn in furthering 
 the religious instruction of the Slaves. But the present 
 state of morals and manners in the West Indies, is the 
 fruit of seed sown long ago, and not easily nor speedily 
 to be eradicated. Be the responsibility, however, as to 
 the cause, where it may, the duty of remedying the evil, 
 I agree, is not the less urgent. But that remedy is not 
 to be found in the emancipation of the Negroes. No 
 mode of arguing can be more fallacious, nor, I must take 
 the liberty of saying, more unfair, than to cite the bad state 
 of morals in the West Indies, as a reason for the enfran- 
 chisement of the Slaves. It may be an argument ad invi' 
 diam, a powerful means of exciting feelings prejudicial to 
 the inhabitants of the colonies, but it can be no reason for 
 emancipation. Emancipation is not the only, nor the 
 best remedy — as that argument would imply — the best, and, 
 I will venture to say, the only remedy for the present state 
 of morals in the colonies, is the influence of religion. 
 Emancipation, I contend, has not, per se, any tendency 
 to remedy the evil. The utmost state of moral licentious- 
 ness, we all know, is compatible with the utmost degree of 
 political freedom. And freedom, if given to the Negroes 
 before they are fitted to receive it, would only confirm and 
 aggravate the evil. (See Appendix K.) We must there- 
 fore look to another course. The only course, as I con- 
 ceive, consistent alike with the duties of real humanity 
 towards the Negroes, and of justice towards the proprie- 
 tors in the colonies, is that recommended in the Besolu- 
 
 I 
 
58 
 
 tions of my right honourable friend. Tn pursuing thai 
 course, the Government are entitled to the fair and honest 
 co-operation of the West Indians in this country, and in 
 the colonies; and I trust that the confidence which will be 
 inspired by the able and statesmanlike manner in which my 
 right honourable friend has treated this question, will en- 
 sure the application to the Colonists not being made in vain. 
 Time was, when I should have hazarded the anticipation 
 that such a course would have also met with the approba- 
 tion of honourable gentlemen most particularly interested 
 in favour of the Africans. That course is indeed pointed 
 out and described with equal distinctness and eloquence, 
 by a writer supposed to be the organ of their sentiments ; 
 and an authority to which I am particularly glad to be able 
 to appeal, as not being liable to the suspicion of any undue 
 partiality to the West-Indians. In describing the views 
 of the Abolitionists, in respect to the future emancipation 
 of the Negroes, he says, — " They did not aim at an eman- 
 cipation to be effected by insurrection in the West In- 
 dies, or to be ordained precipitately by positive law : but 
 they never denied, and scrupled not to avow, that they 
 did look forward to a future extinction of Slavery in the 
 colonies^ to be accomplished hy the same happy means 
 which formerly put an end to it in England; namely, by 
 a benign, though insensible, revolution in opinions and 
 manners, by the encouragement of particular manumis- 
 sions, and the progressive melioration of the condition of 
 the Slaves, till it should slide insensibly into general free- 
 dom. They looked, in short, to an emancipation, of 
 which not the Slaves, but the masters, should be the will- 
 ing instruments or authors." p. 8. 
 
 The writer then goes on to describe the particular mode 
 in which the extinction of Slavery was accomplished in 
 England. 
 
 *' In England, if it be asked what cause most power- 
 fully contributed to the dissolution of the degrading bon- 
 dage of our ancestors, the answer must clearly be. The 
 extreme favour shewn to individual enfranchisements by 
 
5^ 
 
 tlie judges and the laws. That baneful growth of foreign 
 conquest, or early barbarism, villeinage, had nearly over- 
 spread the whole field now covered with the most glorious 
 harvest of liberty and social happiness that ever earth pro- 
 duced, and where not one specimen of the noxious weed 
 remains ; yet it was not ploughed up hy revolution, or 
 mown down by the scythe of a Legislative Abolition, but 
 was plucked up, stalh hy stalk, by the progressive hand 
 o^ private and voluntary enfranchisement. Slavery ceased 
 in England only because the last Slave at length obtained 
 his manumission, or died without a child.'' p. 40. 
 
 I would recommend this text to my right honourable 
 friend and his colleagues for their guidance, in the prose- 
 cution of the great work which they have now undertaken. 
 He will find it in the eighth and the fortieth pages of the 
 Report of the African Institution, published in the year 
 1815. 1 will only add, that to the extinction of Slavery, so 
 to be accomplished — namely, '*by the same happy means as 
 in England," with the same regard to private property, and 
 a similar mainftenance of lite public tranquillity,^ — I not only 
 have no objection to offer, but, with such limited means 
 as I possess, I should feel bound to lend my humble sup- 
 port. (See Appendix L.) 
 
 Mr. William SxMITH. — Notwithstanding there may 
 have been something objectionable in the tone and manner 
 of the honourable gentleman who has just sat down (Mr. 
 Ellis), 1 have on this account nothing to retort, but 1 am 
 ready to give him all imaginable credit for the sentiments he 
 has himself declared, and on which, I hope, he has consulted 
 the opinions of a large number of persons, who in a resist- 
 ance to a proposition of thifj nature would be extremely 
 ready to join him. In many joi the facts he has stated, 
 and in much of the reasoning he has advanced, I am 
 much disposed to agree, and in nothing more than what 
 was insisted upon so strongly by my honourable friend, 
 who began this debate, that this, the first, and every other 
 step towards emancipation must be gradual. But still 
 
60 
 
 there is this great distinction between us, more material 
 than I wish it were, that while I admit, on the one hand, 
 that the emancipation of the Negroes must be gradual, I 
 think at the same time it is absolutely necessary that it 
 should be rendered certain. It is upon the uncertainty 
 of what has been proposed to us this night by the right 
 honourable gentleman on the other side, that I feel my- 
 self most dissatisfied. The honourable gentleman who 
 spoke last has referred to a measure taken by himself, or 
 at his suggestion, many years ago, which unquestionably 
 did him great honour at the time : he has acknowledged, 
 that, because the execution of his proposition was left to 
 the Legislatures of the West Indies, it did not effect all 
 the good he had intended towards the Negroes. Now, 
 on this particular point, I must beg leave to call the atten- 
 tion of the House, and of the right honourable gentleman, to a 
 circumstance which he may have forgotten. On the 19th 
 June, 181 G, an honourable relative of the honourable gentle- 
 man on the other side, proposed a Resolution, from the 
 conclusion of which 1 will read the following words : ** And 
 that his Royal Plighness will be pleased to recommend, in 
 the strongest manner, to the local authorities in the re- 
 spective Colonies, to carry into effect every measure which 
 may tend to promote the moral and religious improvement 
 as well as the comfort and happiness of the Negroes.'' 
 Here then we get into this dilemma ; either the Colonial 
 Assemblies have carried those ameliorating measures into 
 effect, or they have not : if they have not, it may arise 
 from one of two causes ; — either that the parties were 
 inattentive to the recommendation so strongly urged by 
 this Government ; or that they saw the moral and religious 
 improvement, and the comfort and happiness of the Ne- 
 groes, with eyes very different from those with which 
 Parliament contemplated them. I should wish to know, 
 then, what greater security we have at this moment foF 
 effective exertions on the part of the West-Indian Le- 
 gislatures, if we adopt the Resolution of the right honour- 
 able gentleman which has just been proposed. We may 
 
61 
 
 agaiu declare, " That it is expedient to adopt effectual and 
 decisive measures for meliorating the condition of the 
 Slave population of his Majesty's colonies:" but are we 
 sure that it will be of any use to declare it? After the 
 adoption of the former Resolution which I have just noticed, 
 we received information from the best authority that the 
 laws passed in the West Indies were, even avowedly 
 among themselves, only to gain time, and to quiet the 
 Parliament and People of England. 
 
 [The honourable Member read a quotation from the 
 document he referred to, and then proceeded.] 
 
 What I have to ask is this : Have the important objects, 
 so recommended, been accomplished within the last seven 
 years, or have they not ? Nay, I will ask a question much 
 more home : Has any one of the propositions mentioned 
 to-night as almost a 5zw^^z^a nony with a view to the improve- 
 ment of the condition of the Negro, been put even in a train 
 of accomplishment in the West Indies ? The fact is, that 
 when the returns from the Colonies were laid upon the 
 table the other day, (which, allow me to say, ought to have 
 been there long since, having been ordered two years ago), I 
 turned over the book, expecting, of course, to find the pro- 
 per return from Jamaica; and it was not till after I had gone 
 through it twice, that I could persuade myself, which I did 
 very reluctantly, that it was really wanting. Not one word 
 from that most important of all the islands. (See Appendix 
 M.) And yet without that return we must take what 
 has been done, merely upon the representations of the 
 honourable gentleman : I mean what has been done, 
 among other things, for the moral and religious improve- 
 ment of the Negroes. I hold in my hand a Jamaica Gazette, 
 dated no longer ago than in November last, in which 
 it appears that a Committee of the House of Assembly 
 reported, that, excepting in two or three large parishes, it 
 had not been found that the measures taken for the reli- 
 gious improvement of the Blacks had been attended with 
 success. As far as my own private information goes, I 
 may say, that those measures have been attended with very 
 
62 
 
 little advantage indeed. 1 am afraid it will be found that 
 the expectations of the British Parliament, go far from 
 being realized, have been grievously disappointed, and that, 
 as to moral cultivation, the cause has gone as much back- 
 ward in some cases as forward in others : so far too from 
 any facilities having been given to manumission, it is now 
 more difficult than it was at any former period. 
 
 It concerned me much to hear the honourable gentle- 
 man who spoke last, so openly object to any interference 
 on this subject by the British Parliament. He was oppo- 
 sed to all interference and almost protested against it. 
 
 Mr, Ellis [interposed] — My observations were directed 
 against the policy and consequences of interference. 
 
 Mr. William Smith. — I understood him to protest, or 
 to say what nearly amounted to a protest, against any 
 interference on the part of the Legislature here on behalf 
 of the Slaves. If I was mistaken, I am glad of it ; and I 
 would rather take his interpretation of his own words, than 
 attempt to put my own sense upon them. But if we are 
 to be threatened with consequences, and to be talked to 
 of the impolicy of interference on the part of the British 
 Parliament, if the proceedings of the Colonists should be 
 too dilatory and inefficient to meet the just expectations 
 of this country ; and if we are to forbear because we are 
 so threatened, I fear that the conclusion of our undertaking 
 for the benefit of the Negroes is by no means so near as 
 we could desire. During the first period of our labours, 
 we know, from the honourable gentleman himself, that they 
 did not satisfy his own expectations; and, during the latter 
 period, we are equally sure that they did not satisfy ours. 
 What better ground of confidence do we now possess i 
 I must indeed think that, after all we have seen upon this 
 subject, after all the experience we have had, during a long 
 series of years, we are entitled to demand some greater 
 security than the right honourable gentleman, in his Resolu- 
 tions, has given us. 
 
 It is not my intention at this period, and after what has 
 been already said, to go into details ; but I feel disposed 
 
63 
 
 to contend against some of the most material points ad- 
 verted to by the honourable gentleman. As to the first 
 settlement of the colonies, it is a long way indeed for the 
 honourable gentleman to look back ; and I confess I see 
 no necessity for it, since it makes nothing for his argument. 
 I shall not follow him thither ; but when he tells us, that the 
 emancipation of the villeins, and the destruction of feudal 
 tenures, was the work of many ages, I must ask whether 
 gentlemen really do think that now^ in the nineteentii 
 century, we are to make no quicker progress in the anni- 
 hilation of Slavery ? and when we know too, that it is 
 held in detestation by the whole British people ? Have 
 we no additional lights to guide us in 1823, beyond those 
 which were possessed in 1400 ? We know, in point of 
 fact, that at that time the trade in Slaves between Bristol 
 and Ireland had scarcely ceased. In the 13th century, it 
 is an unquestionable fact, that Englishmen were kidnapped 
 on the shores of the Bristol Channel, then taken to Ire- 
 land, and there actually sold as Slaves, until the practice 
 was put an end to by the Irish themselves — on account of 
 its acknowledged inhumanity. 
 
 But I beg leave upon this, and every occasion when the 
 opportunity offers, to enter my strongest and most indig- 
 nant protest against the doctrine of treating man as the 
 property of man ; and never will I admit that claims of a 
 nature so immoral and extravagant, are to be treated with 
 as much delicacy as private rights of a legitimate descrip- 
 tion. Unless we utterly reprobate this idea in the first 
 instance, we do almost nothing ; and it is chiefly to endea- 
 vour to destroy this notion, which in some quarters seems 
 even yet to prevail, that I have risen : very much indeed 
 for this especial reason, do some of the propositions of 
 my honourable friend deserve to be preferred to those of 
 the right honourable gentleman. As long as we suffer 
 ourselves, or any person or persons connected with us, 
 or dependent upon us, to apprehend that it is possible 
 to hold the same unconditional property in their fellow- 
 men as in any other species of production — until that 
 
64 
 
 impious opinion, destructive of all the distinctions which 
 the Almighty has established between man and brute, is 
 removed so completely that not a trace of it shall remain, 
 the march of amelioration in the condition of the Negroes 
 will be slow indeed. 
 
 Having said thus much, T will content myself with re- 
 peating", that I entreat the right honourable gentleman to 
 give us a little more information as to the time when this 
 amelioration, according to his Resolutions, may be expect- 
 ed to take place ; and as to the security on which he rests 
 that, without the interference of Parliament, it will ever, 
 at any definite period, however distant, receive its accom- 
 plishment. 
 
 The Right Honourable Sir George Rose said, that 
 although the turn the debate had taken induced him to 
 address himself to the House far more briefly than he had 
 originally intended, there still were considerations which 
 he deemed it indispensible to lay before it. These arose 
 from the altered state of Christianity amongst the Slave 
 population of the British West-India settlements, which, 
 whilst it is by no means such as it undoubtedly ought to be, 
 is yet not so hopeless as it has been represented, and by 
 no mean authorities. Even the University of Cambridge, 
 in its petition, has declared, in speaking of the Negroes, 
 that ** religious instruction is nearly altogether precluded," 
 — a statement in no wise warranted by the case. He 
 begged the House, however, to believe, that very far 
 from considering the progress made, as that which ought 
 to satisfy those interested in that highly important matter, 
 he looked upon it but as the earnest of what remained 
 to be done by the West-Indian proprietors, and as the 
 proof of what may be effected. Being by inheritance one 
 of these proprietors, he had, from the moment of becom- 
 ing such, felt the immensity of the responsibility which 
 devolved upon him as charged with the spiritual welfare of 
 the Negroes on the property in question ; the small extent 
 of it being of course no measure of that rei^ponsibility ■ 
 
and he was led to state circumstances which had occurred 
 to himself, as testifying powerfully to the beneficent effects 
 of religious instruction, both to the SJaves themselves, 
 and to" their owners. Inheriting a small landed property 
 in one of the lesser islands, he at once ascertained that, 
 both from local circumstances, and from the duties of the 
 parochial clergy to their White and Coloured flocks, and 
 from their being too highly educated for the missionary 
 task among human beings so utterly ignorant, narrow- 
 minded, and thoughtless, as the unconverted Negroes are, 
 he could not obtain spiritual aid for them from the clergy 
 of the Church of England. He then solicited it of the 
 Moravian Brethren ; doing so with the concurrence of 
 respectable persons in the island, whose co-operation he 
 was most anxious to obtain for the success of his views, as 
 he knew how favourably they were impressed with regard 
 to that very respectable and meritorious sect. Circum- 
 stances foreign to himself, but in which the pious and 
 excellent persons to whom he addressed himself were 
 blameless, rendered this application unsuccessful : there 
 then remained no other source of religious instruction but 
 that of the Wesleyan Mission. This was the one he was 
 the least inclined to address himself to, on account of the 
 strong feelings against them which he knew to exist in 
 the bosoms of those whose co-operation was most im- 
 portant to the attainment of his views ; but as no other 
 resource remained, and the choice was between heathenism 
 in its worst shape, and Christianity as preached by a Pro- 
 testant sect, he could not hesitate a moment what to do. 
 He was bound to say, that the Wesleyan Committee had 
 met his wish for missionary aid with distinguished readi- 
 tiess, piety, and liberality. From his intercourse with 
 its members, and his increasing knowledge of the opera- 
 tions of its servants, and of the subject in general, he 
 had no less reason to be surprised, when, on the respon- 
 sibility for the conduct of two other estates in Jamaica de- 
 volving in a great degree upon him, at a subsequent period, 
 be found a state of things which was sufficiently in- 
 
66 
 
 istructive. Oh one of these estates, the best and the 
 larg^est, the Negroes, though baptized, were in every other 
 respect completely heathen ; grossly depraved and immo- 
 ral ; and its affairs very disadvantageously circumstanced. 
 
 The condition of the other estate was decidedly belter. 
 It is in the immediate neighbourhood of one of the stations 
 of the Wesleyan missionaries, whose labours had led the 
 far greater part of the Black population to real and prac- 
 tical Christianity. He had ascertained that, in the year 
 3821, of 120 males, ten were found to be of conduct 
 more or less reprehensible, and had been punished ; of 
 130 females, one alone had received reprehension and 
 punishment : and the attorney of the estate, a man of very 
 respectable character, speaking of the great improve- 
 ment in the morals and conduct of the Negroes within a 
 few years, says, that " this improvement is so decisive, 
 and the progressive discontinuation of punishment so 
 marked, that he has a confident hope that punishment will 
 die away, and be extinguished at no distant period ; and 
 that the beneficial effects are to be attributed almost ex- 
 clusively to the labours of the Wesleyan missionaries," — 
 men whose zeal for the cause of their Master, and active 
 exertions for the weal of their fellow-creatures, he pour- 
 trays in strong colours. 
 
 Sir G. Rose observed, that enough had now been said 
 to shew the practicability of effecting the conversion of 
 the Negroes, by following up the beginning thus made; 
 that, besides these considerations of the highest nature, 
 there can be no doubt of the power of Christianity alone 
 to effect the objects of the House in favour of the Negroes, 
 when it shall be general in the West Indies; that slavery 
 cannot stand against real and universal Christianity ; that 
 obstacles to the emancipation of the Slaves, now multiplied 
 and most serious, must vanish before it; that he could, 
 were it not to trespass too much on the time of the House, 
 give proofs that the improved religion of the Slaves had 
 already reflected a light upwards, and acted on classes of 
 society above them, producing new feelings, and a new 
 
G7 
 
 impulse ; and that in an island where the greatest pro- 
 gress had been made in evangelizing the Negroes, in- 
 stitutions were actually in progress, of which the West 
 Indies would not have been regarded as susceptible a 
 few years back. But he was bound to shevv that he was 
 holding out no illusive hope ; a regular improvement in 
 the feelings of the West-India proprietors and of their at- 
 torneys, was in rapid progress, as demonstrable by various 
 facts. 
 
 The Wesleyans are excluded from no one island ; and 
 as, with respect to them alone, of all Christian teachers, 
 have exceptions been taken, where tJiey are admitted, all 
 others assuredly are. Upon seven islands every estate 
 is open to their missionaries ; and this will be the case with 
 an eighth, when they can occupy the ground. They have 
 access to a third of the estates in Jamaica, and to a half of 
 those in Dominica ; and they have missions in Barbadoes, 
 The following may be a tolerably accurate statement of 
 the progress of conversion amongst the Slaves of the 
 British West-Indies. There are in those settlements not 
 quite 800,000 Slaves ; of them, about 63,600 are adults* 
 under the care of the Wesleyans ; and of these, a very large 
 proportion, are not merely baptized Christians, but such 
 in their lives ; as those whose conduct is repugnant to their 
 Christian profession are excluded from their communion. If 
 to this number is added that of children under instruction, 
 and children of Christian parents baptized, and who re- 
 ceive instruction as soon as they are capable of profiting 
 by it, the total number of Christians aggregated to the 
 Wesleyans may be taken at about 80,000. And if those in 
 real communion with the Moravians, who form a consider- 
 able mass ; with the Baptists in Jamaica ; with the Scotch 
 Church, and the agents of the London Missionary Society 
 at Demarara and Berbice; and with the Church of 
 England ; are computed at 20,000, the total will be 
 100,000, or an eighth part of the whole. It is particularly 
 to be observed, that besides whatever aid may be derived 
 from other missionary sources, the Wesleyans alone, had 
 
08 
 
 they sufficient pecuniary resources, could double the 
 number of their preachers of the Gospel instantly, inde- 
 pendently of whatever increased supply they may be able 
 to furnish to meet a growing demand. Each of their 
 missionaries costs them annually from 150/. to 250/., ac- 
 cording to the state of his family. The average may then 
 be taken at 200/., and one missionary is considered as com- 
 petent to the instruction of 1000 Negroes. It is true 
 that they wisely allow no one to pay their servants but 
 themselves : but they accept of all contributions to their 
 funds ; and such proprietors as will contribute, either 
 jointly with others, or separately, according to the cir- 
 cumstances of their estates, the means of maintaining a 
 missionary, on the footing of expense and extent of labour 
 specified, are sure of obtaining for their estates the 
 spiritual labours necessary for the conversion of their 
 Negroes. 
 
 The duty to obtain such instruction is solemn, urgent, 
 and imperative : the facility of obtaining it is such as has 
 now been shewn; and it is one that should be made positive 
 and obligatory by law: and he felt an extreme anxiety 
 that legal provision should be made to compel exertions 
 of the landholders to procure teachers of the Gospel for 
 the Negroes through the whole of the British West-India 
 settlements ; that returns of the progress of religious in- 
 struction should be required ; and that every proprietor 
 should at certain, and not distant periods, be obliged to 
 shew, either such progress actually made amongst his 
 Slaves, or that the absence of it arose from no fault of his ; 
 that he has made every practicable endeavour to promote 
 it. (See Appendix N.) 
 
 Mr. Briqht. — But for the turn the debate has taken, 
 it was my intention to have gone at full length into the 
 subject; but after what has already passed, I shall not occupy 
 the House for many minutes. It cannot be denied that 
 the question is of the highest importance to the interests 
 of a large class of bis Majesty^s subjects; I mean the West- 
 
69 
 
 India planters; who, I think, have to complain of a good 
 deal of unmerited obloquy thrown upon them out of 
 doors. 1 believe that the conduct of the planters has 
 been much misrepresented ; that justice has not been done 
 them generally in this country ; and I believe that they 
 have been occupied as actively as was possible, under the 
 circumstances, in ameliorating the condition of their Slaves. 
 I believe that by numerous authorities this could be shewn 
 to be the fact; but I will not enter into that subject at the 
 present moment. The West-Indians have a just right 
 to complain that their remonstrances and representations 
 have not been duly attended to at home, and that many 
 misstatements have gone abroad as to the actual condition 
 of things in the colonies. Some individuals, who have 
 been instrumental in putting forth these misstatements, 
 ought to have been better informed. I will read a passage 
 from a publication upon this subject, which, as I contend, 
 is wholly unfounded ; because I will afterwards submit to 
 the House a direct contradiction of it. 
 
 [The honourable gentleman here read a quotation from 
 a tract in his hand, stating that the fines upon manumission 
 had been nearly doubled.] 
 
 Now this assertion I will undertake to refute. Within 
 two or three days, returns have been laid upon the table 
 from nearly all the islands in the West Indies ; and from 
 these returns I will take the liberty of submitting certain 
 results. It appears that, in the years 1808 and 1809, the 
 tax on manumission in the island of Dominica was 100/. ; 
 and it is now only IG/. 10*. on Slaves born in the island : 
 on foreign Slaves, it is 33/. In Jamaica, in the year 1797, 
 the tax on manumission was 100/. currency ; and so it 
 continued till the year 1818 : but now there is no tax on 
 manumission ; and out of 400 Slaves freed between the year 
 1808 and 1818, only five paid any thing for their libera- 
 tion. In St. Vincent's, up to September 1820, the fine or 
 tax was 100/. ; but since that date there has been no fine 
 or tax at all. Eight per cent, were paid by freemen under 
 a former law. In Barbadoes, from 1808 to 1816, the 
 
70 
 
 fine on the manumission of a female was 300/., and of a 
 male 200/. ; and so it continued until August 1816, when 
 the fine was repealed : since that time, 250 Slaves have 
 been freed. In Antigua there has been no tax or fine on 
 manumission, nor have there been any fees paid. In To- 
 bago there is at this time no payment at all on the manu- 
 mission of a Slave. In St. Christopher's there was no 
 tax or fine on manumission from 1808 to 1821. In Tor- 
 tola in 1812 there was a fine of 6/. 12s. ; and under that law 
 only fourteen paid the fine ; and it expired in 1813. In 
 Trinidad there is no tax or fine on manumission. In De- 
 marara a large sum is sometimes imposed ; but it is thrown 
 into the Poor Fund, upon which the Slaves have a claim. 
 
 After these statements from official documents, let me 
 ask the House if I have not made out, that in respect of 
 manumission, in nearly all the colonies, the tax or fine 
 has been remitted from time to time, and in some of them 
 that it does not exist at all. What then becomes of the 
 assertion, that the fines upon manumission have been nearly 
 doubled? Yet that assertion was made by the honourable 
 Member for Bramber, who, on this most important point, 
 seems not to have looked at the returns upon the table. 
 Have I not overturned the proposition ? Have I not 
 shewn that it is without a shadow of foundation ; and that 
 the fines upon manumission have been reduceil or abo- 
 lished in Dominica, Jamaica, St. Vincent's, Barbadoes, 
 Antigua, Tobago, St. Christopher's, Tortola, Trinidad, 
 and Demarara? I quoted the words of the honourable 
 gentleman's pamphlet, and they will bear but one mean- 
 ing ; and I put it to any man whether that meaning is not, 
 that at this time there are heavy fines upon manumission, 
 and that the fines have been greatly increased. (See Ap- 
 pendix O.) 
 
 There are many other instances in which the West-In- 
 dians have been harshly and unfairly treated by their op- 
 ponents. There is a most notorious book which has been 
 distributed in this country, which is generally believed to 
 be an honest and true representation of facts ; but it is far 
 
71 
 
 from it. I mean the book entitled, '* Negro Slavery." 
 I impute^ bad intention very reluctantly to any man ; but 
 I do impute a bad intention to the man who put this book 
 together. In that book a letter of the Rev. Mr. Cooper 
 has been much talked of: an extract is given from it, 
 or professed to be given from it; but I will compare 
 Mr. Cooper's letter itself with what is said of it in the 
 pamphlet. 
 
 [The honourable gentleman here read the quotation to 
 which he referred.] 
 
 Does not this, let me ask, convey a very strong impu- 
 tation upon the Jamaica planters 1 But if I can shew, as 
 I will do, that such an imputation was not in the mind of 
 the writer of the letter, ought it to go forth to the country 
 with that interpretation ? The real passage, as it stands 
 in Mr. Cooper's letter, is this, 
 
 [Mr. Bright read the passage.] 
 
 1 put it to the House whether what is printed in this 
 book called '* Negro Slavery," as a fair quotation, is so, 
 or such as ought to be promulgated as the real sentiments 
 of this respectable gentleman. (See Appendix P.) 
 
 The author of the same work goes on, in another place, 
 to quote Dr. Williamson, a medical man, who for a long 
 time resided in the island of Jamaica. Of course he might 
 be conversant with scenes of the utmost distress, if they 
 occurred there: his object was to apply remedies to the evils 
 he witnessed, and his statement is highly creditable to the 
 humanity of the planters of Jamaica. I will read one or 
 two quotations from what he says, to prove what I have 
 advanced. I admit that passages may be found to shew 
 considerable mischief and considerable evil may exist 
 under the present system ; yet the whole result of his opi- 
 nion is highly favourable to the colonists, and to their 
 management of the Negroes. 
 
 [The honourable gentleman read several passages from 
 the statements of Dr. Williamson.] 
 
 I could cite innumerable instances of the same kind ; so 
 that it is not fair that he should be put forward as a witness 
 
72 
 
 Upon the other side, and against the planters of the West 
 Indies. (See Appendix Q.) 
 
 Mr. D. Sykes. — I am most happy to hear the state- 
 mentsof the honourable Member opposite (Sir G. Rose), with 
 respect to the amelioration of the condition of the Slaves in 
 the West Indies ; but I confess I should have received still 
 greater satisfaction if the right honourable gentleman had 
 been more explicit as to the mode, time, and manner in 
 which the future emancipation of the Slaves is to be at- 
 tained. In this respect the House is as yet left in almost 
 total darkness. It was my intention to have taken a fuller 
 share in to-night's debate, and to have entered largely 
 into a subject, in my view, more interesting than any that 
 has engaged the attention of Parliament : but after the 
 conciliatory, and in many respects satisfactory, speech of 
 the right honourable gentleman, I shall occupy the atten- 
 tion of the House for a very few minutes. The difference 
 between the Resolutions moved by my honourable friend, 
 and those of the right honourable gentleman, is not so 
 wide as to call on the friends of the former for an extended- 
 discussion. 
 
 The main object of my rising is to say a few words in 
 answer to an honourable and learned friend of mine, sitting 
 behind me (Mr. Bright). He has thrown out some observa- 
 tions with respect to those engaged in discussions upon 
 Negro Slavery out of doors. He has addressed a speech 
 against the pamphlets of others who are not now present, 
 and who consequently cannot be heard in support of their 
 own statements. With regard to the author of the pam- 
 phlet entitled " Negro Slavery," my honourable and 
 learned friend has asserted that he has misquoted Mr. 
 Cooper. Now I confess I do not see in what manner the 
 author of the pamphlet has misquoted him ; and, as I un- 
 derstand the passage, he has in substance stated the same 
 thing. The point in dispute relates to the use of the 
 whip ; and 1 really think the same sense is conveyed in 
 both passages. 
 
7B 
 
 The honourable Member, after having dwelt at some 
 length upon this pamphlet, adverted to the work of Dr. 
 Williamson ; but my honourable and learned friend does 
 not seem to have been more triumphant in this quotation 
 than in the other. Dr. Williamson is a staunch friend 
 to the system of Negro Slavery ; and the honourable 
 Member reads a passage to the House, shewing that the 
 result of the Doctor's observations was highly favourable 
 to the planters of the West Indies. It is not in the least 
 surprising that such passages are to be found in this book, 
 which was quoted expressly as being the work of an ad- 
 verse witness. But does my honourable friend mean to 
 say, that the cart-whip is not the main organ of communi- 
 cation between the Negro and his owner? Does he mean 
 to deny that it is used to this very day ; that it is suspended 
 over the unhappy Slaves during the time of their labour ; 
 and that it is uninterrupted until they go to their miserable 
 rest at night? But facts have been stated over and over 
 again, on this and on every other part of their case, which 
 must have already produced their effect upon the House — 
 more effect than all the arguments which had ever been 
 urged by the ablest advocate for the Abolition of Negro 
 Slavery. Were more wanting, I have now in my pocket a 
 file of Jamaica Gazettes which would furnish them, where 
 is advertised the sale of Negroes, together with chattels 
 of various kinds ; and where we have lots of cattle, house- 
 hold furniture, and Slaves, coupled in the same adver- 
 tisement. 
 
 Then with respect to property ; it is absurd to talk of 
 it. The evidence of these unhappy beings is never taken ; 
 and what means have they therefore of defending their 
 property, when it is the acknowledged law of the country 
 that the testimony of the Slave cannot be taken in a 
 court of justice. Upon no consideration whatever is it 
 admitted. And here let me observe the wide difference 
 between the West-Indian Slaves and those in other parts of 
 the world. I confess I was somewhat surprised at the 
 comparison drawn by the right honourable gentleman be- 
 
74 
 
 tweeii the state of these Slaves and the state of Roman 
 Slavery ; for it seems to have been entirely forgotten in 
 this comparison, that there is this great and obvious dis- 
 tinction, that the Roman Slave was never excluded from 
 giving testimony in a court of justice. I think I may 
 state this in the most unqualified manner. In our colo- 
 nies, however, the Slaves are wholly excluded from giving 
 such testimony. 
 
 I did not rise to enter into any detail on this question^ 
 but rather to express my pleasure that this subject is now 
 in the hands of Ministers. I hope that they will keep a 
 watchful eye over the colonial legislatures. But 1 must 
 say, that if the right honourable gentleman places much 
 confidence in their exertions, I fear he will be most 
 grievously disappoitited. 
 
 3Ii\ Bright said a few words in explanation, which 
 were inaudible. 
 
 Mr. Marryat. — It is far from my wish, Sir, to detain 
 the House; but I am anxious to correct a mistake into 
 which the honourable Member opposite has fallen. I un- 
 derstood the honourable Member for Hull to say, that the 
 evidence of Negro Slaves is wholly excluded from courts 
 of justice in the West Indies. Now I feel it my duty to 
 set him and the House right upon this point. In how 
 many other islands the testimony of Slaves is admitted I 
 know not ; but this I well know, that no longer ago than 
 1818, a law passed in the island of Dominica, making the 
 evidence of Slaves admissible ; and I am happy to state 
 further, that this law has been taken into consideration by 
 the Committee of West-India planters and merchants in 
 this metropolis ; and they having found that no incon- 
 venience has arisen from that experiment in Dominica, 
 I have every reason to believe, that, under their recom- 
 mendation, a similar law will be introduced in every other 
 of the West-India islands. (See Appendix R) 
 
 The honourable Member for Norwich asked the House 
 
7& 
 
 if any thing* had been done in C(ftisequence of the Ad- 
 dresses presented to the Throne seven years ago, pressing 
 strongly for an improvement in the condition of the Slaves 
 in the West Indies '( To this question 1 will answer iw 
 the affirmative ; and I will produce official documents in 
 proof of this assertion. It is somewhat extraordinary 
 that the honourable Member for Norwich has never read 
 the Reports which were made by the different Governors, 
 giving an account of the state of the Slaves in the islands 
 over which they preside, in answer to the Addresses in 
 question. In order to put the House, and the honour- 
 able gentleman, in possession of facts with which they 
 seem at present to be unacquainted, I will beg the in- 
 dulgence of the House while I read the Reports on this 
 subject, extracted from ** Farther Papers relating to 
 Slaves in the Colonies, ordered to be printed by the 
 House of Commons 19th June, 1818," but not actually 
 delivered to the members till the session of 1819, which 
 gave the following statements from the different islands. 
 
 DOMINICA. 
 
 (Extract of a Letter from Governor Maxwell to Earl Bathurst.) 
 
 ** The Slaves in this island in general appear to be 
 liberally treated and protected ; and I think the Legisla- 
 ture is inclined to adopt any measure for their ameliora- 
 tion that may be recommended by his Majesty's Govern- 
 ment, or experience may suggest." (p. 112.) 
 
 HONDURAS. 
 (Extract of a Letter from Lieut. Colonel Arthur to Lord Bathurst.) 
 
 " With regard to the state of the Black population, I 
 have the most heartfelt gratification in assuring your lord- 
 ship that it is scarcely possible it can be meliorated. 
 
 ** So great is the kindness, the liberality, the indulgent 
 care of the wood-cutters towards their Negroes, that 
 Slavery would scarcely be known to exist in this country 
 was it not for a few unprincipled adventurers in the town 
 of Belize, who exercise authority over their one or two 
 Slaves in a manner very different from the great body of 
 the comniunitv. 
 
76 
 
 " The steps which I4iave taken with one of those cha^ 
 racters, as reported in my dispatch to your lordship of 
 the 21st ult., will, 1 have no doubt, be attended with the 
 best effect ; and I turn with pleasure from this unpleasant 
 exception, to the general features of the picture, which 
 are so truly excellent. 
 
 ** Amidst all our difficulties in other respects, it is quite 
 impossible, my lord, that any thing can surpass the treat- 
 ment of the Slaves, men, women, and children, in this 
 country. The system adopted in most other parts of the 
 West Indies, of alloting to each Slave a patch of ground, on 
 which he is to raise food for himself and family, is here 
 quite unknown. 
 
 ** All the Slaves are most abundantly fed by their pro- 
 prietors, on the best salted provisions, pork generally, at 
 tlie rate of five pounds per week for each man, with yams, 
 plantains, rice, salt, flour, and tobacco. Every Slave has a 
 Moschetta pavilion, blanket, and shirt found him; also 
 two suits of Osnaburgh annually. The men and lads 
 work on account of their owners five days in the week ; 
 for the Saturday's labour they are entitled, by usage which 
 has become a law, to half a dollar ; and the Sunday is en- 
 tirely their own. 
 
 ** The women are only employed in domestic purposes, 
 and, if they have young children, no work whatever is re- 
 quired from them by their masters. In fact, my lord, 
 although I came to the West Indies three years ago a 
 perfect Wilberforce as to slavery, I must now confess, that 
 I have in no part of the world seen the labouring class of 
 people possess any thing like the comforts and advantages 
 of the Slave population of Honduras." (pp. 115, 116.) 
 
 ST. CHRISTOPHER'S, NEVIS, MONTSERRAT, TORTOLA. 
 
 (Extract of a Letter from Governor Probin.) 
 ** The Slaves in general appear to be contented and 
 happy." (p. 117.) 
 
 ST. LUCIA. 
 (Extract of a Letter from IMajor-General Douglas.) 
 " The efl*ects of the Abolition of the Slave Trade are 
 
77 
 certainly favourable to the condition of the Black popula- 
 tion ; inasmuch as it is now more than ever the interest of 
 every proprietor to preserve the health of his Slaves, and 
 particularly to cherish the rising generation, which was 
 formerly very much neglected, upon the sordid principle 
 that it was cheaper to buy Slaves than to rear them. 
 
 ** In general, the treatment of this class of the popula- 
 tion is just and kind : but there are many instances of the 
 reverse, according to the disposition of the owner, and 
 some of very great cruelty ; but these, I am happy to say^ 
 are not numerous." (p. 124.) 
 
 TOBAGO. 
 (Extract of a Letter from Mr. President Campbell.) 
 
 " I beg leave to inclose your lordship the Report from 
 the Committee to the Council and Assembly, which was 
 unanimously approved of, upon the present situation of 
 this colony ; and I do most firmly believe the whole to be 
 true. The eleventh clause points out the situation of the 
 Negroes." (p. 126.) 
 
 " Eleventh clause. Your Committee refers with con- 
 fidence to the personal knowledge of every member of 
 the two branches of the legislature, and of his honour the 
 president, to bear testimony to the fact of the improve- 
 ments which within these few years have taken place 
 in the comforts and manners of the Negroes. In con- 
 firmation thereof, your Committee refers to the public 
 documents of the colony, to shew how the annual reduc- 
 tion in numbers is now so much less than it used to be, 
 that we may confidently hope, that, instead of an annual 
 reduction, we shall speedily obtain an annual increase. 
 To the diff*usion and increase of property among the Ne- 
 groes (generally evinced in their houses, their grounds, 
 their dress, and their food), the diminished practice of 
 obeah, the infrequency of punishment, and the total relin- 
 quishment of ail night-work upon the estates, your Com- 
 mittee believe that as much gradual improvement has been 
 made, as the nature of our Black population (a great por- 
 tion of it yet consisting of imported Africans) admits of. 
 
Other matters of amelioratioo of the coadition of the Ne- 
 groes are in gradual advancement upon many of the 
 estates, and will become general : but if any thing could 
 more effectually prevent their beneficial attainment, it will 
 be the attempt at direction in these matters of the African 
 Institution, at once disgusting the master, and alarming 
 him for the security of his property ; and, by rendering him 
 discontented with his situation, alienating the slave from 
 all sentiments of respect and affection to his master."^ 
 (p. 130.) 
 
 JAMAICA. 
 (Extract of a Letter from his Grace the Duke of Manchester.) 
 
 " I really believe there is a strong desire felt to consult 
 the comfort of the Slaves as much as possible ; and if this 
 object does not advance so rapidly as could be wished, 
 it proceeds from no disinclination on the part of the pro- 
 prietors, but from an apprehension of the consequences 
 of too sudden a change in the habits and manners of the 
 Negroes, and which the events in Barbadoes have a ten- 
 dency to increase." (p. 270.) 
 
 (Committee of the House of Assembly of Jamaica, presented the 10th 
 of December, 1817. 
 
 " Your Committee have also considered the effects 
 which have been produced by the measures adopted, during 
 the last session, for the improvement of the condition of 
 the Slave population : the interval which has since elapsed 
 has been too short to admit of any particular effects having 
 resulted from their operation. 
 
 " Your Committee, however, are fully persuaded that 
 the tendency of those measures, and the spirit in which 
 they were adopted, have produced a general effect of great 
 importance, both as it respects the condition of the Slaves, 
 and the public tranquillity of the island. 
 
 ** The Slaves are satisfied that their condition is of 
 sufficient interest to engage the attention of those under 
 whose authority they are placed, and that their comforts 
 and personal security are the objects of protection. In 
 availing themselves of the facility which has been afforded 
 
tliem in making their complaint of any real or supposed 
 grievance, they have observed the attention with which 
 it has been decided. The increase which has taken place, 
 during the last twelve months, in the number of proceed- 
 ings, both civil and criminal, which have been instituted 
 by or on behalf of Slaves, is a fact which, accompanied 
 as it has been by the greatest degree of subordination 
 and good order on their part, may be referred to as the 
 most decisive proof of their well-founded confidence in the 
 justice of those to whom they appeal. This feeling, whilst it 
 operates directly on their present condition, by lessening the 
 possibility of their being exposed to injury without receiving 
 redress, and by rendering them contented with their situa- 
 tion, is calculated to impart to them those principles which 
 will enable them to estimate the benefits, to acquire the 
 habits, and to practise the duties which belong to a more 
 civilized state of society. 
 
 " Your Committee attach great importance to this con- 
 sideration, because it encourages the belief, that a foun-; 
 dation is laid for future measures of progressive improve- 
 ment. 
 
 ** Every view which your Committee can take of the 
 present and future condition of the Slave population, 
 confirms them in their opinion, that the improvement of 
 their religious, moral, and civil state, can only be eff*ected 
 by gradual and progressive measures ; and that any ex- 
 periments which have a tendency to produce a sudden 
 change in their present state, by the introduction of prin- 
 ciples which are unknown to, and inconsistent with, the 
 policy of colonial institutions, and the habits of the Slaves 
 themselves, would be as fatal to them as dangerous to the 
 security of the island." (p. 271.) 
 
 TRINIDAD. 
 (Extract of a Letter from Governor Sir Ralph Woodford.) 
 
 *' To proprietors of Slaves, as to mankind in general, 
 no incentive can be so great as their own interest. It is 
 not in their power now to replace a Slave, whose physical 
 
powers are exhausted by a short service : therefore the 
 value of a Slave of good character is greatly enhanced 
 beyond the value of his ordinary appraisement ; and pro* 
 portionate efforts are made to keep up his natural health 
 and vigour. 
 
 ** The comforts of the Slaves depend upon themselves 
 and their own industry, and their health upon their own 
 imprudences, or the quantum of work they are required 
 to perform. 
 
 " They can, if they choose, with very little trouble, 
 amass much beyond the wants of the utmost ambition or 
 profligacy ; but the idle and drunken (of which there are 
 many) will always be in poverty and in rags. 
 
 ** I have frequently known cases of Negroes preferring 
 to continue Slaves, rather than with ample means to 
 purchase their freedom, or even to accept it. With a 
 humane owner the Negro is most happy ; and as a Slave, 
 and when sick, he always shares the fare of the owner's 
 table." (pp. 275, 276.) 
 
 (See Appendix S.) 
 
 In my opinion, nothing can be more satisfactory than 
 these Reports, to shew the gradual and continued im- 
 provement in the condition of the Slaves. These, let it 
 be remembered, are high authorities; and I beg to remark, 
 that they are not the statements of West-India pro- 
 prietors, but of governors, who, as far as their opinions 
 go, must speak disinterestedly : and least of all are they 
 men liable to be influenced by colonial prejudices. But 
 there is another circumstance connected .with these Re- 
 ports, which ought to give them still greater weight with 
 the House; that several of them come from gentlemen 
 who have been, and still are, extremely zealous in sup- 
 port of the cause of the Abolition of Negro Slavery. For 
 instance; Governor Maxwell, the Governor of Dominica, 
 after having resided at Sierra Leone, obtained his present 
 appointment through the interest, I believe, of the honour- 
 able Member for Bramber. Colonel Arthur, too, who 
 
81 
 
 writes from Honduras, professes that he went out there 
 a perfect Wilberforce as to Slavery. Sir Ralph Wood- 
 ford, the Governor of Trinidad, is a correspondent, and a 
 very valuable one, of the African Institution, and very 
 honourable mention has been made of his name at one of 
 the anniversary meetings of that Society. 
 
 Do not these official reports refute the calumnies 
 thrown out by some honourable members; and more par- 
 ticularly the assertion, which I was sorry to read in a 
 pamphlet recently published by the honourable Member 
 for Bramber, " that the system of Slavery in the West 
 Indies is a system of the most unprecedented degradation 
 and unrelenting cruelty V (See Appendix T.) 
 
 The difference between the amendment and the original 
 motion appears to me to be a difference rather in the 
 mode of execution, than in the end we all have in view. 
 As to the preference to be given to the amendment, I 
 think no doubt can be entertained, upon this one plain 
 principle, the conciliation of the White and Black po- 
 pulation in the West Indies. If an abstract resolution, 
 declaring " that the state of Slavery is repugnant to the 
 principles of the British constitution and of the Christian 
 religion, and that it ought to be abolished," was known 
 to emanate from a British House of Commons, it might 
 produce excitement in the minds of the Negroes in our 
 colonies. But if merely an intention to ameliorate the 
 condition of the Black population is held out, the effect will 
 be very different, and no irritation whatever will be excited 
 in their minds. In the one case, any amelioration in their 
 condition vvill appear to be the work of this House, forced 
 upon their masters in the West Indies, and will excite a 
 spirit of dissatisfaction ; but if, on the other hand, as in 
 the resolutions of the right honourable Secretary of State, 
 measures are proposed to, and adopted by, the Colonial 
 Legislatures, it will then appear as if they were the effect 
 of the good-will of the masters towards their Slaves; and 
 instead of discontent and dissatisfaction, gratitude and 
 contentment will be excited in their minds, 
 
 M 
 
82 
 
 For these reasons, 1 am bound to express my most 
 bearty concurrence in the resolutions proposed, by way of 
 amendment, by the right honourable Gentleman on the 
 Treasury Bench. 
 
 Mr. Brougham. — Sir, I am quite sensible that at this 
 late hour of the night it would be unbecoming in me — it 
 would be acting in contradiction to the general sense of 
 the House— were I either to go into much detail on this 
 important question, or to resist the adoption of the amend- 
 ment proposed by the right honourable Gentleman oppo- 
 site. But I confess I cannot leave this question to bo 
 finally disposed of, without trespassing for a few minutes 
 upon the patience of the House, that I may guard myself 
 against the suspicion of having made myself a party, to 
 what I fear may ultimately prove to be, a delusion, — a de- 
 lusion, however, unintentioned, I am persuaded, on the 
 part of the right honourable Gentleman ; because, to do 
 him justice, he has been from the beginning a warm 
 advocate of every measure tending to the abolition of 
 the African Slave Trade. 
 
 It is upon this ground alone — upon my knowledge of 
 the line of conduct which has hitherto been pursued by 
 the right honourable Gentleman, that I build my confidence 
 that it is not Ms intention, however it may be that of 
 others, to delude the House by getting rid of the motion of 
 my honourable Friend. That motion is set aside as being 
 too abstract; and yet in that of the right honourable 
 Gentleman, which it is proposed to substitute for it, I find 
 nothing specific, nothing practical, pointed out.. True it 
 is, the resolutions moved by way of amendment emanate 
 from Ministers, and are to be communicated to the Crown, 
 But this, let it be recollected, is no new course. It has 
 before been pursued, over and over again, with little or no 
 effect. The honourable Member for Seaford (Mr. Ellis), 
 in 1797 moved some excellent resolutions (very similar to 
 the present), on which he grounded an Address to the Crown 
 for ameliorating the condition of the Slaves in the West 
 
83 
 
 r 
 
 Indies. Again, in 1816, the West Indians, in conjunction 
 with the right honourable Gentleman's predecessor, moved 
 resolutions in the shape of an Address to the Crown — an 
 address in which both Houses of Parliament concurred — 
 calling upon the Prince Regent, in the strongest terms, to 
 recommend to the local authorities in the colonies to carry 
 into effect every measure which might tend to promote the 
 moral and religious improvement, as well as the comfort 
 and happiness, of the Negroes. A more unexceptionable 
 and comprehensive declaration could not well have been 
 made, by tJie warmest friend to the mitigation and aboli- 
 tion of slavery. But twenty-six long years have now 
 elapsed since the first Address was presented, and seven 
 since the second, and where are the benefits, the visible 
 effects, of these Addresses, to be found ? We are, in fact, 
 not one step more advanced in the great work of improve- 
 ment than we were before. No practical advantages have 
 resulted from these addresses : and yet the last Address 
 jn particular, that of 1816, was unanimously voted, and was 
 carried, by the joint recommendation of both Houses of 
 Parliament, to the foot of the Throne. It was also most 
 graciously received, and a most gracious answer was 
 returned, promising to carry the wishes of Parliament 
 into eff'ect. 
 
 I am told, however — notwithstanding these facts staring 
 us in the face — I am told that my mistrust of the West- 
 India legislatures is either totally misplaced, or at all events 
 greatly exaggerated ; and the honourable Member for 
 Bristol (Mr. Bright), as well as the honourable Member for 
 Sandwich (Mr. Marryat), who went still more at large into 
 the subject, have endeavoured to convince us that we are 
 mistaken, and that the most satisfactory improvements 
 have taken place. I wish I could take the same flattering 
 view of Slavery in the West Indies as the honourable 
 Gentleman. If I could, it would relieve my mind from the 
 load which now oppresses it, believing, as I do, that the 
 condition of the Slaves in the West Indies is revolting to 
 tlie feelings of human nature. My honourable Friend, the 
 
84 
 
 Member for Bristol, forgetting for an instant tliose habits, 
 so inherent in professional men, of distrusting the testi- 
 mony of interested parties — forgetting that professional 
 maxim, ever to be remembered, that ** no man is to be 
 trusted as a judge or a witness in his own cause ;" — I say, 
 forgetting all this, he makes his appeal to the unbiassed 
 authority of Slave-masters — to the pure, unsuspected, 
 disinterested testimony of the owners of the Slaves them- 
 selves ! He tells us that theresult of his many conversations 
 with them, and of his laborious efforts to obtain information 
 from them, is a conviction that the condition of the Slaves is 
 so greatly improved, that they are now perfectly contented, 
 and happy ! The honourable Member for Sandwich then, 
 in his turn, informs us that gentlemen, who have gone out 
 with opinions hostile to slavery, have been so converted by 
 a view of the comforts and delights of that state, nay, even 
 as it exists in Honduras, perhaps the most detestable spot 
 on the face of the globe, a swamp, where the forests are still 
 uncleared — a place, in comparison of which, such places as 
 Jamaica and Barbadoes might without exaggeration be 
 termed a perfect Paradise ; — yet these gentlemen, who 
 went out thus biased in their opinions, the honourable 
 Member tells us, were so converted by what they saw, as 
 to come to the conclusion that the Negroes endured no 
 misery whatever, and that all we had heard of the wretched 
 condition of West-India Slaves were mere idle tales ! 
 
 But there is one part of the speech of the honourable 
 Member for Bristol, to which I must for a moment address 
 myself, and for which I must claim the indulgence of the 
 House. I am told that I must not trust the book called 
 ** Negro Slavery," a work which certainly contains damn- 
 ing proof of the state of Negro Slavery in the West 
 Indies. {Hear, from the honourable Member for Bristol.) 
 The honourable Member seems by his cheer to adhere to 
 his former charge against that work ; a charge which, I 
 must confess, I cannot but feel as one of a grave charac- 
 tef made against one of my oldest and most valued 
 friends,— [Mr. Brougham here entered at some length 
 
85 
 
 into a vindication of the character and accuracy of the 
 author, and then proceeded.] — And what is the charge 
 made against him ? It is one of a specific nature, and I 
 will admit that general character is nothing against a specific 
 charge. The charge then is, that the author of this pamphlet 
 has garbled and misquoted Mr. Cooper. So says my ho- 
 nourable Friend. But I will go a step beyond my honour- 
 able and learned Friend, for a correct view of this point. 
 I will go to the author of the statement; to Mr. Cooper 
 himself; and the House will judge whether it is probable 
 that Mr. Cooper's statement has been changed, garbled, 
 or misquoted, when I tell them that Mr. Cooper himself 
 corrected the sheets for the press, and that every syllable 
 of the pamphlet which concerned him passed through his 
 hands before publication, and received his express appro- 
 bation. After this statement, will it not be wasting the 
 time of the House to say one word more upon the subject? 
 
 But another evidence in favour of the author is the 
 still more valuable testimony of his accuser, my honour- 
 able and learned Friend himself. The honourable Member 
 has read two passages to the House, and has observed 
 upon the difference to be found between them ; but, after 
 paying the most studious attention to the two passages so 
 read, I confess I could not discover the slightest difierence 
 between the one statement and the other. 
 
 Then, to return to the honourable Member for Sand- 
 wich : he has made a most triumphant appeal to the House 
 with respect to the condition of the Slaves in Dominica, 
 and he has read the Report of the Governor of that Island, 
 wherein the Slaves are represented to be most happy, and 
 contented. Are things really so 1 Are the Slaves in Do- 
 minica too, as happy as the honourable Member would 
 represent them to be in Honduras ? The Governor of 
 Dominica says, indeed, that the Slaves in general appear 
 to be liberally treated and protected ; but I am curious to 
 know how soon after his arrival in Dominica this letter from 
 Governor Maxwell was written ; and whether it was before 
 or after his having been presented by the grand inquest of 
 
86 
 
 the island as a nuisance, for interfering to protect the Slaves 
 from cruelty. If written afterwards, it would only shew 
 how forgiving a character, what a good-natured creature, 
 the Governor must be. It must, however, have been writ- 
 ten before. And why, let me ask, was he presented by 
 the grand jury of the island as a nuisance ? Was it 
 because he impeached the rights of the owner to the ser- 
 vices of the slave ? Or was it for illegally interfering 
 between master and slave I No, nothing of this kind. 
 It was only for wishing to put in force the laws of the Island 
 in favour of some unhappy Negroes who had been most 
 barbarously ill-treated by their masters. For this it was 
 that the grand jury found a presentment against the 
 Governor for a nuisance. In proportion to the weight of 
 such a fact as this, uncontradicted, to deny which not even 
 an attempt has been made, down goes my confidence in 
 the local authorities of the West Indies ; all my hopes 
 resting upon the exertions of these authorities vanish into 
 air. For what confidence can possibly be placed in the 
 eff*orts or endeavours of those who have presented their 
 Governor as a nuisance, because he had made an attempt 
 to put the Uiws in force against masters for their inhuman 
 barbarity towards some poor helpless Negroes? Down 
 then, I say, goes all my confidence ; down go all my hopes, 
 my fond expectations, of the exertions, not only of these 
 particular authorities, but of the legislative bodies in ge- 
 neral, whose conduct has, on many occasions, been not a 
 whit less strange. 
 
 In Jamaica too, I am told, all is perfect ; and that the 
 Negro, who must be allowed to be the best judge of his 
 own happiness, is perfectly contented with his lot — so well 
 contented that he would not change it. But, unfortunately 
 for this assertion, it appears, from consulting a single page 
 of the Jamaica Gazettes, that it cannot be supported. It 
 is curious enough to observe the broad and most unequi- 
 vocal contradiction given by these Gazettes to this grave 
 statement of the Jamaica Assembly — for it thence appears 
 that many of the Negroes have shewn a most pointed 
 
87 
 
 desire to change their happy situation. In a sittglo pag6 
 of these Gazettes there are no less than fifty ** Run-a- 
 ways" — persons quitting this enviable situation, not only 
 with a certainty of many privations, but at the risk of 
 all the severe penalties which attach to their crime. 
 But let us look to one of the advertisements : " For 
 sale : 140 head of horned cattle " — I beg pardon of the 
 House ; that is not the paragraph I allude to. It is 
 the next column which contains the long list of " Run- 
 aways." — ** Cecilia, a young Creole Negro woman " 
 
 It has been said that young women are never known to 
 
 be punished in these realms of Negro bliss, where they 
 
 are so much better off than in their own country, that they 
 
 ought to bless their stars that they have been taken from 
 
 it. Such is the kind of language to which our ears 
 
 have been accustomed on the subject of Negro slavery, 
 
 from the beginning of this controversy to the present day ; 
 
 but it proves a great deal too much, and consequently 
 
 proves nothing. But facts must always bear down such 
 
 arguments ; and the very papers I have in my hand, while 
 
 they describe the persons of the fugitives, distinguishing 
 
 them by their various marks and brands — the badges of the 
 
 sufferings and the degradations to which these unhappy 
 
 beings have been exposed — speak volumes on the subject. 
 
 But to proceed : " Cecilia, a young Creole woman, five 
 
 feet high, marked (branded !) S. M. and W. S. on top, 
 
 on right shoulder, belonging to the estate of John 
 
 Stevens." Then here is another, who " says he is free, but 
 
 has no documents to prove his freedom." Then come 
 
 several others, described by various maims, and marks on 
 
 diff'erent parts of their bodies. Many have " lost several of 
 
 their front teeth ;" others are described as being marked 
 
 with letters in a diamond on the shoulders and breasts, and 
 
 having sores on the arms or legs, and scars on their face 
 
 or shoulders, with marks of flogging on their backs. And 
 
 so they go through all the sores, and marks, and brands, 
 
 and scars, and treices of the cart-whip, which distinguish 
 
 these happy individuals, who, though we are told they are 
 
88 
 
 so contented, are yet, somehow or other, so insensible to 
 their own bliss, that they will run away from their kind- 
 hearted, humane masters, by whom we have been told, toa, 
 that the whip is now in nearly total disuse ! 
 
 I cannot but express my great astonishment that the 
 right honourable Gentleman should have compared the 
 Negro Slaves in the West Indies with the Roman do- 
 mestic slaves, and with other slaves of antiquity. And 
 I am the more surprised, when I reflect on the classical 
 taste and profound classical knowledge for which the right 
 honourable Gentleman is so remarkable. There are cer- 
 tainly some points in which the condition of the West- 
 India Slaves resemble those of antiquity ; but, speaking 
 generally, the two states do not admit of a comparison. 
 Will any man say, that in a country where the land was 
 tilled by freemen, as among the ancients, it was possible 
 the same habitual cruelty and severity of exaction could 
 prevail, as in those colonies, where men are compelled 
 by the whip, by mere brute force, to cultivate the soil, 
 and where habitual dread of the lash stands engraven 
 on the very front of the system as the sole motive to ex- 
 ertion 1 Not that I mean to assert that the whip is always 
 used, any more than the whip of a waggoner is always in 
 use ; but what I assert is, that the Slaves on plantations 
 are worked by placing the men and the women, of various 
 degrees of strength and capacity, in a line, in which they 
 are compelled to toil by the imminent fear of the lash 
 being applied to their backs ; and it is applied, as often as 
 their laxity of exertion may seem to render it necessary. 
 Such a system, I say, converts a man into a brute animal. 
 All the noble feelings and energies of our nature, and 
 almost all traces of humanity, are eradicated by this 
 base practice, by which the man is made to work, and 
 act, and move at the will of another, and is thus of ne- 
 cessity reduced to the level of a brute : it is a practice 
 which makes its appeal, not to the qualities which distin- 
 guish him from the beasts of the field, but to those which 
 he shares in common with them. 
 
89 
 
 It is said that efforts have been made to ameliorate the 
 condition of the Slave, by giving him religious instruction ; 
 and that since this question was last discussed in this 
 House, those efforts have been increased. If this be so, 
 it shews at least the benefit of such discussions, since it 
 is now admitted even by those who then so loudly cried 
 out against them. We were then run down by clamour: 
 we were accused of doing that which would raise a revolt 
 through the whole of the West-Indian Archipelago; and 
 we were loudly and vehemently charged with aiming a 
 deadly blow at the interests both of the Black and the 
 White population in the West Indies. There was, it was 
 said, no occasion whatever for our interference ; the Ne- 
 groes had kind masters, tender drivers, a zealous clergy, 
 amiable governors, and wise legislators, to superintend, 
 controul, and co-operate in works of humanity. But, not- 
 withstanding all we then heard of this machinery of mercy, 
 by our interference with which we might do mischief and 
 could possibly do no good, it now appears that the effect 
 of our discussions has been, that religious instruction has 
 been much more widely spread, and that it is still spread- 
 ing, through the Colonies. I am happy indeed to find the 
 prediction of evil so completely falsified. 
 
 I observe that there is on the table a paper, and that 
 not the least important on this interesting subject, which 
 has not been referred to by the honourable Member for 
 Sandwich. I allude to the Letter of a worthy Curate, 
 which enters into some details with respect to the religious 
 instruction of the Slaves. This worthy person states, with 
 great simplicity, that he had been between twenty and 
 thirty years among the Negroes, and that no single instance 
 of conversion to Christianity had taken place during that 
 time — all his efforts to gain new proselytes among the 
 Negroes had been in vain. All of a sudden, however, light 
 had broken in upon their darkness so rapidly, that between 
 5000 and 6000 Negroes had been baptized in a few days ! 
 I confess I was at first much surprised at this statement ; 
 I knew not how to comprehend it; but all of a sudden light 
 
 N 
 
90 
 
 broke in upon iny darkness also. I found llial there was a 
 clue to this most surprising story ; and that these wonder- 
 ful conversions were brought about, not by a miracle, as 
 the good man seems himself to have really imagined and 
 would almost make us believe, but by a premium of a 
 dollar a head paid to this worthy curate for each Slave 
 whom he baptized ! I understood, loo, that the whole 
 amount of the previous religious instruction which each 
 Negro received, was neither more nor less than attending, 
 on one occasion, at the church where the curate presided. 
 Such was the mode of propagating religion which seems 
 to have afforded so much satisfaction, and to have given 
 so much cause for triumph. If any person thought that 
 any real practical good could result from such an admini- 
 stration of religious instruction and of Christian baptism, 
 let him enjoy his hopes : I cannot agree with him. 
 
 What then has been done, let me ask, since the Abolition 
 of the Slave Trade, to improve the condition of the Slave I 
 I think I now hear my lamented friend. Sir Samuel 
 Romilly, ask that question, as he once did with so much 
 effect. I never shall forget the impression he produced 
 upon those who, like myself, for ten long years had been 
 indulging in a fond, but vain hope, that the abolition of 
 the Slave Trade was all that was wanted for bettering 
 the condition of the Slaves. We have now unhappily 
 survived him between four and five years, and with how 
 much more force might we now put the same question ? 
 It was indeed long our hope, that, if we did but abolish 
 the Slave Trade, through the gradual progress of improve- 
 ment. Slavery itself would soon be extinguished. I my- 
 self gave into the delusion. I said, with others. Leave 
 measures of internal regulation to the Colonial Legis- 
 latures: only abolish the Slave Trade : it will then be 
 the interest of the master to treat his slaves well, and 
 under the influence of that feeling the condition of the 
 slave must rapidly improve. 
 
 How bitterly have we been disappointed in these fond 
 expectations ! I beg, however, not to be understood as 
 
01 
 
 castin^^ any particular blanie on the owners of estates for 
 this failure, for they have perhaps little in their power. We 
 ought to be aware that the state of landed property in the 
 West Indies is not in the least analogous to the state of 
 landed property in England, although it has often been 
 erroneously compared to it. The owners of West-Indian 
 estates usually reside in this country, and can have but 
 a feeble controul over the course of proceedings in the 
 colonies. And though some of them, it is true, may have 
 got their estates by inheritance, yet this is not the case 
 with a great majority : they have obtained them by pur- 
 chases on speculation, or by debt, having advanced money 
 on mortgage and with a view to consignments. In short, 
 landed property in the West Indies partakes much more 
 of the nature of a hazardous commercial speculation, than 
 of that stable enjoyment of territorial property which cha- 
 racterizes the British landholder. Men in these circum- 
 stances, it is obvious, have no permanent interest in the 
 soil. Their object is to make the most they can in the 
 shortest time ; and therefore they will not be deterred, by 
 considerations of humanity for the Slaves, from extracting, 
 during their temporary possession, by means of the uncon- 
 trouled power they possess over those wretched beings, 
 the utmost benefit which the estate is capable of yielding. 
 But even if the owners acted with the best intentions 
 — and many of them I believe do — they are absent, and 
 know nothing of what is actually going on on their estates. 
 It is an individual who has no real interest in the estate, 
 who is placed as their agent on the spot to superintend 
 the whole concern. Some owners of estates may be very 
 honest, honourable, humane men, who would not work their 
 slaves too much ; but what security have we that this will 
 be the case with all, or that many may not even think it 
 their interest to act otherwise? Indeed, I am persuaded 
 that it is not so plainly the pecuniary interest of the 
 slave-owner in alT cases to be humane, as some have 
 imagined. The West-India purchaser of an estate may 
 consider himself engaged in a gambling concern, and may 
 
92 
 
 hope in a few years to scourge a handsome profit ont of the 
 unhappy beings committed to his charge ; and he may even 
 flatter himself that he will clear a greater profit in this 
 way than he would have done had he pursued a different 
 course. His object is to get a great return in a short 
 time ; and although in a long series of years it might be 
 against his interest to over-work his Slaves, yet, his object 
 being a rapid return for his capital, he cannot wait the 
 slow progress of improvement in order to attain it. It is 
 very well known, and the simile is far from being a new 
 one, that some post-masters use their horses exactly upon 
 this principle. They might keep their horses longer alive, 
 by making them do less work and by giving them better 
 treatment ; but they prefer making them do more work, 
 though it may wear them down sooner, upon a mere 
 calculation of profit and loss. Far be it from me to charge 
 such a sordid calculation as this upon the West-India 
 planters ; but what I say is, that the identity of their in- 
 terests and those of humanity ought not to be so much 
 relied upon : you cannot trust to the former alone in the 
 treatment of the Slave, because I have shewn that views 
 of interest may be supposed to require treatment, in cer- 
 tain circumstances, wholly different from that which would 
 be dictated by the principles of humanity. 
 
 Such being my view of the situation in which master 
 and slave stand to each other, I confess I look with the 
 greatest distrust, with the slenderest possible hope, to any 
 real and solid advantage to be derived from the resolu- 
 tions moved by the right honourable Gentleman, and which 
 refer the matter to the Colonial Assemblies. Let the 
 House remember, that we have done the same thing 
 twice before; the effect produced by it has been very 
 small indeed ; and I greatly fear that we shall only meet 
 with further disappointment if we again resort to the 
 same expedient. Those Legislatures may pretend to meet 
 fully the wishes of Parliament, and yet may do nothing 
 eflbctual; and, after five years more have elapsed without 
 any progress having been made, we shall be again called 
 
93 
 
 upon, either by events wliich Lave happened in the West 
 Indies, or by our own consciences at home, to look into 
 the question in good earnest, when it will brook no further 
 delays ; and then we shall have the painful reflection, that 
 if we had acted boldly in the first instance, five years of 
 misery would have been saved to these unhappy beings. 
 
 How comes it to pass, I would ask, that no steps have 
 yet been taken towards the amelioration of the condition 
 of the Slaves? For how many years has it, for example, 
 been proposed to attach the Slave to the soil? The ques- 
 tion, I know, has been discussed ; but why has no progress 
 been made in consequence of that discussion? It has 
 been said that there are many difficulties to encounter. 
 Doubtless there are. It would be hard upon the Slave, it 
 is argued, to be kept upon a barren soil, an exhausted 
 plantation ; but it seems to have been forgotten, that the 
 very exhaustion of the soil, unfitting it for sugar culture, 
 is in the Negro's favour. But how comes it, that in the 
 West Indies the richest soils in the world thus undergo 
 exhaustion, while in other countries the poorest soils are 
 subject to no such process, and do not, under ordinary cul- 
 tivation, deteriorate, but improve ? Is it not that a just 
 curse seems, in the dispensation of Providence, to attend 
 the cruel and blood-thirsty method of culture by Slaves? 
 else why would not culture keep the land in the West 
 Indies in the same heart in which the land in tbe East 
 Indies or in Europe is kept? 
 
 But are we to say that the Slaves shall not be attached 
 to the soil, merely because some possible inconveniences 
 may, in supposable cases, be pointed out as the result? 
 Certainly not. If the argument urged on the score of the 
 poverty of the soil in certain situations were valid, the 
 same might have been said of England, when villenage 
 in gross was converted into villenage regardant ; and 
 copyholders would then have had no existence : there 
 would have been no such thing as a freeman in the land, 
 because, forsooth, a gust of wind might have blown a part 
 of Norfolk into the sea, and then it might have been said. 
 
94 
 
 how can subsistence be drawn from the sands of Norfolk : 
 we must retain the power of transferring the villein to 
 richer lands elsewhere. If this sort of argument had been 
 allowed to weigh in former times, we should have been 
 all of us at the present moment villeins in gross, I have 
 never heard it said that there is one single plantation in 
 the West Indies so barren that provisions will not grow 
 upon it sufficient for the maintenance of the slaves 
 belonging to it. But I would make a broader and more 
 general answer to the objection, and I would say, that we 
 are bound to act upon the mass of cases, and that one 
 exception is no argument against the general principle. 
 
 I cannot close these observations, which I have deemed 
 it incumbent upon me to make to the House, without 
 stating my decided opinion that we ought not to resist the 
 amendment of the right honourable Secretary ; because it is 
 at least a step in advance towards emancipation, although 
 I confess I entertain but few hopes of its leading to any 
 sound practical result. It may, however, be ultimately a 
 ground for a stronger expression of the opinion of the 
 House; and I sincerely trust my honourable Friend will 
 in no long time propose to the House some more specific 
 resolution, with respect to the freedom of children born 
 after a certain period. Holding that liberty to the Slaves 
 in the West Indies must come sooner or later ; and being 
 convinced, that, if they are not now ripe for actual emanci- 
 pation, at least we are arrived at the time when it will be 
 safe to legislate with a view to that consummation ; it seems 
 to 'me to be now the imperative duty of the legislature to 
 pass some act with respect to the freedom of unborn 
 children. We shall be wanting in our duty to that part 
 of our fellow-subjects, if we do not immediately announce 
 our intention of taking up that part of the subject. Diffi- 
 culties doubtless will b^ to be encountered — difficulties 
 there are in every change — but are they insurmountable? 
 I trust that no man will be stopped by them, who does not 
 wish to be impeded. 
 
 Sir, we hear of the risk of insurrection ; we have heard of 
 
95 
 
 it in every stage of the discussion : from the first moment 
 this question was brought under the consideration of the 
 House, to the present instant, the cry has never been out 
 of the mouths of those who oppose all change. But yet 
 our discussions, although declared to be so injurious in 
 theory, have never produced the slightest practical injury. 
 Even the insurrection in Barbadoes, it might easily be 
 shewn, had no connection, as was alleged, with the dis- 
 cussions on the Registry Bill, but sprung from causes 
 perfectly distinct. This is a sufficient answer to all such 
 chimerical apprehensions. Parliament has certainly not 
 shewn any desire to interfere between master and slave ; 
 but if steps are not taken by the master to convert his 
 present tenure into one of a more restricted nature, Parlia- 
 ment is bound to interfere, by the right which it holds of 
 legislating for all his Majesty's subjects. This right, 
 sacred and unalienable, is inherent in the British legisla- 
 ture, and has never been abandoned, excepting as it 
 regards taxation. 
 
 Sir, I beg pardon of the House for having troubled it 
 by going at greater length into the subject than I at first 
 intended, but I thought there was a chance of some mis- 
 take arising as to the grounds on which we accede to there- 
 solutions now proposed bythe right honourable Gentleman ; 
 and I wish more particularly to guard against being under- 
 stood as expressing any great hopes of benefit from the 
 present measure, which is little more than a repetition of the 
 former Addresses of Parliament to the Crown, and the 
 former references of the Crown to the Colonial Assemblies, 
 followed by an entire disappointment of every expectation 
 that had been indulged. With these recollections deeply 
 impressed upon my mind, let it not be supposed that I 
 can indulge a sanguine hope of any beneficial practical 
 results from these resolutions. 
 
 Mr. Bernal was surprised that his honourable and 
 learned Friend (Mr. Brougham), who must acknowledge that 
 conciliation was the tone most fitting to be adopted, should 
 
m 
 
 yet have thought proper to select the topics which he had 
 done. He might have selected topics much happier. The 
 laws did not leave the Negro so destitute of protection as 
 was supposed. Appeals were allowed to the Negroes 
 under those laws, pending which they were to hold their 
 liberty. They might also bring actions of trespass ; and 
 the Attorney- General and the law authorities of Jamaica 
 returned very many cases, in which those actions had been 
 successfully maintained. He complained especially of the 
 argument of his honourable and learned Friend, as to the 
 failure of the owners in not having attached the slaves to 
 the soil, and the comparison made by him between the cul- 
 ture of England and that of the sugar plantations. What 
 resemblance could be fairly assumed between the adscrqrli 
 gleb{S and the West-Indian Negroes? The particular mode 
 of cultivation in the colonies had been induced and con- 
 tinued under the sanction of the Legislature ; and if the 
 Legislature now were to insist upon a change in that mode, 
 they were bound to compensate the persons whose pro- 
 perty and interests were to be so materially affected. (See 
 Appendix U.) 
 
 Mr. Alexander Baring. — Having been alluded to 
 by my honourable Friend who opened the debate, I cannot 
 avoid stating to the House how strongly I feel the neces- 
 sity of something being done, and something considerable, 
 on the present question. I feel that it is one of the 
 greatest possible importance and delicacy ; but I fear that 
 honourable gentlemen around me, whose feelings I re- 
 spect, have been led away by the ardour and fervency of 
 those feelings to exaggerate the real facts, and to under- 
 rate the many difficulties and dangers which must accom- 
 pany any alteration in the present system. I am anxious 
 to state my own ideas as to the extent of these difficulties ; 
 and undoubtedly, if there really exist such a state of 
 things, a case of that extreme atrocity which has been 
 represented to the public, every possible risk ought to 
 be encountered to get the better of the system which 
 
97 
 
 produced tliem* I confess it does not surprise me, that 
 those who believe in the existence of these barbarities 
 should wish that no time should be lost in remedying such 
 an evil. My own opinion, however, is, that, as far as the 
 physical sufferings of the Negro go, they have been much 
 over-stated ; and I may even cite my own observations on 
 the subject to prove the fact. 1 am not myself a West- 
 India proprietor, but I have seen cultivation carried on 
 by Slaves in some of the American States, in Georgia 
 and Carolina ; and I must say, that, from all I saw there, 
 and from every information I have received from our own 
 colonies, I do not believe, on looking about the world and 
 considering the general lot of mankind, that, if I was 
 called upon to say what part of the globe most particularly 
 excited my sympathy and commiseration, I do not believe 
 that I should fix upon the Negroes of the West Indies, 
 as far as regards their food and clothing, and the whole 
 of their treatment. (See Appendix V.) 
 
 I must say, that when my honourable and learned Friend 
 (Mr. Brougham), in a speech of much energy and elo- 
 quence, sets aside the testimony of all those colonial gover- 
 nors (which was detailed to the House by the honourable 
 Member for Sandwich), and takes up the opinions, pub- 
 lished in the form of pamphlets, of honest but enthusiastic 
 men, who are much more likely to be misled as to facts than 
 those public functionaries in their official reports, I con- 
 fess I cannot fully approve of such a mode of arguing the 
 question. I should say, in opposition to these feelings, and 
 to those of my honourable friend the Member for Bramber 
 (Mr. Wilberforce), that unless he himself had been in the 
 colonies, and had been an eye-witness to the scenes he 
 has described, I would rather take the reports of those 
 governors, men of education, having no interest in the 
 Colonies, than the opinions of these individuals, who are 
 not very likely to be sparing in their descriptions of the 
 cruelties and atrocities committed in the West Indies, 
 well knowing that such glowing and exaggerated accounts, 
 
 o 
 
98 
 
 where solitary instances of oppression, instead of being 
 the exception, are converted into the rule, would not 
 be unacceptable to those to whom they communicated 
 their statements. My own opinion is, that the condition 
 of the Slaves is undoubtedly, in many respects, superior to 
 that of most of the European peasantry. They are well 
 clothed, well fed, and, I believe, generally treated with 
 justice and kindness. 
 
 But the circumstance which weighs the heaviest on my 
 mind, is the moral condition of the Slaves, and the almost 
 impossibility of their deriving, in their present situation, 
 any religious or moral instruction from those who are 
 placed over them, and who cannot boast of the best morals 
 themselves. There is something altogether so painful in 
 their situation, in this respect, that I am induced to wish 
 that something could be done to ameliorate their moral 
 condition ; nor can I see any danger which could possibly 
 arise from a prudent plan of religious instruction, by which 
 they might be raised in the scale of being. (See Ap- 
 pendix W.) 
 
 As to the objection taken by my honourable and learned 
 Friend to the statement with reference to the insurrection 
 at Barbadoes ; I believe it to have been correctly stated 
 that the insurrection was owing to the report spread in the 
 colony of what was doing at home, and to the consequences 
 which the Negroes anticipated from it. It was, I think, 
 the statement of the Governor, Sir James Leith, that the 
 insurrection was owing entirely to that circumstance. 
 Indeed, it is impossible to consider the state in which 
 men in that country exist, without supposing an extreme 
 liability to excitement among them. The same excite- 
 ment might, and probably would, be produced at home by 
 similar means. Supposing a question were argued in the 
 House of Commons on the subject of a division of the 
 property of the rich among the poorer people of this coun- 
 try ; and there were among us men enthusiastic enough to 
 maintain the justice of this division, and to argue how 
 
09 
 
 impious it was that one portion of the population should 
 live upon coarse food, and drink nothing but water, wbilo 
 another portion shouhl feast on venison and champaigne, 
 and indulge in all the luxuries and delicacies of life; — - 
 supposing, I say, these opinions were to spread (and I 
 really think a great deal of good argument might be 
 stated in their favour upon the score of Christianity), and 
 discussions on some future occasion were to arise in this 
 House; I would ask, whether they could possibly take 
 place without producing considerable irritation even ia 
 this country, accustomed as we are to free discussion ? We 
 do not want, therefore, these governors of the West Indies 
 to tell us what dangers would result from such a course 
 of proceeding. It is quite sufficient for us to know human 
 nature, to be sensible that the danger is extreme, and that 
 the discussion, therefore, must be entered upon with the 
 greatest possible caution. (See Appendix X.) 
 
 The honourable Gentleman who opened this discussion 
 has given us some instances where Slavery has been en- 
 tirely got rid of without the slightest danger resulting 
 from the application of the necessary remedies for curing 
 the evil; and the states of Pennsylvania, of New York, 
 and of New Jersey, have been quoted for this purpose. 
 The honourable Gentleman seemed as if he could not 
 express himself in terms of sufficient delight and rapture: 
 it was beautiful to observe, he said, howx gradually the 
 whole mass of Slavery sunk, and, as it were, melted away, 
 without disorder, or the slightest interference on the part 
 of the legislature being required to prevent the dangers 
 which might have been anticipated. But he has cited 
 these cases to the House without possessing a sufficient 
 knowledge of the real facts. In New York there 
 were 1,000,000 Whites, and the whole Black population 
 did not amount to more than 5000. Is this, then, an 
 analogous case ? The same is the case precisely with the 
 State of New Jersey : there the whole amount of the 
 Black population was not more than 10,000. In Penn- 
 
100 
 
 sylvania the number was still less. That judicious people, 
 the Quakers, resident in Pennsylvania, began very early to 
 abolish the system of slavery, and the amount of them was 
 comparatively nothing. These are, therefore, all the cases 
 which have been mentioned by the honourable Gentleman 
 with respect to North America. Not one of them is in 
 point, to prove that no danger exists from the proposed 
 alterations. 
 
 I should say, that with respect to the other case, of 
 Columbia, although it is undoubtedly more in point, yet 
 that it is still not to be compared with our Colonies in the 
 West Indies. In the case of Columbia, there was, I think, 
 a population of 3,000,000, out of which 800,000 were 
 Blacks ; so that the Whites at least were more than 
 enough to keep the Negroes in awe of them. The case 
 stated of the Island of Ceylon is not in the least ana- 
 logous to the present, because that is a case where the 
 inhabitants of the country itself were in a state of vassalage 
 and personal servitude, and where they were released from 
 their bonds by measures instituted by a strong military 
 government on the spot. Are then, I would ask, any of 
 these cases to be compared with a colony in the West 
 Indies, where there is no mass of property represented 
 by persons on the spot, where there is no physical supe- 
 riority to counteract the effect of any insurrection which 
 may arise in the colony, the Slaves outnumbering the 
 Whites by at least ten to one 1 (See Appendix Y.) 
 
 With respect to the different remedies suggested by the 
 honourable Gentleman who commenced this debate ; so far 
 as they have been acceded to by the right honourable Gen- 
 tleman, they very much meet my own view of the subject; 
 but certainly the question of the actual emancipation of the 
 slaves is one which appears to me to be attended with the 
 greatest difficulties. Thesuggestionof my honourable Friend 
 is, that children born after a certain period should be free. 
 At first sight, I confess it to be a very natural proposition, 
 and one most accordant to our feelings ; but it seems to 
 
101 
 
 have been forgotten, that there is this question yet to be 
 answered, and as it appears to me it will be difficult to 
 meet it with a satisfactory reply ; it is this. If these chil- 
 dren are born free, who is to take care of them ? It has 
 been said that they may be apprenticed for a certain num- 
 ber of years ; but this, I think, will be impracticable, for 
 it will not be worth the while of the planter to bring* up 
 these children — we will say from the age of twelve to nine- 
 teen — well knowing that at the end of that period they will 
 be at liberty to leave him and go whither they please. I 
 have very strangely miscalculated, if such a scheme can 
 be carried into execution : it is in fact wholly impracticable. 
 It is admitted, I think, on all hands, that one of the greatest 
 advantages of the abolition of the Slave Trade is, that it 
 tends to an improvement both in the condition and in the 
 treatment of the Negro females and children ; that it gives 
 an interest to the master in rearing the children, and in 
 taking proper care of the mother while she is breeding. 
 But if you do away with the interest of the proprietor in 
 the offspring, as undoubtedly would be the effect of the 
 proposition of my honourable Friend, all this beneficial 
 result of the abolition of the Slave Trade immediately 
 ceases. It is a fact too evident to be for a moment dis- 
 puted, that, if this plan is adopted, the proprietor has at 
 least not the same reason as before, for taking care either 
 of the mother or of the offspring. (See Appendix Z.) 
 
 I am satisfied, however, that the matter is in the best 
 possible hands to which it could be entrusted ; and I 
 will only say, that if any measures are taken for abolishing 
 Slavery, either directly or circuitously, they must have the 
 effect of endangering the peace and tranquillity of our 
 Colonies. And if we were to arrive at a free Black popu- 
 lation, the inevitable consequence will be, that the whole 
 of the islands will be gone from this country ; there will 
 be an end to our colonial system. It would be absurd to 
 suppose that a free Black population, so enlightened and 
 cultivated as to value their rights and duly to appreciate 
 
102 
 
 their strength ; that a population so instructed and so 
 civilized, will consent to continue devoting their labours 
 to proprietors the greater portion of whom arc resident in 
 England. It is impossible for a moment to suppose such 
 a state of things to exist ; or that this country can possibly 
 retain any interest whatever in colonies of this description. 
 The instant such a state of society as I have described is 
 established, we must, I say, bid adieu to our colonial 
 system. The colonies would be of no farther value to 
 Great Britain. (See Appendix AA.) 
 
 With regard to the question of compensation, I think 
 that my honourable friend, the Member for Bramber, has 
 not acted with his usual candour and liberality, in not 
 having mentioned one word of compensation to those 
 persons who are so deeply interested in this question. It 
 is quite evident, that, in whatever way you proceed, you 
 must vitally affect pecuniary interests. For instance ; if 
 you say that children shall be free after a certain period, 
 you convert permanent property into a life estate, you 
 totally alter the nature of that property. When it is con- 
 sidered with what extreme delicacy we touch property in 
 this country, it never can be tolerated for an instant that a 
 measure so vitally affecting the interests of the West-India 
 proprietors should be unaccompanied by compensation, 
 which would be the greatest possible injustice. When I 
 recollect too- — and let it not be forgotten by the House — 
 the strong and able argument raised by my honourable 
 friend, the Member for Weymouth, who introduced this 
 question to the consideration of the House, on the subject 
 of the brewers, to prove to us, that if the measure then 
 before the House (a measure which I, for one, deemed a 
 most important and salutary one) should pass into a law, the 
 vested interests (as my honourable Friend termed them) of 
 the brewers would be destroyed, and their property greatly 
 injured — all these interests and this property would be 
 sacrificed, if the beer trade were to be thrown open to the 
 public. Now I cannot forbear contrasting these former 
 
103 
 
 sentiments of my honourable Friend with his present 
 proceedings in this House. I should be sorry to take an 
 unfair advantage of any argument used by my honourable 
 Friend, but I must say, conscientiously, that if there were 
 a measure which I thought more than another could con- 
 tribute to the health and secure the comfort of the poorer 
 classes, it would be that which my honourable Friend so 
 strongly, and with so much ingenuity, opposed, on no 
 other ground than that one class of men would be proba- 
 bly injured, and deprived of a monopoly which I feel satis- 
 fied the law never intended to be allowed to them. But, 
 of all the cases which have come under the consideration 
 of the House, I think none could call more loudly for 
 compensation, upon every principle of justice, than the 
 one now under discussion. Those who have their interests 
 so intimately involved in this question, have a right to 
 call upon Parliament to consider their claim before any 
 material alteration is attempted. I only hope that the 
 subject, so properly left to the care of Government, will 
 be treated with the delicacy it deserves. 
 
 I must observe, before I sit down, that I trust his Ma- 
 jesty's Ministers will not be unduly influenced by the peti- 
 tions on the table, which have, in fact, been got up by a 
 few persons in the metropolis. I know no question upon 
 which petitions have been procured with more trick and 
 management, than on the present; or where they have 
 come so notoriously from persons having no means what- 
 ever of exercising a judgment upon the question. It is, 
 in fact, considered one more of conscience than of judg- 
 ment ; and persons, according to the fashion of the day, 
 think to quiet their consciences for the year, either by 
 subscribing their money to one of the Missionary So- 
 cieties, or their names to one of these petitions against 
 Negro Slavery in the West Indies. I am, however, 
 happy to see that such a feeling prevails in this coun- 
 try, and that there are people who are capable of being 
 so actuated by such considerations ; it is highly honourable 
 
104 
 
 to the national character; but I hope it will not have the 
 effect of setting the machinery of government at work 
 injuriously to the interests either of the public or of indi- 
 viduals. It is the same feeling which put the politics of 
 Europe into an unusual state of ferment, and set the Con- 
 gresses of Vienna and Verona at work ; and which every 
 year brings upon the table of the House whole loads of 
 humbug about the Slave Trade. It seems to me as if these 
 negociations were kept up merely to gratify the feelings 
 of this country ; to shew to the people of England how 
 much the great potentates of Europe have the aboli- 
 tion of the Slave Trade at their hearts. Austria and 
 Russia, who have, God knows, slaves enough in their 
 own territories to practise emancipation) upon, are repeat- 
 ing every year their assurances to the good people of 
 England of their anxiety for the abolition of Negro 
 Slavery; and, somehow or other, our Minister, who at- 
 tends at these meetings of the European monarchs, is 
 fortunate enough to bring home with him great masses 
 of papers, to prove that these most humane and kind- 
 hearted Emperors take a most lively interest in the 
 question. (See Appendix BB.) 
 
 Undoubtedly I do most sincerely wish well to the efforts 
 of his Majesty's Government on the present occasion ; and 
 I feel great satisfaction that the task has been undertaken 
 by them ; and, from the speech of the right honourable 
 Gentleman, 1 feel great confidence that the resolutions pro- 
 posed by him will be acted upon, not only sincerely, but 
 with that judgment and discretion, with that caution and 
 justice and delicacy, which such great and important 
 interests deserve. 
 
 Lord Althorp. — I am anxious to address one or 
 two observations to the House upon this important ques- 
 tion. I certainly think that the Planters of the West 
 Indies have a fair claim upon this House for compensation 
 in the event of the adoption of the plans proposed by my 
 
105 
 
 honourable Friend (Mr. F. Buxton.) With reference to 
 what has fallen from my honourable Friend who spoke last, 
 relative to the cultivation of the Colonies by free labour, 
 I differ from him, certainly, in supposing that the conver- 
 sion of the slaves into freemen would be such an im- 
 mense loss to this country. I, however, look at this sub- 
 ject with a view chiefly to the interests of the Negroes, 
 My honourable Friend has ridiculed the petitions which 
 have been presented in such a mass for the abolition of 
 Slavery in the West Indies. Undoubtedly there have 
 been a great number of petitions presented ; the feeling of 
 the country seems to be pretty nearly unanimous upon the 
 subject ; and I would ask my honourable Friend, if he 
 really thinks that the Slave Trade itself would have been 
 abolished, if it had not been for the same general expres- 
 sion of the sentiments of the people of this country. It 
 cannot be for a moment disputed, that it was the general 
 feeling of the nation, the general abhorrence of the in- 
 humanity and barbarity of the practice of dealing in 
 human flesh, which produced its abolition. 
 
 I wish, however, the emancipation of the Slaves to 
 proceed very gradually, because I feel apprehensive, that, 
 if the greatest caution is not used in the application of the 
 
 L remedies, evils of an alarming nature may be the result. 
 
 P With respect, therefore, to the discretion to be exercised 
 
 by this Government in the steps to be taken, I entirely 
 agree with my honourable Friend. Biit, on the other hand, 
 when I reflect on the moral degradation to which these 
 unhappy beings are reduced ; and when I consider how 
 inconsistent it is with their comfort and their happiness, 
 and how contrary to every principle of justice and hu- 
 manity it is, that they should be sullered to remain in that 
 state, when this Government has it in its power to ame- 
 liorate their condition ; I would say, that the sooner eman- 
 cipation can be brought about, the more satisfaction shall 
 I feel at its accomplishment. 
 
 It has been stated several times to-night, that the con- 
 
106 
 
 dition of the Negro in the West Indies is in many re- 
 spects preferable to that of our labourers in this country ; 
 and my honourable Friend, who spoke last, asserted that 
 the physical sufferings of the Negro have been greatly over- 
 rated. The honourable Member for Sandwich, too, has 
 stated broadly, and has quoted various documents to prove 
 it, that the slave is perfectly contented and happy. If we 
 look only to the clothing and food allowed to these 
 unfortuuate beings, it is enough to convince any reason- 
 able man, without further investigation, of the necessity 
 of an alteration in the present system ; and it is idle to 
 the last degree to talk of the happiness and comfort en- 
 joyed by them. But it is said, that some of these happy 
 Slaves are so conscious of their bliss, that they have even 
 refused to take advantage of an offer of their liberty, and 
 have preferred to live and die in Slavery. If the object 
 were to prove the low state to which, as moral creatures, 
 these beings have been reduced, nothing could be stronger 
 than this single statement. Good God! can it be imagined 
 for a moment, that a man, possessing the least particle 
 of the sympathies and affections of his species, should 
 prefer to doom himself without remorse to Slavery for life ; 
 that he should doom his children after him, from genera- 
 tion to generation, to be born to live and die in the bonds 
 of Slavery^, that he should doom for ever his sons to the 
 lash of the slave-driver, and expose his daughters to the 
 will and power of a cruel task-master, who might at 
 pleasure subject them to his wanton lust ? If any thing, 
 I say, can raise feelings of indignation and horror in the 
 breast, it would be the knowledge of such a fuct as this. 
 But what must be the feelings of a free-born Englishman, 
 enjoying the glorious blessings of freedom, on hearing such 
 a statement as this ? The coldest heart could not but be 
 keenly affected by it; and even those who are most in- 
 terested in the question must sympathize with the general 
 feeling of the country. 
 
 I will not trouble the House by going further into this 
 
^ 107 
 
 question, butl must express my gratitude to my honourable 
 Friend for bringing this subject under the consideration 
 of the House. If nothing more has been done, at least it 
 has had the effect of producing the resolutions of my right 
 honourable Friend opposite, which, I hope, may be con- 
 sidered as one step towards the total emancipation of the 
 Negroes in the West Indies. 
 
 Mr. Buxton (in reply.) — I had made up my mind not 
 to trouble the House with a single observation in reply. 
 I had already trespassed long on your attention ; and I 
 was abundantly contented to rest the defence of the state- 
 ments with which I opened the business, on the powerful 
 speeches of my honourable Friends. In this determi- 
 nation I should have persevered, had it not been for the 
 speech of the honourable Gentleman who spoke last but 
 one (Mr. Baring.) That Gentleman has charged me with 
 inconsistency — he has accused me of using one sort of 
 language on this question, and another upon subjects 
 where my own interests are concerned. He tells us that 
 I was sufficiently mindful of the rights of private property, 
 when that property was my own ; but that I never even 
 whispered a syllable about compensation to the West- 
 India Planter. Now I appeal to the House, whether 
 there is justice in the charge. I ask those who listened 
 to my statements, whether I did not clearly and explicitly 
 declare my opinion that the question of compensation to 
 the Planter was one that merited attention. I appeal to 
 the honourable Gentleman himself, whether the language 
 I used was not to this effect : — Slavery is an injustice, but 
 it is an injustice sanctioned by our law : the crime is 
 ours, and ours must be the expense of getting rid of it. 
 The honourable Gentleman is, then, in error, when he says 
 I never alluded to compensation. But what if I had not ? 
 Is there no difference between a vested interest in a house 
 or a tenement, and a vested interest in a human being I 
 
108 
 
 No difference between a right to bricks and mortar, and a 
 right to the flesh of man—a right to torture his body and 
 to degrade his mind at your good will and pleasure I 
 There is this difference, — the right to the house originates 
 in law, and is reconcilable to justice ; the claim (for I will 
 not call it a right) to the man, originated in robbery, and 
 is an outrage upon every principle of justice and every 
 tenet of religion. 
 
 The right honourable Gentleman (Mr Canning) com- 
 plains of my language in having referred to the Slave 
 Trade. '* Why," he asks, " do you recall the horrors of 
 that odious and abolished practice ?" For this plain reason, 
 that your title to a slave is founded on that practice. By 
 the Slave Trade you obtained him. Upon tha|; practice, 
 hqw reprobated, and now by us abolished, your claim is 
 founded. Every reproach uttered against Slave Trading 
 impeaches your title to the Slave. You say the man is your 
 property. I ask in reply, how did you obtain that property? 
 And you are driven to the necessity of acknowledging 
 that it was gained by the blackest of crimes — by that 
 «ct which you now punish as a felony ; by that act which 
 the British Parliament stigmatized as '* contrary to the 
 principles of justice, humanity, and sound policy;" by 
 that act which even the assembled Monarchs of Europe 
 (not suspected of too ardent a love of liberty) describe as 
 ** desolating Africa, degrading Europe, and afflicting 
 humanity," and as ** repugnant to the principles of humanity 
 and universal morality." 
 
 There is one point in the speech of the honourable 
 Member for Sandwich, upon which, as I have risen, I must 
 make a few observations — because it is really the most 
 matchless exemplification of forgetfulness, the most memo- 
 rable instance I ever met with of a treacherous memory. 
 The honourable Gentleman quoted to us, from the papers 
 during the last twenty years printed by this House, every 
 sentence and expression which could be construed into a 
 defence of slavery, or an approval of the condition of 
 
109 
 
 slaves. One could hardly suflicietitly admire the degree 
 oniulustry which prompted him to search out, or the force 
 of memory which enabled him to repeat, every passage in 
 this voluminous correspondence which favours his view of 
 the subject. Amongst other papers, he refers to the corre- 
 spondence of Colonel Arthur. In 1816 Colonel Arthur de- 
 clares that he came to the West Indies, three years preced- 
 ing, a perfect Wiiberforce as to slavery ; but that experience 
 had changed his views, and that he could hardly find terms to 
 express his admiration of the comforts and advantages of the 
 slave population of Honduras. The honourable Gentleman 
 triumphantly appeals to these expressions. But in that same 
 volume from which he extracted them, and within a few- 
 pages, there is a fact stated by the same Colonel Arthur, 
 which speaks still more unequivocally than they do as to the 
 ** comforts and advantages of the slave population of Hon- 
 duras," Now it is strange that the honourable Gentleman, 
 who so accurately recollects the eulogy, should so entirely 
 have forgotten the fact; for the House will perceive, when I 
 state it, that it is a fact calculated to make a pretty strong 
 impression on a memory less powerful than that of the 
 Member for Sandwich. The dispatch which contains it is 
 from Colonel Arthur, dated October 21, 1816, just seven- 
 teen days prior to that other dispatch in which he lauds 
 the condition of the Slaves in that colony, and describes 
 himself as having been metamorphosed from a perfect 
 Wiiberforce into — something, no doubt, very superior. I 
 will now read an extract from it. You will find the whole 
 in the papers relative to Slaves, ordered to be printed 
 on the 10th June, 1818; the very papers from which 
 the honourable Member for Sandwich has drawn his 
 quotations. 
 
 *' Copy of a Letter from Lieut.-Col. Geo. Arthur to 
 Earl Bathurst; with seven enclosures. 
 
 " Honi^uras, 21st October, 1816. — My Lord, I have 
 the honour to report to your lordship, that an inhabitant 
 of this settlement, named Michael Carty, embarked by 
 
110 
 
 the last vessel which sailed for England, in order to obtain 
 redress for the oppressive measures which he represents to 
 have been exercised towards him by me, 
 
 ** I could not have conceived it possible that this in- 
 human wretch was so destitute of all sense of shame, as to 
 have taken such public means of promulgating his infamy ; 
 yet, as he has resolved upon it, I feel it necessary to 
 transmit, for your lordship's information, the accompanying 
 documents respecting him, 
 
 ** By these papers your lordship will perceive, that this 
 Carty was convicted before a special court, assembled for 
 his trial, of having caused a poor young Negro female, his 
 property, to be stripped naked, and her hands being tied 
 to her feet with tight cords, a stick was passed under her 
 knees and above the elbow-bend of her arms, a large 
 cattle-chain was fastened round her neck with a padlock, 
 and in this agonizing posture, exposed to the burning 
 heat of the sun, was this wretched female tortured from 
 morning until night ; constantly, during that time, flogged 
 with a severe cat by her inhuman master and servant, in 
 the most wanton and barbarous manner : sometimes on her 
 buttocks ; at other times, being turned over on the stick, 
 on her face and breasts." 
 
 Now, look at the evidence on which he was thus con- 
 victed, 
 
 ** At a meeting of the Magistrates at the Court House, 
 Belize, River's mouth, in Honduras, Thursday, 
 August 29th, 1810.— Present, Marshall Bennett, 
 Thomas Paslow, and Thomas Frain, esquires, 
 
 ** J. B. Rabateau came before the magistrates, and 
 stated upon oath as follows : — Jhe day before yesterday 
 I was at Mr. Orgill's, about half past twelve o'clock, and 
 I heard somebody was crawling in Mr. Carty's yard ; 
 Mr. Orgill told me it was Mr. Carty that was flogging one 
 of his wenches, and which \Vas the third time thit day ; I 
 went from the house into Mr. Orgill's yard, with Mr. Orgill 
 and Joseph Bclisle, and looked into Mr, Carty's yard, and 
 
Ill 
 
 I saw a girl wliicli Mr. Carty brought from Mrs. Barn*d, 
 on the ground, her two hands were tied to her feet, and a 
 stick run under her knees and above the elbow-bend of 
 the arm, and lying on her back perfectly naked, and he, 
 Mr. Carty^ was flogging her with a cat ; after flogging her 
 some time on her buttocks, he came round and struck her 
 ten or twelve stripes over her breast and face, and after 
 his flogging her thus, he called another woman of his and 
 made her hold one end of the stick, and he, Mr. Carty, 
 took hold of the other, and he turned her from lying on 
 her back over her head, when she fell nearly on her face, 
 and then he flogged her again on her buttocks ; after this 
 I went away, and some time after returned, when I saw 
 Mr. Carty flog the girl again in the same position and 
 manner as before. I was then in company with Mr. Orgill, 
 Joseph Belisle, Martha Sloasher, Jeremia My vett, William 
 Adams, and John M* Gregor, who all saw the same. After 
 this I went away, and about five o'clock returned to Mr. 
 Orgill, and saw the girl fastened in the same position." 
 
 *' The magistrates and officers of the court then exa- 
 mined the woman Quasheba, who appeared to have been 
 much flogged, and her wrists much cut, apparently from 
 having been tied, and had a large cattle-chain fastened 
 about her neck with a padlock." 
 
 "John McGregor sworn, deposed as follows :-- The 
 other day I had occasion to go into Mr* Carty's shop, with 
 a Spaniard, to see some crockery ware ; as I went into 
 the shop, he, Carty, was just coming in from the yard, 
 with a cat in his hand ; this was about eleven o'clock. I 
 went away ; about four o'clock in the afternoon, I was in 
 Mr. Orgill's yard, and T saw the girl Quasheba tied in 
 Mr. Carty's yard ; she was quite naked, and tied with her 
 hands to her legs, and a stick run under the bend of the 
 knees and above the bend of the arms ; he was floffsrinsr 
 her." 
 
 "John Antonia Portall sworn; and John McGregor 
 sworn as interpreter :— Deposes, that he saw the girl Qua- 
 sheba when tied, and saw her being punished by Mr. Carty ; 
 
112 
 
 that he sent his mate and the boatswain, who could tall; 
 English, to beg for the girl ; that they went in and Mr. 
 Carty said he would forgive her, but would put her irt 
 chains ; and this was about half past four o'clock." 
 
 Now conceive a young female, her hands tied to her 
 feet, a stick run under her knees and above the elbow- 
 bend of her arm, and a merciless villain flogging her 
 with a cat on the breast, the face, and every part of her 
 body ; and, as if insatiable in his barbarity, calling anotber 
 woman of his and making her hold one end of the stick, 
 he holding the other, and thus turning her, from lying 
 on her back, over her head, when she fell nearly on her 
 face ; and then he flogging her again, in a manner too 
 shocking, too brutal, too indecent for me to read. One 
 witness saw this at half past twelve o'clock, and in that 
 position he saw her again at five o'clock. 
 
 Observe, too, not only the intensity of the punishment, 
 but how often it was repeated. The same witness, Mr. 
 Rabateau, says, that at half past twelve o'clock Mr. Carty 
 was flogging his wench for the third time that day. An- 
 other witness, M*Gregor, saw her tied in the same manner 
 on the same spot at four o'clock, and Carty flogging her. 
 Another witness, J. A. Portall, saw her undergoing this 
 punishment at half past four o'clock. At five o'clock she is 
 seen, for the last time that day, in the same position. Two 
 days after, the **wench^' is brought before the magistrates 
 much flogged, much cut, with ** a large cattle-chain fas- 
 tened about her neck with a padlock." 
 
 On Carty's trial all this is proved ; and what exemplary 
 infliction awaits him 1 Let gentlemen consider his guilt, 
 and what measure of punishment they, or any men with 
 feelings unblunted by Slavery, would have dealt out to 
 the convicted monster. Hear his sentence in the words of 
 Colonel Arthur : 
 
 *' Convicted of all this load of enormity ; with the un- 
 fortunate young female before their eyes, lacerated in a 
 manner the recital of which is shocking to humanity ; her 
 wounds festered to such a degree that her life was con- 
 
113 
 
 sidered in the greatest danger ; still this picture of human 
 misery, and human depravity, could not rouse a Honduras 
 jury to award such a punishment against the offender 
 (whom they found guilty to the utmost extent) as bespoke 
 their commiseration for the former, or their detestation of 
 the latter. Fifty pounds, Jamaica currency, equal to 
 about thirty-five pounds sterling, was the penalty deemed 
 adequate to the crimes of the offender ! a man in affluent 
 circumstances, worth thousands of pounds; and the poor 
 female was doomed to remain the slave of this cruel wretch, 
 still more exasperated against her than ever." 
 
 I know not whether the act itself is more enormous 
 than the verdict. The act might only speak the cruelty of 
 an individual; the verdict betrays the tenor of feeling 
 towards Slaves which prevails among the leading per- 
 sons in the colony, the magistrates on the bench. Yes, 
 Sir, it tells us, in language which cannot be mistaken, the 
 degree of protection which the laws afford to the Negro* 
 and the equal-handed justice which is dealt out between 
 the slave and the master. Aye, and what a comment is it 
 upon "the enjoyments and advantages of the Slave popu- 
 lation of Honduras, a race of people truly to be envied 
 by free labourers all over the world ! " O wretched pea- 
 santry of England ! How would you mourn your fate, if 
 you knew the comforts of which you are debarred ; — the in- 
 dulgencies, denied indeed to you, but dealt out so liberally 
 to the contented African in that terrestrial paradise for 
 Slaves, Honduras! 
 
 The honourable Member for Taunton ha^ said that the 
 Negroes may complain of their lot, as the poor of this 
 country may complain that they are not feasted on cham- 
 paigne and venison — a most blind and extravagant compa- 
 rison ! Had this female nothing else to complain of but that 
 she was denied the luxuries of life ? She might complain, 
 and, in the name of thousands of these poor Negroes, 1 
 complain, that she and they are denied the common rights 
 of human nature, and that they are mercilessly lashed and 
 tortured at the will of their brutal masters. Let no man 
 
 Q 
 
114 
 
 imagine that this case of Carty is one of isolated cruelty : 
 there stand upon record multitudes of cases of a description 
 equally horrible. I did not choose, though accused of doing 
 so, to appeal to the feelings of the House and the public : 
 I determined to address their reason. I rested my case 
 upon the moral degradation of the Negroes. But let the 
 honourable Member for Sandwich, or the honourable 
 Member for Taunton, who has, he tells us, seen Slavery, 
 and who, seeing, has learned to admire it — who is quite 
 captivated with the felicity of these Negroes, admitted by 
 himself to be in the lowest state of moral degradation ; — 
 let either of these Gentlemen but hint a wish for a state- 
 ment of particular and individual atrocities, and I am pre- 
 pared, prepared with cases, authenticated by unquestion- 
 able evidence, which will shock and exasperate every 
 honest man in the country. 
 
 Before I quit Carty 's case, one word on the character 
 of Colonel Arthur. It grieves me, Sir, that 1 am under 
 the necessity; that I am bound, by the fidelity I owe to 
 the cause I have undertaken, thus to comment upon the 
 expressions he has used. I owe it to his general repu- 
 tation to say he has made ample atonement for that idle 
 language. For the last six years he has been a generous 
 and brave defender of the Slaves. I believe that there 
 does not exist a man who has done more for that wretched 
 race, and who has suffered more persecution in conse- 
 quence of his exertions ; and I am grossly misinformed if 
 he does not now, with further experience, bitterly repent of 
 the error into which he was betrayed. I am content to be 
 deemed an enthusiast, if Colonel Arthur be one who now 
 considers the Negroes as any other than a most wretched 
 and persecuted race. 
 
 The honourable Member for Taunton has complained 
 most loudly of my having stated that there is no danger 
 to be apprehended in the West Indies. Give me leave 
 to say, the honourable Gentleman is as inaccurate in this 
 as in his former assertion ; for I stated that I expected 
 nutliiug else but danger in the West Indies. I said, if I 
 
115 
 
 recollect right, that wherever there is Slavery there fs 
 oppression, I told you, that if you wanted to be safe you 
 must be just; that the price you pay for your injustice is 
 your insecurity. I know there is danger. Danger ! why i 
 because the few inftict, and the multitude suffer, gross 
 injustice. But I confess it does appear to me to be the 
 most extraordinary of all arguments, to contend that the 
 danger arises not from Slavery itself, but from the discus- 
 sion of Slavery in this House. What, then, does the Slave 
 require any hint from us that he is a Slave, and that Slavery 
 is of all conditions the most miserable? Why, Sir, he bears 
 this ; he sees it ; he feels it too, in all around him. He 
 sees his harsh uncompensated labour; he hears the crack 
 of the whip ; he feels, he writhes, under the lash. Does 
 not this betray the secret ? This is no flattery ; these are 
 counsellors which feelingly persuade him what he is. He 
 sees the mother of his children stripped naked before the 
 gang of male Negroes, and flogged unmercifully ; he sees 
 his children sent to market to be sold at the best price they 
 will fetch ; he sees in himself, not a man, but a thing ; by 
 West-Indian law, a chattel, an implement of husbandry, 
 ii. machine to produce sugar, a beast of burden ! And 
 will any man tell me that the Negro, with all this staring 
 him in the face, flashing in his eyes, whether he rises in the 
 morning or goes to bed at night, never dreams that there 
 is injustice in such treatment, till he seats himself down to 
 the perusal of an English newspaper, and there, to his 
 astonishment, discovers that there are enthusiasts in Eng- 
 land, who from the bottom of their hearts deplore, and, even 
 more than they deplore, abhor all Negro Slavery ? There 
 are such enthusiasts ; 1 am one of them ; and while we 
 breathe we will never abandon the cause, till that thing, 
 that chattel, is reinstated in all the privileges of man. 
 
 I beg pardon of the House for having trespassed sq 
 long upon its patience, but I can assure honourable Mem- 
 bers, that I should certainly not have troubled them at 
 such length, had it not been fur the observations of the 
 honourable Gentleman. Before, however, 1 conclude, I 
 
116 
 
 wish it to be clearly understood what is the point at which 
 we are now arrived.. If I understood the right honour- 
 able Gentleman rightly, the strong impression of his mind 
 is, that the cart- whip may be wholly dispensed with ;— that 
 females ought not to be flogged ;—that Sunday should be 
 considered as the property of the slave, a day of rest and 
 recreation ; — and that the slave shall have a legal title to pro- 
 perty. I understand the right honourable Gentleman also 
 to have said, that he was doubtful as to the admission of 
 Negro evidence in all cases ; but that he was satisfied that 
 the impediments to manumission should be removed, and 
 that he is willing that the practice of venditioni exponas 
 should be abolished. There, however, still remains one 
 point, which has not yet been touched upon by the right 
 honourable Gentleman, — I mean, allowing the slave to pur- 
 chase out his freedom by a day at a time — a practice recom- 
 mended not only by high authority, but also by its obvious 
 justice. 
 
 There is still one other point, upon which I confess 
 1 did not receive quite the same satisfaction as I received 
 upon the other propositions I submitted to the consideration 
 of the House, — I mean, with respect to the freedom of chil- 
 dren born after a certain period. What I understood the 
 right honourable Gentleman to say upon this point was 
 this ; " If the honourable Gentleman asks me the question, 
 whether the day shall never arrive on which children shall 
 be free, I would answer peremptorily no." Now I am 
 anxious, before the close of this debate, to receive an 
 explanation upon this most important point. 
 
 Mr. Canning. — I wish to make myself intelligible to 
 the honourable Gentleman and the House. If I am ask- 
 ed whether I can maintain the proposition that the pro- 
 geny of slaves must be eternally slaves — the honourable 
 Gentleman must feel that I am not at liberty to throw out 
 a hasty opinion upon that, I readily admit, most important 
 question ; but my opinion certainly is, that the time must 
 come when that object must be attained. I cannot now, 
 
117 
 
 ^) 
 
 however, state a distinct opinion further than this, that the 
 progeny of slaves must not be eternally slaves. 
 
 Mr, F. Buxton said — Then I am to understand that 
 the day will arrive after which every Negro child born 
 shall be free. That being settled, my next question is, 
 when will that day arrive ? 
 
 Mr* Canning,-— 1 say I abjure the principle of per- 
 petual slavery, but I am not prepared now to state in 
 what way I would set about the accomplishment of the 
 object. I abjure the principle, but I am not now prepared 
 to give my opinion upon the question, because my mind is 
 not yet made up, and I am unwilling to say any thing to- 
 night which may reduce me hereafter to the necessity of 
 qualifying any statement I may make. 
 
 Mr, F, Buxton. — I am fully satisfied with the answer 
 the right honourable Gentleman has been kind enough to 
 give to my questions, and I feel obliged to him for the 
 very candid and decisive manner in which he has express- 
 ed himself. — I now beg leave to withdraw my Motion ; but 
 I wish it to be distinctly understood, that, in case a differ- 
 ence of opinion arises between the Government and my- 
 self, I shall reserve to myself the liberty of bringing the 
 matter forward on a future occasion. 
 
 The original Resolution was then withdrawn. The 
 Speaker put the question upon the Amendment, and it 
 was carried unanimously. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 A. 
 
 Occurrences in the Island of Barhadoes, referred to hy 
 Mr, Buxton^ (p. 6.) 
 
 {Extracted from *' Debates on the Slave Trade " in 180G, pp. 166-172.) 
 
 ** IN some papers presented to the House of Commons on 
 the 25th February, 1805, is contained a letter from Lord 
 Seaforth, the Governor of Barbadoes, dated 13th November, 
 1804, in which he thus writes to Earl Camden : — 
 
 ** * I enclose four papers, containing, from different quarters, 
 reports on the horrid murders I mentioned in some former 
 letters. They are selected from a great number y among which 
 there is not one in contradiction of the horrible facts, though 
 several of the letters are very concise and defective. The 
 truth is, that nothing has given me more trouble than to get at 
 the bottom of these businesses, so horribly absurd are the 
 prejudices of the people ' — (not of one or two, or of a few indi- 
 viduals, but of * the peoplp:.') 
 
 ** In a subsequent letter, dated 7tU January, 1805, his 
 Lordship thus writes : * I enclose the Attorney-General's letter 
 to me on thfc subject of the Negroes so most wantonly murdered, 
 I amsorry to say, SEVERAL OTHER INSTANCES of the same 
 BARBARITY have occurred, with which I have not troubled 
 your Lordship, as I only wished to make you acquainted with the 
 subject in general.' 
 
 ** The letters to which Lord Seaforth refers, and which ac- 
 company the above extracts, are from four of the most re- 
 spectable individuals in the Island of Barbadoes, viz. Mr. Ince, 
 the President of the Council ; Mr. Coulthurst, the Advocate- 
 General ; Mr. Beccles, the Attorney-General ; and the Rev. 
 
20 APPKNDIX A. 
 
 Mr. Pilgrim. These Gentlemen all agree in the material facts 
 of the cases which they state. It would, therefore, be an 
 unnecessary repetition to transcribe the whole of their letters : 
 it will be sufficient to give the substance of the statements 
 which they contain. 
 
 " 1. On the 10th of April, 1804, a militia-man of the name 
 of Halls, of the St. Michael's regiment, returning from military 
 duty, overtook on the road some Negroes who were going 
 quietly home from their labour. When he came near, he called 
 out that he would kill them, and immediately began to run 
 after them. The Negroes, not supposing that he really intended 
 to do them any injury, and imagining that he was in joke, did 
 not endeavour to escape, but merely made way for him. The 
 person nearest to him happened to be a woman, the property 
 of a M. Clarke, the owner of Simmons's estate, who is stated 
 to have been a valuable slave, the mother of five or six children, 
 and far advanced in pregnancy. Without the smallest provo- 
 cation of any kindy Halls coolly and deliberately plunged his 
 bayonet several times into her body, when the poor creature 
 dropped, and expired without a groan. Two gentlemen were 
 eye-witnesses of this horrid action. One of them, Mr. Harding, 
 the manager of the Codrington College estate, went up to 
 Halls and spoke harshly to him, and said he ought to be 
 hanged, for he never saw a more unprovoked murder, and that 
 he would certainly carry him before a magistrate. Halls's reply 
 is very remarkable. * For what?* said he (with the utmost 
 indift'erence as to the crime)^ — * fa'^ what? for killing a 
 negro!!!' This is a short but a significant sentence, 
 strongly confirming an. important truth, which has frequently 
 been asserted, viz. that the Negroes are regarded by their 
 white-skinned oppressors as an inferior order of beings, and, 
 under the influence of this sentiment, are naturally enough 
 denied the common rights of humanity, and excluded from the 
 pale of that sympathy which a sense of a common nature and 
 a common extraction is calculated to inspire. Mr. Harding, 
 however, greatly to his credit, was proof against the force of 
 Halls's compendious reasoning ; and, having procured assist- 
 ance, laid hold of him, and carried him before Mr. Justice 
 Walton. Mr. Justice Walton, it would appear, was not indis- 
 posed to use the authority with which he was vested in 
 
APPENiDiX A. 121 
 
 bringing Halls to justice; but he found, that * in his situation 
 ns a magistrate, the law of the island gave him no jurisdiction or 
 mithority over him, and, in short, that he had no right to commit 
 hira. In this dilemma^ Mr. Walton applied to Mr. President Ince. 
 * I told Mr. Walton,' says the President, in his letter to Lord 
 Seaforth, * that I regretted, with real concern, the deficiency in 
 our law : but that there was a penalty due to the King in such 
 cases,' (viz. the eleven pounds four shillings); 'and 
 that, as Mr. Harding had sufficiently substantiated the fact, I 
 would order him to be committed till he paid the forfeiture, or 
 a suit should be commenced aajainst him.' Accordingly he was 
 sent to prison. 
 
 "2. The second instance produced by Lord Seaforth is not 
 inferior in atrocity to the tirst. A Mr. Colbeck, who lives 
 overseer on Cabbage-tree plantation, in St. Lucy's parish, * had 
 bought anew Negro hoy out of the yard^ (meaning the Slave yard, 
 where Negroes are exposed to sale, in the same manner as the 
 cattle and sheep in Smithfield market), and carried him home. 
 Conceiving a liking to the boy, he took him into the house and 
 made him wait at table. Mr. Crone, the overseer of Rowe's 
 estate, which is near to Cabbage-tree plantation, was in the 
 habit of visiting Mr. Colbeck, had noticed the boy, and knew him 
 welL A fire happening one night in the neighbourhood, Col- 
 beck went to give his assistance, and the boy followed hira» 
 Colbeck, on his return home, missed the boy, who had lost his 
 way ; and as he did not make his appearance the next day, he 
 sent round to his neighbours, ?iX\^ particularly to Crone, inform- 
 iflg them, that his African lad had strayed, i\\2^. he could not 
 speak a word of English, and possibly he might be found 
 breaking some sugar, canes,, or taking something else for his 
 support : in which case he requested they would not injure him, 
 but send him home, and he would pay any damage the boy 
 might have committed. After a lapse of two or three days, 
 the poor creature was discovered in a gulley (or deep water- 
 course) near to Rowe's estate ; and a number of Negroes were 
 soon assembled about the place. The boy, naturally terrified 
 with the threats, the noise, and the appearance of so many 
 people, retreated into a hole in a rock, having a stone in his 
 hand, for the purpose, probably, of defence. By this time. 
 Crone, and some other White persons, had come up. By their 
 
 R 
 
13^ APPENDIX A. 
 
 orders afire wa% piit to the hole where the boy lay, who, when Afi 
 began to be scorched, ran from his hiding-place into a pool of 
 water which was near. Some of the Negroes pursued him into 
 the pool; and the boy, it is said, threw the stone which he 
 held in his hand at one of them. On this, two of the White 
 menj Crone and Hollingsworth, fired at the boy several times 
 with shot, and the Negroes pelted him with stones. He ivas at 
 length dragged out of the pool in a dying condition ; for he had 
 not only received several bruises from the stones, but his breast 
 was so pierced with the shot that it was like a cullender. The 
 White savages (this is the language of Mr. Attorney-Ge- 
 neral Beccles) ordered the Negroes to dig a grave. Whilst 
 they were digging it, the poor creature made signs of begging 
 for water, which was not given to him : but as soon as the grave 
 was dug, he was thrown into it and covered over, and, as is 
 believed, while yet alive, Colbeck, the owner of the boy, 
 hearing that a Negro had been killed, went to Crone to inquire 
 into the truth of the report. Crone told him, that a Negro 
 had been killed and buried, but assured him it was not his, for 
 he knew him well, and he need not be at the trouble of opening 
 the grave. On this, Colbeck went away satisfied! Re- 
 ceiving, however, further information, he returned, and had 
 the grave opened, when he found the murdered Negro to be 
 his own. Colbeck brought his action of damages in the courts 
 of the island against Crone and Hollingsworth. The cause 
 was ready to be tried, and the Court had met for the purpose, 
 when they thought proper to pay double the value of the boy> 
 and 25/i for the use of the island, (being 5Z. less than the 
 penalty fixed by law, of 15Z. currency each), rather than suffer 
 the business to go to a hearing. * This, I am truly sorry to 
 say,* observes the Advocate-General, * was the only punish- 
 ment which could be infiicted for so barbarous and atrocious 
 a crime.' 
 
 " This horrid recital (which is given almost in the words of 
 the Report, merely avoiding repetition) seems to require little 
 comment* One circumstance of it, however, may not strike 
 the minds of some readers with its due force, although it ap- 
 pears to be the most affecting part of the whole case. Colbeck, 
 it is said,: on hearing that it was not his slave who had been 
 murdered, went away satisfied ! O most opprobrious 
 
APPENDIX A. 123 
 
 satisfaction ! The preceding part of the narrative had prepared 
 us to expect in Colbeck some approximation to Eurppeaii 
 feeling. But what is the fact? On being coolly told that a 
 Negro had been killed and buried— told so by his neighbour, 
 the murderer — is he shocked 1 Does he express any horror or 
 indignation on the occasion? No! he goes nw ay satisfied/ i 
 Let the reader give its due weight to this one circumstance, 
 and he must be convinced that a state of society must exist in 
 the West Indies, of which, as an inhabitant of this ^appy 
 island, he can scarcely form any adequate conception. Sup- 
 pose, instead of a Negro Slave, that it had been a horse which 
 had been tlius killed : Colbeck, had his horse happened to be 
 missing at the time, would have pursued exactly the same 
 steps, and would Iiave been affected in the same way as in the 
 present instance. — We may also learn, from this impressive 
 circumstance, the value of West-Indian testimony v;hen given 
 in favour of West-Indian humanity. The moral perceptions 
 and feelings which prevail in that quarter of the world, it will 
 be perceived, are wholly dift'erent from those on this side of 
 the Atlantic. It may be allowed that these men mean what 
 they say, when they give each other the praise of humanity. But 
 examine their standard. Who is this man of humanity ? It is 
 one, who, hearing that a fellow-creature has been cruelly and 
 wantonly murdered, goes away satisjiedy because he himself has 
 sustained no loss by the murder ! An exception may be admitted 
 in favour of a few men of enlightened minds ; but the remark 
 fipplies to the people — to the bulk of the community, whose 
 prejudices are stated by Lord Seaforth to be so horribly absurd 
 as to resist all measures for remedying this dreadful state of 
 things. But, not to detain the reader any longer with reason- 
 ings on this subject, let us proceed to the third case commu- 
 nicated by Lord Seaforth, and which, if possible, is worse 
 than either of the foregoing. 
 
 ** 3. A man of the name of Nowell, who lives in St. An^ 
 drew's parish, had been in the habit of behaving brutally 
 towards his wife, and one day went so far as to lock her up in 
 a room, and confine her in chains. A negro woman belonging 
 to this man, touched with compassion for her unfortunate mis- 
 tress, undertook privately to release her. Nowell found it out, 
 and in order to punish her, obliged her to put her tongue 
 through a hole in a board, to which he fastened it on the op- 
 
124 APPENDIX B. 
 
 posite side with a fork, and left her in that situation for somfe 
 time. He afterwards cut out her tongue nearly by the root, in 
 consequence of which she almost instantly died. No punish- 
 ment followed this monstrous act of barbarity. 
 
 "It will, doubtless, be argued, that individual instances of 
 cruelty like those which have been cited, are no proofs of ge- 
 neral inhumanity, any more than the annals of the Old Bailey 
 can be considered as exhibiting a fair view of our national 
 character. There is, however, this very remarkable difference 
 in the two cases, a difference which is fatal to the argument. 
 In this country, when we read of crimes, we read of their 
 being followed by just retribution ; by severe and exemplary 
 punishment. In the West Indies, on the contrary, we not 
 only hear of the greatest crimes escaping with impunity, but 
 find the laws themselves conspiring to shelter criminals from 
 justice: we find the most respectable and enlightened 
 part of the community sanctioning the perpetration even of 
 murder, by their refusal to recognize the commission of it as o, 
 felonious act.'* 
 
 B. 
 
 Observations on Mr. Canning's Speech, 
 
 We are very far from intending to comment in any unfriendly 
 spirit on what fell from Mr. Canning on this occasion. But 
 his speech has suggested a few observations, which justice to 
 our cause requires that we should not suppress. 
 
 1. We are by no means disposed to regard the discussion of 
 this question in Parliamen tas so pregnant with danger that 
 ** one rash word, one too ardent expression,*' uttered there, may 
 raise "a flame" among the Slaves in the West Indies, "not 
 easily to be extinguished." That such an apprehension is, to say 
 the least, greatly exaggerated, may be seen by referring to a 
 pamphlet published by this Society, and sold by Hatchard, 
 entitled, " A Review of some of the Arguments which are 
 commonly advanced against Parliamentary Interference in 
 behalf of the Negro Slaves," p. 3-^12. 
 
APPENDIX B. 125 
 
 Is there, then, we shall be asked, no danger of commotion 
 among the Slaves in our colonies? Undoubtedly there is; but 
 not from the efforts which may be made in Parliament for their 
 relief. Of these, it would scarcely, we apprehend, be too much 
 to say, that they know almost as little as the cattle and sheep 
 in Smithfield knew of Mr. Martin's benevolent and persevering 
 efforts to protect them from the cruelty of man. The real source 
 of danger is to be found in the oppressive nature of colonial 
 bondage ; and in the resistance which, under the influence of 
 passion and prejudice, the colonists may be led to make to 
 the measures which Parliament may adopt for alleviating its 
 pressure. A reform in which the colonists heartily concurred 
 would obviate all danger from public discussion. It would 
 further obviate the far more formidable danger to be appre- 
 hended from the influence of the spectacle exhibited within the 
 visible horizon of Jamaica— the spectacle, we mean, of Negro 
 liberty in St. Domingo, achieved by blood and violence, and 
 triumphant over the most powerful obstacles. And here, is it 
 unseasonable to ask, whether any thing can prove so strongly 
 the inaptitude of the Slaves to be roused to insubordination 
 and revolt, by any events except those which press imme- 
 diately on their senses, as this, — that the example of the neigh- 
 bouring island of St. Domingo should have been placed for 
 thirty years before their eyes, without producing the slightest 
 perceptible effect on their habits of quiet submission ? And 
 yet we are expected to believe, that even one rash word uttered 
 in St. Stephen's Chapel, at the distance of 6000 miles, may 
 raise an inextinguishable flame of mutiny among them. They 
 have remained unaffected by the sight of their fellows success- 
 fully wading through blood to liberty : they are, nevertheless, 
 to be inflamed to insurrection by the echo of some abstract 
 propositions propounded in the House of Commons ; although 
 there is no obvious mode by which the intelligence can be wafted 
 to their ears ; and although, if they heard it, they would not be 
 able to comprehend its import. 
 
 Major Gaisford, of the Engineers, who passed upwards of 
 four years in the West Indies, published, in IBll, some obser- 
 vations on the subject of colonial slavery. The following 
 extract from his work is applicable to the subject we arc now 
 considering.-^ 
 
186 APPENDIX B, 
 
 " The British Parliament," he remarks, " omitted certain 
 expressions in the original preamble to the Abolition Act, Jest 
 they might be interpreted to give a sanction to revolt or dis- 
 affection among the Negroes. The total ignorance of this class 
 of beings, regarding the transactions of society, renders such a 
 caution at present needless. It is certain, the noble exertions 
 of the British Parliament to better their condition are but very 
 partially known by the Blacks in the West Indies. The stories 
 told of their gratitude to the promoters of abolition, I am 
 
 inclined to aver, are generally fabrications." *' To ask a 
 
 Negro Slave to repeat the English alphabet would be almost as 
 generally an imputation of weakness, as to ask a chimney- 
 sweep's apprentice to recite Mahomet's Koran." 
 
 In the Correspondence relative to the condition and treatment 
 of Slaves at Honduras, laid on the table of the House of Com- 
 mons on the 16th of June 1823, some important light is thrown 
 .on the ordinary causes of servile insurrection. In May 1820, 
 a considerable number of Slaves broke out into revolt. Colonel 
 Arthur, the superintendant, while he made aU the necessary 
 arrangements for reducing the insurgents by force, resolved 
 first to try " the milder means of persuasion to bring these 
 poor deluded people to a due sense of the impropriety of 
 their conduct." " In my progress up the river," observes 
 Colonel Arthur, " I was much concerned to ascertain that the 
 Negroes, who had first deserted and excited others to join them, 
 HAD BEEN TREATED WITH VERY UNNECESSARY HARSH- 
 NESS BY THEIR OWNERS, and HAD CERTAINLY GOOD 
 ©ROUNDS FOR COMPLAINT, if happily they had pursued that 
 course, rather than having resorted to the unlawful means they 
 were pursuing. But, as their animosity had not led them to 
 ?iny greater excess than the destruction of some cattle, and the 
 robbery of one or two houses, a proclamation was issued, 
 offering a free pardon to all such as would immediately come 
 in and lay down their arms ; but at the same time martial law 
 was proclaimed, and a liberal reward for the apprehension of 
 all who should continue in a state of rebellion. I then pro- 
 ceeded from work to work, to the distance of 220 miles up 
 the river Belize, directing the different gangs of Slaves to 
 be assembled ; and by thus timely inquiring iNTp 
 THEIR SEVERAL GRIEVANCES, causing the proclamation to 
 
Al»PENDtX B* 12? 
 
 be read, and pointing out to them the fatal consequences they 
 would bring upon themselves, the evil seemed happily staid, 
 and many, who had been hastily led to unite with the dis- 
 affected, were induced to return peaceably to their works. 
 1 cannot ascertain that the number now remaining of the 
 principal body in the river Belize exceeds twenty." — " I feel 
 it an unspeakable mercy that the country has been thus 
 delivered by the hand of Providence from a commotion which 
 at first appeared to -threaten very alarming consequences; 
 and I trust the gratitude of the Settlers will be fully awakened 
 on the occasion, and evidenced by increased acts of uniform 
 kindness and humanity towards ike poor Slave population,^' 
 
 If we compare the proceedings above detailed with those 
 which took place in Barbadoes in 1816, on the occasion of the 
 insurrection in that island, we cannot fail to be struck with the 
 contrast which the wise forbearance displayed in the former 
 instance, and the happy results produced by it, exhibit to the 
 headlong and inconsiderate fury, and the consequent disasters, 
 and carnage, which marked the latter. No parley with the 
 misguided Slaves was thought of by the Barbadian authorities. 
 
 To conclude, whatever be the danger of insurrection among 
 the Slaves, it is far less likely to be increased by the inter- 
 ference of Parliament, with a view to mitigate the rigours of 
 their bondage, than by the attempt to veil the real nature of that 
 bondage, and to obstruct the application of an effectual 
 remedy to its evils. The danger lies in continuing to oppress 
 after the oppression is acknowledged, and not in taking effec- 
 tual measures for the relief of those who groan under it. 
 
 2. Why, it is asked, did Mr. Buxton " go back to a state of 
 things in the West Indies to which, so far as they could be 
 remedied, a remedy has been applied ?" (p. 23.) 
 
 We are not aware of the remedies to which allusion is 
 here made ,* indeed, we know of no remedies which had 
 been applied to the various evils stated by Mr. Buxton to 
 belong to the West-Indian system* The Slaves had not ceased 
 to be chattels ; — no means of education had been provided for 
 them ; — no effective steps had been taken for their religious 
 improvement; — they were still denied the Sabbath ;^ — the 
 marriage tie was still unknown among them ; — and to that hour 
 every Slave, male or female, might by law have been punished^ 
 
128 APPENDIX B. 
 
 without one reason being assigned, not only with any length of 
 confinement, but with thirty-nine lashes of the cart-whip on the 
 naked body ; and might have been compelled to labour, willing 
 or unwilling, without wages, by the impulse of the same cruel 
 instrument. And with respect to the instances Mr. Buxton 
 adduced of unpunished outrages of the grossest kind in Bar- 
 badoes, what is the remedy which has been applied ? The only 
 remedy we know of, is a reluctant enactment of the Barbadoes 
 legislature, entitled " an Act for the better protection of the 
 Slaves of this Island," and which provides, not simply that the 
 wilful murder of a Slave shall henceforward be punished as a 
 capital felony, but that " if any person shall hereafter wilfully, 
 maliciously, wantonly, and without provocation, kill and 
 murder any Slave," he shall be deemed guilty of felony without 
 benefit of clergy. 
 
 Surely it was of some importance to shew what was the spirit 
 which had animated the conduct and guided the legislation of 
 our Colonists, when it became a question whether to them was 
 to be entrusted the task of reforming colonial abuses, and of 
 providing for the effectual protection and comfort, the im- 
 provement and happiness of the Negroes. 
 
 3. But why, it is again asked, did Mr. Buxton " go out of his 
 way to recal the horrors of the now abolished Slave Trade," and 
 ** to throw in the teeth of those whose interests are at hazard, 
 cruelties with which in fact they had no concern ? " (p. 24.) 
 
 But can it be said that the West Indians had no concern in the 
 horrors and cruelties of the Slave Trade, when, for nearly twenty 
 years after those horrors and cruelties had been fully developed, 
 they successfully employed the whole weight of their influence to 
 prevent their abolition 1 But it was evidently for other purposes 
 than that of uunecessary reproach that reference was made to 
 the part which the West Indians had acted in the Slave Trade 
 question. It ought to be carefully noted, that the ground on 
 which they so obstinately and vehemently opposed every at- 
 tempt to abolish the Slave Trade was, that the ruin of the West 
 Indies would be the inevitable consequence of the measure, 
 which would necessarily issue, according to them, in an insur- 
 rection of the Slaves, and, if not, yetin the loss of the whole 
 of the capital embarked in the West Indies. Notwithstanding 
 all this, however, they now admit that its tendency, instead of 
 
^ APPENDIX B. 129 
 
 being injurious, was beneficial, and that the ruin they predicted 
 to follow from it was in fact only averted by its adoption. And 
 was no useful lesson to be learned, with respect to the present 
 question, from a retrospective view of what then occurred ? Or 
 would it be right to allow those, who so grievously mistook their 
 true interests on the former occasion, and who, under the influ- 
 ence of that mistake, could lend themselves to the support of 
 what Mr. Pitt stigmatized as " the greatest practical evil which 
 ever afflicted the human race," to have credit given them now 
 for taking a calm and judicious view of a question where pre- 
 judice and passion were likely to operate with still more uncon- 
 troulable influence ? Had the concurrence of the West Indians 
 been anticipated in the proposed plans of reform, doubtless, as 
 a matter of prudence, any reference to such topics might have 
 been omitted ; but anticipating rather their opposition, it would 
 have been doing injustice to the cause to have omitted them. 
 
 Be it remembered, that if Mr. Buxton was wrong in this, the 
 •same blame attaches to Mr. Huskisson, who, on Mr. Whitmore s 
 motion for a Committee on East and West India sugar, though 
 advocating the cause of the West Indians, broadly stated the 
 •same fact, namely, that for a long period of successive years, 
 the West Indians, utterly mistaking their own true interests, 
 had constantly and violently opposed the abolition of the Slave 
 Trade. 
 
 But even if there had been no such reason for referring to 
 the history of the Slave Trade, was it of no moment that the 
 House should be reminded of the foul origin of that Slavery 
 whose lineaments the mover was tracing? Was it of no moment 
 that the House should be reminded, that many of the practices 
 which are inherent in the existing system of Colonial Slavery, 
 are in their nature and effects identically the same with the 
 worst practices of the Slave Trade ; and that, while we are 
 justly reprobating in the face of Europe these practices, 
 when perpetrated by the contraband Slave-traders of France 
 or Portugal, we are guilty of a strange inconsistency by 
 sanctioning in our own Colonies practices scarcely less immoral, 
 inhuman, and unjust! 
 
 4. Mr. Buxton was further asked, " why, when he was 
 stirring a question totally new, he should mix it up with that 
 
 s 
 
130 APPENDIX B. 
 
 other odious question of the Slave Trade, with which it was 
 never before placed in jiixta-position hut for the purpose of being 
 contrasted withy and separated from, it. In all foriuer discus- 
 sions on the Slave Trade the ulterior purpose of emancipation 
 was studiously disclaimed. Slavery, not willingly hut necessarily , 
 was allowed to continue." 
 
 We apprehend, however, that the question mooted by Mr. 
 Buxton was not a question totally new; and also that it had 
 always been mixed up with the question of the Slave Trade, 
 and placed in juxta-position with it, not for the purpose of 
 contrast and separation, but for the purpose of increasing the 
 odium belonging to that traffic, and of giving the last aggravation 
 to its horrors. So far, moreover, was the piirpose of emancipa- 
 tion from having been studiously disclaimed, that one of the 
 standing arguments in favour of the abolition of the Slave 
 Trade was, that it was absolutely necessary, and that it would 
 infallibly lead, to the amelioration of the state of Slavery in 
 the West Indies, and to the ultimate emancipation of the Slaves. 
 That the Abolitionists were mistaken in their reasoning upon this 
 point, is perfectly true. Slavery has proved a much more in- 
 veterate evil than they had anticipated, and it has not yielded, 
 as they expected it would, to the meliorating effects of an aboli- 
 tion of the Slave Trade. But, still, it is no less true that the 
 extinction of slavery itself was, and was avowed to be, one of 
 their grand ulterior objects in inducing Parliament to abolish the 
 Slave Trade. 
 
 Tli€ proofs which may be exhibited in support of this view 
 of the case are numerous and irrefragable. 
 
 In the year 1788, a Committee of the Privy Council was 
 appointed to inquire into the nature and effects of the Slave 
 Trade. The greater part of their voluminous Report, however, 
 is taken up with a view of the Slavery existing in the West Indies. 
 The two subjects of Slave Trade and Slavery were evidently 
 considered by his Majesty's Government as parts of one great 
 question, and their inquiries were equally directed to both. 
 It is only necessary to turn over the leaves of the Privy 
 Council Report to be convinced of this. 
 
 On the 21st of May 1789, the House of Commons re- 
 solved to examine evidence on the subject of the Slave Trade 
 The examination was prolonged during a great part of three 
 
APPENDIX K. 131 
 
 sessions of Parliament, until the 5th of April 1701; and 
 whoever will take the trouble to look at that evidence, will find 
 that at least one-half of it refers to the state of Slavery in the 
 West Indies. At the commencement of this inquiry, namely, 
 on the 29th of May 1781), a motion was made by Mr. Tierney 
 to separate the African from the West- Indian part of the ques- 
 tion ; but this motion was overruled by Mr. Pitt; and, in point 
 of fact, seventy-eight witnesses were examined on the West 
 Indian, and only forty on the African part of the question. 
 
 In April 1791, a debate of two days' continuance took 
 place in the House of Commons, on a motion made by Mr. 
 Wilberforce for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. More 
 than half of the speeches of Mr. Wilberforce, Mr. Francis, 
 Mr. W. Smith, Mr. Pitt, Mr. Fox, and other advocates of the 
 abolition, turned on the state of Slavery in the West Indies. 
 Even in that early debate, Mr. Pitt entered on the question of 
 emancipating the Slaves. "A rash emancipation, indeed, he 
 was clear, would be wrong and mischievous. In that unhappy 
 situation to which our baneful conduct had brought both our- 
 selves and them, it would be no justice on either side to give 
 them liberty. They might be relieved from every thing harsh 
 and severe, raised from their present degradation, and put under 
 the proper protection of the law : till then, to talk of emancipa- 
 tion was insanity. But it was the system of fresh importations 
 that interfered with these principles of improvement ; and it was 
 the abolition of the Slave Trade that would furnish the means of 
 effectually regulating the situation of the Slaves in the islands,'* 
 — What can more decisively shew, that from the first the eman- 
 cipation of the Slaves in the West Indies, so far from being dis- 
 claimed by the Abolitionists, vvas openly avowed by them as 
 an ultimate object, although, considering the novelty of the 
 whole subject, the idea of immediately emancipating large 
 bodies of newly imported Africans might be fairly viewed 
 with much serious alarm. 
 
 The whole course of the Slave Trade controversy proves 
 incontestably the same point. In 1792, when Mr. Dundas 
 proposed to abolish the Slave Trade and Slavery together, 
 by means of regulations to be carried into effect in the West 
 Indies, what was the reply on the part of the Abolitionists? 
 It was, " No, abolish the Slave Trade immediately, and you 
 
132 APPENDIX B* 
 
 will arrive much more surely and rapidly at the ulterior ends of 
 improvement and emancipation in the West Indies than by 
 means of internal regulations." Such also vras the language 
 held by them on the motion of Mr. Francis, in 1795, and on 
 that of Mr. Charles Ellis in 1797. And during every subse- 
 quent discussion, to the very moment of abolishing the Slave 
 Trade, they never ceased to argue that that measure would 
 certainly tend to the improvement of the condition of the Slaves 
 in the West Indies, and to their final emancipation. Nay, this 
 was the very line of argument pursued by Mr. Canning in his 
 memorable speech in 1799, wherein he endeavoured to shew 
 that to abolish the Slave Trade was the surest means of im- 
 proving the state of Slavery in the West Indies. In his speech 
 in 1807 he took the same ground. 
 
 Nor ought it to be forgotten, that in 1007, when the Bill for 
 abolishing the Slave Trade was in its progress through the House 
 of Commons, the Duke of Northumberland, then Lord Percy, 
 to his immortal honour, moved a resolution for giving freedom 
 to all children born in the West Indies from the 1st of January 
 1810; which motion was withdrawn, at the suggestion of 
 abolitionists, on the ground that the end they had in view would 
 be more effectually accomplished by the benefits which would 
 necessarily result from the abolition of the Slave Trade, than 
 by directly interfering in colonial legislation. 
 
 We beg to refer the reader, for a farther elucidation of this 
 subject, to the Pamphlet already referred to, " A Review of 
 some of the Arguments," &c. pp. 20—30. 
 
 We have already freely admitted that the Abolitionists were 
 mistaken in supposing that an Act of Parliament abolishing the 
 Slave Trade would certainly lead to the improvement of the 
 condition of the Slaves and to their ultimate emancipation. 
 They expected too much from the colonists and the colonial 
 legislatures. But their error in this respect is as far as pos- 
 sible from proving that either the question mooted by Mr. 
 Buxton was a totally new question, or that it had never before 
 been placed in juxta- position with the Slave Trade but for the 
 purpose of being contrasted with and separated from it ; or 
 that the ulterior purpose of emancipation had always been 
 studiously disclaimed by the Abolitionists. What was the 
 Registry Bill, but a measure which was intended to pave the 
 
APPENDIX B. 133 
 
 way for the final emancipation of the Slaves? This was dis- 
 tinctly avowed in the Report of the African Institution on the 
 subject, which has been quoted by Mr. Ellis above, (p. 68.) 
 To the views of that Report Mr. Ellis expresses himself favour- 
 able. Had he, and the West Indians generally, been equally 
 favourable to them in 1815, and had an effective Registry on Mr. 
 Wilberforce's plan been then established in the Colonies, fresh 
 efforts in behalf of the Slaves might not have been needed. 
 As matters are, they have become indispensable. How could 
 it have been supposed for one moment, that it was either 
 intended or promised by the Abolitionists, that, having put an 
 end to the Slave Trade, they were thenceforth to abandon 
 all care for its victims, placed in our own colonies, and with- 
 in our own jurisdiction. To have done so, or to have ever^ 
 thought of doing so, would indeed have been a just subject 
 of reproach. 
 
 6. It seems hardly necessary to observe, that there is no part 
 of Mr. Buxton's speech which can be construed as intimating 
 that *' we must deal with this subject, not as a matter of justice 
 and judgment, but of impulse and feeling." From another 
 expression it might possibly be inferred that Mr. Buxton's 
 proposition had it in view ** unhesitatingly and rashly to level 
 at a blow the whole West India system." His proposition, 
 however, was, that slavery ought to be gradually abolished. 
 Our object, he says, is **7iot the rapid termination of that state, 
 not the sudden emancipation of the Negro ; but such prepara- 
 tory steps, such measures of precaution, as by slow degrees, and 
 in a course of years, shall gently conduct us to the annihilation 
 of slavery," &c, 
 
 G. We readily admit that it was not the intention of our 
 Saviour, or of his Apostles, to interfere directly with the civil in- 
 stitutions of the Pagan world, and, among these, with the slavery 
 which then prevailed. It was their purpose to furnish in the 
 Gospel, to bond as well as free, an effectual remedy for their mora\ 
 disorders ; and to impart to them that hope full of immortality 
 which should console and elevate them in circumstances the 
 most painful and degrading. But while we admit all this, we 
 cannot by any means admit that the obligatiojis and duties of 
 the Govcrnmeut and Varliament of Gieat Britain are to b^e 
 
134 APPENDIX B. 
 
 deduced from such precedents as those of ancient Greece and 
 Rome. We are told by our legal authorities, that the Chris- 
 tian religion is a part, nay, the very basis, of the law of the land; 
 and we also ourselves profess to be Christians. It would seem, 
 therefore, that if the Government and the Parliament, instead of 
 adopting the spirit of that religion into their proceedings, and 
 regulating their conduct by a regard to its obligations, should 
 proceed in the neglect or contravention both of its spirit and 
 its precepts, they would ill defend themselves by a delusive and 
 inapplicable reference to t!ie conduct of the heathen govern- 
 ments which existed in the infancy of Christianity. The 
 governments of that period could not, of course, be influenced 
 by the spirit and precepts of a religion which they had not 
 embraced. But when they had embraced it, they were un- 
 questionably as much bound to act in conformity to it, as the 
 meanest of their subjects. In this country, at the present time, 
 we have not only a Government and a Parliament, but a whole 
 community (including the West-Indian planters themselves) 
 who call themselves Christian, and profess to be governed by the 
 injunctions of the Gospel. Are they, then, not to be reminded 
 of their Christian duties? Are they not to be told that it is 
 their clear and unambiguous and indispensable obligation to 
 act in the spirit, and in obedience to the precepts, of the rehgion 
 ihey profess, and which, it is admitted, is not only a part of the 
 law of the land, but has expressly been given to guide the con- 
 duct of every individual, not only in private and domestic, but 
 in social and civil life ? Surely, then, we may be allowed to con- 
 sider what the Christian religion requires of us in any given 
 case, and also to remind our fellow- Christians of its requisi- 
 tions, without exciting pointed allusions to ill times. Is it not 
 a fair and legitimate appeal to any individual, to say to him, "You 
 are a Christian : why do you oppress your servants, why do you 
 act so unkindly towards your wife and children, why do you 
 defraud the revenue, or encroach on your neighbour's rights ? " 
 Or may we not prefer a similar appeal to Christian govern- 
 ments, and say, " Why do you permit robbery and murder to 
 be committed by your subjects, as in the case of the Slave Trade; 
 or why do you permit them to oppress and degrade their 
 fellows, as in the case of Slavery ; to exact their labour without 
 return, and to deprive them of protection from law 1 " Even 
 the direct introduction of Christianity in such cases as these 
 
APPENDIX B. 135 
 
 appears to us to be perfectly consistent with sountl reason and 
 good taste, and can be justly offensive only to those who are 
 unwilling to have their conduct tried by it, or to abandon the 
 practices which it proscribes. — It is not, be it remembered, to 
 those who are still, to our disgrace, the Pagan Slaves of the 
 West Indies, that this appeal is made. They are not told that 
 it is their duty or their right to emancipate themselves. On 
 the contrary, they would be told, if they were Christians, and 
 such as are Christians are told, that they must " be obedient 
 to them that are their masters according to the flesh, with fear 
 and trembling ; in singleness of heart, as unto Christ ; not with ' 
 eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing 
 the will of God from the heart ; with good will doing service, as 
 to the Lord, and not to men." 
 
 But are not Christian Masters and Christian Governments to 
 be admonished of their duties also? Are not the former to be told 
 that they must give unto their Slaves " that which is just and 
 EQUAL, knowing that they also have a Master in heaven? " And 
 are not both to be reminded, that it is their duty in the sight of 
 God " to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy 
 burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?" 
 And are not the whole population of the United Kingdom to 
 be warned, that, if they forbear to lift up their voice against 
 the flagrant evil of Slavery, so long as a particle of it remains 
 to disgrace the character of our country, they are violating their 
 clear and unquestionable obligations as Christians ? The 
 conduct which thfe Pagan Government of Rome and their Pagan 
 subjects pursued, or were left to pursue, with respect to their 
 Slaves, is clearly no precedent for us, and can aff*ord no justi- 
 fication to the Christian Government and Parliament of Great 
 Britain, or to their Christian subjects, should they, adhering to 
 that ill precedent, drawn from ill times, refuse to act on those 
 principles which as Christians they cannot deny to be binding 
 upon them. 
 
 There are, undoubtedly, many evils which laws cannot cure. 
 But West-Indian Slavery is not an evil of this description. It 
 is an evil which exists only by the sanction of a Christian 
 government, and which that Christian government has it 
 completely in its power immediately to mitigate and finally 
 to extinguish. 
 
136 APPENDIX B. 
 
 7. A similar remark applies to the position, that, property 
 being the creation of law, and law having sanctioned this 
 species of property, we must be cautious how we meddle 
 with it. But it is incumbent on those who may have so 
 abused the power of legislation as to have transferred, to the 
 possession and disposal of another, a man*s dearest and most un- 
 questionable property, — his bodily frame, his limbs, his muscles, 
 his bones, his sweat, his health, his liberty — it is surely incum- 
 bent on them to repeal so cruel and iniquitous a law, and to com- 
 pensate, to him who may have acquired property under it, the 
 loss he may sustain from the performance of this act of justice. 
 
 8. We have no clear idea of the ground of the objection 
 here made to the liberation of the children of Slaves to be hence- 
 forward born. Can we possibly suppose that parents would 
 be dissatisfied to see their children placed in more favourable 
 circumstances than themselves? Universal experience is ad- 
 verse to such a supposition. What exertions will not parents, 
 in the very lowest walks of life in this country, make to elevate 
 their children above their own condition ? And it is a notorious 
 fact, that in a variety of cases, even among Slaves, nay, it is 
 t)elieved that in a considerable majority of cases, where a parent 
 has acquired late in life the power of purchasing his own freedom, 
 he prefers employing it to redeem his child rather than himself. 
 
 But, besides this, the liberation of children henceforward to 
 be born can be attended with no assignable danger either to 
 themselves or to the community. If we neglect so to educate 
 them that they may be in a capacity to fulfil the duties of 
 peaceable and industrious citizens, the fault will be ours. — 
 With respect to the adults, we will not deny it to be possible 
 that some, or even many of them, may be found to be so debased 
 and brutified by their bondage, that to give them unconditional 
 liberty might be as improper, and as little for their benefit, 
 as to release indiscriminately from their confinement all the 
 inhabitants of Bedlam. Still, that can be no valid reason for not 
 giving them the amplest facilities, as is done in the Spanish and 
 Portuguese colonies, of purchasing their freedom, if they will but 
 exercise the degree of industry, frugality, and forethought, which 
 is necessary to that end. In this way those will have an oppor- 
 tunity of attaining their freedom who arc the most likely to 
 
APPENDIX C. t8f 
 
 improve that possession to beneficial purposes. The prospect 
 of obtaining it by peaceful means will take away from them the 
 very desire to employ force for that end ; indeed, will make 
 them to dread commotion or insurrection, as putting to hazard, 
 if not annihilating, all their hopes ; and will thus render them 
 the best guarantees of the public peace. Let the spring of hope 
 be set in motion, and the rest will follow in order : — their in- 
 dustry will be quickened ; they will become steady, provident, 
 and faithful ; their exertions to achieve their freedom will be the 
 very best preparation for its use and enjoyment ; and, almost 
 insensibly, the now degraded slave will be converted into the 
 industrious and peaceable peasant. 
 
 c. 
 
 *^ The Honourable Member for Br amber admitted that we had 
 pot a right to pay a debt of African humanity with West' 
 Indian property T (p. 4^.) 
 
 POUBTLESS the honourable Member for Bramber would be 
 ready to admit this. What he did insist upon, however, in 
 the speech alluded to by Mr. Ellis, was not what that honour- 
 able Gentleman has here made him to say. What he did say was, 
 that " we had no right to pay our debt to the West Indians," 
 whatever might be its amount, " from African pockets ;'*— in 
 other words, that we had no right to indemnify the West 
 Jndians for any claims they may have upon us, in case we oblige 
 them to abandon the ways of crime, by prolonging the uncom- 
 pensated toil and the misery of those whom we and they have 
 in pommon so deeply injured. We are perfectly willing, indeed, 
 to admit, that the parliament and people of this country have 
 Jiad a large share in the guilt of both the African Slave Trade 
 and West-Indian Slavery ; but we cannot allow that the West 
 Indians are at liberty to disclaim all participation in that guilt, 
 especially as it is they who have enjoyed for so many years, 
 and still enjoy, the usufruct of the common crime ; and as they 
 have, moreover, uniformly resisted every attempt on the part 
 of theijT accomplices (the British Parliament and Public) to 
 
138 APPENDIX C. 
 
 repair their admitted wrongs. The Parliament of Great 
 Britain, it is true, encouraged and sanctioned both the SlaveTrade 
 and Slavery. Their guilty therefore, is undeniable. But, still, 
 it cannot be said to have been the Parliament or the Public of 
 Great Britain who reduced the unhappy Negro to his present 
 condition. It was not they who placed him under the driver's 
 lash, taking from him every motive to exertion but that of fear; 
 who withheld from him the Christain Sabbath, and the con- 
 solations of the Gospel; who refused him the humanizing 
 influence of the marriage tie, and all the endearing relations of 
 domestic life ; and who, instead of regarding him as a fellow- 
 man, endowed with an immortal soul, classed him in estimation 
 and in treatment with the beasts that perish. It was not the Par- 
 liament or the Public of Great Britain who enacted a code of 
 laws characterized by a spirit of contempt and hatred towards 
 this unhappy race ; who by the severity of exaction and the scan- 
 tiness of sustenance brought them down by thousands to an 
 untimely and miserable grave, converting the West Indies into 
 a charnel-house for Africa ; who dried up, by their oppression 
 and neglect, the very sources of population in a race peculiarly 
 prolific ; who said. Let those Negroes never cease to be slaves, 
 and let their backs be ever bowed down ; and who fenced round 
 this tremendous decree dooming them and their posterity to 
 hopeless and interminable bondage, by regulations that ob- 
 structed enfranchisement, even when profl'ered to them by 
 their masters' kindness. No one can believe that the Parliament 
 and People of Great Britain would have permitted the esta- 
 blishment or continuance of such a system, had they fully 
 known its real nature. Had the West-Indian authorities and 
 the West-Indian planters, when examined before the Privy 
 Council and Parliament, in the commencement of the Slave- 
 trade controversy, admitted even as much as they now admit 
 (after the lapse of many years of alleged improvement,) with 
 respect to the actual condition of their bondsmen, scarcely a 
 vestige of that cruel state would by this time have survived. 
 It would not, it could not have been tolerated. Its existence 
 would ere this time have become matter of history. 
 
 We freely admit the humanity and benevolence of not a few 
 West-Indian proprietors, and gladly do homage to the feelings 
 which have led them to make costly sacrifices for the temporal 
 
APPENDIX C. 139 
 
 and spiritual well-being of their slaves. But of one grand and 
 fatal delinquency we doubt whether we can acquit any of them, 
 — we mean, that of having shrunk from the duty of publicly 
 denouncing the enormities of the colonial system, and of lending 
 their cordial exertions to the discovery and application of 
 effectual remedies. They have not only not done this, which 
 it was their clear and imperative duty to have done, but they 
 have been too ready to throw the shield of their talents, cha- 
 racter, and influence over the worst parts of the system, when 
 attacked by others. Instead of watching with becoming jea- 
 lousy tlie proceedings of the local authorities, and exposing 
 their specious but delusive pretences of reform; they have been 
 forward to justify their conduct. And when atrocities have 
 been brought to light, and held up to the public reprobation, 
 some of them have seemed to sympathize with the perpetrators 
 of these atrocities, rather than with their indignant accusers. 
 With access to ample means of information, what cruelty have 
 they ever brought to light 1 Which of the horrors of the system 
 have they ever called upon Parliament to extinguish? With 
 a thorough knowledge, for example, of the systematic dese- 
 cration of the Sabbath, what single eff*ectual step have they 
 ever taken to reform the evil? Urged for thirty-five years to 
 stop the fatal progress of depopulation, by instituting marriage 
 among the slaves, and rendering that sacred tie not only legal 
 but inviolable, what single measure have they adopted to that 
 end ? Look again at the whole moral and religious aspect of 
 the West Indies. See, but for the labours of a few slandered 
 missionaries, whose efforts may have served to rescue a small 
 portion of the slaves from the grossest ignorance and vice, 
 the whole Negro population of Jamaica, baptized and unbap- 
 tized, still sunk, after a British possession of nearly two cen- 
 turies, in darkness and immoraUty worse than what Africa itself 
 ejihibits. What defence have they here ? We do not ask what 
 has been their success ; but what have been their attempts ? 
 They have been content to do nothing themselves, and have 
 been ready to frown on those who have endeavoured to excite 
 attention to the subject. 
 
 Let it not be supposed that these topics are now adverted 
 to for the purpose of venting reproaches against the West 
 Indians, or for any invidious purpose whatsoever. They are 
 
140 APPENDIX C. 
 
 adverted to solely in the hope, that, called to review the 
 past, the able and respectable individuals to whom we have 
 alluded may now see it to be their duty to take a forward and 
 an active part in the great work of humanity and justice which 
 lies before them ; that, no longer hostile, or at best lukewarm 
 or indifferent to the subject, they should now throw the weight 
 of their character, talents, and influence on the side of fair 
 and impartial investigation, and of sound, moderate, and 
 rational plans of amelioration ; that, no longer actuated by that 
 hprit de corps which leads men to feel as a personal offence 
 any exposure of the general evils of their system, or of the 
 misconduct of individual members of their body, they should 
 rather be solicitous to bring both to light, and to found upon 
 their detection the remedial provisions which circumstances 
 may be found to require ; that, no longer satisfied with vague 
 professions of a desire to promote improvement, or with the 
 barren generalities of such addresses as have been from time to 
 time presented to the Crown on the subject, they should, in 
 their individual and collective capacity, aim at, and be satisfied 
 with nothing short of, substantial and efficient enactments for 
 securing the comfort, domestic happiness, moral and religious 
 progress, and ultimate emancipation of their dependants; and, 
 finally, that their fixed purpose should now be, not by plausi- 
 ble but unproductive resolutions to avert the interference of 
 Parhament, but to render that interference unnecessary, by 
 the frank, cheerful, and zealous adoption and pursuit of well- 
 concocted and comprehensive schemes of economical, civil, and 
 religious reformation. 
 
 We hail with sincere delight an example of this magnanimous 
 determination in one West-Indian proprietor — we mean Sir 
 George Rose — who, having formed a just estimate of his obliga- 
 tions as a planter, at least in one most important particular, 
 has not scrupled both to carry into effect his own convictions 
 on the subject, and openly and earnestly to press them upon 
 the consciences of other planters. A pamphlet which has 
 recently made its appearance under his name, " On the Means 
 and Importance of converting the Slaves in the West Indies io 
 Christianity," is eminently deserving of universal attention, but 
 has peculiar claims on the consideration of every West-Indian 
 proprietor. 
 
APPKHDIX D. Wl 
 
 D. 
 
 ** It is only by looking fairly at the difficulty that we can judge 
 the right which ivc have to charge the Colonial Legislatures 
 with being culpably slow in the progress which they have 
 made:' (p. 51.) 
 
 We freely admit that the progress has usually been slow by 
 which a whole people have been raised from barbarism to 
 civilization, or from a state of slavery to the enjoyment of 
 liberty. But the great cause of this has been, that the Govern- 
 ment, as well as the superior classes, have been, in tjieir 
 degree, as barbarous and uncivilized as the mass of the people. 
 In the dark ages to which Mr. Ellis refers, all classes were sunk 
 in one common abyss of barbarism. There are, therefore, no 
 points of resemblance between the state of Europe at that time 
 and the situation of the colonies of Great Britain at the present 
 moment, on which to found any fair analogy. The governors 
 were then altogether indisposed, and to the full as incapable 
 as the governed, to promote the progress either of civil freedom 
 or religious light. In the present day, at least in this country, 
 the governors are in widely different circumstances. Living in 
 the full blaze of light themselves, they have the means of reflect- 
 ing the rays of that light on their dependants. Enjoying and 
 appreciating themselves the blessings of freedom, they fully 
 admit also the right which every British suliject possesses to 
 protection from injury, and to a participation in their own civil 
 and religious advantages. What, then, has hitherto withheld 
 them from imparting these blessings to the Negro population in 
 our Colonies ? It will be said in reply, that the Slaves were so 
 unprepared for liberty, that to have given it to them would have 
 tended to their injury and not to their benefit. Be it so. But, 
 still, was it necessary that they should be chattels ; that they 
 should continue to be bought and sold ; that they should have 
 no rights of property, no marriage, no Sabbath, no moral 
 
N 
 
 142 ' APPENDIX D. 
 
 culture, no education ; that they should remain in the class of 
 mere animals; that they should, like them, be driven by the lash, 
 and bereft of all motive for exertion but the base and servile 
 one of bodily fear ? Slow indeed must have been their progress 
 while such a state of things was prolonged. But has any 
 thing been done, has any thing even been attempted, with a view 
 to quicken it? In truth, the very first efficient step towards 
 improvement is yet to be made. There is, even at this moment, 
 no marriage tie among 800,000 British subjects. Not only is 
 not marriage required or enforced ; it is absolutely discouraged. 
 Nay, when a sense of Christian obligation has led the Slaves, 
 under the influence of Methodist or Moravian Missionaries, to 
 form a permanent connection of the domestic kind, the union 
 has no sanction from law; it may be violated with impunity by 
 the parties themselves, it may be dissolved at the will of the 
 master. 
 
 Will it be argued that it was impossible to take even this 
 first step towards civilization ; or that there was something 
 so pecuUarly and incorrigibly vicious in the Negro character, 
 that the very attempt to institute marriage was utterly hopeless ? 
 Something of this kind we know has been alleged. And yet, 
 on this supposition, how will the following facts be explained ? 
 
 In every other country in the universe, however barbarous 
 and uncivilized, the institution of marriage exists, and its obli- 
 gations are understood and respected. — Marriage has always 
 existed, and its obligations have been enforced, among the Slaves 
 of the Spaniards and Portuguese ; and the happiest efi'ects have 
 resulted from it.— Even in the English colonies, where Slaves 
 are not allowed to be legally united in wedlock, the Methodist 
 and Moravian Missionaries have succeeded in inducing many 
 of their converts to form lasting unions ; and in inducing 
 them also, though those unions are unsanctioned by law, to 
 fulfil the duties which belong to the married state. — The Ma- 
 roons, removed from Jamaica to Sierra Leone, and who brought 
 with them to that place the same vices of polygamy and pro- 
 miscuous concubinage which then prevailed, and which still 
 prevail in Jamaica, were at once wrought upon to submit to the 
 laws which prohibited polygamy and promiscuous concubinage, 
 and which rendered marriage indissoluble. — The thousands 
 of Africans liberated from the holds of captured slave-ships 
 
APPENDIX D. 143 
 
 ami settled at Sierra Leone, have submitted likewise without 
 i^ifficulty to the same salutary discipline : marriage is universal 
 among them, and its rights and obligations are as well recog- 
 nized and observed as in England itself. — Nay, even in pagan 
 Africa, though polygamy exists, the marriage contract is held 
 sacred, and is guarded by the most formidable sanctions. — > 
 Among the Slaves in the West Indies alone, of the whole 
 human race, the marriage state is yet to be instituted ! ! 
 
 The progress of civilization and of freedom, it is alleged, 
 must necessarily be slow in order to be safe. Certainly we 
 are not anxious to precipitate matters so as to endanger 
 the public safety. But what will be said, by those who look 
 to the middle ages for the analogies which are to defend the 
 slow progress of West-Indian improvement, to that more 
 apposite exemplification of what may be safely and beneficially 
 effected for the advancement of the Negro race, which is fur- 
 nished by the colony of Sierra Leone ? There, 15,000 individuals 
 have been rapidly raised from the lowest conceivable state of 
 degradation and wretchedness, — from the chains and nakedness 
 and brutality, the filth and ordure and stench, of a slave-ship, — 
 to the state of men, of free citizens, of .voluntary agents, 
 living by their own exertions, and as fully protected by law in 
 their rights of person and property as the inhabitants of Great 
 Britain itself. Are not these the very men of whom West-In- 
 dian Slaves are made ? — And let it not be said that Christianity 
 had previously prepared them for this elevation. Christianity 
 has, indeed, done much for them. It has shewn in them a signal 
 instance of its civilizing and humanizing and moralizing energy. 
 But, be it remembered, they were freemen before they were 
 Christians. The rulers of that colony did not wait the tardy 
 and dubious progress of certain preparatory measures, before 
 they struck oft* their chains and bade them be free ; before 
 they told them that they had rights, and also that they had 
 obligations, as British subjects ; that the former no man could 
 violate with impunity, and that the latter they were bound to 
 fulfil. It was by their own free and unfettered choice that they 
 afterwards embraced Christianity. Many of them, indeed, have 
 not yet embraced it. Nevertheless, not an instance can be 
 adduced of danger having arisen from this rapid transition from 
 slavery to freedom. 
 
144 APPENDIX D, 
 
 Now the Slaves in the West Indies are either xnore oy lesa 
 advanced towards civilization than the wretched beings thu^ 
 drawn from the holds of slave-ships. If they are mar^ ad.* 
 vanced, then why the comparatively slow progress in civilize*, 
 tion and freedom, which they are fated to make on the western 
 side of the Atlantic ? If less advanced, what does this prove, 
 but the baleful influence of our whole system of colonial 
 bondage? The old argument of the advocates of the Slfiv^ 
 Trade was, that the middle passage was but a happy transition 
 from a savage to a civilized state of existence ; from insecurity 
 and barbarism, and the darkest superstition in Africa, to pro- 
 tection and civilization and Christian light in the West Indies. 
 But what does the fact, according to the present argument, turn 
 out to be? The very reverse of the former allegation. It 
 represents the Africans, in addition to all their other wrongs, 
 so much more brutified than they were, before they became the 
 subjects of a Christian government in the West Indies, as to be 
 unfit for the same privileges which their brethren enjoy, and 
 incapable of the same rapid improvement which they undergo, 
 in their native land. 
 
 The progress, say the West Indians, is necessarily slow 
 from barbarism to civilization. — If this be so, it surely is the 
 worst plea in the world for perpetuating institutions directly 
 tending to barbarize, or for imposing barbarism needlessly and 
 gratuitously on any individual. Even if, for the sake of argu- 
 ment, we should allow it to be a valid reason for leaving the 
 existing race of slaves, until death come to their relief, in the 
 state of barbarism which our cruel institutions have entailed 
 upon them, still it can be no reason for reducing more of them 
 to the same state. It can be no reason for subjecting the yet 
 unborn infant, when born, to the same deleterious process of 
 first barbarizing and brutifying him by slavery, and then trying 
 to train him and his posterity for a freedom to be given them 
 at some undefined period, when they shall be pronounced fit 
 for it. Surely the more rational and Christian-like plan would 
 be, to begin to fit them to be the free subjects of a free state 
 from their very birth. Surely it would be quite as easy to rear 
 the Negro to be an industrious and useful citizen in Jamaica, 
 as it is at Sierra Leone. Why, then, this preposterous referr 
 ence to the middle ages, in orckjf to supply a plausible pretext 
 
APPENDIX D. 145 
 
 for divesting ourselves of the solemn obligations v/e are under 
 to every infant born within the British Colonies, to educate him 
 to be a member of a free and Christian community? 
 
 Is there, then, any thing necessarily slow — necessarily slower, 
 that is to say, than the ordinary progress of education, and the 
 growth of the individual from infancy to man or womanhood 
 — in the process by which the whole population of the West 
 Indies may be as eftectually redeemed from barbarism and 
 heathenism, and made partakers of civilization and Christian 
 liiiht, as their African brethren have been at Sierra Leone? 
 
 But it is argued, that if the Negroes were emancipated, 
 easily as in that climate their wants could be supplied, they 
 would revert to their former modes of savage life ; they would 
 abandon their habits of peaceful industry, and resort to plunder 
 and violence for subsistence ; and they would renounce Chris- 
 tianity for their former superstitions. Without stopping to 
 detect the misapplication of terms in this argument — such as 
 giving to labour extracted by the lash, the designation of habits 
 of peaceful industry ; or the attributing to the Slaves in general 
 any kind or degree of Christian knowledge — we would remark, 
 in the first place, that the argument not quite fairly assumes that 
 the purpose of Mr. Buxton's motion was immediate emanci- 
 pation, although he was at pains to disclaim it. It further 
 assumes, with as little ground, that the work of emancipa- 
 tion would be unattended with all that train of ameliorating 
 and civilizing and Christianizing measures which were laid 
 down by him and by Mr. Wilberforce as the necessary and 
 simultaneous concomitants of every step which should be taken 
 towards emancipation. But, to give every advantage to the 
 argument, let us suppose the emancipation to be as sudden 
 as it has been thought right to assume that it is intended to be; 
 what, even in this case, looking at fact and experience, may we 
 fairly anticipate would be the consequence ? The very reverse, 
 we apprehend, of the honourable Gentleman's anticipations. We 
 must here again revert to the case of Sierra Leone. The wants 
 of the 15,000 savages introduced into that colony, and put sud- 
 denly in possession of their liberty, were at least as few as the 
 wants of the Slaves in the West Indies can be supposed to be. 
 Men drawn from the suffocating hold of a slave-ship ; naked as at 
 their birth, excepting their chains and fetters; accustomed only 
 to a scanty portion of rice and water daily, would regard aa 
 
 u 
 
146 APPENDIX D. 
 
 luxuries even the hut and food and clothing of the West-Indian 
 Slave. Africa, too, is to the full as productive as Jamaica, 
 and rewards with equal abundance the toil of the labourer. But 
 has the conduct of these emancipated Slaves, though thus 
 unfavourably situated, according to Mr. Ellis's hypothesis, 
 given any countenance to his fears? On the contrary, they have 
 voluntarily preferred to their native forests the abodes of civi- 
 lized life, though they knew that they must purchase its enjoy- 
 nients with the sweat of their brow. Instead of resuming their 
 former habits, they have been daily advancing in the habits ot 
 peaceful industry and of civil subordination ; they have not 
 had recourse to plunder and violence, but to regular labour, for 
 their subsistence ; and the majority of them have renounced, 
 and the rest are gradually renouncing, their African superstitions, 
 for the pure and self-denying doctrines of Christianity. Why 
 should we assume that the case would be diflerent in the West 
 Indies? 
 
 Again, let us consider the example of Guadaloupe, In 1793 
 liberty was proclaimed universally to the Slaves in that island. 
 Their conduct, during their ten years of freedom, was in all 
 points the very reverse of what it is apprehended that of the 
 Slaves of Jamaica would be, under similar, or rather more favour- 
 able, circumstances ; seeing that the soil of Guadaloupe is more 
 fertile, and that the metropolitan state was then unable to con- 
 troul any insurrectionary movement. And yet their governors 
 bore testimony to their regular industry, and uninterrupted sub- 
 mission to the laws, down to the very period when the peace of 
 Amiens enabled Bonaparte to reintroduce the whip among them. 
 
 St. Domingo is an example still more strongly in point. 
 Notwithstanding the atrocities, and the years of sanguinary con- 
 flict, not only with the French but with each other, which marked 
 the revolution in that island, and the universal desolation which 
 .these occasioned ; we find, after a lapse of thirty years, that the 
 Haytians have not reverted to the habits of savages, but, on the 
 contrary, that they are improving in the arts of civilized Hfe; 
 we find them protected by equal laws, engaged in the pursuits 
 of peaceful industry, adhering to the profession at least of 
 Christianity, and competently discharging every duty attaching 
 to them as citizens and members of a well-regulated com- 
 munity. 
 
APPENDIX E. 147 
 
 But while we adduce these instances, in order to diminish the 
 unreasonable alarms which some people have been led to 
 indulge at the very mention of emancipation, we repeat, that 
 the emancipation which is now in question is not a sudden or 
 immediate, but a gradual and progressive emancipation. 
 
 Mr. Ellis supposes the case of the British Parliament legis- 
 lating in favour of the Slaves, and the Colonial Assemblies 
 resisting the benevolent intentions of Parliament. But this is 
 a case which, as it would imply absolute insanity on the part 
 of the latter, can hardly be admitted as of the slightest weight 
 in the discussion. If Parliament do but act, the Colonists can 
 have no choice but that of submission. 
 
 He also refers to the danger arising frorn the overpowering 
 numbers and physical force of the Slave population in the West 
 Indies, as compared with the White population. In Jamaica 
 it may be about fifteen to one. But in Sierra Leone, where the 
 proportion of the Blacks to the Whites is one hundred and fifty 
 to one, no danger has been experienced, nor has any appre- 
 hension of danger been felt : and why 1 Because the Blacks are 
 free, and are protected by equal laws ; they have " an equal 
 participation in all the civil rights which are enjoyed by British 
 subjects under our free constitution," 
 
 E. 
 
 Improvements in the Slave Laiv of Jamaica. 
 
 Mr. Ellis admits that he was disappointed in the result of 
 the Address to the Crown which he moved in 1797. He main- 
 tains, at the same time, that to reproach the West Indians with 
 having done nothing effectual, is unfair; and he specifies cer- 
 tain improvements which have taken place in the legislation of 
 Jamaica, as proof of this unfairness. Let us consider them 
 with attention. 
 
 An Act was passed, he tells us, by the Assembly of Jamaica, 
 in 1797, with a view of promoting the religious instruction of 
 the Negroes. — Why this Act should not have been produced by 
 
148 At»PENDIX E. 
 
 the local authorities, when they were called upon to produce 
 all acts of this description, is not very obvious. On the 12lh 
 of July 1815, a motion was made in the House of Commons 
 for all such laws as had been enacted in any of the Colonies 
 relative to the protection and good government of Slaves since 
 the year 178B. A return was made from Jamaica of fifteen 
 acts, which had been passed between that period and the end of 
 
 1814. These were all printed at full length, by an order of the 
 House of Commons dated the 5th of April 1816; but the act 
 referred to by Mr. Ellis is not to be found among them, and we 
 are therefore denied any opportunity of forming a judgment 
 respecting it. The probability indeed is, that it must have 
 been repealed, though the fact is unknown to Mr. Ellis; for 
 had it existed in 1815, the local authorities would scarcely 
 have passed it over in absolute silence, while they were afford- 
 ing us the means of judgingof the general progress of improve- 
 ment in the Code JSoir of Jamaica between the years 1788 and 
 
 1815. Of the fifteen acts, produced in illustration of this im- 
 provement, there is only one which can be considered as coming 
 under the description of a meliorating act, and that is the 
 Consolidated Slave Law of December 1809, subsequently 
 superseded by that of December 1816. The other acts, as far 
 as they respect the Slaves, which some of them do not in the 
 remotest degree, are the very reverse of meliorating: they 
 are intended to operate as restraints, and not as relaxations. In 
 one of them, of the date of 28th November 1807, there is 
 the following clause: "And whereas in and by certain of the 
 acts, and clauses of acts, herein and hereby repealed, pro- 
 vision was made for making slaves assets for payment of debts 
 and legacies, and in what manner they should descend and be 
 held as property, and be conveyed in certain cases ; and it is 
 expedient to continue and amend such wholesome regulations ; 
 Be it therefore enacted, by the authority aforesaid. That no 
 slave shall be free hy becoming a Christian ; and, for payment 
 of debts and legacies, all slaves shall be deemed and taken as 
 all other goods and chattels are in the hands of executors and 
 administrators; and where other goods or chattels are not 
 sufficient to satisfy the said debts and legacies, then so many 
 slaves as are necessary for the payment of debts and legacies 
 stiall be sold.'' 
 
APPENDIX E. 14^ 
 
 Mr. Ellis says, that in 1816 a Coramiltee of the House of 
 Assembly recommended the prohibition of the sale of slaves 
 wnder writs of venditioni exponas, and they have credit 
 given to them for the humanity of this report. The credit, 
 however, in this case, as in many others, has been cheaply 
 purchased. The recommendation has not been attended 
 to. The act of 1807 is still unrepealed, because, doubt- 
 less, notwithstanding this recommendation, it was deemed 
 more expedient to continue its wholesome provisions. Mr, 
 Ellis says, that if the legal difficulties in the way of the 
 repeal of the writ of venditioni exponas could be overcome, 
 no objection to its repeal would be made on the part of the 
 West Indians. But whatever those difficulties are, as they 
 apply to existing contracts, and they are not very palpable, we 
 cannot imagine what obstacles there can be in the way of re- 
 versing the act of 1807 as it respects the future, and enacting 
 that henceforward slaves shall no longer be deemed and taken 
 to be as other goods and chattels. 
 
 But we come to the year 1816. In that year the Curates* 
 Act was passed. Mr. Ellis denies that this act has been in- 
 operative ; and yet, in a report of the House of Assembly during 
 the session of 1822, it was slated to have been almost wholly 
 inoperative. To precisely the same effect is the testimony of 
 Mr. Cooper, as given in the pamphlet entitled ** Negro Slavery.'* 
 ** As for this Curates' Act," he observes, " 1 have heard it re- 
 peatedly declared, that it was intended for England, not for 
 Jamaica." **It must have been known before it was passed, 
 that the planters would not allow their slaves any opportunity 
 for attending on their new instructors ; and that, consequently, 
 such a law could have no tendency to improve their condition." 
 " Mr. Cooper was informed by the Curate of Hanover, that he 
 might apply to ten estates before he got leave to preach on 
 one." " And both the Rector and Curate told him that they 
 were of no use to the slaves, as instructors; and that, under 
 existing circumstances, it was impossible they should." — 
 (Negro Slavery, p. 43, 4Q.) 
 
 Testimony equally decisive, and to which West Indians may 
 less object, is given in a work which has just made its appear- 
 ance, entitled *' A View of the past and present State of the 
 Island of Jamaica, by J. Stewart, late of Jamaica," printed for 
 
150 APPENDIX £. 
 
 Whitaker. The author, who quitted Jamaica only in 1821, is 
 certainly no adherent of the Anti-Slavery party; on the con- 
 trary, he evidently leans to the side of the Colonists, although 
 we must do him the justice to say he seems to aim at being im- 
 partial. His account of the Curates' Act is as follows. — 
 
 "Curates were appointed a few years ago by an act of the 
 legislature. Their salary is 500/. currency, but they have no 
 other emolument from their curacies. The ostensible object 
 of their appointment was, that they should preach to and in- 
 struct the slaves in the Christian religion ; an object which, from 
 whatever cause, has been rendered in a great measure abortive. 
 Either the curates are lukewarm in the cause; or the planters 
 do not wish the time and attention of their slaves to be occu- 
 pied by religious discussions; or, which is most probable, 
 both of these causes have operated to render the intentions of 
 the legislature nugatory. As it is, the curates have dwindled 
 into mere assistants to the rectors, who were before their ap- 
 pointment fully able to perform all their clerical duties. By a 
 law of some standing in the island, the rectors are required to 
 set apart two hours every Sunday to the religious instruction of 
 the slaves ; but this law is tery little attended to. The truth is, 
 that, however willing the rectors might be to perform this 
 duty, very few of the slaves have it in their power to attend 
 church ; they are either in attendance on their owners, or their 
 lime is occupied in a necessary attention to their own affairs; 
 for Sunday is not a day of rest and relaxation to the planta- 
 tion slave; he must work on that day, or starve." p. 167. 
 
 "A writer in one of the public prints of Jamaica, in 1820, 
 complained that * the curates had done nothing in the way of 
 their calling,' — 'neglecting to do that which is expressly re- 
 quired of them by the legislature, viz. visiting the plantations 
 at stated times, for the purpose of baptizing and instructing 
 the slaves in the Christian faith ; provided, however, it is 
 with the consent of their owners.' In re|)ly to this charge, 
 another writer (supposed to be a clergyman), says, * Has he' 
 (the former writer) * allowed the curate of his parish an oppor- 
 tunity of discharging the functions of his office towards his 
 Negro servants, agreeably to the tenor of the act on which he 
 lays so much stress? If not, he has no reason to complain of 
 neglect. If he has, he is almost a solitaut instance; 
 
APPENDIX E. 151 
 
 as, to my knowledge , some curates have applied to many 
 proprietors, trustees, and managers, expressing not only their 
 willingness, but their desire, to be called upon to discharge the 
 duties of their office, in the instruction of the ignorant 
 slaves, BUT IN NO single instance have their ser- 
 vices BEEN accepted; and surely it cannot be expected 
 that any man, who has a proper regard for himself, would 
 intrude on the property of another, though for the most 
 praiseworthy purposes, with the apprehension in view of being 
 turned off it,* 
 
 "The allegation thus publicly brought forward by this 
 apologist, has not been satisfactorily replied to, and we must 
 therefore conclude that there is a general disinclination on the 
 part of the planters to have their slaves instructed in Chris- 
 tianity. There are, it is true, some enlightened men, who have 
 different ideas and feelings on this important subject ; but their 
 number is too small to be productive of any good beyond the 
 boundary lines of their respective properties." p. 292. 
 
 The author subjoins a note, to say, that since he quitted the 
 island, in 1821, ** it appears that in a few of the parishes the 
 work of instruction has made some progress." But this 
 differs from the Report of the Committee of the House of 
 Assembly of November 1822, already mentioned. 
 
 Having thus disposed of the Curates' Act and of the benefits 
 which it has conferred on the Slave population, there remains 
 only the last edition of the Consolidated Slave Law, namely, 
 that of December 1816, on which to rest the boast of legis- 
 lative improvement with respect to the condition of the 
 Slaves in Jamaica. Now, we willingly admit that this law 
 does improve in some respects on that of 1809; we shall 
 proceed to shew in what particulars it does so. 
 
 The second section is entirely new. It enacts, " That all 
 owners, managers, &c. shall, as much as in them lies, en- 
 deavour the instruction of their slaves in the Christian religion, 
 whereby to facilitate their conversion; and shall do their ut- 
 most endeavours to fit them for baptism, and, as soon as con- 
 veniently can be, cause to be baptized all such as they can 
 make sensible of a duty to God and the Christian faith, 
 which ceremony the clergymen of the respective parishes are 
 to perform when required." — There is here no allusion to 
 
152 APPENDIX E. 
 
 any former Act of the same kind ; no recognition of that law 
 of 1797 mentioned by Mr. Ellis. 
 
 But is not the clause obviously intei>ded to operate on the 
 minds of the people of this country, and not on those of the 
 people of Jamaica? With respect to them, it is, and necessarily 
 must be, wholly inoperative. So undeniably is this the case, 
 that its provisions are not enforced by any penalty. Indeed, 
 to require owners, overseers, &c. to teach the slaves their 
 *'duty to God," and "the Christian faith," has something in 
 it, in the present moral state of society there, which is perfectly 
 ludicrous. 
 
 To illustrate this, we need only turn to the testimony of Mr, 
 Cooper, Dr. Williamson, &c. as given in the pamphlet entitled 
 *' Negro Slavery." Mr. Ellis, indeed, seems to admit that these 
 different statements are not overcharged. It may not, how- 
 ever, be unseasonable to strengthen them by the corrobo- 
 rative testimony of Mr. Stewart, already referred to. "Even 
 if slavery and its attendant abuses did not exist here," he 
 observes, " no great improvement in the state of society could 
 be expected, while the most gross and open licentiousness 
 continues, as at present, to prevail among all ranks of the 
 Whites. The males, of course, are here exclusively meant." — 
 ** Every vnmarried white man, and of every class, has his black 
 or his brown mistress, with whom he lives openly : and of so 
 little consequence is this thought, that his White female friends 
 and relations think it no breach of decorum to visit his house, 
 partake of his hospitality, fondle his children, and converse 
 with his house- keeper,'* — " But the most striking proof of the 
 low estimate of moral and religious obligation here, is the fact 
 that the man who lives in open adultery — that is, who keeps 
 his brown or black mistress, in the very face of his wife and 
 family and of the community — has generally as much outward 
 respect shewn him, and is as much countenanced, visited, and 
 received into company, especially if he be a man of some 
 influence and weight in the community, as if he had been guilty 
 of no breach of decency or dereliction of moral duty. This 
 profligacy is, however, less common than it was formerly." — 
 ** If a gentleman pays his addresses to a lady, it is not thought 
 necessary, as a homage to her delicacy, to get rid, a priori of 
 his illicit establishment, nor is the lady so unreasonable as to 
 
APPENDIX E. 158 
 
 expect sucli a sacrifice. The brown lady remains in tlie house 
 till within a few days of the marriage, and, if she is of an 
 accommodating disposition, even assists in making preparations 
 for the reception of the bride." p. 170. 
 
 If this statement be correct, what shall we say to the 
 enactment which gravely commits to such characters as these 
 " the instruction of the slaves in the Christian religion," with 
 a view to tlieir conversion 1 
 
 The third section of the Act of 1816 is also new. The 
 entire clause is this : ** And be it enacted, that, from and 
 after the passing of this Act, no shop shall be kept open 
 during Divine Service." — This we presume means to apply to 
 Sunday, though Sunday be not even named in the clause. 
 But here again there is no penalty to enforce obedience. And 
 does it not seem here also, as if the framers of the law 
 contemplated its eflfect on uninformed minds in England, 
 rather than its effect in Jamaica 1 For, while it enacts that no 
 shop shall be kept open during the time of Divine Service, it 
 leaves untouched the public Sunday markets, which take 
 place in the open air, and during the very time of Divine 
 Service ; and which make it absolutely impossible for shop- 
 keepers to obey the law, even if there were any penalty for 
 disobeying it. Neither does it prohibit labour, not even 
 compulsory labour, on the Sunday. It does not in any way 
 recognize the sacred character of that day. 
 
 In the fourth section of the Act of 1816 there is added, to 
 the corresponding section of the former Act of 1809 (which 
 assigned to the slaves Sundays, and a day in every fortnight 
 out of crop, to cultivate their provision grounds), a proviso, 
 ** that the number of days so allowed to the slaves for the culti- 
 vation of their grounds shall be at least twenty-six in the year." 
 — This is certainly a considerable improvement: it adds tea 
 days to the scanty time previously allowed to the slaves for this 
 purpose. But still it does not amount to one-third of the time 
 which is allowed to Spanish and Portuguese slaves, exclusive 
 of Sundays, for the cultivation of their grounds. The number 
 of days so allowed to them is eighty-two, while in Jamaica it is 
 only twenty-six, even by this new and improved code ; pre- 
 vious to which the number was only from fourteen to sixteen. 
 And what is the penalty for violating this law ? Twenty 
 
 X 
 
154 APPENDIX E. 
 
 pounds currency, equal to 14/. sterling. And this is not made 
 payable for each day of the twenty-six which may be with- 
 held from the slaves ; so that if the whole twenty-six should 
 be withheld, the penalty would still be only 14/. sterling ; and 
 that sum even two or three days' labour of the ordinary gang 
 of an estate would abundantly repay to the owner. 
 
 It is also enacted, for the first time, by the law of 1816, 
 section 11, that, When there is a natural increase of slaves on 
 any plantation during the year, 3/. currency is to be allowed 
 for every slave born during that year and living at the end of 
 it, to be divided between the mother, midwife, and nurse. 
 — This is, doubtless, some approximation to improvement. As, 
 however, the decrease in the whole population of Jamaica is 
 considerable, amounting to 5027 in the three years from 1817 
 to 1820, the premiums given for births cannot prove very 
 onerous to the public. It may be worlh while, however, to 
 obtain a return of the payments made under this clause since 
 it was passed. — [&3" While perusing the proof -sheet j we ham 
 that this section has been repealed.^ 
 
 Into the Act of 1816 there is also introduced a new section 
 (the l?i:]th), which enacts, that in case any Justice of the Peace 
 shall receive a complaint from any slave, that any slave has 
 been improperly punished, contrary to the true intent and 
 meaning of this Act, he may associate with him another magis- 
 trate, to inquire in a summary manner into the complaint; and 
 if the complaint proves true, the magistrates are required to 
 proceed against the oftenders according to law. — Thus far all 
 sounds well; although it must be kept in mind, that, by a 
 preceding section, if the number of lashes inflicted on a slave 
 (as to the degree of severity with which they may be inflicted 
 the law is silent), do not exceed thirty-nine, nothing has been 
 done that is improper, or contrary to the true intent and 
 meaning of the Act, But at the end of the section comes a 
 proviso of a most extraordinary description : ** But, if it shall 
 appear that such complaint was groundless, the said magistrates 
 SHALL PUNISH the Complainant, and the person giving in- 
 formation thereof, IN such manner as to them may 
 SEEM PROPER." The magistrate may inquire into the com- 
 plaint, but he shall punish the complainant, if his complaint 
 shall prove groundless ! And this is the last edition, with 
 
^ APPENDIX E. 3,§5 
 
 amendments, of the Consolidated Slave Law of Jamaica ! 
 What chance, we confidently ask, is there, that complaints 
 will be preferred, by slaves, to magistrates (who are almost 
 universally themselves slave-owners), when, in case ihey fail 
 in proving their complaint to be well grounded, they are liable 
 to be punished ; and not merely liable to be punished, but 
 the magistrates shall punish them, in such manner as to them 
 may seem proper? This is what is called in the West Indies 
 protecting Slaves ! 
 
 Mr. Stewart, the author already referred to, who witnessed 
 the operation of this Act for no less than four or five years after 
 its enactment, makes the following observation upon it. " If 
 oppressed and ill-treated, the slave may indeed lay his com- 
 plaints before a magistrate, who, of course, is bound to listen 
 to, and, if possible, redress them ; and if be be a good man, 
 he will actively endeavour to do so. But he cannot legally 
 render justice to the slave by the punishment of the master, 
 should the latter decline giving evidence against himself — a 
 very natural proceeding, where no other admissible evidence 
 exists. The evidence of the slave, and of his fellow-slaves, 
 is insufficient to convict him. The magistrate then can only 
 admonish the master; and the slave is sent home, perhaps 
 to suffer renewed severities for his audacity in preferring a 
 complaint against his master." p. 224. 
 
 Mr, Stewart has entirely overlooked the farther duty which 
 the law imposes on the magistrate, of punishing the ground-* 
 less complainer. 
 
 In the sections 41 to 45, are contained the regulations 
 alluded to by Mr. EHis, to secure the freedom of slaves ma- 
 numitted by will, and those for prohibiting the purchase of 
 slaves by middle-men. The former in no way alter the law 
 as to manumissions, but merely obviate a difficulty of form. 
 The latter furnish a striking instance of the general spirit of 
 colonial legislation. By the provisions of this law, persons 
 travelling about the country for the purpose of trafficking in 
 slaves, are to be taken up, and carried, with the slaves, before 
 two justices of the peace. The purchases or sales effected by 
 them are declared null and void ; and the slaves what be- 
 comes of them? They are to be set free, without doubt. No I 
 this would be too liberal a course, though it is the course 
 
156 APPENDIX E. 
 
 pursued bv British Acts of Parliament in the case of all illicit 
 trading in slaves. The law of Jamaica directs, that the two 
 justices ** shall declare the same (viz. the slaves) to be for- 
 feited, and proceed to sell the said slave or slaves " by public 
 sale ; half of the proceeds to be given to the informer, and the 
 other half to the church-wardens. A question may fairly be 
 raised, whether this regulation be not a direct contravention of 
 the Slave-Trade Abolition Acts, which ordain that all persons 
 illegally dealt with as slaves shall be forfeited to his Majesty, 
 not for the purpose of being sold into slavery^ but for the 
 purpose of being made free, and having their persons pro^ 
 tected against all claim. 
 
 The 50th section is also new, at least it is not to be found 
 in the previous Act of 1809. Whether it be an improvement 
 will be better estimated when it shall have been read : it is as 
 follows : — ** And whereas it has been found that the practice 
 of ignorant, superstitious, or designing slaves, of attempting 
 to instruct others, has been attended with the most pernicious 
 consequences, and even with the loss of life; Be it enacted. 
 That any slave or slaves found guilty of preaching and teach- 
 ing, as Anabaptists or otherwise, without a permission from 
 their owner and the quarter-sessions for the parish in which 
 such preaching and teaching takes place, shall be punished in 
 such manner as any two magistrates may deem proper, by 
 flagellation, or imprisonment in the workhouse to hard la- 
 bour.*' The next section goes on to forbid, and to punish with 
 similar severity, all " nightly and other private meetings." 
 
 It is surely not too much to say that this persecuting enact- 
 ment is worthy of the Inquisition. Sir George Rose tells us of 
 the thousands of slaves who have been converted to Christianity 
 by means of the Methodists. If one of these, actuated by a 
 desire to do good to his next-door neighbour, or to his chil- 
 dren, shall endeavour to instruct them in the truths he has 
 himself learnt to value as of supreme importance, he may, by 
 the terms of this law, if he have not a licence from both his 
 master and the quarter-sessions, be cart-whipped, imprisoned, 
 and kept to hard labour in the workhouse, at the discre- 
 tion of any two magistrates ; — ** in such manner as any two 
 magistrates may deem proper ! " Then, observe the convenient 
 vagueness of the terms, ** nightly and other private meetings/* 
 
APPENDIX E. 103f 
 
 The night hi Jamaica comprehends, on the average, from ten 
 to twelve hours of the twenty-four. Even a meeting for family 
 worship would come under this comprehensive description. 
 
 The sections 70 and 71 have been added, according to Mr. 
 Ellis, to provide " protection for any Negro detained in any 
 jail or workhouse, alleging themselves to be free." — Some im- 
 provement, we freely admit it, is effected by this tardy enact- 
 ment; but it still leaves in all its original iniquity that prin- 
 ciple of colonial law which makes the colour of a man's skin 
 prima facie evidence of his being a slave. An opportunity, 
 it is true, is afforded him to prove his freedom ; and this is, 
 without doubt, a valuable concession ; but if he cannot prove 
 it to the satisfaction of a special sessions, he is left to the 
 operation of the workhouse law, which ordains him to be sold 
 as a slave for the public benefit. Thus, though no man claims 
 him as a slave; though no man proves him to be a slave; though 
 he himself affirms that he is free ; though he may have been born 
 perhaps in England, or in South America, or in Africa, or in the 
 United Stales ; though he may have come to Jamaica as a sea- 
 man and been left there ; yet, if he has no proof of his freedom 
 to produce (and in a thousand supposable cases he could have 
 no such proof), this unoffending individual, against whom 
 no crime is proved, or even alleged, is doomed to the severest 
 of human inflictions by the workhouse law of Jamaica — he is 
 to be sold into hopeless and interminable bondage ! ! 
 
 Such are the boasted improvements in the Jamaica Slave 
 Code of i8l0. But let us look a little more closely at the code 
 itself. We shall omit to notice the various clauses which are 
 merely inefficient, as imposing no adequate penalties, or as con- 
 taining no executory principle; and shall confine ourselves, in 
 addition to those already noticed, to such as seem to be 
 objectionable in themselves. 
 
 The 20lh section limits the hours oi field labour to from 
 five in the morning to seven at night, allowing intervals of half 
 an hour for breakfast, and two hours for dinner. Now, if we 
 compute the time required for going to the field and returning 
 from it at the moderate rate of half an hour on the average, 
 we have here twelve solid hours of labour, in a tropical climate, 
 exacted from the slave by law, by a law pretending to humanity. 
 
158 APPENDIX E. 
 
 Human nature was never intended to support such lengthened 
 toil under a vertical sun. It would of itself account for the 
 decrease of population in Jamaica. 
 
 The 24th section enacts, that ** if any person shall hereafter 
 wantonli/, willingly, or b hod-minded ly kill, or cause to be 
 killed, any «lave," he shall suffer death. It only wants the 
 additional clause of the Barbadoes law, " without provocation,^^ 
 to make it a complete nullity. Is, then, the nature of murder 
 (killing of malice prepense) not sufficiently understood by 
 the judges and jurors of Jamaica, or is there a danger that 
 they would be too rigorx>us in their construction of the law, 
 that the qualifications wantonly, willingly, hlood-mindedly, 
 are so studiously transferred from the indictment to the sta- 
 tute ? ** By the instigation of the Devil " should have been 
 added. We shall see that there are no such qualifying terms 
 when the law speaks of murder committed by a slave. 
 
 By the 25th section, persons mutilating, dismembering, or 
 wantonly and cruelly whipping, maltreating, beating, bruising, 
 wounding, or imprisoning without sufficient support, any slave, 
 are punishable by a fine not exceeding 100/. currency, or 7 J/, 
 sterling, or imprisonment not exceeding twelve months ; and 
 in atrocious cases the slave may be set free. 
 
 By the 27th section, the lashes inflicted at one time, for one 
 offence, in the absence of the owner or overseer, are not ta 
 exceed ten ; and when inflicted by order of the owner or over- 
 seer, are not to exceed thirty-nine lashes in the same day, or 
 until the sufferer has recovered from his former punishment ; 
 under a penalty of from ten to twenty pounds currency. Pu- 
 nishments, therefore, not exceeding this measure, cannot even 
 be questioned : the law excludes them from its cognisance. 
 
 By the sections 39 and 40, the suffering a slave to possess 
 a horse or mule, is punishable by a tine of 30/. currency, and 
 the animal is to be forfeited. 
 
 In the 46th section which assigns its punishment to murder 
 when committed by slaves, there are no such qualifying 
 descriptions of the crime, as we noticed above, in the section 
 which punishes murder when committed by freemen on the 
 persons of slaves. The words of the 46th section are, that 
 ** if any slave or slaves " " shall commit any murder," " such 
 slave or slaves *' " shall suffer death," &c. 
 
APPENDIX E, 159 
 
 By section 47, slaves assaulting, or ofFeiing any violence, 
 *^ by striking or otherwise, to or towards any white people, 
 or persons of free condition," except by their owners' 
 command, shall be punished with death, transportation, or 
 such other punishment as the court in their discretion shall 
 think proper to inflict. — This is indeed a most tremendous 
 enactment, and framed with a most tremendous laxity of ex- 
 pression. 
 
 By section 48, slaves having in their custody or possession 
 any fire-arms, pikes, sabres, swords, cutlasses, lances, gun- 
 powder, slugs, or ball, without the knowledge of their owner 
 or overseer, may be punished with death, or such other punish- 
 ment as the court may think proper. 
 
 Section 49 is to the following effect: " In order to prevent 
 the many mischiefs that may hereafter arise from the wicked 
 art of Negroes going under the appellation of Obeah Men or 
 Women, and pretending to have communication with the Devil 
 and other evil spirits, whereby the weak and superstitious are 
 deluded into a belief of their having full power to exempt them, 
 whilst under their protection, from many evils that might other-* 
 wise happen ; Be it enacted. That any slave who shall pretend 
 to any supernatural power in order to excite rebellion or other 
 evil purposes, or shall use or pretend to use any such prac- 
 tices with intent or so as to affect or endanger the life or health 
 of any other slave, shall sufi'er death or transportation." Let 
 the reader observe here the extraordinary discrepancy of the- 
 preamble with the enacting clause. Whereas there are slaves 
 who pretend to a power to exempt other slaves from evil, 
 therefore, if they shall pretend to any supernatural power — not 
 to exempt others from evil, but — to inflict evil upon them, they 
 shall suffer death, &c. And let it not b€ supposed that this 
 barbarous law is dead and inoperative, as too many of the 
 protecting laws are. No ; it is in constant and fearful opera- 
 tion. We trust that a return will be required of all persons 
 executed in Jamaica and the other islands under such enact- 
 ments. 
 
 By sections 52 and 53, it is made capital to mix or prepare 
 certain substances used in Obeah, or even to have them in 
 possession ; and among them are enumerated pounded glass, 
 parrots' beaks, dogs' teeth, alligators' teeth, &c. 
 
160 APPENDIX E. 
 
 . By section 58, my slave who shall fraudulently have in his 
 custody or possession, unknown to his owner or overseer, and 
 without being able to give a satisfactory account of it, any 
 quantity, U7ider twenty pounds weight, of any fresh beef, 
 veal, mutton, pork, or goat, or of the flesh of horse, mule, 
 or ass, shall be whipped not exceeding thirty-nine lashes ; 
 and if the quantity is above twenty pounds weight, then he 
 shall suffer such punishment, short of death or imprisonment 
 for life, as two justices shall think proper to inflict. — Here, be 
 it observed, the legislature of Jamaica, not content with thus 
 constituting a new and unheard-of off'ence, throws the onus 
 proiandi on the accused. But, independently of this, what a 
 state of comfort and happiness and luxurious enjoyment must 
 that be, when even the custody or possession of a single pound 
 of fresh meat is made a crime in a slave, from which he must 
 exculpate himself by satisfactory evidence, under the penalty 
 of thirty-nine lashes of the cart-whip!! 
 
 By sections 74, 75, 76, and 77, slaves going off, or attempt- 
 ing to go off, the island (that is, trying to regain their liberty), 
 or aiding others to go off, are liable to suffer death, or such 
 other punishment as the court may direct. Free People of 
 Colour aiding them are to be transported, and if they return, 
 sold; and White persons aiding them are to forfeit 300/. for 
 each slave, and to be subjected to a year's imprisonment. 
 
 By section 78, any slave travelling, without a ticket from his 
 owner, with dogs, or cutlasses, or other ofi'ensive weapons, may 
 sufl'er any punishment short of death and transportation. 
 
 In the 79th section, among the other crimes for which 
 slaves may be tried capitally, is enumerated that of " compass- 
 ing or imagining the death of any White person or persons." 
 
 In the same section is a clause which enacts that in all 
 cases, including the case of all capital crimes, " the evidence 
 of slaves against one another shall be received." Now when 
 it is considered, that in all matters in which White persons or 
 free People of any Colour are concerned, the evidence of slaves 
 is rejected in the Jamaica courts, and rejected on the specific 
 ground that it is undeserving of credit, it is indeed a most 
 extraordinary inconsistency, and manifests a most remarkable 
 indiflference to the life of a slave, that it should be made to 
 depend on such testimony— on testimony which is deemed 
 
APPENDIX P. i^ 
 
 wholly unworthy of being admitted to decide the meanest 
 question, whether civil or criminal, which affects a free person. 
 To reject it in the latter case, while it is admitted in the former, 
 can be reconciled with no one principle of law or justice. 
 
 By the 89lh, 90th, and 91st sections, slaves sentenced to be 
 executed or transported are to be appraised, and their value 
 paid to their owners. 
 
 Such are some of the provisions of this last and best edition 
 of the Jamaica code. They will speak with sufficient distinct- 
 ness to the feelings of every British bosom to render comment 
 superfluous. And yet the Jamaica code is confessedly superior 
 to that of most of the other colonies. 
 
 To conclude this long note : Mr. Ellis denies that the West- 
 Indian meliorating acts, as they are called, are almost entirely 
 a dead letter. The examination of this question would neces- 
 sarily lead to too great length of detail. We shall therefore 
 only refer him, and all who entertain any doubts on this point, 
 to a work now in the press, and shortly to appear, from the 
 pen of Mr. Stephen, containing a delineation of the law of 
 Slavery as it exists in the British Colonies. 
 
 Baptism and Marriage. 
 
 Mr. Ellis appeals to his personal observation while in 
 Jamaica in 1805, in favour of the liberal and humane treat- 
 ment of the slaves: — he "does not doubt," he "understands," 
 that considerable improvement has since taken place. That 
 the treatment of his own slaves was liberal and humane we do 
 not doubt, especially during bis actual presence; but that such 
 has been the general treatment in the island, his hesitating 
 language shews that he has no adequate means of knowing or 
 of proving. He can speak only from report. 
 
 But things, we are told, are now greatly improved; and the 
 evidence adduced of that improvement consists partly in the in- 
 crease of baptisms and marriages among the slaves, (p. 54.) 
 
 Y 
 
162 APPKNPIX F; 
 
 With respect to baptism, we perfectly agree tvith Sir George 
 Rose, that we ought to put it entirely out of our calculation, 
 where it has not been attended by Christian instruction, and 
 by the amendment of the neophyte. On the largest and best 
 of his estates in Jamaica, Sir George Rose informs us, that he 
 found that the slave population, although they had been bap- 
 tized, were ** utterly without relic/ion, ignorant, disorderly, 
 and dishonest." (See his pamphlet, pp. 4 and 9.) This view of 
 the matter is completely borne out by the clerical authorities 
 he has quoted from the Parliamentary papers of 10th June 
 1818, and which merit particular attention. The Rev. W. 
 Chaderton, of Antigua, declares it to be utterly impossible for 
 the regular clergy to attend to the spiritual wants of the slaves. 
 — The Rev. G. F. Maynard conceives that it would be degrad- 
 ing his functions, and incurring the guilt of misleading the poor 
 ignorant slaves, were he to baptize them, knowing that there 
 was not the remotest prospect of their being better instructed 
 in their duty. — The Rev. Joseph Hutchins, also of Barbadoes, 
 says, that nothing can be done successfully for promoting 
 religion among the slaves, without the general concurrence, 
 approbation, authority, and co-operation of their owners.— The 
 Rev. W. Nash, of Grenada, remarks, that the reply of the 
 slaves to him was, that if they come to church they must 
 starve, Sunday being their only day to cultivate their grounds; 
 and he adds, " the plea is so reasonable that I cannot oppose 
 it, but I heartily wish their masters would deprive them of it, 
 by allowing them a day in each week to labour for themselves." 
 —The Rev. B. Webster, of Grenada, observes, that besides this, 
 Sunday is the general market-day ; and the markets being held 
 during Divine Service, of course the slaves shew no regard 
 to religious duties. — The Rev. H. Jenkins, of St. James's, 
 Jamaica, alludes to the fruitlessness of any efforts in the way of 
 instruction which he can render to the slaves ; and yet in this 
 parish, in 1816, 1,123 slaves were baptized. — The Rev. T. P. 
 Williams, of Clarendon, intimates, that, with 18,000 souls in 
 his parish, he has Httle time for the instruction of slaves. He 
 had twice, however, made known to all the proprietors in his 
 parish, within the preceding thirteen monlhs, his readiness to 
 attend on their estates to instruct the slaves, but he had not 
 been able to obtain the consent of more than two of them. 
 
^ APPENDIX F. 163 
 
 At the same time, he remarks, that he hoped he had done 
 some good. — The Rev. John West, of St. Thomas in the East, 
 Jamaica, inquires how he can possibly instruct 2(>,000 slaves, 
 and intimates that the work is yet to be begun. — The Rev. 
 Alexander Campbell, of St. Andrew's, in the same island, had 
 begun to assemble and instruct the slaves, but before he had 
 proceeded far with this plan, " he found that it was regarded 
 by some as an innovation of questionable utility, and he 
 thought it wfser to defer the prosecution of it." In this parish, 
 nevertheless, about 2,000 slaves were baptized in 18 1 5, 1816, 
 and 1817. — The Rev, J. H. Walvvys, of Nevis, represents it as 
 an utterly hopeless attemptin ihe clergy to instruct the Negroes 
 under present circumstances. 
 
 Still more in point is the testimony of the Rev. T. Cooper, 
 as given in ** Negro Slavery." In the parish of Hanover, in 
 Jamaica, where he resided, 5,773 slaves had been baptized 
 from 1814 to the 28th June 1817, yet in that parish there was 
 no catechizing of the Negroes, Both the rector and curate 
 said they were of no use to the slaves, and Mr. Cooper thought 
 it impossible they should. ** I have been present," he adds, 
 ** more than once, at the christening of two or three hundred 
 of them, and repeatedly conversed with them. Need I say, 
 that the whole is a solemn mockery i No effort is made to 
 prepare them for the ceremony or to enforce its design." 
 
 But, independently of these direct and unin^peachable tes- 
 timonies to the painful degradation of Christianity, and of its 
 institutions, which is involved in the wholesale baptisms 
 boasted of in Jamaica, is it not plain, on other grounds, that 
 they are intended not for the spiritual benefit of the slave, 
 but for popular effect in England ? They have water sprinkled 
 on them, in some cases, by hundreds at a time, and have 
 Christian names given them; but do they thus become Christians? 
 The local authorities tell us so. But does the conduct of those 
 authorities shew that they think so? These Christians, so 
 called, are denied the Christian Sabbath : they are denied also 
 the marriage tie: they are permitted, nay, they are almost 
 forced, by the policy or neglect of the very men who are eager 
 to swell the list of baptisms, to live in a state of fornication 
 and promiscuous concubinage. Is not this to play the farce of 
 Christianity 1 What must these baptized heathens think cf 
 
164 APPENDIX F. 
 
 the religious principles and feelings, we will not say of tlieit 
 masters, but even of their pastors, who gravely performed this 
 sacred initiatory rite, requiring, in its very terms, of al! adults at 
 least, and in the case of children of their sponsors, a knowledge 
 of Christian truth, repentance, faith in the Gospel, and obedience 
 to the Divine commands? What, we say, must they think of 
 these clergymen, who, while they professed to admit them into 
 the holy church of Christ, knew thatthey were living at the very 
 time, and that they would continue to live, in the regular dis- 
 regard of every religious institution, and in the open profana- 
 tion of the Sabbath ; and that they were wallowing, and would 
 continue to wallow, in the very mire of impurity 1 
 
 But it will be said, that this is an exaggerated picture, as 
 marriage has increased among the slaves in Jamaica. Returns 
 have been made to the House of Commons, by which it would 
 appear that in the last fourteen years 3,596 legal marriages 
 had been celebrated between slaves in that island. Sir G. 
 Rose assumes this statement to be correct. " It appears," he 
 observes, " after all that has been justly said of that colony, 
 it may be called a temple of Hymen, when compared with our 
 other West-Indian settlements,''— in all of which put together 
 not a dozen legal marriages of slaves appear to have been 
 celebrated in the same long period. 
 
 Now, the first thing to be observed in this return of mar- 
 riages is, that, small as is their number (about 250 annually in 
 a population of 340,000), they are almost wholly confined to 
 parishes where the Methodists have formed establishments. 
 Many of the other parishes, and among them some of those 
 where wholesale baptisms have been most numerous (Hanover, 
 for example), have not a single marriage of slaves to exhibit. 
 The authorities, therefore, who furnished this return, ought to 
 have told us how many of these 3,596 marriages were per- 
 formed by the regular clergy ; or whether the whole were Me- 
 thodist marriages, and of course not legal or binding marriages. 
 At the same time, we are not aware that the mere circumstance 
 of the ceremony having been performed by a clergyman, would 
 make that a legal and binding marriage which has no sanction 
 in law, and no protection from it. 
 
 The authorities in the other islands are much more open and 
 explicit in their statements. In Trinidad, the marriages pf 
 
APPENDIX F. 165 
 
 slaves are said in thirteen years to have been three ; in Nevis, 
 Tortola, St. Christopher's, Demarara, Berbice, Tobago, An- 
 tigua, Montserrat, Barbadoes, St. Vincent's, Grenada, and 
 Dominica (with the exception of sixty marriages stated to have 
 teen celebrated in the Roman Cathohc church) the return is 
 absolutely none ! ! Movv^ as in some of these islands, and espe- 
 cially ui Tortola, St. Christopher's, St. Vincent's, Antigua, &c. 
 the Methodists have obtained a large number of converts ; and 
 as they require of their converts to abstain from polygamy and 
 promiscuous concubinage, and to enter into a solemn engagement 
 to live together as man and wife ; if such engagements could 
 have been regarded as legal marriages, we should have had the 
 list of such marriages, instead of being returned «i7, boasting 
 a much larger proportion than even Jamaica itself. 
 
 The clergymen of Grenada are very candid on this point. — • 
 " The legal solemnization of marriage between slaves in this 
 island," says the Rev. Mr. Nash, " is a thing unheard-of, 
 (unheard of!); and if I might presume to offer my sentiments, 
 would, in their present state of imperfect civilization, lead to no 
 beneficial result." We should be glad to know from Mr. Nash, 
 iji what part of the world, however rude and uncivilized, ex- 
 cept in the West Indies, marriage does not prevail, and produce 
 beneficial results. Can he point out any results which could 
 flow from it which are half so bad as those which attend the 
 present system of brutified concubinage!? He thinks he can; 
 for he goes on, in a strain of disgusting sentimentalism 
 (disgusting, when so employed), to give us his reasons for so 
 extraordinary an opinion from the pen of a Christian minister. 
 " Their aifection for each other," he says, " if affection it 
 can be called, is capricious and short-lived : restraint would 
 hasten its extinction; and unitij without harmony is mutual 
 torment !^^ These absurd and ludicrous reasons would be 
 equally valid for getting rid of the marriage-tie in England as 
 in the West Indies. 
 
 To the other two clergymen of Grenada, Mr. Macmahon and 
 Mr. Webster, no application had ever been made to marry 
 slaves. Neither Mr. Macmahon, during his ministry of thirty- 
 seven years in English colonies, nor Mr. Webster, during his 
 incumbency of twelve years, had ever heard of such a thing, lu 
 the opinion of the latter, ** the slaves appear to prefer a state 
 
166 APPENDIX F. 
 
 of concubinage, from which they disengage themselves at Trill." 
 Doubtless, many even among ourselves would be of the same 
 mind, if the laws would allow them to indulge their natural pro- 
 pensities. 
 
 The clergymen of Antigua write in a similar strain. The 
 Rev. Mr. Coull states, that for forty-three years, during which 
 he had been rector of St. George's, no one had ever applied 
 to him to marry slaves but in one instance, and with that 
 application he did not comply. He states incidentally, that there 
 is a penalty of 50/. for marrying a free person to a slave. This 
 law should be called for. — Mr. Harman, the rector of St. John 
 and St. Paul, observes, that there is not any such occurrence as 
 the marriage of slaves on record in either parish, such marriage 
 *' having been invariably considered as illegal.'' " Nor is it 
 easy," he adds, " to conceive how so solemn and binding a con- 
 tract can possibly be entered into by persons who are not free 
 agents." Mr. Harman seems not to have been aware that the 
 villeins in England married, and were protected in their connu- 
 bial rights ; and that the Negro slaves in the Portuguese and 
 Spanish colonies, and the slaves in Malabar — in short, in all 
 parts of the world, with the exception of the West Indies — 
 enjoy the same privileges. 
 
 The Rev. W. T. Austen, a minister of the Church of England 
 officiating in Demarara, states that the marriages of slaves is a 
 thing unheard-of in that colony ; and " I humbly conceive " (he 
 says) " this holy institution to be altogether incompatible with 
 the state of slavery, under existing laws and regulations." If 
 Mr. Austen be right, not a day should be lost in reforming that 
 state, and abolishing all laws and regulations which are incom- 
 patible with marriage. Mr. Elliott, a missionary in the same 
 colony, observes, that he has wiited many slaves, with a view to 
 promote morality, economy, and domestic happiness — yet the 
 marriages solemnized by him are not legal. A similar answer 
 is returned by Mr. Davies, another missionary ; and by Mr. 
 Browne, a Presbyterian minister in Demarara. 
 
 In the Bahamas, they tell us that the marriages of slaves are 
 solemnized by the Methodist missionaries, after their manner of 
 formally enjoining them to abide by one woman ; but they make 
 ao return of legal marriages between slaves. 
 
 After this g£neral survey of the state of the other West-Iudiaa 
 
APPENDIX P. 10?* 
 
 colonies in respect to marriage, we again return to Jamaica, 
 and ask, whether there is not the utmost reason to believe tiiat 
 the account received thence, and laid on the table of the House 
 of Commons, as " a return of the number of marriages legally 
 solemnized between slaves since the 1st of January 1808," is 
 made up, in great part at least, of marriages that were not legal, 
 in the usual meaning of that term. We think it incumbent on 
 Parliament to put this point beyond all doubt, by requiring 
 from the Rectors of the different parishes in Jamaica, certified 
 returns from the parochial registries of all marriages legally 
 solemnized in that island since the year 1808; together with a 
 copy of the law by which the 3,596 marriages, which have taken 
 place there, have been rendered legal marriages, as asserted in 
 the return already received. It cannot be that the authorities of 
 Jamaica should have condescended to shelter themselves from 
 obloquy under the wing of the despised and slandered and per- 
 secuted Methodists, whose very chapel at Kingston was indicted 
 in 1790 as a nuisance ; whose missionaries in 1807 were made 
 liable to a tine of 20/. for every slave proved to have been in 
 their houses, chapels, or conventicles, for the purpose of attend - 
 ing their instructions ; and even to public floggings, hard labour 
 in the workhouse, and imprisonment in the common gaol 
 (which last punishment three of them actually endured), mere- 
 ly for attempting the instruction of the slaves, " The perse- 
 cution in Jamaica in 1807, obliged us," says Mr. Gilgras, 
 ** to put away 500 innocent slaves from our society ; for we 
 were liable to a fine of 20/. for each Negro we instructed, and 
 they to punishment for attending. The chapels and meeting- 
 houses were shut, while I and my wife were in the common gaol 
 of Kingston ; and when I came out, and began preaching on 
 the restricted plan, I was obliged to appoint six door-keepers 
 to prevent the slaves from entering the chapel and violating the 
 law. They would, however, come in their leisure time, and stand 
 outside. They would not, to use their own words, * make 
 Massa again to go to gaol : me no go in chapel, but me hear 
 at door and window.' We beheld them, and wept, but could 
 say nothing." 
 
 See, for much valuable and authentic information on this and 
 kindred subjects, *' Watson's Defence of the Methodist Missions 
 in the West Indies," published in 1817, for Blanshard, City Road, 
 
168 APPENDIX G, 
 
 G. 
 
 " I do not believe^ however confidently it may have been asserted, 
 that the whip is used as a stimulant to labour:'^ it is rather 
 *' a badge of authority than an instrument of coercion,'' (p. 56.) 
 
 Nothing in the whole course of the debate surprised us more 
 than this statement of Mr. Ellis. It proves most incontesti- 
 bly the gross deception which is practised upon absent pro- 
 prietors, and the consequent ignorance in which they are kept 
 of the real nature of colonial bondage. If the whip be not the 
 stimulant to labour in Jamaica, what is ? No man, who knows 
 any thing of human nature, will believe that the Negroes will 
 labour day after day, and from day-break till night-fall, in a 
 tropical climate, where, according to the report of the Jamaica 
 Assembly of 181(>, the labour of twelve or thirteen days in the 
 year will abundantly supply all their wants, without some stimu- 
 lant. Is it from pure love to their masters that they sumbit to 
 perpetual and uncompensated toil ? Or what is their motive ? 
 Men do not usually toil for others without a motive to stimulate 
 them. In this country the stimulant is wages : what is it on 
 Mr. Ellis's Jamaica estate ? What was it when he himself was 
 upon the spot ? Does he really mean gravely to assert that the 
 Negroes in Jamaica are not driven to their work by the whip ? 
 We, on the contrary, are perfectly ready to produce proof 
 that the whip is the stimulant, almost the only stimulant, to 
 labour in Jamaica. The cart-whip — its presence, its dread, 
 its actual infliction — we maintain, and (we repeat it) are per- 
 fectly ready to prove, is the grand Slnd governing motive to 
 exertion among the slaves in that island. 
 
 Hear what Dr. Williamson, a prophet of their own, says on 
 this point. He lived fourteen years in Jamaica. He was there 
 at the very time that Mr. Ellis was there. Though no planter, 
 he is as solicitous as Mr. Ellis liimself can be, to paint the West- 
 Indian system in favourable colours — yet hear what he says. 
 
 " Opinions have been given, that it would be well to do away 
 the possession of a large heavy whip from the driver's hands ; 
 
APPENDIX G. 
 
 and, whether we consider the frightful sound which reaches our 
 ears every minute in passing through estates by the crack of 
 the lash, or the power with which drivers are provided to exer- 
 cise punishment, it would be desirable that such a weapon of 
 arbitrary and unjust authority were taken from them. It is at 
 present customary to crack the whip to turn out the gangs at 
 stated hours to the field. When a Negro seems to be tardy at 
 his work, the driver sounds the lash near him, or lets him feel it, 
 as he thinks proper." From all this the " impression made 
 upon the passenger, who is probably a stranger," (residents of 
 course are used to it), " is horrible indeed." Vol. ii. p. 222. 
 
 Another witness cited in " Negro Slavery" (p. 67), says, that 
 in 1822 " the slaves on the estate were constantly attended 
 by drivers with cart or cattle whips, which they were in the 
 habit of using as here carmen use their whips on horses." 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Cooper states, in the same work (p, 47, &c.) 
 " The gangs always work before the whip, which is a very 
 weighty and powerful instrument. The driver has it always in 
 his hand, and drives the Negroes, men and women, without 
 distinction, as he would drive horses or cattle in a team. Mr* 
 Cooper does not say that he is always using the whip; but it is 
 known to be always present, and ready to be applied to the 
 back or shoulders of any who flag at their work or lag behind 
 in the line." 
 
 Mr. Stewart, in his recent work on Jamaica, confirms this 
 representation in an incidental, but not the less satisfactory, 
 manner. Speaking of the severe disappointment which a young 
 man who goes out to Jamaica, full of bright anticipations, en- 
 counters on actually entering on the field of his future labours, 
 he observes, " a very brief experience dispels the illusion, and 
 shews him the fallacy of his hopes. He finds himself placed 
 in a line of life w^here, to his first conception, every thing 
 wears the appearance of barbarity and slavish oppression. 
 He sees the slaves assembled in gangs in the fields, and kept 
 to their work by the terror of whips borne by black drivers, 
 certainly not the most gentle of human kind," &c. p. 192. 
 " Formerly, when slaves could be easily replaced, much oppres- 
 sion and a great waste of life was occasioned by what was 
 called the pushing system, that is, extracting from the soil as 
 much as possible by an over-working of the slaves ;" and even 
 
 z 
 
170 APPENDIX G. 
 
 now " the chief ambition of too many is rather who shall 
 make the largest crops, &c. than who shall govern the slaves 
 placed under their care with the greatest moderation and 
 humanity." They do not weigh " in their minds the impolicy 
 and inhumanity of purchasing a few additional hogsheads of 
 sugar at the expense and comfort of the slaves." pp.186, 188. 
 
 Another work has just made its appearance, published by 
 Longman, and entitled *' The Jamaica Planter's Guide, by 
 Thomas Roughley, nearly twenty years a sugar-planter in 
 Jamaica," from which we shall extract a single passage bear- 
 ing on this point. " The most important personage in the 
 slave population of an estate is the head driver. He is seen 
 carrying with him the emblems of his rank and dignity," viz. 
 a staff and whip. " A bad or indifferent head driver sets 
 almost every thing at variance, injures the Negroes, and the 
 culture of the land. He is like a cruel blast, that pervades 
 every thing and spares nothing. But when he is well-disposed, 
 intelligent, clever, and active, he is the life and soul of an 
 estate." The author proceeds to give directions for the proper 
 choice of a driver, observing, with a ludicrous gravity, " I may 
 err, but hope not irretrievably." He then describes him : ** He 
 should, in my judgment, be an athletic man," &c. p. 81. 
 
 It will be observed, that we do not here refer either to the 
 Privy Council Report, or to the House of Commons Evidence, 
 or to Dr. Pinckard, or to various other sources of information, 
 which establish, in the clearest and most irrefragable manner, 
 the existence of the driving system in former years ; though, 
 unless it can be shewn that some adequate substitute has since 
 been found for it, these testimonies are equally conclusive 
 as to the present practice. We have contented ourselves with 
 adducing written evidence of a very recent date, to which we 
 shall be ready to add much oral testimony, should it be required 
 of us to do so. In the mean time we shall only remark, that 
 when a West-Indian proprietor has brought himself to believe 
 that the whip is no longer used as the stimulant to labour in 
 the West Indies, he seems to have reached the ne plus ultra of 
 delusion. 
 
APPENDIX H. 171 
 
 H, 
 
 Mr. Ellis says, that " the West Indians will agree to abolish 
 Sunday markets, and to give the Negroes equivalent time to 
 tvork in their grounds, provided the means are afforded of 
 employing the Sunday in religious instruction, '' (p. 55.) 
 
 It is not very obvious why the abolition of Sunday markets, 
 and the giving to the slaves a day in which to cultivate their 
 grounds in lieu of Sunday, should be made to depend on any 
 contingency whatever. It is a thing right in itself, that the pro- 
 fane and disgraceful custom of making Sunday the market-day 
 should be abolished. It surely is no less unquestionably right 
 in itself, that the Sunday should be given up to the slaves, even 
 if it were only for the purpose of repose from labour on one day 
 in seven ; to say nothing of the higher uses of the Sabbath. 
 Doubtless one of the causes of the non-increase of the slave 
 population is the want of a day of rest ; and while in this way 
 the systematic desecration of the Sabbath has tended to the 
 injury of the masters' interests, by wasting the strength and 
 ruining the health and abridging the lives of the slaves, it has 
 operated also, in the mean time, to a proportionate augmenta- 
 tion of the quantity of produce thrown into the market, and 
 to a consequent depression of its price. The West Indians 
 are thus suffering most severely from their contempt and pro- 
 fanation of this sacred institution. Even supposing the Sunday, 
 or a part of it, to continue to be voluntarily employed by the 
 slave in cultivating his own grounds, he would obviously be a 
 great gainer by the arrangement; for he would so much the 
 sooner be enabled to acquire the means of purchasing his free- 
 dom, or that of his wife and children. There can exist no 
 valid reason for delaying one hour to abolish markets and com- 
 pulsory labour on the Sunday, and to give to the slaves equiva- 
 lent time for the culture of their grounds on other days. The 
 Portuguese and Spanish slaves have 134 days in the year, 
 including Sundays, for this purpose, viz. fifty-two Sundays, 
 thirty holidays, and a day in each week besides ; while in our 
 
172 APPENDIX H. 
 
 islands the time given them, exclusive of Sundays, is only from 
 fourteen to sixteen, with the exception of Jamaica, into whose 
 last slave code a provision has recently been introduced which 
 requires that the time allowed them should amount to twenty- 
 six days in the year. 
 
 The restrictive condition introduced by Mr. Ellis in this 
 place, as that on which Sunday is to be given to the Negroes, 
 and equivalent time to be allowed them for their provision 
 grounds, seems to us inconsistent with the representation he 
 has made in other parts of his speech, of the anxiety felt by 
 the Jamaica Assembly to promote the religious instruction of 
 the slaves, and of the degree in which the doctrines and truths 
 of Christianity have been already inculcated upon them. 
 Surely the twenty- one Rectors, with their twenty-one Curates, 
 aided by the whole body of " owners, proprietors, possessors, 
 managers, and overseers," put into requisition by the second 
 section of the Slave Law of 1816, for the purpose of instruct- 
 ing the " slaves in the principles of the Christian Religion, 
 whereby to facilitate their conversion," if there were any 
 efficient object in all this legislation, might be considered as 
 affording sufficient " means of employing the Sunday, when 
 given up to the Negroes, in religious instruction," to induce the 
 West Indians forthwith to " agree " to " the abolition of 
 Sunday markets " and compulsory Sunday labour, and to " the 
 affording equivalent time to the Negroes to work on their own 
 account." The delay in doing so is inexplicable, if the second 
 section of the law of 1816 was meant to be operative, and 
 if Rectors or Curates are to have an opportunity of perform- 
 ing the functions assigned to them. 
 
 It is said, that to put an end to Sunday labour, &c. till 
 means of instruction are provided, would produce tumult and 
 disorder: just as if the plantation and colonial police were not 
 amply sufficient to repress these ; and as if Sunday markets 
 tended to promote sobriety. Give them but the spring of 
 hope, — the prospect of freedom by their own exertions, — and 
 whatever part of the Sunday the weariness of nature or the 
 opportunity of religious instruction does not engross, will be, in 
 general, devoted to far other purposes than tumult and disorder. 
 
APPENDIX I. 173 
 
 I. 
 
 ** Where does the responsibility attach for the bad state of morals 
 in the West Indies ?*' (p. 67.) 
 
 Unquestionably it attaches to the West-Indian proprietors. 
 Were they not aware of the prevailing demoralization? was 
 Mr. Elhs not aware of it ? He was himself on the spot. If they 
 were not, then what pretence can they have to demand credit 
 for that accuracy of local knowledge to which, in every stage of 
 this controversy, they have made such overwhelming preten- 
 sions ? If they were aware of it, then it behoves them to explain 
 why they did not attempt to apply a remedy to the disorder ; 
 or, if this proved to be beyond their power, why they did not 
 apply to Parliament for its aid. The almost universal preva- 
 lence of a state of immorality and licentiousness unparalleled in 
 any other part of the world, is now admitted : and what is the 
 defence ? The defence is, that this state has existed so long 
 that it cannot now be easily or speedily eradicated ! In other 
 words, the West^Indian authorities have long been supine and 
 inactive. Under their eyes, nay, under their very controul, the 
 condition of social life has become so lamentably vicious and 
 corrupt, that a long time is now required to abate the nui- 
 sance. It surely is their fault, that a cure should not have 
 been attempted at least, not to say effected, long ago. It 
 was, at least, always in their power to have done, what the 
 Abolitionists have been uniformly urging them to do for the last 
 thirty years : — it was at least in their power to have instituted 
 marriage among the slaves, and to have legalized and protected 
 that institution : it was in their power to have abolished Sunday 
 markets and Sunday labour: it was in their power to have 
 given encouragement, as Sir G. Rose, Mr. Barham, and a few 
 others have done, to the teachers of Christianity : it was in 
 their power to have inhibited, in their own agents, that licen- 
 tiousness, and those grossnesses of conduct, which, operating 
 with all the influence of example, have given so fatal a blow to 
 the interests of morality in the West Indies. In this respect, 
 generally speaking, they have done nothing. The work of 
 
174 APPENDIX K, 
 
 moral reform is still to be commenced ; and yet they wish to 
 escape from the responsibility which attaches to so perse- 
 vering a dereliction of their dearest and most unquestionable 
 obligations. 
 
 Here, however, it is obvious to remark, that if such be the 
 admitted state of demoralization in the West Indies ; if there 
 be truth in Mr. Stewart's delineation of that state, as it will be 
 found above at p. 152 ; if the clear reiterated testimony of 
 Dr. Williamson on this point be not a malignant fabrication ; if 
 the other living witnesses, adduced in the pamphlet entitled 
 " Negro Slavery," have not exposed themselves to conviction 
 and infamy as false accusers ; then must a state of moral feeling 
 and moral conduct exist among the inhabitants of the West 
 Indies unprecedented in the annals of mankind. Now, will 
 it be wise, as has been proposed, to commit to such men, with- 
 out reserve or interference, the present and eternal destinies, 
 the temporal, moral, and spiritual interests of 350,000 of his 
 Majesty's subjects? What hope can we have, after such 
 appalling delineations, that they will not abuse the most abso- 
 lute and uncontrouled dominion which the world ever witnessed ; 
 or that they may continue to be safely entrusted, not only with 
 the delicate task of legislating for their bondsmen, but with 
 a power of summarily inflicting punishment upon them to a 
 fearful extent, without being liable to any legal revision or 
 responsibility whatever ? 
 
 K. 
 
 " The remedy (for the existing state of morals) is not to be 
 found in the emancipation of the Negroes,'^ (p. 57.) 
 
 No one has said that the specific remedy, for the profligacy 
 prevailing among the slaves in the West Indies, is to be found in 
 their emancipation. It is certainly, however, to be found, if at 
 all, in that direct interference with the discretion of the local 
 authorities, which shall render it impossible to perpetuate the 
 present wretched and profligate system. It is to be found in the 
 
APPENDIX L. 175 
 
 admission among the slaves of Christian Hght ; in the abridge- 
 ment and effective controul of that arbitrary power which has 
 been so much abused ; in giving the Sabbath to the slaves ; in 
 instituting marriage among them, and absolutely interdicting 
 separations of husband and wife ; in educating their children to 
 be the free members of a Christian community ; in presenting 
 to their minds a higher motive for exertion than the dread of the 
 lash ; in opening to them a prospect, by industry and frugality 
 and good conduct, of acquiring the means of purchasing their 
 freedom ; and in employing moral and married agents to super- 
 intend them. All these measures co-operating together would 
 soon change the moral aspect of society ; the gross vices which 
 now disfigure it would disappear, and slavery also would in no 
 long time disappear with it. — " Freedom, if given to the Negroes 
 before they are fitted to receive it," it is said, " would only con- 
 firm and aggravate" the prevailing licentiousness. But surely 
 not, if freedom is to be the reward, in the case of adults, of 
 patient industry, forethought, frugality, self-denial ; and if the 
 infants are all to be Christianly educated, with a view to the 
 enjoyment of their liberty. The very pretence for delay is thus 
 taken away. 
 
 ** / not only have no objection to offer, but, with such limitted 
 means as I possess, I should feel bound to lend my humble 
 support" " to the extinction of Slavery so to be accomplished," 
 (p. 59.) 
 
 That is to say. To the mode of extinguishing slavery recom- 
 mended in the Report of the African Institution published in 
 1815, entitled " Reasons for establishing a Registry of Slaves 
 in the British Colonies," Mr. Ellis has no objection to offer ; 
 on the contrary, he feels himself bound to lend it his humble 
 support. This declaration cannot fail to be very gratifying to 
 the authors of that calumniated Report. It will at the same time 
 surprise those who recollect how that Report was received, on 
 its first appearance, by the whole West-Indian body in England 
 
176 APPENDIX L. 
 
 of which Mr, Ellis is so respectable and influential a member ; 
 by all the local West-Indian authorities ; and by almost every 
 West-Indian planter from the Bahamas to Trinidad and Guiana. 
 The loud and vehement indignation, the unappeasable resent- 
 ment, the torrents of abuse and calumny, which that work called 
 into action against its authors, must still be fresh in every one's 
 memory. Even the attempt to abolish the Slave Trade did not 
 produce half the clamour and violence which followed its pub- 
 lication, though it is now deemed, by no mean West-Indian 
 authority, to be worthy of his high commendation. But where 
 was the voice of the honourable Gentleman in 1816 ? He had 
 then a full opportunity of expressing the manly and liberal senti- 
 ments which he has now avowed ; and the expression of them 
 would then have been of use in stemming the tide of passion 
 and prejudice by which his friends were carried away. But 
 such has been the fate of every measure of West-Indian reform 
 which has hitherto been attempted. It has been opposed in its 
 outset and progress, with a blind hostility, by the colonial body ; 
 but when the measure, in spite of that hostility, has at length 
 been carried, then, though its promoters may continue to be 
 reviled as before, the measure itself is sure to be lauded as wise 
 and salutary. Tl^us has it been in respect to the abolition of 
 the Slave Trade : thus has it been in respect to the Registry Bill : 
 and thus, without doubt, will it soon be in respect to the reforms 
 now in agitation. After the usual round of animosity and in- 
 vective, of rumours of insurrection and massacre, and of antici- 
 pations of irremediable ruin, we shall have the hostilities and 
 alarms of West Indians converted into expressions of unquali- 
 fied satisfaction with the very measures which had provoked 
 their resentment, and by which they have been benefited in spite 
 of themselves. 
 
 Mr. Stewart, in unison with Mr. Ellis, observes, that " with 
 respect to the general effects of the Slave Registry law, it is 
 now found to be not merely harmless, but in some respects 
 beneficial, not only to those whose advantage the proposers of 
 it had mainly in view, but to the interests of the Whites indi- 
 vidually and collectively." p. 240. 
 
 But, notwithstanding the praise which is now bestowed on 
 the system of registry, by some of those who a few years ago 
 loaded it and its authors with every expression of vituperation 
 
APPENDIX M. 177 
 
 which the English language could supply, let it not be supposed 
 that that system has been brought into realliving efficacy in our 
 West-Indian islands. It exists there in little more than in name, 
 so far as respects the main ends which were contemplated by 
 it. Had the case been otherwise ; had the principles recom- 
 mended in the Report of the African Institution, and so highly 
 eulogized by Mr. Ellis, been really acted upon by the West- 
 Indian legislatures, there might have been less necessity than 
 there now obviously is for the proposed interference with the 
 state of colonial bondage. The Registry Acts passed by those 
 legislatures fully verify the anticipation of that Report (p. 107), 
 " that the work, if left to thenif would not be done ;" that the 
 fruit of their labours " would be no better than ostensible and 
 impotent laws ;*' and that " the system would be made perhaps 
 a cover for those very frauds which it was designed to prevent." 
 For the proof of this we refer to another Report of the same 
 Institution, published in 1820, and entitled " A Review of the 
 Colonial Registration Acts." We beg also to refer our readers, 
 for a further elucidation of this important subject, to a speech 
 of Mr. Stephen, delivered at the annual meeting of the African 
 Institution on the 16th May, 1B2;), which, with other able and 
 interesting speeches, will be found prefixed to the Seventeenth 
 Report of that Society, lately published. 
 
 M. 
 
 " Not one word from that most important of all the islands" 
 Jamaica, (p. Gl.) 
 
 In June 1821, a variety of papers, relative to the population of 
 the West Indies, were moved for in the House of Commons. 
 Nearly two years elapsed before any part of those papers were 
 furnished. On the 4th of March, 1823, there were laid on 
 the table of the House Returns from the Colonies of Dominica, 
 Grenada, St. Vincent's, Barbadoes, Antigua, Tobago, Demarara, 
 Berbice, St. Christopher's, Trinidad, and Mauritius. It was 
 not till the 14th of May, the very day preceding the debate, 
 that any returns appeared from Jamaica, Nevis, and the 
 Bahamas. Several of these returns are extremely defective, 
 especially those from Barbadoes and Jamaica ; and there are 
 
 2 A 
 
178 APPENDIX 1^. 
 
 no returns at all from St. Lucia, Honduras, Bermuda, and the 
 Cape of Good Hope. Several of the Jamaica returns are only 
 from a small proportion of the twenty-one parishes into which 
 the island is divided. The Governor, in transmitting them, 
 observes, in a letter dated 17th March 1823, " 1 have been 
 unwilling that any further delay should take place in furnishing 
 these returns, even in their present imperfect state." A similar 
 apology is made for a similar deficiency in the returns of the 
 same island, in the Governor's letter of the 17th August 1816. 
 Again, on the 28th January, 1813, the Governor acquaints the 
 Secretary of State, that, " after having allowed abundant time 
 for the returns, I do not feel myself authorized to delay any 
 longer transmitting such as I have received, although in a very 
 imperfect and defective shape," — being returns from only ten 
 parishes out of twenty-one. Again, in October 1804, the 
 Secretary of State called for various returns from Jamaica, not 
 one of which was ever sent. We mention these circumstances, 
 among many others, to shew how uniformly difficult, if not im- 
 possible, it has proved to obtain full and satisfactory information 
 of the state of the slave population in this island. As for the re- 
 turns of population recenlly received thence, being only for six 
 parishes out of twenty -one, they are obviously of no utility 
 whatever. 
 
 N. 
 
 Observations on the Speech of Sir George Rose, 
 
 We have already expressed the high sense we entertain of the 
 manly and most meritorious conduct pursued by Sir George 
 Rose. His speech on the present occasion, as well as his 
 pamphlet " On converting the Slaves in the West Indies to 
 Christianity," do him the highest honour, and entitle him to 
 the gratitude of every philanthropist. We apprehend, however, 
 that Sir George Rose has been led into some mistakes respecting 
 the amount of the fruits of the labours of the Wesleyan Methodist 
 missionaries among the slaves in the West Indies. The intrinsic 
 value of those labours, it would be impossible for any one to 
 estimate more highly than we do. We feel deeply grateful 
 to them for the self-denying exertions and sacrifices which they 
 have made, in the face of obloquy and persecution, and even 
 
APPENDIX N. 179 
 
 of bonds and imprisonment, for the eternal well-being of the 
 most contemned and injured of the human race. If they had 
 not succeeded in gaining a single convert, we should still have 
 ranked them with the martyrs and confessors of old ; for, like 
 them, they have been ready to risk even life, in the hope of 
 benefiting the wretched and perishing Negro, Their success, 
 however, has happily been considerable, and has been achieved 
 in the face of obstacles of the most formidable and dishearten- 
 ing description ; and we look forward to effects still more signal 
 from their future efforts. It is important, however, that their 
 success, whatever it be, should be estimated soberly, and 
 according to their own official returns, on which we place im- 
 plicit reliance, rather than according to any more sanguine cal- 
 culations which may be drawn from less authentic sources. 
 We shall begin, therefore, with inserting, as the basis of our 
 observations, the return of the state of their churches in the 
 West Indies which was made to the Methodist Conference in 
 July 18'22, the latest return to which we have any access. 
 It is as follows. 
 
 ANTIGUA DISTRICT. 
 
 Whites. Coloured & Black. Total. 
 Antigua 40 4205 4245 
 
 St. Kitt's 42 22G1 2303 
 
 St. Eustatius 8 219 227 
 
 Tortola 41 1959 2000 
 
 Nevis 27 1023 1050 
 
 St. Bartholomew's 11 314 825 
 
 St. Martin's 14 103 117 
 
 Anguilla 7 213 220 
 
 Dominica 9 433 442 
 
 Montserrat ..... 2 33 35 
 
 Total ^201 10763 10964 
 
 ST. Vincent's district. 
 
 St. Vincent's .... 21 2889 2910 
 
 Grenada 9 319 328 
 
 Trinidad 4 115 119 
 
 Barbadoes 17 29 46 
 
 Tobago I 48 49 
 
 Demarara 10 1312 1322 
 
 62 4712 4774 
 
180 APPENDIX N. 
 
 JAMAICA DISTRICT. 
 
 Whites, Coloured & Black. Total. 
 
 Kingston 15 3704 3719 
 
 Spanishtown 1 234 236 
 
 Morant Bay 9 3069 307ii 
 
 Grateful Hill 3 441 444 
 
 Montego Bay 5 155 160 
 
 St. Ann's — 40 40 
 
 33 7643 7676 
 
 Bahamas 552 598 1123 
 
 Bermuda 59 47 106 
 
 Hayti , — 56 56 
 
 The total number of persons in the West Indies belonging 
 to the Methodist connexion is thus made to amount to 880 
 Whites, and 23,819 Black and Coloured persons. But as from 
 these ought to be deducted their converts in St. Eustatius, St, 
 Bartholomew's, St. Martin's, and Hayti, (amounting to 33 
 Whites, and 692 Black and coloured persons), the correct 
 return for the British colonies is 847 Whites, and 23,127 
 Black and Coloured persons. 
 
 Neither the statements of Sir George Rose, nor those of the 
 Methodist Society, afford us any means of ascertaining what 
 proportion of the Black and Coloured members consists of 
 slaves, and what of free persons. Our own apprehension is, 
 that the slaves do not amount to more than half of the whole 
 number, that is to say, about 12,000 or 13,000 souls. We are 
 persuaded we cannot have greatly erred in this estimate. We 
 shall be glad, however, to have it corrected by authority. 
 
 Now, the terms of admission into the Wesleyan Methodist 
 societies being very wide and comprehensive, we cannot but 
 fear that Sir George Rose's estimate of the numbers substan- 
 tially benefited by them is excessive. Into these societies, ac- 
 cording to the principles established by Mr. Wesley himself, 
 no one is refused admittance who professes " a real desire to 
 save his soul," and who, after a brief probationary interval 
 (we believe of a few months), appears to be sincere in that pro- 
 fession. It is not very probable, therefore, that many of those 
 adults who feel the beneficial influence of the labours of the 
 
APPENDIX N. 181 
 
 Methodist Missionaries, would continue long without the pale 
 of their connexion, especially as there is generally no other 
 communion into which they can enter. 
 
 Then, as to the instruction bestowed on the young, it seems 
 to be assumed that the schools established by the Methodists 
 are schools in which the children of slaves attend, and learn 
 to read at least, if not to write. If, however, we consult Mr. 
 Roughley's work, p. 105, we shall find that the usual state of 
 things on plantations is incompatible with such an idea. It 
 there appears to be the customary practice, that the children, 
 " after they pass five or six years, should be taken from the 
 nurse in the Negro houses, and put under the tuition of the 
 driveresSf who has the conducting of the weeding gang."" — " It 
 is best," Mr. Roughley tells us, thus " to send them with 
 those of their own age to associate together in industrious ha- 
 bits,^' " The supple hand of the Negro child is best calcu- 
 lated to extract the weeds and grass '' from the canes ; " and the 
 addition of a small hoe draws the mold to their support." 
 ** An experienced Negro woman should be selected to superin- 
 tend this gang of pupils, armed with a pliant, serviceable 
 twig, more to create dread than inflict chastisement.'* " Each 
 child should be provided with a light hoe," " a small knife, and 
 small basket to carry dung," &c. — These recommendations of 
 Mr. Roughley are evidently meant to be substituted for harsher 
 modes of proceeding, such as having a whip, instead of a twig, 
 in the hands of the driveress ; but they all imply that the chil- 
 dren work in the field from an early age. Now, such a system 
 as this is evidently irreconcileable with the supposition of the 
 attendance of slave children at school, during the week : and, 
 in point of fact, we believe that slave children do not so attend, 
 in Jamaica, for the purpose of learning to read. Here again 
 we are without any precise official information. We have, how- 
 ever, the clear testimony of the Rev. Mr. Cooper, {Negro Sla- 
 very, p. 42), that the " slaves in Jamaica are scarcely ever 
 taught to read." And a circumstance has recently come to our 
 knowledge, which seems to be decisive of the question, at least 
 as it respects Jamaica : it is this — 
 
 There has lately been formed in that island ** a District 
 Committee of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge." 
 In the Postcript to the Jamaica Gazette of the 11th May 1822, 
 
182 APPENDIX N. 
 
 there is a report of the proceedings of its second quarterly 
 meeting. At this (only its second) meeting, it transpired that 
 already " erroneous impressions had gone abroad relative to 
 the purposes of the undertaking, which, if not removed, were 
 likely to impede its success." " This meeting, therefore, de- 
 clared explicitly y that the object of the Jamaica District Com- 
 mittee is to promote and facilitate the religious and moral im- 
 provement of the FREE POPULATION of the Colony," and also 
 to counteract the influence of infidelity promulgated by young 
 persons returned from education in Europe. And they resolv- 
 ed, " That the religious instruction of the slave population, 
 though regarded as an object of the highest importance, yet 
 being already in the hands of the legislature, enters not into 
 the views of this association, except in so far as the improve- 
 ment of that class may be confidently anticipated as the natural 
 result of the increase of religious knowledge, good principles, 
 and exemplary conduct in the casts above them" 
 
 But, if such be the avowed purpose of what may be pre- 
 sumed to be the best part of the White community of Jamaica; 
 and if it be necessary for the members of a society composed, 
 as this is, of the chief local authorities of the island, themselves 
 slave-holders, to allay, by the open renunciation of any design 
 to promote the education of slaves, the general alarm which 
 their Prospectus had produced ; can we believe that the 
 suspected and distrusted Methodist Missionaries would be per- 
 mitted to carry the education of the slaves beyond merely oral 
 instruction 1 In point of fact, we are assured that they are not 
 permitted to do so. 
 
 On all these points, however, it will be easy to ascertain the 
 real facts of the case. In order to do so, returns should be 
 obtained, specifying the number of persons in each island united 
 in the Methodist societies, distinguishing them into Whites, 
 Free Black and Coloured Persons, and Slaves ; marking, too, the 
 gradations of colour in the free ; and with respect to the slaves, 
 whether they are personal or plantation slaves. If the names 
 of the owners and plantations were also given, it would add to 
 the value of the information. Then, with respect to schools, it 
 would be necessary to state of each, whether it was a Sunday 
 or week'day school ; by how many of each of the different 
 classes mentioned above, it was attended ; what each of these 
 
APPENDIX N. 183 
 
 classes was taught ; whether they were merely catechized, or 
 taught also to read ; and what progress they were permitted 
 to make in reading. It would be satisfactory to know how 
 many slaves, whether children or adults, in each of the islands, 
 have been so instructed as to be able to read intelligibly a 
 chapter in the Bible (as for writing, it is wholly out of the 
 question) ; and we shall be surprised to find that there are ten 
 plantation slaves, in the whole island of Jamaica, who have 
 acquired even this degree of education by the means of Methodist 
 or any other tuition. It would also be well to ascertain how 
 many of the plantation slaves, taught to read, are the children 
 of the attorney, overseer, book-keeper, or other White servant 
 of the estate ; how many are Black, and how many Coloured : 
 and also, in the case of their attendii^ Sunday schools, how their 
 provision-grounds are cultivated in the mean time. It is obvious, 
 that, if children of five years of age can be made to work re- 
 gularly under a driveress weeding canes, carrying out manure, 
 &c. they may be made useful also by their parents in planting 
 and weeding the yams and corn, the eddoes and cassada, which 
 ar« to sustain them. 
 
 Under these circumstances, and with these impressions. Sir 
 George Rose will no longer be surprised that we should have 
 spoken with more reserve on this subject than his more san- 
 guine estimate would seem to justify. We have been without 
 information that is precise and tangible, and therefore we have 
 expressed ourselves in general and cautious terms in speaking 
 of the extent of good actually done among the slaves ; but 
 we shall be most happy to proclaim it aloud when we are 
 furnished with the means of doing so. 
 
 We think it right to add, that, all things considered, the 
 University of Cambridge do not appear to us to have erred 
 greatly in declaring, that, among the slaves, " religious instruc- 
 tion was nearly precluded." They seem to be fortified in this 
 statement by the Report of the Jamaica District Committee of 
 the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, which we have 
 quoted : and as for the praise-worthy exertions of the Metho- 
 dists, and their gratifying success, so remarkably evinced in 
 the case of Sir G. Rose's own estates, they only serve to 
 render the surrounding supineness and darkness more visible 
 and opprobrious. 
 
 We have certainly seen nothing, in any documents which we 
 
184 APPENDIX O. 
 
 have had an opportunity of consulting— and we have sought 
 eagerly for authentic information on the subject from all quar- 
 ters — to lead us to suppose that there are at this moment 
 " 100,000 slaves under Christian instruction" in the West 
 Indies, or that the Methodists have access *' to a third of the 
 estates in Jamaica." At the same time, we greatly rejoice to 
 observe the degree in which they have succeeded in abating 
 the deep-rooted prejudices which have been entertained against 
 them. 
 
 o. 
 
 We are sorry that we have not been able to procure a more 
 accurate and detailed report of Mr. Bright's speech. The 
 reporter*s sketch of it was sent to him, and returned without 
 alteration, in the exact state in which it now appears. We 
 were unwilling to alter it ourselves. The first part of it 
 which requires any observation is 
 
 A Charge of Inaccuracy against Mr. Wilberforce. 
 
 The passage in Mr. Wilberforce*s "Appeal" on which Mr. 
 Bright animadverts, is the following. *' Can it be conceived 
 possible, that, even since the mitigation of Slavery was recom- 
 mended from the Throne, in consequence of addresses from 
 Parliament, several of the Colonial Legislatures have for the 
 first time imposed, and others have greatly augmented, the 
 fines to be paid into their treasuries on the enfranchising of 
 slaves, so that in some colonies they amount nearly to an 
 entire prohibition?" p. 42. 
 
 This statement, Mr. Bright says, is proved *' by the returns 
 on the table" to be " without the shadow of a foundation." 
 (p. 70.) . 
 
 The returns, however, to which Mr. Bright refers were laid 
 on the table and ordered to be printed only on the 4th March 
 182t3, some time after Mr. Wilberforce's Appeal had been pub- 
 lished, and they were not in the hands of members until the 
 latter end of April. Of the changes, therefore, whatever they 
 were, which were indicated by these returns, neither Mr. 
 Wilberforce nor the author of ** Negro Slavery," whom this 
 
APPENDIX O. 185 
 
 charge also affects, had the means of knowing any thing, until 
 their productions had already been widely circulated. The 
 charge of inaccuracy therefore, as far as it depends on a 
 knowledge of those returns, can in no degree apply to them. 
 Let us, however, examine the facts of the case more closely, 
 as they respect the difterent colonies. 
 
 1. Barbadoes. — On the 12th July 1815, the House of 
 Commons called for all laws enacted in any of the colonies 
 relative to "the protection or good government of slaves since 
 the year 1788." The returns to this motion were laid on the 
 table and ordered to be printed on the 5th April 1816. Among 
 them is an Act of the Barbadoes legislature, dated 12th May 
 1801, which, after reciting that the fine then payable on the 
 manumission of a slave was 50/. ciffrency, enacts that hence- 
 forward, instead of 50/., there shall be paid for every female 
 slave manumitted 300/., and for every male 200/.; and the 
 reason assigned for this augmentation is, that the annual allow- 
 ance of 4/., to which manumitted persons had hilherto been 
 entitled for their maintenance, had become insufficient for 
 that purpose ; and that therefore the annuities should be in- 
 creased to 18/. for each female, and 12/. for each male. 
 
 By the papers laid before the House on 4th March 1823, it 
 appears that this law had been repealed on the 19th of August 
 1816, when the fine payable on manumissions was again limited 
 to 50/. ; notwithstanding which, Mr. Bright says that Mr. 
 Wilberforce has unjustly charged the Barbadoes legislature 
 with having increased the fines on manumission, when they had 
 only reduced them to their former limit. 
 
 Was it not then true, as Mr. Wilberforce and the author of 
 " Negro Slavery " maintained, that the Barbadoes legislature 
 had greatly augmented the fines on manumissions subsequently 
 to 1797, the period of Mr. Ellis's Address ; augmented them no 
 less than four times in one case, and six times in the other? 
 ** Oh, but these fines were afterwards reduced!" True also; 
 but that fact had been improperly concealed from the knowledge 
 of Parliament, by those whose duty it was, in obedience to 
 his Majesty's command, to have communicated it, and from 
 whom alone it could be known. We say improperly concealed; 
 for on the 22d April 1818, Mr. Wilberforce himself moved for 
 copies of all laws passed in any of the colonies since 1812, 
 
 2 B 
 
186 APPENDIX O. 
 
 respecting the Slaves and free Coloured population; and also 
 of all laws passed in furtherance of Mr. Palmer's Address of 
 the 19th June 1816, for promoting the improvement and hap- 
 piness of the Negroes. To this order the only return made by 
 Barbadoes is an Act dated 2d December 1817, entitled "An 
 Act to repeal part of an Act intituled * An Act for governing 
 of Negroes,' and for building and regulating a new cage ;" — 
 a new cage, that is to say, for holding Negroes ! 
 
 Now if Mr. Wilberforce was ignorant of what had passed 
 in Barbadoes, whose was the fault; his, who had called for 
 information, or the local authorities of Barbadoes, who, while 
 they made a shew of granting it, did in fact withhold it? 
 In all fairness, therefore, he c6uld not be blamed for supposing 
 the Act of 1801 to be stm in full force. 
 
 But if we examine these recent returns, to the consideration 
 of which we have been thus invited, we shall find much light 
 thrown on the whole of this important subject. From them 
 we learn that the number of manumissions which had taken 
 place in Barbadoes, for about fourteen years prior to the 30th 
 September 1821, was 1713 ; of whom about 1000 were manu- 
 mitted previous to the reduction of the tax in August 1816, and 
 about 700 afterwards. Of the former number, however, only 
 15 had paid the tax ; the rest having obtained their freedom 
 without any payment. Are we to attribute this immunity to 
 the liberal policy or the generous forbearance of the Barbadian 
 authorities ? By no means. Mr. Husbands, the secretary of 
 the Island, gives a more just account of the matter. During 
 the period from 1808 to 1816, he tells us, ** only fifteen 
 persons were manumitted according to the colonial law:^' that 
 is to say, only fifteen manumissions paid the enormous tax 
 which the Act of 1801 had imposed upon them. *' The re- 
 maining number," he goes on to say, *' have been enfranchised 
 by persons in England, who have there granted manumissions to 
 slaves ijonveyed to them for that purpose ; which manumissions, 
 being proved before some Mayor, or other proper constituted 
 authority, are sent here, and, on being recorded, are allowed 
 to be valid. These last manumissions are effected at a very 
 trifling expense." The main object of the Barbadoes legis- 
 lature in imposing such heavy fines was doubtless to prevent 
 the increase of the free Black and Coloured population — a 
 
APPENDIX O. 187 
 
 surmise which is confirmed by the higher tax levied on females, 
 through whom alone freedom could be propagated, than oa 
 males. But they overshot their mark. The exorbitancy of the 
 impost naturally led to evasion ; and the ingenuity of bene- 
 volence appears to have effectually triumphed over the unfeel- 
 ing and sordid policy which thus aimed to restrain manu- 
 missions ; so that their number was probably increased by the 
 very means which were intended to produce a contrary result. 
 It was doubtless, therefore, the complete failure of this 
 measure of prohibition, which induced its repeal, and not 
 any wish to facilitate manumissions. It was felt that the 
 smaller tax would be more likely to be paid than the large one ; 
 as the former might not exceed the expense and trouble of 
 procuring enfranchisement by a cqpveyance of the slave to a 
 friend in England . Accordingly, while of about 1000, who 
 were emancipated during the operation of the heavy fines, only 
 15 paid them ; of about 700, who have been enfranchised since 
 their repeal, 250 have paid the smaller fine. Out of 1713 cases 
 of manumission, therefore, the Island tax has been paid only 
 on 265 : the remaining 1448 have entirely escaped it. And had 
 not the means been found of evading the higher tax, and thus 
 obliging the legislature to lower it, it is more than probable 
 that not a twentieth part of the manumissions would have 
 taken place which have actually been eff*ected. The influence 
 of high fines in obstructing manumissions will be conclusively 
 shewn in the course of this note. 
 
 The reason alleged, however, for having imposed these ex- 
 orbitant fines on manumission, is one of humanity. The fines, 
 it is said, are turned into annuities for the maintenance of the 
 manumitted persons, ** The fines of 300/. and 200/.," Mr. 
 Husbands tells us, " entitled the persons manumitted under 
 them, the one to an annuity of 18/., and the other to 12/. ; and 
 the fine of 50/. to an annuity of 4/. during their natural lives." 
 It will be well to call for a return of the payments which have 
 actually been made under this title since 1808, specifying the 
 name, age, sex, and residence of the parties. It will be well 
 also to ascertain, by a specific return, how many of the 1448 
 persons manumitted, since 1808, without the payment of any 
 fine, and therefore, we presume, without any title to the an- 
 nuity which the Act of 1801 intimates to be indispensable to 
 
188 APPENDIX O. 
 
 their maintenance, are now in want, and in the receipt, and 
 to what amount, of public charity. And if it be true that 
 enfranchised persons absolutely require these annuities for their 
 support, what must be the distress and misery of their nu- 
 merous progeny, born free, who have no such resource ; the 
 annuities lasting only during the natural lives of the enfranchised 
 individuals? Besides, why should women require so much 
 more for their maintenance than men ? Again : it is somewhat 
 remarkable, that it should have been all at once discovered 
 that the increased price of the necessaries of life had been 
 such as to require (for such is the statement in the Act of 
 1801) an increase of the annuity to four or five times its former 
 amount. And had prices sunk again to their old standard in 
 1816? We shall probably learn this when the repealing 
 statute shall have been produced: at present the whole subject 
 is involved in mystery, from which nothing but clear and pre- 
 cise returns can free it. So much for Barbadoes. 
 
 2. St. Christopher's. — By an Act of this island, dated 
 19th July 1802, and entitled "An Act for regulating the 
 manumission of slaves," and which is contained in the House 
 of Commons papers printed 5th April 1816, it is provided, that 
 no manumissions shall take place, in the case of slaves natives 
 of the island, or resident in it for two years, but on the pay- 
 ment of a fine of 500/. ; and in the case of slaves riot natives 
 or resident, but on the payment of 1000/. ; unless an Act of 
 the legislature shall have passed for that special purpose. Here 
 again, therefore, Mr. Wilberforce's statement is correct. And 
 though returns of all laws respecting Negroes have since been 
 called for, from this as well as from all the other islands, no 
 Act of the St. Christopher's legislature has yet been produced, 
 which repeals or modifies the Manumission Act of 1802. In 
 the population returns, however, printed by the House of 
 Commons March 4, 1823, Mr. Garnet, the Registrar of Deeds, 
 certifies, " that there has been no tax laid, or fine imposed or 
 paid, in the island, for the time aforesaid," (that is, from 1808 to 
 1821), " on the manumission of slaves; and that I am not aware 
 of any existing law of the said island for that time requiring 
 it." Has, then, the law of 1802 been repealed ? There cer- 
 tainly has been no notification to that effect. Or have the 563 
 manumissions, which have taken place in St. Christopher's since 
 
APPENDIX O. 189 
 
 1808, been obtained through the medium of legislative acts? 
 And what has been the expense of those acts ? And if the 
 legislature has permitted these manumissions without the pay- 
 ment of any tax, it would indicate at least that they did not 
 apprehend any evil effect in the way of public burdens to arise 
 from them. It is also important to know how many applica- 
 tions for manumission had been refused by the legislature of 
 St. Christopher's. 
 
 In the other Leeward Islands — namely Antigua, Montserrat, 
 Nevis, and Tortola — and also in the Bahamas and Trinidad, no 
 taxes at any time have been imposed on manumissions. The 
 liberal conduct of these colonies, however, renders the con- 
 trary course in other colonies only the more indefensible, while 
 it invalidates the plea for their imposition, arising from a pru- 
 dent care to protect the public from eventual burdens. 
 
 3. Grenada. — In December 1797, about six months after 
 Mr. Ellis had moved that address in the House of Commons 
 to which Mr. Wilberforce alludes in the passage censured by 
 Mr. Bright, the Grenada legislature imposed a tax of 100/. 
 for each slave manumitted ; this tax being necessary, among 
 other reasons for the measure, " to discourage the too frequent 
 and indiscriminate manumission of slaves." Here again Mr. 
 Wilberforce's statement is perfectly correct. But, then, it will 
 be said, the tax has been repealed, and he ought to have 
 known it. It was, however, impossible for him to have known 
 it, no return having been made of its repeal, although Parlia- 
 ment had called for a return of all such laws, and the fact 
 being now known only from an incidental notice of it in the 
 returns which were printed subsequently to the publication of 
 his pamphlet. 
 
 These returns, however, furnish a most important fact. 
 During seven years, in which the tax was levied (namely, from 
 1808 to 1814 inclusive), the manumissions amounted only to 74, 
 or about 10 in a year. During the succeeding seven years, in 
 which no tax has been levied, the number of manumissions has 
 amounted to 629, or about 90 in each year on the average. 
 Can there be a stronger proof of the mischievous effects of 
 such a tax ? 
 
 The legislation of Grenada supplies us with another strik- 
 ing fact on this subject. When the fibe of lOOA was iirst 
 
190 
 
 APPENDIX O. 
 
 imposed, in 1797, it was enacted, that every person manumitted 
 should be entitled to receive 10/. a year for life. In the year 
 1806, however, though the tax of 100/. was continued, the 
 clause giving the annuity of 10/. was expressly repealed, and 
 that without the assignment of a single reason. The pretext 
 usually advanced for imposing a tax at all was thus shewn to 
 be groundless : the tax was continued, but it was expressly 
 directed not to be applied to the support of the manumitted 
 individual. Both these Acts may be seen in the Parliamentary 
 papers printed 5th April 1816, pp, 74, 75. 
 
 4. St. Vincent's. — This island has always been one of the 
 most backward in making returns to Parliament; and the history 
 of its legislation is therefore more defective than that of most of 
 the other islands. A fine of 100/. on each manumission, which 
 had been imposed by its legislature, was repealed, it seems, in 
 September 1820, and was only notified to the House of Com- 
 mons in March 1823, after Mr. Wilberforce had published his 
 Appeal. When the tax was first imposed does not appear, 
 but it is believed to have been in 1798, thus agreeing with Mr. 
 Wilberforce's statement. The effect of this repeal appears to 
 have been an immediate increase in the number of manumis- 
 sions. The whole number, in about fourteen years prior to 
 September 1821 was 430 : the number in the first nine months 
 of 1821 was 99. Prior to that time it proceeded at the rate 
 of only 25 or 26 annually. 
 
 5. Tobago.— On the 19th October 1814, a tax of 100/. 
 was imposed by the Tobago legislature on each manumission, 
 no tax having been previously payable. This is an additional 
 proof of the correctness of Mr. Wilberforce's statement. There 
 is no notification of its repeal, although Mr. Bright assumes 
 that it has been repealed. It is remarkable, that previous to 
 the imposition of this tax the average number of manumis- 
 sions annually was about thirty-six, 251 having been manu- 
 mitted in seven years. After the tax was imposed, that num- 
 ber decreased very considerably. In 1815 the number was 
 four; in 1816, three; in 1817, eight; in 1818, one; in 1819, 
 six ; and in 1820, four. In 1821, twenty had been manumitted 
 in the first nine months, which leads to a suspicion that the tax 
 may have been repealed, but nothing is stated to that effect. 
 
 6. Dominica. — Previous to 1810 the tax on manumissions 
 
APPENDIX O. 101 
 
 in this island was 100/. Tlie exact date of its imposition does 
 not appear, but it is believed to have been the same with that 
 of Grenada. In June 1810, it was reduced to 16/. lOs. on 
 native slaves, or slaves originally imported from Africa, and 
 33/. on others. Previous to 1810, under the operation of the 
 heavier tax, manumission appears to have proceeded at the very 
 slow rate of about seven annually : from the time of its being 
 reduced, the manumissions have proceeded in a tenfold ratio ; 
 at the rate, that is to say, of about 75 annually; 819 having 
 been enfranchised in eleven years. But it is not very obvious 
 why even the tax of 16/. lOs. and 33/. should still be continued. 
 The reason given by the legislature of Dominica for reducing 
 the tax in 1810, was, not to encourage manumissions, but 
 because the former Act " had been found inadequate to the 
 purposes for which it was passed, and the provisions thereof 
 have been evaded, to the great detriment of the revenue of 
 this island.'^ We presume the persons in Dominica who wished 
 to manumit their slaves, had discovered some equally effectual 
 mode of evading this cruel tax with that which had been dis- 
 covered in Barbadoes. The Dominica Act will be found in the 
 papers of 5th April 1 816. 
 
 7. Bermuda. — In the same papers there is an Act of the 
 Bermuda legislature, dated 9th August 1806 (also confirmatory 
 of Mr.Wilberforce's statement), expressly to " prevent" ** the 
 rapid increase of free Negroes and free Persons of Colour ;" 
 the provisions of which are wantonly severe. No owner is 
 permitted to enfranchise a slave of " forty years of age or 
 under," except on condition of such slave's quitting the islands 
 within three months ; and if he should return to them, he shall 
 be seized, and sold for the public advantage, and transported 
 from the islands. For slaves above forty who are manumitted, 
 a fine of 50/. is payable ; and if this fine be not paid, a power 
 is given to magistrates of seizing, selling, and shipping off 
 the person so manumitted. The same cruel Act ordains, that 
 no free Negro, or Person of Colour, shall be capable of ac- 
 quiring or being seised of any real estate whatever, under 
 penalty of the forfeiture of such estate ; nor is he allowed to 
 lease a house for a longer term than seven years. Can this Act 
 have been allowed by the King ? 
 
 8, In Demarara, a fine is payable on manumissions. 
 
192 APPENDIX O. 
 
 amounting to from 200 to 300 guilders. Its effect in restrain- 
 ing manumissions appears to be very considerable, as in that 
 colony, containing about 80,000 slaves, the number of persons 
 manumitted has not exceeded the average of thirty-five an- 
 nually. Mr. Bright says thafr the tax has been reduced or 
 abolished in Demarara : we know not on what authority he 
 states this ; we know of none. 
 
 0. In Berbice the tax is still higher than in Demarara, being 
 between 400 and 500 guilders, and the average of manu- 
 missions has only been about eleven annually, 
 
 10. In Jamaica, it is true, there is now no tax paid on 
 manumission; but a bond for 100/. is required, binding the 
 party manumitting to the payment of that sum in case the 
 manumitted slave should become burdensome to the public. 
 This, though far better than a tax, is still a very inconvenient 
 provision, and doubtless operates as a powerful restraint on 
 manumissions. Would it not be much better to pass a general 
 Act, which should make the property of the person who should 
 be guilty of manumitting a slave mala fide, liable to indemnify 
 the colony for any expense which might be occasioned by it. 
 
 There are no returns from St. Lucia, or the Cape of Good 
 Hope. 
 
 From the above details, several important inferences may be- 
 drawn. — 
 
 1st. That Mr. Wilberforce was perfectly correct in saying, 
 that since the period of Mr. Ellis^s Address, in 1797, several 
 of the colonial legislatures had for the first time imposed, or 
 had greatly augmented, the fines on manumissions. 
 
 2d. That his failure in pointing out the variations which had 
 subsequently taken place in the colonial laws on this subject, was 
 entirely owing to the delinquency of the colonial authorities, in 
 not furnishing the information which had been required of them 
 by the Crown in consequence of addresses from Parliament. 
 " The honourable Member for Bramber," says Mr. Bright, 
 " seems not to have looked at the returns on the table." When 
 the ** Appeal " was published, those returns, though called for 
 nearly two years before, had not yet been made. 
 
 3d. That fines on manumission, when enforced, are attended 
 with most injurious effects in retarding the progress of enfran- 
 chisement. 
 
APPHNDIX P. 193 
 
 4th. That; no countervailing benefit can be shewn to arise from 
 tliose fines which will compensate for so great and obvious an 
 evil. If the contrary is asserted, let returns be obtained from 
 all the islands, to shew not only that the persons manumitted 
 have had the annuities, to which they are said to be entitled, 
 regularly paid to them ; but that, in the numerous instances 
 where no fine has been exacted, and where, of course, no annuity 
 is payable, the manumitted persons have become a burden to 
 the public. That they have become burdensome we certainly 
 do not believe. 
 
 p. 
 
 ** / do impute a bad intention to the man who put this book 
 together.'' *' 1 put it to the House whether what is printed in 
 this book, called * Negro Slavery,' as a fair quotation, is so, 
 or such as ought to be promulgated as the real sentiments of this 
 respectable gentleman,'' meaning the Rev. Mr. Cooper, (p. 71.) 
 
 This is indeed a serious charge. Its refutation will be found 
 in the juxta-position of the passages which are said to be at 
 variance. 
 
 A writer in the " Monthly Repository," under the signature 
 of " Euelpis," had expressed an opinion that the Negroes 
 might be converted to Christianity, notwithstanding their pre- 
 sent degraded condition. In replying to this writer, in the 
 Monthly Repository, No. cciv. p. 752, Mr. Cooper makes the 
 following observation. 
 
 " Euelpis has made a quotation from the * Report of the 
 Wesleyan Missions,' to shew that there is an estate in Antigua 
 upon which * the whip is not needful now,' and another where 
 
 * the sound of the whip is rarely heard.' This, sir, to a 
 Jamaica man, is truly astonishing ; and I can venture to assure 
 
 * Euelpis,' that if the Missionaries can perform such wonders, 
 without creating in the minds of the Negroes the hope of 
 freedom, they will, on going to Jamaica, meet with the most 
 zealous support from the planters of that island, who, I am 
 sure, would be glad to throw aside the whip if they saw they 
 could do it with safety." 
 
 2 c 
 
194 APPENDIX P. 
 
 The pamphlet called " Negro Slavery " had been giving 
 Mr. Cooper's oral testimony on the subject of the driving 
 system to the following effect : 
 
 " The gangs always work before the whip, which is a very 
 weighty and powerful instrument. The driver has it always in 
 his han(J, and drives the Negroes, men and women, without 
 distinction, as he would drive horses or cattle in a team. Mr. 
 Cooper does not say that he is always using the whip ; but it 
 is known to be always present, and ready to be applied to any 
 who flag at their work or lag behind in the line.'' — To this sen- 
 tence is appended the following note : " In one of his printed 
 letters, in which he is replying to an objection, Mr. Cooper 
 incidentally, but very significantly, remarks, that to a Jamaica 
 man it would be truly astonishing to learn that the whip was 
 not needed, or that its sound was rarely heard." 
 
 We certainly cannot perceive the slightest discrepancy be- 
 tween the two statements ; and as for the concluding lines of 
 the quotation from Mr. Cooper's letter, which state that the 
 Jamaica planters would be glad to throw aside the whip if 
 they could, and which Mr. Bright complains should have been 
 omitted, they would only have given additional confirmation to 
 the point which was alone at issue, the existence of the driving 
 system. 
 
 There can be no more conclusive evidence of the absence 
 of all discrepancy between Mr. Cooper's statement and that 
 contained in " Negro Slavery," than this, that Mr. Cooper, 
 previous to its publication, saw and approved, not only the par- 
 ticular passage which has given occasion to Mr. Bright's impu- 
 tation of an evil intention, but every syllable which is there 
 inserted under the sanction of his authority. This approbation 
 he has again expressed, in the strongest and most unqualified 
 terms, since he has heard what passed in the House of Com- 
 mons. Indeed, the quotations from Mr. Cooper's letters might 
 have been considerably enlarged, with great advantage to the 
 author's object. For example : " To my mind," says Mr. C, 
 " no attempt can be vainer than that to render Negro slavery 
 compatible with human happiness." But we also forbear, and 
 shall only refer Mr, Bright to the Monthly Repository, No. 
 ccviii. p. 231, &c., for information which may be interesting to 
 him, from the pen of the same individual whom he has justly 
 denominated ** this respectable gentleman." 
 
APPENDIX Q. jl^ 
 
 Q. 
 
 " It is not fair that he (Dr. Williamson) should be put forward 
 as a witness against the planters in the West Indies" (p. 71.) 
 
 It seems to us the very perfection of fairness to try the West- 
 Indian system by the testimony, not of its avowed enemies, but 
 ofnts avowed and zealous friends; which is in fact what 
 the author of " Negro Slavery " has done in citing Dr. Wil- 
 liamson. ** The whole result of Dr. Williamson's opinions," 
 says Mr. Bright, " is highly favourable to the colonists, and to 
 their management of the Negroes." Now this is precisely 
 what the author of " Negro Slavery" has stated of Dr. Wil- 
 liamson's testimony. " Whenever Dr. Williamson speaks in 
 general terms, he seems at a loss to find words strong enough 
 in which to eulogize the humanity and tenderness of West- 
 Indian proprietors and overseers. — But... let us come to parti- 
 culars — " &c. p. 56. The work, therefore, as Mr. Sykes ob- 
 served, in his reply to Mr. Bright, " was quoted expressly as 
 being the work of an adverse witness;" and on that account its 
 reluctant testimony is surely the more valuable, whenever it 
 can be adduced to establish important facts. We recommend, 
 therefore, on this very ground, the evidence of Dr. Williamson 
 to our readers, as furnishing a less exceptionable proof of the 
 evils which he recognises, than the evidence of the avowed 
 jciiemies of the system would be held to furnish. 
 
196 APPENDIX R. 
 
 k. 
 
 *' In 1810, a law passed in Dominica making the evidence of 
 Slaves admissible,'* and *' / have every reason to believe a 
 similar law will be introduced in every other West- India 
 Island^ (p. 74.) 
 
 The following is an extract from an Act of the Dominica Legis- 
 lature of 22d April 1818, relative to this important subject, 
 and which, except as it indicates a slight leaning towards 
 improvement, is a very unsatisfactory enactment indeed. We 
 trust, however, that it marks the commencement of a new era 
 in the history of West-Indian legislation, notwithstanding the 
 singular restrictions which tend to frustrate its professed object* 
 *' And whereas by the present existing law, although punish- 
 ment by fine is denounced against any White person or free Per- 
 son of Colour, who shall beat, wound, maim, or ill-treat the slave 
 or slaves of any other person, or deprive such slave or slaves of 
 his, her, or their property, yet, as the evidence of such slave or 
 slaves is inadmissible for his, her, or their conviction, by which 
 such enactment has proved of little effect, as such offence may 
 occur when no White or free Person of Colour is present, and 
 the offender or offenders from hence, may escape with impunity ; 
 Be it, and it is hereby, further enacted and ordained, by the 
 authority aforesaid. That, from and after the publication of this 
 Act, any White person or free Person of Colour, who shall 
 beat, maim, wound, or ill treat any slave or slaves, the pro- 
 perty of another person or persons, or deprive such slave or 
 slaves of his, her, or their property, on complaint being made 
 thereof by the owner or owners of such slave or slaves, or his, 
 her, or their representative, to any justice of the peace, and 
 the slave or slaves being produced, and the marks of the blows 
 or wounds being exhibited before any of his Majesty's justices 
 of the peace, such justice shall, and he is hereby empowered, 
 authorized, and required, should he deem the complaint suffi- 
 
APPENDIX R. 197 
 
 clently founded, to summon the party so accused before him, and 
 to examine him on oath; and on his refusal to be examined, 
 such contumacy shall be construed an admission of the fact ; 
 and thereupon to bind over such White or free Person of 
 Colour, charged with such offence, to appear at the next ensuing 
 court of grand sessions of the peace, then and there to answer 
 the charge alleged against such White or free Person of Colour, 
 the said justice having previously examined upon oath such 
 slave or slaves (should he, she, or they have been baptized), 
 and duly explained and enforced to them the nature and solem- 
 nity of an oath ; which examination the justice shall return 
 with the recognisance to the clerk of the crown, prior to the 
 sitting of such court ; and on the parties appearing before the 
 court, the testimony of any slaves who may have been present 
 (he, she, or they having been baptized) shall be received, as far 
 as it shall appear clear and consistent in the opinion of 
 the Court : Provided also, nevertheless, that no White person 
 or free Person of Colour shall be convicted of any of the 
 offences aforesaid, on the testimony of any slaves, unless two 
 of the said slaves, at least, do clearly and consistently agree 
 with each other, and depose to the same fact, act, or circum- 
 stance ; and also, unless the said slaves are examined apart, 
 and out of the hearing of each other: and provided also, 
 that no person shall be convicted on the testimony of 
 any slaves, for any of the offences aforesaid, unless the 
 same shall be prosecuted within twelve months after the 
 commission thereof. And on the conviction of the person or 
 persons charged with such offence, such offender or offenders 
 shall be subject to a fine not exceeding the sum of one 
 hundred pounds, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 
 three months, at the discretion of the court; and the proprietor 
 shall or may, moreover, have his action of damages in the court 
 of Common Pleas against any White or free Person of Colour 
 so offending, for any loss of time and labour sustained of such 
 slave or slaves, by him, her, or them so beaten, maimed, 
 wounded, or ill-treated." 
 
 We leave it to lawyers to decide, whether, as. the above 
 clause is worded, if a slave is only robbed of his property 
 without being beaten, and so has no marks, blows, or wounds 
 to exhibit, the magistrate can proceed at all against the offender 
 
198 APPENDIX R, 
 
 on the testimony of the slave. Besides, what value can be 
 affixed to the expurgjatory oath of a man who can have acted 
 towards a poor slave in the way that is described ? 
 
 But whether the law of Dominica be well adapted to its 
 object or not, we can have no doubt as to its being the clear 
 and imperative duty of the Government and Parliament of this 
 country to secure, with as little delay as possible, the general 
 admissibility of the evidence of slaves. At present, their evidence 
 is universally rejected by West-Indian courts (with the single 
 almost nugatory exception of Dominica), in all cases, whether 
 civil or criminal, affecting persons of free condition, on the ex- 
 press ground of their being unworthy of credit. And yet, as we 
 have already shewn, the Jamaica slave code, and indeed every 
 other West-Indian slave code, makes them competent witnesses 
 against their fellow-slaves in all cases, even in capital cases ; 
 and this without the sanction of any form of adjuration which 
 they consider as binding. What a strange anomaly is this I 
 Either the pretext that the slaves are unworthy of credit is void 
 of foundation ; or every slave who is tried and executed on the 
 testimony of a fellow-slave is cruelly murdered. But we shall 
 be told, perhaps, " We guard against false evidence, by enacting 
 (see slave law of Jamaica of 1816, section 84) * that, in case 
 any slave shall, with evil intent, give false evidence in any trial 
 had under this Act, such slave or slaves, being thereof convicted, 
 shall suffer the same punishment as the person or persons on 
 whose trial such false evidence was given, would, if convicted, 
 have been liable to suffer.* " And why should not the same 
 guard be equally effectual in cases affecting persons of free 
 condition ? We admit, indeed, that slaves ought not to be made 
 to give evidence either for or against their owners (any more 
 than a wife is allowed to give evidence for or against her hus- 
 band), unless they shall first have been enfranchised. But if 
 even the Pariars and the meanest slaves in India are allowed to 
 give evidence, each in his peculiar way, in all the local British 
 courts; if the West-Indian slave would be admitted as a com- 
 petent witness in Westminster Hall, subject only to the same 
 kind of objection to which an Englishman would be subject ; 
 what possible reason can there be for continuing to exclude the 
 testimony of slaves from our courts of judicature in the West 
 Indies? There can be no great risk that White juries and 
 
APPENDIX S. 19& 
 
 judges will not be sufficiently slow in giving weight to such 
 testimony, even if admitted ; and, without a question, unless it 
 be admitted, the result of the best-framed laws of amelioration 
 and protection will be, what the Dominica legislature candidly 
 states to have been the result of such laws hitherto, namely, 
 that, " the evidence of slaves being inadmissible, the enact- 
 ments have proved of little effect." 
 
 s. 
 
 ** Nothing can be more satisfactory than these reports (of Go- 
 vernors, &c.) to shew the gradual and continued improve- 
 ment in the condition of the slaves,' (p. 80.) 
 
 To judge of the real value, however, of these reports, it ought 
 to be known, that in 1790 and 1791 the following Admirals 
 and Governors of Colonies were examined at the bar of the 
 House of Commons, respecting the condition of the slaves, 
 during the space of thirty or forty years prior to that period ; 
 namely. Admirals Rodney, Shuldhara, Hotham, Harrington, 
 Arbuthnot, Edwards, Parker, Lambert, and Gardner ; and 
 Governors Lord Macartney, Bailing, Payne, Campbell, Orde, 
 and Parry. All these witnesses (some of whom also eulo- 
 gized even the Middle Passage), concurred in affirming, that 
 the masters were humane and attentive; that the slaves were 
 well clothed and fed, better than the labouring people in this 
 country ; that their treatment, particularly that of the field 
 Negroes, was mild and humane ; that they had never known 
 any cruel treatment; that the lives of the slaves were as happy 
 as those of the peasants in this country — nay, said some of 
 them, infinitely more comfortable than that of the labouring 
 poor in England, or any other part of the world they knew; — 
 that no more labour was required of them than they could 
 well bear ; and that they were well satisfied with their condi- 
 tion, and always cheerful. Two of these witnesses remarked, 
 that they even envied the condition of the slaves, and wished 
 
200 APPENDIX S. 
 
 to be in their situation : they wished themselves to be Negroes I 
 This testimony, concurrently given by so many respectable 
 men in 1790, is much stronger in favour of the happiness of 
 the slaves of that period, than any thing adduced by Mr. 
 Marryat with respect to their condition in 1817 and 1818, even 
 after twenty-seven years of alleged progressive improvement. 
 The evidence he has adduced is feebleness itself, when com- 
 pared with the strength and universality of the eulogy of these 
 older witnesses ; although it is the object of Mr. Marryat's 
 speech to shew that great improvements have taken place since 
 their time. If, however, great improvements have since taken 
 place ; and if it nevertheless be true that the Negroes (men, 
 women, and children) are still mere chattels, — the absolute pro- 
 perty of their master, who may at pleasure sell or transfer them, 
 or even expatriate them for ever ; that they may be seized or sold 
 for his debts ; that they are driven by the whip to labour for 
 which they receive no wages ; that they have no Sabbath, and 
 no legal marriage ; that their flesh may be lacerated with im- 
 punity, to the extent of thirty-nine lashes of the cart-whip, at 
 the bidding of an individual, their master or his delegate, for 
 any offence, or for no offence ; — if all this be true (and if it be 
 denied, we are ready to prove its truth), then what must have 
 been their state thirty or forty years ago, before the vaunted 
 modern improvements had even been thought of? And yet, 
 before they had been thought of, we have testimony upon testi- 
 mony, even to satiety, and that of the most imposing descrip- 
 tion, which places the happiness of the West-Indian slave so 
 high as to make him an object of just envy to the British 
 peasant. How is this phenomenon to be explained ? It admits 
 of an easy explanation, if it were necessary. It is sufficient, 
 however, for our present purpose, to have shewn that such 
 testimony was actually given in 1790. — That, at the same time, 
 the testimony was incorrect (the witnesses themselves, however 
 respectable, having some how or other been deceived as to the 
 real state of things), cannot, — after all that was affirmed in this 
 very debate on the subject of recent improvement, and all that 
 was nevertheless admitted respecting the actual condition of 
 the slave, — cannot, we say, be any longer doubted. 
 
 We have shewn that the testimony brought forward by 
 Mr. Marryat is not so strong and decisive in favour of the 
 
APPENDIX S. 201 
 
 humanity of the West-Indian system as that of 1790. But, 
 besides this, /m witnesses are not all what he alleges them to be. 
 He affirms them to be, not " West-India proprietors, but Go- 
 vernors, who> as far as their opinions go, must speak disinter- 
 estedly, and are least of all liable to be influenced by colonial 
 prejudices." Of the seven witnesses he has produced, how- 
 ever, two — namely, the President of Tobago, and the Assembly 
 of Jamaica — are interested parties, planters, not disinterested 
 Governors. General Douglas, instead of being a favourable, 
 is an adverse witness. There are, according to him, many 
 instances of the reverse of just and kind treatment, and some 
 of very great cruelty. Governor Probyn's testimony is ren- 
 dered of less importance, not only by his very brief residence 
 in the West Indies, but by his having treated so lightly the 
 flagrant cruelties of the Rev. Mr. Rawlins. (See Papers from 
 St. Kitts, printed by the House of Commons in 1318.) The 
 remaining witnesses require a more detailed notice. 
 
 Sir Ralph Woodford's evidence confutes itself. He tells us, 
 that the slaves " can, if they choose, with very little trouble, 
 amass mugh beyond the wants of the utmost ambition or 
 projiigacy.'^ (p. 80.) Surely this statement is much beyond 
 the sober truth, and indicates a style of the utmost exaggera- 
 tion. Is it not perfectly plain, that if the slaves, by their 
 labour on their one day of the week, can amass wealth, the 
 master, who has the absolute command and usufruct of five of 
 their days at the least, must possess the means of exorbitant 
 accumulation. If the slave's one day can be turned to such 
 good account, why are not the masters Jive made equally pro- 
 fitable ? The profits of the slaves, be it remembered, do not 
 arise from the payment of wages by the master, which might 
 subtract from his gains, but from the culture of the soil, and 
 the sale of its produce ; from means, that is to say, which are 
 equally accessible to the master as to the slave. The same 
 hands which on one day arc capable of producing such immense 
 returns from the soil as to be even much beyond the wants of 
 ambition or profligacy — (the limits Sir R. Woodford assigns 
 to these are not obvious) — are employed, under the stimulat- 
 ing impulse of the lash, on the other Jive days^ on the same 
 soil, for the sole benefit of the master; and yet we do not hear 
 that the planters of Trinidad are enriched even to that point 
 
 2 D 
 
202 APPENDIX S. 
 
 which is necessary for the satisfaction of their creditors. In 
 short, the statement proves itself, on the least reflection, to be 
 hasty, and iil-founded, taken up perhaps from mere loose con- 
 versation with slave-holders, and certainly without having been 
 subjected to that scrutiny which must at once have detected 
 its fallacy. If it were true, it would only serve to confirm, 
 what is already indeed sufficiently established, that free labour 
 is more profitable, nay, infinitely more profitable, than slave 
 labour. 
 
 No man doubts, that " with a humane owner " a Negro may 
 be " most happy ;" but is not the converse of this proposition 
 equally true, that with an inhumane owner he may, nay must, 
 be unhappy ? Now, what is charged against the West-Indian 
 system is precisely this, — not that there are not many humane 
 masters ; not that every master is harsh and cruel, and makes 
 his slaves miserable, but — that every master may be harsh and 
 cruel, and may make his slaves miserable ivith impunity. But 
 then comes the eftectual check which Sir R. Woodford appre- 
 hends that self-interest imposes on the abuse of the master's 
 power. But do men never mistake or neglect their interests? 
 Are they always sober, always dispassionate 1 Look at the 
 cases of Rawlins, Huggins, Hodge, Carty, and Bowen, and of 
 multitudes besides. — Moreover, is it always clear that a master's 
 pecuniary interest is on the side of humanity to his slaves? Is 
 not the case of a jobbing-gang, for example, in the West 
 Indies, a case precisely parallel to that of post-horses in Eng- 
 land ? A jobbing-master, we will suppose, receives five pounds 
 an acre for digging land into cane holes. Is it not a matter of 
 mere calculation in this case, as in the case of post-horses, 
 whether, at the end of ten years, by extracting a greater 
 portion of labour from his slaves than is consistent with their 
 comfort and increase, although at the end of that time they may 
 be diminished in value, he may not be richer than he would 
 be, if he should work them moderately, feed them well, and 
 preserve their strength and value unimpaired ? But this sordid 
 xind cruel calculation is not necessarily confined to jobbing- 
 gangs. Suppose a planter to purchase land in Trinidad, and 
 to remove thither from some neighbouring island a gang of 
 Negroes for its cultivation. Is it no object with him to save a 
 whole year's crop, by pressing forward the clearing and plant- 
 
APPENDIX S. 203 
 
 jiig of his land ? The delay of a month or two may be ruin to 
 him, should the proper season be lost for planting. Has he 
 then no pecuniary temptation to over-drive his slaves? Similar 
 cases, cases too of daily occurrence, might be multiplied. 
 
 The soundness of this reasoning is curiously illustrated in a 
 report of the Jamaica Assembly of the 23d November 1804, from 
 which it appears that it is often deemed by planters their in- 
 terest to extend their sugar cultivation far beyond their means, 
 in the hope of extricating themselves by a great effort from their 
 pecuniary difficulties ; as a large crop may procure them further 
 advances of capital, in the way of loan. Even at the present 
 moment, the planters of all the islands are telling Parliament, 
 in their petitions, that unlcvSS they can get a better price for 
 their sugars their slaves must starve ; in other words, that it has 
 ceased to be their interest to feed their slaves and to prevent 
 .their starving. And yet all this is said in the face of Sir R. 
 Woodford's statement (and similar statements have been made 
 by many of the Colonial Assemblies), that the slaves can, if 
 theychoose,withverylittletrouble, amass much beyond the wants 
 of the utmost ambition or profligacy. Nay, the Assembly of 
 Jamaica, who now tell us their slaves must starve if the price of 
 sugar is not enhanced, in their report of 1816 gravely assured us 
 ** that one day's labour in Jamaica will produce as much food 
 as twenty-five rould raise in Europe." Now, as the population 
 of Europe do contrive, in the 313 working days of the year, 
 to raise food enough to prevent their starving, it follows, that, 
 by applying a twenty-fifth part of that time, or twelve days 
 and a half in the year, to the growth of provisions, the slaves 
 in Jamaica would at least escape being starved : and that by 
 giving them the Sundays, and a few days beside, they would be 
 placed in the same enviable 'condition which Sir R. Woodford 
 describes as being that of the slaves of Trinidad. And yet, while 
 the slave, with his scanty fragment of time, has thus the means 
 of wealth completely in his power, the master, who has the 
 absolute controul and disposal of the remainder of his time, can 
 scarcely contrive to exist on its produce ! ! ! Such are the tales 
 by which the Parliament and people of England have been, 
 and continue to be, beguiled, with respect to West-Indian 
 slavery. Is it not perfectly obvious that one of two things must 
 be the case, — cither that the statement of the Jamaica Assemblj 
 
204 APPENDIX S. 
 
 of 1816 is untrue, or that there is no truth in the statements 
 which affirm that the slaves must starve if the price of sugar 
 is not enhanced ? We cannot think so ill of the West-Indian 
 planters as to believe that they would permit their slaves to 
 starve, vs^hen, according to their own shewing, the applica- 
 tion of a few days' labour in the year would eftectually obviate 
 the possibility of such an evil, and even load the slaves with 
 abundance. 
 
 Sir R. Woodford tells us further, that " the comforts of the 
 slaves depend upon themselves and their own industry, and 
 their health upon their own imprudences" — but then comes a 
 fatal OR — " or the quantum of work they are required to per- 
 form." What, then, shall secure them and their comforts and 
 their health against this fatal alternative ? Against this there is 
 no security, even in Trinidad, although its institutions are more 
 favourable to Negro happiness than those of any other of our 
 colonies. But that island is cursed (and a curse it is, where its 
 produce is to be extracted by means of whip-driven slaves) 
 with a richer soil, which, making Negro labour there compara- 
 tively more profitable than in the other islands, leads to a 
 severer exaction of it. To this cause mainly, we believe, is 
 to be attributed the dreadful waste of African life which has 
 taken place in Trinidad since it became a British colony ; a waste 
 perhaps equalling, if not surpassing, any thing yet known even 
 in the annals of West-Indian plantership. 
 
 But the most extraordinary statement on the part of Sir 
 R. Woodford remains to be noticed. " I have frequently,'* he 
 says, *' known cases of Negroes preferring to continue slaves, 
 rather than, with ample means, to purchase their freedom, or 
 even to accept it." We must frankly say that we do not 
 believe this statement, though, without doubt. Sir R. Woodford 
 is persuaded of its truth. We trust that, in the next session of 
 Parliament, the Governor of Trinidad will be required to pro- 
 duce the names of the Negroes whom he has frequently known 
 to prefer continuing slaves, *' rather than, with ample means, to 
 purchase their freedom, or even to accept it;" and that he 
 will add to their names their age, sex, place of residence, and 
 peculiar circumstances (for such instances of rare felicity ought 
 ^not to be concealed); specifying also, whether their preferring 
 to continue slaves themselves did not arise from their rather 
 
APPENDIX S. 205 
 
 wishing to employ their "ample means" in redeeming their 
 children from slavery. It is notorious, that at the Bay of Hon- 
 duras, for instance, a large majority of those slaves who attain, 
 late in life, the means of purchasing their freedom, choose 
 to employ those means in purchasing the freedom of their 
 children rather than their own. 
 
 This statement of Sir R.Woodford is the more extraordinary, 
 because it is well known that at Trinidad there is no general 
 indisposition in the slaves to procure or to accept manu- 
 mission. The proportion in that island of free Blacks and 
 Coloured Persons to the slave population, is three times as great 
 as in any other colony, and ten times as great as in some. 
 
 On the whole, it must be admitted that the evidence of Sir 
 R. Woodford (whom Mr. Marryat mistakenly represents as a 
 correspondent of the African Institution) does not very con- 
 clusively or satisfactorily establish the points which it has been 
 adduced to substantiate. 
 
 With respect to Mr. Marryat*s remaining witnesses, Colonel 
 Maxwell and Colonel Arthur, they are rather unfortunately 
 chosen. The delusion under which their first letters, quoted by 
 Mr. Marryat, were written, was soon dispelled. Colonel Max- 
 well shortly after fouifd it necessary to interfere in behalf of the 
 oppressed slaves ; but many of his efforts were frustrated by the 
 perverse opposition of the colonists. His conduct in bringing 
 cruelty to light, and endeavouring also to bring it to punish- 
 ment, was presented by the grand jury of Dominica as a 
 nuisance; nor was it less obnoxious to the House of Assembly of 
 that island. In short, he was almost uniformly opposed in his 
 efforts to abate and punish oppression. 
 
 As for the more matured views of Colonel Arthur respecting 
 the real state of colouial bondage, it is only necessary to refer 
 to Mr. Buxton's reply (p. 109), and to the fresh correspondence 
 with Lord Bathurst, which was ordered by the House of Com- 
 mons to be printed on the 16th of June U523. A part of that 
 correspondence has already been inserted in Appendix B. ; 
 but as it is of some importance to appreciate accurately the 
 value of the statements so triumphantly made respecting West- 
 Indian improvement, we shall not hesitate to take from it some 
 farther extracts. 
 
206 APPENDIX S. 
 
 Extract of a letter from Lieut.-Col. Arthur to the Right Hon. 
 Earl Bathurst ; dated October 7th, 1 820. 
 
 *' In the dispatches which I had the honour to address to 
 your Lordship shortly after my arrival in this settlement, it 
 aftbrded me the greatest pleasure to bear testimony to the 
 humanity which I observed generally exercised by the wood- 
 cutters, towards their slaves. 
 
 " On the necessity I was under, however, in my dispatch 
 of the 21st October 1810, of detailing to your Lordship the 
 cruelty which had been exercised by a settler named Michael 
 Carty, I was called upon to make some observations upon the 
 extreme inhumanity of many of the lower class of settlers 
 residing in the town of Belize towards their slaves; and as it 
 appeared to be an evil greatly increasing, I submitted at the 
 same time the total inadequacy of the courts of this settle- 
 ment to check this vicious disposition. 
 
 " In my report to your Lordship of the 1 6th May last. 
 No. 27, upon the insurrection which had taken place in the 
 interior of the colony, I represented that it had originated from 
 the harshness witi. which some of the slaves had been treated, 
 and that I was not without hope the consequences on that oc- 
 casion would have had the beneficial tendency of exciting a 
 greater degree of humanity towards these unfortunate people : 
 — 1 am much distressed, my Lord, that my expectations have 
 not been answered; and such is the increasing severity and 
 cruelty ivhich is now practised with impunity, that althougli 
 I am very conscious of the difiiculty which has hitherto pre- 
 sented itself to his Majesty's government upon the general 
 question of tlie administration of justice in Honduras, I am 
 most reluctantly constrained to bring the subject figain under 
 your Lordship's consideration. The result of a trial, which 
 was instituted on the Gth instant against an inhabitant for ex- 
 cessive cruelty towards a poor slave, absolutely excludes every 
 hope, under the present system of jurisprudence, of bringing 
 offenders to punishment ivhen guilty of the most flagrant acts of 
 inhumanity and oppression. The trial to which I allude was 
 instituted against a hee woman of colour, named Duncannette 
 Campbell, under a bench warrant, ' for punishing her slave 
 named Kitty in an illegal, cruel, and severe iu» .er, by 
 chaining her and repeatedly whipping her, and for confining 
 
At>PENDIX S. 207 
 
 Tier for a considerable time in the said chains in the loft of her 
 house.' 
 
 " As the saiferings of this poor slave deeply excited my 
 commiseration, I made it a point to attend the court: the 
 female slave appeared covered with wounds and stripes. The 
 medical gentleman, who had examined her' by order of the 
 magistrates as soon as she was taken into custody, deposed : 
 * I examined the slave Kitty, and observed the scores of se- 
 veral wounds, which appeared to have been recently inflicted 
 with a whip or cow-skin ; they were chiefly upon the shoulders, 
 but there was also a considerable number on the left arm, the 
 lieck and face : those on the face had prodiiced considerable 
 swelling and other symptoms of inflammation ; one of the 
 stripes had divided theala of the left ear, another had wounded 
 the left eye-ball ; both eyes were much swelled and inflamed, 
 and her whole countenance was so much disfigured that it was 
 some time before I could recognise her/ 
 
 " The police oflicer deposed, ' On proceeding to the dwell- 
 ing of Miss Duncannette Campbell, I found the slave Kitty at 
 the foot of a bed, with a pair of handcuffs on, and chained 
 round the legs with a double padlock ; the chain was bound 
 round so close that she could not stand or move. I saw a cut 
 upon the left ear, and many stripes upon the back ; her face also 
 bore visible marks of whipping, and there was a bruise under 
 her eye. I tried to lift her up, but she could not stand; she 
 informed me that she had been in this situation for six weeks/ 
 In fact every charge stated in the warrant was most fully proved. 
 * "To deny the punishment which* had been so cruelly in- 
 flicted was of course impossible ; and therefore the only defence 
 which the prisoner attempted to set up was, that the gentle- 
 man with whom she had cohabited and lived for many years 
 had instigated the slave to neglect her business, disobey her 
 orders, and to behave with the greatest insubordination ; that 
 the slave teas her own property ^ and that therefore she had a 
 right to punish her as sKe thought proper. The prisoner ad- 
 mittedy indeed voluntarily bore testimony to, the uniform ex- 
 cellent conduct of the poor slave for many years ^ and stated that 
 the circumstance for which she had novi chastised her was tlie 
 only misconduct of which she had ever been guilti/. 
 
 " The Bench, which was composed of four magistrates, iii 
 
208 APPENDIX S. 
 
 charging the jury, in no way whatever adverted to the dread- 
 ful instrument with which the punishment had heen inflicted ; 
 to the poor slave's ear having been cut through; to the fright- 
 ful blows on her face, or to the confinement in chains (every 
 part of which is illegal by the consolidated slave-act of Jamaica, 
 which is by the Ir.w professed to be acknowledged in the courts 
 of this settlement, although the act is not in the country), but 
 briefly observed, that by law every owner was justified in 
 •punishing to the extent of thirty-nine lashes; and therefore the 
 only point for the consideration of the jury was. Whether a 
 greater number of lashes had been inflicted in the present case I 
 Without five minutes hesitation the prisoner 
 was acquitted ! ! " 
 
 Again, on the 28th September 1821, Colonel Arthur 
 writes : 
 ** On the 11th instant, I received the enclosed report. No. 1, 
 from the officer of police, stating the illegal punishment he 
 had been required, by Mr. Bowen, a magistrate, to inflict on 
 one of his slaves ; and also detailing a most severe punishment 
 which he had in part carried into eff*ect at the instance of the 
 Bench, but with the further execution of which he hesitated to 
 proceed, as it appeared to him contrary to law. Immediately 
 on receiving this information I addressed the magistrates, in- 
 forming them, I was sorry to find, on a bare commitment, 
 without any trial or evidence whatever, a very severe punish- 
 ment had been ordered on four slaves, and intimating, it was 
 unknown to me that any power was vested in the Bench to 
 cause punishment to be so summarily inflicted. I requested 
 some explanation on the subject. 
 
 " In their reply the Bench endeavoured to gloss over the 
 matter as well as they could, setting forth, that the trial of 
 slaves by jury was a heavy expense to the country ; that they 
 had acted with no intention of infringing the laws of the settle- 
 ment, or the rights of the slaves ; that under a heavy penalty, 
 whether competent or not, they were obliged to act as magis- 
 trates, and consequently, their fellow-settlers always viewed 
 their conduct, when not strictly regular, with every indulgence. 
 " Although their proceeding was in direct violation of the 
 law, I animadverted upon it in milder terms than I should 
 otherwise have been disposed to have done, from the impres- 
 
APPENDIX S. 209 
 
 sion that two of the magistrates (it being their first year in office), 
 might have acted without consideration, under the influence of 
 Mr. Bowen, who, as an older magistrate, was well acquainted 
 with the laws and customs of the court; and to whom, from 
 his well-known character, I could have no hesitation in refer- 
 ring the whole matter, although it was difficult in such a case 
 officially to attach the blame where I felt it ought to have 
 rested ; I did so, however, as far as I could with propriety, 
 and also directed all the poor slaves to be instantly liberated 
 and delivered up to their respective owners. 
 
 " In the course of investigating this flagrant attempt upon 
 the rights of the slaves, I was led to the knowledge of Mr. 
 Bowen having confined the poor slave in chains in his own 
 premises, whom the police officer had refused to place in that 
 situation in the jail ; and an affidavit made before one of the 
 magistrates of his general cruelty and inhumanity was at the 
 same time laid before me. Having fully ascertained the unex- 
 ceptionable character of the complainant, and made every in- 
 vestigation which prudence could suggest, I determined to issue 
 a search-warrant, and your Lordship will perceive by the return 
 of the officer of police on the back of the warrant that the 
 slaves were found chained in the manner described in the 
 affidavit. 
 
 " The warrant having been examined on the following 
 morning by the Bench, Mr. Bowen was ordered for trial on the 
 25th instant; but I must here observe, that although the evi- 
 dence on the examination was most clear and distinct, the 
 majority of the three magistrates deemed it so very doubtful 
 whether the off'ence could be considered a breach of any law, 
 or whether there had been any further punishment inflicted by 
 Mr. Bowen than an owner was justified in giving his slave, that 
 they were much disposed to question the propriety of any pro- 
 secution ; this, of course, convinced me of the feeling and dis- 
 position of the Bench. 
 
 " In order that I might be under no error from misrepresen- 
 tation, I attended the trial, and the following circumstances 
 were most clearly and distinctly proved, indeed not denied; 
 that on the bare suspicion of having made away with some 
 handkerchiefs committed to her care to dispose of, a poor 
 female slave was tied up by order of her owner and severely 
 
 2 E 
 
210 APPENDIX S. 
 
 flogged, aud then haiidcufFed and shackled, placed in an old 
 store, infested with vermin and the noisome flies of this country. 
 After being in this situation for five days and nights, Serjeant 
 Rush, a military pensioner, interceded with Mr. Bowen for her 
 release, and having pledged himself, if the handkerchiefs were 
 not found, to pay the exorbitant sum demanded, the poor 
 creature was liberated on Sunday about mid-day. On the fol- 
 lowing morning she left her owner's house to make her com- 
 plaint and seek redress : for this, and on no other ground what- 
 ever, she was again seized upon, tied down on her belly to the 
 ground, her arms and legs being stretched out, and secured to 
 four stakes with sharp cords, and in this shocking attitude, in 
 the heat of the sun, exposed before the men in a perfect state 
 of nature, she was again severely flogged, in presence of her 
 inhuman master and his brother, upon her back and posteriors, 
 and then sent back to her place of torment, and there again 
 confined in handcuff's and chains, and subsisted on the wretched 
 pittance of twenty plantains and two mackarel per week for 
 above fourteen days. Occasionally, indeed, it appeared, the 
 miserable being was led out by day, and chained to a tree in 
 the yard, and there compelled to wash. This, my Lord, was 
 an offence for which the magistrates could find no law on which 
 to charge the jury, nor the jury any under which to find the 
 prisoner guilty ! Most truly, indeed, was it observed by the 
 advocate, in open court, that if they rejected the consolidated 
 slave-law of Jamaica, which by custom and usage had been 
 considered for years as the law of the settlement, he shuddered 
 to remind them that there was the Act of 21st Geo. 3d, chap. 
 67, which protected even brutes from inhumanity. 
 
 " The case of the male slaves actually apprehended by the 
 ofliicer of police, handcuff'ed, shackled, and loaded with an 
 enormous cattle-chain, in the very dwelling of this magistrate, 
 I need not in this dispatch enlarge upon. If the enormity 
 against the poor female was no violation of the law, this of 
 course could not be deemed illegal. 
 
 " The slaves in this country have, for some time past, ap- 
 peared to require no incentive to agitate their already irritated 
 minds ; and therefore to quiet in some degree the alarm which 
 will no doubt quickly spread amongst them, of their being 
 thus deprived of all protection, I have, after assembling the 
 
APPENDIX S. 211 
 
 members of the supreme court as a council, this day issued a 
 proclamation in his Majesty's name, declaring the consolidated 
 slave-law of Jamaica to be in force until others are enacted, 
 copy of which, with my letter to the magistrates, I beg to 
 submit, and of which I trust your Lordship will approve. The 
 mejisure will no doubt be offensive enough to Mr. Bowen and 
 his partisans, and to many others who have always manifested 
 the most violent opposition to any interference with the deal- 
 ings of owners with their slaves ; but I regard them with in- 
 difference in comparison to the manifest injustice and cruelty 
 of abandoning all the slaves to the mercy of their proprietors, 
 although I still hope there are many who treat them with all the 
 kindness and humanity consistent with their state of bondage.'^ 
 
 " Enclosure No. 1, in Colonel Arthur's, of 28th Sept., 18'21. 
 " Sir, « Belize, Hondnras, 11th September 1821. 
 
 ** I beg leave to acquaint you, that on the 4th instant it was 
 reported to me that M. W. Bowen, Esq. a magistrate, had sent 
 a slave of his, by the name of Guy, to the common gaol, with 
 orders to the constable that he, Ouy, should be worked on the 
 public works with the convicts in chains. Conceiving that the 
 order was irregular, coming from only one magistrate, and he 
 being the proprietor of the slave, I gave directions to the con- 
 stable not to pay any attention to the order until I saw the 
 gentleman myself, it being my intention to state my reason for 
 not complying with his order ; but being unfortunately unwell, 
 I did not see him until the 10th instant, when a meeting of the 
 magistrates took place at the Court-house, where, in the pre- 
 sence of two other magistrates, M. W. Bowen, Esq. told me, 
 that he had taken his slave out of gaol in consequence of di- 
 rections given by me for his not being worked in chains on the 
 public works. Upon my replying to him, that without the 
 sanction of the bench I did not think myself authorized to 
 punish a slave in that manner at the instance of his master, he 
 said that he conceived that an order from any magistrate was 
 sufficient authority for me. To this the other two magistrates 
 made no kind of observation, and consequently I am left in 
 the very delicate situation of questioning the orders of a ma- 
 gistrate, or violating what I conceive to be the laws of the 
 settlement. 
 
212 APPENDIX S. 
 
 " I beg also to state, that four runaway slaves were delivered 
 into the charge of the constable on the 3d instant, two of 
 which, named Hero and Marriott, belong to the estate of the 
 late S. Burnaham, John to George and James Hyde, and 
 Glasgow to Mr. John Young. The three former were brought 
 from the northward by some Spaniards ; the latter was deli- 
 vered by Mr. Harrison, a clerk to Messrs. Young and 
 Wright, requesting that he might be kept in gaol until Mr. 
 Wright came down the river. On the 5th instant they were 
 brought by an order of the magistrates before the bench, 
 and without any trial whatever, they (the four) were ordered 
 to be imprisoned and worked in chains on the public works for 
 two months, and to receive a corporal punishment of 128 
 lashes each, at four separate times, a part of which sentence 
 has been carried into execution ; but I feel so uncomfortable 
 in proceeding with the further punishment of these people, 
 under the impression that they have not been regularly tried, 
 that I must beg with great submission to bring this represen- 
 tation under your consideration. 
 
 " To Colonel Arthur," &c. " Wm. S. Eve, Officer of Police." 
 
 Besides these and other instances of unpunished cruelty. 
 Colonel Arthur enters at large into the case of a number of 
 poor Indians, who had been most unjustly and cruelly reduced 
 to bondage: — ** these poor Indians had been hunted down and 
 absolutely smoked out of the holes and caves in which they had 
 taken refuge." {Honduras PaperSy p. 36.) An inquiry was in- 
 stituted, and the right of these people to their freedom clearly 
 proved, and yet it was the determination of the Honduras 
 colonists not to give them up but by compulsion. The case now 
 awaits the decision of his Majesty's government, and as to the 
 course they will pursue no doubt can possibly exist. 
 
 We conceive we have said enough to shew how utterly the 
 evidence adduced by Mr. Marryat fails in proving the point 
 which he wished to establish, namely, "the gradual and con- 
 tinued improvement in the condition of the slaves." 
 
 It is perhaps unimportant to remark, that even the assertion 
 that Governor Maxwell was appointed to the government of 
 Dominica through the interest of Mr. Wilberforce, is alto- 
 gether incorrect. 
 
APPENDIX T AND U. 219 
 
 T. 
 
 ** Do not these official reports refute the calumnies throivn out 
 by some honourable Members" " and particularly Mr. Wil- 
 herforces assertion, * that the system of Slavery in the West 
 Indies is a system of the most unprecedented degradation 
 and unrelenting cruelty ?^^' (p. 81.) 
 
 We answer, with the most perfect confidence, that they do no 
 such thing. The statements in the note immediately preceding, 
 to go no farther, and to say nothing at present of the various 
 inherent attributes of Negro slavery as it now exists in the West 
 Indies, sufficiently establish, in its full extent, even the strong 
 language which Mr. Wilberforce has employed. 
 
 u. 
 
 Mr. BernaVs Speech^ 
 
 We took an early opportunity of transmitting our report of his 
 speech to Mr. Bernal for his correction. A severe family 
 affliction, which we deeply deplore, prevented his returning it 
 to us immediately; land we were under the necessity of substi- 
 tuting the very meagre report of it which appeared in the 
 public prints of the day. Mr. Bernal, however, having since 
 had the kindness to send back our more full report, with his 
 corrections, we feel it due to him and to ourselves to insert it 
 entire in this place. It is as follows : — 
 
 ** I had thought, Sir, at the commencement of this debate, 
 that to all appearance we were advancing towards the point of 
 conciliation, and that every subject of irrit^ion would this 
 night have been avoided. But I would ask, whether the topics 
 
214 APPENDIX U. 
 
 my honourable and learned Friend below me (Mr. Brougham) 
 has advanced, are calculated to lead to the results which I 
 believed he had sincerely at heart? Tiie honourable Member 
 for Bristol (Mr. Bright) I think acted not with that discretion 
 which he usually displays, in bringing forward, and creating 
 a discussion with respect to, the contents of certain pamphlets 
 which he read in part to the House ; but I must say, that the 
 honourable Member for Winchelsea should not, on such ac- 
 count, have opened the attack which he has just made, and 
 that he should have abstained from indulging in such declama- 
 tion. I would appeal to the House, whether the honourable 
 Member for Winchelsea (although he has truly pointed out 
 the manifest distinction which exists between the situations of 
 the owner of an estate in the West Indies, and the landed 
 proprietor in England) has not insidiously made an attack upon 
 the West-India proprietors in general ; and particularly when 
 he instituted that comparison between the masters of slaves and 
 the owners of post-horses ? I would ask my honourable and 
 learned Friend, if he can, upon reflection, consider that this 
 was a sally of declamation he ought to have indulged in, if he 
 sincerely wished to prevent irritation? 
 
 " My honourable and learned Friend has asked. What has 
 been done in the way of amelioration or improvement since the 
 abolition of the Slave Trade? I am unwilling, at this late 
 hour of the night, to trouble the House by going through a 
 long detail of facts, running over a period of so many years ; 
 but I would tell him, that I know much, very much, has been 
 done since the abolition, and particularly in the island of 
 Jamaica. I would ask him, whether he does not remembep 
 that the Consolidated Slave C6de, containing upwards of an 
 hundred clauses, underwent, in 1817, a complete revision in 
 the Legislature of Jamaica? If my honourable and learned 
 Friend should answer, * I know of no laws having been 
 enacted,' I can only reply by directly asserting what I have 
 been informed and believe to be the fact, though that asser- 
 tion may, of course, again be met by replication. If the 
 honourable and learned Gentleman should say, that the West- 
 India colonies have not made any new laws, such a statement, 
 I am assured by those who are well informed on the subject* 
 inay be met by a complete denial. My honourable and learned 
 
APPENDIX U. 215 
 
 Friend, not perhaps in the most fair or candid n[)anner, has 
 referred to some advertisements relating to run-away Negroes 
 in the Jamaica Gazettes, and which he has read as it were to 
 excite the attention of the House. Was if, I ask, worthy of 
 the serious cause he advocates'? was it worthy of his reputation 
 and talents, upon a question of this vital importance, to aim at 
 directing the attention of the House to these points; and to call 
 down the ridicule, the contempt, the disgust of honourable 
 Members, by stating, from these public newspapers, that a 
 young Negro girl was branded upon the top of her right 
 shoulder, and other circumstances of the like nature; and from 
 thence to maintain, that Negroes were sold in the market like 
 so many horned cattle 1 My honourable and learned Friend 
 has been pleased to comment upon the controul to which the 
 Negro population is subjected. But is it our fault as West- 
 India proprietors ? Are we to blame because we are placed in 
 this situation ? Have not the successive Governments of the 
 mother country sanctioned it? I would ask my honourable 
 and learned Friend, whether he thinks it just or candid to call 
 in the aid of ridicule, by introducing topics which can have no 
 other effect than to cast an unmerited share of odium upon the 
 unfortunate West-India planters, and to excite strong feelings 
 of irritation 1 Amongst a Black and Coloured slave population, 
 consisting of nearly 340,000 beings (as I believe may now be 
 the case in Jamaica), there always must be found a number of 
 run-away slaves. The fact cannot be for a moment disputed. 
 ** Without detaining the House at any length, I would beg to 
 call its attention, and also that of my honourable and learned 
 Friend, to a well-digested Report made in 1816, and drawn up 
 with great labour and talent, by a Committee of the House of 
 Assembly of Jamaica. By consulting that excellent Report, it 
 will be found that very few impediments (if any) are thrown in 
 the way of the Negro's obtaining justice, who asserts his right 
 or title to freedom, should the same be contested ; and it will 
 appear, by a few minutes' inspection of this Report, that the 
 laws do not leave the Negro so destitute of protection as may 
 be commonly supposed. A Negro asserting his right to free- 
 dom, ill the island of Jamaica, may bring an action in a court 
 of justice to try and enforce such right; and should he fail 
 therein, he may institute other proceedings for such purpose. 
 
216 APPENDIX U. 
 
 Appeals are also allowed to the Negroes, under the laws of 
 Jamaica; and until the appeal be heard and determined the 
 Negro has a right to enjoy his liberty. In this able Report will 
 be found the evidence of the Attorney-General of Jamaica, 
 who deposed to the fact that many actions of trespass have 
 been entertained on the part of Negroes or Coloured persons, 
 for the purpose of asserting their right of freedom, and who 
 by these means recovered, against those opposing such claims, 
 damages to the amount of 250 Z. in some cases. In almost 
 every case where an action of trespass has been brought, or a 
 writ de homine replegiando has been sued out, the plaintiffs 
 claiming their rights have obtained redress. 
 
 " My honourable and learned Friend has also asked. Why 
 will not the House of Assembly of Jamaica pass a law to attach 
 the Negro to the soill At ihis advanced time of the night, it 
 would be unwise for me to enter into a detail of the whole 
 of the reasons which I have understood have actuated that 
 Assembly in not proceeding to frame such an enactment. But 
 my honourable and learned Friend, I must say, has made the 
 most unfair comparison between the system of culture pursued 
 with respect to the soil of a northern climate like England, 
 and that followed upon the plantations in a tropical country 
 like the West Indies. The vegetable provisions of the Negro, 
 which have been alluded to, are raised upon a soil far different 
 from that on which the sugar-cane is grown. They are cul- 
 tivated upon two distinct soils ; and I would remind my honour- 
 able and learned Friend (if he has looked at the Report to 
 which I have before alluded), that it is particularly mentioned 
 therein, that a fair proportion of estates in Jamaica are coffee 
 plantations. The honourable and learned Gentleman does not 
 seem to be aware, in considering the question of attaching the 
 Negro to the soil, that the frequent hurricanes which occur in 
 the West Indies, in time, often wash or force away the soil, 
 and particularly upon coffee properties, and that in such cases 
 the plantations are oftentimes afterwards not worth keep- 
 ing up. The unfortunate beings then left on the estates, if 
 legally and absolutely attached to the soil, would be compelled 
 to remain, at the risk of starvation. When, therefore, my 
 honourable and learned Friend asks why this is not done, why 
 the Negro is not absolutely attached to the soil ; I reply, that 
 
^ APPENDIX U. 217 
 
 if I had time, and it were not for the danger of exhausting the 
 patience of the House, I could give him most full and satis- 
 factory reasons to prove that the Assembly of Jamaica have 
 been justified in pausing before they adopted such a plan. 
 
 ** I am very willing to allow to my honourable and learned 
 Friend, that there are certainly evils of serious magnitude 
 inherent in the state of slavery in the West Indies ; but I would 
 firmly contend (and I think every reasonable man who has 
 thought on the subject must be willing to allow) that as the 
 West-India colonists have not been placed in the situation in 
 which they now stand without the direct and solemn authority 
 of the Legislature of the mother country, and the most express 
 encouragement on the part of the British Government, it is only 
 their due, it would only be an act of mere and positive justice 
 towards them, if the Legislature should now think proper to 
 take their property into its own hands, and to submit it to a 
 system of management essentially different from that which it 
 has hitherto received, that the Legislature of Great Britain 
 should, at the same time, grant to the West-Iudia planters the 
 most liberal, the most full, and the most satisfactory compen- 
 sation. Whatever weight the argument of the honourable 
 Member for Weymouth may have had with the House, I still 
 contend that the slave is the property of his master; and I say 
 again, that the Legislature of this country is bound to give to 
 the planter the fullest and most adequate remuneration for 
 any deprivation of, or change in, his right of property, and 
 the most complete indemnity against any dangers which may 
 result from its interference therewith." 
 
 We shall subjoin but a very few brief remarks on the above 
 speech of Mr. Bernal, having in the preceding notes antici- 
 pated some of the topics to which it adverts. 
 
 The alleged improvements in the condition of the slaves, and 
 the humanity of the Consolidated Slave Law of Jamaica, have 
 already been fully treated of. (See p. 199 and p. 148.) 
 
 With respect to the references made by Mr. Brougham to 
 the Jamaica newspapers, and to the proofs he thence deduced 
 of the unprecedented degradation of the Negro slave, it did 
 not require the talents and wit of that gentleman to use them 
 ^0 as to produce a strong impression. A simple inspection of 
 
 2 F 
 
218 APPENDIX U. 
 
 any one number of the Royal Gazette of Jamaica is quite suffi- 
 cient, without the aid of eloquence or exaggeration, deeply to 
 aiFect every feeling mind. 
 
 It has been already freely admitted, that a considerable im- 
 provement has taken place, uithin the last six or seven years, 
 in respect to the opportunity allowed to free persons of esta- 
 blishing their right to freedom. Stiil, the onus probandi lies on 
 themf at the tremendous risk of hopeless and interminable 
 bondage. Still, not only a black skin, but a tinge of African 
 blood, constitutes presumptive evidence of slavery ; whereas 
 the presumption ought surely ever to be in favour of freedom. 
 Besides which, the non-admissibility of the evidence of slaves, 
 or of presumed slaves, must often be fatal even to the most 
 just claims of liberty. This boasted improvement, moreover, 
 be it remembered, is not any protection whatever to the slaves, 
 but only to the enfranchised. It may, to a certain degree, 
 prevent persons from being unjustly deprived of their freedom 
 when once acquired ; but it leaves numberless cases of the 
 most grievous oppression wholly unredressed. An example of 
 this kind has just presented itself to our eyes, on opening the 
 Royal Gazette of Jamaica for the 26th April 1823. It will be 
 found to comport but ill with the views of Mr. Bernal, or the 
 statements in the Jamaica Report of 1816. 
 
 " St. p:iizabeth's Workhouse, March 4, 1823. 
 " Notice is hereby given, that unless the undermentioned 
 slaves are taken out of this Workhouse prior to Tuesday tlie 
 29th day of April next, they will, on that day, between ti.e 
 hours of ten and twelve o'clock in the forenoon, be put up to 
 public sale, to the highest and best bidder, at the Post-office 
 here, agreeably to the Workhouse Law now in force, for the 
 payment of their fees." 
 
 The first in the list of these unhappy persons is the fol- 
 lowing : — "Shekier, a Bermudian, five feet five inches, no 
 marks ; says he is freCf but has no document ; bold looking, 
 full faced, full whiskers, apparently about forty years of age ; 
 says he sailed some time ago with a Captain Johnson, on 
 board a brig called the Clump, but whither she was bound 
 he does not say, only that the brig was lost at sea : he is very 
 plausible, and speaks good English." 
 
 In three days after the publication of this advertisement. 
 
APPENDIX U. 219 
 
 and only about a fortnight before the date of Mr. Bernal's 
 speech, this poor fellow, thrown on the itdiosj)i!al)le shores of 
 Jamaica by accident, speaking good English, saying he is free, 
 and as a proof of it, though he has no document (and how 
 couhl a shipwrecked mariner have any document?), yet having 
 no marks (no marks even of the wiiip. we presume), was 
 doomed to be sold to the highest bidder, agreeably to the 
 humane Workhouse Law of Jamaica, for payment of his fees ! 
 Can such a state of things be long endured by the Parliament 
 and people of England'? 
 
 The main error, however, into winch Mr. Bernal has been 
 misled, is the statement on which he grounds his objections 
 to the adscriptio glehce, namely, that the soil ada])ted for 
 provisions is different from that on which sugar-cane is 
 sjrown : ** they are cultivated," lie says, ** on two distinct 
 soils." Never have respectable men been induced, on grounds 
 njore utterly unreal and fallacious, to resist a great and ad- 
 mitted improvement. We take upon us to assert broadly, 
 that the very same lands which are best suited to the growth of 
 the sugar-cane, are also well suited to the growth of provisions, 
 and of many other articles; and we are willing to join issue 
 with the West-Indian planters on that fact. Hear what Mr. 
 Roughley, a practical Jauiaica planter, says on this subject. 
 He represents a *' dark brown friable, unctuous soil, upon a 
 clay," as the best to produce caiies ; but adds, that even this 
 soil, " from the exhausting nature of the sugar-cane," requires 
 manure, p. 218. Will any planter say that such land would not 
 be well adapted for provisions] Indeed, Mr. Roughley expressly 
 says, '* So much corn isusualli/ grown through the cane pieces, 
 that seldom a separate corn piece is grown on an estate to afford 
 a supply." p. 399. And if cane land will bear at one lime both 
 cane and corn, will any man believe that it will not grow corn 
 alone] — Again: Mr. Stewart, another practical planter, says, 
 " The soils adapted to the sugar cane arc the various rich 
 loams and molds, and clay with a superstratum of mold." 
 p. 103. ** The soil best adapted for the coffee-tree is a deep 
 brown loam." p. 114. And yet we are to believe that land 
 capable of producing the sugar-cane is notcapable of producing 
 provisions or coffee! It is true, that land may grow provi.'.ions 
 well >vhich, from its hilly or rocky natuie, may be ill adapted 
 
220 
 
 APPENDIX V, 
 
 for the cane, or from its exuberant richness may yield sugar 
 of an indifferent quality ; but it is no less true, that there is no 
 land, on which the cane will thrive, on which a great variety 
 of other articles, both for food and for commerce, will not also 
 thrive, and which may not, moreover, be converted into 
 luxuriantpastures. 
 
 On the subject of compensation, we have only to say, that 
 we shall willingly pay our fair share of whatever sum the West 
 Indians shall prove, to the satisfaction of Parliament, to be 
 fairly due to them for any changes which they may be com- 
 pelled to adopt, with a view to the early termination of the 
 present opprobrious system. 
 
 V. 
 
 Mr. Baring, " if called upon to say what -part of the globe 
 most 'particularly excited his sympathy and commiseration, 
 does not believe that he should fix upon the Negroes in the 
 West Indies, as far as 7'egards their food and clothing y and 
 the whole of their treatment,^' (p. 97.) 
 
 Mr. Baring is of opinion that the sufferings of the Negro 
 have been overstated. Has he no suspicion that his comforts 
 may have been overstated ? He intimates none. He reserves 
 his incredulity for those who feel for the Negro, and places 
 his confidence in those who hold him in bondage, and profit 
 by his toil. But the mode by which he has brought himself 
 to this state of mind is worthy of notice. He has seen Negro 
 slavery in Georgia and Carolina, and he infers, from what he 
 saw there, that the picture given of Negro slavery in the West 
 Indies is overcharged. We certainly have no idea that a gen- 
 tleman bearing the name of Baring, in passing through any 
 portion of the United States, where that name is so known and 
 honoured, could have a fair opportunity of examining, with 
 the necessary minuteness, the slate of the plantation slave. 
 Wherever he went he would be attended and feted. Whatever 
 he saw he would see in presence of kind and anxious hosts. 
 
APPKNDIX V. 221 
 
 Offensive sights would be removed. And it could not be 
 expected that the planters of Georgia and Carolina would fail 
 to extol the humanity of the system which they themselves 
 ministered. We must know more of Mr. Baring's means of 
 information, and that his opinion of American slavery has not 
 been formed, as his opinion of West-Indian slavery appears to 
 have been formed, on the testimony of the holders of slaves 
 or their dependants, before we can place implicit reliance upon 
 it. But, even if we wave all these grounds of hesitation, and 
 admit that he has fairly estimated the slavery of Carolina and 
 Georgia, we should still deny that any inference could thence 
 be drawn in favour of the condition of the West-Indian slave. 
 To prove this, to the satisfaction of any sound political econo- 
 mist like Mr. Baring, it is only necessary to compare the pro- 
 gress of population in the two cases, as it is exhibited in au- 
 thentic statistical records. The slave population of the United 
 States has been increasing, since 1790, at a rate which doubles 
 its number in twenty-two or twenty-three years ; while the 
 slave population of Jamaica (and the case in most of the 
 other colonies is equally, if not more, unfavourable), has been 
 decreasing during the same period at an enormous rate. The 
 calculation will be found accurately made in Mr. Croppers 
 ** Letter on the injurious Effects of HighPrices and the beneficial 
 Effects of Low Prices on the Condition of Slavery," p. 15. The 
 result of it is, that had the Jamaica system not been more 
 rigorous than the American system, the population of that island 
 in 1820, instead of being 340,000, ought to have been about 
 750,0(10 ; thus indicating a waste of human life, in that single 
 colony, in the space of thirty years, of about 410,000 human 
 beings. Nay, the case is still more aggravated when we con- 
 sider the superior facility with which human life may be sus- 
 tained in Jamaica, than in Carolina, Virginia, &c. : for though 
 we refuse credit to the exaggerated statement of the Jamaica 
 Assembly in 181(>, that about twelve or thirteen days' labour 
 in the year is amply sufficient to supply a slave and his family 
 with food, we nevertheless admit, tliat the raising of provisions 
 is a much less operose process there than in the slave states 
 of America. We call upon Mr. Baring to account for this vast 
 difference in the progress of population, between the slaves of 
 the United States and those of the West Indies, on any hypo- 
 
222 APPENDIX V. 
 
 thesis, consistent with fact, which does not involve the severe 
 and even oppressive treatment of the latter. He will not say 
 that even the slaves of Georgia and Carolina are too well off; 
 and yet their state, judging by the general results, must be 
 paradise as compared with that of the Jamaica slave. Does 
 the acute and penetrating mind of Mr. Baring see no ground, 
 in this extraordinary comparative decrease, for distrusting both 
 his conclusions and the premises on which they are founded ? 
 The present, however, is a case in which general principles 
 are apt to be strangely overlooked. Mr. Baring would revolt 
 from the bare idea of despotic authority being committed to 
 any man, or set of men, even in this moral land. The correct 
 principles and elevated tone of feeling of the individuals en- 
 trusted with it, would form no apology in his eyes for dele- 
 gating to them a power so sure to be abused. While man is 
 what he is, the possession of uncontrouled dominion must lead 
 to wrong and oppression. But all these sound anticipations 
 are reversed in the case of the West indies. There, men who 
 (Mr. Baring himself tells us) are so deficient in good morals 
 that he deems it an impossibility the slaves should derive any 
 religious or moral improvement from them, are nevertheless 
 invested with an extent of uncontrouled power over the persons 
 and happinessof their dependants, beyond what even the highest 
 magistrates in this country possess ; and with this further dif- 
 ference, that the latter are responsible, while the former are 
 not. And yet Mr. Baring does not intimate a doubt that there 
 ail is as it ought to l)e ; but seems even disposed to quarrel 
 with those who, being a little more sceptical, have looked into 
 the matter in detail, and have satisfied themselves that the state 
 of the slaves, as to food, clothing, and general treatment, is 
 the reverse of what Mr. Baring assumes it to be. 
 
 We feel it to be unnecessary to recur to the statements con- 
 tained in <' Negro Slavery,'' in proof of the justice of this 
 opinion. The .witnesses who have there spoken are alive. 
 They have stated the things which they have seen. They 
 have testified, not to individual instances of cruelty merely, but 
 to the general every-day practice, as actually beheld with their 
 own eyes, on estates where the treatment was better than the 
 average treatment. But Mr. Baring does not believe them. 
 Let him, then, specify the precise points in their statements 
 
APPENDIX V. 223 
 
 to which he objects, and let him afford them the opportunity 
 of verifying them. In the mean time, we beg to refer him, in 
 addition to the details contained in the preceding pages, to 
 another witness, Mr. Stewart. His testimony is to the follow- 
 ing effect. 
 
 " It may truly be said, that the treatment of the slave 
 depends in a great measure upon the character and temper of 
 his master or manager. How ineffectual to the slaves are 
 humane and judicious laws, if a barbarous master or overseer 
 has it in his power to evade them in various ways ! There can 
 be no hesitation in saying, that the slave who lives under the 
 immediate superintendance of a humane and considerate master 
 enjoys a life of as much comfort and contentment as the con- 
 dition of a slave is capable of. This, perhaps, is the utmost that 
 can be said: for, though the wants of the slave may be supplied 
 by the benelicent provisions of such a master, and he may 
 consequently be said to be, so far, more desirably situated than 
 many of the poorer peasantry of Great Britain, yet to argue 
 generally that he is happier than they, an assertion which one 
 frequently hears, is certainly saying too much." "But very 
 differently situated is the poor slave who is doomed to toil for a 
 master of a character directly opposite to the foregoing." " Un- 
 doubtedly this is a state of grievous hardship. It may be said 
 that there are few masters of the character here described. 
 It were to be wished it were so ; but men's hearts are not 
 likely to be softened by habits of too uncontrouled domi- 
 nion over their fellow-men. With respect to interest pre- 
 vailing over a disposition to oppress ; while we allow all due 
 weight to this motive, in the prudent and judicious owner, it 
 will not always counteract the petty injustice to which the slave 
 is subject from ignorant masters and unfeeling overseers. A 
 slave may complain, and justly complain, that he is made to 
 labour at unseasonable hours, and on days which the law allots 
 to him ; and that he is neither fed nor clothed as the law directs ; 
 but who is to prove these transgressions ? The slave cannot, 
 for the law does not recognise the validity of his testimony 
 against a White man. If the master were put upon his oath, 
 equally nugatory would be this expedient ; for the man who 
 wants rectitude and feeling to be just to his slaves, will hardly 
 scruple to serve his ends by perjury. Again: if a slave is 
 
224 APPENDIX V. 
 
 punished or beat with improper and illegal severity, or even cut 
 and maimed — not to mention the numerous acts of petty tyranny to 
 which he is subject under a cruel master — and there is no legal 
 evidence to prove those enormities, the offender cannot be 
 convicted of them. He may, then, go on with impunity in this 
 system of oppression, as long as he can contrive to keep with- 
 out the reach of the laws. Extreme cashes of this nature, it may 
 be said, seldom occur ; but such a supposition is no argument 
 that the law should not provide effectually against them. Even 
 murder may escape condign punishment while this defect in 
 the slave laws is suffered to exist. There is only one way of 
 removing this obstacle to the more effectual amelioration of 
 the condition of the slave ; and that is, by rendering his evi- 
 dence, under certain modifications, legally admissible against 
 Whites. Such an innovation would indeed probably raise an 
 outcry among a certain class of persons, who see danger in 
 every boon of kindness extended to the slaves ; but a day will 
 arrive, when it will be a subject of wonder, even in the West 
 Indies, that human beings should have been precluded the 
 means of procuring legal redress against injury and oppression ; 
 that the shadow and mockery of justice should have been held 
 out to them, while an insuperable bar was placed between 
 them and the reality." 
 
 So much for the general state of the slaves. Now take an 
 individual case, as given by an eye-witness, Mr. Gilgras, a 
 Methodist Missionary. 
 
 " A master of slaves who lived near us in Kingston, Jamaica, 
 exercised his barbarities on a Sabbath morning, while we 
 were worshipping God in the chapel ; and the cries of the 
 female sufferers have frequently interrupted us in our devotions. 
 But there was no redress for them or for us. This man wanted 
 money, and, one of the female slaves having two fine children, 
 he sold one of them, and the child was torn from her maternal 
 affection. In the agony of her feelings she made a hideous 
 howling, and for that crime was flogged. Soon after he sold 
 her other child. This 'turned her heart within her,* and im- 
 pelled her into a kind of madness. She howled night and day 
 in the yard ; tore her hair ; ran up and down the streets and 
 the parade, rending the heavens with her cries, and literally 
 watering the earth with her tears. Her constant cry was, * Da 
 
^ APPENDIX V. 225 
 
 wicked massa Jeic, he sell my children. Will no Buckra massa 
 pity Negai' 7 What me do ? Me no have one child / ' As she «tood 
 before the window, she said, lifting up her hands towards 
 heaven, * My massa, do, my massa minister, pity me ! My 
 heart do so' (shaking herself violently), ' my heart do so, because 
 me have no child. Me go to massa house, in massa yard, and in 
 my hut, and me no see 'e?«/ And then her cry went up to God." 
 ( Watsons Defence of the Methodists, p. 26.) 
 
 Mr, Stewart gives us another case, which could only have 
 occurred in a slave colony. 
 
 ** An overseer, well known as a man of violent and tyrannical 
 temper, was employed, by a great attorney, on an estate for 
 which he was receiver. His treatment of the slaves was so cruel 
 and oppressive, that, after reiterated and fruitless complaints, 
 numbers of them absconded from the property, and would not re- 
 turn to it, doubtless from a dread of the punishment that awaited 
 them. At length, a party of these fugitive slaves formed the 
 desperate anH atrocious design of murdering this man ; which 
 purpose they effected, and subsequently suffered death for the 
 crime. This man had been suffered to hold his situation for 
 many years prior to this catastrophe, notwithstanding that his 
 cruelties were notorious to the whole neighbourhood. The 
 assassins neither robbed the house, nor molested the wife and 
 child of their victim, though both were in their power." p. 229. 
 Mr. Stewart adds, that " this case was an unusual one." We 
 have no doubt it was : and yet, what must be the state of law 
 and feeling in a community where such a monster was permitted 
 "for many years" to exercise his "notorious" cruelties and 
 oppressions, without the slightest interruption either from 
 employer or magistrate? 
 
 But we are unwilling to prolong this discussion. Take, how- 
 ever, one fact, as to food. The law of the Leeward Islands of 
 2 1 st April 1 708, sf ill in force — (see House of Com mons papers of 
 5th April 1816, p. 56) — prescribes, as the weekly allowance of 
 adult labouring slaves, either nine pints of unground corn or 
 beans or oatmeal, or eight pints of pease or wheat flour or corn 
 meal, or seven pints of rice, or eight pounds of biscuit, or 
 twenty pounds of potatoes or yams ; and it authorizes the 
 master, in the time of crop, to diminish even this scanty allow- 
 ance by one-fifth. That this allowance is miserably scanty, 
 
 2g 
 
:22G APPENDIX w. 
 
 barely sufficient to keep a man alive, will be evident to every 
 one who knows any thing of the matter, or who will make the 
 experiment on a labourer in this country. But it is demon- 
 strated to be so by this fact, that the prison allowance to slaves 
 in Jamaica, and the stated allowance to labouring slaves in the 
 Bahamas, is more than double the allowance to labouring slaves 
 in the Leeward Islands, beingtwenty-onepintsof corn or wheat 
 flour, fifty-six pounds of yams or potatoes, &c. 
 
 Mr. Baring thinks, with the West Indians, that the slaves are 
 as happy as the peasantry in England. *' But let us suppose 
 a state of things in this country, in which every bailiff" of an 
 estate should be armed with a power of driving the labourers, 
 both men and women, to their work, by means of the lash ; and 
 should also be at liberty to use his entire discretion as to the 
 infliction of punishment, by confinement to «»?/ extent, and by 
 the cart-whip to the extent oi thirty-nine lashes on the bare body, 
 for any conduct which he might construe into an ofi^ence : 
 what, in this case, would be the condition of- the English 
 peasantry ? And can we regard the overseers of the West Indies 
 as safer depositories of power than English bailiffs would be? 
 Or are the overseers of the West Indies angels, and not men, 
 that there is no risk of their abusing the authority thus reposed 
 in them ?" — ( Review , &c. p. 17.) 
 
 For a reply to what Mr. Baring says respecting the opinions 
 of Governors^ &c. we beg to refer to Appendix S, p. 199. 
 
 w. 
 
 ** Moral degradation,'' &c. (p. 98.) 
 
 Mr. Baring admits the sad moral degradation of the Ne- 
 groes. But is it not obvious that that admission involves so 
 much culpable negligence (to say no more) on the part of the 
 masters, as of itself furnishes a strong presumption that all 
 cannot be as right in other respects as Mr. Baring would flatter 
 himself it is? 
 
^ APi'UNDix X. 227 
 
 X. 
 
 " The danger is extu:me/' &c. (p. 99.) 
 
 Mr. Baring quotes the authority of Sir James Leitb, the 
 Governor of Barbadoes, in support of the assertion that 
 the Barbadoes commotion in 1810 was owing to reports of 
 what was doing at home. Where is that authority to be fonnd ? 
 We do not believe that any such has ever been produced. On 
 the contrary, the Government of the day declined to produce 
 Sir James Leith's dispalclies, and the West Indians prudently 
 forbore to call for them. It is competent to Mr. Baring, how- 
 ever, now to call for them ; and we trust he will do so, feeling 
 perfectly persuaded that they will throw a new and instructive 
 light on the whole subject. They will tend, we have no doubt 
 wiiatever, to dissipate the alarms which are sedulously creat- 
 ing at the present moment, to serve an obvious purpose, by 
 rumours of apprehended insurrection ; and which new plots 
 may even be got up to magnify — plots issuing, like former 
 plots, in the destruction, not of any White life, but of abun- 
 dance of Black lives. These rumours of plots, and these para- 
 graphs of alarm, are quite familiar to all who lived during 
 the Slave-Trade controversy. There was a regular importa- 
 tion of them every year; and so there will be again. 
 
 We will admit that a discussion about an Agrarian law might, 
 under certain supposable circumstances, produce agitation in 
 the minds of the lower classes in this country. We do not 
 believe, however, that it would, unless they were suffering 
 severely from the pressure of some great and touching evil, 
 which they supposed the Government and Parliament could 
 obviate. But there is no analogy between the two cases. Here, 
 almost every man we meet can read, and understand, and dis- 
 cuss : in Barbadoes, we question whether any one slave can 
 read a newspaper, if he could have access to it. And who is 
 to communicate intelligence to him on the subject? The 
 Whites and People of Colour are interested, as they conceive, 
 in withholding such intelligence from him, — But should wf, 
 
228 APPENDIX X. 
 
 either in our own case or in that of Ireland, admit it as a 
 valid reason for forbearing to discuss great and acknowledged 
 evils, under which the mass of the population might labour, 
 with a view to their effectual relief, that the minds of the 
 sufferers might be agitated by the discussion ? If so, what 
 evil could ever be remedied? But surely the danger is infi- 
 nitely less in discussing, at 5000 or 6000 miles' distance, the 
 evils under which the ignorant, non-reading slaves of Jamaica, 
 Demarara, or Barbadoes labour, especially as almost every one 
 of them speaks only a jargon which would be unintelligible 
 in this country, and to almost every one of them the language 
 of our newspapers would be still more unintelligible. Of 
 this, whatever may be said on the subject in Parliamentary 
 speeches, and in Memorials and Reports from the islands, 
 resident West Indians are as fully persuaded as we are. 
 Even this very year, when the use made of such insertions by 
 their opponents should have taught them a little controversial 
 prudence, what do we find in the Royal Gazette of Jamaica? 
 In the Supplement to that Gazette, from May 31 to June 7, 
 1823, is inserted a letter on the subject of the projected 
 emancipation of the slaves, signed *' Quercus," and dated ** St. 
 Ann's, May 14, 1823," which had originally appeared in the 
 Jamaica Journal. It is too long to be transcribed, but it may 
 be seen, by any gentleman who wishes to satisfy himself re- 
 specting it, either at Lloyd's, or at tlie Jamaica Coffee-house. 
 The only attempt at disguise, is the flimsy one of printing Mr, 
 Wilberforce's name thus, " W — e ;" and the word eman- 
 cipation (though this is not done uniformly) thus " e -n.'* 
 
 Considering the whole drift and texture of this paper, such 
 expedients can serve no better purpose of concealment, than 
 the attempt of the foolish bird to conceal itself by hiding its 
 head under its wing. No Negro, who could understand the 
 discussions in our newspapers, if he had access to those 
 papers, but must see from this Jamaica Gazette, published in 
 Kingston, and transmitted to almost every plantation in the 
 island, that there is at this moment a violent conflict between 
 the planters of our Colonies, and a large party in England 
 wlio espouse the cause of the slaves; and that their freedom 
 is the subject of debate. This is manifest from every line of 
 the long and inflammatory letter of ** Quercus." But will 
 
. APPENDIX X. 220 
 
 any one believe, that, if there were any truth in the statements 
 of apprehended danger from Parliamentary or public discus- 
 sion on this point ; if there were any truth in the statements 
 that the Negroes would be inflamed to insurrection by these 
 discussions, or even that they had any means of hearing of 
 them, or understanding them ; a letter of this description 
 would have been sufl'ered to appear first in the Jamaica 
 Journal, and then, for the manifest purpose of more extensive 
 circulation, be inserted in the Royal Gazette of the Island ? 
 It is absolutely impossible. 
 
 The paper begins with a violent attack on the " African 
 Society," although that Society has taken no part in the pre- 
 sent movement. They are stated to " have never ceased, by 
 their emissaries and reports, to aim at the anticipation of their 
 ultimate schemes in the excitation of rebellion." Those emis- 
 saries (we need not say, the mere figment of the writer's brain), 
 " many of whom are now in this island," were sent out, "like 
 Saul, breathing fury and slaughter," but were converted from 
 their horrid purposes by the mere sight of slavery: "They 
 have perceived, instead of the horrible and disgusting illusions 
 attached to the name of slavery, the complete happiness of 
 the Negroes ; they have perceived that slavery exists only in 
 the name, which in this country, compared with the boasted 
 liberty of some of their own countrymen, is a service of perfect 
 freedom.'' — This is surely suflicientiy intelligible. — The sub- 
 stance of the violent debate which took place on the Registry 
 Bill, on the 19th June 1816, is then given, and the writer 
 proceeds to revile the Abolitionists : " Language possesses not 
 terms sufficient to convey the horror and detestation in which" 
 their conduct "ought to be held." Their deceit "would be 
 disgraceful to the inmates of Pandemonium itself. Blood and 
 massacre their objects ; privileged in the practice of the most 
 
 malignant passions f &c. Again, " Even Mr. W e 
 
 himself, on that day declared that it was too much for a pa- 
 tient man to hear without emotion, that he and his friends 
 should be charged with endeavouring to excite insurrection, 
 when for twenty-seven years they had been continually vin- 
 dicating themselves from the charge of wishing to make the 
 slaves free.'' — We do not quote the words of "Quercus" as 
 being correct in point of statement, but as shewing, that, in 
 
230 APPENDIX Y. 
 
 the very heart of this slave colony, they are not half so fearful 
 as some of our senators are, lest '* one rash word, one too 
 ardent expression, should raise a flame not to be extinguished." 
 Even Mr. Canning is quoted as having declared that the 
 House of Commons never entertained the notion of including 
 ** emancipation'^ [at full length, thus giving the key to the 
 cipher in other parts] ** with the measure of abolition.'* 
 
 After this, who will may believe the allegations of danger 
 of insurrection among the slaves from the public discussion 
 of their condition in this country. 
 
 Y. 
 
 " Are any of these cases to be compared with the West Indies," 
 ^c , " the Slaves outnumbering the Whites by at least ten to 
 one?'' (p. 100.) 
 
 And yet, what would gentlemen have? We cannot make cases. 
 We must take the best analogies we can find ; and certainly 
 those produced by Mr, Buxton, notwithstanding the statements 
 of Mr. Baring, are abundantly strong. But there are still 
 stronger to be produced. That of Hayti, and that also of Sierra 
 Leone, are, in their different ways, very decisive confirmatory 
 presumptions in favour of the safety, and also of the beneficial 
 effects, of emancipation voluntarily conceded. Both these cases 
 will be found fully stated in Mr. Clarkson's "Thoughts on the 
 Necessity of improving the Condition of the Slaves, and on the 
 Practicability, Safety, and Advantages of Emancipation ;'' a 
 work which we particularly recommend to the perusal of Mr. 
 Baring. Mr. Clarkson has omitted to notice the case of Gua- 
 daloupe, which is still more in point than any he has mentioned. 
 We have already briefly adverted to it; and we hope hereafter 
 to give a more detailed statement of the history and effects of 
 this striking experiment in Negro emancipation. As to the 
 disproportion of ten Blacks to one White in our colonies, that 
 disproportion was at least as great in Guadaloupc, and it is 
 ten times as great in Sierra Leone, 
 
APPENDIX Z, 231 
 
 ** If these children are born free, who is to take care of them? " 
 " You do away the interest of the proprietor in them:" *'it 
 will not be worth his while to bring them up." " Ht has not 
 the same reason for taking care of the mother or the offspring." 
 (p. 101.) 
 We really do not think so badly of the West Indians as Mr. 
 Baring seems to do. We do not believe they will kill the chil- 
 dren because they are to have no permanent interest in them. 
 But, in fact, they have a permanent interest in the future tenantry 
 and labourers of their estates. What is it that gives to land, 
 any where, its value, but population? And what an astonishing 
 rise has taken place in the value of land, wherever a free popu- 
 lation has increased t Waving, however, this view of the sub- 
 ject, we would ask Mr. Baring, Who takes care of them now ? 
 In Jamaica, and many of the other colonies, they are now fed, 
 from infancy till they can provide for themselves, by their pa- 
 rents, and, with slight exceptions, by their parents alone. This 
 they have done hitherto by means of their Sundays and a day 
 in a fortnight out of crop. But if a day in the week be added, as 
 it ought, and as we trust is intended, to the Sundays, they will 
 then possess more adequate means of providing for them. If 
 the time now granted them has hitherto been deemed suffi- 
 cient by West-Indians {we certainly do not think it so) for the 
 maintenance of the slaves and their families, then they must 
 admit, that, with an additional day in the week, there can be 
 no doubt as to the sufficiency of their means. We may, in that 
 case, safely leave the question of food, which is a most im- 
 portant question, to parental afl'ection. As for clothing, the 
 Negro children now go in general stark naked. Its cost, how- 
 ever, in any case, would be a mere trifle, and, considering all 
 we have heard of the facility with which Negroes raise provi- 
 sions, poultry, pigs, &c., and the prices they obtain for them 
 in the market, would be easily procurable. Then, when the 
 children arrived at the age of five or six, they would be capable 
 of doing much to aid their parents and maintain themselves. We 
 have seen, that at that age they are now formed into gangs, 
 (p. 181), under a driveress ; and that they are made extremely 
 
2*32 APPKNDTX A A. 
 
 useful in weeding canes, distributing- manure, &e. Indeed, in 
 weeding canes, a most important work, they do nearly as much 
 as adults. If the labour of an adult, in twelve or thirteen days 
 in the year, can produce such results as the Jamaica Assembly 
 and Sir R. Woodford tell us it will, then the labour even of 
 children of this age, continued for every day in the year, must 
 be attended with very considerable effects, increasing daily 
 as they advance in life. A large portion of their time would, 
 however, we trust, be given to other objects, and particularly 
 to that of education. And this point Mr. Baring has wholly over- 
 looked. The plan of emancipating the children is inseparably 
 combined with a system of instruction conducted under the super- 
 intendence of Government, and of proper persons appointed by 
 them. Even if the proprietor's interest in the children could be 
 regarded as lessened by this arrangement, a substitute would be 
 found for it in the care of the teachers who would be required 
 to conduct their Christian education. A system of strict regu- 
 lation and controul, proceeding on general rules, and not on 
 private caprice, would undoubtedly be indispensable ; and the 
 public police might, if needful, be invigorated as the private 
 police was relaxed. But into these points of detail it is not ne- 
 cessary now to enter. All we meant to do, in adverting to the 
 subject, Avas to shew that Mr. Baring's objection to the plan was 
 not so well founded as he seems to have apprehended ; and 
 that, as far as there is any weight in it, it divests West Indian 
 proprietors of all those kindly feelings which induce the English 
 gentleman to labour for the temporal comfort and moral im- 
 provement of his poorer neighbours. 
 
 AA. 
 
 " If we arrive at a free Black population, the islands will be 
 gone from this eountry.'^ *' Such a population will not consent 
 
 ' to devote their labours to proprietors resident in England.'^ 
 ** Establish such a state of society, and the colonies would be 
 of no farther value to Great Britain,'' (p. 102.) 
 
 Such is the argument of Mr. Baring. — Undoubtedly it would 
 be most absurd, to suppose that a free Black population would 
 
AfPENDlX AA. 233 
 
 eontihue to devote their labours to proprietors resident either 
 in the West Indies or in England. It would be the very height 
 of extravagance to entertain such an idea. It would be the 
 same absurdity which is now involved in maintaining that the 
 slaves labour for their masters without the stimulus of the whip. 
 But would the proprietors of the soil be worse off, or would 
 the public interests suffer, if labourers in the West Indies 
 worked, as labourers in England work, from a view not to the 
 benefit of their employers, but of themselves? A free Black 
 population would unquestionably act upon the same principles, 
 and with the same ends in view, as a free White population. 
 They would be stimulated by a regard to their own interests, 
 not to that of their employers ; but under the operation of this 
 principle the interests of employers, as well as the general 
 interests of the state, would, in the West Indies, as in every 
 other portion of the globe, be more effectually served than they 
 can possibly be by compulsory labour under the lash. We 
 refer Mr. Baring to Mr. Cropper's and Mr. Adam Hodgson's 
 pamphlets for proof of this proposition. It is a proposition, 
 indeed, about which we scarcely can believe that his own en- 
 lightened mind can entertain a doubt. We may have less sugar 
 from the West Indies, but we shall have it from some other 
 quarter. We shall, however, have a far more extended con- 
 sumption of our manufactures there ; and far more of individual 
 comfort and enjoyment. — Supposing that Bonaparte had not 
 madly attempted to restore the cart-whip in St. Domingo, 
 would that island have been lost to France ? Touissant had 
 preserved it for France. He had driven the English from it. 
 He had established tranquillity throughout the island. He had 
 revived agriculture. The testimony of the French functionaries 
 residing in St. Domingo at the time. General Vincent, General 
 La Croix, and Colonel Malenfant, is express and unequivocal 
 as to the astonishing state of prosperity to which the island 
 had been restored, and the order which reigned in every de- 
 partment of its administration. Would St. Domingo, under 
 these circumstances, have been of no value to France, had 
 France been wise enough to cherish the freedom of the Negroes, 
 instead of vainly attempting to crush it ? She would at this 
 moment have possessed a far more formidable West-Indian 
 power, and a more extensive West-Indian commerce, than we 
 
 2 H 
 
234 APPENDIX AA, 
 
 possess. Even after all the devastations which that island has 
 undergone, and under all the serious disadvantages which it 
 still e^iperiences, besides maintaining a large and growing 
 population in the overflowing abundance of all the necessaries 
 of life, and defraying all the expense of civil and military esta- 
 blishments and of education also, it carries on a very con- 
 siderable foreign commerce. In the year ending September 
 1821, 50,000 tons of shipping, belonging to the United States 
 alone, were employed in the trade of Hayti. Again : is the 
 trade of India, or Java, or Ceylon, less valuable, because the 
 inhabitants are free, and labour for their own benefit, and not 
 for the benefit of masters, either present or absent ? 
 
 We will present Mr. Baring with a striking fact illustrative 
 of our views of this subject; and although the details will 
 occupy more space than we could have wished, yet they are 
 too important, and too well authenticated, to be omitted. 
 
 In the year 1776, Samuel Nottingham, a Quaker, who be- 
 came possessed of a small estate in Tortola, to which were 
 attached twenty-five Negroes — viz. six men, ten women, four 
 boys, and five girls — determined on manumitting them. He 
 accordingly did manumit them by the following deed. 
 
 " Be it remembered, that whereas I, Samuel Nottingham, of 
 Long Island in the province of New York, gentleman, am 
 owner, or reputed owner, of a number of Negroes, on the island 
 of Tortola, in the English West Indies ; and considering that 
 liberty is their right and property, which in equity, justice, and 
 good conscience ought to be restored to them ; and having a 
 testimony in my heart against the iniquitous practice of enslaving 
 our fellow-men ; therefore, as far as in me lies, I conclude it 
 necessary for me to grant unto the said Negroes their natural 
 right of freedom, and, accordingly, I have granted, and by these 
 presents, in consideration of Five Pounds sterling to me by the 
 said Negroes paid at and before the sealing of this instrument, 
 and for divers others good causes and considerations me thereto 
 moving, do grant, bargain, sell, release, assure, and confirm, unto 
 all and every of the said Negroes, their liberty and freedom, as 
 fully and amply as though herein particularly and respectively 
 stated. And moreover, I, the said Samuel Nottingham, do cove- 
 nant and grant, for myself, my heirs, executors, and administra- 
 
APPENDIX AA. 2b5 
 
 tors, to and with the said Negroes respectively, that they, and 
 each of them, shall and may enjoy their freedom, and any 
 estate real or personal which they, or any of them, may acquire, 
 without the let, suit, hindrance, or molestation of me or my 
 heirs, or any person or persons claiming, or to claim, by, from, 
 or under me or them ; hereby quitting all claim and demand to 
 them and their posterity. In witness whereof, I have hereunto 
 set my hand and seal this 30th day of the 6th Month, 1776. 
 
 (Signed) " Samuel Nottingham." 
 
 " Sealed and delivered in the presence of us, 
 
 *< Nicholas Wain, 
 
 " Sarah Wain." 
 
 About six years afterwards, Samuel Nottingham addressed 
 to one of these slaves the following letter. — 
 
 « Dear George, " Bristol, 30th of 9th Month, 1782. 
 
 " Thy letter of the 8th of last 6th Month we received, and it 
 was well pleasing to us to hear of the present good disposition 
 of thyself and the rest of our late servants, whose welfare and 
 happiness both here and hereafter we have much at heart ; but 
 we are sorry to hear of the removal of poor John Venture, and 
 Harry, though not without hopes of their partaking of that 
 mercy which is extended to all, without respect of persons, 
 whether white or black. So, George, remember, what we write 
 to thee we write to all of you who once called us Master and 
 Mistress ; but now you are all free, as far as it is in our power to 
 make you so, because none are free indeed, except they are free 
 in Christ ; therefore, we admonish you, not as your master and 
 mistress, but as your friends and benefactors, beseeching you to 
 be cautious of your conduct and circumspect in your behaviour 
 to all, that none may accuse you of abusing that freedom which 
 we, in the course of Divine Providence,' have been permitted to 
 give you. Remember also, that, as free men and women, ye 
 stand accountable for every part of your conduct, and must 
 answer for the same in your own persons, if you do amiss ; in 
 which case the laws where you are have provided a punishment, 
 according to the nature of the offence ; but do well, and ye shall 
 have praise of the same. And that you may be enabled to live 
 honestly among men, we have given you our East-End plantation. 
 
236 APPENDIX AA. 
 
 in Fathog Bay, with every thing thereunto belonging, which we 
 will endeavour to have secured to you by all lawful ways 
 and means, that none may deprive you nor your offspring 
 of it, but that you may freely cultivate and improve it to your 
 own benefit and advantage, and thereby be provided with a 
 sufficient subsistence to live comfortably together, in all friend- 
 liness and cordiahty; assisting each other, that those more 
 advanced in years may advise the younger, and these submitting 
 to the counsel of the elder ; so that good order and harmony may 
 be preserved among you, which will assuredly draw dov/n the 
 blessing of the Most High, But if you have not wherewithal to 
 cultivate and improve the plantation yourselves, we advise you 
 to hire yourselves for a season to whom you please, as also the 
 plantation, if you think it necessary, till you acquire a sufficiency 
 to go on yourselves ; but in every step you take of this kind, 
 always remember the good of the whole. And as soon as you 
 can make a beginning on the plantation yourselves, with cotton 
 and provisions, we would by all means have you to do it, that 
 you may not be scattered and too much divided ; but endea^ 
 vour to dwell together, and be content with food and raiment ; 
 and a blessing will certainly attend you under the influence of 
 such a disposition. Tell Dorcas Vanterpool we are much 
 obliged to her for her friendly care and attendance of poor 
 John Venture and Harry, during their sickness. We shall be 
 pleased to hear how you go on by any opportunity, and that 
 you cautiously maintain a good report among the neighbours. 
 Live in love among yourselves, and the peace of Him who passeth 
 all understanding will assuredly be with you and yours ; which 
 we earnestly desire and pray for, being your sincere friends and 
 well-wishers, (Signed) *' Samuel Nottingham* 
 
 (Signed) " Mary Nottingham* 
 ^< To George Nottingham, one of the Negroes 
 
 belonging to the East-End Plantation, late 
 
 the property of Samuel Nottingham, at 
 
 Fathog Bay, in Tortpla," 
 
 In the year 1822 thi« little colony of free persons was visited 
 several times by two highly respectable gentlemen ; on whose 
 authority we are enabled to state the following particulars, 
 ** Of the original persons liberated, nine are still alive ; besides 
 
APPENDIX A A. 237 
 
 whom there are twenty-five of their children, and nine grand- 
 children; making in all forty-three persons. The whole of 
 them reside on the same plantation, which they have ever 
 since cultivated. Half of it is chiefly in provisions, and the 
 rest is used as pasturage for their stock, which consists of 
 twenty-eight cows, thirteen goats, and thirteen hogs. For- 
 merly they cultivated cotton, but, the price falling very low, 
 they did not continue to plant it. JefFery Nottingham, one of 
 those originally emancipated, exclusive of his share in the 
 plantation and stock, possesses five acres of land and a 
 house in Spanishtown, and a vessel of twenty-three feet keel. 
 Diana and Eve (born since 1776) have each a boat of seven- 
 teen and fourteen feet keel. For some years the seasons were 
 so bad that they found it difficult to get water for their stock, 
 and got little return for their labour : but still they had been 
 able to support themselves, and to acquire the property men- 
 tioned above, while they increased in number from twenty-five 
 to forty-three. Not one of them is now in debt ; and their 
 property is free from all incumbrance. Twelve of the grown-up 
 persons are members of the Methodist Society, and, with their 
 children, attend regularly the Methodist chapel at East-End, 
 except in case of sickness. During the whole period since 
 their emancipation none of them have been sued in court, or 
 brought before a magistrate to answer to any complaint. Only 
 one of them once obtained a warrant against a person who 
 had assaulted him, who begged his pardon and was forgiven. 
 The same person, on coming from sea, was arrested the day 
 he landed for a capitation tax on free persons, of which he 
 had not been apprized, and put into prison. The next day 
 be paid the money, about eighteen dollars, and was released. 
 Several of them can read and write. Jeffery's wife, Grace, 
 acts as schoolmistress : she reads well. They have lately 
 built three houses in their village, of wood, and shingled. The 
 whole of their houses had been destroyed by the hurricane of 
 1810, and have since been rebuilt. They are a fine healthy 
 race, all black, having intermarried with each other ; and seem 
 to dwell very happily together," 
 
 Now, we would put the question to Mr. Baring, Whether it 
 would have been more advantageous for the interests either of 
 the individuals or of the state, that Mr. Nottingham's twenty-five 
 
238 APPKNDIX BB. 
 
 slaves had continued slaves (liable to all the risks of inhuman 
 owners and overseers, and all the other evils of that condition, 
 and particularly to that progressive diminution of their num- 
 bers which has been the common fate of the slaves in almost 
 all our colonies, and among the r€st in Tortola) 5 or that they 
 should have been living free and in comfort for nearly fifty 
 years, during which they have accumulated some property, 
 and have increased from twenty- five to forty- three ? And, as 
 far as advantage to this country goes, we will venture to say 
 that the forty-three Nottinghams consume more of British 
 produce and manufactures in a year, and promote the traffic 
 of Tortola itself more, than three times the number of slaves 
 would do. But Mr. Baring will say, this is a single in- 
 Sjtance. True ; but why is it so ? Not because there are 
 not many slaves who would have equally rewarded the bene- 
 volence of their master, but because there has been but 
 ONE Nottingham, 
 
 BB, 
 
 <* / know no question upon which petitions have been procured 
 with more trick and management than on the present. Thetf 
 have, in fact y been got up by a few persons in the Metropolis,** 
 (p. 103.) 
 
 Mr, Baring could have had no means himself of knowing the 
 truth of this statement. He has therefore ventured, on the 
 misinformation of others, to lend the weight and respectability 
 of his name to a representation the very reverse of true. Let 
 not Mr. Baring flatter himself that the feeling which has been 
 manifested on this subject is a short and evanescent burst, 
 excited by trick and management. He may rely upon it, it is 
 far more solidly founded. It is founded on a deep-rooted 
 persuasion that slavery is inherently and intrinsically evil ; 
 and that our system of colonial slavery, in particular, ** is at 
 war with every principle of religion and morality, and outrages 
 every benevolent feeling." In the volume now before him, 
 Mr. Baring may see the whole trick and management of the 
 Committee. They consist in the circulation of the occasional 
 papers prefixed to this volume, and of books openly published 
 
to the world. If in these papers, or these books, there be 
 l>ositions which he can controvert, let him do so ; but it is 
 altogether unfair to assume, that to triok and management, 
 and not to the fair influence of discussion, is to be ascribed the 
 interest which this question has excited in the public mind* 
 
 Mr. Baring can hardly be serious in attributing all the zeal 
 shewn in this country for benevolent objects, not to a well* 
 founded sense of duty, but to a kind of popish compromise 
 with conscience, by which sin may be atoned for. If he is> 
 it only shews how ignorant very acute and intelligent men 
 may be of what is passing immediately around them. 
 
 We do not undertake to defend the "humbug" practised at 
 Vienna and Verona, on the subject of the Slave Trade, from 
 the sarcastic observations of Mr. Baringi 
 
 cc. 
 
 " It tells, in language that cannot he mistaken, the degree of 
 protection which the laws afford to the Negro.'' (p. 113.) 
 
 It is a proper sequel to the account Which Mr. Buxton has 
 given of Carty's cruelty to his slave Quasheba, to insert an 
 extract of a letter from Lord Bathurst to Colonel Arthur on 
 the subject, dated 12th March 1817 :— 
 
 " The cruel conduct of this inhuman wretch could hot fail 
 to excite all those feelings of pity and commiseration which yoii 
 so justly describe ; and I immediately submitted your letter^ 
 with its several enclosures, to the consideration of the law 
 oflicers of the Crown, to know how far I was authorized to direct 
 you to manumit the unfortunate woman. But they report, that 
 Carty is indictable only for the cruelty committed ; that, as sh6 
 is his property, there is no power to take her away, consequently 
 none for her manumission, unless, indeed, there be any law 
 in Honduras which confers the power to manumit slaves undef 
 such circumstances. I can therefore only express my concern 
 that such a wretch should remain unpunished ; but if you cait 
 suggest any mode in which he can be brought to punishment^ 
 I shall be most happy to attend to it." 
 
 Who, after reading this letter (the declaration of his Ma- 
 
240 APPENDIX CC. 
 
 jesty's Government of their absolute impotency to redress guch 
 grievous wrongs), can question the indispensable obligation of 
 the parliament and people of Great Britain to interfere to 
 amend this detestable system ? 
 
 Before we Conclude, we are anxious to point out and rectify 
 a mistake (the only one we have detected in that work) which 
 occurs in the pamphlet called " Negro Slavery." The clause 
 in ihe 4th section of the Consolidated Slave Law of Jamaica of 
 1816, which, as we have stated above (p. 153), provides, for 
 the first time, that the number of days in the year allowed 
 to the slaves for the cultivation of their grounds, exclusive 
 of Sundays, shall be at least twenty-six, was overlooked, and 
 the number of days allowed was assumed to be the same as in 
 the Act of 1809, namely, sixteen. This error will, of course, 
 be corrected in any future edition of that publication. 
 
 And this reminds us of the necessity of remarking, that it 
 would be absolutely impossible to follow the ever-shifting 
 provisions of colonial legislation, so as to be always correct as 
 to the actual state of the law at the precise moment of writing* 
 We have just learnt, for example, that, in deference to 
 public opinion in this country, the legislature of Barbadoes 
 have recently altered their law on the subject of the murder of 
 a slave, so as no longer to render it necessary to the convic- 
 tion of the murderer that he should have perpetrated the crime 
 " without 'provocation y And this alteration we shall doubtless 
 hear adduced, both as a proof of our unfairness, and of the 
 growing liberality of the colonists. 
 
 It may be proper also to observe, that, notwithstanding the 
 alarms of commotion and conspiracy, sanctioned by procla- 
 mations of Governors, and by imposing details of correspon- 
 dents, which have filled the public ear of late ; we have not 
 been able, after the most diligent inquiry, to discover a single 
 fact to justify them ; and the conclusion to which we have 
 been forced to come is, that such rumours are deemed to be, 
 on this as on many former occasions, very convenient weapon* 
 of controversial warfare. 
 
241 
 
 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 Since the above sheets were written, two pamphlets 
 have appeared, which may be thought to require some 
 notice. 
 
 One of these is from the pen of J. F. Barhani, Esq., a 
 West-Indian proprietor, who, at an early period of the 
 Siave-Trade controversy, most honourably distinguished 
 himself by joining the ranks of the abolitionists. He 
 begins his work with assuming that the emancipation 
 of our colonial bondsmen is a measure which is now 
 unavoidable; the nation expecting, and government being 
 pledged " that the most energetic jtieasures shall heforth- 
 tvith employed to bring them into that state in which 
 freedom may he granted to them with benefit and safety,^* 
 The object of Mr. Barham's pamphlet, therefore, is not to 
 discuss the question of emancipation, but the means pf 
 carrying it into effect with safety, and even with advantage ; 
 and with a due attention to the claims of West-Indian pro- 
 prietors to indemnity. It is not our intention at present 
 to investigate the plan proposed by Mr. Barham. What- 
 ever falls from him, however, is worthy of deep attention ; 
 and we trust that all who are interested in the question 
 will be ready to give to his suggestions the consideration 
 to which they are justly entitled. 
 
 It will be right, however, to remark, that we differ very 
 widely from Mr. Barham in many of his facts and opinions. 
 Some of these will be found to have been met, in the pre- 
 ceding pages, with such observations as will serve to shew 
 what are the grounds of that difference. His cardinal 
 error appears to us to be this, that he conceives the 
 Negro character not to be susceptible of the same motives 
 to exertion which are known to influence every other class 
 
 2i 
 
242 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 of men that inhabit the earth. Upon this point we are 
 completely at issue with him, on the score both of general 
 principle, and of fact and experience: and we should not 
 hesitate even to take the free Black and Coloured people 
 of Jamaica^ under all their obvious disadvantages, and 
 notwithstanding the oppression and degradation to which 
 the state of the law and of the feeling of the Whites 
 subjects them, as our example, to establish undeniably that 
 the African race is equally susceptible with ourselves of 
 all those motives which stimulate to exertion ; and that 
 those equivocal appearances which lead superficial ob- 
 servers to the conclusion that they are innately indolent 
 and vicious, and incapable of high advances in improve- 
 ment, are the effect entirely of the wretched institutions 
 under which they are placed, and which tether them, as it 
 were, to tL._ :ery earth. While they see in their superiors 
 the very worst moral examples ; while multitudes of them are 
 deprived of the means of education and Christian instruc- 
 tion ; while they are every where stopped in their aspirings 
 for distinction by barriers which are insurmountable; we 
 cannot wonder that their progress in improvement should 
 not have been greater : the wonder is, that it should have 
 been so great. 
 
 Mr. Barham produces, in proof of his views of this sub- 
 ject, a fact drawn from the history of Guadaloupe, during 
 the period of Negro freedom in that island. '* Punish- 
 ment by the whip had been then totally abolished ; but, 
 instead of it, a military tribunal had been established, con- 
 sisting oijive Whites and Blacks, who made a tour of the 
 island once a month, in order to try and punish such Ne- 
 groes as had neglected their work. They were condemned 
 to be chained by the middle and ancle for five to fifteen 
 years. The more refractory were shot, which very frequently 
 happened." — Now, what does this statement (though in- 
 vidiously specifying only the severest punishments) prove, 
 but that in Guadaloupe public justice was substituted for 
 the caprice of individual tyranny? Circuit courts, com- 
 posed of Black as well as White judges were instituted, 
 
POSTSCRIPT. 243 
 
 and non constat thai Ihey did not administer the laws 
 impartially, and even leniently. The refractory were shot 
 in Guadaloupe : in Jamaica they are hano^ed : the diffe- 
 rence is not very essential. The main inference, however, 
 from the whole is this : From fifty to sixty thousand slaves 
 were liberated in a day from the power of the driver's cart- 
 whip, and from arbitrary punishment by the master, arid 
 were made the immediate subjects of equal laws, and of ^ 
 police affecting all classes and administered by all classes 
 in common ; and yet no commotion followed, cultivation 
 proceeded regularly, and Whites and Blacks united in the 
 discharge even of the highest offices of the state. 
 
 We refrain from pursuing Mr. Barbara's reasonings on 
 ' this subject further. They are all dependent on the grand 
 error of his system, — a radical misconception of the capa- 
 cities and tendencies of the African character, formed on 
 a knowledge of them only in their servile and degraded 
 condition. It is impossible, at the same time, not to honour 
 the candour and ingenuousness of Mr. Barbara's admis- 
 sions. Though he thinks that the slave, in most physical 
 circumstances, is better off than the labouring class of other 
 countries, yet he admits that " in civil and moral respects 
 his condition is not materially changed ;" that " his civjl 
 rights are yet hardly definable, and his moral improvement 
 is almost yet to be begun ;" that the most ** specious 
 laws" might not, " from existing circumstances," ** have 
 any practical effect;" that '* nothing could be easier than 
 to introduce Christianity in name, as for the most insig- 
 nificant reward the slaves would universally accept bap- 
 tism;" but that " it were better they should remain as they 
 are, than that a people whose religion, if indeed it can 
 be called such at all, continuing in fact as it is, should be 
 regarded as Christians;" that ** nothing, could be easier 
 than to abolish the use of the v^hip ; but that those who 
 call for this abolition always end by proposing some other 
 means of coercion, some other instrument of punishment ; 
 less decried perhaps, but which is to be equally effec- 
 tual. What, again," he asks, " will the slave gain by this ? 
 
244 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 It were better that his chains should appear in their full 
 deformity, than that they should be gilded over." 
 
 Very different from that of Mr. Barham is the other 
 pamphlet to which we have alluded. It is entitled **A 
 Voice from Jamaica, in Reply to W. Wilberforce, Esq, ; 
 by the Rev. G. W. Bridges, of Trinity College, 0:iford, 
 and Rector of Manchester in Jamaica." We are sorry 
 that the author of it should be a Clergyman of the Church 
 of England. It is a feeble intermixture of intemperate 
 animadversions, incorrect statements, vague apprehensions, 
 and most inconclusive reasonings. We cannot enlarge the 
 present work by exposing these in detail. We shall take, 
 however, a single instance, and it shall be the very strength 
 of his case, in order to shew how little real aid his pam- 
 phlet is likely to afford to the cause which he so stoutly 
 espouses. Addressing Mr, Wilberforce, he says — 
 
 " In p. 17 of your * Appeal,' you confidently make an 
 assertion, which it happily falls peculiarly within my pro- 
 vince to reply to, upon the authority of that character 
 beneath which I claim credit for my affirmations. You 
 state that * no attempts have been made to introduce 
 among them (the Negro slaves) the Christian institution of 
 marriage.' Now, Sir, this I positively contradict, by stating 
 that I have myself married one hundred and eighty-seven 
 couples of Negro slaves, in my own parish, within the last 
 two years, all of whom were encouraged by their owners to 
 marry; and that the anxious wish at present expressed by 
 them to bind themselves by this sacred institution, we hail 
 as one of the first fruits of the dispensation of Christian 
 principles. In another parish, St. Thomas in the East, 1 
 have reason to know that there have been three times that 
 number married during the incumbency of the present 
 rector, Mr. Trew; and, though not speaking from nume- 
 rical information, I can safely affirm, that the labours of 
 the clergy in the remaining nineteen parishes have been 
 equally active, and doubtless crowned with the same suc- 
 cess." p. 22. 
 
POSTSCRIPT. 215 
 
 On looking, however, to the returns, recently laid on the 
 table of the House of Commons, from Jamaica, of ** mar- 
 riages legally solemnized between Slaves since the 1st of 
 January 1808," down to 1822 inclusive, we find (p. 130) 
 that in the parish of Manchester not a single such marriage 
 was celebrated prior to 1820. In 1820 ^ve marriages took 
 place ; in 1821, three ; and in 1822, none, Mr. Bridges 
 must have written his " Voice " in April or May 1823. 
 The expression, " within the last two years," could there, 
 fore have extended no farther back than the beginning of 
 1821. But the official return of marriages from the be- 
 ginning of 1821 to the 17th March 1823, is only three. 
 No less than 184, therefore, of the 187 marriages solemnized 
 by Mr. Bridges between slaves, in his own parish, " within 
 the last two years," must have been subsequent to that 
 date. We may well ask, therefore, with a writer in The 
 Times of the 26th August 1823, who adverts to this very 
 statement in the pamphlet of Mr. Bridges, " AVhat can 
 have given birth to this new and ardent zeal in the exten- 
 sion of marriages? Was it owing to the suggestions of 
 Mr. Wilberforce*s pamphlet, which had just then made 
 its appearance in Jamaica? Or were these 184 marriages 
 thus suddenly got up in order to furnish a convenient 
 practical refutation of his statements ?" 
 
 In the Appendix F. (p. 164 — 167) will be found some 
 remarks on the subject of these returns of marriages, to 
 which we refer the reader. What may have been the 
 ** active labours of the clergy " in the other parishes, we 
 have no means of knowing ; but we do know that in most 
 instances their labours have been ''* crowned " with much 
 ** the same success " as attended those of Mr. Bridges 
 prior to the appearance of Mr. Wilberforce's Appeal. 
 He was himself rector of St. Dorothy's before he re- 
 moved to Manchester; but during his incumbency not a 
 single marriage appears to have taken place. Before 1820 
 no marriage of Slaves had occurred in that parish, and 
 from 1820 only three. In many of the other parishes 
 the rectors have been equally unsuccessful. From two 
 
246 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 parishes there are no returns — viz. St. Catherine's and 
 Westmoreland — the returns in fourteen years from 
 some of the others are as follow : 
 
 St. John's Parish One marriage. 
 
 St. Thomas in the Vale None. 
 
 Vere One. 
 
 Clarendon Two. 
 
 St. Ann's None. 
 
 St. Elizabeth's None. 
 
 St. James's Two. 
 
 Hanover None, 
 
 Falmouth One. 
 
 Port Royal Two. 
 
 Portland Twenty-seven. 
 
 St. Mary's Thirty-six. 
 
 St. George's Forty-seven. 
 
 For remarks on the returns from the remaining parishes, 
 we must refer again to Appendix F. It ought to be kept 
 in view, that the average slave population of each of these 
 parishes is upw^ds of 16,000 souls. 
 
 After this exposition of the correctness of the statements 
 of the Rev. Author, on a point respecting which he must 
 have had access to better means of information than on any 
 other which has occupied his pen, it will not be deemed 
 necessary that we should detain our readers any longer 
 with his pamphlet. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 LIST of President, Vice-Presidents, and Committee of the Anti- 
 
 Slavery Society •< iil 
 
 PREFACE, containing Prospectus of the Society, &c. .......... v 
 
 Brief View of the Nature of Negro Slavery xiii 
 List of Publications on Slavery .......... xxiv 
 
 Report of the Committee, August 1823. . . . xxv 
 
 List of Petitions to the House of Commons 
 on Siavei-y, in the Session of 1823 .... xxxvii 
 
 SUBSTANCE of THE DEBATE, iSth May 1823 -, containing 
 
 Speech of Mr. F. Buxton 1 
 
 Mr. Secretary Canning 22 
 
 ^ Mr. Wilberforce 36 
 
 Mr. C.Ellis., 45 
 
 Mr. W. Smith..., 69 
 
 Sir G. Rose »•••• 64 
 
 Mr. Bright .,,..,., «8 
 
 Mr. D. Sykes r..,.. 72 
 
 Mr. Marryat 74 
 
 Mr. Brougham \ 82 
 
 Mr. Bernal , 95 and 213 
 
 Mr. A. Baring 96 
 
 Lord Althorp 104 
 
 Mr. F. Buxton (in reply) 107 and IIT 
 
 Mr. Cunning {in explanation) 116 and 117 
 
 APPENDIX A. Atrocities in Barbadoes, referred to by Mr. Buxton 119 
 B. Observations on Mr. Canning's Speech, viz: 
 
 1. Ou danger from tlie discussion of Slavery 324 
 
 -2. Impropriety of referring to past atrocities J27 
 
 3. Impropriety of recalling the horrors of the Slave Trade J28 
 
 4. Impropriety of mixing Slavery with the Slave Trade,... 129 
 
 5. Proposed emancipation giadual 133 
 
 6. Are Christianity and Slavery compatible? ibid. 
 
 7. Question of property in slaves ISS 
 
 8. Emancipation of Infants ibid^ 
 
 €. Who are responsible for the guilt of Slavery?.... 137 
 
 D. Have the Colonial Legislatures been culpably slow 
 
 in the work of impriivementi' 141 
 
 E. Improvements in the Slave Code of Jamaica re- 
 
 viewed, and the Code examined 148 
 
 (Slaves chattels — Curates' Act*— Mr. Stewart's evidence- 
 Christian instruction— Moral state of population — The 
 Sunday — Slaves complaining to Magistrates — Trafficking 
 in Slaves — Slaves teaclimg or preaching — Freedom pro- 
 tected— Obeab— Possession of fiesh meat— Evidence of 
 Slaves, Sec. &c. &c.) 
 
 F. Baptisms and Marriages of Slaves IGl 
 
 G. The whip is not now the suoiuliuit to labour! * • •• 168 
 
248 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 APPENDIX H. Ought the abolition of Sunday markets and Sun- 
 day labour to depend on means of instruction 
 being previously afforded ?o the SlavCvS ? •• . . 171 
 I. Who are responsible for the moral state of the 
 
 West Indies f 173 
 
 K. Emancipation is no remedy for bad morals* • • » . • 174 
 L. African Institution's Report on the Registry of 
 Slaves points out the best means of abolishing 
 
 Slavery 175 
 
 M. Tardiness of Jamaica in furnishing information. . 177 
 N. Observations on the Speech of Sir George Rose., 178 
 
 (Methodist Missions and Sciiools,) 
 
 O. Charge of Inaccuracy against Mr. Wilberforce 
 
 respecting fines on manumission •»•• 181 
 
 P. Charge of bad intention against the author of 
 
 '*Negr9 Slavery," in reference to Mr. Cooper 193 
 
 Q. Charge of unfairness against the same, for ad- 
 ducing the evidence of Dr. Williamson •• •• 195 
 
 R. Law of Dominica making the evidence of Slaves 
 
 in a certain Case admissible 19G 
 
 S. Testimony of Governors to the gradual Improve- 
 ment in the condition of Slaves • •• 199 
 
 (Geoeial Douglas, Governor Probyn, Governor Sir R. 
 Woodford, Governor Maxwell, Colonel Arthur — Atrocities 
 in Honduras, &c.) 
 
 '^1'. Slavery denied to be unprecedented degradation 213 
 U. Mr. Bernars Speech, with Observations ib. 
 
 (Jamaica ^.'ewspapers — Freemen cruelly enslaved— Soil fit 
 tor sugar unadapted to coffee, provisions, &c.) 
 
 V. The food, clothing, and treatment of the Negroes 
 are not such as particularly to excite com- 
 miseration - 220 
 
 (Comparison of Slavery and its results in the United States 
 and the West Indies — Testimony of " Negro Slavery" — 
 of Mr. Stewart — of Mr. Gilgras— Law of Leeward Islands 
 as to food,) 
 
 W. Moral degradation of Negroes 226 
 
 X. Danger from discussion 227 
 
 Y. Disproportion of slave and free population • • • • 230 
 
 Z. On liberating the Children of Slaves 231 
 
 A A. Colonies lost if Slaves emancipated- • • • • 232 
 
 (St. Domingo— the Mottinghams, &:c.) 
 
 BB. Petitions on Slavery obtained by trick 238 
 
 CC. Slaves destitute of legal protection 239 
 
 Conclusion. Correction of error — Rumours of insur- 
 
 surrection 240 
 
 POSTSCRIPT. Pamphlets of Mr. Barham and Mr. Bridges 241 
 
 Ellerton and Henderson, Printers, 
 Gough Square, London. 
 
SI 
 
871780 
 
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