subsequent to the passing of Mr. Canning's resolutions, say 1823, 4, 5,
and 6, and compare them with the four years ending 31st December last.
Should this be done, it will be found that the average crop of the
previous four years is 91,980 hhds., and if from it is deducted one
fourth, there will remain 68,985 hhds., whilst the average of the other
four years is 72,200 hhds. Such a mode of comparison must, however, be
obviously incorrect; because, in the first place, Mr. Canning's
resolutions had reduced the crops of those years considerably below the
average of the years immediately preceding them, and next, because it
would show the advantage to be on the side of freedom in the ratio of
seventy-two to sixty-nine, which cannot be correct. Besides, in 1824,
there was a severe drought, whereas in 1834 and 35 the seasons are
reported as being favorable. Again, it is necessary, in instituting such
an inquiry, to go back more than fourteen years; nor is it a valid
objection to this to say, that even during that period a number of
estates have been thrown out of cultivation, in consequence of being
worn out and unprofitable. "Deplorable," however, as is the "falling off
in the yearly amounts of our staple productions, which have decreased,"
gentle reader, according to the despatch, "in an accelerated ratio
within the last few years, till in the year 1836, when they do not
average one half the returns of former years preceding that of 1823, the
year that Mr. Canning's resolutions for the ultimate abolition of
slavery in the British colonies passed the House of Commons," still it
is a matter of sincere gratification to know, that the sugar planters
are better off now than they have been for the last fourteen or fifteen
years. With the compensation money a great many of them have been
enabled to pay off their English debts, and the remainder very
considerably to reduce them, whilst the reduction in the quantity of
sugar produced, has occasioned such a rise in the price of that article
as will place the former in easy circumstances, and enable the latter
entirely to free themselves from the trammels of English mortgagees, and
the tender mercies of English mortgagees before the 1st August, 1840,
arrives. And ought these parties not to be thankful? Unquestionably they
ought. Ingratitude, we are told, is as the sin of witchcraft, and
although the table of exports exhibits our fair island as hastening to a
state of ruin, and the despatch tells us that "by the united influence
of mock philanthropy, religious cant, and humbug," a reformed parliament
was _forced_ "to precipitate the _slavery spoliation_ act under the
specious pretext of promoting the industry and improving the condition
of the manumitted slaves," still we maintain, and the reasonable will
agree with us, that we are much better off now than we have been for a
long time, and that Jamaica's brightest and happiest days have not yet
dawned. Let the croakers remember the remarkable words of the Tory Lord,
Belmore, the planter's friend, and be silent--"The resources of this
fine island will never be fully developed until slavery ceases." The
happiness and prosperity of the inhabitants of Jamaica are not
contingent, nor need they be, upon the number of hogsheads of sugar
annually exported from her shores.
* * * * *
To the foregoing we add the remarks of the editor of the "Spanishtown
Telegraph," on the present state of the colony, made in his paper of May
9, 1837:--
"When it was understood that the island of Jamaica and the other
British West Indian colonies were to undergo the blessed transition
from slavery to freedom, it was the hourly cry of the pro-slavery
party and press, that the ruin of Jamaica would, as a natural
consequence, follow liberty! Commerce, said they, will cease; hordes
of barbarians will come upon us and drive us from our own
properties; agriculture will be completely paralyzed; and Jamaica,
in the space of a few short months, will be seen buried in
ashes--irretrievably ruined. Such were the awful predictions of an
unjust, illiberal faction!! Such the first fruits that were to
follow the incomparable blessings of liberty! The staple productions
of the island, it was vainly surmised, could never be cultivated
without the name of slavery; rebellions, massacres, starvation,
rapine and bloodshed, danced through the columns of the
liberty-hating papers, in mazes of metaphorical confusion. In short,
the name of freedom was, according to their assertions, directly
calculated to overthrow our beautiful island, and involve it in one
mass of ruin, unequalled in the annals of history!! But what has
been the result? All their fearful forebodings and horrible
predictions have been entirely disproved, and instead of liberty
proving a curse, she has, on the contrary, unfolded her banners,
and, ere long, is likely to reign triumphant in our land. _Banks,
steam companies, railroads, charity schools, etc._, seem all to have
remained dormant until the time arrived when Jamaica was to be
_enveloped in smoke_! No man thought of hazarding his capital in an
extensive _banking establishment_ until _Jamaica's ruin_, by the
introduction of _freedom, had been accomplished_!! No person was
found possessed of sufficient energy to speak of navigation
companies in Jamaica's brightest days of slavery; but now that ruin
stares every one in the face--now that we have no longer the power
to treat out peasantry as we please, they have taken it into their
heads to establish so excellent an undertaking. Railroads were not
dreamt of until _darling_ slavery had (_in a great measure_)
departed, and now, when we thought of throwing up our estates, and
flying from the _dangers of emancipation_, the best projects are
being set on foot, and what is _worst_, are likely to _succeed_!
This is the way that our Jamaica folks, no doubt, reason with
themselves. But the reasons for the delay which have taken place in
the establishment of all these valuable undertakings, are too
evident to require elucidation. We behold the _Despatch_ and
_Chronicle_, asserting the ruin of our island; the overthrow of all
order and society; and with the knowledge of all this, they speak of
the profits likely to result from steam navigation, banking
establishments, and railroads! What in the name of conscience, can
be the use of steam-vessels when Jamaica's ruin is so fast
approaching? What are the planters and merchants to ship in steamers
when the apprentices will not work, and there is nothing doing? How
is the bank expected to advance money to the planters, when their
total destruction has been accomplished by the abolition of slavery?
What, in the name of reason, can be the use of railroads, when
commerce and agriculture have been nipped in the bud, by that
_baneful weed, Freedom_? Let the unjust panderers of discord, the
haters of liberty, answer. Let them consider what has all this time
retarded the development of Jamaica's resources, and they will find
that it was _slavery_; yes, it was its very name which prevented the
idea of undertakings such as are being brought about. Had it not
been for the introduction of freedom in our land; had the cruel
monster, Slavery, not partially disappeared, when would we have seen
banks, steamers, or railroads? No man thought of hazarding his
capital in the days of slavery, but now that a new era has burst
upon us, a complete change has taken possession of the hearts of all
just men, and they think of improving the blessing of freedom by the
introduction of other things which must ever prove beneficial to
the country.
The vast improvements that are every day being effected in this
island, and throughout the other colonies, stamp the assertions of
the pro-slavery party as the vilest falsehoods. They glory in the
introduction of banks, steam-vessels, and railroads; with the
knowledge (as they would have us believe) that the island is fast
verging into destruction. They speak of the utility and success of
railroads, when, according to their showing, there is no produce to
be sent to market, when agriculture has been paralyzed, and Jamaica
swept to destruction."
* * * * *
The following copious extracts from a speech of Lord Brougham, on the
workings of the apprenticeship, and on the immediate emancipation
substituted therefor in Antigua and the Bermudas, are specially
commended to the notice of the reader. The speech was delivered in the
House of Lords, Feb. 20, 1838. We take it from the published report of
the speech in the London Times, of Feb. 25:--
I now must approach that subject which has some time excited almost
universal anxiety. Allow me, however, first to remind your
lordships--because that goes to the root of the evil--allow me first
to remind you of the anxiety that existed previous to the
Emancipation Act which was passed in January, 1833, coming into
operation in August, 1834. My lords, there was much to apprehend
from the character of the masters of the slaves. I know the nature
of man. * * * * I know that he who has abused power clings to it
with a yet more convulsive grasp. I know his revenge against those
who have been rescued from his tyrannous fangs; I know that he never
forgives those whom he has injured, whether white or black. I have
never yet met with an unforgiving enemy, except in the person of one
of whose injustice I had a right to complain. On the part of the
slaves, my lords, I was not without anxiety; for I know the corrupt
nature of the degrading system under which they groaned. * * * * It
was, therefore, I confess, my lords, with some anxiety that I looked
forward to the 1st of August, 1834; and I yielded, though
reluctantly, to the plan of an intermediate state before what was
called the full enjoyment of freedom--the transition condition of
indentured apprenticeship.
The first of August arrived--that day so confidently and joyously
anticipated by the poor slaves, and so sorely dreaded by their hard
taskmasters--and if ever there was a picture interesting to look
upon--if ever there was a passage in the history of a people
redounding to their eternal honor--if ever there was a complete
refutation of all the scandalous calumnies which had been heaped
upon them for ages, as if in justification of the wrongs which we
had done them--(Hear, hear)--that picture and that passage are to be
found in the uniform and unvarying history of that people throughout
the whole of the West India islands. Instead of the fires of
rebellion, lit by a feeling of lawless revenge and resistance to
oppression, the whole of those islands were, like an Arabian scene,
illuminated by the light of contentment, joy, peace, and good-will
towards all men. No civilized people, after gaining an unexpected
victory, could have shown more delicacy and forbearance than was
exhibited by the slaves at the great moral consummation which they
had attained. There was not a look or a gesture which could gall the
eyes of their masters. Not a sound escaped from negro lips which
could wound the ears of the most feverish planter in the islands.
All was joy, mutual congratulation, and hope.
This peaceful joy, this delicacy towards the feelings of others, was
all that was to be seen, heard, or felt, on that occasion,
throughout the West India islands.
It was held that the day of emancipation would be one of riot and
debauchery, and that even the lives of the planters would be
endangered. So far from this proving the case, the whole of the
negro population kept it as a most sacred festival, and in this
light I am convinced it will ever be viewed.
In one island, where the bounty of nature seems to provoke the
appetite to indulgence, and to scatter with a profuse hand all the
means of excitement, I state the fact when I say not one drunken
negro was found during the whole of the day. No less than 800,000
slaves were liberated in that one day, and their peaceful festivity
was disturbed only on one estate, in one parish, by an irregularity
which three or four persons sufficed to put down.
Well, my lords, baffled in their expectations that the first of
August would prove a day of disturbance--baffled also in the
expectation that no voluntary labor would be done--we were then told
by the "practical men," to look forward to a later period. We have
done so, and what have we seen? Why, that from the time voluntary
labor began, there was no want of men to work for hire, and that
there was no difficulty in getting those who as apprentices had to
give the planters certain hours of work, to extend, upon emergency,
their period of labor, by hiring out their services for wages to
strangers. I have the authority of my noble friend behind me, (the
Marquis of Sligo,) who very particularly, inquired into the matter,
when I state that on nine estates out of ten there was no difficulty
in obtaining as much work as the owners had occasion for, on the
payment of wages. How does all this contrast with the predictions of
the "practical men?" "Oh," said they, in 1833, "it is idle talking;
the cart-whip must be used--without that stimulant no negro will
work--the nature of the negro is idle and indolent, and without the
thought of the cartwhip is before his eyes he falls asleep--put the
cartwhip aside and no labor will be done." Has this proved the case?
No, my lords, it has not; and while every abundance of voluntary
labor has been found, in no one instance has the stimulus of the
cartwhip been found wanting. The apprentices work well without the
whip, and wages have been found quite as good a stimulus as the
scourge even to negro industry. "Oh, but" it is said, "this may do
in cotton planting and cotton picking, and indigo making; but the
cane will cease to grow, the operation of hoeing will be known no
more, boiling will cease to be practised, and sugar-making will
terminate entirely." Many, I know, were appalled by these
reasonings, and the hopes of many were dissipated by these confident
predictions of these so-deemed experienced men. But how stands the
case now? My lords, let these experienced men, come forth with their
experience. I will plant mine against it, and you will find he will
talk no more of his experience when I tell him--tell him, too,
without fear of contradiction--that during the year which followed
the first of August, 1834, twice as much sugar per hour, and of a
better quality as compared with the preceding years, was stored
throughout the sugar districts; and that one man, a large planter,
has expressly avowed, that with twenty freemen he could do more work
than with a hundred slaves or fifty indentured apprentices. (Hear,
hear.) But Antigua!--what has happened there? There has not been
even the system of indentured apprentices. In Antigua and the
Bermudas, as would have been the case at Montserrat if the upper
house had not thrown out the bill which was prepared by the planters
themselves, there had been no preparatory step. In Antigua and the
Bermudas, since the first of August, 1834, not a slave or indentured
apprentice was to be found. Well, had idleness reigned there--had
indolence supplanted work--had there been any deficiency of crop?
No. On the contrary, there had been an increase, and not a
diminution of crop. (Hear.) But, then, it was said that quiet could
not be expected after slavery in its most complete and abject form
had so long reigned paramount, and that any sudden emancipation must
endanger the peace of the islands. The experience of the first of
August at once scattered to the winds that most fallacious prophecy.
Then it was said, only wait till Christmas, for that is a period
when, by all who have any practical knowledge of the negro
character, a rebellion on their part is most to be apprehended. We
did wait for this dreaded Christmas; and what was the result? I will
go for it to Antigua, for it is the strongest case, there being
there no indentured apprentices--no preparatory state--no
transition--the chains being at once knocked off, and the negroes
made at once free. For the first time within the last thirty years,
at the Christmas of the year 1834, martial law was not proclaimed in
the island of Antigua. You talk of facts--here is one. You talk of
experience--here it is. And with these facts and this experience
before us, I call on those _soi-disant_ men of experience--those men
who scoffed at us--who laughed to scorn at what they called our
visionary, theoretical schemes--schemes that never could be carried
into effect without rebellion and the loss of the colonies--I say,
my lords, I call on these experienced men to come forward, and, if
they can, deny one single iota of the statement I am now making. Let
those who thought that with the use of those phrases, "a planter of
Jamaica" "the West India interest," "residence in Jamaica and its
experience," they could make our balance kick the beam--let them, I
say, hear what I tell, for it is but the fact--that when the chains
were knocked off there was not a single breach of the peace
committed either on the day itself, or on the Christmas festival
which followed.
Well, my lords, beaten from these two positions, where did the
experienced men retreat to under what flimsy pretext did they next
undertake to disparage the poor negro race? Had I not seen it in
print, and been otherwise informed of the fact, I could not have
believed it possible that from any reasonable man any such absurdity
could issue. They actually held out this last fear, which, like the
others, was fated to be dissipated by the fact. "Wait only," said
they, "till the anniversary of the first of August, and then you
will see what the negro character is, and how little these
indentured apprentices are fit to be entrusted with freedom." Was
there ever such an absurdity uttered, as if my lords, the man who
could meet with firm tranquillity and peaceful thankfulness the
event itself, was likely to be raised to rebellion and rioting by
the recollection of it a year afterwards. My lords, in considering
this matter, I ask you, then, to be guided by your own experience,
and nothing else; profit by it, my lords, and turn it to your own
account; for it, according to that book which all of us must revere,
teaches even the most foolish of a foolish race. I do not ask you to
adopt as your own the experience of others; you have as much as you
can desire of your own, and by no other test do I wish or desire to
be judged. But I think my task may be said to be done. I think I
have proved my case, for I have shown that the negro can work
without the stimulant of the whip; I have shown that he can labor
for hire without any other motive than that of industry to inspire
him. I have demonstrated that all over the West Indies, even when
fatigued with working the allotted hours for the profit of his
master, he can work again for wages for him who chooses to hire him
and has wherewithal to pay him; I have also most distinctly shown
that the experience of Antigua and the Bermudas is demonstrative to
show that without any state of preparation, without any indenture of
apprenticeship at all, he is fit to be intrusted with his freedom,
and will work voluntarily as a free laborer for hire. But I have
also demonstrated from the same experience, and by reference to the
same state of facts, that a more quiet, inoffensive, peaceable,
innocent people, is not to be found on the face of this earth than
the negro--not in their own unhappy country, but after they have
been removed from it and enslaved in your Christian land, made the
victim of the barbarizing demon of civilized powers, and has all
this character, if it were possible to corrupt it, and his feelings,
if it were possible to pervert them, attempted to be corrupted and
perverted by Christian and civilized men, and that in this state,
with all incentives to misdemeanor poured around him, and all the
temptation to misconduct which the arts and artifices and examples
of civilized man can give hovering over him--that after this
transition is made from slavery to apprenticeship, and from slavery
to absolute freedom, a negro's spirit has been found to rival the
unbroken tranquillity of the Caribbean Seas. (Cheers.) This was not
the state of things we expected, my lords; and in proof that it was
not so, I have but to refer you to the statute book itself. On what
ground did you enact the intermediate state of indenture
apprenticeship, and on what arguments did you justify it? You felt
and acknowledged that the negro had a right to be free, and that you
had no right to detain him in bondage. Every one admitted this, but
in the prevailing ignorance of their character it was apprehended
that they could not be made free at once, and that time was
requisite to train the negro to receive the boon it was intended
bestowing upon him.
This was the delusion which prevailed, and which was stated in the
preamble of the statute--the same delusion which had made the men on
one side state and the other to believe that it was necessary to pay
the slave-owners for the loss it was supposed they would sustain.
But it was found to be a baseless fear, and the only result of the
phantom so conjured up was a payment of twenty millions to the
conjurors. (Hear, and a laugh.) Now, I maintain that had we known
what we now know of the character of the negroes, neither would this
compensation have been given to the slave-owners, nor we have been
guilty of proposing to keep the negro in slavery five years, after we
were decided that he had a right to his freedom. The noble and
learned lord here proceeded to contend that up to the present time
the slave-owners, so far from being sufferers, had been gainers by
the abolition of slavery and the enactment of the system of
apprenticeship, and that consequently up to the present moment
nothing had occurred to entitle them to a claim upon the
compensation allotted by parliament. The slave-owners might be said
to have pocketed the seven millions without having the least claim
to them, and therefore, in considering the proposition he was about
to make, parliament should bear in mind that the slave proprietors
were, if anything, the debtors to the nation. The money had, in
fact, been paid to them by mistake, and, were the transaction one
between man and man, an action for its recovery might lie. But the
slave-owners alleged that if the apprenticeship were now done away
there would be a loss, and that to meet that loss they had a right
to the money. For argument's sake he would suppose this to be true,
and that there would be loss; but would it not be fair that the
money should be lodged in the hands of a third party, with authority
to pay back at the expiration of the two years whatever rateable sum
the master could prove himself to have lost? His firm belief was,
that no loss could arise; but, desirous to meet the planter at every
point, he should have no objection to make terms with him. Let him,
then, pay the money into court, as it were, and at the end of two
years he should be fully indemnified for any loss he might prove. He
called upon their lordships to look to Antigua and the Bermudas for
proof that the free negro worked well, and that no loss was
occasioned to the planters or their property by the granting of
emancipation. But it was said that there was a difference between
the cases of Antigua and other colonies, such as Jamaica, and it was
urged that while the negroes of the former, from the smallness and
barrenness of the place, would be forced into work, that in the
latter they would run away, and take refuge in the woods. Now, he
asked, why should the negro run away from his work, on being made
free, more than during the continuance of his apprenticeship? Why,
again, should it be supposed that on the 1st of August, 1840, the
emancipated negroes should have less inclination to betake
themselves to the woods than in 1838? If there was a risk of the
slaves running to the woods in 1838, that risk would be increased
and not diminished during the intermediate period up to 1840, by the
treatment they were receiving from their masters, and the deferring
of their hopes.
My lords, (continued the noble lord,) I have now to say a few words
upon the treatment which the slaves have received during the past
three years of their apprenticeship, and which, it is alleged,
during the next two years is to make them fitted for absolute
emancipation. My lords, I am prepared to show that in most respects
the treatment the slaves have received since 1834 is no better, and
in many others more unjust and worse, than it ever was in the time
of absolute slavery. It is true that the use of the cartwhip as a
stimulus to labor has been abolished. This, I admit, is a great and
most satisfactory improvement; but, in every other particular, the
state of the slave, I am prepared to show, is not improved, and, in
many respects, it is materially worse. First, with regard to the
article of food, I will compare the Jamaica prison allowance with
that allotted to the apprenticed negroes in other colonies. In the
Jamaica prison the allowance of rice is 14 pints a week to each
person. I have no return of the allowance to the indentured
apprentice in Jamaica, but I believe it is little over this; but in
Barbadoes and the Leeward Islands, it is much under. In Barbadoes,
instead of receiving the Jamaica prison allowance of 14 pints a
week, the apprenticed negro received but 10 pints: while in the
Leeward Islands he had but 8 pints. In the crown colonies, before
1834, the slave received 21 pints of rice, now the apprentice gets
but 10; so that in the material article, food, no improvement in the
condition of the negro was observable. Then, with regard to time, it
is obviously of the utmost importance that the apprentice should
have at least two holidays and a half a week--the Sabbath for
religious worship and instruction, the Saturday to attend the
markets, and half of Friday to work in his own garden. The act of
emancipation specified 45 hours a week as the period the apprentice
was to work for his master, but the master so contrived matters as
in most instances to make the 45 hours the law allotted him run into
the apprentice's half of Friday, and even in some cases into the
Saturday. The planter invariably counted the time from the moment
that the slave commenced his work; and as it often occurs that his
residence was on the border of the estate, he may have to walk five
or six miles to get to the place he has to work. This was a point
which he was sure their lordships would agree with him in thinking
required alteration.
The next topic to which I shall advert relates to the administration
of justice; and this large and important subject I cannot pass over
without a word to remind your lordships how little safe it is, how
little deserving the name of just, or any thing like just, that
where you have two classes you should separate them into conflicting
parties, until they became so exasperated in their resentment as
scarcely to regard each other as brethren of the same species; and
that you should place all the administration of justice in the hands
of one dominant class, whose principles, whose passions whose
interests, are all likely to be preferred by the judges when they
presume to sit where you have placed them on the judgment seat. The
chief and puisne judges are raised to their situations from amongst
the class which includes the white men and planters. But, worse than
that, the jurors are taken from the same privileged body: jurors,
who are to assess civil damages in actions for injuries done to the
negroes--jurors, who are to try bills of indictment against the
whites for the maltreatment of the blacks--jurors who are to convict
or acquit on those bills--jurors who are to try the slaves
themselves--nay, magistrates, jailors, turnkeys, the whole apparatus
of justice, both administrative and executive, exclusively in the
hands of one race! What is the consequence? Why, it is proverbial
that no bills are found for the blacks. (Hear, hear.) Six bills of
indictment were preferred, some for murder and some for bad
manslaughter, and at one assizes every one of these six indictments
was thrown out. Assizes after assizes the same thing happened, until
at length wagers were held that no such bill would be found, and no
one was found to accept them. Well was it for them that they
declined, for every one of the bills preferred was ignored. Now,
observe that in proceedings, as your lordships know; before grand
jurors, not a tittle of evidence is heard for the prisoners; every
witness is in favor of the indictment, or finding of the bill; but
in all these instances the bills were flung out on the examination
of evidence solely against the prisoner. Even in the worst cases of
murder, as certainly and plainly committed as the sun shines at noon
day, monstrous to all, the bills were thrown out when half the
witnesses for the prosecution remained to be examined. (Hear, hear.)
Some individuals swore against the prisoners, and though others
tendered their evidence, the jury refused to hear them. (Hear,
hear.) Besides, the punishments inflicted are monstrous; thirty-nine
lashes are inflicted for the vague, indefinite--because incapable to
be defined--offence of insolence. Thirty-nine lashes for the grave
and the more definite, I admit, offence of an attempt to carry a
small knife. Three months imprisonment, or fifty lashes for the
equally grave offence of cutting off the shoot of a cane plant!
There seems to have prevailed at all times amongst the governors of
our colonies a feeling, of which, I grieve to say, the governors at
home have ever and anon largely partaken, that there is something in
the nature of a slave--something in the habits of the African
negro--something in the disposition of the unfortunate hapless
victims of our own crimes and cruelties, which makes what is mercy
and justice to other men cruelty to society and injustice to the law
in the case of the negro, and which condemns offences slightly
visited, if visited at all, with punishment, when committed by other
men, to the sentence that for his obdurate nature none can be too
severe. (Hear, hear.) As if we had any one to blame but
ourselves--as if we had any right to visit on him that character if
it were obdurate, those habits if they were insubordinate, that
dishonest disposition if it did corrupt his character, all of which
I deny, and which experience proves to be contrary to the fact and
truth; but even if these statements were all truth instead of being
foully slanderous and absolutely false, we, of all men, have
ourselves to blame, ourselves to tax, and ourselves to punish, at
least for the self abasement, for we have been the very causes of
corrupting the negro character. (Cheers.)
If some capricious despot, in his career of ordinary tyranny, were
to tax his imagination to produce something more monstrous and
unnatural than himself, and were to place a dove amongst vultures,
or engraft a thorn on the olive tree, much as we should marvel at
the caprice, we should be still more astounded at the expectation,
which exceeds even a tyrant's proverbial unreasonableness, that he
should gather grapes from the thorn, or that the dove should be
habituated to a thirst for blood. Yet that is the caprice, that is
the unreasonable, the foul, the gross, the monstrous, the
outrageous, incredible injustice of which we are hourly guilty
towards the whole unhappy race of negroes. (Cheers.) My lords, we
fill up the incasare of injustice by severely executing laws badly
conceived in a still more atrocious and cruel spirit. The whole
punishments smell of blood. (Hear, Hear.) If the treadmill stop in
consequence of the languid limbs and exhausted frames of the
victims, within a minute the lash resounds through the building--if
the stones which they are set to break be not broken by limbs
scarred, and marred, and whaled, they are summoned by the crack of
the whip to their toilsome task! I myself have heard within the last
three hours, from a person, who was an eye-witness of the appalling
and disgusting fact, that a leper was introduced amongst the
negroes; and in passing let me remark, that in private houses or
hospitals no more care has been taken to separate those who are
stricken with infectious diseases from the sound portion, any more
than to furnish food to those in prison who are compelled, from the
unheard-of, the paltry, the miserable disposition to treat with
cruelty the victims of a prison, to go out and gather their own
food,--a thing which I believe even the tyrant of Siberia does not
commit. Yet in that prison, where blood flows profusely, and the
limbs of those human beings are subjected to perpetual torture, the
frightful, the nauseous, the disgusting--except that all other
feelings are lost in pity towards the victim and indignation against
the oppressor--sight was presented of a leper, scarred from the
eruptions of disease on his legs and previous mistreatment, whaled
again and again, and his blood again made to flow from the jailer's
lash. I have told your lordships how bills have been thrown out for
murdering the negroes. But a man had a bill presented for this
offence: a petition was preferred, and by a white man. Yes, a white
man who had dared, under feelings of excited indignation, to
complain to the regularly constituted authorities, instead of
receiving for his gallant conduct the thanks of the community, had a
bill found which was presented against him as a nuisance. I have,
within the last two hours, amid the new mass of papers laid before
your lordships within the last forty-eight hours, culled a sample
which, I believe, represents the whole odious mass.
Eleven females have been flogged, starved, lashed, attached to the
treadmill, and compelled to work until nature could no longer endure
their sufferings. At the moment when the wretched victims were about
to fall off--when they could no longer bring down the mechanism and
continue the movement, they were suspended by their arms, and at
each revolution of the wheel received new wounds on their members,
until, in the language of that law so grossly outraged in their
persons, they "languished and died." Ask you if a cringe of this
murderous nature went unvisited, and if no inquiry was made
respecting its circumstances? The forms of justice were observed;
the handmaid was present, but the sacred mistress was far away. A
coroner's inquest was called; for the laws decreed that no such
injuries should take place without having an inquiry instituted.
Eleven inquisitions were held, eleven inquiries were made, eleven
verdicts were returned. For murder? Manslaughter? Misconduct? No;
but that "they died by the visitation of God." A lie--a perjury--a
blasphemy! The visitation of God! Yes, for of the visitations of the
Divine being by which the inscrutable purposes of his will are
mysteriously worked out, one of the most mysterious is the power
which, from time to time, is allowed by him to be exercised by the
wicked for the torment of the innocent. (Cheers.) But of those
visitations prescribed by Divine Providence there is one yet more
inscrutable, for which it is still more difficult to affix a reason,
and that is, when heaven rolls down on this earth the judgment, not
of scorpions, or the plague of pestilence, or famine, or war--but
incomparably the worse plague, the worser judgment, of the injustice
of judges who become betrayers of the law--perjured, wicked men who
abuse the law which they are sworn to administer, in order to
gratify their own foul passions, to take the part of the wrong-doer
against his victim, and to forswear themselves on God's gospel, in
order that justice may not be done. * * * * My lords, I entirely
concur in what was formerly said by Mr. Burke, and afterwards
repeated by Mr. Canning, that while the making of laws was confined
to the owners of slaves, nothing they did was ever found real or
effectual. And when, perchance, any thing was accomplished, it had
not, as Mr. Burke said, "an executive principle." But, when they
find you determined to do your duty, it is proved, by the example
which they have given in passing the Apprenticeship Amendment Act,
that they will even outstrip you to prevent your interference with
them. * * * * Place the negroes on the same footing with other men,
and give them the uncontrolled power over their time and labor, and
it will become the interest of the planter, as well as the rest of
the community, to treat the negro well, for their comfort and
happiness depend on his industry and good behavior. It is a
consequence perfectly clear, notwithstanding former distinctions,
notwithstanding the difference of color and the variety of race in
that population, the negro and the West Indian will in a very few
generations--when the clank of his chain is no longer heard, when
the oppression of the master can vex no more, when equal rights are
enjoyed by all, and all have a common interest in the general
prosperity--be impressed with a sense of their having an equal share
in the promotion of the public welfare; nay, that social
improvement, the progress of knowledge, civility, and even
refinement itself, will proceed as rapidly and diffuse itself as
universally in the islands of the Western Ocean as in any part of
her Majesty's dominions. * * * *
I see no danger in the immediate emancipation of the negro; I see no
possible injury in terminating the apprenticeship, (which we now
have found should never have been adopted,) and in causing it to
cease for slaves previous to August, 1838, at that date, as those
subsequent to that date must in that case be exempt. * * * * I
regard the freedom of the negro as accomplished and sure. Why?
Because it is his right--because he has shown himself fit for
it--because a pretext or a shadow of a pretext can no longer be
devised for withholding that right from its possessor. I know that
all men now take a part in the question, and that they will no
longer bear to be imposed upon now they are well informed. My
reliance is firm and unflinching upon the great change which I have
witnessed--the education of the people unfettered by party or by
sect--from the beginning of its progress, I may say from the hour of
its birth. Yes; it was not for a humble man like me to assist at
royal births with the illustrious prince who condescended to grace
the pageant of this opening session, or the great captain and
statesman in whose presence I now am proud to speak. But with that
illustrious prince, and with the father of the Queen I assisted at
that other birth, more conspicuous still. With them and with the
lord of the house of Russel I watched over its cradle--I marked its
growth--I rejoiced in its strength--I witnessed its maturity--I have
been spared to see it ascend the very height of supreme
power--directing the councils of the state--accelerating every great
improvement--uniting itself with every good work--propping honorable
and useful institutions--extirpating abuses in all our
institutions--passing the bounds of our dominion, and in the new
world, as in the old, proclaiming that freedom is the birthright of
man--that distinction of color gives no title to oppression--that
the chains now loosened must be struck off, and even the marks they
have left effaced by the same eternal law of our nature which makes
nations the masters of their own destiny, and which in Europe has
caused every tyrant's throne to quake. But they need to feel no
alarm at the progress of right who defend a limited monarchy and
support their popular institutions--who place their chiefest pride
not in ruling over slaves, be they white or be they black--not in
protecting the oppressor, but in wearing a constitutional crown, in
holding the sword of justice with the hand of mercy, in being the
first citizen of a country whose air is too pure for slavery to
breathe, and on whose shores, if the captive's foot but touch, his
fetters of themselves fall off. (Cheers.) To the resistless progress
of this great principle I look with a confidence which nothing can
shake; it makes all improvement certain--it makes all change safe
which it produces; for none can be brought about, unless all has
been accomplished in a cautious and salutary spirit. So now the
fulness of time is come; for our duty being at length discharged to
the African captive, I have demonstrated to you that every thing is
ordered--every previous step taken--all safe, by experience shown to
be safe, for the long-desired consummation. The time has come--the
trial has been made--the hour is striking: you have no longer a
pretext for hesitation, or faltering, or delay. The slave has shown,
by four years' blameless behavior and devotion, unsurpassed by any
English peasant, to the pursuit of peaceful industry, that he is as
fit for his freedom as any lord whom I now address. I demand his
rights--I demand his liberty without stint, in the names of justice
and of law--in the name of reason--in the name of God, who has given
you no right to work injustice. I demand that your brother be no
longer trampled upon as your slave. (Hear, hear.) I make my appeal
to the Commons, who represent the free people of England; and I
require at their hands the performance of that condition for which
they paid so enormous a price--that condition which all their
constituents are in breathless anxiety to see fulfilled! I appeal to
his house--the hereditary judges of the first tribunal in the
world--to you I appeal for justice. Patrons of all the arts that
humanize mankind, under your protection I place humanity herself! To
the merciful Sovereign of a free people I call aloud for mercy to
the hundreds of thousands in whose behalf half a million of her
Christian sisters have cried aloud, that their cry may not have
risen in vain. But first I turn my eye to the throne of all justice,
and devoutly humbling myself before Him who is of purer eyes than to
behold any longer such vast iniquities--I implore that the curse
over our heads of unjust oppression be averted from us--that your
hearts may be turned to mercy--and that over all the earth His will
may at length be done!
* * * * *
INDEX.
ABSCONDING from labor,
Accident in a boiling house,
Aged negro,
Allowance to Apprentices,
"Amalgamation,"
American Consul, (_See Consul_.)
American Prejudice,
Amity Hall Estate,
Anderson, Wm. II. Esq.,
Anguilla,
Annual Meeting of Missionaries,
Antigua, Dimensions of,
" Sugar Crop of,
Applewhitte, Mr.
Appraisement of Apprentices,
Apprentice, provisions respecting the,
Apprenticeship compared with slavery,
Apprenticeship System,
" Design of,
" Good effect of,
" No preparation for freedom,
Apprenticeship, Operation of,
Apprenticeship, Opinion of, in Antigua;--in Barbadoes;--in Jamaica,
Apprentices liberated,
Apprentices' work compared with slaves
Archdeacon of Antigua,
" of Barbadoes,
Aristocracy of Antigua,
Armstrong, Mr. H.,
Ashby, Colonel,
Athill, Mr.,
Attachment to home,
Attorney General of Jamaica,
Attendance on Church
August, First of
Baijer, Hon. Samuel O.,
Baines, Major,
Banks, Rev. Mr.,
Baptist Chapel
Baptists in Jamaica,
Barbadoes,
Barbuda,
Barber in Bridgetown,
Barclay, Alexander, Esq.,
Barnard, Samuel, Esq.,
Barrow, Colonel,
Bath,
Bazaar,
Bell, Dr.,
Belle Estate,
Bell not tolled for colored person,
"_Belly, 'blige_ 'em to work,"
Belmore, Lord,
Belvidere Estate,
Benevolent institutions of Antigua,
Bible Society,
Bishop of Barbadoes,
Blessings of Abolition, (See _Morals_, &c.)
Blind man,
Boiling House,
Bookkeepers, Slaver of,
"Bornin' Ground,"
Bourne, Mr. London,
Bourne, Mr. S., (of Antigua,)
Bourne, Stephen, Esq., (of Jamaica,)
Breakfast at Mr. Bourne's,
" at Mr. Prescod's,
" at Mr. Thorne's,
Briant, Mr.,
Bridgetown,
Brown, Colonel,
Brown, Thomas C.,
C., Mr., of Barbadoes,
"Cage,"
Cane cultivated by apprentices on their own ground,
Cane-cutting,
Cane-holing,
Cecil, Mr.,
Cedar Hall,
Chamberlain, R., Esq.,
Change of opinion in regard to slavery,
Chapel erected by apprentices,
Character of colored people,
Cheesborough, Rev. Mr.,
Children, care of, (See _Free_.)
Christmas,
Church, Established,
Civility of negroes,
Clarke, Dr.,
Clarke, Hon. R.B.,
Clarke, Mr.,
Classification of apprentices,
Codrington Estate,
Coddrington, Sir Christopher.
Coffee Estates.
College, Coddrington.
Colliton Estate.
Colored Architect.
" Editors.
" Lady.
" Legislators.
" Magistrates.
" Merchants.
" Policemen.
" Population.
" Proprietor.
" Teachers.
Colthurst, Major.
Complaints to Special Magistrates.
Concubinage.
Condition of the negroes, changed.
Conduct of the Emancipated on the first of August.
Confidence increased.
Conjugal attachment.
Consul, American at Antigua.
" " at Jamaica.
Constabulary force, colored.
Contributions for religious purposes.
Conversation with a negro boatman.
Conversation with negroes on Harvey's estate.
Conversation with apprentices.
Corbett, Mr. Trial of.
Corner stone laid.
Courts in Barbadoes.
Courts in Jamaica.
Cox, Rev. James.
Cranstoun, Mr.
Crimes, Diminution of.
Crimes in Jamaica.
Crookes, Rev. Mr.
Crops in Barbadoes.
Crops in Jamaica.
Cruelty of slavery.
" to apprentices.
Cultivation in Barbadoes, (See _Crops_.)
Cultivation in Jamaica.
Cummins, Mr.
Cummins, Rev. Mr.
Cuppage, Captain.
Custom House returns, Barbadoes.
Daily meal Society.
Dangers of slavery.
Daniell, Dr.
Death-bed of a planter.
Deception.
Defect of law.
Demerara, Apprenticeship in.
Desire for instruction.
Dinner at Mr. Harris's.
" at the Governor's.
Disabilities of colored people.
Discussion, Effect of.
Distinction between _serving_ and being _property_.
Distressed Females' Friend Society.
Disturbances, Reason of.
Docility of the negroes.
Domestic Apprentices.
Donovan's Estate.
Drax Hall.
Dress in Antigua.
"Driver and overseer."
Drought in Antigua.
Dublin Castle Estate.
Duncan, Mr.
Dungeons in Antigua.
" in Barbadoes.
Economy of the negroes.
Edgecomb Estate.
Edmonson, Rev. Jonathan.
Education of Apprentices.
" in Antigua.
" in Barbadoes. (See _Schools_.)
Education, Queries on, replied to.
" Results, in regard to.
Edwards, Colonel.
Eldridge, R. B. Esq..
Elliot, Rev. Edward.
Emancipation, Immediate. (See _Preparation, &c._)
Emancipation, Motives of, in Antigua.
Emigrants from Europe.
Employments of the colored.
English Delegation.
Enrolment of colored militia.
Escape of slaves from French islands.
Expectations in regard to 1838 and 1840.
Expense of free compared with slave labor.
Expense of Apprenticeship compared with slavery.
Explanation of terms.
Exports of Jamaica for 53 years.
Fair of St. John's.
Favey, Mr.
Feeding in Barbadoes.
Feeling, intense, of the negroes.
Females in the field.
Fences wanting in Antigua.
Ferguson, Dr.
Fines upon the planters.
Fire in the canes.
Fitch's Creek Estate.
Flogging.
" machine.
Forten, James.
Four and a half per cent tax.
Fraser, Rev. Edward.
" Mrs., ----
Free children.
Freedom in Antigua.
Free labor less expensive.
Freeman, Count.
Frey's Estate.
Friendly Societies.
Fright of American vessels.
Galloway, Mr.
Gangs, Division of.
Gardiner, Rev. Mr.
Gilbert, Rev. N.
Girl sold by her mother.
Gitters, Rev. Mr.
Golden Grove Estate.
Gordon, Mr.
Governor of Antigua.
" of Barbadoes.
Grace Bay.
Grenada.
"Grandfather Jacob."
Gratitude of the Negroes.
"Grecian Regale."
Green Castle Estate.
Green Wall Estate.
Guadaloupe.
Guarda Costas.
"Gubner poisoned."
H., Mr., an American.
Hamilton, Capt.
Hamilton, Cheny, Esq.
Hamilton, Rev. Mr.
Harrison, Colonel.
Harris, Thomas, Esq.
Harvey, Rev. B.
Hatley, Mr.
Heroism of colored women.
Higginbothom, Ralph, Esq.
Hill, Richard, Esq.
Hinkston, Samuel, Esq.
Holberton, Rev. Robert.
Holidays in Antigua.
Horne, Rev. Mr.
"Horse."
Horton Estate.
Horsford, Hon. Paul.
Hostility to Emancipation. (See also, _Change, &c._)
House of Correction.
Howell, Mr., (of Jamaica).
Howell, James Esq.
Hurricane.
Imports and Exports of Barbadoes.
Improvement since Emancipation. (See _Morals_.)
Indolence of Apprentices.
" of Whites.
Industry of Emancipated Slaves.
Industry of Apprentices.
Infanticide.
Insolence.
Insubordination. (See _Subordination_.)
Insurrection in Barbadoes in 1816.
Insurrection not feared in Antigua;
nor in Barbadoes;
nor in Jamaica.
Intelligence of blacks, as compared with whites.
Intemperance in Antigua. (See _Temperance_.)
Intermixture. (See also _Amalgamation_.)
Internal Improvement.
Jamaica.
Jarvis, Colonel.
Jobs.
Jocken, Mr.
Jones, Mr.
Jones, Rev. Mr.
Jones, T. Watkins, S. M.
Jordon, Edward, Esq.
Jury on the body of a negro woman.
"Juvenile Association."
Kingdon, Rev. Mr.
Kingston.
Kirkland, Mr.
Law, respect for.
Lear's Estate.
Legislature of Antigua.
Letter to a Special Magistrate.
License to marry.
Licentiousness.
Lighthouse.
Lock-up house at St. John's.
Lyon, E.B., Esq.
Lyon's Estate.
Machinery, Labor-saving.
Managers, Testimony of.
Manchioneal.
Market in St. John's.
Market people.
Maroons.
Marriage.
Marshall, Mr.
Martinique.
Master's power over the apprentice.
McCornock, Thomas, Esq.
McGregor, Sir Evan, J. M.
Megass.
Merchants, Testimony of.
Messages of Sir Lionel Smith.
Mico Charity Infant School.
Miller's Estate.
Missionaries, Wesleyan.
Missionary associations.
" Society, Wesleyan.
Mob, Pro-Slavery, in Barbadoes.
Möhne, Mr. and Mrs.
Montserrat.
Morals, improvement of.
Morant Bay.
Moravian Chapel.
" Missionary.
Moravians.
Morrish, Rev. Mr.
Mule-traveling.
Murder of a planter.
Musgrave, Dr.
Negro Grounds.
Negro Quarters.
Nevis.
Newby, Mr.
Newfield, visit to.
Noble trait in the apprentices.
Nugent, Hon. Nicholas.
Obstacles to free labor in Antigua.
Old school tyrant.
Opinions in Antigua in regard to Emancipation.
Opinions of the United States.
Opposition to slavery in Jamaica.
O'Reily, Hon. Dowel.
Osburne, Mr.
Overseers.
Packer, Rev. Mr.
Parry, Archdeacon.
Partiality of the Special Magistrates.
Peaceableness of negro villages.
Peaceableness of the change from slavery to freedom.
Peaceableness of the negro character.
Persecution of a Special Justice.
Peter's Rock.
Phillips, Rev. Mr.
Physician, Testimony of.
Pigeot, Mr.
Plantain Garden River Valley.
Planter, a severe one.
Planters, cruelty of.
" in Barbadoes.
Plough.
Police Court.
" of Antigua.
" Officers, Testimony of.
" Reports.
Policy of colored people in regard to prejudice.
Port Royal.
Prejudice against color.
"Prejudice Bell."
Preparation for freedom.
Prescod, Mr.
Promiscuous seating in church (See _"Amalgamation," &c._)
Proprietor, testimony of.
Pro-slavery pretences.
Providence of the emancipated, the.
Provost Marshal, Testimony of.
Punishment, cruel.
Punishment in Antigua.
Ramsay, Mr.
Real Estate.
Rebellion, so called.
Rector of St. John's.
"Red Shanks."
Reid, Mr. E.
Religion in Antigua;
in Barbadoes;
in Jamaica.
Religious condition of slaves in Antigua.
Religious instruction desired.
Report of a Special Magistrate.
Resolution in regard to Messrs. Thome and Kimball.
Resolutions of Wesleyan Missionaries.
Respect for the aged.
Results in Antigua.
Revengefulness.
Ridge Estate.
Right of suffrage.
Rogers, Mr.
Ross, A., Esq.
Rowe, Rev. Mr.
Rum, use of in Antigua.
Sabbath in Antigua;
in Barbadoes;
in Jamaica.
Sabbath school in Bridgetown.
Safety of immediate emancipation. (See _Insurrections_.)
School, adult;
at Lear's;
Parochial;
Wolmer Free.
Schools in Antigua;
in Bridgetown;
infant;
in Kingston;
in Spanishtown.
Scotland in Barbadoes.
Scotland, James, Esq.
Scotland, J., Jr. Esq.
Security restored.
Self-emancipation.
Self-respect.
Shands, Mr. S.
Shiel, Mr.
Shrewsbury, Rev. Mr.
Sickness, pretended.
Silver Hill.
Sligo, Lord.
Smith, Sir Lionel.
Social intercourse.
Societies, benevolent.
Society among colored people.
" for promotion of Christian knowledge.
Soldiers, black.
Solicitor General of Barbadoes.
" of Jamaica.
Song sung in the schools.
Spanishtown.
"Speaking," a Moravian custom.
Special Magistrates. (See also _Partiality_.)
Special Magistrates, Testimony of.
St. Andrews.
Station House, A.
St. Christopher's.
St. Lucia.
Stock Keepers.
St. Thomas in the East.
Sturge & Harvey, Messrs.
St. Vincent's.
Subordination.
Sugar Crop.
" cultivation hard for the slave.
Sugar Mill.
Sunday Markets.
Superintendent of Police.
Suspension of faithful magistrates.
Task-work.
Teacher, Black.
Teachers.
"Telegraph," Remarks of the.
Temperance in Antigua.
" of negroes.
" Society.
Testimony of Managers.
Testimony of clergymen and missionaries.
Testimony of Governors.
" of magistrates.
" of physicians.
Theft, decrease of.
Thibou Jarvis's estate.
Thomas, Mr.
Thompson, George, Bust of.
Thompson, Thomas, Esq.
Thorne, Mr.
Thwaites, Mr. Charles.
Tinson, Rev. Mr.
Toast to Immediate Emancipation.
Tortala.
Traffic in Slaves.
Transition from slavery to freedom.
Treatment of slaves ameliorated by discussion.
Treadmill.
Trinidad.
Trustworthiness.
Unwilling witness.
Vagrancy.
Value of an apprentice. (See _Appraisement_.)
Villa Estate.
Wages.
Walton, Rev. Mr.
Watchman, Jamaica.
" Remarks of the.
Watkins, Mr.
Ward, Sir Henry.
Weatherill's Estate.
Wesleyan Chapel, Antigua.
" " New, ".
" Missionary Society.
Wesleyans in Antigua.
" in Barbadoes.
" in Jamaica.
Whip banished.
Whipping Post.
White lady.
Wilberforce, opinion of.
Wickham, Richard S.
Willis, George, Esq.
Willoughby Bay Examination.
Wolmer Free School.
Women abandon the field.
" condition of.
Woolridge, Rev. Mr.
Wright, Andrew, Esq.
* * * * *
THE ANTI-SLAVERY EXAMINER--EXTRA.
* * * * *
EMANCIPATION
In The
WEST INDIES, IN 1838.
* * * * *
IMPORTANT TO THE UNITED STATES.
False prophets were never stiller about their time-detected impostures
than are the pro-slavery presses of the United States about the results
of West India Emancipation. Now and then, for the sake of appearances,
they obscurely copy into their immense sheets an inch or two of
complaints, from some snarling West India paper, that the emancipated
are lazy and won't work. But they make no parade. They are more taciturn
than grave-stones.
In the following closely printed columns, those who wish to know will
find out precisely how the "_great experiment_" has worked. They
will find,
1. The _safety_ of abolition demonstrated--its safety in the worst
possible case.
2. That the colonies are prospering in their _agriculture_.
3. That the planters conferred freedom because they were _obliged to_ by
public opinion abroad.
4. That freedom, even thus unwillingly conferred, was accepted as a
precious boon by the slaves--they were grateful to God, and ready to
work for their masters for fair pay.
5. That the mass of the planters have endeavoured, from the first, to
get work out of the free laborers for as small wages as possible.
6. That many of the attorneys and managers have refused fair wages and
practiced extortion, _to depreciate the price of property_, that they
might profit thereby.
7. That all the indisposition to labor which has yet been exhibited is
fully accounted for by these causes.
8. That in spite of all, the abolition is working well for the _honest_
of all parties.
* * * * *
WEST INDIA EMANCIPATION, IN 1838.
The immediate abolitionists hold that the change from slavery to freedom
cannot be too sudden. They say that the first step in raising the slave
from his degradation should be that of making him a proper subject of
law, by putting him in possession of himself. This position they rest on
the ground both of justice and expediency, which indeed they believe to
be inseparable. With exceptions too trifling to affect the question,
they believe the laborer who feels no stimulus but that of wages and no
restraint but that of law, is the most _profitable_, not only to himself
and society at large, but to any employer other than a brutal tyrant.
The benefit of this role they claim for every man and woman living
within this republic, till on fair trial the proper tribunal shall have
judged them unworthy of it. They deny both the justice and expediency of
permitting any degree of ignorance or debasement to work the forfeiture
of self-ownership, and pronounce slavery continued for such a cause the
worst of all, inasmuch as it is the _robbery of the poor because he
is poor_.
What light was thrown upon this doctrine by the process of abolition in
the British West Indies from the 1st of August 1834 to the 1st of June
1837, may be seen in the work of Messrs. Thome and Kimball entitled,
"Emancipation in the West Indies." That light continues to shine.
Bermuda and Antigua, in which the slaves passed instantaneously out of
absolute slavery into full freedom, are living witnesses of the blessing
of heaven upon immediate emancipation. In Antigua, one of the old sugar
colonies, where slavery had had its full sway there has been especially
a fair test of immediatism, and the increasing prosperity of the island
does the utmost honor to the principle. After the fullest inquiry on the
point, Messrs. Thome and Kimball say of this island:--
"There is not a class, or party, or sect, who do not esteem the
abolition of slavery as a _special blessing to them_. The rich, because
it relieved them of "property" which was fast becoming a disgrace, as it
had always been a vexation and a tax, and because it has emancipated
them from the terrors of insurrection, which kept them all their
life-time subject to bondage. The poor whites--because it lifted from
off them the yoke of civil oppression. The free colored
population--because it gave the death blow to the prejudice that crushed
them, and opened the prospect of social, civil, and political equality
with the whites. The _slaves_--because it broke open their dungeons, led
them out to liberty, and gave them, in one munificent donation, their
wives, their children, their bodies, their souls--everything."
In the emphatic language of the Governor, "It was _universally admitted_
that emancipation had been a great blessing to the island."
In November 1837, Lord Brougham thus summed up the results of the
Antigua experiment in a speech in the House of Lords:--
"It might be known to their lordships that in one most important colony
the experiment of instant and entire emancipation had been tried.
Infinitely to the honor of the island of Antigua was it, that it did not
wait for the period fixed by the Legislature, but had at once converted
the state of slavery into one of perfect liberty. On the 1st of August,
1834, the day fixed by act of Parliament for the commencement of a ten
years' apprenticeship, the Legislature of that colony, to the immortal
honor of their wisdom, their justice, and their humanity, had abolished
the system of apprenticeship, and had absolutely and entirely struck the
fetters off from 30,000 slaves. Their lordships would naturally ask
whether the experiment had succeeded; and whether this sudden
emancipation had been wisely and politically done. He should move for
some returns which he would venture to say would prove that the
experiment had entirely succeeded. He would give their lordships some
proofs: First, property in that island had risen in value; secondly,
with a very few exceptions, and those of not greater importance than
occurred in England during harvest, there was no deficiency in the
number of laborers to be obtained when laborers were wanted; thirdly,
offences of all sorts, from capital offences downwards, had decreased;
and this appeared from returns sent by the inspector of slaves to the
governor of that colony, and by him transmitted to the proper authority
here; and, fourthly, the exports of sugar had increased: during the
three years ending 1834, the average yearly export was 165,000 cwts.,
and for the three subsequent years this average had increased to 189,000
cwts., being an increase of 21,000 cwts, or one clear seventh, produced
by free labor. Nor were the last three years productive seasons; for in
1835 there was a very severe and destructive hurricane, and in the year
1836 there was such a drought that water was obliged to be imported from
Barbados."
Of such sort, with regard to both the colonies that adopted the
principle of immediate emancipation, have been the facts--and all the
facts--up to the latest intelligence.
The rest of the colonies adopted the plan proposed by the British
government, which contrary to the wishes of the great body of British
abolitionists, made the slaves but partially free under the name of
apprentices. In this mongrel condition they were to remain, the house
servants four, and the field laborers six years. This apprenticeship was
the darling child of that expediency, which, holding the transaction
from wrong to right to be dangerous and difficult, illustrates its
wisdom by lingering on the dividing line. Therefore any mischance that
might have occurred in any part of this tardy process would have been
justly attributable to _gradualism_ and not to _immediatism_. The force
of this remark will be better seen by referring to the nature and
working of the apprenticeship as described in the book of Messrs. Thome
and Kimball. We have only room to say that the masters universally
regarded the system as a part of the compensation or bonus to the
slaveholder and not as a preparatory school for the slave. By law they
were granted a property in the uncompensated _labor_ of the slaves for
six years; but the same law, by taking away the sole means of enforcing
this labor, in fact threw the masters and slaves into a six years'
quarrel in which they stood on something like equal terms. It was surely
not to be wondered if the parties should come out of this contest too
hostile ever to maintain to each other the relation of employer and
employed. This six years of vexatious swinging like a pendulum over the
line between bondage and liberty was well calculated to spoil all the
gratitude and glory of getting across.
It was early discovered that the masters generally were disposed to
abuse their power and get from their apprentices all that could by any
means be extorted. The friends of humanity in Great Britain were
aroused, Mr. Sturge, a distinguished philanthropist of Birmingham,
accompanied by Messrs. Scohle, Harvey, and Lloyd, proceeded to the West
Indies on a mission of inquiry, and prosecuted their investigation
contemporaneously with Messrs. Thome and Kimball. Their Report produced
a general conviction in England, that the planters had forfeited all
claim to retain their authority over the apprentices, and the government
was accordingly petitioned immediately to abolish the system. This it
was loth to do. It caused inquiries to be instituted in the colonies,
especially in Jamaica, with the evident hope of overthrowing the charges
of Mr. Sturge. The result more than confirmed those charges. The
government still plead for delay, and brought in a bill for the
_improvement_ of the apprenticeship. In the progress of these
proceedings, urged on as they were by the heaven-high enthusiasm of the
British nation, many of the planters clearly perceived that their chance
of power during the remaining two years of the apprenticeship had become
worth less to them than the good will which they might get by
voluntarily giving it up. Whether it was this motive operating in good
faith, or a hope to escape philanthropic interference for the future by
yielding to its full claim, and thus gain a clear field to oppress under
the new system of wages, one thing is certain the chartered colonies,
suddenly, and to the surprise of many, put the finishing stroke to the
system and made their apprentices free from the 1st of August, 1838. The
crown colonies have mostly imitated their example.
The following table exhibits the extent and population of these
colonies.
Possessions. Date of Extent. Population
acquisit. sq. m. White Slaves F. Col.
Anguilla[B], 1650 . . . 365 2,388 327
Antigua[A], 1632 108 1,980 29,537 3,895
Bahamas[B], 1629 4,400 4,240 9,268 2,991
Barbados[B], 1625 166 14,959 82,807 5,146
Bermudas[A], 1611 22 3,905 4,608 738
Dominica[B], 1783 275 840 15,392 3,606
Grenada[B], 1783 125 801 24,145 3,786
Jamaica[B], 1655 6,400 37,000 311,692 55,000
Montserrat[B], 1632 47 330 6,262 814
Nevis[B], 1628 20 700 9,259 2,000
St. Christophers[B],1632 68 1,612 19,310 3,000
St. Lucia[B], 1803 58 972 13,661 3,718
St. Vincent[B], 1783 130 1,301 23,589 2,824
Tobago[B], 1763 187 322 12,556 1,164
Trinidad[B], 1797 2,460 4,201 24,006 15,956
Tortola, or
Virgin Isles[B], 1666 . . . 800 5,399 607
Total, B.W.I . . . 14,466 74,328 593,879 105,572
Cape of Good Hope, . . . . . . 43,000 35,500 29,000
Berbice[B] . . . . . . 523 20,645 1,161
Guiana Demarara[B] 1803 . . . 3,006 65,556 6,360
Essequibo[B], . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Honduras, 1650 62,750 250 2,100 2,300
Mauritius, . . . . . . 8,000 76,000 15,000
Total. . . . . . . 129,107 793,680 159,393
[Footnote A: Emancipated entirely on the 1st. of August, 1834.]
[Footnote B: Emancipated entirely on the 1st. of August, 1838, by vote
of the local legislatures in the chartered Colonies; and by Governor and
Council, in the Crown Colonies.]
The _unanimity_ with which the apprenticeship was given up is a most
remarkable and instructive fact. In the Council and Assembly of
Montserrat, there was an unanimous decision in favor of Emancipation as
early as February 1838. In the legislature of Tortola, which passed the
bill in April 1838, the opposing party was small. In that of Barbados
the bill was passed on the 15th of May with but _one_ dissenting voice.
In that of Jamaica, the bill seems to have been passed on the 8th of
June, and the _Jamaica Times_ remarks:--"No dissentient voice was heard
within the walls of the Assembly, all joined in the wish so often
expressed, that the remaining term of the apprenticeship should be
cancelled, that the excitement produced by a law which has done
inconceivable harm in Jamaica, in alienating the affections of her
people, and creating discord and disaffection, should at once cease.
Thank God! it is now nearly at an end, and we trust that Jamaica will
enjoy that repose, so eagerly and anxiously sought after, by all who
wish the Island well."
These facts come down upon the question of the safety of an _immediate_
emancipation with an _a fortiori_, a _much more then_. For it is
admitted on all hands that the apprenticeship had "alienated the
affections of the people;" they were in a state less favorable to a
quiet sequel, than they were before the first of August, 1834, yet the
danger was not thought of. The _safety_ was an argument _in favor_ of
emancipation, not _against_ it. The raw head and bloody bones had
vanished. The following is a fair exhibition of the feeling of the most
influential planters, in regard to the _safety_ of the step.
From the Barbadian, May 9, 1838.
AT A MEETING OF THE BOARD OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, IN THE NEW COURT
HOUSE, APRIL 24TH, 1838.
The Lord Bishop rose and spoke as follows:
"_Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Council_,
'I was informed yesterday that, during my absence from this island, the
members recorded their opinion as to the expediency of absolutely
abolishing the apprenticeship in August, 1838. I am most anxious to
record my entire concurrence in this resolution, but I wish it to be
understood that I do not consider the measure as called for by any
hardships, under which the laborers in this island are suffering--nor
from the want of any essential comfort--nor from the deprivation of any
thing, which a laborer can fairly claim from his master; still I do
express my concurrence in the resolution of the board, and I do so on
these grounds: that I am satisfied the measure can be safely carried in
this island, and if safely, then I feel justly; for I consider the very
important interests which are involved in the measure. I must confess,
too, that I am unwilling the Barbados should be behind any other island,
especially in a measure which may be carried both safely and justly, and
where its example may be of such beneficial consequence. I am just
returned from visiting the Northern Islands of the Diocese. I have gone
over every part of Tortola, and though it is far more fertile than the
Off Islands, yet even these are sufficiently productive for the laborer
to raise the lesser and necessary provision of life,--and yet with these
islands in their very face, the Legislature of Tortola has passed the
act of abolition. Some of the proprietors were opposed to it, but they
have now given up their opposition; and I heard, whilst in Antigua, not
only that the act had passed, but that on the day of its passing, or the
following day, some of the leading proprietors rode through the island,
and were met by the people with expressions of the utmost gratitude,
regarding the act as a boon granted to them by their masters. At Nevis
the act has passed. At St. Christopher's the council are in favor of its
passing, and with Nevis emancipated in its vicinity, there is little
doubt but the Act must pass. At Montserrat also it has passed. At
Antigua, which I visited last year, I found that every thing was
proceeding quietly and regularly. I found too, the planters in high
spirits, and some estates, which had been given up, restored; and the
small patches and tenements of the free people, commencing last year,
now in a very satisfactory state of cultivation. It is possible, indeed,
that these last mentioned, unless the population is proportionably
increased, may affect the cultivation of the larger estates, but there
they are, and flourishing, as I have described, whilst I was in the
island. A contiguous, though abandoned estate was purchased by Sir Henry
Martin for about 9,500 _l._ currency, being 3,000 _l._ more than he had
offered a few years previously. To compare Barbados with any other
island, either as to population, wealth, or state of agriculture, is
unnecessary. I have seen nothing like the commercial activity which I
saw in the streets yesterday, except at St. Thomas; and I feel,
therefore, on all these grounds, that the act may be passed safely and
justly. At the same time I am not unmindful or insensible to the state
of public opinion in the mother country, nor to the many new and
harassing annoyances to which the proprietors may be exposed during a
protracted continuance of the apprenticeship. I request that my full
concurrence in the resolution of the council, may be accorded on the
minutes of this day's proceedings.'"
Such is the testimony of a witness in no wise warped by prejudice in
favor of the anti-slavery party.
The debates which took place in the legislatures of both Barbados and
Jamaica, are full of similar testimony, uttered by men every way
qualified to bear witness, and under influences which relieve their
testimony from every taint of suspicion.
In the legislature of Jamaica, on the question of a Committee to bring
in a Bill, Mr. GOOD remarked, "He could say that the negroes from their
general good conduct were deserving of the boon. Then why not give in
with a good heart? why exhibit any bad feelings about the matter? There
were many honorable gentlemen who had benefitted by the pressure from
without, who owed their rank in society and their seats in that house to
the industry of the negroes. Why should they now show a bad heart in the
matter?--Nine tenths of the proprietors of this island had determined
upon giving up the apprenticeship. Hundreds of thousands were to be
benefited--were to take their stations as men of society, and he hoped
the boon would not be retarded by a handful of men who owed their all
to slavery."
Mr. Dallas said,--"_The abolition of the remaining term of
apprenticeship must take place; let them then join hand and heart in
doing it well, and with such grace as we now could. Let it have the
appearance of a boon from ourselves, and not in downright submission to
the coercive measures adopted by the British Parliament_."
After a committee had been appointed to prepare and bring in a Bill for
the abolition of the apprenticeship, a member rose and proposed that the
28th of June should be its termination. We give his speech as reported
in the Jamaica papers, to show how fanatical even a slaveholder
may become.
"On the members resuming their seats, Mr. HART proposed that it be an
instruction to the committee appointed to bring in the bill or
abolishing the remainder of the apprenticeship, to insert a clause in
it, that the operation of that bill should commence on the 28th of June,
that being the day appointed for the coronation of the Queen. _He felt
proud in telling the house that he was the representative of the black
population. He was sent there by the blacks and his other friends_. The
white Christians had their representatives, the people of color had
their representatives, and _he hoped shortly to see the day when the
blacks would send in their own representatives_. He wanted the thing
done at once, Sir, said the honorable member waxing warm. It was
nonsense to delay it. It could be done in three lines as he said before,
dele 1840 and put in 1838. That was all that they had to do. If it were
possible, let the thing be done in two words. He went there to do his
duty to his constituents, and he was determined to do so. His black
friends looked up to him to protect them--and he would press his motion
that all the apprentices in the island should be _crowned_ on the 28th
of June. (Thundering roars of laughter.) He was as independent as any
honorable member, and would deliver his sentiment, without caring who
were and who were not pleased. He was possessed of property in
apprentices--_he had an estate with nearly two hundred negroes, that he
was determined to crown on the 28th of June_. (Increased roars of
laughter in the house, and at the bar.) He would not be laughed down.
His properties were not encumbered. He would not owe anything on them
after they were paid for, and that he could do. (Loud laughter.) He was
determined to have his opinion. As he had said before, the 28th day of
June being fixed for the coronation of all the negroes in the island,
that is the day they ought to be released from the apprenticeship.
(Thundering and deafening roars of laughter). (Here the honorable member
was told that the Queen was to be crowned on that day.) Ah, well, he had
made a mistake, but he would tell the house the truth, _he had made up
his mind to give his apprentices freedom on that day, but he did not
wish to do it without his neighbors doing the same, lest they should say
he was setting a bad example_. He would press his motion to a division.
It had been seconded by his honorable friend on his right.--(Aside,
"Good, didn't you promise to second it?") The honorable member then read
his motion, and handed it up to the clerk."
The "mistake" of this liberal descendant of Israel, which excited so
much merriment was, after all, not a very unfortunate one, _if_ the
"crown" of manhood is more important than that of monarchy. The members
objected to so near an approach to _immediatism_, not, however, be it
remarked, on account of the unfitness of the apprentices, (slaves) but
their own convenience. Among those who replied to Mr. Hart, was Mr.
Osborn, of unmingled African blood, born a slave, and who, we are
informed, was a successful competitor for the seat he now occupies
against the very man who formerly claimed him as property. Mr. Osborn
and his partner Mr. Jordon were editors of the Jamaica Watchman, and had
contended manfully for liberty when it was a dangerous word. Mr. Osborn
said:--"He was astonished at the galloping liberality which seemed to
have seized some honorable members, now there was nothing to contend
for. Their liberality seemed to have outrun all prudence. Where were
they and their liberality when it was almost death to breach the
question of slavery? What had become of their philanthropy? But no, it
was not convenient then. The stream was too strong for them to resist.
Now, however, when the question was finally settled, when nothing
remained for them to do, it was the time that some honorable gentlemen
began to clamor their liberality, and began a race who should be the
first, or who should have the honor of first terminating the
apprenticeship. He hoped the motion would be withdrawn, and the
discussion put an end to."
What had become of the visions of blood and slaughter? Could there be
more impressive testimony to the safety of Emancipation in all, even the
worst cases?
We might add to this testimony that of the universal newspaper press of
the British West India colonies. We have room, however, to select only
from a few of the well known opponents of freedom.
"We seriously call upon our representatives to consider well all the
bearings of the question, and if they cannot resist effectually these
encroachments of the Imperial Government, adopt the remaining
alternative of saving themselves from an infliction, by giving up at
once and entirely, the bone of contention between us. Thus only shall we
disarm, if anything in reason or in nature can, our enemies of their
slanderous weapons of offence, and secure in as far as possible, a
speedy and safe return of peace and prosperity to the "distracted"
colony.--Without this sacrifice on our parts, we see no shelter from our
sufferings--no amelioration of present wrongs--no hope for the future;
but on the contrary, a systematic and remorseless train laid for the
ultimate ruin of every proprietor in the country. With this sacrifice
which can only be to any extent to a few and which the wisdom of our
legislature may possibly find out some means or other of compensation,
we have the hope that the sunshine of Jamaica's prosperity shall not
receive any farther diminution; but shall rather dawn again with renewed
vigor; when all shall be alike free under the protection of the same
law, and the same law-givers; and all shall be alike amenable to the
powers that punish without favor and without affection."--_Jamaica
Standard_.
"There is great reason to expect that many Jamaica proprietors will
anticipate the period established by the Slavery Abolition Act for the
termination of the apprenticeship. They will, as an act of grace, and
with a view to their future arrangements with their negroes, terminate
the apprenticeship either of all at once, or by giving immediate freedom
to the most deserving; try the effect of this gift, and of the example
afforded to the apprentices when they see those who have been discharged
from the apprenticeship working on the estates for wages. If such a
course is adopted, it will afford an additional motive for inducing the
Legislature to consider whether the good feeling of the laboring
population, and their future connection with their former employers, may
not be promoted by permitting them to owe to the grace of their own
Legislature the termination of the apprenticeship as soon as the
requisite legislation for the new state of things has been
adopted."--_Jamaica Despatch_.
Of such sort as this is the testimony from all the Colonies, most
abundantly published in the Emancipator and other abolition papers, to
the point of the _safety_ of entire Emancipation. At the time when the
step was taken, it was universally concluded that so far from being
dangerous it promised the greatest safety. It would not only put an end
to the danger apprehended from the foreign interference of the
abolitionists, but it would _conciliate the negroes_! And we are not
able to find any one who professes to be disappointed with the result
thus far. The only evil now complained of, is the new freemen do not in
some instances choose _to work_ on the _terms_ offered by the planters.
They have shed no man's blood. They have committed no depredation. They
peaceably obey the laws. All this, up to the latest date, is universally
admitted. Neither does any one _now_ presume to prophesy anything
different for the future.
INDUSTRY.
On the one topic of the industry of the Emancipated people, the West
Indian papers give the most conflicting accounts. Some represent them as
laboring with alacrity, diligence and effect wherever anything like an
adequate compensation is offered. It is asserted by some, and not denied
by any authorities that we have seen, that the emancipated are
industriously at work on those estates where the masters voluntarily
relinquished the apprenticeship before the first of August and met their
freed people in good faith. But most of the papers, especially in
Jamaica, complain grievously that the freed people will work on no
reasonable terms. We give a fair specimen from one of the Jamaica
papers, on which our political editors choose most to rely for their
information:--
"In referring to the state of the country this week, we have still the
same tale to tell of little work, and that little indifferently done,
but exorbitantly charged for; and wherever resisted, a general "strike"
is the consequence. Now this, whatever more favourable complexion the
interested and sinister motives of others may attempt to throw around
it, is the real state of matters upon nine-tenths of the properties
situated in St. James's, Westmoreland, and Hanover. In Trelawny they
_appear_ to be doing a little better; but that only arises, we are
confident from the longer purses, and patience of endurance under
exorbitant wages, exhibited by the generality of the managers of that
parish. Let them wait till they find they can no longer continue making
sugar at its present expensive rate, and they will then find whether
Trelawny is substantially in a better condition than either of the other
parties."--_Standard, quoted in the Morning Journal of Nov. 2_.
This is the "tale" indeed, of a great part of the West India papers,
sung to the same hum drum tune ever since the first of August; and so
faithfully echoed by our own pro slavery press that many of our
estimable fellow citizens have given it up that the great "experiment"
has turned out unfavorably, and that the colored population of the West
Indies are rapidly _sinking_ from the condition of _slaves_ to that of
idle freemen. Were we all in a position perfectly disinterested and
above the peculiar influence of slavery, we might perhaps consider these
complaints as asking for, rather than against, the character of the
Emancipated and the cause of freedom, inasmuch as they prove the former
slaves to have both the discretion and the spirit which should
characterise freemen. But to the peculiar optics which abound in these
United States it may be necessary to show the entire picture.
To prove in the first place the general falsehood of the complaints
themselves it is only necessary to advert to recent official documents.
For our present purpose it will be sufficient to refer to Jamaica. The
legislature was convened on the 30th of October and addressed by the
Governor Sir Lionel Smith in a speech of which the following extract
pertains to our subject:--
_"Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House
of Assembly,_
The most important event in the annals of colonial history has taken
place since last I had the pleasure of meeting the legislature of
this Island; and I am happy in being able to declare that the
conduct of the laboring population, who were then the objects of
your liberal and enlightened policy, _entitles them to the highest
praise, and amply proves how_ WELL THEY HAVE DESERVED _the boon
of freedom._
It was not to be expected that the total extinction of the
apprenticeship law would be followed by an instantaneous return to
active labor, but feeling as I do the deepest interest in the
successful result of the great measurement now in progress, I
sincerely congratulate you and the country at large, on the
improvement which is daily taking place on the resumption of
industrious habits, and I TRUST THERE IS EVERY PROSPECT OF
AGRICULTURAL PROSPERITY."
Such is the testimony of a Governor who is no stranger in the West
Indies and who was put in the place of Lord Sligo as more acceptable to
the planters. But what said the House of Assembly in reply?--a House
made up chiefly of attornies who had more interest than any other men in
the continuance of the old system and who, as will presently be shown,
were not unwilling to have the "experiment" fail? They speak as
follows:--
_"May it Please your Excellency,_
We, her Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects, the Assembly of
Jamaica, thank your Excellency for your speech at the opening of
the session.
The House join your Excellency in bearing testimony TO THE
PEACEABLE MANNER in which the laboring population have conducted
themselves in a state of FREEDOM.
It certainly was not to be expected that so great a change in the
condition of the people would be followed by an immediate return to
active labor. The House, however, are willing to believe that some
degree of improvement is taking place, and they sincerely join in
the HOPE expressed by your Excellency, that the agricultural
interests of the Island may ultimately prosper, by a resumption of
industrious habits on the part of the peasantry in their new
condition."
This settles the question. Those who will not be convinced by such
documents as these that the mass of the Emancipated in Jamaica are ready
_to do their part_ in the system of free labor, would not be convinced
if one rose from the deed to prove it.
We are now prepared to investigate the causes of the complaints, and
inquire why in numerous cases the negros have refused to work. Let us
first go back to the debates Jamaica Legislature on the passage of the
Emancipation bill in June, and see whether we can discover the _temper_
in which it was passed, and the prospect of good faith in its execution.
We can hardly doubt that some members, and some especially from whose
speeches on that occasion we have already quoted, designed really to
confer the "boon of freedom." But others spoke very differently. To
understand their language we must commence with the Governor's speech at
the opening of the session:--
_"Gentlemen of the Council,
Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the Assembly,_
I have called you together, at an unusual season, to take it to your
consideration the state of the Island under the Laws of
Apprenticeship, for the labouring population.
I need not refer you to the agitation on this subject throughout the
British Empire, or to the discussions upon it in Parliament, _where
the honourable efforts of the ministry_ were barely found sufficient
to preserve the original duration of the Laws, as an obligation of
the National faith.
I shall lay before you some despatches on this subject."
* * * * *
_"Gentlemen,_
_General agitation and Parliamentary interference have not, I am
afraid, yet terminated._
_A corresponding excitement has been long going on among the
apprentices themselves,_ but still they have rested in sober and
quiet hopes, relying on your generosity, that you will extend to
them that boon which has been granted to their class in
other Colonies."
* * * * *
_"Gentlemen of the Council,
Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the Assembly,_
In this posture of affairs, it is my duty to declare my sentiments,
and distinctly to _recommend to you the early and equal abolition of
the apprenticeship for all classes._ I do so in confidence that the
apprentices will be found worthy of freedom, and that it will
operate as a double blessing, by securing also the future interests
of the planters.
I am commanded, however, to inform you that her Majesty's ministers
will not entertain any question of further compensation. But should
your views be opposed to the policy I recommend, I would entreat you
to consider well _how impracticable it will become to carry on
coercive labor_--always difficult, it would in future be in peril of
constant comparisons with other colonies made free, and with those
estates in this island made free by individual proprietors.
As Governor, under these circumstances, and I never shrink from any
of my responsibilities, _I pronounce it physically impossible to
maintain the apprenticeship with any hope of successful agriculture._
* * * * *
"_Gentlemen of the Council,
Mr. Speaker, and gentlemen of the Assembly._
Jamaica, is in your hands--she requires repose, by the removal of a
law which has _equally tormented the laborer, and disappointed the
planter_--a law by which man still constrains man in unnatural
servitude. This is her first exigency. For her future welfare she
appeals to your wisdom to legislate in the spirit of the times, with
liberality and benevolence towards all classes."
* * * * *
When such a man as Sir Lionel Smith pronounced it no longer practicable
to carry on coercive labor, he must have been a bold as well as a rash
planter who would venture to hold on to the old system under Lord
Glenelg's improvement Act. Accordingly we find some of the staunchest
advocates of slavery, men who had been fattening on the oppression of
the apprentices up to that moment the first, and the most precipitate,
is their proposals of abolition. Mr. Hyslop, Mr. Gay and others were for
acting at once on the Governor's speech without referring it to a
committee. The former said: "He believed that a proposition would be
made to abandon the apprenticeship from the 1st of August, _but he would
say let it be abandoned from Sunday next_. He would therefore move that
the speech be made the order of the day for tomorrow."
Mr. Guy said:--
"The Governor's speech contained nothing more than what every Gentlemen
expected, _and what every Gentlemen, he believed, was prepared to do. In
short he_ would state that _a bill had already been prepared by him,
which he intended to introduce tomorrow, for the abolition of the
apprenticeship on the 1st of August next_."
Both these gentlemen are well known by the readers of Jamaica papers as
obstinate defenders slavery. The latter was so passionately devoted to
the abuses of the apprenticeship that Lord Sligo was obliged to dismiss
him from the post of Adjutant General of militia. In the ardor of his
attachment to the "peculiar institution" of getting work without pay, he
is reported to have declared on a public occasion, that the British
ministry were a "parcel of reptiles" and that the "English nation was
fast going to the dogs." In another part of the debate:--
"Mr. Guy hoped the house would not _go into a discussion of the nature of
the apprenticeship_, or the terms upon which it was forced us by the
government. All that he knew about the matter was, that it was a part
and parcel of the compensation. Government had so declared it. In short
it was made law. He could not help believing that the Hon. member for
Trelawny, was arguing against the dictates of his own honest heart--that
he came there cut and dry with a speech prepared to _defend the
government_."
Mr. Barclay, to whom, some years ago, the planters gave a _splendid
service of plate_ for his ingenious defence of slavery against the
terrible pen of JAMES STEPHEN, said "it appeared to be the general
feeling of the house that the apprenticeship should be done away with.
Be that as it may, he was free to say that in that part of the island he
was from, and certainly it was a large and wealthy district, the
apprenticeship system _had worked well_, and all parties _appeared_
satisfied with it. He denied that there existed any necessity to disturb
the working of the system, it would have _gradually_ slided into
_absolute freedom if they were permitted to regulate their own affairs_,
but the government, or rather, _the people of England, had forced on the
predicament in which they were placed_. The ministry could not help
themselves--They were driven to violate the national compact, not in
express words, it is true, but in fact. It was, however, the _force of
public opinion that operated_ in producing the change. They were placed
in a situation from which they could hardly extricate themselves.--
_They had no alternative, he was afraid, but to go along with
the stream_."
Mr. Hamilton Brown, who at the commencement of the apprenticeship came
into a Special Magistrate's court and publicly told him that unless he
and his colleagues "_did their duty by having recourse to a frequent and
vigorous application of the lash, there would he rebellion in the Parish
(of St. Ann's!) in less than a month, and all the responsibility of such
a calamity would rest on their shoulders_"! discoursed in the following
manner. "It was always understood, for the apprenticeship _had become
marketable_. Properties had been bought and sold with them, their time
had been bought by others, and by themselves."
"He had no hesitation in saying, that the statements which had been made
in England against the planters _were as false as hell_--they had been
concocted here, and sent home by a parcel of spies in the island. They
were represented as a cruel set of men, as having outraged the feelings
of humanity towards the negroes, or in matters in which they were
concerned. This was false. He did not mean to deny that there were a
_few instances_ of cruelty to the apprentices, but then those were
_isolated cases_, and was it not hard that a hue and cry should be
raised against the whole body of planters, and all made to suffer on
account of those _few_. He would say that there was a greater
disposition to be cruel to the negroes evinced _by young men arriving in
this island from England, than by the planters. There was, indeed, a
great deal of difficulty in restraining them from doing so, but the
longer they lived in the country, the more kind and humane they became_.
The negroes _were better off here than many of the people of Great
Britain_, and they would have been contented, had it not been for the
injudicious _interference of some of the Special Justices_. Who had ever
heard of negroes being starved to death? Had they not read accounts in
the English papers of men destroying their wives, their children, _and
afterwards themselves_, because they could not obtain food. They had
been grossly defrauded of their property; and after doing that, it was
now sought to destroy their constitutional rights. He would repeat, they
had been grossly defrauded of their property." [Here is the true
slaveholder, logic, chivalry and all.]
Mr. Frater said, among other things, "He knew that it might be said the
bill (Lord Glenelg's) did not go to the extent of freeing the
negroes--_that we are about to do ourselves_, but he would ask whether
we were not _driven into the difficulty_ by which we are now surrounded!
Had we not been brought into this _alarming position_, into this
_exigency_, by the conduct of the British Government. _Why do we not
tell the English nation frankly and candidly, that they agreed to give
the planter six years' services of their apprentices, as a part of the
compensation, and if they desired to do away with it, that we must be
paid for it_, otherwise we will NOT ANSWER FOR ANY CHANGE, FOR ANY EVILS
WHICH ARE LIKELY TO ENSUE. Why did the government force such an
obnoxious bill upon us? They had in substance done this, they refused to
annul the apprenticeship themselves, it is true, but said, we will place
them in a situation that will compel them to do it themselves. He must
say that the Government had acted _cowardly and unjustly_, they had in
substance deprived them of the further two years' services of their
apprentices, agreeably to the compact entered into, upon a pretext that
we had not kept faith with them, and now tell us they will give us no
compensation. He hoped the allusion to it in the address would be
retained."
We beg the patient attention of the reader to still more of these
extracts. The present state of things in Jamaica renders them very
important. It is indispensable to a correct judgment of the results of
the experiment to understand in what temper it was entered upon by the
parties. Nothing can show this more clearly or authoritatively than the
quotations we are making. We find another little torrent of eloquence
from the same Mr. Hamilton Brown above quoted. He and several other
gentlemen rose to reply to the statements of Richard Hill, a friend of
freedom, and Secretary of the Special Magistracy.
Mr. Brown--"Mr. Chairman, I am on my legs, Sir. I say that we have to
thank the Special Justices, and the _private instructions_ which they
have acted upon, _for all the evils that have occurred in the country_.
Had they taken _the law_ for their guide, had they acted upon that, Sir,
and not upon their private instructions, _every thing would have gone on
splendidly_, and we should have done well. But they had _destroyed the
negroes with their instructions_, they had _given them bad advice_, and
_encouraged them in disobedience to their masters_. I say it, Sir, in
the face of this committee--I would say it on my death-bed tomorrow,
that if the Stipendiary Magistrates had _done their duty_ all would have
gone on well, _and I told his Excellency that he might then have slept
on a bed of roses_."
Here was one of the abolishers of the apprenticeship who held that more
flogging would have made it work more "splendidly." Mr. Hugh Fraser
Leslie, who the February before had, in his place in the Assembly,
denominated the anti-slavery delegates assembled in London, as "a set of
crawling wretches;" "the scum and refuse of society." "The washings and
scrapings of the manufacturing districts," &c. &c. now delivered himself
of the following:--
"_He would ask any man in the house, nay, in the country, whether the
house had any discretion left to them in the steps they were about to
take_? Could it be denied, that they were driven to the present
alternative? Could they any longer say they were an independent
legislature? It would be preposterous--absolutely absurd to entertain
any such idea. The apprenticeship had been _forced upon the country_ as
a part and parcel of the planters' compensation--it had been working
well, and would insensibly _have slided into a state of absolute
freedom, had the masters been left alone to themselves. It is now
utterly impracticable to continue it_. A most obnoxious measure had been
passed by the British parliament, and sent out to this country to be
promulgated by the Governor as the law of the land. The functions of the
legislature were put in abeyance, and a British act _crammed down their
throats_. It could not be denied that they were now under a military
Government. _He was only sorry that the thing had not been more honestly
done_; in his opinion, it would have been better for all classes, for
then the government would have taken all the responsibilities which
might attend the sudden change they had driven the house to make, and
find the means of conducting the affairs of the country into a peaceable
and successful state. _Let any person look to the excitement which at
present prevailed throughout the country, couple that with the speech
which had been delivered by the Governor, and say if it was any longer
practicable to carry one the system of apprenticeship_. With respect to
the doctrine which had been broached, that the apprenticeship was not a
part and parcel of the compact between the government and the planters;
that they (the planters) did not possess an absolute but an incidental
right to the services of their apprentices, _he confessed he was at a
loss to understand it_, he was incapable of drawing so nice a
distinction. He repeated, the government and nation had made the
apprenticeship a part of the consideration of the abolition of slavery,
and having placed us in a situation to render its continuance
impracticable they were bound in honor and common honesty _to compensate
us_ for the two years."
Once more, and we have done. Mr. Berry said,
"He did not think that because the Governor said they were not entitled
to compensation, that therefore they should give up the claim which they
unquestionably had upon the British nation for further compensation. He
would contend also, that the apprenticeship was one part of the
consideration for the abolition of slavery. He had heard it remarked
that the apprenticeship must cease, but it ought to be added that they
were compelled--they were driven to put an end to it by the Government,
though they were convinced that neither party was at this moment
prepared for immediate abandonment. The Governor, in his opening speech,
had told the house that from the agitation at home, and the
corresponding agitation which at the present moment prevailed here, it
was physically impossible to carry one the apprenticeship with advantage
to masters and labourers. He would take leave to remark, that the
apprenticeship _was working very well_--in some of the parishes had
worked extremely well. Where this was not the case, it was attributable
_to the improper conduct of the Special Justices_. He did not mean to
reflect upon them all; there were some honorable exceptions, but he
would say that a great deal of the ill-feeling which had arisen in the
country between the masters and their apprentices, was to be traced to
the _injudicious advice_ and conduct of the special Justices."
Such were the sentiments of by far the majority of those who spoke in
the Assembly. Such, doubtless, were the sentiments of more than
nine-tenths of the persons invested with the management of estates in
Jamaica. What, then if we had heard that nine-tenths of the emancipated
had refused to be employed? Could that have been counted a failure of
the experiment? Was there any reason to believe that the planters would
not resort to every species of oppression compatible with a system
of wages?
Before proceeding to the question of wages, however, we invite the
reader to scan the temper and disposition of the parties of the other
part, viz., the laboring population. Let us observe more carefully how
_they_ behaved at the important period of
TRANSITION
Two of the sturdiest advocates of slavery, the _Jamaica Standard_ and
the _Cornwall Courier_, speak as follows:--
The _Standard_ says--"On Tuesday evening, (July 31), the Wesleyan, and we
believe, Baptist Chapels, (St. James') were opened for service--the
former being tastefully decorated with branches of the palm, sage, and
other trees, with a variety of appropriate devices, having a portrait of
her Majesty in the center, and a crown above. When we visited the
Chapel, about 10 o'clock, it was completely full, but not crowded, the
generality of the audience well dressed; and all evidently of the better
class of the colored and negro population. Shortly after, we understand,
a very excellent and modern sermon, in all political points, was
delivered by the Rev. Mr. Kerr, the highly respected pastor. The
congregation was dismissed shortly after 12 o'clock; at which hour the
church bell commenced its solemn peal, and a few noisy spirits welcomed
in the morning of Freedom with loud cheers, and planted a huge branch,
which they termed the "Tree of Liberty," in the center of the two roads
crossing the market square."
Again the _Standard_ observes, "The long, and somewhat anxiously
expected jubilee of Emancipation has arrived, and now nearly passed
over, with a remarkable degree of quiet and circumspection. Of St.
James's of course, we speak more particularly,--St. James's, hitherto the
most reviled, and most unwarrantably calumniated parish, of all the
parishes in this unfortunate and distracted colony!"
The _Cornwall Courier_ says, "The first of August, the most important
day ever witnessed in Jamaica, has passed quietly as far as actual
disturbance is concerned."
The _Jamaica Morning Journal_, of whose recent course the planters
should be the last to complain, gives more particular information of the
transition in all parts of the island. We give copious extracts, for to
dwell upon such a scene must soften the heart. It is good sometimes to
behold the joy of mere brute freedom--the boundings of the noble horse
freed from his stable and his halter--the glad homeward flight of the
bird from its cage--but here was besides the rational joy of a
heaven-born nature. Here were 300,000 souls set free; and on wings of
gratitude flying upwards to the throne of God. There were the gatherings
in the public squares, there were the fireworks, the transparencies, the
trees of liberty and the shouts of the jubilee, but the churches and the
schools were the chief scenes, and hymns and prayer the chief language
of this great ovation. There was no giving up to drunken revelry, but a
solemn recognition of God, even by those who had not been wont to
worship him. His temples were never so crowded. His ministers never so
much honored. We give the picture in all its parts, faithfully, and as
completely as our information will enable us to do.
August 2.
"In this city, the day has passed off in the way in which such a day
ought to pass off. With glad hearts and joyful lips, the people have
crowded the temples of the living God, and poured out their praises and
thanksgivings for the great benefits they had received at the hands of a
beneficent Providence. That they will continue to deport themselves as
dutiful subjects, and good men and women, we have no doubt. From the
country we wait with anxious hopes to hear that everything has gone off
with the same peace, and quiet, and order, and regularity which have
prevailed here, and especially that the people have returned to their
labor, and are giving general satisfaction."
From the same.
Among the various ways of interesting the minds of our newly
enfranchised peasantry on the 1st of August, was that of planting a Palm
tree emblematical of liberty, and commemorative of its commencement in
this island. Both in Kingston and in Liguanca, we understand, this
ceremony was performed by the schools and congregations of the "London
Missionary Society." The following hymn, composed by Mr. Wooldridge, for
the purpose, and committed to memory by many of the children, who were
treated with cakes and lemonade.
Appropriate sermons were preached, both morning and evening, by the Rev.
Messrs. Woodbridge and Ingraham, and in the evening a Temperance Society
was formed for the district of Liguanca, when several signed the pledge.
The thorny bush we'll clear away
The emblem of old slavery--
Let every fibre of it die,
And all its vices cease to be.
Let indolence, deceit, and theft,
Be of their nourishment bereft,
Let cruel wrong now disappear,
And decent order crown each year.
PROCEEDINGS AT TRELAWNEY.--A correspondent in Trelawney writes. The
first of August was observed by the people so decently and devoutly, and
with such manifestations of subdued, yet grateful feeling, that they
appeared more like a select class of Christians celebrating some holy
day of their church, than a race but recently converted from idolatry,
and who were just emerging from the pollutions and degradation
of slavery.
TREAT TO THE CHILDREN.--The most interesting and truly exciting scene of
all in Trelawny, was the spectacle of some hundreds of happy children
dining. This feast for them, and for all who had hearts that could
sympathise with the happiness of others, was provided by the Rev. Mr.
Knibb. Similar scenes were enacted in the rural districts. The Rev. Mr.
Blyth had, I believe, a meeting of his scholars, and a treat provided
for them. The Rev. Mr. Anderson had a large assemblage of his scholars
at the school-house, who were regaled with meat, bread, and beverage,
and also a large meeting of the adult members of his Church, to every
one of whom, who could, or was attempting to learn to read, he gave a
book.--[HE GAVE A BOOK.]
AT ST. ELIZABETH.--At the hour of 10, A.M., there was about 3000 persons
assembled at Crosmond, when the clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Hylton, proposed
an adjournment from the Chapel to the shade of some wide-spreading trees
in the common pasture, whither the happy multitude immediately
adjourned. The morning service of the church having ended, the Rev.
Gentleman preached a most impressive sermon from the 4th chapter of
Zech. 6th verse--"Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith
the Lord of Hosts"--In his application, he took a brief review of the
history of the island--the conquest by the Spanish--the extermination by
the Indians--and the consequent introduction of the negroes from Africa.
He then adverted to the several insurrections that had taken place
during the period since the conquest by the British, to the last general
rebellion in 1832, in which both himself and many present were deeply
interested. Having shown that all these insurrections had been
suppressed, and had come to nought, he proceeded to point out how
through Divine providence Mr. Wilberforce was raised up to advocate the
cause of the oppressed African, and since that period, step by step,
various privileges had been quietly conceded to the colored race, until
the final consummation by the Legislature, in abolishing the last
vestiges of slavery on the 1st of August, 1838.
The Rev. Gentleman's honorable mention of Mr. Wilberforce appeared to be
deeply felt and acknowledged by all around. After the service was
concluded, the assembled multitude gave three hearty cheers for Queen
Victoria, and three for Lord Mulgrave, the first _free Governor_ that
ever came to Jamaica.
A more decent, orderly, and well-behaved assemblage could not be seen in
any part of the world. The people have indeed proved themselves worthy
of the "_great boon_" conferred upon them.
AT PORT MARIA.--The first of August passed off happily and peaceably.
The people felt deeply the great blessing that had been conferred on
them, and behaved uncommonly well. All the places of worship were
crowded; indeed, thrice the number would not have contained those who
attended, and many of whom could not be accommodated.
From the Cornwall Chronicle of Aug. 4.
Nothing could give a fairer and fuller confidence in the character of
the negroes than their conduct on so joyous and trying an occasion, as
what they have exhibited during the brief period of their political
regeneration. It may be considered as an earnest of their future
peaceable demeanor; the disbelief of the sceptic will thus be put to the
blush, and the apprehensions of the timid allayed. The first of August
has passed, and with it the conduct of the people has been such as to
convince the most jealous, as well as the most sanguine of the evil
prognosticators, that they are a good and trust-worthy people. There is
no doubt but that this day will be held for ever as a sacred
anniversary--a new Pentecost--upon which they will render thanks for the
quiet "possession of their Canaan"--free from all political oppressions,
and that they can suffer only from the acts of their own indiscretion.
If ever they were placed in a favorable situation which they could
improve, it could not have been equal to the present.--The exercise of
moderation, however, is now most required, and will be greatly
appreciated to themselves at a future time.