THE ANTI-SLAVERY EXAMINER PART 2 OF 4

BY The American Anti-Slavery Society

1838

 No. 5. THE CHATTEL PRINCIPLE THE ABHORRENCE OF JESUS CHRIST AND THE APOSTLES; OR NO REFUGE FOR AMERICAN SLAVERY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

 No. 6. NARRATIVE OF JAMES WILLIAMS, AN AMERICAN SLAVE. 

 No. 7. EMANCIPATION IN THE WEST INDIES. 

 No. 8. CORRESPONDENCE, BETWEEN THE HON. F. H. ELMORE, ONE OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA DELEGATION IN CONGRESS, AND JAMES G. BIRNEY, ONE OF THE SECRETARIES OF THE AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. 

 No. 9. LETTER OF GERRIT SMITH, TO HON. HENRY CLAY. 

 No. 10. EMANCIPATION In The WEST INDIES, IN 1838. 

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NO. 5

THE ANTI-SLAVERY EXAMINER

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THE

POWER OF CONGRESS

OVER THE

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

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ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE NEW-YORK EVENING POST, UNDER THE SIGNATUREOF "WYTHE. "

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WITH ADDITIONS BY THE AUTHOR. 

FOURTH EDITION. 

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NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY, No. 143 NASSAUSTREET. 1838. 

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This No. Contains 3-1/2 sheets. --Postage, under 100 miles, 6 cts. Over100, 10 cts. 

POWER OF CONGRESS OVER THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

A civilized community presupposes a government of law. If thatgovernment be a republic, its citizens are the sole _sources_, as wellas the _subjects_ of its power. Its constitution is their bill ofdirections to their own agents--a grant authorizing the exercise ofcertain powers, and prohibiting that of others. In the Constitution ofthe United States, whatever else may be obscure, the clause grantingpower to Congress over the Federal District may well defymisconstruction. Art. 1, Sec. 8, Clause 18: "The Congress shall havepower to exercise exclusive legislation, _in all cases whatsoever_, oversuch District. " Congress may make laws for the District "in all_cases_, " not of all _kinds_. The grant respects the _subjects_ oflegislation, _not_ the moral nature of the laws. The law-making powerevery where, is subject to _moral_ restrictions, whether limited byconstitutions or not. No legislature can authorize murder, nor makehonesty penal, nor virtue a crime, nor exact impossibilities. In theseand similar respects, the power of Congress is held in check byprinciples existing in the nature of things, not imposed by theConstitution, but presupposed and assumed by it. The power of Congressover the District is restricted only by those principles that limitordinary legislation, and, in some respects, it has even wider scope. 

In common with the legislatures of the States, Congress cannotconstitutionally pass ex post facto laws in criminal cases, nor suspendthe writ of habeas corpus, nor pass a bill of attainder, nor abridge thefreedom of speech and of the press, nor invade the right of the peopleto be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, nor enactlaws respecting an establishment of religion. These are generallimitations. Congress cannot do these things _any where_. The exactimport, therefore, of the clause "in all cases whatsoever, " is, _on allsubjects within the appropriate sphere of legislation_. Somelegislatures are restrained by constitutions from the exercise of powersstrictly within the proper sphere of legislation. Congressional powerover the District has no such restraint. It traverses the whole field oflegitimate legislation. All the power which any legislature has withinits own jurisdiction, Congress holds over the District of Columbia. 

It has been asserted that the clause in question respects merely policeregulations, and that its sole design was to enable Congress to protectitself against popular tumults. But if the framers of the Constitutionaimed to provide for a _single_ case only, why did they provide for"_all_ cases whatsoever?" Besides, this clause was opposed in many ofthe state conventions, because the grant of power was not restricted topolice regulations _alone_. In the Virginia Convention, George Mason, the father of the Virginia Constitution, said, "This clause gives anunlimited authority in every possible case within the District. He wouldwillingly give them exclusive power as far as respected the police andgood government of the place, but he would give them no more. " Mr. Grayson said, that control over the _police_ was all-sufficient, andthat the "Continental Congress never had an idea of exclusivelegislation in all cases. " Patrick Henry said. "Is it consistent withany principle of prudence or good policy, to grant _unlimited, unboundedauthority?_" Mr. Madison said in reply: "I did conceive that the clauseunder consideration was one of those parts which would speak its ownpraise. When any power is given, its delegation necessarily involvesauthority to make laws to execute it. * * * * The powers which are foundnecessary to be given, are therefore delegated _generally_, andparticular and minute specification is left to the legislature. * * * Itis not within the limits of human capacity to delineate on paper allthose particular cases and circumstances, in which legislation by thegeneral legislature would be necessary. " Governor Randolph said:"Holland has no ten miles square, but she has the Hague where thedeputies of the States assemble. But the influence which it has giventhe province of Holland, to have the seat of government within itsterritory, subject in some respects to its control, has been injuriousto the other provinces. The wisdom of the Convention is thereforemanifest in granting to Congress exclusive jurisdiction over the placeof their session. " [_Deb. Va. Con. _, p. 320. ] In the forty-third numberof the "Federalist, " Mr. Madison says: "The indispensable necessity of_complete_ authority at the seat of government, carries its ownevidence with it. "

Finally, that the grant in question is to be interpreted according tothe obvious import of its _terms_, is proved by the fact, that Virginiaproposed an amendment to the United States' Constitution at the time ofits adoption, providing that this clause "should be so construed as togive power only over the _police and good government_ of said District, "_which amendment was rejected_. 

The former part of the clause under consideration, "Congress shall havepower to exercise _exclusive_ legislation, " gives _sole_ jurisdiction, and the latter part, "in all cases whatsoever, " defines the _extent_ ofit. Since, then, Congress is the _sole_ legislature within the District, and since its power is limited only by the checks common to alllegislatures, it follows that what the law-making power is intrinsicallycompetent to do _any_ where, Congress is competent to do in the Districtof Columbia. Having disposed of preliminaries, we proceed to state andargue the _real_ question at issue. 

IS THE LAW-MAKING POWER COMPETENT TO ABOLISH SLAVERY WHEN NOT RESTRICTEDIN THAT PARTICULAR BY CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS--or, IS THE ABOLITION OFSLAVERY WITHIN THE APPROPRIATE SPHERE OF LEGISLATION?

1. In every government, absolute sovereignty exists _somewhere_. In theUnited States it exists primarily with the _people_, and _ultimate_sovereignty _always_ exists with them. In each of the States, thelegislature possesses a _representative_ sovereignty, delegated by thepeople through the Constitution--the people thus committing to thelegislature a portion of their sovereignty, and specifying in theirconstitutions the amount of the grant and its conditions. That the_people_ in any state where slavery exists, have the power to abolishit, none will deny. If the legislature have not the power, it is because_the people_ have reserved it to themselves. Had they lodged with thelegislature "power to exercise exclusive legislation in all caseswhatsoever, " they would have parted with their sovereignty over thelegislation of the State, and so far forth, the legislature would havebecome _the people_, clothed with all their functions, and as suchcompetent, _during the continuance of the grant_, to do whatever thepeople might have done before the surrender of their power:consequently, they would have the power to abolish slavery. Thesovereignty of the District of Columbia exists _somewhere_--where is itlodged? The citizens of the District have no legislature of their own, no representation in Congress, and no political power whatever. Marylandand Virginia have surrendered to the United States their "full andabsolute right and entire sovereignty, " and the people of the UnitedStates have committed to Congress by the Constitution, the power to"exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over suchDistrict. "

Thus, the sovereignty of the District of Columbia, is shown to residesolely in the Congress of the United States; and since the power of thepeople of a state to abolish slavery within their own limits, resultsfrom their entire sovereignty within that state, so the power ofCongress to abolish slavery in the District, results from its entiresovereignty within the District. If it be objected that Congress canhave no more power over the District, than was held by the legislaturesof Maryland and Virginia, we ask what clause of the constitutiongraduates the power of Congress by the standard of those legislatures?Was the United States' constitution worked into its present shape underthe measuring line and square of Virginia and Maryland? and is its powerto be bevelled down till it can run in the grooves of state legislation?There is a deal of prating about constitutional power over the District, as though Congress were indebted for it to Maryland and Virginia. Thepowers of those states, whether prodigies or nullities, have nothing todo with the question. As well thrust in the powers of the Grand Lama tojoin issue upon, or twist papal bulls into constitutional tether, withwhich to curb congressional action. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITEDSTATES gives power to Congress, and takes it away, and _it alone_. Maryland and Virginia adopted the Constitution _before_ they ceded tothe United States the territory of the District. By their acts ofcession, they abdicated their own sovereignty over the District, andthus made room for that provided by the United States' constitution, which sovereignty was to commence as soon as a cession of territory bystates, and its acceptance by Congress, furnished a sphere for itsexercise. That the abolition of slavery is within the sphere oflegislation, I argue. 

2. FROM THE FACT, THAT SLAVERY, AS A LEGAL SYSTEM, IS THE CREATURE OFLEGISLATION. The law, by _creating_ slavery, not only affirmed its_existence_ to be within the sphere and under the control oflegislation, but also, the conditions and terms of its existence, andthe _question_ whether or not it should exist. Of course legislationwould not travel _out_ of its sphere, in abolishing what is _within_ it, and what had been recognized to be within it, by its own act. Cannotlegislatures repeal their own laws? If law can take from a man hisrights, it can give them back again. If it can say, "your body belongsto your neighbor, " it can say, "it belongs to _yourself_. " If it canannul a man's right to himself, held by express grant from his Maker, and can create for another an _artificial_ title to him, can it notannul the artificial title, and leave the original owner to hold himselfby his original title?

3. THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY HAS ALWAYS BEEN CONSIDERED WITHIN THEAPPROPRIATE SPHERE OF LEGISLATION. Almost every civilized nation hasabolished slavery by law. The history of legislation since the revivalof letters, is a record crowded with testimony to the universallyadmitted competency of the law-making power to abolish slavery. It is somanifestly an attribute not merely of absolute sovereignty, but even ofordinary legislation, that the competency of a legislature to exerciseit, may well nigh be reckoned among the legal axioms of the civilizedworld. Even the night of the dark ages was not dark enough to make thisinvisible. 

The Abolition decree of the great council of England was passed in 1102. The memorable Irish decree, "that all the English slaves in the whole ofIreland, be immediately emancipated and restored to their formerliberty, " was issued in 1171. Slavery in England was abolished by ageneral charter of emancipation in 1381. Passing over many instances ofthe abolition of slavery by law, both during the middle ages and sincethe reformation, we find them multiplying as we approach our own times. In 1776 slavery was abolished in Prussia by special edict. In St. Domingo, Cayenne, Guadaloupe, and Martinique, in 1794, where more than600, 000 slaves were emancipated by the French government. In Java, 1811;in Ceylon, 1815; in Buenos Ayres, 1816; in St. Helena, 1819; inColombia, 1821; by the Congress of Chili in 1821; in Cape Colony, 1823;in Malacca, 1825; in the southern provinces of Birmah, 1826; in Bolivia, 1826; in Peru, Guatemala, and Monte Video, 1828; in Jamaica, Barbados, the Bermudas, the Bahamas, Anguilla, Mauritius, St. Christopers, Nevis, the Virgin Islands, (British), Antigua, Montserrat, Dominica, St. Vincents, Grenada, Berbice, Tobago, St. Lucia, Trinidad, Honduras, Demerara, Essequibo and the Cape of Good Hope, on the 1st of August, 1834. But waving details, suffice it to say, that England, France, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Russia, Austria, Prussia, and Germany, haveall and often given their testimony to the competency of the legislativepower to abolish slavery. In our own country, the Legislature ofPennsylvania passed an act of abolition in 1780, Connecticut in 1784;Rhode Island, 1784; New-York, 1799; New-Jersey, in 1804; Vermont, byConstitution, in 1777; Massachusetts, in 1780; and New-Hampshire, in 1784. 

When the competency of the law-making power to abolish slavery has thusbeen recognized every where and for ages, when it has been embodied inthe highest precedents, and celebrated in the thousand jubilees ofregenerated liberty, is it an achievement of modern discovery, that sucha power is a nullity?--that all these acts of abolition are void, andthat the millions disenthralled by them, are, either themselves or theirposterity, still legally in bondage?

4. LEGISLATIVE POWER HAS ABOLISHED SLAVERS IN ITS PARTS. The law ofSouth Carolina prohibits the working of slaves more than fifteen hoursin the twenty-four. In other words, it takes from the slaveholder hispower over nine hours of the slave's time daily; and if it can take ninehours it may take twenty-four. The laws of Georgia prohibit the workingof slaves on the first day of the week; and if they can do it for thefirst, they can for the six following. The law of North Carolinaprohibits the "immoderate" correction of slaves. If it has power toprohibit _immoderate_ correction, it can prohibit _moderate_correction--_all_ correction, which would be virtual emancipation; for, take from the master the power to inflict pain, and he is master nolonger. Cease to ply the slave with the stimulus of fear, and heis free. 

The Constitution of Mississippi gives the General Assembly power to makelaws "to oblige the owners of slaves to _treat them with humanity_. " TheConstitution of Missouri has the same clause, and an additional onemaking it the DUTY of the legislature to pass such laws as may benecessary to secure the _humane_ treatment of the slaves. This grant tothose legislatures, empowers them to decide what _is_ and what is _not_"humane treatment. " Otherwise it gives no "power"--the clause is merewaste paper, and flouts in the face of a befooled legislature. A clausegiving power to require "humane treatment" covers all the _particulars_of such treatment--gives power to exact it in _all respects--requiring_certain acts, and _prohibiting_ others--maiming, branding, chainingtogether, separating families, floggings for learning the alphabet, forreading the Bible, for worshiping God according to conscience--thelegislature has power to specify each of these acts--declare that it isnot "_humane_ treatment, " and PROHIBIT it. --The legislature may alsobelieve that driving men and women into the field, and forcing them towork without pay, is not "humane treatment, " and being constitutionallybound "to _oblige_" masters to practise "humane treatment"--they havethe _power_ to _prohibit such_ treatment, and are bound to do it. 

The law of Louisiana makes slaves real estate, prohibiting the holder, if he be also a _land_ holder, to separate them from the soil. [A] If ithas power to prohibit the sale _without_ the soil, it can prohibit thesale _with_ it; and if it can prohibit the _sale_ as property, it canprohibit the _holding_ as property. Similar laws exist in the French, Spanish, and Portuguese colonies. The law of Louisiana requires themaster to give his slaves a certain amount of food and clothing. If itcan oblige the master to give the slave _one_ thing, it can oblige himto give him another: if food and clothing, then wages, liberty, his ownbody. By the laws of Connecticut, slaves may receive and hold property, and prosecute suits in their own name as plaintiffs: [This last was alsothe law of Virginia in 1795. See Tucker's "Dissertation on Slavery, " p. 73. ] There were also laws making marriage contracts legal, in certaincontingencies, and punishing infringements of them, ["_Reeve's Law ofBaron and Femme_, " p. 340-1. ]

[Footnote A: Virginia made slaves real estate by a law passed in 1705. (_Beverly's Hist. Of Va. _, p. 98. ) I do not find the precise time whenthis law was repealed, probably when Virginia became the chief slavebreeder for the cotton-growing and sugar-planting country, and madeyoung men and women "from fifteen to twenty-five" the main stapleproduction of the State. ]

Each of the laws enumerated above, does, _in principle_, abolishslavery; and all of them together abolish it _in fact_. True, not as a_whole_, and at a _stroke_, nor all in one place; but in its _parts_, bypiecemeal, at divers times and places; thus showing that the abolitionof slavery is within the boundary of legislation. 

In the "Washington (D. C. ) City Laws, " page 138, is "AN ACT to preventhorses from being cruelly beaten or abused. " Similar laws have beenpassed by corporations in many of the slave states, and throughout thecivilized world, such acts are punishable either as violations of commonlaw or of legislative enactments. If a legislature can pass laws "toprevent _horses_ from being cruelly abused, " it can pass laws to prevent_men_ from being cruelly abused, and if it can _prevent_ cruel abuse, itcan define _what it is_. It can declare that to make men _work withoutpay_ is cruel abuse, and can PROHIBIT it. 

5. THE COMPETENCY OF THE LAW-MAKING POWER TO ABOLISH SLAVERY, HAS BEENRECOGNIZED BY ALL THE SLAVEHOLDING STATES, EITHER DIRECTLY OR BYIMPLICATION. Some States recognize it in their _Constitutions_, bygiving the legislature power to emancipate such slaves as may "haverendered the state some distinguished service, " and others by expressprohibitory restrictions. The Constitution of Mississippi, Arkansas, andother States, restrict the power of the legislature in this respect. Whythis express prohibition, if the law-making power _cannot_ abolishslavery? A stately farce indeed, with appropriate rites to induct intothe Constitution a special clause, for the express purpose ofrestricting a nonentity!--to take from the law-making power what it_never had_, and what _cannot_ pertain to it! The legislatures of thoseStates have no power to abolish slavery, simply because theirConstitutions have expressly _taken away_ that power. The people ofArkansas, Mississippi, &c. Well knew the competency of the law-makingpower to abolish slavery, and hence their zeal to _restrict_ it. 

The slaveholding States have recognised this power in their _laws_. Virginia passed a law in 1786 to prevent the importation of Slaves, ofwhich the following is an extract: "And be it further enacted that everyslave imported into this commonwealth contrary to the true intent andmeaning of this act, shall upon such importation become _free_. " By alaw of Virginia, passed Dec. 17, 1792, a slave brought into the stateand kept _there a year_, was _free_. The Maryland Court of Appeals, Dec. , 1813 [case of Stewart vs. Oakes, ] decided that a slave owned inMaryland, and sent by his master into Virginia to work at differentperiods, making one year in the whole, became _free_, being_emancipated_ by the above law. North Carolina and Georgia in their actsof cession, transferring to the United States the territory nowconstituting the States of Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi, made it acondition of the grant, that the provisions of the ordinance of '87should be secured to the inhabitants, _with the exception of the sixtharticle which prohibits slavery_; thus conceding, both the competency oflaw to abolish slavery, and the power of Congress to do it, within itsjurisdiction. (These acts show the prevalent belief at that time, in theslaveholding States, that the general government had adopted a line ofpolicy aiming at the exclusion of slavery from the entire territory ofthe United States, not included within the original States, and thatthis policy would be pursued unless prevented by specific and formalstipulation. )

Slaveholding States have asserted this power _in their judicialdecisions_. In numerous cases their highest courts have decided that ifthe legal owner of slaves takes them into those States where slavery hasbeen abolished either by law or by the constitution, such removalemancipates them, such law or constitution abolishing their slavery. This principle is asserted in the decision of the Supreme Court ofLouisiana, Lunsford vs. Coquillon, 14 Martin's La. Reps. 401. Also bythe Supreme Court of Virginia, Hunter vs. Fulcher, 1 Leigh's Reps. 172. The same doctrine was laid down by Judge Washington, of the U. S. Sup. Court, Butler vs. Hopper, Washington's C. C. Reps. 508; also, by theCourt of Appeals in Kentucky, Rankin vs. Lydia, 2 Marshall's Reps. 407;see also, Wilson vs. Isbell, 5 Call's Reps. 425, Spotts vs. Gillespie, 6Randolph's Reps. 566. The State vs. Lasselle, 1 Blackford's Reps. 60, Marie Louise vs. Mariot, 8 La. Reps. 475. In this case, which was triedin 1836, the slave had been taken by her master to France and broughtback; Judge Matthews, of the Supreme Court of Louisiana, decided that"residence for one moment" under the laws of France emancipated her. 

6. EMINENT STATESMEN, THEMSELVES SLAVEHOLDERS, HAVE CONCEDED THIS POWER. Washington, in a letter to Robert Morris, April 12, 1786, says: "Thereis not a man living, who wishes more sincerely than I do, to see a planadopted for the abolition of slavery; but there is only one proper andeffectual mode by which it can be accomplished, and that is by_legislative_ authority. " In a letter to Lafayette, May 10, 1786, hesays: "It (the abolition of slavery) certainly might, and assuredlyought to be effected, and that too by _legislative_ authority. " In aletter to John Fenton Mercer, Sept. 9, 1786, he says: "It is among myfirst wishes to see some plan adopted by which slavery in this countrymay be abolished by _law_. " In a letter to Sir John Sinclair, he says:"There are in Pennsylvania, _laws_ for the gradual abolition of slavery, which neither Maryland nor Virginia have at present, but which nothingis more certain than that they _must have_, and at a period not remote. "Jefferson, speaking of movements in the Virginia Legislature in 1777, for the passage of a law emancipating the slaves, says: "The principlesof the amendment were agreed on, that is to say, the freedom of all bornafter a certain day; but it was found that the public mind would notbear the proposition, yet the day is not far distant when _it must bearand adopt it_. "--Jefferson's Memoirs, v. I. P. 35. It is well known thatJefferson, Pendleton, Mason, Wythe and Lee, while acting as a committeeof the Virginia House of Delegates to revise the State Laws, prepared aplan for the gradual emancipation of the slaves by law. These men werethe great lights of Virginia. Mason, the author of the VirginiaConstitution; Pendleton, the President of the memorable VirginiaConvention in 1787, and President of the Virginia Court of Appeals;Wythe was the Blackstone of the Virginia bench, for a quarter of acentury Chancellor of the State, the professor of law in the Universityof William and Mary, and the preceptor of Jefferson, Madison, and ChiefJustice Marshall. He was the author of the celebrated remonstrance tothe English House of Commons on the subject of the stamp act. As toJefferson, his _name_ is his biography. 

Every slaveholding member of Congress from the States of Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia, voted for thecelebrated ordinance of 1787, which abolished the slavery then existingin the Northwest Territory. Patrick Henry, in his well known letter toRobert Pleasants, of Virginia, January 18, 1773, says: "I believe a timewill come when an opportunity will be offered to abolish this lamentableevil. " William Pinkney, of Maryland, advocated the abolition of slaveryby law, in the legislature of that State, in 1789. Luther Martin urgedthe same measure both in the Federal Convention, and in his report tothe Legislature of Maryland. In 1796, St. George Tucker, of Virginia, professor of law in the University of William and Mary, and Judge of theGeneral Court, published a dissertation on slavery, urging the abolitionof slavery by _law_. 

John Jay, while New-York was yet a slave State, and himself in law aslaveholder, said in a letter from Spain, in 1786, "An excellent lawmight be made out of the Pennsylvania one, for the gradual abolition ofslavery. Were I in your legislature, I would present a bill for thepurpose, and I would never cease moving it till it became a law, or Iceased to be a member. "

Governor Tompkins, in a message to the Legislature of New-York, January8, 1812, said: "To devise the means for the gradual and ultimate_extermination_ from amongst us of slavery, is a work worthy the_representatives_ of a polished and enlightened nation. "

The Virginia Legislature asserted this power in 1832. At the close of amonth's debate, the following proceedings were had. I extract from aneditorial article in the Richmond Whig, Jan. 26, 1832. 

"The report of the Select Committee, adverse to legislation on thesubject of Abolition, was in these words: _Resolved_, as the opinion ofthis Committee, that it is INEXPEDIENT FOR THE PRESENT, to make any_legislative enactments for the abolition of slavery_. " This Report Mr. Preston moved to reverse, and thus to declare that it _was_ expedient, _now_ to make legislative enactments for the abolition of slavery. Thiswas meeting the question in its strongest form. It demanded action, andimmediate action. On this proposition the vote was 58 to 73. Many of themost decided friends of abolition voted against the amendment, becausethey thought public opinion not sufficiently prepared for it, and thatit might prejudice the cause to move too rapidly. The vote on Mr. Witcher's motion to postpone the whole subject indefinitely, indicatesthe true state of opinion in the House. That was the test question, andwas so intended and proclaimed by its mover. That motion was_negatived_, 71 to 60; showing a majority of 11, who by that vote, declared their belief that at the proper time, and in the proper mode, Virginia ought to commence a system of gradual abolition. 

7. THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES HAVE ASSERTED THIS POWER. Theordinance of '87, declaring that there should be "neither slavery norinvoluntary servitude, " in the North Western Territory, abolished theslavery then existing there. The Sup. Court of Mississippi, [Harvey vs. Decker, Walker's Mi. Reps. 36, ] declared that the ordinance of '87emancipated the slaves then held there. In this decision the question isargued ably and at great length. The Supreme Court of La. Made the samedecision in the case of Forsyth vs. Nash, 4 Martin's La. Reps. 385. Thesame doctrine was laid down by Judge Porter, (late United States Senatorfrom La. , ) in his decision at the March term of the La. Supreme Court, 1830, Merry vs. Chexnaider, 20 Martin's Reps. 699. 

That the ordinance abolished the slavery then existing there is alsoshown by the fact, that persons holding slaves in the territorypetitioned for the repeal of the article abolishing slavery, assigning_that_ as a reason. "The petition of the citizens of Randolph and St. Clair counties in the Illinois country, stating that they were inpossession of slaves, and praying the repeal of that act (the 6tharticle of the ordinance of '87) and the passage of a law legalizingslavery there. " [Am. State papers, Public Lands, v. 1. P. 69. ] Congresspassed this ordinance before the United States' Constitution wasadopted, when it derived all its authority from the articles ofConfederation, which conferred powers of legislation far more restrictedthan those committed to Congress over the District and Territories bythe United States' Constitution. Now, we ask, how does the Constitution_abridge_ the powers which Congress possessed under the articles ofconfederation?

The abolition of the slave trade by Congress, in 1808, is anotherillustration of the competency of legislative power to abolish slavery. The African slave trade has become such a mere _technic_, in commonparlance, that the fact of its being _proper slavery_ is overlooked. Thebuying and selling, the transportation, and the horrors of the middlepassage, were mere _incidents_ of the slavery in which the victims wereheld. Let things be called by their own names. When Congress abolishedthe African slave trade, it abolished SLAVERY--supreme slavery--powerfrantic with license, trampling a whole hemisphere scathed with itsfires, and running down with blood. True, Congress did not, in theabolition of the slave trade, abolish all the slavery within itsjurisdiction, but it did abolish _all_ the slavery _in one_ part of itsjurisdiction. What has rifled it of power to abolish slavery in_another_ part of its jurisdiction, especially in that part where it has"exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever?"

8. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES RECOGNIZES THIS POWER BY THEMOST CONCLUSIVE IMPLICATION. In Art. 1, sec. 3, clause 1, it prohibitsthe abolition of the slave trade previous to 1808: thus implying thepower of Congress to do it at once, but for the restriction; and itspower to do it _unconditionally_, when that restriction ceased. Again;In Art. 4, sec. 2, "No person held to service or labor in one stateunder the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall in consequence ofany law or regulation therein, be discharged from said service orlabor. " This clause was inserted, as all admit, to prevent the runawayslave from being emancipated by the _laws_ of the free states. If theselaws had _no power_ to emancipate, why this constitutional guard toprevent it?

The insertion of the clause, was the testimony of the eminent juriststhat framed the Constitution, to the existence of the _power_, and theirpublic proclamation, that the abolition of slavery was within theappropriate sphere of legislation. The right of the owner to that whichis rightfully property, is founded on a principle of _universal law_, and is recognized and protected by all civilized nations; property inslaves is, by general consent, an _exception_; hence slaveholdersinsisted upon the insertion of this clause in the United States'Constitution, that they might secure by an _express provision_, thatfrom which protection is withheld, by the acknowledged principles ofuniversal law. [A] By demanding this provision, slaveholders consentedthat their slaves should not be recognized as property by the UnitedStates' Constitution, and hence they found their claim, on the fact oftheir being "_persons_, and _held_ to service. "

[Footnote A: The fact, that under the articles of Confederation, slaveholders, whose slaves had escaped into free states, had no legalpower to force them back, --that _now_ they have no power to recover, byprocess of law, their slaves who escape to Canada, the South AmericanStates, or to Europe--the case already cited, in which the Supreme Courtof Louisiana decided, that residence "_for one moment_, " under the lawsof France emancipated an American slave--the case of Fulton, _vs. _Lewis, 3 Har. And John's Reps. , 56, where the slave of a St. Domingoslaveholder, who brought him to Maryland in '93, was pronounced free bythe Maryland Court of Appeals--are illustrations of the acknowledgedtruth here asserted, that by the consent of the civilized world, and onthe principles of universal law, slaves are not "_property_, " and thatwhenever held as property under _law_, it is only by _positivelegislative acts_, forcibly setting aside the law of nature, the commonlaw, and the principles of universal justice and right between man andman, --principles paramount to all law, and from which alone, law derivesits intrinsic authoritative sanction. ]

9. CONGRESS HAS UNQUESTIONABLE POWER TO ADOPT THE COMMON LAW, AS THELEGAL SYSTEM, WITHIN ITS EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION. --This has been done, with certain restrictions, in most of the States, either by legislativeacts or by constitutional implication. THE COMMON LAW KNOWS NO SLAVES. Its principles annihilate slavery wherever they touch it. It is auniversal, unconditional, abolition act. Wherever slavery is a legalsystem, it is so only by _statute_ law, and in violation of the commonlaw. The declaration of Lord Chief Justice Holt, that, "by the commonlaw, no man can have property in another, " is an acknowledged axiom, andbased upon the well known common law definition of property. "Thesubjects of dominion or property are _things_, as contra-distinguishedfrom _persons_. " Let Congress adopt the common law in the District ofColumbia, and slavery there is abolished. Congress may well be at homein common law legislation, for the common law is the grand element ofthe United States' Constitution. All its _fundamental_ provisions areinstinct with its spirit; and its existence, principles, and paramountauthority, are presupposed and assumed throughout the whole. Thepreamble of the Constitution plants the standard of the Common Lawimmovably in its foreground. "We, the people of the United States, inorder to ESTABLISH JUSTICE, &c. , do ordain and establish thisConstitution;" thus proclaiming _devotion_ to JUSTICE, as thecontrolling motive in the organization of the Government, and its secureestablishment the chief object of its aims. By this most solemnrecognition, the common law, that grand legal embodyment of "justice"and fundamental right--was made the groundwork of the Constitution, andintrenched behind its strongest munitions. The second clause of Sec. 9, Art. 1; Sec. 4, Art. 2, and the last clause of Sec. 2, Art. 3, withArticles 7, 8, 9, and 13 of the Amendments, are also expressrecognitions of the common law as the presiding Genius of theConstitution. 

By adopting the common law within its exclusive jurisdiction Congresswould carry out the principles of our glorious Declaration, and followthe highest precedents in our national history and jurisprudence. It isa political maxim as old as civil legislation, that laws should bestrictly homogeneous with the principles of the government whose willthey express, embodying and carrying them out--being indeed the_principles themselves_, in preceptive form--representatives alike ofthe nature and power of the Government--standing illustrations of itsgenius and spirit, while they proclaim and enforce its authority. Whoneeds be told that slavery makes war upon the principles of theDeclaration, and the spirit of the Constitution, and that these and theprinciples of the common law gravitate towards each other withirrepressible affinities, and mingle into one? The common law camehither with our pilgrim fathers; it was their birthright, their panoply, their glory, and their song of rejoicing in the house of theirpilgrimage. It covered them in the day of their calamity, and theirtrust was under the shadow of its wings. From the first settlement ofthe country, the genius of our institutions and our national spirit haveclaimed it as a common possession, and exulted in it with a commonpride. A century ago, Governor Pownall, one of the most eminentconstitutional jurists of colonial times, said of the common law, "Inall the colonies the common law is received as the foundation and mainbody of their law. " In the Declaration of Rights, made by theContinental Congress at its first session in '74, there was thefollowing resolution: "Resolved, That the respective colonies areentitled to the common law of England, and especially to the great andinestimable privilege of being tried by their peers of the vicinageaccording to the course of that law. " Soon after the organization of thegeneral government, Chief Justice Ellsworth, in one of his decisions onthe bench of the U. S. Sup. Court, said: "The common law of this countryremains the same as it was before the revolution. " Chief JusticeMarshall, in his decision in the case of Livingston _vs. _ Jefferson, said: "When our ancestors migrated to America, they brought with themthe common law of their native country, so far as it was applicable totheir new situation, and I do not conceive that the revolution in anydegree changed the relations of man to man, or the law which regulatesthem. In breaking our political connection with the parent state, we didnot break our connection with each other. " [_Hall's Law Journal, newseries_. ] Mr. Duponceau, in his "Dissertation on the Jurisdiction ofCourts in the United States, " says, "I consider the common law ofEngland the _jus commune_ of the United States. I think I can lay itdown as a correct principle, that the common law of England, as it wasat the time of the Declaration of Independence, still continues to bethe national law of this country, so far as it is applicable to ourpresent state, and subject to the modifications it has received here inthe course of nearly half a century. " Chief Justice Taylor of NorthCarolina, in his decision in the case of the State _vs. _ Reed, in 1823, Hawkes' N. C. Reps. 454, says, "a law of _paramount, obligation to thestatute_, was violated by the offence--COMMON LAW, founded upon the lawof nature, and confirmed by revelation. " The legislation of the UnitedStates abounds in recognitions of the principles of the common law, asserting their paramount binding power. Sparing details, of which ournational state papers are full, we illustrate by a single instance. Itwas made a condition of the admission of Louisiana into the Union, thatthe right of trial by jury should be secured to all her citizens, --theUnited States government thus employing its power to enlarge thejurisdiction of the common law in this its great representative. 

Having shown that the abolition of slavery is within the competency ofthe law-making power, when unrestricted by constitutional provisions, and that the legislation of Congress over the District is thusunrestricted, its power to abolish slavery there is established. Weargue it further, from the fact that, 10. SLAVERY NOW EXISTS IN THE DISTRICT BY AN ACT OF CONGRESS. In the actof 16th July, 1790, Congress accepted portions of territory offered bythe states of Maryland and Virginia, and enacted that the laws, as theythen were, should continue in force, "until Congress shall otherwise bylaw provide. " Under these laws, adopted by Congress, and in effectre-enacted and made laws of the District, the slaves there are now held. 

Is Congress so impotent in its own "exclusive jurisdiction" that itcannot "otherwise by law provide?" If it can say, what _shall_ beconsidered property, it can say what shall _not_ be considered property. Suppose a legislature should enact that marriage contracts should bemere bills of sale, making a husband the proprietor of his wife, as his_bona fide_ property; and suppose husbands should herd their wives indroves for the market as beasts of burden, or for the brothel as victimsof lust, and then prate about their inviolable legal property, and denythe power of the legislature, which stamped them "property, " to undo itsown wrong, and secure to wives by law the rights of human beings. Wouldsuch cant about "legal rights" be heeded where reason and justice heldsway, and where law, based upon fundamental morality, received homage?If a frantic legislature pronounces woman a chattel, has it no power, with returning reason, to take back the blasphemy? Is the impious edictirrepealable? Be it, that with legal forms it has stamped wives "wares. "Can no legislation blot out the brand? Must the handwriting of Deity onhuman nature be expunged for ever? Has LAW no power to stay the erasingpen, and tear off the scrawled label that covers up the IMAGE OF GOD?

II. THE POWER OF CONGRESS TO ABOLISH SLAVERY IN THE DISTRICT HAS BEEN, TILL RECENTLY, UNIVERSALLY CONCEDED. 

1. It has been assumed by Congress itself. The following record standson the journals of the House of Representatives for 1804, p. 225: "Onmotion made and seconded that the House do come to the followingresolution: 'Resolved, That from and after the 4th day of July, 1805, all blacks and people of color that shall be born within the District ofColumbia, or whose mothers shall be the property of any person residingwithin the said District, shall be free, the males at the age of ----, and the females at the age of ----. The main question being taken thatthe House do agree to said motions as originally proposed, it wasnegatived by a majority of 46. '" Though the motion was lost, it was onthe ground of its alleged _inexpediency_ alone. In the debate whichpreceded the vote, the power of Congress was conceded. In March, 1816, the House of Representatives passed the following resolution: "Resolved, That a committee be appointed to inquire into the existence of aninhuman and illegal traffic in slaves, carried on in and through theDistrict of Columbia, and to report whether any and what measures arenecessary for _putting a stop to the same_. "

On the 9th of January, 1829, the House of Representatives passed thefollowing resolution by a vote of 114 to 66: "Resolved, That theCommittee on the District of Columbia, be instructed to inquire into the_expediency_ of providing by _law_ for the gradual abolition of slaverywithin the District, in such a manner that the interests of noindividual shall be injured thereby. " Among those who voted in theaffirmative were Messrs. Barney of Md. , Armstrong of Va. , A. H. Shepperdof N. C. , Blair of Tenn. , Chilton and Lyon of Ky. , Johns of Del. , andothers from slave states. 

2. IT HAS BEEN CONCEDED BY COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS, ON THE DISTRICT OFCOLUMBIA. --In a report of the committee on the District, Jan. 11, 1837, by their chairman, Mr. Powell of Va. , there is the followingdeclaration: "The Congress of the United States, has by the constitutionexclusive jurisdiction over the District, and has power upon thissubject (_slavery_, ) as upon all other subjects of legislation, toexercise _unlimited discretion_. " Reports of Comms. 2d Sess. 19th Cong. V. Iv. No. 43. In December, 1831, the committee on the District, Mr. Doddridge of Va. , Chairman, reported, "That until the adjoining statesact on the subject, (_slavery_) it would be (not _unconstitutional_ but)unwise and impolitic, if not unjust, for Congress to interfere. " InApril, 1836, a special committee on abolition memorials reported thefollowing resolutions by their Chairman, Mr. Pinckney of South Carolina:"Resolved, That Congress possesses no constitutional authority tointerfere in any way with the institution of slavery in any of thestates of this confederacy. "

"Resolved, That Congress _ought not to interfere_ in any way withslavery in the District of Columbia. " "Ought not to interfere, "carefully avoiding the phraseology of the first resolution, and thus ineffect conceding the constitutional power. In a widely circulated"Address to the electors of the Charleston District, " Mr. Pinkney isthus denounced by his own constituents: "He has proposed a resolutionwhich is received by the plain common sense of the whole country as aconcession that Congress has authority to abolish slavery in theDistrict of Columbia. "

3. IT HAS BEEN CONCEDED BY THE CITIZENS OF THE DISTRICT. A petition forthe gradual abolition of slavery in the District, signed by nearlyeleven hundred of its citizens, was presented to Congress, March 24, 1827. Among the signers to this petition, were Chief Justice Cranch, Judge Van Ness, Judge Morsel, Prof. J. M. Staughton, and a large numberof the most influential inhabitants of the District. Mr. Dickson, of NewYork, asserted on the floor of Congress in 1835, that the signers tothis petition owned more than half the property in the District. Theaccuracy of this statement has never been questioned. 

THIS POWER HAS BEEN CONCEDED BY GRAND JURIES OF THE DISTRICT. The grandjury of the county of Alexandria, at the March term, 1802, presented thedomestic slaves trade as a grievance, and said, "We consider thesegrievances demanding _legislative_ redress. " Jan. 19, 1829, Mr. Alexander, of Virginia, presented a representation of the grand jury inthe city of Washington, remonstrating against "any measure for theabolition of slavery within said District, unless accompanied bymeasures for the removal of the emancipated from the same;" thus, notonly conceding the power to emancipate slaves, but affirming anadditional power, that of _excluding them when free_. Journal H. R. 1828-9, p. 174. 

4. THIS POWER HAS BEEN CONCEDED BY STATE LEGISLATURES. In 1828 theLegislature of Pennsylvania instructed their Senators in Congress "toprocure, if practicable, the passage of a law to abolish slavery in theDistrict of Columbia. " Jan. 28, 1829, the House of Assembly of New Yorkpassed a resolution, that their "Senators in Congress be instructed tomake every possible exertion to effect the passage of a law for theabolition of Slavery in the District of Columbia. " In February, 1837, the Senate of Massachusetts "Resolved, That Congress having exclusivelegislation in the District of Columbia, possess the right to abolishslavery and the slave trade therein. " The House of Representativespassed the following resolution at the same session: "Resolved, ThatCongress having exclusive legislation in the District of Columbia, possess the right to abolish slavery in said District. " November 1, 1837, the Legislature of Vermont, "Resolved that Congress have the fullpower by the constitution to abolish slavery and the slave trade in theDistrict of Columbia, and in the territories. "

In May, 1838, the Legislature of Connecticut passed a resolutionasserting the power of Congress to abolish slavery in the Districtof Columbia. 

In January, 1836, the Legislature of South Carolina "Resolved, That weshould consider the abolition of Slavery in the District of Columbia asa violation of the rights of the citizens of that District derived fromthe _implied_ conditions on which that territory was ceded to theGeneral Government. " Instead of denying the constitutional power, theyvirtually admit its existence, by striving to smother it under an_implication_. In February, 1836, the Legislature of North Carolina"Resolved, That, although by the Constitution _all legislative power_over the District of Columbia is vested in the Congress of the UnitedStates, yet we would deprecate any legislative action on the part ofthat body towards liberating the slaves of that District, as a breach offaith towards those States by whom the territory was originally ceded. Here is a full concession of the _power_. February 2, 1836, the VirginiaLegislature passed unanimously the following resolution: "Resolved, bythe General Assembly of Virginia, that the following article be proposedto the several states of this Union, and to Congress, as an amendment ofthe Constitution of the United States:" "The powers of Congress shall notbe so construed as to authorize the passage of any law for theemancipation of slaves in the District of Columbia, without the consentof the individual proprietors thereof, unless by the sanction of theLegislatures of Virginia and Maryland, and under such conditions as theyshall by law prescribe. "

Fifty years after the formation of the United States' constitution thestates are solemnly called upon by the Virginia Legislature, to amendthat instrument by a clause asserting that, in the grant to Congress of"exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever" over the District, the"case" of slavery is not included!! What could have dictated such aresolution but the conviction that the power to abolish slavery is anirresistible inference from the constitution _as it is?_ The fact thatthe same legislature, passed afterward a resolution, though by no meansunanimously, that Congress does not possess the power, abates not atitle of the testimony in the first resolution. March 23d, 1824, "Mr. Brown presented the resolutions of the General Assembly of Ohio, recommending to Congress the consideration of a system for the gradualemancipation of persons of color held in servitude in the UnitedStates. " On the same day, "Mr. Noble, of Indiana, communicated aresolution from the legislature of that state, respecting the gradualemancipation of slaves within the United States. " Journal of the UnitedStates' Senate, for 1824-5, p. 231. 

The Ohio and Indiana resolutions, by taking for granted the _general_power of Congress over the subject of slavery, do virtually assert its_special_ power within its _exclusive_ jurisdiction. 

5. THIS POWER HAS BEEN CONCEDED BY BODIES OF CITIZENS IN THE SLAVESTATES. The petition of eleven hundred citizens of the District, hasbeen already mentioned. "March 5, 1830, Mr. Washington presented amemorial of inhabitants of the county of Frederick, in the state ofMaryland, praying that provision be made for the gradual abolition ofslavery in the District of Columbia. " Journal H. R. 1829-30, p. 358. 

March 30, 1828. Mr. A. H. Shepperd, of North Carolina, presented amemorial of citizens of that state, "praying Congress to take measuresfor the entire abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. "Journal H. R. 1829-30, p. 379. 

January 14, 1822. Mr. Rhea, of Tennessee, presented a memorial ofcitizens of that state, praying that "provision may be made, whereby allslaves that may hereafter be born in the District of Columbia, shall befree at a certain period of their lives. " Journal H. R. 1821-22, p. 142. 

December 13, 1824. Mr. Saunders of North Carolina, presented a memorialof the citizens of that state, praying "that measures may be taken forthe gradual abolition of slavery in the United States. " Journal H. R. 1824-25, p. 27. 

December 16, 1828. "Mr. Barnard presented the memorial of the AmericanConvention for promoting the abolition of slavery, held in Baltimore, praying that slavery may be abolished in the District of Columbia. "Journal U. S. Senate, 1828-29, p. 24. 

6. DISTINGUISHED STATESMEN AND JURISTS IN THE SLAVEHOLDING STATES, HAVECONCEDED THIS POWER. The testimony Of Messrs. Doddridge, and Powell, ofVirginia, Chief Justice Cranch, and Judges Morsel and Van Ness, of theDistrict, has already been given. In the debate in Congress on thememorial of the Society of Friends, in 1790, Mr. Madison, in speaking ofthe territories of the United States, explicitly declared, from his ownknowledge of the views of the members of the convention that framed theconstitution, as well as from the obvious import of its terms, that inthe territories, "Congress have certainly the power to regulate thesubject of slavery. " Congress can have no more power over theterritories than that of "exclusive legislation in all caseswhatsoever, " consequently, according to Mr. Madison, "it has certainlythe power to regulate the subject of slavery in the" _District_. InMarch, 1816, Mr. Randolph of Virginia, introduced a resolution forputting a stop to the domestic slave trade within the District. December12, 1827, Mr. Barney, of Maryland, presented a memorial for abolition inthe District, and moved that it be printed. Mr. McDuffie, of S. C. , objected to the printing, but "expressly admitted the right of Congressto grant to the people of the District any measure which they might deemnecessary to free themselves from the deplorable evil. "--[See letter ofMr. Claiborne of Miss. To his constituents published in the WashingtonGlobe, May 9, 1836. ] The sentiments of Mr. Clay of Kentucky, on thesubject are well known. In a speech before the U. S. Senate, in 1836, hedeclared the power of Congress to abolish slavery in the District"unquestionable. " Messrs. Blair, of Tennessee, and Chilton, Lyon, andR. M. Johnson, of Kentucky, A. H. Shepperd, of N. C. , Messrs. Armstrong andSmyth of Va. , Messrs. Dorsey, Archer, and Barney, of Md. , and Johns, ofDel. , with numerous others from slave states have asserted the power ofCongress to abolish slavery in the District. In the speech of Mr. Smyth, of Virginia, on the Missouri question, January 28, 1820, he says on thispoint: "If the future freedom of the blacks is your real object, and nota mere pretence, why do you begin _here_? Within the ten miles square, you have _undoubted power_ to exercise exclusive legislation. _Produce abill to emancipate the slaves in the District of Columbia_, or, if youprefer it, to emancipate those born hereafter. "

To this may be added the testimony of the present Vice President of theUnited States, Hon. Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky. In a speech beforethe U. S. Senate, February 1, 1820, (National Intelligencer, April 29, 1829, ) he says: "In the District of Columbia, containing a population of30, 000 souls, and probably as many slaves as the whole territory ofMissouri, THE POWER OF PROVIDING FOR THEIR EMANCIPATION RESTS WITHCONGRESS ALONE. Why then, this heart-rending sympathy for the slaves ofMissouri, and this cold insensibility, this eternal apathy, towards theslaves in the District of Columbia?"

It is quite unnecessary to add, that the most distinguished northernstatesmen of both political parties, have always affirmed the power ofCongress to abolish slavery in the District. President Van Buren in hisletter of March 6, 1836, to a committee of Gentlemen in North Carolina, says, "I would not, from the light now before me, feel myself safe inpronouncing that Congress does not possess the power of abolishingslavery in the District of Columbia. " This declaration of the Presidentis consistent with his avowed sentiments touching the Missouri question, on which he coincided with such men as Daniel D. Thompkins, De WittClinton, and others, whose names are a host. [A] It is consistent, alsowith his recommendation in his last message, in which speaking of theDistrict, he strongly urges upon Congress "a thorough and carefulrevision of its local government, " speaks of the "entire independence"of the people of the District "upon Congress, " recommends that a"uniform system of local government" be adopted, and adds, that"although it was selected as the seat of the General Government, thesite of its public edifices, the depository of its archives, and theresidences of officers intrusted with large amounts of public property, and the management of public business, yet it never has been subjectedto, or received, that _special_ and _comprehensive_ legislation whichthese circumstances peculiarly demanded. "

[Footnote A: Mr. Van Buren, when a member of the Senate of New-York, voted for the following preamble and resolutions, which passedunanimously:--Jan. 28th, 1820. "Whereas the inhibiting the furtherextension of slavery in the United States, is a subject of deep concernto the people of this state: and whereas, we consider slavery as an evilmuch to be deplored, and that _every constitutional barrier should beinterposed to prevent its further extension_: and that the constitutionof the United States _clearly gives Congress the right_ to require newstates, not comprised within the original boundary of the United States, to _make the prohibition of slavery_ a condition of their admission intothe Union: Therefore, Resolved, That our Senators be instructed, and our members of Congress be requested, to oppose the admission as a state into the Union, of any territory not comprised as aforesaid, without making _the prohibition of slavery_ therein an indispensible condition of admission. "]

The tenor of Mr. Tallmadge's speech on the right of petition, and of Mr. Webster's on the reception of abolition memorials, may be taken asuniversal exponents of the sentiments of northern statesmen as to thepower of Congress to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia. 

An explicit declaration, that an "_overwhelming majority_" of the_present_ Congress concede the power to abolish slavery in the Districthas just been made by Robert Barnwell Rhett, a member of Congress fromSouth Carolina, in a letter published in the Charleston Mercury of Dec. 27, 1837. The following is an extract:

"The time has arrived when we must have new guaranties under theconstitution, or the Union must be dissolved. _Our views of theconstitution are not those of the majority_. AN OVERWHELMING MAJORITY_think that by the constitution, Congress may abolish slavery in theDistrict of Columbia--may abolish the slave trade between the States;that is, it may prohibit their being carried out of the State in whichthey are--and prohibit it in all the territories, Florida among them. They think_, NOT WITHOUT STRONG REASONS, _that the power of Congressextends to all of these subjects_. "

_Direct testimony_ to show that the power of Congress to abolish slaveryin the District, has always till recently been _universally conceded_, is perhaps quite superfluous. We subjoin, however, the following:

The Vice-President of the United States in his speech on the Missouriquestion, quoted above, after contending that the restriction of slaveryin Missouri would be unconstitutional, declares, that the power ofCongress over slavery in the District "COULD NOT BE QUESTIONED. " In thespeech of Mr. Smyth, of Va. , also quoted above, he declares the power ofCongress to abolish slavery in the District to be "UNDOUBTED. "

Mr. Sutherland, of Penn. , in a speech in the House of Representatives, on the motion to print Mr. Pinckney's Report, is thus reported in theWashington Globe, of May 9th, '36. "He replied to the remark that thereport conceded that Congress had a right to legislate upon the subjectin the District of Columbia, and said that SUCH A RIGHT HAD NEVER BEEN, TILL RECENTLY, DENIED. "

The American Quarterly Review, published at Philadelphia, with a largecirculation and list of contributors in the slave states, holds thefollowing language in the September No. 1833, p. 55: "Under this'exclusive jurisdiction, ' granted by the constitution, Congress haspower to abolish slavery and the slave trade in the District ofColumbia. It would hardly be necessary to state this as a distinctproposition, had it not been occasionally questioned. The truth of theassertion, however, is too obvious to admit of argument--and we believehas NEVER BEEN DISPUTED BY PERSONS WHO ARE FAMILIAR WITH THECONSTITUTION. "

OBJECTIONS TO THE FOREGOING CONCLUSIONS CONSIDERED. 

We now proceed to notice briefly the main arguments that have beenemployed in Congress and elsewhere against the power of Congress toabolish slavery in the District. One of the most plausible is, that "theconditions on which Maryland and Virginia ceded the District to theUnited States, would be violated, if Congress should abolish slaverythere. " The reply to this is, that Congress had no power to _accept_ acession coupled with conditions restricting that "power of exclusivelegislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District, " which wasgiven it by the constitution. 

To show the futility of the objection, we insert here the acts ofcession. The cession of Maryland was made in November, 1788, and is asfollows: "An act to cede to Congress a district of ten miles square inthis state for the seat of the government of the United States. "

"Be it enacted, by the General Assembly of Maryland, that therepresentatives of this state in the House of Representatives of theCongress of the United States, appointed to assemble at New-York, on thefirst Wednesday of March next, be, and they are; hereby authorized andrequired on the behalf of this state, to cede to the Congress of theUnited States, any district in this state, not exceeding ten milessquare, which the Congress may fix upon, and accept for the seat ofgovernment of the United States. " Laws of Md. , v. 2. , c. 46. 

The cession of Virginia was made on the 3d of December, 1788, in thefollowing words:

"Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That a tract of country, notexceeding ten miles square, or any lesser quantity, to be located withinthe limits of the State, and in any part thereof; as Congress may, bylaw, direct, shall be, and the same is hereby forever ceded andrelinquished to the Congress and Government of the United States, infull and absolute right, and exclusive jurisdiction, as well of soil, asof persons residing or to reside thereon, pursuant to the tenor andeffect of the eighth section of the first article of the government ofthe constitution of the United States. "

But were there no provisos to these acts? The Maryland act had _none_. The Virginia act had this proviso: "Sect. 2. Provided, that nothingherein contained, shall be construed to vest in the United States anyright of property in the soil, or to affect the rights of individuals_therein_, otherwise than the same shall or may be transferred by suchindividuals to the United States. "

This specification touching the soil was merely definitive andexplanatory of that clause in the act of cession, "_full and absoluteright_. " Instead of restraining the power of Congress on _slavery_ andother subjects, it even gives it freer course; for exceptions to _parts_of a rule, give double confirmation to those parts not embraced in theexceptions. If it was the _design_ of the proviso to restrictcongressional action on the subject of _slavery_, why is the _soilalone_ specified? As legal instruments are not paragons of economy inwords, might not "John Doe, " out of his abundance, and without spoilinghis style, have afforded an additional word--at least a hint--thatslavery was _meant_, though nothing was said about it?

But again, Maryland and Virginia, in their acts of cession, declare themto be made "in pursuance of" that clause of the constitution which givesto Congress "exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever" over the tenmiles square--thus, instead of _restricting_ that clause, both States_confirm_ it. Now, their acts of cession either accorded with thatclause of the constitution, or they conflicted with it. If theyconflicted with it, _accepting_ the cessions was a violation of theconstitution. The fact that Congress accepted the cessions, proves thatin its views their _terms_ did not conflict with its constitutionalgrant of power. The inquiry whether these acts of cession wereconsistent or inconsistent with the United Status' constitution, istotally irrelevant to the question at issue. What with the CONSTITUTION?That is the question. Not, what with Virginia, or Maryland, or--equallyto the point--John Bull! If Maryland and Virginia had been theauthorized interpreters of the constitution for the Union, these acts ofcession could hardly have been more magnified than they have beenrecently by the southern delegation in Congress. A true understanding ofthe constitution can be had, forsooth, only by holding it up in thelight of Maryland and Virginia legislation!

We are told, again, that those States would not have ceded the Districtif they had supposed the constitution gave Congress power to abolishslavery in it. 

This comes with an ill grace from Maryland and Virginia. They _knew_ theconstitution. They were parties to it. They had sifted it, clause byclause, in their State conventions. They had weighed its words in thebalance--they had tested them as by fire; and, finally, after longpondering, they adopted the constitution. And _afterward_, self-moved, they ceded the ten miles square, and declared the cession made "inpursuance of" that oft-cited clause, "Congress shall have power toexercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over suchDistrict. " And now verily "they would not have ceded if they had_supposed_!" &c. Cede it they _did_, and in "full and absolute rightboth of soil and persons. " Congress accepted the cession--state powerover the District ceased, and congressional power over itcommenced, --and now, the sole question to be settled is, the _amount ofpower over the District lodged in Congress by the constitution_. Theconstitution--THE CONSTITUTION--that is the point. Maryland and Virginia"suppositions" must be potent suppositions to abrogate a clause of theUnited States' Constitution! That clause either gives Congress power toabolish slavery in the District, or it does _not_--and that point is tobe settled, not by state "suppositions, " nor state usages, nor statelegislation, but _by the terms of the clause themselves_. 

Southern members of Congress, in the recent discussions, have concededthe power of a contingent abolition in the District, by suspending itupon the _consent_ of the people. Such a doctrine from _declaimers_ likeMessrs. Alford, of Georgia, and Walker, of Mississippi, would excite nosurprise; but that it should be honored with the endorsement of such menas Mr. Rives and Mr. Calhoun, is quite unaccountable. Are attributes ofsovereignty mere creatures of contingency? Is delegated authority mereconditional permission? Is a constitutional power to be exercised bythose who hold it, only by popular sufferance? Must it lie helpless atthe pool of public sentiment, waiting the gracious troubling of itswaters? Is it a lifeless corpse, save only when popular "consent" deignsto puff breath into its nostrils? Besides, if the consent of the peopleof the District be necessary, the consent of the _whole_ people must behad--not that of a majority, however large. Majorities, to beauthoritative, must be _legal_--and a legal majority without legislativepower, or right of representation, or even the electoral franchise, would be truly an anomaly! In the District of Columbia, such a thing asa majority in a legal sense is unknown to law. To talk of the power of amajority, or the will of a majority there, is mere mouthing. A majority?Then it has an authoritative will, and an organ to make it known, and anexecutive to carry it into effect--Where are they? We repeat it--if theconsent of the people of the District be necessary, the consent of_every one_ is necessary--and _universal_ consent will come only withthe Greek Kalends and a "perpetual motion. " A single individual mightthus perpetuate slavery in defiance of the expressed will of a wholepeople. The most common form of this fallacy is given by Mr. Wise, ofVirginia, in his speech, February 16, 1835, in which he denied the powerof Congress to abolish slavery in the District, unless the inhabitantsowning slaves petitioned for it!! Southern members of Congress at thepresent session (1837-8) ring changes almost daily upon the samefallacy. What! pray Congress _to use_ a power which it _has not_? "It isrequired of a man according to what he _hath_, " saith the Scripture. Icommend Mr. Wise to Paul for his ethics. Would that he had got his_logic_ of him! If Congress does not possess the power, why taunt itwith its weakness, by asking its exercise? Petitioning, according to Mr. Wise, is, in matters of legislation, omnipotence itself; the very_source_ of all constitutional power; for, _asking_ Congress to do whatit _cannot_ do, gives it the power!--to pray the exercise of a powerthat is _not, creates_ it! A beautiful theory! Let us work it both ways. If to petition for the exercise of a power that is _not_, creates it--topetition against the exercise of a power that _is_, annihilates it. Assouthern gentlemen are partial to summary processes, pray, sirs, try thevirtue of your own recipe on "exclusive legislation in all caseswhatsoever;" a better subject for experiment and test of theprescription could not be had. But if the petitions of the citizens ofthe District give Congress the _right_ to abolish slavery, they imposethe _duty_; if they confer constitutional _authority_, they createconstitutional _obligation_. If Congress _may_ abolish because of anexpression of their will, it _must_ abolish at the bidding of that will. If the people of the District are a _source of power_ to Congress, their_expressed will_ has the force of a constitutional provision, and hasthe same binding power upon the National Legislature. To make Congressdependent on the District for authority, is to make it a _subject_ ofits authority, restraining the exercise of its own discretion, andsinking it into a mere organ of the District's will. We proceed toanother objection. 

"_The southern states would not have ratified the constitution, if theyhad supposed that it gave this power_. " It is a sufficient answer tothis objection, that the northern states would not have ratified it, ifthey had supposed that it _withheld_ the power. If "suppositions" are totake the place of the constitution--coming from both sides, theyneutralize each other. To argue a constitutional question by _guessing_at the "suppositions" that might have been made by the parties to itwould find small favor in a court of law. But even a desperate shift issome easement when sorely pushed. If this question is to be settled by"suppositions, " suppositions shall be forthcoming, and thatwithout stint. 

First, then, I affirm that the North ratified the constitution, "supposing" that slavery had begun to wax old, and would speedily vanishaway, and especially that the abolition of the slave trade, which by theconstitution was to be surrendered to Congress after twenty years, wouldplunge it headlong. 

Would the North have adopted the constitution, giving three-fifths ofthe "slave property" a representation, if it had "supposed" that theslaves would have increased from half a million to two millions and ahalf by 1838--and that the census of 1840 would give to the slave statesthirty representatives of "slave property?"

If they had "supposed" that this representation would have controlledthe legislation of the government, and carried against the North everyquestion vital to its interests, would Hamilton, Franklin, Sherman, Gerry, Livingston, Langdon, and Rufus King have been such madmen, as tosign the constitution, and the Northern States such suicides as toratify it? Every self-preserving instinct would have shrieked at such aninfatuate immolation. At the adoption of the United States constitution, slavery was regarded as a fast waning system. This conviction wasuniversal. Washington, Jefferson, Henry, Grayson, Tucker, Madison, Wythe, Pendleton, Lee, Blair, Mason, Page, Parker, Randolph, Iredell, Spaight, Ramsey, Pinkney, Martin, McHenry, Chase, and nearly all theillustrious names south of the Potomac, proclaimed it before the sun. Areason urged in the convention that formed the United States'constitution, why the word slave should not be used in it, was, _thatwhen slavery should cease_ there might remain upon the National Charterno record that it had ever been. (See speech of Mr. Burrill, of R. I. , onthe Missouri question. )

I now proceed to show by testimony, that at the date of the UnitedStates' constitution, and for several years before and after thatperiod, slavery was rapidly on the wane; that the American Revolutionwith the great events preceding, accompanying, and following it, hadwrought an immense and almost universal change in the public sentimentof the nation on the subject, powerfully impelling it toward the entireabolition of the system--and that it was the _general belief_ thatmeasures for its abolition throughout the Union, would be commenced bythe States generally before the lapse of many years. A great mass oftestimony establishing this position might be presented, but narrowspace, and the importance of speedy publication, counsel brevity. Letthe following proofs suffice. First, a few dates as points ofobservation. 

In 1757, Commissioners from seven colonies met at Albany, resolved upona Union and proposed a plan of general government. In 1765, delegatesfrom nine colonies met at New York and sent forth a bill of rights. Thefirst _general_ Congress met in 1774. The first Congress of the_thirteen_ colonies met in 1775. The revolutionary war commenced in '75. Independence was declared in '76. The articles of confederation wereadopted by the thirteen states in '77 and '78. Independence acknowledgedin '83. The convention for forming the U. S. Constitution was held in'87, the state conventions for considering it in '87 and '88. The firstCongress under the constitution in '89. 

Dr. Rush, of Pennsylvania, one of the signers of the Declaration ofIndependence, in a letter to Granville Sharpe, May 1, 1773, says: "Aspirit of humanity and religion begins to awaken in several of thecolonies in favor of the poor negroes. Great events have been broughtabout by small beginnings. _Anthony Bènèzet stood alone a few years__ago in opposing negro slavery in Philadelphia_, and NOW THREE-FOURTHSOF THE PROVINCE AS WELL AS OF THE CITY CRY OUT AGAINST IT. "--[Stuart'sLife of Granville Sharpe, p. 21. ]

In the preamble to the act prohibiting the importation of slaves intoRhode Island, June, 1774, is the following: "Whereas the inhabitants ofAmerica are generally engaged in the preservation of their own rightsand liberties, among which that of personal freedom must be consideredthe greatest, and as those who are desirous of enjoying all theadvantages of liberty themselves, _should be willing to extend personalliberty to others_, therefore, " &c. 

October 20, 1774, the Continental Congress passed the following: "We, for ourselves and the inhabitants of the several colonies whom werepresent, _firmly agree and associate under the sacred ties of virtue, honor, and love of our country_, as follows:"

"2d Article. _We will neither import nor purchase any slaves imported_after the first day of December next, after which time we will _whollydiscontinue_ the slave trade, and we will neither be concerned in itourselves, nor will we hire our vessels nor _sell our commodities ormanufactures_ to those who are concerned in it. "

The Continental Congress, in 1775, setting forth the causes and thenecessity for taking up arms, say: "_If it were possible_ for men whoexercise their reason to believe that the divine Author of our existenceintended a part of the human race _to hold an absolute property in_, and_unbounded power over others_, " &c. 

In 1776, Dr. Hopkins, then at the head of New England divines, in "An Address to the owners of negro slaves in the American colonies, "says: "The conviction of the unjustifiableness of this practice (slavery)has been _increasing_, and _greatly spreading of late_, and _many_who have had slaves, have found themselves so unable to justify theirown conduct in holding them in bondage, as to be induced to _set themat liberty_. * * * * * Slavery is _inevery instance_, wrong, unrighteous, and oppressive--a very great andcrying sin--_there being nothing of the kind equal to it on the face ofthe earth_. "

The same year the American Congress issued a solemn MANIFESTO to theworld. These were its first words: "We hold these truths to beself-evident, that _all_ men are created equal, that they are endowed bytheir Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these arelife, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. " _Once_, these were wordsof power; _now_, "a rhetorical flourish. "

The Virginia Gazette of March 19, 1767, in an essay on slavery says:"_There cannot be in nature, there is not in all history, an instance inwhich every right of man is more flagrantly violated_. Enough I hope hasbeen effected to prove that slavery is a violation of justice andreligion. "

The celebrated Patrick Henry of Virginia, in a letter, Jan. 18, 1773, toRobert Pleasants, afterwards president of the Virginia AbolitionSociety, says: "Believe me, I shall honor the Quakers for their nobleefforts to abolish slavery. It is a debt we owe to the purity of ourreligion to show that it is at variance with that law that warrantsslavery. I exhort you to persevere in so worthy a resolution. "

The Pennsylvania Chronicle of Nov. 21, 1768, says: "Let every black thatshall henceforth be born amongst us be deemed free. One step fartherwould be to emancipate the whole race, restoring that liberty we have solong unjustly detained from them. Till some step of this kind be takenwe shall justly be the derision of the whole world. "

In 1779, the Continental Congress ordered a pamphlet to be published, entitled, "Observations on the American Revolution, " from which thefollowing is an extract: "The great principle (of government) is andever will remain in force, _that men are by Nature free_; and so long aswe have any idea of divine _justice_, we must associate that of _humanfreedom_. It is _conceded on all hands, that the right to be free_ CANNEVER BE ALIENATED. "

Extract from the Pennsylvania act for the abolition of slavery, passedMarch 1, 1780: * * * "We conceive that it is our duty, and we rejoicethat it is in our power, to extend a portion of that freedom to otherswhich has been extended to us. Weaned by a long course of experiencefrom those narrow prejudices and partialities we had imbibed, we findour hearts enlarged with kindness and benevolence towards men of allconditions and nations: * * * Therefore be it enacted, that no childborn hereafter be a slave, " &c. 

Jefferson, in his Notes on Virginia, written just before the close ofthe Revolutionary War, says: "I think a change already perceptible sincethe origin of the present revolution. The spirit of the master isabating, that of the slave is rising from the dust, his conditionmollifying, _and the way I hope preparing, under the auspices ofheaven_, FOR A TOTAL EMANCIPATION. "

In a letter to Dr. Price, of London, who had just published a pamphletin favor of the abolition of slavery, Mr. Jefferson, then minister atParis, (August 7, 1785, ) says: "From the mouth to the head of theChesapeake, _the bulk of the people will approve of your pamphlet intheory_, and it will find a respectable minority ready to _adopt it inpractice_--a minority which, for weight and worth of character, _preponderates against the greater number_. " Speaking of Virginia, hesays: "This is the next state to which we may turn our eyes for theinteresting spectacle of justice in conflict with avarice andoppression, --a conflict in which the SACRED SIDE IS GAINING DAILYRECRUITS. Be not, therefore, discouraged--what you have written will doa _great deal of good_; and could you still trouble yourself with ourwelfare, no man is more able to give aid to the laboring side. TheCollege of William and Mary, since the remodelling of its plan, is theplace where are collected together all the young men of Virginia, underpreparation for public life. They are there under the direction (most ofthem) of a Mr. Wythe, one of the most virtuous of characters, and _whosesentiments on the subject of slavery are unequivocal_. I am satisfied, if you could resolve to address an exhortation to those young men withall that eloquence of which you are master, that _its influence on thefuture decision of this important question would be great, perhapsdecisive_. Thus. You see, that so far from thinking you have cause torepent of what you have done, _I wish you to do more, and I wish it onan assurance of its effect_. "--Jefferson's Posthumous Works, vol. 1, p. 268. 

In 1786, John Jay drafted and signed a petition to the Legislature ofNew York, on the subject of slavery, beginning with these words: "Yourmemorialists being deeply affected by the situation of those, who, although, FREE BY THE LAWS OF GOD, are held in slavery by the laws ofthe State, " &c. This memorial bore also the signatures of the celebratedAlexander Hamilton; Robert R. Livingston, afterwards Secretary ofForeign Affairs of the United States, and Chancellor of the State of NewYork; James Duane, Mayor of the City of New York, and many others of themost eminent individuals in the State. 

In the preamble of an instrument, by which Mr. Jay emancipated a slavein 1784, is the following passage:

"Whereas, the children of men are by nature equally free, and cannot, without injustice, be either reduced to or HELD in slavery. "

In his letter while Minister at Spain, in 1786, he says, speaking of theabolition of slavery: "Till America comes into this measure, her prayersto heaven will be IMPIOUS. I believe God governs the world; and Ibelieve it to be a maxim in his, as in our court, that those who ask forequity _ought to do it_. "

In 1785, the New York Manumission Society was formed. John Jay waschosen its first President, and held the office five years. AlexanderHamilton was its second President, and after holding the office oneyear, resigned upon his removal to Philadelphia as Secretary of theUnited States' Treasury. In 1787, the Pennsylvania Abolition Society wasformed. Benjamin Franklin, warm from the discussions of the conventionthat formed the U. S. Constitution, was chosen President, and BenjaminRush Secretary--both signers of the Declaration of Independence. In1789, the Maryland Abolition Society was formed. Among its officers wereSamuel Chase, Judge of the U. S. Supreme Court, and Luther Martin, amember of the convention that formed the U. S. Constitution. In 1790, theConnecticut Abolition Society was formed. The first President was Rev. Dr. Stiles, President of Yale College, and the Secretary, SimeonBaldwin, (late Judge Baldwin of New Haven. ) In 1791, this Society sent amemorial to Congress, from which the following is an extract:

"From a sober conviction of the unrighteousness of slavery, yourpetitioners have long beheld, with grief, our fellow men doomed toperpetual bondage, in a country which boasts of her freedom. Yourpetitioners were led, by motives, we conceive, of general philanthropy, to associate ourselves for the protection and assistance of thisunfortunate part of our fellow men; and, though this Society has been_lately_ established, it has now become _generally extensive_ throughthis state, and, we fully believe, _embraces, on this subject, thesentiments of a large majority of its citizens_. "

The same year the Virginia Abolition Society was formed. This Society, and the Maryland Society, had auxiliaries in different parts of thoseStates. Both societies sent up memorials to Congress. The memorial ofthe Virginia Society is headed--"The memorial of the _Virginia Society_, for promoting the Abolition of Slavery, " &c. The following isan extract:

"Your memorialists, fully believing that slavery is not only an odiousdegradation, but an _outrageous violation of one of the most essentialrights of human nature, and utterly repugnant to the precepts of thegospel_, " &c. 

About the same time a Society was formed in New-Jersey. It had an actingcommittee of five members in each county in the State. The following isan extract from the preamble to its constitution:

"It is our boast, that we live under a government, wherein _life, liberty_, and the _pursuit of happiness_, are recognized as theuniversal rights of men. We _abhor that inconsistent, illiberal, andinterested policy, which withholds those rights from an unfortunate anddegraded class of our fellow creatures_. "

Among other distinguished individuals who were efficient officers ofthese Abolition Societies, and delegates from their respective statesocieties, at the annual meetings of the American convention forpromoting the abolition of slavery, were Hon. Uriah Tracy, UnitedStates' Senator, from Connecticut; Hon. Zephaniah Swift, Chief Justiceof the same State; Hon. Cesar A. Rodney, Attorney General of the UnitedStates; Hon. James A. Bayard, United States' Senator, from Delaware;Governor Bloomfield, of New-Jersey; Hon. Wm. Rawle, the late venerablehead of the Philadelphia bar; Dr. Caspar Wistar, of Philadelphia;Messrs. Foster and Tillinghast, of Rhode Island; Messrs. Ridgely, Buchanan, and Wilkinson, of Maryland; and Messrs. Pleasants, McLean, andAnthony, of Virginia. 

In July, 1787, the old Congress passed the celebrated ordinanceabolishing slavery in the northwestern territory, and declaring that itshould never thereafter exist there. This ordinance was passed while theconvention that formed the United States' constitution was in session. At the first session of Congress under the constitution, this ordinancewas ratified by a special act. Washington, fresh from the discussions ofthe convention, in which _more than forty days had been spent inadjusting the question of slavery, gave it his approval_. The act passedwith only one dissenting voice, (that of Mr. Yates, of New York, ) _theSouth equally with the North avowing the fitness and expediency of themeasure on general considerations, and indicating thus early the line ofnational policy, to be pursued by the United States' Government on thesubject of slavery_. 

In the debates in the North Carolina Convention, Mr. Iredell, afterwarda Judge of the United States' Supreme Court, said, "_When the entireabolition of slavery takes place_, it will be an event which must bepleasing to every generous mind and every friend of human nature. " Mr. Galloway said, "I wish to see this abominable trade put an end to. Iapprehend the clause (touching the slave trade) means _to bring forwardmanumission_. " Luther Martin, of Maryland, a member of the conventionthat formed the United States' Constitution, said, "We ought toauthorize the General Government to make such regulations as shall bethought most advantageous for _the gradual abolition of slavery_, andthe _emancipation of the slaves_ which are already in the States. " JudgeWilson, of Pennsylvania, one of the framers of the constitution, said, in the Pennsylvania convention of '87, [Deb. Pa. Con. P. 303, 156:] "Iconsider this (the clause relative to the slave trade) as laying thefoundation for _banishing slavery out of this country_. It will producethe same kind of gradual change which was produced in Pennsylvania; thenew States which are to be formed will be under the control of Congressin this particular, and _slaves will never be introduced_ among them. Itpresents us with the pleasing prospect that the rights of mankind willbe acknowledged and established _throughout the Union_. Yet the lapse ofa few years, and Congress will have power to _exterminate slavery_within our borders. " In the Virginia convention of '87, Mr. Mason, author of the Virginia constitution, said, "The augmentation of slavesweakens the States, and such a trade is _diabolical_ in itself, anddisgraceful to mankind. As much as I value a union of all the States, Iwould not admit the Southern States, (i. E. , South Carolina and Georgia, )into the union, _unless they agree to a discontinuance of thisdisgraceful trade_. " Mr. Tyler opposed with great power the clauseprohibiting the abolition of the slave trade till 1808, and said, "Myearnest desire is, that it shall be handed down to posterity that Ioppose this wicked clause. " Mr. Johnson said, "The principle ofemancipation _has begun since the revolution. Let us do what we will, itwill come round_. "--[Deb. Va. Con. P. 463. ] Patrick Henry, arguing thepower of Congress under the United States' constitution to abolishslavery in the States, said, in the same convention, "Another thing willcontribute to bring this event (the abolition of slavery) about. Slaveryis _detested_. We feel its fatal effects; we deplore it with all thepity of humanity. " Governor Randolph said: "They insist that the_abolition of slavery will result from this Constitution_. I hope thatthere is no one here, who will advance _an objection so dishonorable_ toVirginia--I hope that at the moment they are securing the rights oftheir citizens, an objection will not be started, that those unfortunatemen now held in bondage, _by the operation of the general government_may be made free!" [_Deb. Va. Con. _ p. 421. ] In the Mass. Con. Of '88, Judge Dawes said, "Although slavery is not smitten by an apoplexy, yet_it has received a mortal wound_, and will die of consumption. "--[_Deb. Mass. Con. _ p. 60. ] General Heath said that, "Slavery was confined tothe States _now existing_, it _could not be extended_. By theirordinance, Congress had declared that the new States should berepublican States, _and have no slavery_. "--p. 147. 

In the debate, in the first Congress, February 11th and 12th, 1789, onthe petitions of the Society of Friends, and the Pennsylvania AbolitionSociety, Mr. Parker, of Virginia, said, "I cannot help expressing thepleasure I feel in finding _so considerable a part_ of the communityattending to matters of such a momentous concern to the _futureprosperity_ and happiness of the people of America. I think it my duty, as a citizen of the Union, to _espouse their cause_. "

Mr. Page, of Virginia, (afterwards Governor)--"Was _in favor_ of thecommitment: he hoped that the designs of the respectable memorialistswould not be stopped at the threshold, in order to preclude a fairdiscussion of the prayer of the memorial. He placed himself in the caseof a slave, and said, that on hearing that Congress had refused tolisten to the decent suggestions of the respectable part of thecommunity, he should infer, that the general government, _from which wasexpected great good would result to_ EVERY CLASS _of citizens_, had shuttheir ears against the voice of humanity, and he should despair of anyalleviation of the miseries he and his posterity had in prospect; if anything could induce him to rebel, it must be a stroke like this, impressing on his mind all the horrors of despair. But if he was told, that application was made in his behalf, and that Congress were willingto hear what could be urged in favor of discouraging the practice ofimporting his fellow-wretches, he would trust in their justice andhumanity, and _wait the decision patiently_. "

Mr. Scott of Pennsylvania: "I cannot, for my part, conceive how anyperson _can be said to acquire a property in another. I do not know howfar I might go, if I was one of the judges of the United States, andthose people were to come before me and claim their emancipation, but Iam sure I would go as far as I could_. "

Mr. Burke, of South Carolina, said, "He _saw the disposition of theHouse_, and he feared it would be referred to a committee, maugre alltheir opposition. "

Mr. Baldwin of Georgia said that the clause in the U. S. Constitutionrelating to direct taxes "was intended to prevent Congress from layingany special tax upon negro slaves, _as they might, in this way, soburthen the possessors of them, as to induce a_ GENERAL EMANCIPATION. "

Mr. Smith of South Carolina, said, "That on entering into thisgovernment, they (South Carolina and Georgia) apprehended that the otherstates, * * * _would, from motives of humanity and benevolence, be ledto vote for a general emancipation_. "

In the debate, at the same session, May 13th, 1789, on the petition ofthe society of Friends respecting the slave trade, Mr. Parker, ofVirginia, said, "He hoped Congress would do all that lay in their power_to restore to human nature its inherent privileges_. The inconsistencyin our principles, with which we are justly charged _should bedone away_. "

Mr. Jackson, of Georgia, said, "IT WAS THE FASHION OF THE DAYTO FAVOR THE LIBERTY OF THE SLAVES. * * * * * Will Virginiaset her negroes free? _When this practice comes to be tried, thenthe sound of liberty will lose those charms which make it grateful to theravished ear_. "

Mr. Madison of Virginia, --"The dictates of humanity, the principlesof the people, the national safety and happiness, and prudent policy, require it of us. * * * * * * * I conceive the constitutionin this particular was formed in order that the Government, whilst itwas restrained from laying a total prohibition, might be able to _givesome testimony of the sense of America_, with respect to the Africantrade. * * * * * * It is to be hoped, that by expressing anational disapprobation of this trade, we may destroy it, and saveourselves from reproaches, AND OUR PROSPERITY THE IMBECILITY EVERATTENDANT ON A COUNTRY FILLED WITH SLAVES. "

Mr. Gerry, of Massachusetts, said, "he highly commended the part theSociety of Friends had taken; it was the cause of humanity they hadinterested themselves in. "--Cong. Reg. V. 1, p. 308-12. 

A writer in the "Gazette of the Unites States, " Feb. 20th, 1790, (thenthe government paper, ) who opposes the abolition of slavery, and avowshimself a _slaveholder_, says, "I have seen in the papers accounts of_large associations_, and applications to Government for _the abolitionof slavery_. Religion, humanity, and the generosity natural to a freepeople, are the _noble principles which dictate those measures_. SUCHMOTIVES COMMAND RESPECT, AND ARE ABOVE ANY EULOGIUM WORDS CAN BESTOW. "

In the convention that formed the constitution of Kentucky in 1790, theeffort to prohibit slavery was nearly successful. A decided majority ofthat body would undoubtedly have voted for its exclusion, but for thegreat efforts and influence of two large slaveholders--men of commandingtalents and sway--Messrs. Breckenridge and Nicholas. The followingextract from a speech made in that convention by a member of it, Mr. Rice a native Virginian, is a specimen of the _free discussion_ thatprevailed on that "delicate subject. " Said Mr. Rice: "I do a man greaterinjury, when I deprive him of his liberty, than when I deprive him ofhis property. It is vain for me to plead that I have the sanction oflaw; for this makes the injury the greater--it arms the communityagainst him, and makes his case desperate. The owners of such slavesthen are _licensed robbers_, and not the just proprietors of what theyclaim. Freeing them is not depriving them of property, but _restoring itto the right owner_. The master is the enemy of the slave; he _has madeopen war upon him_, AND IS DAILY CARRYING IT ON in unremitted efforts. Can any one imagine, then, that the slave is indebted to his master, and_bound to serve him?_ Whence can the obligation arise? What is itfounded upon? What is my duty to an enemy that is carrying on waragainst me? I do not deny, but in some circumstances, it is the duty ofthe slave to serve; but it is a duty he owes himself, and nothis master. "

President Edwards, the younger, said, in a sermon preached before theConnecticut Abolition Society, Sept. 15, 1791: "Thirty years ago, scarcely a man in this country thought either the slave trade or theslavery of negroes to be wrong; but now how many and able advocates inprivate life, in our legislatures, in Congress, have appeared, and haveopenly and irrefragably pleaded the rights of humanity in this as wellas other instances? And if we judge of the future by the past, _withinfifty years from this time, it will be as shameful for a man to hold anegro slave, as to be guilty of common robbery or theft_. "

In 1794, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church adopted its"Scripture proofs, " notes, and comments. Among these was the following:

"1 Tim. I. 10. The law is made for manstealers. This crime among theJews exposed the perpetrators of it to capital punishment. Exodus xxi. 16. And the apostle here classes them with _sinners of the first rank_. The word he uses, in its original import comprehends all who areconcerned in bringing any of the human race into slavery, or in_retaining_ them in it. _Stealers of men_ are all those who bring offslaves or freemen, and _keep_, sell, or buy them. "

In 1794, Dr. Rush declared: "Domestic slavery is repugnant to theprinciples of Christianity. It prostrates every benevolent and justprinciple of action in the human heart. It is rebellion against theauthority of a common Father. It is a practical denial of the extent andefficacy of the death of a common Saviour. It is an usurpation of theprerogative of the great Sovereign of the universe, who has solemnlyclaimed an exclusive property in the souls of men. "

In 1795, Mr. Fiske, then an officer of Dartmouth College, afterward aJudge in Tennessee, said, in an oration published that year, speaking ofslaves: "I steadfastly maintain, that we must bring them to _an equalstanding, in point of privileges, with the whites!_ They must enjoy allthe rights belonging to human nature. "

When the petition on the abolition of the slave trade was underdiscussion in the Congress of '89, Mr. Brown, of North Carolina, said, "The emancipation of the slaves _will be effected_ in time; it ought tobe a gradual business, but he hoped that Congress would not_precipitate_ it to the great injury of the southern States. " Mr. Hartley, of Pennsylvania, said, in the same debate, "_He was not alittle surprised to hear the cause of slavery advocated in that house_. "WASHINGTON, in a letter to Sir John Sinclair, says, "There are, inPennsylvania, laws for the gradual abolition of slavery which neitherMaryland nor Virginia have at present, but which _nothing is morecertain_ than that they _must have_, and at a period NOT REMOTE. " In1782, Virginia passed her celebrated manumission act. Within nine yearsfrom that time nearly eleven thousand slaves were voluntarilyemancipated by their masters. [Judge Tucker's "Dissertation on Slavery, "p. 72. ] In 1787, Maryland passed an act legalizing manumission. Mr. Dorsey, of Maryland, in a speech in Congress, December 27th, 1826, speaking of manumissions under that act, said, that "_The progress ofemancipation was astonishing_, the State became crowded with a freeblack population. "

The celebrated William Pinkney, in a speech before the Maryland House ofDelegates, in 1789, on the emancipation of slaves, said, "Sir, by theeternal principles of natural justice, _no master in the state has aright to hold his slave in bandage for a single hour_. . . Are weapprehensive that these men will become more dangerous by becomingfreemen? Are we alarmed, lest by being admitted into the enjoyment ofcivil rights, they will be inspired with a deadly enmity against therights of others? Strange, unaccountable paradox! How much more rationalwould it be, to argue that the natural enemy of the privileges of afreeman, is he who is robbed of them himself!"

Hon. James Campbell, in an address before the Pennsylvania Society ofCincinnati, July 4, 1787, said, "Our separation from Great Britain hasextended the empire of _humanity_. The time _is not far distant_ whenour sister states, in imitation of our example, _shall turn theirvassals into freemen_. " The Convention that formed the United States'constitution being then in session, attended on the delivery of thisoration with General Washington at their head. 

A Baltimore paper of September 8th, 1780, contains the following noticeof Major General Gates: "A few days ago passed through this town theHon. General Gates and lady. The General, previous to leaving Virginia, summoned his numerous family of slaves about him, and amidst their tearsof affection and gratitude, gave them their FREEDOM. "

In 1791, the university of William and Mary, in Virginia, conferred uponGranville Sharpe the degree of Doctor of Laws. Sharpe was at that timethe acknowledged head of British abolitionists. His indefatigableexertions, prosecuted for years in the case of Somerset, procured thatmemorable decision in the Court of King's Bench, which settled theprinciple that no slave could be held in England. He was mostuncompromising in his opposition to slavery, and for twenty yearsprevious he had spoken, written, and accomplished more against it thanany man living. 

In the "Memoirs of the Revolutionary War in the Southern Department, " byGen. Lee, of Va. , Commandant of the Partizan Legion, is the following:"The Constitution of the United States, adopted lately with so muchdifficulty, has effectually provided against this evil (by importation)after a few years. It is much to be lamented that having done so much inthis way, _a provision had not been made for the gradual abolition ofslavery_. "--pp. 233, 4. 

Mr. Tucker, of Virginia, Judge of the Supreme Court of that state, andprofessor of law in the University of William and Mary, addressed aletter to the General Assembly of that state, in 1796, urging theabolition of slavery, from which the following is an extract. Speakingof the slaves in Virginia, he says: "Should we not, at the time of therevolution, have broken their fetters? Is it not our duty _to embracethe first moment_ of constitutional health and vigor to effectuate sodesirable an object, and to remove from us a stigma with which ourenemies will never fail to upbraid us, nor our consciences toreproach us?"

Mr. Faulkner, in a speech before the Virginia House of Delegates, Jan. 20, 1832, said: "The idea of a gradual emancipation and removal of theslaves from this commonwealth, is coeval with the declaration of ourindependence from the British yoke. When Virginia stood sustained in herlegislation by the pure and philosophic intellect of Pendleton, by thepatriotism of Mason and Lee, by the searching vigor and sagacity ofWythe, and by the all-embracing, all-comprehensive genius of ThomasJefferson! Sir, it was a committee composed of those five illustriousmen, who, in 1777, submitted to the general assembly of this state, thenin session, _a plan for the gradual emancipation of the slaves of thiscommonwealth_. "

Hon. Benjamin Watkins Leigh, late United States' senator from Virginia, in his letters to the people of Virginia, in 1832, signed Appomattox, p. 43, says: "I thought, till very lately, that it was known to every bodythat during the revolution, _and for many years after, the abolition ofslavery was a favorite topic with many of our ablest statesmen_, whoentertained, with respect, all the schemes which wisdom or ingenuitycould suggest for accomplishing the object. Mr. Wythe, to the day of hisdeath, _was for a simple abolition, considering the objection to coloras founded in prejudice_. By degrees, all projects of the kind wereabandoned. Mr. Jefferson _retained_ his opinion, and now we have theseprojects revived. "

Governor Barbour, of Virginia, in his speech in the U. S. Senate, on theMissouri question, Jan. 1820, said: "We are asked why has Virginiachanged her policy in reference to slavery? That the sentiments of ourmost distinguished men, for thirty years _entirely corresponded_ withthe course which the friends of the restriction (of slavery in Missouri)now advocated; and that the Virginia delegation, one of whom was thelate President of the United States, voted for the restriction (ofslavery) in the northwestern territory, and that Mr. Jefferson hasdelineated a gloomy picture of the baneful effects of slavery. When itis recollected that the Notes of Mr. Jefferson were written during theprogress of the revolution, it is no matter of surprise that the writershould have imbibed a large portion of that enthusiasm which such anoccasion was so well calculated to produce. As to the consent of theVirginia delegation to the restriction in question, whether the resultof a disposition to restrain the slave-trade indirectly, or theinfluence of that enthusiasm to which I have just alluded, * * * * it isnot now important to decide. We have witnessed its effects. Theliberality of Virginia, or, as the result may prove, her folly, whichsubmitted to, or, if you will, PROPOSED _this measure_ (abolition ofslavery in the N. W. Territory) has eventuated in effects which speak amonitory lesson. _How is the representation from this quarter on thepresent question_?"

Mr. Imlay, in his early history of Kentucky, p. 185, says: "We havedisgraced the fair face of humanity, and trampled upon the sacredprivileges of man, at the very moment that we were exclaiming againstthe tyranny of your (the English) ministry. But in contending for thebirthright of freedom, we have learned to feel _for the bondage ofothers_, and in the libations we offer to the goddess of liberty, wecontemplate an _emancipation of the slaves of this country_, ashonorable to themselves as it will be glorious to us. "

In the debate in Congress, Jan. 20, 1806, on Mr. Sloan's motion to lay atax on the importation of slaves, Mr. Clark of Va. Said: "He was noadvocate for a system of slavery. " Mr. Marion, of S. Carolina, said: "Henever had purchased, nor should he ever purchase a slave. " Mr. Southardsaid: "Not revenue, but an expression of the _national sentiment_ is theprincipal object. " Mr. Smilie--"I rejoice that the word (slave) is notin the constitution; its not being there does honor to the worthies whowould not suffer it to become a _part_ of it. " Mr. Alston, of N. Carolina--"In two years we shall have the power to prohibit the tradealtogether. Then this House will be unanimous. No one will object to ourexercising our full constitutional powers. " National Intelligencer, Jan. 24, 1806. 

These witnesses need no vouchers to entitle them to credit; nor theirtestimony comments to make it intelligible--their _names_ are their_endorsers_, and their strong words their own interpreters. We waive allcomments. Our readers are of age. Whosoever hath ears to _hear_, let himHEAR. And whosoever will not hear the fathers of the revolution, thefounders of the government, its chief magistrates, judges, legislatorsand sages, who dared and perilled all under the burdens, and in the heatof the day that tried men's souls--then "neither will he be persuadedthough THEY rose from the dead. "

Some of the points established by this testimony are--The universalexpectation that Congress, state legislatures, seminaries of learning, churches, ministers of religion, and public sentiment widely embodied inabolition societies, would act against slavery, calling forth the moralsense of the nation, and creating a power of opinion that would abolishthe system throughout the Union. In a word, that free speech and a freepress would be wielded against it without ceasing and withoutrestriction. Full well did the South know, not only that the nationalgovernment would probably legislate against slavery wherever theconstitution placed it within its reach, but she knew also that Congresshad already marked out the line of national policy to be pursued on thesubject--had committed itself before the world to a course of actionagainst slavery, wherever she could move upon it without encountering aconflicting jurisdiction--that the nation had established by solemnordinance a memorable precedent for subsequent action, by abolishingslavery in the northwest territory, and by declaring that it shouldnever thenceforward exist there; and this too, as soon as by cession ofVirginia and other states, the territory came under congressionalcontrol. The South knew also that the sixth article in the ordinanceprohibiting slavery, was first proposed by the largest slaveholdingstate in the confederacy--that in the Congress of '84, Mr. Jefferson, aschairman of the committee on the N. W. Territory, reported a resolutionabolishing slavery there--that the chairman of the committee thatreported the ordinance of '87 was also a slaveholder--that the ordinancewas enacted by Congress during the session of the convention that formedthe United States' Constitution--that the provisions of the ordinancewere, both while in prospect and when under discussion, matters ofuniversal notoriety and _approval_ with all parties, and when finallypassed, received the vote of _every member of Congress from each of theslaveholding states_. The South also had every reason for believing thatthe first Congress under the constitution would _ratify_ thatordinance--as it did unanimously. 

A crowd of reflections, suggested by the preceding testimony, pressesfor utterance. The right of petition ravished and trampled by itsconstitutional guardians, and insult and defiance hurled in the faces ofthe SOVEREIGN PEOPLE while calmly remonstrating _with their_ SERVANTSfor violence committed on the nation's charter and their own dearestrights! Added to this "the right of peaceably assembling" violentlywrested--the rights of minorities, _rights_ no longer--free speechstruck dumb--free _men_ outlawed and murdered--free presses cast intothe streets and their fragments strewed with shoutings, or flourished intriumph before the gaze of approving crowds as proud mementos ofprostrate law! The spirit and power of our fathers, where are they?Their deep homage always and every where rendered to FREE THOUGHT, withits _inseparable signs--free speech and a free press_--their reverencefor justice, liberty, _rights_ and all-pervading law, where are they?

But we turn from these considerations--though the times on which we havefallen, and those toward which we are borne with headlong haste, callfor their discussion as with the voices of departing life--and proceedto topics relevant to the argument before us. 

The seventh article of the amendments to the constitution is alleged towithhold from Congress the power to abolish slavery in the District. "Noperson shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without dueprocess of law. " All the slaves in the District have been "deprived ofliberty" by legislative acts. Now, these legislative acts "depriving"them "of liberty, " were either "due process of law, " or they were _not_. If they _were_, then a legislative act, taking from the master that"property" which is the identical "liberty" previously taken from theslave, would be "due process of law" _also_, and of course a_constitutional_ act; but if the legislative acts "depriving" them of"liberty" were _not_ "due process of law, " then the slaves were deprivedof liberty _unconstitutionally_, and these acts are _void_. In that casethe _constitution emancipates them_. 

If the objector reply, by saying that the import of the phrase "dueprocess of law, " is _judicial_ process solely, it is granted, and thatfact is our rejoinder; for no slave in the District _has_ been deprivedof his liberty by "a judicial process, " or, in other words, by "dueprocess of law;" consequently, upon the objector's own admission, everyslave in the District has been deprived of liberty _unconstitutionally_, and is therefore _free by the constitution_. This is asserted only ofthe slaves under the "exclusive legislation" of Congress. 

The last clause of the article under consideration is quoted for thesame purpose: "Nor shall private property he taken for public usewithout just compensation. " Each of the state constitutions has a clauseof similar purport. The abolition of slavery in the District byCongress, would not, as we shall presently show; violate this clauseeither directly or by implication. Granting for argument's sake, thatslaves are "private property, " and that to emancipate them, would be to"take private property" for "public use, " the objector admits the powerof Congress to do _this_, provided it will do something _else_, that is, _pay_ for them. Thus, instead of denying the _power_, the objector notonly admits, but _affirms_ it, as the ground of the inference thatcompensation must accompany it. So far from disproving the existence of_one_ power, he asserts the existence of _two_--one, the power to takethe slaves from their masters, the other, the power to take the propertyof the United States to pay for them. 

If Congress cannot constitutionally impair the right of privateproperty, or take it without compensation, it cannot constitutionally, _legalize_ the perpetration of such acts, by _others_, nor _protect_those who commit them. Does the power to rob a man of his earnings, robthe earner of his _right_ to them? Who has a better right to the_product_ than the producer?--to the _interest_, than the owner of the_principal_?--to the hands and arms, than he from whose shoulders theyswing?--to the body and soul, than he whose they are? Congress not onlyimpairs but annihilates the right of private property, while itwithholds from the slaves of the District their title to _themselves_. What! Congress powerless to protect a man's right to _himself_, when itcan make inviolable the right to a _dog_! But, waiving this, I deny thatthe abolition of slavery in the District would violate this clause. Whatdoes the clause prohibit? The "taking" of "private property" for "publicuse. " Suppose Congress should emancipate the slaves in the District, what would it "_take_?" Nothing. What would it _hold_? Nothing. Whatwould it put to "public use?" Nothing. Instead of _taking_ "privateproperty, " Congress, by abolishing slavery, would say "_privateproperty_ shall not be taken; and those who have been robbed of italready, shall be kept out of it no longer; and every man's right to hisown body shall be protected. " True, Congress may not arbitrarily takeproperty, _as_ property, from one man and give it to another--and in theabolition of slavery no such thing is done. A legislative act changesthe _condition_ of the slave--makes him his own _proprietor_, instead ofthe property of another. It determines a question of _original right_between two classes of persons--doing an act of justice to one, andrestraining the other from acts of injustice; or, in other words, preventing one from robbing the other, by granting to the injured partythe protection of just and equitable laws. 

Congress, by an act of abolition, would change the condition of seventhousand "persons" in the District, but would "take" nothing. Toconstrue this provision so as to enable the citizens of the District tohold as property, and in perpetuity, whatever they please, or to hold itas property in all circumstances--all necessity, public welfare, and thewill and power of the government to the contrary notwithstanding--is atotal perversion of its whole _intent_. The _design_ of the provision, was to throw up a barrier against Governmental aggrandizement. The rightto "take property" for _State uses_ is one thing;--the right so toadjust the _tenures_ by which property is held, that _each may have hisown secured to him_, is another thing, and clearly within the scope oflegislation. Besides, if Congress were to "take" the slaves in theDistrict, it would be _adopting_, not abolishing slavery--becoming aslaveholder itself, instead of requiring others to be such no longer. The clause in question, prohibits the "taking" of individual propertyfor public use, to be employed or disposed of _as_ property forgovernmental purposes. Congress, by abolishing slavery in the District, would do no such thing. It would merely change the _condition_ of thatwhich has been recognized as a qualified property by congressional acts, though previously declared "persons" by the constitution. More than thisis done continually by Congress and every other Legislature. Propertythe most absolute and unqualified, is annihilated by legislative acts. The embargo and non-intercourse act, levelled at a stroke a forest ofshipping, and sunk millions of capital. To say nothing of the power ofCongress to take hundreds of millions from the people by directtaxation, who doubts its power to abolish at once the whole tariffsystem, change the seat of Government, arrest the progress of nationalworks, prohibit any branch of commerce with the Indian tribes or withforeign nations, change the locality of forts, arsenals, magazines anddock yards; abolish the Post Office system, and the privilege of patentsand copyrights? By such acts Congress might, in the exercise of itsacknowledged powers, annihilate property to an incalculable amount, andthat without becoming liable to claims for compensation. 

Finally, this clause prohibits the taking for public use of"_property_. " The constitution of the United States does not recognizeslaves as "PROPERTY" any where, and it does not recognize them in _anysense_ in the District of Columbia. All allusions to them in theconstitution recognize them as "persons. " Every reference to them points_solely_ to the element of _personality_; and thus, by the strongestimplication, declares that the constitution _knows_ them only as"persons, " and _will_ not recognize them in any other light. If theyescape into free States, the constitution authorizes their being takenback. But how? Not as the property of an "owner, " but as "persons;" andthe peculiarity of the expression is a marked recognition of their_personality_--a refusal to recognize them as chattels--"persons _held_to service. " Are _oxen "held_ to service?" That can be affirmed only of_persons_. Again, slaves give political power as "persons. " Theconstitution, in settling the principle of representation, requirestheir enumeration in the census. How? As property? Then why not includerace horses and game cocks? Slaves, like other inhabitants, areenumerated as "persons. " So by the constitution, the government waspledged to non-interference with "the migration or importation of such_persons_" as the States might think proper to admit until 1808, andauthorized the laying of a tax on each "person" so admitted. Further, slaves are recognized as _persons_ by the exaction of their _allegiance_to the government. For offences against the government slaves are triedas _persons_; as persons they are entitled to counsel for their defence, to the rules of evidence, and to "due process of law, " and as _persons_they are punished. True, they are loaded with cruel disabilities incourts of law, such as greatly obstruct and often inevitably defeat theends of justice, yet they are still recognized as _persons_. Even in thelegislation of Congress, and in the diplomacy of the general government, notwithstanding the frequent and wide departures from the integrity ofthe constitution on this subject, slaves are not recognized as_property_ without qualification. Congress has always refused to grantcompensation for slaves killed or taken by the enemy, even when theseslaves had been impressed into the United States' service. In half ascore of cases since the last war, Congress has rejected suchapplications for compensation. Besides, both in Congressional acts, andin our national diplomacy, slaves and property are not used asconvertible terms. When mentioned in treaties and state papers it is insuch a way as to distinguish them from mere property, and generally by arecognition of their _personality_. In the invariable recognition ofslaves as _persons_, the United States' constitution caught the mantleof the glorious Declaration, and most worthily wears it. It recognizesall human beings as "men, " "persons, " and thus as "equals. " In theoriginal draft of the Declaration, as it came from the hand ofJefferson, it is alleged that Great Britain had "waged a cruel waragainst _human_ nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of lifeand liberty in the persons of a distant people, carrying them intoslavery, * * determined to keep up a market where MEN should be boughtand sold, "--thus disdaining to make the charter of freedom a warrant forthe arrest of _men_, that they might be shorn both of libertyand humanity. 

The celebrated Roger Sherman, one of the committee of five appointed todraft the Declaration of Independence, and a member of the conventionthat formed the United States' constitution, said, in the first Congressafter its adoption: "The constitution _does not consider these persons, (slaves, ) as a species of property_. "--[Lloyd's Cong. Reg. V. 1, p. 313. ] That the United States' Constitution does not make slaves"property, " is shown in the fact, that no person, either as a citizen ofthe United States, or by having his domicile within the United States'government, can hold slaves. He can hold them only by deriving his powerfrom _state_ laws, or from the laws of Congress, if he hold slaveswithin the District. But no person resident within the United States'jurisdiction, and _not_ within the District, nor within a state whoselaws support slavery, nor "held to service" under the laws of such astate or district, having escaped therefrom, _can be held as a slave_. 

Men can hold _property_ under the United States' government thoughresiding beyond the bounds of any state, district, or territory. Aninhabitant of the Iowa Territory can hold property there under the lawsof the United States, but he cannot hold _slaves_ there under the UnitedStates' laws, nor by virtue of the United States' Constitution, nor uponthe ground of his United States' citizenship, nor by having his domicilewithin the United States' jurisdiction. The constitution no whererecognizes the right to "slave property, " _but merely the fact that thestates have jurisdiction each in its own limits, and that there arecertain "persons" within their jurisdictions "held to service" by theirown laws_. 

Finally, in the clause under consideration "private property" is not tobe taken "without just compensation. " "JUST!" If justice is to beappealed to in determining the _amount_ of compensation, let herdetermine the _grounds_ also. If it be her province to say _how much_compensation is "just, " it is hers to say whether _any_ is"just, "--whether the slave is "just" property _at all_, rather than a"_person_". Then, if justice adjudges the slave to be "privateproperty, " it adjudges him to be _his own_ property, since the right toone's self is the first right--the source of all others--the originalstock by which they are accumulated--the principal, of which they arethe interest. And since the slave's "private property" has been "taken, "and since "compensation" is impossible--there being no _equivalent_ forone's self--the least that can be done is to restore to him his originalprivate property. 

Having shown that in abolishing slavery, "property" would not be "takenfor public use, " it may be added that, in those states where slavery hasbeen abolished by law, no claim for compensation has been allowed. Indeed the manifest absurdity of demanding it seems to have quiteforestalled the _setting up_ of such a claim. 

The abolition of slavery in the District instead of being a legislativeanomaly, would proceed upon the principles of every day legislation. Ithas been shown already, that the United States' Constitution does notrecognize slaves as "property. " Yet ordinary legislation is full ofprecedents, showing that even _absolute_ property is in many respectswholly subject to legislation. The repeal of the law of entailments--allthose acts that control the alienation of property, its disposal bywill, its passing to heirs by descent, with the question, who shall beheirs, and what shall be the rule of distribution among them, or whetherproperty shall be transmitted at all by descent, rather than escheat tothe estate--these, with statutes of limitation, and various otherclasses of legislative acts, serve to illustrate the acknowledged scopeof the law-making power, even where property _is in every senseabsolute_. Persons whose property is thus affected by public laws, receive from the government no compensation for their losses; unless thestate has been put in possession of the property taken from them. 

The preamble of the United States' Constitution declares it to be afundamental object of the organization of the government "to ESTABLISHJUSTICE. " Has Congress _no power_ to do that for which it was made thedepository of power? CANNOT the United States' Government fulfil thepurpose for which it was brought into being?

To abolish slavery, is to take from no rightful owner his property; butto "establish justice" between two parties. To emancipate the slave, isto "establish justice" between him and his master--to throw around theperson, character, conscience; liberty, and domestic relations of theone, _the same law_ that secures and blesses the other. In other words, to prevent by legal restraints one class of men from seizing uponanother class, and robbing them at pleasure of their earnings, theirtime, their liberty, their kindred, and the very use and ownership oftheir own persons. Finally, to abolish slavery is to proclaim and_enact_ that innocence and helplessness--now _free plunder_--areentitled to _legal protection_; and that power, avarice, and lust, shallno longer revel upon their spoils under the license, and by theministration of _law_! Congress, by possessing "exclusive legislation inall cases whatsoever, " has a _general protective power for_ ALL theinhabitants of the District. If it has no power to protect _one_ man inthe District it has none to protect another--none to protect _any_--andif it _can_ protect one man and is _bound_ to do it, it _can_ protect_every_ man--and is _bound_ to do it. All admit the power of Congress toprotect the masters in the District against their slaves. What part ofthe constitution gives the power? The clause so often quoted, --"power oflegislation in all cases whatsoever, " equally in the "_case_" ofdefending blacks against whites, as in that of defending whites againstblacks. The power is also conferred by Art. 1, Sec. 8, clause15--"Congress shall have power to suppress insurrections"--a power toprotect, as well blacks against whites, as whites against blacks. If theconstitution gives power to protect _one_ class against the other, itgives power to protect _either_ against the other. Suppose the blacks inthe District should seize the whites, drive them into the fields andkitchens, force them to work without pay, flog them, imprison them, andsell them at their pleasure, where would Congress find power to restrainsuch acts? Answer; a _general_ power in the clause so often cited, andan _express_ one in that cited above--"Congress shall have power tosuppress insurrections. " So much for a supposed case. Here follows areal one. The whites in the District are _perpetrating these identicalacts_ upon seven thousand blacks daily. That Congress has power torestrain these acts in _one_ case, all assert, and in so doing theyassert the power "in _all_ cases whatsoever. " For the grant of power tosuppress insurrections, is an _unconditional_ grant, not hampered byprovisos as to the color, shape, size, sex, language, creed, orcondition of the insurgents. Congress derives its power to suppress this_actual_ insurrection, from the same source whence it derived its powerto suppress the _same_ acts in the case supposed. If one case is aninsurrection, the other is. The _acts_ in both are the same; the_actors_ only are different. In the one case, ignorant anddegraded--goaded by the memory of the past, stung by the present, anddriven to desperation by the fearful looking for of wrongs for ever tocome. In the other, enlightened into the nature of _rights_, theprinciples of justice, and the dictates of the law of love, unprovokedby wrongs, with cool deliberation, and by system, they perpetrate theseacts upon those to whom they owe unnumbered obligations for _wholelives_ of unrequited service. On which side may palliation be pleaded, and which party may most reasonably claim an abatement of the rigors oflaw? If Congress has power to suppress such acts _at all_, it has powerto suppress them _in_ all. 

It has been shown already that _allegiance_ is exacted of the slave. Isthe government of the United States unable to grant _protection_ whereit exacts _allegiance_? It is an axiom of the civilized world, and amaxim even with savages, that allegiance and protection are reciprocaland correlative. Are principles powerless with us which exact homage ofbarbarians? _Protection is the_ CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT _of every human. Being under the exclusive legislation of Congress who has not forfeitedit by crime_. 

In conclusion, I argue the power of Congress to abolish slavery in theDistrict, from Art. 1, sec. 8, clause 1, of the constitution; "Congressshall have power to provide for the common defence and the generalwelfare of the United States. " Has the government of the United Statesno power under this grant to legislate within its own exclusivejurisdiction on subjects that vitally affect its interest? Suppose theslaves in the district should rise upon their masters, and the UnitedStates' government, in quelling the insurrection, should kill any numberof them. Could their masters claim compensation of the government?Manifestly not; even though no proof existed that the particular slaveskilled were insurgents. This was precisely the point at issue betweenthose masters, whose slaves were killed by the State troops at the timeof the Southampton insurrection, and the Virginia Legislature: noevidence was brought to show that the slaves killed by the troops wereinsurgents; yet the Virginia Legislature decided that their masters were_not entitled to compensation. _ They proceeded on the sound principle, that the government may in self-protection destroy the claim of itssubjects even to that which has been recognized as property by its ownacts. If in providing for the common defence, the United States'government, in the case supposed, would have power to destroy slavesboth as _property_ and _persons_, it surely might stop _half-way_, destroy them _as property_ while it legalized their existence as_persons_, and thus provided for the common defence by giving them apersonal and powerful interest in the government, and securing theirstrength for its defence. 

Like other Legislatures, Congress has power to abate nuisances--toremove or tear down unsafe buildings--to destroy infected cargoes--tolay injunctions upon manufactories injurious to the public health--andthus to "provide for the common defence and general welfare" bydestroying individual property, when such property puts in jeopardy thepublic weal. 

Granting, for argument's sake, that slaves are "property" in theDistrict of Columbia--if Congress has a right to annihilate propertythere when the public safety requires it, it may annihilate itsexistence _as_ property when the public safety requires it, especiallyif it transform into a _protection_ and _defence_ that which as_property_ perilled the public interests. In the District of Columbiathere are, besides the United States' Capitol, the President's house, the national offices, and archives of the Departments of State, Treasury, War, and Navy, the General Post-office, and Patent office. Itis also the residence of the President, of all the highest officers ofthe government, of both houses of Congress, and of all the foreignambassadors. In this same District there are also seven thousand slaves. Jefferson, in his Notes on Va. P. 241, says of slavery, that "the Statepermitting one half of its citizens to trample on the rights of theother, transforms them into _enemies_;" and Richard Henry Lee, in theVa. House of Burgesses in 1758, declared that to those who held them, "_slaves must be natural enemies_. " Is Congress so impotent that it_cannot_ exercise that right pronounced both by municipal and nationallaw, the most sacred and universal--the right of self-preservation anddefence? Is it shut up to the _necessity_ of keeping seven thousand"enemies" in the heart of the nation's citadel? Does the iron fiat ofthe constitution doom it to such imbecility that it _cannot_ arrest theprocess that _made_ them "enemies, " and still goads to deadlier hate byfiery trials, and day by day adds others to their number? Is _this_providing for the common defence and general welfare? If to rob men ofrights excites their hate, freely to restore them and make amends, willwin their love. 

By emancipating the slaves in the District, the government of the UnitedStates would disband an army of "enemies, " and enlist "for the commondefence and general welfare, " a body guard of _friends_ seven thousandstrong. In the last war, a handful of British soldiers sacked Washingtoncity, burned the capitol, the President's house, and the nationaloffices and archives; and no marvel, for thousands of the inhabitants ofthe District had been "TRANSFORMED INTO ENEMIES. " Would _they_ beat backinvasion? If the national government had exercised its constitutional"power to provide for the common defence and to promote the generalwelfare, " by turning those "enemies" into friends, then, instead of ahostile ambush lurking in every thicket inviting assault, and secretfoes in every house paralyzing defence, an army of allies would haverallied in the hour of her calamity, and shouted defiance from theirmunitions of rocks; whilst the banner of the republic, then trampled indust, would have floated securely over FREEMEN exulting amidst bulwarksof strength. 

To show that Congress can abolish slavery in the District, under thegrant of power "to provide for the common defence and to promote thegeneral welfare, " I quote an extract from a speech of Mr. Madison, ofVa. , in the first Congress under the constitution, May 13, 1789. Speaking of the abolition of the slave trade, Mr. Madison says: "Ishould venture to say it is as much for the interests of Georgia andSouth Carolina, as of any state in the union. Every addition theyreceive to their number of slaves tends to _weaken_ them, and rendersthem less capable of self-defence. In case of hostilities with foreignnations, they will be the means of _inviting_ attack instead ofrepelling invasion. It is a necessary duty of the general government toprotect every part of the empire against danger, as well _internal_ asexternal. _Every thing, therefore, which tends to increase this danger, though it may be a local affair, yet if it involves national expense orsafety, it becomes of concern to every part of the union, and is aproper subject for the consideration of those charged with the generaladministration of the government. _" Cong. Reg. Vol. 1, p. 310, 11. 

WYTHE. 

POSTSCRIPT

My apology for adding a _postscript_, to a discussion already perhapstoo protracted, is the fact that the preceding sheets were in the handsof the printer, and all but the concluding pages had gone through thepress, before the passage of Mr. Calhoun's late resolutions in theSenate of the United States. A proceeding so extraordinary, --if indeedhenceforward _any_ act of Congress in derogation of freedom and indeference to slavery, can be deemed extraordinary, --should not be passedin silence at such a crisis as the present; especially as the passage ofone of the resolutions by a vote of 36 to 9, exhibits a shift ofposition on the part of the South, as sudden as it is unaccountable, being nothing less than the surrender of a fortress which until then, they had defended with the pertinacity of a blind and almost infuriatedfatuity. Upon the discussions during the pendency of the resolutions, and upon the vote, by which they were carried, I make no comment, saveonly to record my exultation in the fact there exhibited, that greatemergencies are _true touchstones_, and that henceforward, until thisquestion is settled, whoever holds a seat in Congress will find upon, and around him, a pressure strong enough to test him--a focal blaze thatwill find its way through the carefully adjusted cloak of fairpretension, and the sevenfold brass of two faced political intrigue, and_no_-faced _non-committalism_, piercing to the dividing asunder ofjoints and marrow. Be it known to every northern man who aspires to aseat in our national councils, that hereafter congressional action onthis subject will be a MIGHTY REVELATOR--making secret thoughts publicproperty, and proclaiming on the house-tops what is whispered in theear--smiting off masks, and bursting open sepulchres beautifuloutwardly, and up-heaving to the sun their dead men's bones. To such wesay, --_Remember the Missouri Question, and the fate of those who thensold the free states and their own birthright!_

Passing by the resolutions generally without remark--the attention ofthe reader is specially solicited to Mr. Clay's substitute for Mr. Calhoun's fifth resolution. 

"Resolved, That when the District of Columbia was ceded by the states ofVirginia and Maryland to the United States, domestic slavery existed inboth of these states, including the ceded territory, and that, as itstill continues in both of them, it could not be abolished within theDistrict without a violation of that good faith, which was implied inthe cession and in the acceptance of the territory; nor, unlesscompensation were made to the proprietors of slaves, without a manifestinfringement of an amendment to the constitution of the United States;nor without exciting a degree of just alarm and apprehension in thestates recognizing slavery, far transcending in mischievous tendency, any possible benefit which could be accomplished by the abolition. "

By advocating this resolution, the south shifted its mode of defence, not by taking a position entirely new, but by attempting to refortify anold one--abandoned mainly long ago, as being unable to hold out againstassault however unskillfully directed. In the debate on this resolution, the southern members of Congress silently drew off from the groundhitherto maintained by them, viz. --that Congress has no power by theconstitution to abolish slavery in the District. 

The passage of this resolution--with the vote of every southern senator, forms a new era in the discussion of this question. We cannot join inthe lamentations of those who bewail it. We hail it, and rejoice in it. It was as we would have had it--offered by a southern senator, advocatedby southern senators, and on the ground that it "was nocompromise"--that it embodied the true southern principle--that "thisresolution stood on as high ground as Mr. Calhoun's. "--(Mr. Preston)--"that Mr. Clay's resolution was as strong as Mr. Calhoun's"--(Mr. Rives)--that "the resolution he (Mr. Calhoun) nowrefused to support, was as strong as his own, and that in supporting it, there was no abandonment of principle by the south. "--(Mr. Walker, ofMi. )--further, that it was advocated by the southern senators generallyas an expression of their views, and as setting the question of slaveryin the District on its _true_ ground--that finally, when the questionwas taken, every slaveholding senator, including Mr. Calhoun himself, voted for the resolution. 

By passing this resolution, and with such avowals, the south hasunwittingly but explicitly, conceded the main point argued in thepreceding pages, and surrendered the whole question at issue betweenthem and the petitioners for abolition in the District. 

The _only_ ground taken against the right of Congress to abolish slaveryin the District is, that it existed in Maryland and Virginia when thecession was made, and "_as it still continues in both of them_, it couldnot be abolished without a violation of that good faith which wasimplied in the cession, " &c. The argument is not that exclusive_sovereignty_ has no power to abolish slavery within its jurisdiction, nor that the powers of even ordinary legislation cannot do it, nor thatthe clause granting Congress "exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over such District, " gives no power to do it; but that the_unexpressed expectation_ of one of the parties that the other would not"in all cases" use the power which said party had consented might beused "_in all cases, " prohibits_ the use of it. The only cardinal pointin the discussion, is here not only yielded, but formally laid down bythe South as the leading article in their creed on the question ofCongressional jurisdiction over slavery in the District. The reasongiven why Congress should not abolish, and the sole evidence that if itdid, such abolition would be a violation of "good faith, " is that"_slavery still continues in those states_, "--thus admitting, that ifslavery did _not_ "still continue" in those States, Congress couldabolish it in the District. The same admission is made also in the_premises_, which state that slavery existed in those states _at thetime of the cession_, &c. Admitting that if it had not existed therethen, but had grown up in the District under United States' laws, Congress might constitutionally abolish it. Or that if the ceded partsof those states had been the _only_ parts in which slaves were heldunder their laws, Congress might have abolished in such a contingencyalso. The cession in that case leaving no slaves in those states, --no"good faith" would be "implied" in it, nor any "violated" by an act ofabolition. The resolution makes virtually this further admission, thatif Maryland and Virginia should at once abolish their slavery, Congressmight at once abolish it in the District. The principle goes evenfurther than this, and _requires_ Congress in such case to abolishslavery in the District "by the _good faith implied_ in the cession andacceptance of the territory. " Since, according to the spirit and scopeof the resolution, this "implied good faith" of Maryland and Virginiain making the cession, was, that Congress would do nothing within theDistrict which should counteract the policy, or discredit the"institutions, " or call in question the usages, or even in any wayruffle the prejudices of those states, or do what _they_ might thinkwould unfavorably bear upon their interests; _themselves_ of coursebeing the judges. 

But let us dissect another limb of the resolution. What is to beunderstood by "that good faith which was IMPLIED?" It is of course anadmission that such a condition was not _expressed_ in the acts ofcession--that in their terms there is nothing restricting the power ofCongress on the subject of slavery in the District. This "impliedfaith, " then, rests on no clause or word in the United States'Constitution, or in the acts of cession, or in the acts of Congressaccepting the cession, nor on any declarations of the legislatures ofMaryland and Virginia, nor on any _act_ of theirs, nor on anydeclaration of the _people_ of those states, nor on the testimony of theWashingtons, Jeffersons, Madisons, Chases, Martins, and Jennifers, ofthose states and times. The assertion rests _on itself alone!_ Mr. Clay_guesses_ that Maryland and Virginia _supposed_ that Congress would byno means _use_ the power given them by the Constitution, except in suchways as would be well pleasing in the eyes of those states; especiallyas one of them was the "Ancient Dominion!" And now after half a century, this _assumed expectation_ of Maryland and Virginia, the existence ofwhich is mere matter of conjecture with the 36 senators, is conjured upand duly installed upon the judgment-seat of final appeal, before whosenod constitutions are to flee away, and with whom, solemn grants ofpower and explicit guaranties are, when weighed in the balance, altogether lighter than vanity!

But survey it in another light. Why did Maryland and Virginia leave somuch to be "_implied?_?" Why did they not in some way _express_ what layso near their hearts? Had their vocabulary run so low that a single wordcould not be eked out for the occasion? Or were those states so bashfulof a sudden that they dare not speak out and tell what they wanted? Ordid they take it for granted that Congress would always know theirwishes by intuition, and always take them for law? If, as honorablesenators tell us, Maryland and Virginia did verily travail with suchabounding _faith_, why brought they forth no _works_?

It is as true in legislation as in religion, that the only evidence of"faith" is works, and that "faith" _without_ works is _dead_, i. E. Hasno _power_. But here, forsooth, a blind implication with nothing_expressed_, an "implied" faith without works, is omnipotent! Mr. Clayis lawyer enough to know that Maryland and Virginia notions ofconstitutional power, _abrogate no grant_, and that to plead them in acourt of law, would be of small service, except to jostle "theirHonors'" gravity! He need not be told that the Constitution givesCongress "power to exercise exclusive legislation in all caseswhatsoever over such District;" nor that Maryland and Virginiaconstructed their acts of cession with this clause _before their eyes_, and declared those acts made "in _pursuance_" of it. Those states knewthat the U. S. Constitution had left nothing to be "_implied_" as to thepower of Congress over the District; an admonition quite sufficient, onewould think, to put them on their guard, and lead them to eschew vagueimplications, and to resort to _stipulations_. They knew, moreover, thatthose were times when, in matters of high import, _nothing_ was left tobe "implied. " The colonies were then panting from a twenty years'conflict with the mother country, about bills of rights, charters, treaties, constitutions, grants, limitations, and _acts of cession_. Theseverities of a long and terrible discipline had taught them to guard atall points _legislative grants_, that their exact import and limit mightbe self-evident--leaving no scope for a blind "faith" that _somehow_ inthe lottery of chances, every ticket would turn up a prize. Toil, suffering, blood, and treasure outpoured like water over a wholegeneration, counselled them to make all sure by the use of explicitterms, and well chosen words, and just enough of them. The Constitutionof the United States, with its amendments, those of the individualstates, the national treaties, and the public documents of the generaland state governments at that period, show the universal conviction oflegislative bodies, that nothing should be left to be "implied, " whengreat public interests were at stake. 

Further: suppose Maryland and Virginia had expressed their "impliedfaith" in _words_, and embodied it in their acts of cession as aproviso, declaring that Congress should not "exercise exclusivelegislation in _all_ cases whatsoever over the District, " but that the"case" of _slavery_ should be an exception: who does not know thatCongress, if it had accepted the cession on those terms, would haveviolated the Constitution; and who that has studied the free mood ofthose times in its bearings on slavery--proofs of which are given inscores on the preceding pages--[See pp. 25-37. ] can be made to believethat the people of the United States would have re-modelled theirConstitution for the purpose of providing for slavery an inviolablesanctuary; that when driven in from its outposts, and everywhereretreating discomfited before the march of freedom, it might be receivedinto everlasting habitations on the common homestead and hearth-stone ofthe republic? Who can believe that Virginia made such a condition, orcherished such a purpose, when Washington, Jefferson, Wythe, PatrickHenry, St. George Tucker, and all her most illustrious men, were at thatmoment advocating the abolition of slavery by law; when Washington hadsaid, two years before, that Maryland and Virginia "must have laws forthe gradual abolition of slavery, and at a period _not remote_;" and whenJefferson in his letter to Dr. Price, three years before the cession, had said, speaking of Virginia, "This is the next state to which we mayturn our eyes for the interesting spectacle of justice in conflict withavarice and oppression--a conflict in which THE SACRED SIDE IS GAININGDAILY RECRUITS;" when voluntary emancipations on the soil were thenprogressing at the rate of between one and two thousand annually, (SeeJudge Tucker's "Dissertation on Slavery, " p. 73;) when the publicsentiment of Virginia had undergone, so mighty a revolution that theidea of the continuance of slavery as a permanent system could not betolerated, though she then contained about half the slaves in the Union. Was this the time to stipulate for the _perpetuity_ of slavery under theexclusive legislation of Congress? and that too when at the _same_session _every one_ of her delegation voted for the abolition of slaveryin the North West Territory; a territory which she herself had ceded tothe Union, and surrendered along with it her jurisdiction over hercitizens, inhabitants of that territory, who held slaves there--andwhose slaves were emancipated by that act of Congress, in which all herdelegation with one accord participated?

Now in view of the universal belief then prevalent, that slavery in thiscountry was doomed to short life, and especially that in Maryland andVirginia it would be _speedily_ abolished--must we adopt the monstrousconclusion that those states _designed_ to bind Congress _never_ toterminate it?--that it was the _intent_ of the Ancient Dominion thus to_bind_ the United States by an "implied faith, " and that when thenational government _accepted_ the cession, she did solemnly thus plighther troth, and that Virginia did then so _understand_ it? Verily, honorable senators must suppose themselves deputed to do our _thinking_for us as well as our legislation, or rather, that they are themselvesabsolved from such drudgery by virtue of their office!

Another absurdity of this "implied faith" dogma is, that where there wasno power to exact an _express_ pledge, there was none to demand an_implied_ one, and where there was no power to give the one, there wasnone to give the other. We have shown already that Congress could nothave accepted the cession with such a condition. To have signed away apart of its constitutional grant of power would have been a _breach_ ofthe Constitution. The Congress which accepted the cession was competentto pass a resolution pledging itself not to _use all_ the power over theDistrict committed to it by the Constitution. But here its power ended. Its resolution could only bind _itself_. It had no authority to bind asubsequent Congress. Could the members of one Congress say to those ofanother, because we do not choose to exercise all the authority vestedin us by the Constitution, therefore you _shall_ not? This would, havebeen a prohibition to do what the Constitution gives power to do. Eachsuccessive Congress would still have gone to THE CONSTITUTION for itspower, brushing away in its course the cobwebs stretched across its pathby the officiousness of an impertinent predecessor. Again, thelegislatures of Virginia and Maryland, had no power to bind Congress, either by an express or an implied pledge, never to abolish slavery inthe District. Those legislatures had no power to bind _themselves_ neverto abolish slavery within their own territories--the ceded partsincluded. Where then would they get power to bind _another_ not to dowhat they had no power to bind _themselves_ not to do? If a legislaturecould not in this respect control the successive legislatures of its ownState, could it control the successive Congresses of the United States?

But perhaps we shall be told, that the "implied faith" of Maryland andVirginia was _not_ that Congress should _never_ abolish slavery in theDistrict, but that it should not do it until _they_ had done it withintheir bounds! Verily this "faith" comes little short of the faith ofmiracles! Maryland and Virginia have "good faith" that Congress will notabolish until _they_ do; and then just as "good faith" that Congress_will_ abolish _when_ they do! Excellently accommodated! Did thosestates suppose that Congress would legislate over the national domain, for Maryland and Virginia alone? And who, did they suppose, would bejudges in the matter?--themselves merely? or the whole Union?

This "good faith implied in the cession" is no longer of doubtfulinterpretation. The principle at the bottom of it, when fairly stated, is this:--That the Government of the United States are bound in "goodfaith" to do in the District of Columbia, without demurring, just whatand when, Maryland and Virginia do within their own bounds. In short, that the general government is eased of all the burdens of legislationwithin its exclusive jurisdiction, save that of hiring a scrivener tocopy off the acts of the Maryland and Virginia legislatures as fast asthey are passed, and engross them, under the title of "Laws of theUnited States for the District of Columbia!" A slight additional expensewould also be incurred in keeping up an express between the capitols ofthose States and Washington city, bringing Congress from time to timeits "_instructions_" from head quarters!

What a "glorious Union" this doctrine of Mr. Clay bequeaths to thepeople of the United States! We have been permitted to set up at our ownexpense, and on our own territory, two great _sounding-boards_ called"Senate Chamber" and "Representatives' Hall, " for the purpose of sendingabroad "by authority" _national_ echoes of _state_ legislation!--permitted also to keep in our pay a corps of pliant _national_musicians, with peremptory instructions to sound on any line of thestaff according as Virginia and Maryland may give the sovereignkey note!

A careful analysis of Mr. Clay's resolution and of the discussions uponit, will convince every fair mind that this is but the legitimatecarrying out of the _principle_ pervading both. They proceed virtuallyupon the hypothesis that the will and pleasure of Virginia and Marylandare paramount to those of the Union. If the original design of settingapart a federal district had been for the sole accommodation of thesouth, there could hardly have been higher assumption or loudervaunting. The only object of _having_ such a District was in effecttotally perverted in the resolution of Mr. Clay, and in the discussionsof the entire southern delegation, upon its passage. Instead of takingthe ground, that the benefit of the whole Union was the sole _object_ ofa federal district, and that it was to be legislated over _for thisend_--the resolution proceeds upon an hypothesis totally the reverse. Ittakes a single point of _state_ policy, and exalts it above NATIONALinterests, utterly overshadowing them; abrogating national rights;making void a clause of the Constitution; humbling the generalgovernment into a subject crouching for favors to a superior, and thattoo within its own exclusive jurisdiction. All the attributes ofsovereignty vested in Congress by the Constitution, it impales upon thepoint of an alleged _implication_. And this is Mr. Clay'speace-offering, to the lust of power and the ravenings of stateencroachment! A "compromise, " forsooth! that sinks the generalgovernment on _its own territory_, into a mere colony, with Virginia andMaryland for its "mother country!" It is refreshing to turn from theseshallow, distorted constructions and servile cringings, to the highbearing of other southern men in other times; men, who as legislatorsand lawyers, scorned to accommodate their interpretations ofconstitutions and charters to geographical lines, or to bend them to thepurposes of a political canvass. In the celebrated case of Cohens _vs. _the State of Virginia, Hon. William Pinkney, late of Baltimore, and Hon. Walter Jones, of Washington city, with other eminent constitutionallawyers, prepared an elaborate opinion, from which the following is anextract: "Nor is there any danger to be apprehended from allowing toCongressional legislation with regard to the District of Columbia, itsFULLEST EFFECT. Congress is responsible to the States, and to the peoplefor that legislation. It is in truth the legislation of the states overa district placed under their control FOR THEIR OWN BENEFIT, not forthat of the District, except as the prosperity of the District isinvolved, and _necessary to the general advantage_. "--[Life ofPinkney, p. 612. ]

This profound legal opinion asserts, 1st, that Congressional legislationover the District, is "the legislation of the _states_ and the_people_. " (not of _two_ states, and a mere _fraction_ of the people;)2d. "Over a District placed under _their_ control, " i. E. Under thecontrol of _all_ the States, not of _two twenty-sixths_ of them. 3d. That it was thus put under their control "_for_ THEIR OWN _benefit_. "4th. It asserts that the design of this exclusive control of Congressover the District was "not for the benefit of the _District_, " except asthat is _connected_ with, and _a means of promoting_ the _general_advantage. If this is the case with the _District_, which is _directly_concerned, it is pre-eminently so with Maryland and Virginia, which arebut _indirectly_ interested. The argument of Mr. Madison in the Congressof '89, an extract from which has been given on a preceding page, laysdown the same principle; that though any matter "_may be a local affair, yet if it involves national_ EXPENSE or SAFETY, _it becomes of concernto every part of the union, and is a proper subject for theconsideration of those charged with the general administration of thegovernment_. "--Cong. Reg. Vol. 1. P. 310. 

But these are only the initiatory absurdities of this "good faith_implied_. " Mr. Clay's resolution aptly illustrates the principle, thaterror not only conflicts with truth, but is generally at issue withitself: For if it would be a violation of "good faith" to Maryland andVirginia, for Congress to abolish slavery in the District, it would be_equally_ a violation for Congress to do it _with the consent_, or evenat the unanimous petition of the people of the District: yet for yearsit has been the southern doctrine, that if the people of the Districtdemand of Congress relief in this respect, it has power, as their locallegislature, to grant it, and by abolishing slavery there, carry out thewill of the citizens. But now new light has broken in! The optics of Mr. Clay have pierced the millstone with a deeper insight, and discoveriesthicken faster than they can be telegraphed! Congress has no power, Ono, not a modicum! to help the slaveholders of the District, howeverloudly they may clamor for it. The southern doctrine, that Congress isto the District a mere local Legislature to do its pleasure, is tumbledfrom the genitive into the vocative! Hard fate--and that too at thehands of those who begat it! The reasonings of Messrs. Pinckney andWise, are now found to be wholly at fault, and the chanticleer rhetoricof Messrs. Glascock and Garland stalks featherless and crest-fallen. Forthe resolution sweeps by the board all those stereotyped common-places, such as "Congress a local Legislature, " "consent of the District, ""bound to consult the wishes of the District, " with other catch phrases, which for the last two sessions of Congress have served to eke outscanty supplies. It declares, that as slavery existed in _Maryland andVirginia at the time of the cession, and as_ it still continues _in boththose states_, it could not be abolished in the District without aviolation of "that good faith, " &c. 

But let us see where this principle will lead us. If "implied faith" toMaryland and Virginia _restrains_ Congress from the abolition of slaveryin the District, because those states have not abolished _their_slavery, it _requires_ Congress to do in the District what those stateshave done within their own limits, i. E. , restrain _others_ fromabolishing it. Upon the same principle Congress is _bound_ to _prohibitemancipation_ within the District. There is no _stopping place_ for thisplighted "faith. " Congress must not only refrain from laying violenthands on slavery, and see to it that the slaveholders themselves do not, but it is bound to keep the system up to the Maryland and Virginiastandard of vigor!

Again, if the good faith of Congress to Virginia and Maryland requiresthat slavery should exist in the District, while it exists in thosestates, it requires that it should exist there as it exists in thosestates. If to abolish _every_ form of slavery in the District wouldviolate good faith, to abolish _the_ form existing in those states, andto substitute a different one, would also violate it. The Congressional"good faith" is to be kept not only with _slavery_, but with the_Maryland and Virginia systems_ of slavery. The faith of those statesbeing not that Congress would maintain a system, but _their_ system;otherwise instead of _sustaining_, Congress would counteract theirpolicy--principles would be brought into action there conflicting withtheir system, and thus the true sprit of the "implied" pledge would beviolated. On this principle, so long as slaves are "chattels personal"in Virginia and Maryland, Congress could not make them _real estate_ inthe District, as they are in Louisiana; nor could it permit slaves toread, nor to worship God according to conscience; nor could it grantthem trial by jury, nor legalize marriage; nor require the master togive sufficient food and clothing; nor prohibit the violent sundering offamilies--because such provisions would conflict with the existingslave laws of Virginia and Maryland, and thus violate the "good faithimplied, " &c. So the principle of the resolution binds Congress in allthese particulars: 1st. Not to abolish slavery in the District _until_Virginia and Maryland abolish. 2d. Not to abolish any _part_ of it thatexists in those states. 3d. Not to abolish any _form_ or _appendage_ ofit still existing in those states. 4th. To _abolish_ when they do. 5th. To increase or abate its rigors _when, how, _ and _as_ the same aremodified by those states. In a word, Congressional action in theDistrict is to float passively in the wake of legislative action on thesubject in those states. 

But here comes a dilemma. Suppose the legislation of those states shouldsteer different courses--then there would be _two_ wakes! Can Congressfloat in both? Yea, verily! Nothing is too hard for it! Itsobsequiousness equals its "power of legislation in _all_ caseswhatsoever. " It can float _up_ on the Virginia tide, and ebb down on theMaryland. What Maryland does, Congress will do in the Maryland part. What Virginia does, Congress will do in the Virginia part. Though itmight not always be able to run at the bidding of both _at once_, especially in different directions, yet if it obeyed orders cheerfully, and "kept in its place, " according to its "good faith implied, "impossibilities might not be rigidly exacted. True, we have the highestsanction for the maxim that no _man_ can serve two masters--but if"corporations have no souls, " analogy would absolve Congress on thatscore, or at most give it only a _very small soul_--not large enough tobe at all in the way, as an exception to the universal rule laid down inthe maxim!

In following out the absurdities of this "implied good faith, " it willbe seen at once that the doctrine of Mr. Clay's Resolution extends to_all the subjects of legislation_ existing in Maryland and Virginia, which exist also within the District. Every system, "institution, " law, and established usage there, is placed beyond Congressional controlequally with slavery, and by the same "implied faith. " The abolition ofthe lottery system in the District as an immorality, was a flagrantbreach of this "good faith" to Maryland and Virginia, as the system"still continued in those states. " So to abolish imprisonment for debt, or capital punishment, to remodel the bank system, the power ofcorporations, the militia law, laws of limitation, &c. , in the District, _unless Virginia and Maryland took the lead, _ would violate the "goodfaith implied in the cession. "

That in the acts of cession no such "good faith" was "implied" byVirginia and Maryland as is claimed in the Resolution, we argue from thefact, that in 1784 Virginia ceded to the United States all hernorth-west territory, with the special proviso that her citizensinhabiting that territory should "have their _possessions_ and _titles_confirmed to them, and be _protected_ in the enjoyment of their _rights_and liberties. " (See Journals of Congress, vol. 9, p. 63. ) The cessionwas made in the form of a deed, and signed by Thomas Jefferson, SamuelHardy, Arthur Lee, and James Munroe. Many of these inhabitants _heldslaves. _ Three years after the cession, the Virginia delegation inCongress _proposed_ the passage of an ordinance which should abolishslavery, in that territory, and declare that it should never thereafterexist there. All the members of Congress from Virginia and Marylandvoted for this ordinance. Suppose some member of Congress had during thepassage of the ordinance introduced the following resolution: "Resolved, that when the northwest territory was ceded by Virginia to the UnitedStates, domestic slavery existed in that State, including the cededterritory, and as it still continues in that State, it could not beabolished within the territory without a violation of that good faith, which was implied in the cession and in the acceptance of theterritory. " What would have been the indignant response of Grayson, Griffin, Madison, and the Lees, in the Congress of '87, to such aresolution, and of Carrington, Chairman of the Committee, who reportedthe ratification of the ordinance in the Congress of '89, and of Pageand Parker, who with every other member of the Virginia delegationsupported it?

But to enumerate all the absurdities into which those interested forthis resolution have plunged themselves, would be to make a quartoinventory. We decline the task; and in conclusion merely add, that Mr. Clay, in presenting it, and each of the thirty-six Senators who votedfor it, entered on the records of the Senate, and proclaimed to theworld, a most unworthy accusation against the millions of Americancitizens who have during nearly half a century petitioned the nationallegislature to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, --chargingthem either with the ignorance or the impiety of praying the nation toviolate its "Plighted Faith. " The resolution virtually indicts at thebar of public opinion, and brands with odium, all the early ManumissionSocieties, the _first_ petitioners for the abolition of slavery in theDistrict, and for a long time the only ones, petitioning from year toyear through evil report and good report, still petitioning, byindividual societies and in their national conventions. 

But as if it were not enough to table the charge against such men asBenjamin Rush, William Rawle, John Sergeant, Roberts Vaux, CadwalladerColden, and Peter A. Jay, --to whom we may add Rufus King, JamesHillhouse, William Pinkney, Thomas Addis Emmett, Daniel D. Tompkins, DeWitt Clinton, James Kent, and Daniel Webster, besides eleven hundredcitizens of the District itself, headed by their Chief Justice andJudges--even the sovereign States of Pennsylvania, New-York, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Connecticut, whose legislatures have eithermemorialized Congress to abolish slavery in the District, or instructedtheir Senators to move such a measure, must be gravely informed byMessrs. Clay, Norvell, Niles, Smith, Pierce, Benton, Black, Tipton, andother honorable Senators, either that their perception is so dull, theyknow not whereof they affirm, or that their moral sense is so bluntedthey can demand without compunction a violation of the nation's faith!

We have spoken already of the concessions unwittingly made in thisresolution to the true doctrine of Congressional power over theDistrict. For that concession, important as it is; we have small thanksto render. That such a resolution, passed with such an _intent_, andpressing at a thousand points on relations and interests vital to thefree states, should be hailed, as it has been, by a portion of thenorthern press as a "compromise" originating in deference to northerninterests, and to be received by us as a free-will offering ofdisinterested benevolence, demanding our gratitude to the mover, --maywell cover us with shame. We deserve the humiliation and have wellearned the mockery. Let it come!

If, after having been set up at auction in the public sales-room of thenation, and for thirty years, and by each of a score of "compromises, "treacherously knocked off to the lowest bidder, and that without moneyand without price, the North, plundered and betrayed, _will not_, inthis her accepted time, consider the things that belong to her peacebefore they are hidden from her eyes, then let her eat of the fruit ofher own way, and be filled with her own devices! Let the shorn andblinded giant grind in the prison-house of the Philistines, till taughtby weariness and pain the folly of entrusting to Delilahs the secret andthe custody of his strength. 

Have the free States bound themselves by an oath never to profit by thelessons of experience? If lost to reason, are they dead to _instinct_also? Can nothing rouse them to cast about for self preservation? Andshall a life of tame surrenders be terminated by suicidal sacrifice?

A "COMPROMISE!" Bitter irony! Is the plucked and hoodwinked North to bewheedled by the sorcery of another Missouri compromise? A compromise inwhich the South gained all, and the North lost all, and lost it forever. A compromise which embargoed the free laborer of the North and West, and, clutched at the staff he leaned upon, to turn it into a bludgeonand fell him with its stroke. A compromise which wrested from libertyher boundless birthright domain, stretching westward to the sunset, while it gave to slavery loose reins and a free coarse, from theMississippi to the Pacific. 

The resolution, as it finally passed, is here inserted. 

"Resolved, That the interference by the citizens of any of the states, with the view to the abolition of slavery in the District, isendangering the rights and security of the people of the District; andthat any act or measure of Congress designed to abolish slavery in theDistrict, would be a violation of the faith implied in the cessions bythe states of Virginia and Maryland, a just cause of alarm to the peopleof the slaveholding states, and have a direct and inevitable tendency todisturb and endanger the Union. "

The vote upon the resolution stood as follows:

_Yeas_. --Messrs. Allen, Bayard, Benton, Black, Buchanan, Brown, Calhoun, Clay of Alabama, Clay of Kentucky, Clayton, Crittenden, Cuthbert, Fulton, Grundy, Hubbard, King, Lumpkin, Lyon, Nicholas. Niles, Norvell, Pierce, Preston, Rives, Roane, Robinson, Sevier, Smith, of Connecticut, Strange, Tallmadge, Tipton, Walker, White, Williams, Wright, Young--36. 

_Nays_. --Messrs. DAVIS, KNIGHT, McKEAN, MORRIS, PRENTISS, RUGGLES, SMITH, of Indiana, SWIFT, WEBSTER--9. 

 * * * * *

ANTI-SLAVERY EXAMINER. NO. 6. 

NARRATIVE OF JAMES WILLIAMS, AN AMERICAN SLAVE. 

ONE DOLLAR PER 100] [143 NASSAU ST. N. Y. 

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PREFACE. 

"American Slavery, " said the celebrated John Wesley, "is the _vilest_beneath the sun!" Of the truth of this emphatic remark, no other proofis required, than an examination of the statute books of the Americanslave states. Tested by its own laws, in all that facilitates andprotects the hateful process of converting a man into a "_chattelpersonal_;" in all that stamps the law-maker, and law-upholder withmeanness and hypocrisy, it certainly has no present rival of its "bademinence, " and we may search in vain the history of a world's despotismfor a parallel. The civil code of Justinian never acknowledged, withthat of our democratic despotisms, the essential equality of man. Thedreamer in the gardens of Epicurus recognized neither in himself, nor inthe slave who ministered to his luxury, the immortality of the spiritualnature. Neither Solon nor Lycurgus taught the inalienability of humanrights. The Barons of the Feudal System, whose maxim was emphaticallythat of Wordsworth's robber, "That he should take who had the power, And he should keep who can. "

while trampling on the necks of their vassals, and counting the life ofa man as of less value than that of a wild beast, never appealed to Godfor the sincerity of their belief, that all men were created equal. Itwas reserved for American slave-holders to present to the world thehideous anomaly of a code of laws, beginning with the emphaticdeclaration of the inalienable rights of all men to life, liberty, andthe pursuit of happiness, and closing with a deliberate and systematicdenial of those rights, in respect to a large portion of theircountrymen; engrossing on the same parchment the antagonist laws ofliberty and tyranny. The very nature of this unnatural combination hasrendered it necessary that American slavery, in law and in practice, should exceed every other in severity and cool atrocity. The masters ofGreece and Rome permitted their slaves to read and write and worship thegods of paganism in peace and security, for there was nothing in thelaws, literature, or religion of the age to awaken in the soul of thebondman a just sense of his rights as a man. But the Americanslaveholder cannot be thus lenient. In the excess of his benevolence, asa political propagandist, he has kindled a fire for the oppressed of theold world to gaze at with hope, and for crowned heads and dynasties totremble at; but a due regard to the safety of his "peculiarinstitution, " compels him to put out the eyes of his own people, lestthey too should see it. Calling on all the world to shake off thefetters of oppression, and wade through the blood of tyrants to freedom, he has been compelled to smother, in darkness and silence, the minds ofhis own bondmen, lest they too should hear and obey the summons, byputting the knife to his own throat. --Proclaiming the truths of DivineRevelation, and sending the Scriptures to the four quarters of theearth, he has found it necessary to maintain heathenism at home byspecial enactments; and to make the second offence of teaching hisslaves the message of salvation punishable with _death_!

What marvel then that American slavery even on the _statute book_assumes the right to transform moral beings into brutes:[A] that itlegalizes man's usurpation of Divine authority; the substitution of thewill of the master, for the moral government of God: that it annihilatesthe rights of conscience; debars from the enjoyment of religious rightsand privileges by specific enactments; and enjoins disobedience to theDivine lawgiver: that it discourages purity and chastity, encouragescrime, legalizes concubinage; and, while it places the slave entirely inthe hands of his master, provides no real protection for his life orhis person. 

[Footnote A: The _cardinal principle_ of slavery, that a slave is not tobe ranked among sentient beings, but among things, as an article ofproperty, a chattel personal, obtains as undoubted law, in all the slavestates. (Judge Stroud's Sketch of Slave Laws, p. 22. )]

But it may be said, that these laws afford no certain evidence of theactual condition of the slaves: that, in judging the system by its code, no allowance is made for the humanity of individual masters. It was ajust remark of the celebrated Priestley, that "_no people ever werefound to be better than their laws, though many have been known to beworse. _" All history and common experience confirm this. Besides, admitting that the legal severity of a system may be softened in thepractice of the humane, may it not also be aggravated by that of theavaricious and cruel?

But what are the testimony and admissions of slaveholders themselves onthis point? In an Essay published in Charleston, S. C. , in 1822, andentitled "A Refutation of the Calumnies circulated against the Southernand Western States, " by the late Edwin C. Holland, Esq. , it is stated, that "all slaveholders have laid down non-resistance, and perfect anduniform _obedience_ to their orders as fundamental principles in thegovernment of their slaves:" that this is "a _necessary_ result of therelation, " and "_unavoidable_. " Robert J. Turnbull, Esq. , of SouthCarolina, in remarking upon the management of slaves, says, "The onlyprinciple upon which may authority over them, (the slaves, ) can bemaintained is _fear_, and he who denies this has little knowledge ofthem. " To this may be added the testimony of Judge Ruffin, of NorthCarolina, as quoted in Wheeler's Law of Slavery, p. 217. "The slave, toremain a slave, must feel that there is _no appeal from his master_. Noman can anticipate the provocations which the slave would give, nor theconsequent wrath of the master, prompting him to BLOODY VENGEANCE on theturbulent traitor, a vengeance _generally_ practised with impunity byreason of its _privacy_. "

In an Essay on the "improvement of negroes on plantations, " by Rev. Thomas S. Clay, a slaveholder of Bryan county, Georgia, and Printed atthe request of the Georgia Presbytery, in 1833, we are told "that thepresent economy of the slave system is _to get all you can_ from theslave, and give him in return _as little as will barely support him in aworking condition_!" Here, in a few words, the whole enormity of slaveryis exposed to view: "to _get all you can_ from the slave"--by means ofwhips and forks and irons--by every device for torturing the body, without destroying its capability of labor; and in return give him aslittle of his coarse fare as will keep him, like a mere beast of burden, in a "_working condition_;" this is slavery, as explained by theslaveholder himself. Mr. Clay further says: "_Offences against themaster_ are more severely punished than violations of the law of God, afault which affects the slave's personal character a good deal. Asexamples we may notice, that _running away_ is more severely punishedthan adultery. " "He (the slave) only knows his master as lawgiver andexecutioner, and the _sole object of punishment_ held up to his view, isto make him _a more obedient and profitable slave_. "

Hon. W. B. Seabrook, in an address before the Agricultural Society of St. John's, Colleton, published by order of the Society, at Charleston, in1834, after stating that "as Slavery exists in South Carolina, theaction of the citizens should rigidly conform to that state of things:"and, that "no _abstract opinions of the rights of man_ should be allowedin any instance to modify the _police system of a plantation_, " proceedsas follows. "_He_ (the slave) _should be practically treated as aslave_; and thoroughly taught the true cardinal principle on which ourpeculiar institutions are founded, viz. ; that to his owner he is boundby the law of God and man; and that no human authority can sever thelink which unites them. The great aim of the slaveholder, then, shouldbe to keep his people in strict _subordination_. In this, it may intruth be said, lies his _entire duty_. " Again, in speaking of thepunishments of slaves, he remarks: "If to our army the disuse of THELASH has been prejudicial, to the slaveholder it would operate todeprive him of the MAIN SUPPORT of his authority. For the first class ofoffences, I consider imprisonment in THE STOCKS[A] at night, with orwithout hard labor by day, as a powerful auxiliary in the cause of_good_ government. " "_Experience_ has convinced me that there is nopunishment to which the slave looks with more horror, than that uponwhich I am commenting, (the stocks, ) and none which has been attendedwith happier results. "

[Footnote A: Of the nature of this punishment in the stocks, somethingmay be learned by the following extract of a letter from a gentleman inTallahassee, Florida, to the editor of the Ohio Atlas, dated June 9, 1835: "A planter, a professer of religion, in conversing upon theuniversality of whipping, remarked, that a planter in G____, who hadwhipped a great deal, at length got tired of it, and invented thefollowing _excellent_ method of punishment, which I saw practised whileI was paying him a visit. The negro was placed in a sitting position, with his hands made fast above his head, and his feet in the stocks, sothat he could not move any part of the body. The master retired, intending to leave him till morning, but we were awakened in the nightby the groans of the negro, which were so doleful that we feared he wasdying. We went to him, and found him covered with a cold sweat, andalmost gone. He could not have lived an hour longer. Mr. ---- found the'stocks' such an effective punishment, that it almost supersededthe whip. "]

There is yet another class of testimony quite as pertinent as theforegoing, which may at any time be gleaned from the newspapers of theslave states--the advertisements of masters for their runaway slaves, and casual paragraphs coldly relating cruelties, which would disgrace aland of Heathenism. Let the following suffice for a specimen:

 * * * * *

To the Editors of the Constitutionalist. 

_Aiken, S. C. , Dec. _ 20, 1836. 

I have just returned from an inquest I held over the dead body of anegro man, a runaway, that was shot near the South Edisto, in thisdistrict, (Barnwell, ) on Saturday morning last. He came to his death byhis own recklessness. He refused to be taken alive; and said that otherattempts to take him had been made, and he was determined that he wouldnot be taken. When taken he was nearly naked--had a large dirk or knifeand a heavy club. He was at first, (when those who were in pursuit ofhim found it absolutely necessary, ) shot at with small shot, with theintention of merely crippling him. He was shot at several times, and atlast he was so disabled as to be compelled to surrender. He kept in therun of a creek in a very dense swamp all the time that the neighborswere in pursuit of him. As soon as the negro was taken, the best medicalaid was procured, but he died on the same evening. One of the witnessesat the inquisition stated that the negro boy said that he was fromMississippi, and belonged to so many persons he did not know who hismaster was; but again he said his master's name was _Brown_. He said hisown name was Sam; and when asked by another witness who his master was, he muttered something like Augusta or Augustine. The boy was apparentlyabove 35 or 40 years of age--about six feet high--slightly yellow in theface--very long beard or whiskers--and very stout built, and a sterncountenance; and appeared to have been run away a long time. 

WILLIAM H. PRITCHARD, _Coroner, (ex officio, ) Barnwell Dist. , S. C. _

The Mississippi and other papers will please copy the above. --_GeorgiaConstitutionalist_. 

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$100 REWARD. --Ran away from the subscriber, living on Herring Bay, AnnArundel county, Md. , on Saturday, 28th January, negro man Elijah, whocalls himself Elijah Cook, is about 21 years of age, well made, of avery dark complexion has an impediment in his speech, and _a scar on hisleft cheek bone, apparently occasioned by a shot_. 

J. SCRIVENER. Annapolis (Md. ) Rep. , Feb. , 1837. 

 * * * * *

$40 REWARD. --Ran away from my residence near Mobile, two negro men, Isaac and Tim. Isaac is from 25 to 30 years old, dark complexion, scaron the right side of the head, and also one on the right side of thebody, occasioned by BUCK SHOT. Tim is 22 years old, dark complexion, scar on the right cheek, as also another on the back of the neck. Captains and owners of steamboats, vessels, and water crafts of everydescription, are cautioned against taking them on board under thepenalty of the law; and all other persons against harboring or in anymanner favoring the escape of said negroes under like penalty. 

_Mobile, Sept_. 1. SARAH WALSH. Montgomery (Ala. ) Advertiser, Sept. 29, 1837. 

 * * * * *

$200 REWARD. --Ran away from the subscriber, about three years ago, acertain negro man named Ben, (commonly known by the name of Ben Fox. ) Heis about five feet five or six inches high, chunky made, yellowcomplexion, and has but one eye. Also, one other negro, by the name ofRigdon, who ran away on the 8th of this month. He is stout made, tall, and very black, with large lips. 

I will give the reward of one hundred dollars for each of the abovenegroes, to be delivered to me or confined in the jail of Lenoir orJones county, or _for the killing of them so that I can see them_. Masters of vessels and all others are cautioned against harboring, employing, or carrying them away, under the penalty of the law. 

W. D. COBB. _Lenoir county, N. C. , Nov_. 12, 1836. 

 * * * * *

"A negro who had absconded from his master, and for who a reward wasoffered of $100, has been apprehended and committed to prison inSavannah, Georgia. The Editor who states the fact, adds, with as muchcoolness as though there was no barbarity in the matter, that he did notsurrender until he was considerably _maimed by the dogs_[A] that hadbeen set on him, --desperately fighting them, one of which he cut badlywith a sword. "

_New-York Commercial Advertiser, June_, 8, 1827. 

[Footnote A: In regard to the use of bloodhounds, for the recapture ofrunaway slaves, we insert the following from the New-York Evangelist, being an extract of a letter from Natchez (Miss. ) under date of January31, 1835: "An instance was related to me in Claiborne County, inMississippi. A runaway was heard about the house in the night. The houndwas put upon his track, and in the morning was found watching the deadbody of the negro. The dogs are trained to this service when young. Anegro is directed to go into the woods and secure himself upon a tree. When sufficient time has elapsed for doing this, the hound is put uponhis track. The blacks are compelled to worry them until they make themtheir implacable enemies: and it is common to meet with dogs which willtake no notice of whites, though entire strangers, but will suffer noblacks beside the house servants to enter the yard. "]

 * * * * *

From the foregoing evidence on the part of slaveholders themselves, wegather the following facts:

1. That perfect obedience is required of the slave--that he is made tofeel that there is no appeal from his master. 

2. That the authority of the master is only maintained by fear--a"_reign of terror_. "

3. That "the economy of slavery is to _get all you can_ from the slave, and give him in return as little as will barely support him in a workingcondition. "

4. That runaway slaves may be shot down with impunity by any whiteperson. 

5. That masters offer rewards for "_killing_" their slaves, "_so thatthey may see them_!"

6. That slaves are branded with hot irons, and very much scarred withthe whip. 

7. That _iron collars_, with projecting prongs, rendering it almostimpossible for the wearer to lie down, are fastened upon the _necksof women_. 

8. That the LASH is the MAIN SUPPORT of the slaveholder's authority:but, that the _stocks_ are "a powerful auxiliary" to his government. 

9. That runaway slaves are chased with dogs--men hunted like beasts ofprey. 

Such is American Slavery in practice. 

The testimony thus far adduced is only that of the slaveholder andwrong-doer himself: the admission of men who have a direct interest inkeeping out of sight the horrors of their system. It is besides novoluntary admission. Having "framed iniquity by law, " it is out of theirpower to hide it. For the recovery of their runaway property, they arecompelled to advertise in the public journals, and that it may beidentified, they are under the necessity of describing the marks of thewhip on the backs of women, the iron collars about the neck--thegun-shot wounds, and the traces of the branding-iron. Such testimonymust, in the nature of things, be partial and incomplete. But for a fullrevelation of the secrets of the prison-house, we must look to the slavehimself. The Inquisitors of Goa and Madrid never disclosed the peculiaratrocities of their "hall of horrors. " It was the escaping heretic, withhis swollen and disjointed limbs, and bearing about him the scars ofrack and fire, who exposed them to the gaze and abhorrence ofChristendom. 

The following pages contain the simple and unvarnished story of anAMERICAN SLAVE, --of one, whose situation, in the first place, as afavorite servant in an aristocratic family in Virginia; and afterwardsas the sole and confidential driver on a large plantation in Alabama, afforded him rare and peculiar advantages for accurate observation ofthe practical workings of the system. His intelligence, evident candor, and grateful remembrance of those kindnesses, which in a land ofSlavery, made his cup of suffering less bitter; the perfect accordanceof his statements, (made at different times, and to differentindividuals), [B] one with another, as well as those statementsthemselves, all afford strong confirmation of the truth and accuracy ofhis story. There seems to have been no effort, on his part to make hispicture of Slavery one of entire darkness--he details every thing of amitigating character which fell under his observation; and even thecruel deception of his master has not rendered him unmindful of hisearly kindness. 

[Footnote B: The reader is referred to JOHN G. WHITTIER, ofPhiladelphia, or to the following gentlemen, who have heard the whole, or a part of his story, from his own lips: Emmor Kimber, of Kimberton, Pa. , Lindley Coates, of Lancaster Co. , do. ; James Mott, of Philadelphia, Lewis Tappan, Elizur Wright Jun. , Rev. Dr. Follen, and James G. Birney, of New York. The latter gentleman, who was a few years ago, a citizen ofAlabama, assures us that the statements made to him by James Williams, were such as he had every reason to believe, from his own knowledge ofslavery in that State. ]

The editor is fully aware that he has not been able to present thisaffecting narrative in the simplicity and vivid freshness with which itfell from the lips of the narrator. He has, however, as closely aspossible, copied his manner, and in many instances his precise language. THE SLAVE HAS SPOKEN FOR HIMSELF. Acting merely as his amanuensis, hehas carefully abstained from comments of his own. [A]

[Footnote A: As the narrator was unable to read or write, it is quitepossible that the orthography of some of the names of individualsmentioned in his story may not be entirely correct. For instance, thename of his master may have been either Larrimer, or Larrrimore. ]

The picture here presented to the people of the free states, is, in manyrespects, a novel one. We all know something of Virginia and KentuckySlavery. We have heard of the internal slave trade--the pangs ofseparation--the slave ship with its "cargo of despair" bound for theNew-Orleans market--the weary journey of the chained Coffle to thecotton country. But here, in a great measure, we have lost sight of thevictims of avarice and lust. We have not studied the dreadful economy ofthe cotton plantation, and know but little of the secrets of itsunlimited despotism. 

But in this narrative the scenes of the plantation rise before us, witha distinctness which approaches reality. We hear the sound of the hornat daybreak, calling the sick and the weary to toil unrequited. Woman, in her appealing delicacy and suffering, about to become a mother, isfainting under the lash, or sinking exhausted beside her cotton row. Wehear the prayer for mercy answered with sneers and curses. We look onthe instruments of torture, and the corpses of murdered men. We see thedogs, reeking hot from the chase, with their jaws foul with human blood. We see the meek and aged Christian scarred with the lash, and bowed downwith toil, offering the supplication of a broken heart to his Father inHeaven, for the forgiveness of his brutal enemy. We hear, and from ourinmost hearts repeat the affecting interrogatory of the aged slave, _"How long, Oh Lord! how long!"_

The editor has written out the details of this painful narrative withfeelings of sorrow. If there be any who feel a morbid satisfaction indwelling upon the history of outrage and cruelty, he at least is not oneof them. His taste and habits incline him rather to look to the pure andbeautiful in our nature--the sunniest side of humanity--its kindlysympathies--its holy affections--its charities and its love. But, it isbecause he has seen that all which is thus beautiful and excellent inmind and heart, perishes in the atmosphere of slavery: it is becausehumanity in the slave sinks down to a level with the brute and in themaster gives place to the attributes of a fiend--that he has not felt atliberty to decline the task. He cannot sympathize with that abstract anddelicate philanthropy, which hesitates to bring itself in contact withthe sufferer, and which shrinks from the effort of searching out theextent of his afflictions. The emblem of Practical Philanthropy is theSamaritan stooping over the wounded Jew. It must be no fastidious handwhich administers the oil and the wine, and binds up theunsightly gashes. 

Believing, as he does, that this narrative is one of truth; that itpresents an unexaggerated picture of Slavery as it exists on the cottonplantations of the South and West, he would particularly invite to itsperusal, those individuals, and especially those professing Christiansat the North, who have ventured to claim for such a system, the sanctionand approval of the Religion of Jesus Christ. In view of the facts herepresented, let these men seriously inquire of themselves, whether inadvancing such a claim, they are not uttering a higher and moreaudacious blasphemy than any which ever fell from the pens of Voltaireand Paine. As if to cover them with confusion, and leave them utterlywithout excuse for thus libelling the character of a just God, thesedevelopments are making, and the veil rising, which for long years ofsinful apathy has rested upon the abominations of American Slavery. Light is breaking into it's dungeons, disclosing the wreck of buriedintellect--of hearts broken--of human affections outraged--of soulsruined. The world will see it as God has always seen it; and when Heshall at length make inquisition for blood, and His vengeance kindleover the habitations of cruelty, with a destruction more terrible thanthat of Sodom and Gomorrah, His righteous dealing will be justified ofman, and His name glorified among the nations, and there will be a voiceof rejoicing in Earth and in Heaven. ALLELUIA!--THE PROMISE ISFULFILLED!--FOR THE SIGHING OF THE POOR AND THE OPPRESSION OF THE NEEDY, GOD HATH RISEN!

It is the earnest desire of the Editor, that this narrative may be themeans, under God, of awakening in the hearts of all who read it, asympathy for the oppressed which shall manifest itself in immediate, active, self-sacrificing exertion for their deliverance; and, while itexcites abhorrence of his crimes, call forth pity for the oppressor. Mayit have the effect to prevent the avowed and associated friends of theslave, from giving such an undue importance to their own trials andgrievances, as to forget in a great measure the sorrows of the slave. Let its cry of wo, coming up from the plantations of the South, suppressevery feeling of selfishness in our hearts. Let our regret andindignation at the denial of the right of petition, be felt only becausewe are thereby prevented from pleading in the Halls of Congress for the"suffering and the dumb. " And let the fact, that we are shut out fromhalf the territory of our country, be lamented only because it preventsus from bearing personally to the land of Slavery, the messages of hopefor the slave, and of rebuke and warning for the oppressor. 

_New-York, 24th 1st mo. _, 1838. 

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NARRATIVE

I was born in Powhatan County, Virginia, on the plantation of GeorgeLarrimore. Sen. , at a place called Mount Pleasant, on the 16th of May1805. May father was the slave of an orphan family whose name I haveforgotten, and was under the care of a Mr. Brooks, guardian of thefamily. He was a native of Africa, and was brought over when a merechild, with his mother. My mother was the slave of George Larrimore, Sen. She was nearly white, and is well known to have been the daughterof Mr. Larrimore himself. She died when myself and my twin brotherMeshech were five years of age--I can scarcely remember her. She had inall eight children, of whom only five are now living. One, a brother, belongs to the heirs of the late Mr. Brockenbrough of Charlottesville;of whom he hires his time, and pays annually $120 for it. He is a memberof the Baptist church, and used to preach occasionally. His wife is afree woman from Philadelphia, and being able to read and write, taughther husband. The whites do not know that he can write, and have oftenwondered that he could preach so well without learning. It is thepractice when a church is crowded, to turn the blacks out of theirseats. My brother did not like this, and on one occasion preached asermon from a text, showing that all are of one blood. Some of thewhites who heard it, said that such preaching would raise aninsurrection among the negroes. Two of them told him that if he wouldprove his doctrine by Scripture, they would let him go, but if he didnot, he should have nine and thirty lashes. He accordingly preachedanother sermon and spoke with a great deal of boldness. The two men whowere in favor of having him whipped, left before the sermon was over;those who remained, acknowledged that he had proved his doctrine, andpreached a good sermon, and many of them came up and shook hands withhim. The two opposers, Scott and Brockley, forbid my brother, afterthis, to come upon their estates. They were both Baptists, and mybrother had before preached to their people. During the cholera atRichmond, my brother preached a sermon, in which he compared thepestilence to the plagues, which afflicted the Egyptian slaveholders, because they would not let the people go. After the sermon some of thewhites threatened to whip him. Mr. Valentine, a merchant on Shocko Hillprevented them; and a young lawyer named Brooks said it was wrong tothreaten a man for preaching the truth. Since the insurrection of Nat. Turner he has not been allowed to preach much. 

My twin brother was for some time the property of Mr. John Griggs, ofRichmond, who sold him about three years since, to an Alabama CottonPlanter, with whom he staid one year, and then ran away and in allprobability escaped into the free states or Canada, as he was seen nearthe Maryland line. My other brother lives in Fredericksburg, and belongsto a Mr. Scott, a merchant formerly of Richmond. He was sold from Mr. Larrimore's plantation because his wife was a slave of Mr. Scott. Myonly sister is the slave of John Smith, of King William. Her husband wasthe slave of Mr. Smith, when the latter lived in Powhatan county, andwhen he removed to King William, she was taken with her husband. 

My old master, George Larrimore, married Jane Roane, the sister of agentleman named John Roane, one of the most distinguished men inVirginia, who in turn married a sister of my master. One of his sistersmarried a Judge Scott, and another married Mr. Brockenbrough ofCharlottesville. Mr. Larrimore had three children; George, Jane, andElizabeth. The former was just ten days older than myself; and I was hisplaymate and constant associate in childhood. I used to go with him tohis school, and carry his books for him as far as the door, and meet himthere when the school was dismissed. We were very fond of each other, and frequently slept together. He taught me the letters of the alphabet, and I should soon have acquired a knowledge of reading, had not George'smother discovered her son in the act of teaching me. She took him asideand severely reprimanded him. When I asked him, not long after, to tellme more of what he had learned at school, he said that his mother hadforbidden him to do so any more, as her father had a slave, who wasinstructed in reading and writing, and on that account proved verytroublesome. He could, they said, imitate the hand-writing of theneighboring planters, and used to write passes and certificates offreedom for the slaves, and finally wrote one for himself, and went offto Philadelphia, from whence her father received from him a saucyletter, thanking him for his education. 

The early years of my life went by pleasantly. The bitterness of my lotI had not yet realized. Comfortably clothed and fed, kindly treated bymy old master and mistress and the young ladies, and the playmate andconfidant of my young master, I did not dream of the dark reality ofevil before me. 

When he was fourteen years of age, master George went to his uncleBrockenbrough's at Charlottesville, as a student of the University. After his return from College, he went to Paris and other parts ofEurope, and spent three or four years in study and travelling. In themean time I was a waiter in the house, dining-room servant, &c. My oldmaster visited and received visits from a great number of the principalfamilies in Virginia. Each summer, with his family, he visited theSulphur Springs and the mountains. While George was absent, I went withhim to New-Orleans, in the winter season, on account of his failinghealth. We spent three days in Charleston, at Mr. McDuffie's, with whommy master was on intimate terms. Mr. McDuffie spent several days on oneoccasion at Mt. Pleasant. He took a fancy to me, and offered my masterthe servant whom he brought with him and $500 beside, for me. My masterconsidered it almost an insult, and said after he was gone, that Mr. McDuffie needed money to say the least, as much as he did. 

He had a fine house in Richmond, and used to spend his winters therewith his family, taking me with him. He was not there much at othertimes, except when the Convention of 1829 for amending the StateConstitution, was held in that city. He had a quarrel with Mr. Neal ofRichmond Co. , in consequence of some remarks upon the subject ofSlavery. It came near terminating in a duel. I recollect that during thesitting of the Convention, my master asked me before several othergentlemen, if I wished to be free and go back to my own country. Ilooked at him with surprise, and inquired what country?

"Africa, to be sure, " said he, laughing. 

I told him that was not my country--that I was born in Virginia. 

"Oh yes, " said he, "but your father was born in Africa. " He then saidthat there was a place on the African coast called Liberia where a greatmany free blacks were going; and asked me to tell him honestly, whetherI would prefer to be set free on condition of going to Africa, or livewith him and remain a slave. I replied that I had rather be as I was. 

I have frequently heard him speak against slavery to his visitors. Iheard him say on one occasion, when some gentlemen were arguing in favorof sending the free colored people to Africa, that this was as reallythe black man's country as the white's, and that it would be as humaneto knock the free negroes, at once, on the head, as to send them toLiberia. He was a kind man to his slaves. He was proud of them, and ofthe reputation he enjoyed of feeding and clothing them well. They wereas near as I can judge about 300 in number. He never to my knowledgesold a slave, unless to go with a wife or husband, and at the slave'sown request. But all except the very wealthiest planters in hisneighborhood sold them frequently. John Smoot of Powhatan Co. Has sold agreat number. Bacon Tait[A] used to be one of the principal purchasers. He had a jail at Richmond where he kept them. There were many others whomade a business of buying and selling slaves. I saw on one occasionwhile travelling with my master, a gang of nearly two hundred menfastened with chains. The women followed unchained and the children inwagons. It was a sorrowful sight. Some were praying, some crying, andthey all had a look of extreme wretchedness. It is an awful thing to aVirginia slave to be sold for the Alabama and Mississippi country. Ihave known some of them to die of grief, and others to commit suicide, on account of it. 

[Footnote A: Bacon Tait's advertisement of "new and commodiousbuildings" for the keeping of negroes, situated at the corner of 15thand Carey streets, appears in the Richmond Whig of Sept. 1896. --EDITOR. ]

In my seventeenth year, I was married to a girl named Harriet, belongingto John Gatewood, a planter living about four miles from Mr. Pleasant. She was about a year younger than myself--was a tailoress, and used tocut out clothes for the hands. 

We were married by a white clergyman named Jones; and were allowed to orthree weeks to ourselves, which we spent in visiting and otheramusements. 

The field hands are seldom married by a clergyman. They simply invitetheir friends together, and have a wedding party. 

Our two eldest children died in their infancy: two are now living. Theyoungest was only two months old when I saw him for the last time. Iused to visit my wife on Saturday and Sunday evenings. 

My young master came back from Europe in delicate health. He was advisedby his physicians to spend the winter in New-Orleans, whither heaccordingly went, taking me with him. Here he became acquainted with aFrench lady of one of the first families in the city. The next winter healso spent in New-Orleans, and on his third visit, three years after hisreturn from Europe, he was married to the lady above mentioned. In Mayhe returned to Mt. Pleasant, and found the elder Larrimore on his sickbed, from which he never rose again. He died on the 14th of July. Therewas a great and splendid funeral, as his relatives and friendswere numerous. 

His large property was left principally in the hands of his widow untilher decease, after which it was to be divided among the three children. In February Mrs. Larrimore also died. The administrators upon the estatewere John Green, Esq. , and Benjamin Temple. My young master came backfrom Europe in delicate health. He way advised by his physicians tospend the winter in New-Orleans, whither he accordingly went, taking mewith him. Here he became acquainted with a French lady of one of thefirst families in the city. The next winter he also spent inNew-Orleans, and on his third visit, three years after his return fromEurope, he was married to the lady above mentioned. In May he returnedto Mt. Pleasant, and found the elder Larrimore on his sick bed, fromwhich he never rose again. He died on the 14th of July. There was agreat and splendid funeral, as his relatives and friends were numerous. 

His large property was left principally in the hands of his widow untilher decease, after which it was to be divided among the three children. In February Mrs. Larrimore also died. The administrators upon the estatewere John Green, Esq. , and Benjamin Temple. 

My young mistresses, Jane and Elizabeth, were very kind to the servants. They seemed to feel under obligations to afford them every comfort andgratification, consistent with the dreadful relation of ownership whichthey sustained towards them. Whipping was scarcely known on the estate;and, whenever it did take place, it was invariably against the wishes ofthe young ladies. 

But the wife of master George was of a disposition entirely the reverse. Feeble, languid, and inert, sitting motionless for hours at her window, or moving her small fingers over the strings of her guitar, to some softand languishing air, she would have seemed to a stranger incapable ofrousing herself from that indolent repose, in which mind as well as bodyparticipated. But, the slightest disregard of her commands--andsometimes even the neglect to anticipate her wishes, on the part of theservants; was sufficient to awake her. The inanimate and delicate beautythen changed into a stormy virago. Her black eyes flawed and sparkledwith a snaky fierceness, her full lips compressed, and her brows bentand darkened. Her very voice, soft and sweet when speaking to herhusband, and exquisitely fine and melodious, when accompanying herguitar, was at such times, shrill, keen, and loud. She would order theservants of my young mistresses upon her errands, and if they pleadedtheir prior duty to obey the calls of another, would demand that theyshould be forthwith whipped for their insolence. If the young ladiesremonstrated with her, she met them with a perfect torrent of invectiveand abuse. In these paroxysms of fury she always spoke in French, with avehemence and volubility, which strongly contrasted with the calmnessand firmness of the young ladies. She would boast of what she had donein New-Orleans, and of the excellent discipline of her father's slaves. She said she had gone down in the night to the cell under her father'shouse, and whipped the slaves confined there with her own hands. I hadheard the same thing from her father's servants at New-Orleans, when Iwas there with my master. She brought with her from New-Orleans a girlnamed Frances. I have seen her take her by the ear, lead her up to theside of the room, and beat her head against it. At other times she wouldsnatch off her slipper and strike the girl on her face and head with it. 

She seldom manifested her evil temper before master George. When shedid, he was greatly troubled, and he used to speak to his sisters aboutit. Her manner towards him was almost invariably that of extremefondness. She was dark complexioned, but very beautiful; and the smileof welcome with which she used to meet him was peculiarly fascinating. Idid not marvel that _he_ loved her; while at the same time, in commonwith all the house servants, I regarded her as a being possessed with anevil spirit, --half woman, and half fiend. 

Soon after the settlement of the estate, I heard my master speak ofgoing out to Alabama. His wife had 1500 acres of wild land in GreeneCounty in that State: and he had been negociating for 500 more. Early inthe summer of 1833, he commenced making preparations for removing tothat place a sufficient number of hands to cultivate it. He took greatpains to buy up the wives and husbands of those of his own slaves whohad married out of the estate, in order, as he said, that his handsmight be contented in Alabama, and not need chaining together while ontheir journey. It is always found necessary by the regularslave-traders, in travelling with their slaves to the far South, tohandcuff and chain their wretched victims, who have been bought up asthe interest of the trader, and the luxury or necessities of the plantermay chance to require, without regard to the ties sundered or theaffections made desolate, by these infernal bargains. About the 1st ofSeptember, after the slaves destined for Alabama had taken a finalfarewell of their old home, and of the friends they were leaving behind, our party started on their long journey. There were in all 214 slaves, men, women and children. The men and women travelled on foot--the smallchildren in the wagons, containing the baggage, &c. Previous to mydeparture, I visited my wife and children at Mr. Gatewood's. I tookleave of them with the belief that I should return with my master, assoon as he had seen his hands established on his new plantation. I tookmy children in my arms and embraced them; my wife, who was a member ofthe Methodist church, implored the blessing of God upon me, during myabsence, and I turned away to follow my master. 

Our journey was a long and tedious one, especially to those who werecompelled to walk the whole distance. My master rode in a sulky, and I, as his body servant, on horseback: When we crossed over the Roanoke, andwere entering upon North Carolina, I remember with what sorrowfulcountenances and language the poor slaves looked back for the last timeupon the land of their nativity. It was their last farewell to OldVirginia. We passed through Georgia, and crossing the Chattahoochee, entered Alabama. Our way for many days was through a sandy tract ofcountry, covered with pine woods, with here and there the plantation ofan Indian or a half-breed. After crossing what is called Line Creek, wefound large plantations along the road, at intervals of four or fivemiles. The aspect of the whole country was wild and forbidding, save tothe eye of a cotton-planter. The clearings were all new, and the housesrudely constructed of logs. The cotton fields, were skirted with anenormous growth of oak, pine, and other wood. Charred stumps stoodthickly in the clearings, with here and there a large tree girdled bythe axe and left to decay. We reached at last the place of ourdestination. It was a fine tract of land with a deep rich soil. Wehalted on a small knoll, where the tents were pitched, and the wagonsunladen. I spent the night with my master at a neighboring plantation, which was under the care of an overseer named Flincher. 

The next morning my master received a visit from a man named Huckstep, who had undertaken the management of his plantation as an overseer. Hehad been an overseer on cotton plantations many years in Georgia andNorth Carolina. He was apparently about forty years of age, with asunburnt and sallow countenance. His thick shock of black hair wasmarked in several places with streaks of white, occasioned as heafterwards told me by blows received from slaves whom he was chastising. 

After remaining in the vicinity for about a week, my master took measide one morning--told me he was going to Selma in Dallas County, andwished me to be in readiness on his return the next day, to start forVirginia. This was to me cheering news. I spent that day and the nextamong my old fellow servants who had lived with me in Virginia. Some ofthem had messages to send by me to their friends and acquaintances. Inthe afternoon of the second day after my master's departure, Idistributed, among them all the money which I had about me, viz. , fifteen dollars. I noticed that the overseer Huckstep laughed at thisand called me a fool: and that whenever I spoke of going home with mymaster, his countenance indicated something between a smile and a sneer. 

Night came; but contrary to his promise, my master did not come. I stillhowever expected him the next day. But another night came, and he hadnot returned. I grew uneasy, and inquired of Huckstep where be thoughtmy master was. 

"On his way to Old Virginia, " said he, with a malicious laugh. 

"But, " said I. "Master George told me that he should come back and takeme with him to Virginia. "

"Well, boy, " said the overseer, "I'll now tell ye what master George, asyou call him, told me. You are to stay here and act as driver of thefield hands. That was the order. So you may as well submit to itat once. "

I stood silent and horror-struck. Could it be that the man whom I hadserved faithfully from our mutual boyhood, whose slightest wish had beenmy law, to serve whom I would have laid down my life, while I hadconfidence in his integrity--could it be that he had so cruelly andwickedly deceived me? I looked at the overseer. He stood laughing at mein my agony. 

"Master George gave you no such orders, " I exclaimed, maddened by theoverseer's look and manner. 

The overseer looked at me with a fiendish grin. "None of yourinsolence, " said he, with a dreadful oath. "I never saw a Virginianigger that I couldn't manage, proud as they are. Your master has leftyou in my hands, and you must obey my orders. If you don't, why I shallhave to make you '_hug the widow there_, '" pointing to a tree, to which Iafterwards found the slaves were tied when they were whipped. 

That night was one of sleepless agony. Virginia--the hills and thestreams of my birth-place; the kind and hospitable home; thegentle-hearted sisters, sweetening with their sympathy the sorrows ofthe slave--my wife--my children--all that had thus far made up myhappiness, rose in contrast with my present condition. Deeply as he haswronged me, may my master himself never endure such a night of misery!

At daybreak, Huckstep told me to dress myself, and attend to hisdirections. I rose, subdued and wretched, and at his orders handed thehorn to the headmen of the gang, who summoned the hands to the field. They were employed in clearing land for cultivation, cutting trees andburning. I was with them through the day, and at night returned oncemore to my lodgings to be laughed at by the overseer. He told me that Ishould do well, he did not doubt, by and by, but that a Virginia drivergenerally had to be whipped a few times himself before he could betaught to do justice to the slaves under his charge. They were not equalto those raised in North Carolina, for keeping the lazy hell-hounds, ashe called the slaves, at work. 

And this was my condition!--a driver set over more than one hundred andsixty of my kindred and friends, wish orders to apply the whipunsparingly to every one, whether man or woman, who faltered in thetask, or was careless in the execution of it, myself subject at anymoment to feel the accursed lash upon my own back, if feelings ofhumanity should perchance overcome the selfishness of misery, and induceme to spare and pity. 

I lived in the same house with Huckstep, --a large log house, roughlyfinished; where we were waited upon by an old woman, whom we used tocall aunt Polly. Huckstep was, I soon found, inordinately fond of peachbrandy; and once or twice in the course of a month he had a drunkendebauch, which usually lasted from two to four days. He was then full oftalk, laughed immoderately at his own nonsense and would keep me upuntil late at night listening to him. He was at these periods terriblysevere to his hands, and would order me to use up the cracker of my whipevery day upon the poor creatures, who were toiling in the field, and inorder to satisfy him, I used to tear it off when returning home atnight. He would then praise me for a good fellow, and invite me todrink with him. 

He used to tell me at such times, that if I would only drink as he did, I should be worth a thousand dollars more for it. He would sit hourswith his peach brandy, cursing and swearing, laughing and tellingstories full of obscenity and blasphemy. He would sometimes start up, take my whip, and rush out to the slave quarters, flourish it about andfrighten the inmates and often cruelly beat them. He would order thewomen to pull up their clothes, in Alabama style, as he called it, andthen whip them for not complying. He would then come back roaring andshouting to the house, and tell me what he had done; if I did not laughwith him, he would get angry and demand what the matter was. Oh! howoften I have laughed, at such times, when my heart ached within me; andhow often, when permitted to retire to my bed, have I found reliefin tears!

He had no wife, but kept a colored mistress in a house situated on agore of land between the plantation and that of Mr. Goldsby. He broughther with him from North Carolina, and had three children by her. 

Sometimes in his fits of intoxication, he would come riding into thefield, swinging his whip, and crying out to the hands to strip off theirshirts, and be ready to take a whipping: and this too when they were allbusily at work. At another time, he would gather the hands around himand fall to cursing and swearing about the neighboring overseers. Theywere, he said, cruel to their hands, whipped them unmercifully, and inaddition starved them. As for himself, he was the kindest and bestfellow within forty miles; and the hands ought to be thankful that theyhad such a good man for their overseer. 

He would frequently be very familiar with me, and call me his child; hewould tell me that our people were going to get Texas, a fine cottoncountry, and that he meant to go out there and have a plantation of hisown, and I should go with him and be his overseer. 

The houses in the "_negro quarters_" were constructed of logs, and fromtwelve to fifteen feet square; they had no glass, but there were holesto let in the light and air. The furniture consisted of a table, a fewstools, and dishes made of wood, and an iron pot, and some other cookingutensils. The houses were placed about three or four rods apart, with apiece of ground attached to each of them for a garden, where theoccupant could raise a few vegetables. The "quarters" were about threehundred yards from the dwelling of the overseer. 

The hands were occupied in clearing land and burning brush, and inconstructing their houses, through the winter. In March we commencedploughing: and on the first of April began planting seed for cotton. Thehoeing season commenced about the last of May. At the earliest dawn ofday, and frequently before that time, the laborers were roused fromtheir sleep by the blowing of the horn. It was blown by the headman ofthe gang who led the rest in the work and acted under my direction, asmy assistant. 

Previous to the blowing of the horn the hands generally rose and eatwhat was called the "morning's bit, " consisting of ham and bread. Ifexhaustion and fatigue prevented their rising before the dreaded soundof the horn broke upon their slumbers, they had no time to snatch amouthful, but were harried out at once. 

It was my business to give over to each of the hands his or herappropriate implement of labor, from the toolhouse where they weredeposited at night. After all had been supplied, they were taken to thefield, and set at work as soon as it was sufficiently light todistinguish the plants from the grass and weeds. I was employed inpassing from row to row, in order to see that the work was well done, and to urge forward the laborers. At 12 o'clock, the horn was blown fromthe overseer's house, calling the hands to dinner, each to his owncabin. The intermission of labor was one hour and a half to hoers andpickers, and two hours to the ploughmen. At the expiration of thisinterval, the horn again summoned them to thus labor. They were kept inthe field until dark, when they were called home to supper. 

There was little leisure for any of the hands on the plantation. In theevenings, after it was too dark for work in the field, the men werefrequently employed in burning brush and in other labors until late atnight. The women after toiling in the field by day, were compelled tocard, spin, and weave cotton for their clothing, in the evening. Even onSundays there was little or no respite from toil. Those who had not beenable to work out all their tasks during the week were allowed by theoverseer to finish it on the Sabbath, and thus save themselves from awhipping on Monday morning. Those whose tasks were finished frequentlyemployed most of that day in cultivating their gardens. 

Many of the female hands were delicate young women, who in Virginia hadnever been accustomed to field labor. They suffered greatly from theextreme heat and the severity of the toil. Oh! how often have I seenthem dragging their weary limbs from the cotton field at nightfall, faint and exhausted. The overseer used to laugh at their sufferings. They were, he said, Virginia ladies, and altogether too delicate forAlabama use: but they must be made to do their tasks notwithstanding. The recollection of these things even now is dreadful. I used to tellthe poor creatures, when compelled by the overseer to urge them forwardwith the whip, that I would much rather take their places, and endurethe stripes than inflict them. 

When but three months old, the children born on the estate were given upto the care of the old women who were not able to work out of doors. Their mothers were kept at work in the field. 

It was the object of the overseer to separate me in feeling and interestas widely as possible from my suffering brethren and sisters. I hadrelations among the field hands, and used to call them my cousins. Heforbid my doing so; and told me if I acknowledged relationship with anyof the hands I should be flogged for it. He used to speak of them asdevils and hell-hounds, and ridicule them in every possible way; andendeavoured to make me speak of them and regard them in the same manner. He would tell long stories about hunting and shooting "runaway niggers, "and detail with great apparent satisfaction the cruel and horridpunishments which he had inflicted. One thing he said troubled him. Hehad once whipped a slave so severely that he died in consequence of it, and it was soon after ascertained that he was wholly innocent of theoffence charged against him. That slave, he said, had haunted himever since. 

Soon after we commenced weeding our cotton, some of the hands who werethreatened with a whipping for not finishing their tasks, ran away. Theoverseer and myself went out after them, taking with us fivebloodhounds, which were kept on the Estate for the sole purpose ofcatching runaways. There were no other hounds in the vicinity, and theoverseers of the neighboring plantations used to borrow them to hunttheir runaways. A Mr. Crop, who lived about ten miles distant, had twopacks, and made it his sole business to catch slaves with them. We usedto set the dogs upon the track of the fugitives, and they would followthem until, to save themselves from being torn in pieces, they wouldclimb into a tree, where the dogs kept them until we came up andsecured them. 

These hounds, when young, are taught to run after the negro boys; andbeing always kept confined except when let out in pursuit of runaways, they seldom fail of overtaking the fugitive, and seem to enjoy the sportof hunting men as much as other dogs do that of chasing a fox or a deer. My master gave a large sum for his five dogs, --a slut and herfour puppies. 

While going over our cotton picking for the last time, one of our handsnamed Little John, ran away. The next evening the dogs were started onhis track. We followed them awhile, until we knew by their ceasing tobark that they had found him. We soon met the dogs returning. Theirjaws, heads, and feet, were bloody. The overseer looked at them andsaid, "he was afraid the dogs had killed the nigger. " It being dark, wecould not find him that night. Early the next morning, we started offwith our neighbors, Sturtivant and Flincher; and after searching aboutfor some time, we found the body of Little John lying in the midst of athicket of cane. It was nearly naked, and dreadfully mangled and gashedby the teeth of the dogs. They had evidently dragged it some yardsthrough the thicket: blood, tatters of clothes, and even the entrails ofthe unfortunate man, were clinging to the stubs of the old and brokencane. Huckstep stooped over his saddle, looked at the body, and mutteredan oath. Sturtivant swore it was no more than the fellow deserved. Wedug a hole in the cane-brake, where he lay, buried him, andreturned home. 

The murdered young man had a mother and two sisters on the plantation, by whom he was dearly loved. When I told the old woman of what hadbefallen her son, she only said that it was better for poor John than tolive in slavery. 

Late in the fall of this year, a young man, who had already run awayseveral times, was missing from his task. It was four days before wefound him. The dogs drove him at last up a tree, where he was caught, and brought home. He was then fastened down to the ground by means offorked sticks of wood selected for the purpose, the longest fork beingdriven into the ground until the other closed down upon the neck, ancles, and wrists. The overseer then sent for two large cats belongingto the house. These he placed upon the naked shoulders of his victim, and dragged them suddenly by their tails downward. At first they did notscratch deeply. He then ordered me to strike them with a small stickafter he had placed them once more upon the back of the sufferer. I didso; and the enraged animals extended their claws, and tore his backdeeply and cruelly as they were dragged along it. He was then whippedand placed in the stocks, where he was kept for three days. On the thirdmorning as I passed the stocks, I stopped to look at him. His head hungdown over the chain which supported his neck. I spoke, but he did notanswer. _He was dead in the stocks_! The overseer on seeing him seemedsurprised, and, I thought, manifested some remorse. Four of the fieldhands took him out of the stocks and buried him: and every thing wenton as usual. 

It is not in my power to give a narrative of the daily occurrences onthe plantation. The history of one day was that of all. The gloomymonotony of our slavery, was only broken by the overseer's periodicalfits of drunkenness, at which times neither life nor limb on the estatewere secure from his caprice or violence. 

In the spring of 1835, the overseer brought me a letter from my wife, written for her by her young mistress, Mr. Gateweed's daughter. He readit to me: it stated that herself and children were well--spoke of hersad and heavy disappointment in consequence of my not returning with mymaster; and of her having been told by him that I should come back thenext fall. 

Hope for a moment lightened my heart; and I indulged the idea of oncemore returning to the bosom of my family. But I recollected that mymaster had already cruelly deceived me; and despair again took holdon me. 

Among our hands was one whom we used to call Big Harry. He was a stout, athletic man--very intelligent, and an excellent workman; but he was ofa high and proud spirit, which the weary and crushing weight of a lifeof slavery had not been able to subdue. On almost every plantation atthe South you may find one or more individuals, whose look and air showthat they have preserved their self-respect as _men_;--that with themthe power of the tyrant ends with the coercion of the body--that thesoul is free, and the inner man retaining the original uprightness ofthe image of God. You may know them by the stern sobriety of theircountenances, and the contempt with which they regard the jests andpastimes of their miserable and degraded companions, who, like Samson, make sport for the keepers of their prison-house. These men are alwaysfeared as well as hated by their task-masters. Harry had never beenwhipped, and had always said that he would die rather than submit to it. He made no secret of his detestation of the overseer. While most of theslaves took off their hats, with cowering submission, in his presence, Harry always refused to do so. He never spoke to him except in a briefanswer to his questions. Master George, who knew, and dreaded theindomitable spirit of the man, told the overseer, before he left theplantation, to beware how he attempted to punish him. But, the habits oftyranny in which Huckstep had so long indulged, had accustomed him toabject submission, on the part of his subjects; and he could not endurethis upright and unbroken manliness. He used frequently to curse andswear about him, and devise plans for punishing him on account of hisimpudence as he called it. 

A pretext was at last afforded him. Sometime in August of this year, there was a large quantity of yellow unpicked cotton lying in the ginhouse. Harry was employed at night in removing the cotton see, which hasbeen thrown out by the gin. The rest of the male hands were engagedduring the day in weeding the cotton for the last time, and in the nigh, in burning brush on the new lands clearing for the next year's crop. Harry was told one evening to go with the others and assist in burningthe brush. He accordingly went and the next night a double quantity ofseed had accumulated in the gin house: and although he worked untilnearly 2 o'clock in the morning, he could not remove it all. 

The next morning the overseer came into the field, and demanded of mewhy I had not whipped Harry for not removing all the cotton seed. Hethen called aloud to Harry to come forward and be whipped. Harryanswered somewhat sternly that he would neither be struck by overseernor driver; that he had worked nearly all night, and had scarcely fallenasleep when the horn blew to summon him to his toil in the field. Theoverseer raved and threatened, but Harry paid no farther attention tohim. He then turned to me and asked me for my pistols, with a pair ofwhich he had furnished me. I told him they were not with me. He growledan oath, threw himself on his horse and left us. In the evening I foundhim half drunk and raving like a madman. He said he would no longer bearwith that nigger's insolence; but would whip him if it cost him hislife. He at length fixed upon a plan for seizing him; and told me thathe would go out in the morning, ride along by the side of Harry and talkpleasantly to him, and then, while Harry was attending to him, I was tosteal upon him and knock him down, by a blow on the head, from theloaded and heavy handle of my whip. I was compelled to promise to obeyhis directions. 

The next morning when we got to the field I told Harry of the overseer'splan, and advised him by all means to be on his guard and watch mymotions. His eye glistened with gratitude. "Thank you James", said he, "I'll take care that you don't touch me. "

Huckstep came into the field about 10 o'clock. He rode along by the sideof Harry talking and laughing. I was walking on the other side. When Isaw that Harry's eye was upon me I aimed a blow at him intending howeverto miss him. He evaded the blow and turned fiercely round with his hoeuplifted, threatening to cut down any one who again attempted to strikehim. Huckstep cursed my awkwardness, and told Harry to put down his hoeand came to him. He refused to do so and swore he would kill the firstman who tried to lay hands on him. The cowardly tyrant shrank away fromhis enraged bondman, and for two weeks Harry was not again molested. 

About the first of September, the overseer had one of his drunken fits. He made the house literally an earthly hell. He urged me to drink, quarrelled and swore at me for declining, and chased the old woman roundthe house, with his bottle of peach brandy. He then told me that Harryhad forgotten the attempt to seize him, and that is the morning we musttry our old game over again. 

On the following morning, as I was handing to each of the hands theirhoes from the tool house, I caught Harry's eye. "Look out, " said I tohim. "Huckstep will be after you again to day. " He uttered a deep curseagainst the overseer and passed on to his work. After breakfast Huckstepcame riding out to the cotton field. He tied his horse to a tree, andcame towards us. His sallow and haggard countenance was flushed, and hisstep unsteady. He came up by the side of Harry and began talking aboutthe crops and the weather; I came at the same time on the other side, and in striking at him, beat off his hat. He sprang aside and steppedbackwards. Huckstep with a dreadful oath commanded him to stop, sayingthat he had determined to whip him, and neither earth nor hell shouldprevent him. Harry defied him: and said he had always done the workallotted to him and that was enough: he would sooner die than have theaccursed lash touch him. The overseer staggered to his horse, mountedhim and rode furiously to the house, and soon made his appearance, returning, with his gun in his hand. 

"Yonder comes the devil!" said one of the women whose row was nearHarry's. 

"Yes, " said another, "He's trying to scare Harry with his gun. "

"Let him try as he pleases, " said Harry, in his low, deep, determinedtones, "He may shoot me, but he can't whip me. "

Huckstep came swearing on: when within a few yards of Harry he stopped, looked at him with a stare of mingled rage and drunken imbecility; andbid him throw down his hoe and come forward. The undaunted slave refusedto comply, and continuing his work told the drunken demon to shoot if hepleased. Huckstep advanced within a few steps of him when Harry raisedhis hoe and told him to stand back. He stepped back a few paces, leveledhis gun and fired. Harry received the charge in his breast, and fellinstantly across a cotton row. He threw up his hands wildly, andgroaned, "Oh, Lord!"

The hands instantly dropped their hoes. The women shrieked aloud. For myown part I stood silent with horror. The cries of the women enraged theoverseer, he dropped his gun, and snatching the whip from my hand, withhorrid oaths, and imprecations fell to whipping them, laying about himlike a maniac. Upon Harry's sister he bestowed his blows without mercy, commanding her to quit her screaming and go to work. The poor girl, whose brother had thus been murdered before her eyes, could not wrestledown the awful agony of her feelings, and the brutal tormentor left herwithout effecting his object. He then, without going to look of hisvictim, told four of the hands to carry him to the house, and taking uphis gun left the field. When we got to the poor fellow, he was alive, and groaning faintly. The hands took him up, but before they reached thehouse he was dead. Huckstep came out, and looked at him, and finding himdead, ordered the hands to bury him. The burial of a slave in Alabama isthat of a brute. No coffin--no decent shroud--no prayer. A hole is dug, and the body (sometimes enclosed in a rude box, ) is thrown in withoutfurther ceremony. 

From this time the overseer was regarded by the whole gang withdetestation and fear--as a being to whose rage and cruelty there were nolimits. Yet he was constantly telling us that he was the kindest ofoverseers--that he was formerly somewhat severe in managing his hands, but that now he was, if any thing, too indulgent. Indeed he had thereputation of being a good overseer, and an excellent manager, whensober. The slaves on some of the neighboring plantations were certainlyworse clothed and fed, and more frequently and cruelly whipped thanours. Whenever the saw them they complained of over working and shortfeeding. One of Flincher's, and one of Sturtivant's hands ran away, while I was in Alabama: and after remaining in the woods awhile, anddespairing of being able to effect their escape, resolved to put an endto their existence and their slavery together. Each twisted himself avine of the muscadine grape, and fastened one end around the limb of anoak, and made a noose in the other. Jacob, Flincher's man, swung himselfoff first, and expired after a long struggle. The other, horrified bythe contortions and agony of his comrade, dropped his noose, and wasretaken. When discovered, two or three days afterwards, the body ofJacob was dreadfully torn and mangled, by the buzzards, those wingedhyenas and goules of the Southwest. 

Among the slaves who were brought from Virginia, were two young andbright mulatto women, who were always understood throughout theplantation to have been the daughters of the elder Larrimore, by one ofhis slaves. One was named Sarah and the other Hannah. Sarah, being in astate of pregnancy, failed of executing her daily allotted task ofhoeing cotton. I was ordered to whip her, and on my remonstrating withthe overseer, and representing the condition of the woman, I was toldthat my business was to obey orders, and that if I was told "to whip adead nigger I must do it. " I accordingly gave her fifty lashes. This wason Thursday evening. On Friday she also failed through weakness, and wascompelled to lie down in the field. That night the overseer himselfwhipped her. On Saturday the wretched woman dragged herself once more tothe cotton field. In the burning sun, and in a situation which wouldhave called forth pity in the bosom of any one save a cotton-growingoverseer, she struggled to finish her task. She failed--nature could dono more--and sick and despairing, she sought her cabin. There theoverseer met her and inflicted fifty more lashes upon her alreadylacerated back. 

The next morning was the Sabbath. It brought no joy to that sufferingwoman. Instead of the tones of the church bell summoning to the house ofprayer, she heard the dreadful sound of the lash falling upon the backsof her brethren and sisters in bondage. For the voice of prayer sheheard curses. For the songs of Zion obscene and hateful blasphemies. Nobible was there with its consolations for the sick of heart. Faint andfevered, scarred and smarting from the effects of her cruel punishment, she lay upon her pallet of moss--dreading the coming of her relentlesspersecutor, --who, in the madness of one of his periodical fits ofdrunkenness, was now swearing and cursing through the quarters. 

Some of the poor woman's friends on the evening before, had attempted torelieve her of the task which had been assigned her, but exhaustednature, and the selfishness induced by their own miserable situation, did not permit them to finish it and the overseer, on examination, foundthat the week's work of the woman, was still deficient. After breakfast, he ordered her to be tied up to the limb of a tree, by means of a ropefastened round her wrists, so as to leave her feet about six inches fromthe ground. She begged him to let her down for she was very sick. 

"Very well!" he exclaimed with a sneer and a laugh, --"I shall bleed youthen, and take out some of your Virginia blood. You are too proud a missfor Alabama. "

He struck her a few blows. Swinging thus by her arms, she succeeded inplacing one of her feet against the body of the tree, and thus partlysupported herself, and relieved in some degree the painful weight uponher wrists. He threw down his whip--took a rail from the garden fence, ordered her feet to be tied together, and thrust the rail between them. He then ordered one of the hands to sit upon it. Her back at this timewas bare, but the strings of the only garment which she wore passed overher shoulders and prevented the full force of the whip from acting onher flesh. These he cut off with his pen-knife, and thus left herentirely naked. He struck her only two blows, for the second one cutopen her side and abdomen with a frightful gash. Unable to look on anylonger in silence, I entreated him to stop, as I feared he had killedher. The overseer looked at the wound--dropped his whip, and ordered herto be untied. She was carried into the house in a state ofinsensibility, and died in three days after. 

During the whole season of picking cotton, the whip was frequently andseverely plied. In his seasons of intoxication, the overseer made nodistinction between the stout man and the feeble and delicate woman--thesick and the well. Women in a far advanced state of pregnancy weredriven out to the cotton field. At other times he seemed to have someconsideration; and to manifest something like humanity. Our hands didnot suffer for food--they had a good supply of ham and corn-meal, whileon Flincher's plantation the slaves had meat but once a year, atChristmas. 

Near the commencement of the weeding season of 1835, I was ordered towhip a young woman, a light mustee, for not performing her task. I toldthe overseer that she was sick. He said he did not care for that, sheshould be made to work. A day or two afterwards, I found him in thehouse half intoxicated. He demanded of me why I had not whipped thegirl; and I gave the same reason as before. He flew into a dreadfulrage, but his miserable situation made him an object of contempt ratherthan fear. He sat shaking his fist at me, and swearing for nearly halfan hour. He said he would teach the Virginia lady to sham sickness; andthat the only reason I did not whip her was, that she was a white woman, and I did not like to cut up her delicate skin. Some time after I wasordered to give two of our women, named Hannah and big Sarah, 150 lasheseach, for not performing their tasks. The overseer stood by until he sawHannah whipped, and until Sarah had been tied up to the tree. As soon ashis back was turned I struck the tree instead of the woman, whounderstanding my object, shrieked as if the whip at every blow wascutting into her flesh. The overseer heard the blows and the woman'scries, and supposing that all was going on according to his mind, leftthe field. Unfortunately the husband of Hannah stood looking on; andindignant that his wife should be whipped and Sarah spared, determinedto revenge himself by informing against me. 

Next morning Huckstep demanded of me whether I had whipped Sarah the daybefore; I replied in the affirmative. Upon this he called Sarah forwardand made her show her back, which bore no traces of recent whipping. Hethen turned upon me and told me that the blows intended for Sarah shouldbe laid on my back. That night the overseer, with the help of three ofthe hands, tied me up to a large tree--my arms and legs being claspedround it, and my body drawn up hard against it by two men pulling at myarms and one pushing against my back. The agony occasioned by this alonewas almost intolerable. I felt a sense of painful suffocation, and couldscarcely catch my breath. 

A moment after I felt the first blow of the overseer's whip across myshoulders. It seemed to cut into my very heart. I felt the blood gush, and run down my back. I fainted at length under the torture, and onbeing taken down, my shoes contained blood which ran from the gashes inmy back. The skin was worn off from by breast, arms, and thighs, againstthe rough bark of the tree. I was sick and feverish, and in great painfor three weeks afterwards; most of which time I was obliged to lie withmy face downwards, in consequence of the extreme soreness of my sidesand back, Huckstep himself seemed concerned about me, and would comefrequently to see me, and tell me that he should not have touched me hadit not been for "the cursed peach brandy. "

Almost the first person that I was compelled to whip after I recovered, was the man who pushed at my back when I was tied up to the tree. Thehands who were looking on at that time, all thought he pushed me muchharder than was necessary: and they expected that I would retaliate uponhim the injury I had received. After he was tied up, the overseer toldme to give him a severe flogging, and left me. I struck the tree insteadof the man. His wife, who was looking on, almost overwhelmed me with hergratitude. 

At length one morning, late in the fall of 1835, I saw Huckstep, and agentleman ride out to the field. As they approached, I saw the latterwas my master. The hands all ceased their labor, and crowded around him, inquiring about old Virginia. For my own part, I could not hasten togreet him. He had too cruelly deceived me. He at length came towards me, and seemed somewhat embarrassed. "Well James, " said he, "how do youstand it here?" "Badly enough, " I replied. "I had no thought that youcould be so cruel as to go away and leave me as you did. " "Well, well, it was too bad, but it could not be helped--you must blame Huckstep forit. " "But, " said I, "I was not his servant; I belonged to you, and youcould do as you pleased. " "Well, " said he, "we will talk about that byand by. " He then inquired of Huckstep where big Sarah was. "She was sickand died, " was the answer. He looked round amoung the slaves again, andinquired for Harry. The overseer told him that Harry undertook to killhim, and that, to save his life, he was obliged to fire upon him, andthat he died of the wound. After some further inquiries, he requested meto go into the house with him. He then asked me to tell him how thingshad been managed during his absence. I gave him a full account of theoverseer's cruelty. When he heard of the manner of Harry's death, heseemed much affected and shed tears. He was a favorite servant of hisfather's. I showed him the deep scars on my back occasioned by thewhipping I had received. He was, or professed to be, highly indignantwith Huckstep; and said he would see to it that he did not lay hands onme again. He told me he should be glad to take me with him to Virginia, but he did not know where he should find a driver who would be so kindto the hands as I was. If I would stay ten years, he would give me athousand dollars, and a piece of land to plant on my own account. "But, "said I, "my wife and children. " "Well, " said he, "I will do my best topurchase them, and send them on to you. " I now saw that my destiny wasfixed: and that I was to spend my days in Alabama, and I retired to mybed that evening with a heavy heart. 

My master staid only three or four days on the plantation. Before heleft, he cautioned Huckstep to be careful and not strike me again, as hewould on no account permit it. He told him to give the hands foodenough, and not over-work them, and, having thus satisfied hisconscience, left us to our fate. 

Out of the two hundred and fourteen slaves who were brought out fromVirginia, at least one-third of them were members of the Methodist andBaptist churches in that State. Of this number five or six could read. Then had been torn away from the care and discipline of their respectivechurches, and from the means of instruction, but they retained theirlove for the exercises of religion; and felt a mournful pleasure inspeaking of the privileges and spiritual blessings which they enjoyed inOld Virginia. Three of them had been preachers, or exhorters, viz. Solomon, usually called Uncle Solomon, Richard and David. Uncle Solomonwas a grave, elderly man, mild and forgiving in his temper, and greatlyesteemed among the more serious portion of our hands. He used to snatchevery occasion to talk to the lewd and vicious about the concerns oftheir souls, and to advise them to fix their minds upon the Savior, astheir only helper. Some I have heard curse and swear in answer, andothers would say that they could not keep their minds upon God and thedevil (meaning Huckstep) at the same time: that it was of no use to tryto be religious--they had no time--that the overseer wouldn't let themmeet to pray--and that even Uncle Solomon, when he prayed, had to keepone eye open all the time, to see if Huckstep was coming. Uncle Solomoncould both read and write, and had brought out with him from Virginia aBible, a hymn-book, and some other religious books, which he carefullyconcealed from the overseer, Huckstep was himself an open infidel aswell as blasphemer. He used to tell the hands that there was no hellhereafter for white people, but that they had their punishment on earthin being obliged to take care of the negroes. As for the blacks, he wassure there was a hell for them. He used frequently to sit with hisbottle by his side, and a Bible in his hand; and read passages andcomment on them, and pronounce them lies. Any thing like religiousfeeling among the slaves irritated him. He said that so much praying andsinging prevented the people from doing their tasks, as it kept them upnights, when they should be asleep. He used to mock, and in everypossible way interrupt the poor slaves, who after the toil of the day, knelt in their lowly cabins to offer their prayers and supplications toHim whose ear is open to the sorrowful sighing of the prisoner, and whohath promised in His own time to come down and deliver. In his drunkenseasons he would make excursions at night through the slave-quarters, enter the cabins, and frighten the inmates, especially if engaged inprayer or singing. On one of these occasions he came back rubbing hishands and laughing. He said he had found Uncle Solomon in his garden, down on his knees, praying like an old owl, and had tipped him over, andfrightened him half out of his wits. At another time he found UncleDavid sitting on his stool with his face thrust up the chimney, in orderthat his voice might not be heard by his brutal persecutor. He waspraying, giving utterance to these words, probably in reference to hisbondage:--"_How long, oh, Lord, how long_?" "As long as my whip!" criedthe overseer, who had stolen behind him, giving him a blow. It was thesport of a demon. 

Not long after my master had left us, the overseer ascertained for thefirst time that some of the hands could read, and that they had broughtbooks with them from Virginia. He compelled them to give up the keys oftheir chests, and on searching found several Bibles and hymn-books. Uncle Solomon's chest contained quite a library, which he could read atnight by the light of knots of the pitchpine. These books he collectedtogether, and in the evening called Uncle Solomon into the house. Afterjeering him for some time, he gave him one of the Bibles and told him toname his text and preach him a sermon. The old man was silent. He thenmade him get up on the table, and ordered him to pray. Uncle Solomonmeekly replied, that "forced prayer was not good for soul or body. " Theoverseer then knelt down himself, and in a blasphemous manner, prayedthat the Lord would send his spirit into Uncle Solomon; or else let theold man fall from the table and break his neck, and so have an end of"nigger preaching. " On getting up from his knees he went to thecupboard, poured out a glass of brandy for himself, and brought anotherto the table. "James, " said he, addressing me, "Uncle Solomon standsthere, for all the world, like a Hickory Quaker. His spirit don't move. I'll see if another spirit wont move it. " He compelled the old preacherto swallow the brandy; and then told him to preach and exhort, for thespirit was in him. He set one of the Bibles on fire, and after it wasconsumed, mixed up the ashes of it in a glass of water, and compelledthe old man to drink it, telling him that as the spirit and the wordwere now both in him, there was no longer any excuse for not preaching. After tormenting the wearied old man in this way until nearly midnighthe permitted him to go to his quarters. 

The next day I saw Uncle Solomon, and talked with him about histreatment. He said it would not always be so--that slavery was to cometo an end, for the Bible said so--that there would then be no morewhippings and fightings, but the lion the lamb would lie down together, and all would be love. He said he prayed for Huckstep--that it was nothe but the devil in him who behaved so. At his request, I found means toget him a Bible and a hymn-book from the overseer's room; and the oldman ever afterwards kept them concealed in the hen-house. 

The weeding season of 1836, was marked by repeated acts of cruelty onthe part of Huckstep. One of the hands, Priscilla, was, owing to herdelicate situation, unable to perform her daily task. He ordered her tobe tied up against a tree, in the same manner that I had been. In thissituation she was whipped until _she was delivered of a dead infant, atthe foot of the tree_! Our men took her upon a sheet, and carried her tothe house, where she lay sick for several months, but finally recovered. I have heard him repeatedly laugh at the circumstance. 

Not long after this, we were surprised, one morning about ten o'clock, by hearing the horn blown at the house. Presently Aunt Polly camescreaming into the field. "What is the matter, Aunty?" I inquired. "OhLor!" said she, "Old Huckstep's pitched off his horse and broke hishead, and is e'en about dead. "

"Thank God!" said little Simon, "The devil will have him at last. "

"God-a-mighty be praised!" exclaimed half a dozen others. 

The hands, with one accord dropped their hoes; and crowded round the oldwoman, asking questions. "Is he dead?"--"Will he die?" "Did you feel ofhim--was he cold?"

Aunt Polly explained as well as she could, that Huckstep, in a state ofpartial intoxication, had attempted to leap his horse over a fence, hadfallen and cut a deep gash in his head, and that he was now lyinginsensible. 

It is impossible to describe the effect produced by this news among thehands. Men, women and children shouted, clapped their hands, and laughedaloud. Some cursed the overseer, and others thanked the Lord for takinghim away. Little Simon got down on his knees, and called loudly upon Godto finish his work, and never let the overseer again enter a cottonfield. "Let him die, Lord, " said he, "let him. He's killed enough of us:Oh, good Lord, let him die and not live. "

"Peace, peace! it is a bad spirit, " said Uncle Solomon, "God himselfwilleth not the death of a sinner. "

I followed the old woman to the house; and found Huckstep at the foot ofone of those trees, so common at the South, called the Pride of China. His face was black, and there was a frightful contusion on the side ofhis head. He was carried into the house, where, on my bleeding him, herevived. He lay in great pain for several days, and it was nearly threeweeks before he was able to come out to the cotton fields. 

On returning to the field after Huckstep had revived, I found the handssadly disappointed to hear that he was still living. Some of them fellto cursing and swearing, and were enraged with me for trying to save hislife. Little Simon said I was a fool; if he had bled him he would havedone it to some purpose. He would at least, have so disable his arm thathe would never again try to swing a whip. Uncle Solomon remonstratedwith Simon, and told that I had done right. 

The neighbouring overseers used frequently to visit Huckstep, and he, inturn, visited them. I was sometimes present during their interviews, andheard them tell each other stories of horse-racing, negro-huntings, &c. Some time during this season, Ludlow, who was overseer of a plantationabout eight miles from ours, told of a slave of his named Thornton, whohad twice attempted to escape with his wife and one child. The firsttime he was caught without much difficulty, chained to the overseer'shorse, and in that way brought back. The poor man, to save his wife froma beating, laid all the blame upon himself; and said that his wife hadno wish to escape, and tried to prevent him from attempting it. He wasseverely whipped; but soon ran away again, and was again arrested. Theoverseer, Ludlow, said he was determined to put a stop to the runaway, and accordingly had resort to a somewhat unusual method of punishment. 

There is a great scarcity of good water in that section of Alabama; andyou will generally see a large cistern attached to the corners of thehouses to catch water for washing &c. Underneath this cistern isfrequently a tank from eight to ten feet deep, into which, when theformer is full the water is permitted to run. From this tank the wateris pumped out for use. Into one of these tanks the unfortunate slave wasplaced, and confined by one of his ancles to the bottom of it; and thewater was suffered to flow in from above. He was compelled to pump outthe water as fast as it came in, by means of a long rod or handleconnected with the pump above ground. He was not allowed to begin untilthe water had risen to his middle. Any pause or delay after this, fromweakness and exhaustion, would have been fatal, as the water would haverisen above his head. In this horrible dungeon, toiling for his life, hewas kept for twenty-four hours without any sustenance. Even Huckstepsaid that this was too bad--that he had himself formerly punishedrunaways in that way--but should not do it again. 

I rejoice to be able to say that this sufferer has at last escaped withhis wife and child, into a free state. He was assisted by some whitemen, but I do not know all the particulars of his escape. 

Our overseer had not been long able to ride about the plantation afterhis accident, before his life was again endangered. He found two of thehands, Little Jarret and Simon, fighting with each other, and attemptedto chastise both of them. Jarret bore it patiently, but Simon turnedupon him, seized a stake or pin from a cart near by, and felled him tothe ground. The overseer got up--went to the house, and told aunt Pollythat he had nearly been killed by the 'niggers, ' and requested her totie up his head, from which the blood was streaming. As soon as this wasdone, he took down his gun, and went out in pursuit of Simon, who hadfled to his cabin, to get some things which he supposed necessaryprevious to attempting his escape from the plantation. He was juststepping out of the door when he met the enraged overseer with his gunin his hand. Not a word was spoken by either. Huckstep raised his gunand fired. The man fell without a groan across the door-sill. He rose uptwice on his hands and knees, but died in a few minutes. He was draggedoff and buried. The overseer told me that there was no other way to dealwith such a fellow. It was Alabama law, if a slave resisted to shoot himat once. He told me of a case which occurred in 1834, on a plantationabout ten miles distant, and adjoining that where Crop, the negrohunter, boarded with his hounds. The overseer had bought some slaves atSelma, from a drove or coffle passing through the place. They provedvery refractory. He whipped three of them, and undertook to whip afourth who was from Maryland. The man raised his hoe in a threateningmanner, and the overseer fired upon him. The slave fell, but instantlyrose up on his hands and knees, and was beaten down again by the stockof the overseer's gun. The wounded wretch raised himself once more, drewa knife from the waistband of his pantaloons, and catching hold of theoverseer's coat, raised himself high enough to inflict a fatal woundupon the latter. Both fell together, and died immediately after. 

Nothing more of special importance occurred until July, of last year, when one of our men named John, was whipped three times for notperforming his task. On the last day of the month, after his thirdwhipping, he ran away. On the following morning, I found that he wasmissing at his row. The overseer said we must hunt him up; and he blewthe "nigger horn, " as it is called, for the dogs. This horn was onlyused when we went out in pursuit of fugitives. It is a cow's horn, andmakes a short, loud sound. We crossed Flincher's and Goldsby'splantations, as the dogs had got upon John's track, and went of barkingin that direction, and the two overseers joined us in the chase. Thedogs soon caught sight of the runaway, and compelled him to climb atree. We came up; Huckstep ordered him down, and secured him upon myhorse by tying him to my back. On reaching home he was stripped entirelynaked and lashed up to a tree. Flincher then volunteered to whip him onone side of his legs, and Goldsby on the other. I had, in the meantime, been ordered to prepare a wash of salt and pepper, and wash his woundswith it. The poor fellow groaned, and his flesh shrunk and quivered asthe burning solution was applied to it. This wash, while it adds to theimmediate torment of the sufferer, facilitates the cure of the woundedparts. Huckstep then whipped him from his neck down to his thighs, making the cuts lengthwise of his back. He was very expert with thewhip, and could strike, at any time, within an inch of his mark. He thengave the whip to me and told me to strike directly across his back. WhenI had finished, the miserable sufferer, from his neck to his heel, wascovered with blood and bruises. Goldsby and Flincher now turned toHuckstep, and told him, that I deserved a whipping as much as John did:that they had known me frequently disobey his orders, and that I waspartial to the "Virginia ladies, " and didn't whip them as I did the men. They said if I was a driver of theirs they would know what to do withme. Huckstep agreed with them; and after directing me to go to the houseand prepare more of the wash for John's back, he called after me with anoath, to see to it that I had some for myself, for he meant to give me, at least, two hundred and fifty lashes. I returned to the house, andscarcely conscious of what I was doing, filled an iron vessel withwater, put in the salt and pepper; and placed it over the embers. 

As I stood by the fire watching the boiling of the mixture, andreflecting upon the dreadful torture to which I was about to hesubjected, the thought of _escape_ flashed upon my mind. The chance wasa desperate one; but I resolved to attempt it. I ran up stairs, tied myshirt in a handkerchief, and stepped out of the back door of the house, telling Aunt Polly to take care of the wash at the fire until Ireturned. The sun was about one hour high, but luckily for me the handsas well as the three overseers, were on the other side of the house. Ikept the house between them and myself, and ran as fast as I could forthe woods. On reaching them I found myself obliged to proceed slowly asthere was a thick undergrowth of cane and reeds. Night came on. Istraggled forward by a dim star-light, amidst vines and reed beds. Aboutmidnight the horizon began to be overcast; and the darkness increaseduntil in the thick forest, I could scarcely see a yard before me. Fearing that I might lose my way and wander towards the plantation, instead of from it, I resolved to wait until day. I laid down upon alittle hillock, and fell asleep. 

When I awoke it was broad day. The clouds had vanished, and the hotsunshine fell through the trees upon my face. I started up, realizing mysituation, and darted onward. My object was to reach the great road bywhich we had travelled when we came out from Virginia. I had, however, very little hope of escape. I knew that a hot pursuit would be madeafter me, and what I most dreaded was, that the overseer would procureCrop's bloodhounds to follow my track. If only the hounds of ourplantation were sent after me, I had hopes of being able to make friendsof them, as they were always good-natured and obedient to me. Itravelled until, as near as I could judge, about ten o'clock, when adistant sound startled me. I stopped and listened. It was the deep bayof the bloodhound, apparently at a great distance. I hurried on until Icame to a creek about fifteen yards wide, skirted by an almostimpenetrable growth of reeds and cane. Plunging into it, I swam acrossand ran down by the side of it a short distance, and, in order to bafflethe dogs, swam back to the other side again. I stopped in the reed-bedand listened. The dogs seemed close at hand, and by the loud barking Ifelt persuaded that Crop's hounds were with them. I thought of the fateof Little John, who had been torn in pieces by the hounds, and of thescarcely less dreadful condition of those who had escaped the dogs onlyto fall into the hands of the overseer. The yell of the dogs grewlouder. Escape seemed impossible. I ran down to the creek with adetermination to drown myself. I plunged into the water and went down tothe bottom; but the dreadful strangling sensation compelled me tostruggle up to the surface. Again I heard the yell of the bloodhounds;and again desperately plunged down into the water. As I went down Iopened my mouth, and, choked and gasping, I found myself once morestruggling upward. As I rose to the top of the water and caught aglimpse of the sunshine and the trees, the love of life revived in me. Iswam to the other side of the creek, and forced my way through the reedsto a large tree, and stood under one of its lowest limbs, ready in caseof necessity, to spring up into it. Here panting and exhausted, I stoodwaiting for the dogs. The woods seemed full of them. I heard a belltinkle, and, a moment after, our old hound Venus came bounding throughthe cane, dripping wet from the creek. As the old hound came towards me, I called to her as I used to do when out hunting with her. She stoppedsuddenly, looked up at me, and then came wagging her tail and fawningaround me. A moment after the other dog came up hot in the chase, andwith their noses to the ground. I called to them, but they did not lookup, but came yelling on. I was just about to spring into the tree toavoid them when Venus the old hound met them, and stopped them. Theythen all came fawning and playing and jumping about me. The verycreatures whom a moment before I had feared would tear me limb fromlimb, were now leaping and licking my hands, and rolling on the leavesaround me. I listened awhile in the fear of hearing the voices of menfollowing the dogs, but there was no sound in the forest save thegurgling of the sluggish waters of the creek, and the chirp of blacksquirrels in the trees. I took courage and started onward once more, taking the dogs with me. The bell on the neck of the old dog, I fearedmight betray me, and, unable to get it off her neck, I twisted some ofthe long moss of the trees around it, so as to prevent its ringing. Atnight I halted once more with the dogs by my side. Harassed with fear, and tormented with hunger, I laid down and tried to sleep. But the dogswere uneasy, and would start up and bark at the cries or the footstepsof wild animals, and I was obliged, to use my utmost exertions to keepthem quiet, fearing that their barking would draw my pursuers upon me. Islept but little; and as soon as daylight, started forward again. Thenext day towards evening, I reached a great road which, I rejoiced tofind, was the same which my master and myself had travelled on our wayto Greene county. I now thought it best to get rid of the dogs, andaccordingly started them in pursuit of a deer. They went off, yelling onthe track, and I never saw them again. I remembered that my master toldme, near this place, that we were in the Creek country, and that therewere some Indian settlements not far distant. In the course of theevening I crossed the road, and striking into a path through the woods, soon came to a number of Indian cabins. I went into one of them andbegged for some food. The Indian women received me with a great deal ofkindness, and gave me a good supper of venison, corn bread, and stewedpumpkin. I remained with them till the evening of the next day, when Istarted afresh on my journey. I kept on the road leading to Georgia. Inthe latter part of the night I entered into a long low bottom, heavilytimbered--sometimes called Wolf Valley. It was a dreary and frightfulplace. As I walked on, I heard on all sides the howling of the wolves, and the quick patter of their feet on the leaves and sticks, as they ranthrough the woods. At daylight I laid down, but had scarcely closed myeyes when I was roused up by the wolves snarling and howling around me. I started on my feet, and saw several of them running by me. I did notagain close my eyes during the whole day. In the afternoon, a bear withher two cubs came to a large chestnut tree near where I lay. She creptup the tree, went out on one of the limbs, and broke off several twigsin trying to shake down the nuts. They were not ripe enough to fall, and, after several vain attempts to procure some of them, she crawleddown the tree again and went off with her young. 

The day was long and tedious. As soon as it was dark, I once moreresumed my journey. But fatigue and the want of food and sleep renderedme almost incapable of further effort. It was not long before I fellasleep, while walking, and wandered out of the road. I was awakened by abunch of moss which hung down from the limb of a tree and met my face. Ilooked up and saw, as I thought, a large man standing just before me. Myfirst idea was that some one had struck me over the face, and that I hadbeen at last overtaken by Huckstep. Rubbing my eyes once more, I saw thefigure before me sink down upon its hands and knees. Another glanceassured me that it was a bear and not a man. He passed across the roadand disappeared. This adventure kept me awake for the remainder of thenight. Towards morning I passed by a plantation, on which was a finegrowth of peach trees, full of ripe fruit. I took as many of them as Icould conveniently carry in my hands and pockets, and retiring a littledistance into the woods, laid down and slept till evening, when I againwent forward. 

Sleeping thus by day and travelling by night, in a direction towards theNorth Star, I entered Georgia. As I only travelled in the night time, Iwas unable to recognize rivers and places which I had seen before untilI reached Columbus, where I recollected I had been with my master. Fromthis place I took the road leading to Washington, and passed directlythrough that village. On leaving the village, I found myself contrary tomy expectation, in an open country with no woods in view. I walked onuntil day broke in the east. At a considerable distance ahead, I saw agroup of trees, and hurried on towards it. Large and beautifulplantations were on each side of me, from which I could hear dogs bark, and the driver's horn sounding. On reaching the trees, I found that theyafforded but a poor place of concealment. On either hand, through itsopenings, I could see the men turning out to the cotton fields. I founda place to lie down between two oak stumps, around which the new shootshad sprung up thickly, forming a comparatively close shelter. Aftereating some peaches, which since leaving the Indian settlement hadconstituted my sole food, I fell asleep. I was waked by the barking of adog. Raising my head and looking through the bushes, I found that thedog was barking at a black squirrel who was chattering on a limb almostdirectly above me. A moment after, I heard a voice speaking to the dog, and soon saw a man with a gun in his hand, stealing through the wood. Hepassed close to the stumps, where I lay trembling with terror lest heshould discover me. He kept his eye however upon the tree, and raisinghis gun, fired. The squirrel dropped dead close by my side. I saw thatany further attempt at concealment would be in vain, and sprang upon myfeet. The man started forward on seeing me, struck at me with his gunand beat my hat off. I leaped into the road; and he followed after, swearing he would shoot me if I didn't stop. Knowing that his gun wasnot loaded, I paid no attention to him, but ran across the road into acotton field where there was a great gang of slaves working. The manwith the gun followed, and called to the two colored drivers who were onhorseback, to ride after me and stop me. I saw a large piece of woodlandat some distance ahead, and directed my course towards it. Just as Ireached it, I looked back, and saw my pursuer far behind me; and found, to my great joy, that the two drivers had not followed me. I got behinda tree, and soon heard the man enter the woods and pass me. After allhad been still for more than an hour, I crept into a low place in thedepth of the woods and laid down amidst a bed of reeds, where I againfell asleep. Towards evening, on awaking, I found the sky beginning tobe cloudy, and before night set in it was completely overcast. Havinglost my hat, I tied an old handkerchief over my head, and prepared toresume my journey. It was foggy and very dark, and involved as I was inthe mazes of the forest, I did not know in what direction I was going. Iwandered on until I reached a road, which I supposed to be the same onewhich I had left. The next day the weather was still dark and rainy, andcontinued so for several days. During this time I slept only by leaningagainst the body of a tree, as the ground was soaked with rain. On thefifth night after my adventure near Washington, the clouds broke away, and the clear moonlight and the stars shone down upon me. 

I looked up to see the North Star, which I supposed still before me. ButI sought it in vain in all that quarter of the heavens. A dreadfulthought came over me that I had been travelling out of my way. I turnedround and saw the North Star, which had been shining directly upon myback. I then knew that I had been travelling away from freedom, andtowards the place of my captivity ever since I left the woods into whichI had been pursued on the 21st, five days before. Oh, the keen andbitter agony of that moment! I sat down on the decaying trunk of afallen tree, and wept like a child. Exhausted in mind and body, naturecame at last to my relief, and I fell asleep upon the log. When I awokeit was still dark. I rose and nerved myself for another effort forfreedom. Taking the North Star for my guide, I turned upon my track, andleft once more the dreaded frontiers of Alabama behind me. The nextnight, after crossing the one on which I travelled, and which seemed tolead more directly towards the North. I took this road, and the nextnight after, I came to a large village. Passing through the main street, I saw a large hotel which I at once recollected. I was in Augusta, andthis was the hotel at which my master had spent several days when I waswith him, on one of his southern visits. I heard the guards patrollingthe town cry the hour of twelve; and fearful of being taken up, I turnedout of the main street, and got upon the road leading to Petersburg. Onreaching the latter place, I swam over the Savannah river into SouthCarolina, and from thence passed into North Carolina. 

Hitherto I had lived mainly upon peaches, which were plenty on almostall the plantations in Alabama and Georgia; but the season was now toofar advanced for them, and I was obliged to resort to apples. These Iobtained without much difficulty until within two or three days journeyof the Virginia line. At this time I had had nothing to eat but two orthree small and sour apples for twenty-four hours, and I waitedimpatiently for night, in the hope of obtaining fruit from the orchardsalong the road. I passed by several plantations, but found no apples. After midnight, I passed near a large house, with fruit trees around it. I searched under, and climbed up and shook several of them to nopurpose. At last I found a tree on which there were a few apples. Onshaking it, half a dozen fell. I got down, and went groping and feelingabout for them in the grass, but could find only two, the rest weredevoured by several hogs who were there on the same errand with myself. I pursued my way until day was about breaking, when I passed anotherhouse. The feeling of extreme hunger was here so intense, that itrequired all the resolution I was master of to keep myself from going, up to the house and breaking into it in search of food. But the thoughtof being again made a slave, and of suffering the horrible punishment ofa runaway restrained me. I lay in the worlds all that day without food. The next evening, I soon found a large pile of excellent apples, fromwhich I supplied myself. 

The next evening I reached Halifax Court House, and I then knew that Iwas near Virginia. On the 7th of October, I came to the Roanoke, andcrossed it in the midst of a violent storm of rain and thunder. Thecurrent ran so furiously that I was carried down with it, and with greatdifficulty, and in a state of complete exhaustion, reached theopposite shore. 

At about 2 o'clock, on the night of the 15th, I approached Richmond, butnot daring to go into the city at that hour, on account of the patrols, I lay in the woods near Manchester, until the next evening, when Istarted in the twilight, in order to enter before the setting of thewatch. I passed over the bridge unmolested, although in great fear, asmy tattered clothes and naked head were well calculated to excitesuspicion; and being well acquainted with the localities of the city, made my way to the house of a friend. I was received with the utmostkindness, and welcomed as one risen from the dead. Oh, how inexpressiblysweet were the tones of human sympathy, after the dreadful trials towhich I had been subjected--the wrongs and outrages which I witnessedand suffered! For between two and three months I had not spoken with ahuman being, and the sound even of my own voice now seemed strange to myears. During this time, save in two or three instances I had tasted ofno food except peaches and apples. I was supplied with some dried meatand coffee, but the first mouthful occasioned nausea and faintness. Iwas compelled to take my bed, and lay sick for several days. By theassiduous attention and kindness of my friends, I was supplied withevery thing which was necessary during my sickness. I was detained inRichmond nearly a month. As soon as I had sufficiently recovered to beable to proceed on my journey, I bade my kind host and his wife anaffectionate farewell, and set forward once more towards a land offreedom. I longed to visit my wife and children in Powhatan county, butthe dread of being discovered prevented me from attempting it. I hadlearned from my friends in Richmond that they were living and in goodhealth, but greatly distressed on my account. 

My friends had provided me with a fur cap, and with as much lean ham, cake and biscuit, as I could conveniently carry. I proceeded in the sameway as before, travelling by night and lying close and sleeping by day. About the last of November I reached the Shenandoah river. It was verycold; ice had already formed along the margin, and in swimming the riverI was chilled through; and my clothes froze about me soon after I hadreached the opposite side. I passed into Maryland, and on the 5th ofDecember, stepped across the line which divided the free state ofPennsylvania from the land of slavery. 

I had a few shillings in money which were given me at Richmond, andafter travelling nearly twenty-four hours from the time I crossed theline, I ventured to call at a tavern, and buy a dinner. On reachingCarlisle, I enquired of the ostler in a stable if he knew of any one whowished to hire a house servant or coachman. He said he did not. Somemore colored people came in, and taking me aside told me that they knewthat I was from Virginia, by my pronunciation of certain words--that Iwas probably a runaway slave--but that I need not be alarmed, as theywere friends, and would do all in their power to protect me. I was takenhome by one of them, and treated with the utmost kindness; and at nighthe took me in a wagon, and carried me some distance on my way toHarrisburg, where he said I should meet with friends. 

He told me that I had better go directly to Philadelphia, as there wouldbe less danger of my being discovered and retaken there than in thecountry, and there were a great many persons there who would exertthemselves to secure me from the slaveholders. In parting he cautionedme against conversing or stopping with any man on the road, unless hewore a plain, straight collar on a round coat, and said, "thee, " and"thou. " By following his directions I arrived safely in Philadelphia, having been kindly entertained and assisted on my journey, by severalbenevolent gentlemen and ladies, whose compassion for the wayworn andhunted stranger I shall never forget, and whose names will always bedear to me. On reaching Philadelphia, I was visited by a large number ofthe Abolitionists, and friends of the colored people, who, after hearingmy story, thought it would not be safe for me to remain in any part ofthe United States. I remained in Philadelphia a few days; and then agentleman came on to New-York with me, I being considered on board thesteam-boat, and in the cars, as his servant. I arrived at New-York, onthe 1st of January. The sympathy and kindness which I have every wheremet with since leaving the slave states, has been the more grateful tome because it was in a great measure unexpected. The slaves are alwaystold that if they escape into a free state, they will be seized and putin prison, until their masters send for them. I had heard Huckstep andthe other overseers occasionally speak of the Abolitionists, but I didnot know or dream that they were the friends of the slave. Oh, if themiserable men and women, now toiling on the plantations of Alabama, could know that thousands in the free states are praying and strivingfor their deliverance, how would the glad tidings be whispered fromcabin to cabin, and how would the slave-mother as she watches over herinfant, bless God, on her knees, for the hope that this child of her dayof sorrow, might never realize in stripes, and toil, and griefunspeakable, what it is to be a slave?

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This Narrative can he had at the Depository of the American Anti-SlaverySociety, No 143 Nassau Street, New York, in a neat volume, 108 pp. 12mo. , embellished with an elegant and accurate steel engraved likenessof James Williams, price 25 cts. Single copy, $17 per hundred. 

 * * * * *

NO. 7

THE ANTI-SLAVERY EXAMINER. 

EMANCIPATION IN THE WEST INDIES. 

A SIX MONTHS' TOUR IN ANTIGUA, BARBADOES, AND JAMAICA IN THE YEAR 1837. 

BY JAS. A. THOME, AND J. HORACE KIMBALL. 

NEW YORK:

PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY, No. 143 NASSAU-STREET. 1838. 

This periodical contains 4 sheets. --Postage under 100 miles, 6 cents;over 100 miles, 10 cents. 

 ENTERED, according to the act of Congress, in the year 1838, by JOHN RANKIN, Treasurer, of the American, Anti-Slavery Society, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York. 

Price $12 50 per hundred copies, 18-3/4 cents single copy, _in sheets_:$13 25 per hundred, and 20 cents single, _if stitched_. 

NOTE. --This work is published in this cheap form, to give it a widecirculation. Please, _after perusal_, to send it to some friend. 

This work, as originally published, can be had at the Depository of theAmerican Anti-Slavery Society, No. 143, Nassau Street, New York, on finepaper, handsomely bound, in a volume of 489 pages, price one dollar percopy, $75 per hundred. 

CONTENTS. 

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ANTIGUA. --CHAPTER I. 

 Geography and Statistics of the Island, --Reflections on arrival, --Interview with Clergymen, --with the Governor, --with a member of Assembly, --Sabbath, --Service at the Moravian Chapel, --Sabbath School, --Service at the Episcopal Church, --Service at the Wesleyan Chapel, --Millar's Estate, --Cane-holing, --Colored planter, --Fitch's Creek Estate, --Free Villages, --Dinner at the Governor's, --Donovan's Estate, --Breakfast at Mr. Watkins, --Dr. Ferguson, --Market, --Lockup house, --Christmas Holidays, --Colored Population, --Thibou Jarvis's Estate, --Testimony of the Manager, --Anniversary of the Friendly Society, --A negro patriarch, --Green Castle Estate, --Testimony of the Manager, --Anniversary of the Juvenile Association, --Wetherill Estate, --Testimony of the Manager, --Conversation with a boatman, --Moravian station at Newfield, --Testimony of the Missionaries, --School for Adults, --Interview with the Speaker of the Assembly, --Moravian "Speaking, "--Conversation with Emancipated Slaves, --The Rector of St. Philip's, --Frey's Estate, --Interview with the American Consul, --Sabbath at Millar's, --Breakfast at the Villa Estate, --A Fair, --Breakfast at Mr. Cranstoun's, --His Testimony, --Moravian Station at Cedar Hall, --Conversation with Emancipated Slaves, --Moravian Station at Grace Bay, --Testimony of the Missionaries, --Grandfather Jacob, --Mr. Scotland's Estate. --A day at Fitch's Creek, --Views of the Manager, --A call from the Archdeacon, --from Rev. Edward Fraser, --Wesleyan District Meeting, --Social interviews with the Missionaries, --Their Views and Testimony, --Religious Anniversaries, --Temperance Society, --Bible Society, --Wesleyan Missionary Society. --Resolution of the Meeting, --Laying the Corner Stone of a Wesleyan Chapel, --Resolutions of the Missionaries. 

ANTIGUA. --CHAPTER II. 

GENERAL RESULTS. 

 Religion, --Statistics of Denominations, --Morality, --Reverence for the Lord's Day, --Marriage, --Conjugal faithfulness, --Concubinage decreasing, --Temperance, --Profane Language rare, --Statistics of the Bible Society, --Missionary Associations, --Temperance Societies, --Friendly Societies, --Daily Meal Society, --Distressed Females' Friend Society, --Education, --Annual Examination of the Parochial School, --Infant Schools in the Country, --Examination at Parham, --at Willoughby Bay, --Mr. Thwaite's Replies to Queries on Education, --Great Ignorance before Emancipation, --Aptness of the Negroes to learn, --Civil and Political Condition of the Emancipated. 

ANTIGUA. --CHAPTER III. 

FACTS AND TESTIMONY. 

 IMMEDIATE ABOLITION--an immense change to the condition of the Slave, --Adopted from Political and Pecuniary Considerations, --Went into operation peaceably, --gave additional security to Persons and Property, --Is regarded by all as a great blessing to the Island, --Free, cheaper than Slave labor, --More work done, and better done, since Emancipation, --Freemen more easily managed than Slaves, --The Emancipated more Trustworthy than when Slaves, --They appreciate and reverence Law, --They stay at home and mind their own business, --Are less "insolent" than when Slaves, --Gratitude a strong trait of their character, --Emancipation has elevated them, --It has raised the price of Real Estate, given new life to Trade, and to all kinds of business, --Wrought a total change in the views of the Planters, --Weakened Prejudice against Color, --The Discussions preceding Emancipation restrained Masters from Cruelties, --Concluding Remarks. 

BARBADOES. 

 Passage to Barbadoes, --Bridgetown, --Visit to the Governor, --To the Archdeacon, --Lear's Estate, --Testimony of the Manager, --Dinner Party at Lear's, --Ride to Scotland, --The Red Shanks, --Sabbath at Lear's; Religious Service, --Tour to the Windward, --Breakfast Party at the Colliton Estate, --Testimony to the Working of the Apprenticeship, --The Working of it in Demerara, --The Codrington Estate, --Codrington College, --The "Horse, "--An Estate on Fire, --The Ridge Estate; Dinner with a Company of Planters, --A Day at Colonel Ashby's; his Testimony to the Working of the Apprenticeship, --Interviews with Planters; their Testimony, --The Belle Estate, --Edgecombe Estate; Colonel Barrow, --Horton Estate, --Drax Hall Estate, --Dinner Party at the Governor's, --Testimony concerning the Apprenticeship, --Market People, --Interview with Special Justice Hamilton; his Testimony, --Station House, District A; Trials of Apprentices before Special Magistrate Colthurst, --Testimony of the Superintendent of the Rural Police, --Communication from Special Justice Colthurst, --Communication from Special Justice Hamilton, --Testimony of Clergymen and Missionaries, --Curate of St. Paul's, --A FREE Church, --A Sabbath School Annual Examination, --Interview with Episcopal Clergymen; their Testimony, --Visit to Schools, --Interview with the Superintendent of the Wesleyan Mission, --Persecution of the Methodists by Slaveholders, --The Moravian Mission, --Colored Population, --Dinner Party at Mr. Harris's, --Testimony concerning the objects of our Mission, --A New Englander, --History of an Emancipated Slave, --Breakfast Party at Mr. Thorne's, --Facts and Testimony concerning Slavery and the Apprenticeship, --History of an Emancipated Slave, --Breakfast Party at Mr. Prescod's, --Character and History of the late Editor of the New Times, --Breakfast Party at Mr. Bourne's, --Prejudice, --History and Character of an Emancipated Slave, --Prejudice, vincible, --Concubinage, --Barbadoes as it was; "Reign of Terror;"--Testimony; Cruelties, --Insurrection of 1816, --Licentiousness, --Prejudice--Indolence and Inefficiency of the Whites, --Hostility to Emancipation, --Barbadoes as it is, --The Apprenticeship System; Provisions respecting the Special Magistrates, --Provisions respecting the Master, --Provisions respecting the Apprentice, --The Design of the Apprenticeship, --Practical Operation of the Apprenticeship, --Sympathy of the Special Magistrates with the Masters, --Apprenticeship, modified Slavery, --Vexatious to the Master, --No Preparation for Freedom, --Begets hostility between Master and Apprentice, --Has illustrated the Forbearance of the Negroes, --Its tendency to exasperate them, --Testimony to the Working of the Apprenticeship in the Windward Islands generally. 

JAMAICA. 

 Sketch of its Scenery, --Interview with the Attorney General, --The Solicitor General; his Testimony, --The American Consul; his Testimony, --The Superintendent of the Wesleyan Missions, --The Baptist Missionaries; Sabbath; Service in a Baptist Chapel, --Moravians; Episcopalians; Scotch Presbyterians, --Schools in Kingston, --Communication from the Teacher of the Wolmer Free School; Education; Statistics, --The Union School, --"Prejudice Vincible, "--Disabilities and Persecutions of Colored People, --Edward Jordan, Esq. , --Colored Members of Assembly, --Richard Hill, Esq. , --Colored Artisans and Merchants in Kingston, --Police Court of Kingston, --American Prejudice in the "limbos, "--"Amalgamation!"--St. Andrew's House of Correction; Tread-mill, --Tour through "St. Thomas in the East, "--Morant Bay; Local Magistrate; his lachrymal forebodings, --Proprietor of Green Wall Estate; his Testimony, --Testimony of a Wesleyan Missionary, --Belvidere Estate; Testimony of the Manager, --Chapel built by Apprentices, --House of Correction, --Chain-Gang, --A call from Special Justice Baines; his Testimony, --Bath, --Special Justice's Office; his Testimony, --"Alarming Rebellion, "--Testimony of a Wesleyan Missionary, --Principal of the Mico Charity School; his Testimony, --Noble instance of Filial Affection in a Negro Girl, --Plantain Garden River Valley; Alexander Barclay, Esq. , --Golden Grove Estate; Testimony of the Manager, --The Custos of the Parish; his Testimony, --Amity Hall Estate; Testimony of the Manager, --Lord Belmore's Prophecy, --Manchioneal; Special Magistrate Chamberlain; his Testimony, --his Weekly Court, --Pro slavery gnashings, --Visit with the Special Magistrate to the Williamsfield Estate; Testimony of the Manager, --Oppression of Book-keepers, --Sabbath; Service at a Baptist Chapel, --Interview with Apprentices; their Testimony, --Tour through St. Andrew's and Port Royal, --Visit to Estates in company with Special Justice Bourne, --White Emigrants to Jamaica, --Dublin Castle Estate; Special Justice Court, --A Despot in convulsions; arbitrary power dies hard, --Encounter with Mules in a mountain pass, --Silver Hill Estate; cases tried; Appraisement of an Apprentice, --Peter's Rock Estate, --Hall's Prospect Estate, --Female Traveling Merchant, --Negro Provision Grounds, --Apprentices eager to work for Money, --Jury of Inquest, --Character of Overseers, --Conversation with Special Justice Hamilton, --With a Proprietor of Estates and Local Magistrate; Testimony, --Spanishtown, --Richard Hill, Esq. , Secretary of the Special Magistracy, --Testimony of Lord Sligo concerning him, --Lord Sligo's Administration; its independence and impartiality, --Statements of Mr. Hill, --Statements of Special Justice Ramsey, --Special Justice's Court, --Baptist Missionary at Spanishtown; his Testimony, --Actual Working of the Apprenticeship; no Insurrection; no fear of it; no Increase of Crime; Negroes improving; Marriage increased; Sabbath better kept; Religious Worship better attended; Law obeyed, --Apprenticeship vexatious to both parties, --Atrocities perpetrated by Masters and Magistrates, --Causes of the ill-working of the Apprenticeship--Provisions of the Emancipation Act defeated by Planters and Magistrates, --The present Governor a favorite with the Planters, --Special Justice Palmer suspended by him, --Persecution of Special Justice Bourne, --Character of the Special Magistrates, --Official Cruelty; Correspondence between a Missionary and Special Magistrate, --Sir Lionel Smith's Message to the House of Assembly, --Causes of the Diminished Crops since Emancipation, --Anticipated Consequences of full Emancipation in 1840, --Examination of the grounds of such anticipations, --Views of Missionaries and Colored People, Magistrates and Planters;--Concluding Remarks. 

APPENDIX. 

 Official Communication from Special Justice Lyon, --Communication from the Solicitor General of Jamaica, --Communication from Special Justice Colthurst, --Official Returns of the Imports and Exports of Barbadoes, --Valuations of Apprentices in Jamaica, --Tabular View of the Crops in Jamaica for fifty-three years preceding 1836; Comments of the Jamaica Watchman on the foregoing Table, --Comments of the Spanishtown Telegraph, --Brougham's Speech in Parliament. 

INTRODUCTION. 

It is hardly possible that the success of British West IndiaEmancipation should be more conclusively proved, than it has been by theabsence among us of the exultation which awaited its failure. So manythousands of the citizens of the United States, without countingslaveholders, would not have suffered their prophesyings to befalsified, if they could have found whereof to manufacture fulfilment. But it is remarkable that, even since the first of August, 1834, theevils of West India emancipation on the lips of the advocates ofslavery, or, as the most of them nicely prefer to be termed, theopponents of abolition, have remained in the future tense. The badreports of the newspapers, spiritless as they have been compared withthe predictions, have been traceable, on the slightest inspection, notto emancipation, but to the illegal continuance of slavery, under thecover of its legal substitute. Not the slightest reference to the rashact, whereby the thirty thousand slaves of Antigua were immediately"turned loose, " now mingles with the croaking which strives to defendour republican slavery against argument and common sense. 

The Executive Committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society, deemed itimportant that the silence which the pro-slavery press of the UnitedStates has seemed so desirous to maintain in regard to what is strangelyenough termed the "great experiment of freedom, " should be thoroughlybroken up by a publication of facts and testimony collected on the spot. To this end, REV. JAMES A. THOME, and JOSEPH H. KIMBALL, ESQ. , weredeputed to the West Indies to make the proper investigations. Of theirqualifications for the task, the subsequent pages will furnish the bestevidence: it is proper, however, to remark, that Mr. Thome is thoroughlyacquainted with our own system of slavery, being a native and still aresident of Kentucky, and the son of a slaveholder, (happily no longerso, ) and that Mr. Kimball is well known as the able editor of the Heraldof Freedom, published at Concord, New Hampshire. 

They sailed from New York, the last of November, 1836, and returnedearly in June, 1837. They improved a short stay at the Danish island ofSt. Thomas, to give a description of slavery as it exists there, which, as it appeared for the most part in the anti-slavery papers, and as itis not directly connected with the great question at issue, has not beeninserted in the present volume. Hastily touching at some of the otherBritish islands, they made Antigua, Barbadoes, and Jamaica, successivelythe objects of their deliberate and laborious study--as fairlypresenting the three grand phases of the "experiment"--Antigua, exemplifying immediate unrestricted abolition; Barbadoes, the bestworking of the apprenticeship, and Jamaica the worst. Nine weeks werespent in Antigua, and the remainder of their time was divided betweenthe other two islands. 

The reception of the delegates was in the highest degree favorable tothe promotion of their object, and their work will show how well theyhave used the extraordinary facilities afforded them. The committeehave, in some instances, restored testimonials which their modesty ledthem to suppress, showing in what estimation they themselves, as well asthe object of their mission, were held by some of the most distinguishedpersons in the islands which they visited. 

So wide was the field before them, and so rich and various the fruit tobe gathered, that they were tempted to go far beyond the strengthsupplied by the failing health they carried with them. Most nobly didthey postpone every personal consideration to the interests of thecause, and the reader will, we think, agree with us, that they haveachieved a result which undiminished energies could not have beenexpected to exceed--a result sufficient, if any thing could be, tojustify the sacrifice it cost them. We regret to add that the labors andexposures of Mr. Kimball, so far prevented his recovery from thedisease[A] which obliged him to resort to a milder climate, or perhapswe should say aggravated it, that he has been compelled to leave to hiscolleague, aided by a friend, nearly the whole burden of preparing forthe press--which, together with the great labor of condensing from theimmense amount of collected materials, accounts for the delay of thepublication. As neither Mr. Thome nor Mr. Kimball were here while thework was in the press, it is not improbable that trivial errors haveoccurred, especially in the names of individuals. 

[Footnote A: We learn that Mr. Kimball closed his mortal career atPembroke, N. H. April 12th, in the 25th year of his age. Very few men inthe Anti-Slavery cause have been more distinguished, than this lamentedbrother, for the zeal, discretion and ability with which he hasadvocated the cause of the oppressed. "Peace to the memory of a manof worth!"]

It will be perceived that the delegates rest nothing of importance ontheir own unattested observation. At every point they are fortified bythe statements of a multitude of responsible persons in the islands, whose names, when not forbidden, they leave taken the liberty to use inbehalf of humanity. Many of these statements were given in thehandwriting of the parties, and are in the possession of the ExecutiveCommittee. Most of these island authorities are as unchallengeable onthe score of previous leaning towards abolitionism, as Mr. McDuffie ofMr. Calhoun would be two years hence, if slavery were to be abolishedthroughout the United States tomorrow. 

Among the points established in this work, beyond the power of disputeor cavil, are the following:

1. That the act of IMMEDIATE EMANCIPATION in Antigua, was not attendedwith any disorder whatever. 

2. That the emancipated slaves have readily, faithfully, and efficientlyworked for wages from the first. 

3. That wherever there has been any disturbance in the working of theapprenticeship, it has been invariably by the fault of the masters, orof the officers charged with the execution of the "Abolition Act. "

4. That the prejudice of caste is fast disappearing in the emancipatedislands. 

5. That the apprenticeship was not sought for by the planters as a_preparation for freedom_. 

6. That no such preparation was needed. 

7. That the planters who have fairly made the "experiment, " now greatlyprefer the new system to the old. 

8. That the emancipated people are perceptibly rising in the scale ofcivilization, morals, and religion. 

From these established facts, reason cannot fail to make its inferencesin favor of the two and a half millions of slaves in our republic. Wepresent the work to our countrymen who yet hold slaves, with the utmostconfidence that its perusal will not leave in their minds a doubt, either of the duty or perfect safety of _immediate emancipation_, however it may fail to persuade their hearts--which God grant itmay not!

By order of the Executive Committee of the American Anti-SlaverySociety. 

New York, April 28th, 1838. 

 * * * * *

EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED IN THE NARRATIVE. 

1. The words 'Clergy' and 'Missionary' are used to distinguish betweenthe ministers of the English or Scotch church, and those of all otherdenominations. 

2. The terms 'church' and 'chapel' denote a corresponding distinction inthe places of worship, though the English Church have what aretechnically called 'chapels of ease!'

3. 'Manager' and 'overseer' are terms designating in different islandsthe same station. In Antigua and Barbadoes, _manager_ is the word ingeneral use, in Jamaica it is _overseer_--both meaning the practicalconductor or immediate superintendent of an estate. In our own country, a peculiar odium is attached to the latter term. In the West Indies, thestation of manager or overseer is an honorable one; proprietors ofestates, and even men of rank, do not hesitate to occupy it. 

4. The terms 'colored' and 'black' or 'negro' indicate a distinctionlong kept up in the West Indies between the mixed blood and the purenegro. The former as a body were few previous to the abolition act; andfor this reason chiefly we presume the term of distinction wasoriginally applied to them. To have used these terms interchangeably inaccordance with the usage in the United States, would have occasionedendless confusion in the narrative. 

5. 'Praedial' and 'non-praedial' are terms used in the apprenticeshipcolonies to mark the difference between the agricultural class and thedomestic; the former are called _praedials_, the latter _non-praedials_. 

 * * * * *

POPULATION OF THE BRITISH (FORMERLY SLAVE) COLONIES. 

(_Compiled from recent authentic documents. _)

British Colonies. White. Slave. F. Col'd. Total. Anguilla 365 2, 388 357 3, 110Antigua[A] 1, 980 29, 839 3, 895 35, 714Bahamas 4, 240 9, 268 2, 991 16, 499Barbadoes 15, 000 82, 000 5, 100 102, 100Berbicel 550 21, 300 1, 150 23, 000Bermuda[A] 3, 900 4, 600 740 9, 240Cape of Good Hope[B] 43, 000 35, 500 29, 000 107, 500Demerara[B] 3, 000 70, 000 6, 400 79, 400Dominica 850 15, 400 3, 600 19, 850Grenada 800 24, 000 2, 800 27, 600Honduras[B] 250 2, 100 2, 300 4, 650Jamaica 37, 000 323, 000 55, 000 415, 000Mauritius[B] 8, 000 76, 000 15, 000 99, 000Montserrat 330 6, 200 800 7, 330Nevis 700 6, 600 2, 000 9, 300St. Christophers, St. Kitts 1, 612 19, 310 3, 000 23, 922St. Lucia[B] 980 13, 600 3, 700 18, 280St. Vincent 1, 300 23, 500 2, 800 27, 600Tobago 320 12, 500 1, 200 14, 020Tortola 480 5, 400 1, 300 7, 180Trinidad[B] 4, 200 24, 000 16, 000 44, 200Virgin Isles 800 5, 400 600 6, 800

Total 131, 257 831, 105 162, 733 1, 125, 095

[Footnote A: These islands adopted immediate emancipation, Aug 1, 1834. ]

[Footnote B: These are crown colonies, and have no local legislature. ]

ANTIGUA. 

CHAPTER I. 

Antigua is about eighteen miles long and fifteen broad; the interior islow and undulating, the coast mountainous. From the heights on the coastthe whole island may be taken in at one view, and in a clear day theocean can be seen entirely around the land, with the exception of a fewmiles of cliff in one quarter. The population of Antigua is about37, 000, of whom 30, 000 are negroes--lately slaves--4500 are free peopleof color, and 2500 are whites. 

The cultivation of the island is principally in sugar, of which theaverage annual crop is 15, 000 hogsheads. Antigua is one of the oldest ofthe British West India colonies, and ranks high in importance andinfluence. Owing to the proportion of proprietors resident in theIsland, there is an accumulation of talent, intelligence and refinement, greater, perhaps, than in any English colony, excepting Jamaica. 

Our solicitude on entering the Island of Antigua was intense. Chargedwith a mission so nearly concerning the political and domesticinstitutions of the colony, we might well be doubtful as to the mannerof our reception. We knew indeed that slavery was abolished, thatAntigua had rejected the apprenticeship, and adopted entireemancipation. We knew also, that the free system had surpassed the hopesof its advocates. But we were in the midst of those whose habits andsentiments had been formed under the influences of slavery, whoseprejudices still clinging to it might lead them to regard our visit withindifference at least, if not with jealousy. We dared not hope for aidfrom men who, not three years before, were slaveholders, and who, as abody, strenuously resisted the abolition measure, finally yielding to itonly because they found resistance vain. 

Mingled with the depressing anxieties already referred to, were emotionsof pleasure and exultation, when we stepped upon the shores of anunfettered isle. We trod a soil from which the last vestige of slaveryhad been swept away! To us, accustomed as we were to infer the existenceof slavery from the presence of a particular hue, the numbers of negroespassing to and fro, engaged in their several employments, denoted a landof oppression; but the erect forms, the active movements, and thesprightly countenances, bespoke that spirit of disinthrallment which hadgone abroad through Antigua. 

On the day of our arrival we had an interview with the Rev. James Cox, the superintendent of the Wesleyan mission in the island. He assured usthat we need apprehend no difficulty in procuring information, adding, "We are all free here now; every man can speak his sentiments unawed. Wehave nothing to conceal in our present system; had you come here as the_advocates of slavery_ you might have met with a very differentreception. "

At the same time we met the Rev. N. Gilbert, a clergyman of the EnglishChurch, and proprietor of an estate. Mr. G. Expressed the hope that wemight gather such facts during our stay in the island, as would tendeffectually to remove the curse of slavery from the United States. Hesaid that the failure of the crops, from the extraordinary drought whichwas still prevailing, would, he feared, be charged by persons abroad tothe new system. "The enemies of freedom, " said he, "will not ascribe thefailure to the proper cause. It will be in vain that we solemnlydeclare, that for more than thirty years the island has not experiencedsuch a drought. Our enemies will persist in laying all to the charge ofour free system; men will look only at the amount of sugar exported, which will be less than half the average. They will run away with thisfact, and triumph over it as the disastrous consequence of abolition. "

On the same day we were introduced to the Rev. Bennet Harvey, theprincipal of the Moravian mission, to a merchant, an agent for severalestates, and to an intelligent manager. Each of these gentlemen gave usthe most cordial welcome, and expressed a warm sympathy in the objectsof our visit. On the following day we dined, by invitation, with thesuperintendent of the Wesleyan mission, in company with severalmissionaries. _Freedom in Antigua_ was the engrossing and delightfultopic. They rejoiced in the change, not merely from sympathy with thedisinthralled negroes, but because it had emancipated them from adisheartening surveillance, and opened new fields of usefulness. Theyhailed the star of freedom "with exceeding great joy, " because itheralded the speedy dawning of the Sun of Righteousness. 

We took an early opportunity to call on the Governor, whom we foundaffable and courteous. On learning that we were from the United States, he remarked, that he entertained a high respect for our country, but itsslavery was a stain upon the whole nation. He expressed his convictionthat the instigators of northern mobs must be implicated in some way, pecuniary or otherwise, with slavery. The Governor stated variousparticulars in which Antigua had been greatly improved by the abolitionof slavery. He said, the planters all conceded that emancipation hadbeen a great blessing to the island, and he did not know of a singleindividual who wished to return to the old system. 

His excellency proffered us every assistance in his power, and requestedhis secretary--_a colored gentleman_--to furnish us with certaindocuments which he thought would be of service to us. When we rose toleave, the Governor followed us to the door, repeating the advice thatwe should "see with our own eyes, and hear with our own ears. " Theinterest which his Excellency manifested in our enterprise, satisfied usthat the prevalent feeling in the island was opposed to slavery, sinceit was a matter well understood that the Governor's partialities, if hehad any, were on the side of the planters rather than the people. 

On the same day we were introduced to a barrister, a member of theassembly and proprietor of an estate. He was in the assembly at the timethe abolition act was under discussion. He said that it was violentlyopposed, until it was seen to be inevitable. Many were the predictionsmade respecting the ruin which would be brought upon the colony; butthese predictions had failed, and abolition was now regarded as thesalvation of the island. 

SABBATH. 

The morning of our first Sabbath in Antigua came with that hushedstillness which marks the Sabbath dawn in the retired villages of NewEngland. The arrangements of the family were conducted with a studiedsilence that indicated habitual respect for the Lord's day. At 10o'clock the streets were filled with the church-going throng. The richrolled along in their splendid vehicles with liveried outriders andpostillions. The poor moved in lowlier procession, yet in neat attire, and with the serious air of Christian worshippers. We attended theMoravian service. In going to the chapel, which is situated on theborder of the town, we passed through and across the most frequentedstreets. No persons were to be seen, excepting those whose course wastoward some place of worship. The shops were all shut, and the voices ofbusiness and amusement were hushed. The market place, which yesterdaywas full of swarming life, and sent forth a confused uproar, wasdeserted and dumb--not a straggler was to be seen of all the multitude. 

On approaching the Moravian chapel we observed the negroes, wendingtheir way churchward, from the surrounding estates, along the roadsleading into town. 

When we entered the chapel the service had begun, and the people werestanding, and repeating their liturgy. The house, which was capable ofholding about a thousand persons, was filled. The audience were allblack and colored, mostly of the deepest Ethiopian hue, and had come upthither from the estates, where once they toiled as slaves, but now asfreemen, to present their thank-offerings unto Him whose truth andSpirit had made them free. In the simplicity and tidiness of theirattire, in its uniformity and freedom from ornament, it resembled thedress of the Friends. The females were clad in plain white gowns, withneat turbans of cambric or muslin on their heads. The males were dressedin spencers, vests, and pantaloons, all of white. All were serious intheir demeanor, and although the services continued more than two hours, they gave a wakeful attention to the end. Their responses in the litanywere solemn and regular. 

Great respect was paid to the aged and infirm. A poor blind man camegroping his way, and was kindly conducted to a seat in an airy place. Alame man came wearily up to the door, when one within the house rose andled him to the seat he himself had just occupied. As we sat facing thecongregation, we looked around upon the multitude to find the marks ofthose demoniac passions which are to strew carnage through our owncountry when its bondmen shall be made free. The countenances gatheredthere, bore the traces of benevolence, of humility, of meekness, ofdocility, and reverence; and we felt, while looking on them, that thedoers of justice to a wronged people "shall surely dwell in safety andbe quiet from fear of evil. "

After the service, we visited the Sabbath school. The superintendent wasan interesting young colored man. We attended the recitation of aTestament class of children of both sexes from eight to twelve. Theyread, and answered numerous questions with great sprightliness. 

In the afternoon we attended the Episcopal church, of which the Rev. Robert Holberton is rector. We here saw a specimen of the aristocracy ofthe island. A considerable number present were whites, --rich proprietorswith their families, managers of estates, officers of government, andmerchants. The greater proportion of the auditory, however, were coloredpeople and blacks. It might be expected that distinctions of color wouldbe found here, if any where;--however, the actual distinction, even inthis the most fashionable church in Antigua, amounted only to this, thatthe body pews on each side of the broad aisle were occupied by thewhites, the side pews by the colored people, and the broad aisle in themiddle by the negroes. The gallery, on one side, was also appropriatedto the colored people, and on the other to the blacks. The finery of thenegroes was in sad contrast with the simplicity we had just seen at theMoravian chapel. Their dresses were of every color and style; their hatswere of all shapes and sizes, and fillagreed with the most tawdrysuperfluity of ribbons. Beneath these gaudy bonnets were glossyringlets, false and real, clustering in tropical luxuriance. Thisfantastic display was evidently a rude attempt to follow the example setthem by the white aristocracy. 

The choir was composed chiefly of colored boys, who were placed on theright side of the organ, and about an equal number of colored girls onthe left. In front of the organ were eight or ten white children. Themusic of this colored, or rather "amalgamated" choir, directed by acolored chorister, and accompanied by a colored organist, was ingood taste. 

In the evening, we accompanied a friend to the Wesleyan chapel, of whichthe Rev. James Cox is pastor. The minister invited us to a seat withinthe altar, where we could have a full view of the congregation. Thechapel was crowded. Nearly twelve hundred persons were present. All satpromiscuously in respect of color. In one pew was a family of whites, next a family of colored persons, and behind that perhaps might be seen, side by side, the ebon hue of the negro, the mixed tint of the mulatto, and the unblended whiteness of the European. Thus they sat in crowdedcontact, seemingly unconscious that they were outraging good taste, violating natural laws, and "confounding distinctions of divineappointment!" In whatever direction we turned, there was the samecommixture of colors. What to one of our own countrymen whose contemptfor the oppressed has defended itself with the plea of _prejudiceagainst color_, would have been a combination absolutely shocking, wasto us a scene as gratifying as it was new. 

On both sides, the gallery presented the same unconscious blending ofcolors. The choir was composed of a large number, mostly colored, of allages. The front seats were filled by children of various ages--the rear, of adults, rising above these tiny choristers, and softening theshrillness of their notes by the deeper tones of mature age. 

The style of the preaching which we heard on the different occasionsabove described, so far as it is any index to the intelligence of theseveral congregations, is certainly a high commendation. The languageused, would not offend the taste of any congregation, however refined. 

On the other hand, the fixed attention of the people showed that thetruths delivered were understood and appreciated. 

We observed, that in the last two services the subject of the presentdrought was particularly noticed in prayer. 

The account here given is but a fair specimen of the solemnity anddecorum of an Antigua sabbath. 

VISIT TO MILLAR'S ESTATE. 

Early in the week after our arrival, by the special invitation of themanager, we visited this estate. It is situated about four miles fromthe town of St. John's. 

The smooth MacAdamized road extending across the rolling plains andgently sloping hill sides, covered with waving cane, and interspersedwith provision grounds, contributed with the fresh bracing air of themorning to make the drive pleasant and animating. 

At short intervals were seen the buildings of the different estatesthrown together in small groups, consisting of the manager's mansion andout-houses, negro huts, boiling house, cooling houses, distillery, andwindmill. The mansion is generally on an elevated spot, commanding aview of the estate and surrounding country. The cane fields presented anovel appearance--being without fences of any description. Even thosefields which lie bordering on the highways, are wholly unprotected byhedge, ditch, or rails. This is from necessity. Wooden fences theycannot have, for lack of timber. Hedges are not used, because they arefound to withdraw the moisture from the canes. To prevent depredations, there are watchmen on every estate employed both day and night. Thereare also stock keepers employed by day in keeping the cattle withinproper grazing limits. As each estate guards its own stock by day andfolds them by night, the fields are in little danger. 

We passed great numbers of negroes on the road, loaded with every kindof commodity for the town market. _The head is the beast of burthen_among the negroes throughout the West Indies. Whatever the load, whetherit be trifling or valuable, strong or frail, it is consigned to thehead, both for safe keeping and for transportation. While the head isthus taxed, the hands hang useless by the side, or are busied ingesticulating, as the people chat together along the way. The negroes wepassed were all decently clad. They uniformly stopped as they cameopposite to us, to pay the usual civilities. This the men did bytouching their hats and bowing, and the women, by making a low courtesy, and adding, sometimes, "howdy, massa, " or "mornin', massa. " We passedseveral loaded wagons, drawn by three, four, or five yoke of oxen, andin every instance the driver, so far from manifesting any disposition"insolently" to crowd us off the road, or to contend for his part of it, turned his team aside, leaving us double room to go by, and sometimesstopping until we had passed. 

We were kindly received at Millar's by Mr. Bourne, the manager. Millar'sis one of the first estates in Antigua. The last year it made thelargest sugar crop on the island. Mr. B. Took us before breakfast toview the estate. On the way, he remarked that we had visited the islandat a very unfavorable time for seeing the cultivation of it, as everything was suffering greatly from the drought. There had not been asingle copious rain, such as would "make the water run, " since the firstof March previous. As we approached the laborers, the manager pointedout one company of ten, who were at work with their hoes by the side ofthe road, while a larger one of thirty were in the middle of the field. They greeted us in the most friendly manner. The manager spoke kindly tothem, encouraging them to be industrious He stopped a moment to explainto us the process of cane-holing. The field is first ploughed[A] in onedirection, and the ground thrown up in ridges of about a foot high. Thensimilar ridges are formed crosswise, with the hoe, making regularsquares of two-feet-sides over the field. By raising the soil, a clearspace of six inches square is left at the bottom. In this space the_plant_ is placed horizontally, and slightly covered with earth. Theridges are left about it, for the purpose of conducting the rain to theroots, and also to retain the moisture. When we came up to the largecompany, they paused a moment, and with a hearty salutation, which ranall along the line, bade us "good mornin', " and immediately resumedtheir labor. The men and women were intermingled; the latter kept pacewith the former, wielding their hoes with energy and effect. The manageraddressed them for a few moments, telling them who we were, and theobject of our visit. He told them of the great number of slaves inAmerica, and appealed to them to know whether they would not be sober, industrious, and diligent, so as to prove to American slaveholders thebenefit of freeing all their slaves. At the close of each sentence, theyall responded, "Yes, massa, " or "God bless de massas, " and at theconclusion, they answered the appeal, with much feeling, "Yes, massa;please God massa, we will all do so. " When we turned to leave, theywished to know what we thought of their industry. We assured them thatwe were much pleased, for which they returned their "thankee, massa. "They were working at a _job_. The manager had given them a piece ofground "to hole, " engaging to pay them sixteen dollars when they hadfinished it. He remarked that he had found it a good plan to give_jobs_. He obtained more work in this way than he did by giving theordinary wages, which is about eleven cents per day. It looked very muchlike slavery to see the females working in the field; but the managersaid they chose it generally "_for the sake of the wages_. " Mr. B. Returned with us to the house, leaving the gangs in the field, with onlyan aged negro in charge of the work, as _superintendent. _ Such now isthe name of the overseer. The very _terms_, _driver_ and _overseer_, arebanished from Antigua; and the _whip_ is buried beneath the soilof freedom. 

[Footnote A: In those cases where the plough is used at all. It is notyet generally introduced throughout the West Indies. Where the plough isnot used, the whole process of holing is done with the hoe, and isextremely laborious]

When we reached the house we were introduced to Mr. Watkins, a _colored_planter, whom Mr. B. Had invited to breakfast with us. Mr. Watkins wasvery communicative, and from him and Mr. B. , who was equally free, weobtained information on a great variety of points, which we reserve forthe different heads to which they appropriately belong. 

FITCH'S CREEK ESTATE. 

From Millar's we proceeded to Fitch's Creek Estate, where we had beeninvited to dine by the intelligent manager, Mr. H. Armstrong. We threemet several Wesleyan missionaries. Mr. A. Is himself a local preacher inthe Wesleyan connection. When a stranger visits an estate in the WestIndies, almost the first thing is an offer from the manager to accompanyhim through the sugar works. Mr. A. Conducted us first to a new boilinghouse, which he was building after a plan of his own devising. The houseis of brick, on a very extensive scale. It has been built entirely bynegroes--chiefly those belonging to the estate who were emancipated in1834. Fitch's Creek Estate is one of the largest on the Island, consisting of 500 acres, of which 300 are under cultivation. The numberof people employed and living on the property is 260. This estateindicates any thing else than an apprehension of approaching ruin. Itpresents the appearance, far more, of a _resurrection_, from the grave. In addition to his improved sugar and boiling establishment, he hasprojected a plan for a new village, (as the collection of negro housesis called, ) and has already selected the ground and begun to build. Thehouses are to be larger than those at present in use, they are to bebuilt of stone instead of mud and sticks, and to be neatly roofed. Instead of being huddled together in a bye place, as has mostly been thecase, they are to be built on an elevated site, and ranged at regularintervals around three sides of a large square, in the centre of which abuilding for a chapel and school house is to be erected. Each house isto have a garden. This and similar improvements are now in progress, with the view of adding to the comforts of the laborers, and attachingthem to the estate. It has become the interest of the planter to make itfor the _interest of the people_ to remain on his estate. This _mutualinterest_ is the only sure basis of prosperity on the one hand and ofindustry on the other. 

The whole company heartily joined in assuring us that a knowledge of theactual working of abolition in Antigua, would be altogether favorable tothe cause of freedom, _and that the more thorough our knowledge of thefacts in the case, the more perfect would be our confidence in thesafety of_ IMMEDIATE _emancipation_. 

Mr. A. Said that the spirit of enterprise, before dormant, had beenroused since emancipation, and planters were now beginning to inquire asto the best modes of cultivation, and to propose measures of generalimprovement. One of these measures was the establishing of _freevillages_, in which the laborers might dwell by paying a small rent. When the adjacent planters needed help they could here find a supply forthe occasion. This plan would relieve the laborers from some of thatdependence which they must feel so long as they live on the estate andin the houses of the planters. Many advantages of such a system werespecified. We allude to it here only as an illustration of that spiritof inquiry, which freedom has kindled in the minds of the planters. 

No little desire was manifested by the company to know the state of theslavery question in this country. They all, planters and missionaries, spoke in terms of abhorrence of our slavery, our snobs, our prejudice, and our Christianity. One of the missionaries said it would never do forhim to go to America, for he should certainly be excommunicated by hisMethodist brethren, and Lynched by the advocates of slaver. He insistedthat slaveholding professors and ministers should be cut off from thecommunion of the Church. 

As we were about to take leave, the _proprietor_ of the estate rode up, accompanied by the governor, who he had brought to see the newboiling-house, and the other improvements which were in progress. Theproprietor reside in St. John's, is a gentleman of large fortune, and amember of the assembly. He said he would be happy to aid us in anyway--but added, that in all details of a practical kind, and in allmatters of fact, the planters were the best witnesses, for they were theconductors of the present system. We were glad to obtain the endorsementof an influential proprietor to the testimony of practical planters. 

DINNER AT THE GOVERNOR'S. 

On the following day having received a very courteous invitation[A] fromthe governor, to dine at the government house, we made our arrangementsto do so. The Hon. Paul Horsford, a member of the council, called duringthe day, to say, that he expected to dine with us at the governmenthouse and that he would be happy to call for us at the appointed hour, and conduct us thither. At six o'clock Mr. H. 's carriage drove up to ourdoor, and we accompanied him to the governor's, where we were introducedto Col. Jarvis, a member of the privy council, and proprietor of severalestates in the island, Col. Edwards, a member of the assembly and abarrister, Dr. Musgrave, a member of the assembly, and Mr. Shiel, attorney general. A dinner of state, at a Governor's house, attended bya company of high-toned politicians, professional gentlemen, andproprietors, could hardly be expected to furnish large accessions to ourstock of information, relating to the object of our visit. Dinner beingannounced, we were hardly seated at the table when his excellencypolitely offered to drink a glass of Madeira with us. We begged leave todecline the honor. In a short time he proposed a glass ofChampaign--again we declined. "Why, surely, gentlemen, " exclaimed theGovernor, "you must belong to the temperance society. " "Yes, sir, wedo. " "Is it possible? but you will surely take a glass of liqueur?""Your excellency must pardon us if we again decline the honor; we drinkno wines. " This announcement of ultra temperance principles excited nolittle surprise. Finding that our allegiance to cold water was not to beshaken, the governor condescended at last to meet us on middle ground, and drink his wine to our water. 

[Footnote A: We venture to publish the note in which the governorconveyed his invitation, simply because, though a trifle in itself, itwill serve to show the estimation in which our mission was held. 

 "If Messrs. Kimball and Thome are not engaged Tuesday next, the Lieut. Governor will be happy to see them at dinner, at six o'clock, when he will endeavor to facilitate their philanthropic inquiries, by inviting two or three proprietors to met them. "

 "_Government House, St. John's, Dec. 18th_, 1836. "]

The conversation on the subject of emancipation served to show that theprevailing sentiment was decidedly favorable to the free system. Col. Jarvis, who is the proprietor of three estates, said that he was inEngland at the time the bill for immediate emancipation passed thelegislature. Had he been in the island he should have opposed it; but_now_ he was glad it had prevailed. The evil consequences which heapprehended had not been realized, and he was now confident that theynever would be. 

As to prejudice against the black and colored people, all thought it wasrapidly decreasing--indeed, they could scarcely say there was now anysuch thing. To be sure, there was an aversion among the higher classesof the whites, and especially among _females_, to associating in partieswith colored people; but it was not on account of their _color_, butchiefly because of their _illegitimacy_. This was to us a new _source_of prejudice: but subsequent information fully explained its bearings. The whites of the West Indies are themselves the authors of that_illegitimacy_, out of which their aversion springs. It is not to bewondered at that they should be unwilling to invite the colored peopleto their social parties, seeing they might not unfrequently be subjectedto the embarrassment of introducing to their white wives a coloredmistress or an _illegitimate_ daughter. This also explains the specialprejudice which the _ladies_ of the higher classes feel toward thoseamong whom are their guilty rivals in a husband's affections, and thosewhose every feature tells the story of a husband's unfaithfulness!

A few days after our dinner with the governor and his friends, we tookbreakfast, by invitation, with Mr. Watkins, the _colored_ planter whomwe had the pleasure of meeting at Millar's, on a previous occasion. Mr. W. Politely sent in his chaise for us, a distance of five miles, At anearly hour we reached Donovan's, the estate of which he is manager. Wefound the sugar works in active operation: the broad wings of thewindmill were wheeling their stately revolutions, and the smoke wasissuing in dense volumes from the chimney of the boiling house. Some ofthe negroes were employed in carrying cane to the mill, others incarrying away the _trash_ or _megass_, as the cane is called after thejuice is expressed from it. Others, chiefly the old men and women, weretearing the megass apart, and strewing it on the ground to dry. It isthe only fuel used for boiling the sugar. 

On entering the house we found three planters whom Mr. W. Had invited tobreakfast with us. The meeting of a number of intelligent practicalplanters afforded a good opportunity for comparing their views. On allthe main points, touching the working of freedom, there was a strongcoincidence. 

When breakfast was ready, Mrs. W. Entered the room, and after ourintroduction to her, took her place at the head of the table. Herconversation was intelligent, her manners highly polished, and shepresided at the table with admirable grace and dignity. 

On the following day, Dr. Ferguson, of St. John's, called on us. Dr. Ferguson is a member of the assembly, and one of the first physicians inthe island. The Doctor said that freedom had wrought like a magician, and had it not been for the unprecedented drought, the island would nowbe in a state of prosperity unequalled in any period of its history. Dr. F. Remarked that a general spirit of improvement was pervading theisland. The moral condition of the whites was rapidly brightening;formerly concubinage was _respectable_; it had been customary formarried men--those of the highest standing--to keep one or two coloredmistresses. This practice was now becoming disreputable. There had beena great alteration as to the observance of the Sabbath; formerly morebusiness was done in St. John's on Sunday, by the merchants, than on allthe other days of the week together. The mercantile business of the townhad increased astonishingly; he thought that the stores and shops hadmultiplied in a _ratio of ten to one_. Mechanical pursuits were likewisein a flourishing condition. Dr. F. Said that a greater number ofbuildings had been erected since emancipation, than had been put up fortwenty years before. Great improvements had also been made in thestreets and roads in town and country. 

MARKET. 

SATURDAY. --This is the regular market-day here. The negroes come from allparts of the island; walking sometimes ten or fifteen miles to attendthe St. John's market. We pressed our way through the dense mass of allhues, which crowded the market. The ground was covered with wooden traysfilled with all kinds of fruits, grain, vegetables, fowls, fish, andflesh. Each one, as we passed, called attention to his or her littlestock. We passed up to the head of the avenue, where men and women wereemployed in cutting up the light fire-wood which they had brought fromthe country on their heads, and in binding it into small bundles forsale. Here we paused a moment and looked down upon the busy multitudebelow. The whole street was a moving mass. There were broad Panama hats, and gaudy turbans, and uncovered heads, and heads laden with water pots, and boxes, and baskets, and trays--all moving and mingling in seeminglyinextricable confusion. There could not have been less than fifteenhundred people congregated in that street--all, or nearly all, emancipated slaves. Yet, amidst all the excitements and competitions oftrade, their conduct toward each other was polite and kind. Not a word, or look, or gesture of insolence or indecency did we observe. Smilingcountenances and friendly voices greeted us on every side, and we feltno fears either of having our pockets picked or our throats cut!

At the other end of the market-place stood the _Lock-up House_, the_Cage_, and the _Whipping Post_, with stocks for feet and wrists. Theseare almost the sole relics of slavery which still linger in the town. The Lock-up House is a sort of jail, built of stone--about fifteen feetsquare, and originally designed as a place of confinement for slavestaken up by the patrol. The Cage is a smaller building, adjoining theformer, the sides of which are composed of strong iron bars--fitlycalled a _cage!_ The prisoner was exposed to the gaze and insult ofevery passer by, without the possibility of concealment. The WhippingPost is hard by, but its occupation is gone. Indeed, all theseappendages of slavery have gone into entire disuse, and Time is doinghis work of dilapidation upon them. We fancied we could see in themarketers, as they walked in and out at the doorless entrance of theLock-up House, or leaned against the Whipping Post, in careless chat, that harmless defiance which would prompt one to beard the dead lion. 

Returning from the market we observed a negro woman passing through thestreet, with several large hat boxes strung on her arm. She accidentallylet one of them fall. The box had hardly reached the ground, when alittle boy sprang from the back of a carriage rolling by, handed thewoman the box, and hastened to remount the carriage. 

CHRISTMAS. 

During the reign of slavery, the Christmas holidays brought with themgeneral alarm. To prevent insurrections, the militia was uniformlycalled out, and an array made of all that was formidable in militaryenginery. This custom was dispensed with at once, after emancipation. AsChristmas came on the Sabbath, it tested the respect for that day. Themorning was similar, in all respects, to the morning of the Sabbathdescribed above; the same serenity reigning everywhere--the same quietin the household movements, and the same tranquillity prevailing throughthe streets. We attended morning service at the Moravian chapel. Notwithstanding the descriptions we had heard of the great change whichemancipation had wrought in the observance of Christmas, we were quiteunprepared for the delightful reality around us. Though thirty thousandslaves had but lately been "turned loose" upon a white population ofless than three thousand! instead of meeting with scenes of disorder, what were the sights which greeted our eyes? The neat attire, theserious demeanor, and the thronged procession to the place of worship. In every direction the roads leading into town were lined with happybeings--attired for the house of God. When groups coming from differentquarters met at the corners, they stopped a moment to exchangesalutations and shake hands, and then proceeded on together. 

The Moravian chapel was slightly decorated with green branches. Theywere the only adorning which marked the plain sanctuary of a plainpeople. It was crowded with black and colored people, and very manystood without, who could not get in. After the close of the service inthe chapel, the minister proceeded to the adjacent school room, andpreached to another crowded audience. In the evening the Wesleyan chapelwas crowded to overflowing. The aisles and communion place were full. Onall festivals and holidays, which occur on the Sabbath, the churches andchapels are more thronged than on any other Lord's day. 

It is hardly necessary to state that there was no instance of a dance ordrunken riot, nor wild shouts of mirth during the day. The Christmas, instead of breaking in upon the repose of the Sabbath, seemed only toenhance the usual solemnity of the day. 

The holidays continued until the next Wednesday morning, and the sameorder prevailed to the close of them. On Monday there were religiousservices in most of the churches and chapels, where sabbath-schooladdresses, discourses on the relative duties of husband and wife, and onkindred subjects, were delivered. 

An intelligent gentleman informed us that the negroes, while slaves, used to spend during the Christmas holidays, the extra money which theygot during the year. Now they save it--_to buy small tracts of land fortheir own cultivation_. 

The Governor informed us that the police returns did not report a singlecase of arrest during the holidays. He said he had been well acquaintedwith the country districts of England, he had also travelled extensivelyin Europe, yet he had never found such a _peaceable, orderly, andlaw-abiding people as those of Antigua_. 

An acquaintance of nine weeks with the colored population of St. John's, meeting them by the wayside, in their shops, in their parlors, andelsewhere, enables us to pronounce them a people of generalintelligence, refinement of manners, personal accomplishments, and truepoliteness. As to their style of dress and mode of living, were wedisposed to make any criticism, we should say that they wereextravagant. In refined and elevated conversation, they would certainlybear a comparison with the white families of the island. 

VISIT TO THIBOU JARVIS'S ESTATE. 

After the Christmas holidays were over, we resumed our visits to thecountry. Being provided with a letter to the manager of Thibou Jarvis'sestate, Mr. James Howell, we embraced the earliest opportunity to callon him. Mr. H. Has been in Antigua for thirty-six years, and has been apractical planter during the whole of that time. He has the managementof two estates, on which there are more than five hundred people. Theprincipal items of Mr. Howell's testimony will be found in anotherplace. In this connection we shall record only miscellaneous statementsof a local nature. 

1. The severity of the drought. He had been in Antigua since the year1800, and he had never known so long a continuance of dry weather, although the island is subject to severe droughts. He stated that afield of yams, which in ordinary seasons yielded ten cart-loads to theacre, would not produce this year more than _three_. The failure in thecrops was not in the least degree chargeable upon the laborers, for inthe first place, the cane plants for the present crop were put inearlier and in greater quantities than usual, and _until_ the droughtcommenced, the fields promised a large return. 

2. _The religious condition_ of the negroes, during slavery, wasextremely low. It seemed almost impossible to teach them any higher_religion_ than _obedience to their masters_. Their highest notion ofGod was that he was a _little above_ their owner. He mentioned, by wayof illustration, that the slaves of a certain large proprietor used tohave this saying, "Massa only want he little finger to touch God!" thatis, _their master was lower than God only by the length of his littlefinger_. But now the religious and moral condition of the people wasfast improving. 

3. A great change in the use of _rum_ had been effected on the estatesunder his management since emancipation. He formerly, in accordance withthe prevalent custom, gave his people a weekly allowance of rum, andthis was regarded as essential to their health and effectiveness. But hehas lately discontinued this altogether, and his people had not sufferedany inconvenience from it. He gave them in lieu of the rum, an allowanceof molasses, with which they appeared to be entirely satisfied. When Mr. H. Informed the people of his intention to discontinue the spirits, hetold them that he should _set them the example_ of total abstinence, byabandoning wine and malt liquor also, which he accordingly did. 

4. There had been much less _pretended sickness_ among the negroes sincefreedom. They had now a strong aversion to going to the sick house[A], so much so that on many estates it had been put to some other use. 

[Footnote A: The _estate hospital_, in which, during slavery, all sickpersons were placed for medical attendance and nursing. There was one onevery estate. ]

We were taken through the negro village, and shown the interior ofseveral houses. One of the finest looking huts was decorated withpictures, printed cards, and booksellers' advertisements in largeletters. Amongst many ornaments of this kind, was an advertisement notunfamiliar to our eyes--"THE GIRL'S OWN BOOK. BY MRS. CHILD. "

We generally found the women at home. Some of them had been informed ofour intention to visit them, and took pains to have every thing in thebest order for our reception. The negro village on this estate containsone hundred houses, each of which is occupied by a separate family. Mr. H. Next conducted us to a neighboring field, where the _great gang_[B]were at work. There were about fifty persons in the gang--the majorityfemales--under two inspectors or superintendents, men who take the placeof the _quondam drivers_, though their province is totally different. They merely direct the laborers in their work, employing with theloiterers the stimulus of persuasion, or at farthest, no more than theviolence of the tongue. 

[Footnote B: The people on most estates are divided into three gangs;first, the great gang, composed of the principal effective men andwomen; second, the weeding gang, consisting of younger and weeklypersons; and third, the grass gang, which embraces all the childrenable to work. ]

Mr. H. Requested them to stop their work, and told them who we were, andas we bowed, the men took off their hats and the women made a lowcourtesy. Mr. Howell then informed them that we had come from America, where there were a great many slaves: that we had visited Antigua to seehow freedom was working, and whether the people who were made free onthe first of August were doing well--and added, that he "hoped thesegentlemen might be able to carry back such a report as would induce themasters in America to set their slaves free. " They unanimously replied, "Yes, massa, we hope dem will gib um free. " We spoke a few words: toldthem of the condition of the slaves in America, urged them to pray forthem that they might be patient under their sufferings, and that theymight soon be made free. They repeatedly promised to pray for the poorslaves in America. We then received their hearty "Good bye, massa, " andreturned to the house, while they resumed their work. 

We took leave of Mr. Howell, grateful for his kind offices infurtherance of the objects of our mission. 

We had not been long in Antigua before we perceived the distress of thepoor from the scarcity of water. As there are but few springs in theisland, the sole reliance is upon rain water. Wealthy families havecisterns or tanks in their yards, to receive the rain from the roofs. There are also a few public cisterns in St. John's. These ordinarilysupply the whole population. During the present season many of thesecisterns have been dry, and the supply of water has been entirelyinadequate to the wants of the people. There are several large openponds in the vicinity of St. John's, which are commonly used to water"stock. " There are one or more on every estate, for the same purpose. The poor people were obliged to use the water from these ponds both fordrinking and cooking while we were in Antigua. In taking our morningwalks, we uniformly met the negroes either going to, or returning fromthe ponds, with their large pails balanced on their heads, happyapparently in being able to get even such foul water. 

Attended the anniversary of the "Friendly Society, " connected with thechurch in St. John's. Many of the most respectable citizens, includingthe Governor, were present. After the services in the church, thesociety moved in procession to the Rectory school-room. We counted onehundred males and two hundred and sixty females in the procession. Having been kindly invited by the Rector to attend at the school-room, we followed the procession. We found the house crowded with women, manyothers, besides those in the procession, having convened. The men wereseated without under a canvass, extended along one side of the house. The whole number present was supposed to be nine hundred. Shortaddresses were made by the Rector, the Archdeacon, and the Governor. 

The Seventh Annual Report of the Society, drawn up by the secretary, acolored man, was read. It was creditable to the author. The Rector inhis address affectionally warned the society, especially the femalemembers, against extravagance in dress. 

The Archdeacon exhorted them to domestic and conjugal faithfulness. Healluded to the prevalence of inconstancy during past years, and to thegreat improvement in this particular lately; and concluded by wishingthem all "a happy new-year and _many_ of them, and a blessed immortalityin the end. " For this kind wish they returned a loud and general"thankee, massa. "

The Governor then said, that he rose merely to remark, that this societymight aid in the emancipation of millions of slaves, now in bondage inother countries. A people who are capable of forming such societies asthis among themselves, deserve to be free, and ought no longer to beheld in bondage. You, said he, are showing to the world what the negrorace are capable of doing. The Governor's remarks were received withapplause. After the addresses the audience were served withrefreshments, previous to which the Rector read the following lines, which were sung to the tune of Old Hundred, the whole congregationstanding. 

 "Lord at our table now appear And bless us here, as every where; Let manna to our souls be given, The bread of life sent down from heaven. "

The simple refreshment was then handed round. It consisted merely ofbuns and lemonade. The Governor and the Rector, each drank to the healthand happiness of the members. The loud response came up from all withinand all around the house--"thankee--thankee--thankee--massa--thankee_good_ massa. " A scene of animation ensued. The whole concourse ofblack, colored and white, from the humblest to the highest, from theunlettered apprentice to the Archdeacon and the Governor of the island, joined in a common festivity. 

After the repast was concluded, thanks were returned in the followingverse, also sung to Old Hundred. 

 "We thank thee, Lord, for this our food, But bless thee more for Jesus' blood; Let manna to our souls be given, The bread of life sent down from heaven. "

The benediction was pronounced, and the assembly retired. 

There was an aged negro man present, who was noticed with markedattention by the Archdeacon, the Rector and other clergymen. He issometimes called the African Bishop. He was evidently used tofamiliarity with the clergy, and laid his hand on their shoulders as hespoke to them. The old patriarch was highly delighted with the scene. Hesaid, when he was young he "never saw nothing, but sin and Satan. _Now Ijust begin to live_. "

On the same occasion the Governor remarked to us that the first thing tobe done in our country, toward the removal of slavery, was to discardthe absurd notion that _color_ made any difference, intellectually ormorally, among men. "All distinctions, " said he, "founded in color, mustbe abolished everywhere. We should learn to talk of men not as _colored_men, but as MEN _as fellow citizens and fellow subjects_. " HisExcellency certainly showed on this occasion a disposition to put inpractice his doctrine. He spoke affectionately to the children, andconversed freely with the adults. 

VISIT TO GREEN CASTLE. 

According to a previous engagement, a member of the assembly called andtook us in his carriage to Green Castle estate. 

Green Castle lies about three miles south-east from St. John's, andcontains 940 acres. The mansion stands on a rocky cliff; overlooking theestate, and commanding a wide view of the island. In one directionspreads a valley, interspersed with fields of sugar-cane and provisions. In another stretches a range of hills, with their sides clad in culture, and their tops covered with clouds. At the base of the rock are thesugar Houses. On a neighboring upland lies the negro village, in therear of which are the provision grounds. Samuel Bernard, Esq. , themanager, received us kindly. He said, he had been on the islandforty-four years, most of the time engaged in the management of estates. He is now the manager of two estates, and the attorney for six, and haslately purchased an estate himself. Mr. B. Is now an aged man, grown oldin the practice of slave holding. He has survived the wreck of slavery, and now stripped of a tyrant's power, he still lives among the people, who were lately his slaves, and manages an estate which was once hisempire. The testimony of such a man is invaluable. Hear him. 

1. Mr. B. Said, that the negroes throughout the island were verypeaceable when they received their freedom. 

2. He said he had found no difficulty in getting his people to workafter they had received their freedom. Some estates had suffered for ashort time; there was a pretty general fluctuation for a month or two, the people leaving one estate and going to another. But this, said Mr. B. , was chargeable to the _folly_ of the planters, who _overbid_ eachother in order to secure the best hands and enough of them. The negroeshad a _strong attachment to their homes_, and they would rarely abandonthem unless harshly treated. 

3. He thought that the assembly acted very wisely in rejecting theapprenticeship. He considered it absurd. It took the chains partly fromoff the slave, and fastened them on the master, _and enslaved themboth_. It withdrew from the latter the power of compelling labor, and itsupplied to the former no incentive to industry. 

He was opposed to the measures which many had adopted for furthersecuring the benefits of emancipation. --He referred particularly to thesystem of education which now prevailed. He thought that the educationof the emancipated negroes should combine industry with study even inchildhood, so as not to disqualify the taught for cultivating theground. It will be readily seen that this prejudice against education, evidently the remains of his attachment to slavery, gives additionalweight to his testimony. 

The Mansion on the Rock (which from its elevated and almost inaccessibleposition, and from the rich shrubbery in perpetual foliage surroundingit, very fitly takes the name of Green Castle) is memorable as the sceneof the murder of the present proprietor's grandfather. He refused togive his slaves holiday on a particular occasion. They came severaltimes in a body and asked for the holiday, but he obstinately refused togrant it. They rushed into his bedroom, fell upon him with their hoes, and killed him. 

On our return to St. John's, we received a polite note from a coloredlady, inviting us to attend the anniversary of the "JuvenileAssociation, " at eleven o'clock. We found about forty childrenassembled, the greater part of them colored girls, but some were white. The ages of these juvenile philanthropists varied from four to fourteen. After singing and prayer, the object of the association was stated, which was to raise money by sewing, soliciting contributions, andotherwise, for charitable purposes. 

From the annual report it appeared that this was the _twenty-firstanniversary_ of the society. The treasurer reported nearly £60 currency(or about $150) received and disbursed during the year. More than onehundred dollars had been given towards the erection of the new Wesleyanchapel in St. John's. Several resolutions were presented by littlemisses, expressive of gratitude to God for continued blessings, whichwere adopted unanimously--every child holding up its right hand in tokenof assent. 

After the resolutions and other business were despatched, the childrenlistened to several addresses from the gentlemen present. The lastspeaker was a member of the assembly. He said that his presence therewas quite accidental; but that he had been amply repaid for coming bywitnessing the goodly work to which this juvenile society was engaged. As there was a male branch association about to be organized, he beggedthe privilege of enrolling his name as an honorary member, and promisedto be a constant contributor to its funds. He concluded by saying, thatthough he had not before enjoyed the happiness of attending theiranniversaries, he should never again fail to be present (with thepermission of their worthy patroness) at the future meetings of thismost interesting society. We give the substance of this address, as oneof the signs of the times. The speaker was a wealthy merchant ofSt. John's. 

This society was organized in 1815. The _first proposal_ came from a few_little colored girls_, who, after hearing a sermon on the blessednessof doing good, wanted to know whether they might not have a society forraising money to give to the poor. 

This Juvenile Association has, since its organization, raised the sum of_fourteen hundred dollars_! Even this little association has experienceda great impulse from the free system. From a table of the annualreceipts since 1815, we found that the amount raised the two last years, is nearly equal to that received during any three years before. 

DR. DANIELL--WEATHERILL ESTATE. 

On our return from Thibou Jarvis's estate, we called at Weatherill's;but the manager, Dr. Daniell, not being at home, we left our names, withan intimation of the object of our visit. Dr. D. Called soon after atour lodgings. As authority, he is unquestionable. Before retiring fromthe practice of medicine, he stood at the head of his profession in theisland. He is now a member of the council, is proprietor of an estate, manager of another, and attorney for six. 

The fact that such men as Dr. D. , but yesterday large slaveholders, andstill holding high civil and political stations, should most cheerfullyfacilitate our anti-slavery investigations, manifesting a solicitude tofurnish us with all the information in their power, is of itself thehighest eulogy of the new system. The testimony of Dr. D. Will be foundmainly in a subsequent part of the work. We state, in passing, a fewincidentals. He was satisfied that immediate emancipation was betterpolicy than a temporary apprenticeship. The apprenticeship was a middlestate--kept the negroes in suspense--vexed and harrassed them--_fed themon a starved hope_; and therefore they would not be so likely, when theyultimately obtained freedom, to feel grateful, and conduct themselvesproperly. The reflection that they had been cheated out of their libertyfor six years would _sour their minds_. The planters in Antigua, bygiving immediate freedom, had secured the attachment of their people. 

The Doctor said he did not expect to make more than two thirds of hisaverage crop; but he assured us that this was owing solely to the wantof rain. There had been no deficiency of labor. The crops were _in_, inseason, throughout the island, and the estates were never under bettercultivation than at the present time. Nothing was wanting butRAIN--RAIN. 

He said that the West India planters were very anxious to _retain_ theservices of the negro population. 

Dr. D. Made some inquiries as to the extent of slavery in the UnitedStates, and what was doing for its abolition. He thought thatemancipation in our country would not be the result of a slow process. The anti-slavery feeling of the civilized world had become too strong towait for a long course of "preparations" and "ameliorations. " Andbesides, continued he, "the arbitrary control of a master can never be apreparation for freedom;--_sound and wholesome legal restraints are theonly preparative_. "

The Doctor also spoke of the absurdity and wickedness of the caste ofcolor which prevailed in the United States. It was the offspring ofslavery, and it must disappear when slavery is abolished. 

CONVERSATION WITH A NEGRO. 

We had a conversation one morning with a boatman, while he was rowing usacross the harbor of St. John's. He was a young negro man. Said he was aslave until emancipation. We inquired whether he heard any thing aboutemancipation before it took place. He said, yes--the slaves heard of it, but it was talked about so long that many of them lost all _believement_in it, got tired waiting, and bought their freedom; but he had morepatience, and got his for nothing. We inquired of him, what the negroesdid on the first of August, 1834. He said they all went to church andchapel. "Dare was more _religious_ on dat day dan you could tire of. "Speaking of the _law_, he said it was his _friend_. If there was no lawto take his part, a man, who was stronger than he, might step up andknock him down. But now no one dare do so; all were afraid of the_law_, --the law would never hurt any body who behaved well; but a masterwould _slash a fellow, let him do his best_. 

VISIT TO NEWFIELD. 

Drove out to Newfield, a Moravian station, about eight miles from St. John's. The Rev. Mr. Morrish, the missionary at that station, has underhis charge two thousand people. Connected with the station is a dayschool for children, and a night school for adults twice in each week. 

We looked in upon the day school, and found one hundred and fifteenchildren. The teacher and assistant were colored persons. Mr. M. Superintends. He was just dismissing the school, by singing and prayer, and the children marched out to the music of one of their little songs. During the afternoon, Mr. Favey, manager of a neighboring estate, (Lavicount's, ) called on us. 

He spoke of the tranquillity of the late Christmas holidays. They endedTuesday evening, and his people were all in the field at work onWednesday morning--there were no stragglers. Being asked to specify thechief advantages of the new system over slavery, he stated at once thefollowing things: 1st. It (free labor) is less _expensive_. 2d. It costsa planter far less _trouble_ to manage free laborers, than it did tomanage slaves. 3d. It had _removed all danger of insurrection, conflagration, and conspiracies_. 

ADULT SCHOOL. 

In the evening, Mr. Morrish's adult school for women was held. Aboutthirty women assembled from different estates--some walking severalmiles. Most of them were just beginning to read. They had just begun tolearn something about figures, and it was no small effort to add 4 and 2together. They were incredibly ignorant about the simplest matters. Whenthey first came to the school, they could not tell which was their rightarm or their right side, and they had scarcely mastered that secret, after repeated showing. We were astonished to observe that when Mr. M. Asked them to point to their cheeks, they laid their finger upon theirchins. They were much pleased with the evolutions of a dumb clock, whichMr. M. Exhibited, but none of them could tell the time of day by it. Such is a specimen of the intelligence of the Antigua negroes. Mr. M. Told us that they were a pretty fair sample of the country negroesgenerally. It surely cannot be said that they were uncommonly wellprepared for freedom; yet with all their ignorance, and with the merestinfantile state of intellect, they prove the peaceable subjects of law. That they have a great desire to learn, is manifest from their comingsuch distances, after working in the field all day. The school whichthey attend has been established since the abolition of slavery. 

The next morning, we visited the day school. It was opened with singingand prayer. The children knelt and repeated the Lord's Prayer after Mr. M. They then formed into a line and marched around the room, singing andkeeping the step. A tiny little one, just beginning to walk, occasionally straggled out of the line. The next child, not a littledispleased with such disorderly movements, repeatedly seized thestraggler by the frock, and pulled her into the ranks; but finallydespaired of reducing her to subordination. When the children had takentheir seats, Mr. M. , at our request, asked all those who were freebefore August, 1834, to rise. Only one girl arose, and she was in no waydistinguishable from a white child. The first exercise, was anexamination of a passage of scripture. The children were then questionedon the simple rules of addition and subtraction, and their answers wereprompt and accurate. 

DR. NUGENT. 

The hour having arrived when we were to visit a neighboring estate, Mr. M. Kindly accompanied us to Lyon's, the estate upon which Dr. Nugentresides. In respect to general intelligence, scientific acquirements, and agricultural knowledge, no man in Antigua stands higher than Dr. Nugent. He has long been speaker of the house of assembly, and isfavorably known in Europe as a geologist and man of science. He ismanager of the estate on which he resides, and proprietor of another. 

The Doctor informed us that the crop on his estate had almost totallyfailed, on account of the drought--being reduced from one hundred andfifty hogsheads, the average crop, to _fifteen_! His provision groundshad yielded almost nothing. The same soil which ordinarily produced tencart-loads of yams to the acre--the present season barely averaged _oneload to ten acres_! Yams were reduced from the dimensions of a man'shead, to the size of a radish. The _cattle were dying_ from want ofwater and grass. He had himself lost _five oxen_ within the past week. 

Previous to emancipation, said the Doctor, no man in the island dared toavow anti-slavery sentiments, if he wished to maintain a respectablestanding. Planters might have their hopes and aspirations; but theycould not make them public without incurring general odium, and beingdenounced as the enemies of their country. 

In allusion to the motives which prompted the legislature to reject theapprenticeship and adopt immediate emancipation, Dr. N. Said, "When wesaw that abolition was _inevitable_, we began, to inquire what would bethe safest course for getting rid of slavery. _We wished to letourselves down in the easiest manner possible_--THEREFORE WE CHOSEIMMEDIATE EMANCIPATION!" These were his words. 

On returning to the hospitable mansion of Mr. Morrish, we had anopportunity of witnessing a custom peculiar to the Moravians. It iscalled 'speaking. ' All the members of the church are required to call onthe missionary once a month, and particular days are appropriated to it. They come singly or in small companies, and the minister converses witheach individual. 

Mr. M. Manifested great faithfulness in this duty. He was affectionatein manner--entered into all the minutiae of individual and familyaffairs, and advised with them as a father with his children. We had anopportunity of conversing with some of those who came. We asked one oldman what he did on the "First of August?"[A] His reply was, "Massa, wewent to church, and tank de Lord for make a we all free. "

[Footnote A: By this phrase the freed people always understand the 1stof August, 1834, when slavery was abolished. ]

An aged infirm woman said to us, among other things, "Since de _free_come de massa give me no--no, nothing to eat--gets all from mycousins. " We next conversed with two men, who were masons on an estate. Being asked how they liked liberty, they replied, "O, it verycomfortable, Sir--very comfortable indeed. " They said, "that on the daywhen freedom came, they were as happy, as though they had just beengoing to heaven. " They said, now they had got free, they never would beslaves again. They were asked if they would not be willing to sellthemselves to a man who would treat them well. They replied immediatelythat they would be very willing to _serve_ such a man, but they wouldnot _sell themselves_ to the best person in the world! What finelogicians a slave's experience had made these men! Without any effortthey struck out a distinction, which has puzzled learned men in churchand state, the difference between _serving_ a man and _being hisproperty_. 

Being asked how they conducted themselves on the 1st of August they saidthey had no frolicking, but they all went to church to "_tank God formake a we free_. " They said, they were very desirous to have theirchildren learn all they could while they were young. We asked them ifthey did not fear that their children would become lazy if they went toschool all the time. One said, shrewdly, "Eh! nebber mind--dey _come to_by'm by--_belly 'blige 'em_ to work. "

In the evening Mr. M. Held a religious meeting in the chapel; the weeklymeeting for exhortation. He stated to the people the object of ourvisit, and requested one of us to say a few words. Accordingly, a shorttime was occupied in stating the number of slaves in America, and inexplaining their condition, physical, moral, and spiritual; and thecongregation were urged to pray for the deliverance of the millions ofour bondmen. They manifested much sympathy, and promised repeatedly topray that they might be "free like we. " At the close of the meeting theypressed around us to say "howdy, massa;" and when we left the chapel, they showered a thousand blessings upon us. Several of them, men andwomen, gathered about Mr. M. 's door after we went in, and wished to talkwith us. The men were mechanics, foremen, and watchmen; the women werenurses. During our interview, which lasted nearly an hour, these personsremained standing. 

When we asked them how they liked freedom, and whether it was betterthan slavery, they answered with a significant _umph_ and a shrug of theshoulders, as though they would say, "Why you ask dat question, massa?"

They said, "all the people went to chapel on the first of August, totank God for make such poor undeserving sinners as we free; we no nebberexpect to hab it. But it please de Lord to gib we free, and we tank himgood Lord for it. "

We asked them if they thought the wages they got (a shilling per day, orabout eleven cents, ) was enough for them. They said it seemed to be verysmall, and it was as much as they could do to get along with it; butthey could not get any more, and they had to be "satify and conten. "

As it grew late and the good people had far to walk, we shook hands withthem, and bade them good bye, telling them we hoped to meet them againin a world where all would be free. The next morning Mr. M. Accompaniedus to the residence of the Rev. Mr. Jones, the rector of St. Phillip's. 

Mr. J. Informed us that the planters in that part of the island weregratified with the working of the new system. He alluded to theprejudices of some against having the children educated, lest it shouldfoster indolence. But, said Mr. J. , the planters have always beenopposed to improvements, until they were effected, and their goodresults began to be manifest. They first insisted that the abolition ofthe slave-trade would ruin the colonies--next the _abolition of slavery_was to be the certain destruction of the islands--and now the educationof children is deprecated as fraught with disastrous consequences. 

FREY'S ESTATE--MR. HATLEY. 

Mr. Morrish accompanied us to a neighboring estate called Frey's, whichlies on the road from Newfield to English Harbor. Mr. Hatley, themanager, showed an enthusiastic admiration of the new system. Most ofhis testimony will be found in Chapter III. He said, that owing to thedry weather he should not make one third of his average crop. Yet hispeople had acted their part well. He had been encouraged by theirimproved industry and efficiency, to bring into cultivation lands thathad never before been tilled. 

It was delightful to witness the change which had been wrought in thisplanter by the abolition of slavery. Although accustomed for years tocommand a hundred human beings with absolute authority, he could rejoicein the fact that his power was wrested from him, and when asked tospecify the advantages of freedom over slavery, he named emphaticallyand above all others _the abolition of flogging_. Formerly, he said, itwas "_whip--whip--whip--incessantly_, but now we are relieved from thisdisagreeable task. "

THE AMERICAN CONSUL

We called on the American Consul, Mr. Higginbotham, at his countryresidence, about four miles from St. John's. Shortly after we reachedhis elevated and picturesque seat, we were joined by Mr. Cranstoun, aplanter, who had been invited to dine with us. Mr. C. Is a _coloredgentleman_. The Consul received him in such a manner as plainly showedthat they were on terms of intimacy. Mr. C. Is a gentleman ofintelligence and respectability, and occupies a station of trust andhonor in the island. On taking leave of us, he politely requested ourcompany at breakfast on a following morning, saying, he would send hisgig for us. 

At the urgent request of Mr. Bourne, of Miller's, we consented toaddress the people of his estate, on Sabbath evening. He sent in his gigfor us in the afternoon, and we drove out. 

At the appointed hour we went to the place of meeting. The chapel wascrowded with attentive listeners. Whenever allusions were made to thegrout blessings which God had conferred upon them in delivering themfrom bondage, the audience heartily responded in their rough but earnestway to the sentiments expressed. At the conclusion of the meeting, theygradually withdrew, bowing or courtesying as they passed us, anddropping upon our ear their gentle "good bye, massa. " During slaveryevery estate had its _dungeon_ for refractory slaves. Just as we wereleaving Miller's, me asked Mr. B. What had become of these dungeons. Heinstantly replied, "I'll show you one, " In a few moments we stood at thedoor of the old prison, a small stone building, strongly built, with twocells. It was a dismal looking den, surrounded by stables, pig-styes, and cattlepens. The door was off its hinges, and the entrance partlyfilled up with mason work. The sheep and goats went in and outat pleasure. 

We breakfasted one morning at the Villa estate, which lies within half amile of St. John's. The manager was less sanguine in his views ofemancipation than the planters generally. We were disposed to thinkthat, were it not for the force of public sentiment, he might declarehimself against it. His feelings are easily accounted for. The estate issituated so near the town; that his people are assailed by a variety oftemptations to leave their work; from which those on other estates areexempt. The manager admitted that the danger of insurrection wasremoved--crime was lessened--and the moral condition of society wasrapidly improving. 

A few days after, we went by invitation to a bazaar, or fair, which washeld in the court-house in St. John's. The avails were to beappropriated to the building of a new Wesleyan chapel in the town. Thecouncil chamber and the assembly's call were given for the purpose. Theformer spacious room was crowded with people of every class andcomplexion. The fair was got up by the _colored_ members of the Wesleyanchurch; nevertheless, some of the first ladies and gentlemen in townattended it, and mingled promiscuously in the throng. Wealthyproprietors, lawyers legislators, military officers in their uniform, merchants, etc. Swelled the crowd. We recognised a number of ladies whomwe had previously met at a fashionable dinner in St. John's. Coloredladies presided at the tables, and before them was spread a profusion ofrich fancy articles. Among a small number of books exhibited for salewere several copies of a work entitled "COMMEMORATIVE WREATH, " being acollection of poetical pieces relating to the abolition of slavery inthe West Indies. 

VISIT TO MR. CRANSTOUN'S. 

On the following morning Mr. C. 's gig came for us, and we drove out tohis residence. We were met at the door by the American Consul, whobreakfasted with us. When he had taken leave, Mr. C. Proposed that weshould go over his grounds. To reach the estate, which lies in abeautiful valley far below Mr. C. 's mountainous residence, we wereobliged to go on foot by a narrow path that wound along the sides of theprecipitous hills. This estate is the property of Mr. Athill, a coloredgentleman now residing in England. Mr. A. Is post-master general ofAntigua, one of the first merchants in St. John's, and was a member ofthe assembly until the close of 1836, when, on account of his continuedabsence, he resigned his seat. A high-born white man, the AttorneyGeneral, now occupies the same chair which this colored member vacated. Mr. C. Was formerly attorney for several estates, is now agent for anumber of them, and also a magistrate. 

He remarked, that since emancipation the nocturnal disorders andquarrels in the negro villages, which were incessant during slavery, hadnearly ceased. The people were ready and willing to work. He hadfrequently given his gang jobs, instead of paying them by the day. Thishad proved a gear stimulant to industry, and the work of the estate wasperformed so much quicker by this plan that it was less expensive thandaily wages. When they had jobs given them, they would sometimes go towork by three o'clock in the morning, and work by moonlight. When themoon was not shining, he had known them to kindle fires among the trashor dry cane leaves to work by. They would then continue working all dayuntil four o clock, stopping only for breakfast, and dispensing with theusual intermission from twelve to two. 

We requested him to state briefly what were in his estimation theadvantages of the free system over slavery. He replied thus: 1st. Thediminished expense of free labor. 2d. _The absence of coercion_. 3d. Thegreater facility in managing an estate. Managers had not half theperplexity and trouble in watching, driving, &c. They could leave theaffairs of the estate in the hands of the people with safety. 4th. _Thefreedom from danger_. They had now put away all fears of insurrections, robbery, and incendiarism. 

There are two reflections which the perusal of these items will probablysuggest to most minds: 1st. The coincidence in the replies of differentplanters to the question--What are the advantages of freedom overslavery? These replies are almost identically the same in every case, though given by men who reside in different parts of the island, andhave little communication with each other. 2d. They all speakexclusively of the advantages to the _master_, and say nothing of thebenefit accruing to the emancipated. We are at some loss to decidewhether this arose from indifference to the interests of theemancipated, or from a conviction that the blessings of freedom to themwere self-evident and needed no specification. 

While we were in the boiling-house we witnessed a scene whichillustrated one of the benefits of freedom to the slave; it came quiteopportunely, and supplied the deficiency in the manager's enumeration ofadvantages. The head boiler was performing the work of 'striking off;'i. E. Of removing the liquor, after it had been sufficiently boiled, fromthe copper to the coolers. The liquor had been taken out of the boilerby the skipper, and thence was being conducted to the coolers by a longopen spout. By some means the spout became choaked, and the liquor beganto run over. Mr. C. Ordered the man to let down the valve, but he becameconfused, and instead of letting go the string which lifted the valve, he pulled on it the more. The consequence was that the liquor pouredover the sides of the spout in a torrent. The manager screamed at thetop of his voice--"_let down the valve, let it down_!" But the poor man, more and more frightened, hoisted it still higher, --and the preciousliquid--pure sugar--spread in a thick sheet over the earthen floor. Themanager at last sprang forward, thrust aside the man, and stopped themischief, but not until many gallons of sugar were lost. Such anaccident as this, occurring during slavery, would have cost the negro asevere flogging. As it was, however, in the present case, although Mr. C. 'looked daggers, ' and exclaimed by the workings of his countenance, 'a kingdom for a _cat_, '[A] yet the severest thing which he could saywas, "You bungling fellow--if you can't manage better than this, I shallput some other person in your place--that's all. " '_That_'s ALL' indeed, but it would not have been all, three years ago. The negro replied tohis chidings in a humble way, saying 'I couldn't help it, sir, Icouldn't help it' Mr. C. Finally turned to us, and said in a calmertone, "The poor fellow got confused, and was frightened half to death. "

[Footnote A: A species of whip, well know in the West Indies. ]

VISIT TO GRACE BAY. 

We made a visit to the Moravian settlement at Grace Bay, which is on theopposite side of the island. We called, in passing, at Cedar Hall, aMoravian establishment four miles from town. Mr. Newby, one of themissionaries stationed at this place, is the oldest preacher of theGospel in the island. He has been in Antigua for twenty-seven years. Heis quite of the _old way of thinking_ on all subjects, especially thedivine right of kings, and the scriptural sanction of slavery. Nevertheless, he was persuaded that emancipation had been a greatblessing to the island and to all parties concerned. When he first cameto Antigua in 1809, he was not suffered to teach the slaves. After sometime he ventured to keep an evening school _in a secret way_. Now thereis a day school of one hundred and twenty children connected with thestation. It has been formed since emancipation. 

From Cedar Hail we proceeded to Grace Bay. On the way we met some negromen at work on the road, and stopped our chaise to chat with them. Theytold us that they lived on Harvey's estate, which they pointed out tous. Before emancipation that estate had four hundred slaves on it, but agreat number had since left because of ill usage during slavery. Theywould not live on the estate, because the same manager remained, andthey could not trust him. 

They told us they were Moravians, and that on the first of August theyall went to the Moravian chapel at Grace Bay, 'to tank and praise degood Savior for make a we free. ' We asked them if they still likedliberty; they said, "Yes, massa, we all quite _proud_ to be free. " Thenegroes use the word _proud_ to express a strong feeling of delight. Oneman said, "One morning as I was walking along the road all alone, Iprayed that the Savior would make me free, for then I could be so happy. I don't know what made me pray so, for I wasn't looking for de free; butplease massa, _in one month de free come_. "

They declared that they worked a great deal better since emancipation, because they were _paid for it_. To be sure, said they, we get verylittle wages, but it is better than none. They repeated it again andagain, that men could not be made to work well by _flogging_ them, "_itwas no use to try it_. "

We asked one of the men, whether he would not be willing to be a slaveagain provided he was _sure_ of having a kind master. "Heigh! me massa, "said he, "me neber slave no more. A good massa a very good ting, _butfreedom till better_. " They said that it was a great blessing to them tohave their children go to school. After getting them to show us the wayto Grace Bay, we bade them good bye. 

We were welcomed at Grace Bay by the missionary, and his wife, Mr. AndMrs. Möhne. [B] The place where these missionaries reside is a beautifulspot. Their dwelling-house and the chapel are situated on a highpromontory, almost surrounded by the sea. A range of tall hills in therear cuts off the view of the island, giving to the missionary stationan air of loneliness and seclusion truly impressive. In this sequesteredspot, the found Mr. And Mrs. M. Living alone. They informed us that theyrarely have white visiters, but their house is the constant resort ofthe negroes, who gather there after the toil of the day to 'speak' abouttheir souls. Mr. And Mrs. M. Are wholly engrossed in their labors oflove. They find their happiness in leading their numerous flock "by thestill waters and the green pastures" of salvation. Occupied in thisdelightful work, they covet not other employments, nor other company, and desire no other earthly abode than their own little hill-embosomed, sea-girt missionary home. 

[Footnote B: Pronounced Maynuh. ]

There are a thousand people belonging to the church at this station, each of whom, the missionaries see once every month. A day school hasbeen lately established, and one hundred children are already inattendance. After dinner we walked out accompanied by the missionariesto enjoy the beautiful sunset. It is one of the few _harmless_ luxuriesof a West India climate, to go forth after the heat of the day is spentand the sun is sinking in the sea, and enjoy the refreshing coolness ofthe air. The ocean stretched before us, motionless after the turmoil ofthe day, like a child which has rocked itself asleep, yet indicating byits mighty breathings as it heaved along the beach, that it onlyslumbered. As the sun went down, the full moon arose, only lessluminous, and gradually the stars began to light up their beaming fires. The work of the day now being over, the weary laborers were seen comingfrom different directions to have a 'speak' with the missionaries. Mr. M. Stated a fact illustrative of the influence of the missionaries overthe negroes. Some time ago, the laborers on a certain estate becamedissatisfied with the wages they were receiving, and refused to workunless they were increased. The manager tried in vain to reconcile hispeople to the grievance of which they complained, and then sent to Mr. M. , requesting him to visit the estate, and use his influence topersuade the negroes, most of whom belonged to his church, to work atthe usual terms. Mr. M. Sent word to the manager that it was not hisprovince, as minister, to interfere with the affairs of any estate; buthe would talk with the people about it individually, when they came to'speak. ' Accordingly he spoke to each one, as he came, in a kind manner, advising him to return to his work, and live as formerly. In a shorttime peace and confidence were restored, and the whole gang to a manwere in the field. 

Mr. And Mrs. M. Stated that notwithstanding the very low rate of wages, which was scarcely sufficient to support life, they had never seen asingle individual who desired to return to the condition of a slave. Even the old and infirm, who were sometimes really in a suffering statefrom neglect of the planters and from inability of their relativesadequately to provide for them, expressed the liveliest gratitude forthe great blessing which the Savior had given them. They would often sayto Mrs. M. "Why, Missus, old sinner just sinkin in de grave, but God letme old eyes see dis blessed sun. "

The missionaries affirmed that the negroes were an affectionatepeople--remarkably so. Any kindness shown them by a white person, wastreasured up and never forgotten. On the other hand, the slightestneglect or contempt from a white person, was keenly felt. They are veryfond of saying '_howdy_' to white people; but if the salutation is notreturned, or noticed kindly, they are not likely to repeat it to thesame individual. To shake hands with a white person is a gratificationwhich they highly prize. Mrs. M. Pleasantly remarked, that after serviceon Sabbath, she was usually wearied out with saying _howdy_, and_shaking hands_. 

During the evening we had some conversation with two men who came to'speak. ' They spoke about the blessings of liberty, and their gratitudeto God for making them free. They spoke also, with deep feeling, of thestill greater importance of being free from _sin_. That, they said, wasbetter. _Heaven was the first best, and freedom was the next best_. 

They gave us some account, in the course of the evening, of an agedsaint called Grandfather Jacob, who lived on a neighboring estate. Hehad been a _helper_[A] in the Moravian church, until he became tooinfirm to discharge the duties connected with that station. Being forthe same reason discharged from labor on the estate, he now occupiedhimself in giving religious instruction to the other superannuatedpeople on the estate. 

[Footnote A: An office somewhat similar to that of deacon]

Mrs. M. Said it would constitute an era in the life of the old man, ifhe could have an interview with two strangers from a distant land;accordingly, she sent a servant to ask him to come to the mission-houseearly the next morning. The old man was prompt to obey the call. He lefthome, as he said, 'before the gun fire'--about five o'clock--and camenearly three miles on foot. He was of a slender form, and had been tall, but age and slavery had bowed him down. He shook us by the hand verywarmly, exclaiming, "God bless you, God bless you--me bery glad to seeyou. " He immediately commenced giving us an account of his conversion. Said he, putting his hand on his breast, "You see old Jacob? de old_sinner_ use to go on _drinkin', swearin', dancin', fightin'!_ No God--no Savior--no soul! _When old England and de Merica fall out de firsttime_, old Jacob was a man--a wicked sinner!--drink rum, fight--love tofight! Carry coffin to de grabe on me head; put dead body underground--dance over it--den fight and knock man down--go 'way, drink rum, den take de fiddle. And so me went on, just so, till me get sick andgoing to die--thought when me die, dat be de end of me;--_den de Saviorcome to me!_ Jacob love de Savior, and been followin' de good Saviorever since. " He continued his story, describing the opposition he had tocontend with, and the sacrifices he made to go to church. After workingon the estate till six o'clock at night, he and several others wouldeach take a large stone on his head and start for St. John's; nine milesover the hills. They carried the stones to aid is building the Moravianchapel at Spring Garden, St. John's. After he had finished this account, he read to us, in a highly animated style, some of the hymns which hetaught to the old people, and then sung one of them. These exercisescaused the old man's heart to burn within him, and again he ran over hispast life, his early wickedness, and the grace that snatched him fromruin, while the mingled tides of gratitude burst forth from heart, andeyes, and tongue. 

When we turned his attention to the temporal freedom he had received, heinstantly caught the word FREE, and exclaimed vehemently, "O yes, meMassa--dat is anoder kind blessin from de Savior! Him make we all_free_. Can never praise him too much for dat. " We inquired whether hewas now provided for by the manager. He said he was not--never receivedany thing from him--his _children_ supported him. We then asked himwhether it was not better to be a slave if he could get food andclothing, than to be free and not have enough. He darted his quick eyeat us and said 'rader be free _still_. ' He had been severely floggedtwice since his conversion, for leaving his post as watchman to bury thedead. The minister was sick, and he was applied to, in his capacity of_helper_, to perform funeral rites, and he left his watch to do it. Hesaid, his heavenly Master called him, and he _would_ go though heexpected a flogging. He must serve his Savior whatever come. "Can't putwe in dungeon _now_, " said Grandfather Jacob with a triumphant look. 

When told that there were slaves in America, and that they were not yetemancipated, he exclaimed, "Ah, de Savior make we free, and he will makedem free too. He come to Antigo first--he'll be in Merica soon. "

When the time had come for him to leave, he came and pressed our hands, and fervently gave us his patriarchal blessing. Our interview withGrandfather Jacob can never be forgotten. Our hearts, we trust, willlong cherish his heavenly savor--well assured that if allowed a part inthe resurrection of the just, we shall behold his tall form, erect inthe vigor of immortal youth, amidst the patriarchs of past generations. 

After breakfast we took leave of the kind-hearted missionaries, whosesingular devotedness and delightful spirit won greatly upon ouraffections, and bent our way homeward by another route. 

MR. SCOTLAND'S ESTATE. 

We called at the estate of Mr. J. Scotland, Jr. , barrister, and memberof the assembly. We expected to meet with the proprietor, but themanager informed us that pressing business at court had called him toSt. John's on the preceding day. The testimony of the manager concerningthe dry weather, the consequent failure in the crop, the industry of thelaborers, and so forth, was similar to that which we had heard before. He remarked that he had not been able to introduce job-work among hispeople. It was a new thing with them, and they did not understand it. Hehad lately made a proposal to give the gang four dollars per acre forholding a certain field. They asked a little time to consider upon sonovel a proposition. He gave them half a day, and at the end of thattime asked them what their conclusion was. One, acting as spokesman forthe rest, said, "We rada hab de shilling wages. " That was _certain_; thejob might yield them more, and it might fall short--quite a common sensetransaction!

At the pressing request of Mr. Armstrong we spent a day with him atFitch's Creek. Mr. A. Received us with the most cordial hospitality, remarking that he was glad to have another opportunity to state somethings which he regarded as obstacles to the complete success of theexperiment in Antigua. One was the entire want of concert among theplanters. There was no disposition to meet and compare views respectingdifferent modes of agriculture, treatment of laborers, and employment ofmachinery. Another evil was, allowing people to live on the estates whotook no part in the regular labor of cultivation. Some planters hadadapted the foolish policy of encouraging such persons to remain on theestates, in order that they might have help at hand in cases ofemergency. Mr. A. Strongly condemned this policy. It withheld laborersfrom the estates which needed them; it was calculated to make theregular field hands discontented, and it offered a direct encouragementto the negroes to follow irregular modes of living. A third obstacle tothe successful operation of free labor, was the absence of the mostinfluential proprietors. The consequences of absenteeism were veryserious. The proprietors were of all men the most deeply interested inthe soil; and no attorneys, agents, or managers, whom they could employ, would feel an equal interest in it, nor make the same efforts to securethe prosperous workings of the new system. 

In the year 1833, when the abolition excitement was at its height inEngland, and the people were thundering at the doors of parliament foremancipation, Mr. A. Visited that country for his health. To use his ownexpressive words, he "got a terrible scraping wherever he went. " He saidhe could not travel in a stage-coach, or go into a party, or attend areligious meeting, without being attacked. No one the most remotelyconnected with the system could have peace there. He said it wasastonishing to see what a feeling was abroad, how mightily the mind ofthe whole country, peer and priest and peasant, was wrought up. Thenational heart seemed on fire. 

Mr. A. Said, he became a religious man whilst the manager of a slaveestate, and when he became a Christian, he became an abolitionist. Yetthis man, while his conscience was accusing him--while he was longingand praying for abolition--did not dare open his mouth in public tourge it on! How many such men are there in our southern states--men whoare inwardly cheering on the abolitionist in his devoted work, and yetsend up no voice to encourage him, but perhaps are traducing anddenouncing him!

We received a call at our lodgings in St. John's from the Archdeacon. Hemade interesting statements respecting the improvement of the negroes indress, morals, education and religion, since emancipation. He hadresided in the island some years previous to the abolition of slavery, and spoke from personal observation. 

Among many other gentlemen who honored us with a call about the sametime, was the Rev. Edward Fraser, Wesleyan missionary, and a coloredgentleman. He is a native of Bermuda, and ten years ago was a _slave_. He received a mercantile education, and was for several years theconfidential clerk of his master. He was treated with much regard andgeneral kindness. He said he was another Joseph--every thing which hismaster had was in his hands. The account books and money were allcommitted to him. He had servants under him, and did almost as hepleased--except becoming free. Yet he must say, as respected himself, kindly as he was treated, that slavery was a _grievous wrong, mostunjust and sinful_. The very thought--and it often came over him--thathe was a slave, brought with it a terrible sense of degradation. It cameover the soul like a frost. His sense of degradation grew more intensein proportion as his mind became more cultivated. He said, _educationwas a disagreeable companion for a slave_. But while he said this, Mr. F. Spoke very respectfully and tenderly of his master. He would notwillingly utter a word which would savor of unkindness towards him. Suchwas the spirit of one whose best days had been spent under the exactionsof slavery. He was a local preacher in the Wesleyan connection while hewas a slave, and was liberated by his master, without remuneration, atthe request of the British Conference, who wished to employ him as anitinerant. He is highly esteemed both for his natural talents andgeneral literary acquisitions and moral worth. The Conference haverecently called him to England to act as an agent in that country, toprocure funds for educational and religious purposes in these islands. 

MEETING OF WESLEYAN MISSIONARIES. 

As we were present at the annual meeting of the Wesleyan missionariesfor this district, we gained much information concerning the object ofour mission, as there were about twenty missionaries, mostly fromDominica, Montserrat, Nevis, St. Christophers, Anguilla, and Tortola. 

Not a few of them were men of superior acquirements, who had sacrificedease and popular applause at home, to minister to the outcast andoppressed. They are the devoted friends of the black man. It wassoul-cheering to hear them rejoice over the abolition of slavery. It wasas though their own limbs had been of a sudden unshackled, and a highwall had fallen from around them. Liberty had broken upon them like thebursting forth of the sun to the watchman on his midnight tower. 

During the session, the mission-house was thrown open to us, and wefrequently dined with the numerous company of missionaries, who thereate at a common table. Mrs. F. , wife of the colored clergyman mentionedabove, presided at the social board. The missionaries and their wivesassociated with Mr. And Mrs. F. As unreservedly as though they wore themost delicate European tint. The first time we took supper with them, atone side of a large table, around which were about twenty missionarieswith their wives, sat Mrs. F. , with the furniture of a tea table beforeher. On the other side, with the coffee urn and its accompaniments, satthe wife of a missionary, with a skin as lily-hued as the fairestCaucasian. Nearly opposite to her, between two white preachers, sat acolored missionary. Farther down, with the chairman of the district onhis right, sat another colored gentleman, a merchant and local preacherin Antigua. Such was the uniform appearance of the table, excepting thatthe numbers were occasionally swelled by the addition of several othercolored gentlemen and ladies. On another occasion, at dinner, we had aninteresting conversation, in which the whole company of missionariesparticipated. The Rev. M. Banks, of St. Bartholomews, remarked, that oneof the grossest of all absurdities was that of _preparing men forfreedom_. Some, said he, pretend that immediate emancipation is unsafe, but it was evident to him that if men _are peaceable while they areslaves_, they might be trusted in any other condition, for they couldnot possibly be placed in one more aggravating. If _slavery_ is a safesystem, _freedom_ surely will be. There can be no better evidence that apeople are prepared for liberty, _than their patient endurance ofslavery_. He expressed the greatest regret at the conduct of theAmerican churches, particularly that of the Methodist church. "Tellthem, " said he, "on your return, that the missionaries in these islandsare cast down and grieved when they think of their brethren in America. We feel persuaded that they are holding back the car of freedom; theyare holding up the gospel. " Rev. Mr. Cheesbrough, of St. Christopher's, said, "Tell them that much as we desire to visit the United States, wecannot go so long as we are prohibited from speaking against slavery, orwhile that _abominable prejudice_ is encouraged in the churches. _Wecould not administer the sacrament to a church in which the distinctionof colors was maintained. _" "Tell our brethren of the Wesleyanconnection, " said Mr. B. Again, "that slavery must be abolished by_Christians_, and the church ought to take her stand at once againstit. " We told him that a large number of Methodists and other Christianshad engaged already in the work, and that the number was dailyincreasing. "That's right, " he exclaimed, "agitate, _agitate_, AGITATE!_You must succeed_: the Lord is with you. " He dwelt particularly on theobligations resting upon Christians in the free states. He said, "Menmust be at a distance from slavery to judge of its real character. Persons living in the midst of it, gradually become familiarized withits horrors and woes, so that they can view calmly, exhibitions fromwhich they would once have shrunk in dismay. "

We had some conversation with Rev. Mr. Walton, of Montserrat. Aftermaking a number of statements in reference to the apprenticeship there, Mr. W. Stated that there had been repeated instances of planters_emancipating all their apprentices_. He thought there had been a caseof this kind every month for a year past. The planters were becomingtired of the apprenticeship, and from mere considerations of interestand comfort, were adopting free labor. 

A new impulse had been given to education in Montserrat, and schoolswere springing up in all parts of the island. Mr. W. Thought there wasno island in which education was so extensive. Religious influences werespreading among the people of all classes. Marriages were occurringevery week. 

We had an interview with the Rev. Mr. H. , an aged colored minister. Hehas a high standing among his brethren, for talents, piety, andusefulness. There are few ministers in the West Indies who haveaccomplished more _for the cause of Christ_ than has Mr. H. [A]

[Footnote A: It is a fact well known in Antigua and Barbadoes, that thiscolored missionary has been instrumental in the conversion of severalclergymen of the Episcopal Church in those islands, who are nowcurrently devoted men. ]

He said he had at different periods been stationed in Antigua, Anguilla, Tortola, and some other islands. He said that the negroes in the otherislands in which he had preached, were as intelligent as those inAntigua, and in every respect as well prepared for freedom. He was inAnguilla when emancipation took place. The negroes there were kept atwork on the very _day that freedom came!_ They worked as orderly as onany other day. The Sabbath following, he preached to them on their newstate, explaining the apprenticeship to them. He said the wholecongregation were in a state of high excitement, weeping and shouting. One man sprang to his feet, and exclaimed, 'Me never forget God and KingWilliam. ' This same man was so full that he went out of the chapel, andburst into loud weeping. 

The preaching of the missionaries, during their stay in Antigua, wasfull of allusions to the abolition of slavery in the West Indies, andespecially to the entire emancipation in Antigua. Indeed, we rarelyattended a meeting in Antigua, of any kind, in which the lateemancipation was not in some way alluded to with feelings of gratitudeand exultation. In the ordinary services of the Sabbath, this subjectwas almost uniformly introduced, either in the prayer or sermon. Whenever thanksgiving was rendered to God for favors, _freedom_ wasamong the number. 

The meeting of the district afforded an opportunity for holding a numberof anniversary meetings. We notice them here, believing that they willpresent the most accurate view that can be given of the religious andmoral condition of Antigua. 

On the evening of the 1st of February, the first anniversary of theAntigua Temperance Society was held in the Wesleyan chapel. We had beeninvited to attend and take a part in the exercises. The chapel wascrowded with a congregation of all grades and complexions. Colored andwhite gentlemen appeared together on the platform. We intimated to amember of the committee, that we could not conscientiously speak withoutadvocating _total abstinence_, which doctrine, we concluded from thenature of the pledge, (which only included ardent spirits, ) would not bewell received. We were assured that we might use the most perfectfreedom in avowing our sentiments. 

The speakers on this occasion were two planters, a Wesleyan missionary, and ourselves. All advocated the doctrine of total abstinence. The firstspeaker, a planter, concluded by saying, that it was commonly believedthat wine and malt were rendered absolutely indispensable in the WestIndies, by the exhausting nature of the climate. But facts disprove thetruth of this notion. "I am happy to say that I can now present thislarge assembly with ocular demonstration of the fallacy of the popularopinion. I need only point you to the worthy occupants of this platform. Who are the healthiest among them? _The cold water drinkers--theteetotallers_! We can assure you that we have not lost a pound of flesh, by abandoning our cups. We have tried the cold water experimentfaithfully, and we can testify that since we became cold water men, _wework better, we eat better, we sleep better, and we do every thingbetter than before_. " The next speaker, a planter also, dwelt on theinconsistency of using wine and malt, and at the same time calling uponthe poor to give up ardent spirits. He said this inconsistency had beencast in his teeth by his negroes. He never could prevail upon them tostop drinking rum, until he threw away his wine and porter. Now he andall his people were teetotallists. There were two other planters who hadtaken the same course. He stated, as the result of a careful calculationwhich he had made, that he and the two planters referred to, had been inthe habit of giving to their people not less than _one thousand gallonsof rum annually_. The whole of this was now withheld, and molasses andsugar were given instead. The missionary who followed them was not awhit behind in boldness and zeal, and between them, they left us littleto say in our turn on the subject of total abstinence. 

On the following evening the anniversary of the Bible Society was heldin the Moravian school-room. During the day we received a note from theSecretary of the Society, politely requesting us to be present. Thespacious school-room was filled, and the broad platform crowded withchurch clergymen, Moravian ministers, and Wesleyan missionaries, coloredand white. The Secretary, a Moravian minister, read the twenty-firstannual report. It spoke emphatically of 'the joyful event ofemancipation', and in allusion to an individual in England, of whom itspoke in terms of high commendation, it designated him, as one "who wasdistinguished for his efforts in the abolition of slavery. " The adoptionof the report was moved by one of the Wesleyan missionaries, who spokeat some length. He commenced by speaking of "the peculiar emotions withwhich he always arose to address an assembly of the free people ofAntigua. " It had been his lot for a year past to labor in a colony[A]where slavery still reigned, and he could not but thank God for thehappiness of setting his foot once more on the free soil of anemancipated island. 

[Footnote A: St. Martin's]

Perhaps the most interesting meeting in the series, was the anniversaryof the Wesleyan Missionary Society of Antigua. Both parts of the daywere devoted to this anniversary. The meetings were held in the Wesleyanchapel, which was filled above and below, with the usual commixture ofwhite, colored, and black. We saw, as on former occasions, severalcolored gentlemen seated among the ministers. After the usualintroductory exercises of singing and prayer, the annual report was readby the Secretary, Rev. E. Fraser, the colored minister alreadymentioned. It was terse, direct, and business like. The meeting was thenaddressed by a Moravian missionary. He dwelt upon the decrease of thesectarian spirit, and hailed the coming of Christian charity andbrotherly communion. He opened his Bible, and read about the middle wallof partition being broken down. "Yes, brother, " said Mr. Horne, "andevery other wall. " "The rest are but paper walls, " responded thespeaker, "and when once the middle wall is removed, these will soon beburned up by the fire of Christian love. "

The next speaker was a Wesleyan missionary of Nevis. He spoke of thevarious instrumentalities which were now employed for the conversion ofthe world. "We welcome, " said he, "the co-operation of America, and withall our hearts do we rejoice that she is now beginning to put away fromher that vile system of oppression which has hitherto crippled her moralenergy and her religious enterprise. " Then turning and addressinghimself to us, he said, "We hail you, dear brethren, as co-workers withus. Go forward in your blessed undertaking. Be not dismayed with thehuge dimensions of that vice which you are laboring to overthrow! Be notdisheartened by the violence and menaces of your enemies! Go forward. Proclaim to the church and to your countrymen the sinfulness of slavery, and be assured that soon the fire of truth will melt down the massychains of oppression. " He then urged upon the people of Antigua _their_peculiar obligations to extend the gospel to other lands. It was the_Bible_ that made them free, and he begged them to bear in mind thatthere were millions of their countrymen _still in the chains ofslavery_. This appeal was received with great enthusiasm. 

We then spoke on a resolution which had been handed us by the Secretary, and which affirmed "that the increasing and acknowledged usefulness ofChristian missions was a subject of congratulation. " We spoke of theincrease of missionary operations in our own country, and of the spiritof self-denial which was widely spreading, particularly among youngChristians. We spoke of that accursed thing in our midst, which not onlytended greatly to kill the spirit of missions in the church, but whichdirectly withheld _many_ young men from foreign missionary fields. Ithad made more than two millions of heathen in our country; and so longas the cries of these _heathen at home_ entered the ears of our youngmen and young women, they could not, dare not, go abroad. How could theygo to Ceylon, to Burmah, or to Hindostan, with the cry of their_country's heathen_ ringing their ears! How could they tear themselvesaway from famished millions kneeling at their feet in chains and beggingfor the bread of life, and roam afar to China or the South Sea Islands!Increasing numbers filed with a missionary spirit felt that theirobligations were at home, and they were resolved that if they could notcarry the gospel _forthwith_ to the slaves, they would labor for theoverthrow of that system which made it a crime punishable with death topreach salvation to the poor. In conclusion, the hope was expressed thatthe people of Antigua--so highly favored with freedom, education, andreligion, would never forget that in the nation whence we came, therewere _two millions and a half of heathen_, who, instead of bread, received stones and scorpions; instead of the Bible, bolts and bars;instead of the gospel, chains and scourgings; instead of the hope ofsalvation thick darkness and despair. They were entreated to rememberthat in the gloomy dungeon, from which they had lately escaped therewere deeper and more dismal cells, _yet filled_ with millions of theircountrymen. The state of feeling produced by this reference to slavery, was such as might be anticipated in an audience, a portion of which wereonce slaves, and still remembered freshly the horrors of their latecondition. 

The meeting was concluded after a sitting of more than four hours. Theattendance in the evening was larger than on any former occasion. Manywere unable to get within the chapel. We were again favored with anopportunity of urging a variety of considerations touching the generalcause, as well as those drawn from the condition of our own country, andthe special objects of our mission. 

The Rev. Mr. Horne spoke very pointedly on the subject of slavery. Hebegan by saying that he had been _so long accustomed_ to speakcautiously about slavery that he was even now almost afraid of his ownvoice when he alluded to it. [General laughter. ] But he would rememberthat he was in a _free island_, and that he spoke to _freemen_, andtherefore he had nothing to fear. 

He said the peace and prosperity of these colonies is a matter of greatmoment in itself considered, but it was only when viewed as an exampleto the rest of the slaveholding world that its real magnitude andimportance was perceived. The influence of abolition, and especially ofentire emancipation in Antigua, must be very great. The eyes of theworld were fixed upon her. The great nation of America must now soon_toll the knell_ of slavery, and this event will be hastened by thehappy operation of freedom here. 

Mr. H. Proceeded to say, that during the agitation of the slaveryquestion at home, he had been suspected of not being a friend toemancipation; and it would probably be remembered by some present thathis name appeared in the report of the committee of the House ofCommons, where it stood in _no enviable society_. But whatever might bethought of his course at that time, he felt assumed that the day was notfar distant when he should be able to clear up every thing connectedwith it. It was not a little gratifying to us to see that the time hadcome in the West Indies, when the suspicion of having been opposed toemancipation is a stain upon the memory from which a public man is gladto vindicate himself. 

RESOLUTION OF THE MEETING. 

After a few other addresses were delivered, and just previous to thedismission of the assembly, Rev. Mr. Cox, Chairman of the District, arose and said, that as this was the last of the anniversary meetings, he begged to move a resolution which he had no doubt would meet with thehearty and unanimous approval of that large assembly. He then read thefollowing resolution, which we insert here as an illustration of theuniversal sympathy in the objects of our mission. As the resolution isnot easily divisible, we insert the whole of it, making no ado on thescore of modesty. 

"Resolved, that this meeting is deeply impressed with the importance ofthe services rendered this day to the cause of missions by theacceptable addresses of Mr. ----, from America, and begs especially toexpress to him and his friend Mr. ----, the assurance of their sinceresympathy in the object of their visit to Antigua. "

Mr. C. Said he would make no remarks in support of the resolution he hadjust read for he did not deem them necessary. He would therefore proposeat once that the vote be taken by rising. The Chairman read theresolution accordingly, and requested those who were in favor ofadopting it, to rise. Not an individual in the crowded congregation kepthis seat. The masters and the slaves of yesterday--all rose together--aphalanx of freemen, to testify "their sincere sympathy" in the effortsand objects of American abolitionists. 

After the congregation had resumed their seats, the worthy Chairmanaddressed us briefly in behalf of the congregation, saying, that it wasincumbent on him to convey to us the unanimous expression of sympathy onthe part of this numerous assembly in the object of our visit to theisland. We might regard it as an unfeigned assurance that we werewelcomed among them, and that the cause which we were laboring topromote was dear to the hearts of the people of Antigua. 

This was the testimonial of an assembly, many of whom, only three yearsbefore, were themselves slaveholders. It was not given at a meetingspecially concerted and called for the purpose, but grew up unexpectedlyand spontaneously out of the feelings of the occasion, a free-willoffering, the cheerful impulsive gush of _free_ sympathies. We returnedour acknowledgments in the best manner that our excited emotionspermitted. 

LAYING THE CORNER STONE OF A WESLEYAN CHAPEL. 

The corner stone of a new Wesleyan Chapel was laid in St. John's, duringthe district meeting. The concourse of spectators was immense. At eleveno'clock religious exercises were held in the old chapel. At the close ofthe service a procession was formed, composed of Wesleyan missionaries, Moravian ministers, clergymen of the church, members of the council andof the assembly, planters, merchants, and other gentlemen, and thechildren of the Sunday and infant schools, connected with theWesleyan Chapel. 

As the procession moved to the new site, a hymn was sung, in which thewhole procession united. Our position in the procession, to which wewere assigned by the marshal, and much to our satisfaction, was ateither side of two colored gentlemen, with whom we walked, four abreast. 

On one side of the foundation a gallery had been raised, which wascovered with an awning, and was occupied by a dense mass of white andcolored ladies. On another side the gentlemen of the procession stood. The other sides were thronged with a promiscuous multitude of allcolors. After singing and prayer, the Hon. Nicholas Nugent, speaker ofthe house of assembly, descended from the platform by a flight of stairsinto the cellar, escorted by two missionaries. The sealed phial was thenplaced in his hand, and Mr. P. , a Wesleyan missionary, read from a paperthe inscription written on the parchment within the phial. The closingwords of the inscription alluded to the present condition of the island, thus: "The demand for a new and larger place of worship was pressing, and the progress of public liberality advancing on a scale highlycreditable to this FREE, enlightened, and evangelized colony. " TheSpeaker then placed the phial in the cavity of the rock. When it wasproperly secured, and the corner stone lowered down by pullies to itsplace, he struck three blows upon it with a mallet, and then returned tothe platform. The most eager curiosity was exhibited on every side towitness the ceremony. 

At the conclusion of it, several addresses were delivered. The speakerswere, Rev. Messrs. Horne and Harvey, and D. B. Garling, Esq. Mr. Horne, after enumerating several things which were deserving of praise, andworthy of imitation, exclaimed, "The grand crowning glory of all--thatwhich places Antigua above all her sister colonies--was the magnanimousmeasure of the legislature in entirely abolishing slavery. " It wasestimated that there were more than two thousand persons assembled onthis occasion. The _order_ which prevailed among such a concourse washighly creditable to the island. It was pleasing to see the perfectintermixture of colors and conditions; not less so to observe the kindlybearing of the high toward the low. [A] After the exercises werefinished, the numerous assembly dispersed quietly. Not an instance ofdrunkenness, quarrelling, or anger, fell under our notice duringthe day. 

[Footnote A: During Mr. Home's address, we observed Mr. A. , a planter, send his umbrella to a negro man who stood at the corner-stone, exposedto the sun. ]

RESOLUTIONS OF THE MISSIONARIES. 

Toward the close of the district meeting, we received a kind note fromthe chairman, inviting us to attend the meeting, and receive in person, a set of resolutions which had been drawn up at our request, and signedby all the missionaries. At the hour appointed, we repaired to thechapel. The missionaries all arose as we entered, and gave us abrotherly salutation. We were invited to take our seats at the righthand of the chairman. He then, in the presence of the meeting, read tous the subjoined resolutions; we briefly expressed, in behalf ofourselves and our cause, the high sense we had of the value of thetestimony, which the meeting had been pleased to give us. The venerablefather Horne then prayed with us, commending our cause to the blessingof the Head of the church, and ourselves to the protection and guidanceof our heavenly Father. After which we shook hands with the brethren, severally, receiving their warmest assurances of affectionate regard, and withdrew. 

_"Resolutions passed at the meeting of the Wesleyan Missionaries of theAntigua District, assembled at St. John's, Antigua, February 7th, 1837. _

 1. That the emancipation of the slaves of the West Indies, while it was an act of undoubted justice to that oppressed people, has operated most favorably in furthering the triumphs of the gospel, by removing one prolific source of unmerited suspicion of religious teachers, and thus opening a door to their more extensive labors and usefulness--by furnishing a greater portion of time for the service of the negro, and thus preventing the continuance of unavoidable Sabbath desecrations, in labor and neglect of the means of grace--and in its operation as a stimulus to proprietors and other influential gentlemen, to encourage religious education, and the wide dissemination of the Scriptures, as an incentive to industry and good order. 

 2. That while the above statements are true with reference to all the islands, even where the system of apprenticeship prevails, they are especially applicable to Antigua, where the results of the great measure, of entire freedom, so humanely and judiciously granted by the legislature, cannot be contemplated without the most devout thanks givings to Almighty God. 

 3. That we regard with much gratification, the great diminution among all classes in these islands, of the most unchristian prejudice of color the total absence of it in the government and ordinances of the churches of God, with which we are connected, and the prospect of its complete removal, by the abolition of slavery, by the increased diffusion of general knowledge, and of that religion which teaches to "honor _all_ men, " and to love our neighbor as ourselves. 

 4. That we cannot but contemplate with much humiliation and distress, the existence, among professing Christians in America, of this partial, unseemly, and unchristian system of _caste_, so distinctly prohibited in the word of God, and so utterly irreconcileable with Christian charity. 

 5. That regarding slavery as a most unjustifiable infringement of the rational and inalienable rights of men, and in its moral consequences, (from our own personal observation as well as other sources, ) as one of the greatest curses with which the great Governor of the nations ever suffered this world to be blighted: we cannot but deeply regret the connection which so intimately exists between the various churches of Christ in the United States of America, and this unchristian system. With much sorrow do we learn that the _principle_ of the lawfulness of slavery has been defended by some who are ministers of Christ, that so large a proportion of that body in America, are exerting their influence in favor of the continuance of so indefensible and monstrous a system--and that these emotions of sorrow are especially occasioned with reference to our own denomination. 

 6. That while we should deprecate and condemn any recourse on the part of the slaves, to measures of rebellion, as an unjustifiable mode of obtaining their freedom, we would most solemnly, and affectionately, and imploringly, adjure our respected fathers and brethren in America, to endeavor, in every legitimate way, to wipe away this reproach from their body, and thus act in perfect accordance with the deliberate and recorded sentiments of our venerated founder on this subject, and in harmony with the feelings and proceedings of their brethren in the United Kingdom, who have had the honor to take a distinguished part in awakening such a determined and resistless public feeling in that country, as issued in the abolition of slavery among 800, 000 of our fellow subjects. 

 7. That we hail with the most lively satisfaction the progress in America of anti-slavery principles, the multiplication of anti-slavery societies, and the diffusion of correct views on this subject. We offer to the noble band of truly patriotic, and enlightened, and philanthropic men, who are combating in that country with such a fearful evil, the assurance of our most cordial and fraternal sympathy, and our earnest prayers for their complete success. We view with pity and sorrow the vile calumnies with which they have been assailed. We welcome with Christian joyfulness, in the success which has already attended their efforts, the dawn of a cloudless day of light and glory, which shall presently shine upon that vast continent, when the song of universal freedom shall sound in its length and breadth. 

 8. That these sentiments have been increased and confirmed by the intercourse, which some of our body Have enjoyed with our beloved brethren, the Rev. James A. Thome, and Joseph Horace Kimball, Esq. , the deputation to these islands, front the Anti-Slavery Society in America. We regard this appointment, and the nomination of such men to fulfil it, as most judicious. We trust we can appreciate the spirit of entire devotedness to this cause, which animates our respected brethren, and breathes throughout their whole deportment, and rejoice in such a manifestation of the fruits of that divine charity, which flow from the constraining love of Christ, and which many waters cannot quench. 

 9. That the assurance of the affectionate sympathy of the twenty-five brethren who compose this district meeting, and our devout wishes for their success in the objects of their mission, are hereby presented, in our collective and individual capacity, to our endeared and Christian friends from America. 

 (Signed) JAMES COX, chairman of the district, and resident in Antigua. 

 Jonathan Cadman, St. Martin's. James Horne, St. Kitts. Matthew Banks, St. Bartholomew's. E. Frazer, Antigua. Charles Bates, do. John Keightley, do. Jesse Pilcher, do. Benjamin Tregaskiss, do. Thomas Edwards, St. Kitts. Robert Hawkins, Tortola. Thomas Pearson, Nevis. George Craft, do. W. S. Wamouth, St. Kitts. John Hodge, Tortola. William Satchel, Dominica. John Cullingford, Dominica. J. Cameron, Nevis. B. Gartside, St. Kitts. John Parker, do. Hilton Cheeseborough, do. Thomas Jeffery, do. William Rigglesworth, Tortola. Daniel Stepney, Nevis. James Walton, Montserrat. "

 * * * * *

CHAPTER II. 

GENERAL RESULTS. 

Having given a general outline of our sojourn in Antigua, we proceed toa mere minute account of the results of our investigations. We arrangethe testimony in two general divisions, placing that which relates tothe past and present condition of the colony in one, and that whichbears directly upon the question of slavery in America in another. 

RELIGION. 

There are three denominations of Christians in Antigua: the EstablishedChurch; the Moravians, and Wesleyans. The Moravians number fifteenthousand--almost exclusively negroes. The Wesleyans embrace threethousand members, and about as many more attendants. Of the threethousand members, says a Wesleyan missionary, "not fifty are whites--alarger number are colored; but the greater part black. " "The attendanceof the negro population at the churches and chapels, " (of theestablished order, ) says the Rector of St. John's, "amounts to fourthousand six hundred and thirty-six. " The whole number of blacksreceiving religious instruction from these Christian bodies, makingallowance for the proportion of white and colored included in the threethousand Wesleyans, is about twenty-two thousand--leaving a populationof eight thousand negroes in Antigua who are unsupplied with religiousinstruction. 

The Established Church has six parish churches, as many "chapels ofease, " and nine clergymen. The Moravians have five settlements andthirteen missionaries. The Wesleyans have seven chapels, with as manymore small preaching places on estates, and twelve ministers; half ofwhom are itinerant missionaries, and the other half, local preachers, employed as planters, or in mercantile, and other pursuits, andpreaching only occasionally. From the limited number of chapels andmissionaries, it may be inferred that only a portion of the twenty-twothousand can enjoy stated weekly instruction. The superintendent of theMoravian mission stated that their chapels could not accommodate morethan _one third_ of their members. 

Each of the denominations complains of the lack of men and houses. TheWesleyans are now building a large chapel in St. John's. It willaccommodate two thousand persons. "Besides free sittings, there will benearly two hundred pews, every one of which is now in demand. "

However much disposed the churches of different denominations might havebeen during slavery to maintain a strict discipline, they found itexceedingly difficult to do so. It seems impossible to elevate a body ofslaves, _remaining such, _ to honesty and purity. The reekings of slaverywill almost inevitably taint the institutions of religion, and degradethe standard of piety. Accordingly the ministers of every denominationin Antigua, feel that in the abolition of slavery their greatest enemyhas been vanquished, and they now evince a determination to assumehigher ground than they ever aspired to during the reign of slavery. Themotto of all creeds is, "_We expect great things of freemen_. " A reportwhich we obtained from the Wesleyan brethren, states, "Our own brethrenpreach almost daily. " "We think the negroes are uncommonly punctual andregular in their attendance upon divine worship, particularly on theSabbath. " "They always show a readiness to contribute to the support ofthe gospel. With the present low wages, and the entire charge ofself-maintenance, they have little to spare. " Parham and Sion Hill (takenas specimens) have societies almost entirely composed of ruralblacks--about thirteen hundred and fifty in number. These havecontributed this year above £330 sterling, or sixteen hundred and fiftydollars, in little weekly subscriptions; besides giving to specialobjects occasionally, and contributing for the support of schools. [A]

[Footnote A: The superintendent of the Wesleyan mission informed us thatthe collection in the several Wesleyan chapels last year, independent ofoccasional contributions to Sunday schools, Missionary objects, &c. , amounted to £850 sterling, or more than $4000!]

In a letter dated December 2d, 1834, but four months after emancipation, and addressed to the missionary board in England, the Rev. B. Harveythus speaks of the Moravian missions: "With respect to our people, Ibelieve; I may say that in all our places here, they attend the meetingsof the church more numerously than ever, and that many are now infrequent attendance who _could very seldom appear amongst us duringslavery_. " The same statements substantially were made to us by Mr. H. , showing that instead of any falling off the attendance was still onthe increase. 

In a statement drawn up at our request by the Rector of St. John's, isthe following: "Cases of discipline are more frequent than is usual inEnglish congregations, but at the same time it should be observed, thata _closer oversight_ is maintained by the ministers, and a _greaterreadiness to submit themselves_ (to discipline) is manifested by thelate slaves here than by those who have always been a free people. " "Iam able to speak very favorably of the attendance at church--it isregular and crowded. " "The negroes on some estates have been known tocontribute willingly to the Bible Society, since 1832. They are nowbeginning to pay a penny and a half currency per week for theirchildren's instruction. "

MORALITY. 

The condition of Antigua, but a very few years previous to emancipation, is represented to have been truly revolting. It has already been statedthat the Sabbath was the market day up to 1832, and this is evidenceenough that the Lord's day was utterly desecrated by the mass of thepopulation. Now there are few parts of our own country, equal inpopulation, which can vie with Antigua in the solemn and respectfulobservance of the Sabbath. Christians in St. John's spoke with joy andgratitude of the tranquillity of the Sabbath. They had long been shockedwith its open and abounding profanation--until they had well-nigh forgotthe aspect of a Christian Sabbath. At length the full-orbed blessingbeamed upon them, and they rejoiced in its brightness, and thanked Godfor its holy repose. 

All persons of all professions testify to the fact that _marriages_ arerapidly increasing. In truth, there was scarcely such a thing asmarriage before the abolition of slavery. Promiscuous intercourse of thesexes was almost universal. In a report of the Antigua BranchAssociation of the Society for advancing the Christian Faith in theBritish West Indies, (for 1836, ) the following statements are made:

"The number of marriages in the six parishes of the island, in the year1835, the first entire year of freedom, was 476; all of which, exceptingabout 50, were between persons formerly slaves. The total number ofmarriages between slaves solemnized in the Church during the nine yearsending December 31, 1832, was 157; in 1833, the last entire year ofslavery, it was 61. "

Thus it appears that the whole number of marriages during _ten years_previous to emancipation (by far the most favorable ten years that couldhave been selected) was but _half_ as great as the number for a singleyear following emancipation!

The Governor, in one of our earliest interviews with him, said, "thegreat crime of this island, as indeed of all the West India Colonies, has been licentiousness, but we are certainly fast improving in thisparticular. " An aged Christian, who has spent many years in the island, and is now actively engaged in superintending several day schools forthe negro children, informed us that there was not _one third_ as muchconcubinage as formerly. This he said was owing mainly to the greaterfrequency of marriages, and the cessation of late night work on theestates, and in the boiling houses, by which the females were constantlyexposed during slavery. Now they may all be in their houses by dark. Formerly the mothers were the betrayers of their daughters, encouragingthem to form unhallowed connections, and even _selling_ them tolicentious white and colored men, for their own gain. Now they wereusing great strictness to preserve the chastity of their daughters. 

A worthy planter, who has been in the island since 1800, stated, that itused to be a common practice for mothers to _sell their daughters_ tothe highest bidder!--generally a manager or overseer. "But now;" said he, "the mothers _hold their daughters up for marriage_, and take pains tolet every body know that their virtue is not to be bought and sold anylonger. " He also stated that those who live unmarried now are uniformlyneglected and suffer great deprivations. Faithfulness after marriage, exists also to a greater extent than could have been expected from theutter looseness to which they had been previously accustomed, and withtheir ignorance of the nature and obligations of the marriage relation. We were informed both by the missionaries and the planters, that everyyear and month they are becoming more constant, as husband and wife, more faithful as parents, and more dutiful as children. One planter saidthat out of a number who left his employ after 1834, nearly all hadcompanions on other estates, and left for the purpose of being withthem. He was also of the opinion that the greater proportion of changesof residence among the emancipated which took place at that time, wereowing to the same cause. [A] In an address before the Friendly Society inSt. John's, the Archdeacon stated that during the previous year (1835)several individuals had been expelled from that society for domesticunfaithfulness; but he was happy to say that he had not heard of asingle instance of expulsion for this cause during the year then ended. Much inconvenience is felt on account of the Moravian and Wesleyanmissionaries being prohibited from performing the marriage service, evenfor their own people. Efforts are now making to obtain the repeal of thelaw which makes marriages performed by sectarians (as all save theestablished church are called) void. 

[Footnote A: What a resurrection to domestic life was that, when longsevered families flocked from the four corners of the island to meettheir kindred members! And what a glorious resurrection will that be inour own country, when the millions of emancipated beings scattered overthe west and south, shall seek the embraces of parental and fraternaland conjugal love. ]

That form of licentiousness which appears among the higher classes inevery slaveholding country, abounded in Antigua during the reign ofslavery. It has yielded its redundant fruits in a population of fourthousand colored people; double the number of whites. The planters, withbut few exceptions, were unmarried and licentious. Nor was this viceconfined to the unmarried. Men with large families, kept one or moremistresses without any effort at concealment. We were told of an"Honorable" gentleman, who had his English wife and two concubines, acolored and a black one. The governor himself stated as an apology forthe prevalence of licentiousness among the slaves, that the example wasset them constantly by their masters, and it was not to be wondered atif they copied after their superiors. But it is now plain thatconcubinage among the whites is nearly at an end. An unguarded statementof a public man revealed the conviction which exists among his classthat concubinage must soon cease. He said that the present race ofcolored people could not be received into the society of the whites, _because of illegitimacy_; but the next generation would be fitassociates for the whites, _because they would be chiefly bornin wedlock_. 

The uniform testimony respecting _intemperance_ was, that it _never hadbeen one of the vices of the negroes_. Several planters declared thatthey had rarely seen a black person intoxicated. The report of theWesleyan missionaries already referred to, says, "Intemperance is mostuncommon among the rural negroes. Many have joined the TemperanceSociety, and many act on tee-total principles. " The only _colored_person (either black or brown) whom we saw drunk during a residence ofnine weeks in Antigua, was a carpenter in St. John's, who as he reeledby, stared in our faces and mumbled out his sentence of condemnationagainst wine bibbers, "--Gemmen--you sees I'se a little bit drunk, but'pon honor I only took th--th-ree bottles of wine--that's all. " It was"Christmas times, " and doubtless the poor man thought he would venturefor once in the year to copy the example of the whites. 

In conclusion, on the subject of morals in Antigua, we are warranted instating, 1st. , That during the continuance of slavery, immoralitieswere rife. 

2d. That the repeated efforts of the home Government and the localLegislature, for several successive years previous to 1834, to_ameliorate_ the system of slavery, seconded by the labors of clergymenand missionaries, teachers and catechists, to improve the character ofthe slaves, failed to arrest the current of vice and profligacy. Whatfew reformations were effected were very partial, leaving the moreenormous immoralities as shameless and defiant as ever, up to the veryday of abolition; demonstrating the utter impotence of all attempts topurify the _streams_ while the _fountain_ is poison. 

3d. That the abolition of slavery gave the death blow to open vice, overgrown and emboldened as it had become. Immediate emancipation, instead of lifting the flood-gates, was the only power strong enough toshut them down! It restored the proper restraints upon vice, andsupplied the incentives to virtue. Those great controllers of moralaction, _self-respect, attachment to law, and veneration for God_, whichslavery annihilated, _freedom has resuscitated_, and now they standround about the emancipated with flaming swords deterring from evil, andwith cheering voices exhorting to good. It is explicitly affirmed thatthe grosser forms of immorality, which in every country attend uponslavery, have in Antigua either shrunk into concealment orbecome extinct. 

BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS. 

We insert here a brief account of the benevolent institutions ofAntigua. Our design in giving it, is to show the effect of freedom inbringing into play those charities of social life, which slaveryuniformly stifles. Antigua abounds in benevolent societies, all of whichhave been _materially revived_ since emancipation, and some of them havebeen formed since that event. 

THE BIBLE SOCIETY. 

This is the oldest society in the island. It was organized in 1815. Alldenominations in the island cordially unite in this cause. The principaldesign of this society is to promote the Circulation of the Scripturesamong the laboring population of the island. To secure this objectnumerous branch associations--amounting to nearly fifty--have beenorganized throughout the island _among the negroes themselves. _ Thesociety has been enabled not only to circulate the Scriptures among thepeople of Antigua, but to send them extensively to the neighboringislands. 

The following table, drawn up at our request by the Secretary of theSociety, will show the extent of foreign operations:

Years. Colonies Supplied. Bibles. Test's. 1822 Anguilla 94 156 23 Demerara 18 18 24 Dominica 89 204 25 Montserrat 57 149 27 Nevis 79 117 32 Saba 6 12 33 St. Bart's 111 65 34 St. Eustatius 97 148 35 St. Kitts 227 487 St. Martins 48 37 36 Tortola 69 136To1837 Trinidad 25 67 ____ ____ Total 920 1596

From the last annual report we quote the following cheering account, touching the events of 1834:

"The next event of importance in or annals is the magnificent grant ofthe parent society, on occasion of the emancipation of the slaves, andthe perpetual banishment of slavery from the shores of Antigua, on thefirst of August, 1834; by which a choice portion of the Holy Scriptureswas gratuitously circulated to about one third of the inhabitants ofthis colony. Nine thousand seven hundred copies of the New Testament, bound together with the book of Psalms, were thus placed at the disposalof your committee. "

* * * "Following hard upon this joyful event another gratifyingcircumstance occurred among us. The attention of the people was roused, and their gratitude excited towards the Bible Society, and they who hadfreely received, now freely gave, and thus a considerable sum of moneywas presented to the parent society in acknowledgment of itsbeneficent grant. "

We here add an extract from the annual report for 1826. Its sentimentscontrast strongly with the congratulations of the last report upon 'thejoyful event' of emancipation. 

"Another question of considerable delicacy and importance still remainsto be discussed. Is it advisable, under all the circumstances of thecase, to circulate the Holy Scriptures, without note of comment, amongthe slave population of these islands? Your Committee can feel nohesitation in affirming that such a measure is not merely expedient, butone of almost indispensable necessity. The Sacred Volume is in manyrespects peculiarly adapted to the slave. It enjoins upon him preceptsso plain, that the most ignorant cannot fail to understand them:'Slaves, obey in all things your masters, not with eye service, as menpleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. ' It furnishes himwith motives the most impressive and consoling: 'Ye serve, ' says theApostle, 'the Lord Christ. ' It promises him rewards sufficient tostimulate the most indolent to exertion: 'Whatsoever good thing any mandoeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond orfree. ' And it holds forth to him an example so glorious, that it wouldennoble even angels to imitate it: 'Let this mind be in you which wasalso in Christ Jesus, who made himself of no reputation, and took uponhim the form of a _slave_!'"

"It may here be proper to observe, that the precise import of the word, which in general throughout the English Bible is translated _servant_, is strictly that which has been assigned it in the foregoing quotations;(!) and so understood, the Sacred Volume will be found to hold out toour slaves, both by precept and example the most persuasive and the mostcompelling motives to industry, obedience, and submission. "

Nothing could more plainly show the corrupting influences of slavery, upon all within its reach, than this spectacle of a noble, religiousinstitution, prostituted to the vile work of defending oppression, and, in the zeal of its advocacy, blasphemously degrading the Savior into aself-made slave!

The receipts of the Antigua Branch Society have greatly increased sinceemancipation. From receipts for the year 1836, in each of the Britishislands, it appears that the contributions from Antigua and Bermuda, theonly two islands which adopted entire emancipation, are about _double_those from any other two islands. 

MISSIONARY ASSOCIATIONS. 

These associations are connected with the Wesleyan mission, and havebeen in existence since 1820. Their object is to raise funds for theparent society in England. Although it has been in existence for severalyears, yet it was mostly confined to the whites and free people ofcolor, during slavery. The calling together assemblies of rural negroes, and addressing them on the subject of missions, and solicitingcontributions in aid of the cause, is a new feature in the missionaryoperations to which nothing but freedom could give birth. 

TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES. 

The first temperance society in Antigua was formed at the beginning of1836. We give an extract from the first annual report: "Temperancesocieties have been formed in each town, and on many of the estates. Alarge number of persons who once used spirituous liquors moderately, have entirely relinquished the use. Some who were once intemperate havebeen reclaimed, and in some instances an adoption of the principles ofthe temperance society, has been followed by the pursuit and enjoymentof vital religion. Domestic peace and quietness have superseded discordand strife, and a very general sense of astonishment at the grossdelusion which these drinks have long produced on the human speciesis manifest. "

"The numbers on the various books of the society amount to about 1700. One pleasing feature in their history, is the very small number of thosewho have violated their pledge. "

"On several estates, the usual allowance of spirits has beendiscontinued, and sugar or molasses substituted. "

The temperance society in Antigua may be specially regarded as a resultof emancipation. It is one of the guardian angels which hastened to theisland as soon as the demon of slavery was cast out. 

FRIENDLY SOCIETIES. 

The friendly societies are designed exclusively for the benefit of thenegro population. The general object is thus stated in the constitutionof one of these societies: "The object of this society is to assist inthe purchase of articles of mourning for the dead; to give relief incases of unlooked for distress; to help those who through age orinfirmities are incapable of helping themselves by marketing, or workingtheir grounds; _to encourage sobriety and industry, and to checkdisorderly and immoral conduct. "_

These societies obtain their funds by laying a tax of one shilling permonth on every member above eighteen years of age, and of six pence permonth on all members under that age and above twelve, which is theminimum of membership. The aged members are required to pay no more thanthe sum last mentioned. 

The first society of this kind was established in St. John's by thepresent rector, in 1829. Subsequently the Moravians and Wesleyans formedsimilar societies among their own people. Independent of the pecuniaryassistance which these societies bestow, they encourage in a variety ofways the good order of the community. For example, no one is allowed toreceive assistance who is "disabled by drunkenness, debauchery, ordisorderly living;" also, "if any member of the society, male or female, is guilty of adultery or fornication, the offending member shall besuspended for so long a time as the members shall see fit, and shalllose all claim on the society for any benefit during the suspension, andshall not be readmitted until clear and satisfactory evidence is givenof penitence. " Furthermore, "If any member of the society shall beexpelled from the church to which he or she belongs, or shall commit anyoffence punishable by a magistrate, that member forfeits his membershipin the society. " Again, the society directly encourages marriage, by"making a present of a young pig to every child born in wedlock, andaccording as their funds will admit of it, giving rewards to thosemarried persons living faithfully, or single persons living virtuously, who take a pride in keeping their houses neat and tidy, and theirgardens flourishing. "

These societies have been more than doubled, both in the number ofmembers and in the annual receipts, since emancipation. 

Of the societies connected with the established church, the rector ofSt. John's thus speaks: "At the beginning of 1834 there were elevensocieties, embracing 1602 members. At the beginning of 1835 theynumbered 4197; and in 1836 there were 4560 members, " _almost quadrupledin two years!_

The societies connected with the Moravian church, have more thandoubled, both in members and funds, since emancipation. The funds nowamount to $10, 000 per year. 

The Wesleyans have four Friendly societies. The largest society, whichcontained six hundred and fifty members, was organized in the _month ofAugust_, 1834. The last year it had expended £700 currency, and had thenin its treasury £600 currency. 

Now, be it remembered that the Friendly societies exist solely among thefreed negroes, _and that the moneys are raised exclusively among them. _Among whom? A people who are said to be so proverbially improvident, that to emancipate them, would be to abandon them to beggary, nakedness, and starvation;--a people who "cannot take care of themselves;" who"will not work when freed from the fear of the lash;" who "wouldsquander the earnings of the day in debaucheries at night;" who "wouldnever provide for to-morrow for the wants of a family, or for theinfirmities of old age. " Yea, among _negroes_ these things are done; andthat, too, where the wages are but one shilling per day--less thansufficient, one would reasonably suppose, to provide daily food. 

DAILY MEAL SOCIETY. 

The main object of this society is denoted by its name. It supplies adaily meal to those who are otherwise unprovided for. A commodious househad just been completed in the suburbs of the town, capable of lodging aconsiderable number of beneficiaries. It is designed to shelter thosewho are diseased, and cannot walk to and fro for their meals. The numbernow fed at this house is from eighty to a hundred. The diseased, wholive at the dispensary, are mostly those who are afflicted with theelephantiasis, by which they are rendered entirely helpless. Medical aidis supplied free of expense. It is worthy of remark, that there is no_public poor-house_ in Antigua, --a proof of the industry and prosperityof the emancipated people. 

DISTRESSED FEMALES' FRIEND SOCIETY. 

This is a society in St. John's: there is also a similar one, called theFemale Refuge Society, at English Harbor. Both these societies wereestablished and are conducted by colored ladies. They are designed topromote two objects: the support of destitute aged females of color, andthe rescue of poor young colored females from vice. The necessity forspecial efforts for the first object, arose out of the fact, that thecolored people were allowed no parochial aid whatever, though they wererequired to pay their parochial taxes; hence, the support of their ownpoor devolved upon themselves. The demand for vigorous action in behalfof the young, grew out of the prevailing licentiousness of slave-holdingtimes. The society in St. John's has been in existence since 1815. Ithas a large and commodious asylum, and an annual income, bysubscriptions, of £350, currency. This society, and the Female RefugeSociety established at English Harbor, have been instrumental ineffecting a great reform in the morals of females, and particularly inexciting reprobation against that horrid traffic--the sale of girls bytheir mothers for purposes of lust. We were told of a number of cases inwhich the society in St. John's had rescued young females from impendingruin. Many members of the society itself, look to it as the guardian oftheir orphanage. Among other cases related to us, was that of a lovelygirl of fifteen, who was bartered away to a planter by her mother, adissolute woman. The planter was to give her a quantity of cloth to thevalue of £80 currency, and two young slaves; he was also to give thegrandmother, for her interest in the girl, _one gallon of rum_! Thenight was appointed, and a gig in waiting to take away the victim, whena female friend was made acquainted with the plot, just in time to savethe girl by removing her to her own house. The mother was infuriated, and endeavored to get her back, but the girl had occasionally attended aSabbath school, where she imbibed principles which forbade her to yieldeven to her mother for such an unhallowed purpose. She was taken beforea magistrate, and indentured herself to a milliner for two years. Themother made an attempt to regain her, and was assisted by some whiteswith money to commence a suit for that purpose. The lady who defendedher was accordingly prosecuted, and the whole case became notorious. Theprosecutors were foiled. At the close of her apprenticeship, the youngwoman was married to a highly respectable colored gentleman, nowresident in St. John's. The notoriety which was given to the above casehad a happy effect. It brought the society and its object more fullybefore the public, and the contributions for its support greatlyincreased. Those for whose benefit the asylum was opened, heard of it, and came begging to be received. 

This society is a signal evidence that the colored people neither lackthe ability to devise, nor the hearts to cherish, nor the zeal toexecute plans of enlarged benevolence and mercy. 

The Juvenile Association, too, of which we gave some account indescribing its anniversary, originated with the colored people, andfurnishes additional evidence of the talents and charities of that classof the community. Besides the societies already enumerated, there aretwo associations connected with the Established Church, called the"Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, " and the "BranchAssociation of the Society for Advancing the Christian Faith in theBritish West Indies, &c. " These societies are also designed chiefly forthe benefit of the negro population. 

EDUCATION. 

Our inquiries under this head were directed to three principalpoints--first, The extent to which education prevailed previous toemancipation; second, The improvements introduced since; and third, Thecomparative capacity of negroes for receiving instruction. 

Being providentially in the island at the season of the year when allthe schools have their annual examinations, we enjoyed the mostfavorable opportunities for procuring intelligence on the subject ofeducation. From various quarters we received invitations to attendschool examinations. We visited the schools at Parham, Willoughby Bay, Newfield; Cedar Hall, Grace Bay, Fitch's Creek, and others: besidesvisiting the parochial school, the rectory school, the Moravian andWesleyan schools, in St. John's. All the schools, save those in St. John's, were almost exclusively composed of emancipated children fromthe estates. 

VISIT TO THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL. 

At the invitation of the Governor, we accompanied him to the annualexamination of the parochial school, in St. John's, under thesuperintendance of the Episcopal church. It has increased greatly, bothin scholars and efficiency, since emancipation, and contributions aremade to its support by the parents whose children receive its benefits. We found one hundred and fifty children, of both sexes, assembled in thesociety's rooms. There was every color present, from the deepest hue ofthe Ethiopian, to the faintest shadowing of brown. 

The boys constituting the first class, to the number of fifty, werecalled up. They read with much fluency and distinctness, equalling whiteboys of the same age anywhere. After reading, various questions were putto them by the Archdeacon, which they answered with promptness andaccuracy. Words were promiscuously selected from the chapter they hadread, and every one was promptly spelled. The catechism was the nextexercise, and they manifested a thorough acquaintance with its contents. 

Our attention was particularly called to the examination in arithmetic. Many of the children solved questions readily in the compound rules, andseveral of them in Practice, giving the different parts of the pound, shilling, and penny, used in that rule, and all the whys and whereforesof the thing, with great promptness. One lad, only ten years of age, whose attendance had been very irregular on account of being employed inlearning a trade, performed intricate examples in Practice, with afacility worthy the counting-house desk. We put several inquiries ondifferent parts of the process, in order to test their real knowledge, to which we always received clear answers. 

The girls were then examined in the same studies and exercises, exceptarithmetic, and displayed the same gratifying proficiency. They alsopresented specimens of needlework and strawbraiding, which the ladies, on whose better judgment we depend, pronounced very creditable. Wenoticed several girls much older than the others, who had made much lessadvance in their studies, and on inquiry learned, that they had beenmembers of the school but a short time, having formerly been employed towield the heavy hoe in the cane field. The parents are very desirous togive their children education, and make many sacrifices for thatpurpose. Many who are field-laborers in the country, receiving theirshilling a day, have sent their children to reside with some relationsor friends in town, for the purpose of giving them the benefits of thisschool. Several such children were pointed out to us. The increase offemale scholars during the first year of emancipation, was in thisschool alone, about eighty. 

For our gratification, the Governor requested that all the childrenemancipated on the _first of August_, might be called up and placed onour side of the room. Nearly one hundred children, of both sexes, whotwo years ago were _slaves_, now stood up before us FREE. We noticed onelittle girl among the rest, about ten years old, who bore not the leasttinge of color. Her hair was straight and light, and her face had thatmingling of vermilion and white, which Americans seem to consider, notonly the nonpareil standard of beauty, but the immaculate test of humanrights. At her side was another with the deepest hue of the nativeAfrican. There were high emotions on the countenances of those redeemedones, when we spoke to them of emancipation. The undying principle offreedom living and burning in the soul of the most degraded slave, likelamps amid the darkness of eastern sepulchres, was kindling upbrilliantly within them, young as they were, and flashing in smiles upontheir ebon faces. 

The Governor made a few remarks, in which he gave some good advice, andexpressed himself highly pleased with the appearance and proficiency ofthe school. 

His excellency remarked to us in a tone of pleasantry, "You see, gentlemen, these children have _souls_. "

During the progress of the examination; he said to us, "You perceivethat it is our policy to give these children every chance to make _men_of themselves. We look upon them as our _future citizens_. " He had nodoubt that the rising generation would assume a position in societyabove the contempt or opposition of the whites. 

INFANT SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTRY. 

We had the pleasure of attending one of the infant schools in thevicinity of Parham, on the east side of the island. Having been invitedby a planter, who kindly sent his horse and carriage for our conveyance, to call and take breakfast with him on our way, we drove out early inthe morning. 

While we were walking about the estate, our attention was arrested bydistant singing. As we cast our eyes up a road crossing the estate, wediscovered a party of children! They were about twenty in number, andwere marching hand in hand to the music of their infant voices. Theywere children from a neighboring estate, on their way to the examinationat Parham, and were singing the hymns which they had learned at school. All had their Testaments in their hands, and seemed right merry-hearted. 

We were received at the gate of the chapel by the Wesleyan missionarylocated in this distinct, a highly respectable and intelligent coloredman, who was ten years since a _slave_. He gave us a cordial welcome, and conducted us to the chapel, where we found the children, to thenumber of _four hundred_, assembled, and the examination alreadycommenced. There were six schools present, representing about twentyestates, and arranged under their respective teachers. The ages of thepupils were from three to ten or twelve. They were all, with theexception of two or three, the children of emancipated slaves. 

They came up by classes to the superintendent's desk, where they readand were examined. They read correctly; some of them too, who had beenin school only a few mouths, in any portion of the New Testamentselected for them. By request of the superintendent, we put severalinquiries to them, which they answered in a way which showed that they_thought_. They manifested an acquaintance with the Bible and the use oflanguage which was truly surprising. It was delightful to see so manytiny beings stand around you, dressed in their tidy gowns and frocks, with their bright morning faces, and read with the self-composure ofmanhood, any passage chosen for them. They all, large and small, bore intheir hands the charter of their freedom, the book by the influence ofwhich they received all the privileges they were enjoying. On the coverof each was stamped in large capitals--"PRESENTED BY THE BRITISH ANDFOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY, IN COMMEMORATION OF THE FIRST OF AUGUST, 1834. "

At the close of the examination, the rewards, consisting of books, work-bags, &c. &c. , chiefly sent by a society of females in England, were distributed. It was impossible to repress the effervescence of thelittle expectants. As a little one four years old came up for herreward, the superintendent said to her--"Well, little Becky, what do youwant?" "Me wants a bag, " said Becky, "and me wants a pin-cushion, and mewants a little book. " Becky's desires were large, but being a good girl, she was gratified. Occasionally the girls were left to choose between abook and a work-bag, and although the bag might be gaudy and tempting, they invariably took the book. 

The teachers were all but one blacks, and were formerly slaves. They arevery devoted and faithful, but are ill-qualified for their duties, having obtained all the learning they possess in the Sabbath school. They are all pious, and exert a harpy influence on the morals oftheir pupils. 

The number of scholars has very greatly increased since emancipation, and their morals have essentially improved. Instances of falsehood andtheft, which at first were fearfully frequent and bold, have muchlessened. They begin to have a regard for _character_. Their sense ofright and wrong is enlightened, and their power of resisting temptation, and adhering to right, manifestly increased. 

On the whole, we know not where we have looked on a more delightfulscene. To stand in front of the pulpit and look around on a multitude ofnegro children, gathered from the sordid huts into which slavery hadcarried ignorance and misery--to see them coming up, with their teachersof the same proscribed hue, to hear them read the Bible, answer withreadiness the questions of their superintendent, and lift up togethertheir songs of infant praise, and then to remember that two years agothese four hundred children were _slaves_, and still more to rememberthat in our own country, boasting its republicanism and Christianinstitutions, there are thousands of just such children under the yokeand scourge, in utter heathenism, the victims of tyrannic _law_ or ofmore tyrannic public opinion--caused the heart to swell with emotionsunutterable. There were as many intelligent countenances, and as muchactivity and sprightliness, as we ever saw among an equal number ofchildren anywhere. The correctness of their reading, the pertinence oftheir replies, the general proofs of talent which they showed throughall the exercises, evinced that they are none inferior to the childrenof their white oppressors. 

After singing a hymn they all kneeled down, and the school closed with aprayer and benediction. They continued singing as they retired from thehouse, and long after they had parted on their different ways home, their voices swelled on the breeze at a distance as the little partiesfrom the estates chanted on their way the songs of the school room. 

WILLOUGHBY BAY EXAMINATION. 

When we entered the school house at Willoughby Bay, which is capable ofcontaining a thousand persons, a low murmur, like the notes ofpreparation, ran over the multitude. One school came in after wearrived, marching in regular file, with their teacher, a negro man, attheir head, and their _standard bearer_ following; next, a sable girlwith a box of Testaments on her head. The whole number of children wasthree hundred and fifty. The male division was first called out, andmarched several times around the room, singing and keeping a regularstep. After several rounds, they came to a halt, filing off and forminginto ranks four rows deep--in quarter-circle shape. The music stillcontinuing, the girls sallied forth, went through the same evolutions, and finally formed in rows corresponding with those of the boys, so asto compose with the latter a semicircle. 

The schools were successively examined in spelling, reading, writing, cyphering, &c. , after the manner already detailed. In most respects theyshowed equal proficiency with the children of Parham; and in reading theTestament, their accuracy was even greater. In looking over the writing, several "incendiary" copies caught our eyes. One was, "_Masters, giveunto your servants that which is just and equal_. " Another, "_If Ineglect the cause of my servant, what shall I do when I appear before myMaster_!" A few years ago, _had children been permitted to write atall_, one such copy as the above would have exploded the school, andperchance sent the teacher to jail for sedition. But now, thanks to God!the Negro children of Antigua are taught liberty from their Bibles, fromtheir song books, and from their _copy books_ too; they read of liberty, they sing of it, and they write of it; they chant to liberty in theirschool rooms, and they resume the strains on their homeward way, tillevery rustling lime-grove, and waving cane-field, is alive with theirnotes, and every hillock and dell rings with "free" echoes. 

The girls, in their turn, pressed around us with the liveliest eagernessto display their little pieces of needle-work. Some had samplers markedwith letters and devices in vari-colored silk. Others showed specimensof stitching; while the little ones held up their rude attempts athemming handkerchiefs, aprons, and so on. 

During the exercises we spoke to several elderly women, who were presentto witness the scene. They were laborers on the estates, but havingchildren in the school, they had put on their Sunday dresses, and "cometo see. " We spoke to one, of the privileges which the children wereenjoying, since freedom. Her eyes filled, and she exclaimed, "Yes, massa, we do tank de good Lord for bring de free--never can be tootankful. " She said she had seven children present, and it made her feelhappy to know that they were learning to read. Another woman said, whenshe heard the children reading so finely, she wanted to "take de word'sout of da mouts and put em in her own. " In the morning, when she firstentered the school house, she felt quite sick, but all the pleasantthings she saw and heard, had made her well, and she added, "I tell you, me massa, it do my old heart good to come here. " Another aged woman, whohad grand-children in the school, said, when she saw what advantages thechildren enjoyed, she almost cried to think she was not a child too. Besides these there were a number of adult men and women, whom curiosityor parental solicitude had brought together, and they were throngingabout the windows and doors witnessing the various exercises with thedeepest interest. Among the rest was one old patriarch, who, anxious tobear some part however humble in the exercises of the occasion, walkedto and fro among the children, with a six feet pole in his hand, tokeep order. 

These schools, and those examined at Parham, are under the generalsupervision of Mr. Charles Thwaites, an indefatigable and long triedfriend of the negroes. 

We here insert a valuable communication which we received from Mr. T. Inreply to several queries addressed to him. It will give furtherinformation relative to the schools. 

_Mr. Charles Thwaites' Replies to Queries on Education in Antigua. _

1. What has been your business for some years past in Antigua?

A superintendent of schools, and catechist to the negroes. 

2. How long have you been engaged in this business?

Twenty-four years. The first four years engaged gratuitously, ten yearsemployed by the Church Missionary Society, and since, by the WesleyanMissionary Society. 

3. How many schools have you under your charge?

Sunday schools, (including all belonging to the Wesleyan MissionarySociety, ) eight, with 1850 scholars; day schools, seventeen with 1250scholars; night schools on twenty-six estates, 336 scholars. The totalnumber of scholars under instruction is about 3500. 

4. Are the scholars principally the children who were emancipated inAugust, 1834?

Yes, except the children in St. John's, most of whom were free before. 

5. Are the teachers negroes, colored, or white?

One white, four colored, and sixteen black. [A]

[Footnote A: This number includes only salaried teachers, and not thegratuitous. ]

6. How many of the teachers were slaves prior to the first of August, 1834?

Thirteen. 

7. What were their opportunities for learning?

The Sunday and night schools; and they have much improved themselvessince they have been in their present employment. 

8. What are their qualifications for teaching, as to education, religion, zeal, perseverance, &c. ?

The white and two of the colored teachers, I presume, are wellcalculated, in all respects, to carry on a school in the ablest manner. The others are deficient in education, but are zealous, and verypersevering. 

9. What are the wages of these teachers?

The teachers' pay is, some four, and some three dollars per month. Thissum is far too small, and would be greater if the funds were sufficient. 

10. How and by whom are the expenses of superintendent, teachers, andschools defrayed?

The superintendent's salary, &c. , is paid by the Wesleyan MissionarySociety. The expenses of teachers and schools are defrayed by charitablesocieties and friends in England, particularly the Negro EducationSociety, which grants 50l. Sterling per annum towards this object, andpays the rent of the Church Missionary Society's premises in WilloughbyBay for use of the schools. About 46l. Sterling per annum is also raisedfrom the children; each child taught writing and needle-work, pays1-1/2d. Sterling per week. 

11. Is it your opinion that the negro children are as ready to receiveinstruction as white children?

Yes, perfectly so. 

12. Do parents manifest interest in the education of their children?

They do. Some of the parents are, however, still very ignorant, and arenot aware how much their children lose by irregular attendance atthe schools. 

13. Have there been many instances of _theft_ among the scholars?

Not more than among any other class of children. 

RESULTS. 

Besides an attendance upon the various schools, we procured specificinformation from teachers, missionaries, planters, and others, withregard to the past and present state of education, and the weight oftestimony was to the following effect:

First, That education was by no means extensive previous toemancipation. The testimony of one planter was, that not a _tenth part_of the present adult population knew the letters of the alphabet. Otherplanters, and some missionaries, thought the proportion might besomewhat larger; but all agreed that it was very small. The testimony ofthe venerable Mr. Newby, the oldest Moravian missionary in the island, was, that such was the opposition among the planters, it was impossibleto teach the slaves, excepting by night, secretly. Mr. Thwaites informedus that the children were not allowed to attend day school after theywere six years old. All the instruction they obtained after that age, was got at night--a very unsuitable time to study, for those who workedall day under an exhausting sun. It is manifest that the instructionreceived under six years of age, would soon be effaced by the incessanttoil of subsequent life. The account given in a former connection of theadult school under the charge of Mr. Morrish, at Newfield, shows mostclearly the past inattention to education. And yet Mr. M. Stated thathis school was a _fair specimen of the intelligence of the negroesgenerally_. One more evidence in point is the acknowledged ignorance ofMr. Thwaites' teachers. After searching through the whole freedpopulation for a dozen suitable teachers of children. Mr. T. Could notfind even that number who could _read well_. Many children in theschools of six years old read better than their teachers. 

We must not be understood to intimate that up to the period of theEmancipation, the planters utterly prohibited the education of theirslaves. Public sentiment had undergone some change previous to thatevent. When the public opinion of England began to be awakened againstslavery, the planters were indured, for peace sake, to _tolerate_education to some extent; though they cannot be said to have_encouraged_ it until after Emancipation. This is the substance of thestatements made to us. Hence it appears that when the active oppositionof the planters to education ceased, it was succeeded by a generalindifference, but little less discouraging. We of course speak of theplanters as a body; there were some honorable exceptions. 

Second, Education has become very extensive _since_ emancipation. Thereare probably not less than _six thousand_ children who now enjoy dailyinstruction. These are of all ages under twelve. All classes feel aninterest in _knowledge_. While the schools previously established areflourishing in newness of life, additional ones are springing up inevery quarter. Sabbath schools, adult and infant schools, day andevening schools, are all crowded. A teacher in a Sabbath school in St. John's informed us, that the increase in that school immediately afteremancipation was so sudden and great, that he could compare it tonothing but the rising of the mercury when the thermometer is removed_out of the shade into the sun_. 

We learned that the Bible was the principal book taught in all theschools throughout the island. As soon as the children have learned toread, the Bible is put into their hands. They not only read it, butcommit to memory portions of it every day:--the first lesson in themorning is an examination on some passage of scripture. We have neverseen, even among Sabbath school children, a better acquaintance with thecharacters and events recorded in the Old and New Testaments, than amongthe negro children in Antigua. Those passages which inculcate _obedienceto law_ are strongly enforced; and the prohibitions against stealing, lying, cheating, idleness, &c. , are reiterated day and night. 

Great attention is paid to _singing_ in all the schools. 

The songs which they usually sung, embraced such topics as Love toGod--the presence of God--obedience to parents--friendship for brothersand sisters and schoolmates--love of school--the sinfulness of sloth, oflying, and of stealing. We quote the following hymn as a specimen of thesubjects which are introduced into their songs: often were we greetedwith this sweet hymn, while visiting the different schools throughoutthe island. 

BROTHERLY LOVE. 

 CHORUS. 

 We're all brothers, sisters, brothers, We're sisters and brothers, And heaven is our home. We're all brothers, sisters, brothers, We're sisters and brothers, And heaven is our home. 

 The God of heaven is pleased to see That little children all agree; And will not slight the praise they bring, When loving children join to sing: We're all brothers, sisters, brothers, &c. 

 For love and kindness please him more Than if we gave him all our store; And children here, who dwell in love, Are like his happy ones above. We're all brothers, sisters, brothers, &c. 

 The gentle child that tries to please, That hates to quarrel, fret, and teaze, And would not say an angry word-- That child is pleasing to the Lord. We're all brothers, sisters, brothers, &c. 

 O God! forgive, whenever we Forget thy will, and disagree; And grant that each of us, may find The sweet delight of being kind. We're all brothers, sisters, brothers, &c. 

We were convinced that the negroes were as capable of receivinginstruction as any people in the world. The testimony of teachers, missionaries, clergymen, and planters, was uniform on this point. 

Said one planter of age and long experience on the island, "The negroesare as capable of culture as any people on earth. _Color makes nodifference in minds_. It is slavery alone that has degraded the negro. "

Another planter, by way of replying to our inquiry on this subject, sentfor a negro child of five years, who read with great fluency in any partof the Testament to which we turned her. "Now, " said the gentleman, "Ishould be ashamed to let you hear my own son, of the same age with thatlittle girl, read after her. " We put the following questions to theWesleyan missionaries: "Are the negroes as _apt to learn_, as otherpeople in similar circumstances?" Their written reply was this: "Wethink they are; the same diversified qualities of intellect appear amongthem, as among other people. " We put the same question to the Moravianmissionaries, to the clergymen, and to the teachers of eachdenomination, some of whom, having taught schools in England, were wellqualified to judge between the European children and the negro children;and we uniformly received substantially the same answer. Such, however, was the air of surprise with which our question was often received, thatit required some courage to repeat it. Sometimes it excited a smile, asthough we could not be serious in the inquiry. And indeed we seldom gota direct and explicit answer, without previously stating by way ofexplanation that we had no doubts of our own, but wished to remove thoseextensively entertained among our countrymen. After all, we werescarcely credited in Antigua. Such cases as the following were common inevery school: children of four and five years old reading the Bible;children beginning in their A, B, C's, and learning to read in fourmonths; children of five and six, answering a variety of questions onthe historical parts of the Old Testament; children but a little older, displaying fine specimens of penmanship, performing sums in the compoundrules, and running over the multiplication table, and the pound, shilling, and pence table, without mistake. 

We were grieved to find that most of the teachers employed in theinstruction of the children, were exceedingly unfit for the work. Theyare very ignorant themselves, and have but little skill in themanagement of children. This however is a necessary evil. Theemancipated negroes feel a great anxiety for the education of theirchildren. They encourage them to go to school, and they labor to supportthem, while they have strong temptation to detain them at home to work. They also pay a small sum every week for the maintenance of the schools. 

In conclusion, we would observe, that one of the prominent features of_regenerated_ Antigua, is its _education_. An intelligent religion, anda religious education, are the twin glories of this emancipated colony. It is comment enough upon the difference between slavery and freedom, that the same agents which are deprecated as the destroyers of the one, are cherished as the defenders of the other. 

Before entering upon a detail of the testimony which bears more directlyupon slavery in America, we deem it proper to consider the inquiry. 

"What is the amount of freedom in Antigua, as regulated by law?"

1st. The people are entirely free from the whip, and from all compulsorycontrol of the master. 

2d. They can change employers whenever they become dissatisfied withtheir situation, by previously giving a month's notice. 

3d. They have the right of trial by jury in all cases of a seriousnature, while for small offences, the magistrate's court is open. Theymay have legal redress for any wrong or violence inflicted by theiremployers. 

4th. Parents have the entire control of their children. The plantercannot in any way interfere with them. The parents have the whole chargeof their support. 

5th. By an express provision of the legislature, it was made obligatoryupon every planter to support all the superannuated, infirm, or diseasedon the estate, _who were such at this time of emancipation_. Those whohave become so since 1834, fall upon the hands of their relatives formaintenance. 

6th. The amount of wages is not determined by law. By a generalunderstanding among the planters, the rate is at present fixed at ashilling per day, or a little more than fifty cents per week, countingfive working days. This matter is wisely left to be regulated by thecharacter of the seasons, and the mutual agreement of the partiesconcerned. As the island is suffering rather from a paucity of laborers, than otherwise, labor must in good seasons command good wages. Thepresent rate of wages is extremely low, though it is made barelytolerable by the additional perquisites which the people enjoy. Theyhave them houses rent free, and in connection with them small premisesforty feet square, suitable for gardens, and for raising poultry, andpigs, &c. ; for which they always find a ready market. Moreover, they areburthened with no taxes whatever; and added to this, they are suppliedwith medical attendance at the expense of the estates. 

7th. The master is authorized in case of neglect of work, or turning outlate in the morning, or entire absence from labor, to reduce the wages, or withhold them for a time, not exceeding a week. 

8th. The agricultural laborers may leave the field whenever they choose, (provided they give a month's previous notice, ) and engage in any otherbusiness; or they may purchase land and become cultivators themselves, though in either case they are of course liable to forfeit their houseson the estates. 

9th. They may leave the island, if they choose, and seek their fortunesin any other part of the world, by making provision for their nearrelatives left behind. This privilege has been lately tested by theemigration of some of the negroes to Demerara. The authorities of theisland became alarmed lest they should lose too many of the laboringpopulation, and the question was under discussion, at the time we werein Antigua, whether it would not be lawful to prohibit the emigration. It was settled, however, that such a measure would be illegal, and theplanters were left to the alternative of either being abandoned by theirnegroes, or of securing their continuance by adding to their comfortsand treating them kindly. 

10. The right of suffrage, and eligibility to office are subject to norestrictions, save the single one of property, which is the same withall colors. The property qualification, however, is so great, aseffectually to exclude the whole agricultural negro population formany years. 

11th. _The main constabulary force is composed of emancipated negroes, living on the estates_. One or two trust-worthy men on each estate areempowered with the authority of constables in relation to the people onthe same estate, and much reliance is placed upon these men, to preserveorder and to bring offenders to trial. 

12th. A body of police has been established, whose duty it is to arrestall disorderly or riotous persons, to repair to the estates in case oftrouble, and co-operate with the constables, in arraigning all personscharged with the violation of law. 

13th. The punishment for slight offences, such as stealing sugar-canesfrom the field, is confinement in the house of correction, or beingsentenced to the tread-mill, for any period from three days to threemonths. The punishment for burglary, and other high offences, issolitary confinement in chains, or transportation for life toBotany Bay. 

Such are the main features in the statutes, regulating the freedom ofthe emancipated population of Antigua. It will be seen that there is noenactment which materially modifies, or unduly restrains, the liberty ofthe subject. There are no secret reservations or postscript provisoes, which nullify the boon of freedom. Not only is slavery utterlyabolished, but all its appendages are scattered to the winds; and asystem of impartial laws secures justice to all, of every color andcondition. 

The measure of success which has crowned the experiment of emancipationin Antigua--an experiment tried under so many adverse circumstances, andwith comparatively few local advantages--is highly encouraging toslaveholders in our country. It must be evident that the balance ofadvantages between the situation of Antigua and that of the South, _isdecidedly in favor of the latter_. The South has her residentproprietors, her resources of wealth, talent, and enterprise, and herpreponderance of white population; she also enjoys a regularity ofseasons, but rarely disturbed by desolating droughts, a bracing climate, which imparts energy and activity to her laboring population, andcomparatively numerous wants to stimulate and press the laborer up tothe _working mark_; she has close by her side the example of a freecountry, whose superior progress in internal improvements, wealth, thearts and sciences, morals and religion, all ocular demonstration to herof her own wretched policy, and a moving appeal in favor of abolition;and above all, site has the opportunity of choosing her own mode, and ofensuring all the blessings of a _voluntary and peaceable manumission_, while the energies, the resources, the sympathies, and the prayers ofthe North, stand pledged to her assistance. 

 * * * * *

CHAPTER III. 

FACTS AND TESTIMONY. 

We have reserved the mass of facts and testimony, bearing immediatelyupon slavery in America, in order that we might present them together ina condensed furor, under distinct heads. These heads, it will beperceived, consist chiefly of propositions which are warmly contested inour country. Will the reader examine these principles in the light offacts? Will the candid of our countrymen--whatever opinions they mayhitherto hate entertained on this subject--hear the concurrent testimonyof numerous planters, legislators, lawyers, physicians, and merchants, who have until three years past been wedded to slavery by birth, education, prejudice, associations, and supposed interest, but who havesince been divorced from all connection with the system?

In most cases we shall give the names, the stations, and business of ourwitnesses; in a few instances, in which we were requested to withholdthe name, we shall state such circumstances as will serve to show thestanding and competency of the individuals. If the reader should find inwhat follows, very little testimony unfavorable to emancipation, he mayknow the reason to be, that little was to be gleaned from any part ofAntigua. Indeed, we may say that, with very few exceptions, thesentiments here recorded as coming from individuals, are really thesentiments of the whole community. There is no such thing known inAntigua as an _opposing, disaffected party_. So complete and thoroughhas been the change in public opinion, that it would be now_disreputable_ to speak against emancipation. 

FIRST PROPOSITION. --The transition from slavery to freedom isrepresented as a greet revolution, by which a prodigious change waseffected in _the condition of the negroes_. 

In conversation with us, the planters often spoke of the greatness andsuddenness of the change. Said Mr. Barnard, of Green Castle estate, "Thetransition from slavery to freedom, was like passing suddenly out of adark dungeon into the light of the sun. "

R. B. Eldridge, Esq. , a member of the assembly, remarked, that, "Therenever had been in the history of the world so great and instantaneous achange in the condition of so large a body of people. "

The Honorable Nicholas Nugent, speaker of the house of assembly, andproprietor, said, "There never was so sudden a transition from one stateto another, by so large a body of people. When the clock began to strikethe hour of twelve on the last night of July, 1834, the negroes ofAntigua were _slaves_--when it ceased they were all _freemen!_ It was astupendous change, " he said, "and it was one of the sublimest spectaclesever witnessed, to see the subjects of the change engaged at the verymoment it occurred, in worshipping God. "

These, and very many similar ones, were the spontaneous expressions ofmen _who had long contended against the change_ of which they spoke. 

It is exceedingly difficult to make slaveholders see that there is anymaterial difference between slavery and freedom; but when they have oncerenounced slavery, they _will magnify this distinction_ more than anyother class of men. 

SECOND PROPOSITION. --Emancipation in Antigua was the result of politicaland pecuniary considerations merely. 

Abolition was seen to be inevitable, and there were but two courses leftto the colonists--to adopt the apprenticeship system, or immediateemancipation. Motives of convenience led them to choose the latter. Considerations of general philanthropy, of human rights, and of thesinfulness of slavery, were scarcely so much as thought of. 

Some time previous to the abolition of slavery, a meeting of theinfluential men of the island was called in St. John's, to memorializeparliament against the measure of abolition. When the meeting convened, the Hon. Samuel O. Baijer, who had been the champion of the opposition, was called upon to propose a plan of procedure. To the consternation ofthe pro-slavery meeting, their leader arose and spoke to the followingeffect:--"Gentlemen, my previous sentiments on this subject are wellknown to you all; be not surprised to learn that they have undergone anentire change, I have not altered my views without mature deliberation. I have been making calculations with regard to the probable results ofemancipation, and _I have ascertained beyond a doubt, that I cancultivate my estate at least one third cheaper by free labor than byslave labor_. " After Mr. B. Had finished his remarks, Mr. S. Shands, member of assembly, and a wealthy proprietor, observed that heentertained precisely the same views with those just expressed; but hethought that the honorable gentleman had been unwise in uttering them inso public a manner; "for, " said he, "should these sentiments reach theear of parliament, as coming from us, _it might induce them to withholdthe compensation_. "

Col. Edwards, member of the assembly, then arose and said, that he hadlong been opposed to slavery, but he had not _dared to avow hissentiments_. 

As might be supposed, the meeting adjourned without effecting the objectfor which it was convened. 

When the question came before the colonial assembly, similar discussionsensued, and finally the bill for immediate emancipation passed bothbodies _unanimously_. It was an evidence of the spirit of selfishexpediency, which prompted the whole procedure, that they clogged theemancipation bill with the proviso that a certain governmental tax onexports, called the four and a half per cent tax[A], should be repealed. Thus clogged, the bill was sent home for sanction, but it was rejectedby parliament, and sent back with instructions, that before it couldreceive his majesty's seal, it must appear wholly unencumbered withextraneous provisoes. This was a great disappointment to thelegislature, and it so chagrined them that very many actually withdrewtheir support from the bill for emancipation, which passed finally inthe assembly only by the casting vote of the speaker. 

[Footnote A: We subjoin the following brief history of the four and ahalf per cent. Tax, which we procured from the speaker of the assembly. In the rein of Charles II. , Antigua was conquered by the French, and theinhabitants were forced to swear allegiance to the French government. Ina very short time the French were driven off the island and the Englishagain took possession of it. It was then declared, by order of the king, that as the people had, by swearing allegiance to another government, forfeited the protection of the British government, and all title totheir lands, they should not again receive either, except on conditionof paying to the king a duty of four and a half per cent on everyarticle exported from the island--and that they were to do in_perpetuity_. To this hard condition they were obliged to submit, andthey have groaned under the onerous duty ever since. On every occasion, which offered any hope, they have sought the repeal of the tax, but haveuniformly been defeated. When they saw that the abolition question wascoming to a crisis, they resolved to make a last effort for the repealof the four and a half percent duty. They therefore adopted immediateemancipation, and then, covered as they were, with the laurels of somagnanimous an act, they presented to parliament their cherished object. The defeat was a humiliating one, and it produced such a reaction in theisland, as well nigh led to the rescinding of the abolition bill. ]

The verbal and written statements of numerous planters also confirm thedeclaration that emancipation was a measure solely of selfish policy. 

Said Mr. Bernard, of Green Castle estate "Emancipation was preferred toapprenticeship, because it was attended with less trouble, and left theplanters independent, instead of being saddled with a legion ofstipendiary magistrates. "

Said Dr. Daniell, member of the council, and proprietor--"Theapprenticeship was rejected by us solely from motives of policy. We didnot wish to be annoyed with stipendiary magistrates. "

Said Hon. N. Nugent--"We wished to let ourselves down in the easiestmanner possible; _therefore_ we chose immediate freedom in preference tothe apprenticeship. "

"Emancipation was preferred to apprenticeship, because of the inevitableand endless perplexities connected with the latter system. "--_DavidCranstoun, Esq. , colonial magistrate and planter_. 

"It is not pretended that emancipation was produced by the influence ofreligious considerations. It was a measure of mere convenience andinterest. "--_A Moravian Missionary_. 

The following testimony is extracted from a letter addressed to us by ahighly respectable merchant of St. John's--a gentleman of longexperience on the island, and now agent for several estates. "Emancipation was an act of mere policy, adopted as _the safest and mosteconomic_ measure. "

Our last item of testimony under this head is from a written statementby the Hon. N. Nugent, speaker of the assembly, at the time ofemancipation. His remarks on this subject, although long, we are surewill be read with interest. Alluding to the adoption of immediateemancipation in preference to the apprenticeship, he observes:--

"The reasons and considerations which led to this step were various, ofcourse impressing the minds of different individuals in differentdegrees. As slave emancipation could not be averted, and must inevitablytake place very shortly, it was better to meet the crisis at once, thanto have it hanging over our heads for six years, with all its harassingdoubts and anxieties; better to give an air of grace to that which wouldbe ultimately unavoidable; the slaves should rather have a motive ofgratitude and kind reciprocation, than to feel, on being declared free, that their emancipation could neither be withheld nor retarded by theirowners. The projected apprenticeship, while it destroyed the means of aninstant coercion in a state of involuntary labor, equally withdrew orneutralized all those urgent motives which constrain to industriousexertion in the case of freemen. It abstracted from the master, in astate of things then barely remunerative, one fourth of the time andlabor required in cultivation, and gave it to the servant, while itcompelled the master to supply the same allowances as before. With manyirksome restraints, conditions, and responsibilities imposed on themaster, it had no equivalent advantages. There appeared no reason, inshort, why general emancipation would not do as well in 1834 as in 1840. Finally, a strong conviction existed that from peculiarity of climateand soil, the physical wants and necessities of the peasantry wouldcompel them to labor for their subsistence, to seek employment and wagesfrom the proprietors of the soil; and if the _transformation_ could besafely and quietly brought about, that the _free_ system might becheaper and more profitable than the other. "

The general testimony of planters, missionaries, clergymen, merchants, and others, was in confirmation of the same truth. 

There is little reason to believe that the views of the colonists onthis subject have subsequently undergone much change. We did not hear, excepting occasionally among the missionaries and clergy, the slightestinsinuation thrown out that _slavery was sinful_; that the slaves had aright to freedom, or that it would have been wrong to have continuedthem in bondage. The _politics_ of anti-slavery the Antiguans areexceedingly well versed in, but of its _religion_, they seem to feel butlittle. They seem never to have examined slavery in its moral relations;never to have perceived its monstrous violations of right and itsimpious tramplings upon God and man. The Antigua planters, it wouldappear, have _yet_ to repent of the sin of slaveholding. 

If the results of an emancipation so destitute of _principle_, so purelyselfish, could produce such general satisfaction, and be followed bysuch happy results, it warrants us in anticipating still more decidedand unmingled blessings in the train of a voluntary, conscientious, andreligious abolition. 

THIRD PROPOSITION. --The _event_ of emancipation passed PEACEFULLY. Thefirst of August, 1834, is universally regarded in Antigua, as havingpresented a most imposing and sublime moral spectacle. It is almostimpossible to be in the company of a missionary, a planter, or anemancipated negro, for ten minutes, without hearing some allusion tothat occasion. Even at the time of our visit to Antigua, after the lapseof nearly three years, they spoke of the event with an admirationapparently unabated. 

For some time previous to the first of August, forebodings of disasterlowered over the island. The day was fixed! Thirty thousand degradedhuman beings were to be brought forth from the dungeon of slavery and"turned loose on the community!" and this was to be done "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. "

Gloomy apprehensions were entertained by many of the planters. Sometimorous families did not go to bed on the night of the 31st of July;fear drove sleep from their eyes, and they awaited with fluttering pulsethe hour of midnight, fearing lest the same bell which sounded thejubilee of the slaves might toll the death knell of the masters. [A]

[Footnote A: We were informed by a merchant of St. John's, that severalAmerican vessels which had lain for weeks in the harbor, weighed anchoron the 31st of July, and made their escape, through actual fear, thatthe island would be destroyed on the following day. Ere they set sailthey earnestly besought our informant to escape from the island, as hevalued his life. ]

The more intelligent, who understood the disposition of the negroes, andcontemplated the natural tendencies of emancipation, throughphilosophical principles, and to the light of human nature and history, were free from alarm. 

To convey to the reader some idea of the manner in which the greatcrisis passed, we give the substance of several accounts which wererelated to us in different parts of the island, by those whowitnessed them. 

The Wesleyans kept "watch-night" in all their chapels on the night ofthe 31st July. One of the Wesleyan missionaries gave us an account ofthe watch meeting at the chapel in St. John's. The spacious house wasfilled with the candidates for liberty. All was animation and eagerness. A mighty chorus of voices swelled the song of expectation and joy, andas they united in prayer, the voice of the leader was drowned in theuniversal acclamations of thanksgiving and praise, and blessing, andhonor, and glory, to God, who had come down for their deliverance. Insuch exercises the evening was spent until the hour of twelveapproached. The missionary then proposed that when the clock on thecathedral should begin to strike, the whole congregation should fallupon their knees and receive the boon of freedom in silence. Accordingly, as the loud bell tolled its first note, the immenseassembly fell prostrate on their knees. All was silence, save thequivering half-stifled breath of the struggling spirit. The slow notesof the clock fell upon the multitude; peal on peal, peal on peal, rolledover the prostrate throng, in tones of angels' voices, thrilling amongthe desolate chords and weary heart strings. Scarce had the clocksounded its last note, when the lightning flashed vividly around, and aloud peal of thunder roared along the sky--God's pillar of fire, andtrump of jubilee! A moment of profoundest silence passed--then came the_burst_--they broke forth in prayer; they shouted, they sung, "Glory, ""alleluia;" they clapped their hands, leaped up, fell down, clasped eachother in their free arms, cried, laughed, and went to and fro, tossingupward their unfettered hands; but high above the whole there was amighty sound which ever and anon swelled up; it was the utterings inbroken negro dialect of gratitude to God. 

After this gush of excitement had spent itself; and the congregationbecame calm, the religious exercises were resumed, and the remainder ofthe night was occupied in singing and prayer, in reading the Bible, andin addresses from the missionaries explaining the nature of the freedomjust received, and exhorting the freed people to be industrious, steady, obedient to the laws, and to show themselves in all things worthy of thehigh boon which God had conferred upon them. 

The first of August came on Friday, and a release was proclaimed fromall work until the next Monday. The day was chiefly spent by the greatmass of the negroes in the churches and chapels. Thither they flocked"as clouds, and as doves to their windows. " The clergy and missionariesthroughout the island were actively engaged, seizing the opportunity inorder to enlighten the people on all the duties and responsibilities oftheir new relation, and above all, urging them to the attainment of thathigher liberty with which Christ maketh his children free. In everyquarter we were assured that the day was like a Sabbath. Work hadceased; the hum of business was still, and noise and tumult were unheardon the streets. Tranquillity pervaded the towns and country. A Sabbathindeed! when the wicked ceased from troubling, and the weary were atrest, and the slave was free from his master! The planters informed usthat they went to the chapels where their own people were assembled, greeted them, shook hands with them, and exchanged the most heartygood wishes. 

The churches and chapels were thronged all over the island. At CedarHall, a Moravian station, the crowd was so great that the minister wasobliged to remove the meeting from the chapel to a neighboring grove. 

At Grace Hill, another Moravian station, the negroes went to theMissionary on the day before the first of August, and begged that theymight be allowed to have a meeting in the chapel at sunrise. It is theusual practice among the Moravians to hold but one sunrise meetingduring the year, and that is on the morning of Easter: but as the peoplebesought very earnestly for this special favor on the Easter morning oftheir freedom, it was granted to them. 

Early in the morning they assembled at the chapel. For some time theysat in perfect silence. The missionary then proposed that they shouldkneel down and sing. The whole audience fell upon their knees, and sunga hymn commencing with the following verse:

 "Now let us praise the Lord, With body, soul and spirit, Who doth such wondrous things, Beyond our sense and merit. "

The singing was frequently interrupted with the tears and sobbings ofthe melted people, until finally it was wholly arrested, and a tumult ofemotion overwhelmed the congregation. 

During the day, repeated meetings were held. At eleven o'clock, thepeople assembled in vast numbers. There were at least a _thousand_persons around the chapel, who could not get in. For once the house ofGod suffered violence, and the violent took it by force. After all theservices of the day, the people went again to the missionaries in abody, and petitioned to have a meeting in the evening. 

At Grace Bay, the people, all dressed in white, assembled in a spaciouscourt in front of the Moravian chapel. They formed a procession andwalked arm in arm into the chapel. Similar scenes occurred at all thechapels and at the churches also. We were told by the missionaries thatthe dress of the negroes on that occasion was uncommonly simple andmodest. There was not the least disposition of gaiety. 

We were also informed by planters and missionaries in every part of theisland, that there was not a single dance known of, either day or night, nor so much as a fiddle played. There were no riotous assemblies, nodrunken carousals. It was not in such channels that the excitement ofthe emancipated flowed. They were as far from dissipation anddebauchery, as they were from violence and carnage. GRATITUDE was theabsorbing emotion. From the hill-tops, and the valleys, the cry of adisenthralled people went upward like the sound of many waters, "Gloryto God, glory to God. "

The testimony of the planters corresponds fully with that of themissionaries. 

Said R. B. Eldridge, Esq. , after speaking of the number emancipated, "Yetthis vast body, (30, 000, ) _glided_ out of slavery into freedom with theutmost tranquillity. "

Dr. Daniell observed, that after so prodigious a revolution in thecondition of the negroes, he expected that some irregularities wouldensue; but he had been entirely disappointed. He also said that heanticipated some relaxation from labour during the week followingemancipation. But he found his hands in the field early on Mondaymorning, and not one missing. The same day he received word from anotherestate, of which he was proprietor, [A] that the negroes had to a manrefused to go to the field. He immediately rode to the estate and foundthe people standing with their hoes in their hands doing nothing. Heaccosted them in a friendly manner: "What does this mean, my fellows, that you are not at work this morning?" They immediately replied, "It'snot because we don't want to work, massa, but we wanted to see you firstand foremost to _know what the bargain would be_. " As soon as thatmatter was settled, the whole body of negroes turned out cheerfully, without a moment's cavil. 

[Footnote A: It is not unusual in the West Indies for proprietors tocommit their own estates into the hands of managers; and be themselves, the managers of other men's estates. ]

Mr. Bourne, of Millar's, informed us that the largest gang he had everseen in the field on his property, turned out the _week afteremancipation_. 

Said Hon. N. Nugent, "Nothing could surpass the universal propriety ofthe negroes' conduct on the first of August, 1834! Never was there amore beautiful and interesting spectacle exhibited, than on thatoccasion. "

FOURTH PROPOSITION. --There has been _since_ emancipation, not only _norebellion in fact_, but NO FEAR OF IT in Antigua. 

Proof 1st. The militia were not called out during Christmas holidays. _Before_ emancipation, martial law invariably prevailed on the holidays, but the very first Christmas after emancipation, the Governor made aproclamation stating that _in consequence of the abolition of slavery_it was no longer necessary to resort to such a precaution. There has notbeen a parade of soldiery on any subsequent Christmas. [B]

[Footnote B: This has been followed by a measure on the part of theLegislature, which is further proof of the same thing. It is "an Act foramending and further continuing the several Acts at present in force forbetter organizing and ordering the militia. "

The preamble reads thus:

 "WHEREAS the abolition of slavery in this island renders it expedient to provide against an unnecessary augmentation of the militia, and the existing laws for better organizing and ordering that local force require amendment. "

The following military advertisement also shows the increasingconfidence which is felt in the freed men:

 "RECRUITS WANTED. --The free men of Antigua are now called on to show their gratitude and loyalty to King WILLIAM, for the benefits he has conferred on them and their families, by volunteering their services as soldiers in his First West India Regiment; in doing which they will acquire a still higher rank in society, by being placed on a footing of perfect equality with the other troops in his Majesty's service, and receive the same bounty, pay, clothing, rations and allowances. 

 None but young men of good character can be received, and all such will meet with every encouragement by applying at St. John's Barracks, to

 H. DOWNIE, _Capt. 1st W. I. Regt_. _September 15th_, 1836. "]

2d. The uniform declaration of planters and others:

"Previous to emancipation, many persons apprehended violence andbloodshed as the consequence of turning the slaves all loose. But whenemancipation took place, all these apprehensions vanished. The sense ofpersonal security is universal. We know not of a single instance inwhich the negroes have exhibited a _revengeful spirit_. "

_S. Bourne, Esq. , of Millar's. --Watkins, Esq. , of Donovan's. _

"It has always appeared to me self-evident, that if a man is peaceablewhile a _slave_, he will be so when a _free man_. "

_Dr. Ferguson. _

"There is no possible danger of personal violence from the slaves;should a foreign power invade our island, I have no doubt that thenegroes would, to a man, fight for the planters. I have the utmostconfidence in all the people who are under my management; they are myfriends, and they consider me their friend. "

_H. Armstrong, Esq. , of Fitch's Creek. _

The same gentleman informed us that during slavery, he used frequentlyto lie sleepless on his bed, thinking about his dangerous situation--alone white person far away from help, and surrounded by hundreds ofsavage slaves; and he had spent hours thus, in devising plans ofself-defence in case the house should be attacked by the negroes. "Ifthey come, " he would say to himself, "and break down the door, and fillmy bedroom, what shall I do? It will be useless to fire at them; my onlyhope is to frighten the superstitious fellows by covering myself with awhite sheet, and rushing into the midst of them, crying, 'ghost, ghost. '"

Now Mr. A. Sleeps in peace and safety, without conjuring up a ghost tokeep guard at his bedside. His bodyguard is a battalion of substantialflesh and blood, made up of those who were once the objects of hisnightly terror!

"There has been no instance of personal violence since freedom. Somepersons pretended, prior to emancipation, to apprehend disastrousresults; but for my part I cannot say that I ever entertained suchfears. I could not see any thing which was to instigate negroes torebellion, _after_ they had obtained their liberty. I have not heard ofa single case of even _meditated_ revenge. "

_Dr. Daniell, Proprietor, Member of Council, Attorney of six estates, and Manager of Weatherill's. _

"One of the blessings of emancipation has been, that it has banished the_fear_ of insurrections, incendiarism, &c. "

_Mr. Favey, Manager of Lavicount's. _

"In my extensive intercourse with the people, as missionary, I havenever heard of an instance of violence or revenge on the part of thenegroes, even where they had been ill-treated during slavery. "

_Rev. Mr. Morrish, Moravian Missionary. _

"Insurrection or revenge is in no case dreaded, not even by thoseplanters who were most cruel in the time of slavery. My family go tosleep every night with the doors unlocked, and we fear neither violencenor robbery. "

_Hon. N. Nugent. _

Again, in a written communication, the same gentleman remarks:--"Thereis not the slightest feeling of insecurity--quite the contrary. Propertyis more secure, _for all idea of insurrection is abolished forever_. "

"We have no cause now to fear insurrections; emancipation has freed usfrom all danger on this score. "

_David Cranstoun, Esq. _

Extract of a letter from a merchant of St. John's who has resided inAntigua more than thirty years:

"There is no sense of personal danger arising from insurrections orconspiracies among the blacks. Serious apprehensions of this nature wereformerly entertained; but they gradually died away _during the firstyear of freedom_. "

We quote the following from a communication addressed to us by agentleman of long experience in Antigua--now a merchant in St. John's--_James Scotland, Sen. , Esq. _

"Disturbances, insubordinations, and revelry, have greatly decreasedsince emancipation; and it is a remarkable fact, that on the day ofabolition, which was observed with the solemnity and services of theSabbath, not an instance of common insolence was experienced from anyfreed man. "

"There is no feeling of insecurity. A stronger proof of this cannot begiven than the dispensing, within five months after emancipation, withthe Christmas guards, which had been regularly and uninterruptedly kept, for nearly one hundred years--during the whole time of slavery. "

"The military has never been called out, but on one occasion, since theabolition, and that was when a certain planter, the most violent enemyof freedom, reported to the Governor that there were strong symptoms ofinsurrection among his negroes. The story was generally laughed at, andthe reporter of it was quite ashamed of his weakness and fears. "

"My former occupation, as editor of a newspaper, rendered it necessaryfor me to make incessant inquiries into the conduct as well as thetreatment of the emancipated, and I have _never heard any instance ofrevenge_ for former injuries. The negroes have _quitted_ managers whowere _harsh or cruel_ to them in their bondage, but they removed in apeaceable and orderly manner. "

"Our negroes, and I presume other negroes too, are very little lesssensible to the force of those motives which lead to the peace, order, and welfare of society, than any other set of people. "

"The general conduct of the negroes has been worthy of much praise, especially considering the sudden transition from slavery tounrestricted freedom. Their demeanor is peaceable and orderly. "

_Ralph Higinbothom, U. S. Consul. _

As we mingled with the missionaries, both in town and country, they allbore witness to the security of their persons and families. They, equally with the planters, were surprised that we should make anyinquiries about insurrections. A question on this subject generallyexcited a smile, a look of astonishment, or some exclamation, such as"_Insurrection_! my dear sirs, we do not think of such a thing;" or, "Rebellion indeed! why, what should they rebel for _now_, since theyhave got their liberty!"

Physicians informed us that they were in the habit of riding into thecountry at all hours of the night, and though they were constantlypassing negroes, both singly and in companies, they never hadexperienced any rudeness, nor even so much as an insolent word. Theycould go by night or day, into any part of the island where theirprofessional duties called them, without the slightest sense of danger. 

A residence of nine weeks in the island gave us no small opportunity oftesting the reality of its boasted security. The hospitality of plantersand missionaries, of which we have recorded so many instances in aprevious part of this work, gave us free access to their houses in everypart of the island. In many cases we were constrained to spend the nightwith them, and thus enjoyed, in the intimacies of the domestic circle, and in the unguarded moments of social intercourse, every opportunity ofdetecting any lurking fears of violence, if such there had been; but wesaw no evidence of it, either in the arrangements of the houses or inthe conduct of the inmates[A]. 

[Footnote A: In addition to the evidence derived from Antigua, wewould mention the following fact:

A planter, who is also an attorney, informed us that on the neighboringlittle island of Barbuda, (which is leased from the English governmentby Sir Christopher Coddrington, ) there are five hundred negroes and only_three white men_. The negroes are entirely free, yet the whitescontinue to live among them without any fear of having their throatscut. The island is cultivated in sugar. --Barbuda is under thegovernment of Antigua, and accordingly the act of entire emancipationextended to that island. ]

FIFTH PROPOSITION. --There has been no fear of house breaking, highwayrobberies, and like misdemeanors, since emancipation. Statements, similar to those adduced under the last head, from planters, and othergentlemen, might be introduced here; but as this proposition is sointimately involved in the foregoing, separate proof is not necessary. The same causes which excite apprehensions of insurrection, producefears of robberies and other acts of violence; so also the same state ofsociety which establishes security of person, insures the safety ofproperty. Both in town and country we heard gentlemen repeatedly speakof the slight fastenings to their houses. A mere lock, or bolt, was allthat secured the outside doors, and they might be burst open with ease, by a single man. In some cases, as has already been intimated, theplanters habitually neglect to fasten their doors--so strong is theirconfidence of safety. We were not a little struck with the remark of agentleman in St. John's. He said he had long been desirous to remove toEngland, his native country, and had slavery continued much longer inAntigua, he certainly should have gone; but _now_ the _security ofproperty was so much greater in Antigua than it was in England_, that hethought it doubtful whether he should ever _venture_ to take hisfamily thither. 

SIXTH PROPOSITION. --Emancipation is regarded by all classes as a greatblessing to the island. 

There is not a class, or party, or sect, who do not esteem the abolitionof slavery as a _special blessing to them_. The rich, because itrelieved them of "property" which was fast becoming a disgrace, as ithad always been a vexation and a tax, and because it has emancipatedthem from the terrors of insurrection, which kept them all their lifetime subject to bondage. The poor whites--because it lifted from offthem the yoke of civil oppression. The free colored population--becauseit gave the death blow to the prejudice that crushed them, and openedthe prospect of social, civil, and political equality with the whites. The _slaves_--because it broke open their dungeon, led them out toliberty, and gave them, in one munificent donation, their wives, theirchildren, their bodies, their souls--every thing!

The following extracts from the journals of the legislature, show thestate of feeling existing shortly after emancipation. The first is datedOctober 30, 1834:

"The Speaker said, that he looked with exultation at the prospect beforeus. The hand of the Most High was evidently working for us. Could weregard the universal tranquillity, the respectful demeanor of the lowerclasses, as less than an interposition of Providence? The agriculturaland commercial prosperity of the island were absolutely on the advance;and for his part he would not hesitate to purchase estates to-morrow. "

The following remark was made in the course of a speech by a member ofthe council, November 12, 1834:

"Colonel Brown stated, that since emancipation he had never been withouta sufficient number of laborers, and he was certain he could obtain asmany more to-morrow as he should wish. "

The general confidence in the beneficial results of emancipation, hasgrown stronger with every succeeding year and month. It has been seenthat freedom will bear trial; that it will endure, and continue to bringforth fruits of increasing value. 

The Governor informed us that "it was _universally admitted_, thatemancipation had been a great blessing to the island. "

In a company of proprietors and planters, who met us on a certainoccasion, among whom were lawyers, magistrates, and members of thecouncil, and of the assembly, the sentiment was distinctly avowed, thatemancipation was highly beneficial to the island, and there was not adissenting opinion. 

"Emancipation is working most admirably, especially for the planters. Itis infinitely better policy than slavery or the apprenticeship either. "--_Dr. Ferguson_. 

"Our planters find that freedom answers a far better purpose thanslavery ever did. A gentleman, who is attorney for eight estates, assured me that there was no comparison between the benefits andadvantages of the two systems. "--_Archdeacon Parry_. 

"All the planters in my neighborhood (St. Philip's parish) are highlypleased with the operation of the new system. "--_Rev. Mr. Jones, Rectorof St. Philip's_. 

"I do not know of more than one or two planters in the whole island, whodo not consider emancipation as a decided advantage to all parties. "--_Dr. Daniell_. 

That emancipation should be universally regarded as a blessing, isremarkable, when we consider that combination of untoward circumstanceswhich it has been called to encounter--a combination whollyunprecedented in the history of the island. In 1835, the first year ofthe new system, the colony was visited by one of the most desolatinghurricanes which has occurred for many years. In the same year, cultivation was arrested, and the crops greatly reduced, by drought. About the same time, the yellow fever prevailed with fearful mortality. The next year the drought returned, and brooded in terror from Marchuntil January, and from January until June: not only blasting theharvest of '36, but extending its blight over the crops of '37. 

Nothing could be better calculated to try the confidence in the newsystem. Yet we find all classes zealously exonerating emancipation, andin despite of tornado, plague, and wasting, still affirming theblessings and advantages of freedom!

SEVENTH PROPOSITION. --_Free labor_ is decidedly LESS EXPENSIVE than_slave labor_. It costs the planter actually less to pay his freelaborers daily wages, than it did to maintain his slaves. It will beobserved in the testimony which follows, that there is some differenceof opinion as to the _precise amount_ of reduction in the expenses, which is owing to the various modes of management on different estates, and more particularly, to the fact that some estates raise all theirprovisions, while others raise none. But as to the fact itself, therecan scarcely be said to be any dispute among the planters. There was oneclass of planters whose expenses seemed to be somewhat increased, viz. Those who raised all their provisions before emancipation, and ceased toraise any _after_ that event. But in the opinion of the most intelligentplanters, even these did not really sustain any loss, for originally itwas bad policy to raise provisions, since it engrossed that labor whichwould have been more profitably directed to the cultivation of sugar;and hence they would ultimately be gainers by the change. 

S. Bourne, Esq. Stated that the expenses on Millar's estate, of which heis manager, had diminished about _one third_. 

Mr. Barnard, of Green Castle, thought his expenses were about the samethat they were formerly. 

Mr. Favey, of Lavicount's estate, enumerated, among the advantages offreedom over slavery, "the diminished expense. "

Dr. Nugent also stated, that "the expenses of cultivation were greatlydiminished. "

Mr. Hatley, manager of Fry's estate, said that the expenses on hisestate had been greatly reduced since emancipation. He showed us theaccount of his expenditures for the last year of slavery, and the firstfull year of freedom, 1835. The expenses during the last year of slaverywere 1371_l. _ 2_s. _ 4-1/2_d. _; the expenses for 1835 were 821_l. _ 16_s. _7-1/2_d. _: showing a reduction of more than one third. 

D. Cranstoun, Esq. , informed us that his weekly expenses during slavery, on the estate which he managed, were, on an average, 45_l. _; the averageexpenses now do not exceed 20_l. _

Extract of a letter from Hon. N. Nugent:

"The expenses of cultivating sugar estates have in no instance, Ibelieve, been found _greater_ than before. As far as my experience goes, they are certainly less, particularly as regards those properties whichwere overhanded before, when proprietors were compelled to support moredependents than they required. In some cases, the present cost is lessby _one third_. I have not time to furnish you with any detailedstatements, but the elements of the calculation are simple enough. "

It is not difficult to account for the diminution in the cost ofcultivation. In the first place, for those estates that bought theirprovision previous to emancipation, it cost more money to purchase theirstores than they now pay out in wages. This was especially true in dryseasons, when home provisions failed, and the island was mainlydependent upon foreign supplies. 

But the chief source of the diminution lies in the reduced number ofpeople to be supported by the planter. During slavery, the planter wasrequired by law to maintain _all_ the slaves belonging to the estate;the superannuated, the infirm, the pregnant, the nurses, the youngchildren, and the infants, as well as the working slaves. Now it is onlythe latter class, the effective laborers, (with the addition of such aswere superannuated or infirm at the period of emancipation, ) who aredependent upon the planter. These are generally not more than one half, frequently less than a third, of the whole number of negroes resident onthe estate; consequently a very considerable burthen has been removedfrom the planter. 

The reader may form some estimate of the reduced expense to the planter, resulting from these causes combined, by considering the statement madeto us by Hon. N. Nugent, and repeatedly by proprietors and managers, that had slavery been in existence during the present drought, many ofthe smaller estates _must have been inevitably ruined_; on account ofthe high price of imported provisions, (home provisions having fallenshort) and the number of slaves to be fed. 

EIGHTH PROPOSITION. --The negroes work _more cheerfully_, and _do theirwork better_ than they did during slavery. Wages are found to be anample substitute for the lash--they never fail to secure the amount oflabor desired. This is particularly true where task work is tried, whichis done occasionally in cases of a pressing nature, when considerableeffort is required. We heard of no complaints on the score of idleness, but on the contrary, the negroes were highly commended for thepunctuality and cheerfulness with which they performed the workassigned them. 

The Governor stated, that "he was assured by planters, from every partof the island, that the negroes were very industriously disposed. "

"My people have become much more industrious since they wereemancipated. I have been induced to extend the sugar cultivation over anumber of acres more than have ever been cultivated before. "--_Mr. Watkins, of Donovan's_. 

"Fearing the consequences of emancipation, I reduced my cultivation inthe year '34; but soon finding that my people would work as well asever, I brought up the cultivation the next year to the customaryextent, and this year ('36) I have added fifteen acres of newland. "--_S. Bourne, of Millar's_. 

"Throughout the island the estates were never in a more advanced statethan they now are. The failure in the crops is not in the slightestdegree chargeable to a deficiency of labor. I have frequently adoptedthe job system for short periods; the results have always beengratifying--the negroes accomplished twice as much as when they workedfor daily wages, because they made more money. On some days they wouldmake three shillings--three times the ordinary wages. "--_Dr. Daniell_. 

"They are as a body _more_ industrious than when slaves, for the obviousreason that they are _working for themselves_. "--_Ralph Higinbothom, U. S. Consul_. 

"I have no hesitation in saying that on my estate cultivation is moreforward than ever it has been at the same season. The failure of thecrops is not in the least degree the fault of the laborers. They havedone well. "--_Mr. Favey, of Lavicount's estate_. 

"The most general apprehension prior to emancipation was, that thenegroes would not work after they were made free--that they would beindolent, buy small parcels of land, and '_squat_' on them to theneglect of sugar cultivation. Time, however, has proved that there wasno foundation for this apprehension. The estates were never in betterorder than they are at present. If you are interrogated on your returnhome concerning the cultivation of Antigua, you can say that every thingdepends upon the _weather_. If we have _sufficient rain_, you may becertain that we shall realize abundant crops. If we have no rain, thecrops _must inevitably_ fail. _But we always depend upon the laborers_. On account of the stimulus to industry which wages afford, there is farless feigned sickness than there was during slavery. When slaves, thenegroes were glad to find any excuse for deserting their labor, and theywere incessantly feigning sickness. The sick-house was thronged withreal and pretended invalids. After '34, it was wholly deserted. Thenegroes would not go near it; and, in truth, I have lately used it for astable. "--_Hon. N. Nugent_. 

"Though the laborers on both the estates under my management have beenconsiderably reduced since freedom, yet the grounds have never been in afiner state of cultivation, than they are at present. When my work isbackward, I give it out in jobs, and it is always done in half theusual time. "

"Emancipation has almost wholly put an end to the practice of_skulking_, or pretending to be sick. That was a thing which caused theplanter a vast deal of trouble during slavery. Every Monday morningregularly, when I awoke, I found ten or a dozen, or perhaps twenty menand women, standing around my door, waiting for me to make my firstappearance, and begging that I would let them off from work that day onaccount of sickness. It was seldom the case that one fourth of theapplicants were really unwell; but every one would maintain that he wasvery sick, and as it was hard to contend with them about it, they wereall sent off to the sick-house. Now this is entirely done away, and mysick-house is converted into a chapel for religious worship. "--_JamesHowell, Esq. _

"I find my people much more disposed to work than they formerly were. The habit of feigning sickness to get rid of going to the field, iscompletely broken up. This practice was very common during slavery. Itwas often amusing to hear their complaints. One would come carrying anarm in one hand, and declaring that it had a mighty pain in it, and hecould not use the hoe no way; another would make his appearance withboth hands on his breast, and with a rueful look complain of a greatpain in the stomach; a third came limping along, with a _dreadfulrheumatiz_ in his knees; and so on for a dozen or more. It was vain todispute with them, although it was often manifest that nothing earthlywas ailing them. They would say, 'Ah! me massa, you no tink how bad mefeel--it's _deep in_, massa. ' But all this trouble is passed. We have nosick-house now; no feigned sickness, and really much less actual illnessthan formerly. My people say, '_they have not time to be sick now_. ' Mycultivation has never been so far advanced at the same season, or infiner order than it is at the present time. I have been encouraged bythe increasing industry of my people to bring several additional acresunder cultivation. "--_Mr. Hatley, Fry's estate_. 

"I get my work done better than formerly, and with incomparably morecheerfulness. My estate was never in a finer state of cultivation thanit is now, though I employ _fewer_ laborers than during slavery. I haveoccasionally used job, or task work, and with great success. When I giveout a job, it is accomplished in about half the time that it would haverequired by giving the customary wages. The people will do as much inone week at job work, as they will in two, working for a shilling a day. I have known them, when they had a job to do, turn out before threeo'clock in the morning, and work by moonlight. "--_D. Cranstoun, Esq. _

"My people work very well for the ordinary wages; I have no fault tofind with them in this respect. "--_Manager of Scotland's estate_. 

_Extract from the Superintendent's Report to the Commander in Chief_. 

SUPERINTENDENT'S OFFICE, _June 6th_. 1836. 

 "During the last month I have visited the country in almost every direction, with the express object of paying a strict attention to all branches of agricultural operations at that period progressing. 

 The result of my observations is decidedly favorable, as regards proprietors and laborers. The manufacture of sugar has advanced as far as the long and continued want of rain will admit; the lands, generally, appear to be in a forward state of preparation for the ensuing crop, and the laborers seem to work with more steadiness and satisfaction to themselves and their employers, than they have manifested for some length of time past, and their work is much more correctly performed. 

 Complaints are, for the most part, adduced by the employers against the laborers, and principally consist, (as hitherto, ) of breaches of contract; but I am happy to observe, that a diminution of dissatisfaction on this head even, has taken place, as will be seen by the accompanying general return of offences reported. 

 Your honor's most obedient, humble servant, _Richard S. Wickham, Superintendent of police_. "

NINTH PROPOSITION. --The negroes are _more easily managed_ as freementhan they were when slaves. 

On this point as well as on every other connected with the system ofslavery, public opinion in Antigua has undergone an entire revolution, since 1834. It was then a common maxim that the peculiar characteristicsof the negro absolutely required a government of terror and brute force. 

The Governor said, "The negroes are as a race remarkable for _docility_;they are very easily controlled by kind influence. It is only necessaryto gain their confidence, and you can sway them as you please. "

"Before emancipation took place, I dreaded the consequence of abolishingthe power of compelling labor, but I have since found by experience thatforbearance and kindness are sufficient for all purposes of authority. Ihave seldom had any trouble in managing my people. They consider metheir friend, and the expression of my wish is enough for them. Thoseplanters who have retained their _harsh manner_ do not succeed under thenew system. The people will not bear it. "--_Mr. J. Howell_. 

"I find it remarkably easy to manage my people. I govern them entirelyby mildness. In every instance in which managers have persisted in theirhabits of arbitrary command, they have failed. I have lately beenobliged to discharge a manager from one of the estates under mydirection, on account of his overbearing disposition. If I had notdismissed him, the people would have abandoned the estate _enmasse_. "--_Dr. Daniell_. 

"The management of an estate under the free system is a much lighterbusiness than it used to be. We do not have the trouble to get thepeople to work, or to keep them in order. "--_Mr. Favey_. 

"Before the abolition of slavery, I thought it would be utterlyimpossible to manage my people without tyrannizing over them as usual, and that it would be giving up the reins of government entirely, toabandon the whip; but I am now satisfied that I was mistaken. I havelost all desire to exercise arbitrary power. I have known of severalinstances in which unpleasant disturbances have been occasioned bymanagers giving way to their anger, and domineering over the laborers. The people became disobedient and disorderly, and remained so until theestates went into other hands, and a good management immediatelyrestored confidence and peace. "--_Mr. Watkins_. 

"Among the advantages belonging to the free system, may he enumeratedthe greater facility in managing estates. We are freed from a world oftrouble and perplexity. "--_David Cranstoun, Esq. _

"I have no hesitation in saying, that if I have a supply of cash, I cantake off any crop it may please God to send. Having already, sinceemancipation, taken off one fully sixty hogsheads above the average ofthe last twenty years. I can speak with confidence. "--_Letter from S. Bourne, Esq. _

Mr. Bourne stated a fact which illustrates the ease with which thenegroes are governed by gentle means. He said that it was a prevailingpractice during slavery for the slaves to have a dance soon after theyhad finished gathering in the crop. At the completion of his crop in'35, the people made arrangements for having the customary dance. Theywere particularly elated because the crop which they had first taken offwas the largest one that had ever been produced by the estate, and itwas also the largest crop on the island for that year. With theseextraordinary stimulants and excitements, operating in connection withthe influence of habit, the people were strongly inclined to have adance. Mr. B. Told them that dancing was a bad practice--and a verychildish, barbarous amusement, and he thought it was wholly unbecoming_freemen_. He hoped therefore that they would dispense with it. Thenegroes could not exactly agree with their manager--and said they didnot like to be disappointed in their expected sport. Mr. B. Finallyproposed to them that he would get the Moravian minister, Rev. Mr. Harvey, to ride out and preach to them on the appointed evening. Thepeople all agreed to this. Accordingly, Mr. Harvey preached, and theysaid no more about the dance--nor have they ever attempted to get up adance since. 

We had repeated opportunities of witnessing the management of thelaborers on the estates, and were always struck with the absence ofevery thing like coercion. 

By the kind invitation of Mr. Bourne, we accompanied him once on amorning circuit around his estate. After riding some distance, we cameto the 'great gang' cutting canes. Mr. B. Saluted the people in afriendly manner, and they all responded with a hearty 'good mornin, massa. ' There were more than fifty persons, male and female, on thespot. The most of them were employed in cutting canes[A], which they didwith a heavy knife called a _bill_. Mr. B. Beckoned to thesuperintendent, a black man, to come to him, and gave him somedirections for the forenoon's work, and then, after saying a fewencouraging words to the people, took us to another part of the estate, remarking as we rode off, "I have entire confidence that those laborerswill do their work just as I want to have it done. " We next came uponsome men, who were hoeing in a field of corn. We found that there hadbeen a slight altercation between two of the men. Peter, who was aforeman, came to Mr. B. , and complained that George would not leave thecornfield and go to another kind of work as he had bid him. Mr. B. Called George, and asked for an explanation. George had a long story totell, and he made an earnest defence, accompanied with impassionedgesticulation; but his dialect was of such outlandish description, thatwe could not understand him. Mr. B. Told us that the main ground of hisdefence was that Peter's direction was _altogether unreasonable_. Peterwas then called upon to sustain his complaint; he spoke with equalearnestness and equal unintelligibility. Mr. B. Then gave his decision, with great kindness of manner, which quite pacified both parties. 

[Footnote A: The process of cutting canes is this:--The leafy part, attop is first cut off down as low as the saccharine matter A few of thelowest joints of the part thus cut off, are then stripped of the leaves, and cut off for _plants_, for the next crop. The stalk is then cut offclose to the ground--and it is that which furnishes the juice forsugar. It is from three to twelve feet long, and from one to two inchesin diameter, according to the quality of the soil, the seasonableness ofthe weather, &c. The cutters are followed by _gatherers_, who bind upthe plants and stalks, as the cutters cast them behind them, indifferent bundles. The carts follow in the train, and take up thebundles--carrying the stalks to the mill to be ground, and the plants inanother direction. ]

As we rode on, Mr. B. Informed us that George was himself the foreman ofa small weeding gang, and felt it derogatory to his dignity to beordered by Peter. 

We observed on all the estates which we visited, that the planters, whenthey wish to influence their people, are in the habit of appealing tothem as _freemen_, and that now better things are expected of them. Thisappeal to their self-respect seldom fails of carrying the point. 

It is evident from the foregoing testimony, that if the negroes do notwork well on any estate, it is generally speaking the _fault of themanager_. We were informed of many instances in which arbitrary men weredischarged from the management of estates, and the result has been therestoration of order and industry among the people. 

On this point we quote the testimony of James Scotland, Sen. , Esq. , anintelligent and aged merchant of St. John's:

"In this colony, the evils and troubles attending emancipation haveresulted almost entirely from the perseverance of the planters in theirold habits of domination. The planters very frequently, indeed, _in theearly stage of freedom_, used their power as employers to the annoyanceand injury of their laborers. For the slightest misconduct, andsometimes without any reason whatever, the poor negroes were draggedbefore the magistrates, (planters or their friends, ) and mulcted intheir wages, fined otherwise, and committed to jail or the house ofcorrection. And yet those harassed people remained patient, orderly andsubmissive. _Their treatment now is much improved. The planters havehappily discovered, that as long as they kept the cultivators of theirlands in agitations and sufferings, their own interests weresacrificed. _"

TENTH PROPOSITION. --The negroes are _more trust-worthy, and take adeeper interest in their employers' affairs_, since emancipation. 

"My laborers manifest an increasing attachment to the estate. In alltheir habits they are becoming more settled, and they begin to feel thatthey have a personal interest in the success of the property on whichthey live. "--_Mr. Favey_. 

"As long as the negroes felt uncertain whether they would remain in oneplace, or be dismissed and compelled to seek a home elsewhere, theymanifested very little concern for the advancement of their employers'interest; but in proportion as they become permanently established on anestate, they seem to identify themselves with its prosperity. Theconfidence between master and servant is mutually increasing. "--_Mr. James Howell_. 

The Hon. Mr. Nugent, Dr. Daniell, D. Cranstoun, Esq. , and otherplanters, enumerated among the advantages of freedom, the planters beingreleased from the perplexities growing out of want of confidence in thesympathy and honesty of the slaves. 

S. Bourne, Esq. , of Millar's, remarked as we were going towards his milland boiling-house, which had been in operation about a week, "I have notbeen near my works for several days; yet I have no fears but that Ishall find every thing going on properly. "

The planters have been too deeply experienced in the nature of slavery, not to know that mutual jealousy, distrust, and alienation of feelingand interest, are its legitimate offspring; and they have already seenenough of the operation of freedom, to entertain the confidentexpectation, that fair wages, kind treatment, and comfortable homes, will attach the laborers to the estates, and identify the interests ofthe employer and the employed. 

ELEVENTH PROPOSITION. --The experiment in Antigua proves that emancipatedslaves can _appreciate law_. It is a prevailing opinion that those whohave long been slaves, cannot at once be safely subjected to thecontrol of law. 

It will now be seen how far this theory is supported by facts. Let it beremembered that the negroes of Antigua passed, "by a single _jump_, fromabsolute slavery to unqualified freedom. "[A] In proof of _theirsubordination to law_, we give the testimony of planters, and quote alsofrom the police reports sent in monthly to the Governor, with copies ofwhich we were kindly furnished by order of His Excellency. 

[Footnote A: Dr. Daniell. ]

"I have found that the negroes are readily controlled by law; more soperhaps than the laboring classes in other countries. "--_DavidCranstoun, Esq. _

"The conduct of the negro population generally, has surpassed allexpectation. They are as pliant to the hand of legislation, as anypeople; perhaps more so than some. " _Wesleyan Missionary_. 

Similar sentiments were expressed by the Governor, the Hon. N. Nugent, R. B. Eldridge, Esq. , Dr. Ferguson, Dr. Daniell, and James Scotland, Jr. , Esq. , and numerous other planters, managers, &c. This testimony iscorroborated by the police reports, exhibiting, as they do, comparatively few crimes, and those for the most part minor ones. Wehave in our possession the police reports for every month fromSeptember, 1835, to January, 1837. We give such specimens as will serveto show the general tenor of the reports. 

 _Police-Office, St. John's, Sept_. 3, 1835. 

 "From the information which I have been able to collect by my own personal exertions, and from the reports of the assistant inspectors, at the out stations, I am induced to believe that, in general, a far better feeling and good understanding at present prevails between the laborers and their employers, than hitherto. 

 Capital offences have much decreased in number, as well as all minor ones, and the principal crimes lately submitted for the investigation of the magistrates, seem to consist chiefly in trifling offences and breaches of contract. 

 _Signed, Richard S. Wickham, Superintendent of Police_. "

 * * * * *

 "To his excellency, _Sir C. I. Murray McGregor, Governor, &c_. 

 _St. John's, Antigua, Oct_. 2, 1835. 

 Sir--The general state of regularity and tranquillity which prevails throughout the island, admits of my making but a concise report to your Excellency, for the last month. 

 The autumnal agricultural labors continue to progress favorably, and I have every reason to believe, that the agriculturalists, generally, are far more satisfied with the internal state of the island affairs, than could possibly have been anticipated a short period since. 

 From conversations which I have had with several gentlemen of extensive interest and practical experience, united with my own observations, I do not hesitate in making a favorable report of the general easy and quietly progressing state of contentedness, evidently showing itself among the laboring class; and I may add, that with few exceptions, a reciprocity of kind and friendly feeling at present is maintained between the planters and their laborers. 

 Although instances do occur of breach of contract, they are not very frequent, and in many cases I have been induced to believe, that the crime has originated more from the want of a proper understanding of the time, intent, and meaning of the contract into which the laborers have entered, than from the actual existence of any dissatisfaction on their part. "

 _Signed, &c. _

 * * * * *

 _St. John's, Antigua, Dec. 2d_, 1835. 

 "Sir--I have the honor to report that a continued uninterrupted state of peace and good order has happily prevailed throughout the island, during the last month. 

 The calendar of offences for trial at the ensuing sessions, bears little comparison with those of former periods, and I am happy to state, that the crimes generally, are of a trifling nature, and principally petty thefts. 

 By a comparison of the two last lists of offences submitted for investigation, it will be found that a decrease has taken place in that for November. "

 _Signed, &c_. 

 * * * * *

 St. John's, January 2d, 1836. 

 "Sir--I have great satisfaction in reporting to your Honor the peaceable termination of the last year, and of the Christmas vacation. 

 At this period of the year, which has for ages been celebrated for scenes of gaiety and amusement among the laboring, as well as all other classes of society, and when several successive days of idleness occur, I cannot but congratulate your Honor, on the quiet demeanor and general good order, which has happily been maintained throughout the island. 

 It may not be improper here to remark, that during the holidays, I had only one prisoner committed to my charge, and that even his offence was of a minor nature. "

 _Signed, &c_. 

 * * * * *

_Extract of Report for February, 1836. _

 "The operation of the late Contract Acts, caused some trifling inconvenience at the commencement, but now that they are clearly understood, even by the young and ignorant, I am of opinion, that the most beneficial effects have resulted from these salutary Acts, equally to master and servant, and that a permanent understanding is fully established. 

 A return of crimes reported during the month of January, I beg leave to enclose, and at the same time, to congratulate your Honor on the vast diminution of all minor misdemeanors, and of the continued total absence of capital offences. "

 * * * * *

 _Superintendent's office_, _Antigua, April 4th_, 1836. 

 "SIR--I am happy to remark, for the information of your Honor, that the Easter holidays have passed off, without the occurrence of any violation of the existing laws sufficiently serious to merit particular observation. "[A]

 _Signed, &c_. 

 * * * * *

[Footnote A: This and the other reports concern, not St. John's merely, but the entire population of the island. ]

_Extract from the Report for May, 1836. _

 "It affords me great satisfaction in being able to report that the continued tranquillity prevailing throughout the island, prevents the necessity of my calling the particular attention of your Honor to the existence of any serious or flagrant offence. 

 The crop season having far advanced, I have much pleasure in remarking the continued steady and settled disposition, which on most properties appear to be reciprocally established between the proprietors and their agricultural laborers; and I do also venture to offer as my opinion, that a considerable improvement has taken place, in the behavior of domestic, as well as other laborers, not immediately employed in husbandry. "

We quote the following table of offences as a specimen of the monthlyreports:

_Police Office, St. John's, 1836. _

RETURN OF OFFENCES REPORTED AT THE POLICE STATIONS FROM 1ST TO 31ST MAY. 

NATURE OF St. E. Par- John- Total. More LessOFFENSES. John's. Har- ham. Ston's than than bour. Point. Last last month. Month. 

Assaults. 2 2 4 5 Do. And Batteries. 2 3 5 10 8

Breach ofContract. 4 11 59 74 16

Burglaries. 2 3 5 2

Commitments under Vagrant Act. 4 1 5 10 Do. For Fines. 5 5 2 Do under amended Porter's and Jobber's Act. 7

Felonies. 2 2 2

Injury toproperty. 4 9 7 20 5

Larcenies. 4 4 4

Misdemeanors. 3 12 15 15

Murders. 

PettyThefts. 1 1 10

Trespasses. 1 2 2 5

Ridingimproperlythro' thestreets. 

Total 33 41 76 150 25 61

_Signed_, Richard S. Wickham, _Superintendent of Police_. 

 * * * * *

 _Superintendent's office_, _Antigua, July 6th_, 1836. 

 "SIR, --I have the honor to submit for your information, a general return of all offences reported during the last month, by which your Honor will perceive, that no increase of 'breach of contract' has been recorded. 

 While I congratulate your Honor on the successful maintenance of general peace, and a reciprocal good feeling among all classes of society, I beg to assure you, that the opinion which I have been able to form in relation to the behavior of the laboring population, differs but little from my late observations. 

 At a crisis like this, when all hopes of the ultimate success of so grand and bold an experiment, depends, almost entirely, on a cordial co-operation of the community, I sincerely hope, that no obstacles or interruptions will now present themselves, to disturb that general good understanding so happily established, since the adoption of unrestricted freedom. "

 * * * * *

 _Superintendent's office_, _St. John's, Sept. 4th_, 1836. 

 "SIR--I have the honor to enclose, for the information of your Excellency, the usual monthly return of offences reported for punishment. 

 It affords me very great satisfaction to report, that the internal peace and tranquillity of the island has remained uninterrupted during the last month; the conduct of all classes of the community has been orderly and peaceable, and strictly obedient to the laws of their country. 

 The agricultural laborers continue a steady and uniform line of conduct, and with some few exceptions, afford a general satisfaction to their several employers. 

 Every friend to this country, and to the liberties of the world, must view with satisfaction the gradual improvement in the character and behavior of this class of the community, under the constant operation of the local enactments. 

 The change must naturally be slow, but I feel sure that, in due time, a general amelioration in the habits and industry of the laborers will be sensibly experienced by all grades of society in this island, and will prove the benign effects and propitious results of the co-operated exertions of all, for their general benefit and future advancement. 

 Complaints have been made in the public prints of the robberies committed in this town, as well as the neglect of duty of the police force, and as these statements must eventually come under the observation of your Excellency, I deem it my duty to make a few observations on this point. 

 The town of St. John's occupies a space of one hundred and sixty acres of land, divided into fourteen main, and nine cross streets, exclusive of lanes and alleys--with a population of about three thousand four hundred persons. 

 The numerical strength of the police force in this district, is eleven sergeants and two officers; five of these sergeants are on duty every twenty-four hours. One remains in charge of the premises, arms, and stores; the other four patrole by day and night, and have also to attend to the daily duties of the magistrates, and the eleventh is employed by me (being an old one) in general patrole duties, pointing out nuisances and irregularities. 

 One burglary and one felony alone were reported throughout the island population of 37, 000 souls in the month of July; and no burglary, and three felonies, were last month reported. 

 The cases of robbery complained of, have been effected without any violence or noise, and have principally been by concealment in stores, which, added to the great want of a single lamp, or other light, in any one street at night, must reasonably facilitate the design of the robber, and defy the detection of the most active and vigilant body of police. "

 _Signed, &c. _

 * * * * *

 _Superintendent's office, _ _Antigua, January 4th, 1837. _

 "SIR--It is with feelings of the most lively gratification that I report, for your notice the quiet and peaceable termination of Christmas vacation, and the last year, which were concluded without a single serious violation of the governing laws. 

 I cannot refrain from cordially congratulating your Excellency on the regular and steady behavior, maintained by all ranks of society, at this particular period of the year. 

 Not one species of crime which can be considered of an heinous nature, has yet been discovered; and I proudly venture to declare my opinion, that in no part of his Majesty's dominions, has a population of thirty thousand conducted themselves with more strict propriety, at this annual festivity, or been more peaceably obedient to the laws of their country. "

 _Signed, &c. _

 * * * * *

In connection with the above quotation from the monthly reports, wepresent an extract of a letter from the superintendent of the police, addressed to us. 

 _St. John's, 9th February, 1837. _

 "MY DEAR SIRS--In compliance with your request, I have not any hesitation in affording you any information on the subject of the free system adopted in this island, which my public situation has naturally provided me with. 

 The opinion which I have formed has been, and yet remains, in favor of the emancipation; and I feel very confident that the system has and continues to work well, in almost all instances. The laborers have conducted themselves generally in a highly satisfactory manner to all the authorities, and strikingly so when we reflect that the greater portion of the population of the island were at once removed from a state of long existing slavery, to one of unrestricted freedom. Unacquainted as they are with the laws newly enacted for their future government and guidance, and having been led in their ignorance to expect incalculable wonders and benefits arising from freedom, I cannot but reflect with amazement on the peace and good order which have been so fortunately maintained throughout the island population of thirty thousand subjects. 

 Some trifling difficulties sprang up on the commencement of the new system among the laborers, but even these, on strict investigation, proved to originate more from _an ignorance of their actual position_, than from any bad feeling, or improper motives, and consequently _were of short duration_. In general the laborers are peaceable orderly, and civil, not only to those who move in higher spheres of life than themselves, but also to each other. 

 The crimes they are generally guilty of, are petty thefts, and other minor offences against the local acts; but crimes of an heinous nature are very rare among them; and I may venture to say, that petty thefts, _breaking sugar-canes to eat_, and offences of the like description, _principally_ swell the calendars of our quarterly courts of sessions. _Murder_ has been a stranger to this island for many years; no execution has occurred among the island population for a very long period; the only two instances were two _Irish_ soldiers. 

 The lower class having become more acquainted with their governing laws, have also become infinitely more obedient to them, and I have observed _that particular care is taken among most of them to explain to each other the nature of the laws_, and to point out in their usual style the ill consequences attending any violation of them. ==> _A due fear of, and a prompt obedience to, the authority of the magistrates, is a prominent feature of the lower orders_, and to this I mainly attribute the successful maintenance of rural tranquillity. 

 Since emancipation, the agricultural laborer has had to contend with two of the most obstinate droughts experienced for many years in the island, which has decreased the supply of his accustomed vegetables and ground provisions, and consequently subjected him and family to very great privations; but this even, I think, has been submitted to with becoming resignation. 

 To judge of the past and present state of society throughout the island, I presume that _the lives and properties of all classes are as secure in this, as in any other portion of his Majesty's dominions_; and I sincerely hope that the future behavior of all, will more clearly manifest the correctness of my views of this highly important subject. 

 I remain, dear sirs, yours faithfully, RICHARD S. WICKHAM, _Superintendent of police_. "

 * * * * *

This testimony is pointed and emphatic; and it comes from one whose_official business it is to know_ the things whereof he here affirms. Wehave presented not merely the opinions of Mr. W. , relative to thesubordination of the emancipated negroes in Antigua, but likewise the_facts_ upon which be founded his opinion. 

On a point of such paramount importance we cannot be too explicit. Wetherefore add the testimony of planters as to the actual state of crimecompared with that previous to emancipation. 

Said J. Howell, Esq. , of T. Jarvis's estate, "I do not think thataggressions on property, and crime in general, have increased sinceemancipation, but rather decreased. They _appear_ to be more frequent, because they are made _more public_. During slavery, all petty thefts, insubordination, insolence, neglect of work, and so forth, were punishedsummarily on the estate, by order of the manager, and not even so muchas the rumor of them ever reached beyond the confines of the property. Now all offences, whether great or trifling, are to be taken cognizanceof by the magistrate or jury, and hence they become notorious. Formerlyeach planter knew only of those crimes which occurred on his ownproperty; now every one knows something about the crimes committed onevery other estate, as well as his own. "

It will be remembered that Mr. H. Is a man of thorough and longexperience in the condition of the island, having lived in it since theyear 1800, and being most of that time engaged directly is themanagement of estates. 

"Aggression on private property, such as breaking into houses, cuttingcanes, &c. , are decidedly fewer than formerly. It is true that crime ismade more _public_ now, than during slavery, when the master was his ownmagistrate. "--_Dr. Daniell_. 

"I am of the opinion that crime in the island has diminished rather thanincreased since the abolition of slavery. There is an _apparent_increase of crime, because every misdemeanor, however petty, floats tothe surface. "--_Hon. N. Nugent_. 

We might multiply testimony on this point; but suffice it to say thatwith very few exceptions, the planters, many of whom are also civilmagistrates, concur in these two statements; that the amount of crime isactually less than it was during slavery; and that it _appears_ to _begreater_ because of the publicity which is necessarily given by legalprocesses to offences which were formerly punished and forgotten on thespot where they occurred. 

Some of the prominent points established by the foregoing evidence are, 1st. That most of the crimes committed are petty misdemeanors such asturning out to work late in the morning, cutting canes to eat, &c. _Highpenal offences_ are exceedingly rare. 

2d. That where offences of a serious nature do occur, or any openinsubordination takes place, they are founded in ignorance ormisapprehension of the law, and are seldom repeated a second time, ifthe law be properly explained and fully understood. 

3d. That the above statements apply to no particular part of the island, where the negroes are peculiarly favored with intelligence and religion, but are made with reference to tire island generally. Now it happensthat in one quarter of the island the negro population are remarkablyignorant and degraded. We were credibly informed by variousmissionaries, who had labored in Antigua and in a number of the otherEnglish islands, that they had not found in any colony so muchdebasement among the people, as prevailed in the part of Antigua justalluded to. Yet they testified that the negroes in that quarter were aspeaceable, orderly, and obedient to law, as in any other part of thecolony. We make this statement here particularly for the purpose ofremarking that in the testimony of the planters, and in the policereports; there is not a single allusion to this portion of the island asforming an exception to the prevailing state of order and subordination. 

After the foregoing facts and evidences, we ask, what becomes of thedogma, that slaves cannot be immediately placed under the government of_equitable laws_ with safety to themselves and the community?

Twelfth proposition. --The emancipated negroes have shown _no dispositionto roam from place to place. _ A tendency to rove about, is thought bymany to be a characteristic of the negro; he is not allowed even anordinary share of local attachment, but must leave the chain and stapleof slavery to hold him amidst the graves of his fathers and the societyof his children. The experiment in Antigua shows that such sentimentsare groundless prejudices. There a large body of slaves were "_turnedloose_;" they had full liberty to leave their old homes and settle onother properties--or if they preferred a continuous course of roving, they might change employers every six weeks, and pass from one estate toanother until they had accomplished the circuit of the island. But, whatare the facts? "The negroes are not disposed to leave the estates onwhich they have formerly lived, unless they are forced away by badtreatment. I have witnessed many facts which illustrate this remark. Notunfrequently one of the laborers will get dissatisfied about something, and in the excitement of the moment will notify me that he intends toleave my employ at the end of a month. But in nine cases out of ten suchpersons, before the month has expired, beg to be allowed to remain onthe estate. The strength of their _local attachment_ soon overcomestheir resentment and even drives them to make the most humiliatingconfessions in order to be restored to the favor of their employer, andthus be permitted to remain in their old homes. "--_H. Armstrong, Esq. _

"Nothing but bad treatment on the part of the planters has ever causedthe negroes to leave the estates on which they were accustomed to live, and in such cases a _change of management_ has almost uniformly beensufficient to induce them to return. We have known several instances ofthis kind. "--_S. Bourne, Esq. , of Millar's, and Mr. Watkins, ofDonavan's_. 

"The negroes are remarkably attached to their homes. In the year 1828, forty-three slaves were sold from the estate under my management, andremoved to another estate ten miles distant. After emancipation, thewhole of these came back, and plead with me to employ them, that theymight live in their former houses. "--_James Howell, Esq. _

"Very few of my people have left me. The negroes are peculiar for theirattachment to their homes. "--_Samuel Barnard, Esq. , of Green Castle_. 

"Love of home is very remarkable in the negroes. It is a passion withthem. On one of the estates of which I am attorney, a part of thelaborers were hired from other proprietors. They had been for a greatmany years living on the estate, and they became so strongly attached toit, that they all continued to work on it after emancipation, and theystill remain on the same property. The negroes are loth to leave theirhomes, and they very seldom do so unless forced away by illtreatment. "--_Dr. Daniell_. 

On a certain occasion we were in the company of four planters, and amongother topics this subject was much spoken of. They all accordedperfectly in the sentiment that the negroes were peculiarly sensible tothe influence of local attachments. One of the gentlemen observed thatit was a very common saying with them--"_Me nebber leave my bornin'ground_, "--i. E. , birth-place. 

An aged gentleman in St. John's, who was formerly a planter, remarked, "The negroes have very strong local attachments. They love their littlehut, where the calabash tree, planted at the birth of a son, waves overthe bones of their parents. They will endure almost any hardship andsuffer repeated wrongs before they will desert that spot. "

Such are the sentiments of West India planters; expressed, in themajority of cases, spontaneously, and mostly in illustration of otherstatements. We did not hear a word that implied an opposite sentiment. It is true, much was said about the emigration to Demerara, but thefacts in this case only serve to confirm the testimony already quoted. In the first place, nothing but the inducement of very high wages[A]could influence any to go, and in the next place, after they got therethey sighed to return, (but were not permitted, ) and sent back word totheir relatives and friends not to leave Antigua. 

[Footnote A: From fifty cents to a dollar per day. ]

Facts clearly prove, that the negroes, instead of being indifferent tolocal attachments, are peculiarly alive to them. That nothing short ofcruelty can drive them from their homes--that they will endure eventhat, as long as it can be borne, rather than leave; and that as soon asthe instrument of cruelty is removed, they will hasten back to their"_bornin' ground. _"

THIRTEENTH PROPOSITION. --"The gift of unrestricted freedom, though sosuddenly bestowed, has not made the negroes more insolent than they werewhile slaves, but has rendered them _less so_. "--_Dr. Daniell_. 

Said James Howell, Esq. --"A short time after emancipation, the negroesshowed some disposition to assume airs and affect a degree ofindependence; but this soon disappeared, and they are now respectful andcivil. There has been a mutual improvement in this particular. Theplanters treat the laborers more like fellow men, and this leads thelatter to be respectful in their turn. "

R. B. Eldridge, Esq. , asked us if we had not observed the civility of thelower classes as we passed them on the streets, both in town and in thecountry. He said it was their uniform custom to bow or touch their hatwhen they passed a white person. They did so during slavery, and he hadnot discovered any change in this respect since emancipation. 

Said Mr. Bourne--"The negroes are decidedly less insolent now than theywere during slavery. "

Said Mr. Watkins, of Donovan's--"The negroes are now all _cap in hand_;as they know that it is for their interest to be respectful to theiremployers. "

Said Dr. Nugent--"Emancipation has not produced insolence among thenegroes. "

During our stay in Antigua, we saw no indications whatsoever ofinsolence. We spoke in a former part of this work of the uncommoncivility manifested in a variety of ways on the road-sides. 

A trifling incident occurred one day in St. John's, which at firstseemed to be no small rudeness. As one of us was standing in theverandah of our lodging house, in the dusk of the evening, a brawnynegro man who was walking down the middle of the street, stoppedopposite us, and squaring himself, called out. "Heigh! What for youstand dare wid your arms so?" placing his arms akimbo, in imitation ofours. Seeing we made no answer, he repeated the question, still standingin the same posture. We took no notice of him, seeing that his supposedinsolence was at most good-humored and innocent. Our hostess, a coloredlady, happened to step out at the moment, and told us that the man hadmistaken us for her son, with whom he was well acquainted, at the sametime calling to the man, and telling him of his mistake. The negroinstantly dropped his arms, took off his hat, begged pardon, and walkedaway apparently quite ashamed. 

FOURTEENTH PROPOSITION. --Emancipation in Antigua has demonstrated thatGRATITUDE _is a prominent trait of the negro character_. The conduct ofthe negroes on the first of August, 1834, is ample proof of this; andtheir uniform conduct since that event manifests an _habitual_ feelingof gratitude. Said one, "The liberty we received from the king, we cannever sufficiently thank God for; whenever we think of it, our hearts goout in gratitude to God. " Similar expressions we heard repeatedly fromthe negroes. --We observed that the slightest allusion to the first ofAugust in a company of freed persons, would awaken powerful emotions, accompanied with exclamations of "tank de good Lord, " "bless de Savior, ""praise de blessed Savior, " and such like. 

It was the remark of Mr. James Howell, manager of Thibou Jarvis's--"Thatthe negroes evinced very little gratitude to their _masters_ forfreedom. Their gratitude all flowed toward God and the king, whom theyregarded as the sole authors of their liberty. "

Mr. Watkins observed that "the negroes' motto was God and the king. Thisfeeling existed particularly at the time of emancipation, and shortlyafter it. They have since become more attached to their former masters. "

It is by no means strange that the negroes should feel little gratitudetoward their late masters, since they knew their opposition to thebenevolent intentions of the English government. We were informed by Dr. Daniell and many others, that for several months before emancipationtook place, the negroes had an idea that the king had sent them 'theirfree papers, ' and that _their masters were keeping them back. _ Besides, it was but two years before that period, that they had come into fierceand open hostility with the planters for abolishing the Sunday market, and giving them no market-day instead thereof. In this thing theirmasters had shown themselves to be their enemies. 

That any good thing could come from such persons the slaves weredoubtless slow to believe. However, it is an undeniable fact, that sinceemancipation, kind treatment on the part of the masters, has neverfailed to excite gratitude in the negroes. The planters understand fullyhow they may secure the attachment and confidence of their people. A_grateful_ and _contented_ spirit certainly characterizes the negroes ofAntigua. They do not lightly esteem what they have got, and murmurbecause they have no more. They do not complain of small wages, andstrike for higher. They do not grumble about their simple food and theircoarse clothes, and flaunt about, saying '_freemen ought to livebetter_. ' They do not become dissatisfied with their lowly, cane-thatched huts, and say we ought to have as good houses as massa. They do not look with an evil eye upon the political privileges of thewhites, and say we have the majority, and we'll rule. It is the commonsaying with them, when speaking of the inconveniences which theysometimes suffer, "Well, we must be satify and conten. "

FIFTEENTH PROPOSITION. --The freed negroes of Antigua have proved that_they are able to take care of themselves_. It is affirmed by theopponents of emancipation in the United States, that if the slaves wereliberated, they could not take care of themselves. Some of the reasonsassigned for entertaining this view are--1st, "The negro is naturallyimprovident. " 2d, "He is constitutionally indolent. " 3d, "Being of aninferior race, he is deficient in that shrewdness and managementnecessary to prevent his being imposed upon, and which are indispensableto enable him to conduct any business with success. " 4th, "All thesenatural defects have been aggravated by slavery. The slave neverprovides for himself, but looks to his master for everything he needs. So likewise he becomes increasingly averse to labor, by being driven toit daily, and flogged for neglecting it. Furthermore, whatever of mindhe had originally has been extinguished by slavery. " Thus by nature andby habit the negro is utterly unqualified to take care of himself. Somuch for theory; now for testimony. First, what is the evidence withregard to the _improvidence_ of the negroes?

"During slavery, the negroes squandered every cent of money they got, because they were sure of food and clothing. Since their freedom, theyhave begun to cultivate habits of carefulness and economy". --_Mr. James Howell_. 

Facts--1st. The low wages of the laborers is proof of their providence. Did they not observe the strictest economy, they could not live on fiftycents per week. 

2d. That they buy small parcels of land to cultivate, is proof ofeconomy and foresight. The planters have to resort to every means intheir power to induce their laborers not to purchase land. 

3d. The Friendly Societies are an evidence of the same thing. How can weaccount for the number of these societies, and for the large sums ofmoney annually contributed in them? And how is it that these societieshave trebled, both in members and means since emancipation, if it betrue that the negroes are thus improvident, and that freedom bringsstarvation?

4th. The weekly and monthly contributions to the churches, to benevolentsocieties, and to the schools, demonstrate the economy of the negroes;and the _great increase_ of these contributions since August, 1834, proves that emancipation has not made them less economical. 

5th. The increasing attention paid to the cultivation of their privateprovision grounds is further proof of their foresight. For some timesubsequent to emancipation, as long as the people were in an unsettledstate, they partially neglected their grounds. The reason was, they didnot know whether they should remain on the same estate long enough toreap their provisions, should they plant any. This state of uncertaintyvery naturally paralyzed all industry and enterprise; and theirneglecting the cultivation of their provision grounds, _under suchcircumstances_, evinced foresight rather than improvidence. Since theyhave become more permanently established on the estates, they areresuming the cultivation of their grounds with renewed vigor. 

Said Dr. Daniell--"There is an increasing attention paid by the negroesto cultivating their private lands, since they have become morepermanently settled. "

6th. The fact that the parents take care of the wages which theirchildren earn, shows their provident disposition. We were informed thatthe mothers usually take charge of the money paid to their children, especially their daughters, and this, in order to teach them propersubordination, and to provide against casualties, sickness, and theinfirmities of age. 

7th. The fact that the negroes are able to support their aged parents, is further proof. 

As it regards the second specification, viz. , _constitutionalindolence_, we may refer generally to the evidence on this subject undera former proposition. We will merely state here two facts. 

1st. Although the negroes are not obliged to work on Saturday, yet theyare in the habit of going to estates that are weak-handed, and hiringthemselves out on that day. 

2d. It is customary throughout the island to give two hours (from 12 to2) recess from labor. We were told that in many cases this time is spentin working on their private provision grounds, or in some activeemployment by which a pittance may be added to their scanty earnings. 

What are the facts respecting the natural _inferiority_ of the negrorace, and their incompetency to manage their own affairs?

Said Mr. Armstrong--"The negroes are exceedingly quick _to turn athought_. They show a great deal of shrewdness in every thing whichconcerns their own interests. To a stranger it must be utterlyincredible how they can manage to live on such small wages. They arevery exact in keeping their accounts with the manager. "

"The negroes are very acute in making bargains. A difficulty once aroseon an estate under my charge, between the manager and the people, insettling for a job which the laborers had done. The latter complainedthat the manager did not give them as much as was stipulated in theoriginal agreement. The manager contended that he had paid the wholeamount. The people brought their complaint before me, as attorney, andmaintained that there was one shilling and six-pence (about nineteencents) due each of them. I examined the accounts and found that theywere right, and that the manager had really made a mistake to the veryamount specified. "--_Dr. Daniell_. 

"The emancipated people manifest as much cunning and address inbusiness, as any class of persons. "--_Mr. J. Howell_. 

"The capabilities of the blacks for education are conspicuous; so alsoas to mental acquirements and trades. "--_Hon. N. Nugent_. 

It is a little remarkable that while Americans fear that the negroes, ifemancipated, could not take care of themselves, the West Indians fearlest they _should_ take care of themselves; hence they discourage themfrom buying lands, from learning trades, and from all employments whichmight render them independent of sugar cultivation. 

SIXTEENTH PROPOSITION. --Emancipation has operated at once to elevate andimprove the negroes. It introduced them into the midst of all relations, human and divine. It was the first formal acknowledgment that they wereMEN--personally interested in the operations of law, and therequirements of God. It laid the corner-stone in the fabric of theirmoral and intellectual improvement. 

"The negroes have a growing self-respect and regard for character. Thiswas a feeling which was scarcely known by them during slavery. "--_Mr. J. Howell_. 

"The negroes pay a great deal more attention to their personalappearance, than they were accustomed to while slaves. The _women_ inparticular have improved astonishingly in their dress andmanners. "--_Dr. Daniell_. 

Abundant proof of this proposition may be found in the statementsalready made respecting the decrease of licentiousness, the increasedattention paid to marriage, the abandonment by the mothers of thehorrible practice of selling their daughters to vile white men, thereverence for the Sabbath, the attendance upon divine worship, theexemplary subordination to law, the avoidance of riotous conduct, insolence, and intemperance. 

SEVENTEENTH PROPOSITION--Emancipation promises a vast improvement in thecondition of woman. What could more effectually force woman from hersphere, than slavery has done by dragging her to the field, subjectingher to the obscene remarks, and to the vile abominations of licentiousdrivers and overseers; by compelling her to wield the heavy hoe, untiladvancing pregnancy rendered her useless then at the earliest possibleperiod driving her back to the field with her infant swung at her back, or torn from her and committed to a stranger. Some of these evils stillexist in Antigua, but there has already been a great abatement of them, and the humane planters look forward to their complete removal, and tothe ultimate restoration of woman to the quiet and purity ofdomestic life. 

Samuel Bourne, Esq. , stated, that there had been a great improvement inthe treatment of mothers on his estate. "Under the old system, motherswere required to work half the time after their children were six weeksold; but now we do not call them out for _nine months_ after theirconfinement, until their children are entirely weaned. "

"In those cases where women have husbands in the field, they do not turnout while they are nursing their children. In many instances thehusbands prefer to have their wives engaged in other work, and I do notrequire them to go to the field. "--_Mr. J Howell_. 

Much is already beginning to be said of the probability that the womenwill withdraw from agricultural labor. A conviction of the improprietyof females engaging in such employments is gradually forming in theminds of enlightened and influential planters. 

A short time previous to emancipation, the Hon. N. Nugent, speaker ofthe assembly, made the following remarks before the house:--"At theclose of the debate, he uttered his fervent hope, that the day wouldcome when the principal part of the agriculture of the island would beperformed by males, and that the women would be occupied in keepingtheir cottages in order, and in increasing their domestic comforts. Thedesire of improvement is strong among them; they are looking anxiouslyforward to the instruction and advancement of their children, and evenof themselves. "--_Antigua Herald, of March_, 1834. 

In a written communication to us, dated January 17, 1837, the Speakersays: "Emancipation will, I doubt not, improve the condition of thefemales. There can be no doubt that they will ultimately leave thefield, (except in times of emergency, ) and confine themselves to theirappropriate domestic employments. "

EIGHTEENTH PROPOSITION. --Real estate has risen in value sinceemancipation; mercantile and mechanical occupations have received afresh impulse; and the general condition of the colony is decidedly moreflourishing than at any former period. 

"The credit of the island has decidedly improved. The internalprosperity of the island is advancing in an increased ratio. Morebuildings have been erected since emancipation, than for twenty yearsbefore. Stores and shops have multiplied astonishingly; I can safely saythat their number has more than quintupled since the abolition ofslavery. "--_Dr. Ferguson_. 

"Emancipation has very greatly increased the value of, and consequentlythe demand for, real estate. That which three years ago was a drugaltogether unsaleable by private bargain; has now many inquirers afterit, and ready purchasers at good prices. The importation of Britishmanufactured goods has been considerably augmented, probably one fourth. "

"The credit of the planters who have been chiefly affected by thechange, has been much improved. And _the great reduction of expense inmanaging the estates_, has made them men of more real wealth, andconsequently raised their credit both with the English merchants and ourown. "--_James Scotland, Sen. , Esq. _

"The effect of emancipation upon the commerce of the island _must needs_have been beneficial, as the laborers indulge in more wheaten flour, rice, mackerel, dry fish, and salt-pork, than formerly. More lumber isused in the superior cottages now built for their habitations. More drygoods--manufactures of wool, cotton, linen, silk, leather, &c. , are alsoused, now that the laborers can better afford to indulge theirpropensity for gay clothing. "--_Statement of a merchant and agentfor estates_. 

"Real estate has risen in value, and mercantile business has greatlyimproved. "--_H. Armstrong, Esq. _

A merchant of St. John's informed us, that real estate had increased invalue at least fifty per cent. He mentioned the fact, that an estatewhich previous to emancipation could not be sold for £600 current, lately brought £2000 current. 

NINETEENTH PROPOSITION--Emancipation has been followed by theintroduction of labor-saving machinery. 

"Various expedients for saving manual labor have already beenintroduced, and we anticipate still greater improvements. Very littlewas thought of this subject previous to emancipation. "--_S. Bourne, Esq. _

"Planters are beginning to cast about for improvements in labor. My ownmind has been greatly turned to this subject since emancipation. "--_H. Armstrong, Esq. _

"The plough is beginning to be very extensively used. "--_Mr. Hatley_. 

"There has been considerable simplification in agricultural laboralready, which would have been more conspicuous, had it not been forthe excessive drought which has prevailed since 1834. The plough ismore used, and the expedients for manuring land are lesslaborious. "--_Extract of a letter from Hon. N. Nugent_. 

TWENTIETH PROPOSITION. --Emancipation has produced the most decidedchange in the views of the _planters_. 

"Before emancipation took place, there was the bitterest opposition toit among the planters. But after freedom came, they were delighted withthe change. I felt strong opposition myself, being exceedingly unwillingto give up my power of command. But I shall never forget how differentlyI felt when freedom took place I arose from my bed on the first ofAugust, exclaiming with joy, 'I am free, I am free; I _was the greatestslave on the estate_, but now I am free. '"--_Mr. J. Howell_. 

"We all resisted violently the measure of abolition, when it first beganto be agitated in England. We regarded it as an outrageous interferencewith our rights, with our property. But we are now rejoiced that slaveryis abolished. "--_Dr. Daniell_. 

"I have already seen such decided benefits growing out of the free laborsystem, that for my part I wish never to see the face of slavery again. "--_Mr. Hatley_. 

"I do not know of a single planter who would be willing to return toslavery. We all feel that it was a great curse. "--_D. Cranstoun, Esq. _

The speaker of the assembly was requested to state especially theadvantages of freedom both to the master and the slave; and he kindlycommunicated the following reply:

 "The benefits to the master are conspicuous--he has got rid of the cark and care, the anxiety and incessant worry of managing slaves; all the trouble and responsibility of rearing them from infancy, of their proper maintenance in health, and sickness, and decrepitude, of coercing them to labor, restraining, correcting, and punishing their faults and crimes--settling all their grievances and disputes. He is now entirely free from all apprehension of injury, revenge, or insurrection, however transient and momentary such impression may have formerly been. He has no longer the reproach of being a _slaveholder_; his property has lost all the _taint_ of slavery, and is placed on as secure a footing, in a moral and political point of view, as that in any other part of the British dominions. 

 As regards the _other_ party, it seems almost unnecessary to point out the advantages of being a free man rather than a slave. He is no longer liable to personal trespass of any sort; he has a right of self-control, and all the immunities enjoyed by other classes of his fellow subjects--he is enabled to better his condition as he thinks proper--he can make what arrangements he likes best, as regards his kindred, and all his domestic relations--he takes to his _own_ use and behoof, all the wages and profits of his own labor; he receives money wages instead of weekly allowances, and can purchase such particular food and necessaries as he prefers--_and so on_! IT WOULD BE ENDLESS TO ATTEMPT TO ENUMERATE ALL THE SUPERIOR ADVANTAGES OF A STATE OF FREEDOM TO ONE OF SLAVERY!"

The writer says, at the close of his invaluable letter, "I was born inAntigua, and have resided here with little interruption since 1809. Since 1814, I have taken an active concern in plantation affairs. " Hewas born heir to a large slave property, and retained it up to the hourof emancipation. He is now the proprietor of an estate. 

We have, another witness to introduce to the reader, Ralph Higinbothom, Esq. , the UNITED STATES CONSUL!--_Hear him_!--

"Whatever may have been the dissatisfaction as regards emancipationamong the planters at its commencement, there are few, indeed, if any, who are not _now_ well satisfied that under the present system, theirproperties are better worked, and their laborers more contented andcheerful, than in the time of slavery. "

In order that the reader may see the _revolution_ that has taken placesince emancipation in the views of the highest class of society inAntigua, we make a few extracts. 

"There was the most violent opposition in the legislature, andthroughout the island, to the anti-slavery proceedings in Parliament. The anti-slavery party in England were detested here for their_fanatical and reckless course_. Such was the state of feeling previousto emancipation, that it would have been certain disgrace for anyplanter to have avowed the least sympathy with anti-slavery sentiments. The humane might have their hopes and aspirations, and they mightsecretly long to see slavery ultimately terminated; but they did notdare to make such feelings public. _They would at once have been brandedas the enemies of their country!"--Hon. N. Nugent_. 

"There cannot be said to have been any _anti-slavery party_ in theisland before emancipation. There were some individuals in St. John's, and a very few planters, who favored the anti-slavery views, but theydared not open their mouths, because of the bitter hostility whichprevailed. "--_S. Bourne, Esq. _

"The opinions of the clergymen and missionaries, with the exception of, I believe, a few clergymen, were favorable to emancipation; but neitherin their conduct, preaching, or prayers, did they declare themselvesopenly, until the measure of abolition was determined on. Themissionaries felt restrained by their instructions from home, and theclergymen thought that it did not comport with their order 'to take partin politics!' I never heard of a single _planter_ who was favorable, until about three months before the emancipation took place; when somefew of them began to perceive that it would be advantageous to their_interests_. Whoever was known or suspected of being an advocate forfreedom, became the object of vengeance, and was sure to suffer, if inno other way, by a loss of part of his business. My son-in-law[A], myson[B], and myself, were perhaps the chief marks for calumny andresentment. The first was twice elected a member of the Assembly, and asoften put out by scrutinies conducted by the House, in the mostflagrantly dishonest manner. Every attempt was made to deprive thesecond of his business, as a lawyer. With regard to myself, I was throwninto prison, without any semblance of justice, without any form oftrial, but in the most summary manner, simply upon the complaint of oneof the justices, and without any opportunity being allowed me of sayingone word in my defence. I remained in jail until discharged by aperemptory order from the Colonial Secretary, to whom Iappealed. "--_James Scotland, Sen. , Esq. _

[Footnote A: Dr. Ferguson, physician in St. John's. ]

[Footnote B: James Scotland, Jun. , Esq. , barrister, proprietor, andmember of Assembly. ]

Another gentleman, a white man, was arrested on the charge of being inthe interest of the English Anti-Slavery party, and in a manner equallysummary and illegal, was cast into prison, and confined there forone year. 

From the foregoing statements we obtain the following comparative viewof the past and present state of sentiment in Antigua. 

Views and conduct of the planters previous to emancipation:

1st. They regarded the negroes as an inferior race, fit only for slaves. 

2d. They regarded them as their rightful property. 

3d. They took it for granted that negroes could never be made to workwithout the use of the whip; hence, 4th. They supposed that emancipation would annihilate sugar cultivation;and, 5th. That it would lead to bloodshed and general rebellion. 

6th. Those therefore who favored it, were considered the "_enemies oftheir country_"--"TRAITORS"--and were accordingly persecuted in variousways, not excepting imprisonment in the common jail. 

7th. So popular was slavery among the higher classes, that its moralityor justice could not be questioned by a missionary--an editor--or a_planter_ even, without endangering the safety of the individual. 

8th. The anti-slavery people in England were considered detestable men, intermeddling with matters which they did not understand, and which atany rate did not concern them. They were accused of being influenced byselfish motives, and of designing to further their own interests by theruin of the planters. They were denounced as _fanatics, incendiaries, knaves, religious enthusiasts_. 

9th The abolition measures of the English Government were considered agross outrage on the rights of private property, a violation theirmultiplied pledges of countenance and support, and a flagrant usurpationof power over the weak. 

Views and conduct of the planters subsequent to emancipation:

1st. The negroes are retarded as _men_--equals standing on the samefooting as fellow-citizens. 

2d. Slavery is considered a foolish, impolitic, and wicked system. 

3d. Slaves are regarded as an _unsafe_ species of property, and to holdthem disgraceful. 

4th. The planters have become the _decided enemies_ of slavery. Theworst thing they could say against the apprenticeship, was, that "it wasonly another name for _slavery_. "

5th. The abolition of slavery is applauded by the planters as one of themost noble and magnanimous triumphs ever achieved by the Britishgovernment. 

6th. Distinguished abolitionists are spoken of in terms of respect andadmiration. The English Anti-slavery Delegation[A] spent a fortnight inthe island, and left it the same day we arrived. Wherever we went weheard of them as "the respectable gentlemen from England, " "the worthyand intelligent members of the Society of Friends, " &c. A distinguishedagent of the English anti-slavery society now resides in St. John's, andkeeps a bookstore, well stocked with anti-slavery books and pamphlets. The bust of GEORGE THOMPSON stands conspicuously upon the counter of thebookstore, looking forth upon the public street. 

[Footnote A: Messrs. Sturge and Harvey. ]

7th. The planters affirm that the abolition of slavery put an end to alldanger from insurrection, rebellion, privy conspiracy, and sedition, onthe part of the slaves. 

8th. Emancipation is deemed an incalculable blessing, because itreleased the planters from an endless complication of responsibilities, perplexities, temptations and anxieties, and because it _emancipatedthem from the bondage of the whip_. 

9th. _Slavery--emancipation--freedom_--are the universal topics ofconversation in Antigua. Anti-slavery is the popular doctrine among allclasses. He is considered an enemy to his country who opposes theprinciples of liberty. The planters look with astonishment on thecontinuance of slavery in the United States, and express their strongbelief that it must soon terminate here and throughout the world. Theyhailed the arrival of French and American visitors on tours of inquiryas a bright omen. In publishing our arrival, one of the St. John'spapers remarks, "We regard this as a pleasing indication that theAmerican public have their eyes turned upon our experiment, with a view, we may hope, of ultimately following our excellent example. " (!) Allclasses showed the same readiness to aid us in what the Governor waspleased to call "the objects of our philanthropic mission. "

Such are the views now entertained among the planters of Antigua. What acomplete change[B]--and all in less than three years, and effected bythe abolition of slavery and a trial of freedom! Most certainly, if theformer views of the Antigua planters resemble those held by pro-slaverymen in this country, their present sentiments are a _fac simile_ ofthose entertained by the immediate abolitionists. 

[Footnote B: The following little story will further illustrate thewonderful revolution which has taken place in the public sentiment ofthis colony. The facts here stated all occurred while we were inAntigua, and we procured them from a variety of authentic sources. Theywere indeed publicly known and talked of, and produced no littleexcitement throughout the island. Mr. Corbett was a respectable andintelligent planter residing on an estate near Johnson's Point. Severalmonths previous to the time of which we now speak, a few coloredfamilies (emancipated negroes) bought of a white man some small parcelsof land lying adjacent to Mr. C. 's estate. They planted their lands inprovisions, and also built them houses thereon, and moved into them. After they had become actively engaged in cultivating their provisions, Mr. Corbett laid claim to the lands, and ordered the negroes to leavethem forthwith. 

They of course refused to do so. Mr. C. Then flew into a violent rage, and stormed and swore, and threatened to burn their houses down overtheir heads. The terrified negroes forsook their property and fled. Mr. C. Then ordered his negroes to tear down their huts and burn up thematerials--which was accordingly done. He also turned in his cattle uponthe provision grounds, and destroyed them. The negroes made a complaintagainst Mr. C. , and he was arrested and committed to jail in St. John'sfor trial on the charge of _arson_. 

We heard of this circumstance on the day of Mr. C. 's commitment, and wewere told that it would probably go very hard with him on his trial, andthat he would be very fortunate if he escaped the _gallows_ or_transportation_. A few days after this we were surprised to hear thatMr. C. Had died in prison. Upon inquiry, we learned that he diedliterally from _rage and mortification_. His case defied the, skill andpower of the physicians. They could detect the presence of no diseasewhatever, even on a minute post-mortem examination. They pronounced itas their opinion that he had died from the violence of hispassions--excited by being imprisoned, together with his apprehensionsof the fatal issue of the trial. 

Not long before emancipation, Mr. Scotland was imprisoned for_befriending_ the negroes. After emancipation, Mr. Corbett wasimprisoned for wronging them. 

Mr. Corbett was a respectable planter, of good family and moved in thefirst circles in the island]

TWENTY-FIRST PROPOSITION. --Emancipation has been followed by a manifestdiminution of "_prejudice against color_, " and has opened the prospectoff its speedy extirpation. 

Some thirty years ago, the president of the island, Sir Edward Byam, issued an order forbidding the great bell in the cathedral of St. John'sbeing tolled at the funeral of a colored person; and directing a_smaller_ bell to be hung up in the same belfry, and used on suchoccasions. For twenty years this distinction was strictly maintained. When a white person, however _vile_, was buried, the great bell wastolled; when a colored person, whatever his moral worth, intelligence, or station, was carried to his grave, the little bell was tinkled. Itwas not until the arrival of the present excellent Rector, that this"prejudice bell" was silenced. The Rev. Mr. Cox informed us thatprejudice had greatly decreased since emancipation. It was very commonfor white and colored gentlemen to be seen walking arm in arm an thestreets of St. John's. 

"Prejudice against color is fast disappearing. The colored people havethemselves contributed to prolong this feeling, _by keeping aloof fromthe society of the whites_. "--_James Howell, of T. Jarvis's_. 

How utterly at variance is this with the commonly received opinion, thatthe colored people are disposed to _thrust_ themselves into the societyof the whites!

"_Prejudice against color_ exists in this community only to a limitedextent, and that chiefly among those who could never bring themselves tobelieve that emancipation would really take place. Policy dictates tothem the propriety of confining any expression of their feelings tothose of the same opinions. Nothing is shown of this prejudice in theirintercourse with the colored class--it is '_kept behind thescenes_. '"--_Ralph Higginbotham, U. S. Consul. _

Mr. H. Was not the only individual standing in "high places" whoinsinuated that the whites that still entertained prejudice were ashamedof it. His excellency the Governor intimated as much, by his repeatedassurances for himself and his compeers of the first circles, that therewas no such feeling in the island as prejudice against _color_. Thereasons for excluding the colored people from their society, he said, were wholly different from that. It was chiefly because of their_illegitimacy_, and also because they were not sufficiently refined, andbecause their _occupations_ were of an inferior kind, such as mechanicaltrades, small shop keeping, &c. Said he, "You would not wish to ask yourtailor, or your shoemaker, to dine with you?" However, we were toounsophisticated to coincide in his Excellency's notions of socialpropriety. 

TWENTY-SECOND PROPOSITION. --The progress of the anti-slavery discussionsin England did not cause the masters to treat their slaves worse, but onthe contrary restrained them from outrage. 

"The treatment of the slaves during the discussions in England, wasmanifestly milder than before. "--_Dr. Daniell. _

"The effect of the proceedings in parliament was to make the planterstreat their slaves better. Milder laws were passed by the assembly, andthe general condition of the slave was greatly ameliorated. "--_H. Armstrong, Esq. _

"The planters did not increase the rigor of their discipline because ofthe anti-slavery discussions; but as a general thing, were more lenientthan formerly. "--_S. Bourne. Esq. _

"We pursued a much milder policy toward our slaves after the agitationbegan in England. "--_Mr. Jas. Hawoil_. 

"The planters did not treat their slaves worse on account of thediscussions; but were more lenient and circumspect. "--_Letter of Hon. N. Nugent. _

"There was far less cruelty exercised by the planters during theanti-slavery excitement in gland. They were always on their guard toescape the notice of the abolitionists. _They did not wish to have theirnames published abroad, and to be exposed as monsters ofcruelty!_"--_David Cranstoun, Esq. _

We have now completed our observations upon Antigua. It has been oursingle object in the foregoing account to give an accurate statement ofthe results of IMMEDIATE EMANCIPATION. We have not taken a single stepbeyond the limits of testimony, and we are persuaded that testimonymaterially conflicting with this, cannot be procured from respectablesources in Antigua. We now leave it to our readers to decide, whetheremancipation in Antigua has been to all classes in that island a_blessing_ or a _curse_. 

We cannot pass from this part of our report without recording thekindness and hospitality which we everywhere experienced during oursojourn in Antigua. Whatever may have been our apprehensions of a coolreception from a community of ex-slaveholders, none of our forebodingswere realized. It rarely Falls to the lot of strangers visiting adistant land, with none of the contingencies of birth, fortune, or fame, to herald their arrival, and without the imposing circumstance of apopular mission to recommend them, to meet with a warmer reception, orto enjoy a more hearty confidence, than that with which we were honoredin the interesting island of Antigua. The very _object_ of our visit, humble, and even odious as it may appear in the eyes of many of our owncountrymen, was our passport to the consideration and attention of thehigher classes in that free colony. We hold in grateful remembrance theinterest which all--not excepting those most deeply implicated in thelate system of slavery--manifested in our investigations. To hisexcellency the Governor, to officers both civil and military, tolegislators and judges, to proprietors and planters, to physicians, barristers, and merchants, to clergymen, missionaries, and teachers, weare indebted for their uniform readiness in furthering our objects, andfor the mass of information with which they were pleased to furnish us. To the free colored population, also, we are lasting debtors for theirhearty co-operation and assistance. To the emancipated, we recognise ourobligations as the friends of the slave, for their simple-hearted andreiterated assurances that they should remember the oppressed of ourland in their prayers to God. In the name of the multiplying hosts offreedom's friends, and in behalf of the millions of speechless butgrateful-hearted slaves, we render to our acquaintances of every classin Antigua our warmest thanks for their cordial sympathy with the causeof emancipation in America. We left Antigua with regret. The naturaladvantages of that lovely island; its climate, situation, and scenery;the intelligence and hospitality of the higher orders, and thesimplicity and sobriety of the poor; the prevalence of education, morality, and religion; its solemn Sabbaths and thronged sanctuaries;and above _all_, its rising institutions of liberty--flourishing sovigorously, --conspire to make Antigua one of the fairest portions of theearth. Formerly it was in our eyes but a speck on the world's map, andlittle had we checked if an earthquake had sunk, or the ocean hadoverwhelmed it; but now, the minute circumstances in its condition, orlittle incidents in its history, are to our minds invested withgrave interest. 

None, who are alive to the cause of religious freedom in the world, canbe indifferent to the movements and destiny of this little colony. Henceforth, Antigua is the morning star of our nation, and though itglimmers faintly through a lurid sky, yet we hail it, and catch at everyray as the token of a bright sun which may yet burst gloriously upon us. 

BARBADOES

CHAPTER I. 

PASSAGE

Barbadoes was the next island which we visited. Having failed of apassage in the steamer, [A] (on account of her leaving Antigua on theSabbath, ) we were reduced to the necessity of sailing in a smallschooner, a vessel of only seventeen tons burthen, with no cabin but amere _hole_, scarcely large enough to receive our baggage. The berths, for there were two, had but one mattress between them; however, aforesail folded made up the complement. 

[Footnote A: There are several English steamers which ply betweenBarbadoes and Jamaica, touching at several of the intermediate andsurrounding islands, and carrying the mails. ]

The being for the most part directly against us, we were seven days inreaching Barbadoes. Our aversion to the sepulchre-like cabin obliged usto spend, not the days only, but the nights mostly on the open deck. Wrapping our cloaks about us, and drawing our fur caps over our faces, we slept securely in the soft air of a tropical clime, undisturbed saveby the hoarse voice of the black captain crying "ready, bout" and theflapping of the sails, and the creaking of the cordage, in the frequenttackings of our staunch little sea-boat. On our way we passed under thelee of Guadaloupe and to the windward of Dominica, Martinique and St. Lucia. In passing Guadaloupe, we were obliged to keep at a league'sdistance from the land, in obedience to an express regulation of thatcolony prohibiting small English vessels from approaching any nearer. This is a precautionary measure against the escape of slaves to theEnglish islands. Numerous small vessels, called _guarda costas_, arestationed around the coast to warn off vessels and seize upon all slavesattempting to make their escape. We were informed that the eagerness ofthe French negroes to taste the sweets of liberty, which they hear toexist in the surrounding English islands, is so great, thatnotwithstanding all the vigilance by land and sea, they are escaping invast numbers. They steal to the shores by night, and seizing upon anysort of vessel within their reach, launch forth and make for Dominica, Montserrat, or Antigua. They have been known to venture out in skiffs, canoes, and such like hazardous conveyances, and make a voyage of fiftyor sixty miles; and it is not without reason supposed, that very manyhave been lost in these eager darings for freedom. 

Such is their defiance of dangers when liberty is to be won, that oldocean, with its wild storms, and fierce monsters, and its yawning deep, and even the superadded terrors of armed vessels ever hovering aroundthe island, are barriers altogether ineffectual to prevent escape. Thewestern side of Guadaloupe, along which we passed, is hilly and littlecultivated. It is mostly occupied in pasturage. The sugar estates are onthe opposite side of the island, which stretches out eastward in a lowsloping country, beautifully situated for sugar cultivation. The hillswere covered with trees, with here and there small patches of cultivatedgrounds where the negroes raise provisions. A deep rich verdure coveredall that portion of the island which we saw. We were a day and night inpassing the long island of Guadaloupe. Another day and night were spentin beating through the channel between Gaudaloupe and Dominica: anotherday in passing the latter island, and then we stood or Martinique. Thisis the queen island of the French West Indies. It is fertile andhealthful, and though not so large as Guadaloupe, produces a largerrevenue. It has large streams of water, and many of the sugar mills areworked by them. Martinique and Dominica are both very mountainous. Theirhighest peaks are constantly covered with clouds, which in their variedsiftings, now wheeling around, then rising or falling, give the hillsthe appearance of smoking volcanoes. It was not until the eighth day ofthe voyage, that we landed at Barbadoes. The passage from Barbadoes toAntigua seldom occupies more than three days, the wind being mostly inthat direction. 

In approaching Barbadoes, it presented an entirely difference appearancefrom that of the islands we had passed on the way. It is low and level, almost wholly destitute of trees. As we drew nearer we discovered inevery direction the marks of its extraordinary cultivation. The canefields and provision grounds in alternate patches cover the island withone continuous mantle of green. The mansions of the planters, and theclusters of negro houses, appear at shore intervals dotting the face ofthe island, and giving to it the appearance of a vast villageinterspersed with verdant gardens. 

We "rounded up" in the bay, off Bridgetown, the principal place inBarbadoes, where we underwent a searching examination by the healthofficer; who, after some demurring, concluded that we might pass muster. We took lodgings in Bridgetown with Mrs. M. , a colored lady. 

The houses are mostly built of brick or stone, or wood plastered. Theyare seldom more than two stories high, with flat roofs, and huge windowshutters and doors--the structures of a hurricane country. The streetsare narrow and crooked, and formed of white marle, which reflects thesun with a brilliancy half blinding to the eyes. Most of the buildingsare occupied as stores below and dwelling houses above, with piazzas tothe upper story, which jut over the narrow streets, and afford a shadefor the side walks. The population of Bridgetown is about 30, 000. Thepopulation of the island is about 140, 000, of whom nearly 90, 000 areapprentices, the remainder are free colored and white in the proportionof 30, 000 free colored and 20, 000 whites. The large population exists onan island not more than twenty miles long, by fifteen broad. The wholeisland is under the most vigorous and systematic culture. There isscarcely a foot of productive land that is not brought into requisition. There is no such thing as a forest of any extent in the island. It isthus that, notwithstanding the insignificance of its size, Barbadoesranks among the British islands next to Jamaica in value and importance. It was on account of its conspicuous standing among the Englishcolonies, that we were induced to visit it, and there investigate theoperations of the apprenticeship system. 

Our principal object in the following tales is to give an account of theworking of the apprenticeship system, and to present it in contrast withthat of entire freedom, which has been described minutely in our accountof Antigua. The apprenticeship was designed as a sort of preparation forfreedom. A statement of its results will, therefore, afford no smalldata for deciding upon the general principle of _gradualism_!

We shall pursue a plan less labored and prolix than that which it seemednecessary to adopt in treating of Antigua. As that part of the testimonywhich respects the abolition of slavery, and the sentiments of theplanters is substantially the same with what is recorded in theforegoing pages, we shall be content with presenting it in the sketch ofour travels throughout the island, and our interviews with variousclasses of men. The testimony respecting the nature and operations ofthe apprenticeship system, will be embodied in a more regular form. 

VISIT TO THE GOVERNOR. 

At an early day after our arrival we called on the Governor, inpursuance of the etiquette of the island, and in order to obtain theassistance of his Excellency in our inquiries. The present Governor isSir Evan John Murray McGregor, a Scotchman of Irish reputation. He isthe present chieftain of the McGregor clan, which figures soillustriously in the history of Scotland. Sir Evan has beendistinguished for his victory in war, and he now bears the title ofKnight, for his achievements in the British service. He isGovernor-General of the windward islands, which include Barbadoes, Grenada, St. Vincent's, and Tobago. The government house, at which heresides, is about two miles from town. The road leading to it is adelightful one, lined with cane fields, and pasture grounds, all verdantwith the luxuriance of midsummer. It passes by the cathedral, the king'shouse, the noble residence of the Archdeacon, and many other finemansions. The government house is situated in a pleasant eminence, andsurrounded with a large garden, park, and entrance yard. At the largeouter gate, which gives admittance to the avenue leading to the house, stood a _black_ sentinel in his military dress, and with a gun on hisshoulder, pacing to and fro. At the door of the house we found anotherblack soldier on guard. We were ushered into the dining hall, whichseems to serve as ante-chamber when not otherwise used. It is a spaciousairy room, overhung with chandeliers and lamps in profusion, and bearsthe marks of many scenes of mirth and wassail. The eastern windows, which extend from the ceiling to the floor, look out upon a gardenfilled with shrubs and flowers, among which we recognised a rare varietyof the floral family in full bloom. Every thing around--the extent ofthe buildings, the garden, the park, with deer browsing amid the tangledshrubbery--all bespoke the old English style and dignity. 

After waiting a few minutes, we were introduced to his Excellency, whoreceived us very kindly. He conversed freely on the subject ofemancipation, and gave his opinion decidedly in favor of unconditionalfreedom. He has been in the West Indies five years, and resided atAntigua and Dominica before he received his present appointment; he hasvisited several other islands besides. In no island that he has visitedhave affairs gone on so quietly and satisfactorily to all parties as inAntigua. He remarked that he was ignorant of the character of the blackpopulation of the United States, but from what he knew of theircharacter in the West Indies, he could not avoid the conclusion thatimmediate emancipation was entirely safe. He expressed his views of theapprenticeship system with great freedom. He said it was vexatious toall parties. 

He remarked that he was so well satisfied that emancipation was safe andproper, and that unconditional freedom was better than apprenticeship, that had he the power, he would emancipate every apprentice to-morrow. It would be better both for the planter and the laborer. 

_He thought the negroes in Barbadoes, and in the windward islandsgenerally, now as well prepared for freedom as the slaves of Antigua. _

The Governor is a dignified but plain man, of sound sense and judgement, and of remarkable liberality. He promised to give us every assistance, and said, as we arose to leave him, that he would mention the object ofour visit to a number of influential gentlemen, and that we shouldshortly hear from him again. 

A few days after our visit to the Governor's, we called on the Rev. Edward Elliott, the Archdeacon at Barbadoes, to whom we had beenpreviously introduced at the house of a friend in Bridgetown. He is aliberal-minded man. In 1812, he delivered a series of lectures in thecathedral on the subject of slavery. The planters becamealarmed--declared that such discourses would lead to insurrection, anddemanded that they should lie abandoned. He received anonymous lettersthreatening him with violence unless he discontinued them. Nothingdaunted, however, he went through the course, and afterwards publishedthe lectures in a volume. 

The Archdeacon informed us that the number of churches and clergymen hadincreased since emancipation; religious meetings were more fullyattended, and the instructions given had manifestly a greater influence. Increased attention was paid to _education_ also. Before emancipationthe planters opposed education, and as far as possible, prevented theteachers from coming to the estates. Now they encouraged it in manyinstances, and where they do not directly encourage, they make noopposition. He said that the number of marriages had very much increasedsince the abolition of slavery. He had resided in Barbados for twelveyears, during which time he had repeatedly visited many of theneighboring islands. He thought the negroes of Barbadoes _were as wellprepared for freedom in 1834, as those of Antigua_, and that there wouldhave been no bad results had entire emancipation been granted at thattime. He did not think there was the least danger of insurrection. Onthis subject he spoke the sentiments of the inhabitants generally. Hedid not suppose there were five planters on the island, who entertainedany fears on this score _now_. 

On one other point the Archdeacon expressed himself substantially thus:The planters undoubtedly treated their slaves better during theanti-slavery discussions in England. 

The condition of the slaves was very much mitigated by the efforts whichwere made for their entire freedom. The planters softened down, thesystem of slavery as much as possible. _They were exceedingly anxious toput a stop to discussion and investigation. _

Having obtained a letter of introduction from an American merchant hereto a planter residing about four miles from town, we drove out to hisestate. His mansion is pleasantly situated on a small eminence, in oneof the coolest and most inviting retreats which is to be seen in thisclime, and we were received by its master with all the cordiality andfrankness for which Barbados is famed. He introduced us to his family, consisting of three daughters and two sons, and invited us to stop todinner. One of his daughters, now here on a visit, is married to anAmerican, a native of New York, but now a merchant in one of thesouthern states, and our connection as fellow countrymen with one dearto them, was an additional claim to their kindness and hospitality. 

He conducted us through all the works and out-buildings, the mill, boiling-house, caring-house, hospital, store-houses, &c. The people wereat work in the mill and boiling-house, and as we passed, bowed and badeus "good mornin', massa, " with the utmost respect and cheerfulness. Awhite overseer was regulating the work, but wanted the insignia ofslaveholding authority, which he had borne for many years, the _whip_. As we came out, we saw in a neighboring field a gang of seventyapprentices, of both sexes, engaged in cutting up the cane, while otherswere throwing it into carts to be carried to the mill. They were all asquietly and industriously at work as any body of our own farmers ormechanics. As we were looking at them, Mr. C. , the planter, remarked, "those people give me more work than when slaves. This estate was neverunder so good cultivation as at the present time. "

He took us to the building used as the mechanics' shop. Several of theapprentices were at work in it, some setting up the casks for sugar, others repairing utensils. Mr. C. Says all the work of the estate isdone by the apprentices. His carts are made, his mill kept in order, hiscoopering and blacksmithing are all done by them. "All these buildings, "said he, "even to the dwelling-house, were built after the great stormof 1831, by the slaves. "

As we were passing through the hospital, or sick-house, as it is calledby the blacks, Mr. C. Told us he had very little use for it now. Thereis no skulking to it as there was under the old system. 

Just as we were entering the door of the house, on our return, there wasan outcry among a small party of the apprentices who were working nearby. Mr. C. Went to them and inquired the cause. It appeared that theoverseer had struck one of the lads with a stick. Mr. C. Reproved himseverely for the act, and assured him if he did such a thing again hewould take him before a magistrate. 

During the day we gathered the following information:--

Mr. C. Had been a planter for thirty-six years. He has had charge of theestate on which he now resides ten years. He is the attorney for twoother large estates a few miles from this, and has under hissuperintendence, in all, more than a thousand apprenticed laborers. Thisestate consists of six hundred and sixty-six acres of land, most ofwhich is under cultivation either in cane or provisions, and has on itthree hundred apprentices and ninety-two free children. The averageamount of sugar raised on it is two hundred hogsheads of a ton each, butthis year it will amount to at least two hundred and fiftyhogsheads--the largest crop ever taken off since he has been connectedwith it. He has planted thirty acres additional this year. The islandhas never been under so good cultivation, and is becoming betterevery year. 

During our walk round the works, and during the day, he spoke severaltimes in general terms of the great blessings of emancipation. 

Emancipation is as great a blessing to the master as to the slave. "Why, " exclaimed Mr. C. , "it was emancipation to me. I assure you thefirst of August brought a great, _great_ relief to me. I felt myself, for the first time, a freeman on that day. You cannot imagine theresponsibilities and anxieties which were swept away with the extinctionof slavery. "

There were many unpleasant and annoying circumstances attending slavery, which had a most pernicious effect on the master. There was continualjealousy and suspicion between him and those under him. They looked oneach other as sworn enemies, and there was kept up a continual system ofplotting and counterplotting. Then there was the flogging, which was amatter of course through the island. To strike a slave was as common asto strike a horse--then the punishments were inflicted so unjustly, ininnumerable instances, that the poor victims knew no more why they werepunished than the dead in their graves. The master would be a littleill--he had taken a cold, perhaps, and felt irritable--something werewrong--his passion was up, and away went some poor fellow to thewhipping post. The slightest offence at such a moment, though it mighthave passed unnoticed at another time, would meet with the severestpunishment. He said he himself had more than once ordered his slaves tobe flogged in a passion, and after he became cool he would have givenguineas not to have done it. Many a night had he been kept awake inthinking of some poor fellow whom he had shut up in the dungeon, and hadrejoiced when daylight came. He feared lest the slave might die beforemorning; either cut his throat or dash his head against the wall in hisdesperation. He has known such cases to occur. 

The apprenticeship will not have so beneficial an effect as he hoped itwould, on account of an indisposition on the part of many of theplanters to abide by its regulations. The planters generally are doingvery little to prepare the apprentices for freedom; but some are doingvery much to unprepare them. They are driving the people from them bytheir conduct. 

Mr. C. Said he often wished for emancipation. There were several otherplanters among his acquaintance who had the same feelings, but did notdare express them. Most of the planters, however, were violentlyopposed. Many of them declared that emancipation could not and shouldnot take place. So obstinate were they, that they would have sworn onthe 31st of July, 1831, that emancipation could not happen. _These verymen now see and acknowledge the benefits which have resulted from thenew system_. 

The first of August passed off very quietly. The people labored on thatday as usual, and had a stranger gone over the island, he would not havesuspected any change had taken place. Mr. C. Did not expect his peoplewould go to work that day. He told them what the conditions of the newsystem were, and that after the first of August, they would be requiredto turn out to work at six o'clock instead of five o'clock as before. Atthe appointed hour every man was at his post in the field. Not oneindividual was missing. 

The apprentices do more work in the nine hours required by law, than intwelve hours during slavery. 

His apprentices are perfectly willing to work for him during their owntime. He pays them at the rate of twenty-five cents a day. The peopleare less quarrelsome than when they were slaves. 

About eight o'clock in the evening, Mr. C. Invited us to step out intothe piazza. Pointing to the houses of the laborers, which were crowdedthickly together, and almost concealed by the cocoa-nut and calabashtrees around them, he said, "there are probably more than four hundredpeople in that village. All my own laborers, with their free children, are retired for the night, and with them are many from the neighboringestates. " We listened, but all was still, save here and there a lowwhistle from some of the watchmen. He said that night was a specimen ofevery night now. But it had not always been so. During slavery thesevillages were oftentimes a scene of bickering, revelry, and contention. One might hear the inmates reveling and shouting till midnight. Sometimes it would be kept up till morning. Such scenes have muchdecreased, and instead of the obscene and heathen songs which they usedto sing, they are learning hymns from the lips of their children. 

The apprentices are more trusty. They are more faithful in work which isgiven them to do. They take more interest in the prosperity of theestate generally, in seeing that things are kept in order, and that theproperty is not destroyed. 

They are more open-hearted. Formerly they used to shrink before the eyesof the master, and appear afraid to meet him. They would go out of theirway to avoid him, and never were willing to talk with him. They neverliked to have him visit their houses; they looked on him as a spy, andalways expected a reprimand, or perhaps a flogging. Now they look upcheerfully when they meet him, and a visit to their homes is esteemed afavor. Mr. C. Has more confidence in his people than he ever had before. 

There is less theft than during slavery. This is caused by greaterrespect for character, and the protection afforded to property by law. For a slave to steal from his master was never considered wrong, butrather a meritorious act. He who could rob the most without beingdetected was the best fellow. The blacks in several of the islands havea proverb, that for a thief to steal from a thief makes God laugh. 

The blacks have a great respect for, and even fear of law. Mr. C. Believes no people on earth are more influenced by it. They regard thesame punishment, inflicted by a magistrate, much more than wheninflicted by their master. Law is a kind of deity to them, and theyregard it with great reverence and awe. 

There is no insecurity now. Before emancipation there was a continualfear of insurrection. Mr. C. Said he had lain down in bed many a nightfearing that his throat would be cut before morning. He has started upoften from a dream in which he thought his room was filled with armedslaves. But when the abolition bill passed, his fears all passed away. He felt assured there would be no trouble then. The motive toinsurrection was taken away. As for the cutting of throats, or insultand violence in any way, he never suspects it. He never thinks offastening his door at night now. As we were retiring to bed he lookedround the room in which we had been sitting, where every thing spoke ofserenity and confidence--doors and windows open, and books and platescattered about on the tables and sideboards. "You see things now, " hesaid, "just as we leave them every night, but you would have seen quitea different scene had you come here a few years ago. "

_Mr. C. Thinks the slaves of Barbadoes might have been entirely andimmediately emancipated as well as those of Antigua. _ The results, hedoubts not, would have been the same. 

He has no fear of disturbance or insubordination in 1840. He has nodoubt that the people will work. That there may be a little unsettled, excited, _experimenting_ feeling for a short time, he thinksprobable--but feels confident that things generally will move onpeaceably and prosperously. He looks with much more anxiety to theemancipation of the non-praedials in 1838. 

There is no disposition among the apprentices to revenge their wrongs. Mr. C. Feels the utmost security both of person and property. 

The slaves were very much excited by the discussions in England. Theywere well acquainted, with them, and looked and longed for the result. They watched every arrival of the packet with great anxiety. The peopleon his estate often knew its arrival before he did. One of his daughtersremarked, that she could see their hopes flashing from their eyes. Theymanifested, however, no disposition to rebel, waiting in anxious butquiet hope for their release. Yet Mr. C. Had no doubt, that ifparliament had thrown out the emancipation bill, and all measures hadceased for their relief, there would have been a generalinsurrection. --While there was hope they remained peaceable, but hadhope been destroyed it would have been buried in blood. 

There was some dissatisfaction among the blacks with the apprenticeship. They thought they ought to be entirely free, and that their masters weredeceiving them. They could not at first understand the conditions of thenew system--there was some murmuring among them, but they thought itbetter, however, to wait six years for the boon, than to run the risk oflosing it altogether by revolt. 

The expenses of the apprenticeship are about the same as during slavery. But under the free system, Mr. C. Has no doubt they will be much less. He has made a calculation of the expenses of cultivating the estate onwhich he resides for one year during slavery, and what they willprobably be for one year under the free system. He finds the latter areless by about $3, 000. 

Real estate has increased in value more than thirty per rent. There isgreater confidence in the security of property. Instances were relatedto us of estates that could not be sold at any price beforeemancipation, that within the last two years have been disposed of atgreat prices. 

The complaints to the magistrates, on the part of the planters, werevery numerous at first, but have greatly diminished. They are of themost trivial and even ludicrous character. One of the magistrates saysthe greater part of the cases that come before him are from old womenwho cannot get their coffee early enough in the morning! and foroffences of equal importance. 

Prejudice has much diminished since emancipation. The discussions inEngland prior to that period had done much to soften it down, but theabolition of slavery has given it its death blow. 

Such is a rapid sketch of the various topics touched upon during ourinterview with Mr. C. And his family. 

Before we left the hospitable mansion of Lear's, we had the pleasure ofmeeting a company of gentlemen at dinner. With the exception of one, whowas provost-marshal, they were merchants of Bridgetown. These gentlemenexpressed their full concurrence in the statements of Mr. C. , and gaveadditional testimony equally valuable. 

Mr. W. , the provost-marshal, stated that he had the supervision of thepublic jail, and enjoyed the best opportunity of knowing the state ofcrime, and he was confident that there was a less amount of crime sinceemancipation than before. He also spoke of the increasing attentionwhich the negroes paid to neatness of dress and personal appearance. 

The company broke up about nine o'clock, but not until we had seen ampleevidence of the friendly feelings of all the gentlemen toward ourobject. There was not a single dissenting voice to any of the statementsmade, or any of the sentiments expressed. This fact shows that theprevailing feeling is in favor of freedom, and that too on the score ofpolicy and self-interest. 

Dinner parties are in one sense a very safe pulse in all matters ofgeneral interest. They rarely beat faster than the heart of thecommunity. No subject is likely to be introduced amid the festivities ofa fashionable circle, until it is fully endorsed by public sentiment. 

Through the urgency of Mr. C. , we were induced to remain all night. Early the next morning, he proposed a ride before breakfast to Scotland. Scotland is the name given to an abrupt, hilly section, in the north ofthe island. It is about five miles from Mr. C. 's, and nine fromBridgetown. In approaching, the prospect bursts suddenly upon the eye, extorting an involuntary exclamation of surprise. After riding formiles, through a country which gradually swells into slight elevations, or sweeps away in rolling plains, covered with cane, yams, potatoes, eddoes, corn, and grass, alternately, and laid out with the regularityof a garden; after admiring the cultivation, beauty, and skill exhibitedon every hand, until almost wearied with viewing the creations of art;the eye at once falls upon a scene in which is crowded all the wildnessand abruptness of nature in one of her most freakish moods--a scenewhich seems to defy the hand of cultivation and the graces of art. Weascended a hill on the border of this section, which afforded us acomplete view. To describe it in one sentence, it is an immense basin, from two to three miles in diameter at the top, the edges of which arecomposed of ragged hills, and the sides and bottom of which arediversified with myriads of little hillocks and correspondingindentations. Here and there is a small sugar estate in the bottom, andcultivation extends some distance up the sides, though this is atconsiderable risk, for not infrequently, large tracts of soil, coveredwith cane or provisions, slide down, over-spreading the crops below, anddestroying those which they carry with them. 

Mr. C. Pointed to the opposite side of the basin to a small group ofstunted trees, which he said were the last remains of the Barbadoesforests. In the midst of them there is a boiling spring of considerablenotoriety. 

In another direction, amid the rugged precipices, Mr. C. Pointed out theresidences of a number of poor white families, whom he described as themost degraded, vicious, and abandoned people in the island--"very farbelow the negroes. " They live promiscuously, are drunken, licentious, and poverty-stricken, --a body of most squalid and miserablehuman beings. 

From the height on which we stood, we could see the ocean nearly aroundthe island, and on our right and left, overlooking the basin below us, rose the two highest points of land of which Barbadoes can boast. Thewhite marl about their naked tops gives them a bleak and desolateappearance, which contrasts gloomily with the verdure of the surroundingcultivation. 

After we had fully gratified ourselves with viewing the miniaturerepresentation of old Scotia, we descended again into the road, andreturned to Lear's. We passed numbers of men and women going towardstown with loads of various kinds of provisions on their heads. Some wereblack, and others were white--of the same class whose huts had just beenshown us amid the hills and ravines of Scotland. We observed that thelatter were barefoot, and carried their loads on their heads preciselylike the former. As we passed these busy pedestrians, the blacks almostuniformly courtesied or spoke; but the whites did not appear to noticeus. Mr. C inquired whether we were not struck with this difference inthe conduct of the two people, remarking that he had always observed it. It is very seldom, said he, that I meet a negro who does not speak to mepolitely; but this class of whites either pass along without looking up, or cast a half-vacant, rude stare into one's face, without opening theirmouths. Yet this people, he added, veriest raggamuffins that they are, despise the negroes, and consider it quite degrading to put themselveson term of equity with them. They will beg of blacks more provident andindustrious than themselves, or they will steal their poultry and robtheir provision grounds at night; but they would disdain to associatewith them. Doubtless these _sans culottes_ swell in their dangling ragswith the haughty consciousness that they possess _white skins_. Whatproud reflections they must have, as they pursue their barefoot way, thinking on their high lineage, and running back through the long listof their illustrious ancestry whose notable badge was a _white skin_! Nowonder they cannot stop to bow to the passing stranger. These sprouts ofthe Caucasian race are known among the Barbadians by the ratherungracious name of _Red Shanks_. They are considered the pest of theisland, and are far more troublesome to the police, in proportion totheir members, than the apprentices. They are estimated at abouteight thousand. 

The origin of this population we learned was the following: It has longbeen a law in Barbadoes, that each proprietor should provide a white manfor every sixty slaves in his possession, and give him an acre of land, a house, and arms requisite for defence of the island in case ofinsurrection. This caused an importation of poor whites from Ireland andEngland, and their number has been gradually increasing until thepresent time. 

During our stay of nearly two days with Mr. C. , there was nothing towhich he so often alluded as to the security from danger which was nowenjoyed by the planters. As he sat in his parlor, surrounded by hisaffectionate family, the sense of personal and domestic securityappeared to be a luxury to him. He repeatedly expressed himselfsubstantially thus: "During the existence of slavery, how often have Iretired to bed _fearing_ _that I should have my throat cut beforemorning_, but _now_ the danger is all over. "

We took leave of Lear's, after a protracted visit, not without apressing invitation from Mr. C. To call again. 

SECOND VISIT TO LEAR'S. 

The following week, on Saturday afternoon, we received a note from Mr. C. , inviting us to spend the Sabbath at Lear's, where we might attendservice at a neighboring chapel, and see a congregation composed chieflyof apprentices. On our arrival, we received a welcome from theresidents, which reassured us of their sympathy in our object. We joinedthe family circle around the centre table, and spent the evening in freeconversation on the subject of slavery. 

During the evening Mr. C. Stated, that he had lately met with a planterwho, for some years previous to emancipation, and indeed up to the veryevent, maintained that it was utterly impossible for such a thing everto take place. The mother country, he said, could not be so mad as totake a step which must inevitably ruin the colonies. _Now_, said Mr. C. , this planter would be one of the last in the island to vote for arestoration of slavery; nay, he even wishes to have the apprenticeshipterminated at once, and entire freedom given to the people. Such changesas this were very common. 

Mr. C. Remarked that during slavery, if the negro ventured to express anopinion about any point of management, he was met at once with areprimand. If one should say, "I think such a course would he best, " or, "Such a field of cane is fit for cutting, " the reply would be, "_Think_!you have no right to think any thing about it. _Do as I bid you_. " Mr. C. Confessed frankly, that he had often used such language himself. Yetat the same time that he affected such contempt for the opinions of theslaves, he used to go around secretly among the negro houses at night tooverhear their conversation, and ascertain their views. Sometimes hereceived very valuable suggestions from them, which he was glad to availhimself of, though he was careful not to acknowledge their origin. 

Soon after supper, Miss E. , one of Mr. C. 's daughters, retired for thepurpose of teaching a class of colored children which came to her onWednesday and Saturday nights. A sister of Miss E. Has a class on thesame days at noon. 

During the evening we requested the favor of seeing Miss E. 's school. Wewere conducted by a flight of stairs into the basement story, where wefound her sitting in a small recess, and surrounded by a dozen negrogirls; from the ages of eight to fifteen. She was instructing them fromthe Testament, which most of them could read fluently. She afterwardsheard them recite some passages which they had committed to memory, andinterspersed the recitations with appropriate remarks of advice andexhortation. 

It is to be remarked that Miss E. Commenced instructing after theabolition; before that event the idea of such an employment would havebeen rejected as degrading. 

At ten o'clock on Sabbath morning, we drove to the chapel of the parish, which is a mile and a half from Lear's. It contains seats for fivehundred persons. The body of the house is appropriated to theapprentices. There were upwards of four hundred persons, mostlyapprentices, present, and a more quiet and attentive congregation wehave seldom seen. The people were neatly dressed. A great number of themen wore black or blue cloth. The females were generally dressed inwhite. The choir was composed entirely of blacks, and sung withcharacteristic excellence. 

There was so much intelligence in the countenances of the people, thatwe could scarcely believe we were looking on a congregation of latelyemancipated slaves. 

We returned to Lear's. Mr. C. Noticed the change which has taken placein the observance of the Sabbath since emancipation. Formerly the smokewould be often seen at this time of day pouring from the chimneys of theboiling-houses; but such a sight has not been seen since slaverydisappeared. 

Sunday used to be the day for the negroes to work on their grounds; nowit is a rare thing for them to do so. Sunday markets also prevailedthroughout the island, until the abolition of slavery. 

Mr. C. Continued to speak of slavery. "I sometimes wonder, " said he, "atmyself, when I think how long I was connected with slavery; butself-interest and custom blinded me to its enormities. " Taking a shortwalk towards sunset, we found ourselves on the margin of a beautifulpond, in which myriads of small gold fishes were disporting--nowcircling about in rapid evolutions, and anon leaping above the surface, and displaying their brilliant sides in the rays of the setting sun. When we had watched for some moments their happy gambols, Mr. C. Turnedaround and broke a twig from a bush that stood behind us; "_there is abush_, " said he, "_which has committed many a murder_. " On requestinghim to explain, he said, that the root of it was a most deadly poison, and that the slave women used to make a decoction of it and give totheir infants to destroy them; many a child had been murdered in thisway. Mothers would kill their children, rather than see them _grow up tobe slaves_. "Ah, " he continued, in a solemn tone, pausing a moment andlooking at us in a most earnest manner, "I could write a book about theevils of slavery. I could write a book about these things. "

What a volume of blackness and blood![A]

[Footnote A: We are here reminded of a fact stated by Mr. C. On anotheroccasion. He said, that he once attended at the death of a planter whohad been noted for his severity to his slaves. It was the most horridscene he ever witnessed. For hours before his death he was in theextremest agony, and the only words which he uttered were, "Africa. OAfrica!" These words he repeated every few minutes, till he died. Andsuch a ghastly countenance, such distortions of the muscles, such ahellish glare of the eye, and such convulsions of the body--it made himshudder to think of them. ]

When we arose on Monday morning, the daylight has scarcely broken. Onlooking out of the window, we saw the mill slowly moving in the wind, and the field gang were going out to their daily work. Surely, wethought, this does not look much like the laziness and insubordinationof freed negroes. After dressing, we walked down to the mill, to havesome conversation with the people. They all bade us a cordial "goodmornin'. " The _tender_ of the mill was an old man, whose despised lockswere gray and thin, and on whose brow the hands of time and sorrow hadwritten many effaceless lines. He appeared hale and cheerful, andanswered our questions in distinct intelligible language. We asked himhow they were all getting along under the new system. "Very well, massa, " said he, "very well, thank God. All peaceable and good. " "Do youlike the apprenticeship better then slavery?" "Great deal better, massa;we is doing well now. " "You like the apprenticeship as well as freedom, don't you?" "O _no_ me massa, freedom _till better_. "

"What will you do when you are entirely free?"

"We must work; all have to work when de free come, white and black. ""You are old, and will not enjoy freedom long; why do you wish forfreedom, then?" "Me want to _die_ free, massa--good ting to die free, and me want to see _children_ free too. "

We continued at Lear's during Monday, to be in readiness for a tour tothe windward of the island, which Mr. C. Had projected for us, and onwhich we were to set out early the next morning. In the course of theday we had opportunities of seeing the apprentices in almost everysituation--in the field, at the mill, in the boiling-house, moving toand from work, and at rest. In every aspect in which we viewed them, they appeared cheerful, amiable, and easy of control. It was admirableto see with what ease and regularity every thing moved. An estate ofnearly seven hundred acres, with extensive agriculture, and a largemanufactory and distillery, employing three hundred apprentices, andsupporting twenty-five horses, one hundred and thirty head of hornedcattle, and hogs, sheep; and poultry in proportion, is manifestly a mostcomplicated machinery. No wonder it should have been difficult to manageduring slavery, when the main spring was absent, and every wheel outof gear. 

We saw the apprentices assemble after twelve o'clock, to receive theirallowances of yams. These provisions are distributed to them twice everyweek--on Monday and Thursday. They were strewed along the yard in heapsof fifteen pounds each. The apprentices came with baskets to get theirallowances. It resembled a market scene, much chattering and talking, but no anger. Each man, woman, and child, as they got their basketsfilled, placed them of their heads, and marched off to theirseveral huts. 

On Tuesday morning, at an early hour, Mr. C. Took us in his phaeton onour projected excursion. It was a beautiful morning. There was a fullbreeze from the east, which had already started the ponderous wings ofthe wind-mills, in every direction. The sun was shaded by light clouds, which rendered the air quite cool. Crossing the rich valley in which theBell estate and other noble properties are situated, we ascended thecliffs of St. John's--a ridge extending through the parish of that nameand as we rode along its top, eastward, we had a delightful view of seaand land. Below us on either hand lay vast estates glowing in the, verdure of summer, and on three sides in the distance stretched theocean. Rich swells of land, cultivated and blooming like a vast garden, extended to the north as far as the eye could reach, and on every otherside down to the water's edge. One who has been accustomed to thewildness of American scenery, and to the imperfect cultivation, intercepted with woodland, which yet characterizes the even the oldestportions of the United States, might revel for a time amid the sunnymeadows. The waving cane fields, the verdant provision grounds, theacres of rich black soil without a blade of grass, and divided into bedstwo feet square for the cane plants with the precision almost of thecells of a honey comb; and withal he might be charmed with the luxuriousmansions--more luxurious than superb--surrounded with the white cedar, the cocoa-nut tree, and the tall, rich mountain cabbage--the mostbeautiful of all tropical trees; but perchance it would not require avery long excursion to weary him with the artificiality of the scenery, and cause him to sigh for the "woods and wilds, " the "banks and braes, "of his own majestic country. 

After an hour and a half's drive, we reached Colliton estate, where wewere engaged to breakfast. We met a hearty welcome from the manager, Samuel Hinkston, Esq. We were soon joined by several gentlemen whom Mr. H. Had invited to take breakfast with us; these were the Rev. Mr. Gittens, rector of St. Philip's parish, (in which Colliton estate issituated, ) and member of the colonial council; Mr. Thomas, an extensiveattorney of Barbadoes; and Dr. Bell, a planter of Demerara--then on avisit to the island. We conversed with each of the gentlemen separately, and obtained their individual views respecting emancipation. 

Mr. Hinkston has been a planter for thirty-six years, and is highlyesteemed throughout the island. The estate which he manages, ranks amongthe first in the island. It comprises six hundred acres of superiorland, has a population of two hundred apprentices, and yields an averagecrop of one hundred and eighty hogsheads. Together with his longexperience and standing as a planter, Mr. H. Has been for many yearslocal magistrate for the parish in which he resides. From thesecircumstances combined, we are induced to give his opinions on a varietyof points. 

1. He remarked that the planters were getting along _infinitely_ betterunder the new system than they ever did under the old. Instead ofregretting that the change had taken place, he is looking forward withpleasure to a better change in 1840, and he only regrets that it is notto come sooner. 

2. Mr. H. Said it was generally conceded that the island was never underbetter cultivation than at the present time. The crops for this yearwill exceed the average by several thousand hogsheads. The canes wereplanted in good season, and well attended to afterwards. 

3. Real estate has risen very much since emancipation. Mr. H. Statedthat he had lately purchased a small sugar estate, for which he wasobliged to give several hundred pounds more than it would have cost himbefore 1834. 

4. There is not the least sense of insecurity now. Before emancipationthere was much fear of insurrection, but that fear passed awaywith slavery. 

5. The prospect for 1840 is good. That people have no fear of ruin afteremancipation, is proved by the building of sugar works on estates whichnever had any before, and which were obliged to cart their canes toneighbouring estates to have them ground and manufactured. There arealso numerous improvements making on the larger estates. Mr. H. Ispreparing to make a new mill and boiling-house on Colliton, and otherplanters are doing the same. Arrangements are making too in variousdirections to build new negro villages on a more commodious plan. 

6. Mr. H. Says he finds his apprentices perfectly ready to work forwages during their own time. Whenever he needs their labor on Saturday, he has only to ask them, and they are ready to go to the mill, or fieldat once. There has not been an instance on Colliton estate in which theapprentices have refused to work, either during the hours required bylaw, or during their own time. When he does not need their services onSaturday, they either hire themselves to other estates or work on theirown grounds. 

7. Mr. H. Was ready to say, both as a planter and a magistrate, thatvice and crime generally had decreased, and were still on the decrease. Petty thefts are the principal offences. He has not had occasion to senda single apprentice to the court of sessions for the last six months. 

8. He has no difficulty in managing his people--far less than he didwhen they were slaves. It is very seldom that he finds it necessary tocall in the aid of the special magistrate. Conciliatory treatment isgenerally sufficient to maintain order and industry among theapprentices. 

9. He affirms that the negroes have no disposition to be revengeful. Hehas never seen any thing like revenge. 

10. His people are as far removed from insolence as from vindictiveness. They have been uniformly civil. 

11. His apprentices have more interest in the affairs of the estate, andhe puts more confidence in them than he ever did before. 

12. He declares that the working of the apprenticeship, as also that ofentire freedom, depends entirely on the _planters_. If they act withcommon humanity and reason, there is no fear but that the apprenticeswill be peaceable. 

Mr. Thomas is attorney for fifteen estates, on which there are upwardsof two thousand five hundred apprentices. We were informed that he hadbeen distinguished as a _severe disciplinarian_ under the old reign, orin plain terms, had been a _cruel man and a hard driver_; but he was oneof those who, since emancipation, have turned about and conformed theirmode of treatment to the new system. In reply to our inquiry how thepresent system was working, he said, "infinitely better (such was hislanguage) than slavery. I succeed better on all the estates under mycharge than I did formerly. I have far less difficulty with the people. I have no reason to complain of their conduct. However, I think theywill do still better after 1840. "

We made some inquiries of Dr. Bell concerning the results of abolitionin Demerara. He gave a decidedly flattering account of the working ofthe apprenticeship system. No fears are entertained that Demerara willbe ruined after 1840. On the contrary it will be greatly benefited byemancipation. It is now suffering from a want of laborers, and after1840 there will be an increased emigration to that colony from the olderand less productive colonies. The planters of Demerara are makingarrangements for cultivating sugar on a larger scale than ever before. Estates are selling at very high prices. Every thing indicates thefullest confidence on the part of the planters that the prosperity ofthe colony will not only be permanent, but progressive. 

After breakfast we proceeded to the Society's estate. We were glad tosee this estate, as its history is peculiar. In 1726 it was bequeathedby General Coddington to a society in England, called "The Society forthe promotion of Christian Knowledge. " The proceeds of the estate wereto be applied to the support of an institution in Barbadoes, foreducating missionaries of the established order. Some of the provisionsof the will were that the estate should always have three hundred slavesupon it; that it should support a school for the education of the negrochildren who were to be taught a portion of every day until they weretwelve years old, when they were to go into the field; and that thereshould be a chapel built upon it. The negroes belonging to the estatehave for upwards of a hundred years been under this kind of instruction. They have all been taught to read, though in many instances they haveforgotten all they learned, having no opportunity to improve after theyleft school. They enjoy some other comforts peculiar to the Society'sestate. They have neat cottages built apart--each on a half-acre lot, which belongs to the apprentice and for the cultivation of which he is aallowed one day out of the five working days. Another peculiarity is, that the men and women work in separate gangs. 

At this estate we procured horses to ride to the College. We rode by thechapel and school-house belonging to the Society's estate which aresituated on the row of a high hill. From the same hill we caught a viewof Coddrington college, which is situated on a low bottom extending fromthe foot of the rocky cliff on which we stood to the sea shore, a spaceof quarter of a mile. It is a long, narrow, ill-constructed edifice. 

We called on the principal, Rev. Mr. Jones, who received us verycordially, and conducted us over the buildings and the grounds connectedwith them. The college is large enough to accommodate a hundredstudents. It is fitted out with lodging rooms, various professors'departments, dining hall, chapel, library, and all the appurtenances ofa university. The number of student at the close of the last term was_fifteen_. 

The professors, two in number, are supported by a fund, consisting of£40, 000 sterling, which has in part accumulated from the revenue ofthe estate. 

The principal spoke favorably of the operation of the apprenticeship inBarbadoes, and gave the negroes a decided superiority over the lowerclass of whites. He had seen only one colored beggar since he came tothe island, but he was infested with multitudes of white ones. 

It is intended to improve the college buildings as soon as the toil ofapprentices on the Society's estate furnishes the requisite means. Thisrobbing of God's image to promote education is horrible enough, takingthe wages of slavery to spread the kingdom of Christ!

On re-ascending the hill, we called at the Society's school. There areusually in attendance about one hundred children, since the abolition ofslavery. Near the school-house is the chapel of the estate, a neatbuilding, capable of holding three or four hundred people. Adjacent tothe chapel is the burial ground for the negroes belonging to theSociety's estate. We noticed several neat tombs, which appeared to havebeen erected only a short time previous. They were built of brick, andcovered over with lime, so as to resemble white marble slabs. On beingtold that these were erected by the negroes themselves over the bodiesof their friends, we could not fail to note so beautiful an evidence oftheir civilization and humanity. We returned to the Society's estate, where we exchanged our saddles for the phaeton, and proceeded on oureastward tour. 

Mr. C. Took us out of the way a few miles to show us one of the fewcuriosities of which Barbadoes can boast. It is called the "Horse. " Theshore for some distance is a high and precipitous ledge of rocks, whichoverhangs the sea in broken cliffs. In one place a huge mass has beenriven from the main body of rock and fallen into the sea. Other hugefragments have been broken off in the same manner. In the midst ofthese, a number of steps have been cut in the rock for the purpose ofdescending to the sea. At the bottom of these steps, there is a broadplatform of solid rock, where one may stand securely, and hear the wavesbreaking around him like heavy thunders. Through the fissures we couldsee the foam and spray mingling with the blue of the ocean, and flashingin the sunshine. To the right, between the largest rock and the mainland, there is a chamber of about ten feet wide, and twenty feet long. The fragment, which forms one of its sides, leans towards the main rock, and touches it at top, forming a roof, with here and there a fissure, through which the light enters. At the bottom of the room there is aclear bed of water, which communicates with the sea by a small apertureunder the rock. It is as placid as a summer pond, and is fitted withsteps for a bathing place. Bathe, truly! with the sea ever dashingagainst the side, and roaring and reverberating with deafening echo. 

On a granite slab, fixed in the side of the rock at the bottom of thefirst descent is an inscription. Time has very much effaced the letters, but by the aid of Mr. C. 's memory, we succeeded in deciphering them. They will serve as the hundred and first exemplification of theBonapartean maxim--"There is but one step from the sublime to theridiculous. "

 "In this remote, and hoarse resounding place, Which billows clash, and craggy cliffs embrace, These babbling springs amid such horrors rise, But armed with virtue, horrors we despise. Bathe undismayed, nor dread the impending rock, 'Tis virtue shields us from each adverse shock. 

 GENIO LOCI SACRUM POSUIT J. R. MARTIS MENSE 1769"

From the "Crane, " which is the name given to that section of the countryin which the "Horse" is situated, we bent our way in a southerlydirection to the Ridge estate, which was about eight miles distant, where we had engaged to dine. On the way we passed an estate which hadjust been on fire. The apprentices, fearing lest their houses should beburnt, had carried away all the moveables from them, and deposited themin separate heaps, on a newly ploughed field. The very doors and windowshutters had been torn off and carried into the field, several acres ofwhich were strewed over with piles of such furniture. Mr. C. Wasscarcely less struck with this scene than we were, and he assured usthat he had never known such providence manifested on a similar occasionduring slavery. 

At the Ridge estate we met Mr. Clarke, manager at Staple Grove estate, Mr. Applewhitte of Carton, and a brother of Mr. C. The manager, Mr. Cecil, received us with the customary cordiality. 

Mr. Clarke is the manager of an estate on which there are two hundredapprentices. His testimony was, that the estate was better cultivatedsince abolition than before, and that it is far easier to control thelaborers, and secure uniformity of labor under the present system. Hequalified this remark, by saying, that if harsh or violent measures wereused, there would be more difficulty now than during slavery; but kindtreatment and a conciliatory spirit never failed to secure peace andindustry. At the time of abolition, Mr. C. Owned ten slaves, whom heentirely emancipated. Some of these still remain with him as domestics;others are hired on an adjoining estate. One of those who left him towork on another estate, said to him, "Massa, whenever you want anybodyto help you, send to me, and I'll come. It makes no odds when itis--I'll be ready at any time--day or night. " Mr. C. Declared himselfthoroughly convinced of the propriety of immediate emancipation; thoughhe was once a violent opposer of abolition. He said, that if he had thepower, be would emancipate every apprentice on his estate to-morrow. Aswe were in the sugar-house examining the quality of the sugar, Mr. C. Turned to one of us, and putting his hand on a hogshead, said, "You donot raise this article in your state, (Kentucky, ) I believe. " On beinganswered in the negative, he continued, "Well, we will excuse you, then, somewhat in your state--you can't treat your slaves so cruelly there. _This, this_ is the dreadful thing! Wherever sugar is cultivated byslaves, there is extreme suffering. "

Mr. Applewhitte said emphatically, that there was no danger in entireemancipation. He was the proprietor of more than a hundred apprenticesand he would like to see them all free at once. 

During a long sitting at the dinner table, emancipation was the topic, and we were gratified with the perfect unanimity of sentiment amongthese planters. After the cloth was removed, and we were about leavingthe table, Mr. Clarke begged leave to propose a toast. Accordingly, theglasses of the planters were once more filled, and Mr. C. , bowing to us, gave our health, and "success to our laudable undertaking, "--"_most_laudable undertaking, " added Mr. Applewhitte, and the glasses wereemptied. Had the glasses contained water instead of wine, ourgratification would have been complete. It was a thing altogether beyondour most sanguine expectations, that a company of planters, all of whomwere but three years previous the actual oppressors of the slave, shouldbe found wishing success to the cause of emancipation. 

At half past eight o'clock, we resumed our seats in Mr. C. 's phaeton, and by the nearest route across the country, returned to Lear's. Mr. C. Entertained us by the way with eulogies upon the industry andfaithfulness of his apprentices. It was, he said, one of the greatestpleasures he experienced, to visit the different estates under hischarge, and witness the respect and affection which the apprenticesentertained towards him. Their joyful welcome, their kind attentionsduring his stay with them, and their hearty 'good-bye, massa, ' when heleft, delighted him. 

VISIT TO COLONEL ASHBY'S. 

We were kindly invited to spend a day at the mansion of Colonel Ashby, an aged and experienced planter, who is the proprietor of the estate onwhich he resides. Colonel A. 's estate is situated in the parish ofChrist Church, and is almost on the extreme point of a promontory, whichforms the southernmost part of the island. An early and pleasant driveof nine miles from Bridgetown, along the southeastern coast of theisland, brought us to his residence. Colonel A. Is a native ofBarbadoes, has been a practical planter since 1795, and for a long timea colonial magistrate, and commander of the parish troops. His presentestate contains three hundred and fifty acres, and has upon it twohundred and thirty apprentices, with a large number of free children. His average crop is eighty large hogsheads. Colonel A. Remarked to us, that he had witnessed many cruelties and enormities under "the reign ofterror. " He said, that the abolition of slavery had been an incalculableblessing, but added, that he had not always entertained the same viewsrespecting emancipation. Before it took place, he was a violent opposerof any measure tending to abolition. He regarded the Englishabolitionists, and the anti-slavery members in parliament, withunmingled hatred. He had often cursed Wilberforce most bitterly, andthought that no doom either in this life, or in the life to come, wastoo bad for him. "But, " he exclaimed, "how mistaken I was about thatman--I am convinced of it now--O he was a good man--_a noblephilanthropist_!--_if there is a chair in heaven, Wilberforce is init_!" Colonel A. Is somewhat sceptical, which will account for hishypothetical manner of speaking about heaven. 

He said that he found no trouble in managing his apprentices. As localor colonial magistrate, in which capacity he still continued to act hehad no cases of serious crime to adjudicate, and very few cases of pettymisdemeanor. Colonel A. Stated emphatically, that the negroes were notdisposed to leave their employment, unless the master was intolerablypassionate and hard with them; as for himself, he did not fear losing asingle laborer after 1840. 

He dwelt much on the trustiness and strong attachment of the negroes, where they are well treated. There were no people in the world that hewould trust his property or life with sooner than negroes, provided hehad the previous management of them long enough to secure theirconfidence. He stated the following fact in confirmation of thissentiment. During the memorable insurrection of 1816, by which theneighboring parishes were dreadfully ravaged, he was suddenly calledfrom home on military duty. After he had proceeded some distance, herecollected that he had left five thousand dollars in an open desk athome. He immediately told the fact to his slave who was with him, andsent him back to take care of it. He knew nothing more of his moneyuntil the rebellion was quelled, and peace restored. On returning home, the slave led him to a cocoa-nut tree near by the house, and dug up themoney, which he had buried under its roots. He found the whole sumsecure. The negro, he said, might have taken the money, and he wouldnever have suspected him, but would have concluded that it had been, incommon with other larger sums, seized upon by the insurgents. Colonel A. Said that it was impossible for him to mistrust the negroes as a body. He spoke in terms of praise also of the _conjugal attachment_ of thenegroes. His son, a merchant, stated a fact on this subject. The wife ofa negro man whom he knew, became afflicted with that loathsome disease, the leprosy. The man continued to live with her, notwithstanding thedisease was universally considered contagious and was peculiarly dreadedby the negroes. The man on being asked why he lived with his wife undersuch circumstances, said, that he had lived with her when she was well, and he could not bear to forsake her when she was in distress. 

Colonel A. Made numerous inquiries respecting slavery in America. Hesaid there certainly be insurrections in the slaveholding states, unlessslavery was abolished. Nothing but abolition could put an end toinsurrections. 

Mr. Thomas, a neighboring planter, dined with us. He had not carried acomplaint to the special magistrate against his apprentices for sixmonths. He remarked particularly that emancipation had been a greatblessing to the master; it brought freedom to him as well as tothe slave. 

A few days subsequent to our visit to Colonel A. 's, the Reverend Mr. Packer, of the Established Church, called at our lodgings, andintroduced a planter from the parish of St. Thomas. The planter isproprietor of an estate, and has eighty apprentices. His apprenticesconduct themselves very satisfactorily, and he had not carried a halfdozen complaints to the special magistrate since 1831. He said thatcases of crime were very rare, as he had opportunity of knowing, beinglocal magistrate. There were almost no penal offences brought beforehim. Many of the apprentices of St. Thomas parish were buying theirfreedom, and there were several cases of appraisement[A] every week. TheMonday previous, six cases came before him, in four of which theapprentices paid the money on the spot. 

[Footnote A: When an apprentice signifies his wish to purchase hisfreedom, he applies to the magistrate for an appraisement. Theappraisement is made by one special and two local magistrates. ]

Before this gentleman left, the Rev. Mr. C. Called in with Mr. Pigeot, another planter, with whom we had a long conversation. Mr. P. Has been amanager for many years. We had heard of him previously as the onlyplanter in the island who had made an experiment in task work prior toabolition. He tried it for twenty months before that period on an estateof four hundred acres and two hundred people. His plan was simply togive each slave an ordinary day's work for a task; and after that wasperformed, the remainder of the time, if any, belonged to the slave. _Nowages were allowed_. The gang were expected to accomplish just as muchas they did before, and to do it as well, however long a time it mightrequire; and if they could finish in half a day, the other half wastheir own, and they might employ it as they saw fit. Mr. P. Said, he wasvery soon convinced of the good policy of the system; though he had oneof the most unruly gangs of negroes to manage in the whole island. Theresults of the experiment he stated to be these:

1. The usual day's work was done generally before the middle of theafternoon. Sometimes it was completed in five hours. 

2. The work was done as well as it was ever done under the old system. Indeed, the estate continued to improve in cultivation, and presented afar better appearance at the close of the twenty months than when hetook the charge of it. 

3. The trouble of management was greatly diminished. Mr. P. Was almostentirely released from the care of overseeing the work: he could trustit to the slaves. 

4. The whip was entirely laid aside. The idea of having a part of theday which they could call their own and employ for their own interests, was stimulus enough for the slaves without resorting to the whip. 

5. The time gained was not spent (as many feared and prophecied it wouldbe) either in mischief or indolence. It was diligently improved incultivating their provision grounds, or working for wages on neighboringestates. Frequently a man and his wife would commence early and worktogether until they got the work of both so far advanced that the mancould finish it alone before night; and then the woman would gather on aload of yams and start for the market. 

6. The condition of the people improved astonishingly. They became oneof the most industrious and orderly gangs in the parish. Under theformer system they were considered inadequate to do the work of theestate, and the manager was obliged to hire additional hands every year, to take off the crop; but Mr. P. Never hired any, though he made aslarge crops as were made formerly. 

7. After the abolition of slavery, his people chose to continue on thesame system of task work. 

Mr. P. Stated that the planters were universally opposed to hisexperiment. They laughed at the idea of making negroes work withoutusing the whip; and they all prophesied that it would prove an utterfailure. After some months' successful trial, he asked some of hisneighbor planters what they thought of it then, and he appealed to thanto say whether he did not get his work done as thoroughly and seasonablyas they did theirs. They were compelled to admit it; but still they wereopposed to his system, even more than ever. They called it an_innovation_--it was setting a bad example; and they honestly declaredthat they did not wish the slaves to _have any time of their own_. Mr. P. Said, he was first induced to try the system of task work from aconsideration that the negroes were men as well as himself, and deservedto he dealt with as liberally as their relation would allow. He soonfound that what was intended as a favor to the slaves was really abenefit to the master. Mr. P. Was persuaded that entire freedom would bebetter for all parties than apprenticeship. He had heard some fearsexpressed concerning the fate of the island after 1840; but heconsidered them very absurd. 

Although this planter looked forward with sanguine hopes to 1840, yet hewould freely say that he did not think the apprenticeship would be anypreparation for entire freedom. The single object with the greatmajority of the planters seemed to be to _get as much out_ of theapprentices as they possibly could during the term. No attention hadbeen paid to preparing the apprentices for freedom. 

We were introduced to a planter who was notorious during the reign ofslavery for the _strictness of his discipline_, to use the Barbadianphrase, or, in plain English, for his rigorous treatment andhis cruelty. 

He is the proprietor of three sugar estates and one cotton plantation inBarbadoes, on all of which there are seven hundred apprentices. He was aluxurious looking personage, bottle-cheeked and huge i' the midst, andhad grown fat on slaveholding indulgences. He mingled with everysentence he uttered some profane expression, or solemn appeal to his"honor, " and seemed to be greatly delighted with hearing himself talk. He displayed all those prejudices which might naturally be looked for ina mind educated and trained as his had been. As to the conduct of theapprentices, he said they were peaceable and industrious, and mostlywell disposed. But after all, the negroes were a perverse race ofpeople. It was a singular fact, he said, that the severer the master, the better the apprentices. When the master was mild and indulgent, theywere sure to be lazy, insolent, and unfaithful. _He knew this byexperience; this was the case with_ his _apprentices_. His house-servantsespecially were very bad. But there was one complaint he had againstthem all, domestics and praedials--they always hold him to the letter ofthe law, and are ready to arraign him before the special magistrate forevery infraction of it on his part, however trifling. How ungrateful, truly! After being provided for with parental care from earliestinfancy, and supplied yearly with two suits of clothes, and as many yamsis they could eat and only having to work thirteen or fifteen hours perday in return; and now when they are no longer slaves, and newprivileges are conferred to exact them to the full extent of the lawwhich secures them--what ingratitude! How soon are the kindnesses of thepast, and the hand that bestowed them, forgotten! Had these peoplepossessed the sentiments of human beings, they would have been willingto take the boon of freedom and lay it at their master's feet, dedicating the remainder of their days to his discretionary service!

But with all his violent prejudices, this planter stated some factswhich are highly favorable to the apprentices. 

1. He frankly acknowledged that his estates were never under bettercultivation than at the present time: and he could say the same of theestates throughout the island. The largest crops that have ever beenmade, will he realized this year. 

2. The apprentices are generally willing to work on the estates onSaturday whenever their labor is needed. 

3. The females are very much disposed to abandon field labor. He hasgreat difficulty sometimes in inducing them to take their hoes and goout to the field along with the men; it was the case particularly _withthe mothers!_ This he regarded as a sore evil!

4. The free children he represented as being in a wretched condition. Their parents have the entire management of them, an they are utterlyopposed to having them employed on the estates. He condemned severelythe course taken in a particular instance by the late Governor, SirLionel Smith. He took it upon himself to go around the island and advisethe parents never to bind their children in any kind of apprenticeshipto the planters. He told them that sooner than involve their freechildren in any way, they ought to "work their own fingers to thestubs. " The consequence of this imprudent measure, said our informant, is that the planters have no control over the children born on theirestates; and in many instances their parents have sent them away lesttheir _residence_ on the property should, by some chance, give theplanter a claim upon their services. Under the good old system the youngchildren were placed together under the charge of some superannuatedwomen, who were fit for nothing else, and the mothers went into thefield to work; now the nursery is broken up, and the mothers spend halfof their time "_in taking care of their brats_. "

5. As to the management of the working people, there need not he anymore difficulty now then during slavery. If the magistrates, instead ofencouraging the apprentices to complain and be insolent, would jointheir influence to support the authority of the planters, things mightgo on nearly as smoothly as before. 

In company with Rev. Mr. Packer, late Rector of St. Thomas, we rode outto the Belle estate, which is considered one of the finest in theisland. Mr. Marshall, the manager, received us cordially. He wasselected, with two others, by Sir Lionel Smith, to draw up a scale oflabor for general use in the island. There are five hundred acres in theestate, and two hundred and thirty-five apprenticed laborers. Themanager stated that every thing was working well on his property. Hecorroborated the statements made by other planters with retard to theconduct of the apprentices. On one point he said the planters had foundthemselves greatly disappointed. It was feared that after emancipationthe negroes would be very much verse to cultivating cane, as it wassupposed that nothing but the whip could induce them to perform thatspecies of labor. But the truth is, they now not only cultivate theestate lands better than they did when under the lash, but alsocultivate a third of their half-acre allotments in cane on their ownaccounts. They would plant the whole in cane if they were notdiscouraged by the planter, whose principal objection to their doing sois that it would lead to the entire neglect of _provision cultivation_. The apprentices on Belle estate will make little short of one thousanddollars the present season by their sugar. 

Mr. M. Stated that he was extensively acquainted with the cultivation ofthe island, and he knew that it was in a better condition than it hadbeen for many years. There were twenty-four estates under the sameattorneyship with the Belle, and they were all in the same prosperouscondition. 

A short time before we left Barbadoes we received an invitation fromCol. Barrow, to breakfast with him at his residence on Edgecomeestate--about eight miles from town. Mr. Cummins, a colored gentleman, amerchant of Bridgetown, and agent of Col. B. , accompanied us. 

The proprietor of Edgecome is a native of Barbadoes, of polished mannersand very liberal views. He has travelled extensively, has held manyimportant offices, and is generally considered the _cleverest_ man inthe island. He is now a member of the council, and acting attorney forabout twenty estates. He remarked that he had always desiredemancipation, and had prepared himself for it; but that it had proved agreater blessing than he had expected. His apprentices did as much workas before, and it was done without the application of the whip. He hadnot had any cases of insubordination, and it was very seldom that hehad any complaints to make to the special magistrate. "The apprentices. "said he, "understand the meaning of law, and they regard its authority. "He thought there was no such thing in the island as a _sense ofinsecurity_, either as respected person or property. Real estate hadrisen in value. 

Col. B. Alluded to the expensiveness of slavery, remarking that afterall that was expended in purchasing the slaves, it cost the proprietoras much to maintain them, as it would to hire free men. He spoke of thehabit of exercising arbitrary power, which being in continual play up tothe time of abolition, had become so strong that managers even yet gaveway to it, and frequently punished their apprentices, in spite of allpenalties. The fines inflicted throughout the island in 1836, uponplanters, overseers, and others, for punishing apprentices, amounted toone thousand two hundred dollars. Col. B. Said that he found the legalpenalty so inadequate, that in his own practice he was obliged to resortto other means to deter his book-keepers and overseers from violence;hence he discharged every man under his control who was known to strikean apprentice. He does not think that the apprenticeship will be a meansof preparing the negroes for freedom, nor does he believe that they_need_ any preparation. He should have apprehended no danger, hademancipation taken place in 1834. 

At nine o'clock we sat down to breakfast. Our places were assigned atopposite sides of the table, between Col. B. And Mr. C. To an Americaneye, we presented a singular spectacle. A wealthy planter, a member ofthe legislative council, sitting at the breakfast table with a coloredman, whose mother was a negress of the most unmitigated hue, and whohimself showed a head of hair as curly as his mother's! But this coloredguest was treated with all that courtesy and attention to which hisintelligence, worth and accomplished manners so justly entitle him. 

About noon, we left Edgecome, and drove two miles farther, to Horton--anestate owned by Foster Clarke, Esq. , an attorney for twenty-two estates, who is now temporarily residing in England. The intelligent manager ofHorton received us and our colored companion, with characteristichospitality. Like every one else, he told us that the apprenticeship wasfar better than slavery, though he was looking forward to the stillbetter system, entire freedom. 

After we had taken a lunch, Mr. Cummins invited our host to take a seat, with us in his carriage, and we drove across the country to Drax Hall. Drax Hall is the largest estate in the island--consisting of eighthundred acres. The manager of this estate confirmed the testimony of theBarbadian planters in every important particular. 

From Drax Hall we returned to Bridgetown, accompanied by our friendCummins. 

CHAPTER II. 

TESTIMONY OF SPECIAL MAGISTRATES, POLICE OFFICERS, CLERGYMEN, ANDMISSIONARIES. 

Next in weight to the testimony of the planters is that of the specialmagistrates. Being officially connected with the administration of theapprenticeship system, and tire adjudicators in all difficulties betweenmaster and servant, their views of the system and of the conduct of thedifferent parties are entitled to special consideration. Our interviewswith this class of men were frequent during our stay in the island. Wefound them uniformly ready to communicate information, and free toexpress their sentiments. 

In Barbadoes there are seven special magistrates, presiding over as manydistricts, marked A, B, C, &c. , which include the whole of theapprentice population, praedial and non-praedial. These districtsembrace an average of twelve thousand apprentices--some more and someless. All the complaints and difficulties which arise among that numberof apprentices and their masters, overseers and book-keepers, arebrought before the single magistrate presiding in the district in whichthey occur. From the statement of this fact it will appear in the outseteither that the special magistrates have an incalculable amount ofbusiness to transact, or that the conduct of the apprentices iswonderfully peaceable. But more of this again. 

About a week following our first interview with his excellency, Sir EvanMcCregor, we received an invitation to dine at Government House with acompany of gentlemen. On our arrival at six o'clock, we were conductedinto a large antechamber above the dining hall, where we were soonjoined by the Solicitor-General, Hon. R. B. Clarke. Dr. Clarke, aphysician, Maj. Colthurst, Capt. Hamilton, and Mr. Galloway, specialmagistrates. The appearance of the Governor about an hour afterwards, was the signal for an adjournment to dinner. 

Slavery and emancipation were the engrossing topics during the evening. As our conversation was for the most part general, we were enabled togather at the same time the opinions of all the persons present. Therewas, for aught we heard or could see to the contrary, an entireunanimity of sentiment. In the course of the evening we gathered thefollowing facts and testimony:

1. All the company testified to the benefits of abolition. It wasaffirmed that the island was never in so prosperous a condition asat present. 

2. The estates generally are better cultivated than they were duringslavery. Said one of the magistrates:

"If, gentlemen, you would see for yourselves the evidences of oursuccessful cultivation, you need but to travel in any part of thecountry, and view the superabundant crops which are now being taken off;and if you would satisfy yourselves that emancipation has not beenruinous to Barbadoes, only cast your eyes over the land in anydirection, and see the flourishing condition both of houses and fields:every thing is starting into new life. "

It as also stated that more work was done during the nine hours requiredby law, than was done during slavery in twelve or fifteen hours, withall the driving and goading which were then practised. 

3. Offences have not increased, but rather lessened. TheSolicitor-General remarked, that the comparative state of crime couldnot be ascertained by a mere reference to statistical records, sinceprevious to emancipation all offences were summarily punished by theplanter. Each estate was a little despotism, and the manager tookcognizance of all the misdemeanors committed among his slaves--inflicting such punishment as he thought proper. The public knewnothing about the offences of the slaves, unless something veryatrocious was committed. But since emancipation has taken place, alloffences, however trivial, come to the light and are recorded. He couldonly give a judgment founded on observation. It was his opinion, thatthere were fewer petty offences, such as thefts, larcenies, &c. , thanduring slavery. As for serious crime, it was hardly known in the island. The whites enjoy far greater safety of person and property than theydid formerly. 

Maj. Colthurst, who is an Irishman, remarked, that he had long been amagistrate or justice of the peace in Ireland, and he was certain thatat the present ratio of crime in Barbadoes, there would not be as muchperpetrated in six years to come, as there is in Ireland among an equalpopulation in six months. For his part, he had never found in any partof the world so peaceable and inoffensive a community. 

4. It was the unanimous testimony that there was no disposition amongthe apprentices to revenge injuries committed against them. _They arenot a revengeful people_, but on the contrary are remarkable forforgetting wrongs, particularly when the are succeeded by kindness. 

5. The apprentices were described as being generally civil andrespectful toward their employers. They were said to manifest moreindependence of feeling and action than they did when slaves; but wereseldom known to be insolent unless grossly insulted or veryharshly used. 

6. Ample testimony was given to the law-abiding character of thenegroes. When the apprenticeship system was first introduced, they didnot fully comprehend its provisions, and as they had anticipated entirefreedom, they were disappointed and dissatisfied. But in a little whilethey became reconciled to the operations of the new system, and havesince manifested a due subordination to the laws and authorities. 

7. There is great desire manifested among them to purchase theirfreedom. Not a week passes without a number of appraisements. Those whohave purchased their freedom have generally conducted well, and in manyinstances are laboring on the same estates on which they were slaves. 

8. There is no difficulty in inducing the apprentices to work onSaturday. They are usually willing to work if proper wages are giventhem. If they are not needed on the estates, they either work on theirown grounds, or on some neighboring estate. 

9. The special magistrates were all of the opinion that it would havebeen entirely safe to have emancipated the slaves of Barbadoes in 1834. They did not believe that any preparation was needed; but that entireemancipation would have been decidedly better than the apprenticeship. 

10. The magistrates also stated that the number of complaints broughtbefore them was comparatively small, and it was gradually diminishing. The offences were of a very trivial nature, mostly cases of slightinsubordination, such as impertinent replies and disobedience of orders. 

11. They stated that they had more trouble with petty overseers andmanagers and small proprietors than with the entire black population. 

12. The special magistrates further testified that wherever the plantershave exercised common kindness and humanity, the apprentices havegenerally conducted peaceably. Whenever there are many complaints fromone estate, it is presumable that the manager is a bad man. 

13. Real estate is much higher throughout the island than it has beenfor many years. A magistrate said that he had heard of an estate whichhad been in market for ten years before abolition and could not find apurchaser. In 1835, the year following abolition, it was sold for onethird more than was asked for it two years before. 

14. It was stated that there was not a proprietor in the island, whoseopinion was of any worth, who would wish to have slavery restored. Thosewho were mostly bitterly opposed to abolition, have become reconciled, and are satisfied that the change has been beneficial. TheSolicitor-General was candid enough to own that he himself was openlyopposed to emancipation. He had declared publicly and repeatedly whilethe measure was pending in Parliament, that abolition would ruin thecolonies. But the results had proved so different that he was ashamed ofhis former forebodings. He had no desire ever to see slaveryre-established. 

15. The first of August, 1834, was described as a day of remarkablequiet and tranquillity. The Solicitor-General remarked, that there weremany fears for the results of that first day of abolition. He said hearose early that morning, and before eight o'clock rode through the mostpopulous part of the island, over an extent of twelve miles. The negroeswere all engaged in their work as on other days. A stranger ridingthrough the island, and ignorant of the event which had taken place thatmorning, would have observed no indications of so extraordinary achange. He returned home satisfied that all would work well. 

16. The change in 1840 was spoken of as being associated with the mostsanguine expectations. It was thought that there was more danger to beapprehended from the change in 1834. It was stated that there were aboutfifteen thousand non-praedials, who would then be emancipated inBarbadoes. This will most likely prove the occasion of much excitementand uneasiness, though it is not supposed that any thing serious willarise. The hope was expressed that the legislature would effect theemancipation of the whole population at that time. One of themagistrates informed us that he knew quite a number of planters in hisdistrict who were willing to liberate their apprentices immediately, butthey were waiting for a general movement. It was thought that this stateof feeling was somewhat extensive. 

17. The magistrates represented the negroes as naturally confiding anddocile, yielding readily to the authority of those who are placed overthem. Maj. Colthurst presides over a district of 9, 000 apprentices;Capt. Hamilton over a district of 13, 000, and Mr. Galloway over the samenumber. There are but three days in the week devoted to hearing andsettling complaints. It is very evident that in so short a time it wouldbe utterly impossible for one man to control and keep in order such anumber, unless the subjects were of themselves disposed to be peaceableand submissive. The magistrates informed us that, notwithstanding theextent of their districts, they often did not have more than from adozen to fifteen complaints in a week. 

We were highly gratified with the liberal spirit and the intelligence ofthe special magistrates. Major Colthurst is a gentleman of far more thanordinary pretensions to refinement and general information. He was inearly life a justice of the peace in Ireland, he was afterwards a jurorin his Majesty's service, and withal, has been an extensive traveller. Fifteen years ago he travelled in the United States, and passed throughseveral of the slaveholding states, where he was shocked with theabominations of slavery. He was persuaded that slavery was worse in ourcountry, than it has been for many years in the West Indies. CaptainHamilton was formerly an officer in the British navy. He seems quitedevoted to his business, and attached to the interests of theapprentices. Mr. Galloway is a _colored_ gentleman, highly respected forhis talents. Mr. G. Informed us that _prejudice_ against color wasrapidly diminishing--and that the present Governor was doing all in hispower to discountenance it. 

The company spoke repeatedly of the _noble act of abolition, by whichGreat Britain had immortalized her name more than by all theachievements of her armies and navies. _

The warmest wishes were expressed for the abolition of slavery in theUnited States. All said they should rejoice when the descendants ofGreat Britain should adopt the noble example of their mother country. They hailed the present anti-slavery movements. Said theSolicitor-General, "We were once strangely opposed to the Englishanti-slavery party, but now we sympathize with you. Since slavery isabolished to our own colonies, and we see the good which results fromthe measure, we go for abolition throughout the world. Go on, gentlemen, we are with you; _we are all sailing in the same vessel. _"

Being kindly invited by Captain Hamilton, during our interview with himat the government house, to call on him and attend his court, we availedourselves of his invitation a few days afterwards. We left Bridgetownafter breakfast, and as it chanced to be Saturday, we had a fineopportunity of seeing the people coming into market. They were strungall along the road for six miles, so closely, that there was scarcely aminute at any time in which we did not pass them. As far as the eyecould reach there were files of men and women, moving peaceably forward. From the cross paths leading through the estates, the busy marketerswere pouring into the highway. To their heads as usual was committed thesafe conveyance of the various commodities. It was amusing to observethe almost infinite diversity of products which loaded them. There weresweet potatoes, yams, eddoes, Guinea and Indian corn, various fruits andberries, vegetables, nuts, cakes, bottled beer and empty bottles, bundles of sugar cane, bundles of fire wood, &c. &c. Here was one woman(the majority were females, as usual with the marketers in theseislands) with a small black pig doubled up under her arm. Another girlhad a brood of young chickens, with nest, coop, and all, on her head. Further along the road we were specially attracted by a woman who wastrudging with an immense turkey elevated on her head. He quite filledthe tray; head and tail projecting beyond its bounds. He advanced, aswas very proper, head foremost, and it was irresistibly laughable to seehim ever and anon stretch out his neck and peep under the tray, asthough he would discover by what manner of locomotive it was that he gotalong so fast while his own legs were tied together. 

Of the hundreds whom we past, there were very few who were not welldressed, healthy, and apparently in good spirits. We saw nothingindecorous, heard no vile language, and witnessed no violence. 

About four miles from town, we observed on the side of the road a smallgrove of shade trees. Numbers of the marketers were seated there, orlying in the cool shade with their trays beside them. It seemed to be asort of rendezvous place, where those going to, and those returning fromtown, occasionally halt for a time for the purpose of resting, and totell and hear news concerning the state of the market. And why shouldnot these travelling merchants have an exchange as well as thestationary ones of Bridgetown?

On reaching the station-house, which is about six miles from town, welearned that Saturday was not one of the court days. We accordinglydrove to Captain Hamilton's residence. _He stated that during the weekhe had only six cases of complaint among the thirteen thousandapprentices embraced in his district. _ Saturday is the day set apart forthe apprentices to visit him at his house for advice on any pointsconnected with their duties. He had several calls while we were withhim. One was from the mother of an apprentice girl who had beencommitted for injuring the master's son. She came to inform Captain H. That the girl had been whipped twice contrary to law, before hercommitment. Captain H. Stated that the girl had said nothing about thisat the time of her trial; if she had, she would in all probability havebeen _set free_, instead of being _committed to prison_. He remarkedthat he had no question but there were numerous cases of flogging on theestates which never came to light. The sufferers were afraid to informagainst their masters, lest they should be treated still worse. Theopportunity which he gave them of coming, to him one day in the week forprivate advice, was the means of exposing many outrages which wouldotherwise he unheard of: He observed that there were not a few whom hehad liberated on account of the cruelty of their masters. 

Captain H. Stated that the apprentices were much disposed to purchasetheir freedom. To obtain money to pay for themselves they practice themost severe economy and self-denial in the very few indulgences whichthe law grants them. They sometimes resort to deception to depreciatetheir value with the appraisers. He mentioned an instance of a man wholead for many years been an overseer on a large estate. Wishing topurchase himself, and knowing that his master valued him very highly, hepermitted his beard to grow; gave his face a wrinkled and haggardappearance, and bound a handkerchief about his head. His clothes weresuffered to become ragged and dirty, and he began to feign greatweakness in his limbs, and to complain of a "misery all down his back. "He soon appeared marked with all the signs of old age and decrepitude. In this plight, and leaning on a stick, he hobbled up to thestation-house one day, and requested to be appraised. He was appraisedat £10, which he immediately paid. A short time afterwards, he engagedhimself to a proprietor to manage a small estate for £30 per year incash and his own maintenance, all at once grew vigorous again; and isprospering finely. Many of the masters in turn practice deception toprevent the apprentices from buying themselves, or to make them pay thevery highest sum for their freedom. They extol their virtues--they areevery thing that is excellent and valuable--their services on the estateare indispensable no one can fill their places. By suchmisrepresentations they often get an exorbitant price for the remainderof the term--more, sometimes, than they could have obtained for them forlife while they were slaves. 

From Captain H. 's we returned to the station-house, the keeper of whichconducted us over the buildings, and showed us the cells of the prison. The house contains the office and private room of the magistrate, andthe guard-room, below, and chambers for the police men above. There aresixteen solitary cells, and two large rooms for those condemned to hardlabour--one for females and the other for males. There were at that timeseven in the solitary cells, and twenty-four employed in labor on theroads. This is more than usual. The average number is twenty in all. When it is considered that most of the commitments are for trivialoffences, and that the district contains thirteen thousand apprentices, certainly we have grounds to conclude that the state of morals inBarbadoes is decidedly superior to that in our own country. 

The whole police force for this district is composed of seventeenhorsemen, four footmen, a sergeant, and the keeper. It was formerlygreater but has been reduced within the past year. 

The keeper informed us that he found the apprentices, placed under hiscare, very easily controlled. They sometimes attempt to escape; butthere has been no instance of revolt or insubordination. The island, hesaid, was peaceable, and were it not for the petty complaints of theoverseers, nearly the whole police force might be disbanded. As forinsurrection, he laughed at the idea of it. It was feared beforeabolition, but now no one thought of it. All but two or three of thepolicemen at this station are black and colored men. 

STATION-HOUSE AT DISTRICT A. 

Being disappointed in our expectations of witnessing some trials at thestation-house in Captain Hamilton's district (B, ) we visited the courtin district A, where Major Colthurst presides. Major C. Was in the midstof a trial when we entered, and we did not learn fully the nature of thecase then pending. We were immediately invited within the bar, whence wehad a fair view of all that passed. 

There were several complaints made and tried, during our stay. We give abrief account of them, as they will serve as specimens of the casesusually brought before the special magistrates. 

I. The first was a complaint made by a colored lady, apparently not morethan twenty, against a colored girl--her domestic apprentice. The chargewas insolence, and disobedience of orders. The complainant said that thegirl was exceedingly insolent--no one could imagine how insolent she hadbeen--it was beyond endurance. She seemed wholly unable to find wordsenough to express the superlative insolence of her servant. The justicerequested her to particularize. Upon this, she brought out severalspecific charges such as, first, That the girl brought a candle to herone evening, and wiped her greasy fingers on her (the girl's) gown:second, That one morning she refused to bring some warm water, ascommanded, to pour on a piece of flannel, until she had finished someother work that she was doing at the time; third, That the same morningshe delayed coming into her chamber as usual to dress her, and when shedid come, she sung, and on being told to shut her mouth, she repliedthat her mouth was her own, and that she would sing when she pleased;and fourth, That she had said in her mistress's hearing that she wouldbe glad when she was freed. These several charges being sworn to, thegirl was sentenced to four days' solitary confinement, but at therequest of her mistress, she was discharged on promise of amendment. 

II. The second complaint was against an apprentice-man by his master, for absence from work. He had leave to go to the funeral of his mother, and he did not return until after the time allowed him by his master. The man was sentence to imprisonment. 

III. The third complaint was against a woman for singing and making adisturbance in the field. Sentenced to six days' solitary confinement. 

IV. An apprentice was brought up for not doing his work well. He was amason, and was employed in erecting an arch on one of the public roads. This case excited considerable interest. The apprentice was representedby his master to be a praedial--the master testified on oath that he wasregistered as a praedial; but in the course of the examination it wasproved that he had always been a mason; that he had labored at thattrade from his boyhood, and that he knew 'nothing about the hoe, ' havingnever worked an hour in the field. This was sufficient to prove that hewas a non-praedial, and of course entitled to liberty two years soonerthan he would have been as a praedial. As this matter came upincidentally, it enraged the master exceedingly. He fiercely reiteratedhis charge against the apprentice, who, on his part, averred that he didhis work as well as he could. The master manifested the greatestexcitement and fury during the trial. At one time, because theapprentice disputed one of his assertions, he raised his clenched fistover him, and threatened, with an oath, to knock him down. Themagistrate was obliged to threaten him severely before he wouldkeep quiet. 

The defendant was ordered to prison to be tried the next day, time beinggiven to make further inquiries about his being a praedial. 

V. The next case was a complaint against an apprentice, for leaving hisplace in the boiling house without asking permission. It appeared thathe had been unwell during the evening, _and at half past ten o'clock atnight_, being attacked more severely, he left for a few moments, expecting to return. He, however, was soon taken so ill that the couldnot go back, but was obliged to lie down on the ground, where heremained until twelve o'clock, when he recovered sufficiently to creephome. His sickness was proved by a fellow apprentice, and indeed hisappearance at the bar clearly evinced it. He was punished by severaldays imprisonment. With no little astonishment in view of such adecision, we inquired of Maj. C. Whether the planters had the power torequire their people to work as late as half past ten at night. Hereplied, "Certainly, _the crops must be secured at any rate, and if theyare suffering, the people must be pressed the harder_. "[A]

[Footnote A: We learned subsequently from various authentic sources, that the master has _not_ the power to compel his apprentices to labormore than nine hours per day on any condition, except in case of a fire, or some similar emergency. If the call for labor in crop-time was to beset down as an emergency similar to a "fire, " and if in officialdecisions he took equal latitude, alas for the poor apprentices!]

VI. The last case was a complaint against a man for not keeping up goodfires under the boilers. He stoutly denied the charge; said he built asgood fires as he could. He kept stuffing in the trash, and if it wouldnot burn he could not help it. He was sentenced to imprisonment. 

Maj. C. Said that these complaints were a fair specimen of the casesthat came up daily, save that there were many more frivolous andridiculous. By the trials which we witnessed we were painfully impressedwith two things:

1st. That the magistrate, with all his regard for the rights and welfareof the apprentices, showed a great and inexcusable partiality for themasters. The patience and consideration with which he heard thecomplaints of the latter, the levity with which he regarded the defenceof the former, the summary manner in which he despatched the cases, andthe character of some of his decisions, manifested no small degree offavoritism. 

2d That the whole proceedings of the special magistrates' courts areeminently calculated to perpetuate bad feeling between the masters andapprentices. The court-room is a constant scene of angry dispute betweenthese parties. The master exhausts his store of abuse and violence uponthe apprentice, and the apprentice, emboldened by the place, andprovoked by the abuse, retorts in language which he would never think ofusing on the estate, and thus, whatever may be the decision of themagistrate, the parties return home with feelings more embitteredthan ever. 

There were twenty-six persons imprisoned at the station-house, twenty-four were at hard labor, and two were in solitary confinement. The keeper of the prison said, he had no difficulty in managing theprisoners. The keeper is a colored man, and so also is the sergeant andmost of the policemen. 

We visited one other station-house, in a distant part of the island, situated in the district over which Captain Cuppage presides. Wewitnessed several trials there which were similar in frivolity andmeanness to those detailed above. We were shocked with the mockery ofjustice, and the indifference to the interests of the negro apparent inthe course of the magistrate. It seemed that little more was necessarythan for the manager or overseer to make his complaint and swear to it, and the apprentice was forthwith condemned to punishment. 

We never saw a set of men in whose countenances fierce passions of everyname were so strongly marked as in the overseers and managers who wereassembled at the station-houses. Trained up to use the whip and totyrannize over the slaves, their grim and evil expression accorded withtheir hateful occupation. 

Through the kindness of a friend in Bridgetown we were favored with aninterview with Mr. Jones, the superintendent of the rural police--thewhole body of police excepting those stationed in the town. Mr. J. Hasbeen connected with the police since its first establishment in 1834. Heassured us that there was nothing in the local peculiarities of theisland, nor in the character of its population, which forbade immediateemancipation in August, 1834. He had no doubt it would be perfectly safeand decidedly profitable to the colony. 

2. The good or bad working of the apprenticeship depends mainly on theconduct of the masters. He was well acquainted with the character anddisposition of the negroes throughout the island, and he was ready tosay, that if disturbances should arise either before or after 1840, itwould be because the people were goaded on to desperation by theplanters, and not because they sought disturbance themselves. 

3. Mr. J. Declared unhesitatingly that crime had not increased sinceabolition, but rather the contrary. 

4. He represented the special magistrates as the friends of theplanters. They loved the _dinners_ which they got at the planters'houses. The apprentices had no sumptuous dinners to give them. Themagistrates felt under very little obligation of any kind to assert thecause of the apprentice and secure him justice, while they were undervery strong temptations to favor the master. 

5. Real estate had increased in value nearly fifty per cent sinceabolition. There is such entire security of property, and the cropssince 1834 have been so flattering, that capitalists from abroad aredesirous of investing their funds in estates or merchandise. All aremaking high calculations for the future. 

6. Mr. J. Testified that marriages had greatly increased sinceabolition. He had seen a dozen couples standing at one time on thechurch floor. There had, he believed, been more marriages within thelast three years among the negro population, than have occurred beforesince the settlement of the island. 

We conclude this chapter by subjoining two highly interesting documentsfrom special magistrates. They were kindly furnished us by the authorsin pursuance of an order from his excellency the Governor, authorizingthe special magistrates to give us any official statements which wemight desire. Being made acquainted with these instructions from theGovernor, we addressed written queries to Major Colthurst and CaptainHamilton. We insert their replies at length. 

COMMUNICATION FROM MAJOR COLTHURST, SPECIAL MAGISTRATE. 

The following fourteen questions on the working of the apprenticeshipsystem in this colony were submitted to me on the 30th of March, 1837, requesting answers thereto. 

1. What is the number of apprenticed laborers in your district, and whatis their character compared with other districts?

The number of apprenticed laborers, of all ages, in my district, in ninethousand four hundred and eighty, spread over two hundred andninety-seven estates of various descriptions--some very large, andothers again very small--much the greater number consisting of smalllots in the near neighborhood of Bridgetown. Perhaps my district, inconsequence of this minute subdivision of property, and its contact withthe town, is the most troublesome district in the island; and thecharacter of the apprentices differs consequently from that in the morerural districts, where not above half the complaints are made. Iattribute this to their almost daily intercourse with Bridgetown. 

2. What is the state of agriculture in the island?

When the _planters themselves_ admit that general cultivation was_never_ in a better state, and the plantations extremely clean, _it ismore than presumptive_ proof that agriculture generally is in a mostprosperous condition. The vast crop of canes grown this year proves thisfact. Other crops are also luxuriant. 

3. Is there any difficulty occasioned by the apprentices refusing towork?

No difficulty whatever has been experienced by the refusal of theapprentices to work. This is done manfully and cheerfully, when they aretreated with humanity and consideration by the masters or managers. Ihave never known an instance to the contrary. 

4. Are the apprentices willing to work in their own time?

The apprentices are most willing to work in their own time. 

5. What is the number and character of the complaints brought beforeyou--are they increasing or otherwise?

The number of complaints brought before me, during the last quarter, aremuch fewer than during the corresponding quarter of the last year. Theircharacter is also greatly improved. Nine complaints out of ten madelately to me are for small impertinences or saucy answers, which, considering the former and present position of the parties, is naturallyto be expected. The number of such complaints is much diminished. 

6. What is the state of crime among the apprentices?

What is usually denominated crime in the old countries, is by no meansfrequent among the blacks or colored persons. It is amazing how fewmaterial breaches of the law occur in so extraordinary a community. Somefew cases of crime do occasionally arise;--but when it is consideredthat the population of this island is nearly as dense as that of anypart of China, and wholly uneducated, either by precept or example, thisabsence of frequent crime excites our wonder, and is highly creditableto the negroes. I sincerely believe there is no such person, of thatclass called at home an accomplished villain, to be found in the wholeisland. --Having discharged the duties of a general justice of the peacein Ireland, for above twenty-four years, where crimes of a veryaggravated nature were perpetrated almost daily. I cannot helpcontrasting the situation of that country with this colony, where I donot hesitate to say perfect tranquillity exists. 

7. Have the apprentices much respect for law?

It is perhaps, difficult to answer this question satisfactorily, as ithas been so short a time since they enjoyed the blessing of equal laws. To appreciate just laws, time, and the experience of the benefit arisingfrom them must be felt. That the apprentices do not, to any materialextent, _outrage_ the law, is certain; and hence it may be inferred thatthey respect it. 

8. Do you find a spirit of revenge among the negroes?

From my general knowledge of the negro character in other countries, aswell as the study of it here, I do not consider them by any means arevengeful people. Petty dislikes are frequent, but any thing like adeep spirit of revenge for former injuries does not exist, nor is it forone moment to be dreaded. 

9. Is there any sense of insecurity arising from emancipation?

Not the most remote feeling of insecurity exists arising fromemancipation; far the contrary. All sensible and reasonable men thinkthe prospects before them most cheering, and would not go back to theold system on any account whatever. There are some, however, who croakand forebode evil; but they are few in number, and of nointelligence, --such as are to be found in every community. 

10. What is the prospect for 1840?--for 1838?

This question is answered I hope satisfactorily above. On thetermination of the two periods no evil is to be reasonably anticipated, with the exception of a few days' idleness. 

11. Are the planters generally satisfied with the apprenticeship, orwould they return back to the old system?

The whole body of respectable planters are fully satisfied with theapprenticeship, and would not go back to the old system on any accountwhatever. A few young managers, whose opinions are utterly worthless, would perhaps have no objection to be put again into their punyauthority. 

12. Do you think it would have been dangerous for the slaves in thisisland to have been entirely emancipated in 1834?

I do not think it would have been productive of danger, had the slavesof this island been fully emancipated in 1834; which is proved by whathas taken place in another colony. 

13. Has emancipation been a decided blessing to this island, or has itbeen otherwise?

Emancipation has been, under God, the greatest blessing ever conferredupon this island. All good and respectable men fully admit it. This ismanifest throughout the whole progress of this mighty change. Whatevermay be said of the vast benefit conferred upon the slaves, in rightjudgment the slave owner was the greatest gainer after all. 

14. Are the apprentices disposed to purchase their freedom? How havethose conducted themselves who have purchased it?

The apprentices are inclined to purchase their discharge, particularlywhen misunderstandings occur with their masters. When they obtain theirdischarge they generally labor in the trades and occupations they werepreviously accustomed to, and conduct themselves well. The dischargedapprentices seldom take to drinking. Indeed the negro and coloredpopulation are the most temperate persons I ever knew of their class. The experience of nearly forty years in various public situations, confirms me in this very important fact. 

The answers I have had the honor to give to the questions submitted tome, have been given most conscientiously, and to the best of my judgmentare a faithful picture of the working of the apprenticeship in thisisland, as far as relates to the inquiries made. --_John B. Colthurst, Special Justice of the Peace, District A. Rural Division_. 

COMMUNICATION FROM CAPT. HAMILTON. 

Barbadoes, April 4th, 1837. 

Gentlemen, Presuming that you have kept a copy of the questions[A] you sent me, Ishall therefore only send the answers. 

[Footnote A: The same interrogatories were propounded to Capt. Hamiltonwhich have been already inserted in Major Colthurst's communication. ]

1. There are at present five thousand nine hundred and thirty male, andsix thousand six hundred and eighty-nine female apprentices in mydistrict, (B, ) which comprises a part of the parishes of Christ Churchand St. George. Their conduct, compared with the neighboringdistricts, is good. 

2. The state of agriculture is very flourishing. Experienced plantersacknowledge that it is generally far superior to what it wasduring slavery. 

3. Where the managers are kind and temperate, they have not any troublewith the laborers. 

4. The apprentices are generally willing to work for wages in their owntime. 

5. The average number of complaints tried by me, last year, endingDecember, was one thousand nine hundred and thirty-two. The averagenumber of apprentices in the district during that time was twelvethousand seven hundred. Offences, generally speaking, are not of anymagnitude. They do not increase, but fluctuate according to the seasonof the year. 

6. The state of crime is not so bad by any means as we might haveexpected among the negroes--just released from such a degrading bondage. Considering the state of ignorance in which they have been kept, and theimmoral examples set them by the lower class of whites, it is matter ofastonishment that they should behave so well. 

7. The apprentices would have a great respect for law, were it not forthe erroneous proceedings of the managers, overseers, &c. , in takingthem before the magistrates for every petty offence, and often abusingthe magistrate in the presence of the apprentices, when his decisiondoes not please them. The consequence is, that the apprentices too oftenget indifferent to law, and have been known to say that they cared notabout going to prison, and that they would do just as they did before assoon as they were released. 

8. The apprentices in this colony are generally considered a peaceablerace. All acts of revenge committed by them originate in jealousy, as, for instance, between husband and wife. 

9. Not the slightest sense of insecurity. As a proof of this, propertyhas, since the commencement of the apprenticeship, increased in valueconsiderably--at least one third. 

10. The change which will take place in 1838, in my opinion, willoccasion a great deal of discontent among those called praedials--whichwill not subside for some months. They ought to have been allemancipated at the same period. I cannot foresee any bad effects thatwill ensue from the change in 1840, except those mentioned hereafter. 

11. The most prejudiced planters would not return to the old system ifthey possibly could. They admit that they get more work from thelaborers than they formerly did, and they are relieved from a greatresponsibility. 

12. It is my opinion that if entire emancipation had taken place in1834, no more difficulty would have followed beyond what we maynaturally expect in 1810. It will then take two or three months beforethe emancipated people finally settle themselves. I do not consider theapprentice more fit or better prepared for entire freedom now than hewas in 1834. 

13. I consider, most undoubtedly, that emancipation has been a decidedblessing to the colony. 

14. They are much disposed to purchase the remainder of theapprenticeship term. Their conduct after they become free is good. 

I hope the foregoing answers and information may be of service to you inyour laudable pursuits, for which I wish you every success. 

I am, gentlemen, your ob't serv't, _Jos. Hamilton, Special Justice_. 

TESTIMONY OF CLERGYMEN AND MISSIONARIES. 

There are three religious denominations at the present time inBarbadoes--Episcopalians, Wesleyans, and Moravians. The former haveabout twenty clergymen, including the bishop and archdeacon. The bishopwas absent during our visit, and we did not see him; but as far as wecould learn, while in some of his political measures, as a member of thecouncil, he has benefited the colored population, his general influencehas been unfavorable to their moral and spiritual welfare. He hasdiscountenanced and defeated several attempts made by his rectors andcurates to abolish the odious distinctions of color in their churches. 

We were led to form an unfavorable opinion of the Bishop's course, fromobserving among the intelligent and well-disposed classes of coloredpeople, the current use of the phrase, "bishop's man, " and "no bishop'sman, " applied to different rectors and curates. Those that they wereaverse to, either as pro-slavery or pro-prejudice characters, theyusually branded as "bishop's men, " while those whom they esteemed theirfriends, they designated as "no bishop's men. "

The archdeacon has already been introduced to the reader. We enjoyedseveral interviews with him, and were constrained to admire him for hisintegrity, independence and piety. He spoke in terms of strongcondemnation of slavery, and of the apprenticeship system. He was adetermined advocate of entire and immediate emancipation, both fromprinciple and policy. He also discountenanced prejudice, both in thechurch and in the social circle. The first time we had the pleasure ofmeeting him was at the house of a colored gentleman in Bridgetown wherewe were breakfasting. He called in incidentally, while we were sittingat table, and exhibited all the familiarity of a frequent visitant. 

One of the most worthy and devoted men whom we met in Barbadoes was theRev. Mr. Cummins, curate of St. Paul's church, in Bridgetown. The firstSabbath after our arrival at the island we attended his church. It isemphatically a free church. Distinctions of color are nowhererecognized. There is the most complete intermingling of colorsthroughout the house. In one pew were seen a family of whites, in thenext a family of colored people, and in the next perhaps a family ofblacks. In the same pews white and colored persons sat side by side. Thefloor and gallery presented the same promiscuous blending of hues andshades. We sat in a pew with white and colored people. In the pew beforeand in that behind us the sitting was equally indiscriminate. Theaudience was kneeling in their morning devotions when we entered, and wewere struck with the different colors bowing side by side as we passeddown the aisles. There is probably no clergyman in the island who hassecured so perfectly the affections of his people as Mr. C. He is ofcourse "no bishop's man. " He is constantly employed in promoting thespiritual and moral good of his people, of whatever complexion. Theannual examination of the Sabbath school connected with St. Paul'soccurred while we were in the island, and we were favored with theprivilege of attending it. There were about three hundred pupilspresent, of all ages, from fifty down to three years. There were allcolors--white, tawny, and ebon black. The white children were classedwith the colored and black, in utter violation of those principles ofclassification in vogue throughout the Sabbath schools of our owncountry. The examination was chiefly conducted by Mr. Cummins. At theclose of the examination about fifty of the girls, and among them thedaughter of Mr. Cummins, were arranged in front of the altar, with thefemale teachers in the rear of them, and all united in singing a hymnwritten for the occasion. Part of the teachers were colored and partwhite, as were also the scholars, and they stood side by side, mingledpromiscuously together. This is altogether the best Sabbath school inthe island. 

After the exercises were closed, we were introduced, by a coloredgentleman who accompanied us to the examination, to Mr. Cummins, theRev. Mr. Packer, and the Rev. Mr. Rowe, master of the public school inBridgetown. By request of Mr. C. , we accompanied him to his house, wherewe enjoyed an interview with him and the other gentlemen, justmentioned. Mr. C. Informed us that his Sabbath school was commenced in1833; but was quite small and inefficient until after 1834. It nownumbers more than four hundred scholars. Mr. C. Spoke of prejudice. Ithad wonderfully decreased within the last three years. He said he couldscarcely credit the testimony of his own senses, when he looked aroundon the change which had taken place. Many now associate with coloredpersons, and sit with them in the church, who once would have scorned tobe found near them. Mr. C. And the other clergymen stated, that therehad been an increase of places of worship and of clergymen sinceabolition. All the churches are now crowded, and there is a growingdemand for more. The negroes manifest an increasing desire for religiousinstruction. In respect to morals, they represent the people as beinggreatly improved. They spoke of the general respect which was now paidto the institution of marriage among the negroes, Mr. C. Said, he wasconvinced that the blacks had as much natural talent and capacity forlearning as the whites. He does not know any difference. Mr. Pocker, whowas formerly rector of St. Thomas' parish, and has been a public teacherof children of all colors, expressed the same opinion. Mr. Rowe said, that before he took charge of the white school, he was the teacher ofone of the free schools for blacks, and he testified that the latter hasjust as much capacity for acquiring any kind of knowledge, as muchinquisitiveness, and ingenuity, as the former. 

Accompanied by an intelligent gentleman of Bridgetown, we visited twoflourishing schools for colored children, connected with the Episcopalchurch, and under the care of the Bishop. In the male school, there wereone hundred and ninety-five scholars, under the superintendence of onemaster, who is himself a black man, and was educated and trained up inthe same school. He is assisted by several of his scholars, as monitorsand teachers. It was, altogether, the best specimen of a well-regulatedschool which we saw in the West Indies. 

The present instructor has had charge of the school two years. It hasincreased considerably since abolition. Before the first of August, 1834, the whole number of names on the catalogue was a little above onehundred, and the average attendance was seventy-five. The numberimmediately increased, and new the average attendance is above twohundred. Of this number at least sixty are the children of apprentices. 

We visited also the infant school, established but two weeks previous. Mr. S. The teacher, who has been for many years an instructor, says hefinds them as apt to learn as any children he ever taught. He said hewas surprised to see how soon the instructions of the school-room werecarried to the homes of the children, and caught up by their parents. 

The very first night after the school closed, in passing through thestreets, he heard the children repeating what they had been taught, andthe parents learning the songs from their children's lips Mr. S. Has ahundred children already in his school, and additions were making daily. He found among the negro parents much interest in the school. 

WESLEYAN MISSIONARIES. 

We called on the Rev. Mr. Fidler, the superintendent of the Wesleyanmissions in Barbadoes. Mr. F. Resides in Bridgetown, and preaches mostlyin the chapel in town. He has been in the West Indies twelve years, andin Barbadoes about two years. Mr. F. Informed us that there were threeWesleyan missionaries in the island, besides four or five localpreachers, one of whom is a black man. There are about one thousandmembers belonging to their body, the greater part of whom live in town. Two hundred and thirty-five were added during the year 1836, being byfar the largest number added in any one year since they began theiroperations in the island. 

A brief review of the history of the Wesleyan Methodists in Barbadoes, will serve to show the great change which has been taking place inpublic sentiment respecting the labors of missionaries. In the year1823, not long after the establishment of the Wesleyan church in theisland, the chapel in Bridgetown was destroyed by a mob. Not one stonewas left upon another. They carried the fragments for miles away fromthe site, and scattered them about in every direction, so that thechapel might never be rebuilt. Some of the instigators and chief actorsin this outrage, were "gentlemen of property and standing, " residents ofBridgetown. The first morning after the outrage began, the mob soughtfor the Rev. Mr. Shrewsbury, the missionary, threatening his life, andhe was obliged to flee precipitately from the island, with his wife. Hewas hunted like a wild beast, and it is thought that he would have beentorn in pieces if he had been found. Not an effort or a movement wasmade to quell the mob, during their assault upon the chapel. The firstmen of the island connived at the violence--secretly rejoicing in whatthey supposed would be the extermination of Methodism from the country. The governor, Sir Henry Ward, utterly refused to interfere, and wouldnot suffer the militia to repair to the spot, though a mere handful ofsoldiers could have instantaneously routed the whole assemblage. 

The occasion of this riot was partly the efforts made by the Wesleyansto instruct the negroes, and still more the circumstance of a letterbeing written by Mr. Shrewsbury, and published in an English paper, which contained some severe strictures on the morals of the Barbadians. A planter informed us that the riot grew out of a suspicion that Mr. S. Was "leagued with the Wilberforce party in England. "

Since the re-establishment of Wesleyanism in this island, it hascontinued to struggle against the opposition of the Bishop, and most ofthe clergy, and against the inveterate prejudices of nearly the whole ofthe white community. The missionaries have been discouraged, and in manyinstances absolutely prohibited from preaching on the estates. Thesecircumstances have greatly retarded the progress of religiousinstruction through their means. But this state of things had been verymuch altered since the abolition of slavery. There are several estatesnow open to the missionaries. Mr. F. Mentioned several places in thecountry, where he was then purchasing land, and erecting chapels. Healso stated, that one man, who aided in pulling down the chapel in 1823, had offered ground for a new chapel, and proffered the free use of abuilding near by, for religious meetings and a school, till it couldbe erected. 

The Wesleyan chapel in Bridgetown is a spacious building, well filledwith worshippers every Sabbath. We attended service there frequently, and observed the same indiscriminate sitting of the various colors, which is described in the account of St. Paul's church. 

The Wesleyan missionaries have stimulated the clergy to greaterdiligence and faithfulness, and have especially induced them to turntheir attention to the negro population more than they did formerly. 

There are several local preachers connected with the Wesleyan mission inBarbadoes, who have been actively laboring to promote religion among theapprentices. Two of these are converted soldiers in his Majesty'sservice--acting sergeants of the troops stationed in the island. Whilewe were in Barbadoes, these pious men applied for a discharge from thearmy, intending to devote themselves exclusively to the work of teachingand preaching. Another of the local preachers is a negro man, ofconsiderable talent and exalted piety, highly esteemed among hismissionary brethren for his labors of love. 

THE MORAVIAN MISSION. 

Of the Moravians, we learned but little. Circumstances unavoidablyprevented us from visiting any of the stations, and also from calling onany of the missionaries. We were informed that there were three stationsin the island, one in Bridgetown, and two in the country, and we learnedin general terms, that the few missionaries there were laboring withtheir characteristic devotedness, assiduity, and self-denial, for thespiritual welfare of the negro population. 

CHAPTER III. 

COLORED POPULATION. 

The colored, or as they were termed previous to abolition, by way ofdistinction, the free colored population, amount in Barbadoes to nearlythirty thousand. They are composed chiefly of the mixed race, whosepaternal connection, though illegitimate, secured to them freedom attheir birth, and subsequently the advantages of an education more orless extensive. There are some blacks among them, however, who were freeborn, or obtained their freedom at an early period, and have since, bygreat assiduity, attained an honorable standing. 

During our stay in Barbadoes, we had many invitations to the houses ofcolored gentlemen, of which we were glad to avail ourselves whenever itwas possible. At an early period after our arrival, we were invited todine with Thomas Harris, Esq. He politely sent his chaise for us, as heresided about a mile from our residence. At his table, we met two othercolored gentlemen, Mr. Thorne of Bridgetown, and Mr. Prescod, a younggentleman of much intelligence and ability. There was also at the tablea niece of Mr. Harris, a modest and highly interesting young lady. Allthe luxuries and delicacies of a tropical clime loaded the board--anepicurean variety of meats, flesh, fowl, and fish--of vegetables, pastries, fruits, and nuts, and that invariable accompaniment of a WestIndia dinner, wine. 

The dinner was enlivened by an interesting and well sustainedconversation respecting the abolition of slavery, the present state ofthe colony, and its prospects for the future. Lively discussions weremaintained on points where there chanced to be a difference of opinion, and we admired the liberality of the views which were thus elicited. Weare certainly prepared to say, and that too without feeling that we drawany invidious distinctions, that in style of conversation, in ingenuityand ability of argument, this company would compare with any company ofwhite gentlemen that we met in the island. In that circle of coloredgentlemen, were the keen sallies of wit, the admirable repartee, thesatire now severe, now playful, upon the measures of the colonialgovernment, the able exposure of aristocratic intolerance, ofplantership chicanery, of plottings and counterplottings in highplaces--the strictures on the intrigues of the special magistrates andmanagers, and withal, the just and indignant reprobation of the uniformoppressions which have disabled and crushed the colored people. 

The views of these gentlemen with regard to the present state of theisland, we found to differ in some respects from those of the plantersand special magistrates. They seemed to regard both those classes of menwith suspicion. The planters they represented as being still, at leastthe mass of them, under the influence of the strong habits oftyrannizing and cruelty which they formed during slavery. Theprohibitions and penalties of the law are not sufficient to preventoccasional and even frequent outbreakings of violence, so that thenegroes even yet suffer much of the rigor of slavery. In regard to thespecial magistrates, they allege that they are greatly controlled by theplanters. They associate with the planters, dine with the planters, lounge on the planters' sofas, and marry the planters daughters. Suchintimacies as these, the gentlemen very plausibly argued, could notexist without strongly biasing the magistrate towards the planters, andrendering it almost impossible for them to administer equal justice tothe poor apprentice, who, unfortunately, had no sumptuous dinners togive them, no luxurious sofas to offer them, nor dowered daughters topresent in marriage. 

The gentlemen testified to the industry and subordination of theapprentices. They had improved the general cultivation of the island, and they were reaping for their masters greater crops than they didwhile slaves. The whole company united in saying that many blessings hadalready resulted from the abolition of slavery--imperfect as thatabolition was. Real estate had advanced in value at least one third. Thefear of insurrection had been removed; invasions of property, such asoccurred during slavery, the firing of cane-fields, the demolition ofhouses, &c. , were no longer apprehended. Marriage was spreading amongthe apprentices, and the general morals of the whole community, high andlow, white, colored, and black, were rapidly improving. 

At ten o'clock we took leave of Mr. Harris and his interesting friends. We retired with feelings of pride and gratification that we had beenprivileged to join a company which, though wearing the badge of aproscribed race, displayed in happy combination, the treasures ofgenuine intelligence, and the graces of accomplished manners. We werehappy to meet in that social circle a son of New England, and a graduateof one of her universities. Mr. H. Went to the West Indies a few monthsafter the abolition of slavery. He took with him all the prejudicescommon to our country, as well as a determined hostility to abolitionprinciples and measures. A brief observation of the astonishing resultsof abolition in those islands, effectually disarmed him of the latter, and made him the decided and zealous advocate of immediate emancipation. He established himself in business in Barbados, where he has been livingthe greater part of the time since he left his native country. His_prejudices_ did not long survive his abandonment of anti-abolitionsentiments. We rejoiced to find him on the occasion above referred to, moving in the circle of colored society, with all the freedom of afamiliar guest, and prepared most cordially to unite with us in the wishthat all our prejudiced countrymen could witness similar exhibitions. The gentleman at whose table we had the pleasure to dine, was _born aslave_, and remained such until he was seventeen years of age. Afterobtaining his freedom, he engaged as a clerk in a mercantileestablishment, and soon attracted attention by his business talents. About the same period he warmly espoused the cause of the free coloredpeople, who were doubly crushed under a load of civil and politicalimpositions, and a still heavier one of prejudice. He soon made himselfconspicuous by his manly defence of the rights of his brethren againstthe encroachments of the public authorities, and incurred the markeddispleasure of several influential characters. After a protractedstruggle for the civil immunities of the colored people, during which herepeatedly came into collision with public men, and was often arraignedbefore the public tribunals; finding his labors ineffectual, he left theisland and went to England. He spent some time there and in France, moving on a footing of honorable equality among the distinguishedabolitionists of those countries. There, amid the free influences andthe generous sympathies which welcomed and surrounded him, --his wholecharacter ripened in those manly graces and accomplishments which now soeminently distinguish him. 

Since his return to Barbadoes, Mr. H. Has not taken so public a part inpolitical controversies as he did formerly, but is by no meansindifferent to passing events. There is not, we venture to say, withinthe colony, a keener or more sagacious observer of its institutions, itspublic men and their measures. 

When witnessing the exhibitions of his manly spirit, and listening tohis eloquent and glowing narratives of his struggles against thepolitical oppressions which ground to the dust himself and his brethren, we could scarcely credit the fact that he was himself born and reared tomanhood--A SLAVE. 

BREAKFAST AT MR. THORNE'S. 

By invitation we took breakfast with Mr. Joseph Thorne, whom we met atMr. Harris's. Mr. T. Resides in Bridgetown. In the parlor, we met twocolored gentlemen--the Rev. Mr. Hamilton, a local Wesleyan preacher, andMr. Cummins, a merchant of Bridgetown, mentioned in a previous chapter. We were struck with the scientific appearance of Mr. Thorne's parlor. Onone side was a large library of religious, historical and literaryworks, the selection of which displayed no small taste and judgment. Onthe opposite side of the room was a fine cabinet of minerals and shells. In one corner stood a number of curious relics of the aboriginal Caribs, such as bows and arrows, etc. , together with interesting fossil remains. On the tops of the book-cases and mineral stand, were birds of rarespecies, procured from the South American Continent. The centre tablewas ornamented with shells, specimens of petrifactions, and elegantlybound books. The remainder of the furniture of the room was costly andelegant. Before breakfast two of Mr. Thorne's children, little boys ofsix and four, stepped in to salute the company. They were of a brightyellow, with slightly curled hair. When they had shaken hands with eachof the company, they withdrew from the parlor and were seen no more. Their manners and demeanor indicated the teachings of an admirablemother, and we were not a little curious to see the lady of whose tasteand delicate sense of propriety we had witnessed so attractive aspecimen in her children. At the breakfast table we were introduced toMrs. Thorne, and we soon discovered from her dignified air, from thechaste and elevated style of her conversation, from her intelligence, modesty and refinement, that we were in the presence of a highlyaccomplished lady. The conversation was chiefly on subjects connectedwith our mission. All spoke with great gratitude of the downfall ofslavery. It was not the slaves alone that were interested in that event. Political oppression, prejudice, and licentiousness had combined greatlyto degrade the colored community, but these evils were now graduallylessening, and would soon wholly disappear after the final extinction ofslavery--the parent of them all. 

Several facts were stated to show the great rise in the value of realestate since 1834. In one instance a gentleman bought a sugar estate fornineteen thousand pounds sterling, and the very next year, after takingoff a crop from which he realized a profit of three thousand poundssterling, he sold the estate for thirty thousand pounds sterling. It hasfrequently happened within two years that persons wishing to purchaseestates would inquire the price of particular properties, and wouldhesitate to give what was demanded. Probably soon after they wouldreturn to close the bargain, and find that the price was increased byseveral hundreds of pounds; they would go away again, reluctant topurchase, and return a third time, when they would find the price againraised, and would finally be glad to buy at almost any price. It wasvery difficult to purchase sugar estates now, whereas previous to theabolition of slavery, they were, like the slaves, a drug in the market. 

Mr. Joseph Thorne is a gentleman of forty-five, of a dark mulattocomplexion, with the negro features and hair. _He was born a slave_, andremained so until about twenty years of age. This fact we learned fromthe manager of the Belle estate, on which Mr. T. Was born and raised aslave. It was an interesting coincidence, that on the occasion of ourvisit to the Belle estate we were indebted to Mr. Thorne, the former_property_ of that estate, for his horse and chaise, which he politelyproffered to us. Mr. T. Employs much of his time in laboring among thecolored people in town, and among the apprentices on the estates, in thecapacity of _lay-preacher_. In this way he renders himself very useful. Being very competent, both by piety and talents, for the work, andpossessing more perhaps than any missionary, the confidence of theplanters, he is admitted to many estates, to lecture the apprentices onreligious and moral duties. Mr. T. Is a member of the Episcopal church. 

BREAKFAST AT MR. PRESCOD'S

We next had the pleasure of breakfasting with Mr. Prescod. Our esteemedfriend, Mr. Harris, was of the company. Mr. P. Is a young man, butlately married. His wife and himself were both liberally educated inEngland. He was the late editor of the New Times, a weekly paperestablished since the abolition of slavery and devoted chiefly to theinterests of the colored community. It was the first periodical and theonly one which advocated the rights of the colored people, and this itdid with the utmost fearlessness and independence. It boldly exposedoppression, whether emanating from the government house or originatingin the colonial assembly. The measures of all parties, and the conductof every public man, were subject to its scrutiny, and when occasionrequired, to its stern rebuke. Mr. P. Exhibits a thorough acquaintancewith the politics of the country, and with the position of the variousparties. He is familiar with the spirit and operations of the whitegentry--far more so, it would seem; than many of his brethren who havebeen repeatedly deceived by their professions of increasing liberality, and their show of extending civil immunities, which after all proved tobe practical nullities, and as such were denounced by Mr. P. At theoutset. A few years ago the colored people mildly petitioned thelegislature for a removal of their disabilities. Their remonstrance wastoo reasonable to be wholly disregarded. Something must he done whichwould at least bear the semblance of favoring the object of thepetitioners. Accordingly the obnoxious clauses were repealed, and thecolored people were admitted to the polls. But the qualification wasmade three times greater than that required of white citizens. Thisvirtually nullified the extension of privilege, and actually confirmedthe disabilities of which it was a pretended abrogation. The coloredpeople, in their credulity, hailed the apparent enfranchisement, and hada public rejoicing in the occasion. But the delusion could not escapethe discrimination of Mr. P. He detected it at once, and exposed it, andincurred the displeasure of the credulous people of color by refusing toparticipate in their premature rejoicings. He soon succeeded however inconvincing his brethren that the new provision was a mockery of theirwrongs, and that the assembly had only added insult to past injuries. Mr. P. Now urged the colored people to be patient, as the great changeswhich were working in the colony must bring to them all the rights ofwhich they had been so cruelly deprived. On the subject of prejudice hespoke just as a man of keen sensibilities and manly spirit might beexpected to speak, who had himself been its victim. He was accustomed tobeing flouted, scorned and condemned by those whom he could not butregard as his interiors both in native talents and education. He hadsubmitted to be forever debarred from offices which were filled by menfar less worthy except in the single qualification of a _white skin_, which however was paramount to all other virtues and acquirements! Hehad seen himself and his accomplished wife excluded from the society ofwhites, though keenly conscious of their capacity to move and shine inthe most elevated social circles. After all this, it may readily beconceived how Mr. P. Would speak of prejudice. But while he spokebitterly of the past, he was inspired with buoyancy of hope as he casthis eye to the future. He was confident that prejudice would disappear. It had already diminished very much, and it would ere long be whollyexterminated. 

Mr. P. Gave a sprightly picture of the industry of the negroes. It wascommon, he said, to hear them called lazy, but this was not true. Thatthey often appeared to be indolent, especially those about the town, wastrue; but it was either because they had no work to do, or were asked towork without reasonable wages. He had often been amused at theirconduct, when solicited to do small jobs--such as carrying baggage, loading of unloading a vessel, or the like. If offered a very smallcompensation, as was generally the case at first, they would stretchthemselves on the ground, and with a sleepy look, and lazy tone, wouldsay, "O, I can't do it, sir. " Sometimes the applicants would turn awayat once, thinking that they were unwilling to work, and cursing "thelazy devils;" but occasionally they would try the efficacy of offering alarger compensation, when instantly the negroes would spring to theirfeet, and the lounging inert mass would appear all activity. 

We are very willing to hold up Mr. P as a specimen of what coloredpeople generally may become with proper cultivation, or to use thelanguage of one of their own number, [A] "with free minds and spaceto rise. "

[Footnote A: Thomas C. Brown, who renounced colonization, returned froma disastrous and almost fatal expedition to Liberia, and afterwards wentto the West Indies, in quest of a free country. ]

We have purposely refrained from speaking of Mrs. P. , lest any thing weshould be willing to say respecting her, might seem to be adulation. However, having alluded to her, we will say that it has seldom fallen toour lot to meet with her superior. 

BREAKFAST AT MR. LONDON BOURNE'S. 

After what has been said in this chapter to try the patience andirritate the nerves of the prejudiced, if there should be such among ourreaders, they will doubtless deem it quite intolerable to be introduced, not as hitherto to a family in whose faces the lineaments and thecomplexion of the white man are discernible, relieving the ebon hue, butto a household of genuine unadulterated negroes. We cordially acceptedan invitation to breakfast with Mr. London Bourne. If the reader'shorror of amalgamation does not allow him to join us at the table, perhaps he will consent to retire to the parlor, whence, without fear ofcontamination, he may safely view us through the folding doors, and notedown our several positions around the board. At the head of the tablepresides, with much dignity, Mrs. Bourne; at the end opposite, sits Mr. Bourne--both of the glossiest jet; the thick matted hair of Mr. B. Slightly frosted with age. He has an affable, open countenance, in whichthe radiance of an amiable spirit, and the lustre of a sprightlyintellect, happily commingle, and illuminate the sable covering. Oneither hand of Mr. B. _we_ sit, occupying the posts of honor. On theright and left of Mrs. B. , and at the opposite corners from us, sit twoother guests, one a colored merchant, and the other a young son-in-lawof Mr. B. , whose face is the very double extract of blackness; for whichhis intelligence, the splendor of his dress, and the elegance of hismanners, can make to be sure but slight atonement! The middle seats arefilled on the one side by an unmarried daughter of Mr. B. , and on theother side by a promising son of eleven, who is to start on the morrowfor Edinburgh, where he is to remain until he has received the honors ofScotland's far famed university. 

We shall doubtless be thought by some of our readers to glory in ourshame. Be it so. We _did_ glory in joining the company which we havejust described. On the present occasion we had a fair opportunity oftesting the merits of an unmixed negro party, and of determining how farthe various excellences of the gentlemen and ladies previously noticedwere attributable to the admixture of English blood. We are compelled incandor to say; that the company of blacks did not fall a whit belowthose of the colored race in any respect. We conversed on the samegeneral topics, which, of course, were introduced where-ever we went. Thegentlemen showed an intimate acquaintance with the state of the colony, with the merits of the apprenticeship system, and with the movements ofthe colonial government. As for Mrs. B. , she presided at the table withgreat ease, dignity, self-possession, and grace. Her occasional remarks, made with genuine modesty, indicated good sense and discrimination. Among other topics of conversation, prejudice was not forgotten. Thecompany were inquisitive as to the extent of it in the United States. Weinformed them that it appeared to be strongest in those states whichheld no slaves, that it prevailed among professing Christians, and thatit was most manifestly seen in the house of God. We also intimated, inas delicate a manner as possible, that in almost any part of the UnitedStates such a table-scene as we then presented would be reprobated anddenounced, if indeed it escaped the summary vengeance of the mob. Wewere highly gratified with their views of the proper way for the coloredpeople to act in respect to prejudice. They said they were persuadedthat their policy was to wait patiently for the operation of thoseinfluences which were now at work for the removal of prejudice. "_Socialintercourse_, " they said, "was not a thing to be gained by _pushing_. ""They could not go to it, but it would come to them. " It was for themhowever, to maintain an upright, dignified course, to be uniformlycourteous, to seek the cultivation of their minds, and strive zealouslyfor substantial worth, and by such means, and such alone, they could aidin overcoming prejudice. 

Mr. Bourne was a slave until he was twenty-three years old. He waspurchased by his father, a free negro, who gave five hundred dollars forhim. His mother and four brothers were bought at the same time for thesum of two thousand five hundred dollars. He spoke very kindly of hisformer master. By industry, honesty, and close attention to business, Mr. B. Has now become a wealthy merchant. He owns three stores inBridgetown, lives in very genteel style in his own house, and is worthfrom twenty to thirty thousand dollars. He is highly respected by themerchants of Bridgetown for his integrity and business talents. By whatmeans Mr. B. Has acquired so much general information, we are at a lossto conjecture. Although we did not ourselves need the evidence of hispossessing extraordinary talents, industry, and perseverance, yet we arehappy to present our readers with such tangible proofs--proofs which areread in every language, and which pass current in every nation. 

The foregoing sketches are sufficient to give a general idea of thecolored people of Barbadoes. Perchance we may have taken too greatliberties with those whose hospitalities we enjoyed; should this everfall under their notice, we doubt not they will fully appreciate themotives which have actuated us in making them public. We are only sorry, for their sakes, and especially for that of our cause, that thedelineations are so imperfect. That the above specimens are an exactlikeness of the mass of colored people we do not pretend; but we doaffirm, that they are as true an index to the whole community, as themerchants, physicians, and mechanics of any of our villages are to theentire population. We must say, also, that families of equal merit areby no means rare among the same people. We might mention many nameswhich deservedly rank as high as those we have specified. One of thewealthiest merchants in Bridgetown is a colored gentleman. He has hismercantile agents in England, English clerks in his employ, a branchestablishment in the city, and superintends the concerns of an extensiveand complicated business with distinguished ability and success. A largeportion, of not a majority of the merchants of Bridgetown are colored. Some of the most popular instructors are colored men and ladies, and oneof these ranks high as a teacher of the ancient and modern languages. The most efficient and enterprising mechanics of the city, are coloredand black men. There is scarcely any line of business which is noteither shared or engrossed by colored persons, if we except that of_barber_. _The only barber in Bridgetown is a white man. _

That so many of the colored people should have obtained wealth andeducation is matter of astonishment, when we consider the numerousdiscouragements with which they have ever been doomed to struggle. Thepaths of political distinction have been barred against them by anarbitrary denial of the right of suffrage, and consequent ineligibilityto office. Thus a large and powerful class of incitements to mentaleffort, which have been operating continually upon the whites, havenever once stirred the sensibilities nor waked the ambition of thecolored community. Parents, however wealthy, had no inducement toeducate their sons for the learned professions, since no force of talentnor extent of acquirement could hope to break down the granite walls andiron bars which prejudice had erected round the pulpit, the bar, and thebench. From the same cause there was very little encouragement toacquire property, to seek education, to labor for the graces ofcultivated manners, or even to aspire to ordinary respectability, sincenot even the poor favor of social intercourse with the whites, ofparticipating in the civilities and courtesies of every day life, wasgranted them. 

The crushing power of a prevailing licentiousness, has also been addedto the other discouragements of the colored people. Why should parentslabor to amass wealth enough, and much of course it required, to sendtheir daughters to Europe to receive their educations, if they were toreturn only to become the victims of an all-whelming concubinism! It isa fact, that in many cases young ladies, who have been sent to Englandto receive education, have, after accomplishing themselves in all thegraces of womanhood, returned to the island to become the concubines ofwhite men. Hitherto this vice has swept over the colored community, gathering its repeated conscriptions of beauty and innocence from thehighest as well as the lowest families. Colored ladies have been taughtto believe that it was more honorable, and quite as virtuous, to be thekept mistresses of _white gentlemen_, than the lawfully wedded wives of_colored men_. We repeat the remark, that the actual progress which thecolored people of Barbadoes have made, while laboring under so manydepressing influences, should excite our astonishment, and, we add, ouradmiration too. Our acquaintance with this people was at a veryinteresting period--just when they were beginning to be relieved fromthese discouragements, and to feel the regenerating spirit of a new era. It was to us like walking through a garden in the early spring. We couldsee the young buds of hope, the first bursts of ambition, the earlyup-shoots of confident aspiration, and occasionally the opening bloom ofassurance. The star of hope had risen upon the colored people, and theywere beginning to realize that _their_ day had come. The long winter oftheir woes was melting into "glorious summer. " Civil immunities andpolitical privileges were just before them, the learned professions wereopening to them, social equality and honorable domestic connectionswould soon be theirs. Parents were making fresh efforts to establishschools for the children, and to send the choicest of their sons anddaughters to England. They rejoiced in the privileges they weresecuring, and they anticipated with virtuous pride the free access oftheir children to all the fields of enterprise, all the paths of honestemulation, and all the eminences of distinction. 

We remark in conclusion, that the forbearance of the colored people ofBarbadoes under their complicated wrongs is worthy of all admiration. Allied, as many of them are, to the first families of the island, andgifted as they are with every susceptibility to feel disgrace, it is amarvel that they have not indignantly cast off the yoke and demandedtheir political rights. Their wrongs have been unprovoked on their part, and unnatural on the part of those who have inflicted them--in manycases the guilty authors of their being. The patience and endurance ofthe sufferers under such circumstances are unexampled, except by theconduct of the slaves, who, though still more wronged, were, ifpossible, still more patient. 

We regret to add, that until lately, the colored people of Barbadoeshate been far in the background in the cause of abolition, and even now, the majority of them are either indifferent, or actually hostile toemancipation. They have no fellow feeling with the slave. In fact; theyhave had prejudices against the negroes no less bitter than those whichthe whites have exercised toward them. There are many honorableexceptions to this, as has already been shown; but such, we are assured, is the general fact. [A]

[Footnote A: We are here reminded, by the force of contrast, of thenoble spirit manifested by the free colored people of our own country. As early as 1817, a numerous body of them in Philadelphia, with thevenerable James Forten at their head, pledged themselves to the cause ofthe slave in the following sublime sentiment, which deserves to beengraver to their glory on the granite of our "everlastinghills"--"Resolved, That we never will separate ourselves voluntarilyfrom the slave population in this country; they are our brethren by theties of consanguinity, of suffering, and of wrong; and we feel thatthere is more virtue in suffering privations with them, than enjoying_fancied_ advantages for a season. "

We believe that this resolution embodies the feelings and determinationsof the free colored people generally in the free states. ]

CHAPTER IV. 

BARBADOES AS IT WAS, AND IS. 

According to the declaration of one of the special magistrates, "Barbadoes has long been distinguished for its devotion to slavery. "There is probably no portion of the globe where slave-holding, slavedriving, and slave labor, have been reduced to a more perfect system. 

The records of slavery in Barbadoes are stained with bloody atrocities. The planters uniformly spoke of slavery as a system of cruelties; butthey expressed themselves in general terms. From colored gentlemen welearned some particulars, a few of which we give. To most of thefollowing facts the narrators were themselves eye witnesses, and all ofthem happened in their day and were fresh in their memories. 

The slaves were not unfrequently worked in the streets of Bridgetownwith chains on their wrists and ankles. Flogging on the estates and inthe town, were no less public than frequent, and there was an uttershamelessness often in the manner of its infliction. Even women werestripped naked on the sides of the streets, and their backs laceratedwith the whip. It was a common practice, when a slave offended a whiteman, for the master to send for a public whipper, and order him to takethe slave before the door of the person offended, and flog him till thelatter was satisfied. White females would order their male slaves to bestripped naked in their presence and flogged, while they would look onto see that their orders were faithfully executed. Mr. Prescod mentionedan instance which he himself witnessed near Bridgetown. He had seen anaged female slave, stripped and whipped by her own son, a child oftwelve, at the command of the mistress. As the boy was small, the motherwas obliged to get down upon her hands and knees, so that the childcould inflict the blows on her naked person with a rod. This was done onthe public highway, before the mistress's door. Mr. T. Well rememberedwhen it was lawful for any man to shoot down his slave, under no greaterpenalty than twenty-five pounds currency; and he knew of cases in whichthis had been done. Just after the insurrection in 1816, white men madea regular sport of shooting negroes. Mr. T. Mentioned one case. A youngman had sworn that he would kill ten negroes before a certain time. Whenhe had shot nine he went to take breakfast with a neighbor, and carriedhis gun along. The first slave he met on the estate, he accused of beingconcerned in the rebellion. The negro protested that he was innocent, and begged for mercy. The man told him to be gone, and as he turned togo away, he shot him dead. Having fulfilled his bloody pledge, the youngknight ate his breakfast with a relish. Mr. H. Said that a planter once, in a time of perfect peace, went to his door and called one of hisslaves. The negro made some reply which the master construed intoinsolence, and in a great rage he swore if he did not come to himimmediately he would shoot him. The man replied he hoped massa wan't inearnest. 'I'll show you whether I am in earnest, ' said the master, andwith that he levelled his rifle, took deliberate aim, and shot the negroon the spot. He died immediately. Though great efforts were made by afew colored men to bring the murderer to punishment, they were allineffectual. The evidence against him was clear enough, but theinfluence in his favor was so strong that he finally escaped. 

Dungeons were built on all the estates, and they were often abominablyfilthy, and infested with loathsome and venomous vermin. For slightoffences the slaves were thrust into these prisons for severalsuccessive nights--being dragged out every morning to work during theday. Various modes of torture were employed upon those who wereconsigned to the dungeon. There were stocks for their feet, and therewere staples in the floor for the ankles and wrists, placed in such aposition as to keep the victim stretched out and lying on his face. Mr. H. Described one mode which was called the _cabin_. A narrow board, onlywide enough for a man to lie upon, was fixed in an inclined position, and elevated considerably above the ground. The offending slave was madeto lay upon this board, and a strong rope or chain, was tied about hisneck and fastened to the ceiling. It was so arranged, that if he shouldfall from the plank, he would inevitably hang by his neck. Lying in thisposition all night, he was more likely than not to fall asleep, and thenthere were ninety-nine chances to one that he would roll off his narrowbed and be killed before he could awake, or have time to extricatehimself. Peradventure this is the explanation of the anxiety Mr. ---- of----, used to feel, when he had confined one of his slaves in thedungeon. He stated that he would frequently wake up in the night, wasrestless, and couldn't sleep, from fear that the prisoner would _killhimself_ before morning. 

It was common for the planters of Barbadoes, like those of Antigua, todeclare that the greatest blessing of abolition to them, was that itrelieved them from the disagreeable work of flogging the negroes. We hadthe unsolicited testimony of a planter, that slave mothers frequentlypoisoned, and otherwise murdered, their young infants, to rid them of alife of slavery. What a horrible comment this upon the cruelties ofslavery! Scarce has the mother given birth to her child, when shebecomes its murderer. The slave-mother's joy begins, not like that ofother mothers, when "a man is born into the world, " but when her infantis hurried out of existence, and its first faint cry is hushed in thesilence of death! Why this perversion of nature? Ah, that mother knowsthe agonies, the torments, the wasting woes, of a life of slavery, andby the bowels of a mother's love, and the yearnings of a mother's pity, she resolves that her babe shall never know the same. O, estimate whocan, how many groans have gone up from the cane field, from theboiling-house, from around the wind mill, from the bye paths, from theshade of every tree, from the recesses of every dungeon!

Colonel Barrow, of Edgecome estate, declared, that the habit of floggingwas so strong among the overseers and book-keepers, that even now theyfrequently indulge it in the face of penalties and at the risk offorfeiting their place. 

The descriptions which the special magistrates give of the lower classof overseers and the managers of the petty estates, furnish data enoughfor judging of the manner in which they would be likely to act whenclothed with arbitrary power. They are "a low order of men, " "withouteducation, " "trained up to use the whip, " "knowing nothing else save theart of flogging, " "ready at any time to perjure themselves in any matterwhere a negro is concerned, " &c. Now, may we not ask what but cruelty, the most monstrous, could be expected under a system where _such men_were constituted law makers, judges, and executioners?

From the foregoing facts, and the still stronger circumstantialevidence, we leave the reader to judge for himself as to the amount ofcruelty attendant upon "the reign of terror, " in Barbadoes. We must, however, mention one qualification, without which a wrong impression maybe made. It has already been remarked that Barbadoes has, more than anyother island, reduced slave labor and sugar cultivation to a regularsystem. This the planters have been compelled to do from the densenessof their population, the smallness of their territory, the fact that theland was all occupied, and still more, because the island, from longcontinued cultivation, was partly worn out. A prominent feature in theirsystem was, theoretically at least, good bodily treatment of the slaves, good feeding, attention to mothers, to pregnant women, and to children, in order that the estates might always be kept _well stocked withgood-conditioned negroes_. They were considered the best managers, whoincreased the population of the estates most rapidly, and often premiumswere given by the attorneys to such managers. Another feature in theBarbadoes system was to raise sufficient provisions in the island tomaintain the slaves, or, in planter's phrase, to _feed the stock_, without being dependent upon foreign countries. This made the suppliesof the slaves more certain and more abundant. From several circumstancesin the condition of Barbadoes, it is manifest, that there were fewermotives to cruelty there than existed in other islands. First, the slavepopulation was abundant, then the whole of the island was undercultivation, and again the lands were old and becoming exhausted. Now, if either one of these things had not been true, if the number of slaveshad been inadequate to the cultivation, or if vast tracts of land, as inJamaica, Trinidad, and Demerara, had been uncultivated, or were beingbrought into cultivation; or, again, if the lands under cultivation hadbeen fresh and fertile, so as to bear _pushing_, then it is plain thatthere would have been inducements to hard driving, which, as the casewas, did not exist. 

Such is a partial view of Barbadoes as it _was_, touching the matter ofcruelty. We say partial, for we have omitted to mention the selling ofslaves from one estate to another, whereby families were separated, almost as effectually as though an ocean intervened. We have omitted tonotice the transportation of slaves to Trinidad, Berbice, and Demerara, which was made an open traffic until prohibited in 1827, and wasafterwards continued with but little abatement by evasions of the law. 

From the painful contemplation of all this outrage and wrong, the mindis relieved by turning to the present state of the colony. It cannot bedenied that much oppression grows out of the apprenticeship system, bothfrom its essential nature, and from the want of virtuous principle andindependence in the men who administer it. Yet it is certainly true thatthere has been a very great diminution in the amount of actual cruelty. The total abolition of flogging on the estates, the prohibition to usethe dungeons, and depriving the masters, managers, overseers anddrivers, of the right to punish in any case, or in any way whatever, leave no room for doubt on this subject. It is true, that the laws areoften violated, but this can only take place in cases of excessivepassion, and it is not likely to be a very frequent occurrence. Thepenalty of the law is so heavy, [A] and the chances of detection[B] areso great, that in all ordinary circumstances they will be a sufficientsecurity against the violence of the master. On the other hand, thespecial magistrates themselves seldom use the whip, but resort to othermodes of punishment less cruel and degrading. Besides, it is manifestthat if they did use the whip and were ever so cruelly disposed, itwould be physically impossible for them to inflict as much suffering asthe drivers could during slavery; on account of the vast numbers overwhom they preside. We learned from the apprentices themselves, byconversing with them, that their condition, in respect to treatment, isincomparably better than it was during slavery. We were satisfied fromour observations and inquiries, that the planters, at least the moreextensive and enlightened ones, conduct their estates on differentprinciples from those formerly followed. Before the abolition ofslavery, they regarded the _whip_ as absolutely necessary to thecultivation of sugar, and hence they uniformly used it, and loudlydeprecated its abolition as being _their_ certain ruin. But since thewhip has been abolished, and the planters have found that the negroescontinue, nevertheless, industrious and subordinate, they have changedtheir measures, partly from necessity, and partly from policy, haveadopted a conciliatory course. 

[Footnote A: A fine of sixteen dollars for the first assault, and theliberation of the apprentice after a second. ]

[Footnote B: Through the complaint of the apprentice to the specialmagistrate]

Barbadoes was not without its insurrections during slavery. Although notvery frequent, they left upon the minds of the white colonists thisconviction, (repeatedly expressed to us by planters and others, ) that_slavery and rebellions are inseparable_. The last widely extendedinsurrection occurred in 1816, in the eastern part of the island. Someof the particulars were given us by a planter who resided to thatregion, and suffered by it great loss of property. The plot was socautiously laid, and kept so secret, that no one suspected it. Theplanter observed that if any one had told him that such a thing wasbrewing _ten minutes_ before it burst forth, he would not have creditedthe statement. It began with firing the cane-fields. A signal was givenby a man setting fire to a pile of trash on an elevated spot, wheninstantly the fires broke out in every direction, and in less than ahalf hour, more than one hundred estates were in flames. The plantersand their families, in the utmost alarm, either fled into other parts ofthe island, or seized their arms and hurriedly mustered in self-defence. Meanwhile the negroes, who had banded themselves in numerous companies, took advantage of the general consternation, proceeded to the desertedmansions of the planters, broke down the doors, battered in the windows, destroyed all the furniture, and carried away the provision stores totheir own houses. 

These ravages continued for three days, during which, the slaves flockedtogether in increasing numbers; in one place there were severalthousands assembled. Above five hundred of the insurgents were shot downby the militia, before they could be arrested. The destruction ofproperty during the rebellion was loosely estimated at many hundredthousand pounds. The canes on many estates were almost wholly burned; sothat extensive properties, which ordinarily yielded from two to threehundred hogsheads, did not make more than fifteen or twenty. 

Our informant mentioned two circumstances which he consideredremarkable. One was, that the insurgents never touched the property ofthe estates to which they severally belonged; but went to theneighboring or more distant estates. The other was, that during thewhole insurrection the negroes did not make a single attempt to destroylife. On the other hand, the sacrifice of negroes during the rebellion, and subsequent to it, was appalling. It was a long time before the whiteman's thirst for blood could be satiated. 

No general insurrection occurred after this one. However, as late as1823, the proprietor of Mount Wilton--the noblest estate in theisland--was murdered by his slaves in a most horrid manner. A number ofmen entered his bed-chamber at night. He awoke ere they reached him, andgrasped his sword, which always hung by his bed, but it was wrested fromhis hand, and he was mangled and killed. His death was caused by his_cruelties_, and especially by his _extreme licentiousness_. All thefemales on this estate were made successively the victims of his lust. This, together with his cruelties, so incensed the men, that theydetermined to murder the wretch. Several of them were publicly executed. 

Next to the actual occurrence of rebellions, _the fear of them_ deservesto be enumerated among the evils which slavery entailed upon Barbadoes. The dread of hurricanes to the people of Barbadoes is tolerable incomparison with the irrepressible apprehensions of bloody rebellions. Aplanter told us that he seldom went to bed without thinking he might bemurdered before morning. 

But now the whites are satisfied that slavery was the sole instigator ofrebellions, and since its removal they have no fear on this score. 

_Licentiousness_ was another of the fruits of slavery. It will bedifficult to give to the reader a proper conception of the prevalence ofthis vice in Barbadoes, and of the consequent demoralization. A numerouscolored population were both the offspring and the victims of it. On avery moderate calculation, nineteen-twentieths of the present adultcolored race are illegitimate. Concubinage was practised among thehighest classes. Young merchants and others who were unmarried, on firstgoing to the island, regularly engaged colored females to live with themas housekeepers and mistresses, and it was not unusual for a man to havemore than one. The children of these connections usually sat with themothers at the father's table, though when the gentlemen had company, neither mothers nor children made their appearance. To such conduct nodisgrace was attached, nor was any shame felt by either party. We wereassured that there are in Bridgetown, colored ladies of"respectability, " who, though never married, have large families ofchildren whose different surnames indicate their difference ofparentage, but who probably do not know their fathers by any othertoken. These remarks apply to the towns. The morals of the estates werestill more deplorable. The managers and overseers, commonly unmarried, left no female virtue unattempted. Rewards sometimes, but oftener thewhip, or the dungeon, gave them the mastery in point of fact, which thelaws allowed in theory. To the slaves marriage was scarcely known. Theyfollowed the example of the master, and were ready to minister to hislust. The mass of mulatto population grew paler as it multiplied, andcatching the refinement along with the tint of civilization, waged a warupon marriage which had well nigh expelled it from the island. Such wasBarbadoes under the auspices of slavery. 

Although these evils still exist, yet, since the abolition of slavery, there is one symptom of returning purity, the _sense of shame_. Concubinage is becoming disreputable. The colored females are growing inself-respect, and are beginning to seek regular connections with coloredmen. They begin to feel (to use the language of one of them) that the_light is come_, and that they can no longer have the apology ofignorance to plead for their sin. It is the prevailing impression amongwhites, colored, and blacks, that open licentiousness cannot longsurvive slavery. 

_Prejudice_ was another of the concomitants of slavery. Barbadoes wasproverbial for it. As far as was practicable, the colored people wereexcluded from all business connections; though merchants were compelledto make clerks of them for want of better, that is, _whiter_, ones. Colored merchants of wealth were shut out of the merchants' exchange, though possessed of untarnished integrity, while white men were admittedas subscribers without regard to character. It was not a littleremarkable that the rooms occupied as the merchants' exchange wererented from a colored gentleman, or more properly, a _negro_;[A] who, though himself a merchant of extensive business at home and abroad, andoccupying the floor below with a store, was not suffered to set his footwithin them. This merchant, it will be remembered, is educating a sonfor a learned profession at the university of Edinburgh. Coloredgentlemen were not allowed to become members of literary associations, nor subscribers to the town libraries. Social intercourse was utterlyinterdicted. To visit the houses of such men as we have alreadymentioned in a previous chapter, and especially to sit down at theirtables, would have been a loss of caste; although the gentry were at thesame time living with colored concubines. But most of all did thiswicked prejudice delight to display itself in the churches. Originally, we believe, the despised color was confined to the galleries, afterwardsit was admitted to the seats under the galleries, and ultimately it wasallowed to extend to the body pews below the cross aisle. If perchanceone of the proscribed class should ignorantly stray beyond theseprecincts, and take a seat above the cross aisle, he was instantly, ifnot forcibly, removed. Every opportunity was maliciously seized to tauntthe colored people with their complexion. A gentleman of the highestworth stated that several years ago he applied to the proper officer fora license to be married. The license was accordingly made out and handedto him. It was expressed in the following insulting style: "T---- H----, F. M. , is licensed to marry H---- L----, F. C. W. " The initials F. M. Stoodfor _free mulatto_, and F. C. W. For _free colored woman_! The gentlemantook his knife and cut out the initials; and was then threatened with aprosecution for forging his license. 

[Footnote A: Mr. London Bourne, the merchant mentioned in the previouschapter. ]

It must be admitted that this cruel feeling still exists in Barbadoes. Prejudice is the last viper of the slavery-gendered brood that dies. Butit is evidently growing weaker. This the reader will infer from severalfacts already stated. The colored people themselves are indulgingsanguine hopes that prejudice will shortly die away. They could discovera bending on the part of the whites, and an apparent readiness toconcede much of the ground hitherto withheld. They informed us that theyhad received intimations that they might be admitted as subscribers tothe merchants' exchange if they would apply; but they were in no hurryto make the advances themselves. They felt assured that not onlybusiness equality, but social equality, would soon be theirs, and werewaiting patiently for the course of events to bring them. They have toomuch self-respect to sue for the consideration of their white neighbors, or to accept it as a condescension and favor, when by a little patiencethey might obtain it on more honorable terms. It will doubtless be foundin Barbadoes, as it has been in other countries--and perchance to themortification of some lordlings--that freedom is a mighty leveller ofhuman distinctions. The pyramid of pride and prejudice which slavery hadupreared there, must soon crumble in the dust. 

_Indolence and inefficiency among the whites_, was another prominentfeature in slaveholding Barbadoes. Enterprise, public and personal, haslong been a stranger to the island. Internal improvements, such as thelaying and repairing of roads, the erection of bridges, buildingwharves, piers, &c. , were either wholly neglected, or conducted in sucha listless manner as to be a burlesque on the name of business. It was astanding task, requiring the combined energy of the island, to repairthe damages of one hurricane before another came. The followingcircumstance was told us, by one of the shrewdest observers of men andthings with whom we met in Barbadoes. On the southeastern coast of theisland there is a low point running far out into the sea, endangeringall vessels navigated by persons not well acquainted with the island. Many vessels have been wrecked upon it in the attempt to make Bridgetownfrom the windward. From time immemorial, it has been in contemplation toerect a light-house on that point. Every time a vessel has been wrecked, the whole island has been agog for a light-house. Public meetings werecalled, and eloquent speeches made, and resolutions passed, to proceedto the work forthwith. Bills were introduced into the assembly, longspeeches made, and appropriations voted commensurate with the stupendousundertaking. There the matter ended, and the excitement died away, onlyto be revived by another wreck, when a similar scene would ensue. Thelight-house is not built to this day. In personal activity, theBarbadians are as sadly deficient as in public spirit. London is said tohave scores of wealthy merchants who have never been beyond its limits, nor once snuffed the country air. Bridgetown, we should think, is inthis respect as deserving of the name _Little London_ as Barbadoes is ofthe title "Little England, " which it proudly assumes. We were crediblyinformed that there were merchants in Bridgetown who had never been offthe island in their lives, nor more than five or six miles into thecountry. The sum total of their locomotion might be said to be, turningsoftly to one side of their chairs, and then softly to the other. Havingno personal cares to harass them, and no political questions to agitatethem--having no extended speculations to push, and no public enterprisesto prosecute, (save occasionally when a wreck on the southern pointthrows them into a ferment, ) the lives of the higher classes seem aperfect blank, as it regards every thing manly. Their thoughts arechiefly occupied with sensual pleasure, anticipated or enjoyed. Thecentre of existence to them is the _dinner-table_. 

 "They eat and drink and sleep, and then-- Eat and drink and sleep again. "

That the abolition of slavery has laid the foundation for a reform inthis respect, there can be no doubt. The indolence and inefficiency ofthe white community has grown out of slavery. It is the legitimateoffspring of oppression everywhere--one of the burning curses which itnever fails to visit upon its supporters. It may be seriously doubted, however, whether in Barbadoes this evil will terminate with its cause. There is there such a superabundance of the laboring population, thatfor a long time to come, labor must be very cheap, and the habituallyindolent will doubtless prefer employing others to work for them, thanto work themselves. If, therefore, we should not see an active spirit ofenterprise at once kindling among the Barbadians, _if the light-houseshould not be build for a quarter of a century to come_, it need notexcite our astonishment. 

We heard not a little concerning the expected distress of those whitefamilies whose property consisted chiefly of slaves. There were manysuch families, who have hitherto lived respectably and independently byhiring out their slaves. After 1840, these will be deprived of all theirproperty, and will have no means of support whatever. As they willconsider it degrading to work, and still more so to beg, they will bethrown into extremely embarrassing circumstances. It is thought thatmany of this class will leave the country, and seek a home where theywill not be ashamed to work for their subsistence. We were forciblyreminded of the oft alleged objection to emancipation in the UnitedStates, that it would impoverish many excellent families in the South, and drive delicate females to the distaff and the wash-tub, whose handshave never been used to any thing--_rougher than the cowhide_. Muchsympathy has been awakened in the North by such appeals, and vastnumbers have been led by them to conclude that it is better for millionsof slaves to famish in eternal bondage, than that a few white families, here and there scattered over the South, should be reduced to thehumiliation of _working_. 

_Hostility to emancipation_ prevailed in Barbadoes. That island hasalways been peculiarly attached to slavery. From the beginning of theanti-slavery agitations in England, the Barbadians distinguishedthemselves by their inveterate opposition. As the grand resultapproximated they increased their resistance. They appealed, remonstrated, begged, threatened, deprecated, and imprecated. Theycontinually protested that abolition would ruin the colony--that thenegroes could never be brought to work--especially to raisesugar--without the whip. They both besought and demanded of the Englishthat they should cease their interference with their private affairs andpersonal property. 

Again and again they informed them that they were wholly disqualified, by their distance from the colonies, and their ignorance of the subject, to do any thing respecting it, and they were entreated to leave thewhole matter with the colonies, who alone could judge as to the besttime and manner of moving, or whether it was proper to move at all. 

We were assured that there was not a single planter in Barbadoes who wasknown to be in favor of abolition, before it took place; if, however, there had been one such, he would not have dared to avow his sentiments. The anti-slavery party in England were detested; no epithets were toovile for them--no curses too bitter. It was a Barbadian lady who onceexclaimed in a public company in England, "O, I wish we had Wilberforcein the West Indies, I would be one of the very first to tear his heartout!" If such a felon wish could escape the lips of a female, and thattoo amid the awing influence of English society, what may we concludewere the feelings of planters and drivers on the island!

The opposition was maintained even after the abolition of slavery; andthere was no colony, save Jamaica, with which the English government hadso much trouble in arranging the provisions and conditions under whichabolition was to take place. 

From statements already made, the reader will see how great a change hascome over the feelings of the planters. 

He has followed us through this and the preceding chapters, he has seentranquillity taking the place of insurrections, a sense of securitysucceeding to gloomy forbodings, and public order supplanting mob law;he has seen subordination to authority, peacefulness, industry, andincreasing morality, characterizing the negro population; he has seenproperty rising in value, crime lessening, expenses of labordiminishing, the whole island blooming with unexampled cultivation, andwaving with crops unprecedented in the memory of its inhabitants; aboveall, he has seen licentiousness decreasing, prejudice fading away, marriage extending, education spreading, and religion preparing tomultiply her churches and missionaries over the land. 

_These_ are the blessing of abolition--_begun_ only, and but partiallyrealized as yet, but promising a rich maturity in time to come, afterthe work of freedom shall have been completed. 

CHAPTER V. 

THE APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM. 

The nature of the apprenticeship system may be learned form thefollowing abstract of its provisions, relative to the three partieschiefly concerned in its operation--the special magistrate, the master, and the apprentice. 

PROVISIONS RESPECTING THE SPECIAL MAGISTRATES. 

1. They must be disconnected with planters and plantership, that theymay be independent of all colonial parties and interests whatever. 

2. The special magistrates adjudicate only in cases where the master andapprentice are parties. Offences committed by apprentices against anyperson not connected with the estates on which they live, come under thecognizance of the local magistrates or of higher courts. 

3. The special justices sit three days in the week at their offices, where all complaints are carried, both by the master and apprentice. Themagistrates do not go the estate, either to try or to punish offenders. Besides, the three days the magistrates are required to be at home everySaturday, (that being the day on which the apprentices are disengaged, )to give friendly advice and instruction on points of law and personalrights to all apprentices who may call. 

PROVISIONS RESPECTING THE MASTER. 

1. The master is allowed the gratuitous labor of the apprentice forforty-five hours each week. The several islands were permitted by theEnglish government to make such a division of this time as localcircumstances might seem to require. In some islands, as for instance inSt. Christopher's and Tortola, it is spread over six days of the week inproportions of seven and a half hours per day, thus leaving theapprentice mere shreds of time in which he can accomplish nothing forhimself. In Barbadoes, the forty-five hours is confined within fivedays, in portions of nine hours per day. 

2. The allowances of food continue the same as during slavery, exceptingthat now the master may give, instead of the allowance, a third of anacre to each apprentice, but then he must also grant an additional dayevery week for the cultivation of this land. 

3. The master has no power whatever to punish. A planter observed, "if Icommand my butler to stand for half an hour on the parlor floor, and itcan be proved that I designed it as a punishment, I may be fined forit. " The penalty for the first offence (punishing an apprentice) is afine of five pounds currency, or sixteen dollars, and imprisonment ifthe punishment was cruel. For a second offence the apprentice isset free. 

Masters frequently do punish their apprentices _in despite of allpenalties_. A case in point occurred not long since, in Bridgetown. Alady owned a handsome young mulatto woman, who had a beautiful head ofhair of which she was very proud. The servant did something displeasingto her mistress, and the latter in a rage shaved off her hair close toher head. The girl complained to the special magistrate, and procured animmediate release from her mistress's service. 

4. It is the duty of the master to make complaint to the specialmagistrate. When the master chooses to take the punishment into his ownhand, the apprentice has a right to complain. 

5. The master is obliged to sell the remainder of the apprentice's term, whenever the apprentice signifies a wish to buy it. If the partiescannot agree about the price, the special magistrate, in connection withtwo local magistrates, appraises the latter, and the master is bound totake the amount of the appraisement, whatever that is. Instances ofapprentices purchasing themselves are quite frequent, not withstandingthe term of service is now so short, extending only to August, 1840. Thevalue of an apprentice varies from thirty to one hundred dollars. 

PROVISIONS RESPECTING THE APPRENTICE. 

1. He has the whole of Saturday, and the remnants of the other fivedays, after giving nine hours to the master. 

2. The labor does not begin so early, nor continue so late as duringslavery. Instead of half past four or five o'clock the apprentices arecalled out at six o'clock in the morning. They then work till seven, have an hour for breakfast, again work from eight to twelve, have arespite of two hours, and then work till six o'clock. 

3. If an apprentice hires his time from his master as is notunfrequently the case, especially among the non-praedials, he pays adollar a week, which is two thirds, or at least one half ofhis earnings. 

4. If the apprentice has a complaint to make against his master, he musteither make it during his own time, or if he prefers to go to themagistrate during work hours, he must ask his master for a pass. If hismaster refuse to give him one, he can then go without it. 

5. There is an _unjustifiable inequality_ in the apprentice laws, whichwas pointed out by one of the special magistrates. The master ispunishable only for cruelty or corporeal inflictions, whereas theapprentice is punishable for a variety of offences, such as idleness, stealing, insubordination, insolence, &c. The master may be as insolentand abusive as he chooses to be, and the slave can have no redress. 

6. Hard labor, solitary confinement, and the treadmill, are theprincipal modes of punishment. Shaving the head is sometimes resortedto. A very sever punishment frequently adopted, is requiring theapprentice to make up for the time during which he is confined. If he iscommitted for ten working days, he must give the master ten successiveSaturdays. 

This last regulation is particularly oppressive and palpably unjust. Itmatters not how slight the offence may have been, it is discretionarywith the special magistrate to mulct the apprentice of his Saturdays. This provision really would appear to have been made expressly for thepurpose of depriving the apprentices of their own time. It is a directinducement to the master to complain. If the apprentice has been absentfrom his work but an hour, the magistrate may sentence him to give awhole day in return; consequently the master is encouraged to mark theslightest omission, and to complain of it whether it was unavoidableor not. 

THE DESIGN OF THE APPRENTICESHIP. --It is a serious question with aportion of the colonists, whether or not the apprenticeship wasoriginally designed as a preparation for freedom. This however was theprofessed object with its advocates, and it was on the strength of thisplausible pretension, doubtless, that the measure was carried through. We believe it is pretty well understood, both in England and thecolonies; that it was mainly intended _as an additional compensation tothe planters_. The latter complained that the twenty millions of poundswas but a pittance of the value of their slaves, and to drown theircries about robbery and oppression this system of modified slavery wasgranted to them, that they might, for a term of years, enjoy the toil ofthe negro without compensation. As a mockery to the hopes of the slavesthis system was called an apprenticeship, and it was held out to them asa needful preparatory stage for them to pass through, ere they couldrightly appreciate the blessings of entire freedom. It was not wonderfulthat they should be slow to apprehend the necessity of serving a sixyears' apprenticeship, at a business which they had been all their livesemployed in. It is not too much to say that it was a grand cheat--anational imposture at the expense of the poor victims of oppression, whom, with benevolent pretences, it offered up a sacrifice to cupidityand power. 

PRACTICAL OPERATION OF THE APPRENTICESHIP. --It cannot be denied thatthis system is in some respects far better than slavery. Many restraintsare imposed upon the master, and many important privileges are securedto the apprentice. Being released from the arbitrary power of themaster, is regarded by the latter as a vast stride towards entireliberty. We once asked an apprentice; if he thought apprenticeship wasbetter than slavery. "O yes, " said he, "great deal better, sir; when wewas slaves, our masters git mad wid us, and give us _plenty of licks_;but now, thank God, they can't touch us. " But the actual enjoyment ofthese advantages by the apprentices depends upon so many contingencies, such as the disposition of the master, and the faithfulness of thespecial magistrate, that it is left after all exceedingly precarious. Avery few observations respecting the special magistrates, will serve toshow how liable the apprentice is to suffer wrong without thepossibility of obtaining redress. It is evident that this will be thecase unless the special magistrates are _entirely independent_. This wasforeseen by the English government, and they pretended to provide for itby paying the magistrates' salaries at home. But how inadequate wastheir provision! The salaries scarcely answer for pocket money in theWest Indies. Thus situated, the magistrates are continually exposed tothose temptations, which the planters can so artfully present in theshape of sumptuous dinners. They doubtless find it very convenient, whentheir stinted purses run low, and mutton and wines run high, to do asthe New England school master does, "_board round_;" and consequentlythe dependence of the magistrate upon the planter is of all things themost deprecated by the apprentice. [A]

[Footnote A: The feelings of apprentices on this point are wellillustrated by the following anecdote, which was related to us while inthe West Indies. The governor of one of the islands, shortly after hisarrival, dined with one of the wealthiest proprietors. The next day oneof the negroes of the estate said to another, "De new gubner been_poison'd_. " "What dat you say?" inquired the other in astonishment, "Degubner been _poison'd_. " "Dah, now!--How him poisoned!" "_Him eat massaturtle soup last night_, " said the shrewd negro. The other took hismeaning at once; and his sympathy for the governor was turned intoconcern for himself, when he perceived that the poison was one fromwhich _he_ was likely to suffer more than his excellency. ]

Congeniality of feeling, habits, views, style and rank--identity ofcountry and color--these powerful influences bias the magistrate towardthe master, at the same time that the absence of them all, estrange andeven repel him from the apprentice. There is still an additionalconsideration which operates against the unfortunate apprentice. The menselected for magistrates, are mostly officers of the army and navy. Tothose who are acquainted with the arbitrary habits of military and navalofficers, and with the iron despotism which they exercise among thesoldiers and sailors, [B] the bare mention of this fact is sufficient toconvince them of the unenviable situation of the apprentice. It is atbest but a gloomy transfer from the mercies of a slave driver, to thejustice of a military magistrate. 

[Footnote B: We had a specimen of the stuff special magistrates are madeof in sailing from Barbadoes to Jamaica. The vessel was originally anEnglish man-of-war brig, which had been converted into a steamer, andwas employed by the English government, in conveying the island mailsfrom Barbadoes to Jamaica--to and fro. She was still under the strictdiscipline of a man-of-war. The senior officer on board was alieutenant. This man was one of the veriest savages on earth. Hispassions were in a perpetual storm, at some times higher than at others, occasionally they blew a hurricane. He quarrelled with his officers, andhis orders to his men were always uttered in oaths. Scarcely a daypassed that he did not have some one of his sailors flogged. One night, the cabin boy left the water-can sitting on the cabin floor, instead ofputting it on the sideboard, where it usually stood. For this offencethe commander ordered him up on deck after midnight, and made thequarter-master flog him. The instrument used in this case, (the regularflogging stick having been _used up_ by previous service, ) was thecommander's cane--_a heavy knotted club_. The boy held out one hand andreceived the blows. He howled most piteously, and it was some secondsbefore he recovered sufficiently from the pain to extend the other. "_Lay on_, " stormed the commander. Down went the cane a second time. Wethought it must have broken every bone in the boy's hand. This wasrepeated several times, the boy extending each hand alternately, andrecoiling at every blow. "Now lay on to his back, " sternly vociferatedthe commander--"give it to him--_hard_--_lay on harder_. " The oldseaman, who had some mercy in his heart, seemed very loth to lay out hisstrength on the boy with such a club. The commander becamefurious--cursed and swore--and again yelled, "_Give it to him harder, more_--MORE--MORE--there, stop. " "you infernal villain"--speaking to thequarter-master and using the most horrid oaths--"You infernal villain, if you do not _lay on harder_ the next time I command you, I'll have youput in irons. " The boy limped away, writhing in every joint, and cryingpiteously, when the commander called at him, "Silence there, you imp--orI'll give you a second edition. " One of the first things the commanderdid after we left Barbadoes, was to have a man flogged, and the lastorder we heard him give as we left the steamer at Kingston, was to puttwo of the men _in irons_. ]

It is not a little remarkable that the apprenticeship should be regardedby the planters themselves, as well as by other persons generallythroughout the colony, as merely a modified form of slavery. It iscommon to hear it called 'slavery under a different form, ' 'another namefor slavery, '--'modified slavery, ' 'but little better than slavery. '

Nor is the practical operation of the system upon the _master_ much lessexceptionable. It takes out of his hand the power of coercing labor, andprovides no other stimulus. Thus it subjects him to the necessity eitherof resorting to empty threats, which must result only in incessantdisputes, or of condescending to persuade and entreat, against which hishabits at once rebel, or of complaining to a third party--an alternativemore revolting if possible, than the former, since it involves theacknowledgment of a higher power than his own. It sets up over hisactions a foreign judge, at whose bar he is alike amenable (in theory)with his apprentice, before whose tribunal he may be dragged at anymoment by his apprentice, and from whose lips he may receive thehumiliating sentence of punishment in the presence of his apprentice. Itintroduces between him and his laborers, mutual repellancies andestrangement; it encourages the former to exercise an authority which hewould not venture to assume under a system of perfect freedom; itemboldens the latter to display an insolence which he would not havedreamed of in a state of slavery, and thus begetting in the one, theimperiousness of the slaveholder _without his power_, and in the other, the independence of the freeman _without his immunities_, it perpetuatesa scene of angry collision, jealousy and hatred. 

It does not even serve for the master the unworthy purpose for which itwas mainly devised, viz. , that of an additional compensation. Theapprenticeship is estimated to be more expensive than a system of freelabor would be. It is but little less expensive than slavery, andfreedom it is confidently expected will be considerably less. So itwould seem that this system burthens the master with much of theperplexity, the ignominy and the expensiveness of slavery, while itdenies him its power. Such is the apprenticeship system. A splendidimposition!--which cheats the planter of his gains, cheats the Britishnation of its money, and robs the world of what else might have been aglorious example of immediate and entire emancipation. 

THE APPRENTICESHIP IS NO PREPARATION FOR FREEDOM. --Indeed, as far as itcan be, it is an actual _disqualification_. The testimony on thissubject is ample. We rarely met a planter, who was disposed to maintainthat the apprenticeship was preparing the negroes for freedom. Theygenerally admitted that the people were no better prepared for freedomnow, than they were in 1834; and some of them did not hesitate to saythat the sole use to which they and their brother planters turned thesystem, was to get _as much work out of the apprentices while it lasted, as possible_. Clergymen and missionaries, declared that theapprenticeship was no preparation for freedom. If it were a preparationat all, it would most probably be so in a religious and educationalpoint of view. We should expect to find the masters, if laboring at allto prepare their apprentices for freedom, doing so chiefly byencouraging missionaries and teachers to come to their estates, and byaiding in the erection of chapels and school-houses. But themissionaries declare that they meet with little more directencouragement now, than they did during slavery. 

The special magistrates also testify that the apprenticeship is nopreparation for freedom. On this subject they are very explicit. 

The colored people bear the same testimony. Not a few, too, affirm, thatthe tendency of the apprenticeship is to unfit the negroes for freedom, and avow it as their firm persuasion, that the people will be lessprepared for liberty at the end of the apprenticeship, than they were atits commencement. And it is not without reason that they thus speak. They say, first, that the bickerings and disputes to which the systemgives rise between the master and the apprentice, and the arraigning ofeach other before the special magistrate, are directly calculated toalienate the parties. The effect of these contentions, kept up for sixyears, will be to implant _deep mutual hostility_; and the parties willbe a hundred fold more irreconcilable than they were on the abolition ofslavery. Again, they argue that the apprenticeship system is calculatedto make the negroes regard _law as their foe_, and thus it unfits themfor freedom. They reason thus--the apprentice looks to the magistrate ashis judge, his avenger, his protector; he knows nothing of either law orjustice except as he sees them exemplified in the decisions of themagistrate. When, therefore, the magistrate sentences him to punishment, when he knows he was the injured party, he will become disgusted withthe very name of justice, and esteem law his greatest enemy. 

The neglect of the planters to use the apprenticeship as a preparationfor freedom, warrants us in the conclusion, that they do not think anypreparation necessary. But we are not confined to doubtful inferences onthis point. They testify positively--and not only planters, but allother classes of men likewise--that the slaves of Barbadoes were fit forentire freedom in 1834, and that they might have been emancipated thenwith perfect safety. Whatever may have been the sentiment of theBarbadians relative to the necessity of preparation before theexperiment was made, it is clear that now they have no confidence eitherin the necessity or the practicability of preparatory schemes. 

But we cannot close our remarks upon the apprenticeship system withoutnoticing one good end which it has undesignedly accomplished, i. E. , _theillustration of the good disposition of the colored people_. We firmlybelieve that if the friends of emancipation had wished to disprove allthat has ever been said about the ferocity and revengefulness of thenegroes, and at the same time to demonstrate that they possess, in apre-eminent degree, those other qualities which render them the fitsubjects of liberty and law, they could not have done it moretriumphantly than it has been done by the apprenticeship. _How_ this hasbeen done may be shown by pointing out several respects in which theapprenticeship has been calculated to try the negro character mostseverely, and to develop all that was fiery and rebellious in it. 

1. The apprenticeship removed that strong arm of slavery and substitutedno adequate force. The arbitrary power of the master, which awed theslave into submission, was annihilated. The whip which was held over theslave, and compelled a kind of subordination--brutal, indeed, buteffectual--was abolished. Here in the outset the reins were given to thelong-oppressed, but now aspiring mass. No adequate force wassubstituted, because it was the intent of the new system to govern bymilder means. This was well, but what were the milder means which wereto take the place of brute force?

2. Was the stimulus of wages substituted? No! That was expressly denied. Was the liberty of locomotion granted? No. Was the privilege of gaininga personal interest in the soil extended to them? No. Were theimmunities and rights of citizenship secured to them? No. Was the poorfavor allowed them of selecting their own business, or of choosing theiremployer? Not even this? Thus far, then, we see nothing of the mildermeasures of the apprenticeship. It has indeed opened the prison doorsand knocked off the prisoners' chains--but it still keeps them grindingthere, as before, and refuses to let them come forth, exceptoccasionally, and then only to be thrust back again. Is it not thusdirectly calculated to encourage indolence and insubordination?

3. In the next place, this system introduces a third party, to whom theapprentice is encouraged to look for justice, redress, and counsel. Thushe is led to regard his master as his enemy, and all confidence in himis for ever destroyed. But this is not the end of the difficulty. Theapprentice carries up complaints against his master. If they gain afavorable hearing he triumphs over him--if they are disregarded, heconcludes that the magistrate also is his enemy, and he goes away with arankling grudge against his master. Thus he is gradually led to asserthis own cause, and he learns to contend with his master, to replyinsolently, to dispute, quarrel, and--it is well that we cannot add, to_fight_. At least one thing is the result--a permanent state ofalienation, contempt of authority, and hatred. _All these are the fruitsof the apprenticeship system_. They are caused by transferring the powerof the master, while the _relation_ continues the same. Nor is thiscontempt for the master, this alienation and hatred, all the mischief. The unjust decisions of the magistrate, of which the apprentices havesuch abundant reasons to complain, excite their abhorrence of him, andthus their confidence in the protection of law is weakened or destroyed. Here, then, is contempt for the master, abhorrence of the magistrate, and mistrust of the law--the apprentice regarding all three as leaguedtogether to rob him of his rights. What a combination of circumstancesto drive the apprentices to desperation and madness! What a marvel thatthe outraged negroes have been restrained from bloody rebellions!

Another insurrectionary feature peculiar to the apprenticeship is itsmaking the apprentices _free a portion of the time_. One fourth of thetime is given them every week--just enough to afford them a taste of thesweets of liberty, and render them dissatisfied with their condition. Then the manner in which this time is divided is calculated to irritate. After being a slave nine hours, the apprentice is made a freeman for theremainder of the day; early the next morning the halter is again put on, and he treads the wheel another day. Thus the week wears away untilSaturday; which is an entire day of freedom. The negro goes out andworks for his master, or any one else, as he pleases, and at night hereceives his quarter of a dollar. This is something like freedom, and hebegins to have the feelings of a freeman--a lighter heart and moreactive limbs. He puts his money carefully away at night, and layshimself down to rest his toil-worn body. He awakes on Sabbath morning, and _is still free_. He puts on his best clothes, goes to church, worships a free God, contemplates a free heaven, sees his free childrenabout him, and his wedded wife; and ere the night again returns, theconsciousness that he is a slave is quite lost in the thoughts ofliberty which fill his breast, and the associations of freedom whichcluster around him. He sleeps again. _Monday morning he is startled fromhis dreams by the old "shell-blow" of slavery_, and he arises to endureanother week of toil, alternated by the same tantalizing mockeries offreedom. Is not this applying the _hot iron to the nerve_?

5. But, lastly, the apprenticeship system, as if it would apply thematch to this magazine of combustibles, holds out the reward of libertyto every apprentice who shall by any means provoke his master to punishhim a second time. 

[NOTE. --In a former part of this work--the report of Antigua--wementioned having received information respecting a number of theapprenticeship islands, viz. , Dominica, St. Christopher's, Nevis, Montserrat, Anguilla, and Tortola, from the Wesleyan Missionaries whomwe providentially met with at the annual district meeting in Antigua. Wedesigned to give the statements of these men at some length in thisconnection, but we find that it would swell our report to too great asize. It only remains to say, therefore, in a word, that the same thingsare generally true of those colonies which have been detailed in theaccount of Barbadoes. There is the same peaceableness, subordination, industry, and patient suffering on the part of the apprentices, the sameinefficiency of the apprenticeship as a preparation for freedom, and thesame conviction in the community that the people will, if at allaffected by it, be _less_ fit for emancipation in 1840 than they were in1834. A short call at St. Christopher's confirmed these views in ourminds, so far as that island is concerned. 

While in Barbadoes, we had repeated interviews with gentlemen who werewell acquainted with the adjacent islands, St. Lucia, St. Vincent's, Grenada, &c. ; one of whom was a proprietor of a sugar estate in St. Vincent's; and they assured us that there was the same tranquillityreigning in those islands which we saw in Barbadoes. Sir Evan McGregor, who is the governor-general of the windward colonies, and of coursethoroughly informed respecting their internal state, gave us the sameassurances. From Mr. H. , an American gentleman, a merchant of Barbadoes, and formerly of Trinidad, we gathered similar information touching thatlarge and (compared with Barbadoes or Antigua) semi-barbarous island. 

We learned enough from these authentic sources to satisfy ourselves thatthe various degrees of intelligence in the several islands makes verylittle difference in the actual results of abolition; but that in allthe colonies, conciliatory and equitable management has never failed tosecure industry and tranquillity. ]

JAMAICA. 

CHAPTER I. 

KINGSTON. 

Having drawn out in detail the results of abolition, and the working ofthe apprenticeship system in Barbadoes, we shall spare the reader aprotracted account of Jamaica; but the importance of that colony, andthe fact that greater dissatisfaction on account of the abolition ofslavery has prevailed there than in all the other colonies together, demand a careful statement of facts. 

On landing in Jamaica, we pushed onward in our appropriate inquiries, scarcely stopping to cast a glance at the towering mountains, with theircloud-wreathed tops, and the valleys where sunshine and shade sleep sideby side--at the frowning precipices, made more awful by the impenetrableforest-foliage which shrouds the abysses below, leaving the impressionof an ocean depth--at the broad lawns and magnificent savannahs glowingin verdure and sunlight--at the princely estates and palace mansions--atthe luxuriant cultivation, and the sublime solitude of primeval forests, where trees of every name, the mahogany, the boxwood, the rosewood, thecedar, the palm, the fern, the bamboo, the cocoa, the breadfruit, themango, the almond, all grow in wild confusion, interwoven with a densetangled undergrowth. [A]

[Footnote A: It is less necessary for us to dwell long on Jamaica, thanit would otherwise be, since the English gentlemen, Messrs. Sturge andHarvey, spent most of their time in that island, and will, doubtless, publish their investigations, which will, ere long, be accessible to ourreaders. We had the pleasure of meeting these intelligent philanthropicand pious men in the West Indies, and from the great length of time, andthe superior facilities which they enjoyed over us, of gathering a massof facts in Jamaica, we feel assured that their report will be highlyinteresting and useful, as well among us as on the other side ofthe water. ]

We were one month in Jamaica. For about a week we remained inKingston, [B] and called on some of the principal gentlemen, both whiteand colored. We visited the Attorney-General, the Solicitor-General, some of the editors, the Baptist and Wesleyan missionaries, and severalmerchants. We likewise visited the public schools, the house ofcorrection, penitentiary, hospital, and other public institutions. Weshall speak briefly of several individuals whom we saw in Kingston, andgive some of their statements. 

[Footnote B: The chief town of the island, with about forty thousandinhabitants. ]

The Hon. Dowel O'Reily; the Attorney-General; is an Irishman, and of oneof the influential families. In his own country he was a prominentpolitician, and a bold advocate of Catholic Emancipation. He isdecidedly one of the ablest men in the island, distinguished for thatsimplicity of manners, and flow of natural benevolence, which are thecharacteristics of the Irishman. He received his present appointmentfrom the English government about six years ago, and is, by virtue ofhis office, a member of the council. He declared that the apprenticeshipwas in no manner preparing the negroes for freedom, but was operating ina contrary way, especially in Jamaica, where it had been made theinstrument of greater cruelties in some cases, than slavery itself. Mr. O'Reily is entirely free from prejudice; with all his family rank andofficial standing, he identifies himself with the colored people as faras his extensive professional engagements will allow. Having earlylearned this, we were surprised to find him so highly respected by thewhites. In our subsequent excursions to the country, the letters ofintroduction with which he kindly furnished us, to planters and others, were uniformly received with avowals of the profoundest respect for him. It should be observed, that Mr. O'Reily's attachment to the cause offreedom in the colonies, is not a mere partizan feeling assumed in orderto be in keeping with the government under which he holds his office. The fact of his being a Roman Catholic must, of itself, acquit him ofthe suspicion of any strong partiality for the English government. Onthe other hand, his decided hostility to the apprenticeship--thefavorite offspring of British legislation--demonstrates equally hissincerity and independence. 

We were introduced to the Solicitor-General, William Henry Anderson, Esq. , of Kingston. Mr. A. Is a Scotchman, and has resided to Jamaica formore than six years. We found him the fearless advocate of negroemancipation. He exposed the corruptions and abominations of theapprenticeship without reserve. Mr. A. Furnished us with a writtenstatement of his views, respecting the state of the island, thecondition of the apprentices, &c. , from which we here make afew extracts. 

"1. A very material change for the better has taken place in thesentiments of the community since slavery was abolished. Religion andeducation were formerly opposed as subversive of the security ofproperty; now they are in the most direct manner encouraged as its bestsupport. The value of all kinds of property has risen considerably, anda general sense of security appears to be rapidly pervading the publicmind. I have not heard one man assert that it would be an advantage toreturn to slavery, even were it practicable; and I believe that thepublic is beginning to see that slave labor is not the cheapest. "

"2. The prejudices against color are _rapidly vanishing_. I do not thinkthere is a respectable man, I mean one who would be regarded asrespectable on account of his good sense and weight of character, whowould impugn another's conduct for associating with persons of color. Sofar as my observation goes, those who would formerly have acted on theseprejudices, will be ashamed to own that they had entertained them. Thedistinction of superior acquirements still belongs to the whites, as abody; but that, and character, will shortly be the only distinguishingmark recognized among us. "

"3. The apprentices are improving, _not, however, in consequence of theapprenticeship, but in spite of it, and in consequence of the great actof abolition_!"

"4. I think the negroes might have been emancipated as safely in 1834, as in 1840; and had the emancipation then taken place, they would befound much further in advance in 1840, than they can be after theexpiration of the present period of apprenticeship, _through which all, both apprentices and masters, are_ LABORING HEAVILY. "

"5. That the negroes will work if moderately compensated, no candid mancan doubt. Their _endurance_ for the sake of a very little gain is quiteamazing, and they are most desirous to procure for themselves andfamilies as large a share as possible of the comforts and decencies oflife. They appear peculiarly to reverence and desire intellectualattainments. They employ, occasionally, children who have been taught inthe schools to teach them in their leisure time to read. "

"6. I think the partial modifications of slavery have been attended byso much improvement in all that constitutes the welfare andrespectability of society, that I cannot doubt the increase of thebenefit were a total abolition accomplished of every restriction thathas arisen out of the former state of things. "

During our stay in Kingston, we called on the American consul, to whomwe had a letter from the consul at Antigua. We found him an elderlygentleman, and a true hearted Virginian, both in his generosity and hisprejudices in favor of slavery. The consul, Colonel Harrison, is a nearrelation of General W. H. Harrison, of Ohio. Things, he said, were goingruinously in Jamaica. The English government were mad for abolishingslavery. The negroes of Jamaica were the most degraded and ignorant ofall negroes he had ever seen. He had travelled in all our SouthernStates, and the American negroes, even those of South Carolina andGeorgia, were as much superior to the negroes of Jamaica, as Henry Claywas superior to him. He said they were the most ungrateful, faithlessset he ever saw; no confidence could be placed in them, and kindness wasalways requited by insult. He proceeded to relate a fact from which itappeared that the ground on which his grave charges against the negrocharacter rested, was the ill-conduct of one negro woman whom he hadhired some time ago to assist his family. The town negroes, he said, were too lazy to work; they loitered and lounged about on the sidewalksall day, jabbering with one another, and keeping up an incessant noise;and they would not suffer a white man to order them in the least. Theywere rearing their children in perfect idleness and for his part hecould not tell what would become of the rising population of blacks. Their parents were too proud to let them work, and they sent them toschool all the time. Every afternoon, he said, the streets are throngedwith the half-naked little black devils, just broke from the schools, and all singing some noisy tune learned in the infant schools; the_burthen of_ their songs seems to be, "_O that will be joyful_. " Thesewords, said he, are ringing in your ears wherever you go. Howaggravating truly such words must be, bursting cheerily from the lips ofthe little free songsters! "O that will be joyful, _joyful_, JOYFUL"--and so they ring the changes day after day, ceaseless anduntiring. A new song this, well befitting the times and the prospects, but provoking enough to oppressors. The consul denounced he specialmagistrates; they were an insolent set of fellows, they would fine awhite man as quick as they would flog a _nigger_. [A] If a master calledhis apprentice "you scoundrel, " or, "you huzzy, " the magistrate wouldeither fine him for it or reprove him sharply in the presence of theapprentice. This, in the eyes of the veteran Virginian, was intolerable. Outrageous, not to allow a _gentleman_ to call his servant what names hechooses! We were very much edified by the Colonel's _exposé_ of Jamaicamanners. We must say, however, that his opinions had much less weightwith us after we learned (as we did from the best authority) that he hadnever been a half dozen miles into the country during a ten year'sresidence in Kingston. 

[Footnote A: We fear there is too little truth in this representation. ]

We called on the Rev. Jonathan Edmonson, the superintendent of theWesleyan missions in Jamaica. Mr. E. Has been for many years laboring asa missionary in the West Indies, first in Barbadoes, then in St. Vincent's, Grenada, Trinidad, and Demerara, and lastly in Jamaica. Hestated that the planters were doing comparatively nothing to prepare thenegroes for freedom. "_Their whole object was to get as much sugar outof them as they possibly could_. "

We received a call from the Rev. Mr. Wooldridge, one of the Independentmissionaries. He thinks the conduct of the planters is tending to makethe apprentices their bitter enemies. He mentioned one effect of theapprenticeship which had not been pointed out to us before. The systemof appraisement, he said, was a _premium upon all the bad qualities ofthe negroes and a tax upon all the good ones_. When a person is to beappraised, his virtues and his vices are always inquired into, and theymaterially influence the estimate of his value. For example, the usualrate of appraisement is a dollar per week for the remainder of the term;but if the apprentice is particularly sober, honest, and industrious, more particularly if he be a _pious man_, he is valued at the rate oftwo or three dollars per week. It was consequently for the interest ofthe master, when an apprentice applied for an appraisement, to portrayhis virtues, while on the other hand there was an inducement for theapprentice to conceal or actually to renounce his good qualities, andfoster the worst vices. Some instances of this kind had fallen under hispersonal observation. 

We called on the Rev. Mr. Gardiner, and on the Rev. Mr. Tinson, twoBaptist missionaries in Kingston. On Sabbath we attended service at thechurch of which Mr. G. Is the pastor. It is a very large building, capable of seating two thousand persons. The great mass of thecongregation were apprentices. At the time we were present, the chapelwas well filled, and the broad surface of black faces was scarcely atall diversified with lighter colors. It was gratifying to witness theneatness of dress, the sobriety of demeanor, the devotional aspect ofcountenance, the quiet and wakeful attention to the preacher whichprevailed. They were mostly rural negroes from the estates adjacentto Kingston. 

The Baptists are the most numerous body of Christians in the island. Thenumber of their missionaries now in Jamaica is sixteen, the number ofChapels is thirty-one, and the number of members thirty-two thousandnine hundred and sixty. The increase of members during the year 1836 wasthree thousand three hundred and forty-four. 

At present the missionary field is mostly engrossed by the Baptists andWesleyans. The Moravians are the next most numerous body. Besides these, there are the clergy of the English Church, with a Bishop, and a fewScotch clergymen. The Baptist missionaries, as a body, have been mostdistinguished for their opposition to slavery. Their boldness in themidst of suffering and persecutions, their denunciations of oppression, though they did for a time arouse the wrath of oppressors, and causetheir chapels to be torn down and themselves to be hunted, imprisoned, and banished, did more probably than any other cause, to hasten theabolition of slavery. 

_Schools in Kingston_. --We visited the Wolmer free school--the largestand oldest school in the island. The whole number of scholars is fivehundred. It is under the charge of Mr. Reid, a venerable Scotchman, ofscholarship and piety. All colors are mingled in it promiscuously. Wesaw the infant school department examined by Mr. R. There were nearlyone hundred and fifty children, of every hue, from the jettiest black tothe fairest white; they were thoroughly intermingled, and the readyanswers ran along the ranks from black to white, from white to brown, from brown to pale, with undistinguished vivacity and accuracy. We wereafterwards conducted into the higher department, where lads and missesfrom nine to fifteen, were instructed in the various branches ofacademic education. A class of lads, mostly colored, were examined inarithmetic. They wrought several sums in pounds, shillings and pencecurrency, with wonderful celerity. 

Among other things which we witnessed in that school, we shall not soonforget having seen a curly headed negro lad of twelve, examining a classof white young ladies in scientific history. 

Some written statements and statistical tables were furnished us by Mr. Reid, which we subjoin. . 

_Kingston, May 13th, 1837_

DEAR SIR, --I delayed answering your queries in hopes of being able togive you an accurate list of the number of schools in Kingston, andpupils under tuition, but have not been able completely to accomplish myintention. I shall now answer your queries in the order you proposethem. 1st Quest. How long have you been teaching in Jamaica? Ans. Thirty-eight years in Kingston. 2d Q. How long have you been master ofWolmer's free school? A. Twenty-three years. 3d Q. What is the number ofcolored children now in the school? A. Four hundred and thirty. 4th Q. Was there any opposition to their admission at first? A. Considerableopposition the first year, but none afterwards. 5th Q. Do they learn asreadily us the white children? A. As they are more regular in theirattendance, they learn better. 6th Q. Are they as easily governed? A. Much easier. 7th Q. What proportion of the school are the children ofapprentices? A. Fifty. 8th Q. Do their parents manifest a desire to havethem educated? A. In general they do. 9th Q. At what age do the childrenleave your school? A. Generally between twelve and fourteen. 10th Q Whatemployments do they chiefly engage in upon leaving you? A. The boys goto various mechanic trades, to counting-houses, attorney's offices, clerks to planting attorneys, and others become planters. The, girlsseamstresses, mantuamakers, and a considerable proportion tailoresses, in Kingston and throughout Jamaica, as situations offer. 

I am, dear sirs, yours respectfully, E. REID. 

The following table will show the average numbers of the respectiveclasses, white and colored, who have attended Wolmer's free school ineach year, from 1814 to the present time. 

 White | Colored | Total. Children. |Children. |Average number in 1814 87 87 " " 1815 111 3 114 " " 1816 129 25 154 " " 1817 146 36 182 " " 1818 155 38 193 " " 1819 136 57 193 " " 1820 116 78 194 " " 1821 118 122 240 " " 1822 93 167 260 " " 1823 97 187 280 " " 1824 94 196 290 " " 1825 89 185 274 " " 1826 93 176 269 " " 1827 92 156 248 " " 1828 88 152 240 " " 1829 79 192 271 " " 1830 88 194 282 " " 1831 88 315 403 " " 1832 90 360 450 " " 1833 93 411 504 " " 1834 81 420 501 " " 1835 85 425 510 " " 1836 78 428 506 " " 1837 72 430 502

With regard to the _comparative intellect_ of white and coloredchildren, Mr. Reid gives the following valuable statement:

"For the last thirty-eight years I have been employed in this city inthe tuition of children of all classes and colors, and have nohesitation in saying that the children of color are equal both inconduct and ability to the white. They have always carried off more thantheir proportion of prizes, and at one examination, out of seventyprizes awarded, sixty-four were obtained by children of color. "

Mr. R. Afterwards sent to us the table of the number of schools inKingston, alluded to in the foregoing communication. We insert it here, as it affords a view of the increase of schools and scholars since theabolition of slavery. 

 1831. Schools. Scholars. 2 Wolmer's, 4031 National, 27034 Gentlemen's private, 136840 Ladies' do. 10058 Sunday, 1042---- ----85 Total, 4088

 1832. 

 Schools. Scholars. 2 Wolmer's, 4721 National, 26031 Gentlemen's private, 116941 Ladies' do. 8568 Sunday, 981---- ----83 Total, 3738

 1836. 

 Schools. Scholars. 2 Wolmer's, 5273 National, 11363 Mico, 5901 Baptist, 2501 Jamaica Union, 12031 Gentlemen's private, 113759 Ladies' do. 13399 Sunday, 1108 By itinerant teachers and children. 1500---- ----109 Total, 7707

 1837. Schools. Scholars. 2 Wolmer's, 502 3 National, 1238 4 Mico, 611 1 Baptist 260 1 Jamaica Union, 20034 Gentlemen's private, 147663 Ladies' do. 152510 Sunday, 1316 By itinerant teachers and children, 1625---- ----118 Total, 8753

We also visited the Union school, which has been established for someyears in Kingston. All the children connected with it, about one hundredand fifty, are, with two exceptions, black or colored. The school isconducted generally on the Lancasterian plan. We examined several of theboys in arithmetic. We put a variety of questions to them, to be workedout on the slate, and the reasons of the process to be explained as theywent along; all which they executed with great expertness. There was ajet black boy, whom we selected for a special trial. We commenced withthe simple rules, and went through them one by one, together with thecompound rules and Reduction, to Practice, propounding questions andexamples in each of them, which were entirely new to him, and to all ofthem he gave prompt and correct replies. He was only thirteen years old, and we can aver we never saw a boy of that age in any of our commonschools, that exhibited a fuller and clearer knowledge of the scienceof numbers. 

In general, our opinion of this school was similar to that alreadyexpressed concerning the others. It is supported by the pupils, aided bysix hundred dollars granted by the assembly. 

In connection with this subject, there is one fact of much interest. However strong and exclusive was the prejudice of color a few yearssince in the schools of Jamaica, we could not, during our stay in thatisland, learn of more than two or three places of education, and thoseprivate ones, from which colored children were excluded, and among thenumerous schools in Kingston, there is not one of this kind. 

We called on several colored gentlemen of Kingston, from whom wereceived much valuable information. The colored population are opposedto the apprenticeship, and all the influence which they have, both inthe colony and with the home government, (which is not small, ) isexerted against it. They are a festering thorn in the sides of theplanters, among whom they maintain a fearless espionage, exposing by penand tongue their iniquitous proceedings. It is to be regretted thattheir influence in this respect is so sadly weakened by their _holdingapprentices themselves_. 

We had repeated invitations to breakfast and dine with coloredgentlemen, which we accepted as often as our engagements would permit. On such occasions we generally met a company of gentlemen and ladies ofsuperior social and intellectual accomplishments. We must say, that itis a great self-denial to refrain from a description of some of theanimated, and we must add splendid, parties of colored people which weattended. The conversation on these occasions mostly turned on thepolitical and civil disabilities under which the colored populationformerly labored, and the various straggles by which they ultimatelyobtained their rights. The following are a few items of their history. The colored people of Jamaica, though very numerous, and to some extentwealthy and intelligent, were long kept by the white colonists in astate of abject political bondage. Not only were offices withheld fromthem, and the right of suffrage denied, but they were not even allowedthe privilege of an oath in court, in defense of their property or theirpersons. They might be violently assaulted, their limbs broken, theirwives and daughters might be outraged before their eyes by villainshaving white skins; yet they had no legal redress unless another whiteman chanced to see the deed. It was not until 1824 that this oppressiveenactment was repealed, and the protection of an oath extended to thecolored people; nor was it then effected without a long struggle ontheir part. 

Another law, equally worthy of a slaveholding legislature, prohibitedany white man, however wealthy, bequeathing, or in any manner giving hiscolored son or daughter more than £2000 currency, or six thousanddollars. The design of this law was to keep the colored people poor anddependent upon the whites. Further to secure the same object, everyeffort, both legislative and private, was made to debar them fromschools, and sink them in the lowest ignorance. Their young men oftalent were glad to get situations as clerks in the stores of whitemerchants. Their young ladies of beauty and accomplishments werefortune-made if they got a place in the white man's harem. These werethe highest stations to which the flower of their youth aspired. Therest sank beneath the discouragements, and grovelled in vice anddebasement. If a colored person had any business with a white gentleman, and should call at his house, "he must take off his hat, and wait at thedoor, and be _as polite as a dog_. "

These insults and oppressions the colored people in Jamaica bore, untilthey could bear them no longer. By secret correspondence they formed aunion throughout the island, for the purpose of resistance. This, however, was not effected for a long time, and while in process, thecorrespondence was detected, and the most vigorous means were used bythe whites to crush the growing conspiracy--for such it was virtually. Persuasions and intimations were used privately, and when these failed, public persecutions were resorted to, under the form of judicialprocedures. Among the milder means was the dismission of clerks, agents, &c. , from the employ of a white men. As soon as a merchant discoveredthat his clerk was implicated in the correspondence, he first threatenedto discharge him unless he would promise to desert his brethren: if hecould not extort this promise, he immediately put his threat inexecution. Edward Jordon, Esq. , the talented editor of the Watchman, then first clerk in the store of a Mr. Briden, was prominently concernedin the correspondence, and was summarily dismissed. 

White men drove their colored sons from their houses, and subjected themto every indignity and suffering, in order to deter them fromprosecuting an enterprise which was seen by the terrified oppressors tobe fraught with danger to themselves. Then followed more violentmeasures. Persons suspected of being the projectors of the disaffection, were dragged before incensed judges, and after mock trials, weresentenced to imprisonment in the city jail. Messrs. Jordon and Osborne, (after they had established the Watchman paper, ) were both imprisoned;the former twice, for five months each time. At the close of the secondterm of imprisonment, Mr. Jordon was _tried for his life_, on the chargeof having published _seditious matter_ in the Watchman. 

The paragraph which was denominated '_seditious matter_' was this--

"Now that the member for Westmoreland (Mr. Beaumont) has come over toour side, we will, by a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull altogether, bring down the system by the run, knock off the fetters, and let theoppressed go free. "

On the day of Mr. J. 's trial, the court-room was thronged with coloredmen, who had armed themselves, and were determined, if the sentence ofdeath were pronounced upon Mr. Jordon, to rescue him at whatever hazard. It is supposed that their purpose was conjectured by the judges--at anyrate, they saw fit to acquit Mr. J. And give him his enlargement. TheWatchman continued as fearless and _seditious_ as ever, until theAssembly were ultimately provoked to threaten some extreme measure whichshould effectually silence the agitators. _Then_ Mr. Jordon issued aspirited circular, in which he stated the extent of the coalition amongthe colored people, and in a tone of defiance demanded the instantrepeal of every restrictive law, the removal of every disability, andthe extension of complete political equality; declaring, that if thedemand were not complied with, the whole colored population would risein arms, would proclaim freedom to their own slaves, instigate theslaves generally to rebellion, and then shout war and wage it, until_the streets of Kingston should run blood_. This bold piece ofgeneralship succeeded. The terrified legislators huddled together intheir Assembly-room, and swept away, at one blow, all restrictions, andgave the colored people entire enfranchisement. These occurrences tookplace in 1831; since which time the colored class have been politicallyfree, and have been marching forward with rapid step in every species ofimprovement, and are now on a higher footing than in any other colony. All offices are open to them; they are aldermen of the city, justices ofthe peace, inspectors of public institutions, trustees of schools, etc. There are, at least, then colored special magistrates, natives of theisland. There are four colored members of the Assembly, includingMessrs. Jordon and Osborne. Mr. Jordon now sits in the same Assembly, side by side, with the man who, a few years ago, ejected himdisdainfully from his clerkship. He is a member of the Assembly for thecity of Kingston, where not long since he was imprisoned, and tried forhis life. He is also alderman of the city, and one of its localmagistrates. He is now inspector of the same prison in which he wasformerly immured as a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition. 

The secretary of the special magistrate department, Richard Hill, Esq. , is a colored gentleman, and is one of the first men in the island, [A]for integrity, independence, superior abilities, and extensiveacquirements. It has seldom been our happiness to meet with a man moreillustrious for true nobility of soul, or in whose countenance therewere deeper traces of intellectual and moral greatness. We are confidentthat no man can _see_ him without being impressed with his rarecombination of excellences. 

[Footnote A: We learn from the Jamaica papers, since our return to thiscountry, that Mr. Hill has been elected a member of the Assembly. ]

Having said thus much respecting the political advancement of thecolored people, it is proper to remark, that they have by no meansevinced a determination to claim more than their share of office andinfluence. On the contrary, they stop very far short of what they areentitled to. Having an extent of suffrage but little less than thewhites, they might fill one third of the seats in the Assembly, whereasthey now return but four members out of forty-five. The same may be saidof other offices, particularly those in the city of Kingston, and thelarger towns, where they are equal to, or more numerous, than thewhites. It is a fact, that a portion of the colored people continue atthis time to return white members to the Assembly, and to vote for whitealdermen and other city officers. The influential men among them, havealways urged them to take up white men, unless they could find_competent_ men of their own color. As they remarked to us, if they wereobliged to send an _ass_ to the Assembly, it was far better for _them_to send a _white_ ass than a _black_ one. 

In company with a friend, we visited the principal streets and places ofbusiness in Kingston, for the purpose of seeing for ourselves thegeneral employments of the people of color; and those who engage in thelowest offices, such as porters, watermen, draymen, and servants of allgrades, from him who flaunts in livery, to him who polishes shoes, areof course from this class. So with the fruiterers, fishmongers, and thealmost innumerable tribe of petty hucksters which swarm throughout thecity, and is collected in a dense mass in its suburbs. The market, whichis the largest and best in the West Indies, is almost entirely suppliedand attended by colored persons, mostly females. The great body ofartisans is composed mostly of colored persons. 

There are two large furniture and cabinet manufactories in Kingston, oneowned by two colored men, and the other by a white man. The operatives, of which one contains eighty, and the other nearly as many, are allblack and colored. A large number of them are what the British law terms_apprentices_, and are still bound in unremunerated servitude, thoughsome of them for thrice seven years have been adepts in their trades, and not a few are earning their masters twenty or thirty dollars eachmonth, clear of all expenses. Some of these _apprentices_ arehoary-headed and wrinkle-browned men, with their children, andgrand-children, apprentices also, around them, and who, after havingused the plane and the chisel for half a century, with faithfulness for_others_, are now spending the few hours and the failing strength of oldagain in _preparing_ to use the plane and the chisel for _themselves_. The work on which they were engaged evinced no lack of mechanical skilland ingenuity, but on the contrary we were shown some of the mostelegant specimens of mechanical skill, which we ever saw. The rich woodsof the West Indies were put into almost every form and combination whichtaste could designate or luxury desire. 

The owners of these establishments informed us that their business hadmuch _increased within the last two years_, and was still extending. Neither of them had any fears for the results of complete emancipation, but both were laying their plans for the future as broadly andconfidently as ever. 

In our walk we accidentally met a colored man, whom we had heardmentioned on several occasions as a superior architect. From theconversation we had with him, then and subsequently, he appeared topossess a fine mechanical genius, and to have made acquirements whichwould be honorable in any man, but which were truly admirable in one whohad been shut up all his life by the disabilities which in Jamaica have, until recently, attached to color. He superintended the erection of theWesleyan chapel in Kingston, the largest building of the kind in theisland, and esteemed by many as the most elegant. The plan was his own, and the work was executed under his own eye. This man is using his meansand influence to encourage the study of his favorite art, and of thearts and sciences generally, among those of his own hue. 

One of the largest bookstores in the island is owned by two colored men. (Messrs. Jordon and Osborne, already referred to. ) Connected with it isan extensive printing-office, from which a newspaper is issued twice aweek. Another paper, under the control of colored men, is published atSpanishtown. These are the two principal liberal presses in Jamaica, andare conducted with spirit and ability. Their influence in the politicaland civil affairs of the island is very great. They are the organs ofthe colored people, bond and free, and through them any violation of lawor humanity is exposed to the public, and redress demanded, andgenerally obtained. In literary merit and correctness of moralsentiment, they are not excelled by any press there, while some of theirwhite contemporaries fall far below them in both. Besides the workmenemployed in these two offices, there is a large number of coloredprinters in the other printing offices, of which there are several. 

We called at two large establishment for making jellies, comfits, pickles, and all the varieties of tropic _preserves_. In each of themthirty or more persons are constantly employed, and a capital of somethousands of dollars invested. Several large rooms were occupied byboxes, jars, and canisters, with the apparatus necessary to the process, through which the fruit passes. We saw every species of fruits andvegetables which the island produces, some fresh from the trees andvines, and others ready to be transported to the four quarters of theglobe, in almost every state which the invalid or epicure could desire. These articles, with the different preparations of arrow-root andcassada, form a lucrative branch of trade, which is mostly in the handsof the colored people. 

We were introduced to a large number of colored merchants, dealers indry goods, crockery and glass ware, ironmongers, booksellers, druggists, grocers, and general importers and were conducted by them through theirstores; many of which were on an extensive scale, and managed, apparently, with much order and regularity. One of the largestcommercial houses in Kingston has a colored man as a partner, the othertwo being white. Of a large auction and commission firm, the most activeand leading partner is a colored man. Besides these, there is hardly arespectable house among the white merchants, in which some importantoffice, oftentimes the head clerkship, is not filled by a person ofcolor. They are as much respected in business transactions, and theirmercantile talents, their acquaintance with the generalities and detailsof commerce, and sagacity and judgment in making bargains, are as highlyesteemed by the white merchants, as though they wore an European hue. The commercial room is open to them, where they resort unrestrainedly toascertain the news; and a visitor may not unfrequently see sittingtogether at a table of newspapers, or conversing together in theparlance of trade, persons as dissimilar in complexion as white andblack can make them. In the streets the same intercourse is seen. 

The general trade of the island is gradually and quietly passing intothe hands of the colored people. Before emancipation, they seldomreached a higher grade in mercantile life than a clerkship, or, if theycommenced business for themselves, they were shackled and confined intheir operations by the overgrown and monopolizing establishments whichslavery had built up. Though the civil and political rights of one classof them were acknowledged three years previous, yet they found theycould not, even if they desired it, disconnect themselves from theslaves. They could not transact business--form credits and agencies, andreceive the confidence of the commercial public--like free men. Strangeor not, their fate was inseparably linked with that of the bondman, their interests were considered as involved with his. However honestthey might be, it was not safe to trust them; and any attempt to riseabove a clerkship, to become the employer instead of the employed, wasregarded as a kind of insurrection, and strongly disapproved andopposed. Since emancipation, they have been unshackling them selves fromwhite domination in matters of trade; extending their connections, andbecoming every day more and more independent. They have formed creditswith commercial houses abroad, and now import directly for themselves, at wholesale prices, what they were formerly obliged to receive fromwhite importers, or rather speculators, at such prices as they, in theirtender mercies, saw fit to impose. 

Trade is now equalizing itself among all classes. A spirit ofcompetition is awakened, banks have been established, steam navigationintroduced, railroads projected, old highways repaired, and new onesopened. The descendants of the slaves are rapidly supplying the placeswhich were formerly filled by whites from abroad. 

We had the pleasure of being present one day at the sitting of thepolice court of Kingston. Mr. Jordon, the editor of the Watchman, in histurn as a member of the common council, was presiding justice, with analderman of the city, a black man, as his associate. At a table belowthem sat the superintendent of police, a white man, and two whiteattorneys, with their huge law books and green bags before them. The barwas surrounded by a motley assemblage of black, colored, and whitefaces, intermingled without any regard to hue in the order ofsuperiority and precedence. There were about a dozen cases adjudgedwhile we were present. The court was conducted with order and dignity, and the justices were treated with great respect and deference both bywhite and black. 

After the adjournment of the court, we had some conversation with thepresiding justice. He informed us that whites were not unfrequentlybrought before him for trial, and, in spite of his color, sometimes evenour own countrymen. He mentioned several instances of the latter, insome of which American prejudice assumed very amusing and ludicrousforms. In one case, he was obliged to threaten the party, a captain fromone of our southern ports, with imprisonment for contempt, before hecould induce him to behave himself with proper decorum. The captain, unaccustomed to obey injunctions from men of such a complexion, curledhis lip in scorn, and showed a spirit of defiance, but on the approachof two police officers, whom the court had ordered to arrest him, hesubmitted himself. We were gratified with the spirit of good humor andpleasantry with which Mr. J. Described the astonishment and gapingcuriosity which Americans manifest on seeing colored men in offices ofauthority, particularly on the judicial bench, and their evidentembarrassment and uneasiness whenever obliged to transact business withthem as magistrates. He seemed to regard it as a subject well worthy ofridicule; and we remarked, in our intercourse with the colored people, that they were generally more disposed to make themselves merry withAmerican sensitiveness on this point, than to bring serious complaintsagainst it, though they feel deeply the wrongs which they have sufferedfrom it, and speak of them occasionally with solemnity and earnestness. Still the feeling is so absurd and ludicrous in itself, and is exhibitedin so many grotesque positions, even when oppressive, that the sufferercannot help laughing at it. Mr. Jordon has held his present office since1832. He has had an extensive opportunity, both as a justice of thepolice court, and as a member of the jail committee, and in otherofficial stations, to become well acquainted with the state of crime inthe island at different periods. He informed us that the number ofcomplaints brought before him had much diminished since 1834, and he hadno hesitation in saying, that crime had decreased throughout the islandgenerally more than one third. 

During one of our excursions into the country, we witnessed anotherinstance of the amicability with which the different colors associatedin the civil affairs of the island. It was a meeting of one of theparish vestries, a kind of local legislature, which possessesconsiderable power over its own territory. There were fifteen memberspresent, and nearly as many different shades of complexion. There wasthe planter of aristocratic blood, and at his side was a deep mulatto, born in the same parish a slave. There was the quadroon, and theunmitigated hue and unmodified features of the negro. They sat togetheraround a circular table, and conversed as freely as though they had beenall of one color. There was no restraint, no uneasiness, as though theparties felt themselves out of place, no assumption nor disrespect, butall the proceedings manifested the most perfect harmony, confidence, andgood feeling. 

At the same time there was a meeting of the parish committee on roads, at which there was the same intermixture of colors, the same freedom andkindness of demeanor, and the same unanimity of action. Thus it is withall the political and civil bodies in the island, from the House ofAssembly, to committees on jails and houses of correction. Into all ofthem, the colored people are gradually making their way, andparticipating in public debates and public measures, and dividing withthe whites legislative and judicial power, and in many cases theyexhibit a superiority, and in all cases a respectability, of talents andattainments, and a courtesy and general propriety of conduct, which gainfor them the respect of the intelligent and candid among their whiteassociates. 

We visited the house of correction for the parish of St. Andrews. Thesuperintendent received us with the iron-hearted courtesy of a Newgateturnkey. Our company was evidently unwelcome, but as the friend whoaccompanied us was a man in authority, he was constrained to admit us. The first sound that greeted us was a piercing outcry from thetreadmill. On going to it, we saw a youth of about eighteen hanging inthe air by a strap bound to his wrist, and dangling against the wheel insuch a manner that every revolution of it scraped the body from thebreast to the ankles. He had fallen off from weakness and fatigue, andwas struggling and crying in the greatest distress, while the strap, which extended to a pole above and stretched his arm high above hishead, held him fast. The superintendent, in a harsh voice, ordered himto be lifted up, and his feet again placed on the wheel. But before hehad taken five steps, he again fell off, and was suspended as before. Atthe same instant, a woman also fell off, and without a sigh or themotion of a muscle, for she was too much exhausted for either, but witha shocking wildness of the eye, hung by her half-dislocated arms againstthe wheel. As the allotted time (fifteen minutes) had expired, thepersons on the wheel were released, and permitted to rest. The boy couldhardly stand on the ground. He had a large ulcer on one of his feet, which was much swollen and inflamed, and his legs and body were greatlybruised and peeled by the revolving of the wheel. The gentleman who waswith us reproved the superintendent severely for his conduct, and toldhim to remove the boy from the treadmill gang, and see that proper carewas taken of him. The poor woman who fell off, seemed completelyexhausted; she tottered to the wall near by, and took up a little babewhich we had not observed before. It appeared to be not more than two orthree months old, and the little thing stretched out its arms andwelcomed its mother. On inquiry, we ascertained that this woman'soffence was absence from the field an hour after the required time (sixo'clock) in the morning. Besides the infant with her, she had two orthree other children. Whether the care of them was any excuse for her, we leave American mothers to judge. There were two other women on thetreadmill--one was sentenced there for stealing cane from her master'sfield, and the other, we believe, for running away. 

The superintendent next took us to the solitary cells. They were dirty, and badly ventilated, and unfit to keep beasts in. On opening the doors, such a stench rushed forth, that we could not remain. There was a poorwoman in one of them, who appeared, as the light of day and the freshair burst in upon her, like a despairing maniac. 

We went through the other buildings, all of which were old and dirty, nay, worse, _filthy_ in the extreme. The whole establishment was adisgrace to the island. The prisoners were poorly clad, and had theappearance of harsh usage. Our suspicions of ill treatment werestrengthened by noticing a large whip in the treadmill, and sundry ironcollars and handcuffs hanging about in the several rooms through whichwe passed. 

The number of inmates in this house at our visit, wasforty-eight--eighteen of whom were females. Twenty of these were in thetreadmill and in solitary confinement--the remainder were working onthe public road at a little distance--many of them _in irons_--ironcollars about their necks, and chains passing between, connecting themtogether two and two. 

CHAPTER II. 

TOUR TO THE COUNTRY. 

Wishing to accomplish the most that our limited time would allow; weseparated at Kingston;--the one taking a northwesterly route among themountainous coffee districts of Port Royal and St. Andrews, and theother going into the parish of St. Thomas in the East. 

St. Thomas in the East is said to present the apprenticeship in its mostfavorable aspects. There is probably no other parish in the island whichincludes so many fine estates, or has so many liberal-mindedplanters. [A] A day's easy drive from Kingston, brought us to Morant Bay, where we spent two days, and called on several influential gentlemen, besides visiting the neighboring estate of Belvidere. One gentleman whomwe met was Thomas Thomson, Esq. , the senior local magistrate of theParish, next in civil influence to the Custos. His standing may beinferred from the circumstance, (not trifling in Jamaica, ) that theGovernor, during his tour of the island, spent a night at his house. Webreakfasted with Mr. Thomson, and at that time, and subsequently, heshowed the utmost readiness in furnishing us with information. He is aScotchman, has been in the island for thirty-eight years, and has servedas a local magistrate for thirty-four. Until very lately, he has been aproprietor of estates; he informed us that he had sold out, but did notmention the reasons. We strongly suspected, from the drift of hisconversation, that he sold about the time of abolition, through alarmfor the consequences. We early discovered that he was one of the oldschool tyrants, hostile to the change which _had_ taken place, anddreadfully alarmed in view of that which was yet to come. Although fullof the prejudices of an old slaveholder, yet we found him a man ofstrong native sense and considerable intelligence. He declared it mostunreservedly as his opinion, that the negroes would not work after1810--they were _naturally so indolent_, that they would prefergaining a livelihood in some easier way than by digging cane holes. Hehad all the results of the emancipation of 1840 as clearly before hismind, as though he saw them in prophetic vision; he knew the wholeprocess. One portion of the negroes, too lazy to provide food by theirown labor, will rob the provision grounds of the few who will remain atwork. The latter will endure the wrong as long as they well can, andthen they will procure arms and fire upon the marauders; this will giverise to incessant petty conflicts between the lazy and the industrious, and a great destruction of life will ensue. Others will die in vastnumbers from starvation; among these will be the superannuated and theyoung, who cannot support themselves, and whom the planters will not beable to support. Others numerous will perish from disease, chiefly forwant of medical attendance, which it will be wholly out of their powerto provide. Such is the dismal picture drawn by a late slaveholder, ofthe consequences of removing the negroes from the tender mercies ofoppressors. Happily for all parties, Mr. Thomson is not very likely toestablish his claim to the character of a prophet. We were not at allsurprised to hear him wind up his prophecies against freedom with a_denunciation of slavery_. He declared that slavery was a wretchedsystem. Man was _naturally a tyrant_. Mr. T. Said he had one goodthing to say of the negroes, viz. , that they were an _exceedinglytemperate people_. It was a very unusual thing to see one of them drunk. Slavery, he said, was a system of _horrid cruelties_. He had latelyread, in the history of Jamaica, of a planter, in 1763, having a slave's_leg_ cut off, to keep him from running away. He said that dreadfulcruelties were perpetrated until the close of slavery, and they wereinseparable from slavery. He also spoke of the fears which haunted theslaveholders. He never would live on an estate; and whenever he chancedto stay over night in the country, he always took care to secure hisdoor by bolting and barricading it. At Mr. Thomson's we met AndrewWright, Esq. , the proprietor of a sugar estate called Green Wall, situated some six miles from the bay. He is an intelligent gentleman, ofan amiable disposition--has on his estate one hundred and sixtyapprentices. He described his people as being in a very peaceable state, and as industrious as he could wish. He said he had no trouble withthem, and it was his opinion, that where there is trouble, it must be_owing to bad management_. He anticipated no difficulty after 1840, andwas confident that his people would not leave him. He believed that thenegroes would not to any great extent abandon the cultivation of sugarafter 1840. Mr. T. Stated two facts respecting this enlightened planter, which amply account for the good conduct of his apprentices. One was, that he was an exceedingly kind and amiable man. _He had never beenknown to have a falling out with any man in his life_. Another fact was, that Mr. Wright was the only resident sugar proprietor in all thatregion of country. He superintends his own estate, while the other largeestates are generally left in the hands of unprincipled, mercenary men. 

[Footnote A: We have the following testimony of Sir Lionel Smith to thesuperiority of St. Thomas in the East. It is taken from the RoyalGazette, (Kingston. ) May 6, 1837. "His Excellency has said, that in allhis tour he was not more highly gratified with any parish than he waswith St. Thomas in the East. "]

We called on the Wesleyan missionary at Morant Bay, Rev. Mr. Crookes, who has been in Jamaica fifteen years. Mr. C. Said, that in manyrespects there had been a great improvement since the abolition ofslavery, but, said he, "I abominate the apprenticeship system. At best, it is only _improved slavery_. " The obstacles to religious effortshave been considerably diminished, but the masters were not to bethanked for this; it was owing chiefly to the protection of British law. The apprenticeship, Mr. C. Thought, could not be any materialpreparation for freedom. He was persuaded that it would have been farbetter policy to have granted entire emancipation at once. 

In company with Mr. Howell, an Independent, and teacher of a school ofeighty negro children in Morant Bay, we drove out to Belvidere estate, which is situated about four miles from the bay, in a rich districtcalled the Blue Mountain Valley. The Belvidere is one of the finestestates in the valley. It contains two thousand acres, only four hundredof which are cultivated in sugar; the most of it is woodland. Thisestate belongs to Count Freeman, an absentee proprietor. We tookbreakfast with the overseer, or manager, Mr. Briant. Mr. B. Stated thatthere was not so much work done now as there was during slavery. Thinksthere is _as much done for the length of time that the apprentices areat work_; but a day and a half every week is lost; neither _are theycalled out as early in the morning, nor do they work as late at night_. The apprentices work at night very cheerfully for money: but they willnot work on Saturday for the common wages--quarter of a dollar. Oninquiry of Mr. B. We ascertained that the reason the apprentices did notwork on Saturdays was, that they could _make twice or three times asmuch_ by cultivating their provision grounds, and carrying their produceto market. At _night_ they cannot cultivate their grounds, then theywork for their masters "very cheerfully. "

The manager stated, that there had been no disturbance with the peopleof Belvidere since the change. They work well, and conduct themselvespeaceably; and he had no fear but that the great body of the negroeswould remain on the estate after 1840, and labor as usual. This hethought would be the case on every estate where there _is mildmanagement_. Some, indeed, might leave even such estates to _try theirfortunes_ elsewhere, but they would soon discover that they could get nobetter treatment abroad, and they would then return to their old homes. 

While we were at Belvidere, Mr. Howell took us to see a new chapel whichthe apprentices of that estate have erected since 1834, by their ownlabor, and at their own expense. The house is thirty feet by forty;composed of the same materials of which the negro huts are built. Wewere told that the building of this chapel was first suggested by theapprentices, and as soon as permission was obtained, they commenced thepreparations for its erection. We record this as a delightful _sign ofthe times_. 

On our return to Morant Bay, we visited the house of correction, situated near the village. This is the only "institution, " as a Kingstonpaper gravely terms it, of the kind in the parish. It is a small, ill-constructed establishment, horribly filthy, more like a receptaclefor wild beasts than human beings. There is a treadmill connected withit, made to _accommodate_ fifteen persons at a time. Alternate companiesascend the wheel every fifteen minutes. It was unoccupied when we wentin; most of the prisoners being at work on the public roads. Two orthree, who happened to be near by, were called in by the keeper, andordered to mount the wheel, to show us how it worked. It made our bloodrun cold as we thought of the dreadful suffering that inevitably ensues, when the foot loses the step, and the body hangs against therevolving cylinder. 

Leaving the house of correction, we proceeded to the village. In a smallopen square in the centre of it, we saw a number of the unhappy inmatesof the house of correction at work under the direction, we are sorry tosay, of our friend Thomas Thomson, Esq. They were chained two and two byheavy chains fastened to iron bands around their necks. On anotheroccasion, we saw the same gang at work in the yard attached to theIndependent chapel. 

We received a visit, at our lodgings, from the special justice of thisdistrict, Major Baines. He was accompanied by Mr. Thomson, who came tointroduce him as his friend. We were not left to this recommendationalone, suspicious as it was, to infer the character of this magistrate, for we were advertised previously that he was a "planter's man"--unjustand cruel to the apprentices. Major B. Appeared to have been lookingthrough his friend Thomson's prophetic telescope. There was certainly awonderful coincidence of vision--the same abandonment of labor, the samepreying upon provision grounds; the same violence, bloodshed and greatloss of life among the negroes themselves! However, the specialmagistrate appeared to see a little further than the local magistrate, even to the _end_ of the carnage, and to the re-establishment ofindustry, peace and prosperity. The evil, he was confident, would sooncure itself. 

One remark of the special magistrate was worthy a prophet. When asked ifhe thought there would be any serious disaffection produced among thepraedials by the emancipation of the non-praedials in 1838, he said, hethought there would not be, and assigned as the reason, that thepraedials knew all about the arrangement, and did not _expect to befree_. That is, the field apprentices knew that the domestics were to beliberated two years sooner than they, and, without inquiring into thegrounds, or justice of the arrangement, _they would promptlyacquiesce in it_!

What a fine compliment to the patience and forbearance of the mass ofthe negroes. The majority see the minority emancipated two years beforethem, and that, too, upon the ground of an odious distinction whichmakes the domestic more worthy than they who "bear the heat and burthenof the day, " in the open field; and yet they submit patiently, becausethey are told that it is the pleasure of government that it shouldbe so!

The _non-praedials_, too, have their noble traits, as well as the lessfavored agriculturalists. The special magistrate said that he was thenengaged in classifying the apprentices of the different estates in hisdistrict. The object of this classification was, to ascertain all thosewho were non-praedials, that they might be recorded as the subjects ofemancipation in 1838. To his astonishment he found numbers of this classwho expressed a wish to remain apprentices until 1840. On one estate, six out of eight took this course, on another, twelve out of fourteen, and in some instances, _all_ the non-praedials determined to suffer itout with the rest of their brethren, refusing to accept freedom untilwith the whole body they could rise up and shout the jubilee ofuniversal disinthrallment. Here is a nobility worthy to compare with thepatience of the praedials. In connection with the conduct of thenon-praedials, he mentioned the following instance of white brutalityand negro magnanimity. A planter, whose negroes he was classifying, brought forward a woman whom he claimed as a praedial. The womandeclared that she was a non-praedial, and on investigation it wasclearly proved that she had always been a domestic; and consequentlyentitled to freedom in 1838. After the planter's claim was set aside, the woman said, "_Now_ I will stay with massa, and be his 'prentice forde udder two year. "

Shortly before we left the Bay, our landlady, a colored woman, introduced one of her neighbors, whose conversation afforded us a raretreat. She was a colored lady of good appearance and lady like manners. Supposing from her color that she had been prompted by strong sympathyin our objects to seek an interview with us, we immediately introducedthe subject of slavery, stating that as we had a vast number of slavesin our country, we had visited Jamaica to see how the freed peoplebehaved, with the hope that our countrymen might be encouraged to adoptemancipation. "Alack a day!" The tawny madam shook her head, and, withthat peculiar creole whine, so expressive of contempt, said, "Can't sayany thing for you, sir--they not doing no good now, sir--the negroesan't!"--and on she went abusing the apprentices, and denouncingabolition. No American white lady could speak more disparagingly of theniggers, than did this recreant descendant of the negro race. They didno work, they stole, were insolent, insubordinate, and what not. 

She concluded in the following elegiac strain, which did not fail totouch our sympathies. "I can't tell what will become of us after 1840. Our negroes will be taken away from us--we shall find no work to doourselves--we shall all have to beg, and who shall we beg from? _Allwill be beggars, and we must starve_!"

Poor Miss L. Is one of that unfortunate class who have hitherto gained ameagre support from the stolen hire of a few slaves, and who, afterentire emancipation, will be stripped of every thing. This is the classupon whom emancipation will fall most heavily; it will at once cast manyout of a situation of ease, into the humiliating dilemma of _laboring orbegging_--to the _latter_ of which alternatives, Miss L. Seems inclined. Let Miss L. Be comforted! It is better to beg than to _steal_. 

We proceeded from Morant Bay to Bath, a distance of fourteen miles, where we put up at a neat cottage lodging-house, kept by Miss P. , acolored lady. Bath is a picturesque little village, embowered inperpetual green, and lying at the foot of a mountain on one side, and onthe other by the margin of a rambling little river. It seems to haveaccumulated around it and within it, all the verdure and foliage of atropical clime. 

Having a letter of introduction, we called on the special magistrate forthat district--George Willis, Esq. As we entered his office, anapprentice was led up in irons by a policeman, and at the same timeanother man rode up with a letter from the master of the apprentice, directing the magistrate to release him instantly. The facts of thiscase, as Mr. W. Himself explained them to us, will illustrate thecareless manner in which the magistrates administer the law. The masterhad sent his apprentice to a neighboring estate, where there had beensome disturbance, to get his clothes, which had been left there. Theoverseer of the estate finding an intruder on his property, had himhandcuffed forthwith, notwithstanding his repeated declarations that hismaster had sent him. Having handcuffed him, he ordered him to be takenbefore the special magistrate, Mr. W. , who had him confined in thestation-house all night. Mr. W. , in pursuance of the direction receivedfrom the master, ordered the man to be released, but at the same timerepeatedly declared to him that the _overseer was not to blame forarresting him_. 

After this case was disposed of, Mr. W, turned to us. He said he had adistrict of thirty miles in extent, including five thousand apprentices;these he visited thrice every month. He stated that there had been agradual decrease of crime since he came to the district, which was earlyin 1835. For example, in March, 1837, there were but twenty-four personspunished, and in March, 1835, there were as many punished in a singleweek. He explained this by saying that the apprentices had become_better acquainted with the requirements of the law_. The chief offenceat present was _absconding from labor_. 

This magistrate gave us an account of an alarming rebellion which hadlately occurred in his district, which we will venture to notice, sinceit is the only serious disturbance on the part of the negroes, which hastaken place in the island, from the beginning of the apprenticeship. About two weeks before, the apprentices on Thornton estate, amounting toabout ninety, had refused to work, and fled in a body to the woods, where they still remained. Their complaint, according to our informant, was, that their master had turned the cattle upon their provisiongrounds, and all their provisions were destroyed, so that they could notlive. They, therefore, determined that they would not continue at work, seeing they would be obliged to starve. Mr. W. Stated that he hadvisited the provision grounds, in company with two _disinterestedplanters_, and he could affirm that the apprentices had _no just causeof complaint_. It was true their fences had been broken down, and theirprovisions had been somewhat injured, but the fence could be very easilyrepaired, and there was an _abundance of yams left_ to furnish food forthe whole gang for some time to come--those that were destroyed beingchiefly young roots which would not have come to maturity for severalmonths. These statements were the substance of a formal report which hehad just prepared for the eye of Sir Lionel Smith, and which he was kindenough to read to us. This was a fine report, truly, to come from aspecial justice. To say nothing of the short time in which the fencemight be repaired, those were surely very dainty-mouthed cattle thatwould consume those roots only which were so small that several monthswould be requisite for their maturity. The report concluded with arecommendation to his Excellency to take seminary vengeance upon a fewof the gang as soon as they could be arrested, since they had set suchan example to the surrounding apprentices. He could not see how orderand subordination could be preserved in his district unless such apunishment was inflicted as would be a warning to all evil doers. Hefurther suggested the propriety of sending the maroons[A] after them, tohunt them out of their hiding places and bring them to justice. 

[Footnote A: The maroons are free negroes, inhabiting the mountains ofthe interior, who were formerly hired by the authorities, or byplanters, to hunt up runaway slaves, and return them to their masters. Unfortunately our own country is not without _its_ maroons. ]

We chanced to obtain a different version of this affair, which, as itwas confirmed by different persons in Bath, both white and colored, whohad no connection with each other, we cannot help thinking it thetrue one. 

The apprentices on Thornton, are what is termed a jobbing gang, that is, they are hired out by their master to any planter who may want theirservices. Jobbing is universally regarded by the negroes as the worstkind of service, for many reasons--principally because it often takesthem many miles from their homes, and they are still required to supplythemselves with food from their own provision grounds. They are allowedto return home every Friday evening or Saturday, and stay till Mondaymorning. The owner of the gang in question lately died--to whom it issaid they were greatly attached--and they passed into the hands of a Mr. Jocken, the present overseer. Jocken is a notoriously cruel man. It wasscarcely a twelvemonth ago, that he was fined one hundred poundscurrency, and sentenced to imprisonment for three months in the Kingstonjail, _for tying one of his apprentices to a dead ox_, because theanimal died while in the care of the apprentice. He also confined awoman in the same pen with a dead sheep, because she suffered the sheepto die. Repeated acts of cruelty have caused Jocken to be regarded as amonster in the community. From a knowledge of his character, theapprentices of Thornton had a strong prejudice against him. One of theearliest acts after he went among them, was to break down their fences, and turn his cattle into their provision grounds. He then ordered themto go to a distant estate to work. This they refused to do, and when heattempted to compel them to go, they left the estate in a body, and wentto the woods. This is what is called a _state of open rebellion_, andfor this they were to be hunted like beasts, and to suffer such aterrible punishment as would deter all other apprentices from taking asimilar step. 

This Jocken is the same wretch who wantonly handcuffed the apprentice, who went on to his estate by the direction of his master. 

Mr. Willis showed us a letter which he had received that morning from aplanter in his district, who had just been trying an experiment in jobwork, (i. E. , paying his people so much for a certain amount of work. ) Hehad made a proposition to one of the head men on the estate, that hewould give him a doubloon an acre if he would get ten acres of cane landholed. The man employed a large number of apprentices, and accomplishedthe job on three successive Saturdays. They worked at the rate of nearlyone hundred holes per day for each man, whereas the usual day's work isonly seventy-five holes. 

Mr. W. Bore testimony that the great body of the negroes in his districtwere very peaceable. There were but a few _incorrigible fellows_, thatdid all the mischief. When any disturbance took place on an estate, hecould generally tell who the individual offenders were. He did not thinkthere would be any serious difficulty after 1840. However, the result hethought would _greatly depend on the conduct of the managers!_

We met in Bath with the proprietor of a coffee estate situated a fewmiles in the country. He gave a very favorable account of the people onhis estate; stating that they were as peaceable and industrious as hecould desire, that he had their confidence, and fully expected to retainit after entire emancipation. He anticipated no trouble whatever, and hefelt assured, too, that if _the planters would conduct in a propermanner_, emancipation would be a blessing to the whole colony. 

We called on the Wesleyan missionary, whom we found the decided friendand advocate of freedom. He scrupled not to declare his sentimentsrespecting the special magistrate, whom he declared to be a cruel anddishonest man. He seemed to take delight in flogging the apprentices. Hehad got a whipping machine made and erected in front of the Episcopalchurch in the village of Bath. It was a frame of a triangular shape, thebase of which rested firmly on the ground, and having a perpendicularbeam from the base to the apex or angle. To this beam the apprentice'sbody was lashed, with his face towards the machine, and his armsextended at right angles, and tied by the wrists. The missionary hadwitnessed the floggings at this machine repeatedly, as it stood but afew steps from his house. Before we reached Bath, the machine had beenremoved from its conspicuous place and _concealed in the bushes, thatthe governor might not see it when he visited the village_. 

As this missionary had been for several years laboring in the island, and had enjoyed the best opportunities to become extensively acquaintedwith the negroes, we solicited from him a written answer to a number ofinquiries. We make some extracts from his communication. 

1. Have the facilities for missionary effort greatly increased since theabolition of slavery?

The opportunities of the apprentices to attend the means of grace aregreater than during absolute slavery. They have now one day and a halfevery week to work for their support, leaving the Sabbath free toworship God. 

2. Do you anticipate that these facilities will increase still moreafter entire freedom?

Yes. The people will then have _six days of their own to labor for theirbread_, and will be at liberty to go to the house of God every Sabbath. Under the present system, the magistrate often takes away the Saturday, as a punishment, and then they must either work on the Sabbathor starve. 

3. Are the negroes likely to revenge by violence the wrongs which theyhave suffered, after they obtain their freedom?

_I never heard the idea suggested, nor should I have thought of it hadyou not made the inquiry. _

We called on Mr. Rogers, the teacher of a Mico charity infant school inBath. Mr. R. , his wife and daughter, are all engaged in this work. Theyhave a day school, and evening school three evenings in the week, andSabbath school twice each Sabbath. The evening schools are for thebenefit of the adult apprentices, who manifest the greatest eagerness tolearn to read. After working all day, they will come several miles toschool, and stay cheerfully till nine o'clock. 

Mr. R. Furnished us with a written communication, from which we extractthe following. 

_Quest. _ Are the apprentices desirous of being instructed?

_Ans. _ Most assuredly they are; in proof of which I would observe thatsince our establishment in Bath, the people not only attend the schoolsregularly, but if they obtain a leaf of a book with letters upon it, that is their _constant companion_. We have found mothers with theirsucking babes in their arms, standing night after night in their classeslearning the alphabet. 

_Q. _ Are the negroes grateful for attentions and favors?

_A. _ They are; I have met some who have been so much affected by acts ofkindness, that they have burst into tears, exclaiming, 'Massa sokind--my heart full. ' Their affection to their teachers is veryremarkable. On my return lately from Kingston, after a temporaryabsence, the negroes flocked to our residence and surrounded the chaise, saying, 'We glad to see massa again; we glad to see school massa. ' On myway through an estate some time ago, some of the children observed me, and in a transport of joy cried, 'Thank God, massa come again! Bless Godde Savior, massa come again!'

Mr. R. , said he, casually met with an apprentice whose master had latelydied. The man was in the habit of visiting his master's grave everySaturday. He said to Mr. R. , "Me go to massa grave, and de water comeinto me yeye; but me can't help it, massa, _de water will come intome yeye_. "

The Wesleyan missionary told us, that two apprentices, an aged man andhis daughter, a young woman, had been brought up by their master beforethe special magistrate who sentenced them to several days confinement inthe house of correction at Morant Bay and to dance the treadmill. Whenthe sentence was passed the daughter entreated that she might be allowedto _do her father's part_, as well as her own, on the treadmill, for hewas too old to dance the wheel--it would kill him. 

From Bath we went into the Plantain Garden River Valley, one of therichest and most beautiful savannahs in the island. It is an extensiveplain, from one to three miles wide, and about six miles long. ThePlantain Garden River, a small stream, winds through the midst of thevalley lengthwise, emptying into the sea. Passing through the valley, wewent a few miles south of it to call on Alexander Barclay, Esq. , to whomwe had a letter of introduction. Mr. Barclay is a prominent member ofthe assembly, and an attorney for eight estates. He made himselfsomewhat distinguished a few years ago by writing an octavo volume offive hundred pages in defence of the colonies, i. E. , in defence ofcolonial slavery. It was a reply to Stephen's masterly work against WestIndia slavery, and was considered by the Jamaicans a triumphantvindication of their "peculiar institutions. " We went several miles outof our route expressly to have an interview with so zealous andcelebrated a champion of slavery. We were received with marked courtesyby Mr. B. , who constrained us to spend a day and night with him at hisseat at Fairfield. One of the first objects that met our eye in Mr. B. 'sdining hall was a splendid piece of silver plate, which was presented tohim by the planters of St. Thomas in the East, in consideration of hisable defence of colonial slavery. We were favorably impressed with Mr. B. 's intelligence, and somewhat so with his present sentimentsrespecting slavery. We gathered from him that he had resisted with allhis might the anti-slavery measures of the English government, andexerted every power to prevent the introduction of the apprenticeshipsystem. After he saw that slavery would inevitably be abolished, he drewup at length a plan of emancipation according to which the condition ofthe slave was to be commuted into that of the old English _villein_--hewas to be made an appendage to _the soil_ instead of the "chattelpersonal" of the master, the whip was to be partially abolished, amodicum of wages was to be allowed the slave, and so on. There was to beno fixed period when this system would terminate, but it was to fadegradually and imperceptibly into entire freedom. He presented a copy ofhis scheme to the then governor, the Earl of Mulgrave, requesting thatit might be forwarded to the home government. Mr. B. Said that theanti-slavery party in England had acted from the blind impulses ofreligious fanaticism, and had precipitated to its issue a work whichrequired many years of silent preparation in order to its safeaccomplishment. He intimated that the management of abolition ought tohave been left with the colonists; they had been the long experiencedmanagers of slavery, and they were the only men qualified to superintendits burial, and give it a decent interment. 

He did not think that the apprenticeship afforded any clue to the darkmystery of 1840. Apprenticeship was so inconsiderably different fromslavery, that it furnished no more satisfactory data for judging of theresults of entire freedom than slavery itself. Neither would he consentto be comforted by the actual results of emancipation in Antigua. 

Taking leave of Mr. Barclay, we returned to the Plantain Garden RiverValley, and called at the Golden Grove, one of the most splendid estatesin that magnificent district. This is an estate of two thousand acres;it has five hundred apprentices and one hundred free children. Theaverage annual crop is six hundred hogsheads of sugar. Thomas McCornock, Esq. , the attorney of this estate, is the custos, or chief magistrate ofthe parish, and colonel of the parish militia. There is no man in allthe parish of greater consequence, either in fact or in seemingself-estimation, than Thomas McCornock, Esq. He is a Scotchman, as isalso Mr. Barclay. The custos received us with as much freedom as thedignity of his numerous offices would admit of. The overseer, (manager, )Mr. Duncan, is an intelligent, active, business man, and on any otherestate than Golden Grove, would doubtless be a personage of considerabledistinction. He conducted us through the numerous buildings, from theboiling-house to the pig-stye. The principal complaint of the overseer, was that he could not make the people work to any good purpose. Theywere not at all refractory or disobedient; there was no difficulty ingetting them on to the field; but when they were there, they movedwithout any life or energy. They took no interest in their work, and hewas obliged to be watching and scolding them all the time, or else theywould do nothing. We had not gone many steps after this observation, before we met with a practical illustration of it. A number of theapprentices had been ordered that morning to cart away some dirt to aparticular place. When we approached them, Mr. D. Found that one of the"wains" was standing idle. He inquired of the driver why he was keepingthe team idle. The reply was, that there was nothing there for it to do;there were enough other wains to carry away all the dirt. "Then, " inquiredthe overseer with an ill-concealed irritation, "why did not go to someother work?" The overseer then turned to us and said, "You see, sir, what lazy dogs the apprentices are--this is the way they do every day, if they are not closely watched. " It was not long after this littleincident, before the overseer remarked that the apprentices worked verywell during their own time, _when they were paid for it_. When we wentinto the hospital, Mr. D. Directed out attention to one fact, which tohim was very provoking. A great portion of the patients that come induring the week, unable to work, are in the habit of getting well onFriday evening, so that they can go out on Saturday and Sunday; but onMonday morning they are sure to be sick again, then they return to thehospital and remain very poorly till Friday evening, when they get wellall at once, and ask permission to go out. The overseer saw into thetrick; but he could find no medicine that could cure the negroes of thatintermittent sickness. The Antigua planters discovered the remedy forit, and doubtless Mr. D. Will make the grand discovery in 1840. 

On returning to the "great house, " we found the custos sitting in state, ready to communicate any official information which might be called for. He expressed similar sentiments in the main, with those of Mr. Barclay. He feared for the consequences of complete emancipation; the negroeswould to a great extent abandon the sugar cultivation and retire to thewoods, there to live in idleness, planting merely yams enough to keepthem alive, and in the process of time, retrograding into Africanbarbarism. The attorney did not see how it was possible to prevent this. When asked whether he expected that such would be the case with thenegroes on Golden Grove, he replied that he did not think it would, except with a very few persons. His people had been _so well treated_, and had _so many comforts_, that they would not be at all likely toabandon the estate! [Mark that!] Whose are the people that will desertafter 1840? Not Thomas McCornock's, Esq. ! _They are too well situated. Whose_ then will desert? _Mr. Jocken's_, or in other words, those whoare ill-treated, who are cruelly driven, whose fences are broken down, and whose provision grounds are exposed to the cattle. They, and theyalone, will retire to the woods who can't get food any where else!

The custos thought the apprentices were behaving very ill. On beingasked if he had any trouble with his, he said, O, no! his apprenticesdid quite well, and so did the apprentices generally, in the PlantainGarden River Valley. But in _far off parishes_, he _heard_ that theywere very refractory and troublesome. 

The custos testified that the negroes were very easily managed. He saidhe had often thought that he would rather have the charge of six hundrednegroes, than of two hundred English sailors. He spoke also of thetemperate habits of the negroes. He had been in the island twenty-twoyears, and he had never seen a negro woman drunk, on the estate. It wasvery seldom that the men got drunk. There were not more than ten men onGolden Grove, out of a population of five hundred, who were in the habitof occasionally getting intoxicated. He also remarked that the negroeswere a remarkable people for their attention to the old and infirm amongthem; they seldom suffered them to want, if it was in their power tosupply them. Among other remarks of the custos, was this sweepingdeclaration--"_No man in his senses can pretend to defend slavery. _"

After spending a day at Golden Grove, we proceeded to the adjacentestate of Amity Hall. On entering the residence of the manager, Mr. Kirkland, we were most gratefully surprised to find him engaged infamily prayers. It was the first time and the last that we heard thevoice of prayer in a Jamaican planter's house. We were no lessgratefully surprised to see a white lady, to whom we were introduced asMrs. Kirkland, and several modest and lovely little children. It was thefirst and the last _family circle_ that we were permitted to see amongthe planters of that licentious colony. The motley group of coloredchildren--of every age from tender infancy--which we found on otherestates, revealed the state of domestic manners among the planters. 

Mr. K. Regarded the abolition of slavery as a great blessing to thecolony; it was true that the apprenticeship was a wretchedly bad system, but notwithstanding, things moved smoothly on his estate. He informed usthat the negroes on Amity Hall had formerly borne the character of beingthe _worst gang in the parish_; and when he first came to the estate, hefound that half the truth had not been told of them; but they had becomeremarkably peaceable and subordinate. It was his policy to give themevery comfort that he possibly could. Mr. K. Made the same declaration, which has been so often repeated in the course of this narrative, i. E. , that if any of the estates were abandoned, it would be owing to theharsh treatment of the people. He knew many overseers and book-keeperswho were cruel driving men, and he should not be surprised if _they_lost a part, or all, of their laborers. He made one remark which we hadnot heard before. There were some estates, he said, which would probablybe abandoned, for the same reason that they ought never to have beencultivated, because they require _almost double labor_;--such are themountainous estates and barren, worn-out properties, which nothing but asystem of forced labor could possibly retain in cultivation. But theidea that the negroes generally would leave their comfortable homes, andvarious privileges on the estates, and retire to the wild woods, heridiculed as preposterous in the extreme. Mr. K. Declared repeatedlythat he could not look forward to 1840, but with the most sanguinehopes; he confidently believed that the introduction of complete freedomwould be the _regeneration of the island_. He alluded to the memorabledeclaration of Lord Belmore, (made memorable by the excitement which itcaused among the colonists, ) in his valedictory address to the assembly, on the eve of his departure for England. [A] "Gentlemen, " said he, "theresources of this noble island will never be fully developed untilslavery is abolished!" For this manly avowal the assembly ignoblyrefused him the usual marks of respect and honor at his departure. Mr. K. Expected to see Jamaica become a new world under the enterprise andenergies of freedom. There were a few disaffected planters, who wouldprobably remain so, and leave the islands after emancipation. It wouldbe a blessing to the country if such men left it, for as long as theywere disaffected, they were the enemies of its prosperity. 

[Footnote A: Lord Belmore left the government of Jamaica, a short timebefore the abolition act passed in parliament. ]

Mr. K. Conducted us through the negro quarters, which are situated onthe hill side, nearly a mile from his residence. We went into several ofthe houses; which were of a better style somewhat than the huts inAntigua and Barbadoes--larger, better finished and furnished. Some fewof them had verandahs or porches on one or more sides, after the WestIndia fashion, closed in with _jalousies_. In each of the houses towhich we were admitted, there was one apartment fitted up in a very neatmanner, with waxed floor, a good bedstead, and snow white coverings, afew good chairs, a mahogany sideboard, ornamented with dishes, decanters, etc. 

From Amity Hall, we drove to Manchioneal, a small village ten milesnorth of the Plantain Garden River Valley. We had a letter to thespecial magistrate for that district, R. Chamberlain, Esq. , a coloredgentleman, and the first magistrate we found in the parish of St. Thomasin the East, who was faithful to the interests of the apprentices. Hewas a boarder at the public house, where we were directed for lodgings, and as we spent a few days in the village, we had opportunities ofobtaining much information from him, as well as of attending some of hiscourts. Mr. C. Had been only five months in the district of Manchioneal, having been removed thither from a distant district. Being a friend ofthe apprentices, he is hated and persecuted by the planters. He gave usa gloomy picture of the oppressions and cruelties of the planters. Theircomplaints brought before him are often of the most trivial kind; yetbecause he does not condemn the apprentices to receive a punishmentwhich the most serious offences alone could justify him in inflicting, they revile and denounce him as unfit for his station. He represents theplanters as not having the most distant idea that it is the province ofthe special magistrate to secure justice to the apprentice; but theyregard it as his sole duty to _help them_ in getting from the laborersas much work as whips, and chains, and tread-wheels can extort. Hispredecessor, in the Manchioneal district, answered perfectly to theplanters' _beau ideal_. He ordered a _cat_ to be kept on every estate inhis district, to be ready for use as he went around on his weeklyvisits. Every week he inspected the cats, and when they became too muchworn to do good execution, he _condemned_ them, and ordered new onesto be made. 

Mr. C. Said the most frequent complaints made by the planters are for_insolence_. He gave a few specimens of what were regarded by theplanters as serious offences. An overseer will say to his apprentice, "Work along there faster, you lazy villain, or I'll strike you;" theapprentice will reply, "You _can't_ strike me now, " and for this he istaken before the magistrate on the complaint of _insolence_. Anoverseer, in passing the gang on the field, will hear them singing; hewill order them, in a peremptory tone to stop instantly, and if theycontinue singing, they are complained of for _insubordination_. Anapprentice has been confined to the hospital with disease, --when he getsable to walk, tired of the filthy sick house, he hobbles to his hut, where he may have the attentions of his wife until he gets well. That iscalled _absconding from labor_! Where the magistrate does not happen tobe an independent man, the complaint is sustained, and the poor invalidis sentenced to the treadmill for absenting himself from work. It iseasy to conjecture the dreadful consequence. The apprentice, debilitatedby sickness, dragged off twenty-five miles on foot to Morant Bay, mounted on the wheel, is unable to keep the step with the stronger ones, slips off and hangs by the wrists, and his flesh is mangled and torn bythe wheel. 

The apprentices frequently called at our lodgings to complain to Mr. C. Of the hard treatment of their masters. Among the numerous distressingcases which we witnessed, we shall never forget that of a poor littlenegro boy, of about twelve, who presented himself one afternoon beforeMr. C. , with a complaint against his master for violently beating him. Agash was cut in his head, and the blood had flowed freely. He fled fromhis master, and came to Mr. C. For refuge. He belonged to A. Ross, Esq. , of Mulatto Run estate. We remembered that we had a letter ofintroduction to that planter, and we had designed visiting him, butafter witnessing this scene, we resolved not to go near a monster whocould inflict such a wound, with his own hand, upon a child. We werehighly gratified with the kind and sympathizing manner in which Mr. C. Spoke with the unfortunate beings who, in the extremity of their wrongs, ventured to his door. 

At the request of the magistrate we accompanied him, on one occasion, tothe station-house, where he held a weekly court. We had there a goodopportunity to observe the hostile feelings of the planters towards thisfaithful officer--"faithful among the faithless, " (though we are gladthat we cannot quite add, "_only he_. ")

A number of managers, overseers, and book-keepers, assembled; some withcomplaints, and some to have their apprentices classified. They all setupon the magistrate like bloodhounds upon a lone stag. They strovetogether with one accord, to subdue his independent spirit by taunts, jeers, insults, intimidations and bullyings. He was obliged to threatenone of the overseers with arrest, on account of his abusive conduct. Wewere actually amazed at the intrepidity of the magistrate. We wereconvinced from what we saw that day, that only the most fearless andconscientious men could be _faithful magistrates_ in Jamaica. Mr. C. Assured us that he met with similar indignities every time he held hiscourts, and on most of the estates that he visited. It was in his powerto punish them severely, but he chose to use all possible forbearance, so as not to give the planters any grounds of complaint. 

On a subsequent day we accompanied Mr. C. In one of his estate visits. As it was late in the afternoon, he called at but one estate, the nameof which was Williamsfield. Mr. Gordon, the overseer of Williamsfield, is among the fairest specimens of planters. He has naturally a generousdisposition, which, like that of Mr. Kirkland, has out-lived thewitherings of slavery. 

He informed us that his people worked as well under the apprenticeshipsystem, as ever they did during slavery; and he had every encouragementthat they would do still better after they were completely free. He wassatisfied that he should be able to conduct his estate at much lessexpense after 1840; he thought that fifty men would do as much then as ahundred do now. We may add here a similar remark of Mr. Kirkland--thatforty freemen would accomplish as much as eighty slaves. Mr. Gordonhires his people on Saturdays, and he expressed his astonishment at theincreased vigor with which they worked when they were to receive wages. He pointedly condemned the driving system which was resorted to by manyof the planters. They foolishly endeavored to keep up the coercion ofslavery, _and they had the special magistrates incessantly flogging theapprentices_. The planters also not unfrequently take away the provisiongrounds from their apprentices, and in every way oppress andharass them. 

In the course of the conversation Mr. G. Accidentally struck upon afresh vein of facts, respecting the SLAVERY OF BOOK-KEEPERS, [A] _underthe old system_. The book-keepers, said Mr. G. , were the complete slavesof the overseers, who acted like despots on the estates. They weremostly young men from England, and not unfrequently had considerablerefinement; but ignorant of the treatment which book-keepers had tosubmit to, and allured by the prospect of becoming wealthy byplantership, they came to Jamaica and entered as candidates. They soondiscovered the cruel bondage in which they were involved. The overseersdomineered over them, and stormed at them as violently as though theywere the most abject slaves. They were allowed no privileges such astheir former habits impelled them to seek. If they played a flute in thehearing of the overseer, they were commanded to be silent instantly. Ifthey dared to put a gold ring on their finger, even that triflingpretension to gentility was detected and disallowed by the jealousoverseer. (These things were specified by Mr. G. Himself. ) They wereseldom permitted to associate with the overseers as equals. The onlything which reconciled the book-keepers to this abject state, was thereflection that they might one day _possibly_ become overseersthemselves, and then they could exercise the same authority over others. In addition to this degradation, the book-keepers suffered greathardships. Every morning (during slavery) they were obliged to be in thefield before day; they had to be there as soon as the slaves, in orderto call the roll, and mark absentees, if any. Often Mr. G. And the othergentleman had gone to the field, when it was so dark that they could notsee to call the roll, and the negroes have all lain down on their hoes, and slept till the light broke. Sometimes there would be a thick dew onthe ground, and the air was so cold and damp, that they would becompletely chilled. When they were shivering on the ground, the negroeswould often lend them their blankets, saying, "Poor _busha pickaninny_sent out here from England to die. " Mr. Gordon said that hisconstitution had been permanently injured by such exposure. Many youngmen, he said, had doubtless been killed by it. During crop time, thebook-keepers had to be up every night till twelve o'clock, and everyother night _all night_, superintending the work in the boiling-house, and at the mill. They did not have rest even on the Sabbath; they musthave the mill put about (set to the wind so as to grind) by sunset everySabbath. Often the mills were in the wind before four o'clock, onSabbath afternoon. They knew of slaves being flogged for not being onthe spot by sunset, though it was known that they had been to meeting. Mr. G. Said that he had a young friend who came from England with him, and acted as book-keeper. His labors and exposures were so intolerable, that he had often said to Mr. G. , confidentially, _that if the slavesshould rise in rebellion, he would most cheerfully join them_! Said Mr. G. , _there was great rejoicing_ among the book-keepers in August 1834!_The abolition of slavery was_ EMANCIPATION TO THE BOOK-KEEPERS. 

[Footnote A: The book-keepers are subordinate overseers and drivers;they are generally young white men, who after serving a course of yearsin a sort of apprenticeship, are promoted to managers of estates. ]

No complaints were brought before Mr. Chamberlain. Mr. Gordon pleasantlyremarked when we arrived, that he had some cases which he should havepresented if the magistrate had come a little earlier, but he presumedhe should forget them before his next visit. When we left Williamsfield, Mr. C. Informed us that during five months there had been but two casesof complaint on that estate--and but _a single instance of punishment. _Such are the results where there is a good manager and a good specialmagistrate. 

On Sabbath we attended service in the Baptist chapel, of which Rev. Mr. Kingdon is pastor. The chapel, which is a part of Mr. K. 'sdwelling-house, is situated on the summit of a high mountain whichoverlooks the sea. As seen from the valley below, it appears to toppleon the very brink of a frightful precipice. It is reached by a windingtedious road, too rugged to admit of a chaise, and in some places sosteep as to try the activity of a horse. As we approached nearer, weobserved the people climbing up in throngs by various footpaths, andhalting in the thick woods which skirted the chapel, the men to put ontheir shoes, which they had carried in their hands up the mountain, andthe women to draw on their white stockings and shoes. On entering theplace of worship, we found it well filled with the apprentices, who camefrom many miles around in every direction. The services had commencedwhen we arrived. We heard an excellent sermon from the devoted and piousmissionary, Mr. Kingdon, whose praise is among all the good throughoutthe island, and who is eminently known as the negro's friend. After thesermon, we were invited to make a few remarks; and the minister brieflystated to the congregation whence we had come, and what was the objectof our visit. We cannot soon forget the scene which followed. We begunby expressing, in simple terms, the interest which we felt in thetemporal and spiritual concerns of the people present, and scarcely hadwe uttered a sentence when the whole congregation were filled withemotion. Soon they burst into tears--some sobbed, others cried aloud;insomuch that for a time we were unable to proceed. We were, indeed, nota little astonished at so unusual a scene; it was a thing which we wereby no means expecting to see. Being at a loss to account for it, weinquired of Mr. K. Afterwards, who told us that it was occasioned by ourexpressions of sympathy and regard. They were so unaccustomed to hearsuch language from the lips of white people, that it fell upon them likerain upon the parched earth. The idea that one who was a stranger and aforeigner should feel an interest in their welfare, was to them, in suchcircumstances, peculiarly affecting, and stirred the deep fountains oftheir hearts. 

After the services, the missionary, anxious to further our objects, proposed that we should hold an interview with a number of theapprentices; and he accordingly invited fifteen of them into his study, and introduced them to us by name, stating also the estates to whichthey severally belonged. We had thus an opportunity of seeing the_representatives of twelve different estates_, men of trust on theirrespective estates, mostly constables and head boilers. For nearly twohours we conversed with these men, making inquiries on all pointsconnected with slavery, the apprenticeship, and the expectedemancipation. 

From no interview, during our stay in the colonies, did we derive somuch information respecting the real workings of the apprenticeship;from none did we gain such an insight into the character and dispositionof the negroes. The company was composed of intelligent and piousmen;--so manly and dignified were they in appearance, and so elevated intheir sentiments, that we could with difficulty realize that they were_slaves_. They were wholly unreserved in their communications, thoughthey deeply implicated their masters, the special magistrates, andothers in authority. It is not improbable that they would have shrunkfrom some of the disclosures which they made, had they known that theywould be published. Nevertheless we feel assured that in making thempublic, we shall not betray the informants, concealing as we do theirnames and the estates to which they belong. 

With regard to the wrongs and hardships of the apprenticeship much assaid; we can only give a small part. 

Their masters were often very harsh with them, more so than when theywere slaves. They could not flog them, but they would scold them, andswear at them, and call them hard names, which hurt their feelingsalmost as much as it would if they were to flog them. They would notallow them as many privileges as they did formerly. Sometimes they wouldtake their provision grounds away, and sometimes they would go on theirgrounds and carry away provisions for their own use without paying forthem, or as much as asking their leave. They had to bear this, for itwas useless to complain--they could get no justice; there was no law inManchioneal. The special magistrate would only hear the master, andwould not allow the apprentices to say any thing for themselves[A]. Themagistrate would do just as the busha (master) said. If he say flog him, he flog him; if he say, send him to Morant Bay, (to the treadmill, ) demagistrate send him. If we happen to laugh before de busha, he complainto de magistrate, and we get licked. If we go to a friend's house, whenwe hungry, to get something to eat, and happen to get lost in de woodsbetween, we are called runaways, and are punished severely. Our halfFriday is taken away from us; we must give that time to busha for alittle salt-fish, which was always allowed us during slavery. If we layin bed after six o'clock, they take away our Saturday too. If we lose alittle time from work, they make us pay a great deal more time. Theystated, and so did several of the missionaries, that the loss of thehalf Friday was very serious to them; as it often rendered it impossiblefor them to get to meeting on Sunday. The whole work of cultivatingtheir grounds, preparing their produce for sale, carrying it to thedistant market, (Morant Bay, and sometimes further, ) and returning, allthis was, by the loss of the Friday afternoon, crowded into Saturday, and it was often impossible for them to get back from market beforeSabbath morning; then they had to dress and go six or ten miles furtherto chapel, or stay away altogether, which, from weariness and worldlycares, they would be strongly tempted to do. This they represented asbeing a grievous thing to them. Said one of the men; in a peculiarlysolemn and earnest manner, while the tears stood in his eyes, "I declareto you, massa, if de Lord spare we to be free, we be much more'ligiours--_we be wise to many more tings_; we be better Christians;because den we have all de Sunday for go to meeting. But now de holytime taken up in work for we food. " These words were deeply impressedupon us by the intense earnestness with which they were spoken. Theyrevealed "the heart's own bitterness. " There was also a lighting up ofjoy and hope in the countenance of that child of God, as he lookedforward to the time when he might become _wise to many more tings_. 

[Footnote A: We would observe, that they did not refer to Mr. Chamberlain, but to another magistrate, whose name they mentioned. ]

They gave a heart-sickening account of the cruelties of the treadmill. They spoke of the apprentices having their wrists tied to the handboard, and said it was very common for them to fall and hang against the wheel. Some who had been sent to the treadmill, had actually died from theinjuries they there received. They were often obliged to see their wivesdragged off to Morant Bay, and tied to the treadmill, even when theywere in a state of pregnancy. They suffered a great deal of misery from_that; but they could not help it_. 

Sometimes it was a wonder to themselves how they could endure all theprovocations and sufferings of the apprenticeship; _it was only "by demercy of God_!"

They were asked why they did not complain to the special magistrates. They replied, that it did no good, for the magistrates would not takeany notice of their complaints, besides, it made the masters treat themstill worse. Said one, "We go to de magistrate to complain, and den whenwe come back de busha do all him can to vex us. He _wingle_ (tease) us, and _wingle_ us; de book-keeper curse us and treaten us; de constable hescold us, and call hard names, and dey all strive to make we mad, so wesay someting wrong, and den dey take we to de magistrate for insolence. "Such was the final consequence of complaining to the magistrate. Weasked them why they did not complain, when they had a good magistratewho would do them justice. Their answer revealed a new fact. They wereafraid to complain to a magistrate, who they knew was their friend, _because their masters told them that the magistrate would soon bechanged, and another would come who would flog them; and that for everytime they dared to complain to the GOOD magistrate, they would beflogged when the BAD one came_. They said their masters had explained itall to them long ago. 

We inquired of them particularly what course they intended to take whenthey should become free. We requested them to speak, not only withreference to themselves, but of the apprentices generally, as far asthey knew their views. They said the apprentices expected to work on theestates, if they were allowed to do so. They had no intention of leavingwork. Nothing would cause them to leave their estates but bad treatment;if their masters were harsh, they would go to another estate, where theywould get better treatment. They would be _obliged_ to work when theywere free; even more than now, for _then_ they would have no otherdependence. 

One tried to prove to us by reasoning, that the people would workwhen they were free. Said he, "In slavery time we work _even_ wid dewhip, now we work 'till better--_what tink we will do when we free?Won't_ we work den, _when we get paid_?" He appealed to us so earnestly, that we could not help acknowledging we were fully convinced. However, in order to establish the point still more clearly, he stated somefacts, such as the following:

During slavery, it took six men to tend the coppers in boiling sugar, and it was thought that fewer could not possibly do the work; but now, since the boilers are paid for their extra time, the work is monopolizedby _three_ men. They _would not have any help_; they did all the work"_dat dey might get all de pay_. "

We sounded them thoroughly on their views of law and freedom. Weinquired whether they expected to be allowed to do as they pleased whenthey were free. On this subject they spoke very rationally. Said one, "We could never live widout de law; (we use, his very expressions) wemust have some law when we free. In other countries, where dey are free, _don't_ dey have law? Wouldn't dey shoot one another if they did nothave law?" Thus they reasoned about freedom. Their chief complaintagainst the apprenticeship was, that it did not allow them _justice_. "_There was no law now_. " They had been told by the governor, that therewas the same law for all the island; but they knew better, for there wasmore justice done them in some districts than in others. 

Some of their expressions indicated very strongly the characteristickindness of the negro. They would say, we work now as well as we can_for the sake of peace; any thing for peace_. Don't want to becomplained of to the magistrate; don't like to be called hard names--doany thing to keep peace. Such expressions were repeatedly made. We askedthem what they thought of the domestics being emancipated in 1838, whilethey had to remain apprentices two years longer? They said, "it badenough--but we know de law make it so, and _for peace sake_, we will besatisfy. _But we murmur in we minds_. "

We asked what they expected to do with the old and infirm, afterfreedom? They said, "we will support dem--as how dey brought us up whenwe was pickaninny, and now we come trong, must care for dem. " In such aspirit did these apprentices discourse for two hours. They won greatlyupon our sympathy and respect. The touching story of their wrongs, theartless unbosoming of their hopes, their forgiving spirit toward theirmasters, their distinct views of their own rights, their amiable bearingunder provocation, their just notions of law, and of a state offreedom--these things were well calculated to excite our admiration forthem, and their companions in suffering. Having prayed with the company, and commended them to the grace of God, and the salvation of JesusChrist, we shook hands with them individually, and separated from them, never more to see them, until we meet at the bar of God. 

While one of us was prosecuting the foregoing inquiries in St. Thomas inthe East, the other was performing a horse-back tour among the mountainsof St. Andrews and Port Royal. We had been invited by Stephen Bourne, Esq. , special magistrate for one of the rural districts in thoseparishes, to spend a week in his family, and accompany him in hisofficial visits to the plantations embraced in his commission--aninvitation we were very glad to accept, as it laid open to us at thesame time three important sources of information, --the magistrate, theplanter, and the apprentice. 

The sun was just rising as we left Kingston, and entered the high road. The air, which the day before had been painfully hot and stived, wascool and fresh, and from flowers and spice-trees, on which the dew stilllay, went forth a thousand fragrant exhalations. Our course for aboutsix miles, lay over the broad, low plain, which spreads around Kingston, westward to the highlands of St. Andrews, and southward beyondSpanishtown. All along the road, and in various directions in thedistance, were seen the residences--uncouthly termed 'pens'--ofmerchants and gentlemen of wealth, whose business frequently calls themto town. Unlike Barbadoes, the fields here were protected by walls andhedges, with broad gateways and avenues leading to the house. We soonbegan to meet here and there, at intervals, person going to the marketwith fruits and provisions. The number continually increased, and at theend of an hour, they could be seen trudging over the fields, and alongthe by-paths and roads, on every hand. Some had a couple of stunteddonkeys yoked to a ricketty cart, --others had mules withpack-saddles--but the many loaded their own heads, instead of thedonkeys and mules. Most of them were well dressed, and all civil andrespectful in their conduct. 

Invigorated by the mountain air, and animated by the novelty andgrandeur of the mountain scenery, through which we had passed, wearrived at 'Grecian Regale' in season for an early West Indianbreakfast, (8 o'clock. ) Mr. Bourne's district is entirely composed ofcoffee plantations, and embraces three thousand apprentices. The peopleon coffee plantations are not worked so hard as those employed on sugarestates; but they are more liable to suffer from insufficient foodand clothing. 

After breakfast we accompanied Mr. Bourne on a visit to the plantations, but there were no complaints either from the master or apprentice, except on one. Here Mr. B. Was hailed by a hoary-headed man, sitting atthe side of his house. He said that he was lame and sick, and could notwork, and complained that his master did not give him any food. All hehad to eat was given him by a relative. As the master was not at home, Mr. B. Could not attend to the complaint at that time, but promised towrite the master about it in the course of the day. He informed us thatthe aged and disabled were very much neglected under the apprenticeship. When the working days are over, the profit days are over, and how few inany country are willing to support an animal which is past labor? Ifthese complaints are numerous under the new system, when magistrates areall abroad to remedy them, what must it have been during slavery, whenmaster and magistrate were the same!

On one of the plantations we called at the house of an emigrant, ofwhich some hundreds have been imported from different parts of Europe, since emancipation. He had been in the island eighteen months, and wasmuch dissatisfied with his situation. The experiment of importing whitesto Jamaica as laborers, has proved disastrous--an unfortunatespeculation to all parties, and all parties wish them back again. 

We had some conversation with several apprentices, who called on Mr. Bourne for advice and aid. They all thought the apprenticeship veryhard, but still, on the whole, liked it better than slavery. They "werekilled too bad, "--that was their expression--during slavery--were workedhard and terribly flogged. They were up ever so early and late--went outin the mountains to work, when so cold busha would have to cover himselfup on the ground. Had little time to eat, or go to meeting. 'Twas allslash, slash! Now they couldn't be flogged, unless the magistrate saidso. Still the busha was very hard to them, and many of the apprenticesrun away to the woods, they are so badly used. 

The next plantation which we visited was Dublin Castle. It lies in adeep valley, quite enclosed by mountains. The present attorney has beenin the island nine years, and is attorney for several other properties. In England he was a religious man, and intimately acquainted with theeccentric Irving. For a while after he came out he preached to theslaves, but having taken a black concubine, and treating those under hischarge oppressively, he soon obtained a bad character among the blacks, and his meetings were deserted. He is now a most passionate and wickedman, having cast off even the show of religion. 

Mr. B. Visited Dublin Castle a few weeks since, and spent two days inhearing complaints brought against the manager and book-keeper by theapprentices. He fined the manager, for different acts of oppression, onehundred and eight dollars. The attorney was present during the wholetime. Near the close of the second day he requested permission to say afew words, which was granted. He raised his hands and eyes in the mostagonized manner, as though passion was writhing within, and burstforth--"O, my God! my God! has it indeed come to this! Am I to bearraigned in this way? Is my conduct to be questioned by these people?Is my authority to be destroyed by the interference of stranger? O, myGod!" And he fell back into the arms of his book-keeper, and was carriedout of the room in convulsions. 

The next morning we started on another excursion, for the purpose ofattending the appraisement of an apprentice belonging to Silver Hill, aplantation about ten miles distant from Grecian Regale. We rode but ashort distance in the town road, when we struck off into a narrow defileby a mule-path, and pushed into the very heart of the mountains. 

We felt somewhat timid at the commencement of our excursion among theseminor Andes, but we gained confidence as we proceeded, and finding ourhorse sure-footed and quite familiar with mountain paths, we soonlearned to gallop, without fear, along the highest cliffs, and throughthe most dangerous passes. We were once put in some jeopardy by a droveof mules, laden with coffee. We fortunately saw them, as they came roundthe point of a hill, at some distance, in season to secure ourselves ina little recess where the path widened. On they came, cheered by theloud cries of their drivers, and passed rapidly forward, one afteranother, with the headlong stupidity which animals, claiming more wisdomthan quadrupeds, not unfrequently manifest. When they came up to us, however, they showed that they were not unaccustomed to such encounters, and, although the space between us and the brow of the precipice, wasnot three feet wide, they all contrived to sway their bodies and heavysacks in such a manner as to pass us safely, except one. He, more stupidor more unlucky than the rest, struck us a full broad-side as he went byjolting us hard against the hill, and well-nigh jolting himself down thecraggy descent into the abyss below. One leg hung a moment over theprecipice, but the poor beast suddenly threw his whole weight forward, and by a desperate leap, obtained sure foothold in the path, and againtrudged along with his coffee-bags. 

On our way we called at two plantations, but found no complaints. At oneof them we had some conversation with the overseer. He has on it onehundred and thirty apprentices, and produces annually thirty thousandpounds of coffee. He informed us that he was getting along well. Hispeople are industrious and obedient, as much so, to say the least, asunder the old system. The crop this year is not so great as usual, onaccount of the severe drought. His plantation was never bettercultivated. Besides the one hundred and thirty apprentices, there areforty free children, who are supported by their parents. None of themwill work for hire, or in any way put themselves under his control, asthe parents fear there is some plot laid for making them apprentices, and through that process reducing them to slavery. He thinks thisfeeling will continue till the apprenticeship is entirely broken up, andthe people begin to feel assured of complete freedom, when it willdisappear. 

We reached Silver Hill about noon. This plantation contains one hundredand ten apprentices, and is under the management of a colored man, whohas had charge of it seven years. He informed us that it was under asgood cultivation now as it was before emancipation. His people areeasily controlled. Very much depends on the conduct of the overseer. Ifhe is disposed to be just and kind, the apprentices are sure to behavewell; if he is harsh and severe, and attempts to _drive_ them, they willtake no pains to please him, but on the contrary, will be sulky andobstinate. 

There were three overseers from other estates present. One of them hadbeen an overseer for forty years, and he possessed the looks andfeelings which we suppose a man who has been thus long in a school ofdespotism, must possess. He had a giant form, which seemed to bebreaking down with luxury and sensualism. His ordinary voice was hoarseand gusty, and his smile diabolical. Emancipation had swept away hispower while it left the love of it ravaging his heart. He could notspeak of the new system with composure. His contempt and hatred of thenegro was unadulterated. He spoke of the apprentices with greatbitterness. They were excessively lazy and impudent, and were becomingmore and more so every day. They did not do half the work now that theydid before emancipation. It was the character of the negro never to workunless compelled. His people would not labor for him an hour in theirown time, although he had offered to pay them for it. They have not theleast gratitude. They will leave him in the midst of his crop, and helpothers, because they can get a little more. They spend all their halfFridays and their Saturdays on other plantations where they receiveforty cents a day. Twenty-five cents is enough for them, and is as muchas he will give. 

Mr. B. Requested the overseer to bring forward his complaints. He hadonly two. One was against a boy of ten for stealing a gill of goat'smilk. The charge was disproved. The other was against a boy of twelvefor neglecting the cattle, and permitting them to trespass on the landsof a neighbor. He was sentenced to receive a good switching--that is, tobe beaten with a small stick by the constable of the plantation. 

Several apprentices then appeared and made a few trivial complaintsagainst 'busha. ' They were quickly adjusted. These were all thecomplaints that had accumulated in five weeks. 

The principal business which called Mr. Bourne to the plantation, as wehave already remarked, was the appraisement of an apprentice. Theappraisers were himself and a local magistrate. The apprentice was anative born African, and was stolen from his country when a boy. He hadalways resided on this plantation, and had always been a faithfullaborer. He was now the constable, or driver, as the office was calledin slavery times, of the second gang. The overseer testified to hishonesty and industry, and said he regretted much to have him leave. Hewas, as appeared by the plantation books, fifty-four years old, but wasevidently above sixty. After examining several witnesses as to the oldman's ability and general health, and making calculations by the rule ofthree, with the cold accuracy of a yankee horse-bargain, it was decidedthat his services were worth to the plantation forty-eight dollars ayears, and for the remaining time of the apprenticeship, consequently, at that rate, one hundred and fifty-six dollars. One third of this wasdeducted as an allowance for the probabilities of death, and sickness, leaving one hundred and four dollars as the price of his redemption. Theold man objected strongly and earnestly to the price; he said, it wastoo much; he had not money enough to pay it; and begged them, with tearsin his eyes, not to make him pay so much "for his old bones;" but theywould not remit a cent. They could not. They were the stern ministers ofthe British emancipation law, the praises of which have been shoutedthrough the earth!

Of the three overseers who were present, not one could be called arespectable man. Their countenances were the mirrors of all lustful anddesperate passions. They were continually drinking rum and water, andone of them was half drunk. 

Our next visit was to an elevated plantation called Peter's Rock. Thepath to it was, in one place, so steep, that we had to dismount andpermit our horses to work their way up as they could, while we followedon foot. We then wound along among provision grounds and coffee fields, through forests where hardly a track was to be seen, and over hedges, which the horses were obliged to leap, till we issued on the great pathwhich leads from the plantation to Kingston. 

Peter's Rock has one hundred apprentices, and is under the management, as Mr. Bourne informed us, of a very humane man. During the two yearsand a half of the apprenticeship, there had been _only six complaints_. As we approached the plantation we saw the apprentices at the side ofthe road, eating their breakfast. They had been at work some distancefrom their houses, and could not spend time to go home. They saluted uswith great civility, most of them rising and uncovering their heads. Inanswer to our questions, they said they were getting along very well. They said their master was kind to them, and they appeared infine spirits. 

The overseer met us as we rode up to the door, and received us verycourteously. He had no complaints. He informed us that the plantationwas as well cultivated as it had been for many years, and the peoplewere perfectly obedient and industrious. 

From Peter's Rock we rode to "Hall's Prospect, " a plantation on whichthere are sixty apprentices under the charge of a black overseer, who, two years ago, was a slave. It was five weeks since Mr. B. Had beenthere, and yet he had only one complaint, and that against a woman forbeing late at work on Monday morning. The reason she gave for this was, that she went to an estate some miles distant to spend the Sabbath withher husband. 

Mr. Bourne, by the aid of funds left in his hands by Mr. Sturge, isabout to establish a school on this plantation. Mr. B. , at a previousvisit, had informed the people of what he intended to do, and askedtheir co-operation. As soon as they saw him to-day, several of themimmediately inquired about the school, when it would begin, &c. Theyshowed the greatest eagerness and thankfulness. Mr. B. Told them heshould send a teacher as soon as a house was prepared. He had beentalking with their master (the attorney of the plantation) about fixingone, who had offered them the old "lock-up house, " if they would put itin order. There was a murmur among them at this annunciation. At lengthone of the men said, they did not want the school to be held in the"lock-up house. " It was not a good place for their "pickaninnies" to goto. They had much rather have some other building, and would be glad tohave it close to their houses. Mr. B. Told them if they would put up asmall house near their own, he would furnish it with desks and benches. To this they all assented with great joy. 

On our way home we saw, as we did on various other occasions, many ofthe apprentices with hoes, baskets, &c. , going to their provisiongrounds. We had some conversation with them as we rode along. They saidthey had been in the fields picking coffee since half past five o'clock. They were now going, as they always did after "horn-blow" in theafternoon, (four o'clock, ) to their grounds, where they should stay tilldark. Some of their grounds were four, others six miles from home. Theyall liked the apprenticeship better than slavery. They were not floggedso much now, and had more time to themselves. But they should likefreedom much better, and should be glad when it came. 

We met a brown young woman driving an ass laden with a great variety ofarticles. She said she had been to Kingston (fifteen miles off) with aload of provisions, and had purchased some things to sell to theapprentices. We asked her what she did with her money. "Give it to myhusband, " said she. "Do you keep none for yourself?" She smiled andreplied: "What for him for me. "

After we had passed, Mr. B. Informed us that she had been an apprentice, but purchased her freedom a few months previous, and was now engaged asa kind of country merchant. She purchases provisions of the negroes, andcarries them to Kingston, where she exchanges them for pins, needles, thread, dry goods, and such articles as the apprentices need, which sheagain exchanges for provisions and money. 

Mr. Bourne informed us that real estate is much higher than beforeemancipation. He mentioned one "pen" which was purchased for eighteenhundred dollars a few years since. The owner had received nine hundreddollars as 'compensation' for freedom. It has lately been leased forseven years by the owner, for nine hundred dollars per year. 

A gentleman who owns a plantation in Mr. B. 's district, sold parcels ofland to the negroes before emancipation at five shillings per acre. Henow obtains twenty-seven shillings per acre. 

The house in which Mr. B. Resides was rented in 1833 for one hundred andfifty dollars. Mr. B. Engaged it on his arrival for three years, at twohundred and forty dollars per year. His landlord informed him a few dayssince, that on the expiration of his present lease, he should raise therent to three hundred and thirty dollars. 

Mr. B. Is acquainted with a gentleman of wealth, who has beenendeavoring for the last twelve months to purchase an estate in thisisland. He has offered high prices, but has as yet been unable to obtainone. Landholders have so much confidence in the value and security ofreal estate, that they do not wish to part with it. 

After our visit to Silver Hill, our attention was particularly turned tothe condition of the negro grounds. Most of them were very clean andflourishing. Large plats of the onion, of cocoa, plantain, banana, yam, potatoe, and other tropic vegetables, were scattered all around withinfive or six miles of a plantation. We were much pleased with theappearance of them during a ride on a Friday. In the forenoon, they hadall been vacant; not a person was to be seen in them; but after oneo'clock, they began gradually to be occupied, till, at the end of anhour, where-ever we went, we saw men, women, and children laboringindustriously in their little gardens. In some places, the hills totheir very summits were spotted with cultivation. Till Monday morningthe apprentices were free, and they certainly manifested a strongdisposition to spend that time in taking care of themselves. Thetestimony of the numerous apprentices with whom we conversed, was to thesame effect as our observation. They all testified that they were payingas much attention to their grounds as they ever did, but that theirprovisions had been cut short by the drought. They had their land allprepared for a new crop, and were only waiting for rain to put in theseed. Mr. Bourne corroborated their statement, and remarked, that henever found the least difficulty in procuring laborers. Could he havethe possession of the largest plantation in the island to-day, he had nodoubt that, within a week, he could procure free laborers enough tocultivate every acre. 

On one occasion, while among the mountains, we were impressed on a juryto sit in inquest on the body of a negro woman found dead on the highroad. She was, as appeared in evidence, on her return from the house ofcorrection, at Half-Way-Tree, where she had been sentenced for fourteendays, and been put on the treadmill. She had complained to some of heracquaintances of harsh treatment there, and said they had killed her, and that if she ever lived to reach home, she should tell all hermassa's negroes never to cross the threshold of Half-Way-Tree, as itwould kill them. The evidence, however, was not clear that she died inconsequence of such treatment, and the jury, accordingly, decided thatshe came to her death by some cause unknown to them. 

Nine of the jury were overseers, and if they, collected togetherindiscriminately on this occasion, were a specimen of those who havecharge of the apprentices in this island, they must be most degraded andbrutal men. They appeared more under the influence of low passions, moredegraded by sensuality, and but little more intelligent, than thenegroes themselves. Instead of possessing irresponsible power over theirfellows, they ought themselves to be under the power of the most strictand energetic laws. Our visits to the plantations, and inquiries on thispoint, confirmed this opinion. They are the 'feculum' of Europeansociety--ignorant, passionate, licentious. We do them no injustice whenwe say this, nor when we further add, that the apprentices suffer in ahundred ways which the law cannot reach, gross insults and oppressionfrom their excessive rapaciousness and lust. What must it have beenduring slavery?

We had some conversation with Cheny Hamilton, Esq. , one of the specialmagistrates for Port Royal. He is a colored man, and has held his officeabout eighteen months. There are three thousand apprentices in hisdistrict, which embraces sugar and coffee estates. The complaints arefew and of a very trivial nature. They mostly originate with theplanters. Most of the cases brought before him are for petty theft andabsence from work. 

In his district, cultivation was never better. The negroes are willingto work during their own time. His father-in-law is clearing up somemountain land for a coffee plantation, by the labor of apprentices fromneighboring estates. The seasons since emancipation have been bad. Theblacks cultivate their own grounds on their half Fridays and Saturdays, unless they can obtain employment from others. 

Nothing is doing by the planters for the education of the apprentices. Their only object is to get as much work out of them as possible. 

The blacks, so far as he has had opportunity to observe, are in everyrespect as quiet and industrious as they were before freedom. He said ifwe would compare the character of the complaints brought by theoverseers and apprentices against each other, we should see forourselves which party was the most peaceable and law-abiding. 

To these views we may here add those of another gentleman, with whom wehad considerable conversation about the same time. He is a proprietorand local magistrate, and was represented to us as a kind and humaneman. Mr. Bourne stated to us that he had not had six cases of complainton his plantation for the last twelve months. We give his most importantstatements in the following brief items:

1. He has had charge of estates in Jamaica since 1804. At one time hehad twelve hundred negroes under his control. He now owns a coffeeplantation, on which there are one hundred and ten apprentices, and isalso attorney for several others, the owners of which reside out ofthe island. 

2. His plantation is well cultivated and clean, and his people are asindustrious and civil as they ever were. He employs them during theirown time, and always finds them willing to work for him, unless theirown grounds require their attendance. Cultivation generally, through theisland, is as good as it ever was. Many of the planters, at thecommencement of the apprenticeship, reduced the quantity of landcultivated; he did not do so, but on the contrary is extending hisplantation. 

3. The crops this year are not so good as usual. This is no fault of theapprentices, but is owing to the bad season. 

4. The conduct of the apprentices depends very much on the conduct ofthose who have charge of them. If you find a plantation on which theoverseer is kind, and does common justice to the laborer, you will findthings going on well--if otherwise, the reverse. Those estates andplantations on which the proprietor himself resides, are most peaceableand prosperous. 

5. Real estate is more valuable than before emancipation. Property ismore secure, and capitalists are more ready to invest their funds. 

6. The result of 1840 is as yet doubtful. For his part, he has no fears. He doubts not he can cultivate his plantation as easily after thatperiod as before. He is confident he can do it cheaper. He thinks it notonly likely, but certain, that many of the plantations on which thepeople have been ill used, while slaves and apprentices, will beabandoned by the present laborers, and that they will never be workeduntil overseers are put over them who, instead of doing all they can toharass them, will soothe and conciliate them. The apprenticeship hasdone much harm instead of good in the way of preparing the blacks towork after 1840. 

A few days after our return from the mountains, we rode to Spanishtown, which is about twelve miles west of Kingston. Spanishtown is the seat ofgovernment, containing the various buildings for the residence of thegovernor, the meeting of the legislature, the session of the courts, androoms for the several officers of the crown. They are all strong andmassive structures, but display little architectural magnificenceor beauty. 

We spent nearly a day with Richard Hill, Esq. , the secretary of thespecial magistrates' department, of whom we have already spoken. He is acolored gentleman, and in every respect the noblest man, white or black, whom we met in the West Indies. He is highly intelligent, and of finemoral feelings. His manners are free and unassuming, and his language inconversation fluent and well chosen. He is intimately acquainted withEnglish and French authors, and has studied thoroughly the history andcharacter of the people with whom the tie of color has connected him. Hetravelled two years in Hayti, and his letters, written in a flowing andluxuriant style, as a son of the tropics should write, giving an accountof his observations and inquiries in that interesting island, werepublished extensively in England; and have been copied into theanti-slavery journals in this country. His journal will be given to thepublic as soon as his official duties will permit him to prepare it. Heis at the head of the special magistrates, (of which there are sixty inthe island, ) and all the correspondence between them and the governor iscarried on through him. The station he holds is a very important one, and the business connected with it is of a character and an extent that, were he not a man of superior abilities, he could not sustain. He ishighly respected by the government in the island, and at home, andpossesses the esteem of his fellow-citizens of all colors. He associateswith persons of the highest rank, dining and attending parties at thegovernment-house with all the aristocracy of Jamaica. We had thepleasure of spending an evening with him at the solicitor-general's. Though an African sun has burnt a deep tinge on him, he is truly one ofnature's noblemen. His demeanor is such, so dignified, yet bland andamiable, that no one can help respecting him. 

He spoke in the warmest terms of Lord Sligo, [A] the predecessor of SirLionel Smith, who was driven from the island by the machinations of theplanters and the enemies of the blacks. Lord Sligo was remarkable forhis statistical accuracy. Reports were made to him by the specialmagistrates every week. No act of injustice or oppression could escapehis indefatigable inquiries. He was accessible, and lent an open ear tothe lowest person in the island. The planters left no means untried toremove him, and unhappily succeeded. 

[Footnote A: When Lord Sligo visited the United States in the summer of1836, he spoke with great respect of Mr. Hill to Elizur Wright, Esq. , Corresponding Secretary of the American Anti-Slavery Society. Mr. Wrighthas furnished us with the following statement:--"Just before hislordship left this city for England, he bore testimony to ussubstantially as follows:--'When I went to Jamaica, Mr. Hill was aspecial magistrate. In a certain case he refused to comply with mydirections, differing from me in his interpretation of the law. Iinformed him that his continued non-compliance must result in hisremoval from office. He replied that his mind was made up as to the law, and he would not violate his reason to save his bread. Being satisfiedof the correctness of my own interpretation, I was obliged, of course, to remove him; but I was so forcibly struck with his manly independence, that I applied to the government for power to employ him as mysecretary, which was granted. And having had him as an _intimate of myfamily_ for several months, I can most cordially bear my testimony tohis trustworthiness, ability, and gentlemanly deportment. ' Lord Sligoalso added, that Mr. Hill was treated in his family in all respects asif he had not been colored, and that with no gentleman in the WestIndies was he, in social life, on terms of more intimate friendship. "]

The following items contain the principal information received from Mr. Hill:

1. The apprenticeship is a most vicious system, full of blunders andabsurdities, and directly calculated to set master and slave at war. 

2. The complaints against the apprentices are decreasing every month, _except, perhaps, complaints against mothers for absence from work, which he thinks are increasing_. The apprenticeship _law_ makes noprovision for the free children, and on most of the plantations andestates no allowance is given them, but they are thrown entirely forsupport on their parents, who are obliged to work the most and best partof their time for their masters unrewarded. The nurseries are broken up, and frequently the mothers are obliged to work in the fields with theirinfants at their backs, or else to leave them at some distance under theshade of a hedge or tree. Every year is making their condition worse andworse. The number of children is increasing, and yet the mothers arerequired, after their youngest child has attained the age of a fewweeks, to be at work the same number of hours as the men. Very littletime is given them to take care of their household. When they are tardythey are brought before the magistrate. 

A woman was brought before Mr. Hill a few days before we were there, charged with not being in the field till one hour after the rest of thegang. She had twins, and appeared before him with a child hanging oneach arm. What an eloquent defence! He dismissed the complaint. 

He mentioned another case, of a woman whose master resided inSpanishtown, but who was hired out by him to some person in the country. Her child became sick, but her employer refused any assistance. With itin her arms, she entreated aid of her master. The monster drove her andher dying little one into the street at night, and she sought shelterwith Mr. Hill, where her child expired before morning. For such horridcruelty as this, the apprenticeship law provides no remedy. The womanhad no claim for the support of her child, on the man who was receivingthe wages of her daily toil. That child was not worth a farthing to him, because it was no longer his _chattel_; and while the law gives himpower to rob the mother, it has no compulsion to make him supportthe child. 

3. The complaints are generally of the most trivial and frivolousnature. They are mostly against mothers for neglect of duty, and vaguecharges of insolence. There is no provision in the law to prevent themaster from using abusive language to the apprentice; any insult shortof a blow, he is free to commit; but the slightest word of incivility, alook, smile, or grin, is punished in the apprentice, even though itwere provoked. 

4. There is still much flogging by the overseers. Last week a girl cameto Mr. H. Terribly scarred and "slashed, " and complained that her masterhad beaten her. It appeared that this was the _seventh offence_, forneither of which she could obtain a hearing from the special magistratein her district. While Mr. H. Was relating to me this fact, a girl camein with a little babe in her arms. He called my attention to a largebruise near her eye. He said her master knocked her down a few dayssince, and made that wound by kicking her. 

Frequently when complaints of insolence are made, on investigation, itis found that the offence was the result of a quarrel commenced by themaster, during which he either cuffed or kicked the offender. 

The special magistrates also frequently resort to flogging. Many ofthem, as has been mentioned already, have been connected with the armyor navy, where corporal punishment is practised and flogging is not onlyin consonance with their feelings and habits, but is a punishment morebriefly inflicted and more grateful to the planters, as it does notdeprive them of the apprentice's time. 

5. Mr. H. Says that the apprentices who have purchased their freedombehave well. He has not known one of them to be brought beforethe police. 

6. Many of the special magistrates require much looking after. Theirsalaries are not sufficient to support them independently. Some of themleave their homes on Monday morning, and make the whole circuit of theirdistrict before returning, living and lodging meanwhile, _free ofexpense_, with the planters. If they are not inclined to listen to thecomplaints of the apprentices, they soon find that the apprentices arenot inclined to make complaints to them, and that they consequently havemuch more leisure time, and get through their district much easier. Ofthe sixty magistrates in Jamaica, but few can be said to discharge theirduties faithfully. The governor is often required to interfere. A fewweeks since he discharged two magistrates for putting iron collars ontwo women, in direct violation of the law, and then sending himfalse reports. 

7. The negro grounds are often at a great distance, five or six miles, and some of them fifteen miles, from the plantation. Of course muchtime, which would otherwise be spent in cultivating them, is necessarilyconsumed in going to them and returning. Yet for all that, and though inmany cases the planters have withdrawn the watchmen who used to protectthem, and have left them entirely exposed to thieves and cattle, theyare generally well cultivated--on the whole, better than during slavery. When there is inattention to them, it is caused either by some plantershiring them during their own time, or because their master permits hiscattle to trespass on them, and the people feel an insecurity. When youfind a kind planter, in whom the apprentices have confidence, there youwill find beautiful gardens. In not a few instances, where the overseeris particularly harsh and cruel, the negroes have thrown up their oldgrounds, and taken new ones on other plantations, where the overseer isbetter liked, or gone into the depths of the mountain forests, where nohuman foot has been before them, and there cleared up small plats. Thiswas also done to some extent during slavery. Many of the people, againstwhom the planters are declaiming as lazy and worthless, have richgrounds of which those planters little dream. 

8. There is no feeling of insecurity, either of life or property. Onemay travel through the whole island without the least fear of violence. If there is any danger, it is from the _emigrants_, who have been guiltyof several outrages. So far from the planters fearing violence from theapprentices, when an assault or theft is committed, they refer it, almost as a matter of course, to some one else. A few weeks ago one ofthe island mails was robbed. As soon as it became known, it was at oncesaid, "Some of those villanous emigrants did it, " and so indeedit proved. 

People in the country, in the midst of the mountains, where the whitesare few and isolated, sleep with their doors and windows open, without athought of being molested. In the towns there are no watchmen, and but asmall police, and yet the streets are quiet and property safe. 

9. The apprentices understand the great provisions of the new system, such as the number of hours they must work for their master, and thattheir masters have no right to flog them, &c. , but its details areinexplicable mysteries. The masters have done much injury by deceivingthem on points of which they were ignorant. 

10. The apprentices almost to a man are ready to work for wages duringtheir own time. When the overseer is severe towards them, they preferworking on other plantations, even for less wages, as is very natural. 

11. Almost all the evils of the apprenticeship arise from the obstinacyand oppressive conduct of the overseers. They are constantly takingadvantage of the defects of the system, which are many, and while theydemand to the last grain's weight "the pound of flesh, " they are utterlyunwilling to yield the requirements which the law makes of them. Whereyou find an overseer endeavoring in every way to overreach theapprentices, taking away the privileges which they enjoyed duringslavery, and exacting from them the utmost minute and mite of labor, there you will find abundant complaints both against the master and theapprentice. And the reverse. The cruel overseers are complaining ofidleness, insubordination, and ruin, while the kind master is moving onpeaceably and prosperously. 

12. The domestic apprentices have either one day, or fifty cents cash, each week, as an allowance for food and clothing. This is quiteinsufficient. Many of the females seem obliged to resort to theft or toprostitution to obtain a support. Two girls were brought before Mr. Hillwhile we were with him, charged with neglect of duty and night-walking. One of them said her allowance was too small, and she must get food insome other way or starve. 

13. The apprentices on many plantations have been deprived of severalprivileges which they enjoyed under the old system. Nurseries have beenabolished, water-carriers have been taken away, keeping stock isrestricted, if not entirely forbidden, watchmen are no longer providedto guard the negro grounds, &c. --petty aggressions in our eyes, perhaps, but severe to them. Another instance is still more hard. By the customof slavery, women who had reared up seven children were permitted to"sit down, " as it was termed; that is, were not obliged to go into thefield to work. Now no such distinction is made, but all are driven intothe field. 

14. One reason why the crops were smaller in 1835 and 1836 than informer years, was, that the planters in the preceding seasons, eitherfearful that the negroes would not take off the crops afteremancipation, and acting on their baseless predictions instead of facts, or determined to make the results of emancipation appear as disastrousas possible, neglected to put in the usual amount of cane, and to cleanthe coffee fields. As they refused to sow, of course they couldnot reap. 

15. The complaints against the apprentices generally are becoming fewerevery week, but the complaints against the masters are increasing bothin number and severity. One reason of this is, that the apprentices, onthe one hand, are becoming better acquainted with the new system, andtherefore better able to avoid a violation of its provisions, and arealso learning that they cannot violate these provisions with impunity;and, on the other hand, they are gaining courage to complain againsttheir masters, to whom they have hitherto been subjected by a fearcreated by the whips and dungeons, and nameless tortures of slavery. Another reason is, that the masters, as the term of the apprenticeshipshortens, and the end of their authority approaches nearer, are pressingtheir poor victims harder and harder, determined to extort from them allthey can, before complete emancipation rescues them for ever fromtheir grasp. 

While we were in conversation with Mr. Hill, Mr. Ramsay, one of thespecial magistrates for this parish, called in. He is a native ofJamaica, and has been educated under all the influences of West Indiasociety, but has held fast his integrity, and is considered the firmfriend of the apprentices. He confirmed every fact and opinion which Mr. Hill had given. He was even stronger than Mr. H. In his expressions ofdisapprobation of the apprenticeship. 

The day which we spent with Mr. Hill was one of those on which he holdsa special justice's court. There were only three cases of complaintbrought before him. 

The first was brought by a woman, attended by her husband, against herservant girl, for "impertinence and insubordination. " She took the oathand commenced her testimony with an abundance of vague charges. "She isthe most insolent girl I ever saw. She'll do nothing that she is told todo--she never thinks of minding what is said to her--she is sulky andsaucy, " etc. Mr. H. Told her she must be specific--he could not convictthe girl on such general charges--some particular acts must be proved. 

She became specific. Her charges were as follows:

1. On the previous Thursday the defendant was plaiting a shirt. Thecomplainant went up to her and asked her why she did not plait it as sheought, and not hold it in her hand as she did. Defendant replied, thatit was easier, and she preferred that way to the other. The complainantremonstrated, but, despite all she could say, the obstinate girlpersisted, and did it as she chose. The complainant granted that thework was done well, only it was not done in the way she desired. 

2. The same day she ordered the defendant to wipe up some tracks in thehall. She did so. While she was doing it, the mistress told her the roomwas very dusty, and reproved her for it. The girl replied, "Is itmorning?" (It is customary to clean the rooms early in the morning, andthe girl made this reply late in the afternoon, when sufficient time hadelapsed for the room to become dusty again. )

3. The girl did not wash a cloth clean which the complainant gave her, and the complainant was obliged to wash it herself. 

4. Several times when the complainant and her daughter have beenconversing together, this girl had burst into laughter--whether at themor their conversation, complainant did not know. 

5. When the complainant has reproved the defendant for not doing herwork well, she has replied, "Can't you let me alone to my work, and notworry my life out. "

A black man, a constable on the same property, was brought up to confirmthe charges. He knew nothing about the case, only that he often heardthe parties quarrelling, and sometimes had told the girl not to say anything, as she knew what her mistress was. 

It appeared in the course of the evidence, that the complainant and herhusband had both been in the habit of speaking disrespectfully of thespecial magistrate, stationed in their district, and that many of thecontentions arose out of that, as the girl sometimes defended him. 

While the accused was making her defence, which she did in a modest way, her mistress was highly enraged, and interrupted her several times, bycalling her a liar and a jade. The magistrate was two or three timesobliged to reprove her, and command her to be silent, and, so passionatedid she become, that her husband, ashamed of her, put his hand on hershoulder, and entreated her to be calm. 

Mr. Hill dismissed the complaint by giving some good advice to bothparties, much to the annoyance of the mistress. 

The second complaint was brought by a man against a servant girl, fordisobedience of orders, and insolence. It appears that she was ordered, at ten o'clock at night, to do some work. She was just leaving the houseto call on some friends, as she said, and refused. On being told by hermistress that she only wanted to go out for bad purposes, she replied, that "It was no matter--the allowance they gave her was not sufficientto support her, and if they would not give her more, she must get aliving any way she could, so she did not steal. " She was sentenced tothe house of correction for one week. 

The third case was a complaint against a boy for taking every alternateFriday and Saturday, instead of every Saturday, for allowance. He wasordered to take every Saturday, or to receive in lieu of it halfa dollar. 

Mr. Hill said these were a fair specimen of the character of thecomplaints that came before him. We were much pleased with the manner inwhich he presided in his court, the ease, dignity, and impartialitywhich he exhibited, and the respect which was shown him by all parties. 

In company with Mr. Hill, we called on Rev. Mr. Phillips, the Baptistmissionary, stationed at Spanishtown. Mr. P. Has been in the islandthirteen years. He regards the apprenticeship as a great amelioration ofthe old system of slavery, but as coming far short of the fullprivileges and rights of freedom, and of what it was expected to be. Itis beneficial to the missionaries, as it gives them access to theplantations, while before, in many instances, they were entirelyexcluded from them, and in all cases were much shackled in theiroperations. 

Mr. P. Has enlarged his chapel within the last fifteen months, so thatit admits several hundreds more than formerly. But it is now too small. The apprentices are much more anxious to receive religious instruction, and much more open to conviction, than when slaves. He finds a greatdifference now on different plantations. Where severity is used, as itstill is on many estates, and the new system is moulded as nearly aspossible on the old, the minds of the apprentices are apparently closedagainst all impressions, --but where they are treated with kindness, theyare warm in their affections, and solicitous to be taught. 

In connection with his church, Mr. P. Has charge of a large school. Thenumber present, when we visited it, was about two hundred. There was, tosay the least, as much manifestation of intellect and sprightliness aswe ever saw in white pupils of the same age. Most of the children wereslaves previous to 1834, and their parents are still apprentices. Several were pointed out to us who were not yet free, and attend only bypermission, sometimes purchased, of their master. The greater part livefrom three to five miles distant. Mr. P. Says he finds no lack ofinterest among the apprentices about education. He can find scholars foras many schools as he can establish, if he keeps himself unconnectedwith the planters. The apprentices are opposed to all schoolsestablished by, or in any way allied to, their masters. 

Mr. P. Says the planters are doing nothing to prepare the apprenticesfor freedom in 1840. They do not regard the apprenticeship asintermediate time for preparation, but as part of the _compensation_. Every day is counted, not as worth so much for education and moralinstruction, but as worth so much for digging cane-holes, and clearingcoffee fields. 

Mr. P. 's church escaped destruction during the persecution of theBaptists. The wives and connections of many of the colored soldiers hadtaken refuge in it, and had given out word that they would defend iteven against their own husbands and brothers, who in turn informed theirofficers that if ordered to destroy it, they should refuse at all peril. 

CHAPTER III. 

RESULTS OF ABOLITION. 

The actual working of the apprenticeship in Jamaica, was the specificobject of our investigations in that island. That it had not operated sohappily as in Barbadoes, and in most of the other colonies, was admittedby all parties. As to the _degree_ of its failure, we were satisfied itwas not so great as had been represented. There has been nothing of an_insurrectionary_ character since the abolition of slavery. The affairon Thornton's estate, of which an account is given in the precedingchapter, is the most serious disturbance which has occurred during theapprenticeship. The _fear_ of insurrection is as effectually dead inJamaica, as in Barbadoes--so long as the apprenticeship lasts. There hasbeen no _increase of crime_. The character of the negro population hasbeen gradually improving in morals and intelligence. Marriage hasincreased, the Sabbath is more generally observed, and religious worshipis better attended. Again, the apprentices of Jamaica have notmanifested any peculiar _defiance of law_. The most illiberalmagistrates testified that the people respected the law, when theyunderstood it. As it respects the _industry_ of the apprentices, thereare different opinions among the _planters_ themselves. Some admittedthat they were as industrious as before, and did as much work _inproportion to the time they were employed_. Others complained that they_lacked the power_ to compel industry, and that hence there was afalling off of work. The prominent evils complained of in Jamaica are, absconding from work, and insolence to masters. From the statements inthe preceding chapter, it may be inferred that many things are called bythese names, and severely punished, which are really innocent orunavoidable; however, it would not be wonderful if there were numerousinstances of both. Insolence is the legitimate fruit of theapprenticeship, which holds out to the apprentice, that he possesses therights of a man, and still authorizes the master to treat him as thoughhe were little better than a dog. The result must often be that theapprentice will repay insult with insolence. This will continue to existuntil either the former system of _absolute force_ is restored, or asystem of free compensated labor, with its powerful checks and balanceson both parties, is substituted. The prevalence and causes of the otheroffence--absconding from labor--will be noticed hereafter. 

The atrocities which are practised by the masters and magistrates, areappalling enough. It is probable that the actual condition of thenegroes in Jamaica, is but little if any better than it was duringslavery. The amount of punishment inflicted by the special magistrates, cannot fall much short of that usually perpetrated by the drivers. Inaddition to this, the apprentices are robbed of the _time_ allowed themby law, at the will of the magistrate, who often deprives them of it onthe slightest complaint of the overseer. The situation of the _freechildren_[A] is often very deplorable. The master feels none of thatinterest in them which he formerly felt in the children that were hisproperty, and consequently, makes no provision for them. They are thrownentirely upon their parents, who are _unable_ to take proper care ofthem, from the almost constant demands which the master makes upon theirtime. The condition of pregnant women, and nursing mothers, is_decidedly worse_ than it was during slavery. The privileges which theplanter felt it for his interest to grant these formerly, for _the sakeof their children_, are now withheld. The former are exposed to theinclemencies of the weather, and the hardships of toil--the latter arecruelly dragged away from their infants, that the master may not losethe smallest portion of time, --and _both_ are liable at any moment to beincarcerated in the dungeon, or strung up on the treadwheel. Inconsequence of the cruelties which are practised, the apprentices are ina _disaffected state_ throughout the island. 

[Footnote A: All children under _six years_ of age at the time ofabolition, were made entirely free. ]

In assigning the causes of the ill-working of the apprenticeship inJamaica, we would say in the commencement, that nearly all of them areembodied in the intrinsic defects of the system itself. These defectshave been exposed in a former chapter, and we need not repeat them here. The reason why the system has not produced as much mischief in all thecolonies as it has in Jamaica, is that the local circumstances in theother islands were not so adapted to develop its legitimate results. 

It is not without the most careful investigation of facts, that we haveallowed ourselves to entertain the views which we are now about toexpress, respecting the conduct of the planters and specialjustices--for it is to _them_ that we must ascribe the evils which existin Jamaica. We cheerfully accede to them all of palliation which may befound in the provocations incident to the wretched system ofapprenticeship. 

The causes of the difficulties rest chiefly with the _planters_. Theywere _originally_ implicated, and by their wily schemes they sooninvolved the special magistrates. The Jamaica planters, as a body, always violently opposed the abolition of slavery. Unlike the plantersin most of the colonies, they cherished their hostility _after the actof abolition_. It would seem that they had agreed with one accord, neverto become reconciled to the measures of the English government, and hadsworn eternal hostility to every scheme of emancipation. Whether thisresulted most from love for slavery or hatred of English interference, it is difficult to determine. If we were to believe the plantersthemselves, who are of the opposition, we should conclude that they werefar from being in favor of slavery--that they were "as much opposed toslavery, as any one can be[A]. " Notwithstanding this avowal, thetenacity with which the planters cling to the remnant of their power, shows an affection for it, of the strength of which they are notprobably themselves aware. 

[Footnote A: It seems to be the order of the day, with the oppositionparty in Jamaica, to disclaim all friendship with slavery. We noticedseveral instances of this in the island papers, which have been mosthostile to abolition. We quote the following sample from the RoyalGazette, (Kingston) for May 6, 1837. The editor, in an articlerespecting Cuba, says:

 "In writing this, one chief object is to arouse the attention of our own fellow-subjects, in this colony, to the situation--the dangerous situation--in which they stand, and to implore them to lend all their energies to avert the ruin that is likely to visit them, should America get the domination of Cuba. 

 The negroes of this and of all the British W. I. Colonies have been '_emancipated_. ' Cuba on the other hand is still a _slave country_. (Let not our readers imagine for one moment that we advocate the _continuance of slavery_, ") &c. ]

When public men have endeavored to be faithful and upright, they haveuniformly been abused, and even persecuted, by the planters. Thefollowing facts will show that the latter have not scrupled to resort tothe most dishonest and unmanly intrigues to effect the removal or tocircumvent the influence of such men. Neglect, ridicule, vulgar abuse, slander, threats, intimidation, misrepresentation, and legalprosecutions, have been the mildest weapons employed against those whoin the discharge of their sworn duties dared to befriend the oppressed. 

The shameful treatment of the late governor, Lord Sligo, illustratesthis. His Lordship was appointed to the government about the period ofabolition. Being himself a proprietor of estates in the island, andformerly chairman of the West India Body, he was received at first withthe greatest cordiality; but it was soon perceived that he was disposedto secure justice to the apprentices. From the accounts we received, wehave been led to entertain an exalted opinion of his integrity andfriendship for the poor. It was his custom (unprecedented in the WestIndies, ) to give a patient hearing to the poorest negro who might carryhis grievances to the government-house. After hearing the complaint, hewould despatch an order to the special magistrate of the district inwhich the complainant lived, directing him to inquire into the case. Bythis means he kept the magistrates employed, and secured redress to theapprentices to many cases where they would otherwise have beanneglected. 

The governor soon rendered himself exceedingly obnoxious to theplanters, and they began to manoeuvre for his removal, which, in a shorttime, was effected by a most flagitious procedure. The home government, disposed to humor their unruly colony, sent them a governor in whom theyare not likely to find any fault. The present governor, Sir LionelSmith, is the antipode of his predecessor in every worthy respect. Whenthe apprentices come to him with their complaints, he sends them backunheard, with curses on their heads. A distinguished gentleman in thecolony remarked of him that he _was a heartless military chieftain, whoruled without regard to mercy_. Of course the planters are full of hispraise. His late tour of the island was a _triumphal procession_, amidthe sycophantic greetings of oppressors. 

Several special magistrates have been suspended because of the faithfuldischarge of their duties. Among these was Dr. Palmer, an independentand courageous man. Repeated complaints were urged against him by theplanters, until finally Sir Lionel Smith appointed a commission toinquire into the grounds of the difficulty. 

"This commission consisted of two local magistrates, both of themplanters or managers of estates, and two stipendiary magistrates, thebias of one of whom, at least, was believed to be against Dr. Palmer. Atthe conclusion of their inquiry they summed up their report by sayingthat Dr. Palmer had administered the abolition law in the spirit of theEnglish abolition act, and in his administration of the law he hadadapted it more to the comprehension of freemen than to theunderstandings of apprenticed laborers. Not only did Sir Lionel Smithsuspend Dr. Palmer on this report, but the colonial office at home havedismissed him from his situation. "

The following facts respecting the persecution of Special JusticeBourne, illustrate the same thing. 

 "A book-keeper of the name of Maclean, on the estate of the Rev. M. Hamilton, an Irish clergyman, committed a brutal assault upon an old African. The attorney on the property refused to hear the complaint of the negro, who went to Stephen Bourne, a special magistrate. When Maclean was brought before him, he did not deny the fact; but said as the old man was not a Christian, his oath could not be taken! The magistrate not being able to ascertain the amount of injury inflicted upon the negro (whose head was dreadfully cut, ) but feeling that it was a case which required a greater penalty than three pounds sterling, the amount of punishment to which he was limited by the local acts, detained Maclean, and afterwards committed him to jail, and wrote the next day to the chief justice upon the subject. He was discharged as soon as a doctor's certificate was procured of the state of the wounded man, and bail was given for his appearance at the assizes. Maclean's trial came on at the assizes, and he was found guilty by a Jamaica Jury; he was severely reprimanded for his inhuman conduct and fined thirty pounds. The poor apprentice however got no remuneration for the severe injury inflicted upon him, and the special justice was prosecuted for false imprisonment, dragged from court to court, represented as an oppressor and a tyrant, subjected to four hundred pounds expenses in defending himself, and actually had judgment given against him for one hundred and fifty pounds damages. 

 Thus have the planters succeeded in pulling down every magistrate who ventures to do more than fine them three pounds sterling for any act of cruelty of which they may be guilty. On the other hand, there were two magistrates who were lately dismissed, through, I believe, the representation of Lord Sligo, for flagrant violations of the law in inflicting punishment; and in order to evince their sympathy for those men, the planters gave them a farewell dinner, and had actually set on foot a subscription, as a tribute of gratitude for their "Impartial" conduct in administering the laws, as special justices. Thus were two men, notoriously guilty of violations of law and humanity, publicly encouraged and protected, while Stephen Bourne, who according to the testimony of the present and late attorney-general had acted not only justly but _legally_, was suffering every species of persecution and indignity for so doing. "

Probably nothing could demonstrate the meanness of the artifices towhich the planters resort to get rid of troublesome magistrates betterthan the following fact. When the present governor, in making his tourof the island, came into St. Thomas in the East, some of the planters ofManchioneal district hired a negro constable on one of the estates to goto the governor and complain to him that Mr. Chamberlain encouraged theapprentices to be disorderly and idle. The negro went accordingly, butlike another Balaam, he prophesied _against his employers_. He stated tothe governor that the apprentices on the estate where he lived were lazyand wouldn't do right, _but he declared that it was not Mr. C. 's fault, for that he was not allowed to come on the estate!_

Having given such an unfavorable description of the mass of planters, itis but just to add that there are a few honorable exceptions. There aresome attorneys and overseers, who if they dared to face the alliedpowers of oppression, would act a noble part. But they are trammelled byan overpowering public sentiment, and are induced to fall in very muchwith the prevailing practices. One of this class, an attorney ofconsiderable influence, declined giving us his views in writing, statingthat his situation and the state of public sentiment must be hisapology. An overseer who was disposed to manifest the most liberalbearing towards his apprentices, and who had directions from theabsentee proprietor to that effect, was yet effectually prevented by hisattorney, who having several other estates under his charge, was fearfulof losing them, if he did not maintain the same severe disciplineon all. 

The special magistrates are also deeply implicated in causing thedifficulties existing under the apprenticeship. They are incessantlyexposed to multiplied and powerful temptations. The persecution whichthey are sure to incur by a faithful discharge of their duties, hasalready been noticed. It would require men of unusual sternness ofprinciple to face so fierce an array. Instead of being _independent_ ofthe planters, their situation is in every respect totally the reverse. Instead of having a central office or station-house to hold their courtsat, as is the case in Barbadoes, they are required to visit each estatein their districts. They have a circuit from forty to sixty miles tocompass every fortnight, or in some cases three times every month. Onthese tours they are absolutely dependent upon the hospitality of theplanters. None but men of the "sterner stuff" could escape, (to use thenegro's phrase) _being poisoned by massa's turtle soup. _ The _character_of the men who are acting as magistrates is thus described by a colonialmagistrate of high standing and experience. 

"The special magistracy department is filled with the most worthlessmen, both domestic and imported. It was a necessary qualification of theformer to possess no property; hence the most worthless vagabonds on theisland were appointed. The latter were worn out officers and dissipatedrakes, whom the English government sent off here in order to get rid ofthem. " As a specimen of the latter kind, this gentleman mentioned one(special Justice Light) who died lately from excessive dissipation. Hewas constantly drunk, and the only way in which to get him to do anybusiness was to take him on to an estate in the evening so that he mightsleep off his intoxication, and then the business was brought before himearly the next morning, before he had time to get to his cups. 

It is well known that many of the special magistrates are totallyunprincipled men, monsters of cruelty, lust, and despotism. As a resultof natural character in many cases, and of dependence upon planters inmany more, the great mass of the special justices are a disgrace totheir office, and to the government which commissioned them. Out ofsixty, the number of special justices in Jamaica, there are not morethan fifteen, or twenty at farthest, who are not the merest tools of theattorneys and overseers. Their servility was graphically hit off by theapprentice. "If busha say flog em, he flog em; if busha say send them tothe treadmill, he send em. " If an apprentice laughs or sings, and thebusha represents it to the magistrate as insolence, he _feels it hisduty_ to make an example of the offender!

The following fact will illustrate the injustice of the magistrates. Itwas stated in writing by a missionary. We conceal all names, incompliance with the request of the writer. "An apprentice belonging to---- in the ---- was sent to the treadmill by special justice G. He wasordered to go out and count the sheep, as he was able to count higherthan some of the field people, although a house servant from hisyouth--I may say childhood. Instead of bringing in the tally cut upon apiece of board, as usual, he wrote the number eighty upon a piece ofpaper. When the overseer saw it, he would scarcely believe that any ofhis people could write, and ordered a piece of coal to be brought andmade him write it over again; the next day he turned him into the field, but unable to perform the task (to hoe and weed one hundred coffee rootsdaily) with those who had been accustomed to field work all their lives, he was tried for neglect of duty, and sentenced to fourteen days on thetreadmill!"

We quote the following heart-rending account from the Telegraph, (Spanishtown, ) April 28, 1837. It is from a Baptist missionary. 

 "I see something is doing in England to shorten the apprenticeship system. I pray God it may soon follow its predecessor--slavery, for it is indeed slavery under a less disgusting name. Business lately (December 23) called me to Rodney Hall; and while I was there, a poor old negro was brought in for punishment. I heard the fearful vociferation, 'twenty stripes. ' 'Very well; here ----, put this man down. ' I felt as I cannot describe; yet I thought, as the supervisor was disposed to be civil, my presence might tend to make the punishment less severe than it usually is--but I was disappointed. I inquired into the crime for which such an old man could be so severely punished, and heard various accounts. I wrote to the magistrate who sentenced him to receive it; and after many days I got the following reply. "

 "_Logan Castle, Jan. 9, 1836. _

 Sir--In answer to your note of the 4th instant, I beg leave to state, that ---- ----, an apprentice belonging to ---- ----, was brought before me by Mr. ----, his late overseer, charged upon oath with continual neglect of duty and disobedience of orders as cattle-man, and also for stealing milk--was convicted, and sentenced to receive twenty stripes. So far from the punishment of the offender being severe, he was not ordered one half the number of stripes provided for such cases by the abolition act--if he received more than that number, or if those were inflicted with undue severity, I shall feel happy in making every inquiry amongst the authorities at Rodney Hall institution. 

 I remain, sir, yours, truly, T. W. JONES, S. M. "

'Rev. J. Clarke, &c. , &c. '

From Mr. Clarke's reply, we make the following extract:

 "_Jericho, January 19, 1836. _

 Sir--I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 9th instant. 

 Respecting the punishment of ---- ----, I still adhere to the opinion I before expressed, that, for an old man of about sixty years of age, the punishment was severe. To see a venerable old man tied as if to be broken on the wheel, and cut to the bone by the lash of an athletic driver--writhing and yelling under the most exquisite torture, were certainly circumstances sufficiently strong to touch the heart of any one possessed of the smallest degree of common humanity. The usual preparations being made, the old man quietly stripped off his upper garments, and lay down upon the board--he was then tied by his legs, middle, above the elbows, and at each wrist. Mr. ---- then called out to the driver, 'I hope you will do your duty--he is not sent here for nothing. ' At the first lash the skin started up; and at the third, the blood began to flow; ere the driver had given ten, the cat was covered with gore; and he stopped to change it for a dry one, which appeared to me somewhat longer than the first. When the poor tortured creature had received sixteen, his violent struggles enabled him to get one of his hands loose, which he put instantly to his back--the driver stopped to retie him, and then proceeded to give the remaining four. The struggles of the poor old man from the first lash bespoke the most extreme torture; and his cries were to me most distressing. 'Oh! oh! mercy! mercy! mercy! oh! massa! massa! dat enough--enough! oh, enough! O, massa, have pity! O, massa! massa! dat enough--enough! Oh, never do de like again--only pity me--forgive me dis once! oh! pity! mercy! mercy! oh! oh!' were the cries he perpetually uttered. I shall remember them while I live; and would not for ten thousand worlds have been the cause of producing them. It was some minutes after he was loosed ere he could rise to his feet, and as he attempted to rise, he continued calling out, 'My back! oh! my back! my back is broken. ' A long time he remained half-doubled, the blood flowing round his body; 'I serve my master, ' said the aged sufferer, 'at all times; get no Saturday, no Sunday; yet this is de way dem use me. '

 With such planters, and such magistrates to play into their hands, is it to be wondered at that the apprentices do badly? Enough has been said, we think, to satisfy any candid person as to the _causes of the evils in Jamaica_. If any thing further were needed, we might speak of the peculiar facilities which these men have for perpetrating acts of cruelty and injustice. The major part of the island is exceedingly mountainous, and a large portion of the sugar estates, and most of the coffee plantations, are among the mountains. These estates are scattered over a wide extent of country, and separated by dense forests and mountains, which conceal each plantation from the public view almost as effectually as though it were the only property on the island. The only mode of access to many of the estates in the mountainous districts, is by mule paths winding about, amid fastnesses, precipices, and frightful solitudes. In those lone retirements, on the mountain top, or in the deep glen by the side of the rocky rivers, the traveller occasionally meets with an estate. Strangers but rarely intrude upon those little domains. They are left to the solitary sway of the overseers dwelling amid their "gangs, " and undisturbed, save by the weekly visitations of the special magistrates. While the traveller is struck with the facilities for the perpetration of those enormities which must have existed there during slavery; he is painfully impressed also with the numerous opportunities which are still afforded for oppressing the apprentices, particularly where the special magistrates are not honest men. [A]

[Footnote A: From the nature of the case, it must be impossible to knowhow much actual flogging is perpetrated by the overseers. We mightsafely conjecture that there must be a vast deal of it that never comesto the light. Such is the decided belief of many of the first men in theisland. The planters, say they, flog their apprentices, and then, toprevent their complaining to the magistrate, threaten them with severepunishment, or bribe them to silence by giving them a few shillings. Theattorney-general mentioned an instance of the latter policy. A plantergot angry with one of his head men, who was a constable, and knocked himdown. The man started off to complain to the special magistrate. Themaster called him back, and told him he need not go to themagistrate--that he was constable, and had a right to fine him himself. "Well, massa, " said the negro, "I fine you five shillings on de spot. "The master was glad to get off with that--the magistrate would probablyhave fined him £5 currency. ]

 In view of the local situation of Jamaica--the violent character of its planters--and the inevitable dependency of the magistrates, it is very manifest _that immediate emancipation was imperatively demanded there_. In no other colony did the negroes require to be more _entirely released from the tyranny of the overseers, or more thoroughly shielded by the power of equal law_. This is a principle which must hold good always--that where slavery has been most rigorous and absolute, there emancipation, needs to be most unqualified; and where the sway of the master has been _most despotic, cruel, and_ LONG CONTINUED, there the protection of law should be most SPEEDILY _extended and most impartially applied_. "[B]

[Footnote B: Since the above was written we have seen a copy of amessage sent by Sir Lionel Smith, to the house of assembly of Jamaica, on the 3d November, 1837, in which a statement of the deprivations ofthe apprentices, is officially laid before the house. We make thefollowing extract from it, which contains, to use his Excellency'slanguage, "the principal causes, as has been found by the records of thespecial magistrates, of complaints among the apprentices; and ofconsequent collisions between the planters and magistrates. "

 "Prudent and humane planters have already adopted what is recommended, and their properties present the good working of this system in peace and industry, without their resorting to the authority of the special magistrates; but there are other properties where neither the law of the apprenticeship nor the usages of slavery have been found sufficient to guard the rights of the apprentices. 

 First, the magistrates' reports show that on some estates the apprentices have been deprived of cooks and water-carriers while at work in the field--thus, the time allowed for breakfast, instead of being a period of rest, is one of continual labor, as they have to seek for fuel and to cook. The depriving them of water-carriers is still more injurious, as the workmen are not allowed to quit their rows to obtain it. Both these privations are detrimental to the planter's work. Second, a law seems wanting to supply the estates' hospitals with sufficient attendants on the sick apprentices, as well as for the supply of proper food, as they cannot depend on their own grounds, whilst unable to leave the hospitals. The first clause of the abolition law has not been found strong enough to secure these necessary attentions to the sick. Third, in regard to jobbers, more exposed to hardships than any other class. A law is greatly required allowing them the distance they may have to walk to their work, at the rate of three miles an hour, and for compelling the parties hiring them to supply them with salt food and meal; their grounds are oftentimes so many miles distant, it is impossible for them to supply themselves. Hence constant complaints and irregularities. Fourth, that mothers of six children and upwards, pregnant women, and the aged of both sexes, would be greatly benefited by a law enforcing the kind treatment which they received in slavery, but which is now considered optional, or is altogether avoided on many properties. Fifth, nothing would tend more to effect general contentment and repress the evils of comparative treatment, than the issue of fish as a right by law. It was an indulgence in slavery seldom denied, but on many properties is now withheld, or given for extra labor instead of wages. Sixth, his Excellency during the last sessions had the honor to address a message to the house for a stronger definition of working time. The clause of the act in aid expressed that it was the intention of the legislature to regulate 'uniformity' of labor, but in practice there is still a great diversity of system. The legal adviser of the crown considers the clause active and binding; the special magistrate cannot, therefore, adjudicate on disputes of labor under the eight hour system, and the consequences have been continual complaints and bickerings between the magistrates and managers, and discontent among the apprentices by comparison of the advantages which one system presents over the other. Seventh, if your honorable house would adopt some equitable fixed principle for the value of apprentices desirous of purchasing their discharge, either by ascertained rates of weekly labor, or by fixed sums according to their trade or occupation, which should not be exceeded, and allowing the deduction of one third from the extreme value for the contingencies of maintenance, clothing, medical aid, risk of life, and health, it would greatly tend to set at rest one cause of constant disappointment. In proportion as the term of apprenticeship draws to a close, THE DEMANDS FOR THE SALE OF SERVICES HAVE GREATLY INCREASED. It is in the hope that the honorable house will be disposed to enforce a more general system of equal treatment, that his Excellency now circumstantially represents what have been the most common causes of complaint among the apprentices, and why the island is subject to the reproach that the negroes, in some respects, are now in a worse condition than they were in slavery. "]

We heard frequent complaints in Jamaica respecting the falling off ofthe crops since abolition. In order that the reader may know the extentof the failure in the aggregate island crops, we have inserted in theappendix a table showing the "exports for fifty-three years, ending 31stDecember, 1836, condensed from the journals of the House. "

By the disaffected planters, the diminished crops were hailed as "anevident token of perdition. " They had foretold that abolition would bethe ruin of cultivation, they had maintained that sugar, coffee, rum, &c. , could not be produced extensively without the _whip of slavery_, and now they exultingly point to the short crops and say, "See theresults of abolition!" We say exultingly, for a portion of the plantersdo really seem to rejoice in any indication of ruin. Having staked theirreputation as prophets against their credit as colonists and theirinterests as men, they seem happy in the establishment of the former, even though it be by the sacrifice of the latter. Said an intelligentgentleman in St. Thomas in the East, "The planters have _set theirhearts upon_ ruin, and they will be sorely disappointed if it shouldnot come. "

Hearing so much said concerning the diminution of the crops, we sparedno pains to ascertain the _true causes_. We satisfied ourselves that thecauses were mainly two. 

First. The prevailing impression that the negroes would not _work well_after the abolition of slavery, led many planters to throw a part oftheir land out of cultivation, in 1834. This is a fact which waspublished by Lord Sligo, in an official account which he gave shortlybefore leaving Jamaica, of the working of the apprenticeship. Theoverseer of Belvidere estate declared that he knew of many cases inwhich part of the land usually planted in canes was thrown up, owing tothe general expectation that _much less work_ would be done afterabolition. He also mentioned one attorney _who ordered all the estatesunder his charge to be thrown out of cultivation_ in 1834, so confidentwas he that the negroes would not work. The name of this attorney wasWhite. Mr. Gordon, of Williamsfield, stated, that the quantity of landplanted in cane, in 1834, was considerably less than the usual amount:on some estates it was less by twenty, and on others by forty acres. Nowif such were the fact in the Parish of St. Thomas in the East, wheregreater confidence was felt probably than in any other parish, we have aclue by which we may conjecture (if indeed we were left to conjecture)to what extent the cultivation was diminished in the island generally. This of itself would satisfactorily account for the falling off in thecrops--which at most is not above one third. Nor would this explain thedecrease in '34 _only_, for it is well known among sugar planters that aneglect of planting, either total or partial, for one year, will affectthe crops for two or three successive years. 

The other cause of short crops has been the _diminished amount of timefor labor_. One fourth of the time now belongs to the laborers, and theyoften prefer to employ it in cultivating their provision grounds andcarrying their produce to market. Thus the estate cultivation isnecessarily impeded. This cause operates very extensively, particularlyon two classes of estates: those which lie convenient to market places, where the apprentices have strong inducements to cultivate theirgrounds, and those (more numerous still) which _have harsh overseers_, to whom the apprentices are averse to hire their time--in which casesthey will choose to work for neighboring planters, who are better men. We should not omit to add here, that owing to a singular fact, thefalling off of the crops _appears_ greater than it really has been. Welearned from the most credible sources that _the size of the hogsheads_had been considerably enlarged since abolition. Formerly they contained, on an average, eighteen hundred weight, now they vary from a ton totwenty-two hundred! As the crops are estimated by the number ofhogsheads, this will make a material difference. There were two reasonsfor enlarging in the hogsheads, --one was, to lessen the amount ofcertain port charges in exportation, which were made _by the hogshead_;the other, and perhaps the principal, was to create some foundation inappearance for the complaint that the crops had failed because ofabolition. 

While we feel fully warranted in stating these as the chief causes ofthe diminished crops, we are at the same time disposed to admit that theapprenticeship is in itself exceedingly ill calculated either toencourage or to compel industry. We must confess that we have no specialzeal to vindicate this system from its full share of blame; but we arerather inclined to award to it every jot and tittle of the dishonoredinstrumentality which it has had in working mischief to the colony. However, in all candor, we must say, that we can scarcely check therisings of exultation when we perceive that this party-fangledmeasure--this offspring of old Slavery in her dying throes, _which wasexpressly designed as a compensation to the proprietor_, HAS ACTUALLYDIMINISHED HIS ANNUAL RETURNS BY ONE THIRD! So may it ever be withlegislation which is based on _iniquity and robbery!_

But the subject which excites the deepest interest in Jamaica _is theprobable consequences of entire emancipation in 1840_. The most commonopinion among the prognosticators of evil is, that the emancipatednegroes will abandon the cultivation of all the staple products, retireto the woods, and live in a state of semi-barbarism; and as aconsequence, the splendid sugar and coffee estates must be "thrown up, "and the beautiful and fertile island of Jamaica become a waste howlingwilderness. 

The _reasons_ for this opinion consist in part of naked assumptions, andin part of inferences from _supposed_ facts. The assumed reasons aresuch as these. The negroes will not cultivate the cane _without thewhip_. How is this known? Simply because _they never have_, to any greatextent, in Jamaica. Such, it has been shown, was the opinion formerly inBarbadoes, but it has been forever exploded there by experiment. Again, the negroes are _naturally improvident_, and will never have enoughforesight to work steadily. What is the evidence of _natural_improvidence in the negroes? Barely this--their carelessness in a stateof slavery. But that furnishes no ground at all for judging of _natural_character, or of the developments of character under a _totallydifferent system_. If it testifies any thing, it is only this, that thenatural disposition of the negroes is not always _proof_ against thedegenerating influences of slavery. [A] Again, the actual wants of thenegroes are very few and easily supplied, and they will undoubtedlyprefer going into the woods where they can live almost without labor, totoiling in the hot cane fields or climbing the coffee mountains. Butthey who urge this, lose sight of the fact that the negroes areconsiderably civilized, and that, like other civilized people, they willseek for more than supply for the necessities of the rudest state ofnature. Their wants are already many, even in the degraded condition ofslaves; is it probable that they will be satisfied with _fewer of thecomforts and luxuries of civilized life_, when they are elevated to thesphere, and feel the self-respect and dignity of freemen? But let usnotice some of the reasons which profess to be _founded on fact_. Theymay all be resolved into two, _the laziness of negroes, and theirtendency to barbarism_. 

[Footnote A: Probably in more instances than the one recorded in theforegoing chapter, the improvidence of the negroes is inferred fromtheir otherwise unaccountable preference in walking six or ten miles tochapel, rather than to work for a maccaroni a day. ]

i. They _now_ refuse to work on Saturdays, even with wages. On thisassertion we have several remarks to make. 

1. ) It is true only to a partial extent. The apprentices on manyestates--whether a majority or not it is impossible to say--do work fortheir masters on Saturdays, when their services are called for. 

2. ) They often refuse to work on the estates, because they can earnthree or four times as much by cultivating their provision grounds andcarrying their produce to market. The ordinary day's wages on an estateis a quarter of a dollar, and where the apprentices are convenientlysituated to market, they can make from seventy-five cents to a dollar aday with their provisions. 

3. ) The overseers are often such overbearing and detestable men, thatthe apprentices doubtless feel it a great relief to be freed from theircommand on Saturday, after submitting to it compulsorily for five daysof the week. 

2. Another fact from which the laziness of the negroes is inferred, istheir _neglecting their provision grounds_. It is said that they havefallen off greatly to their attention to their grounds, since theabolition of slavery. This fact does not comport very well with thecomplaint, that the apprentices cultivate their provision grounds to theneglect of the estates. But both assertions may be true under oppositecircumstances. On those estates which are situated near the market, provisions will be cultivated; on those which are remote from themarket, provisions will of course be partially neglected, and it will bemore profitable to the apprentices to work on the estates at a quarterof a dollar per day, raising only enough provisions for their own use. But we ascertained another circumstance which throws light on thispoint. The negroes expect, after emancipation, to _lose their provisiongrounds_; many expect certainly to be turned off by their masters, andmany who have harsh masters, intend to leave, and seek homes on otherestates, and _all_ feel a great uncertainty about their situation after1840; and consequently they can have but little encouragement tovigorous and extended cultivation of their grounds. Besides this, thereare very many cases in which the apprentices of one estate cultivateprovision grounds on another estate, where the manager is a man in whomthey have more confidence than they have in their own "busha. " They, ofcourse, in such cases, abandon their former grounds, and consequentlyare charged with neglecting them through laziness. 

3. Another alleged fact is, that _actually less work_ is done now thanwas done during slavery. The argument founded on this fact is this:there is less work done under the apprenticeship than was done duringslavery: therefore _no work at all_ will be done after entire freedom!But the apprenticeship allows _one fourth less time_ for labor thanslavery did, and presents no inducement, either compulsory orpersuasive, to continued industry. Will it be replied that emancipationwill take away _all_ the time from labor, and offer no encouragement_but to idleness_? How is it now? Do the apprentices work better orworse during their own time when they are paid? Better, unquestionably. What does this prove? That freedom will supply both the time and theinducement to the most vigorous industry. 

The _other reason_ for believing that the negroes will abandonestate-labor after entire emancipation, is their _strong tendency tobarbarism!_ And what are the facts in proof of this? We know but one. 

We heard it said repeatedly that the apprentices were not willing tohave their free children educated--that they had pertinaciously declinedevery offer of the _bushas_ to educate their children, and _this_, itwas alleged, evinced a determination on the part of the negroes toperpetuate ignorance and barbarism among their posterity. We heard fromno less than four persons of distinction in St. Thomas in the East, thefollowing curious fact. It was stated each time for the double purposeof proving that the apprentices did not wish to have their children_learn to work_, and that they were opposed to their _receivingeducation_. A company of the first-gentlemen of that parish, consistingof the rector of the parish, the custos, the special magistrate, anattorney, and member of the assembly, etc. , had mustered in imposingarray, and proceeded to one of the large estates in the Plantain GardenRiver Valley, and there having called the apprentices together, made thefollowing proposals to them respecting their free children, the rectoracting as spokesman. The attorney would provide a teacher for theestate, and would give the children four hours' instruction daily, ifthe parents would _bind them to work_ four hours every day; the attorneyfurther offered to pay for all medical attendance the children shouldrequire. The apprentices, after due deliberation among themselves, unanimously declined this proposition. It was repeatedly urged uponthem, and the advantages it promised were held up to them; but theypersisted in declining it wholly. This was a great marvel to theplanters; and they could not account for it in any other way than bysupposing that the apprentices were opposed both to labor and education, and were determined that their free children should grow up in ignoranceand indolence! Now the true reason why the apprentices rejected thisproposal was, _because it came from the planters_, in whom they have noconfidence. They suspected that some evil scheme was hid under the fairpretence of benevolence; the design of the planters, as they firmlybelieved, was to get their _free children bound to them_, so that theymight continue to keep them in a species of apprenticeship. This wasstated to us, as the real ground of the rejection, by severalmissionaries, who gave the best evidence that it was so; viz. That atthe same time that the apprentices declined the offer, they would sendtheir free children _six or eight miles to a school taught by amissionary_. We inquired particularly of some of the apprentices, towhom this offer was made, why they did not accept it. They said thatthey could not trust their masters; the whole design of it was to getthem to give up their children, and if they should give them up _but fora single month_, it would be the same as acknowledging that they (theparents) were not able to take care of them themselves. The busha wouldthen send word to the Governor that the people had given up theirchildren, not being able to support them, and the Governor would havethe children bound to the busha, "and _then_, " said they, "_we mightwhistle for our children_!" In this manner the apprentices, the_parents_, reasoned. They professed the greatest anxiety to have theirchildren educated, but they said they could have no confidence in thehonest intentions of their busha. 

The views given above, touching the results of entire emancipation in1840, are not unanimously entertained even among the planters, and theyare far from prevailing to any great extent among other classes of thecommunity. The missionaries, as a body, a portion of the specialmagistrates, and most of the intelligent free colored people, anticipateglorious consequences; they hail the approach of 1840, as a deliverancefrom the oppressions of the apprenticeship, and its train ofdisaffections, complaints and incessant disputes. They say they havenothing to fear--nor has the island any thing to fear, but every thingto hope, from entire emancipation. We subjoin a specimen of thereasoning of the minority of the planters. They represent the idea thatthe negroes will abandon the estates, and retire to the woods, as wildand absurd in the extreme. They say the negroes have a great regard forthe comforts which they enjoy on the estates; they are strongly attachedto their houses and little furniture, and their provision grounds. Theseare as much to them as the 'great house' and the estate are to theirmaster. Besides, they have very _strong local attachments_, and thesewould bind them to the properties. These planters also argue, from _thegreat willingness_ of the apprentices now to work for money, duringtheir own time, that they will not be likely to relinquish labor whenthey are to get wages for the whole time. There was no doubt much truthin the remark of a planter in St. Thomas in the East, that if _any_estates were abandoned by the negroes after 1840, it would be thosewhich had harsh managers, and those which are so mountainous andinaccessible, or barren, that they _ought_ to be abandoned. It was thedeclaration of a _planter_, that entire emancipation would _regenerate_the island of Jamaica. 

 * * * * *

We now submit to the candid examination of the American, especially theChristian public, the results of our inquiries in Antigua, Barbadoes, and Jamaica. The deficiency of the narrative in ability and interest, weare sure is neither the fault of the subject nor of the materials. Couldwe have thrown into vivid forms a few only of the numberless incidentsof rare beauty which thronged our path--could we have imparted to pagesthat freshness and glow, which invested the institutions of freedom, just bursting into bloom over the late wastes of slavery--could we, infine, have carried our readers amid the scenes which we witnessed, andthe sounds which we heard, and the things which we handled, we shouldnot doubt the power and permanence of the impression produced. It is dueto the cause, and to the society under whose commission we acted, frankly to state, that we were not selected on account of any peculiarqualifications for the work. As both of us were invalids, and compelledto fly from the rigors of an American winter, it was believed that wemight combine the improvement of health, with the prosecution ofimportant investigations, while abler men could thus be retained in thefield at home; but we found that the unexpected abundance of materialsrequires the strongest health and powers of endurance. We regret to add, that the continued ill health of both of us, since our return, soserious in the case of one, as to deprive him almost wholly ofparticipation in the preparation of the work, has necessarily, delayedits appearance, and rendered its execution more imperfect. 

We lay no claim to literary merit. To present as simple narrative offacts, has been our sole aim. We have not given the results of ourpersonal observations merely, or chiefly, nor have we made a record ofprivate impressions or idle speculations. _Well authenticated facts_, accompanied with the testimony, verbal and documentary, of public men, planters, and other responsible individuals, make up the body of thevolume, as almost every page will show. That no statements, iferroneous, might escape detection and exposure, we have, in nearly everycase, given the _names_ of our authorities. By so doing we may havesubjected ourselves to the censure of those respected gentlemen, withwhose names we have taken such liberty. We are assured, however, thattheir interest in the cause of freedom will quite reconcile them to whatotherwise might be an unpleasant personal publicity. 

Commending our narrative to the blessing of the God of truth, and theRedeemer of the oppressed, we send it forth to do its part, howeverhumble, toward the removal of slavery from our beloved butguilty country. 

APPENDIX. 

We have in our possession a number of official documents from gentlemen, officers of the government, and variously connected with itsadministration, in the different islands which we visited: some ofthese--such as could not be conveniently incorporated into the body ofthe work--we insert in the form of an appendix. To insert them _all_, would unduly increase the size of the present volume. Those not embodiedin this appendix, will be published in the periodicals of the AmericanAnti-Slavery Society. 

 * * * * *

OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION FROM E. B. LYON, ESQ. , SPECIAL MAGISTRATE. 

_Jamaica, Hillingdon, near Falmouth, Trelawney, May 15, 1837_. 

TO J. H. KIMBALL. , ESQ. , and J. A. THOME, ESQ. 

DEAR SIRS, --Of the operation of the apprenticeship system in thisdistrict, from the slight opportunity I have had of observing theconduct of managers and apprentices, I could only speak conjecturally, and my opinions, wanting the authority of experience, would be of littleservice to you; I shall therefore confine the remarks I have to make, tothe operation of the system in the district from which I havelately removed. 

I commenced my duties in August, 1834, and from the paucity of specialmagistrates at that eventful era, I had the superintendence of a mostextensive district, comprising nearly one half of the populous parish ofSt. Thomas in the East, and the whole of the parish of St. David, embracing an apprentice population of nearly eighteen thousand, --incharge of which I continued until December, when I was relieved of St. David, and in March, 1835, my surveillance was confined to that portionof St. Thomas in the East, consisting of the coffee plantations in theBlue Mountains, and the sugar estates of Blue Mountain Valley, overwhich I continued to preside until last March, a district containing apopulation of four thousand two hundred and twenty-seven apprentices, ofwhich two thousand eighty-seven were males, and two thousand one hundredand forty, females. The apprentices of the Blue Mountain Valley were, atthe period of my assumption of the duties of a special magistrate, themost disorderly in the island. They were greatly excited, and almostdesperate from disappointment, in finding their trammels under the newlaw, nearly as burdensome as under the old, and their condition, in manyrespects, much more intolerable. They were also extremely irritated atwhat they deemed an attempt upon the part of their masters to rob themof one of the greatest advantages they had been led to believe the newlaw secured to them--this was the half of Friday. Special JusticeEverard, who went through the district during the first two weeks ofAugust, 1834, and who was the first special justice to read and explainthe new law to them, had told them that the law gave to them the extrafour and a half hours on the Friday, and some of the proprietors andmanagers, who were desirous of preparing their people for the comingchange, had likewise explained it so; but, most unfortunately, thegovernor issued a proclamation, justifying the masters in withholdingthe four and a half hours on that day, and substituting any other halfday, or by working them eight hours per day, they might deprive themaltogether of the advantage to be derived from the extra time, which, bythe abolition of Sunday marketing, was almost indispensable to peoplewhose grounds, in some instances, were many miles from theirhabitations, and who were above thirty miles from Kingston market, whereprices were fifty per cent. More than the country markets in their favorfor the articles they had to dispose of, and correspondingly lower forthose they had to purchase. To be in time for which market, it wasnecessary to walk all Friday night, so that without the use of theprevious half day, they could not procure their provisions, or preparethemselves for it. The deprivation of the half of Friday was therefore aserious hardship to them, and this, coupled to the previous assurance oftheir masters, and Special Justice Everard, that they were entitled toit, made them to suspect a fraud was about being practised on them, which, if they did not resist, would lead to the destruction of theremaining few privileges they possessed. The resistance was verygeneral, but without violence; whole gangs leaving the fields on theafternoon of Friday; refusing to take any other afternoon, and sometimesleaving the estates for two or three days together. They fortunately hadconfidence in me--and I succeeded in restoring order, and all would havebeen well, --but the managers, no longer alarmed by the fear of rebellionor violence, began a system of retaliation and revenge, by withdrawingcooks, water-carriers, and nurses, from the field, by refusing medicineand admittance to the hospital to the apprentice children, and bycompelling old and infirm people, who had been allowed to withdraw fromlabor, and mothers of six children, who were exempt by the slave lawfrom hard labor, to come out and work in the field. All this had anatural tendency to create irritation, and did do so; though, to thegreat credit of the people, in many instances, they submitted with themost extraordinary patience, to evils which were the more onerous, because inflicted under the affected sanction of a law, whose advent, asthe herald of liberty, they had expected would have been attended with atrain of blessings. I effected a change in this miserable state ofthings; and mutual contract for labor, in crop and out of it, were madeon twenty-five estates in my district, before, I believe, anyarrangement had been made in other parts of the island, between themanagers and the apprentices; so that from being in a more unsettledstate than others, we were soon happily in a more prosperous one, and socontinued. 

No peasantry in the most favored country on the globe, can have beenmore irreproachable in morals and conduct than the majority ofapprentices in that district, since the beginning of 1835. I have, monthafter month, in my despatches to the governor, had to record instancesof excess of labor, compared with the quantity performed during slaveryin some kinds of work; and while I have with pleasure reported theimproving condition, habits, manners, and the industry whichcharacterized the labors of the peasantry, I have not been anindifferent or uninterested witness of the improvement in the conditionof many estates, the result of the judicious application of labor, andof the confidence in the future and sanguine expectations of theproprietors, evinced in the enlargements of the works, and expensive andpermanent repair of the buildings on various estates, and in the highprices given for properties and land since the apprenticeship system, which would scarcely have commanded a purchaser, at any price, duringthe existence of slavery. 

I have invariably found the apprentice willing to work for an equitablehire, and on all the sugar estates, and several of the plantations, inthe district I speak of, they worked a considerable portion of their owntime during crop, about the works, for money, or an equivalent inherrings, sugar, etc. , to so great a degree, that less than the timeallotted to them during slavery, was left for appropriation to thecultivation of their grounds, and for marketing, as the majority, verymuch to their credit, scrupulously avoided working on the Sabbath day. 

In no community in the world is crime less prevalent. At the quartersessions, in January last, for the precinct of St. Thomas in the East, and St. David, which contains an apprentice population of about thirtythousand, there was only one apprentice tried. And the offences thathave, in general, for the last eighteen months, been brought before meon estates, have been of the most trivial description, such as anindividual occasionally turning out late, or some one of an irritabletemper answering impatiently, or for some trifling act of disobedience;in fact, the majority of apprentices on estates have been untainted withoffence, and have steadily and quietly performed their duty, andrespected the law. The apprentices of St. Thomas in the East, I do nothesitate to say, are much superior in manners and morals to those whoinhabit the towns. 

During the first six or eight months, while the planters were in doubthow far the endurance of their laborers might be taxed, the utmostdeference and respect was paid by them to the special magistrates; theirsuggestions or recommendations were adopted without cavil, and opinionstaken without reference to the letter of the law; but when the obedienceof the apprentice, and his strict deference to the law and itsadministrators, had inspired them with a consciousness of perfectsecurity, I observed with much regret, a great alteration in thedeportment of many of the managers towards myself and the people;trivial and insignificant complaints were astonishingly increased, andassaults on apprentices became more frequent, so that in the degree thatthe conduct of one party was more in accordance with the obligationsimposed on him by the apprenticeship, was that of the other inopposition to it; again with the hold and infirm harassed; again weremothers of six living children attempted to be forced to perform fieldlabor; and again were mothers with sucking children complained of, andsome attempts made to deprive them of the usual nurses. 

Such treatment was not calculated to promote cordiality between masterand apprentice, and the effect will, I fear, have a very unfavorableinfluence upon the working of many estates, at the termination of thesystem; in fact, when that period arrives, if the feeling ofestrangement be no worse, I am convinced it will be no better than it isat the present moment, as I have witnessed no pains taking on the partof the attorneys generally to attach the apprentices to the properties, or to prepare them in a beneficial manner for the coming change. It wasa very common practice in the district, when an apprentice was about topurchase his discharge, to attempt to intimidate him by threats ofimmediate ejectment from the property, and if in the face of thisthreatened separation from family and connections, he persevered andprocured his release, then the sincerity of the previous intimations wasevinced by a peremptory order, to instantly quit the property, under thepenalty of having the trespass act enforced against him; and if myinterference prevented any outrageous violation of law, so manyobstructions and annoyances were placed in the way of his communicationwith his family, or enjoyment of his domestic rights, that he would becompelled for their peace, and his own personal convenience, to submitto privations, which, as a slave, he would not have been subject to. Theconsequence is, that those released from the obligations of theapprenticeship by purchase, instead of being located, and laboring forhire upon the estate to which they were attached, and forming a nucleusaround which others would have gathered and settled themselves, theyhave been principally driven to find other homes, and in the majority ofinstances have purchased land, and become settlers on their own account. If complete emancipation had taken place in 1834, there would have beenno more excitement, and no more trouble to allay it, than that which wasthe consequence of the introduction of the present system of coerced anduncompensated labor. The relations of society would have been fixed upona permanent basis, and the two orders would not have been placed in thatsituation of jealousy and suspicion which their present anomalouscondition has been the baneful means of creating. 

I am convinced there never was any serious alarm about the consequencesof immediate emancipation among those who were acquainted with thepeasantry of Jamaica. The fears of the morbidly humane were purposelyexcited to increase the amount of compensation, or to lengthen theduration of the apprenticeship; and the daily ridiculous and untruthfulstatements that are made by the vitiated portion of the Jamaica press, of the indolence of the apprentices, their disinclination to work intheir own time, and the great increase of crime, are purposely andinsidiously put forward to prevent the fact of the industry, anddecorum, and deference to the law, of the people, and the prosperouscondition of the estates, appearing in too prominent a light, lest thefriends of humanity, and the advocates for the equal rights of men, should be encouraged to agitate for the destruction of a system which, in its general operation, has retained many of the worst features ofslavery, perpetuated many gross infringements of the social and domesticrights of the working classes; and which, instead of working out thebenevolent intention of the imperial legislature, by aiding andencouraging the expansion of intellect, and supplying motives for thepermanent good conduct of the apprentices, in its termination, has, Ifear, retarded the rapidity with which civilization would have advanced, and sown the seeds of a feeling more bitter than that which slavery, with all its abominations, had engendered. 

I am, dear sirs, your very faithful servant, EDMUND B. LYON, _Special Justice. _

Extract from a communication which we received from Wm. Henry Anderson, Esq. , of Kingston, the Solicitor-General for Jamaica. 

The staples of the island must be cultivated after 1840 as now, becauseif not, the negroes could not obtain the comforts or luxuries, of whichthey are undoubtedly very desirous, from cultivation of their grounds. The fruits and roots necessary for the public markets are alreadysupplied in profusion at tolerably moderate prices: if the supply weregreatly increased, the prices could not be remunerative. There is no wayin which they can so readily as by labor for wages, _obtain money_, andtherefore I hold that there must ever be an adequate supply of labor inthe market. 

The negroes are in my opinion very acute in their perceptions of rightand wrong, justice and injustice, and appreciate fully the benefits ofequitable legislation, and would unreservedly submit to it where theyfelt confidence in the purity of its administration. 

There is not the slightest likelihood of rebellion on the part of thenegroes after 1840, unless some unrighteous attempts be made to keep upthe helotism of the class by enactments of partial laws. _They_ couldhave no interest in rebellion, they could gain nothing by it; and mightlose every thing; nor do I think they dream of such a thing. They areardently attached to the British government, and would be so to thecolonial government, were it to indicate by its enactments any purposesof kindness or protection towards them. Hitherto the scope of itslegislation has been, in reference to them, almost exclusively coercive;certainly there have been no enactments of a tendency to conciliatetheir good will or attachment. 

The negroes are much desirous of education and religious instruction: noone who has attended to the matter can gainsay that. Formerly marriagewas unknown amongst them; they were in fact only regarded by theirmasters, and I fear by themselves too, as so many brutes for labor, andfor increase. Now they seek the benefits of the social institution ofmarriage and its train of hallowed relationships: concubinage isbecoming quite disreputable; many are seeking to repair their conduct bymarriage to their former partners, and no one in any rank of life wouldbe hardy enough to express disapprobation of those who have done ormay do so. 

WM. HENRY ANDERSON. 

_Kingston, Jamaica, 24th April, 1837_. 

 * * * * *

The following communication is the monthly report for March, 1837, ofMajor J. B. Colthurst, special justice for District A. , Rural Division, Barbadoes. 

The general conduct of the apprentices since my last report has beenexcellent, considering that greater demands have been made upon theirlabor at this moment to save perhaps the finest crop of canes ever grownin the island. 

Upon the large estates generally the best feeling exists, because theyare in three cases out of four conducted by either the proprietorsthemselves, or attorneys and managers of sense and consideration. Hereall things go on well; the people are well provided and comfortable, andtherefore the best possible understanding prevails. 

The apprentices in my district _perform their work most willingly_, whenever the immediate manager is a man of sense and humanity. If thisis not the case, the effect is soon seen, and complaints begin to bemade. Misunderstandings are usually confined to the smaller estates, particularly in the neighborhood of Bridgetown, where the lots are verysmall, and the apprentice population of a less rural description, andmore or less also corrupted by daily intercourse with the town. 

The working hours most generally in use in my district are as follows:On most estates, the apprentices work from six to nine, breakfast; fromten to one, dinner--rest; from three to six, work. 

It is almost the constant practice of the apprentices, particularly thepraedials or rural portion, to work in their own time for money wages, at the rate of a quarter dollar a day. They sometimes work also duringthose periods in their little gardens round their negro houses, andwhich they most generally enjoy without charge, or in the land theyobtain in lieu of allowance, they seem ALWAYS well pleased to be fullyemployed at _free_ labor, and work, when so employed, exceedingly well. I know a small estate, worked exclusively on this system. It is inexcellent order, and the proprietor tells me his profits are greaterthan they would be under the apprenticeship. He is a sensible andcorrect man, and I therefore rely upon his information. During the hurryalways attendant on the saving of the crop, the apprentices aregenerally hired in their own time upon their respective estates at theabove rate, and which they seldom refuse. No hesitation generally occursin this or any other matter, whenever the employer discharges his dutyby them in a steady and considerate manner. 

The attendance at church throughout my district is most respectable; butthe accommodation, either in this respect or as regards schools, is byno means adequate to the wants of the people. The apprentices conductthemselves during divine service in the most correct manner, and it ismost gratifying to perceive, that only very little exertion, indeed, would be required to render them excellent members of society. This factis fully proved by the orderly situation of a few estates in mydistrict, that have had the opportunity of receiving some moral andreligious instruction. There are sixty-four estates in my district overtwenty-five acres. Upon four of those plantations where the apprenticeshave been thus taught, there are a greater number of _married_ couples(which may be considered a fair test) than upon the remaining sixty. Iscarcely ever have a complaint from these four estates, and they aregenerally reported to be in a most orderly state. 

In the memory of the oldest inhabitant, the island has never produced afiner crop of canes than that now in the course of manufacture. Allother crops are luxuriant, and the plantations in a high state ofagricultural cleanliness. The season has been very favorable. 

Under the head of general inquiry, I beg leave to offer a few remarks. Ihave now great pleasure in having it in my power to state, that amanifest change for the better has taken place _gradually_ in mydistrict within the last few months. Asperities seem to be giving way tocalm discussion, and the laws are better understood and obeyed. 

It is said in other colonies as well as here, that there has been, andstill continues to be, a great want of natural affection among the negroparents for their children, and that great mortality among the freechildren has occurred in consequence. This opinion, I understand, hasbeen lately expressed in confident terms by the legislature of St. Vincent's, which has been fully and satisfactorily contradicted by thereports of the special justices to the lieutenant-governor. The sameassertion has been made by individuals to myself. As regards Barbadoes, I have spared no pains to discover whether such statements were facts, and I now am happy to say, that not a _single instance_ of unnaturalconduct on the part of the negro parents to their children has come tomy knowledge--far, perhaps too far, the contrary is the case; _overindulgence_ and _petting_ them seems in my judgment to be the onlymatter the parents can be, with any justice, accused of. They exhibittheir fondness in a thousand ways. Contrasting the actual conduct of thenegro parents with the assertions of the planters, it is impossible notto infer that _some bitterness is felt by the latter on the score oftheir lost authority_. When this is the case, reaction is the naturalconsequence, and thus misunderstandings and complaints ensue. The likeassertions are made with respect to the disinclination of the parents tosend their children to school. This certainly does exist to a certainextent, particularly to schools where the under classes of whites aretaught, who often treat the negro children in a most imperious andhostile manner. As some proof that no decided objection exists in thenegro to educate his children, a vast number of the apprentices of mydistrict send them to school, and take pride in paying a bit a week eachfor them--a quarter dollar entrance and a quarter dollar for eachvacation. Those schools are almost always conducted by a black man andhis _married_ wife. However, they are well attended, but are very fewin number. 

To show that the apprentices fully estimate the blessings of education, many females _hire their apprentice_ children at a quarter dollar a weekfrom their masters, for the express purpose of sending them to school. This proves the possibility of a _voluntary_ system of educationsucceeding, provided it was preceded by full and satisfactoryexplanation to the parties concerned. I have also little doubt thatlabor to the extent I speak of, may be successfully introduced when theapprentices become assured that nothing but the ultimate welfare ofthemselves and children is intended; but so suspicious are they fromhabit, and, as I said before, so profoundly ignorant of what may intruth and sincerity be meant only for their benefit, that it willrequire great caution and delicacy on the occasion. Those suspicionshave not been matured in the negroes mind without cause--the wholehistory of slavery proves it. Such suspicions are even _now_ onlyrelinquished under doubts and apprehensions; therefore, all new andmaterial points, to be carried successfully with them, should beproposed to them upon the most liberal and open grounds. 

J. B. COLTHURST, _Special Justice Peace, District A, Rural Division_. 

 * * * * *

_General return of the imports and exports of the island of Barbadoes, during a series of years--furnished by the Custom-house officer atBridgetown_. 

 £. S, d. 1832 481, 610 6 31833 462, 132 14 41834 449, 169 12 41835 595, 961 13 21836 622, 128 19 11

IMPORTS OF LUMBER. 

 Feet. Shingles. 1833 5, 290, 086 5, 598, 9581834 5, 708, 494 5, 506, 6461835 5, 794, 596 4, 289, 0251836 7, 196, 189 7, 037, 462

IMPORTS OF PROVISIONS. 

 | Flour. | Corn Meal. |Y'rs. | bbls. |1/2 bbls. | bush. | bbls. |-----+--------+---------+-------+------+1833 | 21, 535 | 397 | 629 | 265 |1834 | 34, 191 | 865 | 1675 | 1580 |1835 | 32, 393 | 828 | 160 | 809 |1836 | 41, 975 | 433 | 823 | 1123 |-----+--------+---------+-------+------+

 | Bread and Biscuits. |Oats & Corn. |Y'rs. | hds. | bbls. |1/2 bbls. |kegs. |bags. | bags. | qrs. |-----+-----+------+---------+-----+-----+------+-----+1833 | 49| 2146| 30 | " | " | 430| 50|1834 | 401| 8561| 99 | 57 | " | 100| 1025|1835 | 2024| 10762| " | " | " | 2913| 3134|1836 | 4| 4048| " | " | 1058| 8168| 3119|-----+-----+------+---------+-----+-----+------+-----+

IMPORTS OF CATTLE, ETC. Cattle. Horses. Mules. 1833 649 462 651834 549 728 241835 569 1047 431836 1013 1345 104

RETURN OF EXPORTS--SUGAR. 

 hhds. Trcs. Bbls. 1832 18, 804 1278 8381833 27, 015 1505 6511834 27, 593 1464 10831835 24, 309 1417 9381836 25, 060 1796 804

 * * * * *

VALUATIONS OF APPRENTICES IN JAMAICA. 

"From the 1st of August, 1834, to 31st of May, 1836, 998 apprenticespurchased their freedom by valuation, and paid £33, 998. From 31st May, 1836, to 1st November, in the same year, 582 apprentices purchasedthemselves, and paid £18, 217--making, in all, £52, 216--a prodigious sumto be furnished by the negroes in two years. From the above statement itappears that the desire to be free is daily becoming more general andmore intense, and that the price of liberty remains the same, althoughthe term of apprenticeship is decreasing. The amount paid by theapprentices is a proof of the extent of the exertions and sacrificesthey are willing to make for freedom, which can scarcely be appreciatedby those who are unacquainted with the disadvantages of their previouscondition. The negroes frequently raise the money by loans to purchasetheir freedom, and they are scrupulous in repaying money lent them forthat purpose. "

The above is extracted from the "West Indies in 1837, " an English workby Messrs. Sturge and Harvey, page 86, Appendix. 

 * * * * *

We insert the following tabular view of the crops in Jamaica for aseries of years preceding 1837. --As the table and "Remarks" appendedwere first published in the St. Jago Gazette, a decided "pro-slavery"paper, we insert, in connection with them, the remarks of the JamaicaWatchman, published at Kingston, and an article on the present conditionof slavery, from the Telegraph, published at Spanishtown, the seat ofthe colonial government. 

A GENERAL RETURN OF EXPORTS _From the island of Jamaica, for 53 years, ending 31st December, 1836--copied from the Journals of the House. _

___________________________________________________________________ . | | | | | d | | |MO-| | e | SUGAR | RUM |LAS| GINGER | t | | |SES| | r |____________________|_______________________|___|____________| o | s | | | s | s | | | | | | p | d | | | n | d | | | | | | x | a | s | s | o | a | | s | | | | E | e | e | l | e | e | | l | | | | | h | c | e | h | h | s | e | s | s | | r | s | r | r | c | s | k | r | k | k | s | a | g | e | r | n | g | s | r | s | s | g | e | o | i | a | u | o | a | a | a | a | a | Y | H | T | B | P | H | C | B | C | C | B |___________________________________________________________________1772| 69, 451| 9, 936| 270| | | | | | | |1773| 72, 996|11, 453| 849| | | | | | | |1774| 69, 579| 9, 250| 278| | | | | | | |1775| 75, 291| 9, 090| 425| | | | | | | |1776| | | | | | | | | | |1788| 83, 036| 9, 256|1, 063| | | | | | | |1789| 84, 167|10, 078|1, 077| | | | | | | |1790| 84, 741| 9, 284|1, 599| | | | | | | |1791| 85, 447| 8, 037|1, 718| | | | | | | |1792| | | | | | | | | | |1793| 77, 575| 6, 722| 642|34, 755| 879| | | | 62| 8, 605|1794| 89, 532|11, 158|1, 224|39, 843|1, 570| | | | 121|10, 305|1795| 88, 851| 9, 537|1, 225|37, 684|1, 475| | | | 426|14, 861|1796| 89, 219|10, 700| 858|40, 810|1, 364| | | | 690|20, 275|1797| 78, 373| 9, 963| 753|28, 014|1, 463| | | | 259|29, 098|1798| 87, 896|11, 725|1, 163|40, 823|2, 234| | | | 119|18, 454|1799|101, 457|13, 538|1, 321|37, 022|1, 981| | | | 221|10, 358|1800| 96, 347|13, 549|1, 631|37, 166|1, 350| | | | 444| 3, 586|1801|123, 251|18, 704|2, 692|48, 879|1, 514| | | | 12| 239|1802|129, 544|15, 403|2, 403|45, 632|2, 073| 473| 205|366| 23| 2, 079|1803|107, 387|11, 825|1, 797|43, 298|1, 416| | |461| 51| 3, 287|1804|103, 352|12, 802|2, 207|42, 207| 913| | |429|1, 094| 1, 854|1805|137, 906|17, 977|3, 689|53, 211|1, 328| 133| 167|471| 315| 2, 128|1806|133, 996|18, 237|3, 579|58, 191|1, 178| | |499| 485| 1, 818|1807|123, 175|17, 344|3, 716|51, 812|1, 998| | |699| 512| 1, 411|1808|121, 444|15, 836|2, 625|52, 409|2, 196| | |379| 436| 1, 470|1809|104, 457|14, 596|3, 534|43, 492|2, 717| | |230|2, 321| 572|1810|108, 703| 4, 560|3, 719|42, 353|1, 964| | |293| 520| 1, 881|1811|127, 751|15, 235|3, 046|54, 093|2, 011| | |446|1, 110| 2, 072|1812|105, 283|11, 357|2, 558|43, 346|1, 531| | |151| 804| 1, 235|1813| 97, 548|10, 029|2, 304|44, 618|1, 345| 382| 874|208| 816| 1, 428|1814|101, 846|10, 485|2, 575|43, 486|1, 551| 202|1, 146|145| 884| 1, 668|1815|118, 767|12, 224|2, 817|52, 996|1, 465| 574|1, 398|242|1, 493| 1, 667|1816| 93, 881| 9, 332|2, 236|35, 736| 769| 281| 903|166|2, 354| 1, 118|1817|116, 012|11, 094|2, 868|47, 949|1, 094| 203| 916|254|3, 361| 1, 195|1818|113, 818|11, 388|2, 786|50, 195|1, 108| 121| 191|407|2, 526| 1, 067|1819|108, 305|11, 450|3, 244|43, 946|1, 695| 602|1, 558|253|1, 714| 718|1820|115, 065|11, 322|2, 474|45, 361|1, 783| 106| 460|252|1, 159| 316|1821|111, 512|11, 703|1, 972|46, 802|1, 793| 153| 534|167| 984| 274|1822| 88, 551| 8, 705|1, 292|28, 728|1, 124| 9| 442|144| 891| 72|1823| 94, 905| 9, 179|1, 947|35, 242|1, 935| 20| 118|614|1, 041| 60|1824| 99, 225| 9, 651|2, 791|37, 121|3, 261| 5| 64|910|2, 230| 52|1825| 73, 813| 7, 380|2, 858|27, 630|2, 077| 101| 215|894|3, 947| 348|1826| 99, 978| 9, 514|3, 126|35, 610|3, 098|1, 852| |549|5, 724| 517|1827| 82, 096| 7, 435|2, 770|31, 840|2, 672|1, 573| |204|4, 871| 240|1828| 94, 912| 9, 428|3, 024|36, 585|2, 793|1, 013| |189|5, 382| 279|1829| 91, 364| 9, 193|3, 204|36, 285|2, 009| 563| | 66|4, 101| 168|1830| 93, 882| 8, 739|3, 645|33, 355|2, 657|1, 367| |154|3, 494| 15|1831| 88, 409| 9, 053|3, 492|34, 743|2, 846| 982| |230|3, 224| 22|1832| 91, 453| 9, 987|4, 600|32, 060|2, 570|1, 362| |799|4, 702| 38|1833| 78, 375| 9, 325|4, 074|33, 215|3, 034| 977| |755|4, 818| 23|1834| 77, 801| 9, 860|3, 055|30, 495|2, 588|1, 288| |486|5, 925| 116|1835| 71, 017| 8, 840|8, 455|26, 433|1, 820| 747| |300|3, 985| 486|1836| 61, 644| 7, 707|2, 497|19, 938| 874| 646| |182|5, 224| 69|

 . | | | d | | | e | PIMENTO | COFFEE | t | | | r |_____________|__________| o | | | | p | | | | x | | | | REMARKS E | | | s | | s | | d | r | k | s | n | a | s | g | u | e | a | a | o | Y | C | B | P |________________________________________________________________1772| | | 841, 558|1773| | | 779, 303|1774| | | 739, 039|1775| | | 493, 981|1776| | | |1788| | | 1, 035, 368|1789| | | 1, 493, 282|1790| | | 1, 783, 740|1791| | | 2, 299, 874| August--Destruction of1792| | | | Santo Domingo. 1793| 420| 9, 108| 3, 983, 576|1794| 554|22, 153| 4, 911, 549|1795| 957|20, 451| 6, 318, 812|1796| 136| 9, 820| 7, 203, 539|1797| 328| 2, 935| 7, 869, 133|1798| 1, 181| 8, 961| 7, 894, 306|1799| 1, 766|28, 273|11, 745, 425| Bourbon cane introduced. 1800| 610|12, 759|11, 116, 474|1801| 648|14, 084|13, 401, 468|1802| 591| 7, 793|17, 961, 923|1803| 867|14, 875|15, 866, 291|1804| 1, 417|19, 572|22, 063, 980|1805| 288| 7, 157|21, 137, 393| Largest sugar crop. 1806| 1, 094|19, 534|29, 298, 036|1807| 525|19, 224|26, 761, 188| March 25th, abolition of1808| 225| 6, 529|29, 528, 273| African slave trade. 1809|21, 022| 1, 177|25, 586, 668|1810| 4, 276|21, 163|25, 885, 285|1811| 638|22, 074|17, 460, 068|1812| 598| 7, 778|18, 481, 986|1813| 1, 124|14, 361|24, 623, 572| Storm in October, 18121814| 394|10, 711|34, 045, 585| Largest coffee crop. 1815| 844|27, 386|27, 362, 742|1816| 851|28, 047|17, 289, 393| Storm in October, 18151817| 946|15, 817|14, 793, 706|1818| 941|21, 071|25, 329, 456|1819| 882|24, 500|14, 091, 983|1820| 673|12, 880|22, 127, 444|1821| 1, 224|24, 827|16, 819, 761|1822| 699|18, 672|19, 773, 912| Extreme drought. 1823| 1, 894|21, 481|20, 326, 445| Mr. Canning's resolutions1824| 599|33, 306|27, 667, 239| relative to slavery. 1825| 537|20, 979|21, 254, 656|1826| 522|16, 433|20, 352, 886| Severe drought in 1824, the previous year. 1827| 3, 236|26, 691|25, 741, 520|1828| 4, 003|25, 352|22, 216, 780|1829| 3, 733|48, 933|22, 234, 640|1830| 5, 609|37, 925|22, 256, 950|1831| 2, 844|22, 170|14, 055, 350|1832| 3, 736|27, 936|19, 815, 010|1833| 7, 741|58, 581| 9, 866, 060| Emancipation act passed. 1834| 496|29, 301|17, 725, 731| Seasons favorable. 1835| 1, 115|59, 033|10, 593, 018| do. 1836| 227|46, 779|13, 446, 053| do. 

The following are the remarks of the editor of the Jamaica Watchman, onthe foregoing, in his paper of April 8, 1837:--

A general return of exports from the island for fifty-three years, ending the 31st December last, and purporting to be extracted from thejournals of the assembly, has been published, and as usual, the decreasein the crops of the respective years has been attributed to theresolutions passed by the British House of Commons in 1823, and theabolition of slavery in 1833. It is remarkable that in preparing thistable, a manifest disposition is evinced to account for the falling offof the crops in certain years anterior, and subsequent to the passing ofMr. Canning's memorable resolution, whilst opposite to the years 1834and 1835, is written "seasons favorable. " In 1813, the sugar crop felloff 8, 000 hhds. Compared with the previous year, and we are told inreference to this circumstance, that there was a storm in October, 1812. This remark is evidently made to account for the decrease, and perhapsthe storm at the close of the previous year was the cause of it. But itis astonishing, and the circumstance is worthy of notice, that whilstthe sugar crop fell off nearly 8, 000 hhds. The coffee crop increasednearly six millions of pounds. We should have supposed that the coffeetrees would have suffered more from the effects of a storm, than thecanes. However, the effect was as we have stated it, whatever might havebeen the cause. In 1814, the largest coffee crop was made. Again, in1816, there was a decrease in the sugar crop compared with the yearimmediately preceding it of nearly 25, 000 hhds. And here we have thestorm of October, 1815, assigned as a reason. The coffee crop in thisinstance also fell off nearly ten millions of pounds. In 1822, the sugarcrop was reduced 23, 000 hhds. , and the coffee crop increased threemillions of pounds. The reason now assigned is an "extreme drought. " Thecelebrated resolutions relative to slavery now appear to begin toexercise their baneful influence on the _seasons_ and the _soil_ of ourisland. In the year in which they were passed, 1823, 94, 900 hogsheads ofsugar were made, and twenty millions of pounds of coffee gathered. 1824came, and the crop, instead of being reduced, was increased from nearly95, 000 hogsheads to upwards of 99, 000 hogsheads. The coffee crop wasalso greater by seven millions of pounds. In 1825, they fall off to73, 860 hogsheads and twenty-one millions. In 1826, the sugar crop ratherexceeded that of 1824, but the coffee crop was seven millions less. In1827, from causes not known to us, for none were assigned, there was adifference of 16, 000 hhds. Of sugar, and an increase of five millions ofpounds of coffee. 1828, 29, and 30, were pretty nearly alike in sugarand coffee crops, and about equal to 1823. The crops of 1831 fell offfrom 93 to 88, 000 hogsheads of sugar, and from 22 to 14 millions ofpounds of coffee. No reason is assigned for this reduction. It wasduring the continuance of the driving system, and therefore no blame canattach to the managers. In 1832, the crop rose to 91, 000 hogsheads ofsugar, and nearly twenty millions of pounds of coffee. But 1833 comes, and, with it, fresh troubles for the planters. In that ill-fated year, there was a decrease of 13, 000 hogsheads sugar, and of ten millions ofpounds of coffee. Its sugar crop was the smallest made, with theexception of that of 1825, since 1793, and its coffee crop since that of1798. But if this determination be alarming, what must be that of thesucceeding years. Can we be blamed, if, in a strain truly lachrymal, weallude to the deductions which have annually been made from themiserable return which 1833 gave to the unfortunate proprietors ofestates? What boots it to tell us that we have fingered thousands ofpounds sterling, in the shape of compensation: and what consolation isit to know, that a hogshead of sugar will now bring thirty pounds, which, a short time ago, was only worth twelve. Let any _unprejudiced_individual look at the return now before us, and say whether ourprospects are not deplorably dull and obscure. If we take the four yearsimmediately preceding the passing of Mr. Canning's resolutions, say1819, 20, 21, and 22; we will find the average to be 105, 858 hogsheads, and if from this we even deduct one fourth for the time now lost, therewill be an average crop of 79, 394 hhds. , being 7, 185 hogsheads mere thanthe average of 1833, 34, 35, and 36; and no one will deny that thisfalling off of one tenth, (supposing that the hogsheads made during thelast four years are _not larger_ than those of 1819 to 1822) is_nearly_, if not _quite equal_ to the increase of price, from twelve tothirty pounds, or one hundred and fifty per cent. 

It is true some persons may be disposed to take the four yearssubsequent to the passing of Mr. Canning's resolutions, say 1823, 4, 5, and 6, and compare them with the four years ending 31st December last. Should this be done, it will be found that the average crop of theprevious four years is 91, 980 hhds. , and if from it is deducted onefourth, there will remain 68, 985 hhds. , whilst the average of the otherfour years is 72, 200 hhds. Such a mode of comparison must, however, beobviously incorrect; because, in the first place, Mr. Canning'sresolutions had reduced the crops of those years considerably below theaverage of the years immediately preceding them, and next, because itwould show the advantage to be on the side of freedom in the ratio ofseventy-two to sixty-nine, which cannot be correct. Besides, in 1824, there was a severe drought, whereas in 1834 and 35 the seasons arereported as being favorable. Again, it is necessary, in instituting suchan inquiry, to go back more than fourteen years; nor is it a validobjection to this to say, that even during that period a number ofestates have been thrown out of cultivation, in consequence of beingworn out and unprofitable. "Deplorable, " however, as is the "falling offin the yearly amounts of our staple productions, which have decreased, "gentle reader, according to the despatch, "in an accelerated ratiowithin the last few years, till in the year 1836, when they do notaverage one half the returns of former years preceding that of 1823, theyear that Mr. Canning's resolutions for the ultimate abolition ofslavery in the British colonies passed the House of Commons, " still itis a matter of sincere gratification to know, that the sugar plantersare better off now than they have been for the last fourteen or fifteenyears. With the compensation money a great many of them have beenenabled to pay off their English debts, and the remainder veryconsiderably to reduce them, whilst the reduction in the quantity ofsugar produced, has occasioned such a rise in the price of that articleas will place the former in easy circumstances, and enable the latterentirely to free themselves from the trammels of English mortgagees, andthe tender mercies of English mortgagees before the 1st August, 1840, arrives. And ought these parties not to be thankful? Unquestionably theyought. Ingratitude, we are told, is as the sin of witchcraft, andalthough the table of exports exhibits our fair island as hastening to astate of ruin, and the despatch tells us that "by the united influenceof mock philanthropy, religious cant, and humbug, " a reformed parliamentwas _forced_ "to precipitate the _slavery spoliation_ act under thespecious pretext of promoting the industry and improving the conditionof the manumitted slaves, " still we maintain, and the reasonable willagree with us, that we are much better off now than we have been for along time, and that Jamaica's brightest and happiest days have not yetdawned. Let the croakers remember the remarkable words of the Tory Lord, Belmore, the planter's friend, and be silent--"The resources of thisfine island will never be fully developed until slavery ceases. " Thehappiness and prosperity of the inhabitants of Jamaica are notcontingent, nor need they be, upon the number of hogsheads of sugarannually exported from her shores. 

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To the foregoing we add the remarks of the editor of the "SpanishtownTelegraph, " on the present state of the colony, made in his paper of May9, 1837:--

 "When it was understood that the island of Jamaica and the other British West Indian colonies were to undergo the blessed transition from slavery to freedom, it was the hourly cry of the pro-slavery party and press, that the ruin of Jamaica would, as a natural consequence, follow liberty! Commerce, said they, will cease; hordes of barbarians will come upon us and drive us from our own properties; agriculture will be completely paralyzed; and Jamaica, in the space of a few short months, will be seen buried in ashes--irretrievably ruined. Such were the awful predictions of an unjust, illiberal faction!! Such the first fruits that were to follow the incomparable blessings of liberty! The staple productions of the island, it was vainly surmised, could never be cultivated without the name of slavery; rebellions, massacres, starvation, rapine and bloodshed, danced through the columns of the liberty-hating papers, in mazes of metaphorical confusion. In short, the name of freedom was, according to their assertions, directly calculated to overthrow our beautiful island, and involve it in one mass of ruin, unequalled in the annals of history!! But what has been the result? All their fearful forebodings and horrible predictions have been entirely disproved, and instead of liberty proving a curse, she has, on the contrary, unfolded her banners, and, ere long, is likely to reign triumphant in our land. _Banks, steam companies, railroads, charity schools, etc. _, seem all to have remained dormant until the time arrived when Jamaica was to be _enveloped in smoke_! No man thought of hazarding his capital in an extensive _banking establishment_ until _Jamaica's ruin_, by the introduction of _freedom, had been accomplished_!! No person was found possessed of sufficient energy to speak of navigation companies in Jamaica's brightest days of slavery; but now that ruin stares every one in the face--now that we have no longer the power to treat out peasantry as we please, they have taken it into their heads to establish so excellent an undertaking. Railroads were not dreamt of until _darling_ slavery had (_in a great measure_) departed, and now, when we thought of throwing up our estates, and flying from the _dangers of emancipation_, the best projects are being set on foot, and what is _worst_, are likely to _succeed_! This is the way that our Jamaica folks, no doubt, reason with themselves. But the reasons for the delay which have taken place in the establishment of all these valuable undertakings, are too evident to require elucidation. We behold the _Despatch_ and _Chronicle_, asserting the ruin of our island; the overthrow of all order and society; and with the knowledge of all this, they speak of the profits likely to result from steam navigation, banking establishments, and railroads! What in the name of conscience, can be the use of steam-vessels when Jamaica's ruin is so fast approaching? What are the planters and merchants to ship in steamers when the apprentices will not work, and there is nothing doing? How is the bank expected to advance money to the planters, when their total destruction has been accomplished by the abolition of slavery? What, in the name of reason, can be the use of railroads, when commerce and agriculture have been nipped in the bud, by that _baneful weed, Freedom_? Let the unjust panderers of discord, the haters of liberty, answer. Let them consider what has all this time retarded the development of Jamaica's resources, and they will find that it was _slavery_; yes, it was its very name which prevented the idea of undertakings such as are being brought about. Had it not been for the introduction of freedom in our land; had the cruel monster, Slavery, not partially disappeared, when would we have seen banks, steamers, or railroads? No man thought of hazarding his capital in the days of slavery, but now that a new era has burst upon us, a complete change has taken possession of the hearts of all just men, and they think of improving the blessing of freedom by the introduction of other things which must ever prove beneficial to the country. 

 The vast improvements that are every day being effected in this island, and throughout the other colonies, stamp the assertions of the pro-slavery party as the vilest falsehoods. They glory in the introduction of banks, steam-vessels, and railroads; with the knowledge (as they would have us believe) that the island is fast verging into destruction. They speak of the utility and success of railroads, when, according to their showing, there is no produce to be sent to market, when agriculture has been paralyzed, and Jamaica swept to destruction. "

* * * * *

The following copious extracts from a speech of Lord Brougham, on theworkings of the apprenticeship, and on the immediate emancipationsubstituted therefor in Antigua and the Bermudas, are speciallycommended to the notice of the reader. The speech was delivered in theHouse of Lords, Feb. 20, 1838. We take it from the published report ofthe speech in the London Times, of Feb. 25:--

 I now must approach that subject which has some time excited almost universal anxiety. Allow me, however, first to remind your lordships--because that goes to the root of the evil--allow me first to remind you of the anxiety that existed previous to the Emancipation Act which was passed in January, 1833, coming into operation in August, 1834. My lords, there was much to apprehend from the character of the masters of the slaves. I know the nature of man. * * * * I know that he who has abused power clings to it with a yet more convulsive grasp. I know his revenge against those who have been rescued from his tyrannous fangs; I know that he never forgives those whom he has injured, whether white or black. I have never yet met with an unforgiving enemy, except in the person of one of whose injustice I had a right to complain. On the part of the slaves, my lords, I was not without anxiety; for I know the corrupt nature of the degrading system under which they groaned. * * * * It was, therefore, I confess, my lords, with some anxiety that I looked forward to the 1st of August, 1834; and I yielded, though reluctantly, to the plan of an intermediate state before what was called the full enjoyment of freedom--the transition condition of indentured apprenticeship. 

 The first of August arrived--that day so confidently and joyously anticipated by the poor slaves, and so sorely dreaded by their hard taskmasters--and if ever there was a picture interesting to look upon--if ever there was a passage in the history of a people redounding to their eternal honor--if ever there was a complete refutation of all the scandalous calumnies which had been heaped upon them for ages, as if in justification of the wrongs which we had done them--(Hear, hear)--that picture and that passage are to be found in the uniform and unvarying history of that people throughout the whole of the West India islands. Instead of the fires of rebellion, lit by a feeling of lawless revenge and resistance to oppression, the whole of those islands were, like an Arabian scene, illuminated by the light of contentment, joy, peace, and good-will towards all men. No civilized people, after gaining an unexpected victory, could have shown more delicacy and forbearance than was exhibited by the slaves at the great moral consummation which they had attained. There was not a look or a gesture which could gall the eyes of their masters. Not a sound escaped from negro lips which could wound the ears of the most feverish planter in the islands. All was joy, mutual congratulation, and hope. 

 This peaceful joy, this delicacy towards the feelings of others, was all that was to be seen, heard, or felt, on that occasion, throughout the West India islands. 

 It was held that the day of emancipation would be one of riot and debauchery, and that even the lives of the planters would be endangered. So far from this proving the case, the whole of the negro population kept it as a most sacred festival, and in this light I am convinced it will ever be viewed. 

 In one island, where the bounty of nature seems to provoke the appetite to indulgence, and to scatter with a profuse hand all the means of excitement, I state the fact when I say not one drunken negro was found during the whole of the day. No less than 800, 000 slaves were liberated in that one day, and their peaceful festivity was disturbed only on one estate, in one parish, by an irregularity which three or four persons sufficed to put down. 

 Well, my lords, baffled in their expectations that the first of August would prove a day of disturbance--baffled also in the expectation that no voluntary labor would be done--we were then told by the "practical men, " to look forward to a later period. We have done so, and what have we seen? Why, that from the time voluntary labor began, there was no want of men to work for hire, and that there was no difficulty in getting those who as apprentices had to give the planters certain hours of work, to extend, upon emergency, their period of labor, by hiring out their services for wages to strangers. I have the authority of my noble friend behind me, (the Marquis of Sligo, ) who very particularly, inquired into the matter, when I state that on nine estates out of ten there was no difficulty in obtaining as much work as the owners had occasion for, on the payment of wages. How does all this contrast with the predictions of the "practical men?" "Oh, " said they, in 1833, "it is idle talking; the cart-whip must be used--without that stimulant no negro will work--the nature of the negro is idle and indolent, and without the thought of the cartwhip is before his eyes he falls asleep--put the cartwhip aside and no labor will be done. " Has this proved the case? No, my lords, it has not; and while every abundance of voluntary labor has been found, in no one instance has the stimulus of the cartwhip been found wanting. The apprentices work well without the whip, and wages have been found quite as good a stimulus as the scourge even to negro industry. "Oh, but" it is said, "this may do in cotton planting and cotton picking, and indigo making; but the cane will cease to grow, the operation of hoeing will be known no more, boiling will cease to be practised, and sugar-making will terminate entirely. " Many, I know, were appalled by these reasonings, and the hopes of many were dissipated by these confident predictions of these so-deemed experienced men. But how stands the case now? My lords, let these experienced men, come forth with their experience. I will plant mine against it, and you will find he will talk no more of his experience when I tell him--tell him, too, without fear of contradiction--that during the year which followed the first of August, 1834, twice as much sugar per hour, and of a better quality as compared with the preceding years, was stored throughout the sugar districts; and that one man, a large planter, has expressly avowed, that with twenty freemen he could do more work than with a hundred slaves or fifty indentured apprentices. (Hear, hear. ) But Antigua!--what has happened there? There has not been even the system of indentured apprentices. In Antigua and the Bermudas, as would have been the case at Montserrat if the upper house had not thrown out the bill which was prepared by the planters themselves, there had been no preparatory step. In Antigua and the Bermudas, since the first of August, 1834, not a slave or indentured apprentice was to be found. Well, had idleness reigned there--had indolence supplanted work--had there been any deficiency of crop? No. On the contrary, there had been an increase, and not a diminution of crop. (Hear. ) But, then, it was said that quiet could not be expected after slavery in its most complete and abject form had so long reigned paramount, and that any sudden emancipation must endanger the peace of the islands. The experience of the first of August at once scattered to the winds that most fallacious prophecy. Then it was said, only wait till Christmas, for that is a period when, by all who have any practical knowledge of the negro character, a rebellion on their part is most to be apprehended. We did wait for this dreaded Christmas; and what was the result? I will go for it to Antigua, for it is the strongest case, there being there no indentured apprentices--no preparatory state--no transition--the chains being at once knocked off, and the negroes made at once free. For the first time within the last thirty years, at the Christmas of the year 1834, martial law was not proclaimed in the island of Antigua. You talk of facts--here is one. You talk of experience--here it is. And with these facts and this experience before us, I call on those _soi-disant_ men of experience--those men who scoffed at us--who laughed to scorn at what they called our visionary, theoretical schemes--schemes that never could be carried into effect without rebellion and the loss of the colonies--I say, my lords, I call on these experienced men to come forward, and, if they can, deny one single iota of the statement I am now making. Let those who thought that with the use of those phrases, "a planter of Jamaica" "the West India interest, " "residence in Jamaica and its experience, " they could make our balance kick the beam--let them, I say, hear what I tell, for it is but the fact--that when the chains were knocked off there was not a single breach of the peace committed either on the day itself, or on the Christmas festival which followed. 

 Well, my lords, beaten from these two positions, where did the experienced men retreat to under what flimsy pretext did they next undertake to disparage the poor negro race? Had I not seen it in print, and been otherwise informed of the fact, I could not have believed it possible that from any reasonable man any such absurdity could issue. They actually held out this last fear, which, like the others, was fated to be dissipated by the fact. "Wait only, " said they, "till the anniversary of the first of August, and then you will see what the negro character is, and how little these indentured apprentices are fit to be entrusted with freedom. " Was there ever such an absurdity uttered, as if my lords, the man who could meet with firm tranquillity and peaceful thankfulness the event itself, was likely to be raised to rebellion and rioting by the recollection of it a year afterwards. My lords, in considering this matter, I ask you, then, to be guided by your own experience, and nothing else; profit by it, my lords, and turn it to your own account; for it, according to that book which all of us must revere, teaches even the most foolish of a foolish race. I do not ask you to adopt as your own the experience of others; you have as much as you can desire of your own, and by no other test do I wish or desire to be judged. But I think my task may be said to be done. I think I have proved my case, for I have shown that the negro can work without the stimulant of the whip; I have shown that he can labor for hire without any other motive than that of industry to inspire him. I have demonstrated that all over the West Indies, even when fatigued with working the allotted hours for the profit of his master, he can work again for wages for him who chooses to hire him and has wherewithal to pay him; I have also most distinctly shown that the experience of Antigua and the Bermudas is demonstrative to show that without any state of preparation, without any indenture of apprenticeship at all, he is fit to be intrusted with his freedom, and will work voluntarily as a free laborer for hire. But I have also demonstrated from the same experience, and by reference to the same state of facts, that a more quiet, inoffensive, peaceable, innocent people, is not to be found on the face of this earth than the negro--not in their own unhappy country, but after they have been removed from it and enslaved in your Christian land, made the victim of the barbarizing demon of civilized powers, and has all this character, if it were possible to corrupt it, and his feelings, if it were possible to pervert them, attempted to be corrupted and perverted by Christian and civilized men, and that in this state, with all incentives to misdemeanor poured around him, and all the temptation to misconduct which the arts and artifices and examples of civilized man can give hovering over him--that after this transition is made from slavery to apprenticeship, and from slavery to absolute freedom, a negro's spirit has been found to rival the unbroken tranquillity of the Caribbean Seas. (Cheers. ) This was not the state of things we expected, my lords; and in proof that it was not so, I have but to refer you to the statute book itself. On what ground did you enact the intermediate state of indenture apprenticeship, and on what arguments did you justify it? You felt and acknowledged that the negro had a right to be free, and that you had no right to detain him in bondage. Every one admitted this, but in the prevailing ignorance of their character it was apprehended that they could not be made free at once, and that time was requisite to train the negro to receive the boon it was intended bestowing upon him. 

 This was the delusion which prevailed, and which was stated in the preamble of the statute--the same delusion which had made the men on one side state and the other to believe that it was necessary to pay the slave-owners for the loss it was supposed they would sustain. But it was found to be a baseless fear, and the only result of the phantom so conjured up was a payment of twenty millions to the conjurors. (Hear, and a laugh. ) Now, I maintain that had we known what we now know of the character of the negroes, neither would this compensation have been given to the slave-owners, nor we have been guilty of proposing to keep the negro in slavery five years, after we were decided that he had a right to his freedom. The noble and learned lord here proceeded to contend that up to the present time the slave-owners, so far from being sufferers, had been gainers by the abolition of slavery and the enactment of the system of apprenticeship, and that consequently up to the present moment nothing had occurred to entitle them to a claim upon the compensation allotted by parliament. The slave-owners might be said to have pocketed the seven millions without having the least claim to them, and therefore, in considering the proposition he was about to make, parliament should bear in mind that the slave proprietors were, if anything, the debtors to the nation. The money had, in fact, been paid to them by mistake, and, were the transaction one between man and man, an action for its recovery might lie. But the slave-owners alleged that if the apprenticeship were now done away there would be a loss, and that to meet that loss they had a right to the money. For argument's sake he would suppose this to be true, and that there would be loss; but would it not be fair that the money should be lodged in the hands of a third party, with authority to pay back at the expiration of the two years whatever rateable sum the master could prove himself to have lost? His firm belief was, that no loss could arise; but, desirous to meet the planter at every point, he should have no objection to make terms with him. Let him, then, pay the money into court, as it were, and at the end of two years he should be fully indemnified for any loss he might prove. He called upon their lordships to look to Antigua and the Bermudas for proof that the free negro worked well, and that no loss was occasioned to the planters or their property by the granting of emancipation. But it was said that there was a difference between the cases of Antigua and other colonies, such as Jamaica, and it was urged that while the negroes of the former, from the smallness and barrenness of the place, would be forced into work, that in the latter they would run away, and take refuge in the woods. Now, he asked, why should the negro run away from his work, on being made free, more than during the continuance of his apprenticeship? Why, again, should it be supposed that on the 1st of August, 1840, the emancipated negroes should have less inclination to betake themselves to the woods than in 1838? If there was a risk of the slaves running to the woods in 1838, that risk would be increased and not diminished during the intermediate period up to 1840, by the treatment they were receiving from their masters, and the deferring of their hopes. 

 My lords, (continued the noble lord, ) I have now to say a few words upon the treatment which the slaves have received during the past three years of their apprenticeship, and which, it is alleged, during the next two years is to make them fitted for absolute emancipation. My lords, I am prepared to show that in most respects the treatment the slaves have received since 1834 is no better, and in many others more unjust and worse, than it ever was in the time of absolute slavery. It is true that the use of the cartwhip as a stimulus to labor has been abolished. This, I admit, is a great and most satisfactory improvement; but, in every other particular, the state of the slave, I am prepared to show, is not improved, and, in many respects, it is materially worse. First, with regard to the article of food, I will compare the Jamaica prison allowance with that allotted to the apprenticed negroes in other colonies. In the Jamaica prison the allowance of rice is 14 pints a week to each person. I have no return of the allowance to the indentured apprentice in Jamaica, but I believe it is little over this; but in Barbadoes and the Leeward Islands, it is much under. In Barbadoes, instead of receiving the Jamaica prison allowance of 14 pints a week, the apprenticed negro received but 10 pints: while in the Leeward Islands he had but 8 pints. In the crown colonies, before 1834, the slave received 21 pints of rice, now the apprentice gets but 10; so that in the material article, food, no improvement in the condition of the negro was observable. Then, with regard to time, it is obviously of the utmost importance that the apprentice should have at least two holidays and a half a week--the Sabbath for religious worship and instruction, the Saturday to attend the markets, and half of Friday to work in his own garden. The act of emancipation specified 45 hours a week as the period the apprentice was to work for his master, but the master so contrived matters as in most instances to make the 45 hours the law allotted him run into the apprentice's half of Friday, and even in some cases into the Saturday. The planter invariably counted the time from the moment that the slave commenced his work; and as it often occurs that his residence was on the border of the estate, he may have to walk five or six miles to get to the place he has to work. This was a point which he was sure their lordships would agree with him in thinking required alteration. 

 The next topic to which I shall advert relates to the administration of justice; and this large and important subject I cannot pass over without a word to remind your lordships how little safe it is, how little deserving the name of just, or any thing like just, that where you have two classes you should separate them into conflicting parties, until they became so exasperated in their resentment as scarcely to regard each other as brethren of the same species; and that you should place all the administration of justice in the hands of one dominant class, whose principles, whose passions whose interests, are all likely to be preferred by the judges when they presume to sit where you have placed them on the judgment seat. The chief and puisne judges are raised to their situations from amongst the class which includes the white men and planters. But, worse than that, the jurors are taken from the same privileged body: jurors, who are to assess civil damages in actions for injuries done to the negroes--jurors, who are to try bills of indictment against the whites for the maltreatment of the blacks--jurors who are to convict or acquit on those bills--jurors who are to try the slaves themselves--nay, magistrates, jailors, turnkeys, the whole apparatus of justice, both administrative and executive, exclusively in the hands of one race! What is the consequence? Why, it is proverbial that no bills are found for the blacks. (Hear, hear. ) Six bills of indictment were preferred, some for murder and some for bad manslaughter, and at one assizes every one of these six indictments was thrown out. Assizes after assizes the same thing happened, until at length wagers were held that no such bill would be found, and no one was found to accept them. Well was it for them that they declined, for every one of the bills preferred was ignored. Now, observe that in proceedings, as your lordships know; before grand jurors, not a tittle of evidence is heard for the prisoners; every witness is in favor of the indictment, or finding of the bill; but in all these instances the bills were flung out on the examination of evidence solely against the prisoner. Even in the worst cases of murder, as certainly and plainly committed as the sun shines at noon day, monstrous to all, the bills were thrown out when half the witnesses for the prosecution remained to be examined. (Hear, hear. ) Some individuals swore against the prisoners, and though others tendered their evidence, the jury refused to hear them. (Hear, hear. ) Besides, the punishments inflicted are monstrous; thirty-nine lashes are inflicted for the vague, indefinite--because incapable to be defined--offence of insolence. Thirty-nine lashes for the grave and the more definite, I admit, offence of an attempt to carry a small knife. Three months imprisonment, or fifty lashes for the equally grave offence of cutting off the shoot of a cane plant! There seems to have prevailed at all times amongst the governors of our colonies a feeling, of which, I grieve to say, the governors at home have ever and anon largely partaken, that there is something in the nature of a slave--something in the habits of the African negro--something in the disposition of the unfortunate hapless victims of our own crimes and cruelties, which makes what is mercy and justice to other men cruelty to society and injustice to the law in the case of the negro, and which condemns offences slightly visited, if visited at all, with punishment, when committed by other men, to the sentence that for his obdurate nature none can be too severe. (Hear, hear. ) As if we had any one to blame but ourselves--as if we had any right to visit on him that character if it were obdurate, those habits if they were insubordinate, that dishonest disposition if it did corrupt his character, all of which I deny, and which experience proves to be contrary to the fact and truth; but even if these statements were all truth instead of being foully slanderous and absolutely false, we, of all men, have ourselves to blame, ourselves to tax, and ourselves to punish, at least for the self abasement, for we have been the very causes of corrupting the negro character. (Cheers. )

 If some capricious despot, in his career of ordinary tyranny, were to tax his imagination to produce something more monstrous and unnatural than himself, and were to place a dove amongst vultures, or engraft a thorn on the olive tree, much as we should marvel at the caprice, we should be still more astounded at the expectation, which exceeds even a tyrant's proverbial unreasonableness, that he should gather grapes from the thorn, or that the dove should be habituated to a thirst for blood. Yet that is the caprice, that is the unreasonable, the foul, the gross, the monstrous, the outrageous, incredible injustice of which we are hourly guilty towards the whole unhappy race of negroes. (Cheers. ) My lords, we fill up the incasare of injustice by severely executing laws badly conceived in a still more atrocious and cruel spirit. The whole punishments smell of blood. (Hear, Hear. ) If the treadmill stop in consequence of the languid limbs and exhausted frames of the victims, within a minute the lash resounds through the building--if the stones which they are set to break be not broken by limbs scarred, and marred, and whaled, they are summoned by the crack of the whip to their toilsome task! I myself have heard within the last three hours, from a person, who was an eye-witness of the appalling and disgusting fact, that a leper was introduced amongst the negroes; and in passing let me remark, that in private houses or hospitals no more care has been taken to separate those who are stricken with infectious diseases from the sound portion, any more than to furnish food to those in prison who are compelled, from the unheard-of, the paltry, the miserable disposition to treat with cruelty the victims of a prison, to go out and gather their own food, --a thing which I believe even the tyrant of Siberia does not commit. Yet in that prison, where blood flows profusely, and the limbs of those human beings are subjected to perpetual torture, the frightful, the nauseous, the disgusting--except that all other feelings are lost in pity towards the victim and indignation against the oppressor--sight was presented of a leper, scarred from the eruptions of disease on his legs and previous mistreatment, whaled again and again, and his blood again made to flow from the jailer's lash. I have told your lordships how bills have been thrown out for murdering the negroes. But a man had a bill presented for this offence: a petition was preferred, and by a white man. Yes, a white man who had dared, under feelings of excited indignation, to complain to the regularly constituted authorities, instead of receiving for his gallant conduct the thanks of the community, had a bill found which was presented against him as a nuisance. I have, within the last two hours, amid the new mass of papers laid before your lordships within the last forty-eight hours, culled a sample which, I believe, represents the whole odious mass. 

 Eleven females have been flogged, starved, lashed, attached to the treadmill, and compelled to work until nature could no longer endure their sufferings. At the moment when the wretched victims were about to fall off--when they could no longer bring down the mechanism and continue the movement, they were suspended by their arms, and at each revolution of the wheel received new wounds on their members, until, in the language of that law so grossly outraged in their persons, they "languished and died. " Ask you if a cringe of this murderous nature went unvisited, and if no inquiry was made respecting its circumstances? The forms of justice were observed; the handmaid was present, but the sacred mistress was far away. A coroner's inquest was called; for the laws decreed that no such injuries should take place without having an inquiry instituted. Eleven inquisitions were held, eleven inquiries were made, eleven verdicts were returned. For murder? Manslaughter? Misconduct? No; but that "they died by the visitation of God. " A lie--a perjury--a blasphemy! The visitation of God! Yes, for of the visitations of the Divine being by which the inscrutable purposes of his will are mysteriously worked out, one of the most mysterious is the power which, from time to time, is allowed by him to be exercised by the wicked for the torment of the innocent. (Cheers. ) But of those visitations prescribed by Divine Providence there is one yet more inscrutable, for which it is still more difficult to affix a reason, and that is, when heaven rolls down on this earth the judgment, not of scorpions, or the plague of pestilence, or famine, or war--but incomparably the worse plague, the worser judgment, of the injustice of judges who become betrayers of the law--perjured, wicked men who abuse the law which they are sworn to administer, in order to gratify their own foul passions, to take the part of the wrong-doer against his victim, and to forswear themselves on God's gospel, in order that justice may not be done. * * * * My lords, I entirely concur in what was formerly said by Mr. Burke, and afterwards repeated by Mr. Canning, that while the making of laws was confined to the owners of slaves, nothing they did was ever found real or effectual. And when, perchance, any thing was accomplished, it had not, as Mr. Burke said, "an executive principle. " But, when they find you determined to do your duty, it is proved, by the example which they have given in passing the Apprenticeship Amendment Act, that they will even outstrip you to prevent your interference with them. * * * * Place the negroes on the same footing with other men, and give them the uncontrolled power over their time and labor, and it will become the interest of the planter, as well as the rest of the community, to treat the negro well, for their comfort and happiness depend on his industry and good behavior. It is a consequence perfectly clear, notwithstanding former distinctions, notwithstanding the difference of color and the variety of race in that population, the negro and the West Indian will in a very few generations--when the clank of his chain is no longer heard, when the oppression of the master can vex no more, when equal rights are enjoyed by all, and all have a common interest in the general prosperity--be impressed with a sense of their having an equal share in the promotion of the public welfare; nay, that social improvement, the progress of knowledge, civility, and even refinement itself, will proceed as rapidly and diffuse itself as universally in the islands of the Western Ocean as in any part of her Majesty's dominions. * * * *

 I see no danger in the immediate emancipation of the negro; I see no possible injury in terminating the apprenticeship, (which we now have found should never have been adopted, ) and in causing it to cease for slaves previous to August, 1838, at that date, as those subsequent to that date must in that case be exempt. * * * * I regard the freedom of the negro as accomplished and sure. Why? Because it is his right--because he has shown himself fit for it--because a pretext or a shadow of a pretext can no longer be devised for withholding that right from its possessor. I know that all men now take a part in the question, and that they will no longer bear to be imposed upon now they are well informed. My reliance is firm and unflinching upon the great change which I have witnessed--the education of the people unfettered by party or by sect--from the beginning of its progress, I may say from the hour of its birth. Yes; it was not for a humble man like me to assist at royal births with the illustrious prince who condescended to grace the pageant of this opening session, or the great captain and statesman in whose presence I now am proud to speak. But with that illustrious prince, and with the father of the Queen I assisted at that other birth, more conspicuous still. With them and with the lord of the house of Russel I watched over its cradle--I marked its growth--I rejoiced in its strength--I witnessed its maturity--I have been spared to see it ascend the very height of supreme power--directing the councils of the state--accelerating every great improvement--uniting itself with every good work--propping honorable and useful institutions--extirpating abuses in all our institutions--passing the bounds of our dominion, and in the new world, as in the old, proclaiming that freedom is the birthright of man--that distinction of color gives no title to oppression--that the chains now loosened must be struck off, and even the marks they have left effaced by the same eternal law of our nature which makes nations the masters of their own destiny, and which in Europe has caused every tyrant's throne to quake. But they need to feel no alarm at the progress of right who defend a limited monarchy and support their popular institutions--who place their chiefest pride not in ruling over slaves, be they white or be they black--not in protecting the oppressor, but in wearing a constitutional crown, in holding the sword of justice with the hand of mercy, in being the first citizen of a country whose air is too pure for slavery to breathe, and on whose shores, if the captive's foot but touch, his fetters of themselves fall off. (Cheers. ) To the resistless progress of this great principle I look with a confidence which nothing can shake; it makes all improvement certain--it makes all change safe which it produces; for none can be brought about, unless all has been accomplished in a cautious and salutary spirit. So now the fulness of time is come; for our duty being at length discharged to the African captive, I have demonstrated to you that every thing is ordered--every previous step taken--all safe, by experience shown to be safe, for the long-desired consummation. The time has come--the trial has been made--the hour is striking: you have no longer a pretext for hesitation, or faltering, or delay. The slave has shown, by four years' blameless behavior and devotion, unsurpassed by any English peasant, to the pursuit of peaceful industry, that he is as fit for his freedom as any lord whom I now address. I demand his rights--I demand his liberty without stint, in the names of justice and of law--in the name of reason--in the name of God, who has given you no right to work injustice. I demand that your brother be no longer trampled upon as your slave. (Hear, hear. ) I make my appeal to the Commons, who represent the free people of England; and I require at their hands the performance of that condition for which they paid so enormous a price--that condition which all their constituents are in breathless anxiety to see fulfilled! I appeal to his house--the hereditary judges of the first tribunal in the world--to you I appeal for justice. Patrons of all the arts that humanize mankind, under your protection I place humanity herself! To the merciful Sovereign of a free people I call aloud for mercy to the hundreds of thousands in whose behalf half a million of her Christian sisters have cried aloud, that their cry may not have risen in vain. But first I turn my eye to the throne of all justice, and devoutly humbling myself before Him who is of purer eyes than to behold any longer such vast iniquities--I implore that the curse over our heads of unjust oppression be averted from us--that your hearts may be turned to mercy--and that over all the earth His will may at length be done!

 * * * * *

INDEX. 

ABSCONDING from labor, Accident in a boiling house, Aged negro, Allowance to Apprentices, "Amalgamation, "American Consul, (_See Consul_. )American Prejudice, Amity Hall Estate, Anderson, Wm. II. Esq. , Anguilla, Annual Meeting of Missionaries, Antigua, Dimensions of, " Sugar Crop of, Applewhitte, Mr. Appraisement of Apprentices, Apprentice, provisions respecting the, Apprenticeship compared with slavery, Apprenticeship System, " Design of, " Good effect of, " No preparation for freedom, Apprenticeship, Operation of, Apprenticeship, Opinion of, in Antigua;--in Barbadoes;--in Jamaica, Apprentices liberated, Apprentices' work compared with slavesArchdeacon of Antigua, " of Barbadoes, Aristocracy of Antigua, Armstrong, Mr. H. , Ashby, Colonel, Athill, Mr. , Attachment to home, Attorney General of Jamaica, Attendance on ChurchAugust, First of

Baijer, Hon. Samuel O. , Baines, Major, Banks, Rev. Mr. , Baptist ChapelBaptists in Jamaica, Barbadoes, Barbuda, Barber in Bridgetown, Barclay, Alexander, Esq. , Barnard, Samuel, Esq. , Barrow, Colonel, Bath, Bazaar, Bell, Dr. , Belle Estate, Bell not tolled for colored person, "_Belly, 'blige_ 'em to work, "Belmore, Lord, Belvidere Estate, Benevolent institutions of Antigua, Bible Society, Bishop of Barbadoes, Blessings of Abolition, (See _Morals_, &c. )Blind man, Boiling House, Bookkeepers, Slaver of, "Bornin' Ground, "Bourne, Mr. London, Bourne, Mr. S. , (of Antigua, )Bourne, Stephen, Esq. , (of Jamaica, )Breakfast at Mr. Bourne's, " at Mr. Prescod's, " at Mr. Thorne's, Briant, Mr. , Bridgetown, Brown, Colonel, Brown, Thomas C. , C. , Mr. , of Barbadoes, "Cage, "Cane cultivated by apprentices on their own ground, Cane-cutting, Cane-holing, Cecil, Mr. , Cedar Hall, Chamberlain, R. , Esq. , Change of opinion in regard to slavery, Chapel erected by apprentices, Character of colored people, Cheesborough, Rev. Mr. , Children, care of, (See _Free_. )Christmas, Church, Established, Civility of negroes, Clarke, Dr. , Clarke, Hon. R. B. , Clarke, Mr. , Classification of apprentices, Codrington Estate, Coddrington, Sir Christopher. Coffee Estates. College, Coddrington. Colliton Estate. Colored Architect. " Editors. " Lady. " Legislators. " Magistrates. " Merchants. " Policemen. " Population. " Proprietor. " Teachers. Colthurst, Major. Complaints to Special Magistrates. Concubinage. Condition of the negroes, changed. Conduct of the Emancipated on the first of August. Confidence increased. Conjugal attachment. Consul, American at Antigua. " " at Jamaica. Constabulary force, colored. Contributions for religious purposes. Conversation with a negro boatman. Conversation with negroes on Harvey's estate. Conversation with apprentices. Corbett, Mr. Trial of. Corner stone laid. Courts in Barbadoes. Courts in Jamaica. Cox, Rev. James. Cranstoun, Mr. Crimes, Diminution of. Crimes in Jamaica. Crookes, Rev. Mr. Crops in Barbadoes. Crops in Jamaica. Cruelty of slavery. " to apprentices. Cultivation in Barbadoes, (See _Crops_. )Cultivation in Jamaica. Cummins, Mr. Cummins, Rev. Mr. Cuppage, Captain. Custom House returns, Barbadoes. 

Daily meal Society. Dangers of slavery. Daniell, Dr. Death-bed of a planter. Deception. Defect of law. Demerara, Apprenticeship in. Desire for instruction. Dinner at Mr. Harris's. " at the Governor's. Disabilities of colored people. Discussion, Effect of. Distinction between _serving_ and being _property_. Distressed Females' Friend Society. Disturbances, Reason of. Docility of the negroes. Domestic Apprentices. Donovan's Estate. Drax Hall. Dress in Antigua. "Driver and overseer. "Drought in Antigua. Dublin Castle Estate. Duncan, Mr. Dungeons in Antigua. " in Barbadoes. 

Economy of the negroes. Edgecomb Estate. Edmonson, Rev. Jonathan. Education of Apprentices. " in Antigua. " in Barbadoes. (See _Schools_. )Education, Queries on, replied to. " Results, in regard to. Edwards, Colonel. Eldridge, R. B. Esq. . Elliot, Rev. Edward. Emancipation, Immediate. (See _Preparation, &c. _)Emancipation, Motives of, in Antigua. Emigrants from Europe. Employments of the colored. English Delegation. Enrolment of colored militia. Escape of slaves from French islands. Expectations in regard to 1838 and 1840. Expense of free compared with slave labor. Expense of Apprenticeship compared with slavery. Explanation of terms. Exports of Jamaica for 53 years. 

Fair of St. John's. Favey, Mr. Feeding in Barbadoes. Feeling, intense, of the negroes. Females in the field. Fences wanting in Antigua. Ferguson, Dr. Fines upon the planters. Fire in the canes. Fitch's Creek Estate. Flogging. " machine. Forten, James. Four and a half per cent tax. Fraser, Rev. Edward. " Mrs. , ----Free children. Freedom in Antigua. Free labor less expensive. Freeman, Count. Frey's Estate. Friendly Societies. Fright of American vessels. 

Galloway, Mr. Gangs, Division of. Gardiner, Rev. Mr. Gilbert, Rev. N. Girl sold by her mother. Gitters, Rev. Mr. Golden Grove Estate. Gordon, Mr. Governor of Antigua. " of Barbadoes. Grace Bay. Grenada. "Grandfather Jacob. "Gratitude of the Negroes. "Grecian Regale. "Green Castle Estate. Green Wall Estate. Guadaloupe. Guarda Costas. "Gubner poisoned. "

H. , Mr. , an American. Hamilton, Capt. Hamilton, Cheny, Esq. Hamilton, Rev. Mr. Harrison, Colonel. Harris, Thomas, Esq. Harvey, Rev. B. Hatley, Mr. Heroism of colored women. Higginbothom, Ralph, Esq. Hill, Richard, Esq. Hinkston, Samuel, Esq. Holberton, Rev. Robert. Holidays in Antigua. Horne, Rev. Mr. "Horse. "Horton Estate. Horsford, Hon. Paul. Hostility to Emancipation. (See also, _Change, &c. _)House of Correction. Howell, Mr. , (of Jamaica). Howell, James Esq. Hurricane. 

Imports and Exports of Barbadoes. Improvement since Emancipation. (See _Morals_. )Indolence of Apprentices. " of Whites. Industry of Emancipated Slaves. Industry of Apprentices. Infanticide. Insolence. Insubordination. (See _Subordination_. )Insurrection in Barbadoes in 1816. Insurrection not feared in Antigua; nor in Barbadoes; nor in Jamaica. Intelligence of blacks, as compared with whites. Intemperance in Antigua. (See _Temperance_. )Intermixture. (See also _Amalgamation_. )Internal Improvement. 

Jamaica. Jarvis, Colonel. Jobs. Jocken, Mr. Jones, Mr. Jones, Rev. Mr. Jones, T. Watkins, S. M. Jordon, Edward, Esq. Jury on the body of a negro woman. "Juvenile Association. "

Kingdon, Rev. Mr. Kingston. Kirkland, Mr. 

Law, respect for. Lear's Estate. Legislature of Antigua. Letter to a Special Magistrate. License to marry. Licentiousness. Lighthouse. Lock-up house at St. John's. Lyon, E. B. , Esq. Lyon's Estate. 

Machinery, Labor-saving. Managers, Testimony of. Manchioneal. Market in St. John's. Market people. Maroons. Marriage. Marshall, Mr. Martinique. Master's power over the apprentice. McCornock, Thomas, Esq. McGregor, Sir Evan, J. M. Megass. Merchants, Testimony of. Messages of Sir Lionel Smith. Mico Charity Infant School. Miller's Estate. Missionaries, Wesleyan. Missionary associations. " Society, Wesleyan. Mob, Pro-Slavery, in Barbadoes. Möhne, Mr. And Mrs. Montserrat. Morals, improvement of. Morant Bay. Moravian Chapel. " Missionary. Moravians. Morrish, Rev. Mr. Mule-traveling. Murder of a planter. Musgrave, Dr. 

Negro Grounds. Negro Quarters. Nevis. Newby, Mr. Newfield, visit to. Noble trait in the apprentices. Nugent, Hon. Nicholas. 

Obstacles to free labor in Antigua. Old school tyrant. Opinions in Antigua in regard to Emancipation. Opinions of the United States. Opposition to slavery in Jamaica. O'Reily, Hon. Dowel. Osburne, Mr. Overseers. 

Packer, Rev. Mr. Parry, Archdeacon. Partiality of the Special Magistrates. Peaceableness of negro villages. Peaceableness of the change from slavery to freedom. Peaceableness of the negro character. Persecution of a Special Justice. Peter's Rock. Phillips, Rev. Mr. Physician, Testimony of. Pigeot, Mr. Plantain Garden River Valley. Planter, a severe one. Planters, cruelty of. " in Barbadoes. Plough. Police Court. " of Antigua. " Officers, Testimony of. " Reports. Policy of colored people in regard to prejudice. Port Royal. Prejudice against color. "Prejudice Bell. "Preparation for freedom. Prescod, Mr. Promiscuous seating in church (See _"Amalgamation, " &c. _)Proprietor, testimony of. Pro-slavery pretences. Providence of the emancipated, the. Provost Marshal, Testimony of. Punishment, cruel. Punishment in Antigua. 

Ramsay, Mr. Real Estate. Rebellion, so called. Rector of St. John's. "Red Shanks. "Reid, Mr. E. Religion in Antigua; in Barbadoes; in Jamaica. Religious condition of slaves in Antigua. Religious instruction desired. Report of a Special Magistrate. Resolution in regard to Messrs. Thome and Kimball. Resolutions of Wesleyan Missionaries. Respect for the aged. Results in Antigua. Revengefulness. Ridge Estate. Right of suffrage. Rogers, Mr. Ross, A. , Esq. Rowe, Rev. Mr. Rum, use of in Antigua. 

Sabbath in Antigua; in Barbadoes; in Jamaica. Sabbath school in Bridgetown. Safety of immediate emancipation. (See _Insurrections_. )School, adult; at Lear's; Parochial; Wolmer Free. Schools in Antigua; in Bridgetown; infant; in Kingston; in Spanishtown. Scotland in Barbadoes. Scotland, James, Esq. Scotland, J. , Jr. Esq. Security restored. Self-emancipation. Self-respect. Shands, Mr. S. Shiel, Mr. Shrewsbury, Rev. Mr. Sickness, pretended. Silver Hill. Sligo, Lord. Smith, Sir Lionel. Social intercourse. Societies, benevolent. Society among colored people. " for promotion of Christian knowledge. Soldiers, black. Solicitor General of Barbadoes. " of Jamaica. Song sung in the schools. Spanishtown. "Speaking, " a Moravian custom. Special Magistrates. (See also _Partiality_. )Special Magistrates, Testimony of. St. Andrews. Station House, A. St. Christopher's. St. Lucia. Stock Keepers. St. Thomas in the East. Sturge & Harvey, Messrs. St. Vincent's. Subordination. Sugar Crop. " cultivation hard for the slave. Sugar Mill. Sunday Markets. Superintendent of Police. Suspension of faithful magistrates. 

Task-work. Teacher, Black. Teachers. "Telegraph, " Remarks of the. Temperance in Antigua. " of negroes. " Society. Testimony of Managers. Testimony of clergymen and missionaries. Testimony of Governors. " of magistrates. " of physicians. Theft, decrease of. Thibou Jarvis's estate. Thomas, Mr. Thompson, George, Bust of. Thompson, Thomas, Esq. Thorne, Mr. Thwaites, Mr. Charles. Tinson, Rev. Mr. Toast to Immediate Emancipation. Tortala. Traffic in Slaves. Transition from slavery to freedom. Treatment of slaves ameliorated by discussion. Treadmill. Trinidad. Trustworthiness. 

Unwilling witness. 

Vagrancy. Value of an apprentice. (See _Appraisement_. )Villa Estate. 

Wages. Walton, Rev. Mr. Watchman, Jamaica. " Remarks of the. Watkins, Mr. Ward, Sir Henry. Weatherill's Estate. Wesleyan Chapel, Antigua. " " New, ". " Missionary Society. Wesleyans in Antigua. " in Barbadoes. " in Jamaica. Whip banished. Whipping Post. White lady. Wilberforce, opinion of. Wickham, Richard S. Willis, George, Esq. Willoughby Bay Examination. Wolmer Free School. Women abandon the field. " condition of. Woolridge, Rev. Mr. Wright, Andrew, Esq. 

 * * * * *

THE ANTI-SLAVERY EXAMINER--EXTRA. 

 * * * * *

EMANCIPATION

In The

WEST INDIES, IN 1838. 

 * * * * *

IMPORTANT TO THE UNITED STATES. 

False prophets were never stiller about their time-detected imposturesthan are the pro-slavery presses of the United States about the resultsof West India Emancipation. Now and then, for the sake of appearances, they obscurely copy into their immense sheets an inch or two ofcomplaints, from some snarling West India paper, that the emancipatedare lazy and won't work. But they make no parade. They are more taciturnthan grave-stones. 

In the following closely printed columns, those who wish to know willfind out precisely how the "_great experiment_" has worked. Theywill find, 1. The _safety_ of abolition demonstrated--its safety in the worstpossible case. 

2. That the colonies are prospering in their _agriculture_. 

3. That the planters conferred freedom because they were _obliged to_ bypublic opinion abroad. 

4. That freedom, even thus unwillingly conferred, was accepted as aprecious boon by the slaves--they were grateful to God, and ready towork for their masters for fair pay. 

5. That the mass of the planters have endeavoured, from the first, toget work out of the free laborers for as small wages as possible. 

6. That many of the attorneys and managers have refused fair wages andpracticed extortion, _to depreciate the price of property_, that theymight profit thereby. 

7. That all the indisposition to labor which has yet been exhibited isfully accounted for by these causes. 

8. That in spite of all, the abolition is working well for the _honest_of all parties. 

 * * * * *

WEST INDIA EMANCIPATION, IN 1838. 

The immediate abolitionists hold that the change from slavery to freedomcannot be too sudden. They say that the first step in raising the slavefrom his degradation should be that of making him a proper subject oflaw, by putting him in possession of himself. This position they rest onthe ground both of justice and expediency, which indeed they believe tobe inseparable. With exceptions too trifling to affect the question, they believe the laborer who feels no stimulus but that of wages and norestraint but that of law, is the most _profitable_, not only to himselfand society at large, but to any employer other than a brutal tyrant. The benefit of this role they claim for every man and woman livingwithin this republic, till on fair trial the proper tribunal shall havejudged them unworthy of it. They deny both the justice and expediency ofpermitting any degree of ignorance or debasement to work the forfeitureof self-ownership, and pronounce slavery continued for such a cause theworst of all, inasmuch as it is the _robbery of the poor because heis poor_. 

What light was thrown upon this doctrine by the process of abolition inthe British West Indies from the 1st of August 1834 to the 1st of June1837, may be seen in the work of Messrs. Thome and Kimball entitled, "Emancipation in the West Indies. " That light continues to shine. Bermuda and Antigua, in which the slaves passed instantaneously out ofabsolute slavery into full freedom, are living witnesses of the blessingof heaven upon immediate emancipation. In Antigua, one of the old sugarcolonies, where slavery had had its full sway there has been especiallya fair test of immediatism, and the increasing prosperity of the islanddoes the utmost honor to the principle. After the fullest inquiry on thepoint, Messrs. Thome and Kimball say of this island:--

"There is not a class, or party, or sect, who do not esteem theabolition of slavery as a _special blessing to them_. The rich, becauseit relieved them of "property" which was fast becoming a disgrace, as ithad always been a vexation and a tax, and because it has emancipatedthem from the terrors of insurrection, which kept them all theirlife-time subject to bondage. The poor whites--because it lifted fromoff them the yoke of civil oppression. The free coloredpopulation--because it gave the death blow to the prejudice that crushedthem, and opened the prospect of social, civil, and political equalitywith the whites. The _slaves_--because it broke open their dungeons, ledthem out to liberty, and gave them, in one munificent donation, theirwives, their children, their bodies, their souls--everything. "

In the emphatic language of the Governor, "It was _universally admitted_that emancipation had been a great blessing to the island. "

In November 1837, Lord Brougham thus summed up the results of theAntigua experiment in a speech in the House of Lords:--

"It might be known to their lordships that in one most important colonythe experiment of instant and entire emancipation had been tried. Infinitely to the honor of the island of Antigua was it, that it did notwait for the period fixed by the Legislature, but had at once convertedthe state of slavery into one of perfect liberty. On the 1st of August, 1834, the day fixed by act of Parliament for the commencement of a tenyears' apprenticeship, the Legislature of that colony, to the immortalhonor of their wisdom, their justice, and their humanity, had abolishedthe system of apprenticeship, and had absolutely and entirely struck thefetters off from 30, 000 slaves. Their lordships would naturally askwhether the experiment had succeeded; and whether this suddenemancipation had been wisely and politically done. He should move forsome returns which he would venture to say would prove that theexperiment had entirely succeeded. He would give their lordships someproofs: First, property in that island had risen in value; secondly, with a very few exceptions, and those of not greater importance thanoccurred in England during harvest, there was no deficiency in thenumber of laborers to be obtained when laborers were wanted; thirdly, offences of all sorts, from capital offences downwards, had decreased;and this appeared from returns sent by the inspector of slaves to thegovernor of that colony, and by him transmitted to the proper authorityhere; and, fourthly, the exports of sugar had increased: during thethree years ending 1834, the average yearly export was 165, 000 cwts. , and for the three subsequent years this average had increased to 189, 000cwts. , being an increase of 21, 000 cwts, or one clear seventh, producedby free labor. Nor were the last three years productive seasons; for in1835 there was a very severe and destructive hurricane, and in the year1836 there was such a drought that water was obliged to be imported fromBarbados. "

Of such sort, with regard to both the colonies that adopted theprinciple of immediate emancipation, have been the facts--and all thefacts--up to the latest intelligence. 

The rest of the colonies adopted the plan proposed by the Britishgovernment, which contrary to the wishes of the great body of Britishabolitionists, made the slaves but partially free under the name ofapprentices. In this mongrel condition they were to remain, the houseservants four, and the field laborers six years. This apprenticeship wasthe darling child of that expediency, which, holding the transactionfrom wrong to right to be dangerous and difficult, illustrates itswisdom by lingering on the dividing line. Therefore any mischance thatmight have occurred in any part of this tardy process would have beenjustly attributable to _gradualism_ and not to _immediatism_. The forceof this remark will be better seen by referring to the nature andworking of the apprenticeship as described in the book of Messrs. Thomeand Kimball. We have only room to say that the masters universallyregarded the system as a part of the compensation or bonus to theslaveholder and not as a preparatory school for the slave. By law theywere granted a property in the uncompensated _labor_ of the slaves forsix years; but the same law, by taking away the sole means of enforcingthis labor, in fact threw the masters and slaves into a six years'quarrel in which they stood on something like equal terms. It was surelynot to be wondered if the parties should come out of this contest toohostile ever to maintain to each other the relation of employer andemployed. This six years of vexatious swinging like a pendulum over theline between bondage and liberty was well calculated to spoil all thegratitude and glory of getting across. 

It was early discovered that the masters generally were disposed toabuse their power and get from their apprentices all that could by anymeans be extorted. The friends of humanity in Great Britain werearoused, Mr. Sturge, a distinguished philanthropist of Birmingham, accompanied by Messrs. Scohle, Harvey, and Lloyd, proceeded to the WestIndies on a mission of inquiry, and prosecuted their investigationcontemporaneously with Messrs. Thome and Kimball. Their Report produceda general conviction in England, that the planters had forfeited allclaim to retain their authority over the apprentices, and the governmentwas accordingly petitioned immediately to abolish the system. This itwas loth to do. It caused inquiries to be instituted in the colonies, especially in Jamaica, with the evident hope of overthrowing the chargesof Mr. Sturge. The result more than confirmed those charges. Thegovernment still plead for delay, and brought in a bill for the_improvement_ of the apprenticeship. In the progress of theseproceedings, urged on as they were by the heaven-high enthusiasm of theBritish nation, many of the planters clearly perceived that their chanceof power during the remaining two years of the apprenticeship had becomeworth less to them than the good will which they might get byvoluntarily giving it up. Whether it was this motive operating in goodfaith, or a hope to escape philanthropic interference for the future byyielding to its full claim, and thus gain a clear field to oppress underthe new system of wages, one thing is certain the chartered colonies, suddenly, and to the surprise of many, put the finishing stroke to thesystem and made their apprentices free from the 1st of August, 1838. Thecrown colonies have mostly imitated their example. 

The following table exhibits the extent and population of thesecolonies. 

Possessions. Date of Extent. Population acquisit. Sq. M. White Slaves F. Col. Anguilla[B], 1650 . . . 365 2, 388 327Antigua[A], 1632 108 1, 980 29, 537 3, 895Bahamas[B], 1629 4, 400 4, 240 9, 268 2, 991Barbados[B], 1625 166 14, 959 82, 807 5, 146Bermudas[A], 1611 22 3, 905 4, 608 738Dominica[B], 1783 275 840 15, 392 3, 606Grenada[B], 1783 125 801 24, 145 3, 786Jamaica[B], 1655 6, 400 37, 000 311, 692 55, 000Montserrat[B], 1632 47 330 6, 262 814Nevis[B], 1628 20 700 9, 259 2, 000St. Christophers[B], 1632 68 1, 612 19, 310 3, 000St. Lucia[B], 1803 58 972 13, 661 3, 718St. Vincent[B], 1783 130 1, 301 23, 589 2, 824Tobago[B], 1763 187 322 12, 556 1, 164Trinidad[B], 1797 2, 460 4, 201 24, 006 15, 956Tortola, orVirgin Isles[B], 1666 . . . 800 5, 399 607

Total, B. W. I . . . 14, 466 74, 328 593, 879 105, 572Cape of Good Hope, . . . . . . 43, 000 35, 500 29, 000 Berbice[B] . . . . . . 523 20, 645 1, 161Guiana Demarara[B] 1803 . . . 3, 006 65, 556 6, 360 Essequibo[B], . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Honduras, 1650 62, 750 250 2, 100 2, 300Mauritius, . . . . . . 8, 000 76, 000 15, 000Total. . . . . . . 129, 107 793, 680 159, 393

[Footnote A: Emancipated entirely on the 1st. Of August, 1834. ]

[Footnote B: Emancipated entirely on the 1st. Of August, 1838, by voteof the local legislatures in the chartered Colonies; and by Governor andCouncil, in the Crown Colonies. ]

The _unanimity_ with which the apprenticeship was given up is a mostremarkable and instructive fact. In the Council and Assembly ofMontserrat, there was an unanimous decision in favor of Emancipation asearly as February 1838. In the legislature of Tortola, which passed thebill in April 1838, the opposing party was small. In that of Barbadosthe bill was passed on the 15th of May with but _one_ dissenting voice. In that of Jamaica, the bill seems to have been passed on the 8th ofJune, and the _Jamaica Times_ remarks:--"No dissentient voice was heardwithin the walls of the Assembly, all joined in the wish so oftenexpressed, that the remaining term of the apprenticeship should becancelled, that the excitement produced by a law which has doneinconceivable harm in Jamaica, in alienating the affections of herpeople, and creating discord and disaffection, should at once cease. Thank God! it is now nearly at an end, and we trust that Jamaica willenjoy that repose, so eagerly and anxiously sought after, by all whowish the Island well. "

These facts come down upon the question of the safety of an _immediate_emancipation with an _a fortiori_, a _much more then_. For it isadmitted on all hands that the apprenticeship had "alienated theaffections of the people;" they were in a state less favorable to aquiet sequel, than they were before the first of August, 1834, yet thedanger was not thought of. The _safety_ was an argument _in favor_ ofemancipation, not _against_ it. The raw head and bloody bones hadvanished. The following is a fair exhibition of the feeling of the mostinfluential planters, in regard to the _safety_ of the step. 

From the Barbadian, May 9, 1838. 

AT A MEETING OF THE BOARD OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, IN THE NEW COURTHOUSE, APRIL 24TH, 1838. 

The Lord Bishop rose and spoke as follows:

"_Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Council_, 'I was informed yesterday that, during my absence from this island, themembers recorded their opinion as to the expediency of absolutelyabolishing the apprenticeship in August, 1838. I am most anxious torecord my entire concurrence in this resolution, but I wish it to beunderstood that I do not consider the measure as called for by anyhardships, under which the laborers in this island are suffering--norfrom the want of any essential comfort--nor from the deprivation of anything, which a laborer can fairly claim from his master; still I doexpress my concurrence in the resolution of the board, and I do so onthese grounds: that I am satisfied the measure can be safely carried inthis island, and if safely, then I feel justly; for I consider the veryimportant interests which are involved in the measure. I must confess, too, that I am unwilling the Barbados should be behind any other island, especially in a measure which may be carried both safely and justly, andwhere its example may be of such beneficial consequence. I am justreturned from visiting the Northern Islands of the Diocese. I have goneover every part of Tortola, and though it is far more fertile than theOff Islands, yet even these are sufficiently productive for the laborerto raise the lesser and necessary provision of life, --and yet with theseislands in their very face, the Legislature of Tortola has passed theact of abolition. Some of the proprietors were opposed to it, but theyhave now given up their opposition; and I heard, whilst in Antigua, notonly that the act had passed, but that on the day of its passing, or thefollowing day, some of the leading proprietors rode through the island, and were met by the people with expressions of the utmost gratitude, regarding the act as a boon granted to them by their masters. At Nevisthe act has passed. At St. Christopher's the council are in favor of itspassing, and with Nevis emancipated in its vicinity, there is littledoubt but the Act must pass. At Montserrat also it has passed. AtAntigua, which I visited last year, I found that every thing wasproceeding quietly and regularly. I found too, the planters in highspirits, and some estates, which had been given up, restored; and thesmall patches and tenements of the free people, commencing last year, now in a very satisfactory state of cultivation. It is possible, indeed, that these last mentioned, unless the population is proportionablyincreased, may affect the cultivation of the larger estates, but therethey are, and flourishing, as I have described, whilst I was in theisland. A contiguous, though abandoned estate was purchased by Sir HenryMartin for about 9, 500 _l. _ currency, being 3, 000 _l. _ more than he hadoffered a few years previously. To compare Barbados with any otherisland, either as to population, wealth, or state of agriculture, isunnecessary. I have seen nothing like the commercial activity which Isaw in the streets yesterday, except at St. Thomas; and I feel, therefore, on all these grounds, that the act may be passed safely andjustly. At the same time I am not unmindful or insensible to the stateof public opinion in the mother country, nor to the many new andharassing annoyances to which the proprietors may be exposed during aprotracted continuance of the apprenticeship. I request that my fullconcurrence in the resolution of the council, may be accorded on theminutes of this day's proceedings. '"

Such is the testimony of a witness in no wise warped by prejudice infavor of the anti-slavery party. 

The debates which took place in the legislatures of both Barbados andJamaica, are full of similar testimony, uttered by men every wayqualified to bear witness, and under influences which relieve theirtestimony from every taint of suspicion. 

In the legislature of Jamaica, on the question of a Committee to bringin a Bill, Mr. GOOD remarked, "He could say that the negroes from theirgeneral good conduct were deserving of the boon. Then why not give inwith a good heart? why exhibit any bad feelings about the matter? Therewere many honorable gentlemen who had benefitted by the pressure fromwithout, who owed their rank in society and their seats in that house tothe industry of the negroes. Why should they now show a bad heart in thematter?--Nine tenths of the proprietors of this island had determinedupon giving up the apprenticeship. Hundreds of thousands were to bebenefited--were to take their stations as men of society, and he hopedthe boon would not be retarded by a handful of men who owed their allto slavery. "

Mr. Dallas said, --"_The abolition of the remaining term ofapprenticeship must take place; let them then join hand and heart indoing it well, and with such grace as we now could. Let it have theappearance of a boon from ourselves, and not in downright submission tothe coercive measures adopted by the British Parliament_. "

After a committee had been appointed to prepare and bring in a Bill forthe abolition of the apprenticeship, a member rose and proposed that the28th of June should be its termination. We give his speech as reportedin the Jamaica papers, to show how fanatical even a slaveholdermay become. 

"On the members resuming their seats, Mr. HART proposed that it be aninstruction to the committee appointed to bring in the bill orabolishing the remainder of the apprenticeship, to insert a clause init, that the operation of that bill should commence on the 28th of June, that being the day appointed for the coronation of the Queen. _He feltproud in telling the house that he was the representative of the blackpopulation. He was sent there by the blacks and his other friends_. Thewhite Christians had their representatives, the people of color hadtheir representatives, and _he hoped shortly to see the day when theblacks would send in their own representatives_. He wanted the thingdone at once, Sir, said the honorable member waxing warm. It wasnonsense to delay it. It could be done in three lines as he said before, dele 1840 and put in 1838. That was all that they had to do. If it werepossible, let the thing be done in two words. He went there to do hisduty to his constituents, and he was determined to do so. His blackfriends looked up to him to protect them--and he would press his motionthat all the apprentices in the island should be _crowned_ on the 28thof June. (Thundering roars of laughter. ) He was as independent as anyhonorable member, and would deliver his sentiment, without caring whowere and who were not pleased. He was possessed of property inapprentices--_he had an estate with nearly two hundred negroes, that hewas determined to crown on the 28th of June_. (Increased roars oflaughter in the house, and at the bar. ) He would not be laughed down. His properties were not encumbered. He would not owe anything on themafter they were paid for, and that he could do. (Loud laughter. ) He wasdetermined to have his opinion. As he had said before, the 28th day ofJune being fixed for the coronation of all the negroes in the island, that is the day they ought to be released from the apprenticeship. (Thundering and deafening roars of laughter). (Here the honorable memberwas told that the Queen was to be crowned on that day. ) Ah, well, he hadmade a mistake, but he would tell the house the truth, _he had made uphis mind to give his apprentices freedom on that day, but he did notwish to do it without his neighbors doing the same, lest they should sayhe was setting a bad example_. He would press his motion to a division. It had been seconded by his honorable friend on his right. --(Aside, "Good, didn't you promise to second it?") The honorable member then readhis motion, and handed it up to the clerk. "

The "mistake" of this liberal descendant of Israel, which excited somuch merriment was, after all, not a very unfortunate one, _if_ the"crown" of manhood is more important than that of monarchy. The membersobjected to so near an approach to _immediatism_, not, however, be itremarked, on account of the unfitness of the apprentices, (slaves) buttheir own convenience. Among those who replied to Mr. Hart, was Mr. Osborn, of unmingled African blood, born a slave, and who, we areinformed, was a successful competitor for the seat he now occupiesagainst the very man who formerly claimed him as property. Mr. Osbornand his partner Mr. Jordon were editors of the Jamaica Watchman, and hadcontended manfully for liberty when it was a dangerous word. Mr. Osbornsaid:--"He was astonished at the galloping liberality which seemed tohave seized some honorable members, now there was nothing to contendfor. Their liberality seemed to have outrun all prudence. Where werethey and their liberality when it was almost death to breach thequestion of slavery? What had become of their philanthropy? But no, itwas not convenient then. The stream was too strong for them to resist. Now, however, when the question was finally settled, when nothingremained for them to do, it was the time that some honorable gentlemenbegan to clamor their liberality, and began a race who should be thefirst, or who should have the honor of first terminating theapprenticeship. He hoped the motion would be withdrawn, and thediscussion put an end to. "

What had become of the visions of blood and slaughter? Could there bemore impressive testimony to the safety of Emancipation in all, even theworst cases?

We might add to this testimony that of the universal newspaper press ofthe British West India colonies. We have room, however, to select onlyfrom a few of the well known opponents of freedom. 

"We seriously call upon our representatives to consider well all thebearings of the question, and if they cannot resist effectually theseencroachments of the Imperial Government, adopt the remainingalternative of saving themselves from an infliction, by giving up atonce and entirely, the bone of contention between us. Thus only shall wedisarm, if anything in reason or in nature can, our enemies of theirslanderous weapons of offence, and secure in as far as possible, aspeedy and safe return of peace and prosperity to the "distracted"colony. --Without this sacrifice on our parts, we see no shelter from oursufferings--no amelioration of present wrongs--no hope for the future;but on the contrary, a systematic and remorseless train laid for theultimate ruin of every proprietor in the country. With this sacrificewhich can only be to any extent to a few and which the wisdom of ourlegislature may possibly find out some means or other of compensation, we have the hope that the sunshine of Jamaica's prosperity shall notreceive any farther diminution; but shall rather dawn again with renewedvigor; when all shall be alike free under the protection of the samelaw, and the same law-givers; and all shall be alike amenable to thepowers that punish without favor and without affection. "--_JamaicaStandard_. 

"There is great reason to expect that many Jamaica proprietors willanticipate the period established by the Slavery Abolition Act for thetermination of the apprenticeship. They will, as an act of grace, andwith a view to their future arrangements with their negroes, terminatethe apprenticeship either of all at once, or by giving immediate freedomto the most deserving; try the effect of this gift, and of the exampleafforded to the apprentices when they see those who have been dischargedfrom the apprenticeship working on the estates for wages. If such acourse is adopted, it will afford an additional motive for inducing theLegislature to consider whether the good feeling of the laboringpopulation, and their future connection with their former employers, maynot be promoted by permitting them to owe to the grace of their ownLegislature the termination of the apprenticeship as soon as therequisite legislation for the new state of things has beenadopted. "--_Jamaica Despatch_. 

Of such sort as this is the testimony from all the Colonies, mostabundantly published in the Emancipator and other abolition papers, tothe point of the _safety_ of entire Emancipation. At the time when thestep was taken, it was universally concluded that so far from beingdangerous it promised the greatest safety. It would not only put an endto the danger apprehended from the foreign interference of theabolitionists, but it would _conciliate the negroes_! And we are notable to find any one who professes to be disappointed with the resultthus far. The only evil now complained of, is the new freemen do not insome instances choose _to work_ on the _terms_ offered by the planters. They have shed no man's blood. They have committed no depredation. Theypeaceably obey the laws. All this, up to the latest date, is universallyadmitted. Neither does any one _now_ presume to prophesy anythingdifferent for the future. 

INDUSTRY. 

On the one topic of the industry of the Emancipated people, the WestIndian papers give the most conflicting accounts. Some represent them aslaboring with alacrity, diligence and effect wherever anything like anadequate compensation is offered. It is asserted by some, and not deniedby any authorities that we have seen, that the emancipated areindustriously at work on those estates where the masters voluntarilyrelinquished the apprenticeship before the first of August and met theirfreed people in good faith. But most of the papers, especially inJamaica, complain grievously that the freed people will work on noreasonable terms. We give a fair specimen from one of the Jamaicapapers, on which our political editors choose most to rely for theirinformation:--

"In referring to the state of the country this week, we have still thesame tale to tell of little work, and that little indifferently done, but exorbitantly charged for; and wherever resisted, a general "strike"is the consequence. Now this, whatever more favourable complexion theinterested and sinister motives of others may attempt to throw aroundit, is the real state of matters upon nine-tenths of the propertiessituated in St. James's, Westmoreland, and Hanover. In Trelawny they_appear_ to be doing a little better; but that only arises, we areconfident from the longer purses, and patience of endurance underexorbitant wages, exhibited by the generality of the managers of thatparish. Let them wait till they find they can no longer continue makingsugar at its present expensive rate, and they will then find whetherTrelawny is substantially in a better condition than either of the otherparties. "--_Standard, quoted in the Morning Journal of Nov. 2_. 

This is the "tale" indeed, of a great part of the West India papers, sung to the same hum drum tune ever since the first of August; and sofaithfully echoed by our own pro slavery press that many of ourestimable fellow citizens have given it up that the great "experiment"has turned out unfavorably, and that the colored population of the WestIndies are rapidly _sinking_ from the condition of _slaves_ to that ofidle freemen. Were we all in a position perfectly disinterested andabove the peculiar influence of slavery, we might perhaps consider thesecomplaints as asking for, rather than against, the character of theEmancipated and the cause of freedom, inasmuch as they prove the formerslaves to have both the discretion and the spirit which shouldcharacterise freemen. But to the peculiar optics which abound in theseUnited States it may be necessary to show the entire picture. 

To prove in the first place the general falsehood of the complaintsthemselves it is only necessary to advert to recent official documents. For our present purpose it will be sufficient to refer to Jamaica. Thelegislature was convened on the 30th of October and addressed by theGovernor Sir Lionel Smith in a speech of which the following extractpertains to our subject:--

 _"Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly, _

 The most important event in the annals of colonial history has taken place since last I had the pleasure of meeting the legislature of this Island; and I am happy in being able to declare that the conduct of the laboring population, who were then the objects of your liberal and enlightened policy, _entitles them to the highest praise, and amply proves how_ WELL THEY HAVE DESERVED _the boon of freedom. _

 It was not to be expected that the total extinction of the apprenticeship law would be followed by an instantaneous return to active labor, but feeling as I do the deepest interest in the successful result of the great measurement now in progress, I sincerely congratulate you and the country at large, on the improvement which is daily taking place on the resumption of industrious habits, and I TRUST THERE IS EVERY PROSPECT OF AGRICULTURAL PROSPERITY. "

Such is the testimony of a Governor who is no stranger in the WestIndies and who was put in the place of Lord Sligo as more acceptable tothe planters. But what said the House of Assembly in reply?--a Housemade up chiefly of attornies who had more interest than any other men inthe continuance of the old system and who, as will presently be shown, were not unwilling to have the "experiment" fail? They speak asfollows:--

 _"May it Please your Excellency, _

 We, her Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects, the Assembly of Jamaica, thank your Excellency for your speech at the opening of the session. 

 The House join your Excellency in bearing testimony TO THE PEACEABLE MANNER in which the laboring population have conducted themselves in a state of FREEDOM. 

 It certainly was not to be expected that so great a change in the condition of the people would be followed by an immediate return to active labor. The House, however, are willing to believe that some degree of improvement is taking place, and they sincerely join in the HOPE expressed by your Excellency, that the agricultural interests of the Island may ultimately prosper, by a resumption of industrious habits on the part of the peasantry in their new condition. "

This settles the question. Those who will not be convinced by suchdocuments as these that the mass of the Emancipated in Jamaica are ready_to do their part_ in the system of free labor, would not be convincedif one rose from the deed to prove it. 

We are now prepared to investigate the causes of the complaints, andinquire why in numerous cases the negros have refused to work. Let usfirst go back to the debates Jamaica Legislature on the passage of theEmancipation bill in June, and see whether we can discover the _temper_in which it was passed, and the prospect of good faith in its execution. We can hardly doubt that some members, and some especially from whosespeeches on that occasion we have already quoted, designed really toconfer the "boon of freedom. " But others spoke very differently. Tounderstand their language we must commence with the Governor's speech atthe opening of the session:--

 _"Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the Assembly, _

 I have called you together, at an unusual season, to take it to your consideration the state of the Island under the Laws of Apprenticeship, for the labouring population. 

 I need not refer you to the agitation on this subject throughout the British Empire, or to the discussions upon it in Parliament, _where the honourable efforts of the ministry_ were barely found sufficient to preserve the original duration of the Laws, as an obligation of the National faith. 

 I shall lay before you some despatches on this subject. "

 * * * * *

 _"Gentlemen, _

 _General agitation and Parliamentary interference have not, I am afraid, yet terminated. _

 _A corresponding excitement has been long going on among the apprentices themselves, _ but still they have rested in sober and quiet hopes, relying on your generosity, that you will extend to them that boon which has been granted to their class in other Colonies. "

 * * * * *

 _"Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the Assembly, _

 In this posture of affairs, it is my duty to declare my sentiments, and distinctly to _recommend to you the early and equal abolition of the apprenticeship for all classes. _ I do so in confidence that the apprentices will be found worthy of freedom, and that it will operate as a double blessing, by securing also the future interests of the planters. 

 I am commanded, however, to inform you that her Majesty's ministers will not entertain any question of further compensation. But should your views be opposed to the policy I recommend, I would entreat you to consider well _how impracticable it will become to carry on coercive labor_--always difficult, it would in future be in peril of constant comparisons with other colonies made free, and with those estates in this island made free by individual proprietors. 

 As Governor, under these circumstances, and I never shrink from any of my responsibilities, _I pronounce it physically impossible to maintain the apprenticeship with any hope of successful agriculture. _

 * * * * *

 "_Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker, and gentlemen of the Assembly. _

 Jamaica, is in your hands--she requires repose, by the removal of a law which has _equally tormented the laborer, and disappointed the planter_--a law by which man still constrains man in unnatural servitude. This is her first exigency. For her future welfare she appeals to your wisdom to legislate in the spirit of the times, with liberality and benevolence towards all classes. "

 * * * * *

When such a man as Sir Lionel Smith pronounced it no longer practicableto carry on coercive labor, he must have been a bold as well as a rashplanter who would venture to hold on to the old system under LordGlenelg's improvement Act. Accordingly we find some of the staunchestadvocates of slavery, men who had been fattening on the oppression ofthe apprentices up to that moment the first, and the most precipitate, is their proposals of abolition. Mr. Hyslop, Mr. Gay and others were foracting at once on the Governor's speech without referring it to acommittee. The former said: "He believed that a proposition would bemade to abandon the apprenticeship from the 1st of August, _but he wouldsay let it be abandoned from Sunday next_. He would therefore move thatthe speech be made the order of the day for tomorrow. "

Mr. Guy said:--

"The Governor's speech contained nothing more than what every Gentlemenexpected, _and what every Gentlemen, he believed, was prepared to do. Inshort he_ would state that _a bill had already been prepared by him, which he intended to introduce tomorrow, for the abolition of theapprenticeship on the 1st of August next_. "

Both these gentlemen are well known by the readers of Jamaica papers asobstinate defenders slavery. The latter was so passionately devoted tothe abuses of the apprenticeship that Lord Sligo was obliged to dismisshim from the post of Adjutant General of militia. In the ardor of hisattachment to the "peculiar institution" of getting work without pay, heis reported to have declared on a public occasion, that the Britishministry were a "parcel of reptiles" and that the "English nation wasfast going to the dogs. " In another part of the debate:--

"Mr. Guy hoped the house would not _go into a discussion of the nature ofthe apprenticeship_, or the terms upon which it was forced us by thegovernment. All that he knew about the matter was, that it was a partand parcel of the compensation. Government had so declared it. In shortit was made law. He could not help believing that the Hon. Member forTrelawny, was arguing against the dictates of his own honest heart--thathe came there cut and dry with a speech prepared to _defend thegovernment_. "

Mr. Barclay, to whom, some years ago, the planters gave a _splendidservice of plate_ for his ingenious defence of slavery against theterrible pen of JAMES STEPHEN, said "it appeared to be the generalfeeling of the house that the apprenticeship should be done away with. Be that as it may, he was free to say that in that part of the island hewas from, and certainly it was a large and wealthy district, theapprenticeship system _had worked well_, and all parties _appeared_satisfied with it. He denied that there existed any necessity to disturbthe working of the system, it would have _gradually_ slided into_absolute freedom if they were permitted to regulate their own affairs_, but the government, or rather, _the people of England, had forced on thepredicament in which they were placed_. The ministry could not helpthemselves--They were driven to violate the national compact, not inexpress words, it is true, but in fact. It was, however, the _force ofpublic opinion that operated_ in producing the change. They were placedin a situation from which they could hardly extricate themselves. --_They had no alternative, he was afraid, but to go along withthe stream_. "

Mr. Hamilton Brown, who at the commencement of the apprenticeship cameinto a Special Magistrate's court and publicly told him that unless heand his colleagues "_did their duty by having recourse to a frequent andvigorous application of the lash, there would he rebellion in the Parish(of St. Ann's!) in less than a month, and all the responsibility of sucha calamity would rest on their shoulders_"! discoursed in the followingmanner. "It was always understood, for the apprenticeship _had becomemarketable_. Properties had been bought and sold with them, their timehad been bought by others, and by themselves. "

"He had no hesitation in saying, that the statements which had been madein England against the planters _were as false as hell_--they had beenconcocted here, and sent home by a parcel of spies in the island. Theywere represented as a cruel set of men, as having outraged the feelingsof humanity towards the negroes, or in matters in which they wereconcerned. This was false. He did not mean to deny that there were a_few instances_ of cruelty to the apprentices, but then those were_isolated cases_, and was it not hard that a hue and cry should beraised against the whole body of planters, and all made to suffer onaccount of those _few_. He would say that there was a greaterdisposition to be cruel to the negroes evinced _by young men arriving inthis island from England, than by the planters. There was, indeed, agreat deal of difficulty in restraining them from doing so, but thelonger they lived in the country, the more kind and humane they became_. The negroes _were better off here than many of the people of GreatBritain_, and they would have been contented, had it not been for theinjudicious _interference of some of the Special Justices_. Who had everheard of negroes being starved to death? Had they not read accounts inthe English papers of men destroying their wives, their children, _andafterwards themselves_, because they could not obtain food. They hadbeen grossly defrauded of their property; and after doing that, it wasnow sought to destroy their constitutional rights. He would repeat, theyhad been grossly defrauded of their property. " [Here is the trueslaveholder, logic, chivalry and all. ]

Mr. Frater said, among other things, "He knew that it might be said thebill (Lord Glenelg's) did not go to the extent of freeing thenegroes--_that we are about to do ourselves_, but he would ask whetherwe were not _driven into the difficulty_ by which we are now surrounded!Had we not been brought into this _alarming position_, into this_exigency_, by the conduct of the British Government. _Why do we nottell the English nation frankly and candidly, that they agreed to givethe planter six years' services of their apprentices, as a part of thecompensation, and if they desired to do away with it, that we must bepaid for it_, otherwise we will NOT ANSWER FOR ANY CHANGE, FOR ANY EVILSWHICH ARE LIKELY TO ENSUE. Why did the government force such anobnoxious bill upon us? They had in substance done this, they refused toannul the apprenticeship themselves, it is true, but said, we will placethem in a situation that will compel them to do it themselves. He mustsay that the Government had acted _cowardly and unjustly_, they had insubstance deprived them of the further two years' services of theirapprentices, agreeably to the compact entered into, upon a pretext thatwe had not kept faith with them, and now tell us they will give us nocompensation. He hoped the allusion to it in the address would beretained. "

We beg the patient attention of the reader to still more of theseextracts. The present state of things in Jamaica renders them veryimportant. It is indispensable to a correct judgment of the results ofthe experiment to understand in what temper it was entered upon by theparties. Nothing can show this more clearly or authoritatively than thequotations we are making. We find another little torrent of eloquencefrom the same Mr. Hamilton Brown above quoted. He and several othergentlemen rose to reply to the statements of Richard Hill, a friend offreedom, and Secretary of the Special Magistracy. 

Mr. Brown--"Mr. Chairman, I am on my legs, Sir. I say that we have tothank the Special Justices, and the _private instructions_ which theyhave acted upon, _for all the evils that have occurred in the country_. Had they taken _the law_ for their guide, had they acted upon that, Sir, and not upon their private instructions, _every thing would have gone onsplendidly_, and we should have done well. But they had _destroyed thenegroes with their instructions_, they had _given them bad advice_, and_encouraged them in disobedience to their masters_. I say it, Sir, inthe face of this committee--I would say it on my death-bed tomorrow, that if the Stipendiary Magistrates had _done their duty_ all would havegone on well, _and I told his Excellency that he might then have slepton a bed of roses_. "

Here was one of the abolishers of the apprenticeship who held that moreflogging would have made it work more "splendidly. " Mr. Hugh FraserLeslie, who the February before had, in his place in the Assembly, denominated the anti-slavery delegates assembled in London, as "a set ofcrawling wretches;" "the scum and refuse of society. " "The washings andscrapings of the manufacturing districts, " &c. &c. Now delivered himselfof the following:--

"_He would ask any man in the house, nay, in the country, whether thehouse had any discretion left to them in the steps they were about totake_? Could it be denied, that they were driven to the presentalternative? Could they any longer say they were an independentlegislature? It would be preposterous--absolutely absurd to entertainany such idea. The apprenticeship had been _forced upon the country_ asa part and parcel of the planters' compensation--it had been workingwell, and would insensibly _have slided into a state of absolutefreedom, had the masters been left alone to themselves. It is nowutterly impracticable to continue it_. A most obnoxious measure had beenpassed by the British parliament, and sent out to this country to bepromulgated by the Governor as the law of the land. The functions of thelegislature were put in abeyance, and a British act _crammed down theirthroats_. It could not be denied that they were now under a militaryGovernment. _He was only sorry that the thing had not been more honestlydone_; in his opinion, it would have been better for all classes, forthen the government would have taken all the responsibilities whichmight attend the sudden change they had driven the house to make, andfind the means of conducting the affairs of the country into a peaceableand successful state. _Let any person look to the excitement which atpresent prevailed throughout the country, couple that with the speechwhich had been delivered by the Governor, and say if it was any longerpracticable to carry one the system of apprenticeship_. With respect tothe doctrine which had been broached, that the apprenticeship was not apart and parcel of the compact between the government and the planters;that they (the planters) did not possess an absolute but an incidentalright to the services of their apprentices, _he confessed he was at aloss to understand it_, he was incapable of drawing so nice adistinction. He repeated, the government and nation had made theapprenticeship a part of the consideration of the abolition of slavery, and having placed us in a situation to render its continuanceimpracticable they were bound in honor and common honesty _to compensateus_ for the two years. "

Once more, and we have done. Mr. Berry said, "He did not think that because the Governor said they were not entitledto compensation, that therefore they should give up the claim which theyunquestionably had upon the British nation for further compensation. Hewould contend also, that the apprenticeship was one part of theconsideration for the abolition of slavery. He had heard it remarkedthat the apprenticeship must cease, but it ought to be added that theywere compelled--they were driven to put an end to it by the Government, though they were convinced that neither party was at this momentprepared for immediate abandonment. The Governor, in his opening speech, had told the house that from the agitation at home, and thecorresponding agitation which at the present moment prevailed here, itwas physically impossible to carry one the apprenticeship with advantageto masters and labourers. He would take leave to remark, that theapprenticeship _was working very well_--in some of the parishes hadworked extremely well. Where this was not the case, it was attributable_to the improper conduct of the Special Justices_. He did not mean toreflect upon them all; there were some honorable exceptions, but hewould say that a great deal of the ill-feeling which had arisen in thecountry between the masters and their apprentices, was to be traced tothe _injudicious advice_ and conduct of the special Justices. "

Such were the sentiments of by far the majority of those who spoke inthe Assembly. Such, doubtless, were the sentiments of more thannine-tenths of the persons invested with the management of estates inJamaica. What, then if we had heard that nine-tenths of the emancipatedhad refused to be employed? Could that have been counted a failure ofthe experiment? Was there any reason to believe that the planters wouldnot resort to every species of oppression compatible with a systemof wages?

Before proceeding to the question of wages, however, we invite thereader to scan the temper and disposition of the parties of the otherpart, viz. , the laboring population. Let us observe more carefully how_they_ behaved at the important period of

TRANSITION

Two of the sturdiest advocates of slavery, the _Jamaica Standard_ andthe _Cornwall Courier_, speak as follows:--

The _Standard_ says--"On Tuesday evening, (July 31), the Wesleyan, and webelieve, Baptist Chapels, (St. James') were opened for service--theformer being tastefully decorated with branches of the palm, sage, andother trees, with a variety of appropriate devices, having a portrait ofher Majesty in the center, and a crown above. When we visited theChapel, about 10 o'clock, it was completely full, but not crowded, thegenerality of the audience well dressed; and all evidently of the betterclass of the colored and negro population. Shortly after, we understand, a very excellent and modern sermon, in all political points, wasdelivered by the Rev. Mr. Kerr, the highly respected pastor. Thecongregation was dismissed shortly after 12 o'clock; at which hour thechurch bell commenced its solemn peal, and a few noisy spirits welcomedin the morning of Freedom with loud cheers, and planted a huge branch, which they termed the "Tree of Liberty, " in the center of the two roadscrossing the market square. "

Again the _Standard_ observes, "The long, and somewhat anxiouslyexpected jubilee of Emancipation has arrived, and now nearly passedover, with a remarkable degree of quiet and circumspection. Of St. James's of course, we speak more particularly, --St. James's, hitherto themost reviled, and most unwarrantably calumniated parish, of all theparishes in this unfortunate and distracted colony!"

The _Cornwall Courier_ says, "The first of August, the most importantday ever witnessed in Jamaica, has passed quietly as far as actualdisturbance is concerned. "

The _Jamaica Morning Journal_, of whose recent course the plantersshould be the last to complain, gives more particular information of thetransition in all parts of the island. We give copious extracts, for todwell upon such a scene must soften the heart. It is good sometimes tobehold the joy of mere brute freedom--the boundings of the noble horsefreed from his stable and his halter--the glad homeward flight of thebird from its cage--but here was besides the rational joy of aheaven-born nature. Here were 300, 000 souls set free; and on wings ofgratitude flying upwards to the throne of God. There were the gatheringsin the public squares, there were the fireworks, the transparencies, thetrees of liberty and the shouts of the jubilee, but the churches and theschools were the chief scenes, and hymns and prayer the chief languageof this great ovation. There was no giving up to drunken revelry, but asolemn recognition of God, even by those who had not been wont toworship him. His temples were never so crowded. His ministers never somuch honored. We give the picture in all its parts, faithfully, and ascompletely as our information will enable us to do. 

August 2. 

"In this city, the day has passed off in the way in which such a dayought to pass off. With glad hearts and joyful lips, the people havecrowded the temples of the living God, and poured out their praises andthanksgivings for the great benefits they had received at the hands of abeneficent Providence. That they will continue to deport themselves asdutiful subjects, and good men and women, we have no doubt. From thecountry we wait with anxious hopes to hear that everything has gone offwith the same peace, and quiet, and order, and regularity which haveprevailed here, and especially that the people have returned to theirlabor, and are giving general satisfaction. "

From the same. 

Among the various ways of interesting the minds of our newlyenfranchised peasantry on the 1st of August, was that of planting a Palmtree emblematical of liberty, and commemorative of its commencement inthis island. Both in Kingston and in Liguanca, we understand, thisceremony was performed by the schools and congregations of the "LondonMissionary Society. " The following hymn, composed by Mr. Wooldridge, forthe purpose, and committed to memory by many of the children, who weretreated with cakes and lemonade. 

Appropriate sermons were preached, both morning and evening, by the Rev. Messrs. Woodbridge and Ingraham, and in the evening a Temperance Societywas formed for the district of Liguanca, when several signed the pledge. 

 The thorny bush we'll clear away The emblem of old slavery-- Let every fibre of it die, And all its vices cease to be. 

 Let indolence, deceit, and theft, Be of their nourishment bereft, Let cruel wrong now disappear, And decent order crown each year. 

PROCEEDINGS AT TRELAWNEY. --A correspondent in Trelawney writes. Thefirst of August was observed by the people so decently and devoutly, andwith such manifestations of subdued, yet grateful feeling, that theyappeared more like a select class of Christians celebrating some holyday of their church, than a race but recently converted from idolatry, and who were just emerging from the pollutions and degradationof slavery. 

TREAT TO THE CHILDREN. --The most interesting and truly exciting scene ofall in Trelawny, was the spectacle of some hundreds of happy childrendining. This feast for them, and for all who had hearts that couldsympathise with the happiness of others, was provided by the Rev. Mr. Knibb. Similar scenes were enacted in the rural districts. The Rev. Mr. Blyth had, I believe, a meeting of his scholars, and a treat providedfor them. The Rev. Mr. Anderson had a large assemblage of his scholarsat the school-house, who were regaled with meat, bread, and beverage, and also a large meeting of the adult members of his Church, to everyone of whom, who could, or was attempting to learn to read, he gave abook. --[HE GAVE A BOOK. ]

AT ST. ELIZABETH. --At the hour of 10, A. M. , there was about 3000 personsassembled at Crosmond, when the clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Hylton, proposedan adjournment from the Chapel to the shade of some wide-spreading treesin the common pasture, whither the happy multitude immediatelyadjourned. The morning service of the church having ended, the Rev. Gentleman preached a most impressive sermon from the 4th chapter ofZech. 6th verse--"Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saiththe Lord of Hosts"--In his application, he took a brief review of thehistory of the island--the conquest by the Spanish--the extermination bythe Indians--and the consequent introduction of the negroes from Africa. He then adverted to the several insurrections that had taken placeduring the period since the conquest by the British, to the last generalrebellion in 1832, in which both himself and many present were deeplyinterested. Having shown that all these insurrections had beensuppressed, and had come to nought, he proceeded to point out howthrough Divine providence Mr. Wilberforce was raised up to advocate thecause of the oppressed African, and since that period, step by step, various privileges had been quietly conceded to the colored race, untilthe final consummation by the Legislature, in abolishing the lastvestiges of slavery on the 1st of August, 1838. 

The Rev. Gentleman's honorable mention of Mr. Wilberforce appeared to bedeeply felt and acknowledged by all around. After the service wasconcluded, the assembled multitude gave three hearty cheers for QueenVictoria, and three for Lord Mulgrave, the first _free Governor_ thatever came to Jamaica. 

A more decent, orderly, and well-behaved assemblage could not be seen inany part of the world. The people have indeed proved themselves worthyof the "_great boon_" conferred upon them. 

AT PORT MARIA. --The first of August passed off happily and peaceably. The people felt deeply the great blessing that had been conferred onthem, and behaved uncommonly well. All the places of worship werecrowded; indeed, thrice the number would not have contained those whoattended, and many of whom could not be accommodated. 

From the Cornwall Chronicle of Aug. 4. 

Nothing could give a fairer and fuller confidence in the character ofthe negroes than their conduct on so joyous and trying an occasion, aswhat they have exhibited during the brief period of their politicalregeneration. It may be considered as an earnest of their futurepeaceable demeanor; the disbelief of the sceptic will thus be put to theblush, and the apprehensions of the timid allayed. The first of Augusthas passed, and with it the conduct of the people has been such as toconvince the most jealous, as well as the most sanguine of the evilprognosticators, that they are a good and trust-worthy people. There isno doubt but that this day will be held for ever as a sacredanniversary--a new Pentecost--upon which they will render thanks for thequiet "possession of their Canaan"--free from all political oppressions, and that they can suffer only from the acts of their own indiscretion. If ever they were placed in a favorable situation which they couldimprove, it could not have been equal to the present. --The exercise ofmoderation, however, is now most required, and will be greatlyappreciated to themselves at a future time. 

CUMBERLAND PEN. , ST. CATHERINE. --Theconduct of the people in this district generally, is such as to entitle them to the highest commendation. Well knowing the inconvenience towhich their masters' customers would be otherwisereduced from a want of food for their horsesand cattle, they voluntarily went out to work onthe second day, and in some instances on the following, and supplied the usual demand of themarket, presenting their labor thus voluntarilygiven as a free-will offering to their employers. Comment on such conduct world be superfluous. The late apprentices of Jamaica have hithertoacquired honors, Above all Greek, Above all Roman fame. 

So far as they are concerned, the highest expectationsof their friends have been more thanrealized. Let the higher classes universally butexhibit the same dispositions and conduct, andthe peace and prosperity of Jamaica are for eversecured. 

Morning Journal of August 4. 

SAINT THOMAS IN THE EAST. 

Up to the moment when the post left Morant Bay, the utmost tranquillityprevailed. In fact, from the quiet of the day and the circumstance ofdroves of well-dressed persons going to and from the Church and Chapels, I was occasionally deluded, says a correspondent, into the belief of theday being Sunday. The parish Church was crowded, and the Rectordelivered a very able and appropriate address. The Methodist andIndependent Chapels were also filled. At both places suitable sermonswere preached. At the latter, the resident minister provided an amplesecond breakfast, which was faithfully discussed under the shade of alarge tent purposely erected for the occasion. The Rev. Mr. Atkins, Wesleyan Minister, has proceeded from this place to lay the foundationstone of a chapel this afternoon, (1st August) at Port Morant, in whichimportant service he will be assisted by Thomas Thomson, Esq. , Churchwarden, and Alexander Barclay, Esq. , Member for the parish. It isexpected that many thousand spectators will be present at theinteresting ceremony. From all I have been able to learn the changesamong the labourers on the estates in this quarter, will be verylimited, these people being apparently satisfied with the arrangementfor their continued domicile on the respective properties. 

Another correspondent writes--"we are very quiet here. The day hasarrived and nearly passed off, and thank God the predictions of thealarmists are not fulfilled. The Chapels were quite full with a greatmany persons in the yards. The Independents are just sitting down to afeast. The Rector delivered a sermon or rather a string of advices andopinions to the labouring population, the most intolerant I have heardfor a long time. This parish will, I am quite certain, enjoy in peaceand quietness this happy jubilee. "

MANCHESTER. 

We learn from this parish that the Churches and Chapels were crowdedmany hours before the usual time for beginning service. Several thousandpersons remained outside the respective places, which were much toosmall to afford the accommodation. Every thing was quiet and orderlywhen the post left. 

Says the Jamaica Gazette of Aug. 4th, a paper of the Old School--"Inspite of all the endeavours of a _clique_ of self-interested agitators, clerical humbug and radical rabble, to excite the bad passions of thesable populace against those who have been the true friends of Colonialfreedom, and the conservators of the public peace and prosperity of thecountry, the bonfire, bull-roast, and malignant effigy exhibited torouse the rancor of the savage, failed to produce the effect anticipatedby the projectors of the _Saturnalia_, and the negro multitude fullysatisfied with the boon so generously conceded by the IslandLegislature, were in no humor to wreak their wrath on individualbenefactors, whom the envy of party spirit had marked out as the victimsof truth and independence. 

We are happy to give our meed of praise to the decent and orderlyconduct of the sable multitude, and to record that it far excelled theLoco Foco group of bullies and boasters in decency of propriety ofdemeanor. A kind of spree or scuffle took place between donkey-driverQuallo and another. We don't know if they came to close fisti-cuffs, butit was, we are assured, the most serious affray on the Course. "

The following is the testimony borne in regard to Barbados. 

_From the Barbados Liberal, Aug. 4th. _

FIRST OF AUGUST. 

"It gives us great pleasure to state that, so far as our informationfrom the country extends, this day was observed in a manner highlycreditable to our brethren. We never ourselves anticipated any riotingsor disorder on the part of the emancipated. A little exhilarationbegetting a shout or two, would not have surprised us; but even this, weare happy to say, made no part of their manifestation of joy. The daywas spent in quiet piety! In heartfelt, soul overflowing gratitude totheir heavenly Father, whose divine agency had raised up friends intheir necessity, and brought their great tribulation to an end, theycrowded at an early hour to the several churches and chapels, in whichtheir numbers could scarcely find turning room, and then quietly anddevoutly poured forth their souls in prayer and praise and thanksgiving!No revellings, no riotings, no drunkenness, desecrated this day. We haveheard from five parishes, and in none of the five have we heard of asingle convivial meeting. From church and chapel they went to theirhomes, and eat their first free dinner with their families, putting toshame the intolerant prejudices which had prepared powder and balls, andheld the Riot Act in readiness to correct their insubordinate notionsof liberty!"

From the New Haven, Ct. , Herald. 

 _"Barbados, Aug. 2, 1838_

 Yesterday's sun rose upon eight hundred thousand freemen, on whom and their ancestors the badge of slavery had rested for two hundred years. It was a solemn, delightful, most memorable day. I look upon it as a matter of exceeding thankfulness, that I have been permitted to be a witness to it, and to be able to speak from experience and from observation, of the happiness to which that day has given birth. The day had previously been set apart by proclamation of the Governor, "as a day of devout thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God for the happy termination of slavery. " The thanksgiving and praise were most truly sincere, heartfelt and general. It was an emancipation not merely of the slave but of the proprietor. It was felt as such; openly acknowledged and rejoiced in as such. Never have I witnessed more apparently unfeigned expressions of satisfaction than were made on that day by the former owners of slaves, at the load of which they had been relieved. 

 I do not wish to be understood as asserting that previous to the working of emancipation, the slave proprietors wished the abolition of slavery. Far from it. But having, though unwillingly, been made witnesses of the operations of freedom; and having themselves tasted of the previously unknown satisfaction of employing voluntary and contented, because _free_ laborers; their minds became enlightened, softened, changed: and from being the determined opposers, they became themselves the _authors_ of complete emancipation. I know not in what terms to describe to you the emotions excited by passing through the streets of this populous town on that memorable morning. There was a stillness and solemnity that might be felt. It was caused by no display of force, for none was to be seen. Here and there a policeman going his usual rounds, but not a soldier, nor the slightest warlike preparation of any kind to strike the eye, or overawe the spirit of disorder. 

 The spirit that seemed to fill the entire population was eminently the spirit of peace, good will, thankfulness and joy too deep, too solemn, to allow of any loud or noisy demonstration of it. Of course, all stores, shops and offices of every kind were closed. So also were all places of amusement. No sound of revelry, no evidences of nightly excess were to be heard or seen. I do not say too much when I assert that the reign of order, peace, and sobriety, was complete. 

 To give eclat to an event of such importance, the Governor had ordered one company of militia to attend with him at the cathedral. It is an immense building, and was crowded in every part of its spacious area, galleries and aisles, with a most attentive assemblage of people, of all colors and conditions. Several clergymen officiated, and one of them at the opening of the services read most appropriately the 58th chapter of Isaiah. Imagine for a moment the effect in such an audience, on such an occasion, where were many hundreds of emancipated slaves, of words like these:--"Is not this the fast that I have chosen, to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?" The sermon by the Bishop was, as might have been expected on such an occasion, interesting and impressive. He spoke with great effect of the unexpected progress of freedom, from island to island, from colony to colony, until, with a solitary exception, upon that day the stain of slavery was obliterated forever from every British possession. The progress of education, the gradual reformation of morals, and the increasing thirst for religious instruction, were all dwelt upon with great force, and the glory of all ascribed, as was most fit, to the Great Giver of every good and perfect gift. It was an occasion rich with happy emotions, and long to be remembered as a bright and beautiful spot in the pathway of our earthly pilgrimage. 

 The close of the day was not less auspicious than its commencement. In company with Mrs. H. , I drove through several of the principal streets, and thence through the most public thoroughfare into the country; and no where could aught be seen to mar the decent and truly impressive solemnity of the day. There were no dances, no merry-making of any sort; not a solitary drunkard, not a gun fired, nor even was a shout heard to welcome in the newborn liberty. The only groups we saw were going to or returning from the different chapels and churches: except in a few instances, where families might be seen reading or singing hymns at their own dwellings. 

 And now, sir, having arrived at the long looked for consummation of all the labors and prayers of the friends of the slave for so many years, as I cast my eye around this _land of liberty_, how many thoughts crowd my mind? I ask myself--is it indeed finished? And are there none to lament the downfall of time-honored, hoary-headed slavery? Where are the mourners? Where are the prognosticators of ruin, desolation, and woe? Where are the riots and disorders, the bloodshed and the burnings? The prophets and their prophecies are alike empty, vain, and unfounded, and are alike buried in oblivion. 

 And why, in the name of humanity, was not this glorious consummation brought about ages ago?--Is it because the slaves of 1838 are better fitted for freedom than those of fifty or a hundred years since? No one believes it. The only preparation for freedom required in this island, or any where else, in order to put a peaceful end to slavery, is the preparation of heart in the slaveholder to grant deliverance to the captive. 

 Yours truly, WM. R. HAYES

 P. S. August 9th. --All is quiet, and the utmost good order every where prevails. "

To complete the picture we will give two extracts of letters fromeminent Jamaica Attornies to their employers in England, with regard tothe turning out to work. It is remarked by the English papers that theAttornies generally in writing to their employers adopt the same strain. They are all doing well on _their_ estates, but hear that the rest ofthe island is in a woful condition. --These are the men who are thegreatest, if not the only, losers by emancipation; hence their testimonyis doubly valuable. 

From the British Emancipator, Nov. 14. 

LETTERS FROM ATTORNIES. 

_Extract of a Letter from an eminent Estate Attorney, in St. Mary's, Jamaica, dated August_ 24, 1838. 

 "There was nothing whatever done in this parish, or throughout the island, for the first two weeks of the month. In this quarter some estates did a little last week, and have been making more progress since, but the far greater number have not yet done any work; the minds of the people are very unsettled, and full of all sorts of foolish notions, which will continue more or less till we hear of the home government having accepted and approved of our abolition bill, and their views with regard to us. 

 On several of the estates which have wrought, the people have struck once or twice. We have in this parish ministers of every denomination, and they are all acting very properly; but they do not seem to have as much influence as expected; we must _be as considerate and liberal as possible to secure their confidence_ ourselves. We are in St. Mary's paying the highest rate of wages in the island; 1s. 8d. Currency per day nett, with allowances, are generally offered; I am giving here, from sheer necessity, 2s. 6d. Currency per day, without charging any rent in the mean time. In the present state of things when so few estates are doing anything at all, I have much satisfaction in saying that the people here, on ----, a good proportion of them were at work last week, and I have now the mill about making sugar, with every probability, I think of going on satisfactorily; and looking dispassionately at the great change which has so suddenly taken place, our present difficulties are not much to be wondered at. 

 Sunday night, 8th Sept. --The foregoing was written, but too late, for the last packet; but as another sails to-morrow, I write you a few lines more. There is, up to this moment, but little material alteration in the state of affairs generally, certainly none for the worse. I have made here twenty hogsheads of sugar since the 1st ult. We are altogether in an uncertain state, but there are more mills about, and more work doing _in this district than in any other in the island_, which might and ought to be a feather in the cap of Maitter, our late stipe. I have no time to say more now, excepting that, although I am in great hopes that things will soon generally improve, and am of opinion that our present difficulties are not to be wondered at, yet our situation is still so critical, that I dare not venture to hazard an opinion as to the success of the great experiment, I repeat, however, again, that we have not seen anything to disappoint or surprise us, bad as many things are. "

_Extract of a Letter from an Attorney in St. Mary's, Jamaica, 24thAugust_, 1838

"The services of the stipes are much wanting here; I am paying 10s. Aweek for first class, 6s. 8d. For second, and 4s. 2d. For third, forfive days work; they say they will not work on Fridays. However, I havegot people at ---- to work today; they are behaving better than mostothers. I hope things will now improve; and it is my opinion that goodestates will do, and others will fall to the ground. Old Mr. Tytte isdead, and his son Alexander made stipe for the district. The Governor'sspeech respecting women has done a great deal of harm. None of the womenwant to work. If Lord Glenelg had made such a mistake, he would haveheard enough of it. I wish the Government would take it on themselves tosettle the rate of wages, otherwise two-thirds of the estates will bethrown up before next year; of course I can stand this as well as any. The ---- people have behaved well: they did every thing I told them;they are working on piece-work, which is the best plan. "

Precisely similar is the testimony of private correspondents and of thepublic press so far as we have been able to learn, in all the othercolonies where emancipation has taken place. There is certainly nothingin all this that indicates a disposition on the part of the emancipatedto throw off the employment of their former masters, but much thereverse. We may safely challenge contradiction to the assertion, that atthe expiration of the jubilee there were not a set of free laborers onearth from whom the West India planters could have got more work for thesame money. It may be proper in these days, when the maxims of slaveryhave so fearfully overshadowed the rights of man, to say that a man hasa _right_ to forbear laboring when he can live honestly without it--or, at all events, he has a right to choose whether he will employ himselfor be employed by another. Hence it _may_ turn out that the refusal tolabor, so far as there has been any, only serves to prove the moreclearly the fitness of the laborers of freedom. 

WAGES

It must have been obvious to every man of reflection that in a change sovast, involving so many laborers, and in circumstances so various, therewould arise almost infinite disputes about the rate of wages. Thecolonies differ widely as to the real value of labor. Some have a rich, unexhausted, and, perhaps, inexhaustible soil, and a scanty supply oflaborers. Others are more populous and less fertile. The former would ofcourse offer higher wages than the latter, for so sudden was the stepthere could be no common understanding on the point. Again, as we haveseen, the planters came into the measure with different views. Someanticipated the general change, and either from motives of humanity orpolicy, or more probably of both, adopted a course calculated to gainthe gratitude and good will of the laborer. --These would offer wageswhich the less liberal would call ruinous. Many, and it would seem thegreat body of them in Jamaica, yielded unwillingly to superior power. They saw the sceptre of despotic authority was to be wrested from theirgrasp. They threw it down, as one may easily believe, resolved to seizethe best substitute they could. They would infallibly fall upon the planof getting the greatest possible amount of work for the least possibleamount of pay. When we consider that even in the oldest, most civilized, and most Christianized free-labor communities, employers are wont tocombine to keep down the rate of wages, while on the other hand thelaborers throw up work to raise it, we shall not be surprised that thereshould be things of this sort in Jamaica, liberty being in the gristle. The only help for such an evil is, that there is always a rate of wageswhich is advantageous to both parties, and things being left tothemselves, it will at last be found. 

To the planters and freed-men in settling the question what wages theyshould offer and receive, two standards or guides presentedthemselves, --1. The rate of wages which had been given in Antigua since1834. 2. The compensation that had been demanded by the Jamaica plantersthemselves, and adjudged by the magistrates, in case of apprenticesbuying their own time. Hundreds of planters had declared upon oath whatthe time of the apprentice was worth to them. Possibly as sellers, inthe elasticity of their consciences, they may have set a higher pricethan they would be willing to give as buyers. In strict honesty, however, it is difficult to see why labor should not be worth to them asmuch in the one case as the other. The rate of wages fixed upon inAntigua may be seen by a reference to the Journal of Thome and Kimballto be very inadequate to the wants of the laborer. Free labor is therescrewed down to the lowest possible point. The wonder is that thelaborers should have submitted to such a scale for a moment. But theyhad no precedent to guide them, no advisers free from the yoke of theproprietary, no valuations given by their own masters, and there wasevery facility for successful combination on the part of the masters. They must work for such wages as the masters pleased to offer, or starve. 

Say Messrs. Thome and Kimball--"_By a general understanding among theplanters_, the rate is at present fixed at a _shilling_ per day, or alittle more than fifty cents per week, counting five working days. " ThisAntigua scale, and not the one they themselves had sold labor by duringthe apprenticeship, became at once the favorite with a great part of theJamaica and Barbados planters. If they in any cases offered higherwages, they made it up by charging higher rent for the houses andgrounds, which the negroes had built and brought under culture on theirproperties. It was before the first of August that this procedure wasresolved upon by the planters, as we gather from numerous communicationsin the papers recommending a variety of modes of getting labor for lessthan its natural market value. We select a single one of these as aspecimen, by the application to which of a little arithmetic, it will beperceived that the employer would _bring the laborer in debt_ to him atthe end of the year, though not a moment should be lost by sickness orother casualty. The humanity of the document is perfectly of a piecewith that of the system which would civilize mankind by makingmerchandize of them. 

To the Editor of the Morning journal. 

SIR, --Let meetings be held, not only in every parish, but in everydistrict of a parish, and let all land-owners, &c. , agree not to rentland under £8[A] per acre, and not to sell it for less than double thatsum. Should a few be found regardless of the _general weal_, let theproprietary, &c. Join and purchase such lands, and if otherwise, it ispresumed the dissentients to the measure would be so small as not toaffect in any material degree the _general_ interest, inasmuch as thosewho dissented, from the consequent scarcity of land arising from themeasure, would demand a high rental for their land. The _maximum_ systemappears to be preferable to the _minimum_. I have therefore made choiceof it as a stimulus to the laborers to work _at least_ four days orthirty-six hours in the week to pay for their rent, &c. &c. , _or pay 2s. 1d. For every day's absence_; or, if sick, pay up the labor by workingon the Friday, &c. , _and Saturday, if needful_. Weekly settlements withboth parties, or _immediate summary ejectment_, if deemed necessary. 

[Footnote A: The sums are in the currency of the islands when nototherwise specified, that is 7s 6d to the dollar. ]

 £ s. D. Rent of 2 acres of land as a ground for each able adult, at £5 per acre 10 0 0Do. Of house and garden, from £4 to £10 per annum, say 6 0 0_Medical attendance, medicine, &c. &c. , worth £4 per annum_ 4 0 0Clothing and Christmas allowance per annum 1 13 4 ---------- 21 13 4 ----------

Four days' or 36 hours' labor in each week, at 2s. 1d. Per day, or 208 days, at 2s. 1d. 21 13 4If task-work were adopted, or the day's labor prolonged to 10-1/2 or 12 hours' labor, 3 days' or 3-1/2 days' labor _would suffice_, consequently, the laborer would have 2 or 3 days in each week to work for extra wages. In addition to the above, say pasturage for a horse, at 4s. 2d. Per week per annum 10 16 8Pasturage for an ass, at 2s. 1d. Per week per annum 5 6 4_Run of pasturage and fruit, for a sow, barrow, or sholt_; IF RUNG IN THE NOSE, 10_d. Per week_; IF NOT RUNG, 1_s. _ 8_d. Per week; per annum, at 10d. Per week_ 2 3 4

The above charges for pasturage might be paid for either _by additionallabor_ or in money, and to a good head-man they might be granted as agratuity, and perhaps an additional acre of land allowed him tocultivate. It would be desirable that the negroes should, when quitefree, work 11 hours per day in the short days, and 12 hours in thelonger ones. I believe the shortest day's labor in England in the wintermonths in 10 hours' actual labor, and 12 hours' in the summer, for which2 hours they are paid extra wages. 

_St. Mary's, 8th June, 1838_. S. R. 

The date should not escape notice. By this plan, for a few pettyindulgences, _all of which were professedly granted in the time ofslavery itself_, the master could get the entire labor of the negro, and_seven or eight pounds per annum besides_! Some may be disposed toregard this as a mere joke, but we can assure them it was a seriousproposal, and not more monstrous than many things that the planters arenow attempting to put in practice. The idea of actually paying moneywages was horrifying and intolerable to many of the planters; they seemto have exercised their utmost ingenuity to provide against so dreadfula result. One who signed himself an "Old Planter" in the _Despatch_, before the abolition of the apprenticeship, in view of the emancipationof the non-praedials which was to take place on the first of August, gravely wrote as follows:--

"It is my intention, therefore, when the period arrives for anyarrangement with them, to offer them in return for such services, _thesame time as the praedials now have_, with of course the same allowancesgenerally, putting out of the question, however, any relaxation fromlabor during the day, usually allowed field laborers, and understood asshell-blow--house people being considered at all times capable ofenjoying that indulgence at their pleasure, besides the impossibility oftheir master submitting to such an inconvenience. --This appears to me tobe the only mode of arrangement that would be feasible, unless we resortto money wages, and I should regret to find that such a precedent wasestablished in this instance, for it would only be a forerunner tosimilar demands at the coming period, when the praedials became free. "

There were more reasons than one why "money wages" were feared by theJamaica planters. A great many estates are managed by attorneys forabsentee proprietors. These gentlemen pocket certain commissions, forwhich reason they keep in cultivation estates which cannot possiblyyield a profit under a system of paid labor. They deem it for theirinterest to retain their occupation even at the expense of theiremployers. Not a few conceive it for their interest to depreciate thevalue of property that they may purchase low, hence they deem it goodpolicy to refuse wages, let the crops perish, and get up a panic. Thedocuments we shall furnish will be clear on these points. The greatdiversity of practice in the planters in regard to wages, as well as thereasonable disposition of the laborers, is shown by the followingparagraphs culled from the _Morning Journal_ of August 10:--

"ST. DAVIDS. --A gentleman in the management of a property in this parish, writes in the following strain to his employer--"I have an accession ofstrength this morning. The people are civil and industrious. I havereceived letters assuring me that the example of the Cocoa Walt estatepeople, has been the means of inducing those on other estates to enterinto the terms proposed"--that is 5s. Per week, with houses, grounds, medicines, &c, &c. "

"St. Thomas in the East. --The apprentices on Golden Grove Estate, turnedout to work on Monday, but we have not learnt on what terms. At MountVernon, the property of Kenneth McPherson Esq. , they turned out onTuesday morning to work for five days in the week, at 10d. Per day withhouses, grounds, &c. "

"Trelawny--A correspondent writes, every thing is quiet, and the peoplewould go to work if any bargains were made, but I believe throughout theparish the people were directed to go to work on Monday morning, withoutany previous arrangement, or being even told how much they would bepaid, or asked what they expected. On one estate 1s. 8d. With houses andgrounds was offered and refused. Some of the masters are determined, itis said, to hold out, and will not consent to give more than 1s. 3d. Or1s. 8d. Per day. "

"St. Johns. --The people in this parish are at work on most of theestates without any agreement. They refuse the offer of 1s. 01-2d. Perday, but continue to labor, relying on the honor and liberality of theplanters for fair and reasonable pay. If they do not get these in twoweeks, our correspondent writes, there will be a dead stop. The laborersfix the quantity of work to be done in a day, agreeable to the scale oflabor approved of by the Governor during the apprenticeship. For anything beyond that, they demand extra pay, as was usual underthat system. "

"St. Thomas in the Vale--No work, we understand, is being done in thisparish as yet. A correspondent states that some of the overseers andattorneys wish the people to turn out to work without entering into anyarrangements, which they refuse to do. The attorney for Rose Hall, Knollis, New Works, and Wallace Estates has offered 1s. 3d. Per day, outof which £5 per annum is to be deducted for houses and grounds. Theoffer has been refused. The overseer of Byndloss estate required hispeople to work without agreeing as to the rate of wages they were toreceive, but they refused to do any thing without a proper agreement. "

"St. Mary's--On some estates in this parish we are informed, andparticularly those under the charge of Richard Lewis, Esq. Such asBallard's Valley, Timperon's estates, Ellis' estates, &c. And of CharlesStewart, Esq. Trinity, Royal, Roslin Bremer Hall, &c. , and also of JamesGeddes, Esq. , the laborers are getting from 2s. 6d. To 3s. 4d. Per day. The same rates are paid upon many outer properties. On many estates thepeople have refused to labor, and urge objections against the managers, as a reason for so acting. They remain and will engage to labor, provided the obnoxious parties are removed. "

How could the people be blamed for refusing 10d. Per day, while on "manyproperties" they were getting from 2s. 6d. To 3s. 4d. ? Such being alsothe valuation which the masters had uniformly placed upon their timeduring the apprenticeship?

When the planters found that the free laborers could neither beprevailed upon to labor for half-price nor be driven to excesses by suchpaltry persecution, they turned their wrath, as had been long theircustom, upon the Baptist Missionaries. Upon Mr. Knibb especially theylaid the blame of giving mischievous advice to the peasantry. And forthe obvious purpose of exciting the thousands of people warmly devotedto him, to acts of violence, they attempted to burn him in effigy andactually circulated the report that he had been murdered. Thousands ofhis people flocked into Spanish Town, threatening to destroy the town ifthe report proved true. But on learning its falsity were easilypersuaded to retire, and did so without being guilty of any excesswhatever. Unmeasured and unceasing have been the attacks of the Jamaicapress upon the missionaries. Upon their shoulders has been laid "theruin of that fine island. "--They have corrupted the peasantry and put itin their heads to ask more wages than the estate can possibly give. Todetermine the value of the testimony of the missionaries in this case itis important to know the nature of their influence upon the laborerstouching the question of wages. We are happily furnished with therequired information from their own lips and pens in the Jamaica papers. 

_From the Falmouth Post. _

REV. W. KNIBB'S ADVICE TO THE NEGROES. 

MEETING AT THE "SUFFIELD SCHOOL-ROOM. "

On Friday evening last we attended the suffield School-room, in thistown, which, at an early hour was crowded with apprentices and headpeople, from upwards of twenty properties, who had met for the purposeof receiving advice from the Rev. Wm. Knibb, and Special Justice Lyon, respecting the course of conduct it will be necessary for them to adopt, on taking their stand in society as freemen. Several gentlemen connectedwith the commercial and agricultural interests of the parish werepresent on the occasion. 

The Rev. W. Knibb commenced by saying, that he attended a meeting of asimilar nature at Wilberforce Chapel, on the preceding evening. He hadthought it better to request the attendance this evening of the headpeople, who being the more intelligent would be able to explain toothers, the advice which they would now receive themselves. "I am glad, "said the Rev. Gentleman, "to see so many persons present, among whom Inotice a few gentlemen who are not connected with my church: I am gladof the attendance of these gentlemen, for what I do, I do openly, andany one is at liberty to express his opinion at this meeting if hedesires to do so. 

You will shortly, my friends, be released from your present state ofbondage; in the course of a very few weeks you will receive the boon offreedom, and I would therefore impress deeply on your minds thenecessity of your continuing the cultivation of the soil on the receiptof fair and equitable wages. I am not aware myself of any complete scaleof wages having been drawn up, but I have been on 10 or 12 differentproperties, I have conversed with several proprietors, and I am glad tosay that with some of them there appears to be a disposition to meet thecharge fairly and honorably. Those who are more conversant with figuresthan I am, will be enabled to show what the owner can afford to give forthe cultivation of his property. In the mean time I would say to you, donot make any hasty bargain: take time and consider the subject, for itis one of vital interest and importance to all! If you demand too high arate of wages, the proprietors will be ruined; if you consent to taketoo low a sum, you will not be able to provide for the wants ofyourselves and families. In making your arrangement, if there be anattempt to grind you down, resist the attempt by all legal means; foryou must consider that you are not acting for yourselves alone, but forposterity. I desire to see every vestige of slavery completely rootedout. You must work for money; you must pay money to your employers forall you receive at their hands: a fair scale of wages must beestablished, and you must be entirely independent of any one. If youcontinue to receive those allowances which have been given duringslavery and apprenticeship, it will go abroad that you are not able totake care of yourselves; that your employers are obliged to provide youwith these allowances to keep you from starvation; in such a case youwill be nothing more than slaves. --To be free, you must be independent;you must receive money for your work; come to market with money;purchase from whom you please, and be accountable to no one but thatBeing above, who I hope will watch over and protect you!--I sincerelytrust that proper arrangements will be made before the 1st of August. --Ihave spoken to nearly four thousand persons connected with my church, and I have not yet learnt that there is any disposition among them toleave their present employers, provided they receive equitable wages. Your employer will expect from you good crops of sugar and rum; andwhile you labour to give him these, he must pay you such wages as willenable you to provide yourselves with wholesome food, good clothing, comfortable houses, and every other necessity of life. Your wages mustbe such as to enable you to do this; to contribute to the support ofyour church; the relief of the distressed; the education of yourchildren, and to put by something for sickness and old age. I hail thecoming of the 1st August with feelings of joy and gratitude. Oh, it willbe a blessed day; a day which gives liberty to all; and my friends, Ihope that the liberty which it will bring to you will by dulyappreciated. I trust I may live to see the black man in the fullenjoyment of every privilege with his white brethren, and that you mayall so conduct yourselves as to give the lie direct to those who haveaffirmed that the only idea you have of liberty is that it will enableyou to indulge in idle habits and licentious pursuits. When libertycasts her benignant smiles on this beautiful island, I trust that theemployer and the laborer will endeavour to live on terms of friendshipand good will with one another. --When the labourer receives a properremuneration for his services--when the employer contemplates theluxuriance of his well-cultivated fields, may they both return thanks toa merciful God, for permitting the sun of liberty to shine with brighteffulgence! I need scarcely assure you, my friends, that I will be atall times ready to protect your rights. I care not about the abuse withwhich I may probably be assailed; I am ready to meet all the obloquy andscorn of those who have been accustomed to place the most unfavourableconstructions on my actions. I am willing to meet the proprietors in aspirit of candour and conciliation. I desire to see you fairlycompensated for your labor; I desire also to you performing your workwith cheerful industry: but I would warn you _not to be too hasty inentering into contracts_. Think seriously before you act, and remember, as I have already old you, that you have now to act not only foryourselves, but for posterity. "

We give numerous documents from these gentlemen, as among the best ifnot the greatest part of our fellow citizens; we trust their testimonywill be deemed the best that could be offered. 

LETTER OF EIGHT BAPTIST MISSIONARIES. 

_To the Right Hon. Lord_ GLENELG, &c. 

My Lord--We feel assured that no apology is necessary, in requestingyour attention to the subject of this letter. The official connectionwhich you hold with the colony, together with the peculiar circumstancesin which its newly-emancipated population are placed, render it animperative duty we owe to ourselves to lay before you our sentiments. 

Having labored in the island for many years, and having been in dailyintercourse with the objects of our solicitude, we do feel devoutlythankful to ALMIGHTY GOD, that he has spared us to see thedisenthralment of our beloved flocks; while it gives us increasedpleasure to assure your lordship that they received the boon with holyjoy, and that the hour which made them men beheld them in thousandshumbly prostrate at the footstool of mercy, imploring the blessing ofHEAVEN upon themselves and their country, while, during the night andjoyful day, not a single case of intoxication was seen. 

To us, as their pastors, they naturally looked for advice, both as tothe labor they should perform and the wages they should receive. Theimportance of this subject was deeply felt by us, and we were preparedto meet it with a full sense of the responsibility it involved, andhappily succeeded in inducing them to accept of a sum lower than thatwhich the representatives of the landowners had formerly asserted wasfair and just. 

We regret to state, that a deep combination was formed by many of these_middlemen_ to grind the peasantry to the dust, and to induce, ifpossible, the acceptance of remuneration which, by affording noinducement to the peasant cheerfully to labor, would have entailedpauperism on him and his family, and ruin on the absentee proprietor. Itwas to this circumstance, and not in the least to any unwillingness inthe free negro to work, or to demand more for his labor than it wasfairly worth, that for one or two weeks, in some places, the cultivationof the soil was not resumed. Upon the planting attorneys, so longaccustomed to tyranny and oppression, and armed with a power over theland which must prove inimical to the full development of the resourcesof this valuable colony, the blame entirely rests. 

We suppose that your lordship is fully aware, that the laws under whichthe laborer is now placed are tyrannical and unjust in the extreme;laws, we hesitate not to affirm, which are a disgrace to those whoframed them, and which, if acted upon by a local magistracy, will entailupon the oft-cheated, over-patient negro some of the worst features ofthat degrading state of vassalage from which he has just escaped. Weparticularly refer to "An Act to enlarge the Powers of Justices indetermining complaints between Masters and Servants, and betweenMasters, and Apprentices, Artificers, and others, " which passed theAssembly the 3rd day of July, 1834, while by police acts, especially oneregulating the town of Falmouth, our people will be daily harassedand annoyed. 

We think it right to inform your lordship, that the greater part ofthose who hold the commission of magistrates are the very persons who, by their connection with the soil, are the most unfit, because the mostinterested, honestly to discharge their important duties; while theirignorance of the law is, in too many cases, equalled only by their loveof tyranny and misrule. Time must work a mighty change in the views ofnumbers who hold this office, ere they believe there is any derelictionof duty in daily defrauding the humble African. We cannot but entreatyour lordship to use those means which are in your power to obtain forthe laborer, who imploringly looks to the Queen for protection, justiceat the hands of those by whom the law is administered. We must, indeed, be blind to all passing events, did we not see that, without thewatchful care of the home government, the country district courts, heldsometimes in the very habitations of those who will have to make thecomplaints, will be dens of injustice and cruelty, and that our heartswill again be lacerated by the oppressions under which our belovedpeople will groan. 

We beg to apprise your lordship, that we have every reason to believethat an early attempt will be made to deprive the peasantry of theirprovision grounds--that they will not be permitted, even to rent them;so that, by producing starvation and rendering the population entirelydependent upon foreign-supplies for the daily necessaries of life, alower rate of wages may be enforced. Cruel as this may appear to yourlordship, and unlikely as it may seem, long experience has taught usthat there is no possible baseness of which a slave-owner will not beguilty, and no means of accomplishing his purposes, however fraught withruin to those around him, which he will not employ. 

Should the peasantry be thus treated, we shall feel it our duty humblyto implore that the lands belonging to the crown may be made availablefor their use. Your lordship will remember that these ill-treated peoplebecame not the subjects of her Majesty by choice, though they are nowdevotedly attached to her government. Their fathers were stolen andbrought hither. On their native shores they had lands and possessionscapable of supplying all their wants. If, then, after having toiledwithout remuneration, they are prevented even renting a portion of landwhich has hitherto been esteemed as their own, we shall ask, and shallfeel assured that the boon will not be withheld, that her Most GraciousMajesty will throw open the lands belonging to the crown, where we mayretire from the tyranny of man, and with our people find a peaceful andquiet home. 

Though still surrounded by obloquy and reproach, though the most abusiveepithets and language disgracefully vulgar has been employed to assailus, especially by a newspaper known to be under the patronage of abishop, and in which all official accounts of his diocese are given tothe world, yet we assure your lordship that, in endeavouring to promotethe general interests and welfare of this colony, we shall still pursuethat line of conduct which is the result of our judgment, and inaccordance with the dictates of our conscience. 

In no part of the island are arrangements made so fully or so fairly, asin those districts where our congregations reside, and in no part arethe laborers more faithfully performing their duty. We deeply feel ourresponsibility at the present crisis, and pledging ourselves to yourlordship and the British Government by the sacred office we hold, weassure you that ceaseless efforts shall still be exerted, as they haveever been, to promote the peace and happiness of those around us. 

In the name and on the behalf of our churches, for the sacred cause offreedom throughout the world, we unitedly implore your lordship to throwthe shield of Britain's protection over those who are just made herloyal subjects. All they want, and all they ask, is, that, as they areraised to the dignity, so they may receive all the rights of man, andthat the nation who purchased them from bondage may fully secure to themthat civil and religious liberty, to which both their unparalleledsufferings and their unexampled patience so richly entitle them. 

We cannot conclude this letter, without expressing the high sense weentertain of the noble and disinterested conduct pursued by hisexcellency Sir Lionel Smith, the Governor of this colony. But for hisfirmness, Jamaica would have presented all the horrors of a civil war. 

Feeling assured that your lordship will give that attention to thisletter which the subject demands, and with earnest prayer that thiscolony, now blest with liberty, may exhibit increasing prosperity, weare, my lord, your most obedient servants, Signed by

THOMAS BURCHELLWILLIAM KNIBBTHOMAS ABBOTTWALTER DENDYJOHN CLARKB. B. DEXTERSAMUEL OUGHTONJ. HUTCHINS

Baptist Missionaries, North Side Union. 

[On the foregoing letter the _London Sun_ has the followingobservations. ]

"Every arrival from the West Indies but strengthens our conviction, thatthere never will be happiness, security, or peace for the emancipatednegroes, so long as the administration of the laws, and the managementof the plantations, are continued in the hands of those white officialswhose occupation, previous to the passing of the emancipation act, consisted in torturing and tormenting them with impunity. They cannotendure to witness the elevation to the rank of free, intelligent, andwell-behaved fellow-citizens, of a class of beings whom they wereaccustomed to treat a myriad of times worse than they did the "beaststhat perish. " Having pronounced them incapable of civilization, andstrangers to all the better feelings of our nature, they deem it a sortof duty to themselves to employ every artifice to neutralize or retardevery measure calculated to ameliorate the moral and social condition ofthe negro race. Several of the colonial agents have powerful inducementsto the provocation of some insurrectionary outbreak, on the part of thecolored population. In the first place, such an _emute_ would fulfiltheir predictions with regard to the passing the Emancipation Act, andso establish their reputation as seers; and in the next, it would leadto the sale of many of the plantations at one-sixth their real value, and so transform them from agents to principles, as they would not failto be the purchasers. That such is their policy cannot, we think, bedoubted for a moment by those who will take the trouble to peruse aletter addressed by eight Baptist missionaries, long resident inJamaica, to Lord Glenelg, which will be found in another part of _TheSun_. These missionaries, we are assured, are men of irreproachablelives, of indefatigable Christian zeal, and of conversation becomingpersons whose sacred office it is to preach the gospel of peace. Thattheir representation will produce a powerful effect upon the minds ofthe people of this country, we feel as confident as we do that ourgracious Queen will concede any boon in her royal gift, necessary to thewelfare of her colored subjects. "

The following are a series of letters to Mr. Sturge, published in theBritish Emancipator for Nov. 28, 1838. The one from a Special Justiceclearly developes the principal causes of the backwardness of thelaborers. The testimony of this letter to some important facts will befully confirmed by that of the Governor of Jamaica. The evidence ofextortion submitted by the missionaries is so explicit, that we beg theattention of the reader to all the details. Remember the experimentinvolves the claims of millions to that without which life is littlebetter than a curse. Every thing hangs on the inquiry whether theemancipated or their former masters are chargeable with whatever thereis of _ruin_ in the "fine island" of Jamaica. Says Mr. Sturge, in layingthese letters before the public, "it should be clearly understood thatthe fee simple of all negro houses in Jamaica is not worth £10 each onan average, and that their provision grounds have been brought intocultivation by the negroes themselves in their _own_ time. "

Extract of a letter from a Missionary:--

Savannah-la-Mar, Sept. 8, 1838. 

MY DEAR SIR, --You are probably aware that the following question hasbeen submitted by the Governor to the Attorney-General for his opinion:

(copy. )

(No. 844. ) King' House, Aug. 27, 1838. 

SIR, --I am desired by the Governor to request you will give your opinionfor general publication. 1st. Whether in instances of notices to quittheir houses and grounds, having been served upon the late apprentices, they are liable to be made to pay rent for the occupation of such house, during the three months allowed by law?

(OPINION. )

They are. 

(Signed, )

D O'REILL. 

We shall soon see the evil effects of this opinion, it being generallypreviously understood that the late apprenticed population would not beliable for rent until the three months had expired, after receivingnotice to quit. 

As a specimen of this being made an instrument of great oppression inthe hands of managers of estates, I would state that two notices wereyesterday brought to brother Hutchins for his inspection; one was servedupon David Clarke, a labourer, on King's Valley estate, in this parish. On the back of the notice to quit was written as under;--

"The rent of your house and grounds is twenty-one pounds six shillingsand eight pence, per annum, commencing 1st of August, 1838, if legal. "

(Signed) J. H. JONES. 

Mr. Sturge appends the following West India accounts, which be says arein his possession by which it is evident that the planters are bringingtheir laborers in debt to them, by a spirit of shameless extortion. 

Charles Duncan to John Dixon, Dr. 1838. Sept. 15. To rent of houseand ground, from 1st of August todate, 6s. 8d. Per week. 2 3 9-1/2Cr. By balance, five days, 1s. 8d. Per day 0 8 4 ------------- 1 15 5-1/2Charles Brown, to John Dixon, Dr. 1838. Sept. 13. To rent of houseand ground, 6s. 8d. Per week, from 1st Aug, to date. 2 1 10Charge for running a sow and pigs, from 1st Aug. To date, 2s. 6d. Perweek 0 15 8-1/2 ------------- 2 17 6-1/2

John Alfred Bullock to John Dixon, Dr. 1838. Sept. 15. To rent of houseand garden, from 1st of Aug. To date, 6s. 8d. Per week, 2 3 9-1/2Rent of provision ground, 5s. Perweek, 1 12 6Pasturage, two weeks, for an ass, 6s. 3d, per month, 0 3 4Two hogs, 1s. 8d. Per week, 1 1 10-3/4 ------------- 5 1 6-1/4Cr. By two days' labour, 1s. 8d. Per day 0 3 4 ------------- 4 18 2-1/3

LETTER TO MR. STURGE, FROM A SPECIAL JUSTICE. 

_Jamaica, Oct. 12th, 1838. _

Freedom has brought with it the blessings we anticipated; and as weprogress in civilization we shall all be happier. I have ever beensanguine as to its beneficial results, and I am not in the leastdisappointed. I cannot find language sufficiently strong to express thecommendation due to the negroes for their steady and good conduct sincethe 1st of August. Amidst the most trying circumstance, they haveexhibited the greatest forbearance, and placed their whole reliance onthe laws for protection. I am satisfied that no other nation of free mencould conduct themselves so temperately and well, under similarcircumstances; and in my opinion, they have proved themselves infinitelysuperior to many of those who so lately exercised almost unlimitedcontrol over them. I declare to you, to see such a mass of persons, whose morals have been little regarded by those who held them inslavery, and without education, rise all at once, and express andconduct themselves so admirably, is wonderful. When seeking redressbefore the magistrates for wrongs committed by there former owners theyhave maintained more coolness and temper than their more fortunatebrethren, when maters are decided against them. There is a hard struggleon the part of the pro-slavery faction to compel the negro to work forlittle or nothing, in order that the attorneys and overseers may keeptheir places as before; and I am informed, by a gentleman whose veracityis not to be doubted, and who is himself an attorney, that he can stillkeep his overseer and merchant as in former days, draw his owncommissions, and send home to his employer a very handsome surplus. Under such circumstances, well may the friends of freedom cry shame atthe opposition which has for so long a time been thrown in the way ofliberty, by these West Indians of practical knowledge. The facts are, that the absent proprietors have been led by the advice they havereceived from their attorneys; and these have had so many ways of makingmore than an honest commission, and have so speedily made theirfortunes, that as long as they could continue slavery, they have exertedevery influence. The overseer was paid, housed, fed, and waited upon, all at the expense of master and slave, beside; keeping a fine stud ofhorses, and as many brood mares at pasture on the property as wouldenable him to dispose of seven or eight prime mules annually; and solong as he drove and tormented the poor negro, and made good crops forthe attorney's commissions, and supplied his horses with corn, these_little perquisites_ were never discovered. Now the proprietor willhardly pay for more labor than is absolutely necessary to grow andmanufacture the produce of his estate; and these gentlemen musthenceforth look to their own resources, for the payment of servants toattend and take care of their own interests and comforts. An overseer'ssituation on an estate making 300 hogsheads, was calculated in slaveryto be equal to 2000l. A year. Indeed no man in any town could have livedin such luxury for that sum. If the proprietor would only come out, andlive prudently, he would save all this by residing on his property, which he could easily manage by employing, for extra wages, his formersteady head people. _They_, from long residence, know the best manner ofworking the land; and, as to the manufacture of sugar, they are thepersons who have _all their lives_ been working at it. The mostimportant part of an overseer and book-keeper's business was to make useof their _eyes_. The negro had to make use of his legs, arms andstrength; and, in nine cases out of ten, his brains kept the whitepeople in their situations, by preventing matters from going wrong. 

I perfectly coincide with you, as to the propriety of the negro speedilybecoming possessed of the elective franchise. In Antigua there is verylittle more land than is in cultivation for the estates, but here it iswidely different; and they are beginning to settle themselves bypurchasing small lots very fast. At Sligoville there are nearly fiftynew freeholders. The negroes are taught to do this by the perpetualworry of their employers, threatening to oust them on every triflingoccasion, and withholding part of their wages on the plea ofnon-performance of work. --The root of all evil is the Assembly and theJuries. Nothing requires greater alteration; and I shall never rest, until I see the black man stand the same chance at the bar of hiscountry as the white man. --The negroes will not work under their formerhard task-masters. They determinedly resist all solicitations to laborwith those who treated them ill. They say that the pain is gone, but themark remains, and I respect them for this proud feeling. 

 * * * * *

I have come under his displeasure for taking the opinion of Middletonand McDougal, as to the legality of charging the negro hire for hishouse and grounds, for the three months during which the notices to quitare running. --Had we not taken these opinions, what a fearful statethings might we have been brought to in this country! I am quitesatisfied that no rent could be recovered until the expiration of thethree months, from which time it would commence to run, and theplaintiff would in law be considered in possession of his lands again, which, in slavery, he was compelled to give to his slave for his supportand maintenance. He must re-enter before he could demand rent, for it isimpossible for him to prove a contract, or imply one. The negro did notwillingly come from Africa, and occupy his land; he was torn from hisnative land, and compelled by his owner, under laws that took his life, not to quit the land; how therefore can he be considered to have made acontract, or consented to one?

FROM THE REV. J. KINGDON

_Manchioneal, Oct. 9, 1838. _

In passing through Hector's River great house yard, in my way to mypreaching spot, I have the most sensible demonstration of the reality ofthe political change happily brought about; for that hot-house, in whichI have seen one of my own members in irons for having a bad sore leg, and in which I have been grossly insulted for daring to go to see mypoor people--that house is _shut up_! Delightful, I assure you, are myfeelings, whenever I go by that place, attached to which, too, was theold-time prison, a perfect charnel-house. 

FROM THE REV. S. OUGHTON. 

_Lucea, October 2, 1838. _

Unused to acts of justice and humanity, the Planters, in a moment of madexcitement passed an act to abolish the accursed system of Slavery. Thedebates on that occasion proved with what an ill grace they performedthat scanty act of justice, and all experience since that period proveshow bitterly they repent it. It is true, we are not now, as before, distressed by hearing recitals of barbarous corporeal punishments, andwe are no longer pained by seeing human beings chained to each other bythe neck; but, although cruelty has, to a certain extent, ceased, oppression has become ten thousand times more rampant than ever. Everyact which ingenuity or malice can invent, is employed to harass the poornegroes. Prior to August 1st, the planter studiously avoided every thinglike an arrangement with the laborer, and when, on the following Monday, they turned out to work, the paltry pittance of 12-1/2d. (7-1/2d. Sterl. ) was all that in the majority of cases was offered for theservices of an able-bodied negro, although 2s. 6d. Per day (currency), had before been invariably exacted from them, when they were desirous ofpurchasing the remaining term of their apprenticeship. Of course, thepeople refused to receive so paltry a remuneration for their labour, andthis has laid the foundation for a course of systematic oppressionscarcely conceivable. Notices to quit were served indiscriminately onevery one, old and young, sick and healthy. Medical attendance wasrefused, and even a dose of physic from the Estates' hospitals. Cattlewere turned into the provision-grounds of the negroes, thus destroyingtheir only means of support; and assaults of the most wanton and brutaldescription were committed on many of the peasantry. On one estate theproprietor and his brother assaulted a young man in the most unprovokedmanner. One presented a pistol to his breast, and threatened to shoothim; while the other levelled a gun at his head for the same purpose. They were bound over to take their trial at the Quarter Sessions; butwhat hope is there in such a tribunal as that, composed principally ofmen engaged in the same reckless course, and banded together by mutualinterests? On another estate (_Content_), the attorney ordered thecattle of a poor man (a member of my Chapel) to be taken up andimpounded. It was done, and the man was obliged to pay 6l. To redeemthem; when, as soon as he carried them back, they were again taken andimpounded. The man has been to my house with his case of oppression, onmy return from Kingston. He states that he exhausted his last farthingto redeem the cattle the first time, and was also obliged to borrow ofhis friends; they have now been impounded five weeks, and unless he canraise the money to redeem them (upwards of 10l. ), they will be sold topay the expenses. Thus is an honest and worthy man, in a few weeks, stripped of every thing which, by years of industry and care, he hadaccumulated for the comfort of his old age, or the benefit of hisfamily. Yesterday a negro came and informed me that the owner of aproperty had told him last year, that he must cultivate more ground, soas to be able to continue possession as a tenant; and now that he hasdone so, another person, saying that he had purchased the property, camea few days ago, and told him that in three weeks he would drive him fromthe place. He then ordered a man whom he had with him to climb abread-fruit tree, and pull the fruit, which he forcibly carried away togive to his hogs. But I must forbear: were I to state half the cases ofoppression which have occurred in Hanover since August 1st; I shouldrequire a volume instead of a sheet. I think, however, I have saidenough to prove the bitter and rancorous spirit which at presentanimates the planters. Enclosed I send a specimen of another artificeadopted to harass and distress the negroes. They have adopted the notion(sanctioned by the opinion of the old Planters' Jackall, Batty, and theAttorney General), that the people are liable to pay rent for houses andgrounds during the three months' possession to which the Abolition Actentitled them, and notices have been served on the people, demanding themost extravagant amounts for the miserable sheds which the peopleinhabited. You will perceive that in once case 21l. 6s. 9d. Has beendemanded. This conscientious demand was made by John Houghton James, Executor and Attorney for Sir Simon Clark. Another is from a Mr. Bowen, of _Orchard_ Estate; and the third from Mr. Brockett, of _Hopewell_ and_Content_ Estates, the property of Mr. Miles, M. P. For Bristol. Let itbe borne in mind that these shameful and exorbitant demands are notmade, as in England, on the head of the family only, but on _everymember who is able to do the least work_, and even little children havepapers demanding 2s. 4d. Per week for ground, although unable to do theleast thing: one of these I also enclose. 

Jamaica, ss. Notice is hereby Given, That the sum of eight shillings andfour pence, weekly, will be exacted from you and each of yourespectively, for the houses and grounds at Orchard Estate, in theparish of Hanover, from August of the present year, until the expirationof the three months' notice, from its period of service to quit; or tothe period of surrendering to me the peaceable possession of theaforesaid house and provision grounds. 

J. R. BOWEN. 

Dated this 17th day of Sep. 1838. 

TO JAMES DARLING and SARAH DARLING, of the parish of HANOVER. 

Here then, my dear Sir, you may perceive something of the atrociousproceedings in the island of Jamaica. Pray insert these documents in the_Emancipator_. Let the Anti-slavery friends know the state of things, and urge them to redoubled diligence. The House of Assembly will meet onthe 30th instant, and then, I fear, dreadful measures will be taken. Aletter from Mr. Harker, of the Jamaica Royal Gazette, about a fortnightsince, addressed to Mr. Abbott, shows what absolute and cruel statutesthey would wish either to act upon, or to make the models of new laws. Every act must be watched with the most jealous scrutiny. Experienceshows that the planters possess an ingenuity truly diabolical, intwisting and distorting the laws to suit their own selfish purpose. Ourhope is in British Christians; and we confidently hope every one of themwill feel the importance of increased diligence, lest the great, andlong prayed-for boon of freedom, should become a curse, instead of ablessing. The papers will inform you of the odium I have drawn on myselfin defending the people's rights. That contained in the great mass, onlyprovokes a smile. I know that every friend in England will interpret itinversely. I did feel Mr. ----'s letter in the Falmouth Post, but heknows his error, and is sorry for it. I could have answered it, but didnot choose to cause a division amongst the few friends of the negro, when they had quite enough to do to withstand the attacks oftheir enemies. 

FROM THE REV. J. M. PHILIPPO. 

_Spanish Town, Oct. 13, 1838. _

The following is one of the seven of the same tenor now in mypossession, which will, in addition to those I forwarded by last mail, inform you of the cause of the late disinclination of the people in somedistricts to labour--which, with so much effrontery, has been proclaimedthrough the public Journals here:--

Charles Michael Kelly and Wife, to J. S. Benbow, Dr. 

 1830: July 14th to Sept. 9th. 1. To the rent of house and ground on Castle Kelly plantation, for eight weeks, at 6s. 8d. Per week. 3l. 13 42. Richard Kelly and Wife. Same. 3. Elenor Mercer. Same. 4. John Ried and Wife. Same. 5. Mary Ann Christie. Same. 6. Venus Owen (or such like name). Same. 

FROM THE REV. J. HUTCHINS. 

_Savanna-la-Mar, Sept. 17, 1838. _

I now, according to promise in my last, send you a few out of the manycases I am almost hourly troubled with. Some of our would-be great menare, I am sorry to say, harassing the poor free labourers shamefully;and should it prove, as I think in some cases it must, of serious injuryto the absentee proprietors, I shall publish the cases of grievancebrought me, together with the names of the estates, owners, attorneys, overseers, &c. , and leave all parties to form their own opinion onthe subject. 

 Amelia Martin, to Retrieve Estate, Dr. 1838: August 29. To house and ground, rent at 5s. Per week, from 1st August to date 4_l. _ 0 0[A]Alliac Davis, ground rent at 10d. Per week 3 0[A]William Davis; ditto ditto 0 3 4 ------------- 4_l. _ 6 4 -------------

Thos. Tats, Esq. Is Attorney, and Mr. Comry Overseer, [Footnote A: Boys from 9 to 11, her sons. ]

 * * * * *

 Louisa Patter, to Retrieve Estate, Dr. 1838: Aug. 28. To house and ground from 1st Aug. To date 1_l. _ 0 0

She states she has been sickly so long, that she has no ground incultivation, and cannot help herself, and has only what yams herfriends give her. 

 * * * * *

 Susan James, to Albany Estate, Dr. 1838: Aug. 28. To house and ground rent at 5s. Per week, from 1st August, to date 1l. 0 0Thos. Hewett, ground rent 0 13 4Elizabeth James, ditto 0 13 4Mary Dunn, ditto 0 10 0Letitia, ditto[A] 0 6 8 ------------- 3l. 3 4 -------------

[Footnote A: These are a mother and four children inone house, and with but one ground, they tellme. ] * * * * *

Richard Warren, to Albany Estate, Dr. 1838: Aug. 28. To house and ground rent to date 1l. 0 0 Wife 0 15 4 Child[B] 0 10 0 ------------- 2l. 5 4 -------------

[Footnote B: The child is quite young, and in daily attendanceat one of my schools. ]

 * * * * *

On this property, under the same managers as Retrieve, the people statethat they are going on shamefully. "The last Sabbath but one, when wewere at service, Stephen Campbell, the book-keeper, and Edward Pulsey, old-time constable, come round and mark all for we house, and charge forebery one of we family. We don't know what kind of fee dis we hab atall; for we attorney, Mr. Tate, neber come on we property, leave all toMr. Comeoy. We peak to him for make bargain, him say him can't make law, and him no make bargain till him heare what law come out in packet. Himsay dem who make bargain are fools; beside him no call up a parcel ofniggers to hold service wid me; should only get laughed at. So we knownot what for do. You are for we minister, and for we only friend; and ifyou did not advise we to go on work till things settle down, we no liftanother hoe. We would left the property. " Unless an arrangement is soonentered into, I shall advise them to do so. 

James Greenheld, to New Galloway Estate, Dr. To one week's rent of house, garden, and ground, and to 5 ditto for his wife, Margaret Greenfield, at 5s. Per week. £1 10 0

J. G. States, "I come for massa. When we make bargain with Mr. McNeal, itwas a maccaroni (1s. 8d. ) a day, and for we house and ground. Me is ableand willing for work, so let my wife stop home; so him charge me de samesum for my wife, as for me own house and ground. And den last week mesick and get no money, and they charge me over again, (as above) oneweek me sick. Me no able for say what to call dat massa, me sure. "

I leave with you to make your own comments, and to do what you pleasewith the above. Although my chapel is £700 in debt, and my schools, oneof 180 and one of 160 scholars, are heavy, very heavy on me, I cannot doother than advise my people to save every mite, buy an acre of land, andby that means be independent, and job about wherever they may be wanted. 

FROM THE REV. T. BURCHELL. 

_Montego Bay, October_ 2, 1838. 

The reason why I have not written to you so long, is the intenselyanxious time we have had. I feel, however, that it is high time now toaddress you; for, if our friends in England relax their efforts, myconviction is, that freedom will be more in name than in reality, inthis slave-holding Island. There is nothing to be feared, if the nobleband of friends who have so long and so successfully struggled, will butcontinue their assistance a short time longer. The planters have made adesperate struggle, and so, I have no doubt, will the House of Assembly, against the emancipated negroes. My firm conviction has been, and stillis, that the planters have endeavored, by the offer of the most paltrywages, to reduce the condition of the laborer, and make him as badly offas he was when an apprentice or a slave, that he may curse the day thatmade him free. 

Though unable to conduct the usual services on Sunday the 5th August, atthe close I addressed the congregation, urging upon them the necessityof commencing their work on the following day, whether arrangements weremade between themselves and their masters or not; as by so doing theywould put it out of the power of their opponents to say anything evil ofthem. They assembled, and on Monday the 6th thousands turned out towork, and continued to labor, unless prevented by the Manager, untilarrangements were made. 

You will remember, that prior to the 1st of August, a white man whohired out a gang of apprentices to an estate was paid at the rate of 1s. 6d. Sterling per diem for each able laborer. The apprentice received thesame when he worked for the estate on his own days, Friday and Saturday;and whenever they were valued for the purpose of purchasing theremaining time of their apprenticeship, the planter upon oath statedthat their services were worth at least 1s. 6. Per diem to the estate, and the apprentice had to redeem himself at that rate. 

After the 1st of August, the planters discovered, that, whilst theproperties would well afford to continue the lavish and extravagantexpenditure in managing the estates, "it would be certain ruin to theproperties, if the labourer was paid more than 71/2d. Per diem. For the1st class of labourers, 6d. The 2nd class, and 41/2d. For the 3rdclass:" and why? I know not why, unless it was because the longoppressed negro was to put the money into his own pocket, and not hiswhite oppressors. This seems to have made all the difference. The abovewages were accordingly offered, and rejected with scorn; the peoplefeeling the greatest indignation at the atrocious attempt of their oldoppressors to grind them down now they are free, and keep them in astate of degradation. The greatest confusion and disorder ensued; thelabourers indignant at the conduct of their masters, and the plantersenraged against the people, for presuming to think and act forthemselves. As a matter of course, the fury of the planters was directedagainst half a dozen Baptist missionaries, and as many more friends andstipendiary Magistrates; and I can assure you that the Jamaica pressequalled its most vituperative days, and came forth worthy of itself. The Despatch, or the Old Jamaica Courant, so well known in 1832 foradvocating the burning of chapels, and the hanging of missionaries; wasquite in the shade. The pious Polypheme, the Bishop's paper, with theJamaica Standard of infamy and falsehood, published in this town, tookthe lead, and a pretty standard it is. Let foreigners judge of Jamaicaby the Jamaica Standard of August last, and they must suppose it is anisland of savages, or a little hell. The press teemed with abuse of themost savage nature against us, and published the most barefaced lies. That, however, you who know the generality of the Jamaica Press, willsay is nothing new or strange; well, it is not, nor do we regard anystatements they make; for no one believes what they publish, and it is asource of gratification to us that we have never forfeited our characteror principles in the estimation of the reflecting, the philanthropist, or the Christian public, by meriting their approbation. 

In the mulct of this seemingly general conspiracy to defraud the laborerof his wages by exorbitant rents, &c. Sir Lionel Smith, the Governor, proceeds from district to district, giving advice to both of thecontending parties, and striving to promote a mutual understanding. Histestimony to the designs of the planters given to their faces, and notdenied, is very important; we give therefore one of his meetings, as thefind it reported in the Jamaica papers. Here is a rather familiarconversation among some of the chief men of that island--where can weexpect to find more authoritative testimony?

SIR LIONEL SMITH'S VISIT TO DUNSINANE. 

His Excellency, Sir Lionel Smith, visited Dunsinane on Thursday last, agreeably to arrangements previously entered into, for the purpose ofaddressing the late apprenticed population in that neighborhood, on thepropriety of resuming the cultivation of the soil. About two miles fromDunsinane, his Excellency was met by a cavalcade composed of the lateapprentices, who were preceded by Messrs. Bourne, Hamilton, and Kent, late Special Justices. On the arrival of his Excellency at Dunsinane, hewas met by the Hon. Joseph Gordon, Custos, the Lord Bishop attended byhis Secretary, and the Rev. Alexander Campbell; the Hon. Hector Mitchel, Mayor of Kingston, and a large number of highly respectable planters, proprietors, and attorneys. His Excellency, on being seated in thedwelling, said, that from information which he had received from otherparishes, and facts gathered from personal observation, he believed thatthe same bone of contention existed there as elsewhere--a source ofdiscontent brought about by the planters serving the people with noticesto quit their houses and grounds. He did not question their right to doso, or the legality of such a proceeding, but he questioned the prudenceof the step. The great change from slavery to unrestricted freedomsurely deserved some consideration. Things cannot so soon be quiet andcalm. Depend upon it, nothing will be done by force. Much may be byconciliation and prudence. Do away with every emblem of slavery; throwoff the Kilmarnock cap, and adopt in its stead, like rational men, Britannia's cap of liberty. He (Sir Lionel) doubted not the right of theplanters to rent their houses and grounds; in order to be more certainon that head, he had procured the opinion of the Attorney General; butthe exercise of the right by the planter, and getting the people towork, were very different matters. Much difficulty must be felt ingetting rid of slavery. Even in the little island of Antigua, it hadtaken six months to get matters into a quiet state; but here, in a largecountry like Jamaica, could it be expected to be done in a day, and wasit because it was not done, that the planters were to be opposed to him?You are all in arms against me (said his Excellency, ) but all I ask ofyou is to exercise patience, and all will be right. I have done, and amdoing all in my power for the good of my country. If you have served thepeople with notices to quit, with a view to compel them to work, orthinking to force them to work for a certain rate of wages, you havedone wrong. Coercive measures will never succeed. In Vere, which Ilately visited, the planters have agreed to give the people 1s. 8d. Perday, and to let them have their houses and grounds for three months freeof charge. His Excellency, on seeing some symptoms of disapprobationmanifested, said, Well, if you cannot afford to pay so much, pay whatyou can afford; but above all, use conciliatory measures, and I have nota doubt on my mind but that the people will go to their work. Seeing somany planters present, he should be happy if they would come to anarrangement among themselves, before he addressed the people outside. 

Mr. WELLWOOD HYSLOP remarked, that Vere and other rich sugar parishesmight be able to pay high rates of wages, because the land yieldedprofitable crops, but in this district it was impossible to follow theexample of those parishes. He thought that two bits a day might do verywell, but that was as much as could be afforded. 

His EXCELLENCY said that in Manchester, where he believed he had moreenemies than in any other parish, he had advised them to work by thepiece, and it had been found to answer well. 

Mr. HINTON EAST said that he would submit a measure which he thoughtwould be approved of. He proposed that the people should be paid 5s. Forfour days' labor; that if they cleaned more than 130 trees per day, either themselves or by bringing out their wives and children, theyshould be paid extra wages in the same proportion. 

Mr. ANDREW SIMPSON said that he could not afford to pay the rates namedby his Excellency. It was entirely out of the question; that a good dealdepended upon the state the fields are in--that his people, forinstance, could, with much ease, if they chose, clean 170 trees byhalf-past three o'clock. 

Mr. MASON, of St. George's, said he was willing to pay his people 1s. 8d. Per day, if they would but work; but the fact was that they refusedto do so, on account of the stories that had been told them by SpecialJustice Fishbourne; willingly too would I have given them their housesand grounds for three months, free of charge, had they shown a desire tolabor; but what was the lamentable fact? the people would not work, because Mr. Fishbourne had influenced them not to do so, and he (Mr. Mason) had been a loser of one thousand pounds in consequence. He hadbeen compelled in self-defence to issue summonses against two of hispeople. He had purchased his property--it was his all--he had sacrificedtwenty of the best years of his life as a planter, he had a wife andfamily to support, and what was the prospect before him and them? Headmitted having served notices on his people to quit their houses--intruth he did not now care whether they were or were not located on theproperty--he was willing to pay fair, nay, high wages, but the demandwas exorbitant. He had a servant, a trustworthy white man, who labouredfrom day-dawn to sunset for 2s. 1d. Per day, and he was quite satisfied. All the mischief in his district had been owing to the poisonous storiespoured into the ears of the people by Special Justice Fishbourne. If hewere removed, the parish might probably assume a healthy state; ifallowed to remain, no improvement could possibly take place. 

His EXCELLENCY said that the Assembly had passed a law preventing thespecial magistrates from going on the estates; they could not, however, prevent the people from going to them, and taking their advice if theywished it. He had understood that the people had gone to the specialmagistrates, informing them that the planters demanded 3s. 4d. Per weekrent for the houses and grounds, and that they had been advised, if suchwere the case, that they ought to be paid higher wages. He understoodthat to be a fact. 

Mr. ANDREW SIMPSON said that the people would, he had no doubt, haveworked, but for the pernicious advice of Mr. Fishbourne. He had heardthat the people had been told that the Governor did not wish them towork, and that he would be vexed with them if they did. 

Sir LIONEL replied that he was aware that white men were going about thecountry disguised as policemen, pretending to have his (Sir Lionel's)authority, telling the people not to work. He knew well their intentionand design, he understood the trick. You are anxious (said hisExcellency) to produce a panic, to reduce the value of property, tocreate dismay, in order that you may speculate, by reducing the presentvalue of property; but you will be disappointed, notwithstanding a presssends forth daily abuse against me, and black-guard and contemptibleremarks against my acts. I assure you I am up to your tricks. 

Mr. ANDREW SIMPSON would be glad if his Excellency would speakindividually. There was a paper called the West Indian, and another theColonial Freeman. He wished to know whether his Excellency meant eitherof those papers. [Some slight interruption here took place, severalgentlemen speaking at the same time. ]

His EXCELLENCY said he had not come to discuss politics, but toendeavour to get the people to work, and it would be well for them toturn their attention to that subject. 

Mr. SIMPSON said he had a gang who had jobbed by the acre, and had donewell, but it was unfortunate in other respects to observe thedisinclination shown by the laborers to work. He wished them to knowthat they must work, and trusted that his Excellency would endeavour toforce them to labor. 

Sir LIONEL--I can't compel them to do as you would wish, nor have I thepower of forcing them to labor. The people will not suffer themselves tobe driven by means of the cart-whip. It is the policy of every man tomake the best bargain he can. I can say nothing to the people abouthouses and grounds, and price of wages. I can only ask them to work. 

Mr. WILES said that the planters were anxious to come to amicablearrangements with the people, but they were unreasonable in theirdemands. The planters could not consent to be injured--they must profitby their properties. 

Mr. MASON said, that the only bone of contention was the subject ofrent. His people were outside waiting to be satisfied on that head. Hehesitated not to say, that the proprietors were entitled to rent inevery instance where the laborer was unwilling to labor, and unless thatsubject was at once settled, it would involve both parties in endlessdisagreement. He was not one of those persons alluded to by hisExcellency, who circulated misrepresentations for private benefit, norwas he aware that any one in the parish in which he lived had done so. All that he desired was the good of the country, with which hisinterests were identified. 

Sir LIONEL--I could not possibly be personal towards any gentlemanpresent, for I have not the honour of knowing most of you. Myobservations were not confined to any particular parish, but to theIsland of Jamaica, in which the occurrences named have taken place. 

Dr. RAPKY, of St. George's--If your Excellency will only do away with acurtain magistrate, things will go on smoothly in the parish of St. George. This gentleman has told the people that they are entitled to thelands occupied by them, in consequence of which the parish is now in anunsettled state. 

Sir LIONEL--Who is the magistrate!

Dr. RAPKY--Mr. Fishbourne. 

Sir LIONEL--I am afraid I cannot please you. The question of possessionof lands and houses has for the present been settled by the opinion ofthe Attorney-General, but it is still an undetermined question at law. There are many persons in the island who are of opinion that thelegislature had not so intended; he (Sir Lionel) was at a loss to knowwhat they meant; seeing, however, some members of the assembly present, perhaps they would be disposed to give some information. 

Mr. S. J. DALLAS said, that it was the intention of the legislature thatrent should be paid. He thought it fair that 1s. 8d. Per day should beoffered the people to work five days in the week, they returning oneday's labor for the houses and grounds. 

Mr. SPECIAL JUSTICE HAMILTON said that complaints had been made to him, that in many instances where the husband and wife lived in the samehouse, rent had been demanded of both. The laborers had, in consequence, been thrown into a state of consternation and alarm, which accounted forthe unsettled state of several properties--a serious bone of contentionhad in consequence been produced. He held a notice in his hand demandingof a laborer the enormous sum of 10s. Per week for house and ground. Hehad seen other notices in which 6s, 8d. And 5s. Had been demanded forthe same. He did not consider that the parties issuing those notices hadacted with prudence. 

Mr. HYSLOP explained--He admitted the charge, but said that the sum wasnever intended to be exacted. 

Sir LIONEL said he was aware of what was going on; he had heard of it. "It was a policy which ought no longer to be pursued. "

We have given the foregoing documents, full and ungarbled, that ourreaders might fairly judge for themselves. We have not picked here asentence and there a sentence, but let the Governor, the Assembly, theMissionaries, and the press tell their whole story. Let them be read, compared, and weighed. 

We might indefinitely prolong our extracts from the West India papers toshow, not only in regard to the important island of Jamaica, butBarbados and several other colonies, that the former masters are aloneguilty of the non-working of the emancipated, so far as they refuse towork. But we think we have already produced proof enough to establishthe following points:--

1. That there was a strong predisposition on the part of the Jamaicaplanters to defraud their labourers of their wages. They hoped that byyielding, before they were driven quite to the last extremity, by thetide of public sentiment in England, they should escape from allphilanthropic interference and surveillance, and be able to bring thefaces of their unyoked peasantry to the grindstone of inadequate wages. 

2. That the emancipated were not only peaceful in their new freedom, butready to grant an amnesty of all post abuses, and enter cheerfully intothe employ of their former masters for reasonable wages. That in caseswhere disagreement has arisen as to the rate of daily or weekly wages, the labourers have been ready to engage in task work, to be paid by thepiece, and have laboured so efficiently and profitably--proving a strongdisposition for industry and the acquisition of property. 

3. That in the face of this good disposition of the laborers, theplanters have, in many cases, refused to give adequate wages. 

4. That in still more numerous cases, including many in which the wageshave been apparently liberal, enormous extortion has been practiced uponthe laborer, in the form of rent demanded for his hovel and provisionpatch--£20 per annum being demanded for a shanty not worth half thatmoney, and rent being frequently demanded from _every member_ of afamily more than should have been taken from the whole. 

5. That the negroes are able to look out for their own interest, andhave very distinct ideas of their own about the value of money and theworth of their labour, as well as the best methods of bringing theiremployers to reasonable terms. On this point we might have made a stillstronger case by quoting from the Despatch and Standard, which assertnumerous instances in which the labourers have refused to work for wagesrecommended to them by the Governor, Special Magistrates, orMissionaries, though they offered to work for 3s. 4d. , 5s. , or a dollara day. They are shown to be rare bargain-makers and not easily trapped. 

6. That the attorneys and managers have deliberately endeavoured toraise a panic, whereby property might be depreciated to their ownadvantage; showing clearly thereby, that they consider Jamaica property, even with the laborers, irreclaimably free, a desirable investment. 

7. That in spite of all their efforts, the great body of the laborerscontinue industrious, doing more work in the same time than in slavery. _The testimony to his very important point, of the Governor and House ofAssembly, is perfectly conclusive_, as we have already said. A housethat represents the very men who, in 1832, burnt the missionary chapels, and defied the British Parliament with the threat, that in case itproceeded to legislate Abolition, Jamaica would attach herself to theUnited States, now HOPES for the agricultural prosperity of the island!Indeed no one in Jamaica expresses a doubt on this subject, who does notobviously do so _for the sake of buying land to better advantage_! Werethe colony a shade _worse_ off than before Emancipation, either in factor in the opinion of its landholders, or of any considerable portion ofpersons acquainted with it, the inevitable consequence would be adepreciation of _real estate_. But what is the fact? said Rev. JohnClark, a Jamaica Baptist Missionary, who has visited this country sincethe first of August, in a letter published in the Journal of Commerce:--

"The Island of Jamaica is not in the deplorable state set forth by yourcorrespondent. --Land is rising in value so rapidly, that what wasbought five years ago at 3 dollars per acre, is now selling for 15dollars; and this in the interior of the Island, in a parish notreckoned the most healthy, and sixteen miles distant from the nearesttown. Crops are better than in the days of slavery--extra labour iseasily obtained where kindness and justice are exercised towards thepeople. The hopes of proprietors are great, and larger sums are beingoffered for estates than were offered previous to August, 1834, whenestates, and negroes upon them, were disposed of together. "

Again, as in Jamaica commerce rests wholly upon agriculture, _its_institutions can only flourish in a flourishing condition of thelatter. --What then are we to infer from an imposing prospectus whichappears in the island papers, commencing thus:--

 "Kingston, October 26, 1838

 Jamaica Marine, Fire, and Life Assurance Company. 

 Capital £100, 000, In 5000 shares of £20 each. 

 It has been long a matter of astonishment that, in a community so essentially mercantile as Jamaica, no Company should have been formed for the purpose of effecting Insurance on Life and Property; although it cannot be doubted for an instant, that not only would such an establishment be highly useful to all classes of the community, but that it must yield a handsome return to such persons as may be inclined to invest their money in it, " &c. 

Farther down in the prospectus we are told--"It may here be stated, that the scheme for the formation of this Company has been mentioned tosome of the principal Merchants and _Gentlemen of the Country_, and hasmet with decidedly favourable notice: and it is expected that theshares, a large number of which have been already taken, will be rapidlydisposed of. "

The same paper, the Morning Journal, from which we make this extract, informs us: Nov. 2d--

"The shares subscribed for yesterday, in the Marine Fire and LifeInsurance Company, we understand, amount to the almost unprecedentednumber of One Thousand Six Hundred, with a number of applicants whosenames have not been added to the list. "

The Morning Journal of October 20th in remarking upon this projectsays:--

"Jamaica is now happily a free country; she contains within herself themeans of becoming prosperous. Let her sons develope those resourceswhich Lord Belmore with so much truth declared never would be developed_until slavery had ceased_. She has her Banks. --Give her, in addition, her Loan Society, her Marine, Fire, and life Assurance Company, and someothers that will shortly be proposed, and capital will flow in fromother countries--property will acquire a value in the market, that willincrease with the increase of wealth, and she will yet be a flourishingisland, and her inhabitants a happy and contented people. "

Now men desperately in debt _might_ invite in foreign capital fortemporary relief, but, since the _compensation_, this is understood notto be the case with the Jamaica planters; and if they are rushing intospeculation, it must be because they have strong _hope_ of the safetyand prosperity of their country--in other words, because they confide inthe system of free labor. This one prospectus, coupled with its promptsuccess, is sufficient to prove the falsehood of all the stories soindustriously retailed among us from the Standard and the Despatch. Butspeculators and large capitalists are not the only men who confide inthe success of the "great experiment. "

The following editorial notice in the Morning Journal of a recent datespeaks volumes:--

SAVINGS BANK. 

"We were asked not many days ago how the Savings Bank in this City wasgetting on. We answered well, very well indeed. By a notificationpublished in our paper of Saturday, it will be seen that £1600 has beenplaced in the hands of the Receiver-General. By the establishment ofthese Banks, a great deal of the money now locked up, and which yieldsno return whatever to the possessors, and is liable to be stolen, willbe brought into circulation. This circumstance of itself ought tooperate as a powerful inducement to those parishes in which no Banks areyet established to be up and doing. We have got some _five_ or _six_ ofthem fairly underweigh, as Jack would say, and hope the remainder willspeedily trip their anchors and follow. "

We believe banks were not known in the West Indies before the 1st ofAugust 1834. Says the Spanishtown Telegraph of May 1st, 1837, "_Banks, Steam-Companies, Rail-Roads, Charity Schools_, etc. , seem all to haveremained dormant until the time arrived when Jamaica was to be_enveloped in smoke_! No man thought of hazarding his capital in anextensive banking establishment until Jamaica's ruin, by theintroduction of freedom, had been accomplished!" And it was not tillafter the 1st of August, 1838, that Jamaica had either savings banks orsavings. These institutions for the industrious classes came only withtheir manhood. But why came they at all, if Emancipated industry is, oris likely to be, unsuccessful?--In Barbados we notice the sameforwardness in founding monied institutions. A Bank is there proposed, with a capital of £200, 000. More than this, the all absorbing subject inall the West India papers at the present moment is that of the_currency_. Why such anxiety to provide the means of paying for laborwhich is to become valueless? Why such keenness for a good circulatingmedium if they are to have nothing to sell? The complaints about the oldfashioned coinage we venture to assort have since the first of Augustoccupied five times as much space in the colonial papers, we mightprobably say in each and every one of them, as those of the non-workingof the freemen. The inference is irresistible. _The white colonists takeit for granted that industry is to thrive_. 

It may be proper to remark that the late refusal of the Jamaicalegislature to fulfil its appropriate functions has no connection withthe working of freedom, any further than it may have been a struggle toget rid in some measure of the surveillance of the mother country inorder to coerce the labourer so far as possible by vagrant laws, &c. Theimmediate pretext was the passing of a law by the imperial Parliamentfor the regulation of prisons, which the House of Assembly declared aviolation of that principle of their charter which forbids themother-country to lay a tax on them without their consent, in as much asit authorized a crown officer to impose a fine, in a certain case, of£20. A large majority considered this an infringement of theirprerogatives, and among them were some members who have nobly stood upfor the slave in times of danger. The remarks of Mr. Osborn especially, on this subject, (he is the full blooded, slave-born, African man towhom we have already referred) are worthy of consideration in severalpoints of view. Although he had always been a staunch advocate of thehome government on the floor of the Assembly are now contended for therights of the Jamaica legislature with arguments which to us republicansare certainly quite forcible. In a speech of some length, which appearsvery creditable to him throughout, he said--

"Government could not be acting fair towards them to assume that themass of the people of this island would remain in the state of politicalindifference to which poverty and slavery had reduced them. They werenow free, every man to rise as rapidly as he could; and the day was notvery distant when it would be demonstrated by the change ofrepresentatives that would be seen in that house. It did appear to him, that under the pretext of extending the privileges of freemen to themass of the people of this country, the government was about to deprivethem of those privileges, by curtailing the power of the representativeAssembly of those very people. He could not bring himself to admit, withany regard for truth, that the late apprentices could now be oppressed;they were quite alive to their own interests, and were now capable oftaking care of themselves. So long as labor was marketable, so long theycould resist oppression, while on the other hand, the proprietor, forhis own interest's sake, would be compelled to deal fairly with them. "

Though it is evidently all important that the same public opinion whichhas wrested the whip from the master should continue to watch hisproceedings as an employer of freemen, there is much truth in the speechof this black representative and alderman of Kingston. The brutalizedand reckless attorneys and managers, _may_ possibly succeed in drivingthe negroes from the estates by exorbitant rent and low wages. They_may_ succeed in their effort to buy in property at half its value. Butwhen they have effected that, they will be totally dependent for theprofits of their ill-gotten gains upon the _free laboring people_. Theymay produce what they call idleness now, and a great deal of vexationand suffering. But land is plenty, and the laborers, if thrust from theestates, will take it up, and become still more independent. Reasonablewages they will be able to command, and for such they are willing tolabor. The few thousand whites of Jamaica will never be able toestablish slavery, or any thing like it, over its 300, 000 blacks. 

Already they are fain to swallow their prejudice against color. Mr. Jordon, member for Kingston and "free nigger, " was listened to withrespect. Nay more, his argument was copied into the "Protest" which thelegislature proudly flung back in the face of Parliament, along with theabolition of the apprenticeship, in return for Lord Glenelg's Bill. Letall in the United States read and ponder it who assert that "the tworaces cannot live together on term of equality. "

Legislative independence of Jamaica has ever been the pride of herEnglish conquerors. They have received with joy the colored fellowcolonists into an equal participation of their valued liberty, and theywere prepared to rejoice at the extension of the constitution to theemancipated blacks. But the British Government, by a great fault, if nota crime, has, at the moment when all should have been free, torn fromthe lately ascendant class, the privileges which were their birthright, another class, now the equals of the former, the rights they had longand fortunately struggled for, and from the emancipated blacks therights which they fondly expected to enjoy with their personal freedom. The boon of earlier freedom will not compensate this most numerous partof our population for the injustice and wrong done to the wholeJamaica people. 

The documents already adduced are confined almost exclusively toJamaica. We will refer briefly to one of the other colonies. The next inimportance is

BARBADOS

Here has been played nearly the same game in regard to wages, and withthe same results. We are now furnished with advices from the island downto the 19th of December 1838. At the latter date the panic making papershad tapered down their complainings to a very faint whisper, and withalexpressing more hope than fears. As the fruit of what they had alreadydone we are told by one of them, _the Barbadian_, that the unfavourablenews carried home by the packets after the emancipation had served toraise the price of sugar in England, which object being accomplished, itis hoped that they will intermit the manufacture of such news. The firstand most important document, and indeed of itself sufficient to save thetrouble of giving more, is the comparison of crime during two and a halfmonths of freedom, and the corresponding two and a half months ofslavery or apprenticeship last year, submitted to the legislature at theopening of its session in the latter part of October. Here it is. Wehope it will be held up before every slave holder. 

From the Barbadian of Dec. 1. 

Barbados. --Comparative Table, exhibiting the number of Complaintspreferred against the Apprentice population of this Colony, in themonths of August, September and to the 15th of October, 1838; togetherwith the Complaints charged against Free Labourers of the same Colony, during the months of August, September and to the 15th of October, 1838. The former compiled from the Monthly Journals of the Special Justice ofthe Peace and the latter from the Returns of the Local Magistracytransmitted to his excellency the Governor

 APPRENTICESHIP. 

 Total of Complaints vs. Apprentices from the 1st to 31st August 1837. 1708 Ditto from the 1st to 30th September 1464 Ditto from the 1st to 15th October 574

 Grand Total 3746

 Total number of Apprentices punished from the 1st to 31st August 1608 Ditto from 1st to 31st September 1321 Ditto from the 1st to 15th October 561

 Grand Total 3490

 Total compromised, admonished and dismissed from 1st to 31st August 105 Ditto from the 1st to 30th September 113 Ditto from 1st to 15th October 38

 Total 256

 Deficiency in compromised cases in 1837 comparatively with those of 1838 158

 Grand Total 414

 FREEDOM. 

 Total of Complaints vs. Labourers from the 1st to the 31st August 1838 582 Ditto from the 1st to the 30th September 386 Ditto from the 1st to the 15th October 103

 Total 1071

 Comparative Surplus of Complaints in 1838 2675

 Grand Total 3746

 Total of Laborers punished from the 1st to the 31st August, 1838, 334 Ditto from the 1st to 30th September 270 Ditto from the 1st to 15th October 53

 Total 657

 Comparative surplus of punishment in 1837 2833

 Grand total 3490

 Total compromised, admonished and dismissed from the 1st to the 31st August 248 Ditto from the 1st to 30th September 116 Ditto from the 1st to 15th October 50

 Grand Total 414

 NOTE. 

 It may be proper to remark that the accompanying General Abstract for August, September, and to the 15th October, 1837, does not include complaints preferred and heard before the Local Magistrates during those months for such offences--viz. For misdemeanors, petty debts, assaults and petty thefts--as were not cognizable by the Special Justices; so that estimating these offences--the number of which does not appear in the Abstract for 1837--at a similar number as that enumerated in the Abstract for 1838, the actual relative difference of punishments between the two and a half months in 1837 and these in 1838, would thus appear:

 Surplus of Apprentices punished in 1837, as above 2833

 Offences in August, September, and to the 15th, October, 1837 heard before the General Justices of the Peace, and estimated as follows:

 Petty thefts 75 Assaults 143 Misdemeanors 98 Petty Debts 19--835

 Actual surplus of punishment in 1837, 3168

From the Journal of Commerce. 

_Letter from W. R. Hays, Esq. Barbados, W. I. To Rev. H. G. Ludlow, of NewHaven_. 

 BARBADOS, Dec. 26, 1838. 

 I gave you in my last, some account of the manner in which the first day of emancipation came and went in this island. We very soon afterwards received similar accounts from all the neighboring islands. In all of them the day was celebrated as an occasion "of devout thanksgiving and praise to God, for the happy termination of slavery. " In all of them, the change took place in a manner highly creditable to the emancipated, and intensely gratifying to the friends of liberty. The quiet, good order, and solemnity of the day, were every where remarkable. Indeed, is it not a fact worth remembering, that whereas in former years, a single day's relaxation from labor was met by the slaves with shouting and revelry, and merry-making, yet now, when the last link of slavery was broken forever, sobriety and decorum were especially the order of the day. The perfect order and subordination to the laws, which marked the first day of August, are yet unbroken. We have now nearly five months' experience of entire emancipation; and I venture to say, that a period of more profound peace never existed in the West Indies. There have been disputes about wages, as in New England and in other free countries; but no concert, no combination even, here; and the only attempt at a combination was among the planters, to keep down wages--and that but for a short time only. I will not enter particularly into the questions, whether or not the people will continue to work for wages, whether they will remain quiet, --or on the other hand, whether the Island will be suffered to become desolate, and the freed slaves relapse into barbarism, &c. These things have been speculated about, and gloomy predictions have had their day; the time has now come for the proof. People do not buy land and houses, and rent property for long terms of years, in countries where life is insecure, or where labor cannot be had, and the tendency of things is to ruin and decay. In short, men, in their senses, do not embark on board a sinking ship. Confidence is the very soul of prosperity; of the existence of this confidence in this Island, the immense operations in real estate, since the first of August, are abundant proof. There are multitudes of instances in which estates have sold for $20, 000 _more_ than was asked for them six months ago; and yet at the time they were considered very high. A proprietor who was persuaded a few weeks since to part with his estate for a very large sum of money, went and bought _it back again_ at an _advance_ of $9600. A great many long leases of property have been entered into. An estate called "Edgecombe, " mentioned by Thome and Kimball, has been rented for 21 years at $7500 per annum. Another called the "hope" has been rented for 10 years at £2000 sterling, equal to $9600 per annum. Another, after being rented at a high price, was relet, by the lessee, who became entirely absolved from the contract, and took $16, 000 for his bargain. If required, I could give you a host of similar cases, with the names of the parties. But it seems unnecessary. The mere impulse given to the value of property in this island by emancipation, is a thing as notorious _here_, as the _fact_ of emancipation. 

 But, are not crimes more frequent than before? I have now before me a Barbados newspaper, printed two weeks since, in which the fact is stated, that in _all_ the county prisons, among a population of 80, 000, only _two_ prisoners were confined for any cause whatever!

 "But, " says a believer in the necessity of Colonization, "how will you _get rid_ of the negroes?" I answer by adverting to the spectacle which is now witnessed in _all_ the Islands of the former proprietors of slaves, now _employers_ of _free_ laborers, using every endeavor to _prevent_ emigration. Trinidad, Demerara, and Berbice, _want_ laborers. The former has passed a law to pay the passage money of any laborer who comes to the Island, leaving him free to choose him employment. Demerara and Berbize have sent Emigration agents to this and other islands, to induce the laborers to join those colonies, offering high wages, good treatment, &c. On the other hand, Barbados, Grenada, St. Vincent, and all the old and populous islands, individually and collectively, by legislative resolves, legal enactments, &c. &c. --loudly protest that they have _not a man to spare_! What is still better, the old island proprietors are on every hand building new houses for the peasantry, and with great forethought adding to their comfort; knowing that they will thereby secure their contentment on their native soil. As a pleasing instance of the good understanding which now exists between proprietors and laborers, I will mention, that great numbers of the former were in town on the 24th, buying up pork, hams, rice, &c. As presents for their people on the ensuing Christmas; a day which has this year passed by amid scenes of quiet Sabbath devotions, a striking contrast to the tumult and drunkenness of former times. I cannot close this subject, without beating my testimony to the correctness of the statements made by our countrymen, Thome and Kimball. They were highly esteemed here by all classes, and had free access to every source of valuable information. If they have not done justice to the subject of their book, it is because the manifold blessings of a deliverance from slavery are beyond the powers of language to represent. When I attempt, as I have done in this letter, to enumerate a few of the, I know not where to begin, or where to end. One must _see_, in order to know and feel how unspeakable a boon these islands have received, --a boon, which is by no means confined to the emancipated slaves; but, like the dew and rains of heaven, it fell upon all the inhabitants of the land, bond and free, rich and poor, together. 

 It is a common thing here, when you hear one speak of the benefits of emancipation--the remark--that it ought to have taken place long ago. Some say fifty years ago, some twenty, and some, that at any rate it ought to have taken place all at once, without any apprenticeship. The noon-day sun is not clearer than the fact, that no preparation was required on the part of the slaves. It was the dictate of an accusing conscience, that foretold of bloodshed, and burning, and devastation. Can it be supposed to be an accidental circumstance, that peace and good-will have _uniformly_, in _all_ the colonies, followed the steps of emancipation. Is it not rather the broad seal of attestation to that heaven born principle, "It is safe to do right. " Dear brother, if you or any other friend to down trodden humanity, have any lingering fear that the blaze of light which is now going forth from the islands will ever be quenched, even for a moment, dismiss that fear. The light, instead of growing dim, will continue to brighten. Your prayers for the safe and happy introduction of freedom, upon a soil long trodden by the foot of slavery, may be turned into praises--for the event has come to pass. When shall we be able to rejoice in such a consummation in our beloved America? How I long to see a deputation of slaveholders making the tour of these islands. It would only be necessary for them to use their eyes and ears. Argument would be quite out of place. Even an appeal to principle--to compassion--to the fear of God--would not be needed. Self-interest alone would decide them in favor of immediate emancipation. 

 Ever yours, W. R. HAYES. 

DEMERARA. 

SPEECH OF THE GOVERNOR, ON OPENING THE SESSION OF THE COURT OF POLICY, SEPT. 17, 1838. 

From the Guiana Royal Gazette. 

 "I should fail in my duty to the public, and perhaps no respond to the expectations of yourselves, Gentlemen of the Colonial Section of this Honorable Court, did I not say a few words on the state of the Colony, at this our first meeting after the memorable first of August. 

 We are now approaching the close of the second month since that date--a sufficient time to enable us to judge of the good disposition of the new race of Freemen, but not perhaps of the prosperity of the Colony. It is a proud thing for the Colonist--Proprietors and Employers--that nothing has occurred to indicate a want of good feeling in the great body of the laborers. It is creditable to them, satisfactory to their employers, and confounding to those who anticipated a contrary state of affairs. 

 That partial changes of location should have taken place, cannot surprise any reasonable mind--that men who have all their lives been subject to compulsory labor should, on having this labor left to their discretion, be disposed at first to relax, and, in some instances, totally abstain from it, was equally to be expected. But we have no reason to despond, nor to imagine that, because such has occurred in some districts, it will continue. 

 It is sufficient that the ignorant have been undeceived in their exaggerated notions of their rights as Freemen: it was the first step towards resumption of labor in every part of the Colony. The patient forbearance of the Employers has produced great changes. If some Estates have been disappointed in the amount of labor performed, others again, and I have reason to believe a great number, are doing well. It is well known that the Peasantry have not taken to a wandering life: they are not lost to the cultivated parts of the Colony: for the reports hitherto received from the Superintendents of Rivers and Creeks make no mention of an augmented population in the distant parts of their respective districts. 

 I hear of few commitments, except in this town, where, of course, many of the idle have flocked from the country. On the East Coast, there has been only one case brought before the High Sheriff's Court since the 1st of August. In the last Circuit, not one!

 With these facts before us, we may, I trust, anticipate the continued prosperity of the Colony; and though it be possible there may be a diminution in the exports of the staple commodities in this and the succeeding quarter, yet we must take into consideration that the season had been unfavorable, in some districts, previous to the 1st August, therefore a larger proportion of the crops remained uncut; and we may ask, whether a continuance of compulsory labor would have produced a more favorable result? Our united efforts will, I trust, not be wanting to base individual prosperity on the welfare of all. "

The Governor of Demerara is HENRY LIGHT, Esq. , a gentlemen who seemsstrongly inclined to court the old slavery party and determined to shewhis want of affinity to the abolitionists. In another speech deliveredon a similar occasion, he says:

"Many of the new freemen may still be said to be in their infancy offreedom, and like children are wayward. On _many of the estates_ theyhave repaid the kindness and forbearance of their masters; on othersthey have continued to take advantage of (what? the kindness andforbearance of their masters? No. ) their new condition, are idle orirregular in their work. The good sense of the mass gives me reason tohope that idleness will be the exception, not the rule. "

The Barbadian of NOV. 28, remarks, that of six districts in Demerarawhose condition had been reported, _five_ were working favorably. In thesixth the laborers were standing out for higher wages. 

TRINIDAD. 

In the _Jamaica Morning Journal_ of Oct. 2d and 15th, we find thefollowing paragraphs in relation to this colony:

"Trinidad. --The reports from the various districts as to the conduct ofour laboring population, are as various and opposite, the Standard says, to each other as it is possible for them to be. There are many of theEstates on which the laborers had at first gone on steadily to workwhich now have scarcely a hand upon them, whilst upon others they mustera greater force than they could before command. We hear also that thepeople have already in many instances exhibited that propensity commonto the habits of common life, which we call squatting, and to which wehave always looked forward as one of the evils likely to accompany theiremancipation, and calling for the earliest and most serious attention ofour Legislature. We must confess, however, that it is a subject not easyto deal with safely and effectually. "

TRINIDAD, --The Standard says: "The state of the cultivation at presentis said to be as far advanced as could have been anticipated under thenew circumstances in which the Island stands. The weather throughout themonth has been more than usually favorable to weeding, whilst there hasalso been sufficient rain to bring out the plants; and many plantershaving, before the 1st of Augus, pushed on their weeding by free laborand (paid) extra tasks, the derangement in their customary labor whichhas been experienced since that period, does not leave them much belowan average progress. "

"Of the laborers, although they are far from being settled, we believewe may say, that they are not working badly; indeed, compared with thoseof the sister colonies, they are both more industrious and more disposedto be on good terms with their late masters. Some few estates continueshort of their usual compliment of hands; but many of the laborers whohad left the proprietors, have returned to them, whilst many others havechanged their locality either to join their relations, or to return totheir haunts of former days. So far as we can learn, nothing likeinsubordination or combination exists. We are also happy to say, that onsome estates, the laborers have turned their attention to theirprovision grounds. There is one point, however, which few seem tocomprehend, which is, that although free, they cannot work one day andbe idle the next, _ad libitum_. "

Later accounts mention that some thousands more of laborers were wantedto take off the crop, and that a committee of immigration had beenappointed to obtain them. [See Amos Townsend's letter on the last page. ]So it seems the free laborers are so good they want more of them. Thesame is notoriously true of Demerara, and Berbice. Instead of acolonization spirit to get rid of the free blacks, the quarrel among thecolonies is, which shall get the most. It is no wonder that the poornegroes in Trinidad should betake themselves to squatting. The island isthinly peopled and the administration or justice is horribly corrupt, under the governorship and judgeship of Sir George Hill, the well knowndefaulter as Vice Treasurer of Ireland, on whose appointment Mr. O'Connell remarked that "delinquents might excuse themselves byreferring to the case of their judge. "

GRENADA. 

"GRENADA--The Gazette expresses its gratification at being able torecord, that the accounts which have been received from several parts ofthe country, are of a satisfactory nature. On many of the properties thepeasantry have, during the week, evinced a disposition to resume theirseveral accustomed avocations, at the rates, and on the terms proposedby the directors of the respective estates, to which they were formerlybelonging; and very little desire to change their residence has beenmanifested. One of our correspondents writes, that 'already, by aconciliatory method, and holding out the stimulus of extra pay, inproportion to the quantity of work performed beyond that allowed tothem, he had, 'succeeded in obtaining, for three days, double the formeraverage of work, rendered by the labors during the days of slavery; andthis, too, by four o'clock, at which hour it seems, they are now wishfulof ceasing to work, and to enable them to do so, they work continuouslyfrom the time they return from their breakfast. '"

"It is one decided opinion, the paper named says, that in a very shorttime the cultivation of the cane still be generally resumed, and allthings continue to progress to the mutual satisfaction of both employerand laborer. We shall feel indebted to our friends for such information, as it may be in their power to afford us on this important subject, asit will tend to their advantage equally with that of their laborers, from the same being made public. We would wish also that permission begiven as to mention the names of the properties on which matters haveassumed a favorable aspect. "

_Jamaica Morning Journal of Oct. 2_. 

GRENADA. --According to the _Free Press_, it would appear that 'theproprietors and managers of several estates in Duquesne Valley, andelsewhere, their patience being worn out, and seeing the cultivation oftheir estates going to ruin, determined to put the law into operation, by compelling, after allowing twenty-three or twenty-four days ofidleness, the people either to work or to leave the estates. Theyresisted; the aid of the magistrates and of the constabulary force wascalled in, but without effect, and actual violence was, we learn, usedtowards those who came to enforce the law. Advices were immediately sentdown to the Executive, despatched by a gentleman of the Troop, whoreached town about half past five o'clock on Saturday morning last. Webelieve a Privy Council was summoned, and during the day, Capt. Clarkeof the 1st West-India Regiment, and Government Secretary, Lieut. Mouldof the Royal Engineers, and Lieut. Costabodie of the 70th, together withtwenty men of the 70th, and 20 of the 1st West India, embarked, to beconveyed by water to the scene of insubordination. '

"'We have not learnt the reception this force met with, from thelaborers, but the results of the visit paid them were, that yesterday, there were at work, on four estates, none: on eleven others, 287 in all, and on another all except three, who are in the hands of themagistrates. On one of the above properties, the great gang was, onFriday last, represented in the cane-piece by one old woman!'"

"'The presence of the soldiers has had, it will be seen, some effect, yet still the prospects are far from encouraging; a system of stockplundering, &c. Is prevalent to a fearful degree, some gentlemen and theindustrious laborers having had their fowls, &c. Entirely carried off bythe worthless criminals; it is consolatory, however, to be able to quotethe following written, to us by a gentleman: "Although there are a goodmany people on the different estates, still obstinate and resistingeither to work or to leave the properties, yet I hope that if themilitary are posted at Samaritan for some time longer, they will comeround, several of the very obstinate having done so already. " Twonegroes were sent down to goal on Monday last, to have their trial forassaulting the magistrates. '"

"'Such are the facts, as far as we have been able to ascertain them, which have attended a rebellious demonstration among a portion of thelaboring population, calculated to excite well-founded apprehension inthe whole community. Had earlier preventive measures been adopted, thisopen manifestation of a spirit of resistance to, and defiance of thelaw, might have been avoided. On this point, we have, in contempt of thetime-serving reflections it has drawn upon us, freely and fearlesslyexpressed our opinion, and we shall now only remark, that matters havingcome to the pass we have stated, the Executive has adopted the onlyeffective means to bring affairs again to a healthy state; fortunate isit for the colony, that this has been done, and we trust that theeffects will be most beneficial. '"

TOBAGO. 

The following testifies well for the ability of the emancipated to takecare of themselves. 

"'Tobago. --The Gazette of this Island informs us that up to the periodof its going to press, the accounts from the country, as to thedisinclination of the laborers to turn out to work are much the same aswe have given of last week. Early this morning parties of them were seenpassing through town in various directions, accompanied by theirchildren, and carrying along with them their ground provisions, stock, &c. Indicating a change of location. Whilst on many estates whereperemptory demands have been made that work be resumed, or the laborersshould leave the estate, downright refusal to do either the one or theother has been the reply; and that reply has been accompanied by threatand menace of personal violence against any attempts to turn them out oftheir houses and grounds. In the transition of the laborers from a stateof bondage to freedom, much that in their manners and deportment wouldhave brought them summarily under the coercion of the stipendiarymagistrate, formerly, may now be practised with impunity; and the fearis lest that nice discrimination betwixt restraints just terminated andrights newly acquired, will not be clouded for some time, even in theminds of the authorities, before whom laborers are likely to be broughtfor their transgression. Thus, although it may appear like an alarmingconfederacy, the system of sending delegates, or head men, around theestates, which the laborers have adopted, as advisers, or agents, topromote general unanimity; it must be borne in mind that this isperfectly justifiable; and it is only where actual violence has beenthreatened by those delegates against those who choose to work at underwages, that the authorities can merely assure them of their protectionfrom violence. '--_Morning Jour. , Oct. 2. _"

The _Barbadian_ of November 21, says, "An agricultural report has beenlately made of the windward district of the Island, which is favorableas to the general working of the negroes. " The same paper of November28, says, "It is satisfactory to learn that _many_ laborers in Tobagoare engaging more readily in agricultural operations. "

ST. VINCENT. 

"Saint Vincent. --Our intelligence this week, observes the Gazette of25th August, from the country districts, is considerably more favorablethan for the previous fortnight. In most of the leeward quarter, thepeople have, more or less, returned to work, with the exception of veryfew estates, which we decline naming, as we trust that on these alsothey will resume their labor in a few days. The same may be saidgenerally of the properties in St. George's parish; and in the moreextensive district of Charlotte, there is every prospect that the sameexample will be followed next week particularly in the Caraib country, where a few laborers on some properties have been at work during thepresent week, and the explanation and advice given them by Mr. SpecialJustice Ross has been attended with the best effect, and we doubt notwill so continue. In the Biabou quarter the laborers have resumed workin greater numbers than in other parts of the parish, and the exceptionsin this, as in ether districts, we hope will continue but a short time. "

The Barbadian of November 21, speaks of a "megass house" set on fire inthis island which the peasantry refused to extinguish, and adds that buthalf work is performed by the laborer in that parish. "Those of theadjoining parish, " its says, "are said to be working satisfactorily. " Ina subsequent paper we notice a report from the Chief of Police to theLieutenant Governor, which speaks favorably of the general working ofthe negroes, as far as he had been able to ascertain by inquiry into adistrict comprising one-third of the laborers. 

The New York Commercial Advertiser of February 25, has a communicationfrom Amos Townsend, Esq. , Cashier of the New Haven Bank; dated NewHaven, February 21, 1839, from which we make the following extract. Hesays he obtained his information from one of the most extensive shippinghouses in that city connected with the West India trade. 

 "A Mr. Jackson, a planter from St. Vincents, has been in this city within a few day, and says that the emancipation of the slaves on that island works extremely well; and that his plantation produces more and yields a larger profit than it has ever done before. The emancipated slaves now do in eight hours what was before considered a two-days' task, and he pays the laborers a dollar a day. 

 Mr. Jackson further states that he, and Mr. Nelson, of Trinidad, with another gentleman from the same islands, have been to Washington, and conferred with Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Clay, _to endeavour to concert some plan to get colored laborers from this country to emigrate to these islands, as there is a great want of hands. _ They offer one dollar a day for able bodied hands. The gentlemen at Washington were pleased with the idea of thus disposing of the free blacks at the South, and would encourage their efforts to induce that class of the colored people to emigrate. Mr. Calhoun remarked that it was the most feasible plan of colonizing the free blacks that had ever been suggested. 

 This is the amount of my information, and comes in so direct a channel as leaves no room to doubt its correctness. What our southern champions will now say to this direct testimony from their brother planters of the West Indies, of the practicability and safety of immediate emancipation, remains to be seen. Truly yours. " AMOS TOWNSEND, JUN. 

ST. LUCIA. 

Saint Lucia. --The Palladium states that affairs are becoming worse everyday with the planters. Their properties are left without labourers towork them; their buildings broken into, stores and produce stolen, ground provisions destroyed, stock robbed, and they themselves insultedand laughed at. 

On Saturday night, the Commissary of Police arrived in town from thethird and fourth districts, with some twenty or thirty prisoners, whohad been convicted before the Chief Justice of having assaulted thepolice in the execution of their duty, and sent to gaol. 

"It has been deemed necessary to call for military aid with a view ofhumbling the high and extravagant ideas entertained by theex-apprentices upon the independence of their present condition;thirty-six men of the first West India regiment, and twelve of theseventy-fourth have been accordingly despatched; the detachment embarkedyesterday on board Mr. Muter's schooner, the Louisa, to land atSoufriere, and march into the interior. "

In both the above cases where the military was called out, theprovocation was given by the white. And in both cases it was afterwardsgranted to be needless. Indeed, in the quelling of one of thesefactitious rebellions, the prisoners taken were two white men, and oneof them a manager. 

 * * * * *

THECHATTEL PRINCIPLE

THE ABHORRENCE OFJESUS CHRIST AND THE APOSTLES;ORNO REFUGE FOR AMERICAN SLAVERY

IN

THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

NEW YORKPUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. NO. 143 NASSAU STREET. 1839

_Please read and circulate. _

The

NEW TESTAMENT AGAINST SLAVERY. 

 * * * * *

"THE SON OF MAN IS COME TO SEEK AND TO SAVE THAT WHICH WAS LOST. "

Is Jesus Christ in favor of American slavery? In 1776 THOMAS JEFFERSON, supported by a noble band of patriots and surrounded by the Americanpeople, opened his lips in the authoritative declaration: "We hold thesetruths to be SELF-EVIDENT, _that all men are created equal; that theyare endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that amongthese are life, LIBERTY and the pursuit of happiness. _" And from theinmost heart of the multitudes around, and in a strong and clear voice, broke forth the unanimous and decisive answer: Amen--such truths we doindeed hold to be self-evident. And animated and sustained by adeclaration, so inspiring and sublime, they rushed to arms, and as theresult of agonizing efforts and dreadful sufferings, achieved under Godthe independence of their country. The great truth, whence they derivedlight and strength to assert and defend their rights, they made thefoundation of their republic. And in the midst of _this republic_, mustwe prove, that He, who was the Truth, did not contradict "the truths"which He Himself, as their Creator, had made self-evident to mankind?

Is Jesus Christ in favor of American slavery? What, according to thoselaws which make it what it is, is American slavery? In the Statute-Bookof South Carolina thus it is written:[A] "Slaves shall be deemed, sold, taken, reputed and adjudged in law to be _chattels personal_ in thehands of their owners and possessors, and their executors, administrators and assigns, to all intents, constructions and purposeswhatever. " The very root of American slavery consists in the assumption, that _law has reduced men to chattels_. But this assumption is, and mustbe, a gross falsehood. Men and cattle are separated from each other bythe Creator, immutably, eternally, and by an impassable gulf. Toconfound or identify men and cattle must be to _lie_ most wantonly, impudently, and maliciously. And must we prove, that Jesus Christ is notin favor of palpable, monstrous falsehood?

[Footnote A: Stroud's Slave Laws, p. 23. ]

Is Jesus Christ in favor of American slavery? How can a system, builtupon a stout and impudent denial of self-evident truth--a system oftreating men like cattle--operate? Thomas Jefferson shall answer. Hearhim. [B] "The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetualexercise of the most boisterous passions; the most unremitting despotismon the one part, and degrading submission on the other. The parentstorms, the child looks on, catches the lineaments of wrath, puts on thesame airs in the circle of smaller slaves, gives loose to his worstpassions, and thus nursed, educated, and daily exercised in tyranny, cannot but be stamped by it with odious peculiarities. The man must be aprodigy, who can retain his manners and morals undepraved by suchcircumstances. " Such is the practical operation of a system, which putsmen and cattle into the same family and treats them alike. And must weprove, that Jesus Christ is not in favor of a school where the worstvices in their most hateful forms are systematically and efficientlytaught and practiced?

[Footnote B: Notes on Virginia. ]

Is Jesus Christ in favor of American slavery? What, in 1818, did theGeneral Assembly of the Presbyterian church affirm respecting its natureand operation?[C] "Slavery creates a paradox in the moral system--itexhibits rational, accountable, and immortal beings, in suchcircumstances as scarcely to leave them the power of moral action. Itexhibits them as dependent on the will of others, whether they shallreceive religious instruction; whether they shall know and worship thetrue God; whether they shall enjoy the ordinances of the gospel; whetherthey shall perform the duties and cherish the endearments of husbandsand wives, parents and children, neighbors and friends; whether theyshall preserve their chastity and purity, or regard the dictates ofjustice and humanity. Such are some of the consequences of slavery;consequences not imaginary, but which connect themselves with its veryexistence. The evils to which the slave is _always_ exposed, _often takeplace_ in their very worst degree and form; and where all of them do nottake place, still the slave is deprived of his natural rights, degradedas a human being, and exposed to the danger of passing into the hands ofa master who may inflict upon him all the hardships and injuries whichinhumanity and avarice may suggest. " Must we prove, that Jesus Christ isnot in favor of such things?

[Footnote C: Minutes of the General Assembly for 1818, p. 29. ]

Is Jesus Christ in favor of American slavery? It is already widely feltand openly acknowledged at the South, that they can not support slaverywithout sustaining the opposition of universal christendom. And ThomasJefferson declared, that "he trembled for his country when he reflected, that God is just; that his justice can not sleep forever; thatconsidering numbers, nature, and natural means only, a revolution of thewheel of fortune, an exchange of situation, is among possible events;that it may become practicable by supernatural influences! The Almightyhas no attribute which can take sides with us in such a contest. "[A] Andmust we prove, that Jesus Christ is not in favor of what universalchristendom is impelled to abhor, denounce, and oppose;--is not in favorof what every attribute of Almighty God is armed against?

[Footnote A: Notes on Virginia]

"YE HAVE DESPISED THE POOR. "

It is no man of straw, with whom in making out such proof we are calledto contend. Would to God we had no other antagonist! Would to God thatour labor of love could be regarded as a work of supererogation! But wemay well be ashamed and grieved; to find it necessary to "stop themouths" of grave and learned ecclesiastics, who from the heights of Zionhave undertaken to defend the institution of slavery. We speak not nowof those, who amidst the monuments of oppression are engaged in thesacred vocation; who as ministers of the Gospel can "prophesy smooththings" to such as pollute the altar of Jehovah with human sacrifices;nay, who themselves bind the victim and kindle the sacrifice. That_they_ should put their Savior to the torture, to wring from his lipssomething in favor of slavery, is not to be wondered at. They consent tothe murder of the children; can they respect the rights of the Father?But what shall we say of theological professors at the North--professorsof sacred literature at our oldest divinity schools--who stand up todefend, both by argument and authority, southern slavery! And from theBible! Who, Balaam-like, try a thousand expedients to force from themouth of Jehovah a sentence which they know the heart of Jehovah abhors!Surely we have here something more mischievous and formidable than a manof straw. More than two years ago, and just before the meeting of theGeneral Assembly of the Presbyterian church, appeared an article in theBiblical Repertory, [A] understood to be from the pen of the Professor ofSacred Literature at Princeton, in which an effort is made to show, thatslavery, whatever may be said of _any abuses_ of it, is _not a violationof the precepts of the Gospel_. This article, we are informed, wasindustriously and extensively distributed among the members of theGeneral Assembly--a body of men, who by a frightful majority seemedalready too much disposed to wink at the horrors of slavery. The effectof the Princeton Apology on the southern mind, we have high authorityfor saying, has been most decisive and injurious. It has contributedgreatly to turn the public eye off from the sin--from the inherent andnecessary _evils of slavery_ to incidental evils, which the _abuse_ ofit might be expected to occasion. And how few can be brought to admit, that whatever abuses may prevail nobody knows where or how, any suchthing is chargeable upon them! Thus our Princeton prophet has done whathe could to lay the southern conscience asleep upon ingeniousperversions of the sacred volume!

[Footnote A: For April, 1836. The General Assembly of the PresbyterianChurch met in the following May, at Pittsburgh, where, in pamphlet form, this article was distributed. The following appeared upon thetitle page:

 PITTSBURGH: 1836. _For gratuitous distribution_. ]

About a year after this, an effort in the same direction was jointlymade by Dr. Fisk and Prof. Stuart. In a letter to a Methodist clergyman, Mr. Merritt, published in Zion's Herald, Dr. Fisk gives utterance tosuch things as the following:--"But that you and the public may see and_feel_, that you have the ablest and those who are among the honestestmen of this age, arrayed against you, be pleased to notice the followingletter from Prof. Stuart. " I wrote to him, knowing as I did his integrityof purpose, his unflinching regard for truth, as well as his deservedreputation as a scholar and biblical critic, proposing the followingquestions:--

1. Does the New Testament directly or indirectly teach, that slaveryexisted in the primitive church?

2. In 1 Tim. Vi. 2, And they that have believing masters, &c. , what isthe relation expressed or implied between "they" (servants) and"_believing masters_?" And what are your reasons for the construction ofthe passage?

3. What was the character of ancient and eastern slavery?--Especiallywhat (legal) power did this relation give the master over the slave?

PROFESSOR STUART'S REPLY. 

 ANDOVER, 10th April, 1837. 

 REV. AND DEAR SIR, --Yours is before me. A sickness of three months' standing (typhus fever, ) in which I have just escaped death, and which still confines me to my house, renders it impossible for me to answer your letter at large. 

 1. The precepts of the New Testament respecting the demeanor of slaves and of their masters, beyond all question, recognize the existence of slavery. The masters are in part "believing masters, " so that a precept to them, how they are to behave as _masters_, recognizes that the relation may still exist, _salva fide et salva ecclesia_, ("without violating the Christian faith or the church. ") Otherwise, Paul had nothing to do but to cut the band asunder at once. He could not lawfully and properly temporize with a _malum in se_, ("that which is in itself sin. ")

 If any one doubts, let him take the case of Paul's sending Onesimus back to Philemon, with an apology for his running away, and sending him back to be his servant for life. The relation did exist, may exist. The _abuse_ of it is the essential and fundamental wrong. Not that the theory of slavery is in itself right. No; "Love thy neighbor as thyself, " "Do unto others that which ye would that others should do unto you, " decide against this. But the relation once constituted and continued, is not such a _malum in se_ as calls for immediate and violent disruption at all hazards. So Paul did not counsel. 

 2. 1 Tim. Vi. 2, expresses the sentiment, that slaves, who are Christians and have Christian masters, are not, on that account, and because _as Christians they are brethren_, to forego the reverence due to them as masters. That is, the relation of master and slave is not, as a matter of course, abrogated between all Christians. Nay, servants should in such a case, a _fortiori_, do their duty cheerfully. This sentiment lies on the very face of the case. What the master's duty in such a case may be in respect to _liberation_, is another question, and one which the apostle does not here treat of. 

 3. Every one knows, who is acquainted with Greek or Latin antiquities, that slavery among heathen nations has ever been more unqualified and at looser ends than among Christian nations. Slaves were _property_ in Greece and Rome. That decides all questions about their _relation_. Their treatment depended, as it does now, on the temper of their masters. The power of the master over the slave was, for a long time, that of _life and death_. Horrible cruelties at length mitigated it. In the apostle's day, it was at least as great as among us. 

 After all the spouting and vehemence on this subject, which have been exhibited, the _good old Book_ remains the same. Paul's conduct and advice are still safe guides. Paul knew well that Christianity would ultimately destroy slavery, as it certainly will. He knew too, that it would destroy monarchy and aristocracy from the earth; for it is fundamentally a doctrine of _true liberty and equality_. Yet Paul did not expect slavery or anarchy to be ousted in a day; and gave precepts to Christians respecting their demeanor _ad interim_. 

 With sincere and paternal regard, Your friend and brother, M. STUART. 

 * * * * *

 --This, sir, is doctrine that will stand, because it is _Bible doctrine_. The abolitionists, then, are on a wrong course. They have traveled out of the record; and if they would succeed, they must take a different position, and approach the subject in a different manner. Respectfully yours, W. FISK

"SO THEY WRAP [SNARL] IT UP. "

What are we taught here? That in the ecclesiastical organizations whichgrew up under the hands of the apostles, slavery was admitted as arelation, that did not violate the Christian faith; that the relationmay now in like manner exist; that "the abuse of it is the essential andfundamental wrong;" and, of course, that American Christians may holdtheir own brethren in slavery without incurring guilt or inflictinginjury. Thus according to Prof. Stuart, Jesus Christ has not a word tosay against "the peculiar institutions" of the South. If our brethrenthere do not "abuse" the privilege of exacting unpaid labor, they maymultiply their slaves to their hearts' content, without exposingthemselves to the frown of the Savior or laying their Christiancharacter open to the least suspicion. Could any trafficker in humanflesh ask for greater latitude? And to such doctrines, Dr. Fisk eagerlyaid earnestly subscribes. He goes further. He urges it on the attentionof his brethren, as containing important truth, which they ought toembrace. According to him, it is "_Bible doctrine_, " showing, that "theabolitionists are on a wrong course, " and must, "if they would succeed, take a different position. "

We now refer to such distinguished names, to show, that in attempting toprove that Jeans Christ is not in favor of American slavery, we contendwith something else than a man of straw. The ungrateful task, which aparticular examination of Prof. Stuart's letter lays upon us, we hopefairly to dispose of in due season. --Enough has now been said, to makeit clear and certain, that American slavery has its apologists andadvocates in the northern pulpit; advocates and apologists, who fallbehind few if any of their brethren in the reputation they haveacquired, the stations they occupy, and the general influence they aresupposed to exert. 

Is it so? Did slavery exist in Judea, and among the Jews, in its worstform, during the Savior's incarnation? If the Jews held slaves, theymust have done so in open and flagrant violation of the letter and thespirit of the Mosaic Dispensation. Whoever has any doubts of this maywell resolve his doubts in the light of the Argument entitled "The Bibleagainst Slavery. " If, after a careful and thorough examination of thatarticle, he can believe that slaveholding prevailed during the ministryof Jesus Christ among the Jews and in accordance with the authority ofMoses, he would do the reading public an important service to record thegrounds of his belief--especially in a fair and full refutation of thatArgument. Till that is done, we hold ourselves excused from attemptingto prove what we now repeat, that if the Jews during our Savior'sincarnation held slaves, they must have done so in open and flagrantviolation of the letter and the spirit of the Mosaic Dispensation. CouldChrist and the Apostles every where among their countrymen come incontact with slaveholding, being as it was a gross violation of that lawwhich their office and their profession required them to honor andenforce, without exposing and condemning it. 

In its worst forms, we are told, slavery prevailed over the whole world, not excepting Judea. As, according to such ecclesiastics as Stuart, Hodge, and Fisk, slavery in itself is not bad at all, the term "_worst_"could be applied only to "_abuses_" of this innocent relation. Slaveryaccordingly existed among the Jews, disfigured and disgraced by the"worst abuses" to which it is liable. These abuses in the ancient world, Prof. Stuart describes as "horrible cruelties. " And in our own country, such abuses have grown so rank, as to lead a distinguishedeye-witness--no less a philosopher and statesman than ThomasJefferson--to say, that they had armed against us every attribute of theAlmighty. With these things the Savior every where came in contact, among the people to whose improvement and salvation he devoted hisliving powers, and yet not a word, not a syllable, in exposure andcondemnation of such "horrible cruelties, " escaped his lips! Hesaw--among the "covenant people" of Jehovah he saw, the babe pluckedfrom the bosom of its mother; the wife torn from the embrace of herhusband; the daughter driven to the market by the scourge of her ownfather;--he saw the word of God sealed up from those who, of all men, were especially entitled to its enlightening, quickeninginfluence;--nay, he saw men beaten for kneeling before the throne ofheavenly mercy;--such things he saw without a word of admonition orreproof! No sympathy with them who suffered wrong--no indignation atthem who inflicted wrong, moved his heart!

From the alledged silence of the Savior, when in contact with slaveryamong the Jews, our divines infer, that it is quite consistent withChristianity. And they affirm, that he saw it in its worst forms; thatis, he witnessed what Prof. Stuart ventures to call "horriblecruelties. " But what right have these interpreters of the sacred volumeto regard any form of slavery which the Savior found, as "worst, " oreven bad? According to their inference--which they would thrust gag-wiseinto the mouths of abolitionists--his silence should seal up their lips. They ought to hold their tongues. They have no right to call any form ofslavery bad--an abuse; much less, horribly cruel! Their inference isbroad enough to protect the most brutal driver amidst his deadliestinflictions!

"THINK NOT THAT I AM COME TO DESTROY THE LAW OR THE PROPHETS; I AM NOTCOME TO DESTROY, BUT TO FULFILL. "

And did the Head of the new dispensation, then, fall so far behind theprophets of the old in a hearty and effective regard for sufferinghumanity? The forms of oppression which they witnessed, excited theircompassion and aroused their indignation. In terms the most pointed andpowerful, they exposed, denounced, threatened. They could not endure thecreatures, who "used their neighbors' service without wages, and gavehim not for his work;"[A] who imposed "heavy burdens"[B] upon theirfellows, and loaded them with "the bands of wickedness;" who, "hidingthemselves from their own flesh, " disowned their own mothers' children. Professions of piety, joined with the oppression of the poor, they heldup to universal scorn and execration, as the dregs of hypocrisy. Theywarned the creature of such professions, that he could escape the wrathof Jehovah only by heartfelt repentance. And yet, according to theecclesiastics with whom we have to do, the Lord of these prophets passedby in silence just such enormities as he commanded them to expose anddenounce! Every where, he came in contact with slavery in its worstforms--"horrible cruelties" forced themselves upon his notice; but not aword of rebuke or warning did he utter. He saw "a boy given for aharlot, and a girl sold for wine, that they might drink, "[C] without theslightest feeling of displeasure, or any mark of disapprobation! To suchdisgusting and horrible conclusions, do the arguings which, from thehaunts of sacred literature, are inflictcd on our churches, lead us!According to them, Jesus Christ, instead of shining as the light of theworld, extinguished the torches which his own prophets had kindled, andplunged mankind into the palpable darkness of a starless midnight! OSavior, in pity to thy suffering people, let thy temple be no longerused as a "den of thieves!"

[Footnote A: Jeremiah xxii. 13. ]

[Footnote B: Isaiah lviii. 6, 7. ]

[Footnote C: Joel iii. 3. ]

"THOU THOUGHTEST THAT I WAS ALTOGETHER SUCH AN ONE AS THYSELF. "

In passing by the worst forms of slavery, with which he every where camein contact among the Jews, the Savior must have been inconsistent withhimself. He was commissioned to preach glad tidings to the poor; to healthe broken-hearted; to preach deliverance to the captives; to set atliberty them that are bruised; to preach the year of Jubilee. Inaccordance with this commission, he bound himself, from the earliestdate of his incarnation, to the poor, by the strongest ties; himself"had not where to lay his head;" he exposed himself to misrepresentationand abuse for his affectionate intercourse with the outcasts of society;he stood up as the advocate of the widow, denouncing and dooming theheartless ecclesiastics, who had made her bereavement a source of gain;and in describing the scenes of the final judgment, he selected the verypersonification of poverty, disease, and oppression, as the test bywhich our regard for him should be determined. To the poor and wretched;to the degraded and despised, his arms were ever open. They had histenderest sympathies. They had his warmest love. His heart's blood hepoured out upon the ground for the human family, reduced to the deepestdegradation, and exposed to the heaviest inflictions, as the slaves ofthe grand usurper. And yet, according to our ecclesiastics, that classof sufferers who had been reduced immeasurably below every other shapeand form of degradation and distress; who had been most rudely thrustout of the family of Adam, and forced to herd with swine; who, withoutthe slightest offense, had been made the foot-stool of the worstcriminals; whose "tears were their meat night and day, " while, undernameless insults and killing injuries, they were continually crying, OLord, O Lord:--this class of sufferers, and this alone, our biblicalexpositors, occupying the high places of sacred literature, would makeus believe the compassionate Savior coldly overlooked. Not an emotion ofpity; not a look of sympathy; not a word of consolation, did hisgracious heart prompt him to bestow upon them! He denounces damnationupon the devourer of the widow's house. But the monster, whose trade itis to make widows and devour them and their babes, he can calmly endure!O Savior, when wilt thou stop the mouths of such blasphemers!

IT IS THE SPIRIT THAT QUICKENETH. 

It seems, that though, according to our Princeton professor, "thesubject" of slavery "is hardly alluded to by Christ in any of hispersonal instructions[A], " he had a way of "treating it. " What was that?Why, "he taught the true nature, DIGNITY, EQUALITY, and destiny of men, "and "inculcated the principles of justice and love. "[B] And according toProfessor Stuart, the maxims which our Savior furnished, "decideagainst" "the theory of slavery. " All, then, that these ecclesiasticalapologists for slavery can make of the Savior's alledged silence is, that he did not, in his personal instructions, "_apply his own principlesto this particular form of wickedness_. " For wicked that must be, whichthe maxims of the Savior decide against, and which our Princetonprofessor assures us the principles of the gospel, duly acted on, wouldspeedily extinguish[C]. How remarkable it is, that a teacher should"hardly allude to a subject in any of his personal instructions, " andyet inculcate principles which have a direct and vital bearing uponit!--should so conduct, as to justify the inference, that "slaveholdingis not a crime[D], " and at the same time lend his authority for its"speedy extinction!"

[Footnote A: Pittsburgh pamphlet, (already alluded to, )p. 9. ]

[Footnote B: Pittsburgh pamphlet, p. 9. ]

[Footnote C: The same, p. 34. ]

[Footnote D: The same, p. 13. ]

Higher authority than sustains _self-evident truths_ there can not be. As forms of reason, they are rays from the face of Jehovah. Not only aretheir presence and power self-manifested, but they also shed a strongand clear light around them. In this light, other truths are visible. Luminaries themselves, it is their office to enlighten. To theirauthority, in every department of thought, the sane mind bows promptly, gratefully, fully. And by their authority, he explains, proves, anddisposes of whatever engages his attention and engrosses his powers as areasonable and reasoning creature. For what, when thus employed and whenmost successful, is the utmost he can accomplish? Why, to make theconclusions which he would establish and commend, _clear in the light ofreason_;--in other words, to evince that _they are reasonable_. Heexpects, that those with whom he has to do, will acknowledge theauthority of principle--will see whatever is exhibited in the light ofreason. If they require him to go further, and, in order to convincethem, to do something more that show that the doctrines he maintains, and the methods he proposes, are accordant with reason--are illustratedand supported by "self-evident truths"--they are plainly "besidethemselves. " They have lost the use of reason. They are not to be arguedwith. They belong to the mad-house. 

"COME NOW, LET US REASON TOGETHER, SAITH THE LORD. "

Are we to honor the Bible, which Prof. Stuart quaintly calls "the goodold book, " by turning away from "self-evident truths" to receive itsinstructions? Can these truths be contradicted or denied there? Do wesearch for something there to obscure their clearness, or break theirforce, or reduce their authority? Do we long to find something there, inthe form of premises or conclusions, of arguing or of inference, inbroad statements or blind hints, creed-wise or fact-wise, which may setus free from the light and power of first principles? And what if wewere to discover what we were thus in search of?--something directly orindirectly, expressly or impliedly prejudicial to the principles, whichreason, placing us under the authority of, makes self-evident? In whatestimation, in that case, should we be constrained to hold the Bible?Could we longer honor it, as the book of God? _The book of God opposedto the authority of_ REASON! Why, before what tribunal do we dispose ofthe claims of the sacred volume to divine authority? The tribunal ofreason. _This every one acknowledges the moment he begins to reason onthe subject_. And what must reason do with a book, which reduced theauthority of its own principles--broke the force of self-evident truths?Is he not, by way of eminence, the apostle of infidelity, who, as aminister of the gospel or a professor of sacred literature, exertshimself, with whatever arts of ingenuity or show of piety, to exalt theBible at the expense of reason? Let such arts succeed and such pietyprevail, and Jesus Christ is "crucified afresh and put to anopen shame. "

What saith the Princeton professor? Why, in spite of "generalprinciples, " and "clear as we may think the arguments against DESPOTISM, there have been thousands of ENLIGHTENED _and good men_, who _honestly_believe it to be of all forms of government the best and most acceptableto God. "[A] Now, these "good men" must have been thus warmly in favor ofdespotism, in consequence of, or in opposition to, their being"enlightened. " In other words, the light, which in such abundance theyenjoyed, conducted them to the position in favor of despotism, where thePrinceton professor so heartily shook hands with them, or they must haveforced their way there in despite of its hallowed influence. Either inaccordance with, or in resistance to the light, they became what hefound them--the advocates of despotism. If in resistance to thelight--and he says they were "enlightened men"--what, so far as thesubject with which alone he and we are now concerned, becomes of their"honesty" and "goodness?" Good and honest resisters of the light, whichwas freely poured around them! Of such, what says Professor Stuart's"good old Book?" Their authority, where "general principles" command theleast respect, must be small indeed. But if in accordance with thelight, they have become the advocates of despotism, then is despotism"the best form of government and most acceptable to God. " It issustained by the authority of reason, by the word of Jehovah, by thewill of Heaven! If this be the doctrine which prevails at certaintheological seminaries, it must be easy to account for the spirit whichthey breathe, and the general influence which they exert. Why did notthe Princeton professor place this "general principle" as a shield, heaven-wrought and reason-approved, over that cherished form ofdespotism which prevails among the churches of the South, and leave the"peculiar institutions" he is so forward to defend, under itsprotection?

[Footnote A: Pittsburgh pamphlet, p. 12. ]

What is the "general principle" to which, whatever may become ofdespotism with its "honest" admirers and "enlightened" supporters, humangovernments should be universally and carefully adjusted? Clearlythis--_that as capable of, man is entitled to, self-government_. Andthis is a specific form of a still more general principle, which maywell be pronounced self-evident--_that every thing should be treatedaccording to its nature_. The mind that can doubt of this, must beincapable of rational conviction. Man, then, --it is the dictate ofreason, it is the voice of Jehovah--must be treated _as a man_. What ishe? What are his distinctive attributes? The Creator impressed his ownimage on him. In this were found the grand peculiarities of hischaracter. Here shone his glory. Here REASON manifests its laws. Herethe WILL puts forth its volitions. Here is the crown of IMMORTALITY. Whysuch endowments? Thus furnished--the image of Jehovah--is he not capableof self-government? And is he not to be so treated? _Within the spherewhere the laws of reason place him_, may he not act according to hischoice--carry out his own volitions?--may he not enjoy life, exult infreedom and pursue as he will the path of blessedness? If not, why washe so created and endowed? Why the mysterious, awful attribute of will?To be a source, profound as the depths of hell, of exquisite misery, ofkeen anguish, of insufferable torment! Was man formed "according to theimage of Jehovah, " to be crossed, thwarted, counteracted; to be forcedin upon himself; to be the sport of endless contradictions; to be drivenback and forth forever between mutually repellant forces; and all, all"_at the discretion of another!"_[A] How can men be treated according tohis nature, as endowed with reason or will, if excluded from the powersand privileges of self government?--if "despotism" be let loose uponhim, to "deprive him of personal liberty, oblige him to serve at thediscretion of another, " and with the power of "transferring" such"authority" over him and such claim upon him, to "another master?" If"thousands of enlightened and good men" can so easily be found, who areforward to support "despotism" as "of all governments the best and mostacceptable to God, " we need not wonder at the testimony of universalhistory, that "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in paintogether until now. " Groans and travail-pangs must continue to be theorder of the day throughout "the whole creation, " till the rod ofdespotism be broken, and man be treated as man--as capable of, andentitled to, self-government. 

[Footnote A: Pittsburgh pamphlet, p. 12]

But what is the despotism whose horrid features our smooth professortries to hide beneath an array of cunningly-selected words andnicely-adjusted sentences? It is the despotism of Americanslavery--which crushes the very life of humanity out of its victims, andtransforms them to cattle! At its touch, they sink from men to things!"Slaves, " with Prof. Stuart, "were _property_ in Greece and Rome. Thatdecides all questions about their _relation_. " Yes, truly. And slaves inrepublican America are _property_; and as that easily, clearly, anddefinitely settles "all questions about their _relation_, " why shouldthe Princeton professor have put himself to the trouble of weaving adefinition equally ingenious and inadequate--at once subtle anddeceitful? Ah, why? Was he willing thus to conceal the wrongs of hismother's children even from himself? If among the figments of his brain, he could fashion slaves, and make them something else than property, heknew full well that a very different pattern was in use among thesouthern patriarchs. Why did he not, in plain words, and sober earnest, and good faith, describe the thing as it was, instead of employinghonied words and courtly phrases, to set forth with all becomingvagueness and ambiguity what might possibly be supposed to exist in theregions of fancy. 

"FOR RULERS ARE NOT A TERROR TO GOOD WORKS, BUT TO THE EVIL. "

But are we, in maintaining the principle of self-government, to overlookthe unripe, or neglected, or broken powers of any of our fellow-men withwhom we may be connected?--or the strong passions, vicious propensities, or criminal pursuit of others? Certainly not. But in providing for theirwelfare, we are to exert influences and impose restraints suited totheir character. In wielding those prerogatives which the social of ournature authorizes us to employ for their benefit, we are to regard themas they are in truth, not things, not cattle, not articles ofmerchandize, but men, our fellow-men--reflecting, from however batteredand broken a surface, reflecting with us the image of a common Father. And the great principle of self-government is to be the basis, to whichthe whole structure of discipline under which they may be placed, shouldbe adapted. From the nursery and village school on to the work-house andstate-prison, this principle is over and in all things to be before theeyes, present in the thoughts, warm on the heart. Otherwise, God isinsulted, while his image is despised and abused. Yes, indeed, weremember that in carrying out the principle of self-government, multiplied embarrassments and obstructions grow out of wickedness on theone hand and passion on the other. Such difficulties and obstacles weare far enough from overlooking. But where are they to be found? Areimbecility and wickedness, bad hearts and bad heads, confined to thebottom of society? Alas, the weakest of the weak, and the desperatelywicked, often occupy the high places of the earth, reducing every thingwithin their reach to subserviency to the foulest purposes. Nay, thevery power they have usurped, has often been the chief instrument ofturning their heads, inflaming their passions, corrupting their hearts. All the world knows, that the possession of arbitrary power has a strongtendency to make men shamelessly wicked and insufferably mischievous. And this, whether the vassals over whom they domineer, be few or many. If you can not trust man with himself, will you put his fellows underhis control?--and flee from the inconveniences incident toself-government, to the horrors of despotism?

"THOU THAT PREACHEST A MAN SHOULD NOT STEAL, DOST THOU STEAL. "

Is the slaveholder, the most absolute and shameless of all despots, tobe intrusted with the discipline of the injured men whom he himself hasreduced to cattle?--with the discipline by which they are to be preparedto wield the powers and enjoy the privileges of freemen? Alas, of suchdiscipline as he can furnish, in the relation of owner to property, theyhave had enough. From this sprang the vary ignorance and vice, which inthe view of many lie in the way of their immediate enfranchisement. Heit is, who has darkened their eyes and crippled their powers. And arethey to look to him for illumination and renewed vigor!--and expect"grapes from thorns and figs from thistles!" Heaven forbid! When, according to arrangements which had usurped the sacred name of law, heconsented to receive and use them as property, he forfeited all claimsto the esteem and confidence, not only of the helpless sufferersthemselves, but also of every philanthropist. In becoming a slaveholder, he became the enemy of mankind. The very act was a declaration of warupon human man nature. What less can be made of the process of turningmen to cattle? It is rank absurdity--it is the height of madness, topropose to employ _him_ to train, for the places of freemen, those whomhe has wantonly robbed of every right--whom he has stolen fromthemselves. Sooner place Burke, who used to murder for the sake ofselling bodies to the dissector, at the head of a hospital. Why, whathave our slaveholders been about these two hundred years? Have they notbeen constantly and earnestly engaged in the work of education?--training up their human cattle? And how? Thomas Jefferson shallanswer. "The whole commerce between master and slave, is a perpetualexercise of the most boisterous passions; the most unremitting despotismon the one part, and degrading submission on the other. " Is this the wayto fit the unprepared for the duties and privileges of Americancitizens? Will the evils of the dreadful process be diminished by addingto it length? What, in 1818, was the unanimous testimony of the GeneralAssembly of the Presbyterian church? Why, after describing a variety ofinfluences growing out of slavery, most fatal to mental and moralimprovement, the General Assembly assure us, that such "consequences arenot imaginary, but connect themselves WITH THE VERY EXISTENCE ofslavery. The evils to which the slave is _always_ exposed, often takeplace in fact, and IN THEIR VERY WORST DEGREE AND FORM[A]; and where allof them do not take place, " "still the slave is deprived of his naturalright, degraded as a human being, and exposed to the danger of passinginto the hands of a master who may inflict upon him all the hardshipsand injuries, which inhumanity and avarice may suggest. " Is this thecondition in which our ecclesiastics would keep the slave, at least alittle longer, to fit him to be restored to himself?

[Footnote A: The words here marked as emphasis were so distinguished byourselves. ]

"AND THEY STOPPED THEIR EARS. "

The methods of discipline under which, as slaveholders, the Southronsnow place their human cattle, they with one consent and in great wrath, forbid us to examine. The statesman and the priest unite in theassurance, that these methods are none of our business. Nay, they giveus distinctly to understand, that if we come among them to takeobservations, and make inquiries, and discuss questions, they willdispose of us as outlaws. Nothing will avail to protect us from speedyand deadly violence! What inference does all this warrant? Surely, notthat the methods which they employ are happy and worthy of universalapplication. If so, why do they not take the praise, and give us thebenefit, of their wisdom, enterprise, and success? Who, that has nothingto hide, practices concealment?--"He that doeth truth cometh to thelight, that his deeds may be manifest, that they are wrought in God. " Isthis the way of slaveholders? Darkness they court--they will havedarkness. Doubtless "because their deeds are evil. " Can we confide inmethods for the benefit of our enslaved brethren, which it is death forus to examine? Whet good ever came, what good can we expect, from deedsof darkness?

Did the influence of the masters contribute any thing in the WestIndies; to prepare the apprentices for enfranchisement? Nay, verily. Allthe world knows better. They did what in them lay, to turn back the tideof blessings, which through emancipation was pouring in upon thefamishing around them. Are not the best minds and hearts in England nowthoroughly convinced, that slavery, under no modification, can be aschool for freedom?

We say such things to the many who alledge, that slaves can not at oncebe entrusted with the powers and privileges of self-government. Howeverthis may be, they can not be better qualified under _the influence ofslavery_. _That must be broken up_ from which their ignorance, andviciousness, and wretchedness proceeded. That which can only do what ithas always done, pollute and degrade, must not be employed to purify andelevate. _The lower their character and condition, the louder, clearer, sterner, the just demand for immediate emancipation_. The plague-smittensufferer can derive no benefit from breathing a little longer aninfected atmosphere. 

In thus referring to elemental principles--in thus availing ourselves ofthe light of self-evident truths--we bow to the authority and tread inthe foot-prints of the great Teacher. He chid those around him forrefusing to make the same use of their reason in promoting theirspiritual, as they made in promoting their temporal welfare. He givesthem distinctly to understand, that they need not go out of themselvesto form a just estimation of their position, duties, and prospects, asstanding in the presence of the Messiah. "Why, EVEN OF YOURSELVES, " hedemands of them, "judge ye not what is _right_?"[A] How could they, unless they had a clear light, and an infallible standard _within them_, whereby, amidst the relations they sustained and the interests they hadto provide for, they might discriminate between truth and falsehood, right and wrong, what they ought to attempt and what they ought toeschew? From this pointed, significant appeal of the Savior, it is clearand certain, that in human consciousness may be found self-evidenttruths, self-manifested principles; that every man, studying his ownconsciousness, is bound to recognize their presence and authority, andin sober earnest and good faith to apply them to the highest practicalconcerns of "life and godliness. " It is in obedience to the Bible, thatwe apply self-evident truths, and walk in the light of generalprinciples. When our fathers proclaimed these truths, and at the hazardof their property, reputation, and life, stood up in their defense, theydid homage to the sacred Scriptures--they honored the Bible. In thatvolume, not a syllable can be found to justify that form of infidelity, which in the abused name of piety, reproaches us for practicing thelessons which "nature teacheth. "[B] These lessons, the Bible requires usreverently to listen to, earnestly to appropriate, and most diligentlyand faithfully to act upon in every direction and on all occasions. 

[Footnote A: Luke xii. 67. ]

[Footnote B: 1 Cor. Xi. 14. ]

Why, our Savior goes so far in doing honor to reason, as to encouragemen universally to dispose of the characteristic peculiarities anddistinctive features of the Gospel in the light of its principles. "Ifany man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it beof God, or whether I speak of myself. "[C] Natural religion--theprinciples which nature reveals, and the lessons which natureteaches--he thus makes a test of the truth and authority of revealedreligion. So far was he, as a teacher, from shrinking from the clearestand most piercing rays of reason--from calling off the attention ofthose around him from the import, bearings, and practical application ofgeneral principle. And those who would have us escape from the pressureof self-evident truths, by betaking ourselves to the doctrines andprecepts of Christianity, whatever airs of piety they may put on, dofoul dishonor to the Savior of mankind. 

[Footnote C: John vii. 17. ]

And what shall we say of the Golden Rule, which, according to theSavior, comprehends all the precepts of the Bible? "Whatsoever ye wouldthat men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the lawand the prophets. "

According to this maxim, in human consciousness, universally, may befound, 1. The standard whereby, in all the relations and circumstancesof life, we may determine what Heaven demands and expects of us. 2. Thejust application of this standard, is practicable for, and obligatoryupon, every child of Adam. 3. The qualification requisite to a justapplication of this rule to all the cases in which we can be concerned, is simply this--_to regard all the members of the human family as ourbrethren, our equals_. 

In other words, the Savior here teaches us, that in the principles andlaws of reason, we have an infallible guide in all the relations andcircumstances of life; that nothing can hinder our following this guide, but the bias of _selfishness_; and that the moment, in deciding anymoral question, we place _ourselves in the room of our brother_, beforethe bar of reason, we shall see what decision ought to be pronounced. Does this, in the Savior, look like fleeing self-evident truths!--likedecrying the authority of general principles!--like exalting himself atthe expense of reason!--like opening a refuge in the Gospel for thosewhose practice is at variance with the dictates of humanity!

What then is the just application of the Golden Rule--that fundamentalmaxim of the Gospel, giving character to, and shedding light upon, allits precepts and arrangements--to the subject of slavery?--_that we must"do to" slaves as we would be done by_, AS SLAVES, _the_ RELATION_itself being justified and continued_? Surely not. A little reflectionwill enable us to see, that the Golden Rule reaches farther in itsdemands, and strikes deeper in its influences and operations. The_natural equality_ of mankind lies at the very basis of this greatprecept. It obviously requires _every man to acknowledge another self inevery other man_. With my powers and resources, and in my appropriatecircumstances, I am to recognize in any child of Adam who may addressme, another self in his appropriate circumstances and with his powersand resources. This is the natural equality of mankind; and this theGolden Rule requires us to admit, defend, and maintain. 

"WHY DO YE NOT UNDERSTAND MY SPEECH; EVEN BECAUSE YE CAN NOT HEAR MYWORD. "

They strangely misunderstand and grossly misrepresent this doctrine, whocharge upon it the absurdities and mischiefs which _any "levellingsystem"_ can not but produce. In all its bearings, tendencies, andeffects, it is directly contrary and powerfully hostile to any suchsystem. EQUALITY OF RIGHTS, the doctrine asserts; and this necessarilyopens the way for _variety of condition_. In other words, every child ofAdam has, from the Creator, the inalienable right of wielding, withinreasonable limits, his own powers, and employing his own resources, according to his own choice; while he respects his social relations, topromote as he will his own welfare. But mark--HIS OWN powers andresources, and NOT ANOTHER'S, are thus inalienably put under hiscontrol. The Creator makes every man free, in whatever he may do, toexert HIMSELF, and not _another_. Here no man may lawfully cripple orembarrass another. The feeble may not hinder the strong, nor may thestrong crush the feeble. Every man may make the most of himself; in hisown proper sphere. Now, as in the constitutional endowments, and naturalopportunities, and lawful acquisitions of mankind, infinite varietyprevails, so in exerting each HIMSELF, in his own sphere, according tohis own choice, the variety of human condition can be little less thaninfinite. Thus equality of rights opens the way for variety ofcondition. 

But with all this variety of make, means, and condition, consideredindividually, the children of Adam are bound together by strong tieswhich can never be dissolved. They are mutually united by the social oftheir nature. Hence mutual dependence and mutual claims. While each isinalienably entitled to assert and enjoy his own personality as a man, each sustains to all and all to each, various relations. While each ownsand honors the individual, all are to own and honor the social of theirnature. Now, the Golden Rule distinctly recognizes, lays itsrequisitions upon, and extends its obligations to, the whole nature ofman, in his individual capacities and social relations. What higherhonor could it do to man, as _an individual_, than to constitute him thejudge, by whose decision, when fairly rendered, all the claims of hisfellows should be authoritatively and definitely disposed of?"Whatsoever YE WOULD" have done to you, so do ye to others. Every memberof the family of Adam, placing himself in the position here pointed out, is competent and authorized to pass judgment on all the cases in sociallife in which he may be concerned. Could higher responsibilities orgreater confidence be reposed in men individually? And then, how aretheir _claims upon each other_ herein magnified! What inherent worth andsolid dignity are ascribed to the social of their nature! In every manwith whom I may have to do, I am to recognize the presence of _anotherself_, whose case I am to make _my own_. And thus I am to dispose ofwhatever claims he may urge upon me. 

Thus, in accordance with the Golden Rule, mankind are naturally brought, in the voluntary use of their powers and resources, to promote eachother's welfare. As his contribution to this great object, it is theinalienable birth-right of every child of Adam, to consecrate whateverhe may possess. With exalted powers and large resources, he has anatural claim to a correspondent field of effort. If his "abilities" aresmall, his task must be easy and his burden light. Thus the Golden Rulerequires mankind mutually to serve each other. In this service, each isto exert _himself_--employ _his own_ powers, lay out his own resources, improve his own opportunities. A division of labor is the naturalresult. One is remarkable for his intellectual endowments andacquisitions; another, for his wealth; and a third, for power and skillin using his muscles. Such attributes, endlessly varied and diversified, proceed from the basis of a _common character_, by virtue of which allmen and each--one as truly as another--are entitled, as a birth-right, to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. " Each and all, one aswell as another, may choose his own modes of contributing his share tothe general welfare, in which his own is involved and identified. Underone great law of mutual dependence and mutual responsibility, all areplaced--the strong as well as the weak, the rich as much as the poor, the learned no less than the unlearned. All bring their wares, theproducts of their enterprise, skill and industry, to the same market, where mutual exchanges are freely effected. The fruits of muscularexertion procure the fruits of mental effort. John serves Thomas withhis hands, and Thomas serves John with his money. Peter wields the axefor James, and James wields the pen for Peter. Moses, Joshua, and Caleb, employ their wisdom, courage, and experience, in the service of thecommunity, and the community serve Moses, Joshua, and Caleb, infurnishing them with food and raiment, and making them partakers of thegeneral prosperity. And all this by mutual understanding and voluntaryarrangement. And all this according to the Golden Rule. 

What then becomes of _slavery_--a system of arrangements, in which oneman treats his fellow, not as another self, but as a thing--achattel--an article of merchandize, which is not to be consulted in anydisposition which may be made of it;--a system which is built on theannihilation of the attributes of our common nature--in which man dothto others, what he would sooner die than have done to himself? TheGolden Rule and slavery are mutually subversive of each other. If onestands, the other must fall. The one strikes at the very root of theother. The Golden Rule aims at the abolition of THE RELATION ITSELF, inwhich slavery consists. It lays its demands upon every thing within thescope of _human action_. To "whatever MEN DO, " it extends its authority. And the relation itself, in which slavery consists, is the work of humanhands. It is what men have done to each other--contrary to nature andmost injurious to the general welfare. THIS RELATION, therefore, theGolden Rule condemns. Wherever its authority prevails, this relationmust be annihilated. Mutual service and slavery--like light anddarkness, life and death--are directly opposed to, and subversive of, each other. The one the Golden Rule can not endure; the other itrequires, honors, and blesses. 

"LOVE WORKETH NO ILL TO HIS NEIGHBOR. "

Like unto the Golden Rule is the second great commandment--"_Thou shaltlove thy neighbor as thyself_. " "A certain lawyer, " who seems to havebeen fond of applying the doctrine of limitation of human obligations, once demanded of the Savior, within what limits the meshing of the word"neighbor" ought to be confined. "And who is my neighbor?" The parableof the good Samaritan set that matter in the clearest light, and made itmanifest and certain, that _every man_ whom we could reach with oursympathy and assistance, was our neighbor, entitled to the same regardwhich we cherished for ourselves. Consistently with such obligations, can _slavery_, as a RELATION, be maintained? Is it then a _labor oflove_--such love as we cherish for ourselves--to strip a child of Adamof all the prerogatives and privileges which are his inalienablebirth-right?--To obscure his reason, crush his will, and trample on hisimmortality?--To strike home to the inmost of his being, and break theheart of his heart?--To thrust him out of the human family, and disposeof him as a chattel--as a thing in the hands of an owner, a beast underthe lash of a driver? All this, apart from every thing incidental andextraordinary, belongs to the RELATION, in which slavery, as such, consists. All this--well fed or ill fed, underwrought or overwrought, clothed or naked, caressed or kicked, whether idle songs break from histhoughtless tongue or "tears be his meat night and day, " fondlycherished or cruelly murdered;--_all this_ ENTERS VITALLY INTO THERELATION ITSELF, _by which every slave_, AS A SLAVE, _is set apart fromthe rest of the human family_. Is it an exercise of love, to place our"neighbor" under the crushing weight, the killing power, of such arelation?--to apply the murderous steel to the very vitals ofhis humanity?

"YE THEREFORE APPLAUD AND DELIGHT IN THE DEEDS OF YOUR FATHERS; FOR THEYKILLED THEM, AND YE BUILD THEIR SEPULCHRES. "[A]

The slaveholder may eagerly and loudly deny, that any such thing ischargeable upon him. He may confidently and earnestly alledge, that heis not responsible for the state of society in which he is placed. Slavery was established before he began to breathe. It was hisinheritance. His slaves are his property by birth or testament. But whywill he thus deceive himself? Why will he permit the cunning andrapacious spiders, which in the very sanctuary of ethics and religionare laboriously weaving webs from their own bowels, to catch him withtheir wretched sophistries?--and devour him, body, soul, and substance?Let him know, as he must one day with shame and terror own, that whoeverholds slaves is himself responsible for _the relation_, into which, whether reluctantly or willingly, he thus enters. _The relation can notbe forced upon him_. What though Elizabeth countenanced John Hawkins instealing the natives of Africa?--what though James, and Charles, andGeorge, opened a market for them in the English colonies?--what thoughmodern Dracos have "framed mischief by law, " in legalizing man-stealingand slaveholding?--what though your ancestors, in preparing to go "totheir own place, " constituted you the owner of the "neighbors" whom theyhad used as cattle?--what of all this, and as much more like this, ascan be drawn from the history of that dreadful process by which men "aredeemed, sold, taken, reputed, and adjudged in law to be _chattelspersonal_?" Can all this force you to put the cap upon the climax--toclinch the nail by doing that, without which nothing in the work ofslave-making would be attempted? _The slaveholder is the soul of thewhole system_. Without him, the chattel principle is a lifelessabstraction. Without him, charters, and markets, and laws, andtestaments, are empty names. And does _he_ think to escaperesponsibility? Why, kidnappers, and soul-drivers, and law-makers, arenothing but his _agents_. He is the guilty _principal_. Let him lookto it. 

[Footnote A: You join with them in their bloody work. They murder, andyou bury the victims. ]

But what can he do? Do? Keep his hands off his "neighbor's" throat. Lethim refuse to finish and ratify the process by which the chattelprinciple is carried into effect. Let him refuse, in the face ofderision, and reproach, and opposition. Though poverty should fasten itsbony hand upon him, and persecution shoot forth its forked tongue;whatever may betide him--scorn, flight, flames--let him promptly andsteadfastly refuse. Better the spite and hate of men than the wrath ofHeaven! "If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it fromthee; for it is profitable for thee, that one of thy members shouldperish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. "

Prof. Stuart admits, that the Golden Rule and the second greatcommandment "decide against the theory of slavery as being in itselfright. " What, then, is their relation to the particular precepts, institutions, and usages, which are authorized and enjoined in the NewTestament? Of all these, they are the summary expression--thecomprehensive description. No precept in the Bible enforcing our mutualobligations, can be more or less than _the application of theseinjunctions to specific relations or particular occasions andconditions_. Neither in the Old Testament nor the New, do prophets teachor laws enjoin, any thing which the Golden Rule and the second greatcommand do not contain. Whatever they forbid, no other precept canrequire; and whatever they require, no other precept can forbid. What, then, does he attempt, who turns over the sacred pages to find somethingin the way of permission or command, which may set him free from theobligations of the Golden Rule? What must his objects, methods, spiritbe, to force him to enter upon such inquiries?--to compel him to searchthe Bible for such a purpose? Can he have good intentions, or be wellemployed? Is his frame of mind adapted to the study of the Bible?--tomake its meaning plain and welcome? What must he think of God, to searchhis word in quest of gross inconsistencies and grave contradictions!Inconsistent legislation in Jehovah! Contradictory commands! Permissionsat war with prohibitions! General requirements at variance withparticular arrangements!

What must be the moral character of any institution which the GoldenRule decides against?--which the second great command condemns? _It cannot but be wicked_, whether newly established or long maintained. However it may be shaped, turned, colored--under every modification andat all times--_wickedness must be its proper character_. _It must be_, IN ITSELF, _apart from its circumstances_, IN ITS ESSENCE, _apart fromits incidents_, SINFUL. 

"THINK NOT TO SAY WITHIN YOURSELVES, WE HAVE ABRAHAM FOR OUR FATHER. "

In disposing of those precepts and exhortations which have a specificbearing upon the subject of slavery, it is greatly important, nay, absolutely essential, that we look forth upon the objects around us, from the right post of observation. Our stand we must take at somecentral point, amidst the general maxims and fundamental precepts, theknown circumstances and characteristic arrangements, of primitiveChristianity. Otherwise, wrong views and false conclusions will be theresult of our studies. We can not, therefore, be too earnest in tryingto catch the general features and prevalent spirit of the New Testamentinstitutions and arrangements. For to what conclusions must we come, ifwe unwittingly pursue our inquires under the bias of the prejudice, thatthe general maxims of social life which now prevail in this country, were current, on the authority of the Savior, among the primitiveChristians! That, for instance, wealth, station, talents, are thestandard by which our claims upon, and our regard for, others, should bemodified?--That those who are pinched by poverty, worn by disease, tasked in menial labors, or marked by features offensive to the taste ofthe artificial and capricious, are to be excluded from those refreshingand elevating influences which intelligence and refinement may beexpected to exert; that thus they are to constitute a class bythemselves, and to be made to know and keep their place at the verybottom of society? Or, what if we should think and speak of theprimitive Christians, as if they had the same pecuniary resources asHeaven has lavished upon the American churches?--as if they were asremarkable for affluence, elegance, and splendor? Or, as if they had ashigh a position and as extensive an influence in politics andliterature?--having directly or indirectly, the control over the highplaces of learning and of power?

If we should pursue our studies and arrange our arguments--if we shouldexplain words and interpret language--under such a bias, what mustinevitably be the results? What would be the worth of our conclusions?What confidence could be reposed in any instruction we might undertaketo furnish? And is not this the way in which the advocates andapologists of slavery dispose of the bearing which primitiveChristianity has upon it? They first ascribe, unwittingly perhaps, tothe primitive churches, the character, relations, and condition, ofAmerican Christianity, and amidst the deep darkness and strangeconfusion thus produced, set about interpreting the language andexplaining the usages of the New Testament!

"SO THAT YE ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE. "

Among the lessons of instruction which our Savior imparted, having ageneral bearing on the subject of slavery, that in which he sets up the_true standard of greatness_, deserves particular attention. Inrepressing the ambition of his disciples, he held up before them themethods by which alone healthful aspirations for eminence could begratified, and thus set the elements of true greatness in the clearestlight. "Ye know, that they which are accounted to rule over theGentiles, exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exerciseauthority upon them. But so shall it not be among you; but whosoeverwill be great among you, shall be your minister; _and whosoever of youwill be chiefest, shall be servant of all_. " In other words, through theselfishness and pride of mankind, the maxim widely prevails in theworld, that it is the privilege, prerogative, and mark of greatness, TOEXACT SERVICE; that our superiority to others, while it authorizes us torelax the exertion of our own powers, gives us a fair title to the useof theirs; that "might, " while it exempts us from serving, "gives theright" to be served. The instructions of the Savior open the way togreatness for us in the opposite direction. Superiority to others, inwhatever it may consist, gives us a claim to a wider field of exertion, and demands of us a larger amount of service. We can be great only as we_are useful_. And "might gives right" to bless our fellow men, byimproving every opportunity and employing every faculty, affectionately, earnestly, and unweariedly, in their service. Thus the greater the man, the more active, faithful, and useful the servant. 

The Savior has himself taught us how this doctrine must be applied. Hebids us improve every opportunity and employ every power, even, throughthe most menial services, in blessing the human family. And to make thislesson shine upon our understandings and move our hearts, he embodied itin a most instructive and attractive example. On a memorable occasion, and just before his crucifixion, he discharged for his disciples themost menial of all offices--taking, _in washing their feet_, the placeof the lowest servant. He took great pains to make them understand, thatonly by imitating this example could they honor their relations to himas their Master; that thus only would they find themselves blessed. Bywhat possibility could slavery exist under the influence of such alesson, set home by such an example? _Was it while washing thedisciples' feet, that our Savior authorized one man to make a chattelof another_?

To refuse to provide for ourselves by useful labor, the apostle Paulteaches us to regard as a grave offence. After reminding theThessalonian Christians, that in addition to all his official exertionshe had with his own muscles earned his own bread, he calls theirattention to an arrangement which was supported by apostolicalauthority, "that if any would not work, neither should he eat. " In themost earnest and solemn manner, and as a minister of the Lord JesusChrist, he commanded and exhorted those who neglected useful labor, "_with quietness to work and eat their own bread_. " What must be thebearing of all this upon slavery? Could slavery be maintained whereevery man eat the bread which himself had earned?--where idleness wasesteemed so great a crime, as to be reckoned worthy of starvation as apunishment? How could unrequited labor be exacted, or used, or needed?Must not every one in such a community contribute his share to thegeneral welfare?--and mutual service and mutual support be thenatural result?

The same apostle, in writing to another church, describes the truesource whence the means of liberality ought to be derived. "Let him thatstole steal no more; but rather let him labor, working with his handsthe thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. "Let this lesson, as from the lips of Jehovah, be proclaimed throughoutthe length and breadth of South Carolina. Let it be universally welcomedand reduced to practice. Let thieves give up what they had stolen to thelawful proprietors, cease stealing, and begin at once to "labor, workingwith their hands, " for necessary and charitable purposes. Could slavery, in such a case, continue to exist? Surely not! Instead of exactingunpaid services from others, every man would be busy, exerting himselfnot only to provide for his own wants, but also to accumulate funds, "that he might have to give to" the needy. Slavery must disappear, rootand branch, at once and forever. 

In describing the source whence his ministers should expect theirsupport, the Savior furnished a general principle, which has an obviousand powerful bearing on the subject of slavery. He would have themremember, while exerting themselves for the benefit of their fellow men, that "the laborer is worthy of his hire. " He has thus united wages withwork. Whoever renders the one is entitled to the other. And thismanifestly according to a mutual understanding and a voluntaryarrangement. For the doctrine that I may force you to work for me forwhatever consideration I may please to fix upon, fairly opens the wayfor the doctrine, that you, in turn, may force me to render you whateverwages you may choose to exact for any services you may see fit torender. Thus slavery, even as involuntary servitude, is cut up by theroot. Even the Princeton professor seems to regard it as a violation ofthe principle which unites work with wages. 

The apostle James applies this principle to the claims of manuallaborers--of those who hold the plough and thrust in the sickle. Hecalls the rich lordlings who exacted sweat and withheld wages, to"weeping and howling, " assuring them that the complaints of the injuredlaborer had entered into the ear of the Lord of Hosts, and that, as aresult of their oppression, their riches were corrupted, and theirgarments moth-eaten; their gold and silver were cankered; that the restof them should be a witness against them, and should eat their flesh asit were fire; that, in one word, they had heaped treasure together forthe last days, when "miseries were coming upon them, " the prospect ofwhich might well drench them in tears and fill them with terror. Ifthese admonition and warnings were heeded there, would not "the South"break forth into "weeping and wailing, and gnashing of teeth?" What elseare its rich men about, but withholding by a system of fraud, his wagesfrom the laborer, who is wearing himself out under the impulse of fear, in cultivating their fields and producing their luxuries? Encouragementand support do they derive from James, in maintaining the "peculiarinstitution" whence they derived their wealth, which they callpatriarchal, and boast of as the "corner-stone" of the republic?

In the New Testament, we have, moreover, the general injunction, "_Honorall men_. " Under this broad precept, every form of humanity may justlyclaim protection and respect. The invasion of any human right must dodishonor to humanity, and be a transgression of this command. How then, in the light of such obligations, must slavery be regarded? Are thosemen honored, who are rudely excluded from a place in the human family, and shut up to the deep degradation and nameless horrors of chattelship?_Can they be held as slaves, and at the same time be honored as men_?

How far, in obeying this command, we are to go, we may infer from theadmonitions and instructions which James applies to the arrangements andusages of religious assemblies. Into these he can not allow "respect ofpersons" to enter. "My brethren, " he exclaims, "have not the faith ofour Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. Forif there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodlyapparel; and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; and ye haverespect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, sit thouhere in a good place; and say to the poor, stand thou there, or sit hereunder my footstool; are ye not then partial in yourselves, and arebecome judges of evil thoughts? _If ye have respect to persons, yecommit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors_. " On thisgeneral principle, then, religious assemblies ought to beregulated--that every man is to be estimated, not according to his_circumstances_--not according to any thing incidental to his_condition_; but according to his _moral worth_--according to theessential features and vital elements of his _character_. Gold rings andgay clothing, as they qualify no man for, can entitle no man to, a "goodplace" in the church. Nor can the "vile raiment of the poor man, " fairlyexclude him from any sphere, however exalted, which his heart and headmay fit him to fill. To deny this, in theory or practice, is to degradea man below a thing; for what are gold rings, or gay clothing, or vileraiment, but things, "which perish with the using?" And this must be "tocommit sin, and be convinced of the law as transgressors. "

In slavery, we have "respect of persons, " strongly marked, and reducedto system. Here men are despised not merely for "the vile raiment, "which may cover their scarred bodies. This is bad enough. But thedeepest contempt for humanity here grows out of birth or complexion. Vile raiment may be, often is, the result of indolence, or improvidence, or extravagance. It may be, often is, an index of character. But how canI be responsible for the incidents of my birth?--how for my complexion?To despise or honor me for these, is to be guilty of "respect ofpersons" in its grossest form, and with its worst effects. It is toreward or punish me for what I had nothing to do with; for which, therefore, I can not, without the greatest injustice, be heldresponsible. It is to poison the very fountains of justice, byconfounding all moral distinctions. It is with a worse temper, and inthe way of inflicting infinitely greater injuries, to copy the kinglyfolly of Xerxes, in chaining and scourging the Hellespont. What, then, so far as the authority of the New Testament is concerned, becomes ofslavery, which can not be maintained under any form nor for a singlemoment, without "respect of persons" the most aggravated andunendurable? And what would become of that most pitiful, silly, andwicked arrangement in so many of our churches, in which worshipers of adark complexion are to be shut up to the negro pew?[A]

[Footnote A: In Carlyle's Review of the Memoirs of Mirabeau, we have thefollowing anecdote, illustrative of the character of a "grandmother" ofthe Count. "Fancy the dame Mirabeau sailing stately towards the churchfont; another dame striking in to take precedence of her; the dameMirabeau despatching this latter with a box on the ear, and these words, '_Here, as in the army_, THE BAGGAGE _goes last_!'" Let those whojustify the negro-pew-arrangement, throw a stone at this proud woman--ifthey dare. ]

Nor are we permitted to confine this principle to _religious_assemblies. It is to pervade social life every where. Even where plenty, intelligence, and refinement, diffuse their brightest rays, the poor areto be welcomed with especial favor. "Then said he to him that bade him, when thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thybrethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors, lest they alsobid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest afeast, call the poor and the maimed, the lame and the blind, and thoushalt be blessed; for they can not recompense thee, but thou shalt berecompensed at the resurrection of the just. "

In the high places of social life then--in the parlor, the drawing-room, the saloon--special reference should be had, in every arrangement, tothe comfort and improvement of those who are least able to provide forthe cheapest rites of hospitality. For these, ample accommodations mustbe made, whatever may become of our kinsmen and rich neighbors. And forthis good reason, that while such occasions signify little to thelatter, to the former they are pregnant with good--raising theirdrooping spirits, cheering their desponding hearts, inspiring them withlife, and hope, and joy. The rich and the poor thus meeting joyfullytogether, can not but mutually contribute to each other's benefit; therich will be led to moderation, sobriety, and circumspection, and thepoor to industry, providence, and contentment. The recompense must berich and sure. 

A most beautiful and instructive commentary on the text in which thesethings are taught, the Savior furnished in his own conduct. He freelymingled with those who were reduced to the very bottom of society. Atthe tables of the outcasts of society, he did not hesitate to be acheerful guest, surrounded by publicans and sinners. And when floutedand reproached by smooth and lofty ecclesiastics, as an ultraist andleveler, he explained and justified himself by observing, that he hadonly done what his office demanded. It was his to seek the lost, to healthe sick, to pity the wretched;--in a word, to bestow just such benefitsas the various necessities of mankind made appropriate and welcome. Inhis great heart, there was room enough for those who had been excludedfrom the sympathy of little souls. In its spirit and design, the gospeloverlooked none--least of all, the outcasts of a selfish world. 

Can slavery, however modified, be consistent with such a gospel?--agospel which requires us, even amidst the highest forms of social life, to exert ourselves to raise the depressed by giving our warmestsympathies to those who have the smallest share in the favor ofthe world?

Those who are in "bonds" are set before us as deserving an especialremembrance. Their claims upon us are described as a modification of theGolden Rule--as one of the many forms to which its obligations arereducible. To them we are to extend the same affectionate regard as wewould covet for ourselves, if the chains upon their limbs were fastenedupon ours. To the benefits of this precept, the enslaved have a naturalclaim of the greatest strength. The wrongs they suffer, spring from apersecution which can hardly be surpassed in malignancy. Their birth andcomplexion are the occasion of the insults and injuries which they canneither endure nor escape. It is for the _work of God_, and not them owndeserts, that they are loaded with chains. _This is persecution. _

Can I regard the slave as another self--can I put myself in hisplace--and be indifferent to his wrongs? Especially, can I, thusaffected, take sides with the oppressor? Could I, in such a state ofmind as the gospel requires me to cherish, reduce him to slavery or keephim in bonds? Is not the precept under hand naturally subversive ofevery system and every form of slavery?

The _general descriptions_ of the church which are found here and therein the New Testament, are highly instructive in their bearing on thesubject of slavery. In one connection, the following words meet the eye:"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, thereis neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. "[A] Herewe have--1. A clear and strong description of the doctrine of _humanequality_. "Ye are all ONE;"--so much alike, so truly placed on commonground, all wielding each his own powers with such freedom, _that one isthe same as another_. 

[Footnote A: Gal. Iii. 23. ]

2. This doctrine, self-evident in the light of reason, is affirmed ondivine authority. "IN CHRIST JESUS, _ye are all one_. " The naturalequality of the human family is a part of the gospel. For--

3. All the human family are included in this description. Whether men orwomen, whether bond or free, whether Jews or Gentiles, all are alikeentitled to the benefit of this doctrine. Wherever Christianityprevails, the _artificial_ distinctions which grow out of birth, condition, sex, are done away. _Natural_ distinctions are not destroyed. _They_ are recognized, hallowed, confirmed. The gospel does not abolishthe sexes, forbid a division of labor, or extinguish patriotism. Ittakes woman from beneath the feet, and places her by the side of man;delivers the manual laborer from "the yoke, " and gives him wages for hiswork; and brings the Jew and Gentile to embrace each other withfraternal love and confidence. Thus it raises all to a common level, gives to each the free use of his own powers and resources, binds alltogether in one dear and loving brotherhood. Such, according to thedescription of the apostle, was the influence, and such the effect ofprimitive Christianity. "Behold the picture!" Is it like Americanslavery, which, in all its tendencies and effects, is destructive of alloneness among brethren?

"Where the spirit of the Lord is, " exclaims the same apostle, with hiseye upon the condition and relations of the church, "_where the spiritof the Lord is_, THERE IS LIBERTY. " Where, then, may we reverentlyrecognize the presence, and bow before the manifested power, of thisspirit? _There_, where the laborer may not choose how he shall beemployed!--in what way his wants shall he supplied!--with whom he shallassociate!--who shall have the fruit of his exertions! _There_, where heis not free to enjoy his wife and children! _There_, where his body andhis soul, his very "destiny, "[A] are placed altogether beyond hiscontrol! _There_, where every power is crippled, every energy blasted, every hope crushed! _There_, where in all the relations and concerns oflife, he is legally treated as if he had nothing to do with the laws ofreason, the light of immortality, or the exercise of will! Is the spiritof the Lord _there_, where liberty is decried and denounced, mocked atand spit upon, betrayed and crucified! In the midst of a church whichjustified slavery, which derived its support from slavery, which carriedon its enterprises by means of slavery, would the apostle have found thefruits of the Spirit of the Lord! Let that Spirit exert his influences, and assert his authority, and wield his power, and slavery must vanishat once and forever. 

[Footnote A: "The Legislature [of South Carolina] from time to time, haspassed many restricted and penal acts, with a view to bring under directcontrol and subjection the DESTINY _of the black population_. " See theRemonstrance of James S. Pope and 352 others, against home missionaryefforts for the benefit of the enslaved--a most instructive paper. ]

In more than one connection, the apostle James describes Christianity as"_the law of liberty_. " It is in other words the law under which libertycan not but live and flourish--the law in which liberty is clearlydefined, strongly asserted, and well protected. As the law of liberty, how can it be consistent with the law of slavery? The presence and thepower of this law are felt wherever the light of reason shines. They arefelt in the uneasiness and conscious degradation of the slave, and inthe shame and remorse which the master betrays in his reluctant anddesperate efforts to defend himself. This law it is which has armedhuman nature against the oppressor. Wherever it is obeyed, "every yokeis broken. "

In these references to the New Testament we have a _general description_of the primitive church, and the _principles_ on which it was foundedand fashioned. These principles bear the same relation to Christian_history_ as to Christian _character_, since the former is occupied withthe development of the latter. What then is Christian character butChristian principle _realized_, acted out, bodied forth, and animated?Christian principle is the soul, of which Christian character is theexpression--the manifestation. It comprehends in itself, as a livingseed, such Christian character, under every form, modification, andcomplexion. The former is, therefore, the test and interpreter of thelatter. In the light of Christian principle, and in that light only, wecan judge of and explain Christian character. Christian history isoccupied with the forms, modifications, and various aspects of Christiancharacter. The facts which are there recorded serve to show, howChristian principle has fared in this world--how it has appeared, whatit has done, how it has been treated. In these facts we have the variousinstitutions, usages, designs, doings, and sufferings of the church ofChrist. And all these have of necessity, the closest relation toChristian principle. They are the production of its power. Through them, it is revealed and manifested. In its light, they are to be studied, explained, and understood. Without it they must be as unintelligible andinsignificant as the letters of a book, scattered on the wind. 

In the principles of Christianity, then, we have a comprehensive andfaithful account of its objects, institutions, and usages--of how itmust behave, and act, and suffer, in a world of sin and misery. Forbetween the principles which God reveals, on the one hand, and theprecepts he enjoins, the institutions he establishes, and the usages heapproves, on the other, there must be consistency and harmony. Otherwisewe impute to God what we must abhor in man--practice at war withprinciple. Does the Savior, then, lay down the _principle_ that ourstanding in the church must depend upon the habits, formed within us, ofreadily and heartily subserving the welfare of others; and permit us _inpractice_ to invade the rights and trample on the happiness of ourfellows, by reducing them to slavery. Does he, _in principle_ and byexample, require us to go all lengths in rendering mutual service, comprehending offices the most menial, as well as the most honorable;and permit us _in practice_ to EXACT service of our brethren, as if theywere nothing better than "articles of merchandize?" Does he require us_in principle_ "to work with quietness and eat our own bread;" andpermit us _in practice_ to wrest from our brethren the fruits of theirunrequited toil? Does he in principle require us, abstaining from everyform of theft, to employ our powers in useful labor, not only to providefor ourselves but also to relieve the indigence of others; and permit us_in practice_, abstaining from every form of labor, to enrich andaggrandize ourselves with the fruits of man-stealing? Does he require us_in principle_ to regard "the laborer as worthy of his hire;" and permitus _in practice_ to defraud him of his wages? Does he require us _inprinciple_ "to honor ALL men;" and permit us _in practice_ to treatmultitudes like cattle? Does he _in principle_ prohibit "respect ofpersons;" and permit us _in practice_ to place the feet of the rich uponthe necks of the poor? Does he _in principle_ require us to sympathizewith the bondman as another self; and permit us _in practice_ to leavehim unpitied and unhelped in the hands of the oppressor? _In principle_, "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty;" _in practice_, is_slavery_ the fruit of the Spirit? _In principle_, Christianity is thelaw of liberty; _in practice_, is it the law of slavery? Bring practicein these various respects into harmony with principle, and what becomesof slavery? And if, where the divine government is concerned, practiceis the expression of principle, and principle the standard andinterpreter of practice, such harmony cannot but be maintained and mustbe asserted. In studying, therefore, fragments of history and sketchesof biography--in disposing of references to institutions, usages, andfacts in the New Testament, this necessary harmony between principle andpractice in the government, should be continually present to thethoughts of the interpreter. Principles assert what practice must be. Whatever principle condemns, God condemns. It belongs to those weeds ofthe dunghill which, planted by "an enemy, " his hand will assuredly "rootup. " It is most certain, then, that if slavery prevailed in the firstages of Christianity, it could nowhere have prevailed under itsinfluence and with its sanction. 

The _condition_ in which, in its efforts to bless mankind, the primitivechurch was placed, must have greatly assisted the early Christians inunderstanding and applying the principles of the gospel. --Their _Master_was born in great obscurity, lived in the deepest poverty, and died themost ignominious death. The place of his residence, his familiarity withthe outcasts of society, his welcoming assistance and support fromfemale hands, his casting his beloved mother, when he hung upon thecross, upon the charity of a disciple--such things evince the depth ofhis poverty, and show to what derision and contempt he must have beenexposed. Could such an one, "despised and rejected of men--a man ofsorrows and acquainted with grief, " play the oppressor, or smile onthose who made merchandize of the poor!

And what was the history of the _apostles_, but an illustration of thedoctrine, that "it is enough for the disciple, that he be as hisMaster?" Were they lordly ecclesiastics, abounding with wealth, shiningwith splendor, bloated with luxury! Were they ambitious of distinction, fleecing, and trampling, and devouring "the flocks, " that theythemselves might "have the pre-eminence!" Were they slaveholdingbishops! Or did they derive their support from the wages of iniquity andthe price of blood! Can such inferences be drawn from the account oftheir condition, which the most gifted and enterprising of their numberhas put upon record? "Even unto this present hour, we both hunger, andthirst, and are naked, and _are buffetted_, and have _no certaindwelling place, and labor working with our own hands_. Being reviled, webless; being persecuted, we suffer it; being defamed, we entreat; we aremade as _the filth of the world_, and are THE OFFSCOURING OF ALL THINGSunto this day[A]. " Are these the men who practiced or countenancedslavery? _With such a temper, they WOULD NOT; in such circumstances, they COULD NOT_. Exposed to "tribulation, distress, and persecution;"subject to famine and nakedness, to peril and the sword; "killed all theday long; accounted as sheep for the slaughter[B], " they would have madebut a sorry figure at the great-house or slave-market!

[Footnote A: 1 Cor. Iv. 11-13. ]

[Footnote B: 1 Rom. Viii. 35, 36. ]

Nor was the condition of the brethren, generally, better than that ofthe apostles. The position of the apostles doubtless entitled them tothe strongest opposition, the heaviest reproaches, the fiercestpersecution. But derision and contempt must have been the lot ofChristians generally. Surely we cannot think so ill of primitiveChristianity as to suppose that believers, generally, refused to sharein the trials and sufferings of their leaders; as to suppose that whilethe leaders submitted to manual labor, to buffeting, to be reckoned thefilth of the world, to be accounted as sheep for the slaughter, hisbrethren lived in affluence, ease, and honor! despising manual labor!and living upon the sweat of unrequited toil! But on this point we arenot left to mere inference and conjecture. The apostle Paul in theplainest language explains the ordination of Heaven. "But _God hath_CHOSEN the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and Godhath CHOSEN the weak things of the world to confound the things whichare mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despisedhath God CHOSEN, yea, and THINGS WHICH ARE NOT, to bring to noughtthings that are. "[A] Here we may well notice, [Footnote A: 1 Cor. I. 27, 28. ]

1. That it was not by _accident_, that the primitive churches were madeup of such elements, but the result of the DIVINE CHOICE--an arrangementof His wise and gracious Providence. The inference is natural, that thisordination was co-extensive with the triumphs of Christianity. It wasnothing new or strange, that Jehovah had concealed his glory "from thewise and prudent, and had revealed it unto babes, " or that "the commonpeople heard him gladly, " while "not many wise men after the flesh, notmany mighty, not many noble, had been called. "

2. The description of character which the apostle records, could beadapted only to what are reckoned the _very dregs of humanity_. Thefoolish and the weak, the base and the contemptible, in the estimationof worldly pride and wisdom--these were they whose broken hearts werereached, and moulded, and refreshed by the gospel; these were they whomthe apostle took to his bosom as his own brethren. 

That _slaves_ abounded at Corinth, may easily be admitted. _They_ have aplace in the enumeration of elements of which, according to the apostle, the church there was composed. The most remarkable class found there, consisted of "THINGS WHICH ARE NOT"--mere nobodies, not admitted to theprivileges of men, but degraded to a level with "goods and chattels;" ofwhom _no account_ was made in such arrangements of society as subservedthe improvement, and dignity, and happiness of MANKIND. How accuratelythis description applies to those who are crushed under the chattelprinciple!

The reference which the apostle makes to the "deep poverty of thechurches of Macedonia, "[B] and this to stir up the sluggish liberalityof his Corinthian brethren, naturally leaves the impression, that thelatter were by no means inferior to the former in the gifts ofProvidence. But, pressed with want and pinched by poverty as were thebelievers in "Macedonia and Achaia, it pleased them to make a certaincontribution for the poor saints which were at Jerusalem. "[C] Thus itappears, that Christians every where were familiar with contempt andindigence, so much so, that the apostle would dissuade such as had nofamilies from assuming the responsibilities of the conjugal relation[D]!

[Footnote B: 2 Cor. Viii. 2. ]

[Footnote C: Rom. Xv. 26. ]

[Footnote D: 1 Cor. Vi 26, 27]

Now, how did these good people treat each other? Did the few among them, who were esteemed wise, mighty, or noble, exert their influence andemploy their power in oppressing the weak, in disposing of the "thingsthat are not, " as marketable commodities!--kneeling with them in prayerin the evening, and putting them up at auction the next morning! Did thechurch sell any of the members to swell the "certain contribution farthe poor saints at Jerusalem!" Far otherwise--as far as possible! Inthose Christian communities where the influence of the apostles was mostpowerful, and where the arrangements drew forth their highestcommendations, believers treated each other as brethren, in thestrongest sense of that sweet word. So warm was their mutual love, sostrong the public spirit, so open-handed and abundant the generalliberality, that they are set forth as "_having all things common. _" [E]Slaves and their holders here? Neither the one nor the other could inthat relation to each other have breathed such an atmosphere. The appealof the kneeling bondman, "Am I not a man and a brother, " must here havemet with a prompt and powerful response. 

[Footnote E: Acts iv. 32]

The _tests_ by which our Savior tries the character of his professeddisciples, shed a strong light upon the genius of the gospel. In oneconnection[F], an inquirer demands of the Savior, "What good thing shallI do that I may have eternal life?" After being reminded of theobligations which his social nature imposed upon him, he ventured, whileclaiming to be free from guilt in his relations to mankind, to demand, "what lack I yet?" The radical deficiency under which his characterlabored, the Savior was not long or obscure in pointing out. If thouwilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor, andthou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me. On thispassage it is natural to suggest--

[Footnote F: Luke xvii 18-24]

1. That we have here a _test of universal application. _ The rectitudeand benevolence of our Savior's character forbid us to suppose that hewould subject this inquirer, especially as he was highly amiable, to atrial, where eternal life was at stake, _peculiarly_ severe. Indeed, thetest seems to have been only a fair exposition of the second greatcommand, and of course it must be applicable to all who are placed underthe obligations of that precept. Those who can not stand this test, astheir character is radically imperfect and unsound, must, with theinquirer to whom our Lord applied it, be pronounced unfit for thekingdom of heaven. 

2. The least that our Savior can in that passage be understood to demandis, that we disinterestedly and heartily devote ourselves to the welfareof mankind, "the poor" especially. We are to put ourselves on a levelwith _them_, as we must do "in selling that we have" for theirbenefit--in other words, in employing our powers and resources toelevate their character, condition, and prospects. This our Savior did;and if we refuse to enter into sympathy and cooperation with him, howcan we be his _followers_? Apply this test to the slaveholder. Insteadof "selling that he hath" for the benefit of the poor, he BUYS THE POOR, and exacts their sweat with stripes, to enable him to "clothe himself inpurple and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every day;" or, HE SELLS THEPOOR to support the gospel and convert the heathen!

What, in describing the scenes of the final judgment, does our Saviorteach us? _By what standard_ must our character be estimated, and theretributions of eternity be awarded? A standard, which both therighteous and the wicked will be surprised to see erected. From the"offscouring of all things, " the meanest specimen of humanity will beselected--a "stranger" in the hands of the oppressor, naked, hungry, sickly; and this stranger, placed in the midst of the assembleduniverse, by the side of the sovereign Judge, will be openlyacknowledged as his representative. "Glory, honor, and immortality, "will be the reward of those who had recognized and cheered their Lordthrough his outraged poor. And tribulation, anguish, and despair, willseize on "every soul of man, " who had neglected or despised them. Butwhom, within the limits of our country, are we to regard especially asthe representatives of our final Judge? Every feature of the Savior'spicture finds its appropriate original in our enslaved countrymen. 

1. They are the LEAST of his brethren. 

2. They are subject to thirst and hunger, unable to command a cup ofwater or a crumb of bread. 

3. They are exposed to wasting sickness, without the ability to procurea nurse or employ a physician. 

4. They are emphatically "in prison, " restrained by chains, goaded withwhips, tasked, and under keepers. Not a wretch groans in any cell of theprisons of our country, who is exposed to a confinement so rigorous andheart-breaking as the law allows theirs to be continually andpermanently. 

5. And then they are emphatically, and peculiarly, and exclusively, STRANGERS--_strangers_ in the land which gave them birth. Whom else dowe constrain to remain aliens in the midst of our free institutions? TheWelch, the Swiss, the Irish? The Jews even? Alas, it is the _negro_only, who may not strike his roots into our soil. Every where we haveconspired to treat him as a stranger--every where he is forced to feelhimself a stranger. In the stage and steamboat, in the parlor and at ourtables, in the scenes of business and in the scenes of amusement--evenin the church of God and at the communion table, he is regarded as astranger. The intelligent and religious are generally disgusted andhorror-struck at the thought of his becoming identified with thecitizens of our republic--so much so, that thousands of them haveentered into a conspiracy to send him off "out of sight, " to find a homeon a foreign shore!--And justify themselves by openly alledging, that a"single drop" of his blood, in the veins of any human creature, mustmake him hateful to his fellow citizens!--That nothing but banishmentfrom "our coasts, " can redeem him from the scorn and contempt to whichhis "stranger" blood has reduced him among his own mother's children!

Who, then, in this land "of milk and honey, " is "hungry and athirst, "but the man from whom the law takes away the last crumb of bread and thesmallest drop of water?

Who "naked, " but the man whom the law strips of the last rag ofclothing?

Who "sick, " but the man whom the law deprives of the power of procuringmedicine or sending for a physician?

Who "in prison, " but the man who, all his life is under the control ofmerciless masters and cruel keepers?

Who a "stranger, " but the man who is scornfully denied the cheapestcourtesies of life--who is treated as an alien in his native country?

There is one point in this awful description which deserves particularattention. Those who are doomed to the left hand of the Judge, are notcharged with inflicting _positive injuries_ on their helpless, needy, and oppressed brother. Theirs was what is often called _negative_character. What they _had done_ is not described in the indictment. Their _neglect_ of duty, what they _had_ NOT _done_, was the ground oftheir "everlasting punishment. " The representative of their Judge, theyhad seen a hungered and they gave him no meat, thirsty and they have himno drink, a stranger and they took him not in, naked and they clothedhim not, sick and in prison and they visited him not. In as much as theydid NOT yield to the claims of suffering humanity--did NOT exertthemselves to bless the meanest of the human family, they were drivenaway in their wickedness. But what if the indictment had run thus: I wasa hungered and ye snatched away the crust which might have saved me fromstarvation; I was thirsty and ye dashed to the ground the "cup of coldwater, " which might have moistened my parched lips; I was a stranger andye drove me from the hovel which might have sheltered me from thepiercing wind; I was sick and ye scourged me to my task; in prison andyou sold me for my jail-fees--to what depths of hell must not those whowere convicted under such charges be consigned! And what is the historyof American slavery but one long indictment, describing underever-varying forms and hues just such injuries!

Nor should it be forgotten, that those who incurred the displeasure oftheir Judge, took far other views than he, of their own past history. The charges which he brought against them, they heard with greatsurprise. They were sure that they had never thus turned away from hisnecessities. Indeed, when had they seen him thus subject to poverty, insult, and oppression! Never. And as to that poor friendless creaturewhom they left unpitied and unhelped in the hands of the oppressor, andwhom their Judge now presented as his own representative, they neveronce supposed, that _he_ had any claims on their compassion andassistance. Had they known, that he was destined to so prominent a placeat the final judgment, they would have treated him as a human being, indespite of any social, pecuniary, or political considerations. Butneither their _negative virtue_ nor their _voluntary ignorance_ couldshield them from the penal fire which their selfishness had kindled. 

Now amidst the general maxims, the leading principles, the "greatcommandments" of the gospel; amidst its comprehensive descriptions andauthorized tests of Christian character, we should take our position indisposing of any particular allusions to such forms and usages of theprimitive churches as are supposed by divine authority. The latter mustbe interpreted and understood in the light of the former. But how do theapologists and defenders of slavery proceed? Placing themselves amidstthe arrangements and usages which grew out of the _corruptions_ ofChristianity, they make these the standard by which the gospel is to beexplained and understood! Some Recorder or Justice, without the light ofinquiry or the aid of a jury, consigns the negro whom the kidnapper hasdragged into his presence to the horrors of slavery. As the poor wretchshrieks and faints, Humanity shudders and demands why such atrocitiesare endured? Some "priest" or "Levite, " "passing by on the other side, "quite self-possessed and all complacent reads in reply from his breadphylactery, _Paul sent back Onesimus to Philemon_! Yes, echoes thenegro-hating mob, made up of "gentlemen of property and standing"together with equally gentle-men reeking from the gutter; _Yes--Paulsent back Onesimus to Philemon_! And Humanity, brow-beaten, stunned withnoise and tumult, is pushed aside by the crowd! A fair specimen this ofthe manner in which modern usages are made to interpret the sacredScriptures?

Of the particular passages in the New Testament on which the apologistsfor slavery especially rely, the epistle to Philemon first demands ourattention. 

1. This letter was written by the apostle Paul while a "prisoner ofJesus Christ" at Rome. 

2. Philemon was a benevolent and trustworthy member of the church atColosse, at whose house the disciples of Christ held their assemblies, and who owed his conversion, under God, directly or indirectly to theministry of Paul. 

3. Onesimus was the servant of Philemon; under a relation which it isdifficult with accuracy and certainty to define. His condition, thoughservile, could not have been like that of an American slave; as, in thatcase, however he might have "wronged" Philemon, he could not also have"_owed him ought_. "[A] The American slave is, according to law, as muchthe property of his master as any other chattel; and can no more "owe"his master than can a sheep or a horse. The basis of all pecuniaryobligations lies in some "value received. " How can "an article ofmerchandise" stand on this basis and sustain commercial relations to itsowner? There is no _person_ to offer or promise. _Personality isswallowed up in American slavery_!

[Footnote A: Phil. 18. ]

4. How Onesimus found his way to Rome it is not easy to determine. Heand Philemon appear to have parted from each other on ill terms. Thegeneral character of Onesimus, certainly, in his relation to Philemon, had been far from attractive, and he seems to have left him withoutrepairing the wrongs he had done him or paying the debts which he owedhim. At Rome, by the blessing of God upon the exertions of the apostle, he was brought to reflection and repentance. 

5. In reviewing his history in the light of Christian truth, he becamepainfully aware of the injuries, he had inflicted on Philemon. He longedfor an opportunity for frank confession and full restitution. Having, however, parted with Philemon on ill terms, he knew not how to appear inhis presence. Under such embarrassments, he naturally sought sympathyand advice of Paul. _His_ influence upon Philemon, Onesimus knew must bepowerful, especially as an apostle. 

6. A letter in behalf of Onesimus was therefore written by the apostleto Philemon. After such salutations, benedictions, and thanks giving asthe good character and useful life of Philemon naturally drew from theheart of Paul, he proceeds to the object of the letter. He admits thatOnesimus had behaved ill in the service of Philemon; not in runningaway, for how they had parted with each other is not explained, but inbeing unprofitable and in refusing to pay the debts[B] which he hadcontracted. But his character had undergone a radical change. Thenceforward fidelity and usefulness would be his aim and mark hiscourse. And as to any pecuniary obligations which he had violated, theapostle authorized Philemon to put them on _his_ account. [C] Thus a waywas fairly opened to the heart of Philemon. And now what does theapostles ask?

[Footnote B: Verse 11, 18. ]

[Footnote C: Verse 18. ]

7. He asks that Philemon would receive Onesimus. How? "Not as a_servant_, but _above_ a servant. "[A] How much above? Philemon was toreceive him as "a son" of the apostle--"as a brother beloved"--nay, ifhe counted Paul a partner, an equal, he was to receive Onesimus as hewould receive _the apostle himself[B]. So much_ above a servant was heto receive him!

[Footnote A: Verse 16. ]

[Footnote B: Verse 10, 16, 17. ]

8. But was not this request to be so interpreted and complied with as toput Onesimus in the hands of Philemon as "an article of merchandise, "CARNALLY, while it raised him to the dignity of a "brother beloved, "SPIRITUALLY? In other words, might not Philemon consistently with therequest of Paul, have reduced Onesimus to a chattel, AS A MAN, while headmitted him fraternally to his bosom, as a CHRISTIAN? Such gibberish inan apostolic epistle! Never. As if, however, to guard against suchfolly, the natural product of mist and moonshine, the apostle would haveOnesimus raised above a servant to the dignity of a brother beloved, "BOTH IN THE FLESH AND IN THE LORD;"[C] as a man and Christian, in allthe relations, circumstances, and responsibilities of life. 

[Footnote C: Verse 16. ]

It is easy now with definiteness and certainty to determine in whatsense the apostle in such connections uses the word "_brother_. " Itdescribes a relation inconsistent with and opposite to the _servile_. Itis "NOT" the relation of a "SERVANT. " It elevates its subject "above"the servile condition. It raises him to full equality with the master, to the same equality, on which Paul and Philemon stood side by side asbrothers; and this, not in some vague, undefined, spiritual sense, affecting the soul and leaving the body in bonds, but in every way, "both in the FLESH and in the Lord. " This matter deserves particular andearnest attention. It sheds a strong light on other lessons of apostolicinstruction. 

9. It is greatly to our purpose, moreover, to observe that the apostleclearly defines the _moral character_ of his request. It was fit, proper, right, suited to the nature and relations of things--a thingwhich _ought_ to be done. [D] On this account, he might have urged itupon Philemon in the form of an _injunction_, on apostolic authority andwith great boldness. [E] _The very nature_ of the request made itobligatory on Philemon. He was sacredly bound, out of regard to thefitness of things, to admit Onesimus to full equality with himself--totreat him as a brother both in the Lord and as having flesh--as a fellowman. Thus were the inalienable rights and birth-right privileges ofOnesimus, as a member of the human family, defined and protected byapostolic authority. 

[Footnote D: Verse 8. To [Greek: anaekon]. See Robinson's New TestamentLexicon; "_it is fit, proper, becoming, it ought_. " In what sense KingJames' translators used the word "convenient" any one may see who willread Rom. I. 28 and Eph. V. 3, 4. ]

[Footnote E: Verse 8. ]

10. The apostle preferred a request instead of imposing a command, onthe ground of CHARITY. [A] He would give Philemon an opportunity ofdischarging his obligations under the impulse of love. To this impulse, he was confident Philemon would promptly and fully yield. How could hedo otherwise? The thing itself was right. The request respecting it camefrom a benefactor, to whom, under God, he was under the highestobligations. [B] That benefactor, now an old man and in the hands ofpersecutors, manifested a deep and tender interest in the matter, andhad the strongest persuasion that Philemon was more ready to grant thanhimself to entreat. The result, as he was soon to visit Colosse, and hadcommissioned Philemon to prepare a lodging for him, must come under theeye of the apostle. The request was so manifestly reasonable andobligatory, that the apostle, after all, described a compliance with it, by the strong word "_obedience_. "[C]

[Footnote A: Verse 9 [Greek: dia taen agapaen]. ]

[Footnote B: Verse 19. ]

[Footnote C: Verse 21. ]

Now how must all this have been understood by the church at Colosse?--achurch, doubtless, made up of such materials as the church at Corinth, that is, of members chiefly from the humblest walks of life. Many ofthem had probably felt the degradation and tasted the bitterness of theservile condition. Would they have been likely to interpret theapostle's letter under the bias of feelings friendly to slavery!--Andput the slaveholder's construction on its contents! Would their pastexperience or present sufferings--for doubtless some of them were still"under the yoke"--have suggested to their thoughts such glosses as someof our theological professors venture to put upon the words of theapostle! Far otherwise. The Spirit of the Lord was there, and theepistle was read in the light of "_liberty_. " It contained theprinciples of holy freedom, faithfully and affectionately applied. Thismust have made it precious in the eyes of such men "of low degree" aswere most of the believers, and welcome to a place in the sacred canon. There let it remain as a luminous and powerful defense of the cause ofemancipation!

But what with Prof. Stuart? "If any one doubts, let him take the case ofPaul's sending Onesimus back to Philemon, with an apology for hisrunning away, and sending him back to be his servant for life. "[A]

[Footnote A: See his letter to Dr. Fisk, supra p. 8. ]

"Paul sent back Onesimus to Philemon. " By what process? Did the apostle, a prisoner at Rome, seize upon the fugitive, and drag him before someheartless and perfidious "Judge, " for authority to send him back toColosse? Did he hurry his victim away from the presence of the fat andsupple magistrate, to be driven under chains and the lash to the fieldof unrequited toil, whence he had escaped? Had the apostle been likesome teachers in the American churches, he might, as a professor ofsacred literature in one of our seminaries, or a preacher of the gospelto the rich in some of our cities, have consented thus to subserve the"peculiar" interests of a dear slaveholding brother. But the venerablechampion of truth and freedom was himself under bonds in the imperialcity, waiting for the crown of martyrdom. He wrote a letter to thechurch at Colosse, which was accustomed to meet at the house ofPhilemon, and another letter to that magnanimous disciple, and sent themby the hand of Onesimus. So much for _the way_ in which Onesimus wassent back to his master. 

A slave escapes from a patriarch in Georgia, and seeks a refuge in theparish of the Connecticut doctor, who once gave public notice that hesaw no reason for caring for the servitude of his fellow men. [B] Underhis influence, Caesar becomes a Christian convert. Burning with love forthe son whom he hath begotten in the gospel, our doctor resolves to sendhim back to his master. Accordingly, he writes a letter, gives it toCaesar, and bids him return, staff in hand, to the "corner-stone of ourrepublican institutions. " Now, what would any Caesar do, who had everfelt a link of slavery's chain? As he left his _spiritual father_, should we be surprized to hear him say to himself, What, return of myown accord to the man who, with the hand of a robber, plucked me from mymother's bosom!--for whom I have been so often drenched in the sweat ofunrequited toil!--whose violence so often cut my flesh and scarred mylimbs!--who shut out every ray of light from my mind!--who laid claim tothose honors to which my Creator and Redeemer only are entitled! And forwhat am I to return? To be cursed, and smitten, and sold! To be tempted, and torn, and destroyed! I can not thus throw myself away--thus rushupon my own destruction. 

[Footnote B: "Why should I care?"]

Who ever heard of the voluntary return of a fugitive from Americanoppression? Do you think that the doctor and his friends could persuadeone to carry a letter to the patriarch from whom he had escaped? Andmust we believe this of Onesimus!

"Paul sent back Onesimus to Philemon. " On what occasion?--"If, " writesthe apostle, "he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on myaccount. " Alive to the claims of duty, Onesimus would "restore" whateverhe "had taken away. " He would honestly pay his debts. This resolution, the apostle warmly approved. He was ready, at whatever expense, to helphis young disciple in carrying it into full effect. Of this he assuredPhilemon, in language the most explicit and emphatic. Here we find onereason for the conduct of Paul in sending Onesimus to Philemon. 

If a fugitive slave of the Rev. Mr. Smylie, of Mississippi, shouldreturn to him with a letter from a doctor of divinity in New York, containing such an assurance, how would the reverend slaveholder disposeof it? What, he exclaims, have we here? "If Cato has not been upright inhis pecuniary intercourse with you--if he owes you any thing--put thaton my account. " What ignorance of southern institutions! What mockery, to talk of pecuniary intercourse between a slave and his master! _Theslave himself, with all he is and has, is an article of merchandise_. What can _he_ owe his master?--A rustic may lay a wager with his mule, and give the creature the peck of oats which he had permitted it to win. But who in sober earnest would call this a pecuniary transaction?

"TO BE HIS SERVANT FOR LIFE!" From what part of the epistle could theexpositor have evolved a thought so soothing to tyrants--so revolting toevery man who loves his own nature? From this? "For perhaps he thereforedeparted for a season, that thou shouldest receive him for ever. "Receive him how? _As a servant_, exclaims our commentator. But whatwrote the apostle? "NOT _now as a servant, but above a servant_, abrother beloved, especially to me, but how much more unto thee, both inthe flesh and in the Lord. " Who authorized the professor to bereave theword '_not_' of its negative influence? According to Paul, Philemon wasto receive Onesimus '_not_ as a servant;'--according to Stuart, he wasto receive him "_as a servant!_" If the professor will apply the samerules of exposition to the writings of the abolitionists, all differencebetween him and them must in his view presently vanish away. Theharmonizing process would be equally simple and effectual. He has onlyto understand them as affirming what they deny, and as denying whatthey affirm. 

Suppose that Prof. Stuart had a son residing at the South. His slave, having stolen money of his master, effected his escape. He fled toAndover, to find a refuge among the "sons of the prophets. " There hefinds his way to Prof. Stuart's house, and offers to render any servicewhich the professor, dangerously ill "of a typhus fever, " might require. He is soon found to be a most active, skillful, faithful nurse. Hespares no pains, night and day, to make himself useful to the venerablesufferer. He anticipates every want. In the most delicate and tendermanner, he tries to sooth every pain. He fastens himself strongly on theheart of the reverend object of his care. Touched with the heavenlyspirit, the meek demeanor, the submissive frame, which the sick bedexhibits, Archy becomes a Christian. A new bond now ties him and hisconvalescent teacher together. As soon as he is able to write, theprofessor sends by Archy the following letter to the South, to IsaacStuart, Esq. :--

"MY DEAR SON, --With a hand enfeebled by a distressing and dangerousillness, from which I am slowly recovering, I address you, on a subjectwhich lies very near my heart. I have a request to urge, which myacquaintance with you, and your strong obligations to me, will, I cannot doubt, make you eager fully to grant. I say a request, though thething I ask is, in its very nature and on the principles of the gospel, obligatory upon you. I might, therefore, boldly demand, what I earnestlyentreat. But I know how generous, magnanimous, and Christ-like you are, and how readily you will "do even more than I say"--I, your own father, an old man, almost exhausted with multiplied exertions for the benefitof my family and my country, and now just rising, emaciated and broken, from the brink of the grave. I write in behalf of Archy, whom I regardwith the affection of a father, and whom, indeed, 'I have begotten in mysickness. ' Gladly would I have retained him, to be an _Isaac_ to me; forhow often did not his soothing voice, and skillful hand, and unweariedattention to my wants, remind me of you! But I chose to give you anopportunity of manifesting, voluntarily, the goodness of your heart; as, if I had retained him with me, you might seem to have been forced togrant what you will gratefully bestow. His temporary absence from youmay have opened the way for his permanent continuance with you. Not nowas a slave. Heaven forbid! But superior to a slave. Superior, did I say?Take him to your bosom, as a beloved brother; for I own him as a son, and regard him as such, in all the relations of life, both as a man anda Christian. --'Receive him as myself. ' And that nothing may hinder youfrom complying with my request at once, I hereby promise, withoutadverting to your many and great obligations to me, to pay you everycent which he took from your drawer. Any preparation which my comfortwith you may require, you will make without much delay, when you learn, that I intend, as soon as I shall be able 'to perform the journey, ' tomake you a visit. "

And what if Dr. Baxter, in giving an account of this letter shouldpublicly declare that Prof. Stuart of Andover regarded slaveholding aslawful; for that "he had sent Archy back to his son Isaac, with anapology for his running away" to be held in perpetual slavery? With whatpropriety might not the professor exclaim: False, every syllable false. I sent him back, NOT TO BE HELD AS A SLAVE, _but recognized as a dearbrother, in all respects, under every relation, civil andecclesiastical_. I bade my son receive _Archy as myself_. If this wasnot equivalent to a requisition to set him fully and most honorablyfree, and that, too, on the ground of natural obligation and Christianprinciple, then I know not how to frame such a requisition. 

I am well aware that my supposition is by no means strong enough fullyto illustrate the case to which it is applied. Prof. Stuart lacksapostolical authority. Isaac Stuart is not a leading member of a churchconsisting, as the early churches chiefly consisted, of what the worldregard as the dregs of society--"the offscouring of all things. " Nor wasslavery at Colosse, it seems, supported by such barbarous usages, suchhorrid laws as disgrace the South. 

But it is time to turn to another passage which, in its bearing on thesubject in hand, is, in our view, as well as in the view of Dr. Fisk andProf. Stuart, in the highest degree authoritative and instructive. "Letas many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy ofall honor, that the name of God and his doctrines be not blasphemed. Andthey that have believing masters, let them not despise them because theyare brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful andbeloved, partakers of the benefit. "[A]

[Footnote A: 1 Tim. Vi. 1, 2. ]

1. The apostle addresses himself here to two classes of servants, withinstructions to each respectively appropriate. Both the one class andthe other, in Prof. Stuart's eye, were _slaves_. This he assumes, andthus begs the very question in dispute. The term servant is _generic_, as used by the sacred writers. It comprehends all the various officeswhich men discharge for the benefit of each other, however honorable, orhowever menial; from that of an apostle[B] opening the path to heaven, to that of washing "one another's feet. "[C] A general term it is, comprehending every office which belongs to human relations andChristian character. [D]

[Footnote B: Cor. Iv. 5. ]

[Footnote C: John xiii. 14. ]

[Footnote D: Mat. Xx. 26-28. ]

A leading signification gives us the _manual laborer_, to whom, in thedivision of labor, muscular exertion was allotted. As in his exertionsthe bodily powers are especially employed--such powers as belong to manin common with mere animals--his sphere has generally been consideredlow and humble. And as intellectual power is superior to bodily, themanual laborer has always been exposed in very numerous ways and invarious degrees to oppression. Cunning, intrigue, the oily tongue, have, through extended and powerful conspiracies, brought the resources ofsociety under the control of the few, who stood aloof from his homelytoil. Hence his dependence upon them. Hence the multiplied injurieswhich have fallen so heavily upon him. Hence the reduction of his wagesfrom one degree to another, till at length, in the case of millions, fraud and violence strip him of his all, blot his name from the recordof _mankind_, and, putting a yoke upon his neck, drive him away to toilamong the cattle. _Here you find the slave. _ To reduce the servant tohis condition, requires abuses altogether monstrous--injuries reachingthe very vitals of man--stabs upon the very heart of humanity. Now, whatright has Prof. Stuart to make the word "_servants_, " comprehending, even as manual laborers, so many and such various meanings, signify"_slaves_, " especially where different classes are concerned? Such aright he could never have derived from humanity, or philosophy, orhermeneutics. Is it his by sympathy with the oppressor?

Yes, different classes. This is implied in the term "_as many_, "[A]which sets apart the class now to be addressed. From these he proceedsto others, who are introduced by a particle, [B] whose natural meaningindicates the presence of another and a different subject. 

[Footnote A: [Greek: Osoi. ] See Passow's Schneider. ]

[Footnote B: [Greek: De. ] See Passow. ]

2. The first class are described as "_under the yoke_"--a yoke fromwhich they were, according to the apostle, to make their escape ifpossible. [C] If not, they must in every way regard the master withrespect--bowing to his authority, working his will, subserving hisinterests so far as might be consistent with Christian character. [D] Andthis, to prevent blasphemy--to prevent the pagan master from heapingprofane reproaches upon the name of God and the doctrines of the gospel. They should beware of rousing his passions, which, as his helplessvictims, they might be unable to allay or withstand. 

[Footnote C: See 1 Cor. Vii. 21--[Greek: All ei kai d u n a s a ieleutheros genesthai. ]]

[Footnote D: 1 Cor. Vii. 23--[Greek: Mae ginesthe douloi anthropon. ]]

But all the servants whom the apostle addressed were not "_under theyoke_"[E]--an instrument appropriate to cattle and to slaves. These hedistinguishes from another class, who instead of a "yoke"--the badge ofa slave--had "_believing masters_. " _To have a "believing master, " then, was equivalent to freedom from "the yoke. "_ These servants were exhortednot _to despise_ their masters. What need of such an exhortation, iftheir masters had been slaveholders, holding them as property, wieldingthem as mere instruments, disposing of them as "articles ofmerchandise?" But this was not consistent with believing. Faith, "breaking every yoke, " united master and servants in the bonds ofbrotherhood. Brethren they were, joined in a relation which, excludingthe yoke, [F] placed them side by side on the ground of equality, where, each in his appropriate sphere, they might exert themselves freely andusefully, to the mutual benefit of each other. Here, servants might needto be cautioned against getting above their appropriate business, putting on airs, despising their masters, and thus declining orneglecting their service. [G] Instead of this, they should be, asemancipated slaves often have been, [H] models of enterprise, fidelity, activity, and usefulness--especially as their masters were "worthy oftheir confidence and love, " their helpers in this well-doing. [I]

[Footnote E: See Lev. Xxvi. 13; Isa. Lviii. 6, 9. ]

[Footnote F: Supra p. 47. ]

[Footnote G: See Matt. Vi. 24. ]

[Footnote H: Those, for instance, set free by that "believing master"James G. Birney. ]

[Footnote I: The following exposition is from the pen of ELIZUR WRIGHT, JR. :--"This word [Greek: antilambanesthai, ] in our humble opinion, hasbeen so unfairly used by the commentators, that we feel constrained totake its part. Our excellent translators, in rendering the clause'partakers of the benefit, ' evidently lost sight of the componentpreposition, which expresses the _opposition of reciprocity_, ratherthan the _connection of participation_. They have given it exactly thesense of [Greek: metalambanein, ] (2 Tim. Ii. 6. ) Had the apostleintended such a sense, he would have used the latter verb, or one of themore common words, [Greek: metochoi, koinonountes], &c. (See Heb. Iii. 1, and 1 Tim. V. 22, where the latter word is used in the clause, 'neither be partaker of other men's sins. ' Had the verb in our text beenused, it might have been rendered, 'neither be the _part-taker_ of othermen's sins. ') The primary sense of [Greek: antilambano] is _to take inreturn--to take instead of, &c_. Hence, in the middle with the genitive, it signifies _assist_, or _do one's part towards_ the person or thingexpressed by that genitive. In this sense only is the word used in theNew Testament. --(See Luke i. 54, and Acts xx. 35. ) If this be true, theword [Greek: euergesai] can not signify the benefit conferred by thegospel, as our common version would make it, but the _well-doing_ of theservants, who should continue to serve their believing masters, whilethey were no longer under the _yoke_ of compulsion. This word is usedelsewhere in the New Testament but once, (Acts iv. 3. ) in relation tothe '_good deed_' done to the impotent man. The plain import of theclause, unmystified by the commentators, is, that believing masterswould not fail to _do their part towards_, or encourage by suitablereturns, the _free_ service of those who had once been underthe _yoke_. "]

Such, then, is the relation between those who, in the view of Prof. Stuart, were Christian masters and Christian slaves[A]--the relation of"brethren, " which, excluding "the yoke, " and of course conferringfreedom, placed them side by side on the common ground of mutualservice, both retaining, for convenience's sake, the one while givingand the other while receiving employment, the correlative name, _as isusual in such cases_, under which they had been known. Such was theinstruction which Timothy was required, as a Christian minister, togive. Was it friendly to slaveholding?

[Footnote A: Letter to Dr. Fisk, supra, p. 7. ]

And on what ground, according to the Princeton professor, did thesemasters and these servants stand in their relation to each other? Onthat _of a "perfect religious equality_. "[A] In all the relations, duties, and privileges--in all the objects, interests, and prospects, which belong to the province of Christianity, servants were as free astheir master. The powers of the one, were allowed as wide a range and asfree an exercise, with as warm encouragements, as active aids, and ashigh results, as the other. Here, the relation of a servant to hismaster imposed no restrictions, involved no embarrassments, occasionedno injury. All this, clearly and certainly, is implied in "_perfectreligious equality_, " which the Princeton professor accords to servantsin relation to their master. Might the _master_, then, in order morefully to attain the great ends for which he was created and redeemed, freely exert himself to increase his acquaintance with his own powers, and relations, and resources--with his prospects, opportunities, andadvantages? So might his _servants_. Was _he_ at liberty to "study toapprove himself to God, " to submit to his will and bow to his authority, as the sole standard of affection and exertion? So were _they_. Was _he_at liberty to sanctify the Sabbath, and frequent the "solemn assembly?"So were _they_. Was _he_ at liberty so to honor the filial, conjugal, and paternal relations, as to find in them that spring of activity andthat source of enjoyment, which they are capable of yielding? So were_they_. In every department of interest and exertion, they might usetheir capacities, and wield their powers, and improve theiropportunities, and employ their resources, as freely as he, inglorifying God, in blessing mankind, and in laying up imperishabletreasures for themselves! Give perfect religious equality to theAmerican slave, and the most eager abolitionist must be satisfied. Suchequality would, like the breath of the Almighty, dissolve the last linkof the chain of servitude. Dare those who, for the benefit of slavery, have given so wide and active a circulation do the Pittsburgh pamphlet, make the experiment?

[Footnote A: Pittsburgh Pamphlet, p. 9. ]

In the epistle to the Colossians, the following passage deserves earnestattention:--"Servants, obey in all things your masters according to theflesh; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but in singleness ofheart, fearing God: and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to theLord, and not unto men; knowing, that of the Lord ye shall receive thereward of the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he thatdoeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there isno respect of persons. --Masters, give unto your servants that which isjust and equal; knowing that ye have a Master in heaven. "[A]

[Footnote A: Col. Iii. 22 to iv. 1. ]

Here it is natural to remark--

1. That in maintaining the relation, which mutually united them, bothmasters and servants were to act in conformity with the principles ofthe divine government. Whatever _they_ did, servants were to do inhearty obedience to the Lord, by whose authority they were to becontrolled and by whose hand they were to be rewarded. To the same Lord, and according to the same law, was the _master_ to hold himselfresponsible. _Both the one and the other were of course equally atliberty and alike required to study and apply the standard, by whichthey were to be governed and judged. _

2. The basis of the government under which they thus were placed, was_righteousness_--strict, stern, impartial. Nothing here of bias orantipathy. Birth, wealth, station, --the dust of the balance not solight! Both master and servants were hastening to a tribunal, wherenothing of "respect of persons" could be feared or hoped for. There thewrong-doer, whoever he might be, and whether from the top or bottom ofsociety, must be dealt with according to his deservings. 

3. Under this government, servants were to be universally and heartilyobedient; and both in the presence and absence of the master, faithfullyto discharge their obligations. The master on his part, in his relationsto the servants, was to make JUSTICE AND EQUALITY the _standard of hisconduct_. Under the authority of such instructions, slavery fallsdiscountenanced, condemned, abhorred. It is flagrantly at war with thegovernment of God, consists in "respect of persons" the most shamelessand outrageous, treads justice and equality under foot, and in itsnatural tendency and practical effects is nothing else than a system ofwrong-doing. What have _they_ to do with the just and the equal who intheir "respect of persons" proceed to such a pitch as to treat onebrother as a thing because he is a servant, and place him, without theleast regard to his welfare here, or his prospects hereafter, absolutelyat the disposal of another brother, under the name of master, in therelation of owner to property? Justice and equality on the one hand, andthe chattel principle on the other, are naturally subversive of eachother--proof clear and decisive that the correlates, masters andservants, cannot here be rendered slaves and owners, without thegrossest absurdity and the greatest violence. 

"The relation of slavery, " according to Prof. Stuart, is recognized in"the precepts of the New Testament, " as one which "may still existwithout violating the Christian faith or the church. "[A] Slavery and thechattel principle! So our professor thinks; otherwise his reference hasnothing to do with the subject--with the slavery which the abolitionist, whom he derides, stands opposed to. How gross and hurtful is the mistakeinto which he allows himself to fall. The relation recognized in theprecepts of the New Testament had its basis and support in "justice andequality;" the very opposite of the chattel principle; a relation whichmay exist as long as justice and equality remain, and thus escape thedestruction to which, in the view of Prof. Stuart, slavery is doomed. The description of Paul obliterates every feature of American slavery, raising the servant to equality with his master, and placing his rightsunder the protection of justice; yet the eye of Prof. Stuart can seenothing in his master and servant but a slave and his owner. With thisrelation he is so thoroughly possessed, that, like an evil angel, ithaunts him even when he enters the temple of justice!

[Footnote A: Letter to Dr. Fisk, supra p. 7. ]

"It is remarkable, " with the Princeton professor, "that there is noteven an exhortation" in the writings of the apostles "to masters toliberate their slaves, much less is it urged as an imperative andimmediate duty. "[B] It would be remarkable, indeed, if they werechargeable with a defect so great and glaring. And so they have nothingto say upon the subject? _That_ not even the Princeton professor has theassurance to affirm. He admits that KINDNESS, MERCY, AND JUSTICE, wereenjoined with a _distinct reference to the government of God_. [C]"Without respect of persons, " they were to be God-like in doing justice. They were to act the part of kind and merciful "brethren. " And whitherwould this lead them? Could they stop short of restoring to every manhis natural, inalienable rights?--of doing what they could to redressthe wrongs, soothe the sorrows, improve the character, and raise thecondition of the degraded and oppressed? Especially, if oppressed anddegraded by any agency of theirs. Could it be kind, merciful, or just tokeep the chains of slavery on their helpless, unoffending brother? Wouldthis be to honor the Golden Rule, or obey the second great command of"their Master in heaven?" Could the apostles have subserved the cause offreedom more directly, intelligibly, and effectually, than _to enjointhe principles, and sentiments, and habits, in which freedomconsists--constituting its living root and fruitful germ_?

[Footnote B: Pittsburgh pamphlet, p. 9. ]

[Footnote C: Pittsburgh pamphlet, p. 10. ]

The Princeton professor himself, in the very paper which the South hasso warmly welcomed and so loudly applauded as a scriptural defense of"the peculiar institution, " maintains, that the "GENERAL PRINCIPLES OFTHE GOSPEL _have_ DESTROYED SLAVERY _throughout out the greater part ofChristendom"_[A]--"THAT CHRISTIANITY HAS ABOLISHED BOTH POLITICAL ANDDOMESTIC BONDAGE WHEREVER IT HAS HAD FREE SCOPE--_that it_ ENJOINS _afair compensation for labor; insists on the mental and intellectualimprovement of_ ALL _classes of men; condemns_ ALL _infractions ofmarital or parental rights; requires in short not only that_ FREE SCOPE_should be allowed to human improvement, but that _ALL SUITABLE MEANS__should be employed for the attainment of that end. _"[B] It is indeed"remarkable, " that while neither Christ nor his apostles ever gave "anexhortation to masters to liberate their slaves, " they enjoined such"general principles as have destroyed domestic slavery throughout thegreater part of Christendom;" that while Christianity forbears "to urge"emancipation "as an imperative and immediate duty, " it throws a barrier, heaven high, around every domestic circle; protects all the rights ofthe husband and the fathers; gives every laborer a fair compensation;and makes the moral and intellectual improvement of all classes, withfree scope and all suitable means, the object of its tender solicitudeand high authority. This is not only "remarkable, " but inexplicable. Yesand no--hot and cold, in one and the same breath! And yet these thingsstand prominent in what is reckoned an acute, ingenious, effectivedefense of slavery!

[Footnote A: Pittsburgh pamphlet p. 18. 19. ]

[Footnote B: The same, p. 31. ]

In his letter to the Corinthian church, the apostle Paul furnishesanother lesson of instruction, expressive of his views and feelings onthe subject of slavery. "Let every man abide in the same calling whereinhe was called. Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but ifthou mayest be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in theLord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that iscalled, being free, is Christ's servant. Ye are bought with a price; benot ye the servants of men. "[A]

[Footnote A: 1 Cor. Vii. 20-23. ]

In explaining and applying this passage, it is proper to suggest, 1. That it _could_ not have been the object of the apostle to bind theCorinthian converts to the stations and employments in which the Gospelfound them. For he exhorts some of them to escape, if possible, fromtheir present condition. In the servile state, "under the yoke, " theyought not to remain unless impelled by stern necessity. "If thou canstbe free, use it rather. " If they ought to prefer freedom to bondage andto exert themselves to escape from the latter for the sake of theformer, could their master consistently with the claims and spirit ofthe Gospel have hindered or discouraged them in so doing? Their"brother" could _he_ be, who kept "the yoke" upon their neck, which theapostle would have them shake off if possible? And had such masters beenmembers of the Corinthian church, what inferences must they have drawnfrom this exhortation to their servants? That the apostle regardedslavery as a Christian institution?--or could look complacently on anyefforts to introduce or maintain it in the church? Could they haveexpected less from him than a stern rebuke, if they refused to exertthemselves in the cause of freedom?

2. But while they were to use their freedom, if they could obtain it, they should not, even on such a subject, give themselves up to ceaselessanxiety. "The Lord was no respecter of persons. " They need not fear, that the "low estate, " to which they had been wickedly reduced, wouldprevent them from enjoying the gifts of his hand or the light of hiscountenance. _He_ would respect their rights, sooth their sorrows, andpour upon their hearts, and cherish there, the spirit of liberty. "Forhe that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman. "In _him_, therefore, should they cheerfully confide. 

3. The apostle, however, forbids them so to acquiesce in the servilerelation, as to act inconsistently with their Christian obligations. Totheir Savior they belonged. By his blood they had been purchased. Itshould be their great object, therefore, to render _Him_ a hearty andeffective service. They should permit no man, whoever he might be, tothrust in himself between them and their Redeemer. "_Ye are bought witha price_; BE NOT YE THE SERVANTS OF MEN. "

With his eye upon the passage just quoted and explained, the Princetonprofessor asserts that "Paul represents this relation"--the relation ofslavery--"as of comparatively little account. "[A] And this heapplies--otherwise it is nothing to his purpose--to _American_ slavery. Does he then regard it as a small matter, a mere trifle, to be thrownunder the slave-laws of this republic, grimly and fiercely excludingtheir victim from almost every means of improvement, and field ofusefulness, and source of comfort; and making him, body and substance, with his wife and babes, "the servant of men?" Could such a relation beacquiesced in consistently with the instructions of the apostle?

[Footnote A: Pittsburgh pamphlet p. 10. ]

To the Princeton professor the commend a practical trial of the bearingof the passage in hand upon American slavery. His regard for the unityand prosperity of the ecclesiastical organizations, which in variousforms and under different names unite the southern with the northernchurches, will make the experiment grateful to his feelings. Let him, then, as soon as his convenience will permit, proceed to Georgia. Noreligious teacher[B] from any free state, can be likely to receive sogeneral and so warm a welcome there. To allay the heat, which thedoctrines and movements of the abolitionists have occasioned in thesouthern mind, let him with as much despatch as possible collect, as hegoes from place to place, masters and their slaves. Now let all men, whom it may concern, see and own that slavery is a Christianinstitution! With his Bible in his hand and his eye upon the passage inquestion, he addresses himself to the task of instructing the slavesaround him. Let not your hearts, my brethren, be overcharged withsorrow, or eaten up with anxiety. Your servile condition cannot depriveyou of the fatherly regards of Him "who is no respecter of persons. "Freedom you ought, indeed, to prefer. If you can escape from "the yoke, "throw it off. In the mean time rejoice that "where the Spirit of theLord is, there is liberty;" that the Gospel places slaves "on a perfectreligious equality" with their master; so that every Christian is "theLord's freeman. " And, for your encouragement, remember that"Christianity has abolished both political and domestic servitudewhenever it has had free scope. It enjoins a fair compensation forlabor; it insists on the moral and intellectual improvement of allclasses of men; it condemns all infractions of marital or parentalrights; in short it requires not only that free scope be allowed tohuman improvement, but that all suitable means should be employed forthe attainment of that end. "[C] Let your lives, then, be honorable toyour relations to your Savior. He bought you with his own blood; and isentitled to your warmest love and most effective service. "Be not ye theservants of men. " Let no human arrangements prevent you, as citizens ofthe kingdom of heaven, from making the most of your powers andopportunities. Would such an effort, generally and heartily made, allayexcitement at the South, and quench the flames of discord, every dayrising higher and waxing hotter, in almost every part of the republic, and cement "the Union?"

[Footnote B: Rev. Mr. Savage, of Utica, New York, had, not very longago, a free conversation with a gentleman of high standing in theliterary and religious world from a slaveholding state, where the"peculiar institution" is cherished with great warmth and maintainedwith iron rigor. By him, Mr. Savage was assured, that the Princetonprofessor had, through the Pittsburgh pamphlet, contributed mostpowerfully and effectually to bring the "whole South" under thepersuasion, _that slaveholding is in itself right_--a system _to whichthe Bible gives countenance and support_. 

In an extract from an article in the Southern Christian Sentinel, a newPresbyterian paper established in Charleston, South Carolina, andinserted in the Christian Journal for March 21, 1839, we find thefollowing paragraphs from the pen of Rev. C. W. Howard, and according toMr. Chester, ably and freely endorsed by the editor. "There is scarcelyany diversity of sentiment at the North upon this subject. The greatmass of the people believing slavery to be sinful, are clearly of theopinion that as a system, it should be abolished throughout this landand throughout the world. They differ as to the time and mode ofabolition. The abolitionists consistently argue, that whatever issinful, should be instantly abandoned. The others, _by a strange sort ofreasoning for Christian men_, contend that though slavery is sinful, _yet it may be allowed to exist until it shall be expedient to abolishit_; or if, in many cases, this reasoning might be translated into plainEnglish, the sense would be, both in church and State, _slavery, thoughsinful, may be allowed to exist until our interest will suffer us to saythat it must be abolished_. This is not slander; it is simply a plainway of stating a plain truth. It does seem the evident duty of every manto become an abolitionist, who believes slavery to be sinful, for theBible allows no tampering with sin. "

"To these remarks, there are some noble exceptions to be found in bothparties in the church. _The South owes a debt of gratitude to theBiblical Repertory, for the fearless argument in behalf of the position, that slavery is not forbidden by the Bible_. The writer of that articleis said, without contradiction, to be _Prof. Hodge of Princeton--HISNAME OUGHT TO BE KNOWN AND REVERED AMONG YOU, my brethren, for in a landof anti-slavery men, he is the ONLY ONE who has dared to vindicate yourcharacter from the serious charge of living in the habitualtransgression of God's holy law_. "]

[Footnote C: Pittsburgh pamphlet p. 31. ]

"It is, " affirms the Princeton professor, "on all hands acknowledged, that, at the time of the advent of Jesus Christ, slavery in its worstforms prevailed over the whole world. _The Savior found it around him_in JUDEA. "[A] To say that he found it _in Judea_, is to speakambiguously. Many things were to be found "_in_ Judea, " which neitherbelonged to, nor were characteristic of _the Jews_. It is not deniedthat _the Gentiles_, who resided among them, might have had slaves; _butof the Jews this is denied_. How could the professor take that asgranted, the proof of which entered vitally into the argument and wasessential to the soundness of the conclusions to which he would conductus? How could he take advantage of an ambiguous expression to conducthis confiding readers on to a position which, if his own eyes were open, he must have known they could not hold in the light of open day?

[Footnote A: Pittsburgh pamphlet p. 9. ]

We do not charge the Savior with any want of wisdom, goodness, orcourage, [B] for refusing to "break down the wall of partition betweenJews and Gentiles" "before the time appointed. " While this barrierstood, he could not, consistently with the plan of redemption, impartinstruction freely to the Gentiles. To some extent, and on extraordinaryoccasions, he might have done so. But his business then was with "thelost sheep of the house of Israel. "[C] The propriety of this arrangementis not the matter of dispute between the Princeton professor andourselves. 

[Footnote B: The same, p. 10. ]

[Footnote C: Matt. Xv. 24. ]

In disposing of the question whether the Jews held slaves during ourSavior's incarnation among them, the following points deserve earnestattention:--

1. Slaveholding is inconsistent with the Mosaic economy. For the proofof this, we would refer our readers, among other arguments more or lessappropriate and powerful, to the tract already alluded to. [A] In all theexternal relations and visible arrangements of life, the Jews, duringour Savior's ministry among them, seem to have been scrupulouslyobservant of the institutions and usages of the "Old Dispensation. " Theystood far aloof from whatever was characteristic of Samaritans andGentiles. From idolatry and slaveholding--those twin-vices which hadalways so greatly prevailed among the heathen--they seem at length, asthe result of a most painful discipline, to have been effectuallydivorced. 

[Footnote A: "The Bible against Slavery. "]

2. While, therefore, John the Baptist, with marked fidelity and greatpower, acted among the Jews the part of a _reprover_, he found nooccasion to repeat and apply the language of his predecessors, [B] inexposing and rebuking idolatry and slaveholding. Could he, the greatestof the prophets, have been less effectually aroused by the presence of"the yoke, " than was Isaiah?--or less intrepid and decisive in exposingand denouncing the sin of oppression under its most hateful andinjurious forms?

[Footnote B: Psalm lxxxii; Isa. Lviii. 1-12; Jer. Xxii. 13-16. ]

3. The Savior was not backward in applying his own principles plainlyand pointedly to such forms of oppression as appeared among the Jews. These principles, whenever they have been freely acted on, the Princetonprofessor admits, have abolished domestic bondage. Had this prevailedwithin the sphere of our Savior's ministry, he could not, consistentlywith his general character, have failed to expose and condemn it. Theoppression of the people by lordly ecclesiastics, of parents by theirselfish children, of widows by their ghostly counsellors, drew from hislips scorching rebukes and terrible denunciations. [C] How, then, must hehave felt and spoke in the presence of such tyranny, if _such tyrannyhad been within his official sphere_, as should _have made widows_, bydriving their husbands to some flesh-market, and their children notorphans, _but cattle_?

[Footnote C: Matt. Xxiii; Mark vii. 1-13. ]

4. Domestic slavery was manifestly inconsistent with the _industry_, which, _in the form of manual labor_, so generally prevailed among theJews. In one connection, in the Acts of the Apostles, we are informed, that, coming from Athens to Corinth, Paul "found a certain Jew namedAquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla;(because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome;) andcame unto them. And because he was of the same craft, he abode with themand wrought: (for by their occupation they were tent-makers. ")[A] Thispassage has opened the way for different commentators to refer us to thepublic sentiment and general practice of the Jews respecting usefulindustry and manual labor. According to _Lightfoot_, "it was theircustom to bring up their children to some trade, yea, though they gavethem learning or estates. " According to Rabbi Judah, "He that teachesnot his son a trade, is as if he taught him to be a thief. "[B] It was, _Kuinoel_ affirms, customary even for Jewish teachers to unite labor(opificium) with the study of the law. This he confirms by the highestRabbinical authority. [C] _Heinrichs_ quotes a Rabbi as teaching, that noman should by any means neglect to train his son to honest industry. [D]Accordingly, the apostle Paul, though brought up at the "feet ofGamaliel, " the distinguished disciple of a most illustrious teacher, practiced the art of tent-making. His own hands ministered to hisnecessities; and his example in so doing, he commends to his Gentilebrethren for their imitation. [E] That Zebedee, the father of John theEvangelist, had wealth, various hints in the New Testament renderprobable. [F] Yet how do we find him and his sons, while prosecutingtheir appropriate business? In the midst of the hired servants, "in theship mending their nets. "[G]

[Footnote A: Acts xviii. 1-3. ]

[Footnote B: Henry on Acts xviii, 1-3. ]

[Footnote C: Kuinoel on Acts. ]

[Footnote D: Heinrichs on Acts. ]

[Footnote E: Acts xx. 34, 35; 1 Thess. Iv. 11]

[Footnote F: See Kuinoel's Prolegom. To the Gospel of John. ]

[Footnote G: Mark i. 19, 20. ]

Slavery among a people who, from the highest to the lowest, were used tomanual labor! What occasion for slavery there? And how could it bemaintained? No place can be found for slavery among a people generallyinured to useful industry. With such, especially if men of learning, wealth, and station "labor, working with their hands, " such labor mustbe honorable. On this subject, let Jewish maxims and Jewish habits beadopted at the South, and the "peculiar institution" would vanish like aghost at daybreak. 

5. Another hint, here deserving particular attention, is furnished inthe allusions of the New Testament to the lowest casts and most servileemployments among the Jews. With profligates, _publicans_ were joined asdepraved and contemptible. The outcasts of society were described, notas fit to herd with slaves, but as deserving a place among Samaritansand publicans. They were "_hired servants_, " whom Zebedee employed. Inthe parable of the prodigal son we have a wealthy Jewish family. Hereservants seem to have abounded. The prodigal, bitterly bewailing hiswretchedness and folly, described their condition as greatly superior tohis own. How happy the change which should place him by their side! Hisremorse, and shame, and penitence made him willing to embrace the lot ofthe lowest of them all. But these--what was their condition? They wereHIRED SERVANTS. "Make me as one of thy hired servants. " Such he refersto as the lowest menials known in Jewish life. 

Lay such hints as have now been suggested together; let it beremembered, that slavery was inconsistent with the Mosaic economy; thatJohn the Baptist in preparing the way for the Messiah makes no reference"to the yoke" which, had it been before him, he would, like Isaiah, havecondemned; that the Savior, while he took the part of the poor andsympathized with the oppressed; was evidently spared the pain ofwitnessing within the sphere of his ministry, the presence of thechattel principle; that it was the habit of the Jews, whoever they mightbe, high or low, rich or poor, learned or rude, "to labor, working withtheir hands;" and that where reference was had to the most menialemployments, in families, they were described as carried on by hiredservants; and the question of slavery "in Judea, " so far as the seed ofAbraham were concerned, is very easily disposed of. With every phase andform of society among them slavery was inconsistent. 

The position which, in the article so often referred to in this paper, the Princeton professor takes, is sufficiently remarkable. Northernabolitionists he saw in an earnest struggle with southern slaveholders. The present welfare and future happiness of myriads of the human familywere at stake in this contest. In the heat of the battle, he throwshimself between the belligerent powers. He gives the abolitionists tounderstand, that they are quite mistaken in the character of the objectthey have set themselves so openly and sternly against. Slaveholding isnot, as they suppose, contrary to the law of God. It was witnessed bythe Savior "in its worst form, "[A] without extorting from his lips asyllable of rebuke. "The sacred writers did not condemn it. "[B] And whyshould they? By a definition[C] sufficiently ambiguous and slippery, heundertakes to set forth a form of slavery which he looks upon asconsistent with the law of Righteousness. From this definition he infersthat the abolitionists are greatly to blame for maintaining thatAmerican slavery is inherently and essentially sinful, and for insistingthat it ought at once to be abolished. For this labor of love theslaveholding South is warmly grateful and applauds its reverend ally, asif a very Daniel had come as their advocate to judgment. [D]

[Footnote A: Pittsburgh pamphlet p. 9. ]

[Footnote B: The same p. 13. ]

[Footnote C: The same p. 12. ]

[Footnote D: Supra p. 61. ]

A few questions, briefly put, may not here be inappropriate. 

1. Was the form of slavery which our professor pronounces innocent _theform_ witnessed by our Savior "in Judea?" That, _he_ will by no meansadmit. The slavery there was, he affirms, of the "worst" kind. _How thendoes he account for the alledged silence of the Savior?--a silencecovering the essence and the form--the institution and its"worst" abuses?_

2. Is the slaveholding, which, according to the Princeton professor, Christianity justifies, the same as that which the abolitionists soearnestly wish to see abolished? Let us see. 

_Christianity in supporting _The American system forSlavery, according to Prof. Supporting Slavery, _Hodge, _

"Enjoins a fair compensation Makes compensation impossiblefor labor. " by reducing the laborer to a chattel. 

"It insists on the moral It sternly forbids its victimand intellectual improvement to learn to read even theof all classes of men. " name of his Creator and Redeemer. 

"It condemns all infractions It outlaws the conjugal andof marital or parental rights. " parental relations. 

"It requires that free scope It forbids any effort, on theshould be allowed to human part of myriads of the humanimprovement. " family, to improve their character, condition, and prospects. 

"It requires that all suitable It inflicts heavy penaltiesmeans should be employed to improve for teaching letters to themankind. " to the poorest of the poor. 

"Wherever it has had free scope, it Wherever it has free scope, has abolished domestic bondage. " it perpetuates domestic bondage. 

_Now it is slavery according to the American system_ that theabolitionists are set against. _Of the existence of any_ such form ofslavery as is consistent with Prof. Hodge's account of the requisitionsof Christianity, they know nothing. It has never met their notice, andof course, has never roused their feelings, or called forth theirexertions. What, then, have _they_ to do with the censures andreproaches which the Princeton professor deals around? Let those whohave leisure and good nature protect the _man of straw_ he is so hotagainst. The abolitionists have other business. It is not the figment ofsome sickly brain; but that system of oppression which in theory iscorrupting, and in practice destroying both Church and State;--it isthis that they feel pledged to do battle upon, till by the just judgmentof Almighty God it is thrown, dead and damned, into thebottomless abyss. 

3. _How can the South feel itself protected by any shield which may bethrown over SUCH SLAVERY, as may be consistent with what the Princetonprofessor describes as the requisitions of Christianity?_ Is _this?_THE _slavery_ which their laws describe, and their hands maintain? "Faircompensation for labor"--"marital and parental rights"--"free scope"and "all suitable means" for the "improvement, moral and intellectual, of all classes of men;"--are these, according to the statutes of theSouth, among the objects of slaveholding legislation? Every body knowsthat any such requisition and American slavery are flatly opposed to anddirectly subversive of each other. What service, then, has the Princetonprofessor, with all his ingenuity and all his zeal, rendered the"peculiar institution?" Their gratitude must be of a stamp andcomplexion quite peculiar, if they can thank him for throwing their"domestic system" under the weight of such Christian requisitions asmust at once crush its snaky head "and grind it to powder. "

And what, moreover, is the bearing of the Christian requisitions whichProf. Hodge quotes, upon _the definition of slavery_ which he haselaborated? "All the ideas which necessarily enter into the definitionof slavery are, deprivation of personal liberty, obligation of serviceat the discretion of another, and the transferable character of theauthority and claim of service of the master[A]. "

[Footnote A: Pittsburgh pamphlet p. 12]

_According to Prof. Hodge's According to Prof. Hodge'saccount of the requisitions of account of Slavery, Christianity, _

The spring of effort in the labor The laborer must serve at theis a fair compensation. Discretion of another. 

Free scope must be given for his moral He is deprived of personaland intellectual improvement. Liberty--the necessary condition, and living soul of improvement, without which he has no control of either intellect or morals. 

His rights as a husband and a father The authority and claims ofare to be protected. The master may throw an ocean between him and his family, and separate them from each other's presence at any moment and forever. 

Christianity, then, requires such slavery as Prof. Hodge so cunninglydefines, to be abolished. It was well provided, for the peace of therespective parties, that he placed _his definition_ so far from _therequisitions of Christianity_. Had he brought them into each other'spresence, their natural and invincible antipathy to each other wouldhave broken out into open and exterminating warfare. But why should wedelay longer upon an argument which is based on gross and monstroussophistry? It can mislead only such as _wish_ to be misled. The loversof sunlight are in little danger of rushing into the professor'sdungeon. Those who, having something to conceal, covet darkness, canfind it there, to their hearts' content. The hour can not be far away, when upright and reflective minds at the South will be astonished at theblindness which could welcome such protection as the Princeton argumentoffers to the slaveholder. 

But _Prof. Stuart_ must not be forgotten. In his celebrated letter toDr. Fisk, he affirms that "_Paul did not expect slavery to be ousted ina day_[A]. " _Did not_ EXPECT! What then? Are the _requisitions_ ofChristianity adapted to any EXPECTATIONS which in any quarter and on anyground might have risen to human consciousness? And are we to interpretthe _precepts_ of the Gospel by the expectations of Paul? The Saviorcommanded all men every where to repent, and this, though "Paul did notexpect" that human wickedness, in its ten thousand forms would in anycommunity "be ousted in a day. " Expectations are one thing; requisitionsquite another. 

[Footnote A: Supra, p. 8. ]

In the mean time, while expectation waited, Paul, the professor adds, "gave precepts to Christians respecting their demeanor. " _That_ he did. Of what character were these precepts? Must they not have been inharmony with the Golden Rule? But this, according to Prof. Stuart, "decides against the righteousness of slavery" even as a "theory. "Accordingly, Christians were required, _without_ _respect of persons_, to do each other justice--to maintain equality as common ground for allto stand upon--to cherish and express in all their intercourse thattender love and disinterested charity which one _brother_ naturallyfeels for another. These were the "ad interim precepts, "[A] which cannot fail, if obeyed, to cut up slavery, "root and branch, " at onceand forever. 

[Footnote A: Letter to Dr. Fisk, p. 8. ]

Prof. Stuart comforts us with the assurance that "_Christianity willultimately certainly destroy slavery_. " Of this _we_ have not thefeeblest doubt. But how could _he_ admit a persuasion and utter aprediction so much at war with the doctrine he maintains, that "_slaverymay exist without_ VIOLATING THE CHRISTIAN FAITH OR THE CHURCH?"[B]What, Christianity bent on the destruction of an ancient and cherishedinstitution which hurts neither her character nor condition![C] Why notcorrect its abuses and purify its spirit; and shedding upon it her ownbeauty, preserve it, as a living trophy of her reformatory power? Whencethe discovery that, in her onward progress, she would trample down anddestroy what was no way hurtful to her? This is to be _aggressive_ witha witness. Far be it from the Judge of all the earth to whelm theinnocent and guilty in the same destruction! In aid of Professor Stuart, in the rude and scarcely covert attack which he makes upon himself, wemaintain that Christianity will certainly destroy slavery on account ofits inherent wickedness--its malignant temper--its deadly effects--itsconstitutional, insolent, and unmitigable opposition to the authority ofGod and the welfare of man. 

[Footnote B: The same, p. 7. ]

[Footnote C: Prof. Stuart applies here the words, _salva fide et salvaecclesia_. ]

"Christianity will _ultimately_ destroy slavery. " "ULTIMATELY!" Whatmeaneth that portentous word? To what limit of remotest time, concealedin the darkness of futurity, may it look? Tell us, O watchman, on thehill of Andover. Almost nineteen centuries have rolled over this worldof wrong and outrage--and yet we tremble in the presence of a form ofslavery whose breath is poison, whose fang is death! If any one of theincidents of slavery should fall, but for a single day, upon the head ofthe prophet who dipped his pen, in such cold blood, to write that word"ultimately, " how, under the sufferings of the first tedious hour, wouldhe break out in the lamentable cry, "How _long_, O Lord, HOW LONG!" Inthe agony of beholding a wife or daughter upon the table of theauctioneer, while every bid fell upon his heart like the groan ofdespair, small comfort would he find in the dull assurance of someheartless prophet, quite at "ease in Zion, " that "ULTIMATELY_Christianity would destroy slavery_. " As the hammer falls and thebeloved of his soul, all helpless and most wretched, is borne away tothe haunts of _legalized_ debauchery, his heart turns to stone, whilethe cry dies upon his lips, "_How_ LONG, _O Lord_, HOW LONG?"

"_Ultimately!_" In _what circumstances_ does Prof. Stuart assure himselfthat Christianity will destroy slavery? Are we, as American citizens, under the sceptre of a Nero? When, as integral parts of thisrepublic--as living members of this community, did we forfeit theprerogatives of _freemen_? Have we not the right to speak and act aswielding the powers which the principle of self-government has put inour possession? And without asking leave of priest or statesman, of theNorth or the South, may we not make the most of the freedom which weenjoy under the guaranty of the ordinances of Heaven and theConstitution of our country? Can we expect to see Christianity on highervantage-ground than in this country she stands upon? In the midst of arepublic based on the principle of the equality of mankind, where everyChristian, as vitally connected with the state, freely wields thehighest political rights and enjoys the richest political privileges;where the unanimous demand of one-half of the members of the churcheswould be promptly met in the abolition of slavery, what "_ultimately_"must Christianity here wait for before she crushes the chattel principlebeneath her heel? Her triumph over slavery is retarded by nothing butthe corruption and defection so widely spread through the "sacramentalhost" beneath her banners! Let her voice be heard and her energiesexerted, and the _ultimately_ of the "dark spirit of slavery" would atonce give place to the _immediately_ of the Avenger of the Poor. 

 * * * * *

NO 8. 

THE ANTI-SLAVERY EXAMINER. 

 * * * * *

CORRESPONDENCE, BETWEEN THE

HON. F. H. ELMORE, ONE OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA DELEGATION IN CONGRESS, AND

JAMES G. BIRNEY, ONE OF THE SECRETARIES OF THE AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. 

 * * * * *

NEW-YORK:

PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY, No. 143 NASSAU STREET. 

1838. 

 * * * * *

This periodical contains 5 sheets. --Postage under 100 miles, 7-1/2 cts. ;over 100 miles, 12-1/2 cts. 

_Please read and circulate_. 

REMARKS IN EXPLANATION. 

 * * * * *

ANTI-SLAVERY OFFICE, _New York, May 24, 1838_. 

In January, a tract entitled "WHY WORK FOR THE SLAVE?" was issued fromthis office by the agent for the _Cent-a-week Societies_. A copy of itwas transmitted to the Hon. John C. Calhoun;--to _him_, because he hasseemed, from the first, more solicitous than the generality of Southernpoliticians, to possess himself of accurate information about theAnti-Slavery movement. A note written by me accompanied the tract, informing Mr. Calhoun, why it was sent to him. 

Not long afterward, the following letter was received from the Hon. F. H. Elmore, of the House of Representatives in Congress. From this andanother of his letters just now received, it seems, that theSlaveholding Representatives in Congress, after conferring together, appointed a committee, of their own number, to obtain authenticinformation of the intentions and progress of the Anti-Slaveryassociations, --and that Mr. Elmore was selected, as the _South Carolina_member of the Committee. 

Several other communications have passed between Mr. Elmore and me. Theyrelate, chiefly, however, to the transmission and reception ofAnti-slavery publications, which he requested to be sent to him, --and toother matters not having any connection with the merits of the mainsubject. It is, therefore, thought unnecessary to publish them. It maybe sufficient to remark of all the communications received from Mr. Elmore--that they are characterized by exemplary courtesy and goodtemper, and that they bear the impress of an educated, refined, andliberal mind. 

It is intended to circulate this correspondence throughout the _wholecountry_. If the information it communicates be important for southernRepresentatives in Congress, it is not less so for their Constituents. The Anti-slavery movement has become so important in a National point ofview, that no statesman can innocently remain ignorant of its progressand tendencies. The facts stated in my answer may be relied on, inproportion to the degree of accuracy to which they lay claim;--thearguments will, of course, be estimated according to their worth. 

JAMES G. BIRNEY. 

CORRESPONDENCE. 

 * * * * *

WASHINGTON CITY, FEB. 16, 1838

To Jas. G. Birney, Esq. , _Cor. Sec. A. A. S. Soc. _

Sir:--A letter from you to the Hon. John C. Calhoun, dated 29th Januarylast, has been given to me, by him, in which you say, (in reference tothe abolitionists or Anti-Slavery Societies, ) "we have nothing toconceal--and should you desire any information as to our procedure, itwill be cheerfully communicated on [my] being apprised of your wishes. "The frankness of this unsolicited offer indicates a fairness and honestyof purpose, which has caused the present communication, and whichdemands the same full and frank disclosure of the views with which thesubjoined inquiries are proposed. 

Your letter was handed to me, in consequence of a duty assigned me by mydelegation, and which requires me to procure all the authenticinformation I can, as to the nature and intentions of yours and similarassociations, in order that we may, if we deem it advisable, lay theinformation before our people, so that they may be prepared to decideunderstandingly, as to the course it becomes them to pursue on this allimportant question. If you "have nothing to conceal, " and it is notimposing too much on, what may have been, an unguarded proffer, I willesteem your compliance as a courtesy to an opponent, and be pleased tohave an opportunity to make a suitable return. And if, on the otherhand, you have the least difficulty or objection, I trust you will nothesitate to withhold the information sought for, as I would not have it, unless as freely given, as it will, if deemed expedient, be freely used. 

I am, Sir, Your ob'd't serv't, F. H. ELMORE, of S. C. 

QUESTIONS for J. G. Birney, Esq. , Cor. Sec. A. A. S. Society. 

1. How many societies, affiliated with that of which you are theCorresponding Secretary, are there in the United States? And how manymembers belong to them _in the aggregate_?

2. Are there any other societies similar to yours, and not affiliatedwith it, in the United States? and how many, and what is the aggregatetheir members?

3. Have you affiliation, intercourse or connection with any similarsocieties out of the United States, and in what countries?

4. Do your or similar societies exist in the Colleges and other Literaryinstitutions of the non-slaveholding States, and to what extent?

5. What do you estimate the numbers of those who co-operate in thismatter at? What proportion do they bear in the population of theNorthern states, and what in the Middle non-slaveholding states? Arethey increasing, and at what rate?

6. What is the object your associations aim at? does it extend to theabolition of slavery only in the District of Columbia, or in the wholeslave country?

7. By what means, and under what power, do you propose to carry yourviews into effect?

8. What has been for three years past, the annual income of yoursocieties? and how is it raised?

9. In what way, and to what purposes, do you apply these funds?

10. How many priming presses and periodical publications have you?

11. To what classes of persons do you address your publications, and arethey addressed to the judgment, the imagination, or the feelings?

12. Do you propagate your doctrines by any other means than oral andwritten discussions, --for instance, by prints and pictures inmanufactures--say pocket handkerchiefs, &c. Pray, state thevarious modes?

13. Are your hopes and expectations increased or lessened by the eventsof the last year, and, especially, by the action of this Congress? Andwill your exertions be relaxed or increased?

14. Have you any permanent fund, and how much?

ANTI-SLAVERY OFFICE, _New York, March 8, 1838_

Hon. F. H. ELMORE, Member of Congress from S. Carolina:

SIR, --I take pleasure in furnishing the information you have so politelyasked for, in your letter of the 16th ult. , in relation to the AmericanAnti-Slavery Society;--and trust, that this correspondence, bypresenting in a sober light, the objects and measures of the society, may contribute to dispel, not only from your own mind, but--if it bediffused throughout the South--from the minds of our fellow-citizensthere generally, a great deal of undeserved prejudice and groundlessalarm. I cannot hesitate to believe, that such as enter on theexamination of its claims to public favour, without bias, will find thatit aims intelligently, not only at the promotion of the interests of theslave, but of the master, --not only at the re-animation of theRepublican principles of our Constitution, but at the establishment ofthe Union on an enduring basis. 

I shall proceed to state the several questions submitted in your letter, and answer them, in the order in which they are proposed. You ask, --

"1. _How many societies, affiliated with that of which you arecorresponding secretary, are there in the United States? And how manymembers belong to them_ IN THE AGGREGATE?"

ANSWER. --Our anniversary is held on the Tuesday immediately precedingthe second Thursday in May. Returns of societies are made only a shorttime before. In May, 1835, there were 225 auxiliaries reported. In May, 1836, 527. In May, 1837, 1006. Returns for the anniversary in May nexthave not come in yet. It may, however, be safely said, that theincrease, since last May, is not less than 400. [A] Of late, themultiplication of societies has not kept pace with the progress of ourprinciples. Where these are well received, our agents are not so carefulto organize societies as in former times, when our numbers were few;_societies, now_, being not deemed so necessary for the advancement ofour cause. The auxiliaries average not less than 80 members each; makingan aggregate of 112, 480. Others estimate the auxiliaries at 1500, andthe average of members at 100. I give you, what I believe to be thelowest numbers. 

[Footnote A: The number reported for May was three hundred and forty, making, in the aggregate, 1346. --_Report for May_, 1838. ]

"2. _Are there any other societies similar to yours, and not affiliatedwith it in the United States? And how many, and what is the aggregate oftheir members_?"

ANSWER. --Several societies have been formed in the Methodist connectionwithin the last two years, --although most of the Methodists who areabolitionists, are members of societies auxiliary to the American. Thesesocieties have been originated by Ministers, and others of weight andinfluence, who think that their brethren can be more easily persuaded, as a religious body, to aid in the anti-slavery movement by this twofoldaction. None of the large religious denominations bid fairer soon to beon the side of emancipation than the Methodist. Of the number of theMethodist societies that are not auxiliary, I am not informed. --TheILLINOIS SOCIETY comes under the same class. The REV. ELIJAH P. LOVEJOY, the corresponding secretary, was slain by a mob, a few days after itsorganization. It has not held a meeting since; and I have no data forstating the number of its members. It is supposed not to belarge. --Neither is the DELAWARE SOCIETY, organized, a few weeks ago, atWilmington, auxiliary to the American. I have no information as to itsnumbers. --The MANUMISSION SOCIETY in this city, formed in 1785, withJOHN JAY its first, and ALEXANDER HAMILTON its second president, might, from its name, be supposed to be affiliated with the American. Originally, its object, so far as regarded the slaves, and thoseillegally held in bondage _in this state_, was, in a great measure, similar. Slavery being extinguished in New-York in 1827, as a statesystem, the efforts of the Manumission Society are limited now to therescue, from kidnappers and others, of such persons as are really freeby the laws, but who have been reduced to slavery. Of the old Abolitionsocieties, organized in the time, and under the influence of Franklinand Rush and Jay, and the most active of their coadjutors, but fewremain. Their declension may be ascribed to this defect, --they did notinflexibly ask for _immediate_ emancipation. --The PENNSYLVANIA ABOLITIONSOCIETY, formed in 1789, with DR. FRANKLIN, president, and DR. RUSH, secretary, is still in existence--but unconnected with the AmericanSociety. Some of the most active and benevolent members of both theassociations last named, are members of the American Society. Besidesthe societies already mentioned, there may be in the country a fewothers of anti-slavery name; but they are of small note and efficiency, and are unconnected with this. 

"3. _Have you affiliation, intercourse, or connection with any similarsocieties out of the United States, and in what countries_?"

ANSWER. --A few societies have spontaneously sprung up in Canada. Twohave declared themselves auxiliary to the American. We have an agent--anative of the United States--in Upper Canada; not with a view to theorganization of societies, but to the moral and intellectual elevationof the Ten thousand colored people there; most of whom have escaped fromslavery in this Republic, to enjoy freedom under the protection of aMonarchy. In Great Britain there are numerous Anti-slavery Societies, whose particular object, of late, has been, to bring about the abolitionof the Apprentice-system, as established by the emancipation act in herslaveholding colonies. In England, there is a society whose professedobject is, to abolish slavery _throughout the world_. Of the existenceof the British societies, you are, doubtless, fully aware; as also ofthe fact, that, in Britain, the great mass of the people are opposed toslavery as it existed, a little while ago, in their own colonies, and asit exists now in the United States. --In France, the "FRENCH SOCIETY FORTHE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY" was founded in 1834. I shall have the pleasureof transmitting to you two pamphlets, containing an account of some ofits proceedings; from which you will learn, that, the DUC DE BROGLIE isits presiding officer, and many of the most distinguished andinfluential of the public men of that country are members. --In Hayti, also, "The HAYTIAN ABOLITION SOCIETY" was formed in May, 1836. 

These are all the foreign societies of which I have knowledge. They areconnected with the American by no formal affiliation. The onlyintercourse between them and it, is, that which springs up spontaneouslyamong those of every land who sympathize with Humanity in her conflictswith Slavery. 

"4. _Do your or similar societies exist in the Colleges and otherLiterary institutions of the non-slaveholding states, and towhat extent_?"

ANSWER. --Strenuous efforts have been made, and they are still beingmade, by those who have the direction of most of the literary andtheological institutions in the free states, to bar out our principlesand doctrines, and prevent the formation of societies among thestudents. To this course they have been prompted by various, andpossibly, in their view, good motives. One of them, I think it notuncharitable to say, is, to conciliate the wealthy of the south, thatthey may send their sons to the north, to swell the college catalogues. Neither do I think it uncharitable to say, that in this we have amanifestation of that Aristocratic pride, which, feeling itself honoredby having entrusted to its charge the sons of distant, opulent, anddistinguished planters, fails not to dull everything like sympathy forthose whose unpaid toil supplies the means so lavishly expended ineducating southern youth at northern colleges. These efforts atsuppression or restraint, on the part of Faculties and Boards ofTrustees, have heretofore succeeded to a considerable extent. Anti-Slavery Societies, notwithstanding, have been formed in a few ofour most distinguished colleges and theological seminaries. Publicopinion is beginning to call for a relaxation of restraints andimpositions; they are yielding to its demands; and _now_, for the mostpart, sympathy for the slave may be manifested by our generous collegeyouth, in the institution of Anti-Slavery Societies, without anydownright prohibition by their more politic teachers. College societieswill probably increase more rapidly hereafter; as, in addition to theremoval or relaxation of former restraints, just referred to, the murderof Mr. Lovejoy, the assaults on the Freedom of speech and of the press, the prostration of the Right of petition in Congress, &c, &c, allbelieved to have been perpetrated to secure slavery from the scrutinythat the intelligent world is demanding, have greatly augmented thenumber of college abolitionists. They are, for the most part, thediligent, the intellectual, the religious of the students. United insocieties, their influence is generally extensively felt in thesurrounding region; _dispersed_, it seems scarcely less effective. Aninstance of the latter deserves particular notice. 

The Trustees and Faculty of one of our theological and literaryinstitutions united for the suppression of anti-slavery action among thestudents. The latter refused to cease pleading for the slave, as hecould not plead for himself. They left the institution; wereprovidentially dispersed over various parts of the country, and madeuseful, in a remarkable manner, in advancing the cause of humanity andliberty. One of these dismissed students, the son of a slaveholder, brought up in the midst of slavery, and well acquainted with itspeculiarities, succeeded in persuading a pious father to emancipate hisfourteen slaves. After lecturing a long time with signal success--havingcontracted a disease of the throat, which prevented him from furtherprosecuting his labors in this way--he visited the West Indies, eighteenmonths ago, in company with another gentleman of the most amplequalifications, to note the operation of the British emancipation act. Together, they collected a mass of facts--now in a course ofpublication--that will astonish, as it ought to delight, the wholesouth; for it shows, conclusively, that IMMEDIATE emancipation is thebest, the safest, the most profitable, as it is the most just andhonorable, of all emancipations. [A]

[Footnote A: See Appendix, A. ]

Another of these dismissed students is one of the secretaries of thissociety. He has, for a long time, discharged its arduous and responsibleduties with singular ability. To his qualifications as secretary, headds those of an able and successful lecturer. He was heard, severaltimes, before the joint committee of the Legislature of Massachusetts, ayear ago, prior to the report of that committee, and to the adoption, bythe Senate and House of Representatives, of their memorable resolutionsin favor of the Power of Congress to abolish slavery in the District ofColumbia, and of the Right of petition. 

"5. _What do you estimate the number of those who co-operate in thematter at? What proportion do they bear in the population of thenorthern states, and what in the middle non-slaveholding states? Arethey increasing, and at what rate_?"

ANSWER. --Those who stand _ready to join_ our societies on the firstsuitable occasion, may be set down as equal in number to those who arenow _actually members_. Those who are ready _fully to co-operate withus_ in supporting the freedom of speech and the press, the right ofpetition, &c, may be estimated at _double_, if not _treble_, the jointnumbers of those who _already are members_, and those who are _ready tobecome members_. The Recording secretary of the MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETYstated, a few weeks ago, that the abolitionists in the various minorsocieties in that state were one in thirty of the whole population. Theproportion of abolitionists to the whole population is greater inMassachusetts than in any other of the free states, exceptVERMONT, --where the spirit of liberty has almost entirely escaped thecorruptions which slavery has infused into it in most of her sisterstates, by means of commercial and other intercourse with them. 

In MAINE, not much of systematic effort has, as yet, been put forth toenlighten her population as to our principles and proceedings. Iattended the anniversary of the State Society on the 31st of January, atAugusta, the seat of government. The Ministers of the large religiousdenominations were beginning, as I was told, to unite with us--andPoliticians, to descry the ultimate prevalence of our principles. Theimpression I received was, that much could, and that much would, speedily be done. 

In NEW HAMPSHIRE, more labor has been expended, and a greater effectproduced. Public functionaries, who have been pleased to speak incontemptuous terms of the progress of abolitionism, both in Maine andNew Hampshire, will, it is thought, soon be made to see, through amedium not at all deceptive, the grossness of their error. 

In RHODE ISLAND, our principles are fast pervading the great body of thepeople. This, it is thought, is the only one of the free states, inwhich the subject of abolition has been fully introduced, which has notbeen disgraced by a mob, triumphant, for the time being, over the rightof the people to discuss any, and every, matter in which they feelinterested. A short time previous to the last election of members ofCongress, questions, embodying our views as to certain politicalmeasures were propounded to the several candidates. Respectful answersand, in the main, conformable with our views, were returned. I shalltransmit you a newspaper containing both the questions and theanswers. [A]

[Footnote A: Since the above was written, at the last election in thisstate for governor and lieutenant governor, the abolitionists_interrogated_ the gentlemen who stood candidates for these offices. Twoof them answered respectfully, and conformably to the views of theabolitionists. Their opponents neglected to answer at all. The firstwere elected. --See Appendix, B. ]

In CONNECTICUT, there has not been, as yet, a great expenditure ofabolition effort. Although the moral tone of this state, so far asslavery is concerned, has been a good deal weakened by the influence ofher multiform connexions with the south, yet the energies that have beenput forth to reanimate her ancient and lofty feelings, so far fromproving fruitless, have been followed by the most encouraging results. Evidence of this is found in the faithful administration of the laws byjudges and juries. In May last, a slave, who had been brought fromGeorgia to Hartford, successfully asserted her freedom under the laws ofConnecticut. The cause was elaborately argued before the Supreme court. The most eminent counsel were employed on both sides. And it is but afew days, since two anti-abolition rioters (the only ones on trial) wereconvicted before the Superior court in New Haven, and sentenced to pay afine of twenty dollars each, and to be imprisoned six months, thelongest term authorized by the law. A convention, for the organizationof a State Society, was held in the city of Hartford on the last day ofFebruary. It was continued three days. The _call_ for it (which I sendyou) was signed by nearly EIGHTEEN HUNDRED of the citizens of thatstate. SEVENTEEN HUNDRED, as I was informed, are legal voters. Theproceedings of the convention were of the most harmonious and animatingcharacter. [B]

[Footnote B: See Appendix, C. ]

In NEW YORK, our cause is evidently advancing. The state is rapidlycoming up to the high ground of principle, so far as universal libertyis concerned, on which the abolitionists would place her. Several largeAnti-Slavery conventions have lately been held in the western counties. Their reports are of the most encouraging character. Nor is the changemore remarkable in the state than in this city. Less than five yearsago, a few of the citizens advertised a meeting, to be held in ClintonHall, to form a City Anti-Slavery Society. A mob prevented theirassembling at the place appointed. They repaired, privately, to one ofthe churches. To this they were pursued by the mob, and routed from it, though not before they had completed, in a hasty manner, the form oforganization. In the summer of 1834, some of the leading political andcommercial journals of the city were enabled to stir up the mob againstthe persons and property of the abolitionists, and several of the mostprominent were compelled to leave the city for safety; their houses wereattacked, broken into, and, in one instance, the furniture publiclyburnt in the street. _Now_, things are much changed. Many of themerchants and mechanics are favorable to our cause; gentlemen of thebar, especially the younger and more growing ones, are directing theirattention to it; twenty-one of our city ministers are professedabolitionists; the churches are beginning to be more accessible to us;our meetings are held in them openly, attract large numbers, areunmolested; and the abolitionists sometimes hear themselves commended inother assemblies, not only for their honest _intentions_, but for their_respectability_ and _intelligence_. 

NEW JERSEY has, as yet, no State Society, and the number of avowedabolitionists is small. In some of the most populous and influentialparts of the state, great solicitude exists on the subject; and the callfor lecturers is beginning to be earnest, if not importunate. 

PENNSYLVANIA has advanced to our principles just in proportion to thelabor that has been bestowed, by means of lectures and publications inenlightening her population as to our objects, and the evils and dangersimpending over the whole country, from southern slavery. The act of herlate Convention, in depriving a large number of their own constituents(the colored people) of the elective franchise, heretofore possessed bythem without any allegation of its abuse on their part, would seem toprove an unpropitious state of public sentiment. We would neither deny, nor elude, the force of such evidence. But when this measure of theconvention is brought out and unfolded in its true light--shown to be aparty measure to bring succor from the south--a mere following in thewake of North Carolina and Tennessee, who led the way, in their _new_constitutions, to this violation of the rights of their coloredcitizens, that they might the more firmly compact the wrongs of theenslaved--a pernicious, a profitless violation of great principles--avulgar defiance of the advancing spirit of humanity and justice--arelapse into the by-gone darkness of a barbarous age--we apprehend fromit no serious detriment to our cause. 

OHIO has been well advanced. In a short time, she will be found amongthe most prominent of the states on the right side in the contest nowgoing on between the spirit of liberty embodied in the free institutionsof the north, and the spirit of slavery pervading the south. HerConstitution publishes the most honorable reprobation of slavery of anyother in the Union. In providing for its own revision or amendment, itdeclares, that _no alteration of it shall ever take place, so as tointroduce slavery or involuntary servitude into the state_. Her Supremecourt is intelligent and firm. It has lately decided, virtually, againstthe constitutionality of an act of the Legislature, made, in effect, tofavor southern slavery by the persecution of the colored people withinher bounds. She has, already, abolitionists enough to turn the scale inher elections, and an abundance of excellent material for augmentingthe number. 

In INDIANA but little has been done, except by the diffusion of ourpublications. But even with these appliances, several auxiliarysocieties have been organized. [A]

[Footnote A: The first Legislative movement against the annexation ofTexas to the Union, was made, it is believed, in Indiana. So early asDecember, 1836, a joint resolution passed its second reading in one orboth branches of the Legislature. How it was ultimately disposed of, isnot known. ]

In MICHIGAN, the leaven of abolitionists pervades the whole population. The cause is well sustained by a high order of talent; and we trust soonto see the influence of it in all her public acts. 

In ILLINOIS, the murder of Mr. Lovejoy has multiplied and confirmedabolitionists, and led to the formation of many societies, which, in allprobability, would not have been formed so soon, had not that eventtaken place. 

I am not possessed of sufficient data for stating, with precision, whatproportion the abolitionists bear in the population of the Northern andMiddle non-slaveholding states respectively. Within the last ten months, I have travelled extensively in both these geographical divisions. Ihave had whatever advantage this, assisted by a strong interest in thegeneral cause, and abundant conversations with the best informedabolitionists, could give, for making a fair estimate of their numbers. In the Northern states I should say, _they are one in ten_--in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, _one in twenty_--of the whole adultpopulation. That the abolitionists have multiplied, and that they arestill multiplying rapidly, no one acquainted with the smallness of theirnumbers at their first organization a few years ago, and who has kepthis eyes about him since, need ask. That they have not, thus far, beenmore successful, is owing to the vastness of the undertaking, and thedifficulties with which they have had to contend, from comparativelylimited means, for presenting their measures and objects, with theproper developments and explanations, to the great mass of the popularmind. The progress of their principles, under the same amount ofintelligence in presenting them, and where no peculiar causes ofprejudice exist in the minds of the hearers, is generally proportionedto the degree of religious and intellectual worth prevailing in thedifferent sections of the country where the subject is introduced. Iknow no instance, in which any one notoriously profane or intemperate, or licentious, or of openly irreligious _practice_, has professed, cordially to have received our principles. 

"6. _What is the object your associations aim at? Does it extend toabolition of slavery only in the District of Columbia, or in the wholeslave country_?"

ANSWER. --This question is fully answered in the second Article of theConstitution of the American Anti-Slavery Society, which is inthese words:--

"The object of this society is the entire abolition of slavery in theUnited States. While it admits that each state, in which slavery exists, has, by the Constitution of the United States, the exclusive right to_legislate_ in regard to its abolition in said state, it shall aim toconvince all our fellow-citizens, by arguments addressed to theirunderstandings and consciences, that slaveholding is a heinous crime inthe sight of God, and that the duty, safety, and best interests of allconcerned require its immediate abandonment, without expatriation. Thesociety will also endeavor, in a constitutional way, to influenceCongress to put an end to the domestic slave-trade, and to abolishslavery in all those portions of our common country which come under itscontrol, especially in the District of Columbia; and likewise to preventthe extension of it to any state that may hereafter be admitted tothe Union. "

Other objects, accompanied by a pledge of peace, are stated in the thirdarticle of the Constitution, --

"This Society shall aim to elevate the character and condition of thepeople of color, by encouraging their intellectual, moral, and religiousimprovement, and by removing public prejudice, --that thus they may, according to their intellectual and moral worth, share an equality withthe whites of civil and religious privileges; but this Society willnever in any way, countenance the oppressed in vindicating their rightsby resorting to physical force. "

"7. _By what means and by what power do you propose to carry your viewsinto effect_?"

ANSWER. --Our "means" are the Truth, --the "Power" under whose guidance wepropose to carry our views into effect, is, the Almighty. Confiding inthese means, when directed by the spirit and wisdom of Him, who has somade them as to act on the hearts of men, and so constituted the heartsof then as to be affected by them, we expect, 1. To bring the CHURCH ofthis country to repentance for the sin of OPPRESSION. Not only theSouthern portion of it that has been the oppressor--but the Northern, that has stood by, consenting, for half a century, to the wrong. 2. Tobring our countrymen to see, that for a nation to persist in injusticeis, but to rush on its own ruin; that to do justice is the highestexpediency--to love mercy its noblest ornament. In other countries, slavery has sometimes yielded to fortuitous circumstances, or beenextinguished by physical force. _We_ strive to win for truth the victoryover error, and on the broken fragments of slavery to rear for her atemple, that shall reach to the heavens, and toward which all nationsshall worship. It has been said, that the slaveholders of the South willnot yield, nor hearken to the influence of the truth on this subject. Webelieve it not--nor give we entertainment to the slander that such anunworthy defence of them implies. We believe them _men_, --that they haveunderstandings that arguments will convince--consciences to which theappeals of justice and mercy will not be made in vain. If our principlesbe true--our arguments right--if slaveholders be men--and God have notdelivered over our guilty country to the retributions of the oppressor, not only of the STRANGER but of the NATIVE--our success is certain. 

"8. _What has been for three years past, the annual income of yoursocieties? And how has it been raised?_"

ANSWER. --The annual income of the societies at large, it would beimpossible to ascertain. The total receipts of this society, for theyear ending 9th of May, 1835--leaving out odd numbers--was $10, 000; forthe year ending 9th of May, 1837, $25, 000; and for the year ending 11thof May, 1836, $38, 000. From the last date, up to this--not quite tenmonths--there has been paid into the treasury the sum of $36, 000. [A]These sums are independent of what is raised by state and auxiliarysocieties, for expenditure within their own particular bounds, and fortheir own particular exigencies. Also, of the sums paid in subscriptionsfor the support of newspapers, and for the printing (by auxiliaries, ) ofperiodicals, pamphlets, and essays, either for sale at low prices, orfor gratuitous distribution. The moneys contributed in these variousmodes would make an aggregate greater, perhaps, than is paid into thetreasury of any one of the Benevolent societies of the country. Most ofthe wealthy contributors of former years suffered so severely in themoney-pressure of this, that they have been unable to contribute much toour funds. This has made it necessary to call for aid on the great bodyof abolitionists--persons, generally, in moderate circumstances. Theyhave well responded to the call, considering the hardness of the times. To show you the extremes that meet at our treasury, --General Sewall, ofMaine, a revolutionary officer, eighty-five years old--WilliamPhilbrick, a little boy near Boston, not four years old--and a coloredwoman, who makes her subsistence by selling apples in the streets inthis city, lately sent in their respective sums to assist in promotingthe emancipation of the "poor slave. "

[Footnote A: The report for May states the sum received during theprevious year at $44, 000. ]

All contributions of whatever kind are _voluntary_. 

"9. _In what way, and to what purposes do you apply these funds!_"

ANSWER. --They are used in sustaining the society's office in thiscity--in paying lecturers and agents of various kinds--in upholding thepress--in printing books, pamphlets, tracts, &c, containing expositionsof our principles--accounts of our progress--refutations ofobjections--and disquisitions on points, scriptural, constitutional, political, legal, economical, as they chance to arise and becomeimportant. In this office three secretaries are employed in differentdepartments of duty; one editor; one publishing agent, with anassistant, and two or three young men and boys, for folding, directing, and despatching papers, executing errands, &c. The business of thesociety has increased so much of late, as to make it necessary, in orderto ensure the proper despatch of it, to employ additional clerks for theparticular exigency. Last year, the society had in its service aboutsixty "permanent agents. " This year, the number is considerablydiminished. The deficiency has been more than made up by creating alarge number of "Local" agents--so called, from the fact, that beinggenerally Professional men, lawyers or physicians in good practice, orMinisters with congregations, they are confined, for the most part, totheir respective neighborhoods. Some of the best minds in our countryare thus engaged. Their labors have not only been eminently successful, but have been rendered at but small charge to the society; theyreceiving only their travelling expenses, whilst employed in lecturingand forming societies. In the case of a minister, there is theadditional expense of supplying his pulpit while absent on the businessof his agency, However, in many instances, these agents, being in easycircumstances, make no charge, even for their expenses. 

In making appointments, the executive committee have no regard to partydiscrimination. This will be fully understood, when it is stated, thaton a late occasion, two of our local agents were the candidates of theirrespective political parties for the office of Secretary of State forthe state of Vermont. 

It ought to be stated here, that two of the most effective advocates ofthe anti-slavery cause are females--the Misses Grimké--natives of SouthCarolina--brought up in the midst of the usages of slavery--mostintelligently acquainted with the merits of the system, and qualified, in an eminent degree, to communicate their views to others in publicaddresses. They are not only the advocates of the slave at their owncharge, but they actually contribute to the funds of the societies. Sosuccessfully have they recommended the cause of emancipation to thecrowds that attended their lectures during the last year, that they werepermitted on three several occasions publicly to address the jointcommittee (on slavery) of the Massachusetts Legislature, now in session, on the interesting matters that occupy their attention. 

"10. _How many printing presses and periodical publications have you?_"

ANSWER. --We own no press. Our publications are all printed by contract. The EMANCIPATOR and HUMAN RIGHTS are the organs of the ExecutiveCommittee. The first (which you have seen, ) is a large sheet, ispublished weekly, and employs almost exclusively the time of thegentleman who edits it. Human Rights is a monthly sheet of smaller size, and is edited by one of the secretaries. The increasing interest that isfast manifesting itself in the cause of emancipation and its kindredsubjects will, in all probability, before long, call for the morefrequent publication of one or both of these papers. --The ANTI-SLAVERYMAGAZINE, a quarterly, was commenced in October, 1835, and continuedthrough two years. It has been intermitted, only to make the necessaryarrangements for issuing it on a more extended scale. --It is proposed togive it size enough to admit the amplest discussions that we or ouropponents may desire, and to give _them_ a full share of its room--infine, to make it, in form and merit, what the importance of the subjectcalls for. I send you a copy of the Prospectus for the new series. --TheANTI-SLAVERY RECORD, published for three years as a monthly, has beendiscontinued _as such_, and it will be issued hereafter, only asoccasion may require:--THE SLAVE'S FRIEND, a small monthly tract, ofneat appearance, intended principally for children and young persons, has been issued for several years. It is replete with facts relating toslavery, and with accounts of the hair-breadth escapes of slaves fromtheir masters and pursuers that rarely fail to impart the most thrillinginterest to its little readers. --Besides these, there is theANTI-SLAVERY EXAMINER, in which are published, as the times call forthem, our larger essays partaking of a controversial character, such asSmith's reply to the Rev. Mr. Smylie--Grimké's letter and "Wythe. " Byturning to page 32 of our Fourth Report (included in your order forbooks, &c, ) you will find, that in the year ending 11th May, the issuesfrom the press were--bound volumes, 7, 877--Tracts and Pamphlets, 47, 250--Circulars, &c, 4, 100--Prints, 10, 490--Anti-Slavery Magazine, 9000--Slave's Friend, 131, 050--Human Rights, 189, 400--Emancipator, 217, 000. These are the issues of the American Anti-Slavery Society, fromtheir office in this city. Other publications of similar character areissued by State Societies or individuals--the LIBERATOR, in Boston;HERALD OF FREEDOM, in Concord, N. H. ; ZION'S WATCHMAN and the COLOREDAMERICAN in this city. The latter is conducted in the editorial, andother departments, by colored citizens. You can judge of its character, by a few numbers that I send to you. Then, there is the FRIEND of MAN, in Utica, in this state. The NATIONAL ENQUIRER, in Philadelphia;[A] theCHRISTIAN WITNESS, in Pittsburgh; the PHILANTHROPIST, inCincinnati. --All these are sustained by the friends, and devoted almostexclusively to the cause, of emancipation. Many of the Religiousjournals that do not make emancipation their main object have adoptedthe sentiments of abolitionists, and aid in promoting them. The AltonObserver, edited by the late Mr. Lovejoy, was one of these. 

[Footnote A: The NATIONAL ENQUIRER, edited by Benjamin Lundy, has beenconverted into the PENNSYLVANIA FREEMAN, edited by John G. Whittier. Mr. Lundy proposes to issue the GENIUS OF UNIVERSAL EMANCIPATION, inIllinois. ]

From the data I have, I set down the newspapers, as classed above, atupwards of one hundred. Here it may also be stated, that the presseswhich print the abolition journals above named, throw off besides, agreat variety of other anti-slavery matter, in the form of books, pamphlets, single sheets, &c, &c, and that, at many of the principalcommercial points throughout the free states, DEPOSITORIES areestablished, at which our publications of every sort are kept for sale. A large and fast increasing number of the Political journals of thecountry have become, within the last two years, if not the avowedsupporters of our cause, well inclined to it. Formerly, it was a commonthing for most of the leading _party_-papers, especially in the largecities, to speak of the abolitionists in terms signally disrespectfuland offensive. Except in rare instances, and these, it is thought, onlywhere they are largely subsidized by southern patronage, it is not sonow. The desertions that are taking place from their ranks will, in ashort time, render their position undesirable for any, who aspire togain, or influence, or reputation in the North. 

"11. _To what class of persons do you address your publications--and arethey addressed to the judgment, the imagination, or the feelings_?"

ANSWER. --They are intended for the great mass of intelligent mind, bothin the free and in the slave states. They partake, of course, of theintellectual peculiarities of the different authors. Jay's "INQUIRY" andMrs. Child's "APPEAL" abound in facts--are dispassionate, ingenious, argumentative. The "BIBLE AGAINST SLAVERY, " by the most careful andlaborious research, has struck from slavery the prop, which carelessAnnotators, (writing, unconscious of the influence, the prevailingsystem of slavery throughout the Christian world exercised on their ownminds, ) have admitted was furnished for it in the Scriptures. "Wythe" bya pains-taking and lucid adjustment of facts in the history of theGovernment, both before and after the adoption of the Constitution, andwith a rigor of logic, that cannot, it is thought, be successfullyencountered, has put to flight forever with unbiased minds, every doubtas to the "Power of Congress over the District of Columbia. "

There are among the abolitionists, Poets, and by the acknowledgment oftheir opponents, poets of no mean name too--who, as the use of poets is, do address themselves often--as John G. Whittier does _always_--powerfully to the imagination and feelings of their readers. 

Our publications cannot be classed according to any particular style orquality of composition. They may characterized generally, as well suitedto affect the public mind--to rouse into healthful activity theconscience of this nation, stupified, torpid, almost dead, in relationto HUMAN RIGHTS, the high theme of which they treat!

It has often been alleged, that our writings appeal to the worstpassions of the slaves, and that they are placed in their hands with aview to stir them to revolt. Neither charge has any foundation in truthto rest upon. The first finds no support in the tenor of the writingsthemselves; the last ought forever to be abandoned, in the absence ofany single well authenticated instance of their having been conveyed byabolitionists to slaves, or of their having been even found in theirpossession. To instigate the slaves to revolt, as the means of obtainingtheir liberty, would prove a lack of wisdom and honesty that none wouldimpute to abolitionists, except such as are unacquainted with theircharacter. Revolt would be followed by the sure destruction, not only ofall the slaves who might be concerned in it, but of multitudes of theinnocent. Moreover, the abolitionists, as a class, are religious--theyfavor peace, and stand pledged in their constitution, before the countryand heaven, to abide in peace, so far as a forcible vindication of theright of the slaves to their freedom is concerned. Further still, nosmall number of them deny the right of defence, either to individuals ornations, even when forcibly and wrongfully attacked. This disagreementamong ourselves on this single point--of which our adversaries are by nomeans ignorant, as they often throw it reproachfully in our teeth--wouldforever prevent concert in any scheme that looked to instigating servilerevolt. If there be, in all our ranks, one, who--personal danger out ofthe question--would excite the slaves to insurrection and massacre, orwho would not be swift to repeat the earliest attempt to concoct such aniniquity--I say, on my obligations as a man, he is unknown to me. 

Yet it ought not to be matter of surprise to abolitionists, that theSouth should consider them "fanatics, " "incendiaries, " "cut-throats, "and call them so too. The South has had their character reported to themby the North, by those who are their neighbors, who, it was supposed, knew, and would speak the truth, and the truth only, concerning them. Itwould, I apprehend, be unavailing for abolitionists now to enter on anyformal vindication of their character from charges that can be so easilyrepeated after every refutation. False and fraudulent as they knew themto be, they must be content to live under them till the consummation ofthe work of Freedom shall prove to the master that they have been _his_friends, as well as the friends of the slave. The mischief of thesecharges has fallen on the South--the malice is to be placed to thecredit of the North. 

"12. _Do you propagate your doctrines by any other means than oral andwritten discussions--for instance, by prints and pictures inmanufactures--say of pocket-handkerchiefs, calicoes, &c? Pray, state thevarious modes?_"

ANSWER. --Two or three years ago, an abolitionist of this city procuredto be manufactured, at his own charge, a small lot of children'spocket-handkerchiefs, impressed with anti-slavery pictures and mottoes. I have no recollection of having seen any of them but once. None such, Ibelieve, are now to be found, or I would send you a sample. If anymanufactures of the kinds mentioned, or others similar to theta, are inexistence, they have been produced independently of the agency of thissociety. It is thought that none such exist, unless the following shouldbe supposed to fall within the terms of the inquiry. Femaleabolitionists often unite in sewing societies. They meet together, usually once a week or fortnight, and labor through the afternoon, withtheir own hands, to furnish means for advancing the cause of the slave. One of the company reads passages from the Bible, or some religiousbook, whilst the others are engaged at their work. The articles theyprepare, especially if they be of the "fancy" kind, are often ornamentedwith handsomely executed emblems, underwritten with appropriate mottoes. The picture of a slave kneeling (such as you will see impressed on oneof the sheets of this letter) and supplicating in the words, "AM I NOT AMAN AND A BROTHER, " is an example. The mottoes or sentences are, however, most generally selected from the Scriptures; either appealingto human sympathy in behalf of human suffering, or breathing forth God'stender compassion for the oppressed, or proclaiming, in thunder tones, his avenging justice on the oppressor. A few quotations will show theirgeneral character:--

"Blessed is he that considereth the poor. "

"Defend the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and the needy; rid him out of the hand of the wicked. "

"Open thy mouth for the dumb, plead the cause of the poor and needy. "

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. "

"First, be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. "

"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. "

"All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even soto them. "

Again:--

"For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and himthat hath no helper. "

"The Lord looseth the prisoners; the Lord raiseth them that are boweddown; the Lord preserveth the strangers. "

"He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance tothe captives, to set at liberty them that are bruised. "'

"For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now willI arise, saith the Lord; I will set him in safety from him thatpuffeth at him. "

Again:--

"The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that areoppressed. "

"Rob not the poor because he is poor, neither oppress the afflicted inthe gate; for the Lord will plead their cause, and spoil the soul ofthose that spoiled them. "

"And I will come near to you to judgment, and I will be a swift witnessagainst those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow and thefatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fearnot me, saith the Lord of hosts. "

"Wo unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and hischambers by wrong; that useth his neighbor's service without wages, andgiveth him not for his work. "

Fairs, for the sale of articles fabricated by the hands of femaleabolitionists, and recommended by such pictures and sentences as thosequoted above, are held in many of our cities and large towns. Crowdsfrequent them to purchase; hundreds of dollars are thus realized, to beappropriated to the anti-slavery cause; and, from the cheap rate atwhich the articles are sold, vast numbers of them are scattered far andwide over the country. Besides these, if we except various drawings orpictures on _paper_, (samples of which were put up in the packages youordered a few days ago, ) such as the Slave-market in the District ofColumbia, with Members of congress attending it--views of slavery in theSouth--a Lynch court in the slave-states--the scourging of Mr. Dresserby a vigilance committee in the public square of Nashville--theplundering of the post-office in Charleston, S. C. , and the conflagrationof part of its contents, &c, &c, I am apprised of no other means ofpropagating our doctrines than by oral and written discussions. 

"13. _Are your hopes and expectations of success increased or lessenedby the events of the last year, and especially by the action of thisCongress? And will your exertions be relaxed or increased?_"

ANSWER. --The events of the last year, including the action of thepresent Congress, are of the same character with the events of theeighteen months which immediately preceded it. In the question beforeus, they may be regarded as one series. I would say, answering yourinterrogatory generally, that none of them, however unpropitious to thecause of the abolitionists they may appear, to those who look at thesubject from an opposite point to the one _they_ occupy, seem, thus far, in any degree to have lessened their hopes and expectations. The eventsalluded to have not come altogether unexpected. They are regarded as thelegitimate manifestations of slavery--necessary, perhaps, in the presentdull and unapprehensive state of the public mind as to human rights, tobe brought out and spread before the people, before they willsufficiently revolt against slavery itself. 

1. They are seen in the CHURCH, and in the practice of its individualmembers. The southern portion of the American church may now be regardedas having admitted the dogma, that _slavery is a Divine institution_. She has been forced by the anti-slavery discussion into thisposition--either to cease from slaveholding, or formally to adopt theonly alternative, that slaveholding is right. She has chosen thealternative--reluctantly, to be sure, but substantially, and, within thelast year, almost unequivocally. In defending what was dear to her, shehas been forced to cast away her garments, and thus to reveal adeformity, of which she herself, before, was scarcely aware, and theexistence of which others did not credit. So much for the action of thesouthern church as a body. --On the part of her MEMBERS, the revelationof a time-serving spirit, that not only yielded to the ferocity of themultitude, but fell in with it, may be reckoned among the events of thelast three years. Instances of this may be found in the attendance ofthe "clergy of all denominations, " at a tumultuous meeting of thecitizens of Charleston, S. C. , held in August, 1835, for the purpose ofreducing to _system_ their unlawful surveillance and control of thepost-office and mail; and in the alacrity with which they obeyed thepopular call to dissolve the Sunday-schools for the instruction of thecolored people. Also in the fact, that, throughout the whole South, church members are not only found on the Vigilance Committees, (tribunals organized in opposition to the laws of the states where theyexist, ) but uniting with the merciless and the profligate in passingsentence consigning to infamous and excruciating, if not extremepunishment, persons, by their own acknowledgment, innocent of anyunlawful act. Out of sixty persons that composed the vigilance committeewhich condemned Mr. Dresser to be scourged in the public square ofNashville, TWENTY-SEVEN were members of churches, and one of them aprofessed Teachers of Christianity. A member of the committee statedafterward, in a newspaper of which he was the editor, that Mr. D. _hadnot laid himself liable to any punishment known to the laws_. Anotherinstance is to be found in the conduct of the Rev. Wm. S. Plumer, ofVirginia. Having been absent from Richmond, when the ministers of thegospel assembled together formally to testify their abhorrence of theabolitionists, he addressed the chairman of the committee ofcorrespondence a note, in which he uses this language:--"Ifabolitionists will set the country in a blaze, it is but fair that theyshould have the first warming at the fire. "--"Let them understand, thatthey will be caught, if they come among us, and they will take good heedto keep out of our way. " Mr. P. Has no doubtful standing in thePresbyterian church with which he is connected. He has been regarded asone of its brightest ornaments. [A] To drive the slaveholding church andits members from the equivocal, the neutral position, from which theyhad so long successfully defended slavery--to compel them to elevatetheir practice to an even height with their avowed principles, or todegrade their principles to the level of their known practice, was apreliminary, necessary in the view of abolitionists, either for bringingthat part of the church into the common action against slavery, or as aground for treating it as confederate with oppressors. So far, then, asthe action of the church, or of its individual members, is to bereckoned among the events of the last two or three years, theabolitionists find in it nothing to lessen their hopes or expectations. 

[Footnote A: In the division of the General Assembly of the Presbyterianchurch, that has just taken place, Mr. Plumer has been elected Moderatorof the "Old School" portion. ]

2. The abolitionists believed, from the beginning, that the slaves ofthe South were (as slaves are everywhere) unhappy, _because of theircondition_. Their adversaries denied it, averring that, as a class, theywere "contented and happy. " The abolitionists thought that the argumentagainst slavery could be made good, so far as this point was concerned, by either _admitting_ or _denying_ the assertion. 

_Admitting_ it, they insisted, that, nothing could demonstrate theturpitude of any system more surely than the fact, that MAN--made in theimage of God--but a little lower than the angels--crowned with glory andhonor, and set over the works of God's hands--his mind sweeping in aninstant from planet to planet, from the sun of one system to the sun ofanother, even to the great centre sun of them all--contemplating themachinery of the universe "wheeling unshaken" in the awful andmysterious grandeur of its movements "through the void immense"--with aspirit delighting in upward aspiration--bounding from earth toheaven--that seats itself fast by the throne of God, to drink in theinstructions of Infinite Wisdom, or flies to execute the commands ofInfinite Goodness;--that such a being could be made "contented andhappy" with "enough to eat, and drink, and wear, " and shelter from theweather--with the base provision that satisfies the brutes, is (say theabolitionists) enough to render superfluous all other arguments for the_instant_ abandonment of a system whose appropriate work is suchinfinite wrong. 

_Denying_ that "the slaves are contented and happy, " the abolitionistshave argued, that, from the structure of his moral nature--the laws ofhis mind--man cannot be happy in the fact, that he is _enslaved_. True, he may be happy in slavery, but it is not slavery that makes him so--itis virtue and faith, elevating him above the afflictions of his lot. Theslave has a will, leading him to seek those things which the Author ofhis nature has made conducive to its happiness. In these things, thewill of the master comes in collision with his will. The slave desiresto receive the rewards of his own labor; the power of the master wreststhem from him. The slave desires to possess his wife, to whom God hasjoined him, in affection, to have the superintendence, and enjoy theservices, of the children whom God has confided to him as a parent totrain them, by the habits of the filial relation, for the yet higherrelation that they may sustain to him as their heavenly Father. But herehe is met by the opposing will of the master, pressing _his_ claims withirresistible power. The ties that heaven has sanctioned and blessed--ofhusband and wife, of parent and child--are all sundered in a moment bythe master, at the prompting of avarice or luxury or lust; and there isnone that can stay his ruthless hand, or say unto him, "What doestthou?" The slave thirsts for the pleasures of refined and elevatedintellect--the master denies to him the humblest literary acquisition. The slave pants to know something of that still higher nature that hefeels burning within him--of his present state, his future destiny, ofthe Being who made him, to whose judgment-seat he is going. The master'sinterests cry, "No!" "Such knowledge is too wonderful for you; it ishigh, you cannot attain unto it. " To predicate _happiness_ of a class ofbeings, placed in circumstances where their will is everlastinglydefeated by an irresistible power--the abolitionists say, is to provethem destitute of the sympathies of _our_ nature--not _human_. It is todeclare with the Atheist, that man is independent of the goodness of hisCreator for his enjoyments--that human happiness calls not for any ofthe appliances of his bounty--that God's throne is a nullity, himself asuperfluity. 

But, independently of any abstract reasoning drawn from the nature ofmoral and intelligent beings, FACTS have been elicited in the discussionof the point before us, proving slavery everywhere (especially Southernslavery, maintained by enlightened Protestants of the nineteenthcentury) replete with torments and horrors--the direst form ofoppression that upheaves itself before the sun. These facts have been sosuccessfully impressed on a large portion of the intelligent mind of thecountry, that the slaves of the South are beginning to be considered asthose whom God emphatically regards as the "poor, " the "needy, " the"afflicted, " the "oppressed, " the "bowed down;" and for whoseconsolation he has said, "Now will I arise--I will set him in safetyfrom him that puffeth at him. "

This state of the public mind has been brought about within the last twoor three years; and it is an event which, so far from lessening, greatlyanimates, the hopes and expectations of abolitionists. 

3. The abolitionists believed from the first, that the tendency ofslavery is to produce, on the part of the whites, looseness of morals, disdain of the wholesome restraints of law, and a ferocity of temper, found, only in solitary instances, in those countries where slavery isunknown. They were not ignorant of the fact, that this was disputed; northat the "CHIVALRY OF THE SOUTH" had become a cant phrase, including, all that is high-minded and honorable among men; nor, that it had beenformally asserted in our National legislature, that slavery, as itexists in the South, "produces the highest toned, the purest, bestorganization of society that has ever existed on the face of the earth. "Nor were the abolitionists unaware, that these pretensions, provinganything else but their own solidity, had been echoed and re-echoed solong by the unthinking and the interested of the North, that thecharacter of the South had been injuriously affected by them--till shebegan boldly to attribute her _peculiar_ superiority to her _peculiar_institution, and thus to strengthen it. All this the abolitionists sawand knew. But few others saw and understood it as they did. Therevelations of the last three years are fast dissipating the old notion, and bringing multitudes in the North to see the subject as theabolitionists see it. When "Southern Chivalry" and the _purity_ ofsouthern society are spoken of now, it is at once replied, that a largenumber of the slaves show, by their _color_, their indisputable claim towhite paternity; and that, notwithstanding their near consanguineousrelation to the whites, they are still held and treated, in allrespects, _as slaves_. Nor is it forgotten now, when the claims of theSouth to "hospitality" are pressed, to object, because they are groundedon the unpaid wages of the laborer--on the robbery of the poor. When"Southern generosity" is mentioned, the old adage, "be just before youare generous, " furnishes the reply. It is no proof of generosity (saythe objectors) to take the bread of the laborer, to lavish it inbanquetings on the rich. When "Southern Chivalry" is the theme of itsadmirers, the hard-handed, but intelligent, working man of the Northasks, if the espionage of southern hotels, and of ships and steamboatson their arrival at southern ports; if the prowl, by day and by night, for the solitary stranger suspected of sympathizing with the enslaved, that he may be delivered over to the mercies of a vigilance committee, furnishes the proof of its existence; if the unlawful importation ofslaves from Africa[A] furnishes the proof; if the abuse, the scourging, the hanging on suspicion, without law, of friendless strangers, furnishthe proof; if the summary execution of slaves and of colored freemen, almost by the score, without legal trial, furnishes the proof; if thecruelties and tortures to which _citizens_ have been exposed, and theburning to death of slaves by slow fires, [B] furnish the proof. Allthese things, says he, furnish any thing but proof of _true_hospitality, or generosity, or gallantry, or purity, or chivalry. 

[Footnote A: Mr. Mercer, of Virginia, some years ago, asserted inCongress, that "CARGOES" of African slaves were smuggled into thesouthern states to a deplorable extent. Mr. Middleton, of SouthCarolina, declared it to be his belief, that THIRTEEN THOUSAND Africanswere annually smuggled into the southern states. Mr. Wright, ofMaryland, estimated the number at FIFTEEN THOUSAND. Miss Martineau wastold in 1835, by a wealthy slaveholder of Louisiana, (who probably spokeof that state alone, ) that the annual importation of native Africans wasfrom THIRTEEN THOUSAND to FIFTEEN THOUSAND. The President of the UnitedStates, in his last Annual Message, speaking of the Navy, says, "Thelarge force under Commodore Dallas [on the West India station] has beenmost actively and efficiently employed in protecting our commerce, INPREVENTING THE IMPORTATION OF SLAVES, &c. "]

[Footnote B: Within the last few years, four slaves, and one citizen ofcolor, have been put to death in this manner, in Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, and Arkansas. ]

Certain it is, that the time when southern slavery derived countenanceat the North, from its supposed connection with "chivalry, " is rapidlypassing away. "Southern Chivalry" will soon be regarded as one of theby-gone fooleries of a less intelligent and less virtuous age. It willsoon be cast out--giving place to the more reasonable idea, that thedenial of wages to the laborer, the selling of men and women, thewhipping of husbands and wives in each others presence, to compel themto unrequited toil, the deliberate attempt to extinguish mind, and, consequently, to destroy the soul--is among the highest offences againstGod and man--unspeakably mean and ungentlemanly. 

The impression made on the minds of the people as to this matter, is oneof the events of the last two or three years that does not contribute tolessen the hopes or expectations of abolitionists. 

4. The ascendency that Slavery has acquired, and exercises, in theadministration of the government, and the apprehension now prevailingamong the sober and intelligent, irrespective of party, that it willsoon overmaster the Constitution itself, may be ranked among the eventsof the last two or three years that affect the course of abolitionists. The abolitionists regard the Constitution with unabated affection. Theyhold in no common veneration the memory of those who made it. They wouldbe the last to brand Franklin and King and Morris and Wilson and Shermanand Hamilton with the ineffaceable infamy of attempting to ingraft onthe Constitution, and therefore to _perpetuate_, a system of oppressionin absolute antagonism to its high and professed objects, one whichtheir own practice condemned, --and this, too, when they had scarcelywiped away the dust and sweat of the Revolution from their brows! Whilstabolitionists feel and speak thus of our Constitutional fathers, they donot justify the dereliction of principle into which they were betrayed, when they imparted to the work of their hands _any_ power to contributeto the continuance of such a system. They can only palliate it, bysupposing, that they thought, slavery was already a waning institution, destined soon to pass away. In their time, (1787) slaves werecomparatively of little value--there being then no great slave-laborstaple (as cotton is now) to make them profitable to their holders. [A]Had the circumstances of the country remained as they then were, slave-labor, always and every where the most expensive--would havedisappeared before the competition of free labour. They had seen, too, the principle of universal liberty, on which the Revolution wasjustified, recognised and embodied in most of the State Constitutions;they had seen slavery utterly forbidden in that of Vermont--instantaneously abolished in that of Massachusetts--and lawsenacted in the New-England States and in Pennsylvania, for its gradualabolition. Well might they have anticipated, that Justice and Humanity, now starting forth with fresh vigor, would, in their march, sweep awaythe whole system; more especially, as freedom of speech and of thepress--the legitimate abolisher not only of the acknowledged vice ofslavery, but of every other that time should reveal in our institutionsor practices--had been fully secured to the people. Again; power wasconferred on Congress to put a stop to the African slave-trade, withoutwhich it was thought, at that time, to be impossible to maintainslavery, as a system, on this continent, --so great was the havoc itcommitted on human life. Authority was also granted to Congress toprevent the transfer of slaves, as articles of commerce, from one Stateto another; and the introduction of slavery into the territories. Allthis was crowned by the power of refusing admission into the Union, toany new state, whose form of government was repugnant to the principlesof liberty set forth in that of the United States. The faithfulexecution, by Congress, of these powers, it was reasonably enoughsupposed, would, at least, prevent the growth of slavery, if it did notentirely remove it. Congress did, at the set time, execute _one_ ofthem--deemed, then, the most effectual of the whole; but, as it hasturned out, the least so. 

[Footnote A: The cultivation of cotton was almost unknown in the UnitedStates before 1787. It was not till two years afterward that it began tobe raised or exported. (See Report of the Secretary of the Treasury, Feb. 29, 1836. )--See Appendix, D. ]

The effect of the interdiction of the African slave-trade was, not todiminish the trade itself, or greatly to mitigate its horrors; it onlychanged its name from African to American--transferred the seat ofcommerce from Africa to America--its profits from African princes toAmerican farmers. Indeed, it is almost certain, if the Africanslave-trade had been left unrestrained, that slavery would not havecovered so large a portion of our country as it does now. The cheap rateat which slaves might have been imported by the planters of the south, would have prevented the rearing of them for sale, by the farmers ofMaryland, Virginia, and the other slave-selling states. If these statescould be restrained from the _commerce_ in slaves, slavery could not besupported by them for any length of time, or to any considerable extent. They could not maintain it, as an economical system, under thecompetition of free labor. It is owing to the _non-user_ by Congress, orrather to their unfaithful application of their power to the otherpoints, on which it was expected to act for the limitation orextermination of slavery, that the hopes of our fathers have not beenrealized; and that slavery has, at length, become so audacious, asopenly to challenge the principles of 1776--to trample on the mostprecious rights secured to the citizen--to menace the integrity of theUnion and the very existence of the government itself. 

Slavery has advanced to its present position by steps that were, atfirst, gradual, and, for a long time, almost unnoticed; afterward, itmade its way by intimidating or corrupting those who ought to have beenforward to resist its pretensions. Up to the time of the "MissouriCompromise, " by which the nation was wheedled out of its honor, slaverywas looked on as an evil that was finally to yield to the expanding andripening influences of our Constitutional principles and regulations. Why it has not yielded, we may easily see, by even a slight glance atsome of the incidents in our history. 

It has already been said, that we have been brought into our presentcondition by the unfaithfulness of Congress, in not _exerting_ the powervested in it, to stop the domestic slave-trade, and in the _abuse_ ofthe power of admitting "_new_ states" into the Union. Kentucky madeapplication in 1792, with a slave-holding Constitution in herhand. --With what a mere _technicality_ Congress suffered itself to bedrugged into torpor:--_She was part of one of the "Original States"--andtherefore entitled to all their privileges. _

One precedent established, it was easy to make another. Tennessee wasadmitted in 1796, without scruple, on the same ground. 

The next triumph of slavery was in 1803, in the purchase of Louisiana, acknowledged afterward, even by Mr. Jefferson who made it, to beunauthorized by the Constitution--and in the establishment of slaverythroughout its vast limits, actually and substantially under theauspices of that instrument which declares its only objects to be--"toform a more perfect union, establish JUSTICE, insure DOMESTICTRANQUILITY, provide for the common defence, promote the generalwelfare, and secure the blessings of LIBERTY to ourselves and ourposterity. "[A]

[Footnote A: It may be replied, The colored people were held as_property_ by the laws of Louisiana previously to the cession, and thatCongress had no right to divest the newly acquired citizens of theirproperty. This statement is evasive. It does not include, nor touch thequestion, which is this:--Had Congress, or the treaty-making power, aright to recognise, and, by recognising, to establish, in a territorythat had no claim of privilege, on the ground of being part of one ofthe "Original States, " a condition of things that it could not establish_directly_, because there was no grant in the constitution of power, direct or incidental, to do so--and because, _to do so_, was indownright oppugnancy to the principles of the Constitution itself? Thequestion may be easily answered by stating the following case:--Supposea law had existed in Louisiana, previous to the cession, by which thechildren--male and female--of all such parents as were not owners ofreal estate of the yearly value of $500, had been--no matter howlong--held in slavery by their more wealthy land-holdingneighbors:--would Congress, under the Constitution, have a right (byrecognising) to establish, for ever, such a relation as one whiteperson, under such a law, might hold to another? Surely not. And yet nosubstantial difference between the two cases can be pointed out. ]

In this case, the violation of the Constitution was suffered to passwith but little opposition, except from Massachusetts, because we werecontent to receive in exchange, multiplied commercial benefits andenlarged territorial limits. 

The next stride that slavery made over the Constitution was in theadmission of the State of Louisiana into the Union. _She_ could claim nofavor as part of an "Original State. " At this point, it might have beensupposed, the friends of Freedom and of the Constitution according toits original intent, would have made a stand. But no: with the exceptionof Massachusetts, they hesitated and were persuaded to acquiesce, because the country was just about entering into a war with England, andthe crisis was unpropitious for discussing questions that would createdivisions between different sections of the Union. We must wait till thecountry was at peace. Thus it was that Louisiana was admitted without acontroversy. 

Next followed, in 1817 and 1820, Mississippi and Alabama--admitted afterthe example of Kentucky and Tennessee, without any contest. 

Meantime, Florida had given some uneasiness to the slaveholders of theneighboring states; and for their accommodation chiefly, a negociationwas set on foot by the government to purchase it. 

Missouri was next in order in 1821. She could plead no privilege, on thescore of being part of one of the original states; the country too, wasrelieved from the pressure of her late conflict with England; it wasprosperous and quiet; every thing seemed propitious to a calm anddispassionate consideration of the claims of slaveholders to add propsto their system, by admitting indefinitely, new slave states to theUnion. Up to this time, the "EVIL" of slavery had been almostuniversally acknowledged and deplored by the South, and its termination(apparently) sincerely hoped for. [A] By this management its friendssucceeded in blinding the confiding people of the North. They thoughtfor the most part, that the slaveholders were acting in good faith. Itis not intended by this remark, to make the impression, that the Southhad all along pressed the admission of new slave states, simply with aview to the increase of its own relative power. By no means: slavery hadinsinuated itself into favor because of its being mixed up with (other)supposed benefits--and because its ultimate influence on the governmentwas neither suspected nor dreaded. But, on the Missouri question, therewas a fair trial of strength between the friends of Slavery and thefriends of the Constitution. The former triumphed, and by the primeagency of one whose raiment, the remainder of his days, ought to besackcloth and ashes, --because of the disgrace he has continued on thename of his country, and the consequent injury that he has inflicted onthe cause of Freedom throughout the world. Although all the differentAdministrations, from the first organization of the government, had, inthe indirect manner already mentioned, favored slavery, --there had notbeen on any previous occasion, a direct struggle between its pretensionsand the principles of liberty ingrafted on the Constitution. The friendsof the latter were induced to believe, whenever they should be arrayedagainst each other, that _theirs_ would be the triumph. Tremendouserror! Mistake almost fatal! The battle was fought. Slavery emerged fromit unhurt--her hands made gory--her bloody plume still floating in theair--exultingly brandishing her dripping sword over her prostrate andvanquished enemy. She had won all for which she fought. Her victory wascomplete--THE SANCTION OF THE NATION WAS GIVEN TO SLAVERY![B]

[Footnote A: Mr. Clay, in conducting the Missouri compromise, found itnecessary to argue, that the admission of Missouri, as a slaveholdingstate, would aid in bringing about the termination of slavery. Hisargument is thus stated by Mr. Sergeant, who replied to him:--"In thislong view of remote and distant consequences, the gentleman fromKentucky (Mr. Clay) thinks he sees how slavery, when thus spread, is atlast to find its end. It is to be brought about by the combinedoperation of the laws which regulate the price of labor, and the lawswhich govern population. When the country shall be filled withinhabitants, and the price of labor shall have reached a minimum, (acomparative minimum I suppose is meant, ) free labor will be foundcheaper than slave labor. Slaves will then be without employment, and, of course, without the means of comfortable subsistence, which willreduce their numbers, and finally extirpate them. This is the argumentas I understand it, " says Mr. Sergeant; and, certainly, one morechimerical or more inhuman could not have been urged. ]

[Footnote B: See Appendix, E. ]

Immediately after this achievement, the slaveholding interest was stillmore strongly fortified by the acquisition of Florida, and theestablishment of slavery there, as it had already been in the territoryof Louisiana. The Missouri triumph, however, seems to have extinguishedevery thing like a systematic or spirited opposition, on the part of thefree states, to the pretensions of the slaveholding South. 

Arkansas was admitted but the other day, with nothing that deserves tobe called an effort to prevent it--although her Constitution attempts to_perpetuate_ slavery, by forbidding the master to emancipate his bondmenwithout the consent of the Legislature, and the Legislature without theconsent of the master. Emboldened, but not satisfied, with their successin every political contest with the people of the free states, theslaveholders are beginning now to throw off their disguise--to brandtheir former notions about the "_evil_, political and moral" of slavery, as "folly and delusion, "[A]--and as if to "make assurance double sure, "and defend themselves forever, by territorial power, against theprogress of Free principles and the renovation of the Constitution, theynow demand openly--scorning to conceal that their object is, to _advanceand establish their political power in the country_, --that Texas, aforeign state, five or six times as large as all New England, with aConstitution dyed as deep in slavery, as that of Arkansas, shall beadded to the Union. 

[Footnote A: Mr. Calhoun is reported, in the National Intelligencer, ashaving used these words in a speech delivered in the Senate, the 10thday of January:--

"Many in the South once believed that it [slavery] was a moral andpolitical evil; that folly and delusion are gone. We see it now in itstrue light, and regard it as the most safe and stable basis for freeinstitutions in the world. "

Mr. Hammond, formerly a Representative in Congress from South Carolina, delivered a speech (Feb. 1, 1836) on the question of receiving petitionsfor the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. In answeringthose who objected to a slaveholding country, that it was "assimilatedto an aristocracy, " he says--"In this they are right. I accept theterms. _It is a government of the best. _ Combining all the advantages, and possessing but few of the disadvantages, of the aristocracy of theold world--without fostering, to an unwarrantable extent, the pride, theexclusiveness, the selfishness, the thirst for sway, the contempt forthe rights of others, which distinguish the nobility of Europe--it givesus their education, their polish, their munificence, their high honor, their undaunted spirit. Slavery does indeed create an aristocracy--anaristocracy of talents, of virtue, of generosity, of courage. In a slavecountry, every freeman is an aristocrat. Be he rich or poor, if he doesnot possess a single slave, he has been born to all the naturaladvantages of the society in which he is placed; and all its honors lieopen before him, inviting his genius and industry. Sir, I do firmlybelieve, that domestic slavery, regulated as ours is, produces thehighest toned, the purest, best organization of society, that has everexisted on the face of the earth. "

That this _retraxit_ of former _follies and delusions_ is not confinedto the mere politician, we have the following proofs:--

The CHARLESTON (S. C. ) UNION PRESBYTERY--"Resolved. That in the opinionof this Presbytery, the holding of slaves, so far from being a sin inthe sight of God, is nowhere condemned in his holy word; that it is inaccordance with the example, or consistent with the precepts, ofpatriarchs, prophets, and apostles; and that it is compatible with themost fraternal regard to the good of the servants whom God has committedto our charge. "--Within the last few months, as we learn from a late No. Of the Charleston Courier, the late Synod of the Presbyterian Church, inAugusta, (Ga. ) passed resolutions declaring "That slavery is a CIVILINSTITUTION, with which the General Assembly [the highest ecclesiasticaltribunal] has NOTHING TO DO. "

Again:--The CHARLESTON BAPTIST ASSOCIATION, in a memorial to theLegislature of South Carolina, say--"The undersigned would furtherrepresent, that the said Association does not consider that the HolyScriptures have made the FACT of slavery a question of morals at all. "And further, --"The right of masters to dispose of the time of theirslaves, has been distinctly recognised by the Creator of all things. "

Again:--The EDGEFIELD (S. C. ) ASSOCIATION--"Resolved, That the practicalquestion of slavery, in a country where the system has obtained as apart of its stated policy, is settled in the Scriptures by Jesus Christand his apostles. " "Resolved, That these uniformly recognised therelation of master and slave, and enjoined on both their respectiveduties, under a system of servitude more degrading and absolute thanthat which obtains in our country. "

Again we find, in a late No. Of the Charleston Courier, the following:--

"THE SOUTHERN CHURCH. --The Georgia Conference of the Methodist EpiscopalChurch, at a recent meeting in Athens, passed resolutions, declaringthat slavery, as it exists in the United States, is not a moral evil, and is a civil and domestic institution, with which Christian ministershave nothing to do, further than to meliorate the condition of theslave, by endeavoring to impart to him and his master the benigninfluence of the religion of Christ, and aiding both on their wayto heaven. "]

The abolitionists feel a deep regard for the integrity and union of thegovernment, _on the principles of the Constitution_. Therefore it is, that they look with earnest concern on the attempt now making by theSouth, to do, what, in the view of multitudes of our citizens, wouldamount to good cause for the separation of the free from the slavestates. Their concern is not mingled with any feelings of despair. Thealarm they sounded on the "annexation" question has penetrated the freestates; it will, in all probability, be favorably responded to by everyone of them; thus giving encouragement to our faith, that the admissionof Texas will be successfully resisted, --that this additional stain willnot be impressed on our national escutcheon, nor this additional perilbrought upon the South. [A]

[Footnote A: See Appendix, F. ]

This, the present condition of the country, induced by a long train ofusurpations on the part of the South, and by unworthy concessions to itby the North, may justly be regarded as one of the events of the lastfew years affecting in some way, the measures of the abolitionists. Ithas certainly done so. And whilst it is not to be denied, that manyabolitionists feel painful apprehensions for the result, it has onlyroused them up to make more strenuous efforts for the preservation ofthe country. 

It may be replied--if the abolitionists are such firm friends of theUnion, why do they persist in what must end in its rupture anddissolution? The abolitionists, let it be repeated _are_ friends of_the_ Union that was intended by the Constitution; but not of a Unionfrom which is eviscerated, to be trodden under foot, the right toSPEAK, --to PRINT--to PETITION, --the rights of CONSCIENCE; not of a Unionwhose ligaments are whips, where the interest of the oppressor is the_great_ interest, the right to oppress the _paramount_ right. It isagainst the distortion of the glorious Union our fathers left us intoone bound with despotic bands that the abolitionists are contending. Inthe political aspect of the question, they have nothing to ask, exceptwhat the Constitution authorizes--no change to desire, but that theConstitution may be restored to its pristine republican purity. 

But they have well considered the "dissolution of the Union. " There isno just ground for apprehending that such a measure will ever beresorted to by the _South_. It is by no means intended by this, toaffirm, that the South, like a spoiled child, for the first time deniedsome favourite object, may not fall into sudden frenzy and do herselfsome great harm. But knowing as I do, the intelligence and forecast ofthe leading men of the South--and believing that they will, if ever sucha crisis should come, be judiciously influenced by the _existing_ stateof the case, and by the _consequences_ that would inevitably flow froman act of dissolution--they would not, I am sure, deem it desirable orpolitic. They would be brought, in their calmer moments, to coincidewith one who has facetiously, but not the less truly remarked, that itwould be as indiscreet in the slave South to separate from the freeNorth, as for the poor, to separate from the parish that supported them. In support of this opinion, I would say:

First--A dissolution of the Union by the South would, in no manner, secure to her the object she has in view. --The _leaders_ at the South, both in the church and in the state, must, by this time, be too wellinformed as to the nature of the anti-slavery movement, and thecharacter of those engaged in it, to entertain fears that, violence ofany kind will be resorted to, directly or indirectly. [A] The wholecomplaint of the South is neither more nor less than this--THE NORTHTALKS ABOUT SLAVERY. Now, of all the means or appliances that could bedevised, to give greater life and publicity to the discussion ofslavery, none could be half so effectual as the dissolution of the Union_because of the discussion_. It would astonish the civilized world--theywould inquire into the cause of such a remarkable event in itshistory;--the result would be not only enlarged _discussion_ of thewhole subject, but it would bring such a measure of contempt on theguilty movers of the deed, that even with all the advantages of "theireducation, their polish, their munificence, their high honor, theirundaunted spirit, " so eloquently set forth by the Hon. Mr. Hammond, theywould find it hard to withstand its influence. It is difficult for menin a _good_ cause, to maintain their steadfastness in opposition to anextensively corrupt public sentiment; in a _bad_ one, against publicsentiment purified and enlightened, next to impossible, if not quite so. 

[Footnote A: "It is not, " says Mr. Calhoun, "that we expect theabolitionists will resort to arms--will commence a crusade to deliverour slaves by force. "--"Let me tell our friends of the South, who differfrom us, that the war which the abolitionists wage against us is of avery different character, and _far more effective_. It is waged, notagainst our lives, but our character. " More correctly, Mr. C. Might havesaid against a _system_, with which the slaveholders have chosen toinvolve their characters, and which they have determined to defend, atthe hazard of losing them. ]

Another result would follow the dissolution:--_Now_, the abolitionistsfind it difficult, by reason of the odium which the principalslaveholders and their friends have succeeded in attaching to their_name_, to introduce a knowledge of their principles and measures intothe great mass of southern mind. There are multitudes at the South whowould co-operate with us, if they could be informed of our aim. [A] Now, we cannot reach them--then, it would be otherwise. The united power ofthe large slaveholders would not be able longer to keep them inignorance. If the Union were dissolved, they _would_ know the cause, anddiscuss it, and condemn it. 

[Footnote A: There is abundant evidence of this. Our limits confine usto the following, from the first No. Of the Southern Literary Journal, (Charleston, S. C. ):--"There are _many good men even among us_, who havebegun to grow _timid_. They think, that what the virtuous andhigh-minded men of the North look upon as a crime and a plague-spot, cannot be perfectly innocent or quite harmless in a slaveholdingcommunity. "

This, also, from the North Carolina Watchman:--

"It (the abolition party) is the growing party at the North. We areinclined to believe that there is even more of it at the South thanprudence will permit to be openly avowed. "

"It is well known, Mr. Speaker, that there is a LARGE, RESPECTABLE andINTELLIGENT PARTY in Kentucky, who will exert every nerve and spare noefforts to dislodge the subsisting rights to our Slave population, oralter in some manner, and to some extent, at least, the tenure by whichthat species of property is held. "--_Speech of the Hon. James T. Morehead in the Kentucky Legislature, last winter_. ]

A second reason why the South will not dissolve the Union is, that shewould be exposed to the visitation of _real_ incendiaries, exciting herslaves to revolt. Now, it would cover any one with infamy, who wouldstir them up to vindicate their rights by the massacre of their masters. Dissolve the Union, and the candidates for "GLORY" would find in theplains of Carolina and Louisiana as inviting a theatre for theirenterprise, as their prototypes, the Houstons, the Van Rennsselaers, andthe Sutherlands did, in the prairies of Texas or the forests of Canada. 

A third reason why the South will not dissolve is, that the slaves wouldleave their masters and take refuge in the free states. The South wouldnot be able to establish a _cordon_ along her wide frontier sufficientlystrong to prevent it. Then, the slaves could not be reclaimed, as theynow are, under the Constitution. Some may say, the free states would notpermit them to come in and dwell among them. --Believe it not. The factof separation on the ground supposed, would abolitionize the wholeNorth. Beside this, in an economical point of view, the _demand forlabor_ in the Western States would make their presence welcome. At allevents, a passage through the Northern States to Canada would not bedenied them. 

A fourth reason why the South will not dissolve is, that a large numberof her most steady and effective population would emigrate to the freestates. In the slave-_selling_ states especially, there has always beena class who have consented to remain there with their families, only inthe hope that slavery would, in some way or other, be terminated. I donot say they are abolitionists, for many of them are slaveholders. Itmay be, too, that such would expect compensation for their slaves, should they be emancipated, and also that they should be sent out of thecountry. The particular mode of emancipation, however crude it may be, that has occupied their minds, has nothing to do with the point beforeus. _They look for emancipation--in this hope they have remained, andnow remain, where they are_. Take away this hope, by making slavery the_distinctive bond of union_ of a new government, and you drive them tothe North. These persons are not among the rich, the voluptuous, theeffeminate; nor are they the despised, the indigent, thethriftless--they are men of moderate property, of intelligence, ofconscience--in every way the "bone and sinew" of the South. 

A fifth reason why the South will not dissolve, is her _weakness_. It isa remarkable fact, that in modern times, and in the Christian world, allslaveholding countries have been united with countries that are free. Thus, the West Indian and Mexican and South American slaveholdingcolonies were united to England, France, Spain, Portugal, and otherstates of Europe. If England (before her Emancipation Act) and theothers had at any time withdrawn the protection of their _power_ fromtheir colonies, slavery would have been extinguished almostsimultaneously with the knowledge of the fact. In the West Indies therecould have been no doubt of this, from the disparity in numbers betweenthe whites and the slaves, from the multiplied attempts made from timeto time by the latter to vindicate their rights by insurrection, andfrom the fact, that all their insurrections had to be suppressed by the_force_ of the mother country. As soon as Mexico and the South Americancolonies dissolved their connexion with Spain, slavery was abolished inevery one of them. This may, I know, be attributed to the necessityimposed on these states, by the wars in which they engaged to establishtheir independence. However this may be--the _fact_ still remains. Thefree states of this Union are to the slave, so far as the maintenance ofslavery is concerned, substantially, in the relation of the Europeanstates to their slaveholding colonies. Slavery, in all probability, could not be maintained by the South disjoined from the North, a singleyear. So far from there existing any reason for making the South anexception, in this particular, to other slave countries, there arecircumstances in her condition that seem to make her dependence morecomplete. Two of them are, the superior intelligence of her slaves onthe subject of human rights, and the geographical connexion of the slaveregion in the United States. In the West Indies, in Mexico and SouthAmerica the great body of the slaves were far below the slaves of thiscountry in their intellectual and moral condition--and, in the former, their power to act in concert was weakened by the insular fragments intowhich they were divided. 

Again, the depopulation of the South of large numbers of its whiteinhabitants, from the cause mentioned under the fourth head, would, itis apprehended, bring the two classes to something like a numericalequality. Now, consider the present state of the moral sentiment of theChristianized and commercial world in relation to slavery; add to it theimpulse that this sentiment, acknowledged by the South already to bewholly opposed to her, would naturally acquire by an act of separationon her part, with a single view to the perpetuation of slavery; bringthis sentiment in all its accumulation and intensity to act upon anation where one half are enslavers, the other the enslaved--and whatmust be the effect? From the nature of mind; from the laws of moralinfluence, (which are as sure in their operation, if not so wellunderstood, as the laws of physical influence, ) the party "whoseconscience with injustice is oppressed, " must become dispirited, weakened in courage, and in the end unnerved and contemptible. On theother hand, the sympathy that would be felt for the oppressed--thecomfort they would receive--the encouragement that would be given themto assert their rights, would make it an impossibility, to keep them inslavish peace and submission. 

This state of things would be greatly aggravated by the peculiarlymorbid sensitiveness of the South to every thing that is supposed totouch her _character_. Her highest distinction would then become hermost troublesome one. How, for instance, could her chivalrous sons bearto be taunted, wherever they went, on business or for pleasure, out oftheir own limits, with the cry "the knights of the lash!" "Go home andpay your laborers!" "Cease from the scourging of husbands and wives ineach others presence--from attending the shambles, to sell or buy asslaves those whom God has made of the same blood with yourselves--yourbrethren--your sisters! Cease, high minded sons of the 'ANCIENTDOMINION, ' from estimating your revenue by the number of children yourear, to sell in the flesh market!" "Go home and pay your laborers!" "Gohome and pay your laborers!" This would be a trial to which "southernchivalry" could not patiently submit. Their "high honor, " their"undaunted spirit" would impel them to the field--only to prove that the"last resort" requires something more substantial than mere "honor" and"spirit" to maintain it. Suppose there should be a disagreement--as inall likelihood there soon would, leading to war between the North andthe South? The North would scarcely have occasion to march a squadron tothe field. She would have an army that could be raised up by themillion, at the fireside of her enemy. It has been said, that during thelate war with England, it was proposed to her cabinet, by someenterprising officers, to land five thousand men on the coast of SouthCarolina and proclaim liberty to the slates. The success of the schemewas well thought of. But then the example! England herself held nearly amillion of slaves at no greater distance from the scene of action thanthe West Indies. _Now_, a restraint of this kind on such a scheme doesnot exist. 

It seems plain beyond the power of argument to make it plainer, that aslaveholding nation--one under the circumstances in which the Southseparated from the North would be placed--must be at the mercy of everyfree people having neither power to vindicate a right nor avengea wrong. [A]

[Footnote A: Governor Hayne, of South Carolina, spoke in high terms, afew years ago, of the ability that the South would possess, in amilitary point of view, because her great wealth would enable her, atall times, to command the services of mercenary troops. Without stoppingto dispute with him, as to her comparative wealth, I would remark, thathe seemed entirely to have overlooked this truth--that whenever agovernment is under the necessity of calling in foreign troops, to keepin subjection one half of the people, the power of the government hasalready passed into the hands of the _Protectors_. They can and will, ofcourse, act with whichever party will best subserve their purpose. ]

A sixth reason why the South will not dissolve the Union, is found inthe difficulty of bringing about an _actual_ separation. Preparatory tosuch a movement, it would seem indispensable, that _Union_ among theseceding states themselves should be secured. A General Convention wouldbe necessary to adjust its terms. This would, of course, be preceded by_particular_ conventions in the several states. To this procedure thesame objection applies, that has been made, for the last two or threeyears, to holding an anti-abolition convention in the South:--It wouldgive to the _question_ such notoriety, that the object of holding theconvention could not be concealed from the slaves. The more sagacious inthe South have been opposed to a convention; nor have they beeninfluenced solely by the consideration just mentioned--which, in myview, is but of little moment--but by the apprehension, that thediversity of sentiment which exists among the slave states, themselves, in relation to the _system_, would be disclosed to the country; and thatthe slaveholding interest would be found deficient in that harmonywhich, from its perfectness heretofore, has made the slaveholders sosuccessful in their action on the North. 

The slaveholding region may be divided into the _farming_ and the_planting_--or the slave-_selling_ and the slave-_buying_ districts. Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri and East Tennessee constitute thefirst. West Tennessee is somewhat equivocal. All the states south ofTennessee belong to the slave-_buying_ district. The first, with but fewexceptions, have from the earliest times, felt slavery a reproach totheir good name--an encumbrance on their advancement--at some period, tobe cast off. This sentiment, had it been at all encouraged by the actionof the General Government, in accordance with the views of theconvention that formed the Constitution, would, in all probability, bythis time, have brought slavery in Maryland and Virginia to an end. Notwithstanding the easy admission of slave states into the Union, andthe _yielding_ of the free states whenever they were brought incollision with the South, have had a strong tendency to persuade the_farming_ slave states to continue their system, yet the sentiment infavor of emancipation in some form, still exists among them. Proof, encouraging proof of this, is found in the present attitude of Kentucky. Her legislature has just passed a law, proposing to the people, to holda convention to alter the constitution. In the discussion of the bill, slavery as connected with some form of emancipation, seems to haveconstituted the most important element. The public journals too, thatare _opposed_ to touching the subject at all, declare that the mainobject for recommending a convention was, to act on slavery insome way. 

Now, it would be in vain for the _planting_ South to expect, thatKentucky or any other of the _farming_ slave states would unite withher, in making slavery the _perpetual bond_ of a new politicalorganization. If they feel the inconveniences of slavery _in theirpresent condition_, they could not be expected to enter on another, where these inconveniences would be inconceivably multiplied andaggravated, and, by the very terms of their new contract, _perpetuated_. 

This letter is already so protracted, that I cannot stop here to developmore at large this part of the subject. To one acquainted with the stateof public sentiment, in what I have called, the _farming_ district, itneeds no further development. There is not one of these states embracedin it, that would not, when brought to the test, prefer the privilegesof the Union to the privilege of perpetual slaveholding. And if thereshould turn out to be a single _desertion_ in this matter, the wholeproject of secession must come to nought. 

But laying aside all the obstacles to union among the seceding states, how is it possible to take the first step to _actual_ separation! Theseparation, at the worst, can only be _political_. There will be nochasm--no rent made in the earth between the two sections. The naturaland ideal boundaries will remain unaltered. Mason and Dixon's line willnot become a wall of adamant that can neither be undermined norsurmounted. The Ohio river will not be converted into flame, or intoanother Styx, denying a passage to every living thing. 

Besides this stability of natural things, the multiform interests of thetwo sections would, in the main, continue as they are. The complicateties of commerce could not be suddenly unloosed. The breadstuffs, thebeef, the pork, the turkies, the chickens, the woollen and cottonfabrics, the hats, the shoes, the socks, the "_horn flints and barknutmegs_, "[A] the machinery, the sugar-kettles, the cotton-gins, theaxes, the hoes, the drawing-chains of the North, would be as much neededby the South, the day after the separation as the day before. Thenewspapers of the North--its Magazines, its Quarterlies, its Monthlies, would be more sought after by the readers of the South than they noware; and the Southern journals would become doubly interesting to us. There would be the same lust for our northern summers and your southernwinters, with all their health-giving influences; and last, though notleast, the same desire of marrying and of being given in marriage thatnow exists between the North and South. Really it is difficult to say_where_ this long threatened separation is to _begin_; and if the placeof beginning could be found, it would seem like a poor exchange for theSouth, to give up all these pleasant and profitable relations andconnections for the privilege of enslaving an equal number of theirfellow-creatures. 

[Footnote A: Senator Preston's Railroad Speech, delivered at Colombia, S. C. , in 1836. ]

Thus much for the menace, that the "UNION WILL BE DISSOLVED" unless thediscussion of the slavery question be stopped. 

But you may reply, "Do you think the South is not in earnest in herthreat of dissolving the Union?" I rejoin, by no means;--yet she pursuesa perfectly reasonable course (leaving out of view the justice ormorality of it)--just such a course as I should expect she would pursue, emboldened as she must be by her multiplied triumphs over the North bythe use of the same weapon. "We'll dissolve the Union!" was the cry, "unless Missouri be admitted!!" The North were frightened, and Missouriwas admitted with SLAVERY engraved on her forehead. "We'll dissolve theUnion!" unless the Indians be driven out of the South!! The North forgother treaties, parted with humanity, and it is done--the defencelessIndians are forced to "consent" to be driven out, or they are left, undefended, to the mercies of southern land-jobbers and gold-hunters. "We'll dissolve the Union! If the Tariff" [established at her ownsuggestion] "be not repealed or modified so that our slave-labor maycompete with your free-labor. " The Tariff is accordingly modified tosuit the South. "We'll dissolve the Union!" unless the freedom of speechand the press be put down in the North!!--With the promptness ofcommission-merchants, the alternative is adopted. Public assemblies metfor deliberation are assailed and broken up at the North; her citizensare stoned and beaten and dragged through the streets of her cities; herpresses are attacked by mobs, instigated and led on by men of influenceand character; whilst those concerned in conducting them are compelledto fly from their homes, pursued as if they were noxious wild beasts;or, if they remain to defend, they are sacrificed to appease thesouthern divinity. "We'll dissolve the Union" if slavery be abolished inthe District of Columbia! The North, frightened from her propriety, declares that slavery ought not to be abolished there NOW. --"We'lldissolve the Union!" if you read petitions from your constituents forits abolition, or for stopping the slave-trade at the Capital, orbetween the states. FIFTY NORTHERN REPRESENTATIVES respond to the cry, "down, then, with the RIGHT OF PETITION!!" All these assaults havesucceeded because the North has been frightened by the war-cry, "WE'LLDISSOLVE THE UNION!"

After achieving so much by a process so simple, why should not the Southpersist in it when striving for further conquests? No other course oughtto be expected from her, till this has failed. And it is not at allimprobable, that she will persist, till she almost persuades herselfthat she is serious in her menace to dissolve the Union. She may in hereagerness, even approach so near the verge of dissolution, that theearth may give way under her feet and she be dashed in ruins in thegulf below. 

Nothing will more surely arrest her fury, than the firm array of theNorth, setting up anew the almost forgotten principles of our fathers, and saying to the "dark spirit of slavery, "--"thus far shalt thou go, and no farther. " This is the best--the only--means of saving the Southfrom the fruits of her own folly--folly that has been so long, and sostrangely encouraged by the North, that it has grown into intolerablearrogance--down right presumption. 

There are many other "events" of the last two or three years which have, doubtless, had their influence on the course of the abolitionists--andwhich might properly be dwelt upon at considerable length, were it notthat this communication is already greatly protracted beyond itsintended limits. I shall, therefore, in mentioning the remaining topics, do little more than enumerate them. 

The Legislature of Vermont has taken a decided stand in favor ofanti-slavery principles and action. In the Autumn of 1836, the followingresolutions were passed by an almost unanimous vote in both houses:--

"Resolved, By the General Assembly of the State of Vermont, That neitherCongress nor the State Governments have any constitutional right toabridge the free expressions of opinions, or the transmission of themthrough the medium of the public mails. "

"Resolved, That Congress do possess the power to abolish slavery in theDistrict of Columbia. "

"Resolved, That His Excellency, the Governor, be requested to transmit acopy of the foregoing resolutions to the Executive of each of theStates, and to each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress. "

At the session held in November last, the following joint resolutions, preceded by a decisive memorial against the admission of Texas, werepassed by both branches--with the exception of the _fifth_ which waspassed only by the House of Representatives:--

1. Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives, That ourSenators in Congress be instructed, and our Representatives requested, to use their influence in that body to prevent the annexation of Texasto the Union. 

2. Resolved, That, representing, as we do, the people of Vermont, we dohereby, in their name, SOLEMNLY PROTEST against such annexation inany form. 

3. Resolved, That, as the Representatives of the people of Vermont, wedo solemnly protest against the admission, into this Union, of any statewhose constitution tolerates domestic slavery. 

4. Resolved, That Congress have full power, by the Constitution, toabolish slavery and the slave-trade in the District of Columbia and inthe territories of the United States. 

[5. Resolved, That Congress has the constitutional power to prohibit theslave-trade between the several states of this Union, and to make suchlaws as shall effectually prohibit such trade. ]

6. Resolved, That our Senators in Congress be instructed, and ourRepresentatives requested, to present the foregoing Report andResolutions to their respective Houses in Congress, and use theirinfluence to carry the same speedily into effect. 

7. Resolved, That the Governor of this State be requested to transmit acopy of the foregoing Report and Resolutions to the President of theUnited States, and to each of our Senators and Representativesin Congress. 

The influence of anti-slavery principles in Massachusetts has becomedecisive, if we are to judge from the change of sentiment in thelegislative body. The governor of that commonwealth saw fit to introduceinto his inaugural speech, delivered in January, 1836, a severe censureof the abolitionists, and to intimate that they were guilty of anoffence punishable at common law. This part of the speech was referredto a joint committee of five, of which a member of the senate waschairman. To the same committee were also referred communications whichhad been received by the governor from several of the legislatures ofthe slaveholding states, requesting the Legislature of Massachusetts toenact laws, making it PENAL for citizens of that state to form societiesfor the abolition of slavery, or to speak or publish sentiments such ashad been uttered in anti-slavery meetings and published in anti-slaverytracts and papers. The managers of the Massachusetts Anti-SlaverySociety, in a note addressed to the chairman of the committee, requestedpermission, as a party whose rights were drawn in question, to appearbefore it. This was granted. The gentlemen selected by them to appear ontheir behalf were of unimpeachable character, and distinguished forprofessional merit and general literary and scientific intelligence. Such was _then_ the unpopularity of abolitionism, that notwithstandingthe personal influence of these gentlemen, they were ill--not to sayrudely--treated, especially by the chairman of the committee; so muchso, that respect for themselves, and the cause they were deputed todefend, persuaded them to desist before they had completed theirremarks. A Report, including Resolutions unfavorable to theabolitionists was made, of which the following is a copy:--

The Joint Special Committee, to whom was referred so much of thegovernor's message as related to the abolition of slavery, together withcertain documents upon the same subject, communicated to the Executiveby the several Legislatures of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, transmitted by his Excellency to the Legislature, and hereunto annexed, have considered the same, and ask leave, respectfully, to submit the following:--

Resolved, That this Legislature distinctly disavow any right whatever initself, or in the citizens of this commonwealth, to interfere in theinstitution of domestic slavery in the southern states: it havingexisted therein before the establishment of the Constitution; it havingbeen recognised by that instrument; and it being strictly within theirown keeping. 

Resolved, That this Legislature, regarding the agitation of the questionof domestic slavery as having already interrupted the friendly relationswhich ought to exist between the several states of this Union, and astending permanently to injure, if not altogether to subvert, theprinciples of the Union itself; and believing that the good effected bythose who excite its discussion in the non-slaveholding states is, underthe circumstances of the case, altogether visionary, while the immediateand future evil is great and certain; does hereby express its entiredisapprobation of the doctrine upon this subject avowed, and the generalmeasures pursued by such as agitate the question; and does earnestlyrecommend to them carefully to abstain from all such discussion, and allsuch measures, as may tend to disturb and irritate the public mind. 

The report was laid on the table, whence it was not taken up during thesession--its friends being afraid of a lean majority on its passage; forthe _alarm_ had already been taken by many of the members who otherwisewould have favored it. From this time till the election in thesucceeding autumn, the subject was much agitated in Massachusetts. Theabolitionists again petitioned the Legislature at its session begun inJanuary, 1837; especially, that it should remonstrate against theresolution of Mr. Hawes, adopted by the House of Representatives inCongress, by which all memorials, &c, in relation to slavery were laid, and to be laid, on the table, without further action on them. Theabolitionists were again heard, in behalf of their petitions, before theproper committee. [A] The result was, the passage of the followingresolutions with only 16 dissenting voices to 378, in the House ofRepresentatives, and in the Senate with not more than one or twodissentients on any one of them:--

[Footnote A: The gentleman who had been chairman of the committee thepreceding year, was supposed, in consequence of the change in publicopinion in relation to abolitionists, to have injured his politicalstanding too much, even to be nominated as a candidate for re-election. ]

 "Whereas, The House of Representatives of the United States, in the month of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven, did adopt a resolution, whereby it was ordered that all petitions, memorials, resolutions, propositions, or papers, relating in any way, or to any extent whatever, to the subject of slavery, or the abolition of slavery, without being either printed or referred, should be laid upon the table, and that no further action whatever should be had thereon; and whereas such a disposition of petitions, then or thereafter to be received, is a virtual denial of the right itself; and whereas, by the resolution aforesaid, which is adopted as a standing rule in the present House of Representatives, the petitions of a large number of the people of this commonwealth, praying for the removal of a great social, moral, and political evil, have been slighted and contemned: therefore, --

 Resolved, That the resolution above named is an assumption of power and authority at variance with the spirit and intent of the Constitution of the United States, and injurious to the cause of freedom and free institutions; that it does violence to the inherent, absolute, and inalienable rights of man; and that it tends, essentially, to impair those fundamental principles of natural justice and natural law which are antecedent to any written constitutions of government, independent of them all, and essential to the security of freedom in a state. 

 Resolved, That our Senators and Representatives in Congress, in maintaining and advocating the right of petition, have entitled themselves to the cordial approbation of the people of this commonwealth. 

 Resolved, That Congress, having exclusive legislation in the District of Columbia, possess the right to abolish slavery in said district, and that its exercise should only be restrained by a regard to the public good. "

That you may yourself, judge what influence the abolition questionexercised in the elections in Massachusetts _last_ autumn, I send youthree numbers of the Liberator containing copies of letters addressed tomany of the candidates, and their respective answers. 

The Legislature have passed, _unanimously_, at its present session, resolutions (preceded by a report of great ability) protesting"_earnestly and solemnly against the annexation of Texas to thisUnion_;" and declaring that, "_no act done, or compact made, for suchpurpose, by the government of the United States, will be binding on thestates or the people_. "

Two years ago, Governor Marcy, of this state, showed himself willing, atthe dictation of the South, to aid in passing laws for restraining andpunishing the abolitionists, whenever the extremity of the case mightcall for it. Two weeks ago, at the request of the Young Men'sAnti-Slavery Society of Albany, the Assembly-chamber, by a vote of theHouse (only two dissentient) was granted to Alvan Stewart, Esq. , adistinguished lawyer, to lecture on the subject of abolition. 

Kentucky is assuming an attitude of great interest to the friends ofLiberty and the Constitution. The blessings of "them that are ready toperish" throughout the land, the applause of the good throughout theworld will be hers, if she should show moral energy enough to breakevery yoke that she has hitherto imposed on the "poor, " and by which herown prosperity and true power have been hindered. 

In view of the late action in the Senate and House of Representatives inCongress--adverse as they may seem, to those who think more highly ofthe branches of the Legislature than of the SOURCE of their power--theabolitionists see nothing that is cause for discouragement. They findthe PEOPLE sound; they know that they still cherish, as their fathersdid, the right of petition--the freedom of the press--the freedom ofspeech--the rights of conscience; that they love the liberty of theNorth more than they love the slavery of the South. What care they for_Resolutions_ in the House, or Resolutions in the Senate, when the Houseand the Senate are but their ministers, their servants, and they knowthat they can discharge them at their pleasure? It may be, that Congresshas yet to learn, that the people have but slight regard for theirrestraining resolutions. They ought to have known this from the historyof such resolutions for the last two years. THIRTY-SEVEN THOUSANDpetitioners for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia hadtheir petitions laid on the table by the resolution of the House ofRepresentatives in May, 1836. At the succeeding session, they hadincreased to ONE HUNDRED AND TEN THOUSAND. --The resolution of Jan. 18, 1837, laid all _their_ petitions in the same way on the table. At the_called_, and at the present session, these 110, 000 had multiplied toFIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND[A]. Soon, Senators and Representatives will besent from the free states who will need no petitions--they will knowthe prayer of their constituents _before they leave their homes_. 

[Footnote A: See Appendix, G. ]

In concluding this, my answer to your 13th interrogatory, I will saythat I know of no event, that has transpired, either in or out ofCongress, for the last two or three years, that has had any otherinfluence on the efforts of abolitionists than to increase and stimulatethem. Indeed, every thing that has taken place within that period, oughtto excite to their utmost efforts all who are not despairing dastards. The Demon of oppression in this land is tenfold more fierce and rampantand relentless than he was supposed to be before roused from the quietof his lair. To every thing that is precious the abolitionists have seenhim lay claim. The religion of the Bible must be adulterated--the claimsof Humanity must be smothered--the demands of justice must benullified--a part of our Race must be shut out from the common sympathyof a common nature. Nor is this all: they see their _own_ rights andthose of the people; the right to SPEAK--to WRITE--to PRINT--toPUBLISH--to ASSEMBLE TOGETHER--to PETITION THEIR OWN SERVANTS--allbrought in peril. They feel that the final conflict between Popularliberty and Aristocratic slavery has come; that one or the other mustfall; and they have made up their minds, with the blessing of God ontheir efforts, that their adversary shall die. 

"14. _Have you any permanent fund, and how much?_"

ANSWER. --We have none. The contributions are anticipated. We are alwaysin debt, and always getting out of debt. 

I have now, Sir, completed my answers to the questions proposed in yourletter of the 16th ult. It gives me pleasure to have had such anauspicious opportunity of doing so. I cannot but hope for good to boththe parties concerned, where candor and civility have characterizedtheir representatives. 

Part of the answer to your 13th question may seem to wander from thestrict terms of the question proposed. Let it be set down to a desire, on my part, to give you all the information I can, at all germain to theinquiry. The "proffer, " made in my note to Mr. Calhoun, was not"unguarded;"--nor was it _singular_. The information I have furnishedhas been always accessible to our adversaries--even though theapplication for it might not have been clothed in the polite andgentlemanly terms which have so strongly recommended yours to the mostrespectful consideration of

Your very obedient servant, JAMES G. BIRNEY. 

 * * * * *

[In the Explanatory Remarks placed at the beginning of thisCorrespondence, reasons were given, that were deemed sufficient, for notpublishing more of the letters that passed between Mr. Elmore and myselfthan the two above. Since they were in type, I have received from Mr. Elmore a communication, in reply to one from me, informing him that Iproposed limiting the publication to the two letters just mentioned. Itis dated May 19. The following extract shows that he entertains adifferent opinion from mine, and thinks that justice to him requiresthat _another_ of his letters should be included in theCorrespondence:--

"The order you propose in the publication is proper enough; the omissionof business and immaterial letters being perfectly proper, as they caninterest nobody. I had supposed my last letter would have formed anexception to the rule, which excluded immaterial papers. It explained, more fully than my first, my reasons for this correspondence, definedthe limits to _which I had prescribed myself_, and was a properaccompaniment to _a publication_ of what _I_ had not written forpublication. Allow me, Sir, to say, that it will be but bare justice tome that it should be printed with the other papers. I only suggest thisfor your own consideration, for--adhering to my former opinions anddecision--I ask nothing and complain of nothing. "

It is still thought that the publication of the letter alluded to isunnecessary to the purpose of enlightening the public, as to the state, prospects, &c, of the anti-slavery cause. It contains no denial of thefacts, nor impeachment of the statements, nor answer to the arguments, presented in my communication. But as Mr. Elmore is personallyinterested in this matter, and as it is intended to maintain theconsistent liberality which has characterized the Executive Committee inall their intercourse with their opponents, the suggestion made by Mr. Elmore is cheerfully complied with. The following is a copy of theletter alluded to. --J. G. B. ]

 "WASHINGTON, May 5, 1838. 

 To JAMES G. BIRNEY, Esq. , Cor. Sec. A. A. S. S. 

 SIR, --I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 1st instant, in which you again refer to the publication of the Correspondence between us, in relation to the measures and designs of the abolitionists. I would have certainly answered yours of the 2d ult. , on the same subject, more fully before this, had it not escaped my recollection, in consequence [of] having been more engaged than usual in the business before the House. I hope the delay has been productive of no inconvenience. 

 If I correctly understand your letters above referred to, the control of these papers, and the decision as to their publication, have passed into the 'Executive Committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society;' and, from their tenor, I infer that their determination is so far made, that nothing I could object would prevent it, if I desired to do so. I was certainly not apprised, when I entered into this Correspondence, that its disposition was to depend on any other will than yours and mine, --but that matters nothing now, --you had the power, and I am not disposed to question the right or propriety of its exercise. I heard of you as a man of intelligence, sincerity, and truth, --who, although laboring in a bad cause, did it with ability, and from a mistaken conviction of its justice. As one of the Representatives of a slave-holding constituency, and one of a committee raised by the Representatives of the slave-holding States, to ascertain the intentions and progress of your associations, I availed myself of the opportunity offered by your character and situation, to propose to you inquiries _as to facts_, which would make those _developments so important to be known by our people_. My inquiries were framed to draw out _full and authentic details_ of the organization, numbers, resources, and designs of the abolitionists, of the means they resorted to for the accomplishment of their ends, and the progress made, and making, in their dangerous work, that all such information might be laid before the _four millions and a half of white inhabitants in the slave States, whose lives and property are menaced and endangered_ by this ill-considered, misnamed, and disorganizing philanthropy. They should be informed of the full length and breadth and depth of this storm which is gathering over their heads, before it breaks in its desolating fury. Christians and civilized, they are _now_ industrious, prosperous, and happy; but should your schemes of abolition prevail, it will bring upon them overwhelming ruin, and misery unutterable. The two races cannot exist together upon terms of equality--the extirpation of one and the ruin of the other _would be inevitable_. This humanity, conceived in wrong and born in civil strife, would be baptized in a people's blood. It was, that our people might know, in time to guard against the mad onset, the full extent of this gigantic conspiracy and crusade against their institutions; and of necessity upon their lives with which they must sustain them; and their fortunes and prosperity, which _exist only while these institutions exist_, that I was induced to enter into a correspondence with you, who by your official station and intelligence were known to be well informed on these points, and from your well established character for candor and fairness, would make no statements of facts which were not known or believed by you to be true. To a great extent, my end has been accomplished by your replies to my inquiries. How far, or whether at all, your answers have run, beyond _the facts inquired for_, into theories, arguments, and dissertations, as erroneous as mischievous, is not a matter of present consideration. We differed no wider than I expected, but that difference has been exhibited courteously, and has nothing to do with the question of publication. Your object, or rather the object of your Committee, is to publish; and I, having no reason to desire it, as you have put me in possession of the facts I wished, and no reason not to desire it, as there is nothing to conceal, will leave yourself and the Committee to take your own course, neither assenting nor dissenting, in what you may finally decide to do. 

 Very respectfully, Your obedient servant, F. H. Elmore. "

[This letter of Mr. Elmore contains but little more than a reiterationof alarming cries on the part of the slaveholder;--cries that are as oldas the earliest attempts of philanthropy to break the fetters of theenslaved, and that have been repeated up to the present day, with aboldness that seems to increase, as instances of emancipation multiplyto prove them groundless. Those who utter them seem, in their panic, notonly to overlook the most obvious laws of the human mind, and the lightsof experience, but to be almost unconscious of the great eventsconnected with slavery, that are now passing around them in the world, and conspiring to bring about its early abrogation among all civilizedand commercial nations. 

However _Christian, and civilized, industrious, prosperous and happy_, the SLAVEHOLDERS of the South may be, this cannot be said of the SLAVES. A large religious denomination of the state in which Mr. Elmore resides, has deliberately pronounced them to be "HEATHEN. " _Their_ "industry" isseen at the end of the lash--of "prosperity" they have none, for theycannot possess any thing that is an element of prosperity--their"happiness" they prove, by running away from their masters, wheneverthey think they can effect their escape. This is the condition of alarge _majority_ of the people in South Carolina, Mississippi andLouisiana. 

The "two races" exist in peace in Mexico, --in all the former SouthAmerican dependencies of Spain, in Antigua, in the Bermudas, in Canada, in Massachusetts, in Vermont, in fine, in every country where they enjoy_legal equality_. It is the _denial_ of this that produces discontent. MEN will never be satisfied without it. Let the slaveholders consult theirreversible laws of the human mind--make a full concession of right tothose from whom they have withheld it, and they will be blessed with apeace, political, social, moral, beyond their present conceptions;without such concessions they never can possess it. 

A system that cannot withstand the assaults of truth--that replies toarguments with threats--that cannot be "talked about"--that flourishesin secrecy and darkness, and dies when brought forth into the light andexamined, must in this time of inexorable scrutiny and relentlessagitation, be a dangerous one. If _justice_ be done, all necessity forthe extirpation of any part of the people will at once be removed. Baptisms _of blood_ are seen only when humanity has failed in heroffices, and the suffering discern hope only in the brute effortsof despair. 

Mr. Elmore is doubtless well versed in general history. To his vigorousdeclamation, I reply by asking, if he can produce from the history ofour race a single instance, where emancipation, full and immediate, hasbeen followed, as a legitimate consequence, by insurrection orbloodshed. I may go further, and ask him for a well authenticatedinstance, where an emancipated slave, singly has imbrued his hands inhis master's blood. The first record of such an act in modern times, isyet to be made. 

Mr. Elmore says "the white inhabitants in the slave states should beinformed of the full length and breadth and depth of this storm which isgathering over their heads, before it breaks in its desolating fury. " Inthis sentiment there is not a reasonable man in the country, be heabolitionist or not, who will not coincide with him. We rejoice at theevidence we here have, in a gentleman of the influence and intelligenceof Mr. Elmore, of the returning sanity of the South. How wildly andmischievously has she been heretofore misled! Whilst the Governors ofVirginia, Alabama, Tennessee and Arkansas, have been repelling offers, made in respectful terms, of the fullest and most authentic accounts ofour movements; and whilst Governor Butler of South Carolina, has notonly followed the example of his gubernatorial brethren just named, butis found corresponding with an obscure culprit in Massachusetts--bribinghim with a few dollars, the sum he demanded for his fraudulent promiseto aid in thwarting the abolitionists[A]; whilst too, Mr. Calhoun hasbeen willing to pass laws to shut out from his constituents and theSouth generally information that concerned them more nearly than allothers--we now have it from the highest source, from one selected by astate delegation as its _representative_ in a general committee of thewhole slaveholding delegations, that the South ought to be "_informed ofthe full length and breadth and depth_" of the measures, intentions, &c, of the abolitionists. At this there is not an abolitionist who will notrejoice. We ask for nothing but access to the popular mind of the South. We feel full confidence in the eternal rectitude of our principles, andof their reception at the South, when once they are understood. Let theconflict come, let the truth of liberty fairly enter the lists with theerror of slavery, and we have not a doubt of a glorious triumph. 

[Footnote A: Appendix H. ]

May we not, after this, expect the aid of Mr. Elmore and others of equaldistinction in the South, in giving to their fellow-citizens theinformation that we have always believed, and that they now acknowledge, to be so, important to them?

_May 24, 1838_. 

JAMES G. BIRNEY. ]

APPENDIX. 

 * * * * *

APPENDIX A. 

Extract from an article addressed to the editor of the ChristianRegister and Observer, signed W. E. C. --attributed to the Rev. Dr. Channing. 

 "Speaking of slavery, I wish to recommend to your readers a book just from the press, entitled 'Emancipation in the West Indies, ' and written by J. A. Thome and J. H. Kimball, who had visited those islands to inquire into the great experiment now going on there. I regard it as the most important work which has appeared among us for years. No man, without reading it, should undertake to pass judgment on Emancipation. It is something more than a report of the observation and opinions of the writers. It consists, chiefly, of the opinions, conversations, letters, and other documents of the very inhabitants of the islands whose judgments are most trust-worthy; of the governors, special magistrates, police officers, managers, attorneys, physicians, &c; and, in most cases, the names of these individuals are given, so that we have the strongest evidence of the correctness of the work. 

 The results of this great experiment surpass what the most sanguine could have hoped. It is hardly possible that the trial could have been made under more unfavorable circumstances. The planters on all the islands were opposed to the Act of Emancipation, and, in most, exceedingly and fiercely hostile to it, and utterly indisposed to give it the best chance of success. The disproportion of the colored race to the whites was fearfully great, being that of seven or eight to one; whilst, in our slaveholding states, the whites outnumber the colored people. The slaves of the West Indies were less civilized than ours, and less fit to be trusted with their own support. Another great evil was, that the proprietors, to a considerable extent, were absentees; residing in England, and leaving the care of their estates and slaves to managers and owners; the last people for such a trust, and utterly unfit to carry the wretched victims of their tyranny through the solemn transition from slavery to freedom. To complete the unhappy circumstances under which the experiment began, the Act of Emancipation was passed by a distant government, having no intimate knowledge of the subject; and the consequence was, that a system of 'Apprenticeship, ' as it was called, was adopted, so absurd, and betraying such ignorance of the principles of human nature, that, did we not know otherwise, we might suspect its author of intending to produce a failure. It was to witness the results of an experiment promising so little good, that our authors visited three islands, particularly worthy of examination--Antigua, Barbadoes, and Jamaica. 

 Our authors went first to Antigua, an island which had been wise enough to foresee the mischiefs of the proposed apprenticeship, and had substituted for it immediate and unqualified emancipation. The report given of this island is most cheering. It is, indeed, one of the brightest records in history. The account, beginning page 143, of the transition from slavery to freedom, can hardly be read by a man of ordinary sensibility without a thrill of tender and holy joy. Why is it not published in all our newspapers as among the most interesting events of our age? From the accounts of Antigua, it appears that immediate emancipation has produced only good. Its fruits are, greater security, the removal of the fears which accompany slavery, better and cheaper cultivation of the soil, increased value of real estate, improved morals, more frequent marriages, and fewer crimes. _The people proclaim, with one voice, that emancipation is a blessing, and that nothing would tempt than to revert to slavery. _

 Our authors proceeded next to Barbadoes, where the apprenticeship system is in operation; and if any proof were needed of the docility and good dispositions of the negroes, it would be found in their acquiescence to so wonderful a degree in this unhappy arrangement. The planters on this island have been more disposed, than could have been anticipated, to make the best of this system, and here, accordingly, the same fruits of the Act of Emancipation are found as in Antigua, though less abundant; and a very general and strong conviction prevails of the happiness of the change. 

 In Jamaica, apprenticeship manifests its worst tendencies. The planters of this island were, from first to last, furious in their hostility to the act of emancipation; and the effort seems to have been, to make the apprenticeship bear as heavily as possible on the colored people; so that, instead of preparing them for complete emancipation, it has rather unfitted them for this boon. Still, under all these disadvantages, there is strong reason for expecting, that emancipation, when it shall come, will prove a great good. At any rate, it is hardly possible for the slaves to fall into a more deplorable condition, than that in which this interposition of parliament found them. 

 The degree of success which has attended this experiment in the West Indies, under such unfavorable auspices, makes us sure, that emancipation in this country, accorded by the good will of the masters, would be attended with the happiest effects. One thing is plain, that it would be perfectly _safe_. Never were the West Indies so peaceful and secure as since emancipation. So far from general massacre and insurrection, not an instance is recorded or intimated of violence of any kind being offered to a white man. Our authors were continually met by assurances of security on the part of the planters, so that, in this respect at least, emancipation has been unspeakable gain. The only obstacle to emancipation is, therefore, removed; for nothing but well grounded fears of violence and crime can authorize a man to encroach one moment on another's freedom. 

 The subject of this book is of great interest at the present moment. Slavery, in the abstract, has been thoroughly discussed among us. We all agree that it is a great wrong. Not a voice is here lifted up in defence of the system, when viewed in a general light. We only differ when we come to apply our principles to a particular case. The only question is, whether the Southern states can abolish slavery consistently with the public safety, order, and peace? Many, very many well disposed people, both at the North and South, are possessed with vague fears of massacre and universal misrule, as the consequences of emancipation. Such ought to inquire into the ground of their alarm. They are bound to listen to the voice of _facts_, and such are given in this book. None of us have a right to make up our minds without inquiry, or to rest in opinions adopted indolently and without thought. It is a great crime to doom millions of our race to brutal degradation, on the ground of unreasonable fears. The power of public opinion is here irresistible, and to this power every man contributes something; so that every man, by his spirit and language, helps to loosen or rivet the chains of the slave. "

 * * * * *

The following sentiments are expressed by GOVERNOR EVERETT, ofMassachusetts, in a letter to EDMUND QUINCY, Esq. , dated

 "Boston, April 29, 1838. 

 DEAR SIR, --I have your favor of the 21st, accompanied with the volume containing the account of the tour of Messrs. Thome and Kimball in the West Indies, for which you will be pleased to accept my thanks. I have perused this highly interesting narrative with the greatest satisfaction. From the moment of the passage of the law, making provision for the immediate or prospective abolition of slavery in the British colonial possessions, I have looked with the deepest solicitude for tidings of its operation. The success of the measure, as it seemed to me, would afford a better hope than had before existed, that a like blessing might be enjoyed by those portions of the United States where slavery prevails. The only ground on which I had been accustomed to hear the continuance of slavery defended at the South, was that of necessity, and the impossibility of abolishing it without producing consequences of the most disastrous character to both parties. The passage of a law providing for the emancipation of nearly a million of slaves in the British colonies, seemed to afford full opportunity of bringing this momentous question to the decisive test of experience. _If the result proved satisfactory, I have never doubted that it would seal the fate of slavery throughout the civilised world_. As far as the observations of Messrs. Thome and Kimball extended, the result is of the most gratifying character. It appears to place beyond a doubt, that the experiment of immediate emancipation, adopted by the colonial Legislature of Antigua, has fully succeeded in that island; and the plan of apprenticeship in other portions of the West Indies, as well as could have been expected from the obvious inherent vices of that measure. _It has given me new views of the practicability of emancipation_. It has been effected in Antigua, as appears from unquestionable authorities contained in the work of Messrs. Thome and Kimball, not merely _without danger_ to the master, but without any sacrifice of his _interest_. I cannot but think that the information collected in the volume will have a powerful effect on public opinion, not only in the northern states, but in the slaveholding states. "

GOVERNOR ELLSWORTH, of Connecticut, writes thus to A. F. WILLIAMS, Esq. , of this city:--

 "NEW HAVEN, _May_ 19, 1838. 

 MY DEAR SIR, --Just before I left home, I received from you the Journal of Thome and Kimball, for which token of friendship I intended to have made you my acknowledgments before this; but I wished first to read the book. As far as time would permit, I have gone over most of its pages; and let me assure you, it is justly calculated to produce great effects, provided you can once get it into the hands of the planters. Convince _them_ that their interests, as well as their security, will be advanced by employing free blacks, and emancipation will be accomplished without difficulty or delay. 

 I have looked with great interest at the startling measure of emancipation in Antigua; but if this book is correct, the question is settled as to that island beyond a doubt, since there is such accumulated testimony from all classes, that the business and real estate of the island have advanced, by reason of the emancipation, one fourth, at least, in value; while personal security, without military force, is felt by the former masters, and contentment, industry, and gratitude, are seen in those who were slaves. 

 The great moral example of England, in abolishing slavery in the West Indies, will produce a revolution on this subject throughout the world, and put down slavery in every Christian country. 

 With sentiments of high esteem, &c, W. W. ELLSWORTH. "

 * * * * *

APPENDIX B. 

A short time previous to the late election in Rhode Island for governorand lieutenant-governor, a letter was addressed to each of thecandidates for those offices by Mr. Johnson, Corresponding Secretary ofthe Rhode Island Anti-Slavery Society, embodying the views of theabolitionists on the several subjects it embraced, in a series ofqueries. Their purport will appear from the answer of Mr. Sprague, (whowas elected governor, ) given below. The answer of Mr. Childs (electedlieutenant-governor) is fully as direct as that of governor Sprague. 

 "WARWICK, _March 28, 1838_. 

 DEAR SIR, --Your favor of the 19th inst. Requesting of me, in conformity to a resolution of the Executive Committee of the Rhode Island Anti-Slavery Society, an expression of my opinions on certain topics, was duly received. I have no motive whatever for withholding my opinions on any subject which is interesting to any portion of my fellow-citizens. I will, therefore, cheerfully proceed to reply to the interrogatories proposed, and in the order in which they are submitted. 

 1. Among the powers vested by the Constitution in Congress, is the power to exercise exclusive legislation, 'in all cases whatsoever, ' over the District of Columbia? 'All cases' must, of course, include the _case_ of slavery and the slave-trade. I am, therefore, clearly of opinion, that the Constitution does confer upon Congress the power to abolish slavery and the slave-trade in that District; and, as they are great moral and political evils, the principles of justice and humanity demand the exercise of that power. 

 2. The traffic in slaves, whether foreign or domestic, is equally obnoxious to every principle of justice and humanity; and, as Congress has exercised its powers to suppress the slave-trade between this country and foreign nations, it ought, as a matter of consistency and justice, to exercise the same powers to suppress the slave-trade between the states of this Union. The slave-trade within the states is, undoubtedly, beyond the control of Congress; as the 'sovereignty of each state, to legislate exclusively on the subject of slavery, which is tolerated within its limits, ' is, I believe, universally conceded. The Constitution unquestionably recognises the sovereign power of each state to legislate on the subject within its limits; but it imposes on us no obligation to add to the evils of the system by countenancing the traffic between the states. That which our laws have solemnly pronounced to be piracy in our foreign intercourse, no sophistry can make honorable or justifiable in a domestic form. For a proof of the feelings which this traffic naturally inspires, we need but refer to the universal execration in which the slave-dealer is held in those portions of the country where the institution of slavery is guarded with the most jealous vigilance. 

 3. Congress has no power to abridge the right of petition. The right of the people of the non-slaveholding states to petition Congress for the abolition of slavery and the slave-trade in the District of Columbia, and the traffic of human beings among the states, is as undoubted as any right guarantied by the Constitution; and I regard the Resolution which was adopted by the House of Representatives on the 21st of December last as a virtual denial of that right, inasmuch as it disposed of all such petitions, as might be presented thereafter, in advance of presentation and reception. If it was right thus to dispose of petitions on _one_ subject, it would be equally right to dispose of them in the same manner on _all_ subjects, and thus cut of all communication, by petition between the people and their representatives. Nothing can be more clearly a violation of the spirit of the Constitution, as it rendered utterly nugatory a right which was considered of such vast importance as to be specially guarantied in that sacred instrument. A similar Resolution passed the House of Representatives at the first session of the last Congress, and as I then entertained the same views which I have now expressed, I recorded my vote against it. 

 4. I fully concur in the sentiment, that 'every principle of justice and humanity requires, that every human being, when personal freedom is at stake, should have the benefit of a jury trial;' and I have no hesitation in saying, that the laws of this state ought to secure that benefit, so far as they can, to persons claimed as fugitives from 'service or labor, ' without interfering with the laws of the United States. The course pursued in relation to this subject by the Legislature of Massachusetts meets my approbation. 

 5. I am opposed to all attempts to abridge or restrain the freedom of speech and the press, or to forbid any portion of the people peaceably to assemble to discuss any subject--moral, political, or religious. 

 6. I am opposed to the annexation of Texas to the United States. 

 7. It is undoubtedly inconsistent with the principles of a free state, professing to be governed in its legislation by the principles of freedom, to sanction slavery, in any form, within its jurisdiction. If we have laws in this state which bear this construction, they ought to be repealed. We should extend to our southern brethren, whenever they may have occasion to come among us, all the privileges and immunities enjoyed by our own citizens, and all the rights and privileges guarantied to them by the Constitution of the United States; but they cannot expect of us to depart from the fundamental principles of civil liberty for the purpose of obviating any temporal inconvenience which they may experience. 

 These are my views upon the topics proposed for my consideration. They are the views which I have always entertained, (at least ever since I have been awakened to their vast importance, ) and which I have always supported, so far as I could, by my vote in Congress; and if, in any respect, my answers have not been sufficiently explicit, it will afford me pleasure to reply to any other questions which you may think proper to propose. 

 I am, Sir, very respectfully, Your friend and fellow citizen, WILLIAM SPRAGUE. "

Oliver Johnson, Esq. , Cor. Sec. R. I. A. S. Society. 

APPENDIX C. 

The abolitionists in Connecticut petitioned the Legislature of thatstate at its late session on several subjects deemed by them proper forlegislative action. In answer to these petitions--

1. The law known as the "Black Act" or the "Canterbury law"--under whichMiss Crandall was indicted and tried--was repealed, except a singleprovision, which is not considered objectionable. 

2. The right to _trial by jury_ was secured to persons who are claimedas slaves. 

3. Resolutions were passed asserting the power of Congress to abolishslavery in the District of Columbia, and recommending that it be done assoon as it can be, "consistently with the _best good_ of the _wholecountry_. "(!)

4. Resolutions were passed protesting against the annexation of Texas tothe Union. 

5. Resolutions were passed asserting the right of petition asinalienable--condemning Mr. Patton's resolution of Dec. 21, 1837 as aninvasion of the rights of the people, and calling on the Connecticutdelegation in Congress to use their efforts to have the same rescinded. 

 * * * * *

APPENDIX D. 

In the year 1793 there were but 5, 000, 000 pounds of cotton produced inthe United States, and but 500, 000 exported. Cotton never could havebecome an article of much commercial importance under the old method ofpreparing it for market. By hand-picking, or by a process strictly_manual_, a cultivator could not prepare for market, during the year, more than from 200 to 300 pounds; being only about one-tenth of what hecould cultivate to maturity in the field. In '93 Mr. Whitney inventedthe Cotton-gin now in use, by which the labor of at least _one thousand_hands under the old system, is performed by _one_, in preparing the cropfor market. Seven years after the invention (1800) 35, 000, 000 poundswere raised, and 17, 800, 000 exported. In 1834, 460, 000, 000 wereraised--384, 750, 000 exported. Such was the effect of Mr. Whitney'sinvention. It gave, at once, extraordinary value to the _land_ in thatpart of the country where alone cotton could be raised; and to _slaves_, because it was the general, the almost universal, impression that thecultivation of the South could be carried on only by slaves. There beingno _free_ state in the South, competition between free and slave labornever could exist on a scale sufficiently extensive to prove thesuperiority of the former in the production of cotton, and in thepreparation of it for market. 

Thus, it has happened that Mr. Whitney has been the innocent occasion ofgiving to slavery in this country its present importance--of magnifyingit into the great interest to which all others must yield. How he wasrewarded by the South--especially by the planters of Georgia--the readermay see by consulting Silliman's Journal for January, 1832, and theEncyclopedia Americana, article, WHITNEY. 

 * * * * *

APPENDIX E. 

It is impossible, of course, to pronounce with precision, how greatwould have been the effect in favor of emancipation, if the effort toresist the admission of Missouri as a slaveholding state had beensuccessful. We can only conjecture what it would have been, by theeffect its admission has had in fostering slavery up to its present hugegrowth and pretensions. If the American people had shown, through theirNational legislature, a _sincere_ opposition to slavery by the rejectionof Missouri, it is probable at least--late as it was--that the earlyexpiration of the 'system' would, by this time, have been discernedby all men. 

When the Constitution was formed, the state of public sentiment even inthe South--with the exception of South Carolina and Georgia, wasfavorable to emancipation. Under the influence of this public sentimentwas the Constitution formed. No person at all versed in constitutionalor legal interpretation--with his judgment unaffected by interest or anyof the prejudices to which the existing controversy has givenbirth--could, it is thought, construe the Constitution, _in its letter_, as intending to perpetuate slavery. To come to such a conclusion with afull knowledge of what was the mind of this nation in regard to slavery, when that instrument was made, demonstrates a moral or intellectual flawthat makes all reasoning useless. 

Although it is a fact beyond controversy in our history, that the powerconferred by the Constitution on Congress to "regulate commerce withforeign nations" was known to include the power of abolishing theAfrican slave-trade--and that it was expected that Congress, at the endof the period for which the exercise of that power on this particularsubject was restrained, would use it (as it did) _with a view to theinfluence that the cutting off of that traffic would have on the"system" in this country_--yet, such has been the influence of the actionof Congress on all matters with which slavery has been mingled--moreespecially on the Missouri question, in which slavery was the soleinterest--that an impression has been produced on the popular mind, thatthe Constitution of the United States _guaranties_, and consequently_perpetuates_, slavery to the South. Most artfully, incessantly, andpowerfully, has this lamentable error been harped on by theslaveholders, and by their advocates in the free states. The impressionof _constitutional favor_ to the slaveholders would, of itself, naturally create for them an undue and disproportionate influence in thecontrol of the government; but when to this is added the arrogance thatthe possession of irresponsible power almost invariably engenders in itspossessors--their overreaching assumptions--the contempt that theslaveholders entertain for the great body of the _people_ of the North, it has almost delivered over the government, bound neck and heels, intothe hands of slaveholding politicians--to be bound still morerigorously, or unloosed, as may seem well in their discretion. 

Who can doubt that, as a nation, we should have been more honorable andinfluential abroad--more prosperous and united at home--if Kentucky, atthe very outset of this matter, had been refused admission to the Unionuntil she had expunged from her Constitution the covenant withoppression? She would not have remained out of the Union a single yearon that account. If the worship of Liberty had not been exchanged forthat of Power--if her principles had been successfully maintained inthis first assault, their triumph in every other would have been easy. We should not have had a state less in the confederacy, and slaverywould have been seen, at this time, shrunk up to the most contemptibledimensions, if it had not vanished entirely away. But we have furnishedanother instance to be added to the long and melancholy list alreadyexisting, to prove that, --

 "facilis descensus Averni, Sed revocare gradum Hoc opus hic labor est, "

if _poetry_ is not _fiction_. 

Success in the Missouri struggle--late as it was--would have placed thecause of freedom in our country out of the reach of danger from itsinexorable foe. The principles of liberty would have struck deeper rootin the free states, and have derived fresh vigor from such a triumph. Ifthese principles had been honored by the government from that period tothe present, (as they would have been, had the free states, even then, assumed their just preponderance in its administration, ) we should nowhave, in Missouri herself, a healthful and vigorous ally in the cause offreedom; and, in Arkansas, a free people--_twice_ her presentnumbers--pressing on the confines of slavery, and summoning the keepersof the southern charnel-house to open its doors, that its inmates mightwalk forth, in a glorious resurrection to liberty and life. Althoughyoung, as a people, we should be, among the nations, venerable for ourvirtue; and we should exercise an influence on the civilized andcommercial world that we most despair of possessing, as long as weremain vulnerable to every shaft that malice, or satire, or philanthropymay find it convenient to hurl against us. [A]

[Footnote A: A comic piece--the production of one of the most popular ofthe French writers in his way--had possession of the Paris stage lastwinter. When one of the personages SEPARATES HUSBAND AND WIFE, he criesout, "BRAVO! THIS IS THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE OF THE UNITEDSTATES!" [Bravo! C'est la Declaration d'Independence des Etats Unis. ]

One of our distinguished College-professors, lately on a tour in Europe, had his attention called, while passing along the street of a Germancity, to the pictorial representation of a WHITE MAN SCOURGING ASUPPLICATING COLORED FEMALE, with this allusion underwritten:--"ASPECIMEN OF EQUALITY--FROM REPUBLICAN AMERICA. "

Truly might our countryman have exclaimed in the language, if not withthe generous emotions of the Trojan hero, when he beheld the noble deedsof his countrymen pencilled in a strange land--

--"Quis jam locus--Quae regio in terris nostri non plena laboris?"]

Instead of being thus seated on a "heaven-kissing hill, " and seen of allin its pure radiance; instead of enjoying its delightful airs, andimparting to them the healthful savor of justice, truth, mercy, magnanimity, see what a picture we present;--our cannibal burnings ofhuman beings--our Lynch courts--our lawless scourgings and capitalexecutions, not only of slaves, but of freemen--our demoniac mobs ragingthrough the streets of our cities and large towns at midday as well asat midnight, shedding innocent blood, devastating property, and applyingthe incendiaries' torch to edifices erected and dedicated to FREEDISCUSSION--the known friends of order, of law, of liberty, of theConstitution--citizens, distinguished for their worth at home, andreflecting honor on their country abroad, shut out from more than halfour territory, or visiting it at the hazard of their lives, or of themost degrading and painful personal inflictions--freedom of speech andof the press overthrown and hooted at--the right of petition struck downin Congress, where, above all places, it ought to have been maintainedto the last--the people mocked at, and attempted to be gagged by theirown servants--the time the office-honored veteran, who fearlesslycontended for the _right_, publicly menaced for words spoken in hisplace as a representative of the people, with an indictment by aslaveholding grand jury--in fine, the great principles of governmentasserted by our fathers in the Declaration of Independence, and embodiedin our Constitution, with which they won for us the sympathy, theadmiration of the world--all forgotten, dishonoured, despised, troddenunder foot! And this for slavery!!

Horrible catalogue!--yet by no means a complete one--for so young anation, boasting itself, too, to be the freest on earth! It is the ripefruit of that _chef d'oeuvre_ of political skill and patrioticachievement--the MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 

Another such compromise--or any compromise now with slavery--and thenation is undone. 

APPENDIX F. 

The following is believed to be a correct exhibit of the legislativeresolutions against the annexation of Texas--of the times at which theywere passed, and of the _votes_ by which they were passed:--

1. VERMONT. 

 "1. _Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives_, That our Senators in Congress be instructed, and our Representatives requested, to use their influence in that body to prevent the annexation of Texas to the Union. 

 2. _Resolved_, That representing, as we do, the people of Vermont, we do hereby, in their name, SOLEMNLY PROTEST against such annexation in any form. "

[Passed unanimously, Nov. 1, 1837. ]

2. RHODE ISLAND. 

(_In General Assembly, October Session, A. D. 1837_. )

 "Whereas the compact of the Union between these states was entered into by the people thereof in their respective states, 'in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to themselves and their posterity;' and, therefore, a Representative Government was instituted by them, with certain limited powers, clearly specified and defined in the Constitution--all other powers, not therein expressly relinquished, being 'reserved to the states respectively, or to the people. '

 And whereas this limited government possesses no power to extend its jurisdiction over any foreign nation, and no foreign nation, country, or people, can be admitted into this Union but by the sovereign will and act of the free people of all and each of these United States, nor without the formation of a new compact of Union--and another frame of government radically different, in objects, principles, and powers, from that which was framed for our own self-government, and deemed to be adequate to all the exigencies of our own free republic:--

 Therefore, Resolved, That we have witnessed, with deep concern, the indications of a disposition to bring into this Union, as a constituent member thereof, the foreign province or territory of Texas. 

 Resolved, That, although we are fully aware of the consequences which must follow the accomplishment of such a project, could it be accomplished--aware that it would lead speedily to the conquest and annexation of Mexico itself, and its fourteen remaining provinces or intendencies--which, together with the revolted province of Texas, would furnish foreign territories and foreign people for at least twenty members of the new Union; that the government of a nation so extended and so constructed would soon become radically [changed] in character, if not in form--would unavoidably become a military government; and, under the plea of necessity, would free itself from the restraints of the Constitution and from its accountability to the people. That the ties of kindred, common origin and common interests, which have so long bound this people together, and would still continue to bind them: these ties, which ought to be held sacred by all true Americans, would be angrily dissolved, and sectional political combinations would be formed with the newly admitted foreign states, unnatural and adverse to the peace and prosperity of the country. The civil government, with all the arbitrary powers it might assume, would be unable to control the storm. The usurper would find himself in his proper element; and, after acting the patriot and the hero for a due season, as the only means of rescuing the country from the ruin which he had chiefly contributed to bring upon it, would reluctantly and modestly allow himself to be declared 'Protector of the Commonwealth. '

 We are now fully aware of the deep degradation into which the republic would sink itself in the eyes of the whole world, should it annex to its own vast territories other and foreign territories of immense though unknown extent, for the purpose of encouraging the propagation of slavery, and giving aid to the raising of slaves within its own bosom, the very bosom of freedom, to be esported and sold in those unhallowed regions. Although we are fully aware of these fearful evils, and numberless others which would come in their train, yet we do not here dwell upon them; because we are here firmly convinced that the free people of most, and we trust of all these states, will never suffer the admission of the foreign territory of Texas into this Union as a constituent member thereof--will never suffer the integrity of this Republic to be violated, either by the introduction and addition to it of foreign nations or territories, one or many, or by dismemberment of it by the transfer of any one or more of its members to a foreign nation. The people will be aware, that should one foreign state or country be introduced, another and another may be, without end, whether situated in South America, in the West India islands, or in any other part of the world; and that a single foreign state, thus admitted, might have in its power, by holding the balance between contending parties, to wrest their own government from the hands and control of the people, by whom it was established for their own benefit and self-government. We are firmly convinced, that the free people of these states will look upon any attempt to introduce the foreign territory of Texas, or any other foreign territory or nation into this Union, as a constituent member or members thereof, as manifesting a willingness to prostrate the Constitution and dissolve the Union. 

 Resolved, That His Excellency, the Governor, be requested to forward a copy of the foregoing resolutions to each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress, and to each of the Executives of the several states, with a request that the same may be laid before the respective Legislatures of said states. "

[The Preamble and Resolutions were unanimously adopted, Nov. 3, 1837. ]

3. OHIO. 

 "_Resolved, by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio_, That in the name, and on behalf of the people of the State of Ohio, we do hereby SOLEMNLY PROTEST against the annexation of Texas to the Union of these United States. 

 _And be it further resolved_, That the Governor be requested to transmit to each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress, and to the Governors of each of the States, a copy of the foregoing resolution, with a statement of the votes by which it was passed in each branch of the Legislature. "

[Passed by 64 out of 72, the whole number in the House ofRepresentatives--unanomously in the Senate. Feb. 24, 1838. ]

4. MASSACHUSETTS. 

 "Resolves against the annexation of Texas to the United States. 

 Whereas a proposition to admit into the United States as a constituent member thereof, the foreign nation of Texas, has been recommended by the legislative resolutions of several States, and brought before Congress for its approval and sanction; and whereas such a measure would involve great wrong to Mexico, and otherwise be of evil precedent, injurious to the interests and dishonorable to the character of this country; and whereas its avowed objects are doubly fraught with peril to the prosperity and permanence of this Union, as tending to disturb and destroy the conditions of those compromises and concessions, entered into at the formation of the Constitution, by which the relative weights of different sections and interests were adjusted, and to strengthen and extend the evils of a system which is unjust in itself, in striking contrast with the theory of our institutions, and condemned by the moral sentiment of mankind; and whereas the people of these United States have not granted to any or all of the departments of their Government, but have retained in themselves, the only power adequate to the admission of a foreign nation into this confederacy; therefore, _Resolved_, That we, the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, do in the name of the people of Massachusetts, earnestly and solemnly protest against the incorporation of Texas into this Union, and declare, that no act done or compact made, for such purpose by the government of the United States, will be binding on the States or the People. 

 _Resolved_, That his Excellency the Governor be requested to forward a copy of these resolutions and the accompanying report to the Executive of the United States, and the Executive of each State and also to each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress, with a request that they present the resolves to both Houses of Congress. "

[Passed MARCH 16, 1838, UNANIMOUSLY, in both Houses. ]

 * * * * *

5. MICHIGAN. 

Whereas, propositions have been made for the annexation of Texas to theUnited States, with a view to its ultimate incorporation into the Union:

 "And whereas, the extension of this General Government over so large a country on the south-west, between which and that of the original states, there is little affinity, and less identity of interest, would tend, in the opinion of this Legislature, greatly to disturb the safe and harmonious operations of the Government of the United States, and put in imminent danger the continuance of this happy Union: Therefore, _Be it resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Michigan_, That in behalf, and in the name of the State of Michigan, this Legislature doth hereby dissent from, and solemnly protest against the annexation, for any purpose, to this Union, of Texas, or of any other territory or district of country, heretofore constituting a part of the dominions of Spain in America, lying west or south-west of Louisiana. 

 And be it further Resolved, by the Authority aforesaid, That the Governor of this State be requested to transmit a copy of the foregoing preamble and resolve, under the great seal of this state, to the President of the United States; also, that he transmit one copy thereof, authenticated in manner aforesaid, to the President of the Senate of the United States, with the respectful request of this Legislature, that the same may be laid before the Senate; also, that he transmit one copy thereof to the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States, authenticated in like manner, with the respectful request of this Legislature, that the same may be laid before the House of Representatives; and also, that he transmit to each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress, one copy thereof, together with the Report adopted by this Legislature, and which accompanies said preamble and resolves. "

[Passed nearly if not quite unanimously, April 2, 1838]. 

 * * * * *

6. CONNECTICUT. 

 "_Resolved_, That we, the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened, do, in the name of the people of this State, solemnly _protest_ against the annexation of Texas to this Union. "

[Passed, it is believed, unanimously in both houses. ]

 * * * * *

(Those which follow were passed by but one branch of the respectiveLegislatures in which they were introduced. )

7. PENNSYLVANIA. 

 _Resolutions relative to the admission of Texas into the Union. _

 "_Whereas_ the annexation of Texas to the United States has been advocated and strongly urged by many of our fellow-citizens, particularly in the southern part of our country, and the president of Texas has received authority to open a correspondence with, and appoint, a commissioner to our government to accomplish the object;--_And whereas_ such a measure would bring to us a dangerous extension of territory, with a population generally not desirable, and would probably involve us in war;--_And whereas_ the subject is now pressed upon and agitated in Congress; therefore, _Resolved_, &c, That our Senators in Congress be instructed, and our Representatives requested, to use their influence and vote against the annexation of Texas to the territory of the united States. 

 _Resolved_, That the Governor transmit to each of our Senators and Representatives a copy of the foregoing preamble and resolutions. "

[Passed the Senate March 9, 1835, by 22 to 6. Postponed indefinitely inthe House of Representatives, April 13, by 41 to 39. ]

 * * * * *

8. MAINE. 

 "_Resolved_, That the Legislature of the State of Maine, on behalf of the people of said state, do earnestly and solemnly protest against the annexation of the Republic of Texas to these United States; and that our Senators and Representatives in Congress be, and they hereby are, requested to exert their utmost influence to prevent the adoption of a measure at once so clearly unconstitutional, and so directly calculated to disturb our foreign relations, to destroy our domestic peace, and to dismember our blessed Union. "

[Passed in the House of Representatives, March 22, 1838, by 85 to 30. Senate (same day) refused to concur by 11 to 10. ]

 * * * * *

9. NEW-YORK. 

 "_Resolved_, (if the Senate concur, ) That the admission of the Republic of Texas into this Union would be entirely repugnant to the will of the people of this state, and would endanger the union of these United States. 

 _Resolved_, (if the Senate concur, ) That this Legislature do, in the name of the people of the State of New York, solemnly protest against the admission of the Republic of Texas into this Union. 

 _Resolved_, (if the Senate concur. ) That his Excellency the Governor be requested to transmit a copy of the foregoing resolutions to each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress, and also to the governors of each of the United States, with a request that the same be laid before their respective Legislatures. "

[These resolutions passed the House of Representatives in April, by alarge majority--the newspapers say, 83 to 13. They were indefinitelypostponed in the Senate, by a vote of 21 to 9. ]

 * * * * *

APPENDIX G. 

The number of petitioners for abolition in the District of Columbia, andon other subjects allied to it, have been ascertained (in the House ofRepresentatives) to be as follows:--

 Men. Women. Total. For abolition in the District, 51, 366 78, 882 130, 248Against the annexation of Texas, 104, 973 77, 419 182, 392Rescinding the gag resolution, 21, 015 10, 821 31, 836Against admitting any new slave state, 11, 770 10, 391 22, 161For abolition of the slave-trade between the states, 11, 864 11, 541 23, 405For abolition of slavery in the territories, 9, 129 12, 083 21, 212At the extra session for rescindingthe gag resolution of Jan. 21, 1837, 3, 377 3, 377 ----------------------------Total, 213, 494 201, 137 414, 631

The number in the Senate, where some difficulty was interposed thatprevented its being taken, is estimated to have been about two-thirds asgreat as that in the House. 

 * * * * *

APPENDIX H. 

[On the 1st of December, one of the secretaries of the AmericanAnti-Slavery Society addressed a note to each of the Governors of theslave states, in which he informed them, in courteous and respectfulterms, that he had directed the Publishing Agent of this society, thereafter regularly to transmit to them, free of charge, the periodicalpublications issued from the office of the society. To this offer thefollowing replies were received:--]

GOVERNOR CAMPBELL'S LETTER. 

 JAMES G. BIRNEY, Esq. , _New York_

 "RICHMOND, _Dec. 4, 1837_. 

 SIR, --I received, by yesterday's mail, your letter of the 1st instant, in which you state that you had directed the publishing agent of the American Anti-Slavery Society, hereafter, regularly to transmit, free of charge, by mail, to all the governors of the slave states, the periodical publications issued from that office. 

 Regarding your society as highly mischievous, I decline receiving any communications from it, and must request that no publications from your office be transmitted to me. 

 I am, &c, DAVID CAMPBELL. "

 * * * * *

GOVERNOR BAGBY'S LETTER. 

 "TUSCALOOSA, _Jan. 6, 1838_

 SIR, --I received, by due course of mail, your favor of the 1st of December, informing me that you had directed the publishing agent of the American Anti-Slavery Society to forward to the governors of the slaveholding states the periodicals issued from that office. Taking it for granted, that the only object which the society or yourself could have in view, in adopting this course, is, the dissemination of the opinions and principles of the society--having made up my own opinion, unalterably, in relation to the whole question of slavery, as it exists in a portion of the United States, and feeling confident that, in the correctness of this opinion, I am sustained by the entire free white population of Alabama, as well as the great body of the people of this Union, I must, with the greatest respect for yourself, personally but not for the opinions or principles advocated by the society--positively decline receiving said publications, or any others of a similar character, either personally or officially. Indeed, it is presuming a little too much, to expect that the chief magistrate of a free people, elected by themselves, would hold correspondence or give currency to the publications of an organized society, openly engaged in a scheme fraught with more mischievous consequences to their interest and repose, than any that the wit or folly of mankind has heretofore devised. 

 I am, very respectfully, Your ob't servant, A. P. BAGBY"

JAMES G. BIRNEY, _Esq. , New York_. 

 * * * * *

GOVERNOR CANNON'S LETTER. 

[This letter required so many alterations to bring it up to the ordinarystandard of epistolary, grammatical, and orthographical accuracy, thatit is thought best to give it in _word_ and _letter_, precisely as itwas received at the office. ]

 "EXECUTIVE DEPT. --

 NASHVILLE. _Dec. 12th, 1837_. 

 Sir

 I have rec'd yours of the 1st Inst notifying me, that you had directed, your periodical publications, on the subject of Slavery to be sent to me free of charge &c--and you are correct, if sincere, in your views, in supposing that we widely differ, on this subject, we do indeed widely differ, on it, if the publications said to have emanated from you, are honest and sincere, which, I admit, is possible. 

 My opinions are fix'd and settled, and I seldom Look into or examine, the, different vague notions of others who write and theorise on that subject. Hence I trust you will not expect me to examine, what you have printed on this subject, or cause to have printed. If you or any other man are influenced by feelings of humanity, and are laboring to relieve the sufferings, of the human race, you may find objects enough immediately around you, where you are, in any nonslaveholding State, to engage your, attention, and all your exertions, in that good cause. 

 But if your aim is to make a flourish on the subject, before the world, and to gain yourself some notoriety, or distinction, without, doing good to any, and evil to many, of the human race, you are, pursuing the course calculated to effect. Such an object, in which no honest man need envy. Your honours, thus gaind, I know there are many such in our country, but would fain hope, you are not one of them. If you have Lived, as you state forty years in a Slave holding State, you know that, that class of its population, are not the most, miserable, degraded, or unhappy, either in their feelings or habits, You know they are generally governd, and provided for by men of information and understanding sufficient to guard them against the most, odious vices, and hibets of the country, from which, you know the slaves are in a far greater degree, exempt than, are other portions of the population. That the slaves are the most happy, moral and contented generally, and free from suffering of any kind, having, each full confidence, in his masters, skill means and disposition to provide well for him, knowing also at the same time that _it is his interest to do it_. Hence in this State of Society more than any other, Superior intelligence has the ascendency, in governing and provideing, for the wants of those inferior, also in giveing direction to their Labour, and industry, as should be the case, superior intelligence Should govern, when united with Virtue, and interest, that great predominating principle in all human affairs. It is my rule of Life, when I see any man labouring to produce effects, at a distance from him, while neglecting the objects immediately around him, (in doing good) to suspect his sincerity, to suspect him for some selfish, or sinister motive, all is not gold that glitters, and every man is not what he, endeavours to appear to be, is too well known. It is the duty of masters to take care of there slaves and provide for them, and this duty I believe is as generally and as fully complyd with as any other duty enjoind on the human family, for next to their children their own offspring, their slaves stand next foremost in their care and attention, there are indeed very few instances of a contrary character. 

 You can find around you, I doubt not a large number of persons intemix'd, in your society, who are entirely destitute of that care, and attention, towards them that is enjoyed by our slaves, and who are destitute of that deep feeling of interest, in guarding their morals and habits, and directing them through Life in all things, which is here enjoyd by our slaves, to those let your efforts be directed immediately around you and do not trouble with your vague speculations those who are contented and happy, at a distance from you. 

 Very respectfully yours, N. CANNON. "

Mr. JAS. G. BIRNEY, _Cor. Sec. _ &c. 

 * * * * *

[The letter of the Secretary to the governor of South Carolina was not_answered_, but was so inverted and folded as to present the_subscribed_ name of the secretary, as the _superscription_ of the sameletter to be returned. The addition of _New York_ to the address broughtit back to this office. 

Whilst governor Butler was thus refusing the information that wasproffered to him in the most respectful terms from this office, he wasengaged in another affair, having connection with the anti-slaverymovement, as indiscreet, as it was unbecoming the dignity of the officehe holds. The following account of it is from one of the Bostonpapers:--]

 "_Hoaxing a Governor_. --The National Aegis says, that Hollis Parker, who was sentenced to the state prison at the late term of the criminal court for Worcester county, for endeavoring to extort money from governor Everett, had opened an extensive correspondence, previous to his arrest, with similar intent, with other distinguished men of the country. Besides several individuals in New York, governor Butler, of South Carolina, was honored with his notice. A letter from that gentleman, directed to Parker, was lately received at the post office in a town near Worcester, enclosing a check for fifty dollars. So far as the character of Parker's letter can be inferred from the reply of governor Butler, it would appear, that Parker informed the governor, that the design was entertained by some of our citizens, of transmitting to South Carolina a quantity of 'incendiary publications, ' and that with the aid of a little money, he (Parker) would be able to unravel the plot, and furnish full information concerning it to his excellency. The bait took, and the money was forwarded, with earnest appeals to Parker to be vigilant and active in thoroughly investigating the supposed conspiracy against the peace and happiness of the South. 

 The Aegis has the following very just remarks touching this case:--'Governor Butler belongs to a state loud in its professions of regard for state rights and state sovereignty. We, also, are sincere advocates of that good old republican doctrine. It strikes us, that it would have comported better with the spirit of that doctrine, the dignity, of his own station and character, the respect and courtesy due to a sovereign and independent state, if governor Butler had made the proper representation, if the subject was deserving of such notice, to the acknowledged head and constituted authorities of that state, instead of holding official correspondence with a citizen of a foreign jurisdiction, and employing a secret agent and informer, whose very offer of such service was proof of the base and irresponsible character of him who made it. '"

 * * * * *

 GOVERNOR CONWAY'S LETTER. 

 EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS, _March_ 1, 1838. 

 Sir--A newspaper, headed '_The Emancipator_, ' in which you are announced the 'publishing agent, ' has, for some weeks past, arrived at the post office in this city, to my address. Not having subscribed, or authorized any individual to give my name as a subscriber, for that or any such paper, it is entirely _gratuitous_ on the part of its publishers to send me a copy; and not having a favorable opinion of the _intentions_ of the _authors and founders_ of the '_American Anti-Slavery Society_;' I have to request a discontinuance of '_The Emancipator_. '

 Your ob't servant, "J. S. CONWAY. "

R. G. WILLIAMS, Esq. , New York. 

 * * * * *

[NOTE. --The following extract of a letter, from the late Chief JusticeJay to the late venerable Elias Boudinot, dated Nov. 17, 1819, mightwell have formed part of Appendix E. Its existence, however, was notknown till it was too late to insert it in its most appropriate place. It shows the view taken of some of the _constitutional_ questions by adistinguished jurist, --one of the purest patriots too, by whom our earlyhistory was illustrated. ]

 "Little can be added to what has been said and written on the subject of slavery. I concur in the opinion, that it ought not to be _introduced, nor permitted_ in any of the _new_ states; and that it ought to be gradually diminished, and finally, abolished, in all of them. 

 To me, the _constitutional authority_ of the Congress to prohibit the _migration_ and _importation_ of slaves into any of the states, does not appear questionable. 

 The first article of the Constitution specifics the legislative powers committed to Congress. The ninth section of that article has these words:--'The _migration_ or _importation_ of such persons as any of the _now existing_ states shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year 1808--but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation not exceeding _ten dollars_ for each person. '

 I understand the sense and meaning of this clause to be, That the power of the Congress, although _competent to prohibit such migration and importation_, was not to be exercised with respect to the THEN existing states, and _them only_, until the year 1808; but that Congress were at liberty to make such prohibition as to any _new state_ which might in the _meantime_ be established. And further, that from and after _that_ period, they were authorized to make such prohibition as to _all the states, whether new or old_. 

 Slaves were the persons intended. The word slaves was avoided, on account of the existing toleration of slavery, and its discordancy with the principles of the Revolution; and from a consciousness of its being repugnant to those propositions to the Declaration of Independence:--'We hold these truths to be self-evident--that all men are created equal--that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights--and that, among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. '"

 * * * * *

NO. 9. 

THE ANTI-SLAVERY EXAMINER. 

 * * * * *

LETTER

OF

GERRIT SMITH, TO

HON. HENRY CLAY. 

 * * * * *

NEW YORK:

PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY, NO. 143 NASSAU STREET. ----- 1839. 

 * * * * *This No. Contains 3-1/2 sheets. --Postage, under 100 miles, 6 cts. Over100, 10 cts. 

_Please Read and circulate_. 

LETTER. 

 * * * * *

PETERBORO, MARCH 21, 1839. 

HON. HENRY CLAY:

DEAR SIR, In the Annual Meeting of the American Colonization Society, held in theCapitol in the city of Washington, December, 1835, you commented on aspeech made by myself, the previous autumn. Your objections to thatspeech formed the principal subject matter of your remarks. Does notthis fact somewhat mitigate the great presumption of which I feel myselfguilty, in undertaking, all unhonored and humble as I am, to review theproduction of one of the most distinguished statesmen of the age?

Until the appearance of your celebrated speech on the subject ofslavery, I had supposed that you cherished a sacred regard for the rightof petition. I now find, that you value it no more highly than they do, who make open war upon it. Indeed, you admit, that, in relation to thisright, "there is no substantial difference between" them and yourself. Instead of rebuking, you compliment them; and, in saying that "themajority of the Senate" would not "violate the right of petition in anycase, in which, according to its judgment, the object of the petitioncould be safely or properly granted, " you show to what destructiveconditions you subject this absolute right. Your doctrine is, that inthose cases, where the object of the petition is such, as thesupplicated party can approve, previously to any discussion of itsmerits--there, and there only, exists the right of petition. For aught Isee, you are no more to be regarded as the friend of this right, than isthe conspicuous gentleman[A] who framed the Report on that subject, which was presented to the Senate of my state the last month. Thatgentleman admits the sacredness of "the right to petition on anysubject;" and yet, in the same breath, he insists on the equalsacredness of the right to refuse to attend to a petition. He manifestlyfailed to bear in mind, that a right to petition implies the correlativeright to be heard. How different are the statesmen, who insist "on theright to refuse to attend to a petition, " from Him, who says, "Whosostoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, butshall not be heard. " And who are poor, if it be not those for whom theabolitionists cry? They must even cry by proxy. For, in the language ofJohn Quincy Adams, the champion of the right of petition, "The slave isnot permitted to cry for mercy--to plead for pardon--to utter the shriekof perishing nature for relief. " It may be well to remark, that theerror, which I have pointed out in the Report in question, lies in thepremises of the principal argument of that paper; and that thecorrection of this error is necessarily attended with the destruction ofthe premises, and with the overthrow of the argument, which is builtupon them. 

[Footnote A: Colonel Young. ]

I surely need not stop to vindicate the right of petition. It is anatural right--one that human laws can guarantee, but can neither createnor destroy. It is an interesting fact, that the Amendment to theFederal Constitution, which guarantees the right of petition, wasopposed in the Congress of 1789 as superfluous. It was argued, that thisis "a self-evident, inalienable right, which the people possess, " andthat "it would never be called in question. " What a change infifty years!

You deny the power of Congress to abolish the inter-state traffic inhuman beings; and, inasmuch as you say, that the right "to regulatecommerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, " does notinclude the right to prohibit and destroy commerce; and, inasmuch as itis understood, that it was in virtue of the right to regulate commerce, that Congress enacted laws to restrain our participation in the "Africanslave trade, " you perhaps also deny, that Congress had the power toenact such laws. The history of the times in which the FederalConstitution was framed and adopted, justifies the belief, that theclause of that instrument under consideration conveys the power, whichCongress exercised. For instance, Governor Randolph, when speaking inthe Virginia Convention of 1788, of the clause which declares, that "themigration or importation of such persons as any of the states nowexisting shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited byCongress prior to the year 1808, " said, "This is an exception from thepower of regulating commerce, and the restriction is to continue onlytill 1808. Then Congress can, by the exercise of that power, preventfuture importations. "

Were I, however, to admit that the right "to regulate commerce, " doesnot include the right to prohibit and destroy commerce, it neverthelesswould not follow, that Congress might not prohibit or destroy certainbranches of commerce. It might need to do so, in order to preserve ourgeneral commerce with a state or nation. So large a proportion of thecloths of Turkey might be fraught with the contagion of the plague, asto make it necessary for our Government to forbid the importation of allcloths from that country, and thus totally destroy one branch of ourcommerce with it, to the end that the other branches might be preserved. No inconsiderable evidence that Congress has the right to prohibit ordestroy a branch of commerce, is to be found in the fact, that it hasdone so. From March, 1794, to May, 1820, it enacted several laws, whichwent to prohibit or destroy, and, in the end, did prohibit or destroythe trade of this country with Africa in human beings. And, if Congresshas the power to pass embargo laws, has it not the power to prohibit ordestroy commerce altogether?

It is, however, wholly immaterial, whether Congress could prohibit ourparticipation in the "African slave trade, " in virtue of the clausewhich empowers it "to regulate commerce. " That the Constitution does, insome one or more of its passages, convey the power, is manifest from thetestimony of the Constitution itself. The first clause of the ninthsection says: "The migration or importation of such persons, as any ofthe states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not beprohibited by the Congress prior to they year 1808. " Now the implicationin this clause of the existence of the power in question, is asconclusive, as would be the express and positive grant of it. You willobserve, too, that the power of Congress over "migration orimportation, " which this clause implies, is a power not merely to"regulate, " as you define the word, but to "prohibit. "

It is clear, then, that Congress had the power to interdict our trade inhuman beings with Africa. But, in view of what has been said on thatpoint--in view of the language of the Federal Constitution--of theproceedings of the Convention, which framed it--and of the cotemporarypublic sentiment--is it any less clear, that Congress has the power tointerdict the inter-state traffic in human beings?

There are some, who assert that the words "migration" and "importation, "instead of referring, as I maintain they do--the former to the removalof slaves from state to state, and the latter to their introduction fromAfrica--are used in the Constitution as synonyms, and refer exclusivelyto the "African slave trade. " But there is surely no ground for theimputation of such utter tautology, if we recollect that theConstitution was written by scholars, and that remarkable pains weretaken to clear it of all superfluous words--a Committee having beenappointed for that special purpose. But, it may be asked, Why, inreference to the taking of slaves from one state to another, use theword "migration, " which denotes voluntary removal? One answer is--thatit can be used with as much propriety in that case, as in the removal ofslaves from Africa--the removal in the one case being no lessinvoluntary than in the other. Another answer is--that the framers ofthe Constitution selected the word "migration, " because of its congruitywith that of "persons, " under which their virtuous shame sought toconceal from posterity the existence of seven hundred thousand slavesamongst a people, who had but recently entered upon their nationalcareer, with the solemn declaration, that "all men are created equal. "

John Jay, whose great celebrity is partly owing to his very ableexpositions of the Constitution, says: "To me, the constitutionalauthority of the Congress to prohibit the migration _and_ importation ofslaves into any of the states, does not appear questionable. " If thedisjunctive between "migration" and "importation" in the Constitution, argues their reference to the same thing, Mr. Jay's copulative arguesmore strongly, that, in his judgment, they refer to different things. 

The law of Congress constituting the "Territory of Orleans, " was enactedin 1804. It fully recognizes the power of that body to prohibit thetrade in slaves between a territory and the states. But, if Congress hadthis power, why had it not as clear a power to prohibit, at that time, the trade in slaves between any two of the states? It might haveprohibited it, but for the constitutional suspension of the exercise ofthe power. The term of that suspension closed, however, in 1808; and, since that year, Congress has had as full power to abolish the wholeslave trade between the states, as it had in 1804 to abolish the liketrade between the Territory of Orleans and the states. 

But, notwithstanding the conclusive evidence, that the Constitutionempowers Congress to abolish the inter-state slave trade, it isincomprehensible to many, that such states as Virginia and Marylandshould have consented to deprive themselves of the benefit of sellingtheir slaves into other states. It is incomprehensible, only becausethey look upon such states in the light of their present character andpresent interests. It will no longer be so, if they will bear in mind, that slave labor was then, as it is now, unprofitable for ordinaryagriculture, and that Whitney's cotton-gin, which gave great value tosuch labor, was not yet invented, and that the purchase of Louisiana, which has had so great an effect to extend and perpetuate the dominionof slavery, was not yet made. It will no longer be incomprehensible tothem, if they will recollect, that, at the period in question, Americanslavery was regarded as a rapidly decaying, if not already expiringinstitution. It will no longer be so, if they will recollect, how smallwas the price of slaves then, compared with their present value; andthat, during the ten years, which followed the passage of the Act ofVirginia in 1782, legalizing manumissions, her citizens emancipatedslaves to the number of nearly one-twentieth of the whole amount of herslaves in that year. To learn whether your native Virginia clung in theyear 1787 to the inter-state traffic in human flesh, we must take ourpost of observation, not amongst her degenerate sons, who, in 1836, soldmen, women, and children, to the amount of twenty-four millions ofdollars--not amongst her President Dews, who write books in favor ofbreeding human stock for exportation--but amongst her Washingtons, andJeffersons, and Henrys, and Masons, who, at the period when theConstitution was framed, freely expressed their abhorrence of slavery. 

But, however confident you may be, that Congress has not the lawfulpower to abolish the branch of commerce in question; nevertheless, wouldthe abolition of it be so clearly and grossly unconstitutional, as tojustify the contempt with which the numerous petitions for the measureare treated, and the impeachment of their fidelity to the Constitution, and of their patriotism and purity, which the petitioners are madeto endure?

I was about to take it for granted, that, although you deny the power ofCongress to abolish the inter-state traffic in human beings, you do notjustify the traffic--when I recollected the intimation in your speech, that there is no such traffic. For, when you speak of "the slave tradebetween the states, " and add--"or, as it is described in abolitionpetitions, the traffic in human beings between the states"--do you notintimate there is no such traffic? Whence this language? Do you notbelieve slaves are human beings? And do you not believe that they sufferunder the disruption of the dearest earthly ties, as human beingssuffer? I will not detain you to hear what we of the North think of thisinternal slave trade. But I will call your attention to what is thoughtof it in your own Kentucky and in your native Virginia. Says the"Address of the Presbyterian Synod of Kentucky to the Churches in1835:"--"Brothers and sisters, parents and children, husbands and wives, are torn asunder, and permitted to see each other no more. Those actsare daily occurring in the midst of us. The shrieks and the agony oftenwitnessed on such occasions, proclaim with a trumpet tongue the iniquityand cruelty of the system. There is not a neighborhood where theseheart-rending scenes are not displayed. There is not a village or roadthat does not behold the sad procession of manacled outcasts, whosechains and mournful countenances tell that they are exiled by force fromall that their hearts hold dear. " Says Thomas Jefferson Randolph, in theVirginia Legislature in 1832, when speaking of this trade: "It is apractice, and an increasing practice, in parts of Virginia, to rearslaves for market. How can an honourable mind, a patriot, and a lover ofhis country, bear to see this ancient dominion, rendered illustrious bythe noble devotion and patriotism of her sons in the cause of liberty, converted into one grand menagerie, where men are to be reared for themarket like oxen for the shambles. Is it better--is it not worse thanthe (foreign) slave trade--that trade which enlisted the labor of thegood and wise of every creed and every clime to abolish? The (foreign)trader receives the slave, a stranger in language, aspect, and manner, from the merchant who has brought him from the interior. The ties offather, mother, husband, and child, have already been rent in twain;before he receives him, his soul has become callous. But here, sir, individuals whom the master has known from infancy, whom he has seensporting in the innocent gambols of childhood--who have been accustomedto look to him for protection, he tears from the mother's arms, andsells into a strange country--among strange people, subject to crueltaskmasters. "

You are in favor of increasing the number of slave states. The terms ofthe celebrated "Missouri compromise" warrant, in your judgment, theincrease. But, notwithstanding you admit, that this unholy compromise, in which tranquillity was purchased at the expense of humanity andrighteousness, does not "in terms embrace the case, " and "is notabsolutely binding and obligatory;" you, nevertheless, make no attemptwhatever to do away any one of the conclusive objections, which areurged against such increase. You do not attempt to show how themultiplication of slave states can consist with the constitutional dutyof the "United States to guarantee to every state in the Union arepublican form of government, " any more than if it were perfectlyclear, that a government is republican under which one half of thepeople are lawfully engaged in buying and selling the other half; orthan if the doctrine that "all men are created equal" were not thefundamental and distinctive doctrine of a republican government. You nomore vindicate the proposition to enlarge the realm of slavery, than ifthe proposition were as obviously in harmony with, as it is opposed tothe anti-slavery tenor and policy of the Constitution--the rights ofman--and the laws of God. 

You are perhaps of the number of those, who, believing, that a state canchange its Constitution as it pleases, deem it futile in Congress torequire, that States, on entering the Union, shall have anti-slaveryConstitutions. The Framers of the Federal Constitution doubtless foresawthe possibility of treachery, on the part of the new States, in thematter of slavery: and the restriction in that instrument to the oldStates--"the States now existing"--of the right to participate in theinternal and "African slave trade" may be ascribed to the motive ofdiminishing, if not indeed of entirely preventing, temptation to suchtreachery. The Ordinance concerning the North-west Territory, passed bythe Congress of 1787, and ratified by the Congress of 1790, shows, sofar as those bodies can be regarded as correct interpreters of theConstitution which was framed in 1787, and adopted in 1789, that slaverywas not to have a constitutional existence in the new States. TheOrdinance continues the privilege of recapturing fugitive slaves in theNorth-west Territory to the "existing States. " Slaves in that territory, to be the subjects of lawful recapture, must in the language of theOrdinance, owe "labour or service in one of the _original_ States. "

I close what I have to say on this topic, with the remark, that were itadmitted, that the reasons for the increase of the number of slaveStates are sound and satisfactory, it nevertheless would not follow, that the moral and constitutional wrong of preventing that increase isso palpable, as to justify the scorn and insult, which are heaped byCongress upon this hundred thousand petitioners for this measure. 

It has hitherto been supposed, that you distinctly and fully admittedthe Constitutional power of Congress to abolish slavery in the Districtof Columbia. But, on this point, as on that of the right of petition, you have for reasons known to yourself, suddenly and greatly changedyour tone. Whilst your speech argues, at no small length, that Congresshas not the right to abolish slavery in the District, all that it saysin favor of the Constitutional power to abolish it, is that "thelanguage (of the Constitution) may _possibly_ be sufficientlycomprehensive to include a power of abolition. " "Faint praise dams;" andyour very reluctant and qualified concession of the Constitutional powerunder consideration, is to be construed, rather as a denial than aconcession. 

Until I acquire the skill of making white whiter, and black blacker, Ishall have nothing to say in proof of the Constitutional power ofCongress over slavery in the District of Columbia, beyond referring tothe terms, in which the Constitution so plainly conveys this power. Thatinstrument authorises Congress "to exercise exclusive legislation in allcases whatsoever over such District. " If these words do not confer thepower, it is manifest that no words could confer it. I will add that, never, until the last few years, had doubts been expressed, that thesewords do fully confer that power. 

You will, perhaps, say, that Virginia and Maryland made their cessionsof the territory, which constitutes the District of Columbia, withreservations on the subject of slavery. We answer, that none wereexpressed;[A] and that if there had been, Congress would not, and inview of the language of the Constitution, could not, have accepted thecessions. You may then say, that they would not have ceded theterritory, had it occurred to them, that Congress would have cleared itof slavery; and that, this being the fact, Congress could not thus clearit, without being guilty of bad faith, and of an ungenerous andunjustifiable surprise on those States. There are several reasons forbelieving, that those States, not only did not, at the period inquestion, cherish a dread of the abolition of slavery; but that thepublic sentiment within them was decidedly in favor of its speedyabolition. At that period, their most distinguished statesmen weretrumpet-tongued against slavery. At that period, there was both aVirginia and a Maryland society "for promoting the abolition ofslavery;" and, it was then, that, with the entire consent of Virginiaand Maryland, effectual measures were adopted to preclude slavery fromthat large territory, which has since given Ohio and several otherStates to the Union. On this subject, as on that of the inter-stateslave trade, we misinterpret Virginia and Maryland, by not considering, how unlike was their temper in relation to slavery, amidst the decaysand dying throes of that institution half a century ago, to what it isnow, when slavery is not only revivified, but has become the predominantinterest and giant power of the nation. We forget, that our wholecountry was, at that time, smitten with love for the holy cause ofimpartial and universal liberty. To judge correctly of the view, whichour Revolutionary fathers took of oppression, we must go back and standby their side, in their struggles against it, --we must survey themthrough the medium of the anti-slavery sentiment of their own times, andnot impute to them the pro-slavery spirit so rampant in ours. 

[Footnote A: There is a proviso in the Act of Virginia. It was on this, that three years ago, in the Senate of the United States, BenjaminWatkins Leigh built his argument against the constitutional power ofCongress to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia. I well rememberthat you then denied the soundness of his argument. This superfluousproviso virtually forbids Congress to pass laws, which shall "affect therights of individuals" in the ceded territory. Amongst the inviolable"rights" was that of holding slaves, as Mr. Leigh contended. I regret, that, in replying to him, you did not make use of the fact, that all themembers of Congress from Virginia voted in favor of the Ordinance, whichabolished slavery in the North-West Territory; and this too, notwithstanding, that, in the Act of 1784, by which she ceded theNorth-West Territory to the Confederacy, she provided, that the"citizens of Virginia" in the said Territory, many of whom held slaves, should "be protected in the enjoyment of their rights. " This factfurnishes striking evidence that at, or about, the time of the cessionby Virginia of her portion of the District of Columbia, her statesmenbelieved, that the right to hold slaves in those portions of our countryunder the exclusive jurisdiction of Congress, was not beyond the reachof the controlling power of Congress. ]

I will, however, suppose it true, that Virginia and Maryland would nothave made the cessions in question, had they foreseen, that Congresswould abolish slavery in the District of Columbia:--and yet, I affirm, that it would be the duty of Congress to abolish it. Had there beenState Prisons in the territory, at the time Congress acquiredjurisdiction over it, and had Congress immediately opened their doors, and turned loose hundreds of depraved and bloody criminals, there wouldindeed have been abundant occasion for complaint. But, had the exerciseof its power in the premises extended no farther than to the liberationof such convicts, as, on a re-examination of their cases, were found tobe clearly guiltless of the crimes charged upon them; the sternestjustice could not have objected to such an occasion for the rejoicing ofmercy. And are not the thousands in the District, for whose liberationCongress is besought, unjustly deprived of their liberty? Not only arethey guiltless, but they are even unaccused of such crimes, as in thejudgment of any, justly work a forfeiture of liberty. And what doVirginia and Maryland ask? Is it, that Congress shall resubject to theircontrol those thousands of deeply wronged men? No--for this Congresscannot do. They ask, that Congress shall fulfil the tyrant wishes ofthese States. They ask, that the whole people of the UnitedStates--those who hate, as well as those who love slavery, shall, bytheir representatives, assume the guilty and awful responsibility ofperpetuating the enslavement of their innocent fellow men:--of chainingthe bodies and crushing the wills, and blotting out the minds of such, as have neither transgressed, nor even been accused of havingtransgressed, a single human law. And the crime, which Virginia andMaryland, and they, who sympathise with them, would have the nationperpetrate, is, not simply that of prolonging the captivity of those, who were slaves before the cession--for but a handful of them are nowremaining in the District. Most of the present number became slavesunder the authority of this guilty nation. Their wrongs originated withCongress: and Congress is asked, not only to perpetuate theiroppression, but to fasten the yoke of slavery on generations yet unborn. 

There are those, who advocate the recession of the District of Columbia. If the nation were to consent to this, without having previouslyexercised her power to "break every yoke" of slavery in the District, the blood of those so cruelly left there in "the house of bondage, "would remain indelible and damning upon her skirts:--and this too, whether Virginia and Maryland did or did not intend to vest Congresswith any power over slavery. It is enough, that the nation has the power"to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready tobe slain, " to make her fearfully guilty before God, if she "forbear" toexercise it. 

Suppose, I were to obtain a lease of my neighbor's barn for the singleand express purpose of securing my crops; and that I should find, chained up in one of its dark corners, an innocent fellow man, whom thatneighbor was subjecting to the process of a lingering death; ought I topause and recall President Wayland's, "Limitations of HumanResponsibility, " and finally let the poor sufferer remain in his chains;or ought I not rather, promptly to respond to the laws of my nature andmy nature's God, and let him go free? But, to make this case analogousto that we have been considering--to that, which imposes its claims onCongress--we must strike out entirely the condition of the lease, andwith it all possible doubts of my right to release the victim of myneighbor's murderous hate. 

I am entirely willing to yield, for the sake of argument, that Virginiaand Maryland, when ceding the territory which constitutes the Districtof Columbia, did not anticipate, and did not choose the abolition ofslavery in it. To make the admission stronger, I will allow, that theseStates were, at the time of the cession, as warmly opposed to theabolition of slavery in the District as they are said to be now: and tomake it stronger still, I will allow, that the abolition of slavery inthe District would prove deeply injurious, not only to Virginia andMaryland but to the nation at large. And, after all these admissions, Imust still insist, that Congress is under perfectly plain moralobligation to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia. 

They, who are deterred from favoring the abolition of slavery in theDistrict by the apprehension, that Virginia and Maryland, if not, indeed, the nation at large, might suffer injurious consequences fromthe measure, overlook the fact, that there is a third party in the case. It is common to regard the nation as constituting one of theparties--Virginia and Maryland another, and the only other. But in pointof fact, there is a third party. Of what does it consist? Of horses, oxen, and other brutes? Then we need not be greatly concerned aboutit--since its rights in that case, would be obviously subordinate tothose of the other parties. Again, if such be the composition of thisthird party, we are not to be greatly troubled, that President Waylandand thousands of others entirely overlook its rights and interests;though they ought to be somewhat mindful even of brutes. But, this thirdparty is composed, not of brutes--but of men--of the seven thousand menin the District, who have fallen under the iron hoofs of slavery--andwho, because they are men, have rights equal to, and as sacred as therights of any other men--rights, moreover, which cannot be innocentlyencroached on, even to the breadth of one hair, whether under the pleaof "state necessity"--of the perils of emancipation--or under any otherplea, which conscience-smitten and cowardly tyranny can suggest. 

If these lines shall ever be so favored, as to fall under the eye of thevenerable and beloved John Quincy Adams, I beg, that, when he shall haveread them, he will solemnly inquire of his heart, whether, if he shouldever be left to vote against the abolition of slavery in the District ofColumbia, and thus stab deeply the cause of civil liberty, of humanity, and of God; the guilty act would not result from overlooking the rightsand interests, and even the existence itself, of a third party in thecase--and from considering the claims of the nation and those ofVirginia and Maryland, as the only claims on which he was called topass, because they were the claims of the only parties, of which hewas aware. 

You admit that "the first duty of Congress in relation to the District, of Columbia, is to render it available, comfortable, and convenient as aseat of the government of the whole Union. " I thank you for anadmission, which can be used, with great effect, against the many, whomaintain, that Congress is as much bound to consult the interests andwishes of the inhabitants of the District, and be governed by them, as aState Legislature is to study and serve the interests and wishes of itsconstituents. The inhabitants of the District have taken up theirresidence in it, aware, that the paramount object of Congressionallegislation is not their, but the nation's advantage. They judge, thattheir disfranchisement and the other disadvantages attending theirresidence are more than balanced by their favorable position forparticipating in Governmental patronage and other benefits. They know, that they have no better right to complain, that the legislation ofCongress is not dictated by a primary regard to their interests, thanhas the Colonization Society, of which you are President, to complain, that the Capitol, in which it holds its annual meetings, is notconstructed and fitted up in the best possible manner for suchoccasions. They know, that to sacrifice the design and main object ofthat building to its occasional and incidental uses, would be anabsurdity no greater than would Congress be guilty of in shaping itslegislation to the views of the thirty thousand white inhabitants of theDistrict of Columbia, at the expense of neglecting the will andinterests of the nation. 

You feel, that there is no hazard in your admission, that the paramountobject in relation to the District of Columbia, is its suitableness fora seat of Government, since you accompany that admission with thedenial, that the presence of slavery interferes with such suitableness. But is it not a matter of deep regret, that the place, in which ournational laws are made--that the place from which the sentiment andfashion of the whole country derive so much of their tone anddirection--should cherish a system, which you have often admitted, is atwar with the first principles of our religion and civil polity;[A] andthe influences of which are no less pervading and controlling thancorrupting? Is it not a matter of deep regret, that they, whom othergovernments send to our own, and to whom, on account of their superiorintellect and influence, it is our desire, as it is our duty, to commendour free institutions, should be obliged to learn their lessons ofpractical republicanism amidst the monuments and abominations ofslavery? Is it no objection to the District of Columbia, as the seat ofour Government, that slavery, which concerns the political and moralinterests of the nation, more than any other subject coming within therange of legislation, is not allowed to be discussed there--eitherwithin or without the Halls of Congress? It is one of the doctrines ofslavery, that slavery shall not be discussed. Some of its advocates arefrank enough to avow, as the reason for this prohibition, that slaverycannot bear to be discussed. In your speech before the AmericanColonization Society in 1835, to which I have referred, you distinctlytake the ground, that slavery is a subject not open to generaldiscussion. Very far am I from believing, that you would employ, orintentionally countenance violence, to prevent such discussion. Nevertheless, it is to this doctrine of non-discussion, which you andothers put forth, that the North is indebted for her pro-slavery mobs, and the South for her pro-slavery Lynchings. The declarations of suchmen as Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, that slavery is a question not tobe discussed, are a license to mobs to burn up halls and break upabolition meetings, and destroy abolition presses, and murder abolitioneditors. Had such men held the opposite doctrine, and admitted, yea, andinsisted, as it was their duty to do, that every question in morals andpolitics is a legitimate subject of free discussion--the District ofColumbia would be far less objectionable, as the seat of our Government. In that case the lamented Dr. Crandall would not have been seized in thecity of Washington on the suspicion of being an abolitionist, and throwninto prison, and subjected to distresses of mind and body, whichresulted in his premature death. Had there been no slavery in theDistrict, this outrage would not have been committed; and the murders, chargeable on the bloodiest of all bloody institutions, would have beenone less than they now are. Talk of the slaveholding District ofColumbia being a suitable locality for the seat of our Government! Why, Sir, a distinguished member of Congress was threatened there with anindictment for the _crime_ of presenting, or rather of proposing topresent, a petition to the body with which he was connected! Indeed theoccasion of the speech, on which I am now commenting, was the _impudent_protest of inhabitants of that District against the right of theAmerican people to petition their own Congress, in relation to mattersof vital importance to the seat of their own Government! I take occasionhere to admit, that I have seen but references to this protest--not theprotest itself. I presume, that it is not dissimilar, in its spirit, tothe petition presented about the same time by Mr. Moore in the otherHouse of Congress--his speech on which, he complains was ungenerouslyanticipated by yours on the petition presented by yourself. As thepetition presented by Mr. Moore is short, I will copy it, that I may sayto you with the more effect--how unfit is the spirit of a slaveholdingpeople, as illustrated in this petition, to be the spirit of the peopleat the seat of a free Government!

[Footnote A: "It (slavery) is a sin and a curse both to the master andthe slave:"--_Henry Clay_. ]

"_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

The petition of the undersigned, citizens of the District of Columbiarepresents--That they have witnessed with deep regret the attempts whichare making _to disturb the integrity_ of the Union by a BAND OFFANATICS, embracing men, women, and children, who cease not day andnight to crowd the tables of your halls with SEDITIOUS MEMORIALS--andsolicit your honorable bodies that you will, in your wisdom, henceforthgive neither support nor countenance to such UNHALLOWED ATTEMPTS, butthat you will, in the most emphatic manner, set the seal of yourdisapprobation upon all such FOUL AND UNNATURAL EFFORTS, by refusing notonly to READ and REFER, but also to RECEIVE any papers which eitherdirectly or indirectly, or by implication, aim at any interference withthe rights of your petitioners, or of those of any citizen of any of theStates or Territories of the United States, or of this District of whichwe are inhabitants. "

A Legislature should be imbued with a free, independent, fearlessspirit. But it cannot be, where discussion is overawed and interdicted, or its boundaries at all contracted. Wherever slavery reigns, thefreedom of discussion is not tolerated: and whenever slavery exists, there slavery reigns;--reigns too with that exclusive spirit of Turkishdespotism, that, "bears no brother near the throne. "

You agree with President Wayland, that it is as improper for Congress toabolish slavery in the District of Columbia, as to create it in someplace in the free States, over which it has jurisdiction. As improper, in the judgment of an eminent statesman, and of a no less eminentdivine, to destroy what they both admit to be a system ofunrighteousness, as to establish it! As improper to restrain as topractice, a violation of God's law! What will other countries and comingages think of the politics of our statesmen and the ethics ofour divines?

But, besides its immorality, Congress has no Constitutional right tocreate slavery. You have not yet presumed to deny positively, thatCongress has the right to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia;and, notwithstanding the intimation in your speech, you will not presumeto affirm, that Congress has the Constitutional right to enact lawsreducing to, or holding in slavery, the inhabitants of West Point, orany other locality in the free States, over which it has exclusivejurisdiction. I would here remark, that the law of Congress, whichrevived the operation of the laws of Virginia and Maryland in theDistrict of Columbia, being, so far as it respects the slave laws ofthose States, a violation of the Federal Constitution, should be held ofno avail towards legalizing slavery in the District--and the subjects ofthat slavery, should, consequently, be declared by our Courtsunconditionally free. 

You will admit that slavery is a system of surpassing injustice:--butan avowed object of the Constitution is to "establish justice. " You willadmit that it utterly annihilates the liberty of its victims:--butanother of the avowed objects of the Constitution is to "secure theblessings of liberty. " You will admit, that slavery does, andnecessarily must, regard its victims as _chattels_. The Constitution, onthe contrary, speaks of them as nothing short of _persons_. RogerSherman, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a framer of theFederal Constitution, and a member of the first Congress under it, denied that this instrument considers slaves "as a species of property. "Mr. Madison, in the 54th No. Of the Federalist admits, that theConstitution "regards them as inhabitants. " Many cases might be cited, in which Congress has, in consonance with the Constitution, refused torecognize slaves as property. It was the expectation, as well as thedesire of the framers of the Constitution, that slavery should sooncease to exist is our country; and, but for the laws, which bothCongress and the slave States, have, in flagrant violation of the letterand spirit and obvious policy of the Constitution, enacted in behalf ofslavery, that vice would, ere this, have disappeared from our land. Look, for instance, at the laws enacted in the fact of the clause: "Thecitizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges andimmunities of citizens in the several States"--laws too, which theStates that enacted them, will not consent to repeal, until they consentto abandon slavery. It is by these laws, that they shut out the coloredpeople of the North, the presence of a single individual of whom soalarms them with the prospect of a servile insurrection, that theyimmediately imprison him. Such was the view of the Federal Constitutiontaken by James Wilson one of its framers, that, without, as I presume, claiming for Congress any direct power over slavery in the slave States, he declared that it possessed "power to exterminate slavery from withinour borders. " It was probably under a like view, that Benjamin Franklin, another of its framers, and Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declarationof Independence, and other men of glorious and blessed memory, petitioned the first Congress under the Constitution to "countenance therestoration to liberty of those unhappy men, " (the slaves of ourcountry). And in what light that same Congress viewed the Constitutionmay be inferred from the fact, that, by a special act, it ratified thecelebrated Ordinance, by the terms of which slavery was forbidden forever in the North West Territory. It is worthy of note, that the avowedobject of the Ordinance harmonizes with that of the Constitution: andthat the Ordinance was passed the same year that the Constitution wasdrafted, is a fact, on which we can strongly rely to justify a referenceto the spirit of the one instrument for illustrating the spirit of theother. What the spirit of the Ordinance is, and in what light they whopassed it, regarded "republics, their laws and constitutions, " may beinferred from the following declaration in the Ordinance of its grandobject: "For extending the fundamental principles of civil and religiousliberty, which form the basis wherever these Republics, their laws andconstitutions are erected; to fix and establish those principles as thebasis of all laws, constitutions, and governments, which foreverhereafter shall be formed in the said territory, &c. ; it is herebyordained and declared that the following articles, &c. " One of thesearticles is that, which has been referred to, and which declares that"there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the saidTerritory. "

You will perhaps make light of my reference to James Wilson and BenjaminFranklin, for I recollect you say, that, "When the Constitution wasabout going into operation, its powers were not well understood by thecommunity at large, and remained to be accurately interpreted anddefined. " Nevertheless, I think it wise to repose more confidence in theviews, which the framers of the Constitution took of the spirit andprinciples of that instrument, than in the definitions andinterpretations of the pro-slavery generation, which has succeeded them. 

It should be regarded as no inconsiderable evidence of the anti-slaverygenius and policy of the Constitution, that Congress promptlyinterdicted slavery in the first portion of territory, and that, too, aterritory of vast extent, over which it acquired jurisdiction. And is itnot a perfectly reasonable supposition, that the seat of our Governmentwould not have been polluted by the presence of slavery, had Congressacted on that subject by itself, instead of losing sight of it in thewholesale legislation, by which the laws of Virginia and Maryland wererevived in the District?

If the Federal Constitution be not anti-slavery in its general scope andcharacter; if it be not impregnated with the principles of universalliberty; why was it necessary, in order to restrain Congress, for alimited period, from acting against the slave trade, which is but abranch or incident of slavery, to have a clause to that end in theConstitution? The fact that the framers of the Constitution refused toblot its pages with the word "slave" or "slavery;" and that, byperiphrase and the substitution of "persons" for "slaves, " they soughtto conceal from posterity and the world the mortifying fact, thatslavery existed under a government based on the principle, thatgovernments derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed, "contains volumes of proof, that they looked upon American slavery as adecaying institution; and that they would naturally shape theConstitution to the abridgment and the extinction, rather than theextension and perpetuity of the giant vice of the country. 

It is not to be denied, that the Constitution tolerates a limitedmeasure of slavery: but it tolerates this measure only as the exceptionto its rule of impartial and universal liberty. Were it otherwise, theprinciples of that instrument could be pleaded to justify the holding ofmen as property, in cases, other than those specifically provided for init. Were it otherwise, these principles might be appealed to, as well tosanction the enslavement of men, as the capture of wild beasts. Were itotherwise, the American people might be Constitutionally realizing theprophet's declaration: "they all lie in wait for blood: they hunt everyman his brother with a net. " But mere principles, whether in or out ofthe Constitution, do not avail to justify and uphold slavery. Says LordMansfield in the famous Somerset case: "The state of slavery is of sucha nature, that it is incapable of being now introduced by courts ofjustice upon mere reasoning or inferences from any principles, naturalor political; it must take its rise from _positive law_; the origin ofit can in no country or age be traced back to any other source. A caseso odious as the condition of slaves, must be taken strictly. " Grotiussays, that "slavery places man in an unnatural relation to man--arelation which nothing but positive law can sustain. " All are aware, that, by the common law, man cannot have property in man; and thatwherever that law is not counteracted on this point by positive law, "slaves cannot breathe, " and their "shackles fall. " I scarcely need add, that the Federal Constitution does, in the main, accord with the commonlaw. In the words of a very able writer: "The common law is the grandelement of the United States Constitution. All its fundamentalprovisions are instinct with its spirit; and its existence, principles, and paramount authority, are presupposed and assumed throughoutthe whole. "

To argue the anti-slavery character of the Federal Constitution, it isnot necessary to take the high ground of some, that whatever in theConstitution favors slavery is void, because opposed to the principlesand general tenor of that instrument. Much less is it necessary to takethe still higher ground, that every law in favor of slavery, in whatevercode or connection it may be found, is utterly invalid because of itsplain contravention of the law of nature. To maintain my position, thatthe Constitution is anti-slavery in its general character, and thatconstitutional slavery is, at the most, but an exception to that generalcharacter, it was not necessary to take either of these grounds; though, had I been disposed to take even the higher of them, I should not havelacked the countenance of the most weighty authorities. "The law ofnature, " says Blackstone, "being coeval with mankind, and dictated byGod himself, is of course superior in obligation to any other. It isbinding over all the globe, in all countries, and at all times: no humanlaws are of any validity if contrary to this. " The same writer says, that "The law of nature requires, that man should pursue his own trueand substantial happiness. " But that slavery allows this pursuit to itsvictims, no one will pretend. "There is a law, " says Henry Brougham, "above all the enactments of human codes. It is the law written by thefinger of God on the heart of man; and by that law, unchangeable andeternal, while men despise fraud, and loathe rapine, and abhor blood, they shall reject with indignation the wild and guilty phantasy, thatman can hold property in man. "

I add no more to what I have said on the subject of slavery in theDistrict of Columbia, than to ask, as I have done in relation to theinter-state slave trade and the annexation of slave states, whetherpetitions for its abolition argue so great a contempt of theConstitution, and so entire a recklessness of propriety, as to merit thetreatment which they receive at the hands of Congress. Admitting thatCongress has not the constitutional power to abolish slavery in theDistrict--admitting that it has not the constitutional power to destroywhat itself has established--admitting, too, that if it has the power, it ought not to exercise it;--nevertheless, is the case so perfectlyclear, that the petitioners for the measure deserve all the abuse andodium which their representatives in Congress heap upon them? In a word, do not the three classes of petitions to which you refer, merit, at thehands of those representatives, the candid and patient considerationwhich, until I read your acknowledgment, that, in relation to thesepetitions, "there is no substantial difference between" yourself andthose, who are in favor of thrusting them aside undebated, unconsidered, and even unread, I always supposed you were willing to have bestowedon them?

I pass to the examination of your charges against the abolitionists. 

_They contemn the "rights of property. "_

This charge you prefer against the abolitionists, not because theybelieve that a Legislature has the right to abolish slavery, nor becausethey deny that slaves are legally property; for this obvious truth theydo not deny. But you prefer it, because they believe that man cannotrightfully be a subject of property. 

Abolitionists believe, to use words, which I have already quoted, thatit is "a wild and guilty phantasy, that man can hold property in man. "They believe, that to claim property in the exalted being, whom God hasmade in His own image, and but "a little lower than the angels, " isscarcely less absurd than to claim it in the Creator himself. You takethe position, that human laws can rightfully reduce a race of men toproperty; and that the outrage, to use your own language, is "sanctionedand sanctified" by "two hundred years" continuance of it. Abolitionists, on the contrary, trace back man's inalienable self-ownership toenactments of the Divine Legislator, and to the bright morning of time, when he came forth from the hand of his Maker, "crowned with glory andhonor, " invested with self-control, and with dominion over the brute andinanimate creation. You soothe the conscience of the slaveholder, byreminding him, that the relation, which he has assumed towards hisdown-trodden fellow-man, is lawful. The abolitionist protests, that thewickedness of the relation is none the less, because it is legalized. Incharging abolitionists with condemning "the rights of property, " youmistake the innocent for the guilty party. Were you to be so unhappy asto fall into the hands of a kidnapper, and be reduced to a slave, andwere I to remonstrate, though in vain, with your oppressor, who wouldyou think was the despiser of "the rights of property"--myself, or theoppressor? As you would judge in that case, so judges every slave in hissimilar case. 

The man-stealer's complaint, that his "rights of property" in his stolenfellow men are not adequately respected by the abolitionist, recalls tomy mind a very similar, and but little more ludicrous case ofconscientious regard for the "rights of property. " A traveler wasplundered of the whole of his large sum of money. He pleadedsuccessfully with the robber for a little of it to enable him to reachhis home. But, putting his hand rather deeper into the bag of stolencoins than comported with the views of the robber, he was arrested withthe cry, "Why, man, have you no conscience?" You will perhaps inquire, whether abolitionists regard all the slaves of the South as stolen--aswell those born at the South, as those, who were confessedly stolen fromAfrica? I answer, that we do--that every helpless new-born infant, onwhich the chivalry of the South pounces, is, in our judgment, the ownerof itself--that we consider, that the crime of man-stealing which is soterribly denounced in the Bible, does not consist, as is alleged, instealing a slave from a third person, but in stealing him fromhimself--in depriving him of self control, and subjecting him, asproperty, to the absolute control of another. Joseph's declaration, thathe "was stolen, " favors this definition of man-stealing. JewishCommentators authorise it. Money, as it does not own itself, cannot bestolen from itself But when we reflect, that man is the owner ofhimself, it does not surprise us, that wresting away his inalienablerights--his very manhood--should have been called man-stealing. 

Whilst on this subject of "the rights of property, " I am reminded ofyour "third impediment to abolition. " This "impediment" consists in thefact of the great value of the southern slaves--which, according to yourestimation, is not less than "twelve hundred millions of dollars. " Iwill adopt your estimate, and thus spare myself from going into theabhorrent calculation of the worth in dollars and cents of immortalman--of the worth of "the image of God. " I thank you for your virtualadmission, that this wealth is grasped with a tenacity proportioned toits vast amount. Many of the wisest and best men of the North have beenled into the belief that the slaveholders of the South are too humaneand generous to hold their slaves fur the sake of gain. Even Dr. Channing was a subject of this delusion; and it is well remembered, thathis too favorable opinions of his fellow men, made it difficult todisabuse him of it. Northern Christians have been ready to believe, thatthe South would give up her slaves, because of her conscious lack oftitle to them. But in what age of the world have impenitent men failedto cling as closely to that, which they had obtained by fraud, as totheir honest acquisitions? Indeed, it is demonstrable on philosophicalprinciples, that the more stupendous the fraud, the more tenacious isthe hold upon that, which is gotten by it. I trust, that your admissionto which I have just referred, will have no small effect to prevent theNorthern apologist for slavery from repeating the remark that the Southwould gladly liberate her slaves, if she saw any prospect of betteringthe condition of the objects of her tender and solicitous benevolence. Itrust, too, that this admission will go far to prove the emptiness ofyour declaration, that the abolitionists "have thrown back for half acentury the prospect of any species of emancipation of the African race, gradual or immediate, in any of the states, " and the emptiness of yourdeclaration, that, "prior to the agitation of this subject of abolition, there was a progressive melioration in the condition of slavesthroughout all the slave states, " and that "in some of them, schools ofinstruction were opened, " &c. ; and I further trust, that this admissionwill render harmless your intimation, that this "melioration" and these"schools" were intended to prepare the slaves for freedom. After whatyou have said of the great value of the slaves, and of the obstacle itpresents to emancipation, you will meet with little success in yourendeavors to convince the world, that the South was preparing to give upthe "twelve hundred millions of dollars, " and that the naughtyabolitionists have postponed her gratification "for half a century. " Ifyour views of the immense value of the slaves, and of the consequentopposition to their freedom, be correct, then the hatred of the Southtowards the abolitionists must be, not because their movements tend tolengthen, but because they tend to shorten the period of her possessionof the "twelve hundred millions of dollars. " May I ask you, whether, whilst the South clings to these "twelve hundred millions of dollars, "it is not somewhat hypocritical in her to be complaining, that theabolitionists are fastening the "twelve hundred millions of dollars" toher? And may I ask you, whether there is not a little inconsistencybetween your own lamentations over this work of the abolitionists, andyour intimation that the South will never consent to give up her slaves, until the impossibility, of paying her "twelve hundred millions ofdollars" for them, shall have been accomplished? Puerile and insultingas is your proposition to the abolitionists to raise "twelve hundredmillions of dollars" for the purchase of the slaves, it is neverthelessinstructive; inasmuch as it shows, that, in your judgment, the South isas little willing to give up her slaves, as the abolitionists are ableto pay "twelve hundred millions of dollars" for them; and how unable theabolitionists are to pay a sum of money far greater than the wholeamount of money in the world, I need not explain. 

But if the South must have "twelve hundred millions of dollars" toinduce her to liberate her present number of slaves, how can you expectsuccess fur your scheme of ridding her of several times the presentnumber, "in the progress of some one hundred and fifty, or two hundredyears?" Do you reply, that, although she must have "four hundreddollars" a-piece for them, if she sell them to the abolitionists, sheis, nevertheless, willing to let the Colonization Society have themwithout charge? There is abundant proof, that she is not. During thetwenty-two years of the existence of that Society, not so many slaveshave been emancipated and given to it for expatriation, as are born in asingle week. As a proof that the sympathies of the South are all withthe slaveholding and _real_ character of this two-faced institution, andnot at all with the abolition purposes and tendencies, which itprofesses at the North, none of its Presidents, (and slave-holders onlyare deemed worthy to preside over it, ) has ever contributed from hisstock of slaves to swell those bands of emigrants, who, leaving ourshores in the character of "nuisances, " are instantly transformed, touse your own language, into "missionaries, carrying with themcredentials in the holy cause of Christianity, civilization, and freeinstitutions. " But you were not in earnest, when you held up the idea inyour recent speech, that the rapidly multiplying millions of our coloredcountrymen would be expatriated. What you said on that point was but toindulge in declamation, and to round off a paragraph. It is in that partof your speech where you say that "no practical scheme for their removalor separation from us has yet been devised or proposed, " that youexhibit your real sentiments on this subject, and impliedly admit thedeceitfulness of the pretensions of the American Colonization Society. 

Before closing my remarks on the topic of "the rights of property, " Iwill admit the truth of your charge, that _Abolitionists deny, that theslaveholder is entitled to "compensation" for his slaves_. 

Abolitionists do not know, why he, who steals men is, any more than he, who steals horses, entitled to "compensation" for releasing his plunder. They do not know, why he, who has exacted thirty years' unrequited toilfrom the sinews of his poor oppressed brother, should be paid forletting that poor oppressed brother labor for himself the remaining tenor twenty years of his life. But, it is said, that the South bought herslaves of the North, and that we of the North ought therefore tocompensate the South for liberating them. If there are individuals atthe North, who have sold slaves, I am free to admit, that they shouldpromptly surrender their ill-gotten gains; and no less promptly shouldthe inheritors of such gains surrender them. But, however this may be, and whatever debt may be due on this score, from the North to the South, certain it is, that on no principle of sound ethics, can the South holdto the persons of the innocent slaves, as security for the payment ofthe debt. Your state and mine, and I would it were so with all others, no longer allow the imprisonment of the debtor as a means of coercingpayment from him. How much less, then, should they allow the creditor topromote the security of his debt by imprisoning a third person--and onewho is wholly innocent of contracting the debt? But who is imprisoned, if it be not he, who is shut up in "the house of bondage?" And who ismore entirely innocent than he, of the guilty transactions between hisseller and buyer?

Another of your charges against abolitionists is, _that, although"utterly destitute of Constitutional or other rightful power--living intotally distinct communities--as alien to the communities in which thesubject on which they would operate resides, so far as concernspolitical power over that subject, as if they lived in Africa or Asia;they nevertheless promulgate to the world their purpose to be, tomanumit forthwith, and without compensation, and without moralpreparation, three millions of negro slaves, under jurisdictionsaltogether separated from those under which they live. "_

I will group with this charge several others of the same class. 

_1. _ _Abolitionists neglect the fact, that "the slavery which existsamongst us (southern people) is our affair--not theirs--and that theyhave no more just concern with it, than they have with slavery as itexists throughout the world. "_

_2. _ _They are regardless of the "deficiency of the powers of theGeneral Government, and of the acknowledged and incontestable powers ofthe States. "_

_3. _ "Superficial men (meaning no doubt abolitionists) confound thetotally different cases together of the powers of the British Parliamentand those of the Congress of the United States in the matter ofslavery. "_

Are these charges any thing more than the imagery of your own fancy, orselections from the numberless slanders of a time-serving and corruptpress? If they are founded on facts, it is in your power to state thefacts. For my own part, I am utterly ignorant of any, even the least, justification for them. I am utterly ignorant that the abolitionistshold any peculiar views in relation to the powers of the General orState Governments. I do not believe, that one in a hundred of themsupposes, that slavery in the states is a legitimate subject of federallegislation. I believe, that a majority of the intelligent men amongstthem accord much more to the claims of "state sovereignty, " and approachfar more nearly to the character of "strict constructionists, " than doesthe distinguished statesman, who charges them with such latitudinariannotions. There may be persons in our country, who believe that Congresshas the absolute power over all American slavery, which the BritishParliament had over all British slavery; and that Congress can abolishslavery in the slave states, because Great Britain abolished it in herWest India Islands; but, I do not know them; and were I to look forthem, I certainly should not confine my search to abolitionists--forabolitionists, as it is very natural they should be, are far betterinstructed in the subject of slavery and its connections with civilgovernment, than are the community in general. 

It is passing strange, that you, or any other man, who is not playing adesperate game, should, in the face of the Constitution of the AmericanAnti-Slavery Society, which "admits, that each state, in which slaveryexists, has, by the Constitution of the United States, the exclusiveright to legislate in regard to the abolition of slavery in said state;"make such charges, as you have done. 

In an Address "To the Public, " dated September 3, 1835, and subscribedby the President, Treasurer, the three Secretaries, and the other fivemembers of the Executive Committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society, we find the following language. 1. "We hold that Congress has no moreright to abolish slavery in the Southern states than in the French WestIndia Islands. Of course we desire no national legislation on thesubject. 2. We hold that slavery can only be lawfully abolished by thelegislatures of the several states in which it prevails, and that theexercise of any other than moral influence to induce such abolition isunconstitutional. "

But what slavery is it that the abolitionists call on Congress toabolish? Is it that in the slave states? No--it is that in the Districtof Columbia and in the territories--none other. And is it not a fairimplication of their petitions, that this is the only slavery, which, inthe judgment of the petitioners, Congress has power to abolish?Nevertheless, it is in the face of this implication, that you make yourarray of charges. 

Is it true, however, that the North has nothing more to do with slaveryin the states, than with slavery in a foreign country? Does it notconcern the North, that, whilst it takes many thousands of her voters tobe entitled to a representative in Congress, there are districts at theSouth, where, by means of slavery, a few hundred voters enjoy thisbenefit. Again, since the North regards herself as responsible in commonwith the South, for the continuance of slavery in the District ofColumbia and in the Territories, and for the continuance of theinterstate traffic in human beings; and since she believes slavery inthe slave states to be the occasion of these crimes, and that they willall of necessity immediately cease when slavery ceases--is it not right, that she should feel that she has a "just concern with slavery?" Again, is it nothing to the people of the North, that they may be called on, inobedience to a requirement of the federal constitution, to shouldertheir muskets to quell "domestic violence?" But, who does not know, thatthis requirement owes its existence solely to the apprehension ofservile insurrections?--or, in other words, to the existence of slaveryin the slave states? Again, when our guiltless brothers escape from thesouthern prison-house, and come among us, we are under constitutionalobligation to deliver them up to their stony-hearted pursuers. And isnot slavery in the slave states, which is the occasion of our obligationto commit this outrage on humanity and on the law of God, a matter of"just concern to us?" To what too, but slavery, in the slave states, isto be ascribed the long standing insult of our government towards thatof Hayti? To what but that, our national disadvantages and losses fromthe want of diplomatic relations between the two governments? To what somuch, as to slavery in the slave states, are owing the corruption in ournational councils, and the worst of our legislation? But scarcely anything should go farther to inspire the North with a sense of her "justconcern" in the subject of slavery in the slave states, than the fact, that slavery is the parent of the cruel and murderous prejudice, whichcrushes and kills her colored people; and, that it is but too probable, that the child will live as long as its parent. And has the North no"just concern" with the slavery of the slave states, when there is somuch reason to fear that our whole blood-guilty nation is threatenedwith God's destroying wrath on account of it?

There is another respect in which we of the North have a "just concern"with the slavery of the slave states. We see nearly three millions ofour fellow men in those states robbed of body, mind, will, andsoul--denied marriage and the reading of the Bible, and marketed asbeasts. We see them in a word crushed in the iron folds of slavery. Ournature--the laws written upon its very foundations--the Bible, with itsinjunctions "to remember them that are in bonds as bound with them, " andto "open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as areappointed to destruction"--all require us to feel and to express what wefeel for these wretched millions. I said, that we see this misery. Thereare many amongst us--they are anti-abolitionists--who do not see it; andto them God says; "but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse. "

I add, that we of the North must feel concerned about slavery in theslave states, because of our obligation to pity the deluded, hard-hearted, and bloody oppressors in those states: and to manifest ourlove for them by rebuking their unsurpassed sin. And, notwithstandingpro-slavery statesmen at the North, who wink at the iniquity of slaveholding, and pro-slavery clergymen at the North, who cry, "peace, peace"to the slaveholder, and sew "pillows to armholes, " tell us, that by ourhonest and open rebuke of the slaveholder, we shall incur his enduringhatred; we, nevertheless, believe that "open rebuke is better thansecret love, " and that, in the end, we shall enjoy more Southern favorthan they, whose secret love is too prudent and spurious to dealfaithfully with the objects of its regard. "He that rebuketh a man, afterward shall find more favor than he that flattereth with thetongue. " The command, "thou shall in any wise rebuke thy neighbor andnot suffer sin upon him, " is one, which the abolitionist feels, that heis bound to obey, as well in the case of the slaveholder, as in that ofany other sinner. And the question: "who is my neighbor, " is so answeredby the Savior, as to show, that not he of our vicinity, nor even he ofour country, is alone our "neighbor. "

The abolitionists of the North hold, that they have certainly as much"just concern" with slavery in the slave states, as the temperance menof the North have with "intemperance" at the South. And I would hereremark, that the weapons with which the abolitionists of the Northattack slavery in the slave states are the same, and no other than thesame, with those, which the North employs against the vice ofintemperance at the South. I add too, that were you to say, thatnorthern temperance men disregard "the deficiency of the powers of theGeneral Government, " and also "the acknowledged and incontestable powersof the states;" your charge would be as suitable as when it is appliedto northern abolitionists. 

You ascribe to us "the purpose to manumit the three millions of negroslaves. " Here again you greatly misrepresent us, by holding us up asemploying coercive, instead of persuasive, means for the accomplishmentof our object. Our "purpose" is to persuade others to "manumit. " Theslaveholders themselves are to "manumit. " It is evident, that otherscannot "manumit" for them. If the North were endeavoring to persuade theSouth to give up the growing of cotton, you would not say, it is thepurpose of the North to give it up. But, as well might you, as to say, that it is the "purpose" of the abolitionists to "manumit. " It is verymuch by such misrepresentations, that the prejudices againstabolitionists are fed and sustained. How soon they would die of atrophy, if they, who influence the public mind and mould public opinion, wouldtell but the simple truth about abolitionists. 

You say, that the abolitionists would have the slaves manumitted"without compensation and without moral preparation. " I have alreadysaid enough on the point of "compensation. " It is true, that they wouldhave them manumitted immediately:--for they believe slavery is sin, andthat therefore the slaveholder has no right to protract the bondage ofhis slaves for a single year, or for a single day or hour;--not even, were he to do so to afford them "a moral preparation" for freedom, or toaccomplish any other of the kindest and best purposes. They believe, that the relation of slaveholder, as it essentially and indispensablyinvolves the reduction of men to chattelship, cannot, under any pleawhatever, be continued with innocence, for a single moment. If it canbe--if the plain laws of God, in respect to marriage and religiousinstruction and many other blessings, of which chattelized man isplundered, can be innocently violated--why credit any longer theassertion of the Bible, that "sin is the transgression of the law?"--whynot get a new definition of sin?

Another reason with abolitionists in favor of immediate manumission, is, that the slaves do not, as a body, acquire, whilst in slavery, any"moral preparation" for freedom. To learn to swim we must be allowed theuse of water. To learn the exercises of a freeman, we must enjoy heelement of liberty. I will not say, that slaves cannot be taught, tosome extent, the duties of freemen. Some knowledge of the art ofswimming may be acquired before entering the water. I have not forgottenwhat you affirm about the "progressive melioration in the condition ofslaves, " and the opening of "schools of instruction" for them "prior tothe agitation of the subject of abolition;" nor, have I forgotten, thatI could not read it without feeling, that the creations of your fancy, rather than the facts of history, supplied this information. Instances, rare instances, of such "melioration" and of such "schools ofinstruction, " I doubt not there have been: but, I am confident, that theSouthern slaves have been sunk in depths of ignorance proportioned tothe profits of their labor. I have not the least belief, that theproportion of readers amongst them is one half so great, as it wasbefore the invention of Whitney's cotton gin. 

Permit me to call your attention to a few of the numberless evidences, that slavery is a poor school for "moral preparation" for freedom. 1st. Slavery turns its victims into thieves. "Who should be astonished, " saysThomas S. Clay, a very distinguished slaveholder of Georgia, "if thenegro takes from the field or corn-house the supplies necessary for hiscraving appetite and then justifies his act, and denies that it isstealing?" What debasement in the slave does the same gentleman's remedyfor theft indicate? "If, " says he, "the negro is informed, that if hedoes not steal, he shall receive rice as an allowance; and if he doessteal, he shall not, a motive is held out which will counteract thetemptation to pilfer. " 2nd. Slavery reeks with licentiousness. Anotherson of the South says, that the slaveholder's kitchen is a brothel, anda southern village a Sodom. The elaborate defence of slavery byChancellor Harper of South Carolina justifies the heaviest accusations, that have been brought against it on the score of licentiousness. Howcould you blame us for deeply abhorring slavery, even were we to view itin no other light than that in which the Dews and Harpers and its otheradvocates present it? 3rd. Slavery puts the master in the place of God, and the master's law in the place of God's law! "The negro, " says ThomasS. Clay, "is seldom taught to feel, that he is punished for breakingGod's law! He only knows his master as law-giver and executioner, andthe sole object held up to his view is to make him a more obedient andprofitable slave. He oftener hears that he shall be punished if hesteals, than if he breaks the Sabbath or swears; and thus he sees thevery threatenings of God brought to bear on his master's interests. Itis very manifest to him, that his own good is very far from forming theprimary reason for his chastisement: his master's interests are to besecured at all events;--God's claims are secondary, or enforced merelyfor the purpose of advancing those of his owner. His own benefit is theresiduum after this double distillation of moral motive--a mereaccident. " 4th. The laws of nearly all the slave-states forbid theteaching of the slaves to read. The abundant declarations, that thoselaws are without exception, a consequence of the present agitation ofthe question of slavery are glaringly false. Many of these laws wereenacted long before this agitation; and some of them long before you andI were born. Say the three hundred and fifty-three gentlemen of theDistrict of Abbeville and Edgefield in South Carolina, who, the lastyear, broke up a system of oral religious instruction, which theMethodist Conference of that State had established amongst their slaves:"Intelligence and slavery have no affinity for each other. " And whenthose same gentlemen declare, that "verbal and lecturing instructionwill increase a desire with the black population to learn"--that "theprogress and diffusion of knowledge will be a consequence"--and that "aprogressive system of improvement will be introduced, that willultimately revolutionize our civil institutions, " they admit, that theprohibition of "intelligence" to the slaves is the settled and necessarypolicy of slavery, and not, as you would have us believe, a temporaryexpedient occasioned by the present "agitation of this subject ofabolition. " 5th. Slavery--the system, which forbids marriage and thereading of the Bible--does of necessity turn its subjects into heathens. A Report of the Synod of South Carolina and Georgia, made five yearsago, says: "Who could credit it, that in these years of revival andbenevolent effort--that, in this Christian Republic, there are over twomillions of human beings in the condition of heathen, and in somerespects in a worse condition? They may be justly considered the heathenof this Christian country, and will bear comparison with heathen in anycountry in the world. " I will finish what I have to say on this point of"moral preparation" for freedom, with the remark, that the history ofslavery in no country warrants your implication, that slaves acquiresuch "moral preparation. " The British Parliament substituted anapprenticeship for slavery with the express design, that it shouldafford a "moral preparation" for freedom. And yet, if you will read thereports of late visitors to the British West Indies, you will find, thatthe planters admit, that they made no use of the advantages of theapprenticeship to prepare their servants for liberty. Their owngain--not the slaves'--was their ruling motive, during the term of theapprenticeship, as well as preceding it. 

Another of your charges is, _that the abolitionists "have increased therigors of legislation against slaves in most if not all theslave States_. "

And suppose, that our principles and measures have occasioned thisevil--are they therefore wrong?--and are we, therefore, involved in sin?The principles and measures of Moses and Aaron were the occasion of asimilar evil. Does it follow, that those principles and measures werewrong, and that Moses and Aaron were responsible for the sin ofPharaoh's increased oppressiveness? The truth, which Jesus Christpreached on the earth, is emphatically peace: but its power on thedepravity of the human heart made it the occasion of division andviolence. That depravity was the guilty cause of the division andviolence. The truth was but the innocent occasion of them. To make itresponsible for the effects of that depravity would be as unreasonable, as it is to make the holy principles of the anti-slavery causeresponsible for the wickedness which they occasion: and to make thegreat Preacher Himself responsible for the division and violence, wouldbe but to carry out the absurdity, of which the public are guilty, inholding abolitionists responsible for the mobs, which are got up againstthem. These mobs, by the way, are called "abolition mobs. " A similarmisnomer would pronounce the mob, that should tear down your house andshoot your wife, "Henry Clay's mob. " Harriet Martineau, in stating thefact, that the mobs of 1834, in the city of New York, were set down tothe wrong account, says, that the abolitionists were told, that "theyhad no business to scare the city with the sight of their burningproperty and demolished churches!"

No doubt the light of truth, which the abolitionists are pouring intothe dark den of slavery, greatly excites the monster's wrath: and it maybe, that he vents a measure of it on the helpless and innocent victimswithin his grasp. Be it so;--it is nevertheless, not the Ithuriel spearof truth, that is to be held guilty of the harm:--it is the monster'sown depravity, which cannot

 "endureTouch of celestial temper, but returnsOf force to its own likeness. "[A]

[Footnote A: This is a reference to a passage in Milton's Paradise Lost, in which Satan in disguise is touched by the spear of the archangelIthuriel and is thereby forced to return to his own form. ]

I am, however, far from believing, that the treatment of the slaves isrendered any more rigorous and cruel by the agitation of the subject ofslavery. I am very far from believing, that it is any harsher now thanit was before the organization of the American Anti-Slavery Society. Fugitive slaves tell us, it is not: and, inasmuch as the slaveholdersare, and, by both words and actions, abundantly show, that they feelthat they are, arraigned by the abolitionists before the bar of thecivilized world, to answer to the charges of perpetrating cruelties ontheir slaves, it would, unless indeed, they are of the number of those"whose glory is in their shame, " be most unphilosophical to conclude, that they are multiplying proofs of the truth of those charges, morerapidly than at any former stage of their barbarities. That slaveholdersare not insensible to public opinion and to the value of a goodcharacter was strikingly exhibited by Mr. Calhoun, in his place in theSenate of the United States, when he followed his frank disclaimer ofall suspicion, that the abolitionists are meditating a war against theslaveholder's person, with remarks evincive of his sensitiveness underthe war, which they are waging against the slaveholder's character. 

A fact occurs to me, which goes to show, that the slaveholders feelthemselves to be put upon their good behavior by the abolitionists. Although slaves are murdered every day at the South, yet never, untilvery recently, if at all, has the case occurred, in which a white manhas been executed at the South for the murder of a slave. A few monthsago, the Southern newspapers brought us copies of the document, containing the refusal of Governor Butler of South Carolina to pardon aman, who had been convicted of the murder of a slave. This documentdwells on the protection due to the slave; and, if I fully recollect itscharacter, an abolitionist himself could hardly have prepared a moreappropriate paper for the occasion. Whence such a document--whence, inthe editorial captions to this document, the exultation over itstriumphant refutations of the slanders of the abolitionists against theSouth--but, that Governor Butler feels--but, that the writes of thosecaptions feel--that the abolitionists have put the South upon hergood behavior. 

Another of your charges is, _that the abolitionists oppose "the projectof colonisation. "_

Having, under another head, made some remarks on this "project, " I willonly add, that we must oppose the American Colonization Society, becauseit denies the sinfulness of slavery, and the duty of immediate, unqualified emancipation. Its avowed doctrine is, that, unlessemancipation he accompanied by expatriation, perpetual slavery is to bepreferred to it. Not to oppose that Society, would be the guiltiesttreachery to our holy religion, which requires immediate andunconditional repentance of sin. Not to oppose it, would be to upholdslavery. Not to oppose it, would be to abandon the Anti-Slavery Society. Do you ask, why, if this be the character of the American ColonizationSociety, many, who are now abolitionists, continued in it so long? Ianswer for myself, that, until near the period of my withdrawal from it, I had very inadequate conceptions of the wickedness, both of thatSociety, and of slavery. For having felt the unequalled sin of slaveryno more deeply--for feeling it now no more deeply, I confess myself tobe altogether without excuse. The great criminality of my longcontinuance in the Colonization Society is perhaps somewhat palliated bythe fact, that the strongest proofs of the wicked character andtendencies of the Society were not exhibited, until it spread out itswing over slavery to shelter the monster from the earnest and effectiveblows of the American Anti-Slavery Society. 

Another of your charges is, that the abolitionists, in declaring "thattheir object is not to stimulate the action of the General Government, _but to operate upon the States themselves, in which the institution ofdomestic slavery exists, " are evidently insincere, since the "abolitionsocieties and movements are all confined to the free Slates_. "

I readily admit, that our object is the abolition of slavery, as well inthe slave States, as in other portions of the Nation, where it exists. But, does it follow, because only an insignificant share of our"abolition societies and movements" is in those States, that wetherefore depend for the abolition of slavery in them on the GeneralGovernment, rather than on moral influence? I need not repeat, that thecharge of our looking to the General Government for such abolition isrefuted by the language of the Constitution of the Anti-Slavery Society. You may, however, ask--"why, if you do not look to the GeneralGovernment for it, is not the great proportion of your means of moralinfluence in the slave States, where is the great body of the slaves?" Ianswer that, in the first place, the South does not permit us to havethem there; and that, in the words of one of your fellow Senators, andin the very similar words of another--both uttered on the floor of theSenate--"if the abolitionists come to the South, the South will hangthem. " Pardon the remark, that it seems very disingenuous in you to drawconclusions unfavorable to the sincerity of the abolitionists frompremises so notoriously false, as are those which imply, that it isentirely at their own option, whether the abolitionists shall have their"societies and movements" in the free or slave States. I continue toanswer your question, by saying, in the second place, that, had theabolitionists full liberty to multiply their "societies and movements"in the slave States, they would probably think it best to have the greatproportion of them yet awhile in the free States. To rectify publicopinion on the subject of slavery is a leading object withabolitionists. This object is already realized to the extent of athorough anti-slavery sentiment in Great Britain, as poor AndrewStevenson, for whom you apologise, can testify. Indeed, the great powerand pressure of that sentiment are the only apology left to thisdisgraced and miserable man for uttering a bald falsehood in vindicationof Virginia morals. He above all other men, must feel the truth of thedistinguished Thomas Fowel Buxton's declaration, that "England is turnedinto one great Anti-Slavery Society. " Now, Sir, it is such a change, asabolitionists have been the instruments of producing in Great Britain, that we hope to see produced in the free States. We hope to see publicsentiment in these States so altered, that such of their laws, as upholdand countenance slavery, will be repealed--so altered, that the presentbrutal treatment of the colored population in them will give place to atreatment dictated by justice, humanity, and brotherly and Christianlove;--so altered, that there will be thousands, where now there are nothundreds, to class the products of slave labor with other stolen goods, and to refuse to eat and to wear that, which is wet with the tears, andred with the blood of "the poor innocents, " whose bondage is continued, because men are more concerned to buy what is cheap, than what ishonestly acquired;--so altered, that our Missionary and other religiousSocieties will remember, that God says: "I hate robbery forburnt-offering, " and will forbear to send their agents after thatplunder, which, as it is obtained at the sacrifice of the body and soulof the plundered, is infinitely more unfit, than the products ofordinary theft, to come into the Lord's treasury. And, when the warmdesires of our hearts, on these points, shall be realized, the fiftythousand Southerners, who annually visit the North, for purposes ofbusiness and pleasure, will not all return to their homes, self-complacent and exulting, as now, when they carry with them thesuffrages of the North in favor of slavery: but numbers of them willreturn to pursue the thoughts inspired by their travels amongst theenemies of oppression--and, in the sequel, they will let their"oppressed go free. "

It were almost as easy for the sun to call up vegetation by the side ofan iceberg, as for the abolitionists to move the South extensively, whilst their influence is counteracted by a pro-slavery spirit at theNorth. How vain would be the attempt to reform the drunkards of yourtown of Lexington, whilst the sober in it continue to drink intoxicatingliquors! The first step in the reformation is to induce the sober tochange their habits, and create that total abstinence-atmosphere, in thebreathing of which, the drunkard lives, --and, for the want of which, hedies. The first step, in the merciful work of delivering the slaveholderfrom his sin, is similar. It is to bring him under the influence of acorrected public opinion--of an anti-slavery sentiment:--and they, whoare to be depended on to contribute to this public opinion--to make upthis anti-slavery sentiment--are those, who are not bound up in the ironhabits, and blinded by the mighty interests of the slaveholder. Todepend on slaveholders to give the lead to public opinion in theanti-slavery enterprise, would be no less absurd, than to begin thetemperance reformation with drunkards, and to look to them to producethe influences, which are indispensable to their own redemption. 

You say of the abolitionists, _that "they are in favor ofamalgamation. "_

The Anti-Slavery Society is, as its name imports, a society to opposeslavery--not to "make matches. " Whether abolitionists are inclined toamalgamation more than anti-abolitionists are, I will not here take uponmyself to decide. So far, as you and I may be regarded asrepresentatives of these two parties, and so far as our marriages argueour tastes in this matter, the abolitionists and anti-abolitionists maybe set down, as equally disposed to couple white with white and blackwith black--for our wives, as you are aware, are both white. I will heremention, as it may further argue the similarity in the matrimonialtastes of abolitionists and anti-abolitionists, the fact so grateful tous in the days, when we were "workers together" in promoting the "schemeof Colonization, " that our wives are natives of the same town. 

I have a somewhat extensive acquaintance at the North; and I can trulysay, that I do not know a white abolitionist, who is the reputed fatherof a colored child. At the South there are several hundred thousandpersons, whose yellow skins testify, that the white man's blood coursesthrough their veins. Whether the honorable portion of their parentage isto be ascribed exclusively to the few abolitionists scattered over theSouth--and who, under such supposition, must, indeed, be prodigies ofindustry and prolificness--or whether anti-abolitionists there have, notwithstanding all their pious horror of "amalgamation, " beencontributing to it, you can better judge than myself. 

That slavery is a great amalgamator, no one acquainted with the blendedcolors of the South will, for a moment, deny. But, that an increasingamalgamation would attend the liberation of the slaves, is quiteimprobable, when we reflect, that the extensive occasions of the presentmixture are the extreme debasement of the blacks and their entiresubjection to the will of the whites; and that even should thedebasement continue under a state of freedom, the subjection would not. It is true, that the colored population of our country might in a stateof freedom, attain to an equality with the whites; and that amultiplication of instances of matrimonial union between the two racesmight be a consequence of this equality: but, beside, that this would bea lawful and sinless union, instead of the adulterous and wicked one, which is the fruit of slavery, would not the improved condition of ourdown-trodden brethren be a blessing infinitely overbalancing all theviolations of our taste, which it might occasion? I say violations of_our_ taste;--for we must bear in mind that, offensive as theintermixture of different races may be to us, the country or age, whichpractices it, has no sympathy whatever with our feeling on this point. 

How strongly and painfully it argues the immorality and irreligion ofthe American people, that they should look so complacently on the"amalgamation, " which tramples the seventh commandment under foot, andyet be so offended at that, which has the sanction of lawful wedlock!When the Vice President of this Nation was in nomination for his presentoffice, it was objected to him, that he had a family of coloredchildren. The defence, set up by his partisans, was, that, although hehad such a family, he nevertheless was not married to their mother! Thedefence was successful; and the charge lost all its odiousness; and theVice President's popularity was retrieved, when, it turned out, that hewas only the adulterous, and not the married father of his children!

I am aware, that many take the ground, that we must keep the slaves inslavery to prevent the matrimonial "amalgamation, " which, theyapprehend, would be a fruit of freedom. But, however great a good, abolitionists might deem the separation of the white and black races, and however deeply they might be impressed with the power of slavery topromote this separation, they nevertheless, dare not "do evil, that goodmay come:"--they dare not seek to promote this separation, at thefearful expense of upholding, or in anywise, countenancing ahumanity-crushing and God-defying system of oppression. 

Another charge against the abolitionists is implied in the inquiry youmake, _whether since they do not "furnish in their own families orpersons examples of intermarriage, they intend to contaminate theindustrious and laborious classes of society of the North by a revoltingadmixture of the black element. "_

This inquiry shows how difficult it is for southern minds, accustomed asthey have ever been to identify labor with slavery, to conceive the truecharacter and position of such "classes" at the North; and also howignorant they are of the composition of our Anti-Slavery societies. Tocorrect your misapprehensions on these points, I will briefly say, inthe first place, that the laborers of the North are freemen and notslaves;--that they marry whom they please, and are neither paired norunpaired to suit the interests of the breeder, or seller, or buyer, ofhuman stock:--and, in the second place, that the abolitionists, insteadof being a body of persons distinct from "the industrious and laboriousclasses, " do, more than nineteen twentieths of them, belong to those"classes. " You have fallen into great error in supposing, that_abolitionists_ generally belong to the wealthy and aristocraticclasses. This, to a great extent, is true of _anti-abolitionists_. Haveyou never heard the boast, that there have been anti-abolition mobs, which consisted of "gentlemen of property and standing?"

You charge upon abolitionists "_the purpose to create a pinchingcompetition between black labor and white labor;" and add, that "on thesupposition of abolition the black class, migrating into the freestates, would enter into competition with the white class, diminishingthe wages of their labor_. "

In making this charge, as well as in making that which immediatelyprecedes it, you have fallen into the error, that abolitionists do notbelong to "the industrious and laborious classes. " In point of fact, theabolitionists belong so generally to these classes, that if your chargebe true, they must have the strange "purpose" of "pinching" themselves. 

Whether "the black class" would, or would not migrate, I am much morepleased to have you say what you do on this point, though it be at theexpense of your consistency, than to have you say, as you do in anotherpart of your speech, that abolition "would end in the extermination orsubjugation of the one race or the other. "

It appears to me highly improbable, that emancipation would be followedby the migration of the emancipated. Emancipation, which has alreadyadded fifty per cent. To the value of estates in the British WestIndies, would immediately add as much to the value of the soil of theSouth. Much more of it would be brought into use; and, notwithstandingthe undoubted truth, that the freedman performs twice as much labor aswhen a slave, the South would require, instead of any diminution, a verygreat increase of the number of her laborers. The laboring population ofthe British West India Islands, is one-third as large as that of thesouthern states; and yet, since these islands have got rid of slavery, and have entered on their career of enterprize and industry, they findthis population, great as it is, insufficient to meet the increaseddemand for labor. As you are aware, they are already inviting laborersof this and other countries to supply the deficiency. But what is theamount of cultivable land in those islands, compared with that in allthe southern states? It is not so extensive as the like land in yoursingle state. 

But you may suppose, that, in the event of the emancipation of herslaves, the South would prefer white laborers. I know not why sheshould. Such are, for the most part, unaccustomed to her kinds of labor, and they would exact, because they would need, far greater wages thanthose, who had never been indulged beyond the gratification of theirsimplest wants. There is another point of view, in which it is stillmore improbable, that the black laborers of the South would be displacedby immigrations of white laborers. The proverbial attachment of theslave to his "bornin-ground, " (the place of his nativity, ) would greatlycontribute to his contentment with low wages, at the hands of his oldmaster. As an evidence of the strong attachment of our southern coloredbrethren to their birth-places, I remark, that, whilst the free coloredpopulation of the free states increased from 1820 to 1830 but nineteenper cent. , the like population in the slave states increased, in thesame period, thirty five per cent;--and this, too, notwithstanding theoperation of those oppressive and cruel laws, whose enactment wasdictated by the settled policy of expelling the free blacks fromthe South. 

That, in the event of the abolition of southern slavery, the emancipatedslaves would migrate to the North, rather than elsewhere, is veryimprobable. Whilst our climate would be unfriendly to them, and whilstthey would be strangers to our modes of agriculture, the sugar andcotton fields of Texas, the West Indies, and other portions of theearth, would invite them to congenial employments beneath congenialskies. That, in case southern slavery is abolished, the coloredpopulation of the North would be drawn off to unite with their race atthe South, is, for reasons too obvious to mention, far more probablethan the reverse. 

It will be difficult for you to persuade the North, that she wouldsuffer in a pecuniary point of view by the extirpation of slavery. Theconsumption of the laborers at the South would keep pace with theimprovement and elevation of their condition, and would very soon imparta powerful impulse to many branches of Northern industry. 

Another of your charges is in the following words: "The subject ofslavery within the District of Florida, " and that "of the right ofCongress to prohibit the removal of slaves from one state to another, "are, with abolitionists, "but so many masked batteries, concealing thereal and ultimate point of attack. That point of attack is theinstitution of domestic slavery, as it exists in those states. "

If you mean by this charge, that abolitionists think that the abolitionof slavery in the District of Columbia and in Florida, and thesuppression of the interstate traffic in human beings are, inthemselves, of but little moment, you mistake. If you mean, that theythink them of less importance than the abolition of slavery in the slavestates, you are right; and if you further mean, that they prize thoseobjects more highly, and pursue them more zealously, because they think, that success in them will set in motion very powerful, if not indeedresistless influences against slavery in the slave states, you are rightin this also. I am aware, that the latter concession bringsabolitionists under the condemnation of that celebrated book, written bya _modern_ limiter of "human responsibility"--not by the _ancient_ one, who exclaimed, "Am I my brother's keeper?" In that book, to which, bythe way, the infamous Atherton Resolutions are indebted for theirkeynote, and grand pervading idea, we find the doctrine, that even if itwere the duty of Congress to abolish slavery in the District ofColumbia, the North nevertheless should not seek for such abolition, unless the object of it be "ultimate within itself. " If it be "for thesake of something ulterior" also--if for the sake of inducing theslaveholders of the slave states to emancipate their slaves--then weshould not seek for it. Let us try this doctrine in anotherapplication--in one, where its distinguished author will not feel somuch delicacy, and so much fear of giving offence. His reason why weshould not go for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, unless our object in it be "ultimate within itself, " and unaccompaniedby the object of producing an influence against slavery in the slavestates, is, that the Federal Constitution has left the matter of slaveryin the slave states to those states themselves. But will PresidentWayland say, that it has done so to any greater extent, than it has leftthe matter of gambling-houses and brothels in those states to thosestates themselves? He will not, if he consider the subject:--though, Idoubt not, that when he wrote his bad book, he was under the prevailingerror, that the Federal Constitution tied up the hands and limited thepower of the American people in respect to slavery, more than to anyother vice. 

But to the other application. We will suppose, that Great Britain hasput down the gambling-houses and brothels in her wide dominions--thatMexico has done likewise; and that the George Thompsons, and CharlesStuarts, and other men of God, have come from England to beseech thepeople of the northern states to do likewise within their respectivejurisdictions;--and we will further suppose, that those foreignmissionaries, knowing the obstinate and infatuated attachment of thepeople of the southern states to their gambling-houses and brothels, should attempt, and successfully, too, to blend with the motive of thepeople of the northern states to get rid of their own gambling housesand brothels, the motive of influencing the people of the southernstates to get rid of theirs--what, we ask, would this eminent divineadvise in such a case? Would he have the people of the northern statesgo on in their good work, and rejoice in the prospect, not only thatthese polluting and ruinous establishments would soon cease to existwithin all their limits, but that the influence of their overthrow wouldbe fatal to the like establishments in the southern states? To beconsistent with himself--with the doctrine in question--he must reply inthe negative. To be consistent with himself, he must advise the peopleof the northern states to let their own gambling-houses and brothelsstand, until they can make the object of their abolishment "ultimatewithin itself;"--until they can expel from their hearts the cherishedhope, that the purification of their own states of these haunts ofwickedness would exert an influence to induce the people of their sisterstates to enter upon a similar work of purity and righteousness. But Itrust, that President Wayland would not desire to be consistent withhimself on this point. I trust that he would have the magnanimity tothrow away this perhaps most pernicious doctrine of a pernicious book, which every reader of it must see was written to flatter and please theslaveholder and arrest the progress of the anti-slavery cause. How greatthe sin of seizing on this very time, when special efforts are beingmade to enlist the world's sympathies in behalf of the millions of ourrobbed, outraged, crushed countrymen--how great the sin, of seizing onsuch a time to attempt to neutralize those efforts, by ascribing to theoppressors of these millions a characteristic "nobleness"--"enthusiasticattachment to personal right"--"disinterestedness which has alwaysmarked the southern character"--and a superiority to all others "inmaking any sacrifice for the public good!" It is this sin--this heinoussin--of which President Wayland has to repent. If he pities the slave, it is because he knows, that the qualities, which he ascribes to theslaveholder, do not, in fact, belong to him. On the other hand, if hebelieves the slaveholder to be, what he represents him to be, he doesnot--in the very nature of things, he cannot--pity the slave. He mustrather rejoice, that the slave has fallen into the hands of one, who, though he has the name, cannot have the heart, and cannot continue inthe relation of a slaveholder. If John Hook, for having mingled hisdiscordant and selfish cries with the acclamations of victory and thengeneral joy, deserved Patrick Henry's memorable rebuke, what does he notdeserve, who finds it in his heart to arrest the swelling tide of pityfor the oppressed by praises of the oppressor, and to drown the publiclament over the slave's subjection to absolute power, in thecongratulation, that the slaveholder who exercises that power, is abeing of characteristic "nobleness, " "disinterestedness, " and"sacrifice" of self-interest?

President Wayland may perhaps say, that the moral influence, which he isunwilling to have exerted over the slaveholder, is not that, which issimply persuasive, but that, which is constraining--not that, which issimply inducing, but that, which is compelling. I cheerfully admit, thatit is infinitely better to induce men to do right from their ownapprobation of the right, than it is to shame them, or in any other wiseconstrain them, to do so; but I can never admit, that I am not atliberty to effect the release of my colored brother from the fangs ofhis murderous oppressor, when I can do so by bringing public opinion tobear upon that oppressor, and to fill him with uneasiness and shame. 

I have not, overlooked the distinction taken by the reverend gentleman;though, I confess that, to a mind no less obtuse than my own, it is verylittle better than "a distinction without a difference. " Whilst hedenies, that I can, as an American citizen, rightfully labor for theabolition of slavery in the slave states, or even in the District ofColumbia; he would perhaps, admit that, as a man, I might do so. But amI not interested, as an American citizen, to have every part of mycountry cleared of vice, and of whatever perils its free institutions?Am I not interested, as such, to promote the overthrow of gambling andrum drinking establishments in South Carolina?--but why any more than topromote the overthrow of slavery? In fine, am I not interested, as anAmerican citizen, to have my country, and my whole country, "right inthe sight of God?" If not, I had better not be an American citizen. 

I say no more on the subject of the sophistries of President Wayland'sbook on, "The limitations of human responsibility;" nor would I havesaid what I have, were it not that it is in reply to the likesophistries couched in that objection of yours, which I have now beenconsidering. 

Another of your charges against the abolitionists is, _that they seek to"stimulate the rage of the people of the free states against the peopleof the slave states. Advertisements of fugitive slaves and of slaves tobe sold are carefully collected and blazoned forth to infuse a spirit ofdetestation and hatred against one entire and the largest section ofthe Union. "_

The slaveholders of the South represent slavery as a heaven-borninstitution--themselves as patriarchs and patterns of benevolence--andtheir slaves, as their tenderly treated and happy dependents. Theabolitionists, on the contrary, think that slavery is from hell--thatslaveholders are the worst of robbers--and that their slaves are thewretched victims of unsurpassed cruelties. Now, how do abolitionistspropose to settle the points at issue?--by fanciful pictures of theabominations of slavery to countervail the like pictures of itsblessedness?--by mere assertions against slavery, to balance mereassertions in its favor? No--but by the perfectly reasonable and fairmeans of examining slavery in the light of its own code--of judging ofthe character of the slaveholder in the light of his own conduct--and ofarguing the condition of the slave from unequivocal evidences of thelight in which the slave himself views it. To this end we publishextracts from the southern slave code, which go to show that slaverysubjects its victims to the absolute control of their erring fellowmen--that it withholds from them marriage and the Bible--that it classesthem with brutes and things--and annihilates the distinctions betweenmind and matter. To this end we republish in part, or entirely, pamphlets and books, in which southern men exhibit, with their own pens, some of the horrid features of slavery. To this end we also republishsuch advertisements as you refer to--advertisements in which immortalbeings, made in the image of God, and redeemed by a Savior's blood, andbreathed upon by the Holy Spirit, are offered to be sold, at publicauction, or sheriff's sale, in connection with cows, and horses, andploughs: and, sometimes we call special attention to the common fact, that the husband and wife, the parent and infant child, are advertisedto be sold together or separately, as shall best suit purchasers. It isto this end also, that we often republish specimens of the other classof advertisements to which you refer. Some of the advertisements of thisclass identify the fugitive slave by the scars, which the whip, or themanacles and fetters, or the rifle had made on his person. Some of themoffer a reward for his head!--and it is to this same end, that we oftenrefer to the ten thousands, who have fled from southern slavery, and thefifty fold that number, who have unsuccessfully attempted to fly fromit. How unutterable must be the horrors of the southern prison house, and how strong and undying the inherent love of liberty to induce thesewretched fellow beings to brave the perils which cluster so thickly andfrightfully around their attempted escape? That love is indeed_undying_. The three hundred and fifty-three South Carolina gentlemen, to whom I have referred, admit, that even "the old negro man, whose headis white with age, raises his thoughts to look through the vista whichwill terminate his bondage. "

I put it to your candor--can you object to the reasonableness andfairness of these modes, which abolitionists have adopted forestablishing the truth on the points at issue between themselves andslaveholders? But, you may say that our republication of your ownrepresentations of slavery proceeds from unkind motives, and serves tostir up the "hatred, " and "rage of the people of the free states againstthe people of the slave states. " If such be an effect of therepublication, although not at all responsible for it, we deeply regretit; and, as to our motives, we can only meet the affirmation of theirunkindness with a simple denial. Were we, however, to admit theunkindness of our motives, and that we do not always adhere to theapostolic motto, of "speaking the truth in love"--would the admissionchange the features of slavery, or make it any the less a system ofpollution and blood? Is the accused any the less a murderer, because ofthe improper motives with which his accuser brings forward theconclusive proof of his blood-guiltiness?

We often see, in the speeches and writings of the South, thatslaveholders claim as absolute and as rightful a property in theirslaves, as in their cattle. Whence then their sensitiveness under ourrepublication of the advertisements, is which they offer to sell theirhuman stock? If the south will republish the advertisements of ourproperty, we will only not be displeased, but will thank her; and anyrebukes she may see fit to pour upon us, for offering particular kindsof property, will be very patiently borne, in view of the benefit weshall reap from her copies of our advertisements. 

A further charge in your speech is, _that the abolitionists pursue theirobject "reckless of all consequences, however calamitous they may be;"that they have no horror of a "civil war, " or "a dissolution of theUnion;" that theirs is "a bloody road, " and "their purpose is abolition, universal abolition, peaceably if it can, forcibly if it must. "_

It is true that, the abolitionists pursue their object, undisturbed byapprehensions of consequences; but it is not true, that they pursue it"reckless of consequences. " We believe that they, who unflinchinglypress the claims of God's truth, deserve to be considered as far less"reckless of consequences, " than they, who, suffering themselves to bethrown into a panic by apprehensions of some mischievous results, localor general, immediate or remote, are guilty of compromising the truth, and substituting corrupt expediency for it. We believe that theconsequences of obeying the truth and following God are good--onlygood--and that too, not only in eternity, but in time also. We believe, that had the confidently anticipated deluge of blood followed theabolition of slavery in the British West Indies, the calamity would havebeen the consequence, not of abolition, but of resistance to it. Theinsanity, which has been known to follow the exhibition of the claims ofChristianity, is to be charged on the refusal to fall in with thoseclaims, and not on our holy religion. 

But, notwithstanding, we deem it our duty and privilege to confineourselves to the word of the Lord, and to make that word suffice toprevent all fears of consequences; we, nevertheless, employ additionalmeans to dispel the alarms of those, who insist on walking "by sight;"and, in thus accommodating ourselves to their want of faith, we arejustified by the example of Him, who, though he said, "blessed are theythat have not seen and yet have believed, " nevertheless permitted anunbelieving disciple, both to see and to touch the prints of the nailsand the spear. When dealing with such unbelievers, we do not confineourselves to the "thus saith the Lord"--to the Divine command, to "letthe oppressed go free and break every yoke"--to the fact, that God is anabolitionist: but we also show how contrary to all sound philosophy isthe fear, that the slave, on whom have been heaped all imaginableoutrages, will, when those outrages are exchanged for justice and mercy, turn and rend his penitent master. When dealing with such unbelievers, we advert to the fact, that the insurrections at the South have been thework of slaves--not one of them of persons discharged from slavery: weshow how happy were the fruits of emancipation in St. Domingo: and thatthe "horrors of St. Domingo, " by the parading of which so many have beendeterred from espousing our righteous cause, were the result of theattempt to re-establish slavery. When dealing with them, we askattention to the present peaceful, prosperous, and happy condition ofthe British West India Islands, which so triumphantly falsifies thepredictions, that bankruptcy, violence, bloodshed, and utter ruin wouldfollow the liberation of their slaves. We point these fearful andunbelieving ones to the fact of the very favorable influence of theabolition of slavery on the price of real estate in those islands; tothat of the present rapid multiplication of schools and churches inthem; to the fact, that since the abolition of slavery, on the first dayof August 1834, not a white man in all those islands has been struckdown by the arm of a colored man; and then we ask them whether in viewof such facts, they are not prepared to believe, that God connectssafety with obedience, and that it is best to "trust in the Lord withall thine heart, and lean not to thine own understanding. "

On the subject of "a dissolution of the Union, " I have only to say, that, on the one hand, there is nothing in my judgment, which, underGod, would tend so much to preserve our Republic, as the carrying outinto all our social, political and religious institutions of its greatfoundation principle, that "all men are created equal;" and that, on theother hand, the flagrant violation of that principle in the system ofslavery, is doing more than all thing, else to hasten the destruction ofthe Republic. I am aware, that one of the doctrines of the South is, that "slavery is the corner-stone of the republican edifice. " But, if itbe true, that our political institutions harmonize with, and aresustained by slavery, then the sooner we exchange them for others thebetter. I am aware, that it is said, both at the North and at the South, that it is essential to the preservation of the Union. But, greatly as Ilove the Union, and much as I would sacrifice for its righteouscontinuance, I cannot hesitate to say, that if slavery be anindispensable cement, the sooner it is dissolved the better. 

I am not displeased, that you call ours "a bloody road"--for thislanguage does not necessarily implicate our motives; but I am greatlysurprised that you charge upon us the wicked and murderous "purpose" ofa forcible abolition. In reply to this imputation, I need only refer youto the Constitution of the American Anti-Slavery Society--to theDeclaration of the Convention which framed it--and to our characters, for pledges, that we design no force, and are not likely to stain oursouls with the crime of murder. That Constitution says: "This societywill never, in any way, countenance the oppressed in vindicating theirrights by resorting to physical force. " The Declaration says "Ourprinciples forbid the doing of evil that good may come, and lead us toreject, and to entreat the oppressed to reject, the use of all carnalweapons for deliverance from bondage. Our measures shall be such only, as the opposition of moral purity to moral corruption--the destructionof error by the potency of truth--the overthrow of prejudice by thepower of love--and the abolition of slavery by the spirit ofrepentance. " As to our characters they are before the world. You wouldprobably look in vain through our ranks for a horse-racer, a gambler, aprofane person, a rum-drinker, or a duellist. More than nine-tenths ofus deny the rightfulness of offensive, and a large majority, even thatof defensive national wars. A still larger majority believe, that deadlyweapons should not be used in cases of individual strife. And, if youshould ask, "where in the free States are the increasing numbers of menand women, who believe, that the religion of the unresisting 'Lamb ofGod' forbids recourse to such weapons, in all circumstances, either bynations or individuals?"--the answer is, "to a man, to a woman, in theranks of the abolitionists. " You and others will judge for yourselves, how probable it is, that the persons, whom I have described, will proveworthy of being held up as murderers. 

The last of your charges against the abolitionists, which I shallexamine, is the following: _Having begun "their operations by professingto employ only persuasive means, " they "have ceased to employ theinstruments of reason and persuasion, " and "they now propose tosubstitute the powers of the ballot box;" and "the inevitable tendencyof their proceedings is if these should be found insufficient, to invokefinally the more potent powers of the bayonet. "_

If the slaveholders would but let us draw on them for the six or eightthousand dollars, which we expend monthly to sustain our presses andlecturers, they would then know, from an experience too painful to beforgotten, how truthless is your declaration, that we "have ceased toemploy the instruments of reason and persuasion. "

You and your friends, at first, employed "persuasive means" against "thesub-treasury system. " Afterwards, you rallied voters against it. Now, ifthis fail, will you resort to "the more potent powers of the bayonet?"You promptly and indignantly answer, "No. " But, why will you not? Is itbecause the prominent opposers of that system have more moralworth--more religious horror of blood--than Arthur Tappan, William Jay, and their prominent abolition friends? Were such to be your answer, thepublic would judge, whether the men of peace and purity, who compose themass of abolitionists, would be more likely than the Clays and Wises andthe great body of the followers of these Congressional leaders to betakethemselves from a disappointment at "the ballot-box" to "the more potentpowers of the bayonet?"

You say, that we "_now_ propose to substitute the powers of theballot-box, " as if it were only of late, that we had proposed to do so. What then means the following language in our Constitution: "The societywill also endeavor in a Constitutional way to influence Congress to putan end to the domestic slave-trade, and to abolish slavery in all thoseportions of our common country, which come under its control--especiallyin the District of Columbia--and likewise to prevent the extension of itto any State, that may be hereafter admitted to the Union?" What thenmeans the following language in the "Declaration" of the Convention, which framed our Constitution: "We also maintain, that there are at thepresent time the highest obligations resting upon the people of the FreeStates to remove slavery by moral and political action, as prescribed inthe Constitution of the United States?" If it be for the first time, that we "_now_ propose" "political action, " what means it, thatanti-slavery presses have, from year to year, called on abolitionists toremember the slave at the polls?

You are deceived on this point; and the rapid growth of our cause hasbeen the occasion of your deception. You suppose, because it is onlywithin the last few months, that you have heard of abolitionists in thiscountry carrying their cause to "the ballot box, " that it is only withinthe last few months that they have done so. But, in point of fact, someof them have done so for several years. It was not, however, until thelast year or two, when the number of abolitionists had becomeconsiderable, and their hope of producing an impression on the Electionsproportionately strong, that many of them were seen bringing theirabolition principles to the "ballot-box. " Nor was it until the Electionsof the last Autumn, that abolition action at "the ballot-box" had becomeso extensive, as to apprise the Nation, that it is a principle withabolitionists to "remember" in one place as well as in another--at thepolls as well as in the closet--"them that are in bonds. " The fact that, at the last State Election, there were three or four hundred abolitionvotes given in the County in which I reside, is no more real because ofits wide spread interest, than the comparatively unheard of fact, thatabout one hundred such votes were given the year before. By the way, when I hear complaints of abolition action at the "ballot-box, " I canhardly refrain from believing, that they are made ironically. When Ihear complaints, that the abolitionists of this State rallied, as such, at the last State Election, I cannot easily avoid suspecting, that thepurpose of such complaints is the malicious one of reviving in ourbreasts the truly stinging and shame-filling recollection, that somefive-sixths of the voters in our ranks, either openly apostatized fromour principles, or took it into their heads, that the better way to votefor the slave and the anti-slavery cause was to vote for theirrespective political parties. You would be less afraid of theabolitionists, if I should tell you that more than ten thousand of themin this State voted at the last State Election, for candidates for lawmakers, who were openly in favor of the law of this State, which createsslavery, and of other laws, which countenance and uphold it. And youwould owe me for one of your heartiest laughs, were I to tell you, thatthere are abolitionists--professed abolitionists--yes, actual members ofthe Anti-Slavery Society--who, carrying out this delusion of helping theslave by helping their "party, " say, that they would vote even for aslaveholder, if their party should nominate him. Let me remark, however, that I am happy to be able to inform you, that this delusion--at leastin my own State--is fast passing away; and that thousands of theabolitionists who, in voting last Autumn for Gov. Marey or Gov. Seward, took the first step in the way, that leads to voting for the slaveholderhimself, are now not only refusing to take another step in thatinconsistent and wicked way, but are repenting deeply of that, whichthey have already taken in it. 

Much as you dislike, not to say _dread_, abolition action at "theballot-box, " I presume, that I need not spend any time in explaining toyou the inconsistency of which an abolitionist is guilty, who votes foran upholder of slavery. A wholesome citizen would not vote fur acandidate for a law maker, who is in favor of laws, which authorizegaming-houses or _groggeries_. But, in the eye of one, who his attemptedto take the "guage and dimensions" of the hell of slavery, the laws, which authorize slaveholding, far transcend in wickedness, those, whichauthorize gaming-houses or _groggeries_. You would not vote for acandidate for a law-maker, who is in favor of "the sub-treasury system. "But compared with the evil of slavery, what is that of the mostpernicious currency scheme ever devised? It is to be "counted as thesmall dust of the balance. " If you would withhold your vote in the casesupposed--how gross in your eyes must be the inconsistency of theabolitionist, who casts his vote on the side of the system offathomless iniquity!

I have already remarked on "the third" of the "impediments" or"obstacles" to emancipation, which you bring to view. _"The firstimpediment, " you say, "is the utter and absolute want of all power onthe part of the General Government to effect the purpose. "_

But because there is this want on the part of the General Government, itdoes not follow, that it also exists on the part of the States: nor doesit follow, that it also exists on the part of the slaveholdersthemselves. It is a poor plea of your neighbor for continuing to holdhis fellow man in slavery, that neither the Federal Government nor theState of Kentucky has power to emancipate them. Such a plea is about asvalid, as that of the girl for not having performed the task, which hermistress had assigned to her. "I was tied to the table. " "Who tied youthere?" "I tied myself there. "

_"The next obstacle, " you say, "in the way of abolition arises out ofthe fact of the presence in the slave states of three millionsof slaves. "_

This is, indeed a formidable "obstacle:" and I admit, that it is as muchmore difficult for the impenitent slaveholder to surmount it, than itwould be if there were but one million of slaves, as it is for theimpenitent thief to restore the money he has stolen, than it would be, if the sum were one third as great. But, be not discouraged, dear sir, with this view of the case. Notwithstanding the magnitude of theobstacle, the warmest desires of your heart for the abolition ofslavery, may yet be realized. Be thankful, that repentance can avail inevery case of iniquity; that it can loosen the grasp of the man-thief, as well as that of the money-thief: of the oppressors of thousands aswell as of hundreds:--of "three millions, " as well as of one million. 

But, were I to allow, that the obstacle in question, is as great, as youregard it--nevertheless will it not increase with the lapse of years, and become less superable the longer the work of abolition is postponed?I suppose, however, that it is not to be disguised, that, notwithstanding the occasional attempts in the course of your speech tocreate a different impression, you are in favor of perpetual slavery;and that all you say about "ultra abolitionists" in distinction from"abolitionists, " and about "gradual emancipation, " in distinction from"immediate emancipation, " is said, but to please those, who sincerelymake, and are gulled by, such distinctions. I do not forget, that yousay, that the abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania was proper. But, mostobviously, you say it, to win favor with the anti-slavery portion of theNorth, and to sustain the world's opinion of your devotion to the causeof universal liberty;--for, having made this small concession to thatholy cause--small indeed, since Pennsylvania never at any one time, hadfive thousand slaves--you, straightway, renew your claims to theconfidence of slaveholders, by assuring them, that you are opposed to"any scheme whatever of emancipation, gradual or immediate, " in Stateswhere the slave population is extensive;--and, for proof of thesincerity of your declaration, you refer them to the fact of your recentopen and effective opposition to the overthrow of slavery in yourown State. 

The South is opposed to gradual, as well as to immediate emancipation:and, were she, indeed, to enter upon a scheme of gradual emancipation, she would speedily abandon it. The objections to swelling the number ofher free colored population, whilst she continued to hold their brethrenof the same race in bondage, would be found too real and alarming tojustify her perseverance in the scheme. How strange, that men at theNorth, who think soundly on other subjects, should deduce thefeasibility of gradual emancipation in the slave states--in some ofwhich the slaves outnumber the free--from the fact of the likeemancipation of the comparative handful of slaves in New York andPennsylvania!

You say, "_It is frequently asked, what will become of the African raceamong us? Are they forever to remain in bondage? That question was askedmore than half a century ago. It has been answered by fifty years ofprosperity_. "

The wicked man, "spreading himself like the green bay tree, " wouldanswer this question, as you have. They, who "walk after their ownlusts, saying, where is the promise of his coming--for since the fathersfell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of thecreation?" would answer it, as you have. They, whose "heart is fully setin them to do evil, because sentence against an evil work is notexecuted speedily, " would answer it, as you have. But, however you orthey may answer it, and although God may delay his "coming" and theexecution of his "sentence, " it, nevertheless, remains true, that "itshall be well with them that fear God, but it shall not be well withthe wicked. "

"Fifty years of prosperity!" On whose testimony do we learn, that thelast "fifty years" have been "years of prosperity" to the South?--on thetestimony of oppressors or on that of the oppressed?--on that of her twohundred and fifty thousand slaveholders--for this is the sum total ofthe tyrants, who rule the South and rule this nation--or on that of hertwo millions and three quarters of bleeding and crushed slaves? It maywell be, that those of the South, who "have lived in pleasure on theearth and been wanton and have nourished their hearts as in a day ofslaughter, " should speak of "prosperity:" but, before we admit, that the"prosperity, " of which they speak, is that of the South, instead ofthemselves merely, we must turn our weeping eyes to the "laborers, whohave reaped down" their oppressors' "fields without wages, " and the"cries" of whom "are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth;" andwe must also take into the account the tears, and sweat, and groans, andblood, of the millions of similar laborers, whom, during the last "fiftyyears, " death has mercifully released from Southern bondage. Talks theslaveholder of the "prosperity" of the South? It is but his own"prosperity"--and a "prosperity, " such as the wolf may boast, whengorging on the flock. 

You say, _that the people of the North would not think it "neighborlyand friendly" if "the people of the slave states were to form societies, subsidize presses, make large pecuniary contributions, &c. To burn thebeautiful capitals, destroy the productive manufactories, and sink thegallant ships of the northern states_. "

Indeed, they would not! But, if you were to go to such pains, andexpense for the purpose of relieving our poor, doubling our wealth, andpromoting the spiritual interests of both rich and poor--then we shouldbless you for practising a benevolence towards us, so like that, whichabolitionists practise towards you; and then our children, andchildren's children, would bless your memories, even as your childrenand children's children will, if southern slavery be peacefullyabolished, bless our memories, and lament that their ancestors had beenguilty of construing our love into hatred, and our purpose of naught butgood into a purpose of unmingled evil. 

Near the close of your speech is the remark: "_I prefer the liberty ofmy own country to that of any other people_. "

Another distinguished American statesman uttered the applaudedsentiment: "My country--my whole country--and nothing but mycountry;"--and a scarcely less distinguished countryman of ourscommanded the public praise, by saying: "My country right--but mycountry, right or wrong. " Such are the expressions of _patriotism_ ofthat idolized compound of selfish and base affections!

Were I writing for the favor, instead of the welfare of my fellow-men, Ishould praise rather than denounce patriotism. Were I writing inaccordance with the maxims of a corrupt world, instead of the truth ofJesus Christ, I should defend and extol, rather than rebuke thedoctrine, that we may prefer the interests of one section of the humanfamily to those of another. If patriotism, in the ordinary acceptationof the word, be right, then the Bible is wrong--for that blessed bookrequires us to love all men, even as we love ourselves. How contrary toits spirit and precepts, that, "Lands intersected by a narrow frith, Abhor each other, Mountains interposed Make enemies of nations, who had else, Like kindred drops, been mingled into one. "

There are many, who consider that the doctrine of loving all our fellowmen as ourselves, belongs, to use your words, "to a sublime butimpracticable philosophy. " Let them, however, but devoutly ask Him, whoenjoins it, to warm and expand their selfish and contracted hearts withits influences; and they will know, by sweet experience, that under thegrace of God, the doctrine is no less "practicable" than "sublime. " Nota few seem to suppose, that he, who has come to regard the whole worldas his country, and all mankind as his countrymen, will have less loveof home and country than the patriot has, who makes his own nation, andno other, the cherished object of his affections. But did the Saviour, when on earth, love any individual the less, because the love of Hisgreat heart was poured out, in equal tides, over the whole human family?And would He not, even in the eyes of the patriot himself, be stampedwith imperfection, were it, to appear, that one nation shares less thananother in His "loving-kindness" and that "His tender mercies are (not)over all his works?" Blessed be His holy name, that He was cast down the"middle wall of partition" between the Jew and Gentile!--that there isno respect of persons with Him!--that "Greek" and "Jew, circumcision anduncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond" and "free, " are equalbefore Him!

Having said, "_I prefer the liberty of my own country to that of anyother people_, " you add--"_and the liberty of my own race to that of anyother race. "_

How perfectly natural, that the one sentiment should follow the other!How perfectly natural, that he who can limit his love by state ornational lines, should be also capable of confining it to certainvarieties of the human complexion! How perfectly natural, that, he whois guilty of the insane and wicked prejudice against his fellow men, because they happen to be born a dozen, or a hundred, or a thousandmiles from the place of his nativity, should foster the no less insaneand wicked prejudice against the "skin not colored like his own!" Howdifferent is man from God! "He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and onthe good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. " But were maninvested with supreme control, he would not distribute blessingsimpartially even amongst the "good" and the "just. "

You close your speech with advice and an appeal to abolitionists. Areyou sure that an appeal, to exert the most winning influence upon ourhearts, would not have come from some other source better than from onewho, not content with endeavoring to show the pernicious tendency of ourprinciples and measures, freely imputes to us bloody and murderousmotives? Are you sure, that you, who ascribe to us designs morediabolical than those of burning "beautiful capitals, " and destroying"productive manufactories, " and sinking "gallant ships, " are our mostsuitable adviser? We have, however, waved all exception on this score toyour appeal and advice, and exposed our minds and hearts to the wholepower and influence of your speech. And now we ask, that you, in turn, will hear us. Presuming that you are too generous to refuse thereciprocation, we proceed to call on you to stay your efforts atquenching the world's sympathy for the slave--at arresting the progressof liberal, humane, and Christian sentiments--at upholding slaveryagainst that Almighty arm, which now, "after so long a time, " isrevealed for its destruction. We urge you to worthier and more hopefulemployments. Exert your great powers for the repeal of the matchlesslywicked laws enacted to crush the Saviour's poor. Set a happy and aninfluential example to your fellow slaveholders, by a righteoustreatment of those, whom you unrighteously hold in bondage. Set themthis example, by humbling yourself before God and your assembled slaves, in unfeigned penitence for the deep and measureless wrongs you have donethe guiltless victims of your oppression--by paying those _men_, (speakof them, think of them, no longer, as _brutes_ and _things_)--by payingthese, who are my brother men and your brother men, the "hire" you haveso long withheld from them, and "which crieth" to Heaven, because it "isof you kept back"--by breaking the galling yoke from their necks, andletting them "go free. "

Do you shrink from our advice--and say, that obedience to its justrequirements would impoverish you? Infinitely better, that you behonestly poor than dishonestly rich. Infinitely better to "do justly, "and be a Lazarus; than to become a Croesus, by clinging to andaccumulating ill-gotten gains. Do you add to the fear of poverty, thatof losing your honors--those which are anticipated, as well as those, which already deck your brow? Allow us to assure you, that it will beimpossible for you to redeem "Henry Clay, the statesman, " and "HenryClay, the orator, " or even "Henry Clay, the President of the UnitedStates, " from the contempt of a slavery-loathing posterity, otherwisethan by coupling with those designations the inexpressibly morehonorable distinction of "HENRY CLAY, THE EMANCIPATOR. "

I remain, Your friend, GERRIT SMITH.