A practical view of the present state of slavery in the West Indies, or, An examination of Mr. Stephen's "Slavery of the British West India colonies" : containing more particularly an account of the actual condition of the Negroes in Jamaica …

Front matter

PRACTICAL VIEW

OF -nE

PRESENT STATE OF SLAVERY

Preface

Never, perhaps, were mistakes more prevalent upon any subject than they are at present upon that of j*.West India slavery. There are many in this country, .. and by no means in the lowest stations, who never Z. hear the subject mentioned but they have before ^ their minds chains, dungeons, scourging, maiming, Z wounding, and death. To their terrified imaginations ^ it appears the land of horrors, where cruelty sits in J brief authority, and the oppressed drag out a gloomy life in groans and tears, without any of the comforts 5 of existence, and. of course, without manifesting any 'js signs of enj oyment. These false impressions have 4 been mainly owing ito a class of authors and orators l in the mother country, who, for many years, have ^ been aiming at effect, more than at truth — who have 4 been less anxious -to ascertain and make known the

PREFACE.

VI

real condition of the negroes, than to give an aggra¬ vated and frightful description of it, in order to obtain for themselves the praise and favour which would be most justly due to those who should es¬ pouse their cause, if they really were in the situation described.

Embarking, about eighteen months ago, from Ja¬ maica for Britain, after an absence of twenty-one years spent in that island, I chanced to obtain, among other books for entertainment during the voyage,: Mr. Stephens Slavery of the British West India Colonies. I had heard of this work, . and ' was well aware that prejudices against the colonists ex¬ isted in the mother country ; but I ss, I had no idea, till I . sat down to peruse-, this , ^ebrated per¬ formance, how far those prejudices were carried, and still less, that such- means or such talents were employed to extend and inflame them. In 'the pic¬ ture; Mr. Stephen .has drawn, 1 could scarcely; recog¬ nise';^ single feature .of the -community in which! had so long, resided ; .and 'as I. perused his eloquent invective, (for such. I 'admif -it to ’be), 1 could ’not 'but feelhowdittle those of "my countrymen who had not the :same • means; of -knowing the i truth, "Were to be blamed,- .for .- prejudices ; which were' * so '-artfully 'and industriously instilled into them. Impressed with this idea, I . employed the leisure which the • voyage afforded in ' taking notes of Mr. Stephen’s errors and misrepresentations, and before I. reached England, had written out the greater part of what I now submit to the public ; but on my arrival in my native land, after so long an absence from my friends, such matters were for some time lost sight of and forgotten; and perhaps I should never have returned to the task, had I not learned that those discussions on the subject (fraught with so much danger to the negroes as well as their masters), were again to be renewed in Parliament, — and at the same time seen Mr.' Stephen’s 'work re¬ presented in the Edinburgh Review as unanswered, and unanswerable by the colonists, and as affording a most excellent account of the slavery in the British West India islands.

It has not been my lot in the course of an active life, to have enjoyed much time for literary pursuits ; and, entering the lists with an. acute and eloquent lawyer, I -have fearful odds against me : but I derive confidence from my knowledge - of the subject, - and from the consciousness of having truth - on my side, and trust that my work (however -little pretension it may have to that eloquence for which Mr; Stephen’s

PREFACE.

VIII

is so much praised) may be useful in making known the actual condition of the slaves, and in exposing the errors, and total want of candour of some of the principal accusers of the colonists.

To the ungraciousness of opposing specious, though visionary, schemes of philanthropy, i am fully sensible ; and ! never should have undertaken the task, but from a sincere conviction that in doing so, I was advocating the true interests of humanity. The best part of my life has been spent in daily in¬ tercouse with the slaves in Jamaica : they are igno¬ rant, it is true ; but I have witnessed much good¬ ness among them, and in sickness have often been indebted to their kind attentions. My attachment to them is consequently strong; and in whatever light my conduct may be viewed or represented by those persons in this country to whose sentiments mine are opposed, I can lay my hand on my heart and say, that a conviction of the fatal consequences which would inevitably result to the negroes from the adoption of measures, founded in utter ignorance of their condition, their capabilities, habits, and dis¬ positions, is the chief motive which ' has induced me to appear before the public.

December, 1 825.

PREFACE.

IX

PrS.-^jfri December '1826, the Assembly cf ^Ja¬ maica passed a consolidated slave law, containing many new and important provisions in iavour of the slaves. N o person in that island ever imagined that such a law (enacted too in the first instance for only three years, and therefore soon to be re-considered) would not receive the Royal sanction ; so much was it approved of by the Duke of Manchester, then go¬ vernor, that his Grace declared his opinion, that 4 the 4 mildness and moderation which it evinced, and the ‘ beneficial alteration produced in the condition of the * slave in many particulars, would be highly satisfac- ( tory to his Majesty’s government.’ But it has since appeared, that, whatever the merits of this law, or however beneficial it might have proved to the slaves, it has failed to give satisfaction to those persons in England whose counsels have, of late years, been chiefly, if not exclusively, listened to in the govern¬ ment of our West India colonies.

The new act, then in force, was annexed to the second edition of this work ; but, being disallowed by the King in council, it is now deemed unnecessary to swell the volume with so bulky an appendix. Mr. Huskisson’s letter, however, stating the objections which led to its disallowance, and the Report of the

■X

PREFACE.

Assembly in reply to those objections, are given, as important documents to which frequent reference will undoubtedly be made, as long as the subject continues to engage the attention of the public.

It would be difficult to describe the sensation which the Eight Honourable Secretary’s letter, an¬ nouncing the rejection of the law, occasioned in the colony : it was a measure so unexpected, and which appeared so inconsistent with all the recent commu¬ nications from the Colonial Office. I cannot but apprehend that it has left an impression, if not a conviction, in the minds of the people of that island, of the utter hopelessness of all further at¬ tempts on their part to meet the demands of govern¬ ment ; since, as the report states, * when they ex¬ pected to be honoured with the unreserved commen¬ dation of his Majesty, they find ‘ their labours contemned, and their sacrifices undervalued and rejected.’

February , 1828.

Contents

Page

Introduction . . vii

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