Anonymous

“ Colbeck, for example, would naturally enough be spoken of as a man of humanity by his West Indian brethren, and they would probably be sincere in giving him that praise. But who is this man of humanity? It is one who, hearing that a fellow-creature has been cruelly and wantonly murdered, goes away SATISFIED, because he himself has sustained no pecuniary loss by the murder! ”

“ The Slaves, it is affirmed, will confound abolition with emancipation. But what proof is there of this? Have they done so in Virginia? The Slave trade has been abolished in that state for near thirty years. Has any such misconception, as is now anticipated, taken place among the Virginian Slaves? Certainly not. Experience therefore is against the reasoning of the West Indian body.
[17] Suppose a plantation under the management of such a man as Crone, the proprietor being in England; what a sum of misery might be crowded into a short space of time! ”

“ West Indian Slaves have no civil rights whatever, which are not equally enjoyed by brutes, the parade of laws in their favour signifying nothing, as has already been proved, while their evidence is inadmissible in a court of justice, and while the men who administer those laws have an interest, real or supposed, in their violation: and that therefore no effectual limit can be put to the master’s discretion, either as to the quantity of food to be given, of labour to be enforced, or of punishment to be inflicted. ”

“ Lamentable indeed is it, that our Assembly (for I cannot allow Legislature to form the word) should look upon such things with cold indifference, and not provide that just remedy which the law of God and man in every other civilized community but this, has in effect, and even upon larger extent of population and slavery; in Jamaica not the smallest inconvenience has ever arisen. ”

“ If the Slave trade were abolished, the number of adventurers [Pg 35] who repair to the West Indies in the hope of amassing a fortune would be diminished, and consequently the white population would decrease. But supposing the number of adventurers who go out with such large expectations were diminished, does it follow that an equal number, with more moderate views, might not be procured to supply their place? While emigrations to America are so frequent and numerous, might not a part of them, with proper encouragement, be easily diverted to the filling of vacancies in Jamaica? ”

“ Colbeck, the manager to a neighbouring plantation, and had accidentally strayed from his master: Crone seeing him, pursued him with several Negroes; the poor creature pelted his pursuers with stones, and at length took refuge in a pond, where he was inhumanly shot by the dastardly manager, and taken out of the pond; I repeat, my Lord, what I have heard, though I could hope, for the sake of humanity, my information has been false, and buried him while yet alive.
“Nowell, a butcher, living in Saint Joseph’s parish, is the wretch who murdered the slave for letting his wife out of confinement. ”

“ There is only one answer which can be returned to these questions; and that answer will prove it to be no better than absolute mockery in the Assembly of Jamaica thus to compare the condition of the Bengal peasant with that of the Negro Slave.
But this is not all. The reporters enter into tedious calculations to shew how much higher the wages of the Negro Slave are than those of the Bengal peasant; but they omit to advert to one very material point of difference between them. The wages of the Bengal peasant are paid to himself: he labours for his own benefit solely. ”

“ It may be observed, however, in general, that notwithstanding the labour employed by the reporters to prove that the additional duties imposed on West Indian produce fall not on the consumer, as in every other instance, but on the grower, no peculiarity appears to exist in the case under consideration, which exempts it from the operation of the general rule; a rule which is familiar to the merest sciolist in political economy. The protecting duties imposed on East India sugar appear also to be sufficiently high to exclude them from competition with West Indian sugar in the British market. ”

“ How far a sense of interest or the dictates of humanity are capable of preventing unfeeling rigour from being exercised towards Negro Slaves, let the correspondence of Lord Seaforth, already referred to, testify. ”

“ The reporters are very indignant that any of the parliamentary orators should have dared to express an opinion that the Slave trade is “contrary to the principles of justice and humanity;” and they add, that “the particular accusations of oppression, without the means of redress; of avaricious and unfeeling rigour towards our Slaves, unrestrained by a sense of interest, or the dictates of humanity; heaped upon the inhabitants of the British West Indian colonies ”

“ The reporters labour to keep out of view the dangers which threaten Jamaica from the example and proximity of St. Domingo, and from an increase of the Negro population in the island; and they absurdly argue, that the more the Negro population is increased, the greater will be the security of the West Indies. ”

“ The attempts made to abolish the Slave trade operate, it is said, to the disadvantage of the island, by increasing the danger of insurrection among the Slaves [16] , and by discouraging the hope of a permanent supply of labourers. West Indian property, it is added, is thus so greatly diminished in its value, that merchants will no longer advance money upon it; and without an advance of money, the plantations cannot be carried on with advantage. ”

“ If they really wished to increase the number of whites, would not men with families be the most desirable persons to employ? Another proof is, that although there is a law of the island requiring the proprietors of estates to maintain a certain number of white servants in proportion to their slaves (about one white to thirty slaves) , yet the tax, which is payable in case of a deficiency in that number, is so low, that it is in general a gain to the proprietor to pay the tax rather than to procure the individuals. ”

“ The reporters have incidentally introduced into their Report a comparison between the state of the Negro Slaves and that of “the oppressed peasantry” of Bengal. After giving an exaggerated representation of the wretchedness of the latter, they add, “such is the situation of twenty millions of free subjects of the British empire in India, whilst its legislature is hunting for imaginary misery [20] in the West Indian colonies, where the lot of the labourer is a thousand times more fortunate.” ”

“ The signs of life, therefore, which have been shewn by this act, as far as regards the protection of Negro Slaves, must be admitted to be very equivocal.
Governor Prevost refers Earl Camden to a letter from the Rev. John Audain, Rector of St. George’s, as explaining “why the clauses 3 and 4 are not carried into effect.” Mr. Audain’s letter, however, throws little light on the subject. He can furnish no returns of marriages, because (he says) “a very few even of the free coloured people marry, and not one Slave since I have been here. ”

“ An exception may, indeed, be made in favour of a few men of enlightened minds; but the remark is just as applied to the bulk of the community—the people, whose prejudices are stated by Lord Seaforth to be so horribly absurd, as to resist all measures for remedying this shocking state of society. ”

“ It was difficult to conceive a stronger proof of the deplorably unprotected condition of the Negro Slaves in Barbadoes, the oldest and most civilized of our slave [Pg 2] colonies, than is furnished by the above official document. In a community where even the life of a Negro slave is estimated at the cheap rate of eleven pounds four shillings sterling, and where a proposition to raise its legal value to a price which may be less revolting to European feelings is resented as an affront by a grave legislative assembly ”

“ In this happy country, when we hear that crimes have been perpetrated, we hear also that they have been punished: we have at least the satisfaction of knowing, that no practicable means are left unattempted for securing the criminals, and bringing them to justice. ”

“ A man of the name of Hollingsworth, it was said, also fired at the boy, and Colbeck brought his action in the Exchequer, under the act of the island, against Crone and Hollingsworth. The cause was ready to be tried, and the Court had met for the purpose, when Crone and Hollingsworth thought proper to pay double the value of the boy, and 25l. for the use of the island, with all the costs, rather than suffer the business to go on; and this I am truly sorry to say was the only punishment which could be inflicted for so barbarous and atrocious a crime. ”

“ Bill has been wholly neglected [14] . As to the eighth clause, it is too intimately connected with the public interest to be allowed to sleep.
“I am apprehensive you will find the account of all convictions had, and fines or forfeitures recovered, and of all prosecutions commenced against the defaulters, pursuant to the said act, very unsatisfactory; however, here, now and then, the act has shewn some signs of life.” P. 36. ”

“ The true reason, however, of this argument is to be found, not in the increased danger which will result to the island from abolishing the Slave trade, but in the constitution of the Jamaica Assembly. That Assembly (though containing a small proportion of wealthy planters) is chiefly composed of such adventurers as are alluded [Pg 36] to in the Report, and for whose privileges so much solicitude is there manifested: viz. either merchants who are concerned in the sale of Slave cargoes, or agents employed to manage the estates of absent proprietors ”

“ The most authentic and particular account which can be obtained, of the number of Negro Slaves, dividing them into classes of male and female; children from 1 to 12; youths from 12 to 20, full-grown men and women from 20 to 60 ”

“ The reporters are greatly displeased that they should [Pg 28] be thought not to know their own interests, and what is most likely to promote them. This however is an imputation which they share in common with a great part of mankind, and which particularly attaches to all who, like them, are engaged in gambling speculations. ”

“ After examining with the utmost attention the account to which Governor Prevost refers (and which is inserted at page 39) , it does not appear that a single fine or forfeiture has been recovered, nor a single prosecution commenced against defaulters, during the SEVENTEEN YEARS that the act has been, not to say in force, for that would be ridiculous, but in existence. ”

“ No! he goes away satisfied with the assurance, that the murdered Negro is not his own. Let the reader give its due weight to this one circumstance, and he will be convinced that a state of society exists in the West Indies, of which an inhabitant of this happy island can form no adequate conception. Had it been his horse instead of his Negro Slave, Colbeck would have been affected in much the same way as he is said to have been.
From this impressive circumstance may also be inferred the value of West Indian testimony, when given in favour of West Indian humanity. Mr. ”

“ The Governors, by referring to the Secretary of the island, or to the clerks of the several courts of record, could have at once ascertained whether the legal provisions mentioned by Earl Camden had or had not been carried into effect. If they had; a copy of the record would have been all the answer which was requisite: If they had not; it was only necessary to say so, and to state the reasons of the failure.
This manly and becoming course has been pursued only in one instance, viz. ”

“ Andrew [8] . The fact is by many supposed to be true, at the same time that it is denied by others; and all that I can ascertain is, that Nowell is in general a cruel man to his Slaves.
“The militia-man is —— Halls, of St. Michael’s regiment. Returning from his duty upon an alarm, after stopping at a dram-shop, where he had drank so as to be rather intoxicated; hearing some Negroes singing before him, who were returning from their daily labour, he called out to them that he would kill them; upon which a Mr. Harding, who was going the same way, told him to take care what he was about ”