Part 2

“And have not the inhabitants of _Great Britain_ and her Colonies, just reason to expect a _similar_ vengeance for the _like oppressions_? Do they flatter themselves that the _same God_ will permit them to go on without _recompensing_ their ‘own way’ upon their heads? _Slavery_ for _Slavery_? Or have they forgot, that the God of Israel, who thus reproved his peculiar people for holding their _brethren_ in bondage, is the same ‘Lord God’ _with whom we have to do_? And that he is unchangeable? How would our rulers and chief men bear a repetition of this unchangeable _word_ in the presence of God, when the Books are opened for judgment:—‘_I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge, and stand_ in the gap _before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I_ found none!’ May I not say, that even ‘_backsliding Israel_’ shall ‘_rise up in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it?_’ As ‘_the backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah_,’ (Jer. iii. 11.) so she hath surely ‘justified herself more than’ Britain! for when the measure of her iniquity seemed to be filled by that notorious act of _oppression_ in the reign of Pekah before mentioned, there were yet found in her four _worthy advocates_ ‘to stand in the gap _before_ God _for the Land_;’ even four ‘_chiefs_’ (or Nobles) ‘_of the children of Ephraim_,’ who boldly _protested_ against the horrid crime of domestic _slavery_. But _Great Britain_, though staggering under a much heavier load of the same kind of guilt has not proºduced, out of her numerous _Peerage_, one single chief to stand up ‘_for the land_,’ and remove her burden! Mark this ye Right Reverend Fathers of our Church, who sit with the Princes _of the Realm_ to consult the welfare of the state! Think not that I am inclined through any misguided prejudice to charge _your order_, in particular, with the omission. The _crying sin_ has hitherto been far distant from your _sight_, and perhaps was never fully represented to you, or like _faithful watchmen of Israel_, you would long ago have warned our nation of the danger: but I now call upon you, in the name of God, for assistance! _Ye know the Scriptures_, and therefore to you, my Lords, in particular I appeal! If I have misrepresented _the word of God_, on which my _opposition to_ slavery is founded, point out my errors, and I submit: but if, on the other hand, you should perceive that the texts here quoted are really applicable to the question before us, that my conclusions from thence are fairly drawn, and that the examples of God’s vengeance against tyrants and slave-holders ought strictly to warn us against _similar oppressions_ and _similar vengeance_, you will not then, I trust, be backward _in this cause of_ God _and_ Man. _Stand up_ (let me entreat you) ‘_for the land_; make up the hedge,’ to save your country; perhaps it is not yet too late! Enter a solemn protest, my Lords, against those who ‘_have oppressed the stranger wrongfully_.’ Ye know that the testimonies I have quoted are of God! Warn, therefore, the nobles and Senators of these Kingdoms, that they incur not a double load of guilt; as the burden, not only of the _much injured African strangers_, but also of our country’s ruin, must rest on the heads of those who withhold their testimony against the crying sin of tolerated slavery! For ‘I know that the Lord will maintain the cause _of the_ afflicted, and the right of the poor.’” Ps. cxl. 12.

3. FRESH ATROCITIES IN BERBICE.

Berbice has been one of the colonies which has boasted the most of its humanity, but which, to say the least, has been not _less_ distinguished for its cruelties than the other colonies. Its Memorial to the Privy Council, in 1827, was loud in professions of tenderness for the feelings of the slaves, notwithstanding the recency of those reports of its Fiscal which filled this country with horror. (See Reporters, Nos. 5 and 16.) Later reports from this colony continue, as may be seen in the Anti-Slavery Reporter, No. 43, to be marked by the same disgusting characters of brutal ferocity and of callous indifference to negro comfort as the former. And an occurrence, which has taken place there so recently as November last, will plainly shew how little amendment in the state of the slaves in that colony has been derived from the Order in Council.

A colonist, of the name of Gallez, who is himself of mixed blood, was the proprietor of a large body of slaves. He had prevailed on these slaves to agree, though most reluctantly, to accompany him to a wood-cutting establishment, called Catherinasburgh, which he formed in the interior about sixty or seventy miles up the Canye river, and far removed, therefore, from other plantations. The situation, however, was healthy, provision-grounds were abundant, and the water was of the finest kind. Mr. Gallez had also shewn a wish to procure religious instruction for his slaves, and to introduce marriage among them. His extraction created a sympathy with them; and he is said to have lived among them as a father. This is the account of one who does not altogether judge by the colonial standard of paternity. He erected good houses for them; allotted them fertile grounds; and as he conducted his wood-cutting in the way of moderate task, they had time to labour for themselves, and were living in abundance. They seem almost to have realized the picture drawn by Dr. Pinkard, of the Profit plantation in _his_ time, though, unhappily, they now share the fate of the Profit negroes.—Mr. Gallez had embarked in some speculations which involved him in pecuniary difficulties, and by an order of the Court of Justice, his slaves were placed under sequestration, and a certain portion of them, (not the whole together, and along with the plantation, but a part of them,) was marked out for sale in November last. No previous inquiry seems to have been made into their circumstances, in order to avoid dissevering the ties of kindred and affection. But a peremptory mandate required that they should quit their houses, their fields, their connexions, and appear at New Amsterdam on the specified day to be exposed to sale, in lots, to the best bidder. When this mandate, which was wholly unexpected by them, was communicated to the slaves, by the officers of the Court, who went to seize and bring to sale their destined victims, the whole gang, amounting to upwards of two hundred, retired into the almost impenetrable woods which surround the plantation; so that the seizure became impossible. When the officers returned to town, and reported the circumstance, the affair was magnified into a serious insurrection, which, if unsubdued, would spread fire and sword through the colony; and the cry arose for prompt military execution on the daring rebels, and for the arrest and punishment of Mr. Gallez himself, who, it was then remembered to his disadvantage, had been favourable to religious instruction, to marriage, and other reforms; and who, it was therefore assumed as a matter of course, must, like the murdered missionary Smith, have been the fomenter of the insurrection. Urgent application was made for a military detachment to be immediately sent to avert the danger, and this course would, probably, have been pursued, had not the Governor been led to see the propriety of first trying the effect of civil interference. Accordingly, the Fiscal, the Protector of slaves, and some others, were sent to the spot in order to induce their quiet submission. These gentlemen accordingly proceeded to Catherinasburgh; and on their arrival, the whole of the slaves readily appeared before them. It was explained to them that the debts of their master had led to the order of Court for taking a portion of them from the rest, and from their houses and grounds, and selling them; and that the law, they must be aware, could not be resisted without bringing ruin on themselves and their families. The slaves ably and feelingly stated their case. They pointed to the superior comforts they possessed over those living on the sugar and coffee estates below. They pleaded also their services to the colony in rooting out a maroon town some time back, for which medals had been bestowed on them by the Government. All this was admitted, but it was urged in reply, that their master was the real author of the evil, by having made them over to his creditors, and no remedy could now be applied. After some farther discussion, the poor creatures agreed to submit to their fate; and, in three or four days, they were embarked on board boats, and carried to the place of sale. The parting scene would beggar description. Those who were doomed to the hammer and to be scattered over the colony, as well as those who remained, were equally loud and vociferous in their wailing, so that even the whites, who were present, felt the infection of their grief.

What a picture of slavery in its best state! We trust we shall have the official details of this transaction, laid on the table of Parliament. In the mean time, is it irrelevant to remark, that the atrocity, in this case, is the result, not of individual oppression, but of the iniquity of the colonial law, and that, in a colony where his Majesty, by his ministers, is the sole legislator; and into which these ministers have recently introduced what is called an improved slave code? The present slave law of Berbice has emanated from the Crown, and yet, under that law, with all its professed designs of amelioration and protection, we here see the wretched, helpless, and degraded state in which it has still left the subjects of the King;—beasts of the field, chattels, bereft of every civil and social, and even domestic, right; and though endowed with the faculties and capacities, and heirs to the common destinies of men, yet depressed, by the very law which ought to protect them, to the level of the brutes that perish. Is not such legislation a mockery of the very name of law? Or can such legislation be considered as a redemption of the solemn pledge given by his Majesty’s Government and Parliament in 1823? And what hope can we indulge, that in colonies having legislatures of their own, we shall witness any other than a delusive shew of improvement, while such examples as these are furnished in colonies directly governed by the Crown itself? We would entreat our readers to look at Berbice as it stands painted, not in our statements, but in the simple and unsophisticated details of its own Fiscal, (see Reporter, No. 5, and No. 16) and again of its Protector, even in the last year, (see No. 43,) and, combining these details with the transaction of which we have now given a brief account, to say whether such a state of things can be endured? We call especially on the ministers of the Crown to look calmly at these facts, and to say, whether they are not responsible, if not for the existence, at least for the continuance for a single day longer, of such tremendous evils?

The occurrences in Berbice are only inferior in atrocity to the horrors of the Mauritius. And wherein does the state of slavery of Berbice differ from that of our other West India colonies, but in our having happily obtained thence those details which are carefully withheld from us in almost every other case? Let us obtain similar details from the other colonies, and we shall find them to exhibit the same state of legal oppression, the same affecting accumulation of individual misery as exists in Berbice. Mr. Dwarris, indeed, vaunts loudly of improvement in the colonies. Improvement! The pretence to it, in the face of such facts, is an insult to common sense; and the improvement, we fear, is to be found mainly, if not solely, in the increased obtuseness and callousness of feeling, which those must acquire who are the hourly spectators and actors in this grand theatre of crime.

4. RECENT INTELLIGENCE FROM JAMAICA.

1. _Colonial Policy._

In the Jamaica Gazette of the 20th of December, 1828, is inserted a letter from London, dated no longer ago than November last, in which the writer seems to be thinking aloud, unconscious of the presence of any anti-slavery auditor.

“This critical state of affairs,” (he says, alluding to Ireland,) “together with the threatening aspect which Europe is assuming, will no doubt tend to divert public attention from the Colonial Question, at least during the next session; and let us hope, that, by the time these matters are settled, others will arise to engage the good people of England in the laudable task of minding and _mending_ their own affairs, instead of _quacking_ with the colonies! Of course, we must expect the annual repetition of some of the rigmarole philippics of Buxton, Brougham, or Lushington, but these carry with them little terror now. The party are evidently losing ground—the mania has gone by—it is no longer a successful theme for popular declamation, and, although I cannot say any decided _reaction_ has taken place in the public mind, yet the fervid zeal has settled down into calm indifference.

“The bulk of the people are _passive_ on the subject, and I am persuaded will remain so. They are quite satiated with colonial horrors. The rancour of our enemies continues, and _will continue_, unabated, but their influence is considerably modified. No doubt, they will still trump up annual petitions against slavery, but these are no longer considered the criterion of public opinion, and have consequently no influence with Government. It is quite amusing to witness the despicable arts the anti-colonists resort to, in order to obtain signatures to these insidious memorials. In some places they have a table in the open street, on which the paper is laid, and the labouring classes, in returning from work, are solicited to affix their names, with so much suavity of manner—such bland persuasiveness, that there is no resisting, and many of the creatures, who are thus entrapped, do not even know the object of the paper they are signing. I heard of one fellow, who, in haranguing a mob collected round one of their tables, actually expatiated on the enormity of continuing the slave _trade_,” (and is not a slave trade carried on in Jamaica?) “and urged his colleagues to sign the petition, which was to put an end to this inhuman _traffic_! and really the ignorance of even the well-informed classes, on this subject, is quite astonishing.

“Our object ought to be” (and doubtless is in all their measures) “to _gain time_, for, the longer the main question is delayed, the better it will be understood by the British public, and the more likely they will be to be influenced by _principle_ rather than by _passion and prejudice_ in their decision. This object would be more effectually secured, and our adversaries more completely disarmed, if the Colonial Assemblies would, from time to time, engage themselves in correcting the old abuses in the system, and in making such improvements as would be commensurate with the advancement of the slaves in the scale of civilization.” (This we have always said has been their policy.)

“Of course it has not transpired here what instructions have been sent out to Sir John Keane as to the rejected Slave Bill; but I trust the odious mandate, which gave such offence last year has been rescinded, and that our House of Assembly have repassed the bill in its original form.” (Precisely what they have done.) “The West Indians here are in high spirits about the appointment of the new Governor—they expect great things from him, judging by his general character. It was intended that he should go out in time to open the Assembly, but, as this could not be accomplished in time, he will not, I understand, sail till the end of November.”

2. _Persecution of Missionaries._

The Assembly of Jamaica appear to have acted in strict conformity with the above suggestions. The disallowed slave law of 1826, has been re-enacted without the change of a single clause. The object in doing so is evidently to gain time, trusting to the chapter of accidents for future occasions of delay. It being expedient, however, to supply some reasons for so directly flying in the face of His Majesty’s Government, as to re-enact verbatim et literatim the persecuting clauses of 1826, which were directed to the suppression of the missions of methodists and dissenters, and to the consequent exclusion of the slaves from effective religious instruction, the assembly, in its wisdom, has had recourse as usual to the getting up of such ex-parte statements as the case seemed to call for, and which there never is any difficulty of procuring in Jamaica. And here we do them the justice to believe, that they had too much good sense to expect, that the statements thus prepared would be received in this country as evidence in _proof_ of their charges against the missionaries. It was quite enough that they served to give a colour to the contumacious re-enactment of the rejected clauses. Accordingly a Committee of the House of Assembly was appointed “to inquire into the establishment and proceedings of the Sectaries in the Island, and to report thereon to the House.” The report of this Committee, with the evidence annexed, was presented on the 23d of December, 1828. It was to the following effect;

“Mr. Speaker,—Your Committee, appointed to inquire into the establishment and proceedings of the Sectarians in this island,

“Report—That they have taken the examinations of sundry persons, which examinations are hereto annexed, and find that the principal object of the Sectarians in this island is to extort money from their congregations by every possible pretext, to obtain which, recourse has been had to the most indecent expedients.

“That in order to further this object, and to gain an ascendancy over the negro mind, they inculcate the doctrines of equality and the rights of man—they preach and teach sedition, even from the pulpit, and by misrepresentation and falsehood endeavour to cast odium upon all the public authorities of this island, not even excepting the representative of majesty itself.

“That the consequences have been abject poverty, loss of comfort, and discontent among the slaves frequenting their chapels, and deterioration of property to their masters.

“Your committee therefore feel themselves bound to report—That the interference of the missionaries between the master and slave is dangerous, and incompatible with the political state of society in this island, and recommend to the house to adopt the most positive and exemplary enactments to restrain them.

“The above report was referred to the Committee on the state of the Island, and the house went in such Committee; and being resumed, Resolutions from that Committee were reported and agreed to, as follows:

“1. That it be recommended to the House to agree to the Report from the Committee appointed to inquire into the establishment of the Sectarians in this island, presented to the House, with the addition of laying before the house the examination of Mr. Samuel Bromley, a Baptist Minister, residing at St. Ann’s Bay, respecting an instance stated by him to have occurred, of a master oppressing his slave for attending the Baptist chapel, as it will exhibit the manner in which he is disposed to treat the legitimate authority of the house, delegated to its Committee, and they recommend it to the serious consideration of the house.

“2. That it be recommended to the house to come to the following Resolution:

“Resolved, that the conduct of Samuel Bromley, a Baptist Missionary, in refusing to answer certain questions put to him, while under examination before a Committee of this house, and in refusing to sign his deposition before such Committee, is a breach of the privileges of this house.

“3. That it be recommended to the house to agree to the Report of the Committee appointed to inquire into the establishment and proceedings of the Sectarians, presented to the house this day.

“4. That it be recommended to the house to come to the following Resolution:

“Resolved, That a copy of the Report of the Committee, appointed to inquire into the establishment and proceedings of the Sectarians, and the examinations taken before them, be forwarded to the Agent, with instructions to lay the same before his Majesty’s Ministers, together with a copy of the 83d, 84th, and 85th clauses of the Slave Law,” (viz. the persecuting clauses,) “disallowed in 1827, and that the said Report and examinations and clauses be printed and distributed by the Agent.”

These were followed by a farther resolution, “That Samuel Bromley, Baptist Missionary, having been guilty of a breach of the privileges of this house, be taken into the custody of the Serjeant at arms, and that Mr. Speaker do issue his warrant accordingly.”

We shall of course have an opportunity of soon seeing the evidence which is to establish the immoral and destructive tendency of the labours of the missionaries. In the mean time, it is plain from what has transpired of it, in the columns of the Jamaica Newspapers, that it bears the character of fabrication on its very front; and some of the journalists have the boldness to affirm that it originates in the most unprincipled hostility to religious instruction, and is supported by the most unblushing perjury. And are the religious bodies quietly to submit to such proceedings? Are they to have their chapels demolished, their missionaries imprisoned in loathsome dungeons till disease has killed them, and their characters falsely and iniquitously and inhumanly traduced, and yet be silent? It may be questioned, whether, had they acted with becoming firmness on former occasions, and made the appeal which became them to the authorities of the state, the evils which now threaten the suppression of their missions might not have been averted. In any case, they seem now bound, if they would not be accessories to crime, to assert the rights, and protect the persons, nay the very lives of their missionaries; and above all to vindicate, to the wretched slaves, the privilege of freely hearing the word of God, and of worshipping and serving Him in peace. Is there any consideration which can induce them to protect themselves and their congregations against insult and injury, and intolerance, and persecution, in this country, which does not render it still more imperiously their duty to put forth their whole energies in shielding their helpless and unprotected brethren, in the Colonies, from the arm of the persecutor? If they shrink from this duty theirs will be the responsibility!

5. CAPE OF GOOD HOPE—SOCIETY FOR REDEEMING SLAVES.

A Society has been formed under the patronage of the Governor, “_for aiding deserving slaves and slave children to purchase their freedom_.”

The circumstance of a family of slaves in Cape Town having been assisted in obtaining their freedom by the pecuniary aid of a few benevolent individuals, suggested the benefits which might result from the formation of a society for such and similar purposes.