9 



A 

PRACTICAL VIEW 

OF THE 



PRESENT STATE OF SLAVERY 

IN 

THE WEST INDIES. 



A 

PRACTICAL VIEW 

OF THE 

PRESENT STATE OF SLAVERY 

IN 

THE WEST INDIES ; 

OR, 

AN EXAMINATION OF MR. STEPHEN^ 
"SLAVERY OF THE BRITISH WEST INDIA COLONIES." 

CONTAINING MOKK PARTICULARLY 

AN ACCOUNT OF THE ACTUAL CONDITION OF 

ft* ^.egtws in Samatca: 

WITH OBSERVATIONS 

ON THE DECREASE OF THE SLAVES SINCE THE ABOLITION 

OF THE SLAVE TRADE, AND ON THE PROBABLE EFFECTS 

OF LEGISLATIVE EMANCIPATION : 

ALSO, 

. STRICTURES ON THE EDINBURGH REVIEW, AND ON THE 
PAMPHLETS OF MR. COOPER AND MR. BICKELL. 



BY ALEXANDER BARCLAY, 

it 

LATELY -AJSU FOR TWENTY-ONE YEARS RESIDENT IN JAMAICA. 



" When we have to reason with a practical purpose, concerning existing es- 
tablishments, the most particular and experimental view of them will ever 
lead to the soundest and most satisfactory conclusions." 

MR. STEPHEN. 

SECOND EDITION. 

| ^^M 

LONDON: 

PUBLISHED BY SMITH, ELDER & Co, 65, CORNHILL. 

1827. 



The Legislature of Jamaica having, in December 
last, passed a Consolidated Slave Law, which pro- 
vides in some important instances, in favour of the 
Slave Population of that Island, measures of protec- 
tion and of extended rights ; and, in other instances, 
gives the requisite sanction of Law to what was before 
established merely by general practice, we have the 
authority of Mr. Barclay for annexing to his book 
that law, as it has been, in Jamaica, printed, with 
references to repealed enactments. We also add an 
extract from the Code Rural of Haiti containing 
those clauses, which may be usefully compared with 
the Jamaica Law. The Jidelity of the translation of 
these extracts may be ascertained by comparing them 
with the original Code, recently published by Ridg- 
way, from a copy received, under unquestionable 
authority, from Paris, and which will be found 
exactly to coincide with that which will soon be print- 
ed under authority of Parliament. 

The Code Rural was passed by the Legislature of 
Haiti in May last, and the members of the Chamber 
of Commons, announcing it to the citizens in their 



address, dated the IQth May, speak of it as a law 
" although just, yet severe," and from their address 
it appears that they judged it necessary for the 
purpose of regenerating agricultural labour among 
the FREE Negroes which constitute the mass of the 
population of that once flourishing Colony. 

APRIL, 1827. 



PREFACE. 



NEVER, perhaps, were mistakes more prevalent 
upon any subject than they are at present upon 
that of West India slavery. There are many in 
this country, and by no means in the lowest 
stations, who never hear the subject mentioned 
but they have before their minds chains, dungeons, 
scourging, maiming, wounding, and death. To 
their terrified imaginations it appears the land of 
horrors, where cruelty sits in brief authority, and 
the oppressed drag out a gloomy life in groans 
and tears, without any of the comforts of exist- 
ence, and of course, without manifesting any signs 
of enjoyment. These false impressions have been 
mainly owing to a class of authors and orators in 
the mother country, who, for many years, have 



11 PREFACE. 

been aiming at effect, more than at truth who 
have been less anxious to ascertain and make 
known the real condition of the negroes, than to 
give an aggravated and frightful description of it, 
in order to obtain for themselves the praise and 
favour which would be most justly due to those 
who should espouse their cause, if they really 
were in the situation described. 

Embarking, about eighteen months ago, from 
Jamaica for Britain, after an absence of twenty- 
one years spent in that island, I chanced to ob- 
tain, among other books for entertainment during 
the voyage, Mr. Stephens Slavery of the British 
West India Colonies. I had heard of this work, 
and was well aware that prejudices against the 
colonists existed in the mother country ; but I 
confess, I had no idea, till I sat down to peruse 
this celebrated performance, how far those preju- 
dices were carried, and still less that such means 
or such talents were employed to extend and 
inflame them. In the picture Mr. Stephen has 
drawn, I could scarcely recognise a single feature 
of the community in which I had so long resided ; 
and as I perused his eloquent invective (for such 
I admit it to be), I could not but feel how little 



PREFACE. Hi 

those of my countrymen who had not the same 
means of knowing the truth, were to be blamed 
for prejudices thus elaborately instilled into them. 
Impressed with this idea, I employed the leisure 
which the voyage afforded in taking notes of Mr. 
Stephen's errors and misrepresentations, and before 
I reached England, had written out the greater 
part of what I now submit to the public ; but on 
my arrival in my native land, after so long an 
absence from my friends, such matters were for 
some time lost sight of and forgotten ; and per- 
haps I should never have returned to the task, 
had I not learned that those discussions on the 
subject (fraught with so much danger to the ne- 
groes as well as their masters), were again to be 
renewed in Parliament, and at the same time 
seen Mr. Stephen's work represented in the Edin- 
burgh Review as unanswered, and unanswerable 
by the colonists, and as affording a most excel- 
lent account of the slavery in the British West 
India islands. 

It has not been my lot in the course of an 
active life, to have enjoyed much time for literary 
pursuits ; and, on entering the lists with an acute 
and eloquent lawyer, I have fearful odds against 



IV PREFACE. 

me : but I derive confidence from my knowledge 
of the subject, and from the consciousness of 
having truth on my side, and trust that my work 
(however little pretension it may have to that 
eloquence for which Mr. Stephen's is so , much 
praised) may be useful in making known the 
actual condition of the slaves, and in exposing 
the errors, and total want of candour of some of 
the principal accusers of the colonists. 

To the ungraciousness of opposing specious, though 
visionary, schemes of philanthropy, I am fully sen- 
sible ; and I never should have undertaken the task, 
but from a sincere conviction that in doing so, I was 
advocating the true interests of humanity. The best 
part of my life has been spent in daily intercourse 
with the slaves in Jamaica : they are ignorant, it is 
true ; but I have witnessed much goodness among 
them, and in sickness have often been indebted to 
their kind attentions. My attachment to them is 
consequently strong ; and in whatever light my con- 
duct may be viewed or represented by those persons 
in this country to whose sentiments mine are op- 
posed, I can lay my hand on my heart and say, that 
a conviction of the fatal consequences which would 
inevitably result to the negroes from the adoption of 



PREFACE. V 

measures, founded in utter ignorance of their con- 
dition, their capabilities, habits, and dispositions, is 
the chief motive which has induced me to appear 
before the public. 

December , 1825. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

Introduction , vii 

An Examination of Mr. Stephen's Slavery of the British 

West India Colonies 1 

Houses and Gardens of the Negroes, their mode of Life, &c. 313 

Plantation Hospitals and Nurseries 321 

On the abundance of Fish and Crabs in Jamaica, and Negro 

methods of catching them 323 

On the Decrease of the Slave Population of the Colonies 

since the Abolition of the Slave Trade 336 

Strictures on the Edinburgh Review : 

On the Effects of Negro Emancipation in St. Domingo 346 

On the Spirit of West Indian Society 367 

Remarks on the Colony Trade 375 

Strictures on the Pamphlets of Mr. Cooper and Mr. Bickell 405 



* * 



- - The plan adopted in the examination of Mr. Stephen's work not having ad- 
mitted of any regular arrangement of the subjects treated of, it has been deemed 
advisable to give a full Index at the end of the volume. 



INTRODUCTION. 



THAT there is not room for improvement in the 
colonies as elsewhere, it would be absurd to suppose ; 
and it is by no means my object to defend either 
the colonists, or their laws, as perfect. On the con- 
trary the reader will find, that I have noticed several 
things which I disapprove of, and have suggested not 
a few improvements, or what I should deem im- 
provements, on their laws. It does not follow, how- 
ever, because the system in the colonies is not per- 
fect and may be improved, that it is what Mr. Ste- 
phen describes it 'a system uniting in itself every 
'species of oppression that has elsewhere existed 
' under the sun, and with many aggravations as much 
'beyond example as excuse.' For my own part, I 
have no hesitation in saying, that if one-twentieth 
part of the horrible things he charges the colonists 
with were true, scarcely could any sacrifice be too 
great to wipe from the face of the earth so iniquitous, 
so dreadful an oppression. Fortunately for humanity, 
his delineation of the slavery in our colonies, is, as I 
trust I shall be able to shew, as mere a fiction as 
malice ever forged, or a diseased state of mind brood- 
ing over a creation of its own, ever in dotage mis- 
took for a reality. 

It is well known, that the greater part of Mr. 



viii Introduction. 

Stephen's work was written so long ago as before the 
abolition of the African trade in slaves, 'to promote 
' which measure, was its main original object,' as he 
has himself informed us in his letter to Mr. Smith ; 
and though a greater change has since taken place in 
the general aspect and condition of the West Indian 
labourers, than I believe in any other part of the 
known world, or than perhaps could be paralleled in 
any age of the world ; yet all this improvement is 
denied by Mr. Stephen, and his reasonings founded 
on the then state of things are now printed as though 
they were still applicable, and as if charges which 
were either without foundation or grossly exaggerated 
then, were well founded now ! 

Many of those charges indeed, though they were 
never before embodied in a systematic form, or stated 
with so much eloquence, had been long before the 
public in speeches, reports, pamphlets, c. and 
had been again and again refuted. That, however, 
is not considered any reason why they should not 
still be brought forward with all the confidence of 
truth, for ' there is a power,' says Mr. Stephen, ' in 
' reiterated public defamation, of which the innocent 
' who have never been the victims of it, are not 
' aware. In this land of libels, the purest and best 
'known character is not safe. It has been justly 
' said on a late public occasion, in a quotation I think 
' from Mr. Burke, that by publishing the same ca- 
' lumny every day in the year, it may be so effectu- 
' ally forced into circulation and credit, that even its 
'own inventor himself may be brought to believe it.' 



Introduction. ix 

Pref. p. 53. And if this holds in the case of an indi- 
vidual among his own people, in his native land, how 
much more must such ' reiterated public defamation' 
prove successful when directed against the distant 
colonists in charges, the truth or falsehood of which 
it is so much more difficult to ascertain or judge of, 
and concerning which, people will almost necessarily 
take their opinions from the representations forced 
into circulation through the press ? I am far, how- 
ever, from thinking, that all those who have taken 
part with Mr. Stephen and his party, are actuated 
by bad motives, or are knowingly the abettors of the 
conspiracy against the colonists. On the contrary, 
I am well aware that many of them are people of 
the best intentions, and of such known integrity 
and benevolence, that their motives are liable to no 
suspicion ; but they are ignorant or misinformed as to 
the real state of matters in the colonies; and being 
full of generous indignation at the supposed oppres- 
sion of the negroes, are easily misled by such writ- 
ers or orators as Mr. Stephen, who affect to plead 
the cause of religion and humanity, and who thus 
convert the best feelings of our nature from charity 
and kindness into engines of oppression against a 
few unoffending individuals, born amr ag them, their 
own sons or brothers, entitled to some consideration 
for carrying the national industry and enterprise into 
foreign and dangerous climes, and persecuted only 
for the sin of the nation in establishing slavery in 
the colonies some ages before they were born. 



x Introduction. 

In the discussion of measures, which, whether 
they would benefit the slaves or otherwise, almost 
necessarily involve the ruin of the colonists, and the 
annihilation of many millions of British property, 
although strong language might be excusable on the 
part of those whose lives and property are en- 
dangered, surely it would not be unreasonable to 
expect some degree of coolness, deliberation and 
temper (if not even of compassion for the sufferers), 
on the part of those who are urging the necessity of 
such measures, who are themselves safe at a distance 
from the convulsions they may give birth to, and 
are to have comparatively little or no share in the 
ruin their schemes of reform in those distant 
colonies, are likely to bring on their countrymen 
there. But what is the language in which they treat 
this grave and most important question? Let the 
reader judge of this by the extracts from Mr. 
Stephen's work given in the following sheets, and 
they are not by any means the most violent passages 
it contains ; or take the following specimen of the 
cool and dispassionate manner in which it is treated 
in the Edinburgh Review. 

' If you can still rise up and sit down in security 
' if you can still eat the bread of the fatherless, and 
' grind the faces of the poor if you can still hold 
' your petty parliaments, and say your little 
' speeches, and move your little motions if you 
' can still outrage and insult the parliament and 
'people of England, to what do you owe it? to 
' nothing but to our contemptuous mercy. If we 



Introduction. xi 

* suspend our protection if we recall our troops 
in a month the knife is at your throats. What are 
' you to us that we should pamper and defend you ? 
' If the Atlantic ocean should pass over you, and 

* your place know you no more, what should we 
' lose?' No. 82. p. 481. 

Such is the mild language of the philanthropy of 
our day such the style in which one class of Britons 
can address their brethren! What Englishman in 
Jamaica can read this paragraph, and the many 
such to be found in the writings of the party, with- 
out feeling the chords which attached his affections 
to his native land, violently torn asunder ? It was 
such language, more than the sword of Washington, 
that lost England her American colonies ; and 
though the West India islands may be less able to 
resist oppression, the loss of them to the mother 
country, if this unnatural hostility is continued, 
will be equally certain, and far more calamitous ; 
for (unless they should chance to pass under the 
protection -of some other power) they will be lost, 
not to England only, but to the world, at least for 
many ages to come, almost as much as if the 
Atlantic ocean should actually pass over them, and 
the place of the present inhabitants know them no 
more. 

According to Mr. Stephen, there exists among 
his countrymen in the West Indies, an universal 
feeling of hatred and contempt of the negroes, 
arising from the personal peculiarities and rudeness 
of the African race. It is by this assumed hatred 



xii Introduction. 

and contempt, that he strives to give probability to 
the most incredible charges of cruelty and oppression ; 
and indeed, in many cases, this alleged feeling of 
aversion and abhorrence on the part of the whites, 
is the sole ground for supposing that the charges 
should be made, and the sole proof of them. Such 
things must have happened, because the colonists 
hate the negroes. Now, I most solemnly affirm, not 
only that I am unconscious of any such surely un- 
natural feeling having place in my own breast, but 
that I have never seen any proof of its existence in 
the breasts of others; I may be in error ; but to me 
it appears, that what Mr. Stephen considers as ag- 
gravating the slavery in the British colonies, viz. 
the superiority of intellect on the part of the 
masters, mitigates rather than aggravates it, by 
preventing that jealousy between the slave and his 
master, which a near approach to equality is apt to 
produce, as is strikingly exemplified in the case of 
negro and mulatto masters with their negro and 
mulatto slaves. Servitude and slavery are surely 
in many respects the same, and has it ever been al- 
leged that servitude is aggravated, or the condition of 
a servant worse, in proportion to the superiority in 
education, or of talents and acquirements on the 
part of the master ? * If slavery indeed could be 

* We might also ask, if it has been observed, that those who have black ser- 
vants in this country, ' hate and despise ' them ? or if they do not treat them as well 
as their other servants, and take as great an interest in their welfare ? But as the 
anticolonial party find it convenient to make ' a wide distinction ' between the colo- 
nists when in England, and the same persons when in the colonies (since otherwise 
the character and behaviour of those West Indians, whom the people have an oppor- 



Introduction. xiii 

justified in any state of man, it surely is where rude 
and ignorant pagans are advancing to civilization, 
under the government of an enlightened people, to 
whom they look up as so greatly their superiors, 
that subjection to their authority is scarcely felt as a 
hardship, and certainly not at all as a degradation. 

But ' slavery is an evil, and therefore it should be 
abolished.' Many a long speech has been deliver- 
ed in parliament to tell this, and tell nothing more. 
It is one thing, however, to discover that slavery is 
an evil, and another to be able to alter a long 
established system. Who does not admit, for in- 
stance, that the English poor-rates are a great evil ? 
but who has been able to suggest how even this 
evil may be abolished, and the indolent made to 
maintain themselves ? and how much more difficult 
to abolish slavery, and transform at once, or in a few 
years, a nation of slaves into a nation of freemen ! 
Than this never did the legislature of any country 
attempt a task more arduous, or beset with greater 
difficulties. It involves a question between the 
government and the present holders of property, 



tunity of seeing, might make them doubt if they could be such monsters in the colo- 
nies), they will probably tell us, that, though a gentleman may be kind to his black 
servant in England, 'where/ say the Reviewers, < he participates in English feelings/ 
in the West Indies, where he retains no English feelings, and ' where he is degraded 
' by familiarity with oppression/ he would hate and despise him, cart- whip him 
unmercifully, &o. &c. 

I do not mean to assert, that the blacks are no where despised and borne down 
by the whites ; it is notoriously the case, wherever they have the misfortune to 
intermingle with white labourers. But this they have not the misfortune to do in the 
West Indies, where the labouring class is all black or brown. 

a 2 



xiv Introduction. 

between the proprietors of estates and their depen- 
dents now settled on them ; it contemplates a change 
of the mode by which the bulk of the population 
in the colonies have hitherto been governed a 
change in the existing relationships of society and, 
to be effectual or beneficial, it must contemplate 
a change in the very character and habits of the 
negroes. Yet, with all the difficulties attending 
it, negro emancipation is a question, the merits of 
which every body seems to think he is capable of 
discussing and settling. 

To take a view of a few only of these difficulties, 
let us look at the present situation of matters in the 
colonies. The proprietors, generally white people, 
hold extensive domains, upon which their numerous 
dependents, the negroes, are now domiciled. These 
are the property of the landlord on whose estate 
they are settled : but the connection, if it implies 
that the slave must work for his master, equally 
implies that the master must protect and provide 
for his slave. He gives them a proportion of his 
land to cultivate for their own use -provides them 
with clothing attends^to them in sickness, and 
supports them in old age.) In return, they labour for 
him in cultivating that part of the domain retained 
in his own hands, from the produce of which they, 
as well as their master, are in a great measure 
supported. Such is the constitution of society in 
the colonies. Emancipation at once dissolves the 
compact, and throws the whole community into 
utter confusion. The master is no longer entitled 



Introduction. xv 

to the labour of his emancipated slave; the slave 
should therefore no longer be entitled to a house 
and grounds on the estate of his former master. 
The emancipatists, however, seem disposed to dis- 
solve the compact on one side only ; they are clear 
that the master should no longer have any right to 
the services of the slave, but they never contemplate 
that the emancipated slave should no longer be 
entitled to the land he held from his master in re- 
turn for his services. And indeed it is quite clear 
that the emancipated slaves must continue to occupy 
their lands ; for it would be absurd to suppose that 
nearly the whole, or even any considerable part of 
the population of a country, could be turned out of 
their homes by the landholders ; more especially, in 
this instance, at the moment when the negroes 
were told that the government, or the king of 
England, had put an end to the power of the masters 
over them. The freed negroes, therefore, on the 
different plantations, would continue to occupy their 
houses and lands, while\he master, having no longer 
the power of punishing them, would no longer be 
able to exact payment in labour for the maintenance 
they derived from his estate ; so that emancipation 
would deprive him not only of his labourers (whose 
services he had purchased), but of that part of his 
land which they now occupy, and in effect of the 
whole, since his cane fields and expensive manufac- 
turing establishments could no longer be of any 
value, when he could no longer get labourers to 
work in them. 



xvi Introduction. 

Perhaps it will be said, do not the people in this 
country work, although free ? and must not the freed 
negroes in Jamaica also work, to enable them to 
live ? True, they must cultivate their own grounds, 
but nothing more. The free labourers in England 
must work or starve, but there would be no occasion 
that they should work for others, if they had land 
rent-free, sufficient for their support. As slaves, 
the negroes must work -their services are sold for 
life, but in return they have a provision for life ; and 
if this provision cannot be taken from them when 
emancipated, which it clearly cannot, they would 
be placed in a situation quite different from that 
of the labourers at home. Give these in the same 
manner the fee-simple of houses and land sufficient 
to maintain them and their families, and not many 
of them, more than of the negroes, will hire them- 
selves out as labourers. 

But, again, it will be asked, if the negroes when 
freed continue in the possession of the land and 
houses they now occupy as slaves, will not the 
proprietor be entitled, and able, to exact rent from 
them ? and must they not work to enable them to 
pay that rent ? The rent they now pay, as already 
observed, is in labour, which, under the present 
system, the proprietor can exact : but this power 
would cease when they were emancipated, unless, 
like the proprietors at home, he could turn them 
out of their possessions, which no proprietor would 
be able to do as, in their minds, emancipation by 
the king or government always implies that they are 



Introduction. xvii 

to have a right to their homes; and, beyond all ques- 
tion, the first attempt to remove them would be the 
signal for revolt. It is a great mistake to suppose 
that the civil magistrate could accomplish this in 
Jamaica, and, as in England, enforce the law on 
such a point ; the negroes are as yet in a great 
measure ignorant of the power or the restraints of 
the law. The authority of the master has ever been 
so immediately before their eyes, that they are 
scarcely sensible of any other restraint. They 
know that they may be transported by a court for 
desertion, or hanged for murder, but the power of 
punishment possessed by the masters, is that by 
which they have hitherto been chiefly governed. 
Annul that power, and they will scarcely conceive 
themselves under any authority ; order or govern- 
ment will be at an end ; the cultivation of the plant- 
ations will cease ; and the proprietors, instead of 
attempting to turn the freed negroes off their es- 
tates, must themselves abandon the possession, and 
seek safety in flight ; leaving a disorganized rabble 
to such new order of things as unforeseen circum- 
stances in the womb of revolution may produce. 

Thus the project of emancipating the negroes, if 
it does not amount to a proscription of the colonists, 
carries in it an Agrarian law, infinitely more ruin- 
ous to the proprietors in the West Indies than that 
which occasioned such tumults and disorders in 
republican Rome ; and the reflections of an eminent 
writer on that interesting passage of ancient his- 
tory, are so strikingly applicable to the present 



xviii Introduction. 

question, that one would almost suppose they had 
been written for it. * 

Nor can it (as some think) in any material degree 
lessen the danger, that emancipation is not to be 
immediate, but to commence with the children to 
be born after a certain date. The moment the 
principle is announced, and the slaves are told that 
the King of England has given freedom to their chil- 
dren, that moment their minds are unsettled, labour 
becomes irksome, and restraint insupportable. They 
will ask, if their children are to be free, why should 
not they be free also ? If their children are not to 

* This act, as it concerned the interest of almost every inhabitant of Italy, 
immediately raised a great ferment in every part of the country. Persons holding 
considerable estates in land were alarmed for their property. The poor were 
elated with the hopes of becoming suddenly rich. If there was a middling class, 
not to be greatly affected in their own situation, they still trembled for the effects 
of a contest between such parties. * * * The distinctions of poor and rich are as 
necessary in states of considerable extent, as labour and good government. The 
poor are destined to labour, and the rich, by the advantage of education, indepen- 
dence, and leisure, are qualified for superior stations. The rich were not without 
some violent convulsion to be stript of estates which they themselves had bought, 
or which they had inherited from their ancestors. The poor were not qualified 
at once to be raised to a state of equality with persons inured' to a better condi- 
tion. The prospect seemed to be as ruinous to the government as it was to the 
security of property, and tended to place the members of the commonwealth, by 
one rash and precipitate step, in situations in which they were not at all qualified 
to act. 

The rich urged, that the public faith under which they were suffered to pur- 
chase, was now engaged to protect and secure their possession : that in reliance 
on this faith they had pledged them for the dowries of their wives and the por- 
tions of their children, and mortgaged them as security for the debts they had 
contracted : that a law regulating or limiting the further increase or accumulation 
of property might be suffered ; but that a law, having a retrospect, and operating 
to the violation of the rights, and the ruin of so many families, was altogether 
unjust. 

Parties looked on each other with a gloomy and suspicious silence. Fergussons 
History of the Roman Republic, Book ii. chap. 2. 



Introduction. 



xix 



work (for such is their understanding of freedom), 
why should they work? The man born in 1827, 
when he grew up, would naturally ask why he 
should not be free, as well as the man born in 1828 
or 1830. And, in fact, it will be a matter of little 
importance to the proprietors, whether the cultiva- 
tion of the plantations shall cease at once, or be con- 
tinued for a few years, amidst strife, suspicions, in- 
surrections, and blood, till the free-born people grow 
up, when it must of necessity cease, unless the 
emancipatists can effect something very like a mi- 
racle, and change the disposition and habits gene- 
rated under slavery and barbarism, into such as are 
formed in Europe in free and civilized states. If 
they can do this, the sooner it is done the better, 
both for the slaves and the masters : but, on the 
other hand, if all they can do, is to set the slaves 
free from the authority they are now under, without 
being able to establish any other for their govern- 
ment, they may ruin the planters, but they will not 
benefit the slaves. 

Is it to be inferred, from what has been said, 
that the slavery in our colonies must be perpe- 
tual? Certainly not but that the evil must be 
allowed time to work itself out there, as it has done 
in other countries. If Mr. Stephen is correct in 
the account he gives of the views of those who car- 
ried the abolition of the slave trade, it is to be re- 
gretted that the party who now call themselves the 
ABOLITIONISTS, do not possess the same prudence 
and good sense. ' They did not aim,' says he, ' at 



xx Introduction. 

* an emancipation to be effected by insurrection in 
' the West Indies, or to be ordained precipitately 
' by positive law; but they never denied, and 
' scrupled not to avow, that they did look forward 
' to a future extinction of slavery in the colonies, to 

* be accomplished by the same happy means which for- 
( merly put an end to it in England, namely, by a be- 
' nign though insensible revolution in opinions and 
' manners, by the encouragement of particular ma- 
' numissions and progressive melioration of the con- 
' dition of the slaves, till it should slide insensibly 
' into general freedom. They looked at first to an 
' emancipation, of which not the slaves but the 
' masters should be the willing instruments. * * * 
' In England, if it should be asked, what cause 
' most powerfully contributed to the dissolution of 
' the degrading bondage of our ancestors, the an- 
' swer clearly must be the extreme favour shewn 
6 to individual enfranchisement by the judges and 
' laws. That baneful growth of foreign conquest, or 
' early barbarism, villeinage, had nearly overspread 
4 the whole field now covered with the most glori- 
' ous harvest of liberty and social happiness earth 
' ever produced, and where not one specimen of the 
' noxious weed remains. Yet it was not ploughed 

* up by revolution, or mowed down by the scythe 
' of legislative abolition, but was plucked up, stalk 
' by stalk, by the progressive hand of private and 
' voluntary enfranchisement. Slavery ceased in 
' England only because the last slave at length ob- 



Introduction. xxi 

* tained his manumission, or died without a child.' 
Report of the African Institution, 1815. 

Happy will it be for the negroes, if the slavery in 
the colonies is thus allowed to slide insensibly into 
freedom ; a glorious harvest of liberty and social 
happiness will follow. Unfortunately, the publica- 
tions constantly issuing from the press, and harrowing 
up the public mind on the subject of slavery, are 
calculated, and seem in tended, to urge on the British 
public, unaware of the difficulties and danger, to 
attempt schemes of emancipation ' by the scythe of 
' legislative enactment/ which would prove equally 
fatal to the slaves as to their masters; while it is 
manifest that, without such interference, slavery 
would, in due time, become extinct in the colonies, 
as it did in England, ' by the encouragement of par- 

* ticular manumissions, and progressive melioration 
' of the condition of the slaves.' The first stage of 
improvement is by far the most difficult to a rude 
and barbarous people ; but the progress which the 
negroes have already made is far from inconsi- 
derable. No person who saw the situation of the 
slaves in Jamaica twenty years ago, would have be- 
lieved it possible that so great a change for the 
better could have taken place in so short a period ; 
and no one who sees the progress they are now 
making, can, in reason, wish more than that they 
should continue to go on at the same pace. The 
improvement in their manners, dress, and general 
appearance the greater intelligence they display 
from understanding the language better the greater 



XX11 



Introduction. 



comforts they enjoy from improved habits of in- 
dustry, and the advance they have made in religion 
(I speak more particularly of the eastern part of the 
island, where I resided), are in the highest degree 
satisfactory and encouraging. 

But as some persons at home take upon them to 
deny that there has been any improvement in the 
colonies, it may not be improper to enumerate here 
(for the sake of those who may not have patience to 
read through a controversial work) a few of the 
changes in the condition of the negroes, and of the 
meliorations on the slave laws. 



At no very distant period, 
when savage Africans were pour- 
ing into Jamaica, and white there 
were yet but few natives or 
Creoles, the master's power of 
punishing his slaves was little 
restrained by law ; and was ex- 
ercised to a great extent by the 
subordinate white people and 
the drivers. 

Ten years ago chains were in 
common use on the plantations, 
for punishing criminal slaves. 

Twenty years ago, there was 
scarcely a negro baptized in 
Jamaica. 

Twenty years ago, the churches 
were scarcely at all attended by 
the slaves. 



It is now limited to 39 stripes, 
to be inflicted by order and in 
presence of the master or over- 
seer, and 10 by subordinate 
agents : and, comparatively 
speaking, is but seldom re- 
quired at all. There is not now 
one punishment for twenty that 
were inflicted fifteen or twenty 
years ago. 

The use of them is now en- 
tirely abolished. 

Now they are nearly all bap- 
tized. 

Since then, the number of 
churches or places of worship of 
one kind or other, has been more 
than doubled, in fact nearly tre- 
bled, and yet, in the districts 
where I have had an opportu- 



Introduction. 



xxni 



Twenty years ago, negroes 
were buried at midnight, and the 
funeral rites, in the forms of 
African superstition, were the 
occasion of continual excesses 
among those who attended. 

Ten years ago, the marriage 
rite was altogether unknown 
among the slaves. 

While the importation of Afri- 
cans was continued, the practice 
of Obeah was common and de- 
structive. 

The working of sugar mills 
encroached on Sunday during 
crop. 

Formerly the Negroes culti- 
vated their grounds on Sun- 
day white persons were even 
sent to superintend them. 



When the abolition of the 
African trade took place, a 
large proportion of the slaves 



nity of seeing them, they are 
all fully attended, and princi- 
pally by slaves. 

Negroes are now buried du- 
ring the day, and in the same 
manner as the white people. 



The number now married is 
not inconsiderable, and is fast 
increasing. 

It is now seldom heard of. 



It is now prohibited by law, 
and Sunday is strictly a day of 
rest. 

Now they have by law 26 
working days in the year for 
this purpose : every manager 
must swear that he has given 
them this number of days ; and 
no slaves now work at their 
grounds on Sunday, but such as 
are more inclined to make mo- 
ney than to attend church. A 
law to forbid their working at all 
would be of doubtful policy, 
till they learn to employ the day 
better than in idling and drink- 
ing. 

Now the plantation slaves in 
Jamaica have all houses of their 
own, and grounds of their own, 



XXIV 



Introduction. 



were newly imported Africans, 
maintained with provisions rais- 
ed or bought by the master; 
or lodged with other slaves, 
who had grounds which they 
assisted in cultivating. 



Manumissions were at one 
time burthened with heavy taxes. 

For cruel or improper pu- 
nishments, slaves had formerly 
no adequate redress. 



Formerly the trial of slaves 
was, I believe, by parol; and 
the power of death was entrust- 
ed to the slave courts, who could 
order the criminal to immediate 
execution. 

For ten slaves that were exe- 
cuted twenty years ago, 

Twenty years ago the coast- 
ing vessels of Jamaica were al- 
most exclusively manned with 
slaves. 

The operative mechanics about 
towns, carpenters, ship-build- 
ers, &c. were mostly slaves. 

A few years ago, marriage 
was unknown among the free 
people of colour. 



and are in every respect more 
comfortable and independent. 
They form more steady connec- 
tions, pay more attention to their 
families in the way of keeping 
them clean, and dressing them 
neatly ; and, in short, have ac- 
quired more taste and desire 
for domestic enjoyments. 

They are now perfectly free. 

Now they are manumised and 
provided with an annuity for 
life ; and magistrates are ap- 
pointed a council of protection, 
to attend to their complaints. 

Now the whole evidence and 
conviction must be transmitted 
to the governor : and, unless in 
cases of rebellion, the sentence 
cannot be carried into execution 
without his warrant. 
There is not now more than one, 
and I think not even that pro- 
portion. 

From the increase of the free 
population, the coasting vessels 
are now more commonly man- 
ned with free men. 
This description of work is 
now performed principally by 
free people of colour. 

It is now becoming common, 
and many of them are careful to 
preserve the sanctity of the in- 
stitution. 



Introduction. xxv 

The number of free persons It is now 35,000, and rapidly 
in Jamaica, in 1787, was esti- encreasing by manumissions as 
mated at only 10,000. well as births. 

These few particulars will convey but a very in- 
adequate idea of the progress made by the negroes, 
and how superior a people they are in every respect 
to what they were, when the slave trade was abo- 
lished in 1807. But if, as Mr. Stephen observes, 
' every mitigation of slavery is a step towards freedom,' 
this brief statement may be sufficient to shew, that 
progress is making towards it ; and those who have 
patience to peruse the following sheets, will better 
comprehend what the extent of that progress is, 
and what the actual condition of the labourers in the 
colonies. 



A PRACTICAL VIEW 

OF THE 

PRESENT STATE OF SLAVERY 

IN 

THE WEST INDIES, 

&c. &c. 



On Mr. Stephens " Slavery in the British West 
India Colonies" 

* PRELIMINARY CHAPTER. Of the necessity and im- 
portance of describing the state in question.' p. 1. 

IN the task I have undertaken, it is not my object to 
defend slavery : far be it from me to say, that those 
who established it in our colonies did right, or 
that being established there, it ought to be perpe- 
tual. But the question, when or how slavery may 
be abolished in any particular country or colony 
where it exists, is one of no small difficulty, how- 
ever easy it may seem to many benevolent enthu- 
siasts ; and before making an attempt which might 
produce effects very different from those we in- 
tended, it would at least be proper to enquire, 
first, whether those we would set free, are yet 
capable of conducting themselves as freemen, or 
of preserving their freedom, in short, whether, 
all circumstances considered, they would be bene- 
fited by it; and secondly, whether we can effect 



On Mr. Stephens Preliminary Chapter. 

their freedom with a due regard to justice, which 
would be equally violated by our depriving a man 
of his slaves, as by depriving him of any other 
species of property which the laws of the land 
have sanctioned the acquirement o Mr. Stephen 
himself, though so hostile to the slavery in our 
colonies, that he seems to think it ought to be 
abolished at any sacrifice of life and property to 
the colonists, and even, it would seem, at the 
expense of some indemnity, to be made them by 
the mother country, is yet sufficiently moderate 
on the abstract question.* 

' The ardent lovers of freedom/ says he, * will, I hope, pardon 
me. To no British palate has that rich produce of our soil a 
higher flavour than to my own. But yet I am not prepared to 
say, that in no other country, and under no supposable circum- 
stances, ought one man to be bound to serve another for life ; 
and to be liable to corporal punishment by the master, for with- 
holding that service. Let me not be misunderstood, however, 
as holding the affirmative. I simply mean to decline the dis- 
cussion of the question, as perhaps, of considerable difficulty ; 
but if not, at least, as one of a speculative kind, which nothing 
in the arguments I mean to offer, will oblige me to decide.' 
p. 7. 

Such are Mr. Stephen's ideas on this subject, 
on which 1 forbear to enlarge, as my business is 
not to defend slavery, or to discuss the abstract 
question, but to correct errors and misrepresenta- 

* Let parliament enter on the work, says he, and the advocates of the slaves 
will object to none of the necessary means. I do not except indemnity to their 
masters, as far as it is justly due. Pref. p. 42. 

But as he afterwards labours to invalidate, or at least, to create doubts about 
the right of the colonists to their slaves, it is very questionable if he thinks any 
indemnity "justly due." 



The best evidence regarding the Colonies. 

tions regarding the treatment and present con- 
dition of the slaves in Jamaica; which I am enabled 
to do from a personal and intimate knowledge of 
their state, acquired during a long residence in 
the island. 

Mr. S. pretends to advance nothing against the The best evi- 
colonists but on the very best evidence. * I shall 
' not,' says he, ' assume the truth of any state- 
' ment adverse to the colonial system, that has 
' ever been controverted, however unimpeachable 
' the testimony may be on which it stands, until 
' I have shewn it to have been directly or indi- 
' rectly confirmed by the concessions of the colo- 
' nists themselves, by the witnesses produced on 
' their part, or the answers solemnly given by 
' the West India legislatures, and their public 
' agents, to the Privy Council.' pp. 10, 11. But 
those who have patience to peruse these sheets, 
will know what account to make of these profes- 
sions of candour and regard to truth. He even 
seems to admit that he has given no credit to the 
evidence adduced by the colonists, but where he 
could make it read against them. 'What faith,' 
says he, 'was due to such testimony when it 
' went to contradict the charges of abolitionists, or 
c the testimony adduced by them, I shall not here 
* stop to enquire its authority on that side will 
< be better estimated when we have seen a little 
' of its particular style and character/ p. 10. 
Let the impartial reader judge what chance there 

B 2 



The best evidence regarding the Colonies. 

is of coming at the truth in this way, by selecting, 
like a special pleader, from a mass of evidence, 
such parts only as may be made to read against the 
accused party, and giving implicit faith to these ; 
while none is given to those parts which contradict 
the charges; thus making the credibility of the 
evidence to depend on its telling against the 
accused. 

The colonists, it is true, are accused of preju- 
dices, and supposed to receive a bias from self- 
interest ; but if the whole body of planters (and 
the supposition is not very liberal) were without 
exception to be regarded as so blinded by preju- 
dice, or so void of truth, that their testimony 
could not be received, is there no alternative for 
the impartial British public but to listen to their 
enemies, those party philanthropists who are all 
benevolence to one part of their fellow-creatures, 
and all hatred to another ? Are there not well- 
educated men, officers in the service of govern- 
ment, civil, naval, and military, almost every day 
returning from the colonies? Many of these, 
doubtless, went out from the mother country with 
strong prejudices; but have they, on their return, 
told this tale of horror ? Have they said that the 
slaves are ill-treated, oppressed, or unhappy? 
Have they not borne testimony to the contrary ? 
And is there any thing so very captivating in the 
system and management described by Mr. Ste- 
phen, that even a person who has no interest could 
not see it (were it to be seen) without being ena- 



The best evidence regarding the Colonies. 

moured of it, adopting the prejudices of the 
colonists, and becoming a convert to their cause 
against truth and justice ? The poet tells us that 

Vice is a monster of such frightful mien, 
As to be hated, needs but to be seen 

and if the slavery in our colonies bore any degree 
of resemblance to the picture Mr. S. has drawn of 
it, could it be seen by such men without horror ? 

Again, there are seven or eight hundred sail of 
vessels employed in bringing home the produce of 
those possessions, the masters of which are well 
acquainted with the plantations in the vicinity of 
the ports where their vessels are loaded; have 
they seen the poor blacks overworked, stinted of 
food, unmercifully whipped, or otherwise ill- 
treated ? Moreover, almost every family in the 
kingdom has some relation or acquaintance who 
has resided in, or visited the colonies, and can 
speak to the condition and treatment of the slaves; 
and are these relations or acquaintances less wor- 
thy of credit than those writers or orators who 
have not crossed the Atlantic to obtain for them- 
selves a knowledge of slavery, as it now exists in 
the colonies, and yet (with the advantage of -ap- 
pearing to have justice and humanity on their 
side) have been able, by unsupported charges and 
vague declamation, to raise such a flame in the 
kingdom ? 

Let such authorities be consulted by those who 
would form a correct judgment on this matter, 
and who admit, that ' when we have to reason 



6 Feelings of the 

' with a practical purpose concerning existing 
' establishments, the most particular and experi- 
6 mental view of them, will ever lead to the 
' soundest and most satisfactory conclusions.' 

Feelings of the Even in his preliminary chapter, Mr. Stephen 

Colonists to- r J . 

wards the betrays the hostile feeling with which he is 
actuated towards the English colonists. Speak- 
ing of Onesimus, a slave who was sent back by 
St. Paul to his master, a Christian convert, with- 
out any injunction to alter his state, he remarks, 
that the state of slavery (that among the Greeks) 
to which Onesimus was sent back, was very dif- 
ferent indeed from that of a negro slave in the 
West Indies ; and in a note, very characteristic 
of the spirit of his work, he adds 

' A West Indian will readily perceive, by his own feelings ' 
one important distinction, indicatory of others, still more im- 
portant : Receive him as a brother beloved. How destructive of 
the Apostle's benevolent design, how inconsistent with the rest 
of his conciliatory style, would have been this phrase, if One- 
simus had, like a negro slave, been, from his very cast and con- 
dition, independently of his fault, an object of aversion and 
contempt, with his master ! A vile negro, a brother! Foh ! the 
humiliating idea would have been offensive, even in a religious 
metaphor, and from the pen of an apostle !' p. 6. 

A West Indian does not, and cannot perceive 
by his own feelings, the existence of any such 
aversion to, or contempt for his labourers; nor 
can it enter into his imagination to conceive, on 
what principle it would even be supposed, that he 
should entertain such monstrous and unnatural 
feelings towards a people on whose labour and 



Colonists towards the Slaves. 

welfare his every prospect in life depends. Ne- 
groes themselves would smile at such an absurdity. 
So well aware are they of the existence of a 
contrary feeling on the part of their masters, that 
when treated, as they conceive, rather harshly by 
a person in charge of them, and who owns no 
slaves himself, it is a common expression with 
them, ' He does not feel for a negro, he has got none 
' himself.' This short but significant expression 
conveys a very different impression of the dispo- 
sition of the masters from that which Mr. S. 
ascribes to them in almost every page of his book. 
Which of the two bears most the stamp of truth, 
let common sense, and common feeling decide. 
Nor is it only among the masters, who are most 
interested in the labour and welfare of the slaves, 
that a friendly disposition towards them is to be 
found; but generally also among the managers of 
plantations. In fact they could have no comfort 
in their situations, if they acted otherwise. Ne- 
groes are not deficient in intelligence ; they are 
perfectly aware what is due to them ; and if any 
improper severity on the part of the manager 
gives them cause of complaint, they are not 
slow in making their grievances known, either to 
the master, or, in his absence, to his representative 
the attorney, upon whom the overseer is depend- 
ent for his situation, or to the magistrates, who are 
ever ready to attend to their complaints. 

In opposition to that unnatural hatred of their 
slaves, and contempt for them, with which the 



8 Feelings of the 

white people in the colonies are charged by Mr. 
Stephen, one might instance, not merely the ex- 
ertion of the masters' power for the protection 
of their people from every species of injury (in 
which there is little merit, though they have not 
credit with Mr. S. even for this); but the readi- 
ness of both masters and managers to do them 
such good offices, as flow entirely from kindness 
and good will. And among many little circum- 
stances, which might be mentioned to shew the 
kind of feeling that exists between the classes, 
perhaps there is none that will convey a better 
idea of it to a stranger, than the simple fact, how 
customary it is, for a negro on a plantation, when 
he has committed a fault for which he apprehends 
punishment, to go to some neighbouring overseer, 
whom he knows to be on good terms with his own 
overseer, and solicit his mediation for forgiveness. 
If the fault has been trivial, such as a few days 
absence from duty, the culprit may perhaps be 
satisfied with a note interceding for him ; if more 
serious, such as neglecting the cattle, and allow- 
ing them to destroy a valuable field of canes, or 
being a length of time absent, he insists on the 
person going home with him ; and in cases of this 
kind, I have often known gentlemen, in the heat of 
the day, and in indifferent health, ride several 
miles to save a poor fellow from a flogging. 

I never knew such mediation solicited that was 
not granted ; usually, with a very proper admoni- 
tion to behave better in future; nor did I ever 




Colonists towards the Slaves. 9 

now such intercession made, and not successful; 
but in one solitary instance, which from its 
rarity was a topic of conversation in the neigh- 
bourhood. I have often myself been applied to, 
to be the intercessor for forgiveness on such occa- 
sions, and have left my business (as who would 
not?) to attend to the call. 

When negroes are christened, it is a common 
custom with them to take the name of some white 
person for whom they have a regard, and whom 
they request to stand sponsor for them. This forms 
a lasting claim to some attention ; the sponsor is 
in future addressed Godfather; and a friendly con- 
nexion is cultivated with him by occasional pre- 
sents of poultry, fruit, c. always accompanied 
with a profusion of kind wishes. Of course the 
presents must be fully repaid ; but still there is 
something gratifying in such spontaneous marks 
of kindness and good will, to which no person can 
feel indifferent. 

Do these minute facts (and they are too minute 
to be worth notice, but as they throw some light 
on the condition of the negroes, bespeak the ex- 
istence of that horrid feeling of aversion and con- 
tempt for them, which Mr. Stephen describes 
as rankling in the bosom of the English colonists ? 
Or do they warrant that sneer of scorn imputed 
to them in the elegant phrase, ' a vile negro, a 
brother! Fohl' 

Even the very amusements of the slaves may nent8 of 
be referred to, to shew the feeling that exists 



10 Amusements of the Slaves. 

between them arid the white people to be very 
different. The day on which the last of the 
canes are cut down upon a sugar plantation, flags 
are displayed in the field, and all is merriment. 
A quart of sugar and a quart of rum are allowed 
to each negro on the occasion, to hold what is 
called CROP-OVER, or harvest-home. In the even- 
ing, they assemble in their master's or ma- 
nager's house, and, as a matter of course, take 
possession of the largest room, bringing with them 
a fiddle and tambourine. Here all authority and 
all distinction of colour ceases ; black and white, 
overseer and book-keeper, mingle together in the 
dance. About twenty years ago, it was common 
on occasions of this kind, to see the different 
African tribes forming each a distinct party, 
singing and dancing to the gumbay, after the rude 
manners of their native Africa ; but this custom is 
now extinct. Following the example of the white 
people, the fiddle, which they play pretty well, 
is now the leading instrument ; they dance Scotch 
reels, and some of the better sort (who have been 
house servants) country-dances. Here the loud 
laugh, and the constant buzz of singing and talking 
bespeak their enjoyment, and the absence of all 
care about the present or future ills of life. 

Such dances were formerly common, or I should 
rather say universal, at Christmas; but of late 
years have much gone out, owing to an idea im- 
pressed on the minds of the negroes, principally 
I believe by the missionaries, that the season 



Amusements of the Slaves. \ \ 

ought rather to be devoted to religious exercises. 
It is now considered more becoming to attend the 
places of worship, or to have private religious 
parties among themselves ; and in passing through 
a negro village on a Christmas night, it is more 
common to hear psalm-singing, than the sound of 
merriment. The young people, however, still 
indulge in some amusements on this occasion, one 
of which may be worth describing. The young 
girls of a plantation, or occasionally of two neigh- 
bouring plantations leagued, form what is called 
'a sett.' They dress exactly in uniform, with 
gowns of some neat pattern of printed cotton, 
and take the name of Blue Girls, Yellow Girls, 
&c. according to the dress and ribbon they have 
chosen. They have always with them in their 
excursions, a fiddle, drum, and tambourine, fre- 
quently boys playing fifes, a distinguishing flag 
which is waved on a pole, and generally some 
fantastical figure, or toy, such as a castle or tower, 
surrounded with mirrors. A matron attends who 
possesses some degree of authority, and is called 
Queen of the Sett, and they have always one or 
two Joncanoe-men, smart youths, fantastically 
dressed, and masked so as not to be known. 
Thus equipped, and generally accompanied by 
some friends, they proceed to the neighbouring 
plantation villages, and always visit the master's or 
manager's house, into which they enter without 
ceremony, and where they are joined by the 
white people in a dance. Some refreshment is 



12 Amusements of the Slaves. 

given to them, and the Joncanoe-men, after a dis- 
play of their buffoonery, commonly put the white 
people under requisition for a little money, to 
pay the fiddler, &c. A party of forty or fifty 
young girls thus attired, with their hair braided 
over their brows, beads round their necks, and 
gold ear-rings, present a very interesting and 
amusing sight, as they approach a house dancing, 
with their music playing, and Joncanoe-men caper- 
ing and playing tricks. They have generally fine 
voices, and dancing in a room they require no in- 
strumental music.* One of their best singers 
commences the song, and unaccompanied sings 
the first part with words for the occasion, of course 
not always very poetical, though frequently not 
unamusing; the whole sett joins in the chorus as 
they mingle in the dance, waving their handker- 
chiefs over their heads. All is life and joy, and 
certainly it is one of the most pleasing sights that 
can be imagined. 

The last party of this kind I had the pleasure 
of seeing and dancing with, at Christmas 1823, 
belonged to Reach and Muirton estates, the pro- 
perty of Mr. William Bryan, and afforded a no- 
velty I had never before witnessed, in a rude 

* The airs they sing and dance to are simple and lively ; the following is a 
specimen : 









Amusements of the Slaves. 13 

representation of some passages of Richard III. 
which they made sufficiently farcical. The Jon- 
canoe-men, disrobed of part of their paraphernalia, 
were the two heroes, and fought not for a king- 
dom but a queen, whom the victor carried off in 
triumph. Richard calling out "A horse ! a horse !" 
&c. was laughable enough. This farce I saw at 
Dalvey estate, the property of Sir A. Grant, and 
it afforded Mr. Bell the manager and his guests 
no small amusement. How the negroes had ac- 
quired even the very imperfect knowledge they 
seemed to have of the play, we could form no 
idea, and the occasion did not admit of asking 
questions.* 

While on the subject of Christmas I may ob- 
serve, that the whole of the Negroes in Jamaica, 
have three, and some of them four days allowed for 
their amusements ; and that on this occasion 
their masters give them an allowance of rum, 
sugar, and codfish or salt meat ; and, generally, 
the larger estates kill as many cattle as are suffi- 
cient to give each family a few pounds of fresh 
beef. Nor let it be supposed that this is the 
amount of their enjoyments; the more wealthy 
slave families kill pigs and poultry, have their 
Christmas cakes, and in fact abound in good 
things both to eat and to drink. 

To many who contemplate the West India 
labourers but as 'wretches bom to work and 

* Since this was written, I have read Mr. De la Beclie's pamphlet, who 
mentions having seen the same thing in a different part of the island. 



14 Origin of slavery in the colonies, arid 

weep ;' who have them associated in their minds 
with horrors, cruel oppression, and broken-hearted- 
ness, the description I have given of a sett, may 
appear a picture altogether imaginary : but let 
such persons ask any one, who has been upon a 
Jamaica plantation at a Christmas season, if the 
description is not correct. 



very in the co- 

ies, and right Slave Laws m general/ p. 14. 

fests Under this head the following paragraph de- 



Origin of Sla- < CHAPTER I. On the Origin and Authority of the Colonial 

very in the co- 
lonies, and right 

to f lo e mp!. 

tion. serves notice. 

' The assemblies have often, in their acts, recognised slavery 
as an existing institution ; and have, by directing or regulating 
the sale of slaves, and by numerous other provisions, treated 
them as subjects of property. But if the books of colonial 
acts were resorted to for information as to the legal origin of 
this state, the rights which it gives to the masters, or the duties 
and incapacities which it imposes upon the slaves, no satisfac- 
tion upon these important heads would be found.' p. 14. 

It may be true that slavery had not in the West 
Indies, or in any other country perhaps, its origin 
in any positive enactment; but Mr. Stephen him- 
self informs us of its "legal origin" in our co- 
lonies. ' The bringing labourers or negroes 

* from Africa,' says he, 'was certainly permitted, 
' and even encouraged by parliament ; and in the 
' more modern acts there was no reserve in respect 
' to the condition of these exiles, as far as a vague 
' name could define it ; for the commerce in 
' slaves, eo nomine, has been expressly recognised 

* and regulated ' p. 14. 



Right of the Colonists to Compensation. 15 

And yet in every page of his book, our author 
pours out his abuse on the colonists, as if slavery 
had been an evil of their creating, and for the 
infamy of which they now merit the vengeance of 
heaven and of earth ! Without stopping to en- 
quire whether or not the condition of savages has 
been improved by the change, one thing is certain, 
that the merit or odium of it is due, not to the 
inhabitants of the colonies, but to the people of 
England. They reaped the advantages of esta- 
blishing slavery in the West Indies ; it was their 
ships and their capital that conveyed the negroes 
from their native land to these fertile islands, 
from the cultivation of which, the British people 
have derived much of the wealth they now pos- 
sess* ; and if any of the existing interests are 
now to be broken up, these surely ought, in com- 
mon justice, to be indemnified at the public 
expence. Mr. S. thinks otherwise; and after 
stating as above, that in the acts of parliament 
encouraging the trade in slaves, there was no 
reserve, and that the commerce in slaves, eo nomine, 
was expressly recognised and regulated, to do 
away any impression that this should found a 
right to compensation on the part of the colonists, 

* The West'India colonies are of great importance in extending the manufac- 
tures and commerce of the mother country. It is difficult to find any engine 
more efficient for the purpose. Possessing them has occasioned a pouring in of 
wealth into this country, much of which was employed in fertilizing the soil. 
The wealth received from the Dutch and other islands was in fact visible on 
whole districts of the country, not only from the money expended, but in the very 
names of the spots brought into cultivation. Speech, House of Commons, Mr. 
Brougham, April 9, 1816, 



16 Origin of Slavery in the colonies, and 

if deprived of their property, obtained under such 
a sanction, he proceeds to say, ' But that these 
' foreigners shall on their arrival in a British 
' colony, where British law and liberty are esta- 
' blished, be sold into, and perpetually retained in 
6 slavery, and that the same state shall attach on 

* their offspring,' (as it did on that of the villeins 
in England), ' though born under the king's alle- 

* giance, has never been enacted.' 'Parliament 
' seems all along to have supposed that there was 

* some known local law in the colonies, distinct 
' from the law of England, which had introduced 
' and defined the state in question.' p. 15. 

Was ever sophistry more glaring ? Parliament 
sanctioned and encouraged the trade in African 
SLAVES eo nomine, but, it seems, did not enact 
that those slaves, or foreigners (as Mr. S. artfully 
calls them) were to be held as slaves in our 
colonies ! For what other purpose they were 
bought and carried there, he has not attempted 
to explain. Again, parliament, it seems, has all 
along foolishly supposed that some local law in 
the colonies, of which it was ignorant, had in- 
troduced the state in question : although it must 
have known that the state existed there, and had 
been recognized by its own acts encouraging the 
trade in slaves, before the colonial legislatures 
had existence ! 

Mr. Barium on But Mr. Barham has stated this matter so 
clearly, that it is only necessary to give his state- 
ment, as, until the facts he brings forward are set 



\ 



Right of the Colonists to compensation. ] 7 



aside, the legal title of the colonists to their pro- 
perty, and their right to compensation if it is taken 
from them, cannot be questioned but by those 
persons who are prepared to advocate not merely 
oppression, but absolute spoliation. 

' To say that Great Britain formed the plan, and that the 
colonies executed it to say that Great Britain made the laws, 
and that the colonies availed themselves of those laws, would 
be greatly understating the share which Great Britain had in the 
origin of the slave trade, and in the consequent system of 
slavery that now exists. But many persons have been so used 
to charge all the odium of that system on those, who by acci- 
dent, happen to be the present owners of slaves, that they 
will be surprised to learn how much larger a share Great Bri- 
tain has had than the colonies, in the formation, maintenance, 
and present extent of slavery. 

' The following historical facts will clear up this point a 
little. 

' Great Britain established * The colonies did not then 
the slave trade in the reign of exist. 
Queen Elizabeth, who per- 
sonally took a share in it. 

' Great Britain encouraged ' The colonies, all this time, 
it in the successive reigns of took no share in it themselves, 
Charles I, Charles II, and merely purchasing what the 
James II, by every means British merchants brought 
that could be devised. But it them, and doing therein what 
was William III. who outdid the British government invited 
them all. With Lord Somers them to do, by every means in 
for his minister, he declared their power, 
the slave trade to be " highly 
beneficial to the nation :" and 
that this was not meant merely 
as beneficial to the nation 
through the medium of the co- 



18 Origin of slavery in the colonies, and 

lonial prosperity is demon- 
strated by the Assiento Treaty 
in 1713, with which the colo- 
nies had nothing to do; and 
in which Great Britain binds 
herself to supply 144,000 
slaves, at the rate of 4,800 
per annum, to the Spanish 
colonies. From that time till 
within a few years of the pre- 
sent time, our history is full of 
the various measures and 
grants, which passed for the 
encouragement and protection 
of the trade. 

' So much as to those who created and fostered the trade : 
and now let us see, who it was that first marked it with disap- 
probation, and sought to confine it within narrower bounds. 

' The colonies began in 1760. ' Great Britain rejected this 
South Carolina (then a British act with indignation, and de- 
colony) passed an act to pro- clared that the slave trade was 
hibit further importation ; but beneficial and necess.ary to the 

mother, country. The gover- 
nor, who passed it, was repri- 
manded ; and a circular was 
sent to all other governors, 
warning them against a similar 
offence. 

' The colonies, however, in Great Britain stopped it, 
1765, repeated the offence through the governor of that 
and a bill was twice read in island, who sent for the assem- 
the assembly of Jamaica, for bly, and told them, that con- 
the same purpose of limiting sistently with his instructions, 
the importation of slaves ; he could not give his assent : 
when upon which the bill was drop- 

ped. 



Right of the Colonists to compensation. 

' The colonies, in 1774, < Great Britain again resist- 
tried once more ; and the as- ed the restriction. Bristol and 
sembly of Jamaica actually Liverpool petitioned against 
passed two bills to restrict the it. The matter was referred 
trade ; but to the Board of Trade, and 

that board reported against it. 

' The colonies , by the agent of ' Great Britain , by the mouth 
Jamaica, remonstrated against of the Earl of Dartmouth, then 
that report, and pleaded against president of the board, an- 
it on all the grounds of justice swered by the following de- 
and humanity ; but claration : "We cannot allow 

the colonies to check or dis- 
courage, in any degree a 
traffic so beneficial to the 
nation." And this was in 1774 ! 

' It is presumed, after this, not many persons will be dis- 
posed to contend, that Great Britain has not had, at least, an 
equal share in establishing slavery with those who happen now 
to be the actual owners of slaves. 

' But still there are some points to be closely examined 
before we shall venture to pronounce, that the claim for com- 
pensation rests on the strictest grounds of justice. 

' To make that claim absolute it must be shown, that the 
thing which is required to be surrendered is not merely a syst em 
which afforded the means of prospective gain, but that it is 
absolutely a property in possession, and held by the same right 
by which all other property is held the law. Closer than 
this it does not seem possible to draw the line ; and here lies 
the distinction, between the present claim, and that which was 
made at the time the slave trade was abolished. 

* The claim then made (but which was urged much more 
strenuously by the British slave merchant than the planter) was 
not a claim for property in possession. The slave trade could 
not be property, though it might be the means of creating pro- 
perty. The right to trade had been permitted by law, but no 
engagement had been made, that it should be permitted for 

c 2 



2Q 



Slavery ', how aggravated in the English Colonies 



ever. Those, who trusted in its continuance, trusted at their 
own risk, and when it was prohibited, what they lost was not 
a vested property, but the chance of contingent gain ; whereas, 
what will be taken here, is that which the law has sanctioned 
as property for ever. 

' A very respectable author (Mr. Clarkson) contends against 
this claim of property, upon a ground which it is not necessary 
here to dispute. His argument seems to be, that such property 
cannot be created even by law, since it is contrary to the first 
principles of our nature (which are anterior and superior to all 
law), that one man should have property in another man. Be it 
so, but what then? This would justify the slave in regaining his 
liberty by any means he could employ, since he had been un- 
justly deprived of it. But in the[question of compensation, the 
slave is no party. That question lies wholly between the pro- 
prietor and the Legislature, which has constituted the^property. 
The law must be binding, at least on those that made it. If the 
Legislature, with a view to national advantage, has committed 
l injustice, and now, with a view to national justice, would repair 
the wrong, it is for the nation to pay the price of its wrong, 
and not for the individual who acted in conformity to the law. 
To fix on the present proprietor the cost of redeeming the acts 
of the nation at large, would be concluding a series of injustice 
to Africa by an act of injustice to a portion of your own sub- 
jects, with regard to whom your first laws would have been a 
fraud, and your last would be a robbery.' 



Slavery, how 

Sfw i 



' CHAPTER II. On the persons who are subject to slavery 

in our colonies -' P- 27 - 

Who these are, might have been told in few 
words : the negroes whom English merchants, 
trading under the sanction of the British parlia- 
ment, carried from Africa and sold in the colonies 
as slaves, and the descendants of such slaves. 



Who are the best Slave-masters? 21 

By the following extracts we learn, that the 
condition of the African slave in our colonies is 
much aggravated, beyond every other description 
of slavery, not only by the white skin, but strange 
to say, by the elevated and superior intellect of 
his master : and moreover, that negroes and mu- 
lattoes make better masters than educated white 
people ! 

* The negro is not more opposite to his white-skinned lord in 
complexion, than in manners, and intellectual attainments; 
the one is degraded by all the ignorance and rudeness of his 
native Africa ; the other elevated by the refinements in arts and 
manners at least, if not also by the science, of Europe,' p. 28. 
* It would, perhaps, be too much refinement, if we were to 
suppose that the great comparative mildness of the Portuguese 
and Spanish slavery may have been in some degree influenced 
by a nearer approximation in colour between the masters and 
the slaves than is found in the Dutch and English colonies, , 
where the state is confessedly the worst.' p. 32. 

*If it be asked then, why are free negroes and mulattoes said Are English- 
to be the worst masters ? I answer, only because every thing ne g,.o es ^a 
is said, whether true or false, by the oppressors of the African JJ^ t tt J es ' tho 
race, that may serve to diminish our sympathy with those whom masters ? 
they oppress. The statement is untrue ; nay, it is the reverse 
of truth.' p. 32. 

Therefore negroes and mulattoes must be the 
best masters to negro and mulatto slaves ! 

It is almost unnecessary to observe how much 
this assertion is 'the reverse of truth;' no person, 
who has the least knowledge of the West Indies, 
can be ignorant that negroes and mulattoes make 
the very worst masters, or at all events that the 



22 Are Englishmen, or Free Negroes 

slaves, who ought to be the best judges, think so. 
I have frequently known free persons of colour, 
and also slaves, very anxious to purchase slaves, 
but unable to do it, from the universal abhor- 
rence negroes have to belong to such masters ; 
for, notwithstanding the misrepresentations made 
to the contrary, it is very seldom that a slave is 
transferred from one person to another, but with 
his own free consent and approbation. It would 
be painful for the seller to act otherwise when 
parting with his people ; and extremely hazardous 
to the purchaser. What then comes of the theory 
that the Portuguese and Spaniards make better 
masters than the English and Dutch in conse- 
quence of having darker complexions ? For, in this 
case, free negroes and mulattoes would make the 
best of all masters, whereas, in truth, they make 
the worst. 

But this assertion, like others, will answer Mr. 
Stephen's purpose, if the British public will only 
believe, that West India slavery is the worst that 
ever existed in the world; that English slavery- 
there, is yet more cruel than that of any other 
country ; and that the better educated and more 
enlightened the master, the worse it is for the 
slave. The negroes argue in a different way. 
They dislike to belong to free persons of colour, 
or even to low ignorant whites, because, as they 
briefly but pithily express it, 'they are too spiteful.' 
If a white person punishes them for a fault, they 
say, there is no more of it; but if they once give 






and Mulattoes, the best Slave-masters ? 23 



offence to a mulatto master, ' he spites them like a 
negro,' that is, follows up the punishment with 
resentment. Nor is this difficult to explain on at 
least a rather more rational principle than that of 
the approximation of colour. Between the negro 
and his coloured master or mistress, there is often 
little difference of intellect ; the negro in conse- 
quence feels less respect for such a person, while 
the master is more tenacious of those attentions 
to which he thinks himself entitled from his slave. 
Hence arises a jealousy which renders them mutu- 
ally uncomfortable. This is not theory, but ex- 
perience, however much at variance with Mr. 
Stephen's doctrine, that the state of the slave is 
aggravated by his master's possessing the ele- 
vated and liberal sentiments resulting from edu- 
cation. 

' Amidst all the reviling epithets,' says Mr. Ste- 
phen, * used in anger towards these poor bondmen, 
' You slave! or any allusion to the condition, is never 
' heard ; but Negro ! pronounced with an angry 
' or contemptuous emphasis, is a word of superla- 
' tive reproach.' p. 31. And this is intended to 
shew that the bodily designation is more degrad- 
ing than slavery ! Here is refinement with a ven- 
geance ! A negro considers himself no more re- 
proached by a white man calling him Negro, 
than a white man does by a negro calling 
him Buckra, their common term for a white 
man. The word ' slave,' it is true, is never 
heard ; if it were, we should, perhaps, with more 



24 General Remarks. 

reason have been accused of adding insult to 
injury. Who in England says You servant ? and 
as little is You slave heard in Jamaica. 

This nice disquisition brings to my recollection 
having once, (when a book-keeper on Holland 
estate) inadvertently addressed one of the negro 
boiler-men, 'You sir !' for which he gave me such 
a pointed and merited rebuke, as I have never 
forgotten. He asked, repeating my words with 
much indignation, ' You sir! who do you call 
You sir ; have I not a name ?' 

General < CHAPTER III. On the legal nature and incidents of this 

Remarks. 

condition, as they respect and constitute the relation be- 
tween the slave and his master/ p. 33. 

This chapter comprehends such a mass of hete- 
rogeneous legal matter, as seems to stamp it the 
commencement of what the author, according to 
his letter to Mr. Smith, had written and printed 
while the abolition question was under discussion ; 
and which he now publishes as a delineation of 
the existing state of slavery in the British West 
India colonies ! To him and his party, this course 
of proceeding will appear quite right; as^ according 
to them, the state existing now, is the very same 
that existed twenty-five years ago, and is likely 
to be the same as many years hence ! If the 
colonists are without legal enactments to secure 
the proper treatment of the slaves, they are impre- 
cated for leaving their poor bondmen without 
protection; if they have laws which appear 






General Remarks. 25 



to be severe, these, we are assured, are strictly en- 
forced; but if they pass meliorating laws, these 
are incapable of being enforced; were intended 
merely to deceive the humane at home; and are, in 
practice, a dead letter 'made, laughed at, and 
forgotten.' Well may we ask, ' Can any good 
thing come out of Nazareth ?' 

To defend ourselves from such calumnies, to be 
compelled to refute charges, which, in charity to 
human nature, one would suppose beyond belief, 
is sufficiently painful and humiliating, and re- 
quires a degree of patience which a sense of 
duty alone can inspire. But absurd as it is, to 
publish now, as the existing state of slavery in the 
colonies, what was written as descriptive of it 
(whether truly or otherwise) prior to the abolition ; 
and equally extravagant as it is for the British 
public to believe that members of its own family, 
crossing the Atlantic, between whom and them- 
selves there exists so constant a communication 
and interchange of sentiments, should become 
such merciless tyrants so dead to every proper 
feeling of humanity and justice ; yet, it is a me- 
lancholy truth that they have believed it, and 
that the infatuation has reached a height which 
threatens to overwhelm in one general calamity the 
colonists and the very slaves themselves, whose con- 
dition it is the object of the benevolent to improve. 

It would be tedious and useless to follow Mr. 
Stephen through all his unwarranted assertions 
and sophistry, in a chapter consisting of 100 pages ; 



26 Slavery a constrained Servitude. 

but nothing that bears fairly on the subject shall 
be passed over. He has found out, it seems, that 
there are twelve canons or rules applicable to this 
slavery, and which are now, for the first time, 
promulgated to the world. Of these in their 
order. 

Slavery a con- ' RULE I. By the law of the colonies, slavery is a constrained 
t'udt! 1 ^ SerVi " servitude during the life of the slave.' p. 33. 

Mr. Stephen himself admits, ' that this is a pro- 
* perty of the state almost universally belonging 
' to it, and comprised in the most general ideas we 
' form of slavery.' The same we suppose will be 
admitted as to the issue of slaves being held the 
property of the person to whom the parents be- 
longed, wherever the state of slavery has existed. 

Regulations as ' RULE II. It is a service without wages, p. 33. 

LV^e C of h ~ What are the wages which the labourer even in 
Great Britain receives for his services ? The bare 
means of procuring the necessaries of life, food and 
raiment, for himself and his family. Of wealth and 
physical comforts assuredly less falls to his share, 
than to the plantation labourers of the colonies. 
The anti- colonists, when advocating emancipation 
by another view of the subject, represent, and 
truly, slave labour as more expensive than free. 
This is not very consistent with Mr. Stephen's 
CANON ; but it did not suit his present view of 
slavery to have it believed, that the slaves are 
remunerated for their labour by at least as many 
comforts as the working classes in his own country. 



Regulations as to Food, Clothing, fyc. 27 

* A man/ says Hume, ' is obliged to clothe and 
feed his slave, and he does no more for his 
servant.' 

* RULE III. The master is the sole arbiter of the kind, and 

degree, and time of labour, to which the slave shall be sub- 
jected; and of the subsistence, or means of obtaining a sub- 
sistence, which shall be given in return/ p. 33. 

Mr. Stephen makes a very feeble attempt to 
support this assertion by referring to old obsolete 
laws, and evidence founded thereon; but seems to 
feel that he has not facts to bear him out, and 
concludes thus : 

' It would be tedious to multiply further these citations. 
In general, it will be found that in none of the islands, prior to 
1788, had any legal limitations, real or ostensible, been imposed 
on the power of the master in these important points. If not 
restrained by his own conscience or prudence, he might exact 
labour to any excess, and adopt any scale or manner of susten- 
tation for his slaves, however narrow and merciless, which his 
avarice might represent as compatible with their existence and 
usefulness.' p. 36. 

Let the impartial reader who is desirous to 
ascertain, not what the condition of the negroes in 
the colonies was prior to 1788, but what it is now, 
refer, on this subject, to the consolidated slave law 
of Jamaica, of 1816, cap. 25. He will there find 
it enacted (though Mr. Stephen, professing, as he 
does, to give a view of the colonial laws, did not 
find it convenient to speak of enactments so com- 
pletely subversive of his canon) that all the 
negroes shall have, exclusive of Sundays, twenty- 
six days at least in the year, to cultivate their 



28 Regulations as to Food, Clothing, 

own lands, section 4th : that they shall have half 
an hour for breakfast, and two hours for dinner, 
section 20: that they shall have the usual holi- 
days which custom has established at Christmas, 
Easter, and Whitsunday, section 21 : that no 
sugar mills shall work between seven o'clock on 
Saturday evening, and five on Monday morning, 
section 5 : that a woman having six children alive, 
and to take care of, shall be exempted from other 
labour, section 12: and that a statement on oath 
of the clothing served all slaves annually shall be 
rendered to the vestries of each parish to be 
approved of according to law, section 8. 

These excellent regulations, as well understood 
by the negroes as by the white people, and fully 
acted up to, speak a different language from Mr. 
Stephen, and completely disprove his canon. 

That the twenty- six days allowed by law to the 
slaves for the cultivation of their lands are suffici- 
ent, and more than sufficient, we have the autho- 
rity of Mr. Stephen himself. Enlarging on a 
favourite topic, the starvation of the ' poor, op- 
' pressed bondmen/ he asks, p. 91. ' Why are 
' these poor beings, who, in a climate, and on a 
* soil, that would yield them a years subsistence for 
' the labour of a week, worked hard, not for one 
c week in the year, but the whole fifty-two, to 
' endure nevertheless the miseries of famine V 
In this instance it is evident the colonists are more 
liberal than the philanthropist thinks necessary, 
as it is undeniable, that instead of a week, they 



Time of Labour, <$c. 29 

allow 'these poor beings' a month (twenty-six 
working days) to cultivate their lands. 

In a note in the same page, he says, ' Mr. 
' Barham, in his Considerations on the abolition 
' of slavery, has repeated this statement (that from 
' the exuberant productiveness of a tropical soil 
' and climate, the labour of a week will furnish 
' subsistence for a year) which his brethren, the 
' sugar planters, have often made before. A hun- 
' dred West India authorities might be cited to 
' the same effect ; and I have one at present before 
* me, which may be the more satisfactory, because 
' it comes from Haiti, where the theory is in some 
' degree reduced into practice ;* the negroes there 
' working for themselves at their own choice, and 
' many of them doubtless no more than the sub- 
' sistence of their family demands.' 

If this is the case if all the labour performed by . 
the emancipated slaves of St. Domingo amounts 
only to one week in the year, it would surely be 
superfluous to look for any other argument to 
satisfy the people of England what they are to 
expect from their colonies when placed, as pro- 
posed, in the same enviable situation. How far 
such idleness is a blessing to an ignorant people, 
or likely to promote their civilization, is a question 
not difficult to answer. 

To conclude on this subject, the law of Jamaica, 
as has been shewn, provides that ' the slaves shall 
' have twenty-six working days, at least, in the year 
' allowed them to cultivate their own lands, be- 



30 



Master s discretion in punishing his Slaves. 



Master's dis- 
cretion in pu- 
nishing his 
slaves limited 
by law. 



' sides the usual holidays which custom has esta- 
< blished at Christmas, Easter, and, Whitsunday 
1 for their diversions.' This number of days, and 
often more, is given to them; the overseer of 
every plantation in Jamaica solemnly swears to 
the fact; yet Mr. S. asks 'Why are these poor 
' beings worked hard, not for one week in the year, 
' but the whole jifty-two ? And the Edinburgh 
Review with equal effrontery asserts, ' that the 
' slaves must devote the greater part of Sunday 
6 to working in their provision grounds, no other 
' time being allowed them for that purpose.' No. 79, 
p. 228. 

* RULE IV. The master may imprison, beat, scourge, wound, 
and otherwise afflict or injure the person of his slave, at his 
discretion/ p. 36. 

With what unblushing effrontery is this false 
assertion brought forward and made an undisputed 
canon! Any person in London may steal, rob, 
murder ; but if he does, it is at his peril : and any 
person in Jamaica who wounds or injures the per- 
son of a slave, must equally abide the conse- 
quences of such flagitious conduct. It is true, the 
master has a discretion in punishing his slaves ; but, 
instead of being absolute as represented in the 
canon, Mr. S. well knows that it is limited to the 
infliction of thirty-nine stripes. To this canon 
then, as to his delineation of negro slavery in ge- 
neral, we may apply the line of the poet regard- 
ing the Popish plot 

* Some truth there was, but dash'd and brew'd with lies.' 



Colonial and Roman Slavery compared. 31 

To inflame the public feeling against the colo- 
nists, he quotes, under this head, an obsolete sta- 
tute, which long disgraced the little island of Bar- 
badoes, by which the murder of a slave subjected 
the perpetrator to only a small fine ; and, com- 
menting on the words of the act by which that 
law was repealed, and which are not perhaps the 
fittest that might have been employed, he takes 
ample advantage, by putting the worst construc- 
tion on them, of a circumstance he himself notices 
in his preface, that ' in many or most of the colo- 
' nies, acts were drawn up and passed, without any 
' professional aid, by the planters and other mem- 
' bers of Assembly,' p. 60. 

Mr. Stephen, throughout his book, strives by colonial and 

~ ,./> ,11 r- Roman Slavery 

every sort of artifice to aggravate the slavery of compared. 
the British West India colonies, and represent it 
as infinitely more degrading, cruel, and oppressive, 
than any other that ever existed among mankind. 
For this purpose it is often necessary not only to 
exaggerate the severities of our colonial slave laws, 
as they existed thirty or forty years ago, and to 
impute to his countrymen there, the most unheard- 
of cruelties, but also to palliate the undeniable 
severity of other slave codes. The following is a 
curious specimen of this : 

1 The Roman father might put his son to death, as well as his 
slave, was entitled to the property he acquired, and might exer- 
cise over him the same inferior authorities of scourging, impri- 
soning, chaining, and even selling into slavery. Nay, the 



32 Roman Slavery. 

Roman law, barbarous as it was in regard to slaves, carried the 
power of the parent, higher than that of the master ; for the 
son might be three times sold; the slave only once. If the 
latter was enfranchised by the buyer, he was for ever free ; but 
the son, though manumitted by a first and second purchaser, 
might be sold a third time by the father. It is certainly some 
excuse for the Roman lawgivers, and if the manners of their 
country, at the time of the introduction of the law of the twelve 
tables, were fully known, perhaps the excuse might rise almost 
into a justification, that the paterfamilias was not intrusted 
with greater power over his slaves, than over his own children, 
who were equally amenable to the same MILD DOMESTIC 
FORUM.' p. 43. 

God forbid that the slavery of the British colo- 
nies should have any features of resemblance to 
that among the Romans, where all the captives, 
during the endless wars in which the republic was 
engaged, were devoted indiscriminately to the 
sword or to slavery; where the amphitheatre echoed 
to the groans of the dying gladiators, or the earth 
itself laboured with the multitude of crucified 
slaves ! How extremely uncandid and disingenu- 
ous in our author, even on his own description of 
it, to call that atrocious system a mild domestic 
forum; and to represent that of our colonies in 
the West as tyrannical and oppressive in compa- 
rison ! 

Roman sia- Perhaps the reader may ask if there were no 
circumstances to * excuse/ if not to justify our 
early colonists for the severity of their laws ; such 
as the savage character of the newly imported 
Africans, some tribes of whom were altogether 



Slavery of Hindostan. 33 

cannibals, and the great number of them as com- 
pared with their masters? But he will look in 
vain to Mr. Stephen for excuse or apology for 
them. 

The leniency of the slavery of Hindostan, is slavery of Hin- 
proved by an argument very similar to that by 
which the mild domestic forum of the Roman sla- 
very is established. It seems that there a person 
has the same power of chastising ' with a lash or 
' a bamboo twig/ his wife, son, pupil, or younger 
brother, as his male or female slave. After quot- 
ing a law to this effect, Mr. S. goes on : * Here 
' we see that the slave of Hindostan is, in point of 
' corporeal punishment, subject only to the same 
< domestic authority, which equally extends over 
' the wife, the son, the pupil, or younger brother 
' of his master ; and other instances of the leni- 
* ency of this bondage will hereafter appear, 
p. 42. 

The argument is a strong one : a man must be 
greatly more humane to his male and female 
slaves, from having been accustomed to use the 
lash and the bamboo twig on his wife, his son, his 
pupil, and younger brother ; and the consumers of 
East India sugar must find its sweetness doubled 
from such a convincing proof of the leniency of 
the slavery of Hindostan! How strange, that 
so simple a method of bettering the condition of 
the slaves in our colonies should never till now 
have been suggested. 



34 Corporal Punishment. 

Corporal Pa- < R UL E V. These harsh powers of the master may all be ex- 
ercised, not by himself only in person, but by his represen- 
tatives and agents of every description, and by every person, 
whether bond or free, who is clothed in any manner with his 
authority.' p. 46. 

The British public is ever ready to lend an 
ear to tales of distress, and its indignation is 
easily roused by the recital of acts of oppression. 
This generous feeling, it is not difficult for the 
artful to work upon ; but surely few can attach 
belief to so extravagant a charge as this, unsup- 
ported by proof, and at direct variance with 
every known principle of human feeling and 
action. Even an animal dependent on us is re- 
garded with some degree of tenderness : and is it 
to be believed that a West Indian can be so void 
of affection for his purchased servant, a fellow- 
creature so entirely dependent on him, and on 
whose welfare he himself so much depends, as to 
authorise his representatives and agents of every 
description to beat, scourge, wound, and other- 
wise afflict or injure him at their discretion ? I 
pity the man who has the heart to believe this. 

That corporal punishment forms a part of the 
system of slavery is not denied ; for minor offences 
" it is perhaps the only penal restraint of practical 
enforcement, in a state of society where every 
master has a direct interest in screening his slave 
from criminal prosecutions, which would neces- 
sarily occasion expence and a temporary loss of 
the culprit's labour. If a servant in England is 



Corporal Punishment. 35 

negligent, or disobedient, or commits an immoral 
act, his master has the ready means of punish- 
ment by turning him adrift in the world; and if 
he is guilty of a crime that subjects him to the 
penalties of the law, his master has but little in- 
terest in screening him from its vengeance. Very 
different is the case of a slave. If he offends by 
negligence or disobedience, theft, desertion, &c. it 
is obvious his master cannot punish him in the 
same manner by turning him adrift, and his punish- 
ment by a court of law cannot be accomplished 
without considerable expence and trouble. To 
these circumstances we must ascribe the power of 
punishment entrusted with the masters, wherever 
slavery has existed in the world. Among the 
Romans, this power extended to the taking away 
of life ; and in the earlier days of our own colo- 
nies, when the slave population consisted of only 
newly imported lawless Africans, it appears that 
corporal punishment was altogether unlimited, 
and even the killing of a slave was punished only 
by a small fine. But this arbitrary and unlimited 
power, necessary perhaps then, is not now requir- 
ed, and is not now possessed by the master. In 
Jamaica, the murder of a slave was long ago made 
felony, and punished by death: more recently 
corporal punishment was limited to the infliction 
of thirty-nine stripes ; and only a few years ago, 
the use of chains, except for the confinement of 
public criminals, was altogether abolished. These 
changes are not to be attributed to greater huma- 

D 2 



36 Corporal Punishment. 

nity in the colonists, so much as to the more im- 
proved habits of the slaves ; and as they continue 
to advance in civilization, the laws regarding them 
will continue to be meliorated accordingly. In 
the meantime, to diminish the power of the mas- 
ters below what is necessary to maintain order and 
subordination, however well meant, would not 
benefit, but injure the slaves; no one, who has had 
the means of knowing what the negroes at present 
are, would even on their account advise that a 
limited power of correction should not be possess- 
ed by their masters. 

But the use of a power does not justify the 
abuse of it, if such a charge can be established. 
Mr. Stephen, in considering this question, first 
assumes that a master and others under him may 
commit the most horrid cruelties ; concludes, of 
course, that they do; and proceeds, in his usual 
style, to execrate the tyrannical oppressors, and 
invoke commiseration for their victims. We shall 
not follow him here ; neither can it be necessary to 
ransack old records for obsolete or repealed laws; 
as the question, in the minds of impartial people, 
is not what the laws were, but what they are ; and 
what the condition of the slaves in our colonies is 
at the present day. 

By reference to the slave law, passed in 1816, 
cap. 25, section 27, it will be seen that no subor- 
dinate person can, for any offence, punish a negro 
with more than ten stripes ; and that the overseer 
*>r owner himself can only go the length of thirty- 



Plantation Management. 37 

nine ; and this, when inflicted, is often the punish- 
ment of crimes for which hundreds in England 
annually pay the forfeit of their lives. Mr. Stephen 
sneers at this law: ' A man might laugh,' he says, 
' if compassion did not inspire a graver emotion, 
' at a restriction like this,' p. 40 ; and then proceeds 
to prove, in what he no doubt deems a very sa- 
tisfactory way, that the restriction amounts to 
nothing, or is only calculated to produce a ' con- 
' tinuity of punishment, as the invention of the 

* master must be very barren to be sure, were he 

* at any loss to find reasons enough for using his 
' whip as often as he pleases.' Why, Shylock,, 
raging for his pound of flesh, was a merciful man, 
compared with Britons in the West Indies, who 
set their inventions to work to ' find reasons ' to 
indulge themselves in the pleasure of whipping; 
innocent men, women, and children, their own 
dependents, and entitled to look up to them for 
protection ! 

To s^ive an idea of plantation management, and Plantation Ma- 

nagement. 

of the checks there are to prevent an abuse of 
power, it is proper to mention, that estates in 
Jamaica are managed by overseers appointed by 
the proprietors, or their attorneys. The over- 
seer again employs book-keepers and tradesmen 
to attend to the subordinate duties of the 
plantation, making the number of white people in 
all, equal to about one for every fifty slaves, 
which, averaged at three hundred to each sugar 



38 Description of the Drivers or Head Negroes. 

plantation, gives five or six white persons to each 
property. The overseer presides at the head of 
the plantation table, and it is almost unnecessary 
to add, that upon his prudence, humanity, and 
good sense, depends not only the prosperity of the 
estate, but in a great measure, the comfort of the 
white people, and to some extent also that of the 
negroes. About fifteen or twenty years ago, it 
will readily be admitted, the young men in sub- 
ordinate situations were allowed too great latitude 
in the punishment of the slaves, and the same 
remark applies to the drivers or head men ; but 
of late years, a very great change has taken place. 
No book-keeper or tradesman, on well managed 
properties, is now suffered to use the whip at all, 
or to lift his hand against a slave ; all they can do 
is to represent the case to the overseer, or per- 
haps send the culprit to the stocks till this is done. 
A fair hearing is then afforded to both parties : if 
the book-keeper establishes his charge, the negro 
is punished ; if not, he not unfrequently loses his 
own situation. The complaint that negro evidence 
is rejected, does not apply here; at this summary 
court, in settling petty differences between negro 
and negro, and between the negroes and subordi- 
nate white or other free persons, it has every at- 
tention paid to it; and they are by no means 
deficient in abilities to state their own case. 



Description of But it is not only the subordinate white persons, 

the Drivers or ,. -it/r ci i 

Head Negroes, who, according to Mr. btephen, are clothed with 



Description of the Drivers or Head Negroes. 39 

an unbounded licence ' to beat, scourge, wound, 
' and otherwise afflict and injure' the slaves ; ' it 
' would be well,' says he, ' comparatively, for 
' plantation slaves, if the delegation ended here ; 
' it descends also to the drivers.' p. 48. 

This charge applies to times past, but not to 
the present. Formerly, as above stated, the drivers, 
as well as the book-keepers, had too great latitude 
in punishing slaves; but this is not now per- 
mitted. Assuming however, that the drivers are 
entrusted with an unlimited power of the whip 
over their brethren, Mr. Stephen has a fine subject 
for his pencil. He describes them as being 
' selected from among the most athletic/ to make 
sure that they have full strength to satiate theia 
cruelty of disposition ; and as ' plump, robust, and 
' pre-eminent in health and strength,' (p. 55.) that 
they may appear the more formidable rivals in the 
amours he represents them as having with the 
men's wives under their authority; and, having 
drawn an imaginary picture of horror, he con- 
cludes by imploring ' the pure and compassionate 

* heart to consider what, in such cases, is likely to 
' be the odious use of their power, and of the 

* terror they are able to excite.' p. 56. 

Now what is the fact? That in nineteen cases 
out of twenty, the driver or principal superin- 
tendant upon an estate, the only responsible 
negro, instead of being athletic, plump, and robust, 
is an old grey-headed man, selected in considera- 
tion of his good conduct, intelligence, and esta- 



40 Description of the Drivers or Head Negroes. 

blished character for sobriety, attention, and ho- 
nesty, and the influence he possesses among the 
other slaves on the property ; an influence gained, 
as in other communities, by meriting their respect, 
and felt the more strongly when old age superadds 
a feeling of veneration. Next to a good overseer, 
the welfare of a plantation depends mainly on a 
good driver, or headman, as he is more properly 
called by the negroes. He superintends the la- 
bour of the principal or great gang ; but this is 
only a secondary part of his duty : he must be a 
man who has the interest of his master's property 
at heart ; he must have an eye to every depart- 
ment, see that the cattle are regularly worked, 
that the watchmen do their duty in protecting the 
cane-fields from being trespassed upon by stock, 
and the provision-fields from depredations of 
thieves. Above all, he must be a man whose good 
character commands respect among his fellow- 
labourers; and in this case, his influence and 
authority are truly valuable. Many petty crimer, 
may be committed by the slaves, and concealed 
from the overseer, which cannot so easily be con- 
cealed from the driver ; against such, of course, 
he acts as a salutary check. These are the quali- 
fications required in the headman on a plantation ; 
and considering how important it is to the over- 
seer to have such an assistant, it is manifest how 
deep an interest he has in selecting the best qua- 
lified, and how unimportant it is that the person 
be ATHLETIC. It is true he carries a whip a 



Description of the Drivers or Head Negroes. 41 

practice established at a period, and during a state 
of things, when the use of it was perhaps abso- 
lutely necessary, and which custom yet continues, 
although it has now become little more than the 
badge of his office, as the accustomed amount of 
work is known by the negroes and performed 
without coercion. 

He invariably, also, carries a long staff with a 
crutch or crook on its head, round which his whip 
is attached, and which serves him to rest upon. 
Instead, therefore, of an * athletic, plump, and 
' robust,' young man, exercising his strength in 
cutting and slashing a parcel of unhappy creatures 
placed under his unmerciful authority, and indulg- 
ing himself in licentious amours ; go to a field of 
labourers in Jamaica, and you will see a venerable 
old man standing behind them, leaning over his 
staff, and engaged in conversation with some one 
of the gang, among whom as many jokes are 
passed, (often at the expence of the white 
people, whose foibles they are not long in disco- 
vering), and as much noisy mirth prevails, as in a 
field of labourers in the mother country ; generally, 
indeed, much more. 

To expose the fictions circulated in England 
under the title of the Driving System, fyc. we would 
only ask of an impartial person to go and see our 
labourers in the field, and say if their appearance 
bespeaks that starvation, if the work they are per- 
forming bespeaks that oppression, or if the mirth 
that prevails bespeaks that sense of degradation 



42 The Whip. 

and broken-heartedness, of which he has heard 
such affecting reports. 

False and unmerited as the charges against the 
white people of the colonies are, they are not 
more unfounded than those brought against the 
head-negroes, who, taken all in all (and I speak 
from a personal knowledge of a great many), 
form a body of people, who, notwithstanding their 
skins are black, would command respect in any 
country. Mr. Stephen himself says, they are se- 
lected from * the most intelligent' of the slaves ; 
which is true : but on what principle he can 
satisfy his friends, that, the most intelligent of this 
class of people being such merciless and depraved 
characters as he represents them, the general 
mass are so amiable, so little likely to deserve 
punishment, and so well prepared for general 
emancipation, is a mystery we cannot compre- 
hend. 

The whip. After the drivers, follows a description of the 

whip ; and, considering what kind of * athletic' 
hands it is placed in, the reader cannot be sur- 
prised to learn, that at ' one stroke it will fairly 
* cut through the tough hide of a mule ! ' The 
truth, however, is, that the cat used in the mother 
country, whatever may be represented or believed 
to the contrary, is by far the more formidable in- 
strument of the two. A few years ago, a gentle- 
man, not unknown in the literary world, and who 
is a considerable proprietor in Jamaica, made an 



The Whip. 43 

attempt to do away with the whip on his estates, 
and to substitute the cat in its stead. One ac- 
cordingly was prepared, and proved on applica- 
tion so insignificant, that the negroes laughed at 
it, and by way of derision called it pussy. While 
things were in this state, the commander of a 
ship of war, then lying in Port Royal, happened 
to call at the estate. Among other subjects of 
conversation, this of pussy being brought on the 
carpet, the captain requested a sight of it ; and 
after a hearty laugh, said, if worth sending for, 
he would let his boatswain prepare one as a 
pattern, such as is commonly used in the navy. 
This was done ; nothing more was said of pussy. 
In a few months great complaints were made 
against the cat; and the people were almost in 
open rebellion at what they boldly termed an 
unlawful instrument of punishment. Of course 
it was laid aside. 

It would indeed be a blessed consummation, 
if corporal punishments could be altogether dis- 
pensed with among mankind ; but if this cannot 
yet be accomplished in a nation, that boasts itself 
at the head of civilization, it is surely unreason- 
able to look for it among a people only emerging 
from barbarism. The disuse of the whip ought, 
however, to keep pace with the advances made 
in civilization ; and let those who have seen, say, 
if it has not done so in the colonies ? As far as 
my observation goes, there is not now one punish- 



44 The Whip. 

ment inflicted for twenty that were at the time I 
went to Jamaica, in 1803. 

On some plantations, the whip has ceased to 
be exhibited in the field, and it is much to be 
wished that this was universal ; but what is prac- 
ticable on one estate, is not always so on another. 
In the character of the negroes, even on two ad- 
joining estates, there is often a wide difference : 
one of the gangs will be industrious, sober, and 
well-behaved ; the other prone to desertion, and 
with no disposition to work, either for themselves 
or their masters. Here, it is impossible to adopt 
exactly the same mode of management : but the 
carrying of a whip in the field ought to be dis- 
continued in every case where it is practicable ; 
and unquestionably it is carried at present on 
many plantations merely from custom, and as a 
badge of authority, where there exists no real 
necessity. This is improper; and brings us to 
the question, whether the law ought not at once 
to put an end to so degrading a practice ? De- 
sirable as its disuse would be, I confess I should 
hesitate to recommend such a measure, from a 
dread of misapprehension, on the part of the 
slaves, of the object or extent of a law so directly 
interfering between them and their masters. In 
some cases, it might lead to increased delin- 
quency, and consequent severity ; and even more 
serious consequences might be apprehended. But 
whatever may be the duty of the legislature, that 



Property of Slaves respected. 45 

of every individual concerned in the management 
of negroes clearly is, to abolish as fast as he can 
a practice so revolting; and which, generally 
speaking, is no longer necessary, however dan- 
gerous the immediate abolition of it by law might 
be. 

In Jamaica, punishment is seldom inflicted 
on the day the crime has been committed ; but 
early on the following morning. There could not, 
I think, be any good objection to this being made 
peremptory by law ; nor to the presence of another 
free person besides the overseer being made neces- 
sary, as has been proposed. Records of punish- 
ments have long been kept on many plantations, 
and are proper ; but to make the manager swear 
to them, seems a measure of doubtful utility. A 
man capable of inflicting cruel or improper pu- 
nishments, would scarcely stick at an oath. The 
good do not require such restraints, and the bad 
would not be restrained by them. Fortunately, 
there are more powerful checks on such wicked- 
ness, which will be noticed as we proceed. 



* RULE VI. Slaves have no legal rights of property in things Property of 
real or personal ; and whatever property they may acquire, S p ecte( j. 
belongs in point of law to the master.' p. 58. 

Here, the British West Indians are put to 
shame, not only by the Roman, the Spartan, the 
German, the Polish, the English, the Spanish, and 
the Portuguese slave laws, but even by that of 
the coast of Guinea ! 



46 Property of Slaves respected. 

Yet, on our author's own showing, the most of 
these codes, or the more important of them, were 
the same, or harsher than that in our colonies, 
though he labours to draw distinctions, disadvan- 
tageous to his countrymen. In point of fact, the 
right of a slave to his property in the West Indies 
is held equally sacred as his master's right to his 
estate. Even Mr. Stephen concludes with a reluc- 
tant acknowledgement, qualified as any thing he 
must admit in their favour always is, that ' with a 
few exceptions, he believes' the master never as- 
serts his right to his slave's property; and we shall 
only add, that if the Romans, whom he sets so far 
above Englishmen of the present day, could never 
have been accused by their most inveterate enemy 
of asserting a title to the property or peculium of 
their slaves, it is manifest there would have been no 
occasion for ' many anxious provisions in the Im- 
' perial code, ' to protect it to them. But such is 
Mr. Stephen's virulence against his own country- 
men, that every thing is with ' metaphysical sub- 
tlety' turned against them, however obviously to 
common sense it makes in their favour ; and when 
he has nothing else, he has always abuse for 
them. For this purpose, an anecdote is intro- 
duced respecting a slave called Amachree, in New 
Calabar, who offered a hundred slaves for his 
freedom ; and which offer, his master, who was a 
poor man, would gladly have accepted, but could 
not, from its being contrary to the law of that 
country that a purchased slave should become 



Property of Slaves respected. 47 

free. p. 60. The cruelty of such a law (not being 
a colonial law) is of course passed over; but the 
story serves to introduce the following most bar- 
barous attack on the West India character : 

' From this country, I beg the reader to remark, slaves were 
brought to improve their happiness in the British West Indies; 
for such some of our planters, or their witnesses, were pleased 
to assert was the consequence, if not even the motive of their 
removal. 

' A comparison between the states called Slavery in those 
two opposite quarters of the world, in point of treatment by the 
master, will belong to another part of this work ; but I would 
here shortly infer from the fact related by Mr. Penny, that the 
poor African master was either a miracle of generosity, or he 
was not legally armed, like a West India planter, with the 
power of the dungeon, the chain, and the whip. * A little of 
this iron,' said a poor but warlike barbarian, * will win all that 
gold.' ' A little of this thong ,' might the poor African master 
have said, had he possessed West Indian authority, ' will make 
you glad to give some part of that hundred-fold value of yours, 
to relieve my necessities. I need not, therefore, solicit the 
state for a licence to supply my wants, by selling to you your 
freedom.' p. 61. 

What other impression does this convey what 
other is it meant to convey, but that ' the West 
' India planters, legally armed with the power of 
' the dungeon, the chain, and the whip, ' use them 
to extort from their humble labourers the fruits of 
their industry? For what purpose such a monstrous 
accusation was brought forward, it is impossible 
to conjecture; as in the very next passage he ac- 
knowledges it to be without the shadow of foun- 
dation. Can we suppose his disposition to ca- 



48 Comfortable circumstances of the 

lumniate the colonists too strong to be resisted, 
even when it could be indulged only at the ex- 
pence of the most palpable inconsistency ? Be 
this as it may, as the reader has seen, on Mr. 
Stephen's authority, that Englishmen in the co- 
lonies rob their slaves, let him now learn from 
the same authority that they do not, marking the 
reluctance with which the concession is made, 
and deciding as he can between such opposite 
statements. 

' It is indeed alleged by the colonial party, that though 
the master is legally entitled to all the property acquired by the 
slave, he never asserts that title ; and, with a few exceptions, 
/ believe the proposition to be true. The slave's little property 
is, indeed, sometimes seized by way of punishment, or as a 
mean of obtaining restitution of property suspected to have 
been stolen from the master ; but upon purely sordid principles, 
I remember only one instance of such an exercise of the 
owner's power, and in that, his conduct was generally con- 
demned.' p, 61. 

Comfortable The poverty and starvation of the West Indian 

circumstances 

of the slaves in labourers, at least as respects Jamaica, are as un- 

Jamaica, their 

allowances, &c. founded as the charges with regard to cruel and 
excessive punishment. However unaccountable 
it may appear to those who have taken their in- 
formation from Mr. Stephen, however incon- 
sistent with his description of their situation, and 
the rapacity of their owners, the truth neverthe- 
less is, that the great body of them are in easy 
comfortable circumstances ; and not a few in the 
possession of actual wealth. 



. 



Slaves in Jamaica. 49 

I shall here state a circumstance which I wit- 
nessed shortly before leaving Jamaica ; not that 
there is any thing extraordinary in it, but because 
it may tend to give a more correct idea of 
the situation of the slaves. I was present when 
a gentleman, who owns about sixty-five negroes, 
delivered to them their annual allowance of cloth- 
ing. The adults had each seven yards of baize, 
ten of osnaburgh, and four of linen check, with 
thread, a hat, cap, knife and needle; being suffi- 
cient for three complete suits, one of woollen, and 
two of linen. Boys, girls, and children were 
served in similar proportions ; the females, young 
and old, receiving in addition as much printed 
cotton each as would make a gown. Mothers 
took the allowances for their families, and some of 
them went away fully laden, with their little ones 
running about them. The master of these people 
had occasion to purchase a considerable quantity 
of provisions for the use of shipping, , and very 
naturally gave a preference to his own people, as 
an encouragement to industry. From the recent 
introduction of island or treasury notes, the circu- 
lation of which, had in a great measure superseded 
that of silver, he had been unable for two or three 
months to procure small money to pay for these 
petty purchases, and his clerk had, on receiving 
100 or 200 plantains or parcels of yams, given a 
ticket of acknowledgement. Means being pro- 
vided, notice was given, when they came for their 
clothing, to bring those tickets for payment, and I 



50 Comfortable circumstances of the Slaves, 8$c. 

saw upwards of 30 paid in dollars to the indus- 
trious individuals of this gang, for articles sold to 
their master alone, in less than three months; 
while they had probably sold as much, or twice 
as much in the public market. Of course they 
were not all industrious ; but to those who received 
it, this was entirely surplus wealth, to be stored, 
or spent in luxuries, as they chose ; for they had 
their houses and land (with ample time to cultivate 
it), clothing, medical attendance, and in short, 
every necessary provided for them by their master. 
It should also be stated, as refuting a distinction 
Mr. Stephen lays great stress on, that these people 
are not mechanics, but field negroes and jobbers. 
I may add, that several of them are married, and 
attend church regularly, well dressed, with linen 
shirts, shoes and stockings, and cloth coats, the 
quality of which is scarcely inferior to that of their 
master; nor would they use any kind of ceremony 
in rubbing shoulders with such a personage as our 
author himself, in taking their seats inside the 
church, instead of ' peeping in with a timid and 
' wondering countenance, in order to gratify their 
' curiosity, at one of the doors or windows/ p. 215. 
In the parish of St. Thomas in the East, with which 
I am more particularly acquainted, I affirm from 
the evidence of my own eyesight, that the congre- 
gations in the several places of worship, of which 
there are six, consisting principally of slaves, 
would bear comparison, in point of dress and or- 
derly deportment, with the generality of country 



Independent air of the Negroes. 51 

congregations in Britain.* Not a few of the slaves, 
coming from a distance, ride their own horses to 
church. In the little village of Bath, where there 
is a chapel of ease, and a Wesleyan meeting-house, 
the number of their horses, which during divine 
service are tied up under the shade of the trees in the 
street, never fails to attract the attention of strangers . 
By the law, indeed, slaves (for no good reason, that 
I can see,) are not allowed to own horses ; but in 
this, as in many other instances, the practice is 
better than the law. It is almost needless to ob- 
serve, that they purchase their Sunday dresses 
for themselves, the clothing allowed them by their 
masters being used only for working dresses, and 
frequently sold by them when not wanted. 

They receive their allowances of every kind independent air 

* of the negroes. 

with the same independent feeling that labourers 
in this country receive their wages, and perhaps 
with even greater independence of manner. In 
taking his annual allowance of clothing, a negro 
examines minutely that he has full measure, that 
no one receives more than he does, and that what 
he receives is free from blemish. If he happens 
to get the end or outside of a web in the least 
rubbed or damaged, he returns it with the utmost 
indignity, and will take none if he does not get it 

* Mr. Trew, Rector of St. Thomas in the East, Jamaica, has transmitted to this 
society an extract from his parish register, by which it appears that from the 
14th December, 1817, to the 21st of March, 1824, he has married 3488 slaves, 
and baptized 2056. Mr. Stainsley states, that he has 800 regular attendants, 
and 200 communicants. Reports of the incorporated Society for the Conversion 
find religious Instruction of the Negro Slaves in the British West India Colonies, 
1824. 

E 2 



52 Independent air of tlie Negroes. 

as good as others. In fact, there is no feature in 
the negro character that would strike a stranger 
more strongly, than the air of independence he 
will find, where, perhaps, he expected the most 
abject servility. This may appear paradoxical; 
but the truth is, a negro is a very different being 
from what he is commonly represented : acknow- 
ledging fully the master's right to his labour, he 
justly considers the master bound to support him, 
and feels under no obligation whatever for the 
house and land he holds of him, or the other allow- 
ances which law or usage assign him for his labour. 
He knows that for withholding that labour he is 
liable to punishment by the master who supports 
him; but he knows also the service required of 
him, and that he has nothing to fear when that 
service is performed. He has his own time also; 
and if any part of it happens to be required by his 
master, it must be repaid. If a house-servant, for 
instance, is employed on Sunday, another must 
take his place some other day in the week, that he 
may have the day due to him. If a negro makes 
a feast, and kills a hog for the occasion, this, of 
course, is at his own expence ; but if, when sick, 
and in the hospital, a few of his own poultry (from 
a difficulty in procuring others) are killed for his 
use, he not unfrequently demands and receives 
payment for them ; it being considered as much 
the master's business to supply him, under these 
circumstances, with poultry, as with wine, if he 
stands in need of it. 



Anecdote of the late Simon Taylor, Esq. 53 

As Mr. Stephen has given an anecdote to shew Anecdote of the 
how the property of slaves is respected in Africa, 
and intimated what, according to his belief, would 
have been the conduct of a British West India 
planter in such a case, I shall take leave to give 
one also ; and this I do the more readily, as the cir- 
cumstances of it came within my own knowledge. 

In the garden fronting the spacious mansion- 
house of Holland, the property of the late 
honourable Simon Taylor, in the parish of St. 
Thomas in the East, a large cluster of cocoa- 
nut trees for many years shut out a view of 
the sea, and obstructed from the house a necessary 
circulation of air. They were originally planted 
by the proprietor merely for ornament; but the 
more substantial use of them the. fruit, was not 
lost sight of by the negroes ; who soon considered, , 
not only the fruit, but the trees as their own pro- 
perty each claiming, as he happened first to 
have taken possession. In process of time, as 
new trees sprang from the seed of the old, these 
were claimed in like manner, till a perfect thicket 
was reared up, to the serious injury, not only of 
the mansion-house, but also of the breeze-mill, 
when the wind was northerly. Still Mr. Taylor, 
from extreme delicacy, in interfering with what 
his people claimed as their right, would not allow 
the trees to be cut down: nor was it till 1807, 
when the evil greatly increasing, and some deaths 
having taken place, attributed to the house being 
so much covered, that, at the request of Mr. 



54 Slaves regarded as property. 

Hunter, the manager, he consented, provided the 
sanction of his negroes could be obtained by 
giving them a compensation, but not otherwise ; 
for, added he, they have long claimed these trees as 
their own, and that claim I never shall dispute with 
them. These instructions were faithfully attended 
to; the overseer durst not act otherwise; and not a 
tree was felled until the person claiming it had 
received what he acknowledged to be a full com- 
pensation. Thus Mr. Taylor paid to his own 
labourers 1. 6s. 8d. for each cocoa-nut tree cut 
in his own garden. 

Slaves regard- < RULE VII. The v Slave, in the British Colonies, is at all times 
liable to be sold, or otherwise aliened, at the will of the 
master, as absolutely in all respects, as cattle, or any other 
personal effects/ 

* RULE VIII. He is also at all times, liable to be sold by 
process of law, for satisfaction of the debts of a living, or 
the debts or bequests of a deceased master, at the suit of 
creditors or legatees.' 

' RULE IX. In consequence of a transfer in either of these 
ways, or by the authority of his immediate owner, the slave 
may be at any time exiled, in a moment, and for ever, from 
his home, his family, and the colony in which he was born, 
or in which he has long been settled.' p. 63. 

These rules, classed together by Mr. Stephen, 
briefly amount to this that slaves are held to be 
property, and sold as such. From the researches 
he has made into ancient slavery, on this point, it 
appears, ' that in some countries at least, and 
' under some particular circumstances, men in this 
' condition might be alienated without the domain, 



Slaves sold in families, $c. 56 

* or without the whole of the domain, to which they 

* belonged/ p. 64. 

But ' of the liability of the slaves to be seized 
' and sold separate from the lands they cultivate, 
6 by the master's creditors for the payment of his 

* debts, it may safely, I believe, be pronounced, 

* that a precedent for such cruel injustice is not 

* to be found in any part of the Old World.' 
p. 68. 

Granting it were so, what is the difference to 
the slave, between being sold by the creditors, or 
the creditors compelling the master to sell him, 
which they must by some means have had in 
their power ? Mr. Stephen, who has, it seems, a 
perfect knowledge of the customs, institutions, 
and state of society, among the various tribes, and 
tongues in Africa, assures us, that even barbarous 
Africa, the fountain-head of slavery, ' will not 
' furnish a pattern of this feature of colonial despo- 
tism !' p. 71. 



Jamaica contains nearly one-half of all the slaves sold i 

_ . _-_.,. T i t 11 families and 

slaves in the British West India colonies ; and let allowed to 



me ask Mr. Stephen, if he ever heard of a slave 
being sold from thence to serve a new master in a 
distant island or territory ? Or, if he ever heard 
of the wife and husband being sold to different 
masters in different counties in that island ? 

Not only are families sold together, but in ge- 
neral allowed to choose a master for themselves : 
and to regulate sales under process of distress, 



56 Sales of Slaves. 

when the owner had not this in his power, a law 
was passed nearly one hundred years ago, 8 Geo. II. 
cap. 6, sec. 9, which enacts, that slaves sold under 
writs of Venditione, shall be sold in families. Had 
this law passed since the agitation of the Registry 
question, Mr. Stephen, no doubt, would have 
ascribed it to ' his thunder,' as he has done all other 
changes favourable to the slaves ; but as it was 
passed in 1735, it will be difficult to ascribe it to 
any other cause than a proper feeling of hu- 
manity on the part of the colonists themselves, 
even in those days of comparative barbarity. 
The philanthrophists of the present day can 
therefore have little merit in calling attention 
to an evil, that was so long ago seen and 
remedied. 

sales of slaves. Purchases of negroes often cannot be effected, 
in consequence of their dislike to go to the plan- 
tation they are wanted for; and the removal o f 
them never is attempted but with their own free 
consent and approbation. Public sales are rare, 
but under process of distress ; and although these 
look formidable in the marshall's advertisements, 
they are confined in a great measure to the slaves 
of poor people, who possess only a few, and whose 
slaves are commonly bettered by getting out of 
such hands. Where the slaves do not belong to 
poor people, the marshall's sales are frequently 
nominal, for the purpose of making good the con- 
veyance on a private sale, as will afterwards be 
explained. On occasion of such sales, I have 



Sales of Slaves. 57 

seen the negroes openly abuse white persons who 
wished to purchase them, and of whose characters 
as masters, they had heard an unfavourable report. 
Their language was to this effect: ' We know you 
' well we knoio what your plantation is and 
' how you treat your negroes. If you buy us you will 
' lose your money; we will not have you for a master 

* we will not belong to you, nor work for you, if we 
1 should go and live in the woods.' No man in his 
senses would wish to be the master of people who 
entertained sentiments of this kind towards him ; 
or, indeed, of people who were not perfectly willing 
to belong to him. Proofs enough could be ad- 
duced of intended sales and transfers of slaves 
from place to place, which have been abandoned 
for no other reason than that the slaves, after 
sending a deputation of their own body to inspect 
the new situation, have decidedly objected to the 
removal. 

It is complained of as a hardship in the sale of 
slaves, that ' if, as it ordinarily happens, the 
' dearest relatives of the slave belong to neigh- 

* bouring estates, and are the property of different 
' owners ; these, as well as his home, may be lost 
' for ever, by the death of his immediate master/ 
p. 72. 

Here our author's information is not correct ; 
slaves are not ordinarily so connected ; there may 
be indeed occasional cases of men forming con- 
nections on perhaps several different estates ; but 
such characters generally give themselves little 



58 Sales of Slaves. 

concern about their offspring, who they know will 
be provided for by those to whom they belong; 
and even if removed from the scene of their licen- 

* 

tious indulgence they would not feel it any ' sad 
' shipwreck of their happiness.' p. 72. The better 
description of people, who value the comfort of 
domestic happiness, attach themselves almost in- 
variably on the plantation to which they belong. 
It is also represented as a hardship, that, 

* slaves are liable to be sold in the life-time of the 
c owner for his debts, either by executions at law, 
' or by decrees of courts of equity ; and in the 
' former case, the laws of the islands have ex- 
' pressly enacted, that they shall be severed from 
' the estates to which they belong : for the mar- 
' shall, or sheriff, is directed, not to take in exe- 
' cution, or sell, the land of the defendant, until he 

* has previously sold his slaves, and only in the 
' event of the latter not producing a full satisfac- 
' tion of the debt.' p. 74. 

Mr. S. here refers to ' court acts of the different 
islands,' but has not quoted them. The law of 
Jamaica provides, that ' for payment of debts and 
' legacies, where other goods and chattels are not 

* sufficient to satisfy them, then so many slaves as 

* are necessary may be sold,' 50 Geo. III. c. 21. 
But here the object clearly is to prevent slaves 
being sold, if there are other goods and chattels ; 
and if the law directs that slaves shall be sold in 
preference to the land, the reason is, that a few of 
them may be sufficient to discharge the debt, and the 



Sales of Slaves. 59 

rest will continue to enjoy their homes; whereas, 
selling the land first, might displace the whole of 
the people settled upon it, and the master with 
them. But such executions are rare : if a planter's 
debt is small, compared with the value of his pro- 
perty, he easily finds accommodation : if it is 
heavy, he grants a security on his land and 
slaves, and in this case, they go together. Even 
in the case of legacies, the almost universal cus- 
tom is, that the heir, or residuary legatee, burdens 
himself with them, and keeps the property toge- 
ther. 

Sales of slaves, by the provost marshall, under 
writs of execution, or vcnditioni exponas, which 
present so disagreeable a spectacle, are yet an 
evil of much less magnitude or extent than is 
generally supposed in England. Such sales are 
almost exclusively confined to the slaves of co- 
loured persons, and the lower class of whites, who 
seldom are land-owners, and whose slaves, 
employed as menials or mechanics, working 
wherever employment can be found, have not the 
same local attachments as the great body of slaves 
permanently settled on the plantations ; and, 
consequently, if they are more subject to a trans- 
fer, they ,are less affected by it ; not unfrequently 
indeed, they are much benefited. Moreover, 
these sales, so offensive in appearance, are in 
many cases, a mere form, to convey a valid title 
to encumbered property, when, in point of fact, 
the sale has been by private bargain, with the 



60 Sales of Slaves. 

previous consent of the slaves to belong to the 
purchaser often the person who has them in his 
employment on hire. For instance, I may own 
twenty negroes who have been hired for eight or 
ten years on some particular plantation. I get 
embarrassed, or die, with judgments on record 
against me ; in either case, these judgments are a 
bar to a private sale, as I cannot myself, nor, in 
the case of my death can my executors, grant a 
valid title ; and to get over the difficulty, an 
arrangement is made to allow the provost marshall 
to make a nominal sale. This gives to the trans- 
action the revolting appearance of a forced sale 
under an execution, while, in point of fact, the 
slaves continue in their homes, and become at- 
tached to the plantation on which they were for- 
merly hired. 

Notwithstanding ' the commercial character of 
' sugar estates, the ruin of the planters, the mort- 
' gages, sales by execution at law,' &c. dwelt on by 
our author, not on account of the sufferings to the 
proprietors, but as occasioning the removal of 
slaves from their homes, I have not, during a resi- 
dence of twenty years in St. Thomas in the East, 
one of the largest parishes in Jamaica, known 
more than two instances there of the slaves 
being removed from the sugar estates on which 
they had been settled. These cases occurred at 
Hampton Court, and Airy Castle estates, which 
were thrown up, and from which the slaves, much 
to their joy, were removed in a body to the more 



Sales of Slaves. 01 

fertile domains of Golden Grove and Duckenfield 
Hall, in the same neighbourhood ; where they may 
now be considered as permanently attached to 
the soil, whoever may hold the titles of the 
estates. 

It has been stated, that the slaves sold under 
executions, are almost all the property of the lower 
class of whites, and the coloured people who be- 
came possessed of them while the African trade 
was open, or have succeeded to them since. 
Among other changes, which, since the abolition 
of that trade, time has been effecting in the colo- 
nies, it is not one of the least important, that the 
negroes are gradually getting into fewer hands. 
From the people of colour, they are passing to the 
jobbing gangs of the middle class of white people ; 
and from these again to the plantations, where, in 
not many years, they will be all fixed, and sales 
of slaves, except as attached to the soil, will be 
almost unknown. Amidst all the difficulties of 
the late disastrous years to the planters, this 
change has made progress, and a few years of 
colonial prosperity would, in a great measure, 
attach the whole body of slaves in the island to 
the soil. Humanity must wish to see this happy 
change accomplished ; yet such is the perverted 
view unfortunately taken in the mother country 
of all colonial matters, that many consider friend- 
ship to the slaves can only be evinced by hostility 
to the masters that whatever is beneficial to 
the one class, must be prejudicial to the other ; 



62 General Washington. 

and hence it has been again and again asserted in 
the House of Commons, that the prosperity of the 
planter is injurious to the slave ! 

General Wash- The circumstance of General WASHINGTON en- 

ington. 

franchising his slaves by will, is here introduced 
in a note, p. 73, 'and shews,' says Mr. Stephen, 
* impressively what he thought of slavery in ge- 
'neral; and WASHINGTON, be it remembered, 
' did not judge of the state by report/ as too many 
do in England, and on the report of those who 
themselves have it on report. 

With due submission, the circumstances in 
which WASHINGTON was placed, were not of an 
ordinary kind ; and he is not a pattern which the 
generality of mankind can be expected to follow. 
He was selected by Providence as the man who 
should have the honour of enfranchising his coun- 
try, and delivering it from an oppression, not un- 
like, though much inferior in its violence and per- 
tinacity, to that with which a party now wishes to 
crush the less powerful colonies of the present 
day. He had no family; and if it had been 
otherwise, the offspring of the hero, who is 
venerated as 'first in war, first in peace, and 
jirst in the hearts of his country,' never could 
have known distress or difficulty. Yet this 
man was a slave-owner, and a planter in 
a British colony; and, what is even more 
strange, out of the four chief magistrates who 
have presided over that country of freemen by 



State of slavery in the United States. 63 

the choice of the people, three have been selected 
from the slave states, where, according to Mr. 
Stephen, the exercise of despotic power, the long 
administration of an iron system, and the conta- 
gion of local habits and prejudices, extinguish 
humanity and convert men into brutes, p. 55. 

This circumstance a very extraordinary one, 
certainly, if Mr. Stephen's remark be well founded, 
may perhaps be better accounted for by another 
writer, whose authority is entitled to fully as much 
respect. ' Masters of slaves,' says Mr. Burke, 
' are by far the most proud and jealous of their 
' freedom. Freedom is to them not only an enjoy- 
' ment, but a kind of rank and privilege. Not 
' seeing there, that freedom, as in countries where 
' it is a common blessing, and broad and general 

* as the air, may be joined with much abject toil, 

* with great misery, with all the exterior of ser- 
' vitude, liberty looks among them like something 
' that is more noble and liberal. Such were all 
' the ancient commonwealths ; such were our 
' Gothic ancestors ; such in our days were the 
' Poles ; and such will be all masters of slaves, 

* who are not slaves themselves. In them haughti- 
6 ness combines with the spirit of freedom, forti- 
' fies it, and renders it invincible.' 

Speaking of General WASHINGTON'S benevolence, state of siaverj 

an opportunity is taken to say, ' he well knew the states. 
' true nature and effect of that state (slavery); but 
' in a country where it is generally far milder than 



64 State of slavery in the United States. 

< in our colonies, so much so, as to consist with a 
' very rapid increase of population' . p. 73. Now 
that the slaves are increasing in the state of Vir- 
ginia, and have as yet decreased in the island of 
Jamaica, may be true, and is to be accounted for 
by causes which will be afterwards noticed ; but 
whether slavery is milder in the former than in the 
latter, let the reader judge from the folio wing- 
facts. There slaves are sold without any regard to 
the separation of families ; there a regular traffic in 
slaves is carried on ; dealers, as I have witnessed, 
traverse the country, and purchase them, and 
thousands are annually shipped from the port of 
Norfolk in Virginia, to cultivate sugar on the 
fertile but sickly swamps in Louisiana. There 
also banishment is the condition of manumission : 
a master can give freedom to a slave, only upon 
condition of expelling him from the state. What 
would be said of such a law in Jamaica ? 

As another instance of the American laws being 

far milder than those of the British West India 

colonies, I quote the following section of the law 

of South Carolina ' for the better regulation of free 

* negroes and persons of colour.' 

* And be it further enacted, That if any vessel shall come 
into any port or harbour of this state, from any other state or 
foreign port, having on board any free negroes or persons of 
colour, as cooks, stewards, mariners, or in other employment 
on board of the said vessel, such free negroes or persons of 
colour shall be liable to be seized and confined in gaol, until the 
said vessel shall clear out and depart from this State : and that 



Removal of slaves from one island to another. 65 

when the said vessel is ready to sail, the captain of the said 
vessel shall be bound to carry away the said free negro or free 
person of colour, and to pay the expences of his detention; and 
in case of his neglect or refusal so to do, he shall be liable to be 
indicted, and on conviction thereof, shall be fined in a sum not 
less than one thousand dollars, and imprisoned not less than 
two months; and such free negroes or persons of colour shall 
be deemed and taken as absolute slaves, and sold in conformity 
to the provisions of the act passed the 20th day of December, 
1820. 

Another section of the act prohibits any free 
negro or person of colour, who shall leave the 
state, from returning thereto. 

Such is the state of slavery in the most ancient 
slave colonies established by Britain, and such 
the opinion there entertained of a free coloured 
population; an opinion, founded on experience, 
however much at variance with that of those bene- 
volent enthusiasts in England, who have acquired 
such an influence in the council of the nation ; and 
whose errors have endangered the existence of 
possessions, for which Buonaparte sighed, with 
Europe prostrate at his feet. Ships, colonies, and 
commerce, he well knew had enabled England to 
contend with him ; these he promised to France 
as a reward of her exertions ; these England is now 
sacrificing at the shrine of misguided enthusiasm. 

Treating of the sale of slaves, an affecting pic- Removal of 

' Slaves from 

ture is drawn by our author, of the extreme cruelty one island to 
of removing them from the barren Bahama islands a 
to a more fertile soil. p. 81, 82. To such removals 

F 



66 Removal of slaves from one island to another. 

I believe they are no longer subject ; home and 
country are dear to all, and there is something 
exceedingly painful in contemplating a people 
compelled to abandon them by whatever circum- 
stances : yet this hardship, described with so much 
feeling, was not peculiar to the slaves. How 
many of the poor Irish, possessing a land pro- 
verbial for its fertility, would at the present mo- 
ment consider it the greatest blessing to be re- 
moved in families, and put down in New Holland 
or Canada? And surely it will not be said that 
they are less attached to their homes than the 
oppressed slaves, who, according to Mr. Stephen, 
' are driven like beasts, worked beyond their 
' strength, stinted of necessary food, and thus 
' have their days shortened.' p. 82. Few endear- 
ments can home possess to the wretched being 
who has found in it nothing but labour, and 
hunger, and oppression, even to the shortening 
of his miserable existence ! yet, such are the con- 
tradictions necessary to support false theories, 
that in order to give to the removal of a negro all 
the distress and anguish of the most cruel ba- 
nishment, it is necessary to suppose him leaving 
for ever a home where he enjoyed every comfort 
and happiness, while in the same breath we are 
assured no such comforts fall to his lot. God for- 
bid that Mr. Stephen's account of their state and 
situation were correct ! but if it were, it is clear 
their removal from one home to another could be 
no such terrible aggravation of their sufferings. 



Leasing out of Slaves. 67 

* RULE X. The slave may be mortgaged, demised, and Leasing out of 

settled for any particular estate or estates in possession, 
remainder, or reversion/ p. 84. 

Much stress is laid upon this as the cause of 
great injury to the slaves. Speaking of the leas- 
ing out of negroes, Mr. S. says, < I never saw in 
' any of these leases covenants stipulating for 

* adequate allowances of food or other necessaries 
' to the slaves, or for limiting their work in point 
' of time or otherwise, or for restraining excesses 
' in punishment. I believe no leases can be 
' produced with any such stipulations, though the 
' lessors of course have counterparts and are 
' almost always resident here. Such omissions 

* are instructive.' p. 87. Of course the meaning 
of this last sentence is, they are ' instructive,' as 
shewing that no attention is paid to the preserva- 
tion or protection of the slaves. In reply to this, 
it might be sufficient to observe, that as respects 
Jamaica, and I presume it is the same in the other 
islands, the law expressly regulates the allowances 
of food and time of labour, and guards against ex- 
cess of punishment. It does not leave points of 
such vital importance to be regulated by contracts 
between individuals. But we have our author's 
own authority, that individuals take the most 
effectual means to ensure the observance of those 
regulations, and the proper treatment of their 
slaves. ' True it is,' says he, ' the lessor gene- 
' rally endeavours to guard against such abuses, 

* or rather to secure himself against loss, when 

F 2 



68 



Provision markets of Jamaica 



' they are practised, by what is called, a make 
' good bargain, namely, by a covenant from the 
* lessor, to pay for any reduction in number and 
' value of the slaves during the term, by appraise- 
' ment ; and for the performance of this covenant 
' security is commonly required.' p. 86. 

Now what is this but a stipulation for adequate 
allowance of food and clothing, and every thing- 
else necessary for life and well-being? What 
stronger tie can be devised than self-interest ? If 
I hire another man's negroes for a certain period, 
under a stipulation to make good any deteriora- 
tion that may take place in my employment, 
surely I will be careful for my own interest, put- 
ting humanity out of the question, to treat them 
properly ; and as far as possible to guard against 
such a calamity. In point of fact I never knew 
hired negroes, that were not treated by the lessee 
precisely as his own : a man would be deservedly 
hooted, not only by the community, but by his 
own slaves, who should make a distinction in 
their treatment. 



Provision Mar- 
kets of Jamaica 
supplied by the 
Slaves. 



6 Where else,' asked Mr. Stephen, ' but in the 
British West Indies, did the subsistence of 
agricultural slaves depend on provisions to=be 
bought or imported from abroad ; consequently 
on the wealth, or the credit of their immediate 
master? and where else was he ever placed 
under so strong temptation or necessity to with- 
hold from them a sufficiency of food.' p. 105. 



Supplied by the Slaves. 69 

It is true that the West India Islands have occa- - 
sionally been visited with hurricanes, which in one 
hour have laid waste the cane fields and provision 
grounds, and on such occasions there have been 
complaints of scarcity, as in other countries under 
similar circumstances. But does Mr. Stephen re- 
quire to be told, that in Jamaica at least, the slaves 
do not, but on such happily rare occasions, depend 
on provisions bought or imported ? that whether 
they are mortgaged or unmortgaged, they have land 
allotted them, and sufficient time allowed for its 
cultivation ; that they are not only the growers of 
their own food, but the farmers who supply the 
masters of the country with provisions ; that the 
city of Kingston, and every town and shipping 
place around the island, is supplied from the sur- 
plus of their cultivation ; and that an advance on 
the price of edoes, yams, and plantains, is the 
cause of as much joy to them, as a rise in the price 
of sugar and rum to their masters, or of wheat to 
the English farmer ? 

The current price of plantains in the negro 
markets of St. Thomas in the East, for several 
years, has been three quarters of a dollar per hun- 
dred about three shillings. Six of these serve a 
man for a day; consequently, he obtains what 
constitutes the staff of life, at three pence per day. 
Edoes and sweet potatoes are yet cheaper, being 
sold at half a dollar, or about two shillings the 
hundred, which is under the price of potatoes in 
this country ; and yet we are told, that disposing 



70 Mortgage of a West India estate 

of their surplus provisions at these prices, the 
negroes depend for subsistence upon provisions 
bought and imported from abroad, and that there 
exists a strong temptation or necessity on the part 
of their masters, to withhold from them a suffici- 
ency of food ! 

The flour and rice imported into Jamaica, are 
regarded as luxuries, and no more as necessaries 
than the rice of Carolina is in England. They are 
used chiefly by the whites, or served to the negroes 
when sick ; but the latter are fond of them for a 
change, (as the whites are of plantains,) and buy 
them when cheap ; and it is not unworthy of notice, 
that upon many of the estates a sort of business is 
made by some of the slaves of baking bread and 
selling it to the others.* 

Mortgage of a Whether a plantation is mortgaged or not, is a 

West India . A 

estate does not matter so little affecting in any way the comfort 

affect the , 

slaves. of the slaves, that they seldom know any thing 

about it ; nay, the mortgage may be foreclosed, 
and the title-deeds passed to the mortgagee, with- 
out their knowledge. That many estates are in- 
volved, and many for even more than they are 
worth in the present state of things, is but too 
true ; but what does this amount to, only that the 
mortgagee is the real proprietor; a fact which 
many merchants in London at this moment feel to 



* They bake also a kind of sweet bread, or buns, (the sugar costs nothing) j 
and when a basket of these is brought into a house, all the little negro children 
art immediately about their master to be treated. 



Does not affect the Slaves. 7 J 

their cost. Does it follow that the slaves suffer 
from this ? Facts do not bear out such a conclu- 
sion. The merchant who has his capital invested 
in a plantation, has too much at stake, and knows 
too well his owri interest, to withhold what is 
required for their comfort and welfare. The ex- 
treme depreciation of West India produce for some 
years past, has made the strictest economy indis- 
pensable, but while every other description of 
plantation stores from England has been yearly 
curtailed, the clothing and other necessaries for 
the negroes have been held strictly sacred. 

Few of the proprietors are resident in the island ; 
and as their attorneys or representatives, who 
transmit annually to England lists of such supplies 
as are required, are in constant intercourse with 
the slaves, and by them looked up to as their pro- 
tectors, it may be believed they will not feel dis- 
posed to make curtailments, more especially as 
they have no interest in doing so, and besides 
well know that the slaves, equally ignorant and 
indifferent whether their labour is or is not pro- 
ductive to their master, will be dissatisfied and 
discontented, if they find any of their accustomed 
allowances withheld. 

It is due to the proprietors, and no less so to 
the mortgagees of Jamaica estates, to say, that 
however unproductive these may be to themselves, 
(and they are miserably so at the present moment,) 
they never do curtail the comforts of the slaves. 

Of this truth, it is in the power of any one who 



72 Mortgage of a West India estate, 8$c. 

wishes, to satisfy himself, by calling on any 
respectable West India house in London, and 
comparing the quantity of clothing, salt-provi- 
sions, rice, flour, medicines, &c. furnished in 
prosperous times and the present. How long it 
may be in their power to act in this way, and 
avert the apprehended crisis described by the 
Jamaica House of Assembly, when universal ruin 
shall overwhelm equally the master and his people, 
we shall not pretend to say ; but most certainly it 
will not be long, if public opinion is to be guided 
by misrepresentations, and the safer course of 
experience superseded by fallacious theories, 
applied by enthusiasts in England to a foreign 
community, of the state of which it is evident 
they are entirely ignorant. 

Let any sincere philanthropist visit Jamaica, 
make himself acquainted with its institutions, with 
the condition and treatment of the labourers, in 
short, with slavery as it exists in practice ; and 
then, if he can suggest how it is to be im- 
proved or ameliorated, consistently with the 
safety and welfare of the country, we shall not 
only be ready to listen to, but feel grateful for his 
suggestions ; but when new and dangerous schemes 
and innovations, founded upon ignorance and false 
assumptions, are recommended, * we should,' as 
Mr. S. expresses it, 'commit actual suicide upon 
* ourselves, were we to adopt them.' 



Commercial character of sugar estates. 73 

In the chapter we are considering, and through- Commercial 
out the whole of the work, the commercial cha- sugar Estates, 

f, j , . how it affects 

racter of sugar estates is dwelt upon as an aggra- the slaves. 
vation of West India slavery. ' In what other 
' country,' asks Mr. Stephen, * was the land and 
* slaveholder, a manufacturer also?' p. 105. 

Now is it not manifest, that the very circum- 
stance of his being a manufacturer, promotes in a 
great measure the object contended for; an at- 
tachment of the slaves to the soil ? that in addition 
to the value of the land, the immense capital sunk 
in erecting the buildings on a sugar estate, gives a 
double security to the labourers against a removal? 
If a planter were merely the cultivator of a raw 
article, and could regulate his fields, like a farmer 
in Europe, according to times and circumstances, 
he would be comparatively independent ; but be- 
ing a manufacturer as well as a farmer, and having 
a large capital sunk in his manufacturing establish- 
ment, he is compelled to persevere, however ruin- 
ous perseverance may be; for he cannot, like a 
farmer, change his crops; nor, like a manufac- 
turer, discharge his workmen. Can it then be 
denied that the very circumstance of the planter 
being a manufacturer, as well as a farmer, while it 
makes him doubly the victim of times and circum- 
stances over which he has no control, affords the 
best possible protection to his labourers, in attach- 
ing them to the soil, and thus securing to them 
the manifold comforts and blessings of a permanent 
domicile ? Such in general is the situation of the 
majority of the slaves in the British colonies; 



74 Enfranchisement for ill-treatment. 

they are by circumstances attached to the soil 
almost as firmly as they could be by law; but 
there are exceptions, and to make a positive 
statute attaching them to the soil, would in some 
instances be entailing misery alike on the master 
and slave. 

That it is a serious evil to the planter to be 
compelled to mortgage his estate, is plain enough ; 
but it is difficult to see how this can, as Mr. 
Stephen says, affect the slaves so seriously, as to 
endanger their very existence, considering, that 
by such deeds they are almost universally attached 
to the land, and transferred along with it ; and thus 
having their homes secured, care very little who 
holds the title-deeds of the domain. In another 
part of his work, Mr. Stephen acknowledges this 
himself. Speaking of the hardships of slaves being 
sold under executions, he remarks that, 'if the 
' interposition of mortgages did not in the case of 
* plantation negroes, very commonly bind them 
' to the land, the misery here mentioned would be 
' almost as general as the insolvency of the 
' planter.' p. 74. 

Enfranchise- < RULE XI. While the master's power of alienation is thus 
treatment. despotic and unlimited, the slave has no legal right of re- 

deeming his liberty on any terms whatever; or of obtaining 
a change of masters, when cruel treatment makes it neces- 
sary for his relief or preservation.' p. 106. 

It is true, the slave has no ' legal right of 
'redeeming his liberty;' but the consolidated 
slave law of Jamaica of 1816, cap. 25, s. 25, em- 
powers the courts of justice to enfranchise him, 



Enfranchisement for ill-treatment. 75 

* when cruel treatment makes it necessary for his 
' reliefer preservation;' and also provides him in 
such cases, an annuity of 10 per annum. Nor 
would it have been difficult for Mr. Stephen to 
have found records of such enfranchisement, had 
it suited his purpose. But this did not suit his 
purpose; and it is amusing to see with what inge- 
nuity he argues, that the act of 1816 which 
extends the power of enfranchisement (formerly 
applicable only to cases of mutilation) to the 
smaller offences of cruelly beating, whipping, &c. 
gives no additional protection to the slaves ! 

Cases of such enfranchisement, it is true, are 
not of frequent occurrence; but the negroes are 
perfectly aware of the redress which the law 
affords them when cruelly treated ; and there is 
no reason to doubt that appeals to it would be 
more frequent, were there cause for them. I was 
a juror some years ago on a trial of this kind, the 
report of which I shall give here remarking by 
the way, that if those who have been led to be- 
lieve that there is no proper feeling in the colonies, 
had witnessed the indignation at the conduct of 
the criminal, which prevailed in the court-house 
of Kingston that day, it would have satisfied them 
that Englishmen in Jamaica are not so different 
from Englishmen at home, or so callous to the ill- 
treatment of the negroes, as some persons are 
anxious to have believed. 

' On Monday the 19th of January (1818,) in the Surry Assize 
Court, (Jamaica,) Joseph Boyden was tried under the Slave 
Act, for cruelly, maliciously, and wantonly maltreating, by 



76 Enfranchisement for ill-treatment. 

flogging and marking in different parts of the body, a Sambo 
slave, named Amey, his property, jointly with others. 

" This indictment was brought by the justices and vestry of 
Port Royal against the traverser for the crime above noticed, 
and from what was given in evidence, it appeared that Amey 
had committed some transgression which induced her to apply 
to a neighbour, to intercede with her master for forgiveness, 
which he agreed to grant ; but she was afterwards marked in 
five places with the initials of his name, and that of the property 
he owned. In consequence of conduct so contrary to every prin- 
ciple of humanity, and to the general treatment of slaves, she 
left her home, and sought redress from those empowered 
to grant it. The traverser was accordingly summoned before a 
board of magistrates, where he confessed having branded the 
female in question in two places, but disowned any other act 
of cruelty committed on her, and there was no proof of flagel- 
lation. Amey was produced in court, and the brands examined. 
After hearing counsel on both sides, his honor the chief justice 
made a charge to the jury, characterizing the crime as one of a 
barbarous, savage, and horrible nature, and upon which but 
one conclusion could be formed. The jury, with little deliber- 
ation, returned a verdict of guilty. 

' On the Friday succeeding his honor the Chief Justice passed 
the following sentence : 

' Joseph Boy den, You have been tried and found guilty 
of maltreating a femdle slave, named Amey, the property of 
yourself and relations. The evidence in this case discloses in 
you a disposition at once so base and so ferocious, that the 
court despair of inducing any amendment in you, by any words 
they are capable of using. You can serve only as an example 
to deter others, if there be others like you in this country, from 
actions of similar atrocity. This at least may be fairly pro- 
nounced from this transaction, that whatever lawless and wanton 
severity is exercised towards a slave, the law is both ready and 
able to interpose for his protection. On her simple complaints, 
unsupported by other evidence, except that which your cruelty 
has, to your lasting shame, branded in indelible characters on 



Enfranchisement for ill-treatment. 77 

her person, the Governor directed an inquiry to be made by the 
magistrates, who in consequence directed this prosecution. 
The sentence of the law is, that you the said Joseph Boyden, be 
and stand committed to the Common Gaol of the county of 
Surrey, there to remain, without bail or mainprize, for the space 
of six calendar months, to be computed from this 23rd January 
instant, and that at the expiration of such imprisonment you be 
discharged ; and it is hereby declared, that the said Sambo 
woman slave, named Amey, is free, and discharged from all 
manner of servitude, to all intents and purposes whatsoever. 

* Jamaica Royal Gazette. 

Other cases of the same kind might be added; 
but this will be sufficient to shew what truth there 
is in Mr. Stephen's canon, that ' the slave has no 
* means of obtaining a change of masters when 
' cruel treatment makes it necessary for his relief 
' or preservation.' 

From Mr. Stephen's book, the reader will be 
led to believe that the whipping of negroes is a 
favourite pastime with English colonists, a thing 
of daily, if not hourly occurrence, and the cutting 
off their ears and legs nearly as common ! Unfor- 
tunately there was a time, when instances of such 
cruelty were occasionally heard of; there was also 
a time, when it was found necessary to make laws 
against the same enormity in England* ; but had 
truth been any object with the learned gentleman, 
he would have better promoted its cause by in- 
forming his readers that mutilations or dismember- 
ments, cutting off ears and legs, are now just as 

* Coventry Act, 22 & 23 Car. II. c. 1. A shooting, stabbing, and maim- 
ing in Scotland bill, with a clause making the throwing oil of vitriol on a person 
a capital offence, was passed last session of parliament. 



78 Magistrates may punish slaves 

much unknown in the West Indies, as in England, 
and would be heard of with the same horror. 

Magistrates Great fault is found with the 28th section of the 

may punish 

slaves for Jamaica slave law of 1816, by which it is provided 

groundless 

complaints. that two justices ot the peace may hear complaints 
of the slaves in cases of improper and prohibited 
punishments : ' and if it shall be found on enquiry 
' that the complaint is true, it shall be the duty of 
' the said magistrates, and they are hereby required 
' to proceed against the offender according to law; 
' but if it shall appear that such complaint was 
' groundless, the said magistrates shall punish the 

* complainant, and the person giving information 
4 thereof, in such a manner as to them may seem 

* proper.' 

' What is meant,' says Mr. Stephen, ' by the 

* punishing of a slave by magistrates, the same act 
' will abundantly testify. The ordinary mode is a 

* public cart whipping ; but the number of lashes 
' here, contrary to the usual style of these melior- 

* ating acts, is unrestrained' p. 113. And hence the 
reader is to infer, that although these magistrates 
are selected from the most respectable of the com- 
munity, although they must feel themselves the 
protectors of the weak against the strong, and 
although, in hearing cases of this kind, they can 
be guided only by their judgment, uninfluenced by 
passion, yet such a power in the hands of such 
men, unrestrained, must be abused ! 



For groundless Complaints. 79 

He goes on, ' The dilemma of the injured 

* and complaining slave, therefore, is precisely 
' this : if he fails in proving his charge, (which, 
' as his own evidence and that of all the other 
' slaves is excluded, is most likely to happen) he 
' is to be cart-whipped by the justices ; but if he 
' proves it to their satisfaction, he is to be cart- 
' whipped by his master : for who can doubt that 
' the same love of vengeance that ventured to 

* transgress the law, will freely indulge itself 
' when safe within its limits?' p. 114. 

A dreadful dilemma, truly ! But let us see on 
what foundation it stands : ' The two most cruel, 
' and destructive/ says Mr. S., ' and at the same 
' time most ordinary modes of oppression in this 
' sordid commercial slavery, are excess of forced 
' labour,' (by the driver's whip, as he has told us 
a thousand times) ' and insufficiency of food.' 
p. 112. 

Now the presumption certainly is, that which- 
ever of those most ordinary modes of oppression 
was complained of, the complainant must carry 
evidence in his person to establish the charge, 
without the testimony of his compeers or others. 

Mr. Stephen himself, arguing against the ma- 
gistrates being compelled to give up the name 
of an informer, when the accusation has been 
proved false, says, ' the production of the slave, if 
' unmutilated and unmarked with the effects of 
' any cruel treatment, would at once refute the 
' charge and put an end to the proceeding.' p. 115. 



seve- 
f pa 
meat. 



80 Checks and restraint 

checks and re- If the slave proves his charge, and gets redress, 
of panTsh- this, according to Mr Stephen, but exposes him 
to the vengeance of an enraged master. To the 
minds of others, a more natural conclusion will be, 
that having found redress in one instance, he will 
be the more likely to complain again, if he has 
cause. 

And granting that there may be instances (and 
they certainly are but few), where the master or 
the overseer is sufficiently cruel and unprincipled, 
to harbour a feeling of revenge against a slave who 
complains to the public authorities of ill-treatment, 
it would be very difficult, or rather absolutely im- 
possible for him to indulge it. These are crimes 
that cannot be done in secret. On every plant- 
ation, besides the overseer who alone exercises 
the highly responsible power of punishment, and 
who alone can therefore abuse it, there are other 
white persons, who not only will see, but speak, 
if there is any thing of this kind to speak of. 
Again, the hospital on every plantation is regularly 
visited by a physician, who has an opportunity of 
seeing every criminal under confinement, and will 
not be silent if he sees humanity outraged. The 
sequel need not be told ; the damning facts will 
soon become public, and the result to the unfeel- 
ing perpetrator of such cruelty will be the sure 
loss of his situation, and what is worse, a loss of 
character never to be regained. 

In the constitution of plantation management, 
there is another powerful check in restraining 



On seventy of Punishment. 81 

severity of punishment. The overseer, although 
the responsible and acting agent, is himself but 
second in authority, holding his situation at the 
pleasure of the proprietor, or attorney, who em- 
ploys him. The negroes are aware that his 
orders must be obeyed in every thing just and 
reasonable; but if one newly put over them 
attempts any innovations on their comforts, or to 
exact more labour than has been customary, they 
have immediate recourse to their master, or 
' Trustie,' as they call the attorney, whose ears are 
beset with complaints of every description. 

But, says Mr. Stephen, the overseer's revenge 
will make the poor wretches pay dearly for such 
conduct. They would laugh at such an idea; 
aware, that if the overseer were weak or wicked 
enough to act such a part, nothing would more 
effectually aid their views against him. What! 
for having complained? As certainly as punish- 
ment was inflicted on them for so doing, they 
would instantly return to their master or attor- 
ney to tell him of it, well knowing that such 
an act would be felt and resented, not only as 
an injury to them, but as a personal insult to 
himself. 

Many deserving young men in the outset of life, 
by an over- zeal and over-strictness in the discharge 
of their duties, have thus raised against themselves 
the successful hostility of the negroes; who, 
not having the same feeling of emulation, or desire 
of approbation, to stimulate them out of their usual 



82 Case of groundless complaints. 

pace, will not be driven, and therefore naturally 
enough set themselves to oust their new overseer 
from his situation. For this purpose, besides 
teasing the master or attorney with complaints, 
they have various other means of hostility to a 
person who has made himself obnoxious to them, 
not to say by severity of treatment, but merely per- 
haps, by a degree of vigilance or personal atten- 
tion, beyond what they have been accustomed to. 
The canes are destroyed by the cattle, the cattle 
themselves are neglected, the sugar is spoiled in 
the manufactory, the mill is broken, thefts are 
committed, in short, every thing goes wrong. 
Thus annoyed with their complaints to his em- 
ployer, perhaps with desertions, and the many 
other means by which they can render him un- 
comfortable, and endanger his situation, the zea- 
lous overseer, if he does not immediately lose it, 
soon sees the impossibility of getting the negroes 
to work as he has seen the labourers at home 
work; and to secure not only his situation but 
any comfort in it, is glad to allow them to go on 
quietly and peaceably in their own accustomed 
way. 

caseof ground- But as Mr Stephen is not only highly displeased, 
that the magistrates are unrestrained in the punish- 
ment they may inflict, but that a slave should by 
law be subject to any punishment whatever for 
making groundless complaints; and as in a thing of 
this kind one may sometimes be better enabled to 



-*^ 

Case of groundless complaint. 83 

form a right judgment by facts, than by abstract 
reasoning; I shall here relate a circumstance 
which took place in November, 1823, in the 
parish of Portland, Jamaica, and to which I hap- 
pened to be an eye-witness. The whole of the 
efficient negroes, (except, I believe, the tradesmen) 
amounting in number to between two and three 
hundred, left the Bog plantation, to which they 
belonged, and after being a week absent, nobody 
knew where, came in a body to the magistrates to 
make known their grievances, and obtain redress. 
A number of the justices, I think five, immedi- 
ately convened in the court-house, to attend to them : 
although not interested, nor in authority, I also 
attended the investigation ; and I can truly say, 
never did people receive a more patient hearing. 
Every individual who wished to speak was fully 
heard, and his or her evidence taken down in 
writing. The clamour was great, but upon their 
own shewing, when all they had to say was heard, 
their complaints were found to be without the 
shadow of foundation. 

They thought it hard that they did not still re- . 
ceive some little extra gratuities and indulgencies 
which their master, when himself in the country, 
had occasionally given to them. It was very 
properly answered to this, that, although their 
master might himself give them what he thought 
proper, his agent possessed no such discretionary 
power, and could only give them what were the 
customary allowances. One very loquacious in- 

& 2 



84 Case of groundless complaint. 

dividual complained, that he had, ' during his own 
time,' (dinner hours and negro days,) with great 
labour brought home posts and made consider- 
able progress in erecting a house for himself, 
which the overseer had very wantonly pulled 
down. This charge made a strong impression, 
which was, however, fully effaced when the truth 
came out, drawn from the complainant himself by 
cross-examination. It appeared that on the site 
he had chosen, there had been formerly a negro- 
house, which had been burned down ; and, from 
its proximity to the mansion-house, had so seri- 
ously endangered it, that the negroes were for- 
bidden to build there again. This the complain- 
ant admitted he had known, but still insisted that 
he was greatly aggrieved. Some of the other 
complaints were, that they did not always get the 
quantity of nails they wanted out of their master's 
store, for building or repairing houses, hogsties, &c.; 
that, ten months ago, some of the Christmas codfish, 
which they considered as exclusively for them, 
had been used by the Buckras ; that when sick, 
* they did not get so much rice, flour, &c. as they 
ought. To this last charge a respectable medical 
gentleman present made answer, that he attended 
the property, and was bound to say, that in a very 
extensive practice he did not know another hos- 
pital so amply, liberally, and generously supplied 
with every comfort for the sick. But the princi- 
pal grievance which appeared to have influenced 
their present conduct was, that they had not the 



Case of groundless complaint. 85 

previous week received their accustomed allow- 
ance of herrings (an article valued merely as a 
seasoning for their vegetable food), although it 
had been explained to them that there were none 
on the property ; but that a ship (the Alfred) was 
daily expected from Glasgow with a supply ; and 
that in the meantime, if a few barrels could be 
procured for them at Port Antonio, it would be 
done. This fact was proved by a gentleman pre- 
sent, who said the attorney of the estate applied 
to him for ten barrels of fish ; and requested, if 
he had none himself, that he would make enquiry 
if they could be procured from any other person 
in the quarter : but there was none to be got. 
The magistrates enquired if they had any com- 
plaint to make of severity of punishment to justify 
their highly improper conduct ; but of ' the two 
' most ordinary modes of oppression,' flagellation 
and hunger, there was not among all these com- 
plainants even a pretence ; and if there had, their 
appearance would certainly have belied the charge; 
for I much doubt, if any little village in England, 
of the same population, could have turned out 
such a proportion of fine looking healthy people. 
Now, will Mr. Stephen say, or will any man in 
England say, that there should be no restraint by 
law upon such conduct as this? that negroes 
should be permitted to leave their homes for any 
or no cause, under pretence of complaining to 
magistrates ? If so, it would surely be their own 
fault if they did not avail themselves of the privi- 



86 Case of groundless complaint. 

lege as often as they felt inclined for a day's or a 
few days' idleness. 

It should be considered too, that by such con- 
duct on the part of the slaves as is above related, 
the public peace is greatly endangered ; that in 
England, if labourers neglect their work they 
injure themselves; but here, where they are provided 
for in health and in sickness, in labour and in idle- 
ness, their masters have no hold of them by self- 
interest, consequently there is the greater neces- 
sity that the law should restrain and punish neglect 
of duty upon such groundless pretences. 

In the case I have stated, the labour of nearly 
three hundred people was lost for several days to 
the person who supports them ; and, moreover, his 
sugar manufactory being at work at the time they 
left their duty, he lost a quantity of canes, which 
were out in the field, and had soured and became 
useless before they returned. Yet, when the whole 
of their complaints had been heard, and proved so 
entirely groundless, they were, ordered back to 
their duty with merely an admonition to conduct 
themselves better in time to come. That the ma- 
gistrates did wrong in acting with such lenity, I 
do not say, I contend only for the necessity of the 
law arming the magistrates with power to check 
such outrages, and punish those who desert their 
duty on such groundless pretences. 



Slavery hereditary. 87 

1 RULE XII. The stale of slavery is hereditary and perpetual, slavery here- 

P. 122. ditar y- 

We have, in our author's comments upon this 
rule, a specimen of that ' metaphysical subtlety in 
* the science of pleading/ in which he feels a pro- 
fessional pride, and by which, coupled with the 
presumption in favour of freedom, he telJs us, ' a 
' villein in England, who asserted his freedom at 
' law, had multiplied chances of success, indepen- 
' dently of the merits of the case' p. 387. 

He seems, in the outset, to forget that he is de- 
lineating the state of slavery in the British West 
Indies ' as it exists in point of law ; for after lay- 
ing down the canon above quoted, that the state 
of slavery is hereditary and perpetual, he says in 
the next page, ' I shall have credit, I trust, for the 
' assertion founded on my certain knowledge as 
' to many of the islands, and my full belief as to 
' all, that no positive law has any where expressly 
' imposed slavery in the issue of negroes born 
' under the king's allegiance, though their mothers, 
' or even both the parents, should be slaves.' 
Of course, the conclusion from this is (contrary to 
the canon), that this slavery is not hereditary. 
He does not rest here, however ; but proceeds to 
establish, agreeably to the canon, that it is here- 
ditary according to the custom and usages of all 
ages and countries. ' The perpetuity and here- 
1 ditary nature of this sad state of man,' says he, 
' maybe considered by our colonists perhaps,' and 



88 Slavery hereditary. 

others also, ' as universal qualities of slavery, and 
' as involved in the very meaning of the term. 
' They certainly did belong to the slavery of an- 
' cient Europe. The vassalage of Africa is here- 
' ditary, and perhaps perpetual.' p. 125. ' By 
' the law of villeinage in England, the issue of 
' slaves followed the condition of their father.' 
p. 123. 

These premises lead back to the conclusion; 
that slavery has ever been hereditary and per- 
petual ; but this conclusion must be again denied, 
or at least not allowed to be a precedent sufficient 
to excuse or justify the same feature in the slavery 
of the British West Indies; where, with consistent 
inconsistency, belying his own canon, he denies 
it is the law, and modestly sets up his own opi- 
nion, not only in opposition to the ancient customs 
and usages he has quoted, but in opposition to 
the decisions of the modern courts, ' which,' it 
seems, ' have mistaken the cruel wrong for right/ 

' He (the planter)', says he, ' buys a life interest 
' in bondage, under one law, and converts it into 
' an inheritance by another; unless we ought 
' rather to say, that he makes this injurious con- 
' version without any law whatever. He can plead 
* only that his brother planters, and their prede- 
' cessors, have been used to inflict the same cruel 
' wrong, and that the courts have mistaken it for 
' right.' p. 126. The planter may go farther, and 
plead the authority of Mr. Stephen's own act for 
the general Registration of slaves in 1815, which 



Slavery hereditary. 89 

expressly recognises the property in slaves and 
their offspring. How strange, that ancient ' cus- 
' toms and usages, modern courts,' and eminent 
writers (including our author himself), should all 
have ' mistaken the cruel wrong for right,' in sup- 
posing that the master held a right of property in 
the offspring of a purchased slave ! 

It would have been kind if Mr. Stephen had 
stated the law under which the colonists hold ' a 
' life interest' in their slaves, that his readers 
might have judged for themselves what this ' in- 
' jurious conversion' is. The truth is, as he well 
knows, there exists no such law. 

The state of villeinage was virtually acknow- 
ledged in England by laws for its regulation, and 
so has the slavery of the colonies ; but has 
Mr. Stephen in his researches found an English 
statute establishing this state of oppression, and 
enacting that from and after the passing thereof, 
one part of the people and their offspring shall as 
villeins, or slaves, be held as the lawful property 
of the other ? If he can invalidate the claim of 
the colonists to the issue of their slaves, on the 
plea that there is no statute law giving a right to 
them, it should have required little ' metaphysical 
subtlety,' in the lawyers of former times, to effect 
the enfranchisement of the villeins of England, 
since he will admit, we suppose, that no statute 
can be found entailing the state of villeinage on 
the offspring of villeins. 

Speaking of slavery as hereditary, Mr. Stephen 



9Q Slavery hereditary. 

says, ' They are slaves to the latest posterity ; 
' except that the female descendants may, at the 
' price of pollution, and by submitting to the lusts 
' of their oppressors for three generations, restore 
' freedom to a portion of the fourth.' p. 128. ' A 
' female slave marrying,' or breeding by ' a negro 
' or a mulatto, attaches slavery on her offspring ; 
' but let her breed by a white keeper, and they, if 
' she be a mestize, will be free : if she be a mu- 
' latto, or negro, her daughter or grand-daughter, 
* will have the same reward for prostitution. 
' From what legal authority these canons of 
' slavery are derived, the colonial proprietors have 
' never, I believe, attempted to explain.' p. 122. 

This is given as the law of Jamaica, but no 
authority is quoted ; nor is it said where these 
canons (the derivation of which we are called 
upon to explain) are to be found. The writer of 
these remarks is not aware that any such exist : 
most likely the error has originated in the cir- 
cumstance, that people of the above description, 
when freed by the regular course of manumission, 
enjoy all the privileges of white persons (from whom 
they are undistinguishable in colour), which the 
negroes do not : and, had the law given freedom 
to a class of people, with one-sixteenth of African, 
and fifteen- sixteenths of English blood, few will 
perhaps think that the distinction would have 
merited the contempt implied in Mr. Stephen's 
expressions : at all events, he ought to have 
ascertained that such canons of slavery really 



Intercourse of the slaves with free persons. 9 1 



existed, before he reproached the colonists with 
them, and called for an explanation of the legal 
origin from which they were derived. 

' Submitting to the lusts of their oppressors/ 
and ' breeding by a white keeper,' are well chosen 
terms for the English reader, who is not aware 
that there are, or rather that there were not till 
lately, any regular marriages known among the 
black or coloured people ; and that husband and 
keeper were considered synonymous terms. Of 
course there was no degradation to the female, 
but the contrary, in this sort of marriage, as she 
regarded it, with a white man. 

With the progress of religious and general edu- 
cation among the free people of colour, marriages 
are becoming more frequent. As regards the 
past, the candid will admit, that it has not been 
the least misfortune of Europeans, toiling for a 
subsistence in these dangerous climates, that the 
blessings of marriage and domestic happiness 
have in a great measure been denied them. 

* CHAPTER IV. Of the legal nature and incidents of colonial Intercourse of 

... c f the Slaves with 

slavery, as they respect its relations to persons ot tree con- free persODg , 
dition in general, the master and his delegates excepted.' 
p. 129. 

The merits of this chapter will be more briefly 
discussed, as, besides turning on dry legal ques- 
tions of little importance as regards the practical 
state of slavery, it was written so long ago as 
before the abolition, and contains very little ap- 



92 Intercourse of the slaves with free persons. 



plicable to the state of things now existing in the 
colonies. The first page will afford a pretty fair 
specimen of the sophistry of the whole chapter. 

' The enslaved peasant, attached to an extensive domain, as 
in Russia or Poland, mry find his legal relations to free persons 
in general, of little moment to his security or welfare. To him 
the lord, the family and the agents of the lord, and his brother 
bondmen, constitute for every important purpose, the whole 
community ; for as it is with them alone that he has any ordi- 
nary intercourse, from their hands only, can he often receive 
either good or evil. Such must ha.ve been generally the case 
with all territorial slaves in ancient Europe ; and probably 
is so in every country in which such men are still to be found, 
except in the western world.' p. 129. 

That such ever has been, and ever must be, the 
state of slavery, is such a plain and self-evident 
proposition, that one's curiosity is excited to learn 
how the slavery in the western world can afford 
an exception to it. It is thus established : 

' But the plantation negro, in our colonies, is exposed to daily 
intercourse with free persons, who are wholly unconnected with 
the owner to whom he belongs. He cannot attend the team to 
a town or shipping place, go to the market, or neighbouring 
rivulet, or pass on any occasion beyond the boundaries of the 
estate, without meeting white persons, who possess, in regard 
to him, neither the rights nor feelings of a master.' p. 129. 

True ; but what harm will it do him to meet a 
white person, who has neither the feelings nor the 
rights of a master? Were Mr. S., or any of his 
friends, the Edinburgh Reviewers, to presume to 
injure, or maltreat another man's slave in Jamaica, 
when attending his team to the shipping port, I 
will answer for it, he would soon learn that 



On the legal protection of t the slave. 93 

the slaves there are not to be so treated with 
impunity. 

It is strange the Russian or Polish slaves should 
not have occasion to go beyond the limits of their 
master's domain, and that ' such must have been 
' the case with all territorial slaves in ancient 

* Europe ; ' but whatever truth may be in this, 
certainly there never were bondmen of whom it 
might be more truly said, than of the slave in the 
West Indies, that ' to him, the lord, the family 

* and the agents of the lord, and his brother bond- 
' men, constitute, for every important purpose, 
' the whole community.' 

* SECTION II. The colonial slaye cannot be a party to any On the legal 

civil suit, either as plaintiff or defendant ; nor can he be 
received as informant or prosecutor by any court or ma- 
gistrate, against a person of free condition.' p. 131. 

But, answers Mr. Stephen, 

' There are two possible modes, by which men in the defenceless 
condition which has been described, may be supposed indi- 
rectly to derive some legal protection, and in which it has 
been pretended that they actually are protected by the laws of 
our colonies, against the oppression of strangers, notwithstand- 
ing their civil incapacities : they are, first, by the action or suit 
of the master ; second, by indictment, or other prosecution, at 
the suit of the crown.' p. 132. 

' SECTION III. The action or suit of the master against other 
persons of free condition by whom his slave has been in- 
jured, is a mode of redress applicable only to a particular 
species of wrongs, and is improperly represented as legal 
protection to the slave/ p. 133. 



94 On the legal protection of the slave. 

' But,' continues Mr. Stephen, ' the interest which a master 
has in the labour of his servant, or apprentice, is an interest 
which the law of England recognizes, and therefore it gives an 
action to the former, for any hurt unlawfully done to the person 
of the latter, whereby his service is interrupted or lost. On 
the same principle it has rightly been considered as law in the 
West Indies ; and in a few extreme cases' (qualified as usual) 

* has been practically received and acted upon as such, by the 
insular courts, that the master of a negro slave may maintain 
an action against any man, who, without his authority, beats or 
wounds a slave so severely, as to occasion a loss of his ser- 
vice.* p. 134. 

The question in the minds of all dispassionate 
men is, whether the slaves actually are protected 
from injury: the mode or the manner in which this 
is effected is of secondary consequence, whether 
by suits in their own name, or in the name of their 
masters. 

Speaking of the infringement of a slave's pro- 
perty, Mr. S. thus expresses himself: ' There is 
4 one species of injury, for which I admit that an 
' adequate remedy might be found in the master's 
' right of action, were it not for certain general 
4 impediments to the course of justice in the colo- 
' nies, which will soon claim our attention.* * If 
' a negro (says the council and assembly of St. 

* Christopher) is deprived of his property (which 
' in legal consideration is the property of the master}, 
' by another negro, or by a free person, the master 



* Every admission by oar author of any protection to the slave, is accom- 
panied by such guarded qualifications as may make it, if possible, appear of no 
avail. 



On the legal protection of the slaves. 95 

* of such a negro has the same legal remedies for 
' the recovery of it, as he has for his own imme- 
' diate property. This answer, though evasive 
' and disingenuous, is true.' p. 139. 

The same remark applies here as in the former 
case. It is of secondary importance by what 
means the property of the slave is protected ; if in 
point of fact, as here admitted, it is so. The law, 
it is true, puts in his own hands no legal means of 
protecting his property, yet it is protected : the 
law does not recognize him as the possessor of 
property, yet he does possess it. 

The question is thought by many to be attended 
with difficulties ; but, for my own part, I can see 
no sufficient reason why those who de facto are 
allowed to possess property, and are never dis- 
turbed in the possession of it, should not be 
entitled by law to possess it. 

When a slave purchases a horse, he takes the 
bill of parcels in the name of some free relative or 
acquaintance, that if his horse should happen to 
go astray and be put in a pound, he may be able 
to reclaim him. Their titles to slaves are held in 
the same manner. In their dealings with one 
another, when a slave, as sometimes happens, 
cannot obtain payment of a debt due to him by 
another slave, he applies to his master or overseer, 
who gives him a letter to the master or overseer 
of the other slave, stating the particulars of the 
claim, and requesting an investigation and settle- 



f)G On the legal protection of the slave. 

ment of it, if found correct. Applications of this 
kind always receive every possible attention ; 
and in this way their differences are usually set- 
tled. In the same manner the master or over- 
seer will attend to the slave's claim against free 
persons ; as, on the other hand, these apply to 
his master or overseer, when they have any claim 
on a slave which they cannot otherwise get set- 
tled. 

Mr. Stephen complains, that ' slaves cannot 
' contract, or be contracted with : that a promis- 
' sory note or bond made to a negro slave, would 

* just have as much legal effect in the colonies, 
' as if the payee or obligee were a horse or a 

* spaniel, p. 140 ; and challenges us to produce 
' the record of a single action founded on the 
' contract of a slave, from any court in the West 
' Indies.' p. 141. 

But what injury have the negroes sustained 
from this ? Not yet taught to read and write, and 
having no faith in paper, they very wisely give 
little credit, and deal principally in doubloons 
and dollars. Such, indeed, is their predilection 
for the precious metals, that even the island trea- 
sury note they will on no account receive. Re- 
cords of actions, therefore, founded on the con- 
tracts of slaves, or their promissory notes, can 
scarcely be expected. 



On the legal protection of the Slaves. 

* SECTION IV. The legal protection of the slave against 
strangers by indictment, or other prosecutions at the suit 
of the crown, is also of a very narrow extent.' p. 142. 

There is little worth noticing under this head. 
Numerous references are made to old obsolete 
laws in the Leeward Islands, and evidence founded 
thereon, of which Mr. Stephen has been prudent 
in not giving the dates. It is evident, as he ac- 
knowledges indeed, that this legal matter was 
composed long ago. To suit the present times, 
however, it was necessary to say something of the 
late consolidated slave law of Jamaica, which has 
come unseasonably in the way, and given a marked 
incongruity to his whole fabric of assertions and 
arguments. 

* Even the meliorating acts,' says he, ' which have since been 
passed in several islands, will be found in general not to hold 
out to them (the slaves) any protection against strangers of free 
condition, except in the few special cases in which it is affected 
to be given against the master himself. They relate in general 
only to one species of injury, that of violence to the person; 
and so far are the new acts from making all injuries even of 
this kind, indictable, that they plainly imply the contrary ; 
since the greater part of them prohibit it only by special and 
aggravatory descriptions, such as wanton and cruel beating, 
wounding, &c.' p. 148. 

Now if a stranger of free condition offers an 
injury, however slight, to a slave over whom he 
has no authority, and with whom he has no con- 
nection, there surely would be little difficulty in 
proving it to have been ' wanton and cruel : ' but 
in point of fact, there is so little connection, so 

H 



98 Adultery with the Wife of a Slave. 

little interest in common, between the slaves and 
persons of free condition, that this is an evil of 
rare occurrence. Even if the law afforded no 
protection, free people of the lower class, who 
are alone likely to have quarrels with the slaves, 
and to do them an injury, are afraid of the 
master's power of retribution. However specious 
in appearance, nothing can be more unsound in 
practice than to take the laws of England, as a 
test by which to judge of those made for a society 
so differently constituted. 

Adultery with ' SECTION V. There are many species of wrongs, for which 
f a ** * s no * P re t en( led tna * a slave, when injured by a free 
stranger, can have any legal redress.' p. 156. 

Of these many wrongs, Mr. Stephen particu- 
larly enlarges on one, the case of adultery with 
the wife of a slave ; and the proof by which he 
establishes this most foul and unfounded charge 
against the colonists, is a gross perversion of the 
evidence of Chief Justice Ottley, of St. Vincent, 
examined before the House of Commons, thirty- 
three years ago. 

' One of the best informed, and by far the most candid of 
the witnesses connected with, or resident in the colonies, Chief 
Justice Ottley, of St. Vincent, was asked, ' Is the slave often 
married or attached to one woman as his wife ?' He answered, 
4 In St. Vincent, the slave is never married according to the 
rites of the church ; but they are very frequently attached to 
one woman.' It was enquired, ' If so attached, is that woman 
or wife liable to be taken, or debauched from him by a white 
person, and do such cases happen?' He replied, ' I know of 
no law to prevent it, but I do not recollect cases of the kind 



Adultery with the wife of a slave. 99 

ever happening : they may have happened without my know- 
ledge.' p. 161. 

Now, what is the candid Mr. Stephen's com- 
ment upon this ? 

' Certainly they might have happened to any extent without 
his judicial knowledge, for the reason he himself assigns.' 
p. 161. 

Does Mr. Ottley's evidence bear such a con- 
struction, or the insidious distinction here drawn 
between his general and his judicial knowledge, 
when his previous answers are evidently founded 
on his general, and not his judicial knowledge ? 
But, in the estimation of Mr. Stephen, such a 
trifling perversion to serve the good cause, may 
be regarded as pardonable, if not meritorious. It 
certainly is a venial offence, compared with the 
unfounded calumny he is guilty of in asserting, 
that the connubial rights of these poor men are 
every where violated by the white people, p. 161. 

To this, and many other charges brought against 
the colonists, it is impossible to answer better 
than in our author's own words, when speaking 
of some aspersion on his own character : ' To the 
1 wretches who have had the malignity to invent 
' such a charge, reproof would be useless : to 
' those who have adopted it, I say, look well to 
' and cleanse your own hearts, for there must 
' have been foul corruption in them before you 
4 could credit the accusation.' pref. p. 66. 

Even this accusation is not enough; the co- 
lonists must be represented as wretches so hard- 

H 2 



100 Adultery with the wife of a slave. 

ened in wickedness, as not even to know or 
think they are doing wrong ; for such is the im- 
port of the following paragraph : 

* West Indians, I am aware, will think, that in noticing this 
case as one of the defects in their slave laws, I am taking an 
unfair advantage of the prejudices of European readers. But, 
by their leaves, I must regard the voluntary and exclusive co- 
habitation of one man with one woman, where neither law nor 
custom has provided any nuptial solemnity, as constituting a 
marriage union, which it is by the law of God adultery to 
violate, and which the law of man ought in justice to protect. 

That this crime may not have been perpetrated 
in the "West Indies, as well as in Westminster, 
I cannot take upon me to say ; but if so, it is con- 
cealed ; and I feel justified in saying, so great is 
the abhorrence with which it is regarded in 
Jamaica, that such a charge established against a 
white person on a plantation, whether overseer or 
book-keeper, would be the loss of his situation 
ami character. Nor is this, as Mr. S.'s assertions 
may lead one to suppose, a new feeling there. 
Twenty years ago I heard the late Mr. Simon 
Taylor, the wealthiest and most influential man 
in these islands, say, that he would discharge 
from his employ any man, however much regard 
he might otherwise entertain for him, who should 
be guilty of this act. 

That concubinage is customary in the West 
Indies, cannot be denied ; but there are objects 
enough there for the licentious, as in other 
places, without trespassing on the connubial 
rights of the most humble. 



Marriage of slaves . 101 

Mr. Stephen's aim being to work on the pre- 
judices of the British public, and fan the flame 
against the colonists, he evidently considers any 
means allowable ; and the truth or falsehood of 
his charges of no moment. Having already made 
them such monsters for cruelty, injustice, and op- 
pression, he is at least consistent in adding adul- 
tery to the catalogue of their crimes. 

That the exclusive cohabitation of one man Marriage of 

. . slaves. 

with one woman, where neither law nor custom 
has provided any nuptial solemnity, is a marriage 
union, which ought to be held sacred, need not 
be told even to savages ; but as to legal enact- 
ments to give permanency to such unions among 
the negroes, all I shall say, is, that I fear Mr. 
Stephen will not easily persuade an African, who 
has been accustomed and claims a right to follow 
his own free will in these matters, to submit to 
such restraints. No obstacle, certainly, is ever 
put in the way of regular marriages among the 
slaves ; on the contrary it is the wish, and the in- 
terest, of their owners to promote them : but all 
sensible people are agreed, that it would be in 
vain to attempt by law to reform the evil, till they 
are further advanced in the scale of civilized 
life.* 

* I ought here to have excepted Mr. Buxton, among whose suggested im- 
provements on the condition of the slaves, I find it proposed, ' that marriage 
should Tie ENFORCED/ Debate in the House of Commons, 15th May, 1823. 

If it would be so good a thing for the negroes, why should not the people at 
home have the benefit of marriage being enforced among them ? In returning 



102 Marriage of slaves. 

A negro fully acknowleges the authority of his 
master in regard to his labour : but boldly dis- 
claims his right to controul or interfere with his 
inclination and free will in matrimonial connec- 
tions; and any attempt to direct him in these 
particulars has always been found to produce an 
opposite effect. Many instances of this have 
come within my own knowledge. The most un- 
availing exercise of authority as a master, that 
I ever myself made, was in a case of this kind. 
A woman who had long been the wife of a 
very deserving man, and had borne five children 
to him, some of them yet very young, became 
attached to another, and left him. The husband 
first made his suspicions known to me, and com- 
plained of the injury done to him and his chil- 
dren. I could scarcely at first believe it, but 
privately cautioned the parties (who denied the 
charge) of the consequences, if it should prove 
true. On further complaint being made, I again 
admonished them, threatened, and ultimately pu- 
nished, but to no purpose; and though I have 
since on similar occasions pressed well-meant but 
unavailing advice, I have never done more. The 
solemnization of regular marriages among the 
better informed negroes, with the progress of 

late from the House, the benevolent member for Weymouth must often have 
seen with sorrow, such gross pollution as has no parallel in the West Indies, 
although among a people, who (Mr. Stephen tells us) are ' individually as well 
as collectively, publicly as well as privately instructed.' Might he not extend 
his benevolence to his own countrymen, by introducing a law to enforce marriage 
in London and Westminster? 



Defamat ion of slaves . 1 03 

religion, is gradually effecting the removal of this 
great evil, to the advantage as much of the mas- 
ter, as of the slave ; two interests which, in this 
case as in many others, happily go together. 

In the conclusion of this section, Mr. S. enu- Defamation of 

slaves. 

merates various other ' remediless wrongs, to 
which he says the slave is exposed : ' He may 
' be the victim of the most cruel defamation, may 
'be arrested and imprisoned without anyjustifia- 
' ble cause, may be prosecuted maliciously, and 
' have his life brought into danger, by the most 
' groundless accusations, and, in short, with the 
' exceptions already noticed, may sustain all the 
' oppression which the injustice and malignity 
' of the wicked, can inflict upon the innocent.' 
p. 166. 

The dispassionate reader will perhaps ask, whe- 
ther these supposed cases of oppression may not 
all occur in free and happy England? Nay, 
whether some of them are not of daily occurrence 
there, though not among the labouring classes 
who have a sufficient lot of physical evil to bear 
in all countries, but run little risk of being 'cruelly 
' defamed, unjustifiably arrested, or maliciously 
' prosecuted.' 

Had Mr. Stephen been less anxious to impute 
to the white people in the British colonies, every 
depravity to be found in the catalogue of crimes 
(including universal adultery among the rest), 



104 Evidence of slaves. 

and to make the slaves the victims of every species 
of wrong and suffering that flesh is heir to, in ci- 
vilized as well as barbarous life, he would have 
recollected that ' to be cruelly defamed, malici- 
' ously prosecuted, and to have their lives brought 
' into danger by the most groundless accusations,' 
was the portion, not of the slaves, but of their mas- 
ters ; and an evil from some degree of which, it 
would appear from his preface, that even he and 
his son have not been entirely exempted. 

Evidence of < SECTION VI. The testimony of slaves is not admissible in 
slaves. 

any cause, civil or criminal, against a white person, though 

this confessedly suffices to deprive them of the benefit of the 
laws by which they are in a few cases ostensibly protected, 
independently of all other obstacles to the execution of such 
laws/ p. 166. 

The inadmissibility of the evidence of slaves has 
been long felt and acknowledged to be a great evil 
in the colonies, but an evil hitherto considered irre- 
mediable. From the improvement however, now 
making on the religious and moral character of a 
large proportion of the slaves, the grounds upon 
which the rejection of their evidence stood, are fast 
giving way; and an opinion now prevails among 
many of the most intelligent colonists, that this 
defect in the laws may to some extent be remedied, 
by admitting slave evidence, under certain regu- 
lations, against free persons. 

While not at issue therefore with Mr. Stephen, 
on this important question, I cannot help no- 



Evidence of slaves. 105 

ticing his want of candour here as on other occa- 
sions. Who else does not see the objections there 
existed to the testimony of barbarous pagans, 
incapable of comprehending the nature of an oath, 
ignorant of the sanctions that restrain Christians 
from false swearing, and insensible to the infamy 
or loss of character that attends it? ' Whatever 
4 we may imagine,' says Hume, ' concerning the 
' usual truth and sincerity of men who live in a 

* rude and barbarous state, there is much more 
4 falsehood and even perjury among them, than 
' among civilized nations.' Yet he is not speaking 
here of the savage hordes of Africa, the Ashan- 
tees or Coromantees,* but of our own ances- 
tors, after they were converted to Christianity. 
Surely, when these circumstances are considered, 
Christian charity, ' which thinketh no evil,' might 
ascribe the rejection of negro evidence to some- 
thing else than ' that universal hatred and contempt 

* of the oppressor towards the oppressed, which 
' manifests itself in the colonies by an abomina- 



* The Ashantee* are known from recent events, and the Coromantees equally 
well to persons versant in the history of Jamaica, from the atrocities committed 
by them in the insurrection of 1760. 

' At Ballard's valley, they surrounded the overseer's house about four in the 
' morning, in which, finding all the white servants in bed, they butchered every 
' one of them in the most savage manner, and literally drank their blood mixed 
' with rum. At Esher, and other estates, they exhibited the same tragedy, and 
4 then set fire to the buildings and canes. In one morning they murdered be- 
' tween thirty and forty whites and mulattoes, not sparing even infants at the 
breasts.' B. Edwards, vol. II, p. 78. 



106 Evidence of slaves. 

' tion of the African colour and lineage ; coupled 
' with a desire to screen offenders of the privi- 

* leged order from discreditable prosecutions, as 
' well as from the danger of public punishment 
' and disgrace.' p. 185. Or, as in another place, 
to ' that contemptuous antipathy to the African 
' race, and a determination that the crimes of 
' white oppressors shall pass unpunished.' p. 182. 

Even yet the admission of their evidence is 
attended with considerable difficulty. Mr. Stephen 
himself admits, that there would be danger in re- 
ceiving the testimony of a slave wherever the 
master has any interest in the cause ; and suggests 
that ' they ought never, perhaps, to be heard, 
' but when he is himself no party, and would, if 
' called as a witness, be free from every excep- 

* tion.' p. 177. But the danger does not stop there; 
for, from the ignorance and abject condition of the 
slaves, too many of them would be ready instru- 
ments in the hands of any unprincipled person. * 
This, however, it may be hoped, will not be long 
the case ; and I notice these difficulties only to 
shew there are other causes for not having as yet 
made their testimony admissible, than those to 
which Mr. Stephen's charity imputes it. 

If it will afford him any satisfaction, however, I 

* A very common idea among the African negroes is, that false swearing will 
bring some bodily calamity upon them ; (' make them belly swell j as they ex- 
press it), but that their having a broken rial in their mouth, when giving evi- 
dence, will act as a charm to prevent this. 



Evidence of slaves. 107 

think I can assure him, that I speak not only my 
own individual sentiments, but those of a great 
proportion of the white people in Jamaica, when 
I say that we shall now be happy, how soon our 
legislature shall make slave testimony admissible 
in the courts, in such manner that while the in- 
nocent are protected, the guilty may be brought 
to punishment, whether white-skinned or black. 
But should our Assembly, in the exercise of that 
highly responsible trust, which we repose in its 
hands with the confidence its conduct has ever 
merited, deem the minds of the slaves not yet 
sufficiently enlightened to be safely trusted as 
evidence against the white people, their masters, 
let it not be thought that this is denied them for 
the purpose of screening the guilty from the pu- 
nishment of their crimes. During a residence of 
upwards of twenty years in Jamaica, I have not 
known an instance where a white person has 
escaped punishment from the inability of slaves to 
give evidence against him. This fact, however, 
while it leads to the conclusion that little injury 
has been done to the slaves, by not admitting 
their evidence against white persons, goes in 
some measure also to prove that no evil could re- 
sult to the latter from granting it ; and such I 
confess is my impression. Cases I have certainly 
known of quarrels between slaves and free per- 
sons of colour, where the former had no possible 
means of obtaining a fair hearing in their own 



108 Evidence of slaves. 

defence from the inadmissibility of their evidence. 
This surely is wrong; and as the number of free 
persons of colour is fast increasing, the chance of 
wrong to the slave encreases in the same propor- 
tion ; while his progressive wealth and intelligence 
render such rejection of his testimony the more 
intolerable. 

Mr. Stephen ridicules the idea of admitting the 
evidence of slaves against free persons of their 
own colour, and not also against white persons. 
This he calls, ' holding the credibility of evi- 
' dence to depend on the colour of the defendant 
' against whom it is given, that white criminals 
' may escape, and blacks and mulattoes be hanged 
'unjustly.' p. 183. But this distinction, though 
I do not mean to argue in favour of it, is not 
quite so ridiculous as he would make it appear. 
It is by those more immediately on a footing with 
themselves, and with whom they are coming in 
daily contact, that slaves are most likely to be 
injured, and against whom it is therefore most 
important that they should have protection. The 
admission of their evidence against white persons 
is of much less consequence ; both because they 
are less likely to be injured by them, and because, 
as before stated, the great body of plantation 
slaves are under the immediate authority of agents 
who are themselves dependent, and from whose 
violence or ill treatment the slaves are protected 
by a more summary process than a court of law, 



Evidence of slaves. 109 

an appeal to their master, or those in superior 
authority to the offender. 

It is also a grievance complained of by Mr. S. 
that free negroes and mulattoes are not tried per 
pares; but whatever contemptuous opinion #emay 
entertain of the white people in the colonies, it is 
well known that the coloured population in gene- 
ral, think they have a better chance of justice from 
a jury of intelligent white men, uninfluenced by 
any of the little animosities and jealousies which 
exist among themselves, than they would have 
from a negro or mulatto jury. It is true, free 
persons of colour have petitioned the legislature 
for an equality of privileges with the white people, 
and among others to sit as jurors ; but this may be 
considered as the wish of a few of the more 
wealthy who look forward to sit as judges, rather 
than of the many who are to be judged. 

It has been suggested that to entitle slaves to 
give evidence against free persons, and to guard 
in some measure against the dangers apprehended, 
such only should be admitted, as had obtained a 
certificate from the clergyman of the parish of 
their general good character, and their sufficiently 
comprehending the nature of an oath. But to 
such a rule there are many objections ; it would 
be likely to create much dissatisfaction, and hurt 
the clergyman's usefulness ; besides that it would 
be very difficult for a clergyman to become suf- 
ficiently acquainted with the character of every 
slave in his parish, so as to be able to say 



110 Slave's right of self-defence. 

whether he would or would not be a credible 
witness ; nor would such a power in his hands be 
altogether free from objection. Allowing the 
court itself on examination to decide as to com- 
petency of knowledge, with perhaps some testi- 
mony as to character, would be better. 

I was once present when two old African 
negroes belonging to Cheswick estate, and with 
whom I happened to be well acquainted, came to 
the clergyman of the parish desiring baptism. On 
examining them as to their knowledge of Chris- 
tianity, one of them, an indifferent character, 
gave such answers as were considered satisfac- 
tory, and was baptized ; the other, a very good 
character, but less apt, was rejected ; and on 
turning indignantly away, exclaimed * It hurts 
' me to be treated so, when that worthless runaway 
' and thief is made a Christian, and Buckra always 
' known me to be a good nigger.' 



slave's right of SECTION VII. The slave, while exposed to so many 
remediless wrongs, is bereft by the same laws of the right 
of self-defence/ p. 187. By the existing law in most, I 
believe in all our colonies, the slave who should attempt to 
defend himself against a murderous weapon, or instrument 
of torture, in the hands of a white person, though the ag- 
gressor possessed no public warrant, or private authority 
over him, might be hanged for so obeying the imperious 
dictates of nature.' p. 190. 

The following clause of the slave act is the 
sole ground upon which this unparalleled charge 



Slaves right of self -defence. Ill 

rests ; and I beg the reader to remark upon how 
slight a foundation our author's ingenuity has 
been able to build so hideous an accusatkm. 

' And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid 
that if any slave shall assault, or offer any violence, by 
striking, or otherwise, to, or towards any white person, or 
persons of free condition, such slave, upon due and proper 
proof, shall, upon conviction, be punished with death, trans- 
portation, or confinement, to hard labour for life, or a limited 
time, or such other punishment, according to the nature of 
the offence, as the court shall in their discretion think proper 
to inflict ; provided such assault or violence be not by com- 
mand of his, her, or their owners, overseers, or persons en- 
trusted with them, or in the lawful defence of their owners' 
persons, or goods/ 

The question here evidently is not about a white 
or free person assaulting a slave, but about a 
slave assaulting or offering violence to a white 
or free person. The words 'assault, or offer vio- 
lence? clearly imply the slave's being the aggressor, 
and the clause has no reference to the slave's 
right of self-defence in the case of his being as- 
saulted or offered violence to. But because a 
slave is so much under the power and influence 
of his master and his agents, he ought not to 
suffer punishment for what he does at their com- 
mand, or in the lawful defence of the owner's 
person, or goods ; and the law provides ac- 
cordingly. 

Now what is there in this to take away the 
slave's right of self-defence, when it is not he that 
assaults or offers violence to a white or free per- 



112 Slaves right of self-defence. 

son, (the case alone that the clause of the act is 
providing for) but a white or free person that 
assaults or offers violence to him ? Oh, says 
Mr. Stephen (for such is his meaning in printing 
owner s person in italics), it should also have been 
added, or in the lawful defence of his (the slave's) 
own person. Why ? The question was not 
about the slave's right of self-defence, when as- 
saulted; but what should be his punishment when 
he assaults, and what should excuse him for as- 
saulting or offering violence. But because it is 
not here expressly enacted that a slave, when as- 
saulted or offered violence to, may defend him- 
self (as to which no one could entertain a doubt) 
it seems the contrary is by omission enacted ! 
By the same argument, no man in England pos- 
sesses the right of self-defence. The law provides 
for his punishment if he assaults another, but 
has not enacted so far as I know (any more than 
the law of Jamaica in the case of a slave), that he 
shall have permission to defend himself against 
a murderous weapon in the hand of an assailant. 

And by so disingenuous a perversion are the 
characters of the British colonists vilified and 
held up to the detestation of their country, and 
of mankind ! Let Mr. Stephen produce one au- 
thenticated instance of a slave having been, not 
hanged, but punished in any way, for exercising 
the right of self-defence, when wantonly as- 
saulted, and I shall give up the colonists, as well 



Consistency of Mr. Stephen's remarks 1 13 

deserving all the unmerciful abuse he pours upon 
them.* 



* SECTION VIII. Concluding remarks on the defenceless situa- Consistency of 
tion of slaves in our colonies, in relation to strangers of free remark^ * 
condition.' p. 192. 

When a man has accomplished an object on 
which his heart has been set, he may be per- 
mitted to exult a little on the occasion, as Mr. 
Stephen does, now that he ' has opened the eye 
' of the privy council, and of parliament to the 
' hitherto concealed character of the colonial laws,' 
and proved that the British colonists are not only 
cruel oppressors, but shameless adulterers and 
murderers, denying not only legal protection to 
their slaves, but even the right of self-defence 
against the most unprovoked outrage. Except a 
little vapouring of this description, there is nothing- 
worth notice in this section ; unless it may be the 
following specimen of our author's consistency : 

* The negro is in some respects a slave to every white man 
in the community. He works indeed only for one, but is 
liable to be beaten and injured by all the rest, as much as if 
he stood in a servile relation towards them all.' p. 192. 

The most ignorant African negro, a Mongula 
even, would laugh at the absurdity, if told that 
he was as much at the mercy of every individual 
in the community as of his master! Mr. S. 
indeed, when he returns to reason, acknowledges 
himself that, ' after all, it must be admitted that 

* Even this charge against the colonists, so well supported by proof, and so 
credible in itself, is repeated by the Edinburgh Review, No. 82. p. 468. 

I 



114 On the benefits of civil society. 

' the nature of the connection with the master, is 
' of infinitely more consequence to the destiny of 
' the slave, than the relations which he bears to 
* all the world besides.' p. 194. 

On the benefits ' CH AFTER V. Of the legal nature and incidents of West 
India slavery, in its relations to the police and civil govern- 
ment of the country.' p. 197. 

' SECTION I. Of the ordinary benefits of civil society which 
are withheld from the negro slave.' p. 197. 
' Security of person and property, education, and municipal 
capacities, rights, and privileges of various kinds, profitable 
or honourable, are the advantages which man in general de- 
rives from the social union. He is delivered from the perils 
of savage solitude or anarchy, his mind is cultivated, his man- 
ners are improved, and a variety of paths are opened to the 
attainment of new comforts and enjoyments, including pro- 
perty, civil distinctions, authority, and honours.' p. 197. 

In the state the negroes came from Africa, does 
Mr. S. mean to say they were fit to enjoy civil 
distinctions, authority, and honours ? Does he 
think that even yet they are fitted to enjoy them, 
or in a state to be entrusted with the same pri- 
vileges as the people of the mother country, 
brought up in a free and civilized state, with 
habits of industry, self-guidance, and subordina- 
tion ? But is it true that all the benefits of civil 
society enumerated by Mr. S. are withheld from 
them ? Can it be pretended that they are dis- 
turbed in the possession of their property, or 
that they are not delivered from ' the perils of 
' savage solitude or anarchy' ? Can it be denied 
that their minds are in some degree cultivated, 



On the benefits of civil society. \ 1 5 

and their manners improved? whence else the 
acknowleged superiority of the Creoles to the 
imported Africans ? whence else the horror these 
always express, when speaking of the wars and 
anarchy of Africa, and the insecurity there of 
even life itself? 

Among the ordinary benefits of society enume- 
rated as wrongfully withheld from the negro slaves, 
we find that of being proctors or solicitors, factors, 
and notaries, p. 199. And, although not aware 
of any law to prevent it, we must certainly allow, 
that we have never known any of ours filling such 
offices ; except, perhaps, that of factor, it being 
a very common thing for plantation-slaves in Ja- 
maica, to send provisions, fruits, and small-stock, 
to slaves in Kingston to sell for them. 

* Ships were also frequently commanded by Roman slaves : 
a striking contrast to the manners of the West Indies ; where, 
though they are much employed as seamen, a slave was per- 
haps never known to fill the station of a subordinate officer, 
much less a master, of the smallest coasting vessel/ p. 199. 

Here our author is, as usual, very ill informed 
on his subject. It is quite a common thing for 
slaves to command coasting vessels in the "West 
Indies : many such cases are within my own 
knowledge, in the coasting trade of Jamaica ; and 
what will appear yet more extraordinary, I have 
frequently known such slave captains command- 
ing free people. Without going farther, I have 
myself a slave commanding a coasting vessel ; and 
my neighbour Mr. Taylor, at Morant Bay, has 

i2 



Ilt3 Education of Slaves. 

several. If this is doubted, let the custom-house 
of Morant Bay be referred to. 



' SECTION II. The education of Slaves is shamefully ne- 
glected in the laws and institutions of our colonies/ 
p. 200. 

There would be a want of candour in not ad- 
mitting that school learning is yet but very little 
known in the colonies ; and that, as regards edu- 
cation, the labourers certainly are as far behind 
those of the mother country, as they exceed them 
in the enjoyment of physical comforts. When it 
is considered, however, how slow the progress of 
education was in England itself; how recently 
this blessing has been extended to the great mass 
of the people ; and what room is even yet left for 
its extension, particularly among the operative 
manufacturers, great allowance surely ought to be 
made for the colonies : more especially when it 
is further considered, what peculiar difficulties 
were to encounter among a people, brought from 
the most barbarous regions of the earth, composed 
of different tribes, and speaking different tongues, 
nearly all past the age of education, and able to 
acquire only a very imperfect knowledge of the 
English language. In an old country, where in 
the course of ages education has become pretty 
general, it is easy to extend it ; but very different 
is the case in the West Indies, where ignorance 
almost universal prevails, and where teachers 



Education of Slaves. 1 1 7 

must be brought from a distant country to an 
unhealthy climate, at an enormous expence. 

When all these things are contemplated, it 
surely is unreasonable to attach so much blame 
to the colonists ; who, besides, are now placed in 
such a precarious situation by the proceedings ol 
the emancipation societies, c. in this country, 
that few of them have the means, were they ever 
so anxious, to get out schoolmasters, and send 
their labourers to school. Yet, notwithstanding 
all these manifold difficulties, a beginning has 
been made ; and in the parish where I resided, 
and where twenty years ago there scarcely was a 
school known, there are now at least four, at- 
tended by free children of colour and slaves. In 
the course of a few years there will be a greater 
facility of extending education, as teachers will 
be got in the island without the necessity of 
bringing them from a foreign country. 

The following passage is scarcely worth notice, 
but we select it as shewing the spirit of the 
work : 

' They (the negroes) may, and do learn, many new vices, 
the necessary fruit of oppression ; while they lose almost all 
the ingenuous virtues that belonged to their native freedom.' 
p. 202. 

That the African tribes, who were brought into 
Jamaica confessedly rude and barbarous pagans, 
the slaves of slaves, have lost their native ingenu- 
ous virtues, acquired new vices, and are conse- 



1 1 8 Education of Slaves. 

quently retrograding to greater barbarism, under 
the management and government of a civilized 
people, is a proposition only to be equalled in 
absurdity by that already noticed ' that a slave 
' in our colonies is as much at the mercy of every 
' free man in the community as of his master.' 

When the state of education in the colonies is 
spoken of in the mother country, it is always 
with reference exclusively to the slaves. The 
numerous middle class of free coloured people is 
seldom noticed ; indeed it is very easy to see 
that many of the self-sufficient reformers of the 
colonies are absolutely ignorant of the existence 
of such a class. The slaves and the masters, 
associated in their imaginations with ideas of op- 
pression and suffering, comprehend all they know 
of those distant possessions ; and all their aim is 
to raise the one class and put down the other, 
indifferent about the means and reckless of the 
consequences. The want of local knowledge, 
and the utter incapacity of such persons to per- 
form the task they so confidently undertake, is 
here particularly striking. Education in all coun- 
tries has descended from the higher to the lower 
classes ; and in Jamaica the free people of colour 
must first be educated, before that blessing can 
be extended generally to the slaves. To that 
class, therefore, attention should in the first in- 
stance be directed. That much has been done 
for them, cannot be denied ; but it is equally 
undeniable, that much yet remains to be done; 



Education of Slaves. 

and, if any thing I say could avail in directing 
increased attention to so important an object, I 
would urge it as being the best means, not only 
of extending education to the slaves, but of secur- 
ing and retaining the attachment and loyalty of 
the free coloured people. It has often been re- 
marked of that class, and with too much truth, 
that they are improvident and indolent in the 
extreme, and in general very useless members of 
society; but (although involving most momentous 
considerations to the public safety and welfare) 
the cause why they are so, is but seldom asked, 
and but little attended to. Were it possible to 
ascertain what proportion of the whole earnings 
of the resident colonists goes to purchase the 
freedom of slaves, and to provide for them as free 
people, it would shew an increase of numbers 
going on, and a transfer of wealth to that class, 
leading to consequences which do not seem yet 
to have been sufficiently estimated or attended to. 
There have been frequent discussions respecting 
the political privileges of the free people of colour ; 
but how much more important is it that they 
should be educated, and made useful members of 
society, that those privileges, which cannot be for 
ever withheld, may be progressively and safely 
extended to them ? It deserves consideration 
also that, treated as the West Indies now are, 
by many in the mother country, held up as a 
mark for the finger of scorn to point at, it is not 
to be expected that young men of liberal educa- 



120 % Education of Slaves. 

tion will continue to seek their fortune in them : 
a great misfortune in many respects to the colo- 
nies, but an additional reason for cultivating the 
native resources. * 



* The following list of subscriptions to establish a free school for the unedu- 
cated children of colour in the parish of Manchester, which I copy from the 
Jamaica Royal Gazette of 1823, may tend to satisfy some readers that the 
colonists are not quite so hostile to education, or so indifferent about promot- 
ing it, as^they may have been led to suppose : 



Hon. Richard Boucher.. 



100 


s, 



rf. 




R. C. Gibb, Esq 



50 


s. 



d. 
o 




50 





o 


Samuel Greaves, Esq. 


95 





o 


Mrs.Burge 


50 








Maximilian J.WoHF, Esq. 


?5 


o 


o 


C. P. Berry, Esq. M.A. . 
Hon. Wm. Rowe 


25 
?f> 




o 




o 


John Harrison, Esq.... 
George Napier Esq 


50 
25 




o 







Rev. Geo. Wilson Bridges 
Edward Owen, Esq. . . . 


25 

50 










Thomas Butler, Esq.. .. 
John Tucker, Esq . . 


32 
10 


10 

o 




o 




2,5 





o 


S. V. Tamlin Esq 


21 








50 








James Sutherland Esq 


25 






George Dempster, Esq.. 


25 
50 










J. S. Cummine, Esq . . . . 
R. H. Richardson Esq 


16 
40 




Q 







HO 





o 


Richard Bayley Esq 


01 






Isaac M'Corkhill, Esq.. 
William Abel, Esq.... 


25 

25 
50 










o 


William Milne, Esq.... 
Charles Dryden, Esq .... 
John Reed, Esq.. 


40 
21 

25 



G 




8 


Samuel Glanville, Esq.. 


50 





o 


Isaac Isaacs, Esq 


25 


n 




Barnaby Maddan, Esq.. 


53 


f, 


8 


J. R. Tomlinson 


9 1 


(J 


g 




25 





o 


John Coley, Esq 


25 






David Hollingsworth, Esq 


25 








Thomas Hart, Esq . . 


25 


o 


o 


Edward Peart, Esq 
W. Peart, Esq 


50 
50 








o 


Martin Morgan, Esq .... 


16 
1 n 










50 





o 


Luke Bramwell Esq 


30 






Mrs. Frances King .... 


50 
50 










George Herriot, Esq.. .. 
George Powell Esq 


16 
25 








Francis Hull, Esq 


50 


o 


o 


D. Sutherland Esq 


Ifi 






Thomas Fitter, Esq.... 


50 








Randall Dale, Esq 


*>0 


o 


o 


Charles J. Fitter, Esq.. 
C. P. M'Nally, Esq 
JohnGeddes, Esq.. 


25 
70 
50 












Robert Darling, Esq .... 
Henry Bonthrone, Esq.. 
Charles Newman. ESQ.. 


16 
25 
95 









fl 



Religious Instruction. 



121 



* SECTlbN III. The sacred duty of instructing the infant or Religious 
adult slaves in the principles of Christianity, and providing I nstrucUon - 
for them the means of public worship, is equally neglected.' 
p. 203. 

The importance of religious instruction is felt 
as strongly by the colonists as by their brethren 
at home, although Mr. Stephen argues, as if they 
were not merely indifferent but absolutely hostile 
to it ; an idea very remote from the truth, though 
in unison with his other charges against them. 
If a glimpse of candour should pierce through 
his prejudices, he may perhaps deign to inquire 
with what feelings the measures lately adopted 
by government for the religious instruction of 
the slaves have been greeted by the legislative 
assemblies, and by the population in the colonies. 

The exaggerated account given of the means 
of education possessed by the labouring poor 
of the mother country, where, we are told, ' the 
young are individually as well as collectively, 
'privately as well as publicly instructed,' is evi- 
dently intended to give effect by contrast to the 






16 


s, 



d. 




3. d. 

David Shiels, Esq 25 




16 





n 


W Forbes, Esq 20 




25 


o 


o 


John Davy, Esq 25 


T. W. Tayler, Esq 


16 








Alexander Moore, Esq.. 25 


John Walker, Esq 


?5 








Roberts, (of Silver 


William Gunter Esq 


OA 


Q 




Grove) Esq 25 


John Morgan, Esq. ..... 


20 


o 


o 




Richard Bygrave, Esq.. 
Mark Raven Esq 


25 
20 




o 






%* Subscriptions will be thankfully 
received from any person, and fojf 


James Mitchell, Esq.... 


25 








lesser sums than above. 



122 Religious instruction. 

great want of it in the colonies.* Into such a 
comparison we dare not follow him ; but some 
excuse for acknowledged inferiority may be found 
in what he himself states : 

* A great portion of the adults in the colonies had notori- 
ously been brought from a country, where, with the exception 
of a few Mahometans, there are none but pagan inhabitants. 
Besides, the parents or ancestors of the Creole negroes were 
of the same hapless description ; and in some of our colonies, 
a generation has not yet passed away since they were first 
settled by new imported African slaves/ p. 206. 

What, it may be asked, could be expected of 
such scholars, set down to learn the ABC? yet 

* Not to speak of the thousands of sallow boys and girls that one sees issu- 
ing from the manufacturing establishments in our large towns, where at a tender 
age (and just when education should commence) they are corrupted by the 
crowding together of the sexes, and by bad example, even if we go to that 
-part of the empire where the blessing of education is said to be most general, 
shall we find that even there, ' the young are individually as well as collectively, 
publicly as well as privately instructed?' From a statement by a committee of 
the General Assembly of the church of Scotland in 1825, I quote the following 
paragraph on this subject : 

' The Synods of Argyle, Glenelg, Ross, Sutherland and Caithness, Orkney, and 
Zetland, situate chiefly in the highlands and islands, and containing only 143 
parishes, and a population of 377,730 persons, are, as stated in the parochial 
returns, in the most urgent need of not less than 250 additional schools. 

'The number of scholars that would attend each of these 250 schools, it is 
computed, at a low average, would amount to 42. It follows therefore, that in 
these Synods, there are 10,500 children left without the means of education ; 
and the committee are quite satisfied, that the number is, in fact, much greater 
than the calculated number of 10,500. 

1 These 10,500 children alluded to, are all, it is to be noticed, under 15 years 
of age. If persons of all ages are included, the number of those not taught to 
read almost exceeds belief. But how could it be otherwise, when more parishes 
than one are described as not having a sufficient number of schools to accommo- 
date one-tenth of their population ? Several are said to be in need of 3 and 4, 
and one. of even 6 schools ; and as to another, the appalling fact is mentioned, 
that it consists of 1000 square miles, and has a population of 4747 souls, and 
that of these only 995 have learned to read at all.' 



Religious Instruction. 123 

this has been attempted, and by planters too, who 
are represented so hostile to the instruction of 
their slaves, as not even to suffer them to hear the 
word of God preached. A few years ago, some 
well meaning individuals, whose enthusiasm much 
outweighed their judgment, set on foot, in one of 
the most respectable parishes in Jamaica, a Sunday 
school for the instruction of adult slaves : no 
obstruction was offered to their benevolent de- 
signs by the authorities ; on the contrary, every 
encouragement was given to the negroes to attend. 
For several weeks, perhaps months, novelty 
gathered greater numbers to the school-house 
than it could contain ; and the zealous promoters 
of the undertaking regularly attended, anxious 
to realise what they had so sanguinely represented 
as practicable. Need the sequel be told : novelty 
wore off by the irksomeness to adults of attend- 
ing school like children ; zeal wore off by a pain- 
ful conviction of the impracticability of the scheme. 
The school, at first over-crowded, had soon a very 
moderate attendance, became neglected, and in 
less than a year not an adult was to be seen at it. 
The following extract of a return by the Rev. 
John West, Rector of St. Thomas in the East, 
in 1817, may be given in confirmation of the diffi- 
culty stated in regard to the education of slaves. 

' The fact is, in respect to slaves in general, that their know- 
ledge of the English language is so very limited, that they can 
derive little or no advantage from their attendance in Church. 
They are so conscious of this defect, that when I go to church 



124 Religious instruction. 

for the express purpose of catechising them, very few wilt 
attend, and not one of these will utter a word but what has 
been put in his mouth.' Quoted by Mr. Stephens, p. 223. 

Passing over the account Mr. S. has given of 
the means of religious instruction afforded to the 
slaves in the other islands, of the correctness of 
which I have not the same means of judging, I 
proceed to that which he gives of the situation, 

in this respect, of the slaves in Jamaica. 



' Jamaica has 21 parishes, and we learn from the Governor's 
late returns, that each parish has a rector. The salaries are 
obviously much too small to afford a curate ; but this defect 
has been supplied by an act of December, 181/5, (one of 
the good effects of the Register controversy,) so far as to 
enable the Governor to appoint curates, not exceeding the 
number of benefices, with salaries not exceeding 300/. cur- 
rency, to be paid out of the insular treasury. It is not said 
that the curates shall hold their appointments for life ; and 
their salaries are not to be paid without certificates that the 
duties are actually performed. 

' Supposing that proper persons can be found for these cu- 
racies, (a large supposition when the climate and the expence 
of subsistence in that country to Europeans in a respectable 
sphere of life is considered, and that they have residences to 
provide for themselves,) the case will certainly be much im- 
proved ; and we shall then have 42 clergymen in an island 150 
miles long, and 40 on a medium broad; which, supposing them 
equally dispersed, would be one in each district of near 143 
square miles. 

' It will be seen at once, what a mockery it would be, to 
represent this scanty establishment as offering to the slaves in 
general, amounting by the last printed returns, those of 1812? 
to about 320,000, the benefit of public worship and instruction. 
But a very small part of them could ever go to church, even 



Religious instruction. 125 

were the whole sabbath their own for devotional uses ; whereas 
it will hereafter be shewn that they are obliged to spend it, or 
great part of it in working for their own subsistence. 

' It is true that much of the island, Mr. Edwards supposes 
above one half of it, is quite unsettled : but this will not im- 
prove our estimate : because the cultivated and uncultivated 
parts are intermixed, and the whole circumference is in some 
degree settled and peopled. On the other hand, the country 
is so mountainous, that the same writer supposes the superficies 
of the island to exceed the base by one- sixteenth part, and 
the difficulty of intercourse between various places must, by 
this cause, be obviously increased. I am credibly informed, 
that there are well-peopled parts of the island from which the 
road to the nearest church would measure 50 miles. * After 
stating such facts, it can hardly be necessary to say more of 
the utter inadequacy of the public means of religious instruc- 
tion in Jamaica, even supposing all the curates to be found. 
Taking the whole population of all colours to be 400,000, it 
would give about 19,000 to each parish, and 9,500 to each 
clergyman.' p. 214. 

Now first, as to the appointment of curates ; - 
the Assembly of Jamaica, considering the salaries 
first granted too small, raised them from 300/. to 
500/. This was done four years previous to the 
publication of Mr. Stephen's book, and a man 
who was taking so deep an interest in these mat- 
ters could scarcely be ignorant of the fact; at all 
events had 50/. been taken from, instead of 200/. 
added to, the salaries of the curates, who will 
doubt that Mr. Stephen's attention would have 
been directed to the circumstance by some of his 
zealous friends, and that it would have been trum- 
peted forth triumphantly to prove the anti-chris- 
tian spirit of a West India legislature ? 



126 Religion* instruction. 

If our author's information was so good as to 
well-peopled districts or parts of the island being 
50 miles from the nearest church (one third of the 
whole length of the island ! ) there was surely no 
occasion for delicacy in telling where they were. 
For this omission I can from personal knowledge 
assign a very good reason there are none such, 
nor I believe in any instance, one half the distance. 
The statement with regard to superficial extent is 
nearly as incorrect, as there is an immense extent 
of mountains in the centre of the island, where 
human foot has scarcely ever trod, and which, in 
such an estimate, should be taken out of the account, 
as they lie between the parishes on the north and 
south sides, and form a waste which may be said 
to belong to neither. The whole ' circumference* 
it is true is more or less settled, and it is conse- 
quently along the sea- shore where most of the 
places of worship are established. To state each 
of the parishes as averaging one half of the peo- 
pled extent he has done, is certainly nearer the 
mark. 

What the average number of persons may be 
to each parish church, is a matter of much less 
importance than the number of persons who at- 
tend them. Every Christian must wish to see a 
knowledge of religion imparted to the negroes as 
speedily as it can be accomplished; but, in the 
meantime, if churches are provided for those who 
will attend them, more cannot very reasonably be 
(Jemanded. That this has not been done, our au- 



Religious instruction. 127 

thor does not say ; nor in estimating the places of 
worship does he deign to notice at all those not 
upon the establishment, the Presbyterian, Roman 
Catholic, Jewish, and Methodist, in all not less 
than thirty. Taking these into the account along 
with the parish churches and chapels of ease, we 
shall find that Jamaica is by no means so very 
destitute of places of worship as it has been re- 
presented, although there is indeed ample room 
for many more. 

Little more than 20 years ago the churches 
were so ill attended that in some of the country 
parishes the doors frequently were not even open- 
ed on Sunday. Since then the number of churches 
of one kind or other has been doubled, nay tre- 
bled, and yet they are all, so far as I have seen, 
fully attended. And while I endeavour to correct 
misrepresentation as to the present state of Ja- 
maica, I readily allow that if the desire for reli- 
gious instruction continue to spread as it has done 
of late years, the present means of affording it 
will certainly not be adequate to the wants of the 
people. That adequate means should be supplied, 
is assuredly the desire of the colonists ; and from 
the part government has recently taken in sending 
out bishops, as well as from the general feeling of 
the country, it is to be hoped that means will not 
be wanting, even if the colonists themselves are 
unable to bear the expence ; perhaps, indeed, it 
would be unreasonable to expect it from them. 



128 



General improvement in the 



General im- 
provement in 
the state of 
society its 
causes. 



The part England took in the establishment of colo- 
nial slavery is not denied ; and if it is to be atoned 
for now, this will be better done by aiding to ex- 
tend the blessings of religion and education to the 
negroes, than by pressing crude and premature 
schemes of emancipation ; which would, by casting 
them loose from authority, subordination, and in- 
dustry, be the most effectual means that could be 
devised, of putting an end to the present fair 
prospect of their being in time able to appreciate, 
purchase, and enjoy a state of freedom. 

The better observance of Sunday and attend- 
ance at church, is not confined to the slaves, but 
applies equally to the whole community ; and is 
but a part of a general improvement that has 
taken place on the character and condition of all 
classes, within the last fifteen years : an improve- 
ment which, I have no hesitation to say, may 
challenge comparison in magnitude with any- 
thing on record, in any country. The causes 
which have produced so great a change deserve 
investigation. In the houses of overseers of the 
present day there is a sobriety, good order, and 
decorum, so entirely different from what prevailed 
twenty or twenty-five years ago, as can scarcely 
be believed by those who have not seen it. I 
have heard this attributed, and I think not impro- 
perly to those circumstances in the mother coun- 
try which favoured the extension of education ; 
and particularly to the great advance which 



state of society its causes. 129 

took place in the value of farm produce after 
the breaking out of the late war, which enabled 
the middle classes in Scotland and the north of 
Ireland, whence Jamaica is principally supplied 
with new inhabitants, to give a better education 
to their families than they had previously done ; 
and to send more of them abroad. The conse- 
quence was, that at about that period a class 
of young men sought their fortunes in the co- - 
lonies, much superior to the indented servants 
who were before sent out by agents, and to those 
adventurers frequently carried out on speculation, 
in ship loads, for sale to whoever would pay their 
passage. That this is one cause which unper- 
ceived, like the silent hand of time, has had a 
very favourable influence, no one will deny. 
These young men, at fir^t book-keepers, became 
overseers, and many of them are now deservedly 
in the confidence of the proprietors as managers 
of their estates. The influence of the overseer, 
correct in his own conduct, kind to his book- 
keepers, while he exacts from them that atten- 
tion to duty, of which they see an example in 
himself, has naturally a powerful effect upon them; 
and even upon the slaves, who are much influ- 
enced by the persons in authority over them, so 
much so that it is proverbial among them, ' Good 
' massa make good nigger. ' 

Other causes have also contributed to produce 
the change in question. Proprietors, w r ith scarcely 
an exception, as far as my knowledge goes, in 



130 General improvement In the state of society. 

their instructions to their managers have expressed 
an anxious desire that the comfort and happiness 
of their people should be made a paramount 
object. 

The legislature has also acted upon the same 
humane and liberal principles ; and in the slave 
codes of 1809 and 1816, some excellent regula- 
tions, which had previously been adopted by the 
more liberal, were made imperative upon all. 
New and extensive privileges were granted to free 
persons of colour : the arbitrary punishment of 
slaves was restrained and taken almost entirely out 
of the hands of subordinate persons ; the working 
of sugar mills, which had previously encroached so 
far on Sunday that it was scarcely felt as a day 
of rest by either the white people or the negroes, 
was forbidden from seven o'clock on Saturday 
evening till five on Monday morning : magistrates 
were appointed a council of protection to attend 
to the complaints of the slaves, &c. 

These, and many other excellent regulations of 
the same kind, seemed rather to follow than lead 
public opinion, upon which a great change had 
been effected, by the introduction of a better edu- 
cated class of white people, by the abolition of 
the slave trade, and discussions attendant thereon; 
and by the greater means of religious instruction 
afforded by the curates and missionaries. 

The abolition was particularly important ; not, 
as theorists at home argue, because it prevented 
the planters from being able to replace the slaves 



Baptism of Negroes. 131 

they e murdered by bad treatment;' for they are 
as cheaply replaced now as they were then ; but 
because it drew the attention of humane people 
more to a consideration of the state of the slaves ; 
and, above all, because it put an end to the im- 
portation of African superstition and barbarism, 
of which a constant supply was before kept up by 
the new comers, and more than any thing else had 
the effect of keeping the whole body in a state of 
barbarism. 

The facts here stated, and which are well known Baptism of 
to every person who has a practical knowledge of 
Jamaica, will account, in some measure, for a cir- 
cumstance which has afforded a fine field for Mr. 
Stephen's ridicule the baptism of so many ne- 
groes in so short a period of time. Quoting from 
the returns of the different clergymen to the go- 
vernor, such paragraphs as suited his purpose, he 
thus proceeds : ' One or two of the rectors in 
' Jamaica have boasted of very wonderful success 
' in the way of conversion ; and if the administra- 
* tion of the baptismal right to all adult slaves, 
1 who come or are brought by their masters to 
6 receive it, is sufficient evidence of their Christian 
' faith, the facts they state will certainly justify 
' the boast. There has certainly been nothing 
' equal to it in the world since the apostolic age.' 
p. 224. 

Referring to a paragraph which states that to- 

K2 



132 Baptism of Negroes. 

wards the end of the preceding year 1816, 'a 
' great anxiety was manifested, and which at pre- 
* sent continues for baptism, both by the slaves 
' and their masters, he says, ' the latter part of 
' this proposition, perhaps, does not mean that the 
' proprietors desired it for themselves, but for their 
' slaves. 5 p. 224. 

' No compulsion, I believe, (the same rector 
' goes on to say) has been exercised by the mas- 
' ter ; all has been voluntary on the part of the 
' slave ; the negroes having freely thrown away 
' their African superstitions and prejudices.' Upon 
this Mr. S. observes, ' What a singular and fortu- 
' nate coincidence with the new-born eager anxiety 

< of the proprietors to bring them to the font ! ! !' 

' It appears/ adds he, ' from another of these 
' returns, that great numbers on the plantations 

< were baptized at the same time ; it is to be hoped 
' the drivers were not behind them on these, as on all 
' other musters.' p. 225. 

More need not be added to shew the spirit in 
which this part of the work is written. It is very 
evident that Mr. S. and his party, having laboured 
to hold up the colonists to detestation as a body 
sunk in an abyss of moral depravity and irreligion, 
unparalleled in the world, are very reluctant to ad- 
mit facts having a tendency to make them appear in 
any more favourable light. 

That in Jamaica the number of established 
churches has, within a few years, been doubled ; 



Baptism of Negroes. 133 

that as many sectarian places of worship have, 
during the same period, been erected in the 
island ; and yet that the whole are fully attended, 
happens, however, to be beyond contradiction; 
and the only comfort Mr. S. can find, is in taking 
the merit to himself, by ascribing it to the Registry 
Bill ! 

Of the number of marriages now taking place 
among the free people of colour and among the 
slaves, he was no doubt equally well informed ; but 
he seems to have considered it prudent to pass this 
over sub silentio. That of late years an unprece- 
dented number of pagans have sought and obtained 
admission within the pale of the church, is a morti- 
fying fact, which he endeavours to disparage and 
ridicule with a levity unworthy of such a serious 
subject ; at once deciding that the poor ignorant 
negroes should have been spurned from the font, 
till they were able fully to comprehend the bap- 
tismal service of the church. By those who had 
to decide this question practically, it was not so 
easily solved : difficulties presented themselves 
on both sides, and they could but choose between 
less or greater evils. They decided in favour of 
humanity ; they admitted the negro, well know- 
ing that though he was weak, the cause of religion 
was strong : he might be benefited ; it could not 
be injured. 

Perhaps it may be asked, what benefit can bap- 
tism confer upon minds so clouded in darkness ? 



134 Night Funerals. 

I answer that in the first instance it has perhaps- 
more of a temporal than a spiritual influence ; but 
still it is clearing the foundation upon which the 
superstructure is to be raised. The pagan African, 
who sees civilized Christians free from the dread- 
ful superstitions that oppress and often prey upon 
his imagination till his life becomes the sacrifice, 
conceives that by being christened the spell is 
broken, and the powers of darkness overcome. 

This is one step, and no unimportant one, for 
although the African himself, generally speaking, 
seldom can be made to comprehend much of the 
tenets of religion, the mind of the rising genera- 
tion is in a great measure freed from the shackles 
of parental superstitions, and becomes more sus- 
ceptible of religious principles. Nor is it meant 
to be inferred, that even among the Africans there 
are not some who will attain to a considerable 
degree of religious knowledge. Another benefi- 
cial result is, that;it imparts to the negro higher 
notions of the moral character he has to support. 
* You a Christian, andsdo such a thing !' or, * you 
' a Christian and a thief!' is a common expression 
of reproach among them. That they should at 
once shake off bad habits and vices, is not to be 
expected ; if these are only lessened or made less 
frequent, an important good is effected. 

Nigiu funerals. And even if christening the negroes had done 
nothing else but put an end to night funerals 



Night Funerals. 135 

among them, humanity could not have considered 
it as altogether in vain ; as this truly pernicious 
custom, which their native superstition regarded 
as a solemn rite on no account to be dispensed 
with, was, perhaps, of all others that ever existed, 
the most fruitful in disorder and suffering. The 
whole night, or the greater part of it, was spent in 
drumming on the gumbay, singing, dancing, and 
drinking : before committing the corpse to the 
earth the whole party issued forth in a state of 
intoxication, two of them bearing the coffin on 
their heads, and proceeded in a body, danc- 
ing and singing, to every house in the plantation 
village, into which the deceased was carried to 
take leave. This, however, was not always done 
on friendly terms ; sometimes the corpse was 
made to charge the owner of the house with having 
done him an injury or with owing him money; 
and in this case the persons carrying him pretend- 
ed that he would not go away, and that they were 
not able to take him away, till satisfaction was 
given. When I had been but a few weeks in 
Jamaica, I was one night suddenly awakened out 
of sleep by a strange and unearthly sound of mu- 
sic, unlike any thing I had ever before heard. I 
started out of bed, and throwing up the window, 
directly under it beheld a large body of negroes, 
two of them with a coffin on their heads, with 
which they were wheeling round and dancing ; 
the others carrying torches, and all dancing and 
singing, or rather yelling unlike any thing hu 



136 Night funerals, 

man. I shall never forget the impression of 
horror which this spectacle made on my mind, 
and which was long after kept alive by the death- 
beat of the gumbay, heard almost every night on 
some one or other of the plantations in the neigh- 
bourhood.* 

The extinction of this most barbarous custom 
is a very happy and important change. The very 
sight of it was horrible to an European ; and to 
the negroes it was the occasion, not of casual but 
of continual excesses, producing a degree of over- 
excitement by drinking and carousing, which, just 
as surely as the next morning dawned, incapaci- 
tated some of those thoughtless creatures from 
attending their duty, and consequently subjected 
them to punishment. To avoid this for the mo- 
ment, but greatly to aggravate it in the end, the 
conscious offender deserted his duty, and suffered 
the consequences. Negro funerals now take 
place in the day time : if none of themselves are 
qualified, a white person always attends to read 
the burial service; I have often done so myself; 
and there is invariably the utmost solemnity ob- 
served. 

* The following air is one I have heard sang by them on these occasions, and 
probably African ; to ine it appears strikingly wild and melancholy, associated as 
it is in my mind with such recollections, and heard for the first time sung by 
savages interring their dead at the midnight hour. 



Religion Missionaries. 137 

The concluding paragraph of this section affords Religion. 
a striking specimen of the richness of Mr. Ste- 
phen's language, and the poverty of his argument. 

' Who could not shudder, even on temporal views, at the pro- 
spects of his native land, were our churches pulled down and our 
clergy put to silence ? The fall of the state, though a certain, 
would be a less dreadful consequence, than the utter dissolution 
of morals. France tried the impious experiment at home ; we 
try it in our colonies. Our course is certainly safer than hers : 
but is it less affronting to God? is it less injurious to man? 
Where can the influence of religion be more wholesome or 
necessary than in a land of slave masters and slaves ? and in 
what private relation can the depravity which results from the 
overthrow of religious establishments, produce such dreadful 
effects?' p. 229. 

If there^is any meaning in this, it would seem to 
be that England had ' pulled down the churches and 
overthrown the religious establishments in her colo- 
nies / but it is difficult to comprehend how such 
establishments could be overthrown where they 
are only erecting. The paragraph quoted is like 
many others in the same work, ' full of sound and 
fury, but signifying nothing.' 

He concludes thus: "the result of our en- 
' quiries on this most important head, is, that the 
' slave is not indebted to the state or government 
' under which he lives, for ANY means of religious 
' instruction, private or public, individual or gene- 
ral!' p. 229. 

* SECTION IV. The efforts of European piety and charity Missionaries, 
to remedy these neglects, have not any where been aided by 
the Colonial Legislatures, and in some islands have been 
actively opposed by them.' p. 230. 



138 Missionaries. 

This section contains a history of the sectarians 
in the West Indies, possessing however very little 
interest. 

The Quakers were the first of the sects, who 
entered upon this difficult and desolate field of 
Christian enterprise, in the island of Barbadoes; 
but, as it would appear, upon a very limited scale, 
and they were altogether unsuccessful. 

The Moravians sent out a mission in 1732, and 
in 1787 they had ministers in Antigua, St. Chris- 
tophers, Barbadoes, and Jamaica, as well as in 
Surinam, and the Danish islands. This humble 
and zealous sect, with the limited means it pos- 
sessed, seems to have been very deservedly 
successful in some of the islands, as the sim- 
plicity of their manners, and the equal simpli- 
city of the tenets they inculcated, were eminently 
fitted to impress on the hearts of a savage people 
feelings of kindness and brotherly love, without 
exciting those frightful horrors which were too much 
a primary object with their successors ; and which, 
grafted on African superstition, often produced the 
most lamentable effects. Few of the Moravians 
found their way to Jamaica, where they had con- 
sequently only a small number of converts ; but 
there is no charge of their exertions having been 
obstructed or opposed. 

Missionaries from sects which sprung up in the 
mother country, known by the name of Methodists, 
commenced their labours in the West Indies under 
Dr. Coke, a follower of Mr. Wesley, in 1787; 



Missionaries. 139 

speaking of these new teachers, 'it is a striking 
fact/ says Mr. S. * that they have no where met 
' so much discouragement as in the islands of St. 
' Vincent and Jamaica ; where, from the circum- 
' stances already noticed, scarcely any other means 
' whatever of conveying one ray of Christian light 
6 to the slaves existed. Happily the law, as has 
' been shewn, furnished no weapons at first/ (and 
when afterwards ?) * for open prosecution, but 
' indirect and disorderly means were in some 
1 places resorted to for the discouragement and 
' suppression of these intruders : personal insult, 
' and interruption of their preaching, for instance, 
1 were safe engines of private malice in communi- 
' ties where the popular sense effectually con- 
' trols the ordinary administration of justice/ 
p. 240. This paragraph, which expressly admits 
that the legislature had no hand in the outrages 
charged, ' the law furnishing no weapons/ is all 
that the section contains as respects Jamaica, to 
prove the position at the head of it, that 'the 
' colonial legislatures had not only failed to aid* 
' but were active in hostility / and yet Jamaica 
and St. Vincent, be it remembered, are particu- 
larly specified as criminals in the charge. 

This charge against the legislature failing, it be- 
came necessary to have recourse to one of those 
bold assertions, which, however unfounded, it is 
not easy to disprove. Not one word of evidence of 
any kind is given to shew, that in Jamaica ' the 
' popular sense effectually controls the ordinary 



140 Missionaries . 

' administration of justice.' There is in that island 
a Chief Justice of the Supreme and Assize Courts, 
an Attorney General, and an Advocate General, 
all officers of the crown, and gentlemen of high 
respectability, holding their appointments for life : 
are we to understand that these are included 
among the 'white mob' whose testimony is unworthy 
of attention ? if not, we must take leave to ask, 
why, such unexceptionable evidence being at com- 
mand, it has never been adduced to establish so ex- 
traordinary a fact as that in a British colony the 
popular sense effectually controls the ordinary ad- 
ministration of justice ? 

The following passage is quoted, not only as 
affording an instance of Mr. Stephen's disposi- 
tion to vilify the established clergy, and extol the 
sectaries, but also as it has reference to a calamity 
with which his name has ever been associated in 
the colonies the insurrection in Barbadoes, ge- 
nerally ascribed to the discussions on the Re- 
gistry Bill. 

If there had been a single Methodist teacher in Barbadoes 
in 1816, he and the society that sent him there, would inevit- 
ably have been accused of instigating the insurrection of that 
year ; and he might probably have been arrested as a traitor, 
tried by a West Indian tribunal, and condemned for that strange 
crime, however incredible it is to every dispassionate and ra- 
tional mind. But happily there was no Methodist or other 
sectarian teacher to be the scape-goat of the sins of oppression 
on this occasion. The planters, aided by the clergy of the 
establishment and the low white Creoles, both peculiarly nu- 
merous there, had long before effectually crushed the Metho- 



Missionaries . 141 

tiist mission at its birth ; and the other societies had not after- 
wards ventured to enter on a field in which the barriers of 
paganism were so well defended, both by temporal and spiri- 
tual arms.' p. 242. 

As if apprehensive that setting the sectarians so 
high above the established church might give 
offence to its friends in the mother country, he 
makes a long appeal to them, (p. 244,) the object 
of which seems to be to turn their displeasure 
against the colonists, who being, he says, princi- 
pally of the Presbyterian or Roman Catholic 
church, can have no affection for the establish- 
ment, although from ' an insidious policy they 
' affect an anti- sectarian zeal. 7 He therefore cau- 
tions them against being misled by ' the craft of 
' the colonial advocates/ to suppose that they had 
really any prepossession in favour of ' her learned, 
' prudent, and venerable clergy/ The passage is 
too long for insertion ; but the following melan- 
choly account of the great number of white 
pagans in the British colonies, is selected, that 
the active benevolence of the humane in England 
may be directed to their miserable situation. 

' As to a great part of the white colonists born and brought 
up in the West Indies, I am at a loss for any criterion by which 
their religious classification can be fixed. Many of them, I 
believe have rarely been in a place of worship in their lives ; 
and no small portion of them in islands that had no resident 
clergyman, have probably never been baptized.' p. 245. 

-' Under such circumstances (continues he) zeal for the 
establishment, even in the colonies that are by law within its 



142 Obstacles opposed to the Missionaries. 

pale, would not well account for an intolerance of sectaries, 
except from the acknowledged fact that the rectors did not, 
while the sectarian teachers did, tacitly rebuke the masters 
and disturb their consciences, by attempting to make Chris- 
tians of men whom they treated, and were determined still to 
treat as brutes.' p. 246. 

How the hardened consciences of such sinners as 
the masters are here described, happen to be so easi- 
ly disturbed by a tacit rebuke, seems mysterious ; as 
also, how the sectarians merit such a compliment 
at the expence of the established clergy of the 
colonies. By whom is this ' fact acknowledged ? ' 

Obstacles op- SECTION V. Of the obstacles which have been opposed to 

posed to the 

Missionaries. the religious instruction of the slaves ; and of the means of 

promoting it in future.' p. 250. 

A detail of these obstacles, we are informed, 
has been rendered unnecessary by a pamphlet 
published by the Right Hon. Sir George Rose, 
1 On the means and importance of converting the 
Slaves in the West Indies to Christianity ; ' to w hich 
Mr. S. refers, very justly remarking that the 
views of this gentleman, who is himself the pos- 
sessor of West India property, will naturally be 
received with greater confidence than his. 

He informs us, however, that ' though the per- 

* secutions of the sectarians have generally ceased 

* since the era of the Registry Bill, the spirit which 
' gave birth to them is still active, and the pre- 
' tences on which they proceeded are still propa- 
' gated with rancorous assiduity.' 



Obstacles opposed to the Missionaries. 143 

Do the missionaries in Jamaica say so ? or is 
this one of the necessary qualifications of every 
admission that must be made favourable to the 
colonists ? I am personally acquainted with a 
good many of the Wesleyan missionaries in the 
part of the island where I resided, worthy and 
respectable men ; and I can scarcely doubt that 
they will bear testimony to the good will with 
which their labours have been countenanced, and 
the respect paid to themselves. If in any indivi- 
dual instance it has been otherwise, I would be 
satisfied to put it to themselves to say whose 
fault it was. * 



* Since the above was written, I have learned that this testimony has been 
.afforded, in very expressive terms, by the Wesleyau missionaries in Jamaica. 
But because they bear testimony (from the evidence of their senses) to facts 
which are at variance with the statements of the emancipators at home, with 
whom it would seem the Wesleyans are anxious to keep on cordial terms that 
evidence which their own agents on the spot have given, is formally disavowed 
by the body at home, and the offending persons are censured and recalled. 

One of the resolutions of the missionaries in Jamaica, which are stated to have 
been carried unanimously (6th September, 1824), is to this effect: ' The mem- 
' bers of this meeting acknowledge, with sentiments of sincere gratitude, the 

* obligations which they have been laid under to many gentlemen in different 

* parts of the island, for acts of the most disinterested kindness ; and it is but 
' just to state, that, to the magistracy of Jamaica their thanks are particularly 
' due, for that good-will which they have generally shewn toward the spread of 

* morality and religion among the slaves and other classes : and the very few 
' instances of contrary treatment, they have been disposed to attribute more to 
' other causes, than to a wish to debar the slaves from the blessings of religion. 
< These sentiments they have always entertained of the gentlemen and magistrates 
' of the colony, and have often communicated the same to the committee of the 
' Wesleyan missions/ 

Now, what does the committee say to this ? ' We have been well used here, 
and our labours countenanced,' say their agents in Jamaica. ' Nay, but you have 
been ill used,' says the committee at London, ' and we will censure and recal you 



144 State of religion in the Spanish colonies. 



reii- Disappointed of the promised detail of the 
Spanish coio- obstacles opposed to the religious instruction of 
the slaves in the British West India islands, the 
reader finds he has to wade through a tedious 
account of the state of education and religion in 
the colonial possessions of foreign countries. This 
I shall pass over as briefly as possible. Our au- 
thor's object will be sufficiently clear from the 
following extract : 

' While the French West India Company, directed of course 
by planters and colonial merchants, had the charge of provid- 
ing religious establishments in the Antilles, that sacred duty 
was wholly neglected/ p. 259. 

' In the Dutch colonies, where the business of internal legis- 
lation was committed to a West India company and an assem- 
bly of planters, the irreligious spirit, commonly generated by 



if you do not say so.' Take their own words. ' The committee are not unae- 
' quainted with the menaces with which their missionaries have of late been visited 
' in some parts of Jamaica ; the obstructions which have been thrown in the way, 
' in some places, to the exercise of their ministry ; the refusal of the magistrates, 
' even in the course of the last year, to license their missionaries, without any 
' legal authority for so doing ; and the threats of their expulsion from the island, 
' which have of late been frequently resorted to,' &c. 

It is but fair to add, that the committee at London represents the resolutions 
in Jamaica as the act of ' a very few' of their missionaries. Their first resolu- 
tion, indeed, bears ' That they have no information of the number of missionaries 
' in Jamaica, who attended the said meeting.' But a little after they speak de- 
cidedly on the subject, and tell us, ' they are imperatively called upon by this 
' unguarded and improper act of A VERY FEW of the missionaries employed by 
' the society in Jamaica, to object,' &c. 

These curious documents are given at length in the Appendix. The mission- 
aries in Jamaica will probably be more ' guarded' in their resolutions in future. 
"Whether those of the Committee in London are most calculated to remove, or to 
confirm the prejudices imputed to the colonists, is a question not difficult to 
decide. 



St. Domingo. 145 

the habits of West India oppression, was wholly unrestrained ; 
and, in consequence, the imparting Christian instruction to slaves, 
was there not only wholly neglected, but even, if I may trust 
their own writers, prohibited by law.' p. 264. 

Along with these, (the Dutch and French,) are 
classed the English colonists, as they formerly 
were in the misfortune of having fairer complex- 
ions, which our author supposes may in some 
degree account for the fact he assumes, that they 
are worse masters than the more swarthy and ig- 
norant Spaniards and Portuguese ; and in conclu- 
sion the former are thus admonished : 

* These impious views, and the correspondent practice at 
St. Domingo, have been terribly chastised. May other colo- 
nies, while there is yet time, learn wisdom from the example!' 
p. 267. 

St. Domingo indeed! The British colonists st. Domingo. 
trembling for their lives, called upon to take 
warning from its fate by a man who is himself 
holding up a torch to light among them the same 
dreadful flame, which laid that once happy and 
flourishing country in ashes, and drenched its 
fields with the blood of its inhabitants ! Compare 
the proceedings of Les amis de Noirs, the friends 
of the blacks, of 1788, with those of the emanci- 
pation societies of the present day, and say in 
what they differ ? Is the danger of propagating 
theories of liberty and equality less, because it is 
done under the cloak of religion? I shall not 
enter on a recital of the horrid massacres to which 
the mania of the pretended philanthropists of that 



146 State of religion in the Spanish colonies. 

age gave birth, and which were only such as may 
with certainty be expected when ignorant savages 
are instigated to insurrection, and are able to over- 
whelm those in authority over them. The very 
sight of that fine island in its present state is suf- 
ficient to overpower the mind with the most me- 
lancholy reflections. Scarcely a mark of cultiva- 
tion is to be seen, or in such mere specks as 
marks the poverty and wretchedness of the inha- 
bitants; while in every direction one distinguishes 
among its native woods the fields now grown over 
with a light shrubbery, which were once flourish- 
ing plantations, and the abode of a numerous and 
far happier people. What has now become of 
them? At night the manner passing along the 
shore can scarcely see a glimmering light to mark 
a human habitation ; while round Cape Nichola 
Mole, where the navy of France was wont to ride, 
not a craft of any description could be seen, as I 
passed it on three or four different occasions. 
How different a scene does the island of Jamaica 
present, with its richly cultivated fields, its nu- 
merous mansions, and the coasting vessels crowd- 
ing along its shores ! and howlamentable to think, 
that by the interference of persons who have never 
seen it, and have no knowledge of the sum of 
human happiness they are endangering, it may 
soon be as desolate as St. Domingo ! 



state of religion B u t to return to our author's praise of the 

in the Spanish 

colonies. Spaniards, and it was necessary to give praise 



State of religion in the Spanish colonies. 147 

somewhere, if only to blacken English slavery by 
the comparison 

' The Spanish and Portuguese slaves,' says he, ' are as well 
instructed in religion as their masters ; but then it is a fact 
equally indisputable, that they are fed, clothed, and governed, 
with a degree of liberality and kindness, which in other colo 
nies, is utterly unknown. We have incidentally seen also, that 
the servile code is among them proportionably lenient and just, 
beyond that of the British islands. Christianity then, is at 
least a safe inmate in West India settlements, since those of 
Spain and Portugal are pre-eminently tranquil, and exempt 
from interior convulsions/ p. 267. 

We might here ask, by what means the slaves 
constantly pouring in from Africa, come to be as 
well instructed as their masters? are they sent 
to school together ? Or are we to understand there 
are no schools, and that it would have been the 
same thing to have said, that the masters are as 
ignorant as their slaves ? If I mistake not, this is 
much nearer the truth. 

* The negroes of the French islands,' says Mr. 
Stephen, * if we may judge by those of St. Do- 
f mingo, were still in general baptized, and taught 
( some exterior ceremonies of religion, but were left 
' wholly uninstructed in the doctrines and practi- 
' cal precepts of the gospel.' p. 258. 

Is it otherwise with the slaves in the Spanish 
colonies ? If Mr. S. means that they are as well 
instructed as their masters, in some of the exterior 
ceremonies of the Roman Catholic religion, it is 
saying little ; and it is not a great boast, if he 
means that they are as well instructed in the 

L2 



] 48 Island of Cuba. 

doctrines and practical precepts of the gospel as 
their masters the Spaniards, the very by- word of 
Europe for their ignorance and bigotry, as well as 
for their shameful system of government in the 
new world, And is it thus he is to persuade his 
readers that Spain, enlightened Spain, has done 
more to propagate religion in the western hemi- 
sphere than the educated sons of England! 

island of Cuba. Of the Spanish written code I do not profess 
myself able to speak with confidence; but having 
more than once visited Cuba, its most valuable 
colony, and seen the actual state of the slaves 
there, I can most solemnly avouch, that in dress 
and in appearance, they are decidedly inferior to 
the slaves in Jamaica; nor is this my own 
opinion only, for I have heard the same remark 
made by others. Whether this may be attributa- 
ble to the influx of Africans, or whether they are 
worked harder, or allowed less time for the cul- 
tivation of their grounds, I shall not say, because 
I had not full means of ascertaining: but a fair 
conclusion on this point may be drawn from the 
fact, that neither in the Havannah, nor St. Jago 
de Cuba, the two principal towns, are the negro 
markets supplied with poultry, vegetables, fruit? 
esculent roots, &c. at all so abundantly as at 
Kingston ; from which it certainly would appear, 
that they raise less of those articles, or find less 
demand for them. 

As to religion, the church doors, it is true, are 



Island of Cuba. 149 

always open; but, except on one occasion, I 
never saw above a dozen persons at a time inside 
one of them ; and these were women whom, from 
their sable robes and dejected countenances, I 
concluded to be mourners. The one occasion 
alluded to was a festival of the patron Saint of a 
church a few miles out of the city of St. Jago. 
The concourse was immense ; the church was 
surrounded with tents, completely full of people 
dancing, drinking, smoking segars, and engaged 
at every kind of gambling. 

One of my acquaintance, whom I met there, 
directed my attention to a large awning, one side 
of which was fixed to the church wall pretty high* 
and the other, descending like the roof of a house, 
was supported by low posts at some distance? 
forming under it a spacious shed. I observed 
that it looked like the sail of a vessel. 'Yes/ 
answered he, ' and perhaps it will amuse you to 
learn how it came here. Last August, a schooner 
called the Esperanza, on a voyage to the main, 
encountered a dreadful storm; the sailors, ap- 
prehensive of perishing, implored protection from 
the patron saint of this church ; and vowed that 
if spared to return, the main sail of the schooner 
should be given as an acknowlegement. The 
good saint heard their prayer, abated the storm, 
and brought them safely into port. The day 
after their arrival, the master of the vessel was 
not a little astonished at meeting four of his men 
lugging the mainsail of his vessel up one of the 



150 Island of Cuba . 

steep streets of St. Jago; and enquiring the cause, 
they stated it to him as I have mentioned. He 
remonstrated ; he durst do no more ; and even 
offered them a sum of money for the sai nt, which he 
assured them would be much more acceptable ; 
but they were not to be turned aside from the 
fulfilment of their vow ; and here the sail is, and, 
as you see, a good one/ 

Is this the kind of religion which produces so 
much happiness among the slaves in the Spanish 
colonies ? if so, the Sunday negro market of Ja- 
maica certainly ought not to be abolished. Whatever 
influence the exterior ceremonies of the Roman 
Catholic religion may have on the minds of the 
negroes, if they ever go to church, it is impossible 
that the priests in the towns, engaged as they 
constantly are at the billiard tables, can com- 
mand much of their veneration. What priests or 
churches there are in the interior of the country, 
for the instruction of the plantation slaves, I do 
not know ; and I find no information on the sub- 
ject in Mr. Stephen's book, notwithstanding the 
very perfect knowledge he pretends to have of the 
state of religion in the Spanish colonies. I hope 
he will tell us, in the second division of his work, 
how many churches there are in this island, 700 
miles long ; how far distant one may be from a 
place of worship by the nearest road ; and what 
is the average number of persons committed to 
the care of each billiard-playing priest. 

As to tranquillity, for which he represents the 



Island of Cuba. 151 

Spanish colonies as so ' pre-eminent,' my im- 
pression was very different indeed. Contrary to 
any thing I had ever witnessed in Jamaica, I here 
saw that every gentleman coming from the coun- 
try into town or going out of it, carried a holster on 
his saddle, with a pair of loaded pistols. Does 
this bespeak tranquillity? Shortly also before 
my first visit in 1814, a serious disturbance had 
taken place among the slaves in an inland district, 
which had created considerable alarm. I was 
moreover informed that several hordes of runaway 
slaves had collected in the interior, and bid de- 
fiance to any means the government possessed to 
dislodge them; nor, considering the immense 
number of Africans I then saw pouring in, could 
I wonder that such should be the case. These 
circumstances left on my mind an impression, that 
the colony was in a state very different from that 
' pre-eminent tranquillity' Mr. Stephen describes. 
One advantage, for such, as regards character, it 
seems to be the Spanish colonies certainly do 
possess over those with which they have been 
contrasted : they publish no newspapers in Cuba, 
except a sort of official Gazette, and consequently, 
as it admits nothing of this kind, any acts of 
cruelty committed, or occasional alarms, can 
scarcely be known in the next island ; and are 
still less likely to be heard of in Europe. 

The coloured and white classes are so com- 
pletely amalgamated, that they are scarcely dis- 
tinguishable : the few white people you see, espe- 



152 Island of Cuba. 

cially the men, have the most forbidding aspect 
to the eye of a stranger that can well be imagined. 
They are universally shabby in their dress, dirty, 
ignorant, bigoted, and indolent; with exception 
of the Catalonians, who are not deficient in ac- 
tivity and enterprize. These occupy all the retail 
shops, and active situations are the very life of 
the community, and seem to form the only tie 
that connects the colony with the mother 
country. 

However good the written Spanish code may 
be, it is not easy to see how it can have much 
practical influence in a colony where little or no 
regard is paid to the authority of the mother 
country. Even in the public offices, bribery is 
not only practised, but in fact justified, as the 
sole means the officers have of being paid. That 
the law, which entitles a slave who has the means, 
to purchase his freedom, is more liberal than that 
of Jamaica, I admit ; but the actual benefit re- 
sulting from it to the slaves depends upon the 
manner in which they are treated generally on the 
plantations what means are afforded them of 
acquiring sufficient property to purchase free- 
dom how the price is ascertained, and by what 
practical mode the emancipation is effected. These 
are important points on which the value of the 
law wholly depends ; to speak of them would 
require a practical and minute knowledge of the 
plantation economy in Cuba, which I do not 
possess; only, as already stated, I thought the 



Island of Cuba. 153 

appearance of the slaves inferior to that of the 
slaves in Jamaica, and the negro markets (a fair 
criterion of their wealth) were not by any means 
so well supplied as in that island. For Mr. 
Stephen's purpose it is enough that a good law 
has been made at Madrid, without enquiring 
whether it is enforced in the colonies ; while every 
confessedly humane law made by the English 
colonists themselves, and therefore more likely 
surely to be acted upon, is, by persons who have 
no personal knowlege, boldly and impudently 
pronounced to be of no practical effect! 

Whatever may be the merit of the Spanish law 
of redemption in practice, of which Mr. S. knows 
perhaps as little as myself, it is not necessary to 
refer to it as the cause of a larger free coloured 
population in the Spanish than in the English 
islands, as this certainly is to be attributed 
to their earlier settlement, and to the greater 
number and the more permanent residence there 
of emigrants and their offspring from the mother 
country; which again has had the effect of assimi- 
lating the white and coloured classes, and bring- 
ing them more on a level than in the English 
Islands ; where, generally speaking, every person 
who has it in his power, prefers returning to his 
native land, and sending his children there. Yet 
even in Jamaica a few more years must approxi- 
mate the two classes, much in the same manner 
they now are in Cuba, with (let it be hoped) this 
most important difference, that the lower classes 



154 Island of Cuba . 

will there be raised in intellect to the higher, 
instead of the higher, as in Cuba, sinking to the 
lower. 

I have gone further into this subject, than I at 
first intended ; but having had an opportunity of 
estimating as well as my judgment enabled me, 
the state of the Spanish colonies, there may be 
those who will be inclined to think the testimony 
of a person who has seen them, entitled to as 
much regard as the authority of one who has not. 

When I first landed at St. Jago de Cuba, it was 
noon ; but no foreigner dare leave his vessel till 
visited by the authorities and examined; and 
these Dons will not move out till about five o'clock, 
when the heat ha subsided, and they have had 
their siesta or afternoon sleep. A soldier, attired 
in only his shirt and trowsers, with a rusty sword 
by his side, is then sent on board, whose duty it is 
to take all strangers before the governor. It was 
evening when I reached the house of his Excel- 
lency: he enquired where I came from if I had 
any newspapers what was doing in South 
America, &c. His lady was lolling on a couch, 
smoking a segar. Among other charges against 
the vessel was one for the inquisition, one for 
pilotage (although we saw no pilot), and 2 J 
dollars per ton of tonnage duty, while vessels of 
the United States were charged only one. This 
distinction, the more iniquitous from the favorable 
terms on which their vessels are allowed to enter 
our West India ports, still continues ; yet this is 



Change which Englishmen undergo in the colonies. 155 

a country particularly specified by Mr. S. to- 
gether with Haiti and Hindostan, where English 
shipping is to find employment, and England, 
much to her benefit, is to be supplied with colo- 
nial produce, when her own colonies are happily 
destroyed. 

Mr. Stephen, being aware that there is some change which 

Englishmen 

difficulty in reconciling the description he has undergo in foe 

J colonies. 

given of Englishmen in the colonies with what 
they are known to be at home, has here given a 
philosophical, and to himself no doubt satisfac- 
tory, explanation of this difficulty, p. 270. 

It is however deficient in one very important 
point, which we hope he will attend to when he 
returns to the subject, as he has promised to do ; 
and this is, that some of them (a small proportion 
it is true) have the happiness to return to the 
land of their fathers, to intermix again with the 
society there; and as there is no evidence ad- 
duced to shew, nor even any allegation, that they 
are then particularly distinguished as black sheep 
in the flock ; what we wish to know, is, whether, 
having on their leaving home undergone one 
metamorphosis (from men to brutes), they are by 
any process he is acquainted with, again, on re- 
turning to it, happily restored to their former 
rank ? 

Were a person disposed to retaliate on the 
learned gentleman, he might ask, using the same 
argument, what effect is likely to be produced on 



1 56 Mr. Stephens hostility to the established clergy. 

the mind and principles of the man who for hire 

becomes the advocate of any cause, however bad, 

the worse in fact, the more merit in defending it ; 

and whose greatest accomplishment consequently 

is, a consummate ability to misrepresent truth and 

' make the worse appear the better reason' ? 

Mr. Stephen^ I 11 accordance with the hostile feeling already 

hostility to the noticed towards the established clergy, we are 

established &t7 

cier g y. here informed by Mr. Stephen, that ' in one small 

' island, there have been two recent instances of 
' regular clergymen having been tried on charges 

* of murdering their slaves in the exercise of a 
' master's power. In one of the cases, the revc- 
' rend defendant was acquitted ; but in the other, 
' a conviction of manslaughter by excessive whip- 
' ping took place, as official evidence, laid on the 

* table of the house of commons, has attested. 
' In another island, within my own recollection*, 
' the beneficed clergyman of the chief town was 

presented ex-officio by the grand jury, for a pub- 
' lie nuisance, for loading a wretched female do- 
' mestic slave with heavy irons and weights, and 
' sending her daily, for many months, through the 
6 streets in that condition, to bring water from a 
'distant well.' Such excesses, he admits, are not 
common, and proceeds, ' at present, it sometimes 

* happens, that beneficed clergymen are not only 
' slave-owners, but planters, and as attornies and 

* managers for absent proprietors, extensively em- 

* Mr. Stephen's recollection is not of yesterday, and as the two former in- 
stances would seem to be beyond it, some idea may be formed, of how 
occurrence they are. 



Mr. Stephen's hostility to the established clergy. 

' ployed in the conduct of sugar estates ; but their 

* successors, at least, should be prevented from 

* engaging in such occupations. Their secular 
' character is objection enough ; more especially 
' for men who truly allege that they have not time 
4 enough for all their pastoral duties.' p. 272. 

No colonists will attempt to justify or palliate 
such atrocities on the part of a clergyman or any 
other person ; nor will it be denied that they have 
quite enough to do with their pastoral duties, with- 
out engaging in any others : but this charge, to 
say the least of it, is much too general. There 
may have been among the clergymen of the "West 
Indies some bad characters, as we have seen at 
home, and without going far back to look for them ; 
there may also be among them some employed in 
the very improper manner described, but not one 
case of the kind has ever come within my know- 
ledge, nor do I believe there are any such in Ja- 
maica ; if there are, it would have been much more 
consistent with justice and fair dealing to have 
named the guilty, than to have cast a general im- 
putation, by expressing himself in a way calcu- 
lated to make his readers suppose the regular 
clergy are, as attornies or managers, extensively 
employed in the conduct of sugar estates ! But 
in this we recognize a common artifice in the abuse 
of the colonists, to make the charge general, and 
avoid, specifications, which might be brought to the 
proof and disproved. 



158 Sectarians, why received with distrust. 

sectarians, Our author's object clearly is to excite a preju- 

vvhy received . 

with distrust, dice against the established church, in order to 
exalt the sectarians, whom he extols as the assi- 
duous inculcators of submission and reverence to 
their temporal superiors. Lest, however, those 
* temporal superiors' should not be sufficiently 
sensible of their obligations, he suggests that they 
(the sectarians) should be put above the law of the 
country in which they reside, or in other words 
that they should not to be tried there for any 
traitorous or seditious practices they may be 
guilty of, but sent to England, where alone in 
their case a judge and jury sufficiently impar- 
tial can be had: just such an idea, as that the 
Irish priests should be sent to Rome to be tried 
for traitorous or seditious practices in Ireland. 

I am far from meaning, by any thing I have said 
on the subject, to disparage the missionaries, against 
whom I deny there exists any prejudice in the colo- 
nies, except alone what arises from the connexion 
some of them have with societies in England, 
whose object the colonists view as involving their 
destruction; but nothing can be more evident, 
than that this proposition by Mr. Stephen (too 
monstrous to merit a moment's u attention) would 
increase that prejudice, embroil the missionaries 
with the colonists, and injure the cause of religion 
which he would seem to wish to promote. A pre- 
cedent for such a law, he tells us, is to be found 
(exactly where it might be looked for) in the pro- 
visions for making the officers and friends of 



Sectarians, why received with distrust. 159 

government safe in obeying the British revenue 
laws forced upon North America, 14 Geo. III. s. 39. 
laws which could not be enforced, and led to 
the sanguinary conflict which terminated in the 
loss of those colonies. But the colonies of the 
present day are weak, and may easily be trodden 
on. ' What was boldness in the one case, would 
6 be impudence in the other. England must be re- 
< duced very low indeed, before she can feel greatly 
' alarmed at a Charibean island, like Lord Grizzle in 
' Tom Thumb, exclaiming, S'death I'll be a rebel !' 
Edinburgh Review, vol. xxv. p. 344. 

From what has been stated it appears, that reli- 
gion has made considerable progress in Jamaica; 
and as the colonists and their opponents are agreed 
that it ought to be encouraged and extended ; the 
only question is how this may be best done ? The 
colonists think by a regular clergy : the anticolo- 
nists assert that it can only be done by secta- 
rians. Why, it may be asked, should there be any 
difference about the means ? The cause is obvious, 
the enemies of the colonies have an ulterior object 
which they think may be better promoted by em- 
ploying men of their own political opinions, zeal- 
ous not in religion only, and who may preach 
something more than Christianity to the slaves. 
For no other cause is it that the colonists have any 
distrust of the missionaries. If sent out merely 
as preachers of the gospel, unconnected with party, 
and with proper testimonials as to character 
and education, they would be received with open 



1GO Sectarians, why received with distrust. 

arms. Even in spite of the causes for distrust of 
them, have they not been received in Jamaica as 
ministers of the gospel ought ? Let not the colonists 
be blamed for their suspicions, their lives and for- 
tunes are at stake : religious enthusiasm is a power- 
ful engine ; and where can it be so dangerous as 
in a country where ignorant slaves constitute the 
bulk of the population. 

A leading man in the missionary societies, thus 
expresses himself with regard to the colonists : 

* The slave, however, has a temporal interest in the religion 
of his master ; the bell which calls to public worship may have 
some slight and indirect influence even on the great majority of 
planters who uniformly neglect the summons. It is something 
when the petty despot, amidst his pride and anger, is reminded 
that there is a God whom other men adore ; that there is a faith 
which recognizes, in the abject despised negro, a child of our 
common parents, a fellow heir of immortality that there is a 
law, believed by our forefathers to come from God, which de- 
nounces tremendous future penalties against the merciless and 
the oppressor.' Mr. Stephen, p. 221. 

Let the most dispassionate man on earth say, if 
a colonist would be expected to read this and not 
feel his heart burn within him? Let him say, if 
men sent forth under the patronage of societies 
or individuals holding such language, could be ex- 
pected to be received without some slight degree 
of suspicion, even if there were no instances of 
their intermingling political sentiments with their 
doctrine? and, finally, let him say if the distrust 
of the missionaries is most to be attributed to the 
unchristian spirit existing in the colonies, or at 
home ? 



Sectarians, why received with distrust. 161 

It is to be hoped the sending bishops to the 
colonies, and the further aid to be given in build- 
ing churches, will be attended with the best 
effects in extending the knowledge of religion 
among the slaves, without endangering that sub- 
ordination so necessary even to their own well- 
being in their present state. It is to be regretted, 
however, that in the proposed measures no favour 
is shewn to the Presbyterian form of worship, as a 
considerable number of the white people resident 
in Jamaica come from Scotland and the north of 
Ireland, and are attached by early associations to 
that church. Report says that to petitions pre- 
sented on their behalf, the colonial secretary replied 
that the aid to be given to the colonies in building 
churches, was meant for the benefit of the black peo- 
ple, and not of the white. This may not be correct ; 
but if such was the answer, it may be observed 
that the churches most likely to be well attended 
by the whites, would also, from their example, be 
most likely to be attended by the slaves; and 
consequently, that religion would be promoted by 
shewing some favour to this form of worship. The 
parish of St. Thomas in the East, where I resided, 
has three Episcopal churches, and three Wesleyan, 
all fully attended ; and the founding of a Pres- 
byterian church would be hailed with much joy 
by a respectable white population attached to the 
establishment of their native land.* 

* Ou Charley-hill, a little eminence rising on the south side of the rich and 
beautiful vale of Plantain Garden River, a large house was built some years 

M 



] C2 Negro funerals. 

Negro funerals. When Mr. Stephen descends from general ac- 
cusations to specific charges, there is no difficulty 
in meeting him. Thus, after describing in this 
chapter how much attention was paid by the 
Athenians, the Romans, and in more modern times 
by the French, to the funerals of their slaves, he 
goes on to say ' But we should search in vain 
* in the laws or practices of any of the British 
' colonies, speaking generally as to the practice, 
' for equal humanity/ There 



The sacred dust 



Of this heaven-labour'd form, erect, divine," 

' when no longer animated with that soul which 
' groaned under oppression, and no longer fit for 
' the master's purposes, is abandoned with un- 
' feeling disregard, to the care of kindred wretches, 
' to be interred at their discretion in the nearest 
' vacant soil. The funereal rites commonly paid 
' to ordinary plantation slaves are supplied, not 
' by the care of the master, but by their relatives 
'on the same estate; and are in the forms of 
' African superstition, not of Christian worship.' 
p. 275. 

Never was there a more palpable misrepresenta- 
tion. As formerly mentioned, the slaves about 20 
years ago were, with few exceptions, buried at 

ago by the proprietor, Mr. Arcedeckne, or rather the walls only were built, and 
in that state it was left, and now stands. There could not possibly be a finer 
situation for a church ; it would be in view of the plantations that lie imme- 
diately under it, and in a calm morning the bell would be heard by upwards of 
2000 people within the compass of two miles. The object is worthy the atten- 
tion of all who take an interest in promoting Christianity among the slaves. 



Negro funerals. 163 

night ; and the funereal rites were in the forms of 
African superstition. But as religion advanced, 
this barbarous custom gradually disappeared ; and 
a positive law in 1816 put an end to night funerals, 
that source of crime and of misery. Christianity, 
however, would have effected this before now, if 
no such law had been enacted. But had this change 
(beneficial as I have shewn it to be) been at- 
tempted by law twenty years sooner, with the 
superstitious veneration the negroes then at- 
tached to night funerals, they would have felt it as a 
deprivation of a solemn rite which they owed to the 
dead ; and, I need scarcely add, they would have 
resisted its abolition accordingly. Can enthusiasm, 
which vainly thinks to mould the human mind as 
a potter does his clay, not read in such facts 
an useful lesson, to let education and religion 
take their course in eradicating superstition and 
conveying light into the darkness of paganism, with- 
out attempting to accomplish in a day what can only 
be the work of years ? What the utmost stretch 
of power could scarcely have effected then, has 
now been, without a murmur, almost impercepti- 
bly accomplished. 

The funerals of slaves in Jamaica for years past 
have in no respect differed from those of white 
people. When a negro's death is occasioned by an 
acute disorder, it happens in the hospital, where 
he has been under the care of the medical attend- 

M2 



164 Negro funerals. 

ant*; when it occurs from a decay of life, he is 
not removed from the comforts which his own 
house affords ; but in either case he has the kind 
offices of those most nearly related to him by the 
ties of blood and affection. When he expires, notice 
is brought to the master or overseer, and gene- 
rally communicated in the short but emphatic ex- 
pression, such a one ' is gone.' Immediate direc- 
tions are given to the carpenters on the plantation 
to make a coffin; and some little things are always 
given for the funeral, such as rum and sugar, and a 
little flour and butter to make cakes or rusks; 
often on such occasions, I have known masters, 
and even managers of estates, give from their own 
private stock half a dozen bottles of Madeira 
wine, and a dozen of brown stout, to shew their 
respect for a valuable and faithful servant. 

The shroud and furniture for the coffin are provid- 
ed by the family of the deceased ; white if a single, 
and black if a married person, with corresponding 
mounting or plates ; in short, in every respect 
the same as in the case of white persons. During 
the night, and it is never more than one, that the 
corpse is in the house, a few religious friends 
attend, psalms are sung, and prayers given by 
some of their own (negro) preachers. The fol- 
lowing day the funeral takes place, and is always 



* Every plantation has an hospital, and these buildings are so respectable in 
size and appearance, that they are often mistaken by strangers for the mansion- 
houses. 



Negro funerals. 165 

numerously attended by the relations of the de- 
ceased, by all the old and invalided of the plan- 
tation village, and by the women exempted from 
labour on account of pregnancy or attention to 
their families ; nor, indeed, is permission to attend 
ever refused to a slave on a neighbouring planta- 
tion, if the deceased has been his intimate friend, 
relation, or countryman. At the hour appointed, 
a white person attends, accompanied frequently 
by others, to read the service appointed by the 
church of England, in committing dust to dust; 
and this most solemn and impressive ceremony is 
listened to by white and black, with an attention 
and humility evincing a sense, that ' our brother 
here departed,' has gone where we must all fol- 
low, and where human distinctions are at an end. 
While the grave is closing, bread and wine are 
handed round, which, from seeing it done at the 
funerals of white persons, the negroes perhaps 
consider a part of the ceremony ; of course, it is 
little more than a matter of form, and a couple of 
bottles of Madeira is the usual quantity procured 
for the occasion by the ordinary class of slaves. 

From a latent taint of African superstition, 
the negroes universally attach great importance to 
having what they call ' a good burial.' Hence 
those who are in only indifferent circumstances, 
are often careful to reserve means for the pur- 
pose ; others, indifferent to the morrow, are still 
more so as to what shall follow, when the wants 
of life are at an end ; yet a thoughtless improvi- 



166 Negro funerals. 

dent creature of this description, ' not sorry for 
' himself? as the negroes express it, is respected in 
death by his friends, who would consider it as 
an indelible disgrace to themselvs, if he was not 
buried ' as a Christian ought.' 

Near towns, and on some plantations, a piece 
of ground is enclosed as a burial-place for the 
negroes; but the more common practice upon 
plantations with both whites and blacks, is to 
inter the dead in a small corner of their respective 
gardens set aside for the purpose ; and as the ne- 
groes attach an importance to the burial of the 
dead, they extend the same feeling to the graves, 
over which they erect tombs built commonly of 
brick, and neatly white-washed. The white-wash- 
ing is carefully repeated every Christmas morning, 
and formerly it was on these occasions custo- 
mary to kill a white cock, and sprinkle his blood 
over the graves of the family^; but this last part 
of the ceremony seems now to be little attended 
to, and is likely to be soon extinct* In public 
negro burial grounds on plantations they build 
into the tombs, at one end, a piece of hard and 
almost imperishable wood, placed upright and 
having the top cut into rough outlines of the hu- 
man figure, which gives the spot a very striking 
and not unimposing effect. 

Such are negro funerals, as I have seen them, 
and such, however much at variance with Mr. Ste- 
phen's account of the matter, I avouch to be the 
general practice. 



to which the slaves are subject. 176 



' SECTION VI. The West India slave is not only subject to Laws to which 
all the criminal laws by which the offences of free persons 
are punished, but to an additional penal code of great extent 
and severity, made for the government of his condition 
alone.' p. 276. 

It might, in like manner, be made the subject 
of complaint, that an English soldier is subject 
not only to all the criminal laws by which the 
offences of others are punished, but to an addi- 
tional code (the mutiny act), made for the govern- 
ment of his condition alone. But if the slave is 
subject to a code * of great extent and severity,' 
made for men of his condition, it can scarcely be 
any great aggravation of his state to be subject in 
common with free persons to the law of England, 
so far as it is in force in the colony to which he 
belongs, or rather, I am inclined to think, subject 
to it on points only which are not provided for by 
the slave code. 

However excellent the law of England, it is 
manifest it can be but partially applicable in co- 
lonies where the bulk of the population are slaves ; 
and hence the origin of the slave codes. But 
whatever laws the slave may be subject to, the 
truth is that, in practice, the power of correction 
possessed by the master, limited as the punish- 
ment is that he can inflict, renders an appeal to 
them but seldom necessary. That this power 
may in some instances be used to the injury of 
the slave, is true ; but it is equally true, that it 
commonly stands between him and public prose- 



1G8 Desertion and vagrancy. 

cution, and this often in cases when the law of 
England would consign him to transportation or 
to the public executioner. 

Desertion and ' SECONDLY : He is treated as an offender against society, for 
acts which amount only to violations of his private duties as 
a slave.' p. 287. 

This broad and general charge rests wholly on 
the punishment of desertion; and desertion, we 
are told, is not an offence against society ! If 
Mr. Stephen had himself had an opportunity of 
acquiring a little practical knowledge of what he 
thinks he is capable of teaching others, if he had 
had his poultry-house robbed, his sheep carried 
off, and his provision-fields destroyed by wander- 
ing vagabonds, it is not unlikely he would have 
discovered that desertion is a sufficiently grievous 
injury to society, independently of the mere loss 
of labour to the master. 

In a subsequent page he acknowledges that 
desertions may be of dangerous consequences to 
the public safety, but this seems only for the 
purpose of aggravating the charge. 

* It may perhaps be alleged, that these violations of the 
private duties of a slave are not punished by the law as such, 
but rather as offences dangerous to the public safety of the 
Islands. Some of the meliorating acts have speciously recited 
such views, as apologies for their severity against runaways, 
or wandering slaves ; and I admit that apprehensions of public 
danger may in some islands, as in Jamaica, where maroonage 
in the mountains was of a troublesome extent, have been 
among the true motives; but that the loss sustained by the 



Desertion and vagrancy. 169 

owners, in the privation of their property in the fugitives, or 
through the suspension of their labours, was the leading con- 
sideration with an assembly of slave masters, cannot well be 
doubted; and might clearly be discovered so to have been, 
from a particular examination of the provisions of these run- 
away laws. To what other principle, for instance, can we 
ascribe the severity, still adhered to, of punishing with death 
a departure from the island ? As far as the public safety is 
concerned, the migration of the runaway from the colony is a 
deliverance from, rather than aggravation of, the dangers aris- 
ing from his desertion.' p. 291. 

And, he might have added, that, but for this 
cruel and impolitic punishment, the deserter would 
have been able to spend a few weeks or months 
occasionally in St. Domingo. 

In ordinary cases of desertion, masters are al- 
ways satisfied with the power of punishment they 
have in their own hands, without incurring the 
expence and trouble of going into a court of law. 
When it has been found impossible to keep a 
wandering vagabond of this kind at home, and it 
has become an absolute tax upon the master to be 
constantly sending people into the woods after him ; 
besides, as is most commonly the case, having to 
pay for the depredation he has committed ; then, 
but not till then, he is taken before a court, and 
may be committed to the workhouse for life, or 
transported, as the case shall seem to require, 
when established by proper evidence, and upon 
the oath of his master, that he has been found 
altogether incorrigible. The latter punishment is 
inflicted only on very bad characters, such as are 



170 Desertion and going off the island. 

thieves as well as deserters. When a slave is thus 
condemned, although a healthy young man in the 
prime of life, the compensation to his master can- 
not exceed fifty pounds currency, about thirty-five 
pounds sterling ; of course, it is a great sacrifice, 
and never submitted to but in a case altogether 
incorrigible, and where example is absolutely ne- 
cessary. 

Desertion and A slave going off, or attempting, or conspiring 
. to go off the island, by the law of Jamaica may be 

punished with death; upon which Mr. S. thus ex- 
presses himself: 

' Now let it be shewn that human oppression and cruelty 
have, in any parts of the known world, except in these Chris- 
tian colonies, punished desertion, though beyond the territory, 
with death, except when to a public enemy. * Such also is 
the equality and justice of these last and best fruits of the best 
colonial legislation, that while the servile accessory to this 
offence is punishable with death, and the free coloured acces- 
sory with transportation, the white accessory's punishment is 
limited to a fine of three hundred pounds currency, and im- 
prisonment not exceeding twelve months.' p. 289. 

In a preceding page our author takes notice of 
a Roman law, by which, if the master was mur- 
dered in his own house, all the slaves resident 
therein at the time were liable to be put to death ; 



* An English soldier who, even in time of peace, ' shall be convicted of hav- 
ing deserted the service, shall suffer death, or such other punishment as shall 
by a court-martial be inflicted.' Art. of War, sect. vi. a. 1. 



Desertion and going off the island. 171 

and mentions, that, on the assassination of Pe- 
danius Secundus by one of his own slaves, this law 
was actually put in force against four hundred 
persons ! But in the usual spirit of his work, 
palliating the severity of the slave laws of every 
other country and age, and aggravating that of 
the British colonies, he adds : ' But the law 
' though thus once executed, was probably 
' made in terrorem only/ p. 284. Such a sur- 
mise with regard to this law of Jamaica (al- 
though he does not say that it has been even 
' once 7 executed), of course never could present 
itself to Mr. Stephen, although it can obviously 
have no other object, or effect any other purpose, 
but ' in terrorem.' If a slave has gone off the 
island, it signifies little to him what punishment 
the law denounces against him, when beyond its 
reach ; and as to attempting to go off, it is mani- 
fest there can scarcely ever be proof of this, until 
he is outside of a harbour making the attempt, 
and when there is little chance of being detained. 
That many slaves do go off, is true ; nor can this 
be prevented in an island where there are so many 
free people of colour, and where the police laws 
are so little attended to. These laws require that 
a slave leaving home, or permitted to find employ- 
ment for himself, as they often are by persons 
who own only a few (paying a stated sum weekly 
or monthly to their masters), must have a ticket 
to shew ; and it is falsely maintained in England, 



172 Desertion and going off the island 

that every free negro found without testimonials 
of freedom, is forthwith apprehended and sold 
into slavery : but the truth is that a black man 
who calls himself free, going on board a ship in 
any port of Jamaica to seek employment as a 
labourer to assist in taking on board the cargo, is 
engaged as such without any questions being 
asked, much less any testimonials of freedom de- 
manded. It is true some precaution is used in 
employing blacks to go away with the vessel as 
seamen or stewards ; but the master of a ship 
ready to sail, if at a loss for hands (as not un- 
frequently happens), will not ask ( documentary 
proof of freedom : it is enough for him, that the 
person is reputed free in the port. 

Under this provision of the slave code, so 
triumphantly selected to prove oppression and 
cruelty, I have never seen never read nor heard 
of a conviction against principal or accessory, not- 
withstanding Mr. Stephen's belief and assurance, 
' that in practice the laws are not likely to be 

* more humane than in letter ; ' and notwithstand- 
ing that thirst for blood which he must suppose 
exists among the colonists, when he infers that 
the words in their acts of Assembly ' such other 

* punishment as the said justices shall think pro- 

* per to inflict,' are intended covertly to confer a 
right to take away life:' 'although with the 

* -usual address of the ostensible law-makers, the ex- 
' press mention of death is omitted.' p. 288. What 



Vag rancy and theft. 173 

a horrible accusation ! Thirst for the blood of the 
innocent, combined with meanness enough to seek 
it in a way that dare not be avowed ! 

It is urged also as heinous injustice, that the 
punishment of the white accessory in carrying a 
slave off the island, is limited to a fine of three 
hundred pounds currency, and twelve months' im- 
prisonment. A ship-master will probably consider 
this quite penal enough to deter him from inten- 
tionally committing the offence : if so, the object 
of the law is accomplished ; and if the slaves and 
their black servile accessories could in the same 
manner be punished by fine and imprisonment, there 
would be no occasion to deter them by the threat 
of capital punishment. 

The next charge against Jamaica under this vagrancy and 
head is, that the law permits a master, with the 
sanction of a magistrate, to put a small iron collar 
on the neck of an ill-disposed slave, addicted to 
desertion and committing depredations on the 
other negroes, as a mark to distinguish him, that 
when found from home he may be known as a 
bad character, and apprehended. We have here 
an amusing display of the complacency with which 
Mr. Stephen assumes the merit of every improve- 
ment the Assembly makes on the laws ; and of his 
self-sufficiency in judging of its acts. Many and 
great, it would appear, have been its obligations to 
the strictures in the ' former unpublished, but not 
' unknown, edition of his work.' We are told of 



174 Causes of desertion. 

' a secret sympathy between its progressive spirit 
' of improvement and the progressive strictures of 
' his work/ Nay, the Assembly of this great island 
made itself so little in 1816, as to throw a clause 
into the consolidated slave law, for the express 
purpose of ' baffling a stricture 1 of his, the publi- 
cation of which was expected ! ! ! p. 293. 

It is not easy/ says he, ' to see why even an iron collar 
(formerly chains were used), should for this purpose be per- 
mitted. The master can stand in no need of such intimation ; 
and as to the police, it subjects every slave whose master is 
unknown, or who is found beyond the limits of a plantation 
without a note in writing from the owner or manager, to be 

treated as a deserter/ p. 293. 

i 

This is not correct ; a negro ' can be deemed a 
* runaway only, when absent without leave for the 
' space of five days, or found at the distance of 
' eight miles from home, without a ticket/ * Be- 
sides, even this law is in fact almost a dead letter. 
The roads are crowded with negroes travelling 
to and fro ; but it is seldom asked who they are, 
or whither they are going, and still less if they 
have got a written note: indeed so unusual is 
this question, that it is felt as an insult, and 
generally retorted upon by any thing but a civil an- 
swer. A strange negro, found off the road, skulk- 
ing about a plantation, or in a suspicious place of 
concealment, of course must give an account of 
himself, or he is sent to the workhouse ; but the 

* Consol. Slave Law, cap. xxv. $ 62. 



Vagrancy and theft. 175 

negro who has got a collar on his neck, if he quits 
the limits of the plantation, is sure of being taken 
up by the first negro he meets; and thus a benefit 
is done not only to the master, but to the slave 
himself in reclaiming him from such a vicious 
habit, besides the good of the example to others. 

' There is however,' continues Mr. Stephen, ' a further 
amendment in the last Jamaica act, that the collar must be put 
on by the directions of a magistrate. This I admit to be an 
improvement ; though probably there will be little difficulty in 
any case to get the sanction of some neighbouring planter in 
the commission of the peace, when a master thinks fit to apply 
for it.' p. 293. 

This is quite in character : if an improvement is 
undeniable, it must always be admitted with 
such qualifications as may make it appear of 
little or no value. But Mr. S. is not igno- 
rant what human nature is ; that ' man, dressed 
up in a little brief authority,' is seldom alto- 
gether insensible to the importance thereby 
attached to himself, and that it is more likely 
the justice will make the overseers feel this, 
than be so facile, when they come to solicit his 
magisterial sanction, and state the grounds, as of 
course they must, upon which they ask it. 

It is proper to add, that such degrading desig- 
nations are now very rarely to be seen, and are 
going fast out of use. About twenty years ago, 
negroes working on the road sides in chains, 
presented a common and most revolting spec- 
tacle ; but, with exception of criminals in the 
public houses of correction, there is not now an 



176 Causes of desertion . 

instance of a negro carrying a chain to be seen 
from one end of the island to the other. 

' I will not detain the reader,' says Mr. S. ' with any more 
specimens of laws, by which the private offence of a slave 
against his master is treated as a public crime.' p. 296. 

Only ONE specimen of these laws has been 
produced, viz. that against desertion, which, as 
respects Jamaica, he acknowledges himself to be 
' an oifence of dangerous consequence to the 
state ! ' Was there any other reason for not giv- 
ing another specimen of such laws, besides the 
fear of wearing out the reader's patience ? 



sertion. 



causes of de- As desertion and the punishment of it have 
been the subject of so much misrepresentation 
and unfair inference in England, it may not be 
superfluous to add a few remarks while the subject 
is under consideration. In some few cases, no 
doubt, it may be occasioned by improper treat- 
ment ; but nothing can be more unwarranted than 
to set this down as the general cause ; for the 
best treatment often cannot prevent it. The evil 
has its foundation in the improvident, indolent, 
and wandering disposition of many of the Africans, 
and some few also of the Creoles ; which no en- 
couragement to industry, no attention or kindness 
on the part of the master can overcome. I have 
myself the misfortune to own two Africans of this 
description ; and cannot better illustrate my as- 
sertion than by describing them. They will do 



Causes of desertion . 177 

nothing whatever for themselves, and prefer an 
idle wandering life to any possible domestic com- 
forts. Land in full cultivation has been frequently 
given them for their support, and as long as it 
continued to yield plantains and edoes, they ga- 
thered them ; but although allowed the same time 
for the purpose as the other people, they would 
never take a hoe in their hand to clean it, and of 
course it was soon over-run with weeds. This 
not availing, desertion continuing, and their mas- 
ter being frequently called upon to pay for the 
thefts and depredations they had committed on 
other negroes, a weekly allowance of provisions 
was given them (in addition to their land and 
regular days) that they might not be driven by 
hunger to commit theft, or to desert : yet all this 
has not reclaimed them they will sometimes 
come and take their weekly allowance on Monday 
morning ; but instead of going to work, steal off 
to the woods, and will not be seen again for a 
month. Instead of giving them, like the others, 
their annual allowance of clothing at once, they 
are supplied as they stand in need ; and they have 
been known to sell a new jacket for a quarter 
dollar, that had cost their master four dollars. If 
a second shirt is given them, it is readily bartered 
for a bottle of rum ; and washing is entirely out of 
the question. It is this description of persons 
that fill the workhouses in Jamaica, and form the 
lists of runaways in the newspapers : one of which 
lists, containing the names and descriptions of 

N 



178 Slaves not allowed to traffic in the 

fifty vagrants, was lately read by Mr. Brougham 
in the House of Commons, as affording sufficient 
evidence of the degraded and oppressed condition 
of the whole slave population, amounting to three 
hundred and twenty thousand persons. 

Slaves not ' Thirdly, there are many laws, which, with a directly oppo- 

fic^the^ tl^fe s * te v * ew an( * * n a spirit strikingly characteristic of West India 
of the estate, justice, punish slaves, and slaves only, for acts perfectly inno- 

aud why. 

cent in their moral nature, though performed by the master's 
approbation, and presumably by his command.' p. 296. 

This charge is grounded on a restriction found 
necessary in all the islands to prevent slaves from 
trafficking in the staple of their master's estates. 
Accordingly, as Mr. S. mentions, ' in colonies 
' where the planters cultivate nothing but the 
' sugar-cane, slaves are not restricted from raising 
* or possessing any other species of produce than 
' sugar, molasses, or rum.' p. 299. The principle 
upon which this restriction is founded, must be so 
manifest, that it is almost unnecessary to state it. 
If a negro on a sugar estate were permitted to make 
canes an article of traffic, with his master's fields 
lying (as they are) perfectly open to him, it is evident 
there could be no preventing him from carrying off 
and selling as many as he pleased. But though for- 
bidden to traffic in them, or to have them in his 
possession when absent from the property to which 
he belongs, he is not prevented from raising them 
for his own use. 

Again, when the mill is at work and the manu- 
factory of sugar going on, the negroes upon the 



staple of th e estate . 179 

plantation have free permission to go into the 
boiling- house and take as much syrup out of the 
boilers as they choose ; such is the universal cus- 
tom*, although it may appear rather strange to 
an English landlord, who would not readily ac- 
quiesce in permitting his dependents to go to the 
mill and help themselves when his wheat was 

* Mr. De la Beche notices the same thing: " During crop time they eat as 
many canes as they please, drink as much hot and cold cane-juice as they think 
proper, not clandestinely, but as a customary privilege, and in spite of all our 
vigilance carry off a considerable quantity of sugar for themselves, aud of canes 
for their hogs." 

" Amid all the gross representations respecting the food of the poor negroes 
with which the European ear has been deceived, it has not yet," says Mr. Stephen, 
to my knowledge, been asserted that their ordinary beverage is any thing but wa- 
ter." p. 343. It is not easy to say what would satisfy our author either for meat or 
drink to the negroes. In the paragraph preceding that last quoted, he recommends 
to the Jamaica reporters, to contemplate the conduct of the Roman Censor, " who 
thought it not too much for each slave to have every day his bottle of wine," 
implying, as it would seem, that the colonial slaves should also have their bottle 
of wine each after dinner. That water is the ' ordinary' beverage of the negroes 
and of all classes in the torrid zone, there is no denying ; nor have I ever yet 
heard of a better, or of anything that could be substituted as an 'ordinary' 
beverage where people are drinking every hour of the day. But, on most 
plantations, the negroes at work get a daily allowance of rum ; and in wet 
weather it is commonly given twice a day. The cane-juice, besides being used 
in the plain state, warm and., cold, is frequently mixed with bruised ginger and 
chaw-stick (a pleasant bitter), and let stand till in a state of fermentation. This 
the negroes call ' setting liquor for cool drink;' and it makes a finer and 
richer beverage than the best ginger beer used in this country. 

In the same page from which the last quotation is taken, Mr. S. adds, " and 
well would it be for a large majority of the slaves, in some of our islands, if that 
element (water) in its purity were provided for, or could easily be obtained by 
them/' How they are supplied with water in some of the small islands I do 
not know ; but as respects Jamaica, it may safely be affirmed, that no country in 
the world is provided with this element in greater abundance or greater purity ; 
find the people at work in the field have a constant supply carried to them. A 
woman cooks breakfast in the morning for fifteen or twenty of them, carries it 
out at nine o'clock, and then proceeds to the nearest spring or rivulet for water, 
which she continues to supply them with through the day. 

N 2 



180 Advantages the Negroes derive from 

grinding. Here the case is different ; the labourer 
is the property of the landlord, and is permitted to 
take whatever he requires to supply his own wants, 
and he is presumed to have no temptation to take 
more ; but with such an indulgence as this, what 
would be the consequence to a planter of allowing 
his slaves to traffic in his produce ? briefly this, 
that they would save him the trouble of selling it. 
One would think it required great art to bring this 
forward as a charge of oppression ; yet we find 
even this rising in judgment against the colonists 
and condemning them ; for, says Mr. S. 'what a 
' cruel remedy is this, and how revolting to every 
' feeling of justice,' c. 

In another part of his work, our author con- 
demns the Act of the Leeward islands for permit- 
ting the masters to diminish the allowances of food 
which it directs to be given, one fifth during crop 
time, 'merely,' says he, 'because the slaves may 
' then derive a little nutrition from the sugar canes, 
' by sucking their raw juices.' p. 446. It would 
be charitable to suppose he did not know that they 
are not only permitted to suck the raw juices 
(which however they are very fond of), but to take 
as much of the boiled juice or syrup, as they please. 
What proportion of their allowances, where food 
is provided for them, may be rendered unneces- 
sary during crop time, by the ' nutrition' which 
they derive in this way from the sugar canes I do 
not know ; but I know that on plantations in Ja- 
maica, where the negroes have not only abundance 



the cultivation of the cane. 18 J 

of other food, but are weekly carrying their sur- 
plus plantains, yams, and edoes, to market, or, as 
I have frequently seen, allowing them to rot upon 
the trees for want of a market, so strong is their 
partiality for the boiled cane juice or syrup, that 
they use a very great quantity of it. It is no un- 
common thing, when they gather about the boiling 
house in the evening, to hear a negro say, as he 
takes hold of the sugar ladle to fill his calabash, 
' this is to be my supper to-night.' Nor should I 
at all pity the man, of whatever colour, or in what- 
ever station, who had such a supper. 

A considerable quantity of Indian corn is raised 
among the young canes for the use of the planta- 
tion stock, and is planted and reaped at all sea- 
sons : when ripe, the negroes go through the field 
with baskets and gather the ears, and it may be 
worth notice, that on such occasions, to prevent 
their stealing, every negro is allowed to carry 
home the full of his basket for his pigs and poul- 
try. Such, at least, is the practice on the estates 
I am acquainted with. 

* In Jamaica," says Mr. S. " where there is 
( much pasture land, the breeding of horses and 
'mules is a source of agricultural profit to the 
' planters : here, therefore, slaves were forbidden 
' to own any horse, mare, mule, or gelding ; and 
< heavy penalties were imposed on any planter who 
' might be disposed to encourage the industry of 
' any head slave upon his pen, by permitting him 
' to acquire such property.' p. 300. 

If the illiberal cause here assigned for not per- 



182 Advantages the Negroes derive from 

mitting the slaves to own horses had been the true 
one, it certainly is passing strange that they should 
not have been forbidden to own cattle also, the 
rearing of which is so much more profitable than the 
rearing of horses, which in Jamaica are used only 
for the road, and not at all for agricultural pur- 
poses. It is far more probable, that the law had 
its origin in an idea that while horses were of less 
value to the slaves, there was danger in allowing 
them to possess them, as they might be made a 
bad use of in carrying communications to a dis- 
tance in time of insurrection. But whatever was 
the object contemplated by the law, its continu- 
ance in the statute book is now sufficiently absurd, 
when it is notorious that the slaves on many of the 
sugar estates keep both horses and cattle not 
covertly, but going at large in their master's pas- 
tures, along with his own stock ; and when in fact 
the young men going to Jamaica as book-keepers, 
generally purchase their riding horses or ponies 
from the more wealthy slaves. 

In noticing these facts, I cannot help recurring 
to Mr. Stephen's assertion, that the slavery in our 
colonies is a service without wages, that the poor 
negroes work solely for the advantage of their mas- 
ters, and derive no benefit to themselves from their 
labours. A West Indian proprietor allots a large 
portion of his estate to the support of his labour- 
ers, allows them time to cultivate it, provides theni 
with houses and clothing, supplies them with salt 
provisions to use with their vegetable food, takes 
care of them in sickness, and supports them in 



the cultivation of the cane. 183 

old age : is this a service without wages ? yet in 
addition to these the regular wages given them for 
their labour, the perquisites or additional advan- 
tages they derive from it are both numerous and 
important. They partake freely of the rich juice 
of the cane during the process of manufacture. 
They are aided with the master's waggons and 
cattle in carrying their provisions to market. Such 
of them as hare horses, cattle, or asses, keep them 
at the master's expence. The numerous fruit- 
trees on the estate, of little value to the master, 
are turned to advantage by his people ; and it is 
chiefly with the canes and corn cultivated on his 
extensive fields, that they raise pigs and poultry, 
which they sell, as they do their surplus provisions 
and fruit, to procure other comforts. 

It should never be forgotten that it is the culti- 
vation of the cane, carried on by the skill and capi- 
tal of the white people and the labour of the black, 
which principally brings wealth into these islands, 
sugar being the staple commodity or manufacture 
by which all classes there are supported. From 
this source the slaves are provided for by their 
masters : hence also they are enabled to obtain 
additional comforts and enjoyments from the 
means it affords them of disposing to advantage 
of their surplus provisions, pigs, and poultry, to the 
people in business, and to the coasting and English 
shipping. Abolish this great staple, and the 
source of wealth is in a great measure lost to the 
slaves as well as to their masters. 



184 Assembly of strange Slaves at night. 

charge which Mr. S. brings forward 



at night. under this section is, that ' slaves are punished for 
' mere civil trespasses and trifling misdemeanors, 
6 or for actions in their nature quite innocent, with 
6 a severity that is reserved in England for petty 
* larceny and other infamous crimes.' p. 302. 

These offences, so unmercifully punished, are 
stated to be for '. drumming or dancing ; blowing of 
6 horns ; assembling together for amusement in cer- 
' tain numbers or at certain hours, demanding more 
6 than certain regulated rates of wages for their 
' labour as porters, boatmen, $c. 9 p. 303. 

I never heard of such regulations in Jamaica, 
nor can I find them in the consolidated slave law 
of that island. On the contrary I find (sect. 36th), 
that slaves are to have their diversions, and that 
although the master or manager of a plantation 
who permits assemblies of strange slaves at night, 
drumming, dancing, and blowing military horns, 
is punishable, the slaves are not. It is almost 
superfluous to observe, that the object here is to 
prevent disorderly or seditious assemblies, not in- 
nocent amusement. 

The colonists are further accused, however, of 
the heinous crime of preventing ignorant fanatic 
slaves from preaching or teaching other slaves, as 
Anabaptists or otherwise, and the attending nightly 
or ether private meetings, which the preamble to 
the law justly states, has been found productive of 
much injury to the slaves. In a note on this sub- 
ject our author adds, c The meetings intended to 



Assembly of strange Slaves at night. 185 

f be restrained are those held for religious pur- 
* poses ; and the object was to check the mission- 
' aries, by subjecting the poor hearers, as well as 
e the preacher, to severe punishments.' p. 303. 
One would almost be led to suppose that the ne- 
groes were locked up in their houses at night, or 
that there was a police establishment in every 
village to keep each family inside its own door, 
in order to prevent them from holding meet- 
ings of any kind. The truth, however, is, that 
when the work of the day is over, they retire to 
their houses, about seven o'clock, (except those 
who in crop time are required at the boiling- 
house,) and spend the evening visiting one an- 
other, or holding any kind of meetings they 
please, just as free from restraint or molesta- 
tion as the inhabitants of any village in England, 
provided they make no riotous noise to disturb or 
alarm the country. In the part of Jamaica where 
I resided, the slaves on some of the plantations 
have a religious meeting among themselves every 
Saturday night or oftener. I have more than once 
listened in a calm night near enough to hear what 
was said at such meetings. There was no kind of 
connection in the discourse, but the sentiments, as 
far as I could collect them, were good ; and 
the singing, perhaps the most attractive part of the 
service to a rude people, was excellent. 

Such meetings are never interrupted; but of the 
injurious consequences resulting from an unre- 
strained admission of fanatic preachers among- an 



186 Assembly of strange Slaves at night. 

ignorant population, some idea may be formed 
from the occurrence related in the following para- 
graph, which I copy from the Kingston Gazette : 

Montego Bay, June llth, 1824. 

* A small degree of hubbub took place near this town on last Sun- 
day morning, occasioned by the baptism of sundry negroes, accord- 
ing to the forms of the Baptist or Anabaptist persuasion. In con- 
sequence of information being given to the sitting magistrates that 
the negroes above alluded to had been at the chapel the whole of 
Saturday night, and were taken out at two o'clock on Sunday 
morning to the river to be baptized, they sent for the minister, 
Mr. Burchell, to whom they related what they had heard. He 
stated, that the negroes wished to have remained in the chapel 
during the night, but that he had prevented them. It was true he 
had taken them out to the river at three o'clock in the morning, 
but his motive for doing so was to prevent the confusion which he 
was apprehensive would arise, if it were done during the day. The 
magistrates, however, were of opinion, that his licence only per- 
mitted him to preach or baptize from sun-rise to sun-set, and 
therefore expected he would conform to it. It appeared that many 
of the negroes alluded to had been previously christened ; that Mr. 
Burchell knew not to whom they belonged, or any thing about 
them. He was therefore restricted from baptizing any others, un- 
less authorized to do so by the persons under whose care they may 
be. It was also made to appear, that some of the negroes of 
this persuasion had already become such proficients as to be able to 
set up as independent preachers. Mr. Burchell undertook that if 
he could find out who they were, or where they held their meetings, 
he would expel them from his congregation, and inform the magis- 
trates of it ; so far may be probably very well. We had, however, 
a few weeks since occasion to remark on the variety of preachers 
that had in so very short time found their way into this parish, and 
expressed our fears that no benefit could arise from it ; but, on the 
contrary, we deprecated most seriously the evil tendency which we 
apprehended from the dissemination of such conflicting doctrines. 



Assembly of strange Slaves at night. 187 

The evil now begins to appear : persons, who have been for years 
christened according to the forms of the church of England, are 
now rendered uneasy in their minds, because Mr. Burchell tells 
them they are not Christians, and cannot go to heaven, unless they 
undergo his form of baptism ; hundreds, therefore, who have been 
for years satisfied are now dissatisfied. The result will therefore 
be a disarrangement of the intellects of many, one or two instances 
of which have already appeared. We therefore call the atten- 
tion of the magistracy as well as the proprietors of negroes to the 
subject. It is one of much delicacy, but should, nevertheless, not be 
lost sight of.' 

But lest this, as coming from a colonist, may 
not satisfy Mr. Stephen that any evil consequences 
could arise from permitting ' ignorant and super- 
stitious or designing negroes' from making a trade 
of preaching to,, and teaching other negroes, I am 
glad to be able to quote an authority on the sub- 
ject not liable to the same objection : 

* Kingston, Jan. 16, 1823. 

' NOTICE OF THE WESLEYAN MINISTERS, 
'ASSEMBLED IN THEIR ANNUAL MEETING. 

' Resolved, 1st. Whereas we, having learned that various per- 
sons, chiefly negroes, have been found about plantations and estates, 
calling themselves Methodist Teachers and Preachers, collecting 
slaves and others, under a pretence of teaching religion, performing 
marriage, and collecting money, without the knowledge or consent 
of proprietors, judge it to be of serious injury to the cause of 
true religion, and detrimental to the interest of the community. 

' Resolved, 2d. That we feel it a duty we owe to our own 
character as ministers, and to the public at large, to make this 
open protestation against such irregularities, and to avow that we 
neither have, nor can have, according to the rules of our church, 
such persons connected with our body, and, whatever they may call 
themselves, we know nothing of them. 



188 Attempt to murder by poison. 

' Resolved, 3d. That the above be published for one month in 
the Royal Gazette, the St. Jago Gazette, the Cornwall Gazette, 
and the Cornwall Chronicle, and signed by the chairman and se- 
cretary of the meeting. 

' JOHN SHIPMAN, Chairman. 
* ROBERT YOUNG, Secretary.' 



Obsolete 
Laws. 



Attempt to 
murder by 
poison. 



' Fifthly ; (continues Mr. Stephens) many offences have been 
made capital by those laws when perpetrated by a slave, which, 
when the act of a freeman, are but petty larcenies, misdemeanors, 
or at most felonies within the benefit of clergy ; and in some in- 
stances, the negro is punished with death for actions which would 
subject a freeman to no punishment at all.' p. 303. 

This heavy charge against the colonists of the 
present day is proved by reference to some old 
and obsolete statutes of the Bahamas, Barbadoes, 
Bermuda, c. the dates of which, in general, are 
prudently withheld. No notice of Jamaica. 

1 Sixthly. These humane lawgivers have further enlarged their 
sanguinary catalogue, by punishing the bare attempt or design to 
commit crimes as severely as the crimes themselves.' p. 304. 

Under this charge Mr. S. specifies ' the attempt to 
6 steal, murder, rob, burn houses, set on fire sugar 
c canes, to poison free persons, &c.' and for proof 
that the attempt to do such things is felony, cites 
certain old laws in the margin, one of which 
(though brought forward to prove the present 
state of slavery in our colonies) he tells us ' he 
understands is repealed or suspended ;' and ' some 
c more of them/ says he, ' may have been repealed 
' since 1788 ; but if so, I am ignorant of the fact/ 



Attempt to murder by poison. 189 

p. 304. The charge, as respects Jamaica, is, that 
' the attempt to poison free persons' is punishable 
with death ; for which he refers to the consolidated 
slave law of 1816, cap. 25, s. 52. 

True, by that law it is enacted, that a slave 
who shall mix poison with intent to give, or cause 
it to be given, c although death should not ensue 
c on the taking thereof,' shall, when duly convicted, 
suffer death. But it is not true that this punish- 
ment is limited, as Mr. S. says, to the case of an 
attempt to murder FREE persons. Now, as to the 
inhumanity of the law. By Lord Ellenborough's 
Act an assault with intent to kill is felony ; and 
we put it very confidently to the father of a family 
in this country to say, if a personal assault upon 
himself with intent to take his life, is not even a 
venial crime compared with that of the wretch who 
puts on his table a dish of deadly poison for his 
and his family's destruction, even if it providenti- 
ally happens to be discovered before the fatal pur- 
pose has been effected ? ' Of all species of deaths,' 
says Blackstone, e the most detestable is that of 
f poison, because it can of all others be the least 
' prevented by manhood or forethought.' Yet Mr. 
Stephen thinks it most cruel that the colonial 
laws should condemn a poor slave for only attempt- 
ing to poison his master and family. 

As to what the learned gentleman says, that 
this penal law does not affect ' the white law- 
( giver,' or ' the privileged class,' the reader should 
recollect that the slave law was made for the slaves 



190 Obeah. 

only ; and if there had been occasion to make 
such a law for the free population, it would not 
have been done by a clause in the slave code. 
The danger to be guarded against was not from 
free persons ; but, though I am not a lawyer, as 
Mr. Stephen is, and must speak with diffidence on 
such matters, I am not aware that the slaves are in 
this particular put on a worse footing than free 
persons.* 

obeah. Another part of the slave law which Mr. Stephen 

disapproves of, is the punishment of obeah with 
death ; but he has not assigned his reasons for 
thinking that c it has been, for the most part, the 
' ground of a fanciful though fatal imputation on 
' the poor slaves.' p. 305. The deaths which the 
obeah-men occasioned by working on the imagina- 
tions of their superstitious countrymen, and by 
poison, certainly were not ( fanciful,' whatever their 
pretended supernatural powers might be. 

I was present, some years ago, at the trial of a no- 
torious obeah-man, driver on an estate in the parish 
of St. David, who, by the overwhelming influence 
he had acquired over the minds of his deluded vic- 
tims, and the more potent means he had at com- 
mand to accomplish his ends, had done great in- 

* By the 43d Geo. III. c. 58, it is enacted, that ' if any person shall wilfully 

* and maliciously administer to, or cause to be administered to, or taken by 

* any of his Majesty's subjects, any deadly poison with intent to murder, he, 
' his counsellors, aiders, and abettors, shall be guilty of felony without benefit 
' of clergy,' So the attempt to murder by poison, which, by the common law, 
was only a misdemeanor, is now made a capital crime. Christian's Notes 
to Blackstone's Commentaries, vol. iv. p. 196. 



Perjury how punish able. 

jury among the slaves on the property before it 
was discovered. One of the witnesses, a negro 
belonging to the same estate, was asked- Do you 
know the prisoner to be an obeah-man ?' < Ees, 
' massa, shadow-catcher, true.' What do you 
' mean by a shadow-catcher ?' ' Him ha coffin, 
6 (a little coffin produced,) him set for catch dem 
6 shadow.' e What shadow do you mean ?' ( When 
' him set obeah for summary (somebody), him 
6 catch dem shadow and dem go dead ;' and too 
surely they were soon dead, when he pretended to 
have caught their shadows, by whatever means it 
was effected. Two other causes, besides the law, 
have contributed to make this now a crime of 
much less frequent occurrence, the influence 
of Christianity, and the end put by the abolition 
to the importation of more African superstition. 
In a few years it will most likely be extinct ; 
meantime, it is quite in consistency with Mi- 
Stephen's course towards the colonists, at one time 
to accuse them of leaving their slaves in ignorance 
and barbarism, and at another, to charge, as an act 
of severe oppression, a law which is calculated to 
put an end to the most fatal and destructive of 
their superstitions. 

The constituting perjury a capital offence by Perjury how 

. punishable. 

the slave code is also represented as an act of 
cruelty, although the very principle that led to the 
enactment was humanity ; so widely do the minds 
of men differ in considering such matters. The law- 



192 Perjury how punishable. 

t 

givers of Jamaica, well knowing how grossly ig- 
norant this class of people were, how little they 
could appreciate the solemnity of an oath, and 
anxious to protect innocent life, conceived it hu- 
mane to hold up every possible terror against false 
swearing and with this view made perjury a capi- 
tal crime. Between their opinion and Mr. Ste- 
phen's let the world judge. I am not aware, how- 
ever, that there has ever been a capital conviction 
under this law. The learned gentleman has re- 
versed the object of the statute with an ingenuity 
worthy of a special pleader, the evidence, says 
he, is to be hanged for swearing falsely to save the 
prisoner. In England, we are told, it has been 
deemed a defect in modern law that this offence is 
in no case punishable with death ; to prevent, we 
presume, the lives of prisoners being saved by false 
swearing. 

6 Compassing or imagining the death of any 
white person' is another felony by the slave code, 
which attracts severe animadversion; and we can 
readily forgive Mr. S. here from a perfect convic- 
tion of his sincerity. It is altogether impossible he 
can think that a negro ought ever to suffer death for 
compassing or accomplishing the death of a ' petit 
4 blanc.' The sneer of derision intended by the 
appellations ' white monarchs' and f white majesties," 
here applied to the English colonists, is in the li- 
beral spirit by which our author is distinguished. 
It must be confessed he is unrivalled in the art of 
calling names. 



Discretionary power of the Judges. 1 93 

The section of the act which contains these 
words, ' compass or imagine the death of' any white 
' person, and declare the same by some overt act, 
speaks of rebellion, murder, robbery, &c., and 
enacts, that a slave who shall be convicted of any of 
the crimes enumerated, 6 shall suffer death, trans- 
' portation, or such other punishment as the court 
c shall think proper to direct, according to the na- 
' ture and extent of the offence.' Does this neces- 
sarily imply ' that compassing or imagining the 
6 death of a white person, shall, in every case, be 
f visited with a capital punishment?' Yet so by Mr. 
Stephen it is made to appear. 

* Seventhly. Slaves are liable still, I believe, by some of these Discretionary 
insular laws, as they certainly very recently were, to cruel and 5 u J|g es m affix- 
shocking punishments, unknown to the law of England, and equally JIIeiJT'how in- 
so, in respect of free persons, to that of the same colonies. In terpreted. 
capital cases, they have, in certain islands, been liable to, and 
cruelly put to death by, the most dreadful modes of execution/ 
p. 308. 

From the last part of this charge Jamaica is ex- 
pressly exempted, by such a direct law, indeed, as 
no sophistry could cast even suspicion upon, 
' hanging by the neck shall in future be the only 
c mode of execution.' 

In affixing punishment to crimes, so much de- 
pends upon undefinable circumstances in the de- 
grees of atrocity, or otherwise, that some discre- 
tionary power must generally be left with the 
judges, to be used as they may see occasion ; such 
has been the case in all countries. That this dis- 



1 94 Discretionary power of the Judges. 

cretionary power was granted, and is always used, 
for the purpose of mitigating the severity of the 
law, as circumstances may render just and expe- 
dient, scarcely need be observed; but Mr. Stephen, 
with his usual ingenuity and candour, reverses its 
object and application in the colonies, and upon 
this most palpable perversion founds a charge 
against the colonists of such horrible atrocity that 
one absolutely shudders at the perusal of it. c I 
' have already,' says he, ' incidentally noticed acts 
' of Barbadoes, St. Vincent's, Jamaica, and other 
e islands, by which slitting the nose, cutting off 
' the ears and feet, and other dismemberments, 
6 have been expressly directed or authorized, a ei- 
6 ther as fixed or discretionary punishments, for 
* various crimes, and sometimes for petty misde- 
6 meanors ; nay, even for actions in their nature in- 
' nocent; and other instances of the same kind 
' might be cited from the printed laws of our co- 
' lonies ; though the more ordinary and prudent 
' course has been to cover such barbarous intentions 
' by general words; giving a discretionary power 
c to the justices of the peace, before whom the 
( slave is convicted, to sentence him to death, or 
( sucK other punishment as they shall think fit.' 
p. 308. 

Malice and calumny can go no further. The 
plain English of this is, the colonists dare not 
avow it ; but they slit open the noses, they cut 
out the tongues, they chop off the ears and the 



Character of the Colonists, 8$c. 195 

feet, and the other members of their slaves, for 
mere pleasure, or f for actions in their nature per- 
fectly innocent'! Mr. S. makes this most un- 
christian accusation, knowing, as he must, that no 
laws, directing or authorizing mutilation or dis- 
memberment as a punishment, now exist in the 
colonies, and that mutilations are in fact as 
much unknown there as in England. To the best 
of my belief, there is not a single instance of a 
mutilated person to be found in Jamaica ; at all 
events, I have never seen nor heard of any such. I 
blush to think it should be necessary for me to 
say so in England. 

That instances of harsh ^punishment may some- 
times take place in the colonies, will be admitted ; 
but that there exists any general disposition to 
severity even, still less to cruelty, is certainly not 
true ; and when a whole class of men are thus 
represented as treating their fellow-creatures and 
humble dependants with an atrocity which the 
human heart is incapable of exercising even to 
the brute creation, prejudice, blind prejudice itself, 
sinks under a representation so utterly incredible. 



In reading such charges, we should hope that 
many would feel inclined to apply to the com- ^^f Mr * 
panions of their youth now in the colonies, the 
lines addressed to Warren Hastings by an old 
schoolfellow of his : 

1 HASTINGS ! I kneiv thee young, and of a mind, 
While young, humane, conversable, and kind ; 
o 2 



196 Character of the Colonists, 8$c. 

Nor can I well believe thee, gentle then, 
Now grown a villain, and the worst of men ; 
But rather some suspect, who have opprest 
And worried thee, as not themselves the best.' 

Cowper* 

It seems, indeed, to have occurred to Mr. Stephen 
himself, that there was some difficulty attending 
the belief, that educated and humane Englishmen 
should undergo a transmutation in the colonies 
as wonderful as that produced by the magician, 



' whose pleasing poison 

The visage quite transform'd of him that drank 
Into the inglorious likeness of a beast/ 

But he is not staggered by the difficulty. He 
goes on to say : 

* The fault was highly aggravated in them by the liberal and 
merciful principles of jurisprudence which had been handed down 
to them by their ancestors, and by the national spirit of humanity, 
of which those principles are either the offspring or the parents. 
They had to vanquish early impressions and habits on the virtuous 
side, before they could reconcile themselves to such spectacles of 
horror as these opprobrious laws provided.' p. 315. 

Their early impressions and habits, he admits 
then, were on the side of virtue ; and they must 
have forgotten the lessons of their fathers ; they 
must have lost the characteristic manners of their 
country ; they must in fact have ceased to be 
Englishmen, before they could have imbibed such 
principles, or been guilty of such atrocious acts as 
he ascribes to them. To the impartial public they 



Trial of Slaves, 8gc. 197 

may. like himself, appeal, and say, ' Fathers and 
'fellow-countrymen, is this thing possible ?' 



. VII. Slaves are prosecuted and tried upon criminal Trial of Slaves 
accusations, in a manner grossly inconsistent with the humanity 
of English laws, and highly dangerous to the safety of the in- 
nocent/ p. 315. 

The following report of the proceedings of 
a slave court, taken from the Royal Gazette, 
Jamaica, will be the best comment on this asser- 
tion ; and will shew the reader in what manner 
the slaves are prosecuted and tried upon criminal 
accusations, without being guided either by Mr. 
Stephen's authority or mine : 

' JAMAICA. 

* Monteyo Bay, May 2, 1823. 
1 ST. JAMES'S QUARTER SESSIONS. 

* The Court of Quarter Sessions for this parish commenced on 
Tuesday last, before Samuel Vaughan, John Coates, Geo. Gordon, 

and John E. Payne, Esqrs. 

***** 

At three o'clock the Court of Quarter Sessions was closed, and 
the Slave Court opened. The following trial took place : 

' The KING v. BILLY, belonging to Childermas estate, for being 
an incorrigible run-away acquitted. 

' The Court adjourned to Wednesday. 

' On Wednesday, the Court met at nine o'clock, when the fol- 
lowing trials took place : 

* The KING v. NICHOLAS, belonging to Flamstead estate, the 
property of the heirs of Samuel Vaughan, Esq., deceased, for 
being an incorrigible run-away. He was found guilty; but being 
very young, the court, in hope of reclaiming him, sentenced him to 
twelve months' hard labour in the workhouse. 



Trial of Slnts 

etengtajtoABSMB* p(perty, an ia- 



corrigibfe rwat^way, was found guilty ; and being otherwise of bad 
r, he was sentenced to be transported for life. Mr. Yaughan 
ia the abore two negroes, did not ptefAie at thek 
Raring resumed his > 
4 Robert, alias Robert M'Kellar, was put into the dock, barged 
with the murder o: which he pteftded Not 



insisting of the folio win- 
Join , Esq.; Join Hilton, Esq. : II. Gray M-Pherson, 

EB^ ; Charles Rofe, oghamr : J. TuUech, Esq. ; Thos. Watson, 

J. Meffiff^ ffafttt u^asoa; A. Dewar, dit: 

4 TheindktmwAheiagwod, 

' Bir. Grignoii inquired if the owner of Robert had been served 



jnded that there v.-as o necessity for a notice 
to the owner, it was a general gaol-delivery, and not a special 
; but to sare trouble, no -reduced with ad- 

of semee by J. Stewart. Mr. GrigWMi took another 
and iiisisted the haadwridnc -,> wart should be 

proved, as it might be a forgery. W. P. Walker prowi tke hd- 
writing. 

the jury ia a Tery able and welt-arranged 
which he wa* iastructed be 



be ahfe to adduce; that tib evidence was altogether pre- 
- there was no one who saw him coanut Ae act ; but 

: "--.is >,-> co::r\e'e. :!:.:: :: !er: r - c :i:e 
But if 



:.on one, would completely establish the *ct Tke 
were then called. 

rdon sworn. Deposed to his having been called in. 
wi:h Mr. Downer, to where Mr. Mowat was lying ; he was not 
deal, hut no pulse was perceptftfe. Aft the * H^ o 
deceased appeared to have been torn, the AM o the ande 



upon criminal accusations. 19Qf 

rubbed, he thought he had been thrown from his horse, which he 
gave as his opinion to the coroner's inquest. 

* Mr. Thomas James Bernard sworn. Deposed to his finding 
Mr. Mowat lying speechless on the road, and the apparent indif- 
ference of Mr. Mowat's negroes. 

' Thomas Cawley, carpenter on Anchovy Bottom estate, sworn. 
Saw the prisoner at the bar at Anchovy Bottom on the 25th 
February ; prisoner asked deponent to wind up his watch for him ; 
the watch is the same now in court. He knows it, having re- 
marked that the hour-hand was very close the dial-plate. Asked 
prisoner where he got it, who answered, that he purchased it for a 
doubloon and a half in Kingston. Wound it up, and gave it back 
to him. He said, of his own accord, that he had just come from 
Rock Pleasant (Mr. Mowat's place) ; he was not dead when he 
left it, but would be so by that time. 

' R. F. Downer, Esq., sworn. He is uncle of the deceased. 
Knows the watch; it was Mr. Mowat's, and had been his father's. 
The seal was given to Mr. Mowat by his sister. Purse produced. 
Deposed as to the purse being Mr. M.'s, but would not be positive. 
Knife produced. Knows it to be Mr. Mowat's. 

* Hyacinth Cunniffe sworn. Is overseer of Cornwall estate. He 
deposed as to his apprehending Robert at Cornwall. Saw him 
with the watch ; put him in the stocks, and sent him in the even- 
ing to the workhouse. 

' William Wiggan Ball sworn. Was present when prisoner 
came to the workhouse ; he had been there twice last year. He 
said to the prisoner, " Well, I see they have brought you back here 
" for your fun" (meaning tricks). Prisoner answered, " I can't help 
" it. I know what I have done now ; I shall be hanged for it." He 
told his father what the prisoner had said. 

* Catherine Campbell, the hothouse (hospital) woman at Corn- 
wall, having been examined as to her knowledge of the nature of 
an oath, gave satisfactory answers, and was sworn. Deposed that 
prisoner gave her the watch, and told her never to part with it, 
she must hide it, and never let any one know of it. When he was 
put into the stocks she offered him the watch back, but he would 
not take it. ' Fortune, who took the prisoner to the workhouse, 



200 Trial of Slaves 

came back to Cornwall, and said they would not pay him for 
taking up prisoner unless she gave up the watch. She gave it up. 
Saw prisoner with the purse ; saw him tear it up, and put it into 
a hole ; while in the bilboes she took it up, and gave it with the 
watch to Mr. Crerar. 

* Mr. Downer called up by the Jury. " You stated that you were 
" with Dr. Gordon to view the body: Did it occur to you to look 
" for the watch ?" " It did; I looked for it immediately, and 
" missed it." 

' Sydney, a negro belonging to Mr. Mowat. Saw the prisoner 
on the morning the accident happened to her master. Saw him 
with a hatchet in his hand ; said he had done the job, but did not 
know what job he meant. Says, prisoner had the impudence to 
say William Buchanan gave him the hatchet to do the job. 

* William Buchanan, belonging to Mr. M., says, he met prisoner 
on the morning of the accident. Saw him with the hatchet ; knew 
it to be his own. Does not know how the prisoner got it. Prisoner 
told him he had done the job, but that he had not chopped him ; 
he must never use the hatchet again. Took notice of prisoner's 
clothes ; his knee had blood on it, and was dirty. Prisoner was 
sweating; his frock was bloody. The hatchet produced is the 
same he had ; marks of blood upon the hatchet. Prisoner had 
Mr. M.'s watch at the time, and his purse. He did not ask him 
any questions, as he was afraid of him. As he knew he is of a 
very violent temper, he suspected he had been doing mischief to his 
master. 

* Stella, a negro belonging to Mr. Mowat, says, she heard Sidney 
and Flora talking to prisoner about their master over night. Heard 
prisoner, next morning, say that he had met with Mr. Mowat, 
whose horse was plaguing him ; that he asked prisoner to hold his 
horse. That prisoner asked him if he knew who he was talking. to 
last night ? Her master answered, Yes ! That then prisoner said 
he struck him with the hatchet ; that Mr. M. called out, i Do, my 

* good negro, don't kill me.' Ellen said, ' Aye, he will know now 

* who is his good negro/ 

4 W. B. Walker sworn. Knife produced is the one he took 
from the prisoner. 



upon criminal accusations. 201 

' G. C. Ricketts sworn. Was present at the confession of the 
prisoner ; he was advised not to say any thing to criminate himself, 
but he persisted. The confession was taken down at the time. 

* Thomas Philpotts, Esq., sworn. Took down the confession of 
prisoner ; is in Mr. Philpotts' hand- writing. Advised him not to 
make it, as it might injure him, but could not be of any advantage 
to him at his trial. He persisted in confessing. 

* Case closed on the part of the crown. 

' Mr. Grignon, in defence of the prisoner, commented on the 
evidence at great length, and quoted the maxim, that it is better 
for ninety-nine offenders to go unpunished than one innocent per- 
son to suifer. 

' The court summed up the evidence as follows : 

* The court, in its charge, said, the law had been very ably laid 
down, and the evidence was very full and clear ; and nothing was 
left to the court but to make remarks and comparisons on certain 
parts of the evidence. 

' There is no direct proof of Robert, or any person, having com- 
mitted the murder; and if he is guilty, the proof rested on circum- 
stantial evidence and his confession. 

' The first consideration is, whether there were any predisposing 
causes to incline the prisoner to commit an act of violence on Mr. 
Mowat, and there were many very strong ones. That Mr. Mowat 
turned him off his property ; his violent temper ; his being acces- 
sary to a conspiracy which had existed among Mr. Mowat's 
negroes, and the appeal made to him ; and the unwilling- 
ness shown by Sidney, one of the conspirators, to give evi- 
dence, &c. 

* The next consideration is, what was the cause of Mr. Mowat's 
death ? The medical gentleman had supposed it may be the con- 
sequence of a fall from his horse, and his being dragged ; but he 
would not account precisely for the accumulation of blood in his 
neck, and for that which came from his body. Both, however, 
are clearly accounted for, and to have arisen from personal 
violence, by the prisoner's confession, which states that a blow 
with a hatchet was given on the back, and another on the side. It 



202 Trial of Slaves 

stated also, Mr. Mowat was attached to the horse and dragged, to 
give the appearance of his death heing occasioned in that way. 

' The last question is, whether the guilt of the act attaches to 
the prisoner? This is made probahle, and supported by his pos- 
sessing all his property, such as his pocket-book, watch, purse, and 
knife, and also the hatchet, which was the instrument of his death ; 
it is also supported by the blood and dirt on his clothes. 

* The court stated, that if there was a doubt of the evidence of 
Mr. Mowat's negroes, there was none in regard to the correctness 
of that from persons at Cornwall estate, from Mr. Ball, and of 
part of his confessions. 

1 The court further stated, that Robert's confession must be 
viewed with indulgence; but it must be admitted to full credit, 
when corroborated by other evidence, which it was in most mate- 
rial points, while the object of the confession was evidently to 
throw guilt on another. That part stating the hiding of the hatchet 
is clearly false, and much against the prisoner. 

* The court gave it as their opinion, that the circumstantial evi- 
dence was conclusive, and that he was guilty of murder. 

' The Jury, without leaving the box, returned a verdict of 
Guilty. 

' The presiding judge then passed the following sentence : That 
the said negro-man slave, Robert, alias Robert M'Kellar, be taken 
from hence to the gaol from whence he came, and from thence to 
be taken to the place of execution, on the day and time to be ap- 
pointed by his Grace the Governor, and there be hanged by the 
neck until he be dead. 

* The trial lasted upwards of six hours, and a more patient in- 
vestigation could not have been had. We have seldom witnessed 
a more hardened villain than the prisoner; his situation seemed 
not to have made any impression on him, and he was laughing a 
considerable part of the time. He has, since his trial, made a full 
confession of his guilt, and accuses the greater part of Mr. Mowat's 
people as being accessary before the murder ; acknowledges he de- 
serves his fate, but it is hard to be hanged by himself, as they are 
equally guilty/ 



upon criminal accusations. 203 

Let the reader, after perusing the above docu- 
ment, turn to Mr. Stephen : 

' The proceedings against slaves in all cases, capital as well as 
others, are luholly by parol ; except that the warrant or mandate 
for execution is, I think, generally put in writing ; and except that 
when the slave is not in custody, and the master does not send him 
to be tried, an arrest warrant is granted.* p. 317. 

So absolutely unfounded is this, that in all capi- 
tal trials of slaves in Jamaica, the evidence and 
whole proceedings, not only must be put in writing, 
but a copy of them must) by laiv, (except in cases 
of rebellion,) be forwarded to the Governor; who, 
it is understood, submits them to the considera- 
tion of the Attorney- General, and afterwards 
grants warrant for execution, or commutes the 
sentence, as he may think proper. 

It may be asked, if any freeman of England 
could have the means of a fair trial better secured 
to him ? Yet, according to Mr. Stephen, - 

' Slaves are prosecuted and tried upon criminal accusations in a 
manner grossly inconsistent with the humanity of English laws, 
and highly dangerous to the safety of the innocent ,' nay, ' the 
convicting and hanging a negro in the West Indies, is, in general, 
a matter of as little solemnity and circumspection, as the recovering 
a debt under forty shillings at a court of requests in this country ! ' 
p. 317. 

Having thus conjured up a case of fan'ciful and 
frightful oppression, he proceeds : 

* Great and obvious are the dangers which may arise to inno- 
cent men, from precipitate trials on loose verbal accusations, and 
from sentences which are not even reduced into writing before 
they are carried iritp effect. Yet in this loose and hazardous way 



204 Trial of Slaves, S$c. 

i criminal justice administered in the British West Indies against 
the unfortunate negroes,' p. 318. 

Don Quixote attacking a windmill for a giant 
was nothing to this ! In the conclusion of this 
section, Mr. S. observes : 

' It cannot reasonably be demanded, that I should adduce proofs 
of iniquitous consequences having actually resulted from these loose 
and summary proceedings. Where, not only the evidence, but the 
charge, and the conviction itself are unrecorded, and where no re- 
ports of trials at law arc published, it is obvious that a thousand 
innocent men might be convicted against law and evidence, and 
yet no proofs be attainable, by which a single case of that kind 
could be established on this side of the Atlantic.' p. 319. 

We cannot doubt that Mr. Stephen will feel 
greatly obliged to us for aiding him to a report, 
and that it will be a further satisfaction to him to 
be informed that such reports of trials at law are 
quite common in the Jamaica newspapers. How 
he happens, however, to be so fully acquainted 
with the work-house lists published in those pa- 
pers, and with all the severe laws now obsolete, 
and at the same time so ignorant of the common 
and every-day practice of the courts, is not a little 
surprising. But Mr. Stephen is a Christian, and 
whatever may be his zeal in the cause he advocates, 
has so often joined in fervent response to the 
sacred precept, ' Thou shall not bear false witness 
6 against thy neighbour,' that there is difficulty in 
believing he would knowingly swerve from the 
truth, even to carry his point against the colo- 
nists ; more especially when we observe how he 



Protection of the Slaves. 205 

speaks in his preface of f the infamy due to false 
4 accusers.' 



* SECT. VIII. The slave, when prosecuted as a criminal, is de- Protection the 

prived of that protection which he might naturally derive from the^elf-inte-" 

the master's regard to self-interest, and is sometimes even pu- rest of their 
nished for his master's crimes.' p. 322. 



Under this extraordinary charge, the following 
is all that has reference to Jamaica: 

* When a slave is condemned to death by the civil magistrate, 
he is, previous to his execution, appraised, and the value, not ex- 
ceeding a limited sum, is allowed and paid to his owner, out of the 
public treasury of the island. The reason commonly given for this 
regulation, and which, I think, is recited in some of the acts that 
establish it, is, that masters, if not indemnified for the loss of their 
property,, would not give up their slaves to public justice, but rather 
assist them in escaping from it, when accused of capital crimes.' 
p. 323. 

This, Mr. S. admits, might often be found true, 
but attributes the evil to a defect in the criminal 
laws, when directed against white persons, which, 
in his opinion, might make the master's authority 
administer to, rather than oppose, that of the civil 
magistrate. 

In theory every thing is easy. No sooner is an 

J J J TIT 

evil discovered than a remedy is at hand. In owners of con- 

demned Slaves, 

practice, unfortunately, it is quite the reverse : we 
find ourselves called upon to decide a question 
beset with difficulties, and must be content with 
adopting that course which appears upon the whole 
to be the best. Here is exactly such a case. The 



206 Indemnification to the 

island of Jamaica could have no inducement to 
tax its treasury with such a charge for condemned 
criminal slaves, were it not considered necessary 
for the public safety. To allow full value for them 
would be impolitic and inhumane, as giving the 
master less interest, not only in watching over the 
conduct of his slaves so as to prevent them 
from transgressing the law, but also in pro- 
tecting them when charged with having trans- 
gressed it. On the other hand, it is but reason- 
able that the person whose individual property is 
sacrificed to public justice, should have some com- 
pensation from the public ; otherwise, it is evident 
that self-interest, joined to a feeling of attach- 
ment to his servant, would, unless in very atro- 
cious cases, induce him rather to connive at the 
escape than aid in the detection of the culprit. 
Between these extremes, the legislature of Ja- 
maica has chosen a middle course. It authorizes 
the jury which tries a criminal slave, before leav- 
ing the box, to appraise him when condemned ; 
and in capital cases, the compensation may extend 
to 100/. currency ; in all others it is limited 
to 50/., although the negro may be worth three 
times that amount. 

Under these regulations, it is evident the master 
must always be a loser by the condemnation of 
his slave ; consequently will protect him on that 
account, as well as from a feeling of regard to one 
entirely dependant upon him, unless his conduct 
has been so notoriously bad as to have forfeited 



owners of condemned Slaves. 207 

all those claims, and rendered it necessary to 
abandon him to public justice as an example to 
others. Such are the grounds upon which Mr. 
Stephen has founded his charge, that a slave, 
when prosecuted as a criminal, is deprived of that 
protection which he might naturally derive from 
his master's regard to self-interest. It is very 
true that, if no compensation was given for a con- 
demned criminal slave, the master would have a 
stronger interest in protecting him from the law 
and aiding in his escape ; but will Mr. S. say that 
society would be benefited ? that the negroes 
themselves would be benefited by such a course : 
I suspect not ; but then it forms no part of his 
object to give the fair interpretation of this or 
any other law. 

There is no other charge under this section that obsolete laws, 

how used by 

applies to Jamaica. To give it a proper seasoning Mr - s - f 

of the horrible, as usual, a barbarous law of Bar- 
badoes, passed in 1688, one hundred and thirty- 
six years ago, and confessedly long obsolete, is 
introduced ; and with sufficient ingenuity made to 
read so, that a person not particularly attentive 
or acquainted with the subject, would suppose he 
is reading of a law actually in force, and not in 
the little island of Barbadoes only, but in the 
whole of the British West India colonies. This, 
to be sure, is about as fair and reasonable as it 
would be to make the present administration of 
Great Britain the subject of obloquy, for the arbi* 



208 : Old and obsolete laws. 

trary measures which the government was guilty 
of, and which led to the abdication of James II. 
much about the same time that this often-quoted 
act of Barbadoes was passed. 

Old and obso- ' SECT. IX. Concluding reflections on the subject of this chapter/ 
letelaws. 

p. o/o. 

Conscious of the just charge which would be 
brought against him for bringing forward old and 
obsolete laws in a treatise on the present state of 
slavery, it is amusing to see our author arguing 
the point with himself, as if he already heard the 
merited accusation : 

* Can, then, the obvious consequences be avoided by suggesting 
that the cruel and iniquitous laws which have been noticed are all 
of ancient date ; and that the laws themselves have been repealed ? 
I believe the fact to be, that in many of our colonies the greater 
part of the acts cited in this chapter still continue in force ; and 
there were many equally bad in Jamaica, which, though now re- 
pealed, were in force so recently as 1787 : and then reprinted in 
the island as existing laws, after a temporary suspension. Nor is 
it true that they are all of an early date,' &c. p. 331. 
. 

National hu- A question is here started by Mr. Stephen, whe- 

inanity of Eng- t J 

' or uo ^ ^ ie h uman ity f our national manners 
be of so old a date as the settlement of our West 
India islands ; in discussing which question, a consi- 
deration seems never to have occurred to him, which 
is surely very important that our ancestors, and 
even our grandfathers and fathers, made laws for 
a different state of society from that now existing. 
When those sanguinary laws were passed, it should 



Slaves in Jamaica kindly treated. 20 

be recollected that the colonies were inundated 
with hordes of Africans, inured to blood in their 
own country, and that a mere handful of white 
people had to keep them in subjection. Self- 
defence is the first law of nature, and the laws of 
that period can be judged of only by a competent 
knowledge of the state of society for which they 
were made, and what that was, Mr. S., I presume, 
is as ignorant as myself. With sufficient inge- 
nuity, however, he makes those obsolete and (as to 
us they appear) cruel laws a double-edged tool 
to cut at the past and the present ; he brings them 
forward a century and a half to condemn us ; he 
carries back the present meliorated state of so- 
ciety, and they condemn our forefathers. 

In a violent philippic against the Assemblies, 
the learned gentleman incidentally mentions that 
they are elected annually, p. 331. This harmless 
error, with his ignorance of the reports of crimi- 
nal trials, may enable the reader to judge what 
credit is due to a man so well informed on colonial 
matters. What would be thought in England of 
a French author, who, abusing the British nation 
and its parliament, should put it in his book 
that the parliament, being annually elected, may 
be considered ' a fair mirror,' in which the worth- 
less and depraved character of the people may be 
seen? 



Having 1 now arrived at the conclusion of this slaves in ja- 

inaica kindly 

chapter, in which misrepresentation and calumny {' ated and 



210 Slaves in Jamaica kindly treated. 

have been carried to lengths, which no man 
could have dared to have done, but from an 
idea that, the subject being so little known, 
any thing he might say upon it, however fabulous, 
would be believed ; I turn with pleasure from 
such a horrid but happily unfounded picture of 
savage oppression, satiating itself with flagellations, 
mutilations, and innocent blood, to view Jamaica, 
not as Mr. Stephen has depicted it, but as my own 
eyes have seen it. 

Slavery, like every human institution, has a fair 
side as well as a dark, and to form a just estimate 
of it must be viewed on both must be viewed in 
its enjoyments as well as in its hardships. Every 
master must resist he must punish the crimes of 
his slaves ; but these, happily, are not of frequent 
occurrence ; and, as the performance of this duty 
is in the last degree painful, (for what can be more 
so than the cries of a wretch suffering under pu- 
nishment, however great may have been his crime?) 
is it to be believed that he will seek occasions for 
it, or not rather that he will pass it over, unless in 
cases where really necessary for the good of the 
culprit himself, and as an example to others. 
Authority must be upheld discipline must be 
maintained and I will concede that there may be 
occasional acts of unjustifiable severity ; but there 
are cases also where slaves are injured by weak 
and ill-timed lenity on the part of masters, 
threatening and forgiving, forgiving and threaten- 
ing, till such vicious and destructive habits are ac- 



Slaves in Jamaica kindly treated. 211 

quired as prove in the end fully as injurious to the 
slaves as to their master. Among the ignorant in 
this country a very general idea prevails, that an 
European residing in the colonies will become 
black ; a scarcely less absurd idea prevails among 
their betters, that he will become a brute in dispo- 
sition. The truth, however, is, that Englishmen 
in the colonies are much the same as Englishmen 
at home 

* Coelum, non animum mutant qui trans mare currant/ 

and, in the exercise of their authority over the 
negroes, speaking generally, there is no improper 
harshness or severity. Is it to be believed, that 
on the plantations of Jamaica, one white man 
could maintain authority over fifty black, if there 
existed any thing like that kind of oppression and 
cruelty which has been most falsely represented ? 
Not a living creature exists but will resist if driven 
to desperation. I repeat it, the master must pu- 
nish when punishment is required ; but is he to be 
viewed only in the performance of this painful but 
necessary part of his duty ? Assuredly not ; fol- 
low him in his usual avocations, and you will re- 
gard him rather as the father of a family ; you will 
see him attending to the comforts and the wants of 
his people, with a degree of kindness and solicitude, 
which it would be vain and unreasonable in Eng- 
lish labourers to expect from masters, who have 
no farther interest in their welfare than the ser- 
vices of the passing day. You will see him in 

p 2 



212 Slaves In Jamaica kindly treated. 

an evening taking a walk among the houses of his 
people, gratified to see them seated at their cheer- 
ful firesides, while a good supper (a chief meal with 
them) is preparing. On negro- days you will see 
him visiting them at their little farms, where each 
family is engaged by itself in its own concerns ; 
the father and his elder children planting edoes, 
corn, or yams, or disencumbering the rich plantain 
and banana trees of their superabundant leaves, 
while the mother and young ones are roasting 
plantains under the shade of a tree. 

Let a stranger but visit such a scene ; let him 
contemplate the abundance they possess ; see 
their laughing faces, and listen to their careless 
song, under the sunshine of a perpetual summer, 
and say if these are the people who, amidst the 
whole race of mankind, stand most in need of his 
commiseration ; or let him witness, as the writer 
has often done, a group of little negro children 
running to meet their master on his return home 
after a few days' absence, clinging to the skirts of 
his coat ; and vociferating the endearing expression 
Tata come, Tata come, and say if here, of all 
places on earth, there is a want of sympathy be- 
tween the master and servants. 

That they are ignorant is true, but they possess 
many virtues, especially kindness to one another, 
from which more civilized life might take a useful 
lesson. They are slaves, but this happily gives them 
no concern, as they have never known any other con- 
dition. Strangers to hunger and cold, (the scourges 



Remarks on the Registry Bill. 213 

of the poor in England,) and equally so to the 
cares and anxieties which often perplex their mas- 
ters, they are thoughtless, contented, and happy.* 

* CHAPTER VI. On this state of slavery in respect of its com- 

mencement and dissolution.' p. 334. 

' SECT. I. Reasons for this branch of the inquiry. 

* II. Of the sources from which slavery may originate. 

* III. Of penal slavery, or the state of servile convicts.' p. 337. 

The two first of these sections are of a general Remarks on 

. ' the Registry 

nature, and, having no particular reference to the Bill 
West Indies, may be passed over. The third 

* Mr. Dallas, of Jamaica, must have seen and felt this when he wrote the 
following verses so truly descriptive of the negro : 

What are the joys of white man here ? 

What are his pleasures? say; 
Me want no joys, no ill me fear, 

But on my bonja play. 

Me sing all day, me sleep all night, 
Me hab no care, my heart is light ; 
Me tiuk not what to-morrow bring, 
Me happy, so me sing. 

But white man's joys are not like mine, 

Dho' he look smart and gay; 
He proud, he jealous, haughty, fine, 

While I my bonja play. 

He sleep all day, he wake all night, 
He full of care, his heart no light ; 
He great deal want, he little get, 
He sorry, so he fret. 

Me envy not dhe white man dhen, 

Me poor but me is gay; 
Me glad at heart, me happy when 

Me on my bonja play. 

Me sing all day, me sleep all night, 
Me hab no care, my heart is light; 
Me link not what to-morrow bring, 
Me happy, so me sing. 



214 Colonial and Roman slavery. 

is principally occupied with an elaborate argu- 
ment against a report of the Jamaica Assem- 
bly in 1815, when the colonies were threatened 
with a registry law by the British parliament, or 
rather by the African Institution through parlia- 
ment. The agitation of this question was preced- 
ed by a manifesto from Mr. Stephen, under the 
title of Reasons for Registry, exceeding in abuse 
of the colonists any thing that had previously is- 
sued from the press, already groaning under re- 
ports of the African Institution and two-penny 
pamphlets on the oppression of the negroes. Yet 
the measure failed, and as there was, perhaps, 
next to the insurrection at Barbadoes, nothing 
that aided more in defeating this project of parlia- 
mentary interference with the internal affairs of 
the colonies (and the placing them, in fact, in the 
grasp of a hostile faction) than the able report 
transmitted from Jamaica, and laid before parlia- 
ment, we can be at no loss to account for the spe- 
cial hostility it excited on the part of the anti- 
colonists.* 

cobmaUmi Against a charge by Mr. Stephen, in his Rea- 

very. sons for jRegistry, that the British colonial slavery 

exceeded in cruelty and oppression any thing ever 

* This excellent report was drawn up by the late Mr. John Shand, to whom 
Jamaica was greatly indebted on that trying occasion, as on many others ; he 
had the merit of introducing into the House of Assembly the meliorated 
Slave Code of 1816, so frequently referred to ; and previously, a bill for extend- 
ing important privileges to the free coloured population, a measure of sound 
and liberal policy, reflecting the more honour on Mr. Shand, as there existed 
a strong prejudice against such concessions. 



Colonial and Roman slavery, 215 

known in the world, this report instanced the 
slavery of the Romans as incomparably more 
cruel and oppressive. Mr. S. labours this point 
very hard., and through the whole of his ponderous 
volume palliates and justifies the Roman, while he 
exaggerates the severity of the British West India 
slave laws. Into these comparisons it has been 
no part of my purpose to enter, as leading into too 
great detail ; but the following description of Ro- 
man slavery, from the pen of its defender, is so 
much in point, and marks so strongly the differ- 
ence between the two states, Roman and Colonial 
slavery, that I cannot resist giving it a place. 

1 In analogy to the inflictions by the public magistrate, the "pa- 
terfamilias, or lord of the Roman household,' (in the West Indies 
the slave-master?) ' who l\a.d judicial authority,' (in the West In- 
dies, despotic poiver,) l over his slaves and children, even to the ex- 
tent of capital punishments, established his ergastulum, a domestic 
prison and workhouse, and condemned his criminal slaves' (in the 
West Indies, victims of oppression) l to such periods of confine- 
ment and penal labour in it as their offences seemed to him to de- 
serve ; adding, in heinous cases, stripes, or severer corporal punish- 
ments, and even death itself. On his domains in the country, 
the ergastuli were brought out in the daytime to their rural la- 
bours ; but, to denote their correctional state, and to prevent 
their escape, they oflen wore chains or gyves on their legs.' p. 341 . 

Thus we see, on the authority of Mr. Stephen 
himself, that ' the lord of the Roman household' 
had an absolute and uncontrolled power over his 
slave ; could punish him to any extent ; work him 
in chains ; even put him to death. The power of 
the master in our islands is limited to the infliction 



16 Workhouses. 

of thirty-nine stripes ; yet see how this impar- 
tial commentator can palliate when palliations will 
serve his purpose. If the Roman slave-master 
punished his slave, it was ' often, no doubt/ we are 
told, ' for offences which the civil magistrate would 
otherwise have taken notice of, and punished with 
death or the mines.' p. 341. Does Mr. S. not 
know that a West India master also often satisfies 
himself with the comparatively lenient punishment 
(which he can inflict) of thirty-nine stripes for a 
crime that would, if brought before the civil ma- 
gistrate, subject the culprit to death, or send him 
to the Spanish mines ? Oh, no ! I had forgot, 
that blood-thirsty Englishmen in the colonies slit 
open the noses, cut off the ears, the feet, the hands, 
and other members of their slaves for ( petty mis- 
demeanors nay, even for actions in their nature 
innocent ! ' 

Mr. Stephen is obliged to admit that there was 
a great number of chained labourers in Italy, but 
insists that they were the convicts of the public or 
domestic tribunals, p. 345. ' Domestic tribunals' 
is another of those fine phrases so tenderly and 
courteously appropriated to ' the lords of the Ro- 
man households.' In the West Indies, it would 
have been slave-owners, or ' petty despots.' The 
domestic tribunals of Jamaica, however., possess no 
such despotic powers, as Mr. Stephen well knows. 

Workhouses, From this he passes to the West India work- 
houses : 



fPorJchouses* 217 

* Jamaica,' says he, ' if I mistake not, was the first of the British 
colonies that adopted these terrible slave-prisons, caUed work- 
houses, and the public or parochial slave-chains, which thirty years 
ago were unknown in the Leeward Islands, and, as I believe, in 
all the Windward Islands we then possessed ; but now the bad ex- 
ample has been followed at Antigua, St. Christopher, Grenada, 
Dominica, and Tobago, and perhaps in our other colonies. Their 
having been so long dispensed with in most of our islands is a pretty 
satisfactory proof that they cannot any where be necessary/ p. 354. 

According to our author's usual custom, this is 
placing before the British public one side of the 
question, and keeping the other in the shade. 
Who would not rather that such establishments 
were abolished if they could be dispensed with ? 
Not the colonists surely, to whom they are so 
heavy a burthen. Unfortunately, there is another 
point to be considered, upon which we shall be 
glad to have Mr. Stephen's counsel: what is to 
be done with the criminals ? He has said that 
thirty years ago workhouses were unknown in the 
Leeward Islands, but he has not said if crime was 
happily then unknown also, or how the criminals 
were disposed of ; a very essential piece of 
information one would think to enable a man of 
sober reason to form an opinion, whether those 
establishments were injurious or beneficial to the 
wretches condemned to them. If hard labour is be- 
tween them and death or banishment to the Spanish 
mines, it is surely the most merciful of the three. 
But it is enough for Mr. S. if a prejudice can be 
excited against the colonists, by depicting and 
commiserating all the hardships incident not only 



218 Branding of Slaves. 

to slavery, but even to crime itself, from the pu- 
nishment of which it would seem that negroes 
ought alone in the world to be exempted. 

Branding of The next charge is the practice which once 
existed of marking newly-imported Africans, of 
course now obsolete, but not likely to be soon 
obsolete as a weapon against the colonists. 
Among all the various means made use of to 
prejudice the minds of the British public against 
their countrymen in the colonies, perhaps there is 
none where misrepresentation has been carried 
farther than with regard to this practice. Grant- 
ing that it had its origin in self-interest, humanity 
was also promoted by it ; a newly-imported Afri- 
can occasionally wandered away and lost himself, 
or was seduced away by others ; and when taken 
up and committed, as frequently happened, to 
some distant workhouse, being of course unable 
to speak English, he could give no account of 
himself by which it was possible for his master to 
identify him in a public advertisement ; and the 
consequence was, not only his loss to the owner, 
but, which was more important to humanity, it 
separated him for ever from his shipmates and 
friends, and from a permanent and comfortable 
home on a plantation, and placed him in the pos- 
session of one of those low characters who are 
most commonly the purchasers of workhouse 
slaves. 

Such is the origin of a practice which has been 



Branding of Slaves. 219 

represented as a flagrant outrage of humanity. 
The manner of affixing the mark was simply this : 
the place chosen (generally the back of the shoul- 
der) was touched with olive oil ; the initial letters, 
formed of silver upon a plate about the size of 
the head of a silver pencil or small seal, were 
then heated with spirits of wine,, and the slightest 
possible touch of these upon the oil left the form 
of the letters without injuring the skin. All was 
the work of a moment, and produced no more 
pain than the prick of a pin or the bite of a leech. 
Yet this has been called branding the slaves with 
red-hot irons, like cattle ! Nor has the charge 
been limited to the fact, that newly-imported Afri- 
cans only were thus marked ; it has been obstinately 
maintained in the face of truth that the practice is 
universal. 

The native, or Creole negroes of Jamaica are 
not, and never were marked, with the exception of 
such incorrigible wandering vagrants as it is im- 
possible to keep at home. The number of these 
is small ; but I admit that I consider it a defect in 
the laws, which I hope will be soon remedied, that 
even the marking of these should now be per- 
mitted unless by order of a court. Arguing from 
the workhouse lists, we see it stoutly maintained 
in the English prints, that ' branding with a red- 
hot iron' is customary, nay universal; and if the 
slaves in workhouses were a fair criterion, the in- 
ference no doubt would be, that the majority are 
marked ; but to form a conclusion concerning the 



220 Branding of Slaves. 

whole negro population from those in the work- 
houses, is just as absurd as it would be to judge of 
the people of England from those in the houses of 
correction . 

There is another view Mr. Stephen takes of the 
now obsolete practice of marking Africans : ' The 
( reproach of it,' says he, ( consists not so much 
' in the pain of branding, which, though not in- 
' considerable, may be brief, as in the coarse and 
( contemptuous affront thus offered to the sacred 
' human form, by stamping upon it an unsightly 
' and indelible record of a degraded and igno- 
* minious condition.' p. 349. 

On this it is only necessary to observe, that it 
was done under no imputation of crime, and there- 
fore attached no disgrace. The ' sacred form' of 
the African had already been degraded by such an 
unsightly and indelible record of his savage con- 
dition, that it would require 110 small stretch of 
credulity to believe that he could feel particularly 
tender of this very slight additional mark on his 
already tattooed skin. In truth he had no such 
feelings. The case is now altered : bad characters 
only are marked ; and it is consequently felt as a 
degradation. 

In some notes to this section, Mr. Stephen cen- 
sures the Jamaica Assembly for fallaciously hold- 
ing out the treatment of the ergastull (or work- 
house-slaves) ' as a picture of Roman slavery in 
( general ;' and with admirable consistency, in the 
very next page, holds out the treatment of the 



Sources of Slavery, 8$c. 221 

workhouse-slaves in Jamaica as a picture of West 
India slavery in general, pp. 348, 349. 

* SECT. IV. Sources of private Slavery, properly so called/ Sources of Sla- 
,,rn very, and ille- 

P' J0t5 ' gal importa- 

T .1 . .. . , tion of Slaves. 

In this section, our author presumes that the 
Polish peasant may now leave the estate, though 
born in servitude upon it : lays it down as certain 
that the slavery which formerly existed in England 
' had but ONE source, the immemorial servile 
' condition of all the paternal ancestors ;' yet 
forthwith speaks of another source, ' the villein's 
' confession in a court of record/ Next comes 
6 the mild species of slavery' which exists in Hin- 
dostan, and \\s\sjifteen different sources ; then the 
slavery of the African hordes very learnedly 
treated ; Mr. Park accused of inaccuracy ; and 
cases stated, in which ' it is very doubtful whether 
' the law of Africa is not misconceived and abused/ 
Very likely ; and we shall not waste the reader's 
time with a discussion of presumptions, surmises, 
and conjectures. 

The importance of having a registry of slaves 
established in the colonies by act of parliament, 
is next enlarged on ; and those acts which the 
Assemblies have passed for the purpose, are repre- 
sented as ineffectual. 

The object contemplated by registration was to 
put an end to the illegal importation of Africans, 
with which, among the many false accusations 
brought against them, the colonists were charged ; 



222 Sources of Slavery, $c. 

and the legislature of Jamaica., contrary to its 
own better judgment, was prevailed upon, at the 
earnest desire of government and the friends of 
the colony in England, and under a promise of 
no further interference, to pass a law for having 
the slaves registered every third year. This law 
costs the island, triennially, the sum of 10,OOQ/., 
besides a great deal of trouble, especially to the 
coloured class. They have first to go to the Re- 
gistry Office (often at a considerable distance) to 
procure a printed form ; then to some white per- 
son to fill it up for them ; then to a magistrate to 
swear to it ; and, lastly, they must carry it back to 
the Parish Registry Office to be recorded : and if 
there happens to be any informality, as is not 
uncommon, all this is to do over again. And for 
what purpose was all this expense and trouble 
incurred ? To abolish an evil which had no ex- 
istence ! Scarcely ten years have elapsed since 
the indignation of the country was loud and vehe- 
ment against the colonies for this alleged violation 
of the abolition-law. Now we do not hear a word 
on the subject; the falsehood of the charge 
has become so notorious, that even the Edin- 
burgh Review has, in a late Number, been 
obliged to confess it.* Let it be hoped that 
time will dispel many of the other prejudices 

* Who doubts the uctivity of individuals in this country, were the constituted 
authorities to slumber? Yet what instances of slave-trading have been 
brought to light ? One outlawry and two convictions, we believe, are all that 
have been tried in England since the traffic was n.ade a felony ; and no one 
has ever pretended that the act of 18U is evaded, No, 81, p, 201, 






Sources of Slavery. 223 



against the English colonists which are equally 
unfounded. 

It has been stated., as one of the good effects 
of the registry law, that it has increased the 
revenue of Jamaica. True, it has compelled a 
great number of poor people,, principally of colour, 
who own a few slaves, to make returns of them to 
the parish vestries, which they previously did not, 
and has thus subjected them to the poll-tax. But 
what proportion does the increase of revenue, 
thus acquired, bear to the total expense of re- 
gistration ? 

r ' SECT. V. Of the sources of Slavery in the British colonies.* Sources of 
p. 364. Slavery ' 

After tracing English slavery or villeinage to 
its source, ( the immemorial servile condition of 
6 all the paternal ancestors ; ' after expatiating on 
the origin of this state in Europe, Asia, and the 
unexplored regions of Africa, our author passes to 
the origin of slavery in the British colonies, and 
repeats what he has again and again stated, that 
no act of assembly has expressly declared in what 
manner slavery shall originate. Neither has he 
told us of any act of parliament in England, by 
which it was declared that villeinage should ori- 
ginate e from the immemorial servile condition of 
' all the paternal ancestors ;' or, indeed, of an act 
of the legislature of any country, declaring how 
this state should originate ; yet surely such an act 
must have been more necessary in countries where 



224 The Colonists falsely accused 

slavery did originate, than in Jamaica, where it 
exists it is true, but never did, and neveY can, 
originate. There, as in other places, the state is 
hereditary, and passes to the descendants of Afri- 
can slaves ; but there is no law by which a free- 
man, whether white, black, or brown, can possibly 
be made a slave. 

The original stock, it is well known, had been 
purchased in Africa by English merchants, and 
were by them carried to the colonies and sold. But 
the blame, it seems, is due to the colonists (always 
the greatest offenders) for not ascertaining that 
the African title was good. A court of equity 
established in a Guinea-yard in the West Indies, 
to hear and decide on the titles to the slaves 
brought in, would certainly have been a novelty 
in judicature, from the variety of tongues in which 
the proceedings must necessarily have been carried 
on, and from the circumstance that every question 
at issue must have been decided by the evidence 
of the parties themselves, the English ship-master 
and his cargo ; and even if all these difficulties 
could have been overcome, would England have 
acknowledged the right of a Charibbean island to 
exclude commodities, which, according to her 
laws, were legal ? 

are e faiseiy a?- As alread y mentioned, no act of assembly is to 
^e found in any of the colonies, by which a free 
to man can be made a slave. But Mr. S. tells us, 
that 'without any act of assembly, usage and 



of reducing free persons to slavery. 225 

c popular opinion, received in the colonial courts 
f as law,, have established these comprehensive 
' maxims : that no white person can, by any means 
' whatever, be reduced to slavery ; and that every 
' man, woman, and child, whose skin is black, or 
( whose mother, grandmother, or great-grand- 
( mother, was of that complexion, shall be pre- ( 
' sumed to be a slave, unless the contrary can be 
< proved.' p. 364. 

It is true, no white person can, by any means 
whatever, be reduced to slavery in Jamaica ; no 
free person, whether white, black, or brown, can 
be reduced to slavery. But there is a slight dis- 
tinction, for as there never was a white slave in 
Jamaica, there cannot well be a presumption 
against an unknown white person that he is a run- 
away slave, however liable a black vagrant may 
be to such a suspicion.* 

He adds, ' that by various acts of assembly in different islands, 
unknown negroes and mulattoes, and persons of that unfortunate 
race who have committed or are suspected of any offence against 
the police, are liable to be apprehended and kept in gaol, without 
even the warrant of a magistrate ; and unless they are claimed 
within a limited time by some owner, who can prove them to be 
his property, or they themselves can produce legal evidence of their 
freedom, they are publicly sold by the Provost Marshal, whose bill 

* ( How unjust, how abominable, that men should be kept in bondage 
merely on account of their colour ! ' is the cry of many ignorant persons, as if 
the Africans had been slaves in their own country because they were black ; 
as if the trade in African slaves had been encouraged by parliament because 
they were black ; or the colonists had ever had white slaves, and had emanci- 
pated these while they kept the negro in bondage, because lie was black. As" 
well might they say that Englishmen are free, because they are white ; or that 
they are more civilized and refined than the Africans, because they are white, 

Q 



226 The Colonists falsely accused 

of sale is a valid and unimpeachable title.' p. 368. ' And that 
free negroes are in fact often deprived of their liberty by proceed- 
ings under these unjust and tyrannical laws, there is abundant 
reason to believe. 1 p. 369. 

The laws thus misrepresented are certain police 
regulations, necessary to protect property and 
preserve the peace of the country, as I shall pre- 
sently shew ; but I would first propose to Mr. S. 
the following questions : If there exists among 
the English colonists such a disposition to reduce 
to slavery every man, woman, and child, with a 
black or coloured skin, who are one and all the 
offspring of slaves, how did these people ever 
happen to be free ? If they or their parents were, 
without any compulsory law, emancipated by the 
whites, is it credible that, while the whites were 
thus emancipating them on the one hand, they 
were wrongfully enslaving them on the other ? 
Let our author explain this inconsistency ; let 
him also account for the fact no less at variance 
with his assertions, that the number of free per- 
sons of colour in the island, stated by B. Edwards, 
in 1788, at 10,000, has now increased, as 
appears from Stewart's View of Jamaica, pub- 
lished in 1823, to 35,000, and, I believe, to nearer 
40,000. 

These facts certainly do not appear to accord 
with the charge against the colonists ; but perhaps 
they will explain the reason why in support of it 
Mr. S. and his friends do not adduce a single case 
of a free person having been reduced to slavery in 



of reducing free persons to slavery. 227 

the colonies, and are obliged to let the accusation 
rest on, ' there is abundant reason to believe.'* 

In an island like Jamaica, containing 320,000 
slaves, it is very evident there will be criminals, 
and, as in all other communities (not excepting 
England itself,) a number of indolent, profligate, 
and improvident beings, who, if they can help it, 
will do nothing either for themselves or for others. 
Slaves of this description are of course prone to 
desertion ; and the extent of uncultivated country, 
and means of supporting themselves in it, are 

* I had formerly occasion to mention an idea entertained by the African 
negroes, that false swearing may bring some disease or temporal calamity upon 
them, but that their having a broken rial in their mouth, when giving evidence, 
is a charm to prevent it ; and I cannot help noticing here that, as human nature 
is every where pretty much the same, there exists a practice very similar to this 
iu our own country, where some persons have a way of advancing the most 
unwarranted charges against tlio.se they wish to injure, only using the precau- 
tion to have an I t/tink, or If Mr, in their mouth, as a salvo or broken rial. 
Thus our author, speaking of the black troops disbanded in the West Indies, 
says, 'They have been taken up and sent to prison as rim-away slaves, and 
* have been sold, I FEAR, in many cases, upon the presumption of law arising 
' from their colour, because they could not, within the short time limited by 
' those laws, make proof of their freedom.' p. 427. 

It is easy to recognise the broken rial here; and an attentive reader of the 
work from which the quotation is taken, cannot fail to observe other instances 
of the use of it, and that it is a figure admirably calculated to serve the purposes 
of such an author. The next sol distint ' friend of humanity,' or ' advocate of 
the slaves,' quotes the assertion, forgetting or omitting the rial, which, in- 
deed, many careless readers will overlook. Thus the lie gets into circulation, 
and the purpose of its author is attained. 

Mr. S. complains, in his Preface, of certain calumnies touching himself and 
his son ; and it is not unamusing to see how vehemently indignant a man who 
is so liberal of abuse to others can be, iV but a hair of his own head is touched. 
Regarding those accusations it is not my wish to say more or less. I am 
willing to believe they are calumnies till I see proof to the contrary ; but 
granting they are, might not an enemy, who chose to use the weapons with 
which our author assails the colonists, thus express himself : ' Mr. Stephen's 
' zeal for the system of slave-registration Was, I fear, a mere cloak for selfish 
' ends. He succeeded in getting his son into a lucrative situation ; and that he 
' has seduced him into official perfidy, in betraying the secrets of the colonial 
* office, there is abundant reason to believe' ? 

Q 2 



228 The Colonists falsely accused 

such, that they could never be recovered by their 
masters, but that they become weary of living in 
this wandering way of life, and return home ; or, 
as more frequently happens, seek an intercourse 
with the negroes on some distant plantation, by 
whom in the end they are apprehended and 
carried to the nearest workhouse. It is with such 
characters that the workhouses are filled, crimi- 
nal slaves, or such as have fled to escape the 
punishment of some crime they have committed, 
and are apprehended as run-away s where they are 
unknown ; and the more numerous class of idle 
vagrants, who, with no disposition to work or to 
support themselves by their own labour, prey on 
the industry of others, like the vagrant paupers of 
England with this difference, that the former sup- 
port themselves wholly by plunder, while the 
latter, under a stricter police, and where provisions 
are not so easily got at, must generally be satisfied 
with what is given them. 

Now here is an evil, not of a temporary nature, 
but which will last, in a greater or less degree, 
until not only crimes, but all the minor vices of 
indolence, drunkenness, &c., shall cease among 
mankind. When that happy era shall arrive, then, 
indeed, Mr. Stephen's theory may be safely ap- 
plied to practice ; no workhouses will be required 
in Jamaica, nor houses of correction in England ; 
and there will be no sales of workhouse-slaves. 
But what is to be done in the meantime ? What 
other system of police for a society so constituted 



of reducing free persons to slavery. 229 

can he, or any of his friends, suggest, that will 
better preserve the peace of the country > better 
support the just rights of property, or more 
effectually promote the best interests of the com- 
munity ? 

Suppose a slave of the above description deserts 
his master, and proceeds to a district a hundred 
or even fifty miles distant, where, assuming a new 
name, he pretends to be free, it is evident there is 
nothing but the laws in question to prevent him 
from carrying his point : if apprehended, the 
chances are, that neither the superintendent of 
the workhouse, nor any person in it, can detect 
the falsehood from a personal knowledge of him ; 
nor is there any greater probability that the distant 
master can, from the false name given in the ad- 
vertisement, discover his slave and claim him. Be 
it also remembered, that in this way not only 
fugitive slaves, or vagrants, but criminals who 
had fled to escape the punishment of the worst 
crimes, would effect their freedom, while the 
faithful servant would remain in bondage. Whether 
this is Mr. Stephen's object, whether he wishes 
to give encouragement and protection to vice 
and crime, or if he errs through ignorance, it is 
the same thing to the colonists, to whom the result 
of his laws, however intended, would be destruc- 
tion. It may, perhaps, be a question, whether 
slavery should be suffered to exist in the colonies, 
or put an end to at once by giving a fair compen- 
sation to the colonists ; but surely no one will say 



230 The Colonists falsely accused 

that this is the way in which we ought to get quit 
of it. While the system exists, the law, if its 
object is to protect property, must surely be 
framed to keep as slaves those who are slaves, till 
legitimately freed. That it docs more, is not 
proved, nor attempted to be proved. It is indeed 
alleged, that c there is abundant reason to believe ' 
it does more ; but where this abundant reason to 
believe is to be found, we are not told ; and if the 
evil Sid exist, it certainly is not a little extra- 
ordinary that it never should have been complained 
of by the free people of colour themselves. 

In a society so constituted, it is manifest the 
law must necessarily take cognizance, not only of 
all known run- away slaves, or such vagrants as 
acknowledge themselves to be slaves, but also of 
all suspicious-looking unknown negroes who can- 
not give an account of themselves. Arid to say that 
such ought not to be sold, is, in other words, to 
say, that a slave should only have to run away 
from his master, and be free ; which, though some 
in England might think it highly proper (their 
own interest not being concerned,) cannot well be 
the law in Jamaica, or in any other country M r here 
slavery is established. 

' A considerable number of the negroes advertised,' says Mr. S., 
* will be found to have no known masters, and to allege that they 
are free persons ; and yet the advertisements state that they are to 
be sold at an early period, unless claimed by an owner, or proved 
by sufficient evidence to be free.' p. 369. 

To have no known master, and to be free, are 



of reducing free persons to slavery. 231 

pretences occasionally set up by the more artful ; 
but any one who will take the trouble to look at 
the lists published, will see that but a very incon- 
siderable number of the negroes advertised ever 
pretend to be free. The ' early period' at which 
they may be sold is four months from the date of 
their committal. 

Now as to the difficulty of producing evidence 
of freedom. In the first place, all manumission 
deeds are recorded, and the person manumised 
has a certificate of it, or can procure one from the 
record at any time when wanted. Secondly, every 
one born free is baptized, and has his or her name 
recorded as a free person in the parochial regis- 
ters ; consequently, in either case, there can be 
no difficulty in procuring* even ' documentary 
' evidence' of freedom, if such were necessary, 
which in practice it is not ; for to shew by re- 
ference to any respectable person that he has 
been known as but reputedly free, is always suf- 
ficient to save a negro from being committed to 
a workhouse as a slave, or to liberate him from it 
if he has been committed. If, therefore, any free 
negro or mulatto, going to a part of the country 
where he is unknown, should, by any improper 
conduct, bring suspicion on himself, and be ap- 
prehended, and committed to a gaol or workhouse, 
and if he has no testimonial of his freedom to 
exhibit, can there be any difficulty in procuring, 
within four months, a certificate of his freedom 
from the Record Office or the parochial register, 



232 The Colonists falsely accused 

or the testimony or letter of some respectable 
person, stating that he has known him as reputedly 
free? 

In these circumstances where is the danger, or 
indeed the possibility, of a free person being re- 
duced to slavery? and let Mr. Stephen explain 
what benefit would result to the white people 
from it, as I cannot conceive any possible motive 
or inducement. The price received for workhouse- 
slaves goes to the public, not to any individual ; 
moreover, they are such characters as no respect- 
able planter will introduce among his people, and 
seldom sell for more than pays their fees. 

As to free negroes coming from other states to 
settle in Jamaica, is it to be supposed that they 
will not, in removing from one island to another, 
use the very simple precaution of carrying with 
them documents which they know to be every 
where necessary in the colonies ? And even if a 
free negro comes to Jamaica ignorant of this law, 
he learns it on his arrival, and is under no neces- 
sity to remain ; though the truth is, he would run 
no risk ; as a decent person of any colour, earning 
his bread in an honest way, is no more molested 
in Jamaica than in England. 

The question then comes to be, since such laws 
are necessary to protect property and keep as 
slaves those who are slaves till lawfully freed, 
whether these laws are so guarded that free per- 
sons are not endangered by them ? For my own 
part, I think it is hardly possible to guard against 



of reducing free persons to slavery. 233 

this more anxiously than it is done in Jamaica. 
Not to mention the facility which free persons 
have in procuring evidence of their freedom, and 
that none ever are molested but such as there is 
reason to suspect are run-away slaves, it is ex- 
pressly provided by the 70th and 71st sections of 
the slave law, that when any negro or other per- 
son, detained in any gaol or workhouse as a run- 
away slave, shall allege himself to be free, the 
custos, or senior justice of the precinct, shall im- 
mediately convene a special sessions, of not less 
than three justices of the peace, to investigate the 
truth of the allegation ; and if it appear that such 
person so detained as a run-away slave is free, he 
shall be forthwith discharged ; and no slave so 
detained, and making such allegation, shall be 
sold until such investigation has been made, other- 
wise the sale to be null and void. 

Moreover, if the justices (easily satisfied a-: 
they always are where there is the least evidence 
to bear out the claim of freedom) should not de- 
cide that the person so detained is free, he has 
still another resource, and may serve an ejectment 
or writ of Homine Replegiando on the supervisor 
of the workhouse, who, by section 72d of the slave 
law, is required to give four weeks' previous no- 
tice thereof, with a description of the person ; after 
which, if no owner conies forward to claim the 
person in question as his slave, he must be libe- 
rated ; and if a claimant appears, he must prove a 
title before a court : the person detained as a slave 



234 The Colonists falsely accused 

is not, in this action, required to prove that he is 
free. In proof of this, I copy the following ad- 
vertisement from the Royal Gazette, Jamaica, 5th 
June 1824 :- 

' Kingston Workhouse, May 22c?, 1824. 

' Whereas I have been this day served with an action of Ho- 
mine Replcyiando at the suit of a black woman, therein called 
Betsey alias Elizabeth Green, and stated to be free by Henry J. 
Ross, Esq., her attorney : Notice is therefore hereby given, that 
unless some person or persons shall, within the time limited by law, 
inform me of his, her, or their intention to take the defence of the 
said action, I shall release the said woman on her fees being paid. 
This woman was sent in under the name of Bessey Green, is a 
Creole, five feet four inches high, marked |) on the left shoulder, 
and having stated herself to be free, was ordered by L. M'Lean, 
Esq., sitting magistrate, on the 14th of October last, to be received 
into this workhouse, and detained until proceedings were instituted 
to prove the same. 

HENRY BIIOUGHTON, Sup. 

This notice clearly shews the onus probandi in 
this action to be on the master claiming, and not 
on the slave. Whether E. Green be free or not, 
unless a person appears to claim her within four 
weeks after the date of the advertisement, she will 
be liberated ; and if a claimant appears he must 
prove his title ; she is not required to prove that 
she is free. 

It also deserves to be noticed, that the claimant 
must prove his right by a written title, duly exe- 
cuted and recorded. Mr. S. indeed, says, that 
' the law allows the master to deduce his title by 
c parol evidence, and demands no proof of the ser- 



of reducing free persons to slavery. 235 

c vile state beyond the colour of the skin/ p. 390. 
But this is of a piece with his assertion, already 
noticed, when treating of the trial of slaves upon 
criminal accusations., that the proceedings against 
them in all cases, capital as well as others, are 
c wholly by parol? There is just as much truth in 
the one proposition as in the other. A man can 
no more lay claim to a negro in Jamaica, than to 
an estate in England, without shewing a legal title. 
Hence, in purchasing slaves, the first object always 
is, to ascertain from the public records that the 
person offering them for sale holds a valid title, 
and has a right to dispose of them. 

No evidence has been, nor, I believe, can be, 
adduced to shew that free persons have ever suf- 
fered wrong by the police laws under considera- 
tion ; while, on the other hand, it is notorious 
that slaves in Jamaica, by deserting and removing 
to a distant part of the island, frequently manage 
to pass themselves as free, till by being reputed 
as such, they obtain a sort of prescriptive right to 
freedom ; which, though it may not entitle them 
to all the privileges of free people, such as giving 
evidence, &c., will save them from being commit- 
ted to a workhouse. Many negroes I have myself 
employed on board of coasting vessels as free 
persons, who had no document of freedom to 
shew, and who, I had no doubt, were run-away 
slaves ; but that was no business of mine ; I paid 
them their wages as others did, and made no in- 
quiries. 



236 The Colonists falsely accused, $$c. 

Let the reader now turn to Mr. S., bearing in 
mind the provisions of the law to protect free per- 
sons, with the fact, that while no eases of such 
persons having been reduced to slavery in the 
colonies are even attempted to be proved, in- 
stances of slaves effecting their freedom, by de- 
serting and passing themselves as free, are fre- 
quent and notorious. 

1 I have said that the Assemblies, while leaving the sources of 
the condition undefined, have, by the presumption against free- 
dom, and by the police acts together, virtually sanctioned every 
source of slavery to which private fraud or violence may resort. 
But this is an inadequate view of the case. They have invented a 
cause of slavery, additional to all those which lawgivers, civil or 
barbarous, have elsewhere recognised, or rapacious avarice ex- 
plored ; namely, the having a black skin without a deed of manu- 
mission. They have thus contrived to effect what human despo- 
tism never attempted or imagined before. When they made a 
black or tawny skin a presumption of bondage, they threw a con- 
venient veil over the enormities of the slave trade, and indulged 
their proud contempt of the African race, without danger to any 
one whose censure they feared, or whose rights they deemed worth 
protecting. Free negroes and mulattoes might probably suffer 
from it ; but these have no share in the work of legislation, or in 
electing the assemblies ; and from an odious middle class, which 
it has been the uniform though preposterous policy of the British 
colonies to discourage and reduce.' pp. 371 2. 

This is the language of the man, who says his 
object ' is not to inflame popular indignation;' 
this is the book which the London emancipation 
society solicited the publication of, in the cause of 
Christian benevolence ! 

We have already asked Mr. Stephen to produce, 



Antipathy of the white to the coloured people. 237 

in proof of this cruel and unmerited charge, a 
single Instance of a free person having been re- 
duced to slavery in the colonies. We call upon 
him also to reconcile the fact he himself admits, 
that people of colour are ' rapidly increasing,' with 
his charge, that a ' black or a tawny skin, with- 
c out a deed of manumission, dooms those persons 
( to indiscriminate slavery.' We call upon him 
farther to bring forward the evidence of the free 
coloured people themselves, whom we are accused 
of so cruelly injuring ; they have repeatedly, both 
the blacks and the browns, applied to the legisla- 
ture for extension of their political rights, which 
sometimes has been granted and sometimes re- 
fused ; they have repeatedly complained of griev- 
ances ; but when did they complain that any of 
their numbers were reduced by violence and in- 
justice to a state of slavery ? and what other griev- 
ance could equal this ? 

In every page of his laboured work, Mr. Ste- Alleged amipa- 

- . r i T i i i , 1 thy of the white 

phcn speaks of the hatred and contempt which the to'tbe black 

i i i p-iiii i aiul l)rown 

white people in the colonies have 01 the black and people. 

brown. This, above all things, he c hammers on 
c the public ear.' But the idea is too preposterous 
to be entertained by any reasonable person ; 
causes are obvious for a master's attachment to 
his labourers, who are at the same time his pro- 
perty and humble dependents ; but we can ima- 
gine no causes for hatred and contempt of them. 
Nor can we imagine any cause for that animosity 



238 Antipathy of the white to the coloured people. 

which has been said to exist between the whites 
and the free people of colour, linked together as 
they are by consanguinity and a community 
of interests. If the latter are rising into im- 
portance as a class, if some individuals among 
them own considerable property and have been 
liberally educated, can a single case of the kind 
be adduced where they have not been indebted 
for these blessings to their white relatives and 
friends ? True, they have not yet an equality 
of political privileges with the white people ; but 
as a body are they yet fit to be put upon an equa- 
lity ? and if not, how is the line of distinction to 
be drawn between the few who are, and the many 
who are not ? Persons of property and respecta- 
bility among them are fully sensible of this diffi- 
culty, and are far from desiring that public tran- 
quillity should be hazarded by premature mea- 
sures. Individuals of an opposite description will 
be found in every country ; but, (though there 
may be some prejudices to overcome, and some 
partial distinctions which might as well be re- 
moved,) I have never, in my own experience, 
seen any appearance of animosity between the 
two classes of white and brown people on this 
ground ; nor do I think there is any danger of a 
misunderstanding, unless the torch of discord is 
carried among them by the party in this country 
who are disposed to imbitter every thing, and 
embroil the different classes, in the colonies. 
These, like Tom Paine, find no difficulty in set- 



Superiority of the white people. 239 

tling the rights of man ; governments have not 
found it quite so easy. 

That African negroes are looked upon as a class Superiority of 

^ . . the white peo- 

infenor to enlightened Britons is true ; they are vie, how view- 

/ edbytheNe- 

themselves perfectly sensible of their inferiority, g roes - 
however much at a loss to account for it. Build- 
ing ships, for instance, particularly men of war, 
and sailors *Jinding pass ' (finding their way) in 
the ocean from Guinea to Buckra Country, as they 
call Jamaica, I have often heard them speak of 
with astonishment ; and I was much struck with 
their admiration of the first ' steam-engine,' or 
e smoke-mill,' as they call it, that was set to work 
in the neighbourhood where I resided, and which 
they came from all quarters to see. The common 
exclamation was, c Massa-nigger ! wharra dem 
' Buckra no savi ? Wharra dem no can do ? ' 
(Fellow- servant ! what is it the white people do 
not know ? What is it they cannot do ?) * 

1 SECT. VI. Of Enfranchisement.' p. 374. Emancipation. 

This subject is introduced by a beautiful and 
affecting figure, in which our author fancies him- 



* Some years ago, the boiler-men negroes on Duckenfield estate were 
overheard by the book-keeper discoursing on this subject, (the superiority of 
the whites,) and various opinions were given, till the question was thus set to 
rest by air old African : ' When God Almighty make de world, him make two 

* man, a nigger and a buckra; and him give dem two box, and him tell dem 

* for make dem choice. Nigger (nigger greedy from time!) when him find 
' one box heavy him take it, and buckra take t'other ; when dem open de box, 

* buckra see pen, ink, and paper ; nigger box full up with hoe and bill, and 
' hoe and bill for nigger till this day.' 



240 Emancipation. 

self to be Baron Trcnck, immured in a gloomy 
and solitary dungeon, labouring, body and soul, to 
work his way out : 

' Impatience and dejection,' says he, ' would indeed often re- 
turn ; but alter paroxysms of these, hope would again come to 
soothe me and animate my efforts. My tyrant would lose much 
of his purpose, for he would not break my heart, unless by finding 
out my secret labours, and preventing their resumption, he should 
shut out the ray of hope which had cheered me, and plunge me in 
the darkness of despair. Such is the value of possible, but far 
more that of potential liberty, to the slave.' p. 375. 

A very beautiful and very affecting description 
certainly, if Mr. Stephen were really Baron 
Trenck, deprived of ' possible or potential liberty,' 
or if the slaves, whom he personates, were really 
in such a situation as is implied by the compari- 
son. Fortunately, it is quite inapplicable to them. 
The negro labourers in the West Indies feel it no 
more a degradation or a hardship, that having 
their wants and comforts supplied by their mas- 
ters, they must work for them to the end of their 
days, than the free labourers in Britain do, that to 
procure daily bread, they are doomed to a life of 
toil that can end only with their existence, while 
they see the master whom they serve,, wallowing 
in the enjoyment of all the luxuries of life, spend- 
ing more in one day than the pittance that repays 
the toil and supplies hundreds of his poor depen- 
dents with the bare means of existence. 



Emancipation, how understood by the Slaves. 24 1 

People are apt to err by applying tlieir own feel- K mancipation 

how titter- 
ings to the case or others ; and by whom was this stood b y thc 

J Slaves. 

error ever more likely to be fallen into than by 
enlightened free-born Englishmen, applying the 
standard of their own minds to the case of the 
African slave, who in some things has not an idea 
in common with them ? Freedom, to an English- 
man, appears an object of such paramount impor 7 
tance, that every earthly blessing sinks into insig- 
nificance in comparison ; while to the negro, who 
has been born and bred up in slavery, who consi- 
ders labour the only evil, and idleness the only 
bliss, freedom, as British labourers understand 
and enjoy it, is a thing as yet unknown and unde- 
sired. I have lived twenty- one years among 
negroes, and never heard one of them express a 
sentiment with regard to freedom, such as Eng- 
lishmen entertain. They speak of it as desirable, 
viewing it as the enjoyment of wealth with an ex- 
emption from labour ; but freedom, joined with 
poverty and labour, is a thing they even ridicule ; 
and I have more than once witnessed how much 
an independent wealthy slave can look down on a 
poor freeman of his own colour. On Golden 
Grove estate, the property of Mr. Arcedeckne, on 
which I many years resided, a little colony of free 
blacks have established themselves on the sea- 
side, and are by sufferance allowed to remain. 
They pay no rent ; and yet such is their indolence 
and improvidence, that they are, to my certain 
knowledge, supported in no small degree by the 

R 



242 Emancipation, how understood by the Slaves. 

bounty of the slaves on the neighbouring planta- 
tions. I have often myself assisted them with 
medicine, food, &c., and have known medical gen- 
tlemen, on several occasions, attend them in sick- 
ness without, of course, looking for a fee. 

That freedom should be a blessing when ' join- 
c ed, as it often is, with much abject toil and great 
' misery,' is as incomprehensible to the negroes, as 
that the element of water should become solid by 
cold. To exemplify their understanding of free- 
dom, I may mention that I have heard my own 
servants, when I happened to be longer in bed 
than usual, say to one another, ' Massa think he a 
free man this morning ; ' meaning that I thought I 
had nothing to do, and was indulging in idleness 
instead of attending to business. Such generally, 
if not universally, is the meaning which they at- 
tach to being free ; they have no more conception 
^ of the labour performed by the free people of 
England, (so much greater than they themselves 
perform,) than these have of the greater comforts 
enjoyed by the slaves. And the eloquence of a 
CANNING would fail to convince a negro slave that 
he would be benefited by being freed, if he had to 
lose his present home, provide himself with an- 
other, and work as hard as before to support him- 
self and his children, hitherto provided for by his 
master. Nor, indeed, is emancipation much bet- 
ter understood in its various bearings and pro- 
bable results, by the supporters of it in this coun-r 
try, than by the slaves in the colonies. Here it is 



Danger from discussions on emancipation. 243 

one thing ; there it is another : here, it is to make 
the negroes an industrious and enterprising free 
peasantry ; there, it is to be a liberation from the 
master's authority, an exemption from labour, in 
short the free and full enjoyment of enviable idle- 
ness, in the houses and land belonging to their 
masters, which they now possess. 

Nor can they in reason be blamed ; for as this Danger from 

* _T , , , discussions on 

is the only change they can comprehend that emancipation. 
would benefit them, what more natural than to 
conclude it to be that which is intended ? And if 
this is, indeed, what the mother country in its wis- 
dom and benevolence intends, all is well ; if not, 
it cannot too soon put an end to discussions which 
may induce them to take by violence, what they 
are led to think unjustly withheld by their masters. 
Let it not be supposed that, far as they are dis- 
tant, they are not informed of what is going on. 
The parliamentary proceedings on the subject of 
the colonies, find their way to every plantation in 
Jamaica as fast as the winds can waft them, and 
are the subject of conversation in the presence of 
negro servants, who speedily carry them from the 
tables of the white people to those of the slaves. 
Nor is this the only channel of communication 
they have ; for, not to speak of the black and 
coloured servants constantly returning from Eng- 
land to the colonies, and carrying with them a 
confused notion of intended emancipation, there 
is another even more dangerous channel : many 

B 2 



214 Danger from 

of the free coloured people are educated, and not 
only get the newspapers, but through incendiaries 
the twopenny pamphlets published in England, 
which almost openly advocate insurrection ; 
through the coloured people the contents of these 
villanous productions reach the ears of the slaves ; 
and kindly treated and happy as they in general 
are, it is too much to expect that the labourers in 
any country can long withstand an almost direct 
instigation to rebellion. Even in this country, 
where the arm of government is so much stronger 
than in the colonies, could such inflammatory lan- 
guage be addressed to the labouring classes with- 
out danger of the most fatal consequences ? Only 
suppose that societies and institutions were formed 
for the avowed purpose of bettering the condition 
of the operatives ; that meetings were held, speeches 
made, and reports published, giving the most 
touching (no matter however false) description 
of the hardships they endure ; that the capitalists 
and great landowners were held up in the most 
odious light, as men wallowing in wealth ' wrung 

* from the sinews ' of their fellow-creatures,* as 

* At the late anti-slavery meeting in Norfolk, Mr. Buxton is reported to 
have spoken of the colonists as ' fattening on the labours of the slaves,' an 
expression of peculiar felicity in the mouth of a man who enjoys such wealth, 
derived (as the Rev. Thomas Cooper hath it) from the sinews of the 
negroes ' ! But Mr. Stephen's eloquence beats every thing in this way, 
and may be taken as a perfect pattern by those who would stir up the popu- 
lace of any country against their rulers or the men of property. Tims we 
have on the one side, ' savage tyrants, inhuman oppressors, ferocious mas- 
' ters, cruel and unfeeling masters, cruel brutalizers of their people, brutal 
' oppressors, white monarchs, white oligarchists, white mobility, white ma- 
' jesties, &c. &c.' And, on the other side, African victims, abject despised 

negro, oppression of the helpless, extreme and crud oppression, sad destiny, 



discussions on emancipation. 245 

' eating the bread of the fatherless and grinding 
c the faces of the poor/ as both 'hating and despis- 

* ing the working classes ;' in short, just such 
tyrants and oppressors as the colonists have been 
most falsely represented ; and say, if combination, 
riot, rebellion, and revolution, are not the conse- 
quences that might be anticipated ? True, the 
proceedings of the anti-colonists are not in Ja- 
maica ; but are they not known there ? Is it not 
notorious that some of the most inflammatory 
pamphlets published in England have been sent 
out for the express purpose of being disseminated 
among the slaves and people of colour ? Not only 
pamphlets are sent out, but crockery ware and 
handkerchiefs with inscriptions and devices re- 
presenting them as oppressed, and calling on them 
to rise and take vengeance on their oppressors. 

If these facts are not known, they ought to be 
known ; it may soon be too late : and they will 
have much to answer for who have lent their aid 
to carry bloodshed and misery into the abodes of 
peace. In the public prints it is frequently asked, 
if the negroes in the colonies are so comfortable 
and so perfectly contented, how comes there to be 
so much danger of insurrection ? This question 
is partly answered by what has just been stated ; 
to which it may be added, that among them, as 
among every other people, there are some design- 
ing, restless, and ambitious individuals, who would 

' unoffending Africans, extreme and helpless slavery, sad state of man, poor 

* slaves, poor beings, poor drudges, &c. &c.' 



246 Danger from 

be glad to foment mischief in the hope of acquir- 
ing an ascendency ; the same principle that has 
in some degree influenced the revolutionists in 
all countries, and is here particularly dangerous 
from the ignorance of so great a part of the popu- 
lation. But was there ever an insurrection of 
negroes known, the object of which was freedom, 
as freedom is enjoyed by the labourers in this 
country, and as the advocates of emancipation per- 
haps intend it for the negroes, a release from the 
master's authority, with the loss of his protection 
and support, for permission to labour where they 
will, and for whom they will, as the labourers in 
England do ? Never. Nor am I aware that ex- 
cessive labour, or ill treatment of any kind, has 
ever been assigned by the negroes in our colonies 
as the cause of insurrection. The insurrection of 
the Koromantyn slaves in Jamaica, in 1760, was 
the act of savage Africans, new r ly imported and 
impatient of restraint ; the more recent disturb- 
ances in that island proceeded from an idea enter- 
tained by the negroes, that liberty had been granted 
them by the King, and was unjustly withheld by 
their masters. On this subject, I quote the Re- 
port of a Committee of the House of Assembly, 
Session 1824 :- 

f Your Committee lias sedulously endeavoured to trace the origin 
of the various disturbances which have so recently agitated the 
island, and in no one instance have they been attributed to any 
complaints preferred by the slaves, of cruel treatment experienced 
froiii their masters or overseers, or the privation of any rights with 
which usage or law had invested them. On the contrary thereof, 



discussions on emancipation. 247 

the very negroes who have atoned by the forfeiture of their lives for 
the violation of the laws of their country, declared, both before 
their conviction and at the place of execution, that they were con- 
tented and happy till they imbibed notions that the King and Wil- 
berforce had made them free. 

* This idea is not confined to any one particular parish, but ap- 
pears to have pervaded the whole island, and has taken such full 
possession of the negro mind, that it forms the constant theme of 
his conversation ; and its effects are too lamentably shewn by the 
altered demeanour, and the reluctance exhibited in discharging his 
ordinary duties. All notions of dependence and subjection to the 
authority of his master are now excluded, and so far from regard- 
ing the latter with his wonted feelings of respect and affection, he 
looks upon him as his bitterest enemy, in withholding from him the 
enjoyment of those privileges which the mother country is supposed 
to have conceded. The natural result of this has been, a restless 
expectation of benefits of which they have no definite idea : some 
looking forward to emancipation, while others, more moderate, 
confine their views to the enjoyment of Friday, Saturday, and Sun- 
day, as set apart exclusively for the negro. The discussions which 
from time to time are renewed in the British Parliament, and with 
which the negroes become acquainted, tend to keep alive these 
feelings of distrust and dissatisfaction, and will, if persisted in, 
eventually place a barrier of insurmountable hostility between the 
master and his slave, and inevitably defeat the object which even 
the advocates of emancipation themselves entertain : for instead of 
diffusing a pure and salutary light, which might gradually prepare 
the negro mind for that improvement in its condition which may 
be alone contemplated, they infuse notions inimical to their own 
happiness and to the welfare of the colony ; the effect of which, 
your Committee dread, will be to kindle a flame which, if ever 
extinguished, will only be quenched in blood. The wishes and 
good intentions of the master have been paralyzed by the fear that 
scenes of revolt may be of too frequent occurrence to afford any 
rational prospect, that the fatal delusion which now overshadows 
the mind of the negro may be eventually removed ; and however 
anxious he may be to adopt measures, which prudence and huma- 



248 Danger from 

nity may suggest as tending to ameliorate the condition of his 
slaves, he dares not, lest they should be considered acts of compul- 
sion, and thereby excite feelings of triumph in the negro bosom, 
which no subsequent events could possibly allay.' 

To the same effect, his Grace the Duke of Man- 
chester, in a despatch to Earl Bathurst, of date 1st 
July 1824, says : 

* I cannot conceal from your Lordship, that the delusion which 
the negroes throughout the island have generally participated in, 
that they are entitled to their freedom, has not been removed by 
the publication of his Majesty's Proclamation. They have been 
heard to declare, in various parts of the island, that the Proclama- 
tion is a forgery, and has been fabricated in this country by their 
owners. Whether the impression will ever be removed it is diffi- 
cult to say, but I am extremely apprehensive that some time will 
elapse before the island is again restored to a perfect state of tran- 
quillity.' 

Sir B. d'Urban, Governor of Demarara, in a de- 
spatch to the Colonial Secretary, of date the 5th 
of May 1824, in allusion to the late revolt in that 
colony, writes thus : 

* Respecting the actual state of feeling and disposition of the 
slaves, the result of all the information I have collected, compared, 
and combined, is not very satisfactory ; for it compels me to be 
convinced that the spirit of discontent is any thing but extinct ; it 
is alive, as it were, under its ashes ; and the negro mind, although 
giving forth no marked indications of mischief to those not accus- 
tomed to observe it, is still agitated, jealous, and suspicious. 

' Many of the slaves in this colony, and especially those on the 
east coast, (which was the theatre of the revolt,) are described to 
me as remarkably well informed upon all that passes in England 
and in the colonies interesting to their views and condition ; many 
of them read ; most of them well understand what is read or re- 
peated to them ; they are all naturally enough inquisitive to learn 
whatever relates to them; and, unquestionably, th<y continue to 



discussions on emancipation. 249 

procure very early information of all discussions in Parliament, in 
the newspapers, and in the public prints.' 

To remove the delusion among the slaves ' that 
c orders had been sent out for their emancipation/ 
a Proclamation by the King was published, after 
the recent revolt, by the late Governor, Major- 
General Murray. His successor in the govern- 
ment. Sir B. d' Urban, found it necessary to issue 
another : ' And,' continues his Excellency, in the 
despatch above quoted, ' in order to ensure the 
c due circulation of this Proclamation, the faith of 
* the negroes in its authenticity, and its conse- 
' quent influence upon them, I am proceeding 
6 through the districts of the east coast, and have 
' appointed that two chosen slaves from each 
' estate shall meet me at the residence of their re- 
( spective burgher captains, where I shall in per- 
' son read the Proclamation to them, explain to 
6 them myself what I wish explained, and send 
' them back to their comrades. I look forward to 
c good effects from this measure, &c.' 

These documents shew what the extent of the 
delusion has been among 1 the negroes, the melan- 
choly effects it produced, and the difficulty of re- 
moving it. Yet, in the face of such unquestion- 
able evidence, there are not wanting individuals 
who deny that the discussions in this country, 
either in Parliament or out of it, can at all endan- 
ger the peace of the colonies ; nay, the danger 
and alarm of an insurrection are no sooner over, 
than it is denied that there was an insurrection, 



250 Danger from discussions on emancipation. 

that there was even a serious offence committed 
by the negroes ; and, of course, the blood of the 
deluded victims is laid at the door of the colonists. 
Thus, speaking of the late insurrection in Dema- 
rara, ' there was nothing like a grave offence com- 
' mitted by the slaves,' says the Edinburgh Re- 
view ; ( the negroes struck ivork ; the blundering 
( indecision of their rulers, and the seditious squab- 
6 bles of the constituted authorities, occasioned a 
c belief that they were freed. To ascertain this, 
' they took steps which, in England, would have 
c been punished with a month's imprisonment, 
* and straightway the land streamed with Wood.' 

Struck work ! was the expression ever before 
applied to a body of slaves, amounting to some 
hundreds, assembled in arms against their mas- 
ters ? But however this party may palliate insur- 
rection among the negroes, by saying they had 
only struck work; or however it may cast the 
blame of the negroes being misled into the belief 
that their freedom had been sent out, on the in- 
decision of their rulers and the squabbles of the 
constituted authorities ; while the white people 
exist in the colonies, they must maintain order and 
subordination : in the midst of a population so 
constituted, and where there may soon be such 
fearful odds against them, they will think of self- 
preservation, they will not wait till the insurrec- 
tion makes head, till they are overpowered with 
numbers, and, as the Review expresses it, ' the 
knife is at their throats/ 



Fatal consequences of premature emancipation. 25 1 

According to Mr. Stephen, it is intolerable op- 
pression that goads the negroes into resistance; 
but if we believe the accounts given us in history, 
it has at least sometimes happened, that slaves 
have been found the foremost and most active in 
rebellion where the reins of authority had been 
most slackened, and the greatest indulgences had 
been granted to them. Order and subordination 
must be maintained in the West Indies as else- 
where, and it is well known that on plantations 
where, either through pusillanimity, indolence, or 
ill-timed lenity, order and subordination are not 
maintained, there will ever be found the greatest 
discontent among the slaves, the greatest trouble 
to the manager, and the least prosperity to both 
masters and slaves. Negroes are but children in 
intellect, and, like children, easily spoiled ; both 
may be treated with kindness, and yet a proper 
authority kept up ; but by both it is not unusual 
to see kindness very ill requited, where discipline 
is neglected. 



Even setting aside the consideration due to Fatal conse- 
vested rights of property, which ought never to be slaves of pre- 

. . mature eman- 

violated, it is my most sincere opinion, that 11 the cipatiou. 
demon of mischief himself were to have power 
granted him to dictate the measure best calculated 
to accomplish the destruction of all classes in the 
British colonies, slaves as well as others, it would 
be immediate or premature emancipation ; and 



252 Fatal consequences of premature emancipation. 

unquestionably, the consequences of thus casting 
the slaves loose from authority in their present 
state, would be such as could afford gratification 
only to such a spirit, strife, carnage, and desola- 
tion. 

Gratifying as it would be to every benevolent 
mind to see ignorance, vice, and misery, extir- 
pated from the earth, and the whole race of man- 
kind, from the rising to the setting sun, enjoying 
the blessings of freedom, religion, and science, 
let us not be misled by Utopian dreams to attempt 
what is so far beyond mortal power, as to change 
an ignorant and comparatively savage people, and 
at once raise them to an equality with the most 
enlightened ; nor let us forget that what are good 
laws for the one, may be very unfit for the other. 
The minds of the negroes must be more enlight- 
ened, they must acquire a taste for something 
more than the satisfying of the mere animal wants 
of the body, a taste for the higher, though perhaps 
artificial, pleasures and acquirements, which sti- 
mulate the industry of civilized life ; in short, 
emancipation must be allowed time to effect itself 
among them, as it lias done in other countries. It 
never can be given to a whole class of people at 
once, without the most evident danger ; and every 
attempt to press emancipation beyond the progress 
of education and knowledge and a proper esti- 
mate of freedom, will be found in the end to re- 
tard instead of promoting civilization, 



Emancipation of Slaves in America. 253 

Among instances which have been brought for- Emancipation 
ward to establish the practicability of an imme- America. 
diate or general emancipation, we have seen re- 
ference made to some of the States of North 
America, Pensylvania, New York, and New Jersey., 
where laws were passed by their own respective 
legislatures, declaring that slavery should cease 
after a certain subsequent date. But, in the first 
place, between these states and our colonies there 
exists no parallel, because the number of slaves in 
the former was altogether insignificant compared 
with the white population, for whose labour the 
climate is better adapted than for the labour of 
negroes. Nor is this all : there is another circum- 
stance in the case, which those who bring it 
forward as a pattern to us, are either ignorant 
of or take care never to mention ; in point of 
fact, though there was an abolition of slavery in 
those states, there was no emancipation, as the 
slaves were only removed to the more southern 
states before the date when slavery was to cease. 
I witnessed myself a cargo of those unfortunate 
beings shipping off from New Jersey for Louisiana, 
and the impression on my mind was, that, however 
good a thing it might be for New Jersey, the law 
which put an end to slavery in it, had done any 
thing but benefited the slaves, who were thus 
torn from their homes, to be employed in what 
Mr. Stephen calls the lethiferous process of open- 
' ing new lands,' in the distant swamps of Louisiana. 

Suppose a law were passed, by which slavery 



254 Emancipation Right of Redemption. 

was to cease in the Bahamas in 1830, and that the 
whole of the slaves there, were, before that period, 
removed to Demarara, it would be exactly such a 
case of emancipation as has been quoted from 
America. 

Emancipation The dissolution of slavery is distinguished by 

Right of Re- J 

. Mr. Stephen into three modes : 1, Redemption ; 
2, Manumission; 3, Enfranchisement by public 
authority. 

' I mean by redemption, the dissolution of slavery by force of 
a condition previously annexed to it for the benefit of the slave, the 
performance of which, on his part or behalf, entitles him to his 
freedom by law, independently of the master's will. Slavery has 
not every where been redeemable. It is almost needless therefore 
to say, that there is no such mitigation of the state in the British 
colonies/ p. 378. 

This leads into a comparison of the slave laws 
of other states with those in our colonies, which 
terminates as usual in proving ours to be the worst 
that ever existed in any age or country. 

Speaking of the law of the Spanish colonies, 
Mr. S. says : 

' The enslaved negro may not only compel the master to accept 
of his value, when tendered, as the price of his freedom, 'which 
value, when contested, the civil magistrate is empowered to adjust ; 
but may even redeem himself progressively, by paying a portion of 
that price, for an equal proportion of the time during which he is 
bound to labour for the master. When rich enough, for instance, 
to pay a sixth-part of his appreciation, he may redeem, for his own 
use, one day in the week ; by employing which industriously he 
will of course be much sooner enabled to buy out a second day, 



Emancipation Right of Redemption. 255 

than he could have been through any other application of the money 
first acquired ; and by pursuing the same laudable course, the re- 
mainder of his time may obviously be redeemed with a continually 
accelerated progress, till he becomes entitled to an entire and final 
manumission.' p. 383. 

Such may be the written law of Spain, but is it 
acted upon ? Mr. S. does not, and I fear, cannot 
say so. A person unacquainted with the colonies, 
who took his opinions from the work before us, 
would perhaps suppose that it is only necessary 
for parliament c to cease impotently, and mischiev- 
' ously to recommend, and begin at length to OR- 
' DAIN,' in other words, perhaps, to make a similar 
redemption law for our colonies, and all would be 
well. But if parliament should begin to ordain, 
as Mr. S. recommends, and should pass such a law, 
the result might be, if the feelings of the colonists 
did not go along with it, not to benefit but seri- 
ously to injure the slaves. Who does not know 
that their means of acquiring wealth depends in no 
small degree on the master's indulgence ? That 
they keep horses, cattle, asses, pigs, and poultry, 
which are fed on his grass, corn, and canes ? That 
they not only have his land to cultivate to any ex- 
tent they please, but often the use of his cattle 
and waggons to take their provisions to market ? 
Supposing, therefore, that by such a law it became 
the master's interest to keep his slaves poor, (that 
they might not possess the means of purchasing 
their freedom,) and to limit those indulgences to 
what his own interest in their welfare > required, 



256 Emancipation Right of Redemption. 

is it not sufficiently clear that its effects might 
be to injure instead of benefiting the slaves ? 
Such a feeling, I am confident, will never find a 
place in the breasts of English colonists ; and I 
make the observation only to shew how utterly 
unavailing, if not absolutely injurious, any attempt 
must prove to legislate in London on matters so 
little understood there as the internal affairs of the 
colonies. ' The parliament/ says Franklin, ' can- 
not well and wisely make laws suited to the colo- 
nies without being properly and truly informed of 
their circumstances, abilities, temper, &c. This it 
cannot be without representatives from thence, 
and yet it is fond of this power, and averse to the 
only means of acquiring the necessary knowledge 
for exercising it, which is desiring to be omnipo- 
tent without being omniscient.' 

But would a right of redemption, even if granted 
by the colonial legislatures, be, after all, so great 
a boon to the slaves as is supposed ? I am not an 
advocate against the measure, but I think not ; 
because without it, I believe, the cases are very 
rare where manumission would now be refused to 
a slave who desired it, and had the means of 
giving a fair equivalent to his master. Many, no 
doubt, will suppose that every slave who had the 
means would be desirous to redeem himself that 
it would be the first object of his heart to obtain 
that which, in their minds, alone 

1 Gives the flower 
' Of fleeting life its lustre and perfume. 1 



Emancipation Right of Redemption. 257 

But a better knowledge of what the negroes are, 
and of the circumstances in which they are placed, 
will lead to a different conclusion, or at least will 
shew, that it may be a question with a slave whe- 
ther freedom would better his condition. It is, 
generally speaking, only the industrious and 
wealthy slaves who could avail themselves of the 
right of redemption, if granted ; and as they are 
the most comfortable in their present condition, 
they are of course the least anxious about chang- 
ing it. Besides, the mere cost of freedom, though 
considerable, is by no means the only difficulty ; 
there is the further and greater sacrifice of re- 
linquishing their homes on the master's land, with 
all the advantages and comforts these afford, and 
of separating themselves from their friends and 
kindred. As his slaves, the master was bound to 
support them ; when freed, they have no longer 
any claim on him, or right to any part of his 
estate. Some, perhaps, will say might they not 
be permitted to remain on the estate and occupy 
their houses and provision grounds, on condition 
of working for their masters as free labourers ? 
Perhaps few proprietors would object to this ; but 
a plantation negro would consider it a perfect ab- 
surdity to be free and to continue to work on the 
estate ; at least, I have never known or heard of 
one of them when freed continuing to do agricul- 
tural labour. And were a freed negro allowed to 
keep possession of his house and ground only on 
condition that he should still work, in order to pay 

s 



258 Emancipation Right of Redemption. 

a rent for the house and land he occupied, and to 
supply himself with the articles formerly furnished 
by his master, he would be apt to regard his situa- 
tion as not much improved certainly not so much 
so as to induce him to pay a large sum of money 
for his manumission. 

The liberal practice of allowing freed negroes, 
as a matter of grace, to remain on the plan- 
tation and occupy the houses and land which 
they possessed as slaves, although not certainly 
to be expected from Mr. Stephen's account of 
the feelings of the colonists towards the ne- 
groes, that e hated and despised race,' has not 
been uncommon. I wish I could say that the 
good conduct of these afforded a practical illustra- 
tion of the blessings of freedom to the negroes 
that, released from the master's authority, they 
were industrious for themselves that they ac- 
quired better moral habits, or enjoyed greater 
comforts ; but, unfortunately, in all these import^ 
ant particulars the reverse is well known to be the 
case. Abandoning themselves to listless indolence, 
or doing only what little is necessary for existence, 
they not only are a bad example to the other people, 
but, having more opportunities, often aid them in 
stealing and marketing the produce of the estate.* 

From the considerations which have been stated, 

r * I once saw a free negro detected at Plantain Garden River Wharf with no 
less than 168Glbs. of sugar, which he was putting on board a drogger for King- 
ston, in covered baskets as edoes. On inquiry, it was found that he had pro- 
cured it through the slaves on the estate where he resided. The manager 
threatened to have him tried and hanged j but an opportunity was given him 
to escape. 

' 



Emancipation, how to be accomplished. 259 

it does not appear to me that the granting a right 
of redemption could, on the one hand, be attend- 
ed with so much danger to the land-owners, or, on 
the other, with so much benefit to the slaves, as 
many suppose. Its effects, at best, could be but 
limited in changing the condition of the slave po- 
pulation. Not only are many of the slaves unable 
to redeem themselves, but, if it were otherwise, 
the sacrifice is too great to be submitted to, 
circumstanced as they are, and as yet so incapable 
of estimating the blessings of freedom. 

How then, it may be asked, is this object, so de- Emancipation, 
sirable to humanity to be accomplished ? is there accomplished. 
to be no end to negro slavery ? To this I answer, 
that, like many other evils, time will be necessary 
for its cure or removal. Individual manumissions 
may do something, may be a necessary means, but 
it is to the improvement of the people, to the 
gradual melioration of their condition, to ' the 
emancipation, not of slaves, but of slavery,' as Mr. 
Barham has well expressed it, that we must look 
for the final extinction of this degrading state. In 
proportion to the progress of the negroes in moral 
improvement, in knowledge, religion, and habits of 
industry growing with a taste for the comforts and 
enjoyments of civilized life, the arbitrary power of 
the master will become unnecessary, and will bo 
abridged or relinquished; the power of punish- 
ment will pass more and more into the hands of 
the civil magistrate, and slavery will gradually as- 

s2 



260 Emancipation , how to be accomplished. 

similate to the servitude of Europe. Thus only 
can general emancipation be accomplished with 
advantage to the negroes. An act of parliament, 
or rather the power of the mother country, might 
emancipate the negroes from their present mas- 
ters the Governor of Jamaica might be instructed 
to issue a proclamation in the King's name, de- 
claring the slaves in that island to be free, (and let 
the reader pause to imagine the probable come- 
quences !)' but an act of parliament, or a procla- 
mation by the Governor, can no more convert 
them into a free, industrious, and happy peasantry, 
than it can change the colour of their skins. 

Too many in this country are apt to charge the 
ignorance, and rude state of the negroes in our 
colonies, wholly on their being slaves, forgetting 
that they were carried thither from the most bar- 
barous parts of the earth, (many of them not 
twenty years ago,) and have not yet had time, 
under any system, to make great progress to- 
wards refinement. But, though not yet civilized 
and refined, (as the Edinburgh Review assures us 
the negroes in St. Domingo are !) they are making 
progress ; and iu Jamaica it is by no means in- 
considerable ; they have become more intelligent 
and industrious ; from the cultivation of the land 
allotted to them they are acquiring wealth, and 
learning habits of voluntary labour ; and, most 
important of all, religion is now spreading its be- 
nign light among them, and dispelling the gloomy 
horrors of African superstition. 



Emancipation,, how to be accomplished. 261 



The system adopted in Jamaica of assigning ^Jif, ff 
land to newly-imported Africans, and requiring J cuitfvaTtffo 
them to cultivate it for their own subsistence, was thdr su PP lt - 
not perhaps the best calculated for their preserva- 
tion in the first instance. Many of them (notwith- 
standing every care and attention on the part of 
their owner or manager) made a very ill use of 
the time given them for the cultivation of their 
grounds. But, on the other hand, when they had 
learned or become accustomed to do this, and as 
people born in the island grew up, the system pos- 
sessed many advantages over that (adopted in some 
of the other colonies) of providing food for them. 
Negroes, working exclusively for the master, and 
supported from hand to mouth, as it is termed, 
have no opportunity or incitement to voluntary 
Labour, and therefore can scarcely ever acquire 
habits of industry, so essential to raise them in the 
scale of civilization. Where land is allotted to 
them the case is different ; three or four hundred 
people require a large part of a sugar estate for 
their provision grounds, and each considers the 
portion of land he occupies just as much his pro- 
perty, while a slave on the domain, as the cane- 
field is the property of his master. Thus set down 
with his family on his little farm, a negro has a 
powerful incentive to industry ; he finds his labour 
repaid by the enjoyment of comforts far beyond 
the mere means of subsistence ; he cultivates such 
articles of food as he likes best for his own use ; 
he carries his surplus productions to market, and 



262 Emancipation, how to be accomplished. 

with the means thus procured furnishes his house 
and dresses his family in a superior manner ; in 
short, as in other communities, he finds his share 
of the good things of life, and the consideration 
paid him by his compeers, proportioned to his en- 
terprise and successful industry. A common opinion 
entertained in this country regarding the slaves 
is, that the circumstances of the whole arc exactly 
the same, a herd of wretches toiling and fed like 
cattle. Nothing can be more erroneous ; the cir- 
cumstances of the negro labourers in a plantation 
village are just as various as those of the working 
classes in an English village : some are indolent, 
some industrious some improvident and poor, 
some saving and rich some have poor accommo- 
dation, some well furnished and comfortable 
houses. It is almost unnecessary to remark (as 
another advantage of the system) that, with the 
increasing wealth of the negroes, the security of 
the island is increasing at the same time. A man 
who has a good house and garden, a stock of pigs 
and poultry, and a piece of land in good cultiva- 
tion, who goes home at night when the work of 
the day is over, to find himself comfortable with 
his wife and family, will be much less likely to 
embark in any desperate undertaking than an in- 
dividual who may gain something by re volution 5 
and has nothing to lose. 

It is well observed by Mr. Stephen (though of 
course he does not allow that the observation ap- 
plies in the British colonies) that, < if it has been 



Emancipation, how to be accomplished. 263 

e the common lot of agricultural slaves to endure 
( more labour than other bondmen, it has, on the 
6 other hand, been their advantage, not only to be 
6 less exposed than domestics to the caprice and 
' ill temper of a master, but to have a far greater 
c stability of situation, and a surer possession of 
' their families, and of the property they have been 
' permitted to acquire. Self-interest and conveni- 
' enee have also everywhere suggested to the land- 
' holder to allot to them portions of his soil, by 
c the tillage of which they might provide for the 
( subsistence of their families ; and to limit his 
' demands to that disposable surplus of labour 
c which they might be able to bestow on his do- 
' main. Hence, by a natural gradation, have arisen, 
' first, an inseparable connexion with, and after- 
c wards a qualified property in, the lands by which 
e they were sustained. Personal freedom has been 
' only the last link in a chain of natural eonse- 
6 quences, by which the enslaved husbandman has 
6 been elevated from the hapless state into which 
' the barbarous warfare of an iron age had plunged 
4 his progenitors.' p. 63. 

Such evidently is the course the plantation ne- 
groes in our colonies will run, or on which I should 
rather say they have already entered; Mr. Ste- 
phen denies that this can be the case, or that any 
such happy change can be their lot, ' because they 
6 are liable to be sold separate from the land.' 
But to borrow his own words, when speaking of 
the same thing in the villeinage of England, this is 



264 Emancipation, how to be accomplished. 

a grievance ' rather in theory than in practice.' 
The great majority of the slaves in Jamaica are 
settled on the plantations, and must remain on 
them as long as the sugar-cane or the coffee-plant 
is cultivated in the island. They may be sold 
along with the estates, but scarcely can be sold 
separate, as the estates would be of little value 
without them. To borrow Mr. Stephen's words 
again, ' where there is no regular and certain 
' man-market, in which a new stock of peasants 
' can be bought, an estate will hardly be purchased 
' without the slaves which have been usually em- 
' ployed in its culture, though the connexion be- 
' tween them should be dissoluble in point of 
< law/ p. 67. 

Attaching the Much has been said about attaching the slaves 

Slaves to the 

SoU - to the soil, and every friend to humanity must 

wish that it may be soon accomplished, as the 
sale of them, particularly under process of distress, 
constitutes by far the worst feature in colonial 
slavery. But how personal slaves, mechanics, or 
jobbers, can be attached to the soil, I have never 
seen explained, and cannot imagine. Of the 
320,000 slaves in Jamaica, I think we may ven- 
ture to say, not less than from 250,000 to 270,000 
are settled on the larger estates, whence there 
never can be any inducement to remove them. 
These there could be no difficulty that I can see 
in attaching by law to the soil ; in effect, they are 
attached to it already. The other 50,000 to 



Emancipation, how to he' accomplished. 265 

70,000 are the property of small settlers, jobbers, 
mechanics, and persons in towns. In attaching 
these, or any of them, to the soil under present 
circumstances, great, and I fear, insurmountable, 
difficulties present themselves. Many of them 
live on land held only in lease by their masters ; 
not a few have no connexion whatever with the 
soil; the jobbing gangs, in general, are settled 
on land little more than sufficient to grow food for 
them, and are hired out by the day, or at piece- 
work, on such sugar estates in the neighbourhood 
as are short of hands. To attach these to their pro- 
vision grounds would be injurious to the master, 
as depriving him in a great measure of the power 
to dispose of them ; and no less so to the slaves, in 
dooming them and their offspring to continue as 
jobbers, instead of being purchased and removed 
to a more comfortable settlement on some of the 
sugar estates, as they most likely would be on the 
death or return to England of their present mas- 
ters. How these difficulties, and those which 
would arise from the securities held by creditors 
on many such slaves, could be got over, I confess 
myself unable to discover ; but, in the mean time, 
it is gratifying to see a change in progress which 
is gradually narrowing, and will, at no distant 
period, remove the greater part of those difficulties, 
and, perhaps without the aid of legislative enact- 
ment, attach the negroes with few exceptions to 
the soil. I had formerly occcision to mention, that 
among the changes which, since the abolition, 



266 Emancipation^ how to be accomplished. 

time has been effecting in the colonies, not the 
least important is, that the slaves have been gra- 
dually getting into fewer hands. While the Afri- 
can trade was carried on, there was scarcely an 
overseer that was not an owner of slaves scarcely 
a person, black or brown, who could afford it, but 
had purchased one or more from the Guinea ships. 
The case is now very different ; there is not an 
overseer in ten who owns a slave. Many of the 
jobbing gangs, which belonged to them at the time 
of the abolition, have since been bought up by the 
plantations ; and although the present gangs may 
be increased by occasional purchases from petty 
owners, no one now attempts to form a new job- 
bing gang, Individual slaves can no longer be 
purchased as they were from the ships ; and many 
who might wish to purchase one, are unable to buy 
a whole family; the consequence is, that slaves are 
going out of the hands of the lower classes into 
those of the more wealthy, and concentrating on 
the plantations. Already there is no small diffi- 
culty in Jamaica in procuring a slave as a personal 
servant, at least it is rare that he can be purchased ; 
and there is only the choice of hiring another 
man's slave, or hiring a free person, which is now 
becoming the more common practice. Formerly 
the mechanics about towns were nearly all slaves ; 
now we have, for the most part, free people of co- 
lour as masons, carpenters, shipwrights, &c., and 
also as sailors on board the coasting vessels, which 
formerly were chiefly manned with slaves. 



Emancipation Right of Redemption. 267 

Contemplating these changes the agricultural 
slaves gradually acquiring wealth, intelligence, 
and a knowledge of religion the personal 
slaves, as they may be called, gradually draw- 
ing to the plantations and an increasing free 
population, rapidly engrossing all the mechanic 
and handicraft employment of the island we have 
before us the pleasing prospect, that in Jamaica 
and at no very distant date, slavery will in a great 
measure be confined to the agricultural class, and 
these attached by circumstances, probably by law, 
to the plantations on which they are settled, and 
liable to be sold only along with the estates. If 
any thing can prevent or retard the accomplish- 
ment of this so desirable object, it will be the pro- 
ceedings of the anti-slavery societies in England, 
and the constant agitation in parliament of ques- 
tions which strike at the root of colonial existence. 
It is well known that since Mr. Buxton's celebrat- 
ed motion in the House of Commons, on the 16th 
of May 1823, West India proprietors have been 
deterred from purchasing labourers for their es- 
tates, however much in want of them ; and the 
consequence is, that many hundred negroes con- 
tinue as jobbers, or the property of petty settlers, 
who would otherwise before now have been per- 
manently and comfortably attached to the estates 
on which they are now employed as temporary 
labourers. 

To return from this digression. Though Mr. Emancipation 

-Right of Re- 
Stephen, in his usual strain ot exaggeration, says, 



268 Spanish law of redemption considered. 

the slave codes in our islands are SINGULAR in 
denying the humane and salutary right of redemp- 
tion^ p. 389, he himself informs us that slavery 
has not everywhere been redeemable, p. 378 ; 
and, indeed, from all he has been able to shew to 
the contrary, it would rather appear that in Europe 
slavery scarcely any where ever has been redeem- 
able. He expressly tells us that the villeinage in 
England was not so, p. 120 ; he finds no express re- 
cognition of such a right in the servile laws of 
Rome, p. 378 ; and, on his own shewing, only nine 
out of the fifteen species of slavery in Hindostan 
appear to be redeemable. I notice our author's 
inconsistency here, not from any wish I have to be 
the advocate of irredeemable slavery, but merely 
as it marks-the injustice the British colonists re- 
ceive at his hands, and his disposition to represent 
negro slavery as singular in its severity, even on 
points where the contrary can be proved by his 
own authority. 

Spanish law of The humane and liberal provision of the Spanish 

Redemption . 

considered. law, which gives the slave a right to redeem him- 
self progressively, by paying one- sixth of his 
appreciated value for a day in the week, and so 
on for another day and another, as he acquires 
the means, till he effect his final manumission, 
does honour to the humane and benevolent heart 
that devised it ; nor can I wonder to see all good 
f men who take an interest in the subject, dwelling 

with complacency on so pleasing a view as it 



Spanish law of redemption considered. 269 

affords of the extinction of slavery. Who can 
contemplate such a picture in imagination, the 
law encouraging, and the slave meritoriously 
exertinghimself to obtain freedom, without wish- 
ing that such a law every where existed, and that 
the chains of slavery were every where thus 
loosened ? But, alas ! it is a picture in imagina- 
tion only. I am yet to learn that one negro has 
ever benefited himself by it. To me, I confess, it 
appears altogether chimerical, from the difficulty 
of applying it to practice on the one hand, and 
the insensibility of the negroes to freedom, (unless 
with some means of subsistence to exempt them 
from labour.) on the other. Suppose, for instance, 
that a negro, valued at 120/., pays 40/. to his 
master, two days in the week belong then to him- 
self, and four to his master. This is all plain 
enough ; but how are the other matters between 
them to be apportioned, food, clothing, medical 
attendance, use of land, taxes, &c. ? It surely could 
not be expected that the master would continue 
to provide as fully for persons thus circumstanced, 
as for those whose entire labour was his own ; and 
unless he countenanced their labours by hiring 
them on their purchased days, or by allowing them 
the use of his land, (and they can find a market 
for their produce,) it is difficult to see how their 
exertions could be of much avail. Moreover, we 
are not informed whether, in the case of the father 
of a family freeing himself, he is permitted by the 
law of Spain to continue on the domain, or must 



Spanish law of redemption considered. 

separate himself from his wife and family ; nor 
whether,, in the case of the wife only being freed, 
she is permitted to remain on the estate with her 
husband to rear free children. These are difficul- 
ties, and many more might be added, which pro- 
bably did not occur to the Spanish lawgiver ; for 
it is an advantage possessed exclusively by the 
framers of laws for a foreign country, that seeing 
no difficulties they have none to overcome. And 
even if all these difficulties could be got over, still, 
from the much greater regard negroes attach to the 
money they acquire than to the mere possession of 
freedom in the abstract, which (happily perhaps) 
gives them little concern, if ever thought of at all, 
I am very confident they would never enter into a 
compact of this kind ; and that any such proposition 
made to them by their master would be viewed as 
a scheme to get hold of their money. If I am 
wrong in my view of this subject, I shall rejoice 
to be corrected ; and if it can be shewn that such 
a law has been carried into effect among the Afri- 
cans in Cuba, the example surely ought to be 
followed in Jamaica. But, in the mean time, let 
neither the legislature nor the people of that 
island be condemned, because they have not in 
their slave code a regulation which, though 
specious in theory, they probably think could in 
practice be of no avail. The framers of this law 
in Spain, it will not be doubted, meant well, but 
knew little of the African's character. The same 
excuse could not be pleaded for the Jamaica 



Slaves will not always buy their freedom, 8$c. 271 

Assembly if it made a useless law, although, if it 
was guided by the unworthy principles Mr. Stephen 
ascribes to it, and made specious acts merely to 
deceive the mother-country, it might indulge him 
here, as this law would at least be harmless. 

Some opinion may be formed of the indifference slaves win not 
of the nesrroes to freedom from cases, and I have thdr y free<Ln 

when able. 

known several, or slaves who are themselves the Their wealth. 
owners of slaves, and could obtain their freedom by 
making over one of these to their master, but pre- 
fer keeping them, and remaining slaves them- 
selves. Such cases Mr. Stephen, no doubt, will 
think rare indeed ; they certainly are not common, 
yet not so rare, neither, as he may suppose. He 
will find on one estate where I resided as a book- 
keeper, Holland, the property of Mr. Watson 
Taylor, slave families, possessing among them 
between twenty and thirty slaves of their own, as 
many horses, at least, and twice as many asses. I 
remember once putting the question to one of the 
coopers, why he did not ask his master to take his 
slave, and get free himself ? He answered, ' What 
' good would free do me, to leave the house and 
' the ground I have from massa, and lose my 
c negro who works my ground for me ?' If Mr. S., 
or any of his friends who are brooding over negro 
slavery, ( that terrible state of man,' will visit this 
property, it will much alleviate their sympathetic 
griefs : they will find in the houses of some of the 
people, sofas, mahogany bedsteads, and sideboards 



272 Slaves will not always buy their freedom 

well furnished with cut glass and good liquors ; a 
glass of Madeira wine, brown- stout, or brandy and 
water, I can promise them, from experience, will 
be at their service. This, of course, is only among 
the higher class of slaves ; but the whole of 
them have houses perfectly comfortable for the 
climate, certainly much more so than those of a 
large part of the peasantry in this country. If the 
property which the slaves on Holland (in number 
about 600, young and old,) possess in slaves, 
horses, asses, pigs, poultry, furniture, and hoarded 
cash, could be realized, it would not be a bad 
purchase at the sum of 10,000/. I have frequently 
known them sell 50/. worth of plantains and yams 
in a morning, to one of the coasting vessels that 
supply the Kingston market. This, I allow, is the 
best case of the kind within my knowledge ; but 
there are other properties in the immediate neigh- 
bourhood, especially Golden Grove, Hector's 
River, and Hordley estates, not very far behind it. 
A few years ago, a young man of colour deserted 
from the latter property, and went to England. 
After struggling a while to earn a subsistence in 
London, he managed to find out his master, Mr. 
Scott, who resided a few miles from town, and 
entreated permission to return to Jamaica as a 
slave. I saw a letter written by Mr. Scott to his 
agent in Jamaica, mentioning the application 
which had been made to him. I also saw a letter 
which the young man wrote to his mother, (or 
got some one to write for him ;) and the picture 



when able. Their Wealth. 273 

he drew of the cold, the hard labour, and the 
many privations which he had to encounter in 
England, compared with the sunshine, the ease, 
and the plenty of Jamaica, was very striking. 

In proof both of the wealth and good feeling 
found among the slaves, it deserves to be men- 
tioned, that there have been instances of their 
tendering to their masters when in distress, the 
use of their money to the amount of 500/., and 
even 1000/. I have myself had in hand, belonging 
to individual slaves, various sums, from 50/. to 
300/. ; and at the present moment hold, or did 
when I left Jamaica, 70/., the property of a slave, 
who himself owns one or more slaves. I might 
also have mentioned, when speaking of the slaves 
on Holland estate, that they have, or had lately, 
a coasting- vessel, which they employed in carrying 
plantains, yams, edoes, and corn, from the estate's 
wharf to Kingston, a distance coastwise of sixty 
to seventy miles. A return was brought in Irish 
salt-pork, butter, mackerel, cod-fish, linens, printed 
cottons, muslins, handkerchiefs, and crockery- 
ware, 1 ar tides regularly retailed in the plantation 
villages. The register of the vessel, of course, 
was in the name of a free person. The accounts 
were often brought to my counting-house to be 
adjusted and proportioned.* 

* When I was residing on Holland as a book-keeper, on ah occasion when, 
the proprietor, the late Mr. Simon Taylor, visited it with some friend-!, 
(which always occasioned a considerable hustle in making preparations,) a 
young man (Mr. Brice), who had charge of the stores as key-carrier, was so 
much annoyed with endless ei rands to go and give out this and tluit, that he 

T 



274 Slavery of Hmdostan. 

siaveryofHm- To contrast the irredeemable slavery of the 
British West Indian colonies with the slavery of 
Hindostan, comprehending a variety of fifteen 
kinds, (p. 360,) Mr. Stephen selects that of the 
Gentoo, who, if he becomes a slave in considera- 
tion of his being fed, and thereby having his life 
preserved during a famine, is entitled (wonderful 
indulgence !) to redeem himself, on payment to 
his master of the value of the food he received in 
that time of necessity, 'with the addition, of two 
' head of cattle' (p. 381.) A greater picture of 
human misery scarcely could be drawn, and cer- 
tainly could not be paralleled in Jamaica. Again, 
we are told, that c the man who sells himself in 
c consideration of the master engaging to provide 
4 him with a subsistence, may obtain his freedom 
6 by renouncing that subsistence in future.' (p. 381 .) 
There was little need to go to Hindostan for a 
case of this kind, as every labourer in England is 
a slave on the same terms ; but, after all, Mr. S. 
is not far wrong, for slavery and servitude are 

presumed to bestow a curse on the house-woman, ( Old Dolly,' for the un- 
necessary trouble he thought she was giving him. The lecture she read him 
on the occasion astonished me ; and it would have mere astonished Mr. S., 
who thinks ' that every negro or mulatto, even although free, is far more 

* degraded below the lowest while person in Jamaica, than the poorest pea- 

* sant in this country is below our nobility.' (p. 184.) It was to this eflect, 
and uttered with a contempt which, to be conceived, must have been seen and 
heard : ' You, a, poor good-for-nothing Buckra, take upon yourself to curse 
'me! Wharra you? Wharra make you come in'o massa plantation for 
' n'yam (to eat) ? Wharra ! yon talk so to me! Me have for me house, for me 
' ground, for me nigger ; Avhere fa? you house, for you ground, for you ni^- 

* ger ? Curse me, hey! Me see nor<h o' buckra, like o' you, come in'o 
' massa plantation ; but dem gone, and you will gone, if clem no carry you in 

* o' quahill (the burial-ground). Curse me, hey! You take something on 

* yourself, true ! ' 



Manumission. Presumption in favour of freedom. 275 

much the same under different regulations, each 
possessing some advantages and some disadvan- 
tages, but agreeing in the main point, labour on 

the one part for subsistence on the other. 

% 

Even the laws of the barbarous tribes in Africa slavery of 
are referred to by Mr. Stephen, to put the English ^ 
colonists to shame : 

* If the proper slavery of Africa,' says he, ' is, strictly speaking, 
like that of our colonies, irredeemable, it does not partake of those 
other terrible properties of the latter, perpetuity and transmission 
to the issue.' p. 384. 

The slavery of Africa not transmitted to the 
issue ! Since when ? Mr. Park said, and every 
one else who has peeped into those unexplored 
and dreadful regions of slavery and darkness, says, 
that upwards of three-fourths of the whole popula- 
tion are slaves. If, however, slavery in Africa is 
no longer transmitted to the issue, we may hope 
it will soon cease, and that the great slave- shop of 
the world will speedily become a country of free- 
men. 



* Jam nova progenies coelo demittitur alto, 
Magnus ab integro saeclorum nascitur ordo.' 



SECT. VIII. Of Manumission, p. 384. Manumission. 

. Presumption 

This mode of enfranchisement is described as 
differing from the others, it being the voluntary 
act of the master, neither resulting from any legal 

T 2 



276 Manumission. Case of Mary Philips. 

right of redemption in the slave, nor compelled by 
any judicial or political authority. 

The subject is introduced by a high panegyric 
on the liberality of the English courts* in favouring 
the cause of freedom in an age when that country 
had slaves of its own, and the eglslature, the 
nobility, and gentry, were disposed to perpetuate 
the state. c Professional pride prompts me/ says 
the learned gentleman, ( to dilate a little, and shew 
' my countrymen how much they owe to the 
( humane and free-spirited interpreters of our 

* law. 1 (p. 387.) Perhaps it did, but there was 
another object contrast ; for, continues' he/ ' in 
' the British West India islands a very different 
e course of things has taken place. There, the 
' petty legislatures and the courts of law have vied 

* with each other in hostility to freedom. The 
' same relentless codes, which are singular in 
' denying the humane and salutary right of re- 
' demption, are not less singular in their strictness 
c as to voluntary manumission, and in the cruel 
' restraints, not to say virtual prohibitions, re- 
' cently imposed on it.' p. 389. 

Manumission. How unmerited this accusation is, needs not be 

Case of Mary 

Philips. told to those who have ever witnessed an action of 
Homine Replegiando brought before a court in 
Jamaica, the barristers volunteering their services, 
and the judges and jury scarcely concealing their 
learning in favour of the suitor for freedom. This 
is not given on report. I have myself sat as a 



Manumission. Case of Mary Philips. 277 

juror when several such cases were tried. The 
presumption of law is always in favour of freedom ; 
and if it is made to appear that the person claim- 
ing is in equity entitled to it, such claim is held 
good, notwithstanding any informality in the 
manumission deed, or, in fact, the want of such a 
deed altogether. I was a juror, some years ago, 
in the case of a mulatto girl, named Mary Philips, 
of the parish of St. David, and county of Surry, 
whose father had been sometime dead. The 
mother of this girl originally belonged to a sugar 
estate in the vicinity of Mr. Philips' s residence ; 
he had become attached to her, and purchased her, 
not to be held as a slave, but to be his house- 
keeper, and consequently to be manumised and 
provided for. On no other consideration would 
her master have parted with her. Several wit- 
nesses proved that they had heard Mr. Philips 
express himself to this effect, and that the wo- 
man was henceforth always reputed free. By 
his will he left her a few acres of land, and 
a specified sum of money to build a house ; 
and to his daughter by her he left 700/. On 
a search among his papers after his death, no 
manumission-deed was to be found, nor was any 
such document on record. The executor felt, 
as it may be presumed most executors would, 
anxious to carry into effect the wishes of a friend 
who had imposed upon him this important duty. 
But here he had a formidable difficulty to en- 
counter ; for, according to the letter of the law, 



278 Manumission. Case of Mary Philips. 

(and Mr. S. says it is even worse in practice than 
in letter.,) both the mother and daughter were 
still slaves,, and consequently themselves and their 
legacies the property of the residuary legatee. 

In these circumstances, the mother and daugh- 
ter came into court to have their freedom declared, 
and found no difficulty in establishing it. There 
prevailed but one feeling in the court, that what- 
ever the law was, justice here was paramount. 
The simple fact that they had been reputed free in 
Mr. Philips' s lifetime, and his having left them 
such a sum of money, was held conclusive evi- 
dence that he could not intend them to be slaves. 

Can Mr. Stephen, or the Edinburgh Reviewers, 
reconcile this case,, (and many such might be 
quoted,) where there was no manumission- deed at 
all, with his assertion, which they repeat, that ' no 
c implied or constructive enfranchisement is there 
' in any case allowed ; and that any flaw or defect 
e in the instrument, or in the proof of its having 
c been duly executed and registered, is fatal to a 
c claim of freedom.' (p. 390.) 'It may be no- 
' torious,' says the Review, ( that a negro or mu- 
' latto has been free since he first resided in the 
c colony ; that he has lived twenty years in Eng- 
' land ; that he is a citizen of Hayti or Columbia. 
( All this is immaterial ; if he cannot produce a 
c deed of manumission he is ]iable to be put up to 
c sale by public auction.' No. 82, p. 471. 

So little truth is there in this, so diametrically 
opposite is public feeling, that if a slave is de- 



Colonists unjustly accused, $c. 279^ 

livered to a plantation, and his name enrolled in 
the books of it, in the room of one intended to be 
manumised, the proof of this fact would effectually 
accomplish the freedom of the person intended to 
be free, although the slave put in his place had 
died the following day, and no papers of any kind 
had passed between the parties. 

' But/ continues Mr. Stephen, ' every former reproach on this Colonists tin- 
head will be forgotten, when the reader shall be apprized of those f Sf jftjfo 011 ^ 

recent and direct, though barbarous and unprecedented, restraints straints on 

manumission, 
on manumission in many colonies, of which the story remains to be 

told. Before we proceed to contemplate these anomalies in legisla- 
tive policy, it may be useful to point out their source.' p. 391. 

6 Their source 'is, of course, the complexional 
difference, which our author has recourse to on all 
occasions to help him out with his charges against 
the colonists. His argument is this : the colonists 
( hate and despise every man, woman, and child, 
' with a black or yellow skin ; ' they entertain 
towards the whole of the African race ( a feeling at 
c once contemptuous and jealous:' ergo, they 
oppose the manumission of all black and brown 
people. 

1 Such of the poor whites/ continues he, ' as earn their sub- 
sistence in the humbler walks of industry, or who live, as many of 
them do, in lazy indigence, regard with indignant eyes a free- 
coloured population increasing around them ; following, and 
thereby disparaging, their own callings, and enjoying, perhaps, a 
degree of ease and comfort which they themselves cannot com- 
mand.' p. 393. 

Who these white people are who earn their sub- 



280 Colonists unjustly accused 

sistence c in the humbler walks of industry,' whose 
callings are disparaged by the free-coloured popu- 
lation, we are at a loss to know. Mechanics, and 
persons in the lower walks of commerce, are 
indeed particularized in a preceding page, as 
injured by, and from self-interest opposing, manu- 
mission, (p. 391.) But of the former, with the ex- 
ception of watchmakers, I have scarcely known an 
instance of a white tradesman in Jamaica earning 
his bread by manual labour, so that he could be 
injured by the labour of the free-coloured people, 
even if they were more powerful competitors than 
they yet are in the field of enterprise and industry. 
Master ship-builders, masons, and carpenters 
especially about towns, have frequently free young 
men of colour working under them, both hired 
and as apprentices ; but they, if affected in any 
way by the manumission of slaves, have an interest 
in its promotion, as they prefer hiring free people, 
when it can be done, to purchasing slaves. 

Nineteen-twentieths, and upwards, of the houses 
in Kingston, Jamaica, are the property of free- 
coloured persons ; all the public lodgings are kept 
by them, and all the petty retail trade is divided 
between them and the Jews, who of course pos- 
sess no greater privileges. The same may be said 
of every town and village in the island ; but who 
' the poor whites' are whose interest is affected 
thereby, Air. Stephen alone can explain. 

That many of the white people in the colonies 
arc sufficiently poor, is true enough, but they arc 



of putting restraints on Manumission. 281 

not guilty of living in lazy indigence : on the con- 
trary, their more active spirit is the main-spring of 
the industry of the country. They are engaged in 
the higher walks of commerce, in professions, and 
as masters in mechanical occupations,, or are em- 
ployed (which is the case of the majority) as super- 
intendents in different departments on the plan- 
tations ; and to suppose that they exert themselves 
to restrain manumission, lest their callings should 
be disparaged by the free-coloured population, is as 
absurd as to suppose that the poor whites, who 
earn their subsistence in the humbler walks of 
industry, or live in lazy indigence, powerfully 
influence the insular legislatures ! (p. 393.) 

Here Mr. Stephen has not merely con- 
cealed the truth, but, as is not unusual with 
him, given us the reverse of it. The restrain- 
ing or facilitating of manumission by legisla- 
tive acts, is a matter of little or no interest 
to the bulk of the white population, or only 
to such persons as have children to manumise, 
and who therefore have a clear interest in its 
being facilitated. To holders of real property, 
who must look forward to more distant conse- 
quences, the question, whether or not a free- 
coloured population shall ultimately benefit them, 
is one of much importance, but one which time 
only can answer ; and in the niean time, their 
agents of every description, who form the bulk of 
the white population, are daily adding to the 
numbers and wealth of that class. It would be a 
curious and interesting subject of investigation to 



282 Manumission law of 

ascertain how large a proportion of the earning!? 
of the whole body of white colonists, (and yet they 
are accused,, be it remembered,, of restraining 
manumissions !) goes to purchase the freedom of 
slaves and to provide for them. 

Manumission After due preparation, we come at length to 

]a\v of Jamaica t , 

considered. those ' recent and direct, though barbarous and 
6 unprecedented, restraints on manumission, the 
' story of which will make every former reproach 
< be forgotten.' In other words, we come to a 
consideration of the manumission law of Jamaica. 
The people of that island have perhaps some rea- 
son to be proud of the particular share of Mr. Ste- 
phen's attention, with which they are honoured in 
this instance and in several others, as it evidently 
is occasioned by the difficulty he has found in im- 
pugning their laws, so as to counteract the favour- 
able impression he was conscious they would pro- 
duce on the mind of the British public, if candidly 
and attentively considered. 

The only condition imposed on manumission by 
the law of Jamaica, is this : if a slave purchases 
Freedom, if purchased for him by another, or vo- 
luntarily granted by his master, in either case, a 
security-bond must be lodged with the church- 
wardens of the parish, for a contingent annuity of 
5/. currency, to be paid to the person so manu- 
mitted or freed, in the event of his becoming a 
public pauper. It is not required that the bond 
shall be given by the person who grants the manu- 
mission, but by any responsible free person, of any 



Jamaica considered. 283 

class or colour. The object of it is not, as Mr. 
Stephen asserts, to restrain manumission, but, 
from motives of humanity, to prevent ill-disposed 
persons from setting free their old, infirm, and dis- 
eased slaves, to relieve themselves of the burthen 
of supporting them. 

On the same principle, the law provides, that if 
a slave is freed by will, the estate of the testator is 
held responsible for this security ; but in this case 
no security-bond is required. 

It would be difficult to devise a regulation bet- 
ter calculated to permit manumission, and at the 
same time prevent the abuse of it ; and of this 
truth no better evidence can be adduced than the 
futility of all the arguments our author has been 
able to bring against it. To absolute perfection 
no human institution can lay claim ; nor can any 
laws, which the wisdom of man has yet devised, 
always restrain villany, although this is what would 
seem to be required of the colonists. 

Speaking of testamentary manumissions, Mr. S. 
says : 

' Dishonest executors frequently dissent from such bequests, or 
withhold freedom from the legatees, on a false pretence that they 
have not assets to satisfy the debts of their testator.' p. 398. 

Does Mr. Stephen know of any such cases ? If 
so, he ought to have stated them, or at least some 
of them, in proof of his assertion. None such 
have ever come to my knowledge. 

That a man should be just before he is gene- 



284 Manumission law of 

rous, is a maxim in every country ; and hence the 
law of Jamaica very properly disallows a testator's 
right to manumise his slaves at the expense of his 
creditors. But Mr. Stephen even alleges that the 
helpless legatee is exposed to be levied upon and 
sold, and, consequently, for ever deprived of the 
means of obtaining his freedom, however ample 
the estate may be for the payment of the debts. 
p. 399. 

This is too ridiculous to deserve a serious refu- 
tation ; but from a Jamaica paper of the 19th of 
July 1824, now before me, I copy the following 
report of a case decided in the Assize Court, which 
shews, that instead of the ' helpless legatee' 
being subject to be sold, ' however ample the 
( estate,' his freedom has been established even 
where the estate was insolvent : 

' July 10th. Grape v. Andrews. This was an action of homine 
replegiando. The question was, whether the plaintiff was free 
under the will of his master, whose estate was insolvent. It was 
contended that he was free, which could not be affected by any 
demand against his master, that had not been on judgment pre- 
vious to the will being recorded. Verdict, Guilty. Damages, 
. with costs ; thereby establishing the freedom of the plaintiff.' 



It is almost unnecessary to remark, that Mr. 
Stephen's assumed difficulties are at variance with 
all the common principles of conduct among man- 
kind. Executors are always the intimate friends 
of the testator, and will therefore, it may be pre- 
sumed, feel disposed to carry his wishes into effect, 
more especially in giving freedom to a deserving 



Jamaica considered. 285 

and favourite slave, with whom the chances are 
that they are themselves acquainted, and by injur- 
ing whom it is utterly impossible they can benefit 
themselves. According to Mr. Stephen, the very 
contrary must be supposed, that not one only, but 
all the executors, and there are never less than 
two or three, are alike void of honesty and huma- 
nity. If men are assumed to be villains, nothing 
can be easier than to give plausibility to a charge 
of their committing any particular act of villany. 
Yet, even granting that the executors were really 
as unprincipled as Mr. S. supposes, there is, after 
all, a difficulty which they would scarcely be able 
to surmount. The slave left free by his master 
never can be ignorant of that fact, as the will must 
be proved and recorded before it can be acted 
upon ; and this, since the Act of 1816, is all that 
is required to establish the freedom of the slave in 
any court of law. 

The object of the security-bond, as already 
stated, is to prevent ill-disposed persons from 
casting the burthen of supporting their old and 
infirm slaves on the parishes. Mr. Stephen, en- 
deavouring to represent this as a restraint upon 
manumission, thus argues : - 

' Upon ordinary principles of action, a master might be expected 
to pause when called on to enter into such an obligation, though 
otherwise willing to give up or sell at its value his right to the future 
services of the slave.' p. 410. 

The master is not required to enter into such 



286 Manumission law of 

an obligation, he has only to sign the manumis- 
sion-deed, which is a full conveyance of freedom. 
The obligation required, may be granted by any 
responsible free person, of any colour, and lodged 
with the churchwardens, previous to putting the 
manumission-deed on record. 

Again, arguing that the object of the law could 
not be what the Assembly states it, (to prevent 
old and infirm slaves from being cast upon the 
parishes,) our author asks, c who would not rather 
' be bound to pay an annuity for the life of an old, 
' infirm, and helpless man or woman, than for one 
' in the prime of youth, and of a sound and vigor- 
' ous habit?' p. 410. Very true ; but it is not an 
annuity that is required, but security for an an- 
nuity, in case the freed slave should become a 
pauper ; and, to reverse Mr. Stephen's question, 
who would not rather grant this security for one 
in the prime of youth, and of a sound and vigorous 
habit, than for an old, infirm and helpless man or 
woman ? 

* Besides/ continues he, *the master has to gain something in 
the one case, by getting rid of an incumbrance ; whereas, in the 
other, he has to give up his property in an able and valuable slave.* 
p. 410. 

The law very properly guards against his getting 
rid of such an incumbrance, except by giving the 
bond in question ; and he will himself guard 
against giving up his property in an able and 
valuable slave, without being paid for it. Out 
upon such quibbling ! 



Jamaica considered. 28? 

* The Assembly, however, in telling us that the Act is so libe- 
rally executed as not to restrain manumission, gives up in effect its 
defence of the Act itself; for to restrain manumission is its object; 
and if they are not restrained, the object is lost, and the Act is at 
least useless.' p. 411. 

It has already been shewn that the object of the 
Act is to prevent diseased, ill-disposed, and infirm 
slaves from being manumitted,, and thus cast upon 
the parishes, by masters who arc bound by law to 
support them ; and so far it certainly does re- 
strain, and was intended to restrain, manumissions, 
upon principles of humanity and justice. That it 
' restrains the manumission of the young and able, 
6 as much as the impotent and old,' is a proposi- 
tion founded on the assumption already noticed, 
that the impotent and old are no more likely to 
become public paupers, and, consequently, can as 
easily procure security against such a probable 
casualty as the young and able. If a master ma- 
numits an ill-disposed or a diseased slave, he must 
necessarily himself give the bond, as it is certain 
no other person will. Here the law acts, and very 
properly, as a restraint. If, on the other hand, 
and here is the discrimination, I purchase from 
him a young and healthy person whom I wish to 
manumit, or if such person has the means of pur- 
chasing his own freedom, all that is required of 
the master is to execute the manumission-deed, 
and any person, for in this case it is in fact a mere 
matter of form, will give his security for a slave 
who is freed through favour and provided for, or 



288 Manumission law of 

who is known to possess sufficient capacity to 
maintain himself; ' without which,' as Mr. Ste- 
phen himself justly remarks, ' freedom would be 
' the reverse of a benefit/ p. 397. I have myself 
given many such bonds, and considered them of 
so very little importance that I have not even 
kept a memorandum of them. I have never known 
a case where value was lodged for such a bond, or 
where one of them has been estreated.* 

It would be superfluous to enlarge farther on 
the subject, having shewn the object of this Act 
to be in reality what the critic himself contends 
it ought to be, not to restrain manumission, but 
to ( prevent the freeing of those who are destitute 
f and unable to maintain themselves, and to whom, 
c therefore, freedom would be the reverse of a be- 
( nefit,' p. 397 ; while to the public, the support 
of them would become a ruinous burthen, more 
oppressive even than the poor-rates in England. 

By a late Act of Assembly, (1824,) it would ap- 
pear that even the security-bond is now dispensed 
with, c provided the slave intended to be manu- 
' mised, shall be produced to the magistrates and 
* vestry of the parish, or it shall be otherwise 
' shewn to their satisfaction, that the manumission 
' is not given for the purpose of relieving the 



* The only t;ix upon manumissions in Jamaica, for years past, lias been a 
20.v. stamp for the security-bond, (the same as for other bonds,) 5s. stamp for 
the manumission-deed, and 2s. C>d. for the parish certificate ; in all, 27s. Gd. 
currency. And these arc the * restraints by enormous taxes, and other 
* means,' p. 'i33, which the legislature of this island has put upon manumis- 
sions. 



Jamaica considered, 289 

c owner from the obligation of maintaining an 
e aged or infirm slave.' 

The only benefit that can result from this new 
regulation, will be the saving of the 20s. stamp 
for the bond, which will reduce the ' enormous ' 
expense of manumission in Jamaica to Is. 6d. 
currency. The Act, however, had another and 
a more important object : c to remove impedi- 
' ments to the manumission of slaves, by owners 
( having only a limited interest;' and has obvi- 
ated the only obstacle to voluntary manumis- 
sions that existed, namely, that which was oc- 
casioned by entails and mortgages, fettered by 
which, the owner or person in possession of slaves 
had it no more in his power to manumise than to 
sell them. This Act affords another proof of the 
truth of what Mr. Stephen asserts, that ' the petty 
c legislatures and the courts of law in our colonies 
' have vied with each other in hostility to freedom, 
p. 389. 

Even without this Act, individuals sometimes 
get over the difficulty occasioned by entails and 
mortgages, in the following manner. The slave 
intended to be manumised was passed over by the 
owner or person in possession, (with the sanction 
of the mortgagee,) to the collector of taxes, and 
another of equal value put in his place ; a nomi- 
nal sale was then made by the collector, as if the 
slave to be manumised had been levied on for 
taxes ; and, as the title which the purchaser got 

u 



290 Rome and Grenada. 

was unimpeachable, he was thus enabled to grant 
freedom to the slave. 

The truth is, that, of late years, every facility 
has been afforded to manumissions in Jamaica, 
and the fact, that the free coloured population in 
the island has increased from ten thousand to 
thirty-five thousand since 1787, is alone sufficient 
to discredit all the stones which have been so 
sedulously propagated in England about the colo- 
nists reducing free persons to slavery, the ( re- 
' cent and cruel restraints, not to say virtual pro- 
6 hibitions, put on manumissions,' &c. 

Rome and * SECT. IX. Enfranchisement by public authority.' p. 420. 

e In Greece or Rome,' says Mr. Stephen, ' if a 
1 slave was instrumental in the discovery or sup- 
c pression of a public crime, or distinguished him- 
c self by fidelity in civil convulsions, freedom was 
' the rich reward.' Of course it is not mentioned 
by our author that such services by slaves had been 
similarly rewarded in Jamaica, not once, but often. 
Even last session of Assembly, several slaves had 
freedom conferred on them ' for their faithful and 
' meritorious services ' during the late troubles ; 
and> I believe, on every occasion of insurrection 
that has taken place in the island, some of the ne- 
groes have been found to merit, and have received 
for their fidelity, the reward of freedom, with a 
pension for life. 

We are next informed that the Spartans and. 
Romans, those gentle slave masters, when urgent 



Black Troops. 291 

necessity required, purchased slaves for their 
armies, who were forthwith enfranchised ; and 
this is brought forward to draw a comparison be- 
tween the feelings of Christian and English slave 
masters, and those of pagan antiquity ; resulting 
' as usual,' says our author, c much to the disad- 
' vantage of the former.' The states of Home and 
Sparta paid the masters of the slaves thus enrolled 
their value, and enfranchised them, or perhaps 
kept them soldier-slaves, as has been the fate of 
Africans at Sierra Leone. Now mark the differ- 
ence : a few individuals in a petty West India 
island, Grenada, dependent on the crown of Great 
Britain, were, at an urgent moment, compelled to 
arm a portion of their own slaves for a few weeks, 
to oppose a foreign invader, and, ' oh, what a 
falling off was there,' did not enfranchise them, 
as imperial Rome would have done! Why, if this 
ought to have been their reward, whose duty was 
it to enfranchise them, that of the planters, or of 
the crown ? 

Next follows an eulogy on the black troops, Black Troops. 
whom the -colonists considered rather dangerous 
inmates, and of which, indeed, there was too 
convincing proof not long ago in Jamaica. But 
Mr. Stephen, who is a better judge of these mat- 
ters than the colonists, maintains that those alarms 
were entirely groundless, and says, ' it may be in- 
' ferred, from many facts, that the jealousy which 

u 2 



29'2 Peaceable and beneficent spirit 

' the white colonists profess of such defenders, is, 
( in a great measure, a mere cloak for their proud 
' contempt and antipathy towards the African 
'racer p, 429. 

The peaceable Why Mr. Stephen and his party might wish to 
sph-itof 'the"* see such soldiers in the colonies, may perhaps be 
gathered from some expressions in pages 429 and 
430 of his work, where he speaks of ' the most 
6 effectual means of revolution' in the colonies,, 
and doing all he can to set one class against ano- 
ther, and stir up insurrection, very consistently 
proclaims his intentions to be ' peaceable and bene- 

* Jicent' * What can have given birth to such ran- 
corous animosity it is impossible to conjecture ; 
but from these, as well as many other passages in 
his book, it is very clear, that if he would not 
actually rejoice to hear of ( the knife being at the 
4 throats of the colonists,' as the Edinburgh Re- 
viewers express it, he is at least indifferent to such 
an event. In his Preface, he does not even dis- 
guise the satisfaction it would afford him to see 

' A Godly-thorough-reformation 
By fire and sword and desolation ; ' 

telling us, that ' if the ostensible improvements 

* made by the colonial assemblies were carried 
' into practice, they would be CHEAPLY purchased 
' at the expense of greater temporary evils BY FAR 
( than the insurrections of Demarara and Barba- 

* See extract from his work, sup. p. 367, 



of the Anti-Colonists. 293 

c does ; ' and again, that c the independency of 
* these sugar colonies,, or their transfer to a foreign 
( power, would be a rich boon to the people of 
< England.' 

In a former work, he declared that the shocking 
slavery in our islands could not much longer be 
maintained ; but that, c by a just and rational 
6 policy, we might be enabled to look forward to 
' the progress, not only of African freedom, but 
c even African sovereignty, in the West Indies, 
6 with satisfaction rather than dismay.' And in 
the same spirit, we find the c African sovereignty ' 
of St. Domingo always mentioned with admiration 
in the present work. Thus, in treating with marked 
derision the value of the British West India 
islands in their present state, and contemplating 
their independence with much complacency, he 
observes, that ' among many other advantages re- 
sulting from it, we should regain and engross the 
( very valuable commerce of Hayti, which, in com- 
6 plaisance to Jamaica, we have foolishly re- 
' nounced.' Pref. p. 32. 

Nor can we much blame the advocates of the 
slaves, as they call themselves, that they should 
thirst for the blood of the unfortunate colonists, or 
call down fire from heaven upon them, if they 
really in their hearts believe them to be such 
monsters as they have described. As to their dis- 
avowal of any desire ' to inflame popular indigna- 
c tion and stir up insurrection in the colonies,' it 
stands, perhaps, upon the same ground as their 



294 



Mr. Stephen's 
contradictory 
statements re- 
garding the 
People of Co- 
lour. 



Mr. Stephens contradictory statements 

solemn disavowal, only a few years ago, of having 
in contemplation any such mad scheme as the 
emancipation of the slaves, which is now their pro- 
fessed object.* They have brought it forward in 
Parliament, established societies to promote it, 
and, in the fury of enthusiasm, openly avowed 
that any measures will be justifiable to accomplish 
so good an end 

The people shall be free ! 

Free by what means? by folly, madness, guilt ; 
By bounteous rapines, blood in oceans spilt, 
By confiscation ; 

By laws, religion, morals, all o'erthrown : 
Rouse then, ye sovereign people, claim your own ! 

It is not improbable Mr. Stephen may live to 
see the island of Jamaica, one of the richest gems 
of the British crown, in the possession of a foreign 
power, or under African sovereignty ; and if he 
does, he will then, no doubt, have the satisfaction 
of seeing his labours, in accomplishing this ' rich 
boon' for the people of England, more correctly 
appreciated than they at present are. 

In writing these comments upon Mr. Stephen's 
work, it has more than once occurred to me, that 



* In a letter addressed to Mr. Smith, in 1813, Mr. Stephen distinctly dis- 
avows any idea of meditating the emancipation of the slaves. ' Mr. Marryatt 
' says, that he was before aware, that I, like Mr. Wilberforce, designed the 
' emancipation of the slaves. This renewal of a stale and idle charge against 
' Mr. Wilberforce, seems as much out of time as out of place. But I am not 
* surprised, nor indeed much concerned, that if he should believe Mr. Wilber- 
' force capable of entertaining a purpose which he has publicly disclaimed, he 
' should form the same judgment of me.' 



regarding the people of colour. 295 

they cannot be very necessary to intelligent and 
dispassionate readers ; as such, though they have 
never been in the colonies, and may be unable 
from personal knowledge to detect the misstate- 
ment of facts, cannot fail to discover the contra- 
dictions involved in his invectives against the 
colonists. The inconsistency of his statements 
regarding the free people of colour, with the 
tyranny which, he says, the whites exercise over 
them, is so striking, that it is hardly possible it 
can escape the observation of the most inatten- 
tive reader. In the first place, we are informed 
that the Assemblies ' have sanctioned every source 
' of slavery to which private fraud or violence 
c may resort,' p. 371 ; that 6 the laws require no 
' proof of the servile state beyond the colour of 
6 the skin/ p. 390 ; that ( there is abundant reason 
( to believe free negroes are often deprived of 
6 their liberty/ p. 369 ; and that ' the plainest 
' principles of policy and justice are wantonly vio- 
( lated, merely that the profitable privileges and 
' pre-eminence of the white oligarchists may not 
c be surrendered or abridged,' p. 429. After this, 
and there is much more to the same effect, can 
any reader, without surprise, learn from the same 
authority, that ' the free people of colour are in- 
' creasing, that they follow the callings of the 
( whites, and enjoy a degree of ease and comfort 
c which many of these cannot themselves com- 
c mand,' p. 393 ; that ' indigence among them has 
f always been extremely rare, when compared with 



296 Mr. Stephen's contradictory statements, $c. 

(