Chapter LVI: Appendix (2)

Well, my lords, beaten from these two positions, where did the
experienced men retreat to under what flimsy pretext did they next
undertake to disparage the poor negro race? Had I not seen it in
print, and been otherwise informed of the fact, I could not have
believed it possible that from any reasonable man any such absurdity
could issue. They actually held out this last fear, which, like the
others, was fated to be dissipated by the fact. "Wait only," said
they, "till the anniversary of the first of August, and then you
will see what the negro character is, and how little these
indentured apprentices are fit to be entrusted with freedom." Was
there ever such an absurdity uttered, as if my lords, the man who
could meet with firm tranquillity and peaceful thankfulness the
event itself, was likely to be raised to rebellion and rioting by
the recollection of it a year afterwards. My lords, in considering
this matter, I ask you, then, to be guided by your own experience,
and nothing else; profit by it, my lords, and turn it to your own
account; for it, according to that book which all of us must revere,
teaches even the most foolish of a foolish race. I do not ask you to
adopt as your own the experience of others; you have as much as you
can desire of your own, and by no other test do I wish or desire to
be judged. But I think my task may be said to be done. I think I
have proved my case, for I have shown that the negro can work
without the stimulant of the whip; I have shown that he can labor
for hire without any other motive than that of industry to inspire
him. I have demonstrated that all over the West Indies, even when
fatigued with working the allotted hours for the profit of his
master, he can work again for wages for him who chooses to hire him
and has wherewithal to pay him; I have also most distinctly shown
that the experience of Antigua and the Bermudas is demonstrative to
show that without any state of preparation, without any indenture of
apprenticeship at all, he is fit to be intrusted with his freedom,
and will work voluntarily as a free laborer for hire. But I have
also demonstrated from the same experience, and by reference to the
same state of facts, that a more quiet, inoffensive, peaceable,
innocent people, is not to be found on the face of this earth than
the negro--not in their own unhappy country, but after they have
been removed from it and enslaved in your Christian land, made the
victim of the barbarizing demon of civilized powers, and has all
this character, if it were possible to corrupt it, and his feelings,
if it were possible to pervert them, attempted to be corrupted and
perverted by Christian and civilized men, and that in this state,
with all incentives to misdemeanor poured around him, and all the
temptation to misconduct which the arts and artifices and examples
of civilized man can give hovering over him--that after this
transition is made from slavery to apprenticeship, and from slavery
to absolute freedom, a negro's spirit has been found to rival the
unbroken tranquillity of the Caribbean Seas. (Cheers.) This was not
the state of things we expected, my lords; and in proof that it was
not so, I have but to refer you to the statute book itself. On what
ground did you enact the intermediate state of indenture
apprenticeship, and on what arguments did you justify it? You felt
and acknowledged that the negro had a right to be free, and that you
had no right to detain him in bondage. Every one admitted this, but
in the prevailing ignorance of their character it was apprehended
that they could not be made free at once, and that time was
requisite to train the negro to receive the boon it was intended
bestowing upon him.

This was the delusion which prevailed, and which was stated in the
preamble of the statute--the same delusion which had made the men on
one side state and the other to believe that it was necessary to pay
the slave-owners for the loss it was supposed they would sustain.
But it was found to be a baseless fear, and the only result of the
phantom so conjured up was a payment of twenty millions to the
conjurors. (Hear, and a laugh.) Now, I maintain that had we known
what we now know of the character of the negroes, neither would this
compensation have been given to the slave-owners, nor we have been
guilty of proposing to keep the negro in slavery five years, after we
were decided that he had a right to his freedom. The noble and
learned lord here proceeded to contend that up to the present time
the slave-owners, so far from being sufferers, had been gainers by
the abolition of slavery and the enactment of the system of
apprenticeship, and that consequently up to the present moment
nothing had occurred to entitle them to a claim upon the
compensation allotted by parliament. The slave-owners might be said
to have pocketed the seven millions without having the least claim
to them, and therefore, in considering the proposition he was about
to make, parliament should bear in mind that the slave proprietors
were, if anything, the debtors to the nation. The money had, in
fact, been paid to them by mistake, and, were the transaction one
between man and man, an action for its recovery might lie. But the
slave-owners alleged that if the apprenticeship were now done away
there would be a loss, and that to meet that loss they had a right
to the money. For argument's sake he would suppose this to be true,
and that there would be loss; but would it not be fair that the
money should be lodged in the hands of a third party, with authority
to pay back at the expiration of the two years whatever rateable sum
the master could prove himself to have lost? His firm belief was,
that no loss could arise; but, desirous to meet the planter at every
point, he should have no objection to make terms with him. Let him,
then, pay the money into court, as it were, and at the end of two
years he should be fully indemnified for any loss he might prove. He
called upon their lordships to look to Antigua and the Bermudas for
proof that the free negro worked well, and that no loss was
occasioned to the planters or their property by the granting of
emancipation. But it was said that there was a difference between
the cases of Antigua and other colonies, such as Jamaica, and it was
urged that while the negroes of the former, from the smallness and
barrenness of the place, would be forced into work, that in the
latter they would run away, and take refuge in the woods. Now, he
asked, why should the negro run away from his work, on being made
free, more than during the continuance of his apprenticeship? Why,
again, should it be supposed that on the 1st of August, 1840, the
emancipated negroes should have less inclination to betake
themselves to the woods than in 1838? If there was a risk of the
slaves running to the woods in 1838, that risk would be increased
and not diminished during the intermediate period up to 1840, by the
treatment they were receiving from their masters, and the deferring
of their hopes.

My lords, (continued the noble lord,) I have now to say a few words
upon the treatment which the slaves have received during the past
three years of their apprenticeship, and which, it is alleged,
during the next two years is to make them fitted for absolute
emancipation. My lords, I am prepared to show that in most respects
the treatment the slaves have received since 1834 is no better, and
in many others more unjust and worse, than it ever was in the time
of absolute slavery. It is true that the use of the cartwhip as a
stimulus to labor has been abolished. This, I admit, is a great and
most satisfactory improvement; but, in every other particular, the
state of the slave, I am prepared to show, is not improved, and, in
many respects, it is materially worse. First, with regard to the
article of food, I will compare the Jamaica prison allowance with
that allotted to the apprenticed negroes in other colonies. In the
Jamaica prison the allowance of rice is 14 pints a week to each
person. I have no return of the allowance to the indentured
apprentice in Jamaica, but I believe it is little over this; but in
Barbadoes and the Leeward Islands, it is much under. In Barbadoes,
instead of receiving the Jamaica prison allowance of 14 pints a
week, the apprenticed negro received but 10 pints: while in the
Leeward Islands he had but 8 pints. In the crown colonies, before
1834, the slave received 21 pints of rice, now the apprentice gets
but 10; so that in the material article, food, no improvement in the
condition of the negro was observable. Then, with regard to time, it
is obviously of the utmost importance that the apprentice should
have at least two holidays and a half a week--the Sabbath for
religious worship and instruction, the Saturday to attend the
markets, and half of Friday to work in his own garden. The act of
emancipation specified 45 hours a week as the period the apprentice
was to work for his master, but the master so contrived matters as
in most instances to make the 45 hours the law allotted him run into
the apprentice's half of Friday, and even in some cases into the
Saturday. The planter invariably counted the time from the moment
that the slave commenced his work; and as it often occurs that his
residence was on the border of the estate, he may have to walk five
or six miles to get to the place he has to work. This was a point
which he was sure their lordships would agree with him in thinking
required alteration.

The next topic to which I shall advert relates to the administration
of justice; and this large and important subject I cannot pass over
without a word to remind your lordships how little safe it is, how
little deserving the name of just, or any thing like just, that
where you have two classes you should separate them into conflicting
parties, until they became so exasperated in their resentment as
scarcely to regard each other as brethren of the same species; and
that you should place all the administration of justice in the hands
of one dominant class, whose principles, whose passions whose
interests, are all likely to be preferred by the judges when they
presume to sit where you have placed them on the judgment seat. The
chief and puisne judges are raised to their situations from amongst
the class which includes the white men and planters. But, worse than
that, the jurors are taken from the same privileged body: jurors,
who are to assess civil damages in actions for injuries done to the
negroes--jurors, who are to try bills of indictment against the
whites for the maltreatment of the blacks--jurors who are to convict
or acquit on those bills--jurors who are to try the slaves
themselves--nay, magistrates, jailors, turnkeys, the whole apparatus
of justice, both administrative and executive, exclusively in the
hands of one race! What is the consequence? Why, it is proverbial
that no bills are found for the blacks. (Hear, hear.) Six bills of
indictment were preferred, some for murder and some for bad
manslaughter, and at one assizes every one of these six indictments
was thrown out. Assizes after assizes the same thing happened, until
at length wagers were held that no such bill would be found, and no
one was found to accept them. Well was it for them that they
declined, for every one of the bills preferred was ignored. Now,
observe that in proceedings, as your lordships know; before grand
jurors, not a tittle of evidence is heard for the prisoners; every
witness is in favor of the indictment, or finding of the bill; but
in all these instances the bills were flung out on the examination
of evidence solely against the prisoner. Even in the worst cases of
murder, as certainly and plainly committed as the sun shines at noon
day, monstrous to all, the bills were thrown out when half the
witnesses for the prosecution remained to be examined. (Hear, hear.)
Some individuals swore against the prisoners, and though others
tendered their evidence, the jury refused to hear them. (Hear,
hear.) Besides, the punishments inflicted are monstrous; thirty-nine
lashes are inflicted for the vague, indefinite--because incapable to
be defined--offence of insolence. Thirty-nine lashes for the grave
and the more definite, I admit, offence of an attempt to carry a
small knife. Three months imprisonment, or fifty lashes for the
equally grave offence of cutting off the shoot of a cane plant!
There seems to have prevailed at all times amongst the governors of
our colonies a feeling, of which, I grieve to say, the governors at
home have ever and anon largely partaken, that there is something in
the nature of a slave--something in the habits of the African
negro--something in the disposition of the unfortunate hapless
victims of our own crimes and cruelties, which makes what is mercy
and justice to other men cruelty to society and injustice to the law
in the case of the negro, and which condemns offences slightly
visited, if visited at all, with punishment, when committed by other
men, to the sentence that for his obdurate nature none can be too
severe. (Hear, hear.) As if we had any one to blame but
ourselves--as if we had any right to visit on him that character if
it were obdurate, those habits if they were insubordinate, that
dishonest disposition if it did corrupt his character, all of which
I deny, and which experience proves to be contrary to the fact and
truth; but even if these statements were all truth instead of being
foully slanderous and absolutely false, we, of all men, have
ourselves to blame, ourselves to tax, and ourselves to punish, at
least for the self abasement, for we have been the very causes of
corrupting the negro character. (Cheers.)

If some capricious despot, in his career of ordinary tyranny, were
to tax his imagination to produce something more monstrous and
unnatural than himself, and were to place a dove amongst vultures,
or engraft a thorn on the olive tree, much as we should marvel at
the caprice, we should be still more astounded at the expectation,
which exceeds even a tyrant's proverbial unreasonableness, that he
should gather grapes from the thorn, or that the dove should be
habituated to a thirst for blood. Yet that is the caprice, that is
the unreasonable, the foul, the gross, the monstrous, the
outrageous, incredible injustice of which we are hourly guilty
towards the whole unhappy race of negroes. (Cheers.) My lords, we
fill up the incasare of injustice by severely executing laws badly
conceived in a still more atrocious and cruel spirit. The whole
punishments smell of blood. (Hear, Hear.) If the treadmill stop in
consequence of the languid limbs and exhausted frames of the
victims, within a minute the lash resounds through the building--if
the stones which they are set to break be not broken by limbs
scarred, and marred, and whaled, they are summoned by the crack of
the whip to their toilsome task! I myself have heard within the last
three hours, from a person, who was an eye-witness of the appalling
and disgusting fact, that a leper was introduced amongst the
negroes; and in passing let me remark, that in private houses or
hospitals no more care has been taken to separate those who are
stricken with infectious diseases from the sound portion, any more
than to furnish food to those in prison who are compelled, from the
unheard-of, the paltry, the miserable disposition to treat with
cruelty the victims of a prison, to go out and gather their own
food,--a thing which I believe even the tyrant of Siberia does not
commit. Yet in that prison, where blood flows profusely, and the
limbs of those human beings are subjected to perpetual torture, the
frightful, the nauseous, the disgusting--except that all other
feelings are lost in pity towards the victim and indignation against
the oppressor--sight was presented of a leper, scarred from the
eruptions of disease on his legs and previous mistreatment, whaled
again and again, and his blood again made to flow from the jailer's
lash. I have told your lordships how bills have been thrown out for
murdering the negroes. But a man had a bill presented for this
offence: a petition was preferred, and by a white man. Yes, a white
man who had dared, under feelings of excited indignation, to
complain to the regularly constituted authorities, instead of
receiving for his gallant conduct the thanks of the community, had a
bill found which was presented against him as a nuisance. I have,
within the last two hours, amid the new mass of papers laid before
your lordships within the last forty-eight hours, culled a sample
which, I believe, represents the whole odious mass.

Eleven females have been flogged, starved, lashed, attached to the
treadmill, and compelled to work until nature could no longer endure
their sufferings. At the moment when the wretched victims were about
to fall off--when they could no longer bring down the mechanism and
continue the movement, they were suspended by their arms, and at
each revolution of the wheel received new wounds on their members,
until, in the language of that law so grossly outraged in their
persons, they "languished and died." Ask you if a cringe of this
murderous nature went unvisited, and if no inquiry was made
respecting its circumstances? The forms of justice were observed;
the handmaid was present, but the sacred mistress was far away. A
coroner's inquest was called; for the laws decreed that no such
injuries should take place without having an inquiry instituted.
Eleven inquisitions were held, eleven inquiries were made, eleven
verdicts were returned. For murder? Manslaughter? Misconduct? No;
but that "they died by the visitation of God." A lie--a perjury--a
blasphemy! The visitation of God! Yes, for of the visitations of the
Divine being by which the inscrutable purposes of his will are
mysteriously worked out, one of the most mysterious is the power
which, from time to time, is allowed by him to be exercised by the
wicked for the torment of the innocent. (Cheers.) But of those
visitations prescribed by Divine Providence there is one yet more
inscrutable, for which it is still more difficult to affix a reason,
and that is, when heaven rolls down on this earth the judgment, not
of scorpions, or the plague of pestilence, or famine, or war--but
incomparably the worse plague, the worser judgment, of the injustice
of judges who become betrayers of the law--perjured, wicked men who
abuse the law which they are sworn to administer, in order to
gratify their own foul passions, to take the part of the wrong-doer
against his victim, and to forswear themselves on God's gospel, in
order that justice may not be done. * * * * My lords, I entirely
concur in what was formerly said by Mr. Burke, and afterwards
repeated by Mr. Canning, that while the making of laws was confined
to the owners of slaves, nothing they did was ever found real or
effectual. And when, perchance, any thing was accomplished, it had
not, as Mr. Burke said, "an executive principle." But, when they
find you determined to do your duty, it is proved, by the example
which they have given in passing the Apprenticeship Amendment Act,
that they will even outstrip you to prevent your interference with
them. * * * * Place the negroes on the same footing with other men,
and give them the uncontrolled power over their time and labor, and
it will become the interest of the planter, as well as the rest of
the community, to treat the negro well, for their comfort and
happiness depend on his industry and good behavior. It is a
consequence perfectly clear, notwithstanding former distinctions,
notwithstanding the difference of color and the variety of race in
that population, the negro and the West Indian will in a very few
generations--when the clank of his chain is no longer heard, when
the oppression of the master can vex no more, when equal rights are
enjoyed by all, and all have a common interest in the general
prosperity--be impressed with a sense of their having an equal share
in the promotion of the public welfare; nay, that social
improvement, the progress of knowledge, civility, and even
refinement itself, will proceed as rapidly and diffuse itself as
universally in the islands of the Western Ocean as in any part of
her Majesty's dominions. * * * *

I see no danger in the immediate emancipation of the negro; I see no
possible injury in terminating the apprenticeship, (which we now
have found should never have been adopted,) and in causing it to
cease for slaves previous to August, 1838, at that date, as those
subsequent to that date must in that case be exempt. * * * * I
regard the freedom of the negro as accomplished and sure. Why?
Because it is his right--because he has shown himself fit for
it--because a pretext or a shadow of a pretext can no longer be
devised for withholding that right from its possessor. I know that
all men now take a part in the question, and that they will no
longer bear to be imposed upon now they are well informed. My
reliance is firm and unflinching upon the great change which I have
witnessed--the education of the people unfettered by party or by
sect--from the beginning of its progress, I may say from the hour of
its birth. Yes; it was not for a humble man like me to assist at
royal births with the illustrious prince who condescended to grace
the pageant of this opening session, or the great captain and
statesman in whose presence I now am proud to speak. But with that
illustrious prince, and with the father of the Queen I assisted at
that other birth, more conspicuous still. With them and with the
lord of the house of Russel I watched over its cradle--I marked its
growth--I rejoiced in its strength--I witnessed its maturity--I have
been spared to see it ascend the very height of supreme
power--directing the councils of the state--accelerating every great
improvement--uniting itself with every good work--propping honorable
and useful institutions--extirpating abuses in all our
institutions--passing the bounds of our dominion, and in the new
world, as in the old, proclaiming that freedom is the birthright of
man--that distinction of color gives no title to oppression--that
the chains now loosened must be struck off, and even the marks they
have left effaced by the same eternal law of our nature which makes
nations the masters of their own destiny, and which in Europe has
caused every tyrant's throne to quake. But they need to feel no
alarm at the progress of right who defend a limited monarchy and
support their popular institutions--who place their chiefest pride
not in ruling over slaves, be they white or be they black--not in
protecting the oppressor, but in wearing a constitutional crown, in
holding the sword of justice with the hand of mercy, in being the
first citizen of a country whose air is too pure for slavery to
breathe, and on whose shores, if the captive's foot but touch, his
fetters of themselves fall off. (Cheers.) To the resistless progress
of this great principle I look with a confidence which nothing can
shake; it makes all improvement certain--it makes all change safe
which it produces; for none can be brought about, unless all has
been accomplished in a cautious and salutary spirit. So now the
fulness of time is come; for our duty being at length discharged to
the African captive, I have demonstrated to you that every thing is
ordered--every previous step taken--all safe, by experience shown to
be safe, for the long-desired consummation. The time has come--the
trial has been made--the hour is striking: you have no longer a
pretext for hesitation, or faltering, or delay. The slave has shown,
by four years' blameless behavior and devotion, unsurpassed by any
English peasant, to the pursuit of peaceful industry, that he is as
fit for his freedom as any lord whom I now address. I demand his
rights--I demand his liberty without stint, in the names of justice
and of law--in the name of reason--in the name of God, who has given
you no right to work injustice. I demand that your brother be no
longer trampled upon as your slave. (Hear, hear.) I make my appeal
to the Commons, who represent the free people of England; and I
require at their hands the performance of that condition for which
they paid so enormous a price--that condition which all their
constituents are in breathless anxiety to see fulfilled! I appeal to
his house--the hereditary judges of the first tribunal in the
world--to you I appeal for justice. Patrons of all the arts that
humanize mankind, under your protection I place humanity herself! To
the merciful Sovereign of a free people I call aloud for mercy to
the hundreds of thousands in whose behalf half a million of her
Christian sisters have cried aloud, that their cry may not have
risen in vain. But first I turn my eye to the throne of all justice,
and devoutly humbling myself before Him who is of purer eyes than to
behold any longer such vast iniquities--I implore that the curse
over our heads of unjust oppression be averted from us--that your
hearts may be turned to mercy--and that over all the earth His will
may at length be done!

* * * * *

INDEX.

ABSCONDING from labor, Accident in a boiling house, Aged negro, Allowance to Apprentices, "Amalgamation," American Consul, (_See Consul_.) American Prejudice, Amity Hall Estate, Anderson, Wm. II. Esq., Anguilla, Annual Meeting of Missionaries, Antigua, Dimensions of, " Sugar Crop of, Applewhitte, Mr. Appraisement of Apprentices, Apprentice, provisions respecting the, Apprenticeship compared with slavery, Apprenticeship System, " Design of, " Good effect of, " No preparation for freedom, Apprenticeship, Operation of, Apprenticeship, Opinion of, in Antigua;--in Barbadoes;--in Jamaica, Apprentices liberated, Apprentices' work compared with slaves Archdeacon of Antigua, " of Barbadoes, Aristocracy of Antigua, Armstrong, Mr. H., Ashby, Colonel, Athill, Mr., Attachment to home, Attorney General of Jamaica, Attendance on Church August, First of

Baijer, Hon. Samuel O., Baines, Major, Banks, Rev. Mr., Baptist Chapel Baptists in Jamaica, Barbadoes, Barbuda, Barber in Bridgetown, Barclay, Alexander, Esq., Barnard, Samuel, Esq., Barrow, Colonel, Bath, Bazaar, Bell, Dr., Belle Estate, Bell not tolled for colored person, "_Belly, 'blige_ 'em to work," Belmore, Lord, Belvidere Estate, Benevolent institutions of Antigua, Bible Society, Bishop of Barbadoes, Blessings of Abolition, (See _Morals_, &c.) Blind man, Boiling House, Bookkeepers, Slaver of, "Bornin' Ground," Bourne, Mr. London, Bourne, Mr. S., (of Antigua,) Bourne, Stephen, Esq., (of Jamaica,) Breakfast at Mr. Bourne's, " at Mr. Prescod's, " at Mr. Thorne's, Briant, Mr., Bridgetown, Brown, Colonel, Brown, Thomas C.,

C., Mr., of Barbadoes, "Cage," Cane cultivated by apprentices on their own ground, Cane-cutting, Cane-holing, Cecil, Mr., Cedar Hall, Chamberlain, R., Esq., Change of opinion in regard to slavery, Chapel erected by apprentices, Character of colored people, Cheesborough, Rev. Mr., Children, care of, (See _Free_.) Christmas, Church, Established, Civility of negroes, Clarke, Dr., Clarke, Hon. R.B., Clarke, Mr., Classification of apprentices, Codrington Estate, Coddrington, Sir Christopher. Coffee Estates. College, Coddrington. Colliton Estate. Colored Architect. " Editors. " Lady. " Legislators. " Magistrates. " Merchants. " Policemen. " Population. " Proprietor. " Teachers. Colthurst, Major. Complaints to Special Magistrates. Concubinage. Condition of the negroes, changed. Conduct of the Emancipated on the first of August. Confidence increased. Conjugal attachment. Consul, American at Antigua. " " at Jamaica. Constabulary force, colored. Contributions for religious purposes. Conversation with a negro boatman. Conversation with negroes on Harvey's estate. Conversation with apprentices. Corbett, Mr. Trial of. Corner stone laid. Courts in Barbadoes. Courts in Jamaica. Cox, Rev. James. Cranstoun, Mr. Crimes, Diminution of. Crimes in Jamaica. Crookes, Rev. Mr. Crops in Barbadoes. Crops in Jamaica. Cruelty of slavery. " to apprentices. Cultivation in Barbadoes, (See _Crops_.) Cultivation in Jamaica. Cummins, Mr. Cummins, Rev. Mr. Cuppage, Captain. Custom House returns, Barbadoes.

Daily meal Society. Dangers of slavery. Daniell, Dr. Death-bed of a planter. Deception. Defect of law. Demerara, Apprenticeship in. Desire for instruction. Dinner at Mr. Harris's. " at the Governor's. Disabilities of colored people. Discussion, Effect of. Distinction between _serving_ and being _property_. Distressed Females' Friend Society. Disturbances, Reason of. Docility of the negroes. Domestic Apprentices. Donovan's Estate. Drax Hall. Dress in Antigua. "Driver and overseer." Drought in Antigua. Dublin Castle Estate. Duncan, Mr. Dungeons in Antigua. " in Barbadoes.

Economy of the negroes. Edgecomb Estate. Edmonson, Rev. Jonathan. Education of Apprentices. " in Antigua. " in Barbadoes. (See _Schools_.) Education, Queries on, replied to. " Results, in regard to. Edwards, Colonel. Eldridge, R. B. Esq.. Elliot, Rev. Edward. Emancipation, Immediate. (See _Preparation, &c._) Emancipation, Motives of, in Antigua. Emigrants from Europe. Employments of the colored. English Delegation. Enrolment of colored militia. Escape of slaves from French islands. Expectations in regard to 1838 and 1840. Expense of free compared with slave labor. Expense of Apprenticeship compared with slavery. Explanation of terms. Exports of Jamaica for 53 years.

Fair of St. John's. Favey, Mr. Feeding in Barbadoes. Feeling, intense, of the negroes. Females in the field. Fences wanting in Antigua. Ferguson, Dr. Fines upon the planters. Fire in the canes. Fitch's Creek Estate. Flogging. " machine. Forten, James. Four and a half per cent tax. Fraser, Rev. Edward. " Mrs., ---- Free children. Freedom in Antigua. Free labor less expensive. Freeman, Count. Frey's Estate. Friendly Societies. Fright of American vessels.

Galloway, Mr. Gangs, Division of. Gardiner, Rev. Mr. Gilbert, Rev. N. Girl sold by her mother. Gitters, Rev. Mr. Golden Grove Estate. Gordon, Mr. Governor of Antigua. " of Barbadoes. Grace Bay. Grenada. "Grandfather Jacob." Gratitude of the Negroes. "Grecian Regale." Green Castle Estate. Green Wall Estate. Guadaloupe. Guarda Costas. "Gubner poisoned."

H., Mr., an American. Hamilton, Capt. Hamilton, Cheny, Esq. Hamilton, Rev. Mr. Harrison, Colonel. Harris, Thomas, Esq. Harvey, Rev. B. Hatley, Mr. Heroism of colored women. Higginbothom, Ralph, Esq. Hill, Richard, Esq. Hinkston, Samuel, Esq. Holberton, Rev. Robert. Holidays in Antigua. Horne, Rev. Mr. "Horse." Horton Estate. Horsford, Hon. Paul. Hostility to Emancipation. (See also, _Change, &c._) House of Correction. Howell, Mr., (of Jamaica). Howell, James Esq. Hurricane.

Imports and Exports of Barbadoes. Improvement since Emancipation. (See _Morals_.) Indolence of Apprentices. " of Whites. Industry of Emancipated Slaves. Industry of Apprentices. Infanticide. Insolence. Insubordination. (See _Subordination_.) Insurrection in Barbadoes in 1816. Insurrection not feared in Antigua; nor in Barbadoes; nor in Jamaica. Intelligence of blacks, as compared with whites. Intemperance in Antigua. (See _Temperance_.) Intermixture. (See also _Amalgamation_.) Internal Improvement.

Jamaica. Jarvis, Colonel. Jobs. Jocken, Mr. Jones, Mr. Jones, Rev. Mr. Jones, T. Watkins, S. M. Jordon, Edward, Esq. Jury on the body of a negro woman. "Juvenile Association."

Kingdon, Rev. Mr. Kingston. Kirkland, Mr.

Law, respect for. Lear's Estate. Legislature of Antigua. Letter to a Special Magistrate. License to marry. Licentiousness. Lighthouse. Lock-up house at St. John's. Lyon, E.B., Esq. Lyon's Estate.

Machinery, Labor-saving. Managers, Testimony of. Manchioneal. Market in St. John's. Market people. Maroons. Marriage. Marshall, Mr. Martinique. Master's power over the apprentice. McCornock, Thomas, Esq. McGregor, Sir Evan, J. M. Megass. Merchants, Testimony of. Messages of Sir Lionel Smith. Mico Charity Infant School. Miller's Estate. Missionaries, Wesleyan. Missionary associations. " Society, Wesleyan. Mob, Pro-Slavery, in Barbadoes. Möhne, Mr. and Mrs. Montserrat. Morals, improvement of. Morant Bay. Moravian Chapel. " Missionary. Moravians. Morrish, Rev. Mr. Mule-traveling. Murder of a planter. Musgrave, Dr.

Negro Grounds. Negro Quarters. Nevis. Newby, Mr. Newfield, visit to. Noble trait in the apprentices. Nugent, Hon. Nicholas.

Obstacles to free labor in Antigua. Old school tyrant. Opinions in Antigua in regard to Emancipation. Opinions of the United States. Opposition to slavery in Jamaica. O'Reily, Hon. Dowel. Osburne, Mr. Overseers.

Packer, Rev. Mr. Parry, Archdeacon. Partiality of the Special Magistrates. Peaceableness of negro villages. Peaceableness of the change from slavery to freedom. Peaceableness of the negro character. Persecution of a Special Justice. Peter's Rock. Phillips, Rev. Mr. Physician, Testimony of. Pigeot, Mr. Plantain Garden River Valley. Planter, a severe one. Planters, cruelty of. " in Barbadoes. Plough. Police Court. " of Antigua. " Officers, Testimony of. " Reports. Policy of colored people in regard to prejudice. Port Royal. Prejudice against color. "Prejudice Bell." Preparation for freedom. Prescod, Mr. Promiscuous seating in church (See _"Amalgamation," &c._) Proprietor, testimony of. Pro-slavery pretences. Providence of the emancipated, the. Provost Marshal, Testimony of. Punishment, cruel. Punishment in Antigua.

Ramsay, Mr. Real Estate. Rebellion, so called. Rector of St. John's. "Red Shanks." Reid, Mr. E. Religion in Antigua; in Barbadoes; in Jamaica. Religious condition of slaves in Antigua. Religious instruction desired. Report of a Special Magistrate. Resolution in regard to Messrs. Thome and Kimball. Resolutions of Wesleyan Missionaries. Respect for the aged. Results in Antigua. Revengefulness. Ridge Estate. Right of suffrage. Rogers, Mr. Ross, A., Esq. Rowe, Rev. Mr. Rum, use of in Antigua.

Sabbath in Antigua; in Barbadoes; in Jamaica. Sabbath school in Bridgetown. Safety of immediate emancipation. (See _Insurrections_.) School, adult; at Lear's; Parochial; Wolmer Free. Schools in Antigua; in Bridgetown; infant; in Kingston; in Spanishtown. Scotland in Barbadoes. Scotland, James, Esq. Scotland, J., Jr. Esq. Security restored. Self-emancipation. Self-respect. Shands, Mr. S. Shiel, Mr. Shrewsbury, Rev. Mr. Sickness, pretended. Silver Hill. Sligo, Lord. Smith, Sir Lionel. Social intercourse. Societies, benevolent. Society among colored people. " for promotion of Christian knowledge. Soldiers, black. Solicitor General of Barbadoes. " of Jamaica. Song sung in the schools. Spanishtown. "Speaking," a Moravian custom. Special Magistrates. (See also _Partiality_.) Special Magistrates, Testimony of. St. Andrews. Station House, A. St. Christopher's. St. Lucia. Stock Keepers. St. Thomas in the East. Sturge & Harvey, Messrs. St. Vincent's. Subordination. Sugar Crop. " cultivation hard for the slave. Sugar Mill. Sunday Markets. Superintendent of Police. Suspension of faithful magistrates.

Task-work. Teacher, Black. Teachers. "Telegraph," Remarks of the. Temperance in Antigua. " of negroes. " Society. Testimony of Managers. Testimony of clergymen and missionaries. Testimony of Governors. " of magistrates. " of physicians. Theft, decrease of. Thibou Jarvis's estate. Thomas, Mr. Thompson, George, Bust of. Thompson, Thomas, Esq. Thorne, Mr. Thwaites, Mr. Charles. Tinson, Rev. Mr. Toast to Immediate Emancipation. Tortala. Traffic in Slaves. Transition from slavery to freedom. Treatment of slaves ameliorated by discussion. Treadmill. Trinidad. Trustworthiness.

Unwilling witness.

Vagrancy. Value of an apprentice. (See _Appraisement_.) Villa Estate.

Wages. Walton, Rev. Mr. Watchman, Jamaica. " Remarks of the. Watkins, Mr. Ward, Sir Henry. Weatherill's Estate. Wesleyan Chapel, Antigua. " " New, ". " Missionary Society. Wesleyans in Antigua. " in Barbadoes. " in Jamaica. Whip banished. Whipping Post. White lady. Wilberforce, opinion of. Wickham, Richard S. Willis, George, Esq. Willoughby Bay Examination. Wolmer Free School. Women abandon the field. " condition of. Woolridge, Rev. Mr. Wright, Andrew, Esq.

* * * * *

THE ANTI-SLAVERY EXAMINER--EXTRA.

* * * * *

EMANCIPATION

In The

WEST INDIES, IN 1838.

* * * * *

IMPORTANT TO THE UNITED STATES.

False prophets were never stiller about their time-detected impostures than are the pro-slavery presses of the United States about the results of West India Emancipation. Now and then, for the sake of appearances, they obscurely copy into their immense sheets an inch or two of complaints, from some snarling West India paper, that the emancipated are lazy and won't work. But they make no parade. They are more taciturn than grave-stones.

In the following closely printed columns, those who wish to know will find out precisely how the "_great experiment_" has worked. They will find,

1. The _safety_ of abolition demonstrated--its safety in the worst possible case.

2. That the colonies are prospering in their _agriculture_.

3. That the planters conferred freedom because they were _obliged to_ by public opinion abroad.

4. That freedom, even thus unwillingly conferred, was accepted as a precious boon by the slaves--they were grateful to God, and ready to work for their masters for fair pay.

5. That the mass of the planters have endeavoured, from the first, to get work out of the free laborers for as small wages as possible.

6. That many of the attorneys and managers have refused fair wages and practiced extortion, _to depreciate the price of property_, that they might profit thereby.

7. That all the indisposition to labor which has yet been exhibited is fully accounted for by these causes.

8. That in spite of all, the abolition is working well for the _honest_ of all parties.

* * * * *

WEST INDIA EMANCIPATION, IN 1838.

The immediate abolitionists hold that the change from slavery to freedom cannot be too sudden. They say that the first step in raising the slave from his degradation should be that of making him a proper subject of law, by putting him in possession of himself. This position they rest on the ground both of justice and expediency, which indeed they believe to be inseparable. With exceptions too trifling to affect the question, they believe the laborer who feels no stimulus but that of wages and no restraint but that of law, is the most _profitable_, not only to himself and society at large, but to any employer other than a brutal tyrant. The benefit of this role they claim for every man and woman living within this republic, till on fair trial the proper tribunal shall have judged them unworthy of it. They deny both the justice and expediency of permitting any degree of ignorance or debasement to work the forfeiture of self-ownership, and pronounce slavery continued for such a cause the worst of all, inasmuch as it is the _robbery of the poor because he is poor_.

What light was thrown upon this doctrine by the process of abolition in the British West Indies from the 1st of August 1834 to the 1st of June 1837, may be seen in the work of Messrs. Thome and Kimball entitled, "Emancipation in the West Indies." That light continues to shine. Bermuda and Antigua, in which the slaves passed instantaneously out of absolute slavery into full freedom, are living witnesses of the blessing of heaven upon immediate emancipation. In Antigua, one of the old sugar colonies, where slavery had had its full sway there has been especially a fair test of immediatism, and the increasing prosperity of the island does the utmost honor to the principle. After the fullest inquiry on the point, Messrs. Thome and Kimball say of this island:--

"There is not a class, or party, or sect, who do not esteem the abolition of slavery as a _special blessing to them_. The rich, because it relieved them of "property" which was fast becoming a disgrace, as it had always been a vexation and a tax, and because it has emancipated them from the terrors of insurrection, which kept them all their life-time subject to bondage. The poor whites--because it lifted from off them the yoke of civil oppression. The free colored population--because it gave the death blow to the prejudice that crushed them, and opened the prospect of social, civil, and political equality with the whites. The _slaves_--because it broke open their dungeons, led them out to liberty, and gave them, in one munificent donation, their wives, their children, their bodies, their souls--everything."

In the emphatic language of the Governor, "It was _universally admitted_ that emancipation had been a great blessing to the island."

In November 1837, Lord Brougham thus summed up the results of the Antigua experiment in a speech in the House of Lords:--

"It might be known to their lordships that in one most important colony the experiment of instant and entire emancipation had been tried. Infinitely to the honor of the island of Antigua was it, that it did not wait for the period fixed by the Legislature, but had at once converted the state of slavery into one of perfect liberty. On the 1st of August, 1834, the day fixed by act of Parliament for the commencement of a ten years' apprenticeship, the Legislature of that colony, to the immortal honor of their wisdom, their justice, and their humanity, had abolished the system of apprenticeship, and had absolutely and entirely struck the fetters off from 30,000 slaves. Their lordships would naturally ask whether the experiment had succeeded; and whether this sudden emancipation had been wisely and politically done. He should move for some returns which he would venture to say would prove that the experiment had entirely succeeded. He would give their lordships some proofs: First, property in that island had risen in value; secondly, with a very few exceptions, and those of not greater importance than occurred in England during harvest, there was no deficiency in the number of laborers to be obtained when laborers were wanted; thirdly, offences of all sorts, from capital offences downwards, had decreased; and this appeared from returns sent by the inspector of slaves to the governor of that colony, and by him transmitted to the proper authority here; and, fourthly, the exports of sugar had increased: during the three years ending 1834, the average yearly export was 165,000 cwts., and for the three subsequent years this average had increased to 189,000 cwts., being an increase of 21,000 cwts, or one clear seventh, produced by free labor. Nor were the last three years productive seasons; for in 1835 there was a very severe and destructive hurricane, and in the year 1836 there was such a drought that water was obliged to be imported from Barbados."

Of such sort, with regard to both the colonies that adopted the principle of immediate emancipation, have been the facts--and all the facts--up to the latest intelligence.

The rest of the colonies adopted the plan proposed by the British government, which contrary to the wishes of the great body of British abolitionists, made the slaves but partially free under the name of apprentices. In this mongrel condition they were to remain, the house servants four, and the field laborers six years. This apprenticeship was the darling child of that expediency, which, holding the transaction from wrong to right to be dangerous and difficult, illustrates its wisdom by lingering on the dividing line. Therefore any mischance that might have occurred in any part of this tardy process would have been justly attributable to _gradualism_ and not to _immediatism_. The force of this remark will be better seen by referring to the nature and working of the apprenticeship as described in the book of Messrs. Thome and Kimball. We have only room to say that the masters universally regarded the system as a part of the compensation or bonus to the slaveholder and not as a preparatory school for the slave. By law they were granted a property in the uncompensated _labor_ of the slaves for six years; but the same law, by taking away the sole means of enforcing this labor, in fact threw the masters and slaves into a six years' quarrel in which they stood on something like equal terms. It was surely not to be wondered if the parties should come out of this contest too hostile ever to maintain to each other the relation of employer and employed. This six years of vexatious swinging like a pendulum over the line between bondage and liberty was well calculated to spoil all the gratitude and glory of getting across.

It was early discovered that the masters generally were disposed to abuse their power and get from their apprentices all that could by any means be extorted. The friends of humanity in Great Britain were aroused, Mr. Sturge, a distinguished philanthropist of Birmingham, accompanied by Messrs. Scohle, Harvey, and Lloyd, proceeded to the West Indies on a mission of inquiry, and prosecuted their investigation contemporaneously with Messrs. Thome and Kimball. Their Report produced a general conviction in England, that the planters had forfeited all claim to retain their authority over the apprentices, and the government was accordingly petitioned immediately to abolish the system. This it was loth to do. It caused inquiries to be instituted in the colonies, especially in Jamaica, with the evident hope of overthrowing the charges of Mr. Sturge. The result more than confirmed those charges. The government still plead for delay, and brought in a bill for the _improvement_ of the apprenticeship. In the progress of these proceedings, urged on as they were by the heaven-high enthusiasm of the British nation, many of the planters clearly perceived that their chance of power during the remaining two years of the apprenticeship had become worth less to them than the good will which they might get by voluntarily giving it up. Whether it was this motive operating in good faith, or a hope to escape philanthropic interference for the future by yielding to its full claim, and thus gain a clear field to oppress under the new system of wages, one thing is certain the chartered colonies, suddenly, and to the surprise of many, put the finishing stroke to the system and made their apprentices free from the 1st of August, 1838. The crown colonies have mostly imitated their example.

The following table exhibits the extent and population of these colonies.

Possessions. Date of Extent. Population acquisit. sq. m. White Slaves F. Col. Anguilla[B], 1650 . . . 365 2,388 327 Antigua[A], 1632 108 1,980 29,537 3,895 Bahamas[B], 1629 4,400 4,240 9,268 2,991 Barbados[B], 1625 166 14,959 82,807 5,146 Bermudas[A], 1611 22 3,905 4,608 738 Dominica[B], 1783 275 840 15,392 3,606 Grenada[B], 1783 125 801 24,145 3,786 Jamaica[B], 1655 6,400 37,000 311,692 55,000 Montserrat[B], 1632 47 330 6,262 814 Nevis[B], 1628 20 700 9,259 2,000 St. Christophers[B],1632 68 1,612 19,310 3,000 St. Lucia[B], 1803 58 972 13,661 3,718 St. Vincent[B], 1783 130 1,301 23,589 2,824 Tobago[B], 1763 187 322 12,556 1,164 Trinidad[B], 1797 2,460 4,201 24,006 15,956 Tortola, or Virgin Isles[B], 1666 . . . 800 5,399 607

Total, B.W.I . . . 14,466 74,328 593,879 105,572 Cape of Good Hope, . . . . . . 43,000 35,500 29,000 Berbice[B] . . . . . . 523 20,645 1,161 Guiana Demarara[B] 1803 . . . 3,006 65,556 6,360 Essequibo[B], . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Honduras, 1650 62,750 250 2,100 2,300 Mauritius, . . . . . . 8,000 76,000 15,000 Total. . . . . . . 129,107 793,680 159,393

[Footnote A: Emancipated entirely on the 1st. of August, 1834.]

[Footnote B: Emancipated entirely on the 1st. of August, 1838, by vote of the local legislatures in the chartered Colonies; and by Governor and Council, in the Crown Colonies.]

The _unanimity_ with which the apprenticeship was given up is a most remarkable and instructive fact. In the Council and Assembly of Montserrat, there was an unanimous decision in favor of Emancipation as early as February 1838. In the legislature of Tortola, which passed the bill in April 1838, the opposing party was small. In that of Barbados the bill was passed on the 15th of May with but _one_ dissenting voice. In that of Jamaica, the bill seems to have been passed on the 8th of June, and the _Jamaica Times_ remarks:--"No dissentient voice was heard within the walls of the Assembly, all joined in the wish so often expressed, that the remaining term of the apprenticeship should be cancelled, that the excitement produced by a law which has done inconceivable harm in Jamaica, in alienating the affections of her people, and creating discord and disaffection, should at once cease. Thank God! it is now nearly at an end, and we trust that Jamaica will enjoy that repose, so eagerly and anxiously sought after, by all who wish the Island well."

These facts come down upon the question of the safety of an _immediate_ emancipation with an _a fortiori_, a _much more then_. For it is admitted on all hands that the apprenticeship had "alienated the affections of the people;" they were in a state less favorable to a quiet sequel, than they were before the first of August, 1834, yet the danger was not thought of. The _safety_ was an argument _in favor_ of emancipation, not _against_ it. The raw head and bloody bones had vanished. The following is a fair exhibition of the feeling of the most influential planters, in regard to the _safety_ of the step.

From the Barbadian, May 9, 1838.

AT A MEETING OF THE BOARD OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, IN THE NEW COURT HOUSE, APRIL 24TH, 1838.

The Lord Bishop rose and spoke as follows:

"_Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Council_,

'I was informed yesterday that, during my absence from this island, the members recorded their opinion as to the expediency of absolutely abolishing the apprenticeship in August, 1838. I am most anxious to record my entire concurrence in this resolution, but I wish it to be understood that I do not consider the measure as called for by any hardships, under which the laborers in this island are suffering--nor from the want of any essential comfort--nor from the deprivation of any thing, which a laborer can fairly claim from his master; still I do express my concurrence in the resolution of the board, and I do so on these grounds: that I am satisfied the measure can be safely carried in this island, and if safely, then I feel justly; for I consider the very important interests which are involved in the measure. I must confess, too, that I am unwilling the Barbados should be behind any other island, especially in a measure which may be carried both safely and justly, and where its example may be of such beneficial consequence. I am just returned from visiting the Northern Islands of the Diocese. I have gone over every part of Tortola, and though it is far more fertile than the Off Islands, yet even these are sufficiently productive for the laborer to raise the lesser and necessary provision of life,--and yet with these islands in their very face, the Legislature of Tortola has passed the act of abolition. Some of the proprietors were opposed to it, but they have now given up their opposition; and I heard, whilst in Antigua, not only that the act had passed, but that on the day of its passing, or the following day, some of the leading proprietors rode through the island, and were met by the people with expressions of the utmost gratitude, regarding the act as a boon granted to them by their masters. At Nevis the act has passed. At St. Christopher's the council are in favor of its passing, and with Nevis emancipated in its vicinity, there is little doubt but the Act must pass. At Montserrat also it has passed. At Antigua, which I visited last year, I found that every thing was proceeding quietly and regularly. I found too, the planters in high spirits, and some estates, which had been given up, restored; and the small patches and tenements of the free people, commencing last year, now in a very satisfactory state of cultivation. It is possible, indeed, that these last mentioned, unless the population is proportionably increased, may affect the cultivation of the larger estates, but there they are, and flourishing, as I have described, whilst I was in the island. A contiguous, though abandoned estate was purchased by Sir Henry Martin for about 9,500 _l._ currency, being 3,000 _l._ more than he had offered a few years previously. To compare Barbados with any other island, either as to population, wealth, or state of agriculture, is unnecessary. I have seen nothing like the commercial activity which I saw in the streets yesterday, except at St. Thomas; and I feel, therefore, on all these grounds, that the act may be passed safely and justly. At the same time I am not unmindful or insensible to the state of public opinion in the mother country, nor to the many new and harassing annoyances to which the proprietors may be exposed during a protracted continuance of the apprenticeship. I request that my full concurrence in the resolution of the council, may be accorded on the minutes of this day's proceedings.'"

Such is the testimony of a witness in no wise warped by prejudice in favor of the anti-slavery party.

The debates which took place in the legislatures of both Barbados and Jamaica, are full of similar testimony, uttered by men every way qualified to bear witness, and under influences which relieve their testimony from every taint of suspicion.