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 JAMAICA: 
 
 ITS 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 BY JAMES M. PHILLIPPO, 
 
 OF SPANISH TOWN, JAMAICA, TWENTY YEARS A BAPTIST MISSIONARY IN THAT ISLAND. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 JAMES M. CAMPBELL & CO., 98 CHESTNUT STREET. 
 
 SAXTON & MILES, 205 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 
 1843. 
 
C. SHERMAN, PRINTER 
 
 19 St. James Street. 
 
 - 1 
 
P K E F A C E. 
 
 The author of the following pages, having been incapacitated for more active 
 labours by protracted personal affliction, formed the resolution of employing the 
 leisure which was afforded him in writing a work on Jamaica, which he ventures to 
 hope will in some measure supply a desideratum long felt and acknov/ledged by the 
 conductors and supporters of our various missionary societies. 
 
 None but. the invalided missionary knows the bitterness of those feelings which fill 
 the heart, when compelled by sickness to leave behind him his scene of arduous but 
 happy toil, and to revisit his native shores under circumstances which preclude the 
 possibility of engaging in active exertion for the promotion of that cause to which he 
 has consecrated his life. In these feelings, which not all the sympathy and kindness 
 of friends can wholly remove, the writer has largely shared. But should it be found 
 that the present effort of his pen has in some measure supplied that " lack of service" 
 which he hoped to have otherwise rendered, not only will the severity of the trial be 
 greatly alleviated, but throughout his future days it will prove a source of high and 
 joyous satisfaction. 
 
 Though the manner in which he has accomplished his object will of course be 
 variously estimated, he can most conscientiously affirm, that in all his statements he 
 has at least endeavoured to be scrupulously correct, and to give a faithful representa- 
 tion of Jamaica as it was, and Jamaica as it is. Having been a resident on the island 
 since the year 1823, he has had extended opportunities of acquainting himself with 
 it. And though, with regard to its past history, and present commercial condition, as 
 well as some other particulars, he has been compelled to avail himself of the labours 
 of the historian, yet the greater portion is the result of his own observation and expe- 
 rience. He cannot but indulge the hope that the facts narrated, illustrative of the 
 fervent piety, growing intelligence, and rapidly improving temporal circumstances of 
 those who but a few years since not only tasted the " wormwood and the gall" of 
 slavery, but who, with regard to their spiritual condition, were " sitting in darkness 
 and in the shadow of death," will strengthen the hands and encourage the hearts of 
 those Christian philanthropists to whose benevolent and unceasing efforts the mighty 
 change is, under God, to be attributed. Nor does he feel willing to repress the 
 delightful anticipation, that by these pages feelings may be awakened which shall 
 ultimately contribute to hasten the arrival of the period when not only shall the blight- 
 ing curse of slavery pass away from every land, but " when the knowledge of the 
 Lord shall cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea." 
 
 It may possibly be thought by some that too many anecdotes have been introduced, 
 as well as too liberal a use made of the peculiarities of the negro dialect. If any apo- 
 logy is required, the author begs to state that he has been governed in this particular 
 not so much by his own predilections and tastes as by the advice of valued friends, 
 who judged that such a method of illustrating the various topics to which attention is 
 directed would be more likely than any other to interest and benefit a large class of 
 his readers — an object at which he considered himself bound to aim. 
 
 It will not escape observation that prominence has been given to the moral and re- 
 ligious condition of the black and coloured population, and to the encouraging results 
 of missionary efforts among them. 
 
 To preserve the fidelity of an historical record, the author has necessarily reverted 
 to circumstances of a painful as well as a pleasing character ; and if in so doing he has 
 reflected upon what he regards as existing evils, it has been from a consciousness of 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 duty, as it is by such representations that manners and customs are reformed. Most 
 truly can he affirm that he cherishes no improper feeling towards the higher classes of 
 the inhabitants of Jamaica ; on the contrary, it is the most sincere desire of his heart 
 that her governors, senators, judges, and magistrates may be men eminent for piety 
 and equity — that the higher classes of her population, as well as her peasantry, may be 
 truly good, industrious, and happy — that she, as a country, may excel in all that is 
 great, and noble, and distinguished — that she may ever remain connected with Britain, 
 not only politically, but by ties of the warmest affection and holiest sympathies, cemented 
 by the most sacred bonds that can hold society together. 
 
 As a matter of necessity, the writer is more intimately acquainted with the progress 
 of his own denomination than with that of any other, and consequently has given to it 
 a more full and circumstantial account. Had it been practicable, it would have afford- 
 ed him the sincerest pleasure to have embodied in his work a comprehensive statement 
 of the successes and encouragements of those honoured brethren of other denominations 
 whose labours have been signally owned and blessed. It is a deficiency which he sin- 
 cerely regrets. But having left the island without any intention of becoming an author, 
 and, perhaps, with a too confident expectation of being engaged in more active service 
 during his sojourn in his native land, he did not avail himself of those sources of in- 
 formation which would have been open to him, had he formed the resolution of writing 
 at an earlier period ; and since thus engaged he has been prevented by a variety of cir- 
 cumstances from obtaining that correct statistical information which was requisite to 
 enable him to fulfil his first intention. To these causes alone is the omission to be 
 attributed. Far from him be that attachment to a party which would lead him to re- 
 gard with feelings of jealousy or indifference the labours of those whom, though under 
 another name, he regards as brethren, and honours as the servants of Christ. He can 
 truly say, " Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity ;" and 
 ardently does he long for the arrival of the day which is destined to witness that delight- 
 ful union of soul and effort which constituted the burden of his prayer who is "head 
 over all things to the church." " That they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in 
 me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou 
 hast sent me."* 
 
 ■ Proposals for the establishment of a college on liberal and comprehensive principles, 
 but designed especially for the education of the descendants of Africa in the higher 
 branches of learning and science, will be found as an appendix, to which the particular 
 attention of the reader is invited. 
 
 The volume being already increased far beyond its originally intended size, in addi- 
 tion to the impossibility of obtaining all the statistics necessary for the purpose, the author 
 has not added the sketch of missionary stations announced in the prospectus. The 
 omission, however, he flatters himself will not be regarded as important, inasmuch as 
 it may easily be supplied by individual reference to the publications of each Society. 
 
 As a Christian missionary, whose life has been spent, not in learned seclusion, but in 
 the duties and incessant labours of his office, the author makes no pretensions to literary 
 excellence. His aim has been to produce a work which might be interesting and use- 
 ful, even without those embellishments of diction which, though ever pleasing, are not 
 always necessary. As it is, he commends his volume to the attention of the churches 
 and the blessing of Almighty God, as an humble contribution to the glory of Him in 
 whose work he desires " to spend and be spent," and who, in the days of his flesh, 
 graciously condescended to accept the services of her who " did what sie could." 
 
 London, September, 1843. 
 
 * John, xvii. 21. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 Its nature — Adaptation to the wants and circumstan- 
 ces of the World — Its designs — Its effects — The 
 future glory of the Church — Particular instrumen- 
 tality to be employed — Former neglect of the 
 Church — Subsequent activity — First Missionary 
 Society — Difficulties and Discouragements — Future 
 and increasing Success 9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 SKETCH OF THE ISLAND. 
 
 Civil History and Geographical Situation — Discovery 
 — Settlement by the Spaniards — Conquest by the 
 British — Subsequent History 11 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF THE COUNTRY. 
 
 Scenery — Mou ntains — Ri v era — Springs — Cascades — 
 Harbours 20 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL PRODUCTIONS. 
 
 Sugar-cane, Coffee, Cocoa, Pimento, Cotton — Indigo, 
 Drugs, Corn, Grasses — Garden Vegetables — Fruit, 
 Flowers, Trees — Animals: Wild, Domestic — Birds : 
 Wild Fowl, Domestic — Fish — Reptiles — Insects 24 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 DIVISIONS, ETC. 
 
 Counties — Parishes — Towns — Villages — Houses ; 
 exterior appearance and interior arrangement — 
 Roads — Geology — Mineralogy — Soil — Climate — 
 Seasons — Hurricanes — Earthquakes - - 30 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 POPULATION, ETC. 
 
 Census of the different Parishes, Stock, Land in Cul- 
 tivation, Agriculture, Horticulture — Improvements: 
 Implements, Machinery — Present defective State 
 of Husbandry — Thoughts on Immigration - 37 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Council, House of Assembly, Courts of Law, Laws, 
 Public Offices — Ecclesiastical Establishments — 
 IN aval and Military ditto — Taxes, Revenue 43 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 COMMERCE. 
 
 Shipping; Imports and Exports — Monetary System : 
 Coins, Amount of Property, Aggregate Value of 
 Property 47 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 WHITE INHABITANTS. 
 
 Their Origin, Settlement, Trades and Professions, Do- 
 mestic Habits, Dress — Social Dispositions and Af- 
 fections — Manners and Customs — Education, Mo- 
 rals, Religion — General Improvement - 51 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 PEOPLE OF COLOUR AND FREE BLACKS. 
 
 Former condition— Causes of difference of Com- 
 plexion and Circumstances — Political State — Pro- 
 scription from Society of White Inhabitants— Low 
 State of Morals— Removal of Disabilities— Rapid 
 Advancement in civilization and the Social Scale- 
 Present Condition 59 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Sect. 1. Political Condition of the Black Popu- 
 lation. — Origin of the Slave Trade — Its Atrocities 
 — Slaves, when first brought to Jamaica, and by 
 whom— Dreadful Nature and Consequences of Sla- 
 very as it existed in Jamaica 63 
 
 Sect. II. Abolition of the Slave Trade. — Origin 
 of the African Institution — Efforts for ameliorating 
 the Condition of the Slaves — Conduct of the Jamaica 
 House of Assembly — Insurrection or Disturbance 
 in 1832 and 1833 — Its real Causes — Destruction of 
 Mission Property— Wanton and awful Sacrifice of 
 Negro Life by the Whites — Imprisonment and 
 Trial of Missionaries — Their triumphant Acquit- 
 tal 66 
 
 Sect. III. The Apprenticeship System. — Its Im- 
 policy, Injustice, and Cruelty— Inefficiency as a 
 Preparative to Freedom — Special Magistrates — 
 Excited and unsettled State of the Black Popula- 
 tion as the Result of the Operation of this System 
 — Representation of the State of Things by Mis- 
 sionaries—Messrs. Sturge, Harvey, and others 68 
 
 Sect. IV. Total Emancipation. — Manner in which 
 it was celebrated — Conduct of the Newly-Emanci- 
 pated — Conduct of the Planters— Subsequent Dif- 
 ferences — Establishment of New Villages— Resto- 
 ration to Harmony and Peace — General Prosperity 
 and Happiness --.... 70 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 intellectual character of the black people 
 
 under slavery. 
 
 Ignorance of Arts and Sciences — Of Reading, Arith- 
 metic, Mechanical Arts, Civil Polity — Alleged De- 
 ficiency of Mental Capacity — Establishment and 
 Operation of Schools — The Negro under Cultiva- 
 tion and Freedom — Notions of his Natural Inferi- 
 ority disproved — Proposal for the Establishment of 
 a College — The great Importance and Advantages 
 of such an Institution — Decline of Schools — Appeal 
 for these objects to the British Public 75 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 Negro Villages in Time of Slavery — Houses — Dress 
 of Slaves — Personal and Domestic Habits — Licen- 
 tiousness — Polygamy — Marriage — Treatment of 
 Females — Indolence — Improvement in all these 
 Respects — Opening of a New Township under 
 Freedom — Number of new Settlements established 
 — Growing Comfort and Prosperity of the Country 
 — Evidences of these results 84 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 MORAL STATE AND ASPECTS OF SOCIETY. 
 
 Different Tribes of Africans— Peculiar Characteris- 
 tics of each — Immoral Tendency of their Amuse- 
 ments — Funerals — Superstitions — Characteristic 
 Vices — Contrast presented by the present State of 
 Things — Description of a Funeral as now con- 
 ducted — Causes of the late partial Revival of Obe- 
 ism and Myalism— Decrease of Crime - 92 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 RELIGIOUS STATE, 
 
 Sect. I. — Awful Destitution of Religion in the Island 
 during the first Century of its Occupation by the 
 British — Ignorance of the Black People — Idolatry 
 — Superstition — Subsequent corrupted Christianity 
 — Influence of Ignorant and Superstitious Teachers 
 — Desecration of the Sabbath — Paucity of Places 
 of Religious Worship; of Hearers — Clergy — Their 
 unfavourable Opinion expressed to Parliament as 
 to the Instruction and Conversion of the Slaves — 
 Opinions of Infidel Philosophers - - 102 
 
 Sect. II. — Arrival of Missionaries — Opposition expe- 
 rienced — Subsequent Success — Abolition of Sunday 
 Markets — Improved Observance of the Sabbath — 
 Number of regular Places of Worship in 1843 — 
 Number of Missionaries — Great Extension of Re- 
 ligion — Village Chapels — Attendance at Places of 
 Worship— Average Size of the largest Congrega- 
 tions — Number of Missionaries of all denomina- 
 tions — Number of Native Assistants - - 106 
 
 Sect. Ill — Number of Members in communion with 
 each of the Churches and Denominations of Chris- 
 tians, and aggregate of Inquirers, &c, connected 
 with each Denomination — Size of individual 
 Churches — Manner of admitting Members — Wes- 
 leyans, Baptists — Number added to Baptist Churches 
 at one time ; in one year — Total Number added to 
 Baptist and Wesleyan Churches during the last 
 twenty years - 110 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 religious state — continued. 
 
 Sect. I. — Presumptive Evidences of the actual Piety 
 of Jamaica Churches — Character of the Missiona- 
 ries — Nature and Extent of Scriptural Knowledge 
 possessed by Candidates for Church-fellowship — By 
 Members in general — Manner of Admitting Mem- 
 bers — Great Christian Principle and Feeling mani- 
 fested by them - - . - - - 115 
 
 Sect. II. — Description of Inquirers and Catechumens 
 — Nature and Objects of their Connexion with the 
 different Denominations — Usual Term of Probation 
 among Baptists for Church-fellowship — Average 
 Number of Exclusions — Intimate Knowledge pos- 
 sessed by Ministers of the State of their Churches 
 — Discipline, Faithfulness, and Impartiality of its 
 Administration — Christian Consistency of Members 
 — Testimonies — Investigation of Cases of alleged 
 Delinquency — Church Meetings — Members Know- 
 ledge of Scriptural Discipline — Distinguished Pre- 
 
 valence of a Spirit of Prayer — Piety and Fervour of 
 Social Exercises 122 
 
 Sect. III. — Sacrifices made by Members, of Time, 
 Comfort, Property, and Freedom — Persecution — 
 Martyrdom — Spirit exemplified under these cir- 
 cumstances 129 
 
 Sect. IV. — Love of Converts towards each other — 
 How displayed — Charity in the Treatment of Of- 
 fences — Attention to Poor and Afflicted — Mutual 
 esteem— Love for the Service of God's House — 
 Attendance on the Means of Grace — Regard for 
 She Interests of Zion generally — Attachment to 
 their Ministers — Astonishing changes in Individual 
 Characters - - - - - - - 136 
 
 Sect. V. — Zeal of Jamaica Christians — Their Libe" 
 rality — Their great Personal and Individual Exer- 
 tions — Class and Ticket System — Its Operation in 
 Furtherance of the Gospel — Great Self-devotion of 
 many of the Members of the Churches — Astonish- 
 ing Effects produced by their Individual Labours 
 
 143 
 
 Sect. VI. — Experience and Conduct of Members in 
 general in seasons of calamity — On Beds of Sick- 
 ness and Death — Their anxious Concern for the 
 Welfare of the Churches to which they belong, and 
 for the general Interests of Religion — Numerous 
 Instances of Happy and Triumphant Deaths of 
 Adults and Sunday-school Children - - 148 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 principal instrumental causes to which these 
 great results are to be attributed. 
 
 Abolition of the Slave Trade — Effects of the African 
 Institution — Of Anti-slavery and Agency Societies 
 — Establishment and operation of Schools — Circu- 
 lation of Bibles and Tracts — Moral Influence ex- 
 erted by Missionaries — Their efforts for the Im- 
 provement of the temporal condition of the People 
 — Insurrection or disturbances in 1832 and 1833 — 
 Establishment and Operation of Schools — Peculiar 
 System of Instrumentality employed by the larger 
 Churches — Spirit of Prayer possessed by the People. 
 Chiefly by the preaching of the Gospel, accompanied 
 by the influence of the Holy Spirit - - 153 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 increased claim of the missionary societies, es- 
 pecially on the sympathies and benevolence 
 OF the christian world. 
 
 Magnitude of the objects — Past Success — Condition 
 of Africa, St. Domingo, and other neighbouring 
 Islands, South America — Increased facilities which 
 these fields of labour afford — Sympathies mani- 
 fested by the Churches in Jamaica — Demand for 
 these objects on the Christian Public — Sinfulness 
 of neutrality in such a cause — Motives — Way in 
 which this Cause is to be especially promoted 163 
 
 Appendix 
 
 174 
 
 LIST OF ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 Heathen Practice at Funerals, - Frontispiece- 
 Cocoa, or Chocolate-tree, 26 
 Negro cutting Sugar-cane, 39 
 Agricultural Implements, 40 
 Planter and Negro-Driver, .... 51 
 Mulatto and Black Female of the Upper Classes, 62 
 Female JNegro Peasant in her Sunday and Work- 
 ing Dress, 89 
 
JAMAICA: 
 
 ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 Its nature — Adaptation to the wants and circumstan- 
 ces of the World — Its designs — Its effects — The 
 future glory of the Church — Particular instrumen- 
 tality to be employed — Former neglect of the 
 Church — Subsequent activity — First Missionary 
 Society — Difficulties and Discouragements — Future 
 and increasing Success. 
 
 Christianity is a system of the most 
 pure and exalted philanthropy. The field 
 which it is designed to occupy " is the 
 world," and its object the salvation of the 
 whole human race, without any distinction 
 of country, condition, or character. Re- 
 velation looks with' the same benign aspect 
 on the sun-burnt negro as on the inhabit- 
 ant of a more temperate clime — to the bond 
 as to the free — to the savage as to the phi- 
 losopher ; all are alike the offspring of the 
 same common parent, involved in the con- 
 sequences of the same apostacy, heirs of 
 the same immortal destiny, and alike ca- 
 pable of being restored to the happiness 
 and prerogatives of their exalted nature. 
 " God has made of one blood all the na- 
 tions of the earth." " Darkness has cover- 
 ed the earth, and gross darkness the peo- 
 ple." And in that great day, when the 
 purposes of God shall have received their 
 full accomplishment, " a multitude which 
 no man can number, out of every kindred, 
 and nation, and people, and tongue," shall 
 join in the eternal jubilee of the redeemed 
 from amongst men. " They shall come 
 from the east and from the west, from the 
 north and from the south, and shall sit 
 down with Abraham, and with Isaac, and 
 Jacob in the kingdom of God." But, as 
 there is no other name given under hea- 
 
 a 
 
 ven whereby men can be saved, but Jesus 
 Christ, it is evident that the gospel must be 
 universally diffused, and that " all nations" 
 must be " subdued to the obedience of 
 faith." And to this glorious event both 
 promise and prophecy lead our expecta- 
 tions. " I saw," says Daniel, " in the 
 night visions, and behold one like the Son 
 of man came in the clouds of Heaven and 
 came to the Ancient of days, and they 
 brought him near before him. And there 
 was given him dominion, and glory, and a 
 kingdom, that all people, nations, and lan- 
 guages should serve him ; his dominion is 
 an everlasting dominion which shall not 
 pass away, and his kingdom that which 
 shall not be destroyed."* 
 
 Thus there is to be a visible and territo- 
 rial, if not an actual, subjugation of the 
 whole world to the power and rule of the 
 Redeemer. Thrice happy and glorious 
 period ! then the reign of darkness is to 
 end and innocence and peace are to be en- 
 throned. Innocence and peace, those bless- 
 ed emblems of millennial happiness and 
 glory. So will a new creation arise as from 
 the ruins of the old, when the various ranks 
 of being, no longer separated, shall form 
 one beautiful chain of happy intercourse. 
 "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, 
 and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, 
 and the calf and the young lion and the 
 fatling together, and a little child shall lead 
 them. And the cow and the bear shall 
 feed, their young ones shall lie down toge- 
 ther, and the lion shall eat straw like the 
 ox, and the sucking child shall play on the 
 hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall 
 put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They 
 
 * Dan. vii. 13, 14. 
 
10 
 
 JAMAICA; 
 
 shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy 
 mountain ; for the earth shall be full of the 
 knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover 
 the sea."* 
 
 This representation of the future state of 
 the world, it may be said, is exceedingly 
 delightful ; but how is such a mighty revo- 
 lution to be effected? It is to be effected 
 by the Gospel, accompanied by the Al- 
 mighty power of the Holy Spirit. " But 
 how can they believe in him of whom they 
 have not heard? and how can they hear 
 without a preacher? and how can they 
 preach except they be sent?" Human in- 
 strumentality is necessary in the order of 
 means for the moral renovation of the 
 world. The obligations under which all 
 real Christians are laid should be felt, ac- 
 knowledged, and, to the best of their abi- 
 lity, discharged ; for they come to them not 
 simply as duties, but as commands enforc- 
 ed by the example, and enjoined by the 
 authority, of Christ. " Go ye into all the 
 world and preach the gospel to every crea- 
 ture, "j" Like the apostles, missionaries in 
 every succeeding age were to be " sent 
 unto the Gentiles to open their eyes, and 
 to turn them from darkness unto light, that 
 they might receive forgiveness of sins and 
 inheritance among them which are sancti- 
 fied through faith which is in Christ."^: 
 
 It is deeply to be regretted that it was 
 not until a comparatively recent period 
 that Christians in general seemed aware of 
 their duty towards the heathen world ; and 
 thus ages were suffered to pass away, dur- 
 ing which it might be said by the eight 
 hundred millions of our race who every 
 thirty years pass into eternity as they cast 
 their eye of distraction up to the frowning 
 judge, " No man cared for my soul." 
 
 No sooner, however, did the Church 
 awake from her slumbers than she clearly 
 perceived her obligation : then she buckled 
 on her armour, and was resolved, in the 
 strength of the Lord, to take possession of 
 the rich inheritance bequeathed to her. 
 Hence, the formation of Missionary, Bible, 
 Scriptural Education, and Sunday School 
 Societies, and others of a similar nature, 
 at once the ornament and glory of our land. 
 Thus began a new era in the history of the 
 Church of Christ. Such, indeed, on the 
 formation of the first Missionary Society (in 
 modern times) was the novelty of its cha- 
 
 * Isaiah xi. 6—9. t Mark xvi. 15. $ Acts xxvi. 18. 
 
 racter, so mysterious and powerful the dif- 
 ficulties against which it had to contend, 
 and such the vastness and grandeur of its 
 aim, that an interest was associated with it 
 unparalleled in any age since that of the 
 Apostles. The object contemplated, in- 
 deed, was regarded as a mighty and glori- 
 ous, yet, in some respects, a dubious en- 
 terprise, requiring deep reflection in the 
 plan, and no small degree of wisdom, cou- 
 rage, perseverance, self-denial, and simple 
 yet firm dependence upon God in the exe- 
 cution. In this light it was viewed by the 
 agents to whom it was at first entrusted. 
 " Our undertaking to India," says Mr'. Ful- 
 ler, " appeared to me, at its commence- 
 ment, to resemble that of a few men who 
 stood deliberating about the importance and 
 necessity of penetrating info a deep mine 
 which had never before been explored. 
 We had no one to guide us, and while we 
 were thus deliberating, Carey said, as it 
 were, ' Well, I will go down if you will 
 hold the ropes ;' but before he went down 
 he, as it seemed to me, took an oath from 
 each of us, that while we lived we would 
 never let go the ropes." 
 
 Nor were circumstances more favour- 
 able after the arrival of the first mission- 
 aries in Bengal. " Everywhere," says 
 Mr. Ward, " we were advised to go back. 
 Even one or two good men thought the at- 
 tempt utterly impracticable. India, in short, 
 has been long considered an impregnable 
 fortress defended by the gods. Many a 
 Christian soldier, it has been said, may be 
 slain in the entrenchments, but the fort will 
 never be taken." 
 
 Under such circumstances did the first 
 missionaries enter the field. They laboured 
 long and hard, and, as they had anticipated, 
 against obstacles calculated to appal the 
 stoutest heart ; but, having thus counted 
 the cost, and recognising the principle that 
 no appearances however adverse alter- 
 ed their obligation, they still persevered, 
 " trusting in God." 
 
 The promised blessing was at length be- 
 stowed. Barrier after barrier began to give 
 way and disappear. This success produced 
 a reaction upon the churches at home, and 
 the heralds of salvation were successively 
 multiplied. And now let us ask, what are 
 the results of an enterprise, the operations 
 of which were so doubtfully and almost in- 
 auspiciously begun? It may suffice to say 
 that the results have exceeded the calcula- 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 11 
 
 tions of the most sanguine of the friends 
 of missions. Whole nations have given 
 up their gods. One island after another of 
 the great southern archipelago has renounc- 
 ed its superstitions and assumed the Chris- 
 tian name, whilst, among the habitations 
 of cruelty in the West, there is kindled a 
 light which the united opposition of earth 
 and hell will never be able to extinguish. 
 The cloud of moral darkness which has 
 for ages hovered over the continent of In- 
 dia has begun to retire — the spell of Brah- 
 ma is dissolving — the chains of caste are 
 falling ofF — the wheels of Juggernaut are 
 scarce ensanguined — the horrid custom of 
 self-immolation has disappeared, and the 
 " sacred tide of Jordan mingles with the 
 Ganges." 
 
 From the borders of China extending 
 along many of the shores of the eastern 
 continent, and even to the interior of Afri- 
 ca, has the light of life extended. In al- 
 most every portion of the globe are church- 
 es and schools rising up, the landmarks of 
 missionary progress, forming a beautiful 
 contrast to the surrounding barrenness and 
 desolation — churches " built upon the foun- 
 dation of apostles and prophets, Jesus 
 Christ himself being the chief corner 
 stone. " In almost every direction we 
 are presented with increasingly bright- 
 ening prospects. In some parts of the 
 field God is not only with his servants, but 
 it may emphatically be said that he has 
 gone before them. The ground appears 
 to be already ploughed up to their hands. 
 They have nothing to do but to cast in the 
 seed, and it immediately vegetates and 
 brings forth an abundant harvest. All that 
 seems wanted is increased liberality on the 
 part of the Church to furnish more labour- 
 ers to gather it in. To change the allu- 
 sion, no sooner is an attack made upon the 
 powers of darkness than a retreat is sound- 
 ed, and all that seems required are rein- 
 forcements of men and increased pecuni- 
 ary supplies to occupy the ceded ground. 
 Allusion is here made more especially to 
 the island of Jamaica, of which, as con- 
 nected with the work of God, the following 
 pages, it is hoped, will furnish some inte- 
 resting particulars. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 SKETCH OF THE ISLAND. 
 
 Civi! History and Geographical Situation — Discovery 
 — Settlement by the Spaniards — Conquest by the 
 British — Subsequent History. 
 
 The island of Jamaica is one of the clus- 
 ter of islands called the West Indies, which 
 extends from Florida, in North. America, 
 to the mouth of the great river Oronooko, 
 in South America. They are divided into 
 windward and leeward, or the greater and 
 lesser Antilles. Jamaica (or Xaymaca) 
 is one of the latter group, and signifies, in 
 the language of the aboriginal inhabitants, 
 " a land abounding in springs." 
 
 It is situated between the parallels of 17° 
 39' and 78° 34' north latitude, and between 
 76° 3' and 78° 34' west longitude ; 4000 
 miles southwest of England ; 90 miles west 
 of St. Domingo ; and 435 miles north of 
 Carthagena, on the South American con- 
 tinent. It is nearly of an oval form, and 
 is 180 miles long, and 60 in extreme 
 breadth, containing about 4,080,000 acres 
 of land, or 6400 square miles. 
 
 Jamaica was discovered by Columbus on 
 the 3rd of May, 1494, on his second voyage 
 to the New World. He had previously 
 visited Hispaniola and Cuba. When first 
 discovered by the Spaniards, the island is 
 said to have been densely populated by 
 Indians, a race of men (unlike the Charibs 
 — cannibals who inhabited some of the 
 windward islands) benevolent and mild in 
 their dispositions ; of great simplicity of 
 manners; and by no means unskilled m 
 some of the arts of civilized life. They 
 were assimilated, indeed, in these respects, 
 as well as in appearance and language, to 
 the aborigines of the contiguous continent. 
 Sailing a southwest course from the east 
 end of Cuba, Columbus approached the 
 north side of the island, and being defeated 
 in endeavouring to effect a landing at Santa 
 Maria* (now Port Maria), by the hostile 
 demonstrations of the natives, he proceeded 
 to another harbour, a little to the north- 
 ward, which he called Ora Cabessa, and 
 there, after encountering similar opposition, 
 which he subdued by discharging several 
 of his arbaletes, or pieces of cannon, among 
 the assailants, he planted the royal standard 
 of Spain. 
 
 * So called after th.3 name of h < first ship. 
 
12 
 
 JAMAICA 
 
 The appearance of the strangers ; the re- 
 port of their artillery; and above all, the 
 slaughter they had witnessed, struck the 
 Indians with astonishment rtnd awe. A 
 negotiation was therefore effected, and the 
 invaders were plentifully supplied with the 
 various productions of the island, by an in- 
 terchange of presents. Here the Spaniards 
 remained for about ten days, and, disap- 
 pointed in their expectation of finding pre- 
 cious metals, they sailed again to Cuba. 
 
 With the exception of a simple survey 
 of the coast, which he commenced at Rio 
 Bueno on the 22nd June, 1494, and which 
 occupied him until the 20th of the ensuing 
 August, nothing further was heard of Co- 
 lumbus by the natives of Jamaica during a 
 period of nine years. Fortunate had it been 
 for these peaceful and comparatively happy 
 islanders, as well as for the Spaniards 
 themselves, had this been the termination 
 of their mutual intercourse ; but other 
 changes and calamities awaited them. Co- 
 lumbus revisited the island on the 4th July, 
 1502, when, on his fourth voyage after 
 having been compelled by stress of weather 
 to shelter in the Isle of Pines, on the coast 
 of Cuba, and after a disastrous expedition 
 to Veraqua, or the island of St. Christopher, 
 accompanied by his son Diego, and brother 
 Bartholomew, encountering dreadful wea- 
 ther, in which he lost two of his ships, he 
 was driven to Maxaca, an Indian village on 
 the southern coast of Cuba. Here he ef- 
 fected a slight repair of his vessels, and 
 putting again to sea, was driven by a vio- 
 lent storm on an uninhabited part of the 
 north coast of Jamaica, destitute both of 
 water and provisions. To have remained 
 in such a situation would have been a 
 voluntary submission to all the horrors of 
 famine. Although, therefore, his remain- 
 ing vessels were in a foundering state, this 
 intrepid mariner once more turned his shat- 
 tered prows to the deep. The tradewind 
 drove them in a westerly direction, and 
 himself and crews being in great jeopardy 
 of their lives, Columbus ran his vessels on 
 the shore at St. Ann's Bay, called by him 
 Santa Gloria, distinguished to the present 
 time as Don Christopher's Cove. In this 
 shallow bay, protected by a reef of rocks, 
 and otherwise secured from the elements, 
 the weather-beaten and exhausted mariners 
 were afforded temporary security and re- 
 pose. The natives treated them with the 
 greatest kindness and hospitality, little sus- 
 
 pecting the manner in which their generosity 
 would be repaid. Meanwhile Columbus 
 sought deliverance from his forlorn situation. 
 With this view he despatched his secretary, 
 Diego Mendez and Fieski, two of his most 
 intrepid and faithful officers, in two boats, 
 furnished with ten Indians and six Casti- 
 lians, to Ovando, the Governor of His- 
 paniola, 200 leagues distant, for assistance 
 and supplies. Mendez at the same time 
 was appointed by the admiral to proceed to 
 the Court of Spain, with a memorial to the 
 King. Ovando, to gratify his revenge on 
 Columbus, with whom he was at enmity, 
 instead of affording him the required relief, 
 basely took advantage of the admiral's ca- 
 lamities, by adding to them mockery and 
 insult. A latent suspicion had long been 
 lurking in the breasts of some of his com- 
 panions, that they had incurred the dis- 
 pleasure of the Government at home, and 
 of the Viceroy of Hispaniola, on account of 
 their fidelity to Columbus, and the late oc- 
 currence tended to confirm that impression. 
 A mutiny therefore ensued, instigated by 
 two of his principal officers — the brothers 
 De Porras. Various charges were brought 
 against their veteran commander by the 
 mutineers, as a pretext for their atrocities, 
 and several times, when confined to his 
 miserable cabin by acute disease, were at- 
 tempts made upon his life, which were only 
 fustrated by the skill and bravery of his 
 brother Bartholomew. 
 
 The mutineers were intent on making 
 efforts to reach Hispaniola. For this pur- 
 pose they seized ten canoes which Colum- 
 bus had purchased from the Indians, with 
 a view to the mutual escape of himself and 
 crews, and manning them with Indians as 
 rowers, whom they forcibly compelled to 
 the task, they proceeded along the shore to 
 the east end of the island — the spot to 
 which they had previously accompanied 
 Mendez and Fieski — when, after plunder- 
 ing the coast, and committing other exces- 
 ses, they stood out to sea. Their frail 
 barks were unable to sustain the fury of 
 the storm that arose, and to secure their 
 own lives they sacrificed those of the In- 
 dians, by throwing them overboard with 
 the baggage. Driven back successively, 
 and at length become desperate by their 
 reverses, the base conspirators vented their 
 diabolical passions on the hospitablelndians 
 — their almost broken-hearted admiral, 
 and his few faithful adherents. Among 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 13 
 
 the Indians they committed the greatest 
 enormities, laying waste their provision- 
 grounds, and destroying the lives of all who 
 opposed the gratification of their passions, 
 thereby subjecting themselves and all their 
 unfortunate companions to the most fear- 
 ful retaliation of their benefactors. The 
 Indians, as apprehended, failed in their 
 supplies, and famine began to stare the 
 Spaniards in the face. It was at this pe- 
 riod, and under these circumstances, that 
 Columbus resorted to the expedient of se- 
 curing a continuance of the obedience and 
 friendship of the natives, by foretelling an 
 eclipse of the moon.* 
 
 Diego Columbus at length reduced the 
 rebels to their allegiance, by an engage- 
 ment in which many of them were slain. 
 But the deliverance of the exiles from their 
 now almost unendurable situation was at 
 hand. In a month afterwards, 28th June, 
 1504, after the lapse of little more than a 
 year, the vessels despatched from Santa 
 Gloria to Hispaniola under the command of 
 Mendez and Fieski returned, and the admi- 
 ral, with the remnant of his diseased and 
 half-famished crews, immediately departed, 
 leaving the Indians once more in the peace- 
 ful possession of their lovely isle. 
 
 But the period of their repose was brief. 
 In 1509, three years afterwards, Christo- 
 pher Columbus died,")" and a still more bit- 
 ter cup was prepared for them, the very 
 
 * " Under the&e circumstances Columbus convened 
 all the Caciques in the neighbourhood, that he might 
 inform them of something which was of importance 
 to their happiness, and essential to theirpreservation. 
 These good creatures attended him ; and he, after 
 complaining of their leaving him and his companions 
 to perish by famine, addressed them in the following 
 words, which he pronounced with peculiar emphasis, 
 as if he had been inspired: — ' To punish you for your 
 cruel conduct, the Great Spirit, whom 1 adore, is 
 going to visit you with his most terrible judgments. 
 This very evening you will observe the moon turn 
 red; after which she will grow dark, and withhold 
 her light from you. This will only be a prelude to 
 your calamities, ifyou obstinately persist in refusing 
 to give us food.' He had scarcely finished this speech, 
 when his prophecy was accomplished. The natives 
 were astonished ; and being easily induced to deeds 
 of benevolence, they, upon a promise of better be- 
 haviour by Columbus in behalf of his turbulent fol- 
 lowers, and assurances of a speedy departure, promis- 
 ed to supply them with whatever they required. He 
 then told them, that heaven, moved with their repen- 
 tance, was appeased, and that nature was now to re- 
 sume her wonted course. They afterwards con- 
 ducted themselves with greater circumspection ; and 
 were, during the remainder of their stay, furnished 
 with the necessary supplies of provision." 
 
 t The body of Columbus is said to have been con- 
 veyed to the monastery of the Carthusians, at Seville, 
 where he was magnificently interred in the cathedral 
 
 last dregs of which they were doomed to 
 drain. Jamaica, with its inhabitants, was 
 now given up by the court of Spain to the 
 unrestrained tyranny of Alfonzo d'Ojeda 
 and Diego Nicuissa, between whom it had 
 divided the government of Darien. Dis- 
 putes arose between these rival chieftains 
 as to the division of the lands, and the 
 human property thus placed at their dis- ' 
 posal ; and the consequences of this un- 
 limited power to the unoffending victims of 
 their misrule are almost too dreadful to re- 
 late. Their peaceful villages were every- 
 where destroyed, and hundreds who es- 
 caped the general and indiscriminate mas- 
 sacre, which at length, for a time at least, 
 satiated the thirst of its perpetrators for 
 blood, were doomed to administer to their 
 lust of avarice by interminable slavery in 
 the mines of Mexico or Peru. In the midst 
 of these disputes and remorseless cruelties 
 Don Diego, the son of the Great Disco- 
 verer, who was at that time governor of 
 Hispaniola, having a prior claim to the 
 viceroyalty of Jamaica, instituted proceed- 
 ings against the crown of Castile, with a 
 view to the recovery of his rights, and sent 
 Don Juan d'Esquimel, with seventy men, 
 to take possession of the island on his be- 
 half. D'Esquimel reduced it at very little 
 expense of life or property ; and, in further 
 obedience to his instructions, commenced 
 a colony, and founded the seat of govern- 
 ment on the banks of a rivulet, near the 
 ruins of the ancient Indian village Mayama, 
 on the north side of the island. It was 
 Santa Gloria, a spot hallowed in the affec- 
 tions of Diego's heart on account of the 
 shipwreck and sufferings of his father in 
 1503, and he named it Sevilla Nueva. 
 
 His suit against the crown was decided 
 in his favour by the Council of the Indies, 
 and the designation Sevilla Nueva was an 
 appropriate commemoration of that event. 
 The infant colony both claimed and shared 
 the sympathy and attention of its heredi- 
 
 of that city, and a monument erected to his memory, 
 on which is the following inscription: — 
 
 A Castilia y a Leon 
 Nuevo Mundo dio Colon. 
 
 In English, 
 
 To Castile and Leon 
 Columbus gave a New World. 
 
 Subsequently, it is said his body was carried from the 
 above monastery to the city of Domingo, in Hispa- 
 niola, and interred in the chancel of the cathedral 
 there. 
 
14 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 tary Viceroy; and to promote its general 
 interests, but especially those of a spiritual 
 kind, his brother Ferdinand now arrived 
 from Spain, and established a monastery. 
 These preparations, as may be supposed, 
 were viewed with no little jealousy by the 
 band of Indians that had survived the fatal 
 reign of D'Ojeda and Nicuissa, and they 
 armed themselves in opposition. At length, 
 in utter hopelessness of success, they gra- 
 dually sank into the condition of slaves, 
 the cruelties they had suffered having ex- 
 tinguished almost every trace of their for- 
 mer dispositions and character. 
 
 " Oft the pensive muse 
 Recalls, in tender thought, the mournful scene 
 When the brave Incotel, from yonder rock, 
 His last sad blessing to a weeping train 
 Dying bequeathed. The hour (he said) arrives, 
 By aucient sages to our sires foretold ; 
 Fierce from the deep, with Heaven's own lightning 
 
 armed, 
 The pallid nation comes; blood marks their steps; 
 Man's agonies their sport; and man their prey."* 
 
 "San Domingo, then in all its glory, 
 graced by the presence of royal blood and 
 many of the nobility of Castile, and the 
 seat of fashion in the New World, com- 
 municated its luxuriance and taste to Se- 
 villa Nueva (now called Sevilla d'Oro, from 
 the gold brought thither by the natives); 
 and a splendid city arose, rivalling in mag- 
 nificence the towns of the mother country, 
 but of which not a vestige remains, save 
 
 * " The manner in which the remorseless Spaniards 
 tortured their unoffending victims was worthy of the 
 goodness of such a cause. They seized upon ihem 
 by violence, distributed them like brutes into lots, 
 and compelled them to dig in the mines, until death, 
 their only refuge, put a period to their sufferings. It 
 was also a frequent practice among them, as one of 
 their own historians informs us (human nature shud- 
 ders at the tale), to murder hundreds of these poor 
 creatures, merely to keep their hands in use. They 
 were eager in displaying an emulation, which of 
 them could most dexterously strike off the head of a 
 man at a blow, and wagers frequently depended on 
 this horrid exercise. It is impossible for words to 
 express the indignation and disgust excited by such 
 merciless cruelty. If any of these unhappy Indians, 
 goaded by their sufferings, and driven to despair, at- 
 tempted resistance or flight, their unfeeling murderers 
 hunted them down with dogs, who were fed on their 
 flesh. Weakness of age, and helplessness of sex, 
 were equally disregarded by these monsters. And 
 yet they had the impudence to suppose themselves 
 religious, and the favourites of heaven ! Some of the 
 most zealous of these adorers of the Holy Virgin 
 forced their unhappy captives into the water, and 
 after administering to them the rites of baptism, cut 
 their throats the next moment, to prevent their apos- 
 tacy! Others made and kept a vow to hang or burn 
 thirteen every morning, in honour of Christ and his 
 twelve apostles! But let us turn from this scene of 
 human depravity ; a scene the most remorseless and 
 cruel ever displayed on the theatre of the world." 
 
 the memory of the name, the cane-fields 
 on the site of the former capital being still 
 termed Seville."* 
 
 The government of Don Juan d'Esqui- 
 mel was considered mild and conciliating 
 towards the natives; and in pursuance of 
 his designs for the advancement of the 
 colony, he encouraged the culture of cot- 
 ton, and introduced the sugar-cane and the 
 vine, together with European cattle, which, 
 with propitious skies and a fruitful soil, 
 was more abundantly compensative than 
 all the treasures which, at such an awful 
 sacrifice of life, his predecessors had wrung 
 from the bowels of the earth. Unhappily 
 both for the Indians and the colony the 
 rule of Don d'Esquimel was short. He 
 expired about the year 1519, at his own 
 estate, on the south side of the island, 
 situated in front of a beautiful bay called 
 Sevilla d'Oro, or Esquimel, now Old Har- 
 bour, where he had established a ship- 
 building settlement, and was there inter- 
 red. Under his mild and comparatively 
 equitable government the colony had great- 
 ly prospered. In the short space of ten 
 years three vessels had been fitted out 
 under his direction, manned by 270 seamen, 
 with a view to other conquests, and two 
 new towns were established as branches of 
 Sevilla d'Oro ; Blewfields or Oristan, on 
 the south; and Melilla or Martha Brae, 
 near Falmouth, on the northern coast of 
 the island. Esquimel was succeeded in 
 the Government by an individual of a very 
 different character and spirit, the cruel 
 and avaricious Francis de Geray, a Span- 
 iard who had rapidly advanced himself to 
 wealth and imporlance as the partner of 
 the celebrated Dias, the proprietor of the 
 famed gold-mine of St. Christopher, in 
 Hispaniola. 
 
 In 1523, Sevilla d'Oro and the other 
 settlements on the coast suffered greatly 
 from a banditti of French privateers or 
 flibustiers, allured by the prospect of spoil. 
 Oristan and Manilla were successively 
 razed to the ground ; and at length the 
 capital itself yielded to the ravages of 
 these lawless corsairs. A safer retreat 
 became necessary than could be afforded 
 by contiguity to the sea, and Diego finally 
 fixed the site of the new settlement near 
 the extremity of a fertile plain, on the 
 south side of the island, which was water- 
 
 Bridges. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 15 
 
 ed by the clear streams of an impetuous 
 river. It rapidly rose in estimation and 
 importance, and was called by its founder 
 St. Jago de la Vega, or St. Jago of the 
 Plains, to distinguish it, as is supposed, 
 from St. Jago de Cuba. Three years after 
 this event Don Diego Columbus died, and, 
 owing to several circumstances connected 
 with his decease, the prosperity of the 
 country declined, except in the immediate 
 neighbourhood of the new capital, St. Jago 
 de la Vega. Here, in sixteen years from 
 its foundation, industry and wealth had 
 been so stimulated by the security which 
 its situation afforded, that it soon rivalled 
 Sevilla d'Oro when in its greatest magnifi- 
 cence, and gave the title of Marquis to the 
 grandson of the Great Discoverer. 
 
 On the first possession of the island by 
 the Spaniards the aboriginal inhabitants 
 were estimated at from 80,000, to 100,000 ; 
 and, as an evidence of the atrocities they 
 suffered at the hands of their merciless 
 conquerors, they are represented by the 
 historian Gage, writing in 1637, as having 
 been, in the year 1558, entirely extermi- 
 nated : 
 
 Quid non mortalia pectora cogis, 
 Auri sacra fames! 
 
 Hence, owing to European wars and 
 the predatory incursions of hordes of free- 
 booters and privateers, the colony was sub- 
 ject to various vicissitudes until 1596. 
 Shortly before this period the effective 
 strength of the settlers was augmented by 
 the arrival of a considerable number of 
 Portuguese, owing to a union of the 
 Crowns of Spain and Portugal, by which 
 the territorial right of the island was vest- 
 ed in the royal house of Braganza. The 
 trade of the colony was thus greatly in- 
 creased, and chiefly consisted of ginger, 
 tobacco, sugar, lard and hides, whilst the 
 domestic animals, swine, horses, and horn- 
 ed cattle, originally brought from Hispa- 
 niola, had so multiplied as to overrun the 
 island. The capital, thus again feeling 
 the influence of increasing wealth, far ex- 
 ceeded its former prosperity and magnifi- 
 cence. 
 
 Hitherto, from various causes, Jamaica 
 had never attracted the invasion of a fo- 
 reign European power ; but its fame for 
 wealth and prosperity now became known 
 to Sir Anthony Shirley, a British admiral, 
 who, being at that time cruising in the 
 
 neighbourhood, invaded it with a large 
 fleet, and effected an easy conquest of it at 
 Passage Fort. Plundering the capital and 
 the most accessible parts of the country of 
 its treasure, he left it for richer conquests. 
 Thirty-nine years afterwards, during 
 which, under the government of Don Ar- 
 noldo de Sasi, the town rose to its highest 
 state of prosperity, it was invaded in a si- 
 milar manner by Colonel Jackson, who, at 
 the head of 500 men, after a desperate en- 
 gagement with the Spanish garrison there 
 of very superior force, also effected his 
 landing at Passage Fort, and committed 
 the same excesses. 
 
 The termination of the next twenty 
 years, from whatever cause it might arise, 
 saw the inhabitants of this flourishing co- 
 lony enervated by sloth, and oppressed by 
 poverty. The population of the whole 
 island did not now exceed 1500 Spaniards 
 and Portuguese, the same number of mu- 
 lattoes and negro slaves, and eight families 
 of the higher classes. The latter, called 
 Hidalgos, possessed the entire island, 
 which was divided into as many patos or 
 districts between them. 
 
 A new era in the history of the island 
 approached. Owing to a succession of 
 provocations and injuries on the part of 
 Spain — as well, as is supposed, to re-esta- 
 blish the maritime supremacy of England 
 (now greatly enfeebled) by adding to her 
 colonial possessions, and thus to establish 
 an equality of right to the navigation of 
 the American seas — Cromwell fitted out an 
 expedition for the subjugation of Hispa- 
 niola. The armament consisted of 6500 
 men, and was committed to the command 
 of Admiral Penn and General Venables. 
 Failing in their attempt on the capital of 
 the Spanish settlements, for which they 
 were afterwards committed to the Tower, 
 they attacked Jamaica on the 3d of May, 
 1655, which capitulated after a trifling re- 
 sistance. It thus became an appendage to 
 the British Crown, after it had been in the 
 possession of the Spaniards 146 years. 
 From the terms of the negotiation and the 
 delay that occurred in the ratification of 
 the treaty, the conquerors were disappoint- 
 ed in their expectations of booty. The 
 inhabitants had conveyed away into the 
 woods every thing valuable they possessed. 
 Disease, famine and party feuds resulted 
 from the excesses committed by the British 
 army ; and these, added to the defenceless 
 
16 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 state of the island, led to renewed efforts 
 on the part of Spain to regain her lost pos- 
 session, but without success. For a time 
 its new occupants revelled in luxury ; but, 
 subsequently, dissipated by indolence and 
 crime, and at length enfeebled by disease 
 and poverty, they became but little supe- 
 rior to the savage monsters they supplant- 
 ed. Thus, among other evidences of their 
 barbarity, Colonel D'Oyley sanctioned the 
 introduction of blood-hounds into the coun- 
 try, for " the hunting of the negroes," as 
 it was savagely expressed in one of the 
 public documents of the time.* 
 
 Hitherto, from the conquest of the island 
 by the English, it had been under the in- 
 fluence of a military government. A civil 
 administration was now to be formed, and 
 Colonel Edward D'Oyley was elevated to 
 the office of governor, which took, place in 
 1661. Jamaica now becamethe rendezvous 
 of buccaneers, and the resort of piratical 
 crusaders; a desperate band of adventurers 
 composed of men from all the maritime 
 powers of Europe. These marauders con- 
 tinued their depredations until the year 
 1670, when peace was made with Spain. 
 They intercepted the Spanish galleons in 
 their transit with the precious metals to 
 Europe, pillaged towns and villages, and 
 multiplied the number of negro-slaves. The 
 character of the white population at this 
 time was deplorable — composed of disband- 
 ed soldiers, Spanish refugees, hordes of 
 pirates and buccaneers, convicts, and in- 
 dented servants, and the dregs of the three 
 kingdoms, who exhibited every kind of ex- 
 cess, and perpetrated almost every degree 
 of wickedness. 
 
 In the feuds so rife in England between 
 the Republican and Royalist parties the 
 colonists participated with the utmost ran- 
 cour. It must, however, be said, to the 
 honour of Charles, on his Restoration, that 
 he confirmed D'Oyley in the government, 
 and removed the existing asperities by an 
 impartial bestowment of some valuable im- 
 munities. In September, 1662, Governor 
 
 * The following orders, extracted from the records 
 of the State Paper Office, will convey a curious pic- 
 ture of the spirit and manners of that age : — 
 
 " Aug. 14. An order signed Edward D'Oyley, for 
 the distribution to the army of 1701 Bibles. 
 
 " Aug. 26, 1659. Order issued this day unto Mr. 
 Peter Pugh, Treasurer, to pay unto John Hoy the 
 summe of Twenty Pounds sterling, out of the impost 
 money, to pay for fifteene doggs, brought by him for 
 the hunting of the negroes." 
 
 D'Oyley was succeeded in the administra- 
 tion of affairs by Lord Windsor, who was 
 deputed to effect a beneficial alteration in 
 the form of government. This nobleman 
 appointed judges of quarter-session and a 
 magistracy; established a militia ; divided 
 the island into parishes, and granted patents 
 of land ; investing it with a complete muni- 
 cipal character. The first assembly was 
 convened under authority of the King in 
 Council in 1664, by Lieutenant-Governor 
 Sir Charles Lyttleton. It consisted of 
 thirty members and a speaker, who enact- 
 ed laws which received the sanction of the 
 King. Its sittings were divided between 
 the seat of government and Port Royal, for 
 the mutual convenience and benefit of the 
 public. Under the administration of Sir 
 Thomas Modyford, a wealthy planter from 
 Barbadoes, a serious dispute arose between 
 the Colonial Legislature and the Crown on 
 the subject of taxation, and the parties by 
 whom the supplies thus raised were to be 
 controlled. In 1670 peace was proclaim- 
 ed with Spain ; and it was found necessary 
 for its preservation, as well as for other 
 reasons, to discourage the marauding ex- 
 peditions of the pirates already noticed, 
 who, now in the height of their successes, 
 infested the seas of the New World, and 
 poured forth their ill-gotten treasures into 
 Jamaica. 
 
 The most notorious chieftain of these 
 was Morgan, whose name is intimately 
 connected with the history of the islands. 
 He was born in 1635, and was a native of 
 Wales, of the clan of the Morgans of Trede- 
 gar; and, by his extraordinary exploits 
 both by sea and land, was afterwards ele- 
 vated to the dignity of Lieutenant-Gover- 
 nor of Jamaica. At this period, although 
 the island had been possessed by the British 
 but fourteen years, and had been cradled 
 amidst storms and difficulties almost incon- 
 ceivable, it exhibited a degree of prosperity 
 truly astonishing. The white population 
 was 15,198; its effective sea and land 
 forces, 5221 ; and negro-slaves, 9500. Of 
 sugar, pimento, cocoa, indigo, and other 
 properties, there was from 150 to 200. In 
 the following year, 1671, on the accession 
 of Sir Thomas Lynch, still more effective 
 measures were employed for the extension 
 of agriculture and commerce. Very im- 
 portant regulations were also introduced 
 into the laws for the better protection of 
 property and life. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 17 
 
 Morgan, the late pirate and buccaneer, 
 raised to the honour of knighthood for his 
 conquest of Panama, succeeded to the 
 government. His administration was brief, 
 and distinguished for little but an attempt 
 to increase the cultivation of the north side 
 of the island, and for quelling an insurrec- 
 tion of the slaves. He is stated by some 
 historians to have died at Port Royal, 
 where he had resided for several years as 
 a peaceful citizen ; and by others to have 
 expired in England a miserable victim to 
 the influence of the Spanish Court. 
 
 Morgan was succeeded by Lord Vaug- 
 han and the Earl of Carlisle; and it was 
 under the administration of the former that 
 the African Company was formed which 
 legalized the Slave Trade. In 1688 the 
 Duke of Albemarle arrived as governor, 
 appointed by his patron James II. He 
 rendered himself unpopular by his bigoted 
 zeal in favour of Popery, and interrupted 
 for a time the peace and prosperity of the 
 country. Commerce, however, received 
 under his administration a new stimulus by 
 an extensive immigration of Jews; and Sir 
 Hans Sloane, his Excellency's private 
 secretary, increased the boundaries of na- 
 tural history by adding to it his excellent 
 collection of plants. 
 
 In addition to the calamities experienced 
 by the planters and inhabitants generally 
 from the predatory incursions of the Ma- 
 roons, now considerably augmented in 
 number by the desertion of slaves from the 
 lawless tyranny of their possessors, they 
 were visited by a succession of calamities 
 stil! more dreadful and desolating. Port 
 Royal, long the rendezvous of the bucca- 
 neers, the mart of the new world, and 
 which had become proverbial both for its 
 wealth and its wickedness, was swallowed 
 up by an earthquake with 3000 of the in- 
 habitants of the island. It occurred about 
 midday on the 7th June, 1692. The sky, 
 which a little time before was clear and 
 serene, was suddenly overshadowed with 
 partial darkness, exhibiting faint gleams of 
 red and purple. The sea was calm. The 
 Governor and Council were met in session. 
 As on the day that Noah entered into the 
 ark, the inhabitants were immersed in their 
 various schemes of business and pleasure; 
 the wharves were laden with the richest 
 merchandise; the markets and stores dis- 
 played the splendid treasures of Mexico 
 and Peru ; and the streets were crowded 
 
 with people. On a sudden a roar was heard 
 in the distant mountains, which reverberat- 
 ed through the valleys to the beach. The 
 sea immediately rose, and in three minutes 
 stood five fathoms over the houses of the 
 devoted town. Nearly the whole city was 
 deluged, while the spectacles of corpses, 
 mangled by the concussion of the earth, 
 with the shrieks and lamentations of the 
 sufferers, were awful beyond expression. 
 Although no air was in motion, the sea 
 was agitated as by a tempest. Billows rose 
 and fell with such violence that the vessels 
 in the harbour broke from their moorings ; 
 one of the vessels of war, the Swan frigate, 
 was forced over the tops of the sunken 
 houses, and, as if in mercy to the sufferers, 
 afforded them a refuge from still impend- 
 ing danger. Of the whole city, which a 
 few minutes before consisted of 3000 
 houses, not more than 200 with the fort 
 were left uninjured. The greater part of 
 the wealth and property of the city was 
 destroyed, and, what was more to be re- 
 gretted, because irreparable, all the official 
 papers and records of the island. The 
 whole country felt the shock and shared 
 the effects of the awful visitation. The 
 current of rivers was intercepted, and new 
 channels were formed ; hills were driven 
 together with a crash surpassing thunder ; 
 mountains were riven to pieces, and, fall- 
 ing into the valleys beneath, involved the 
 destruction of hundreds of inhabitants; 
 whole settlements sunk into the bowels of 
 the earth ; plantations were removed from 
 their situation, and all the sugar-works 
 were destroyed; in a word, the outline of 
 everything was changed, and the whole 
 surface of the island almost entirely sub- 
 sided. The sunken houses of the city on 
 a fine clear day are distinguishable beneath 
 the surface of the ocean. Putrefying bodies, 
 exposed in the suburbs of the towns and 
 floating in the harbour, generated a noxious 
 miasm, which swept off 3000 of the suf- 
 ferers who yet remained. As a sad and 
 lasting memorial of this awful calamity, 
 Green Bay, on the opposite side of the har- 
 bour, exhibits the tomb of Louis Caldy,* 
 
 * The following is the epitaph copied from his 
 tomb situated at a place called Green Bay, opposite 
 the harbour of Port Royal, which the author has re- 
 peatedly visited : — 
 
 " Here lieth the body of Louis Caldy, Esq., a native 
 of Montpelier, in France, which country he left on 
 account of the Revocation. He was swallowed up 
 by an earthquake which occurred at this place in 
 
18 
 
 JAMAICA 
 
 who was almost miraculously preserved 
 from a watery grave in the midst of the 
 catastrophe. 
 
 Scarcely had the colonists recovered 
 from the panic and distress into which 
 they were thrown by the earthquake, than 
 they were threatened by the calamities of 
 war. -The French General, M. Ducasse, 
 Governor of St. Domingo, invaded the 
 island with a powerful armament. Fie 
 committed the most wanton and aggra- 
 vated cruelties, and thus added to the mi- 
 series already entailed upon them by the 
 elements of nature and the ravages of 
 disease. He was finally routed by the 
 bravery of the militia at Carlisle Bay, one 
 of the south-side ports. For several years 
 afterwards the colony experienced a suc- 
 cession of favourable events. Port Royal 
 rose again from its ruins, agriculture and 
 commerce were re-established, and the ap- 
 pearances of wealth and splendour revived. 
 This period of peace and commercial pros- 
 perity extended through almost a century, 
 and was interrupted only by the party 
 feuds that arose from the exactions of the 
 parent state. In 1702 Port Royal was 
 almost entirely destroyed by fire, occa- 
 sioned by an explosion of gunpowder that 
 was carelessly exposed to the action of the 
 sun in the roofs of stores covered with a 
 light resinous wood. Devastated in Au- 
 gust, 1722, by a tremendous hurricane, 
 and almost depopulated by an epidemic 
 disease that immediately followed, the seat 
 of commerce was finally transferred to 
 Kingston, which began to be founded after 
 the calamity of 1692. 
 
 Under the mild and salutary administra- 
 tion of the Duke of Portland, a bill passed 
 the House of Assembly, and received the 
 sanction of the Crown, that was regarded 
 as the " Magna Charta" of Jamaica ; one 
 of the effects of which was to annihilate 
 the unhappy differences which had so long 
 existed between the colonists and the go- 
 vernment at home.* A succession of fa- 
 vourable events followed the war with 
 Spain; whilst the subjection of the Ma- 
 roons, who had so long harassed the island, 
 having been effected under Vice-Admiral 
 
 1692; but, by the great providence of God, was, by a 
 second shock, flung into the sea, where he continued 
 swimming until rescued by a boat, and lived 40 years 
 afterwards." 
 
 * The Revenue Bill, which granted to the colony 
 the immunities of British laws. 
 
 Vernon and Governor Trelawney, Jamaica 
 attained unexampled prosperity, compris- 
 ing in 1742, besides abundant wealth, a 
 population of 14,000 whites and 100,000 
 slaves. In 1751 Admiral Knowles at- 
 tempted to remove the seat of government 
 to Kingston, but was finally compelled to 
 abandon his purpose by the remonstrances 
 and threats of the populace. Insecurity 
 of life and property is the inevitable result 
 of so unnatural and atrocious a system as 
 that of slavery, and another insurrection 
 of the slaves occurred, which threatened 
 the destruction of the entire white popula- 
 tion. It was speedily subdued, but the 
 atrocities perpetrated in retaliation by the 
 whites would excite a shudder of horror at 
 their recital even at this distance of time. 
 The success of the British arms during the 
 war perpetuated the prosperity of the co- 
 lony, and led to some important improve- 
 ments. Various public buildings were 
 erected at St. Jago de la Vega ; the banks 
 of the Rio Cobre were adorned by groves 
 of aromatic trees and elegant villas and 
 farms ; sugar estates were established ex- 
 tensively on the north side of the island; 
 and peace and plenty shed their blessings 
 over the land. In 1763 Fort Augusta, the 
 large military establishment which occu- 
 pies a promontory at the entrance of King- 
 ston harbour, was destroyed by the explo- 
 sion of its magazine, containing 3000 bar- 
 rels of gunpowder, ignited by lightning. 
 By this catastrophe hundreds of the resi- 
 dents of the garrison were killed and 
 wounded, and immense property was de- 
 stroyed. 
 
 The number of negro slaves annually im- 
 ported into Jamaica at this period amounted 
 to 16,000, so that within thirty years the 
 slave population had increased from 99,000 
 to upwards of 200,000, whilst the total nu- 
 merical strength of the whites did not ex- 
 ceed 16,000. 
 
 England being involved in a war with 
 her North American Colonies, Jamaica 
 was threatened with an attack from the 
 combined fleets of France and Spain, com- 
 manded by Count de Grasse. The designs 
 of these powerful enemies, however, were 
 frustrated by Lords Rodney and Hood, 
 who gained a signal victory over them off 
 Dominica, on the 12th of April, 1782. A 
 marble statue was subsequently erected to 
 Lord Rodney in the square at Spanish 
 Town, or St. Jago de la Vega, to com- 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 19 
 
 memorate the event,* and a splendid pre- 
 sent was made to General Archibald Camp- 
 bell, then Lieutenant-Governor, for the pre- 
 parations he had made in defence. 
 
 His late Majesty William IV., then a 
 midshipman in the navy, visited Jamaica 
 about this period, and had abundant evi- 
 dence of the loyalty of its inhabitants, who 
 subsequently presented him with a star of 
 the value of a thousand guineas. The 
 year 1795 was distinguished by another 
 war with the Maroons, occasioned by the 
 intemperate policy of Earl Balcarres, which 
 ended in the banishment of that high- 
 minded people to Nova Scotia and Sierra 
 Leone. 
 
 Although tranquillity was again restored, 
 the colonists, from the very circumstances 
 of their condition, were continually subject 
 to alarm. Their connection with the slave- 
 trade, — their gross oppressions of their 
 bondsmen — and the position of the island 
 in reference to the whole of the New 
 World — all contributed to their insecurity ; 
 but the revolution at St. Domingo (now 
 Hayti), and the general state of affairs in 
 Europe, presented an aspect that threa- 
 tened them with inevitable ruin. Although, 
 however, the worst apprehensions were not 
 realized by the occurrences in the neigh- 
 bouring islands, the expenditures occa- 
 sioned by the destruction of so many of 
 the public works, by the disastrous con- 
 flicts within and around them, added to 
 the state and luxury in which the greater 
 part of the inhabitants now revelled, very 
 materially diminished their prosperity, and 
 their ruin was only averted by a loan of 
 300,000/. from the parent Government. 
 A fire, which nearly consumed the town of 
 Montego Bay — an apprehended invasion 
 of the French from St. Domingo — a con- 
 spiracy among the slaves in Kingston — 
 the abolition of the slave-trade, and the 
 victories of Lord Nelson and Admiral Sir 
 Thomas Duckworth over the French fleets 
 destined to the conquest of the island — are 
 almost the only occurrences deserving of 
 historical record to the year 1823. The 
 events which have transpired from that 
 time to the present will be recorded else- 
 where. It is, however, not unworthy of 
 remark in the conclusion of this sketch, 
 and that chiefly as an evidence of the great 
 
 * This statue was executed by Bacon, and cost 
 3000 guineas, 
 
 impolicy as well as injustice of slavery, 
 that nearly thirty insurrections of the slave 
 population occurred within the period of 
 its possession by the British, and that the 
 insurrection in 1832 involved the lives 
 of 700 of the slaves, and an expense of 
 161,596/., independently of the value of 
 property destroyed, which was estimated 
 at 1,154,583/., thus rendering a further 
 loan of 300,000/. from the parent Govern- 
 ment necessary to meet the exigencies thus 
 occasioned. The whole past history of 
 Jamaica and of the West India islands in 
 general, like the prophet's roll, " is filled 
 with lamentation, mourning, and woe." It 
 presents only a succession of wars, usur- 
 pations, crimes, misery, and vice ; " nor 
 in this desert of human wretchedness is 
 there one green spot on which the mind of 
 a philanthropist would love to dwell;" all, 
 all is one revolting scene of infamy, blood- 
 shed, and unmitigated woe, of insecure 
 peace and open disturbance, of the abuse 
 of power, and of the reaction of misery 
 against oppression. " Slavery, both Indian 
 and negro, that blighting Upas, has been 
 the curse of the West Indies ; it has ac- 
 companied the white colonist, whether Spa- 
 niard, Frenchman, or Briton, in his pro- 
 gress, tainting, like a plague, every inci- 
 pient association, and blasting the efforts 
 of man, however originally well-disposed, 
 by its demon-like influence over the natural 
 virtues with which his Creator had en- 
 dowed him — leaving all cold and dark, and 
 desolate within."* 
 
 The following are the names of the Go- 
 vernors, Lieutenant-Governors, and tem- 
 porary rulers of Jamaica, with the years 
 when they commenced their administra- 
 tions : — 
 
 Governor, Colonel D'Oyley, 1660 ; Go- 
 vernor, Lord Windsor, 1662 ; Lieutenant- 
 Governor, Sir C. Lyttleton, Knt., 1662; 
 President, Colonel Thomas Lynch, 1664; 
 Governor, Sir Thomas Modyford, Knt., 
 1664 ; Lieutenant-Governor, SirT. Lynch, 
 Knt., 1671 ; Lieutenant-Governor, Sir H. 
 Morgan, Knt., 1675 ; Governor, Lord 
 Vaughan, 1675, Lieutenant-Governor, Sir 
 H. Morgan, Knt. ; Governor, Charles Earl 
 of Carlisle, 1678 ; Lieutenant-Governor, 
 Sir Henry Morgan, Knt., 1680 ; Gover- 
 nor, Sir Thomas Lynch, Knt., 1682 ; 
 Lieutenant-Governor, Col. Hender Moles- 
 
 * Martin's Colonies. 
 
20 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 worth, 1684; Governor, Christopher Duke 
 of Albemarle, 1687; President, Sir Fran- 
 cis Watson, 1688 ; Governor, William 
 Earl of Inchiquin, 1690; President, John 
 White, Esq., 1692; President, John Bour 
 den, Esq., 1692 ; Lieutenant-Governor 
 Sir William Beeston, Knt„ 1693 ; Gover 
 nor, William Selwyn, Esq., 1702 ; Lieu 
 tenant-Governor, P. Beckford, Esq., 1702 
 Lieutenant-Governor, T. Handasyd, Esq. 
 1702; Governor, Lord Arch. Hamilton 
 1711 ; Governor, Peter Haywood, Esq. 
 1716; Governor, Sir Nicholas Lawes 
 Knt., 1718; Governor, Henry Duke of 
 Portland, 1722 ; President, John Ays 
 cough, Esq., 1722; Governor, Major-Ge 
 neral Robert Hunter, 1728 ; President 
 John Ayscough, Esq., 1734; President 
 John Gregory, Esq., 1735 ; Henry Cun 
 ningham, Esq., was appointed Governor 
 in 1735, but President Gregory was suc- 
 ceeded by Governor Edward Trelawney, 
 Esq., 1738 ; Governor, Charles Knowles, 
 Esq., 1752 ; Lieutenant-Governor, Henry 
 Moore, Esq., 1756 ; Governor, George 
 Haldane, Esq., 1758 ; Lieutenant-Gover- 
 nor, Henry Moore, Esq., 1759 ; Governor, 
 W. H. Lyttleton, Esq., 1762 ; Lieutenant- 
 Governor, R. H. Ettelson, Esq., 1766; 
 Governor, Sir William Trelawney, Bart., 
 1767 ; Lieutenant-Governor, Lieutenant- 
 Colonel J. Dalling, 1773; Governor, Basil 
 Keith, Knt., 1773 ; Governor, Major-Ge- 
 neral Dalling, 1777 ; Governor, Major- 
 General Archibald Campbell, 1782 ; Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor, Brigadier General Alur- 
 ed Clarke, 1784 ; Governor, Thomas Earl 
 of Effingham, 1790; Lieutenant-Governor, 
 Major-General Williamson, 1793 ; Lieute- 
 nant-Governor, Earl of Balcarres, 1795; 
 Lieutenant-Governor, Lieut. -General G. 
 Nugent, 1801; Lieutenant-Governor, Lt.- 
 General Sir E. Coote, 1806 ; Governor, 
 Duke of Manchester, 1808 ; Lieutenant- 
 Governor, Lieutenant-General E. Morri- 
 son, 1811 ; Governor, Duke of Manches- 
 ter, 1813 ; Lieutenant-Governor, Major- 
 General H. Conran, 1821 ; Governor, 
 Duke of Manchester, 1822 ; Lieutenant- 
 Governor, Major-General Sir John Keene, 
 1827 ; Governor, Earl of Belmore, 1829 ; 
 President, G. Cuthbert, Esq., 1832 ; Go- 
 vernor, C. H. Earl of Mulgrave, 1832; 
 Lt. -Governor, Maj.-Gen'l. Sir Amos Nor- 
 cott ; Governor, Marquis of Sligo, 1834 ;* 
 
 * Martin's Colonies. 
 
 Governor, Lieutenant-General Sir Lionel 
 Smith, Bart., 1836 ; Governor, Sir Chas. 
 Theophilus Metcalfe, 1839 ; Governor, 
 James Earl of Elgin, and Kincardine, 
 1842. 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 PHYSICAL ASPECTS OP THE COUNTRY. 
 
 Scenery — Mountains — Rivers — Springs — Cascades- 
 Harbours. 
 
 It is said that Columbus, when he first 
 discovered the Islands of the Western 
 world, was so enraptured with the beauty 
 and magnificence of the scenery as scarce- 
 ly to be persuaded but that he had reach- 
 ed the fabled regions of romance. Hence 
 the glowing description which he transmit- 
 ted to his royal patrons, Ferdinand and 
 Isabella of Spain. " These countries as 
 far exceed all others in beauty and conve- 
 niency as the sun surpasses the moon in 
 brightness and splendour." Never will 
 the writer forget the feeling's of wonder 
 and admiration with which he first beheld 
 Jamaica, the most beautiful of the group. 
 He was standing on the deck of the ves- 
 sel as she entered the harbour of Port Mo- 
 rant, at its eastern extremity, lt was at 
 an early hour of the morning, the land 
 wind had died away, and not a breath 
 swept the glassy surface of the dark blue 
 sea. Before him stood the Blue mountains 
 rising by an almost abrupt acclivity from 
 the water's edge, their tops enveloped in 
 clouds, and covered from their base to 
 their highest elevation with huge forest- 
 trees and shrubs of novel appearance 
 and beauty, partially obscured by the 
 dense fog that crept along their sides. 
 On either hand, as far as the eye could 
 distinguish, the margin of the sea was 
 fringed with the mangrove-tree, interspers- 
 ed with occasional clumps of the cocoa- 
 nut and mountain-palm ; far along the en- 
 chanting panorama were dwellings that 
 now caught and reflected the first rays of 
 the sun ; while ever and anon, the full tide 
 played in white breakers or in silver cre- 
 scents on the shore. 
 
 As you proceed towards Port Royal the 
 landscape becomes more diversified. The 
 mountain range which intersects the island 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 21 
 
 appears at intervals disjointed, and dimi- 
 nished also in its altitude, presenting nu- 
 merous romantic inequalities beautified by 
 the art of man. Here, amidst a wild wil- 
 derness, are extensive cane-fields and ver- 
 dant pastures of Guinea grass. There, on 
 the summit of a hill overlooking irrigated 
 and verdant fields redeemed from the forest 
 around, and adding a fresh charm to the 
 landscape, stands some bold edifice in the 
 midst of a cluster of substantial buildings 
 resembling the lordly possessions of feudal 
 times, whilst at a little distance, but half 
 discovered amidst the thick foliage of the 
 cocoa-nut groves which marked their site, 
 and the purple darkness of the inland hills, 
 appear groups of smiling villages. An ex- 
 tensive savannah next presents itself, partly 
 covered with wild luxuriance, a stream of 
 water rushing precipitately down the deep 
 and darkly shaded ravines of the contigu- 
 ous hills upon its level bosom ; whilst in 
 the distance the very summit of the cloud- 
 capped mountains, now diverging from the 
 shore crowned with deep woods and cover- 
 ed with perpetual verdure are disclosed, 
 whilst beautiful mansions amidst pimento 
 and coffee plantations, an imposing mili- 
 tary establishment, with here and there a 
 rural sanctuary lifting up its tall spire 
 above, display themselves through their 
 woody enclosure. Amidst these are cot- 
 tages and buildings of diversified appear- 
 ance and size variously distributed. A 
 range of summits stretching far inland to 
 the west, the Healthshire hills at the en- 
 trance of Port Royal harbour, an extensive 
 promontory before us, and the almost illi- 
 mitable horizon to the south, terminate the 
 novel and stupendous scene. 
 
 In the interior of the island the splen- 
 dour and beauty of the prospect is, if pos- 
 sible, increased. At every successive step 
 the traveller seems to breathe a purer air 
 and to survey a brighter scene. Here the 
 barren, the fertile, the level and the inac- 
 cessible, are commingled. On the one side 
 is seen a fine valley or glade, fertile and 
 irrigated, stretching along the foot of crag- 
 gy and desolate mountains covered with 
 immense rocks slightly intermixed with a 
 dry, arid, and unfruitful soil; on the other, 
 a narrow and precipitous defile, or deep 
 and gloomy cavern where the sun's rays 
 never penetrate, both enclosed by abrupt 
 precipices, overhanging rocks, and imper- 
 vious woods. In this direction the country 
 
 is varied with ridges of low forest hills 
 rising gradually from the horizon, flat, 
 level, and standing detached like islands. 
 Yonder an extensive valley presents itself 
 as if enclosed by a lofty amphitheatre of 
 wood along which a river flows, meander- 
 ing until lost between two parallel lines of 
 mountains, as though from the bosom of a 
 vast lake, it had forced its passage through 
 them to the sea.* In the more cultivated 
 districts, as viewed from an eminence, the 
 scene is lively and animating beyond de- 
 scription. The negroes in gangs are em- 
 ployed in the fields cutting canes or weed- 
 ing pastures, numerous herds of oxen with 
 other domestic animals graze on the shorn* 
 fields or browse on the verdant slopes; an 
 endless diversity of hill, valley, mountain, 
 and defile, interspersed with clusters of 
 the bamboo cane and towering cocoa 
 palms, which gracefully wave their fea- 
 thery plumes in the breeze, copses of un- 
 derwood, pastures shaded with lofty trees, 
 plantain-walks, ruinates and extensive fields 
 of sugar-cane, of fresh and variegated foli- 
 age, chequer and adorn the entire land- 
 scape. At a greater distance, the exten- 
 sive and beautiful valley, rich in the pro- 
 ducts of the soil, opens to the eye. The 
 morning mists which still partially hang 
 over it, have the illusive appearance of a 
 vast lake resting on its bosom, or a beauti- 
 ful bay with its islands floating on the sur- 
 face of the quiet waters. Behind are the 
 majestic heights, losing themselves by de- 
 grees in the clouds, distributing light and 
 shade in endless contrast, and presenting 
 to the ravished eye a picture every moment 
 glowing with new attractions. At a still 
 greater distance appears the ocean with the 
 shipping, its waters calm and unruffled, or 
 tossed into fury by the winds. The high 
 mountainous district in general presents to 
 the beholder the sylvan beauties of coffee 
 and pimento plantations, with groves of 
 orange and other fruit trees, which at some 
 seasons of the year breathe the perfumes 
 of Arabia. Along the coast to the N. E., 
 N. W., and S., as viewed from the sea, 
 broken and irregular mountains rising from 
 the midst of lesser elevations, their summits 
 crowned with perpendicular rocks of every 
 variety of shape and form which the wild- 
 est imagination can conceive, are contrast- 
 
 * Sixteen mite Walk between Spanish Town and 
 Bog-walk Tavern in the parish of St. Thomas in the 
 Vale. 
 
23 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 ed with the beautiful and verdant clothing 
 of the open glade, round-topped hills, smil- 
 ing villages, numerous cascades, mountain 
 streams and roaring cataracts. The un- 
 imaginable luxuriance of the herbage, the 
 singular exotic appearance of all around, 
 the green-house-like feel and temperature 
 of the atmosphere, and the fresh flush of 
 vegetable fragrance wafted from the shore, 
 are all calculated to regale the senses, ex- 
 hilarate the spirits, and diffuse through the 
 soul a strange delirium of buoyant hope 
 and joy. Jamaica, in a word, may be 
 reckoned among the most romantic and 
 highly-diversified countries in the world, 
 uniting the rich magnificent scenery which 
 waving forests, never-failing streams, and 
 constant verdure can present, heightened 
 by the pure atmosphere, and the glowing 
 tints of a tropical sun.* 
 
 " Beautiful islands! where the green 
 
 Which nature wears was never seen 
 
 '.Neath zone of Europe ; where the hue 
 
 Of sea and heaven is such a blue 
 
 As England dreams not ; where the night 
 
 Is all irradiate with the light 
 
 Of stars like moons, which, hung on high, 
 
 Breathe and quiver in the sky, 
 
 Each its silver haze divine 
 
 Flinging in a radiant line, 
 
 O'er gorgeous flower and mighty tree 
 
 On the soft and shadowy sea ! 
 
 Beautiful islands! brief the time 
 
 I dwelt beneath your awful clime ; 
 
 Yet oft 1 see in noonday dream 
 
 Your glorious stars with lunar beam; 
 
 And oft before my sight arise 
 
 Your sky-like seas, your sea-like skies, 
 
 Your green banana's giant leaves, 
 
 Your golden canes in arrowy sheaves, 
 
 Your palms which never die, but stand 
 
 Immortal sea-marks on the strand, — 
 
 Their feathery tufts, like plumage rare, 
 
 Their stems so high, so strange and fair! 
 
 Yea ! while the breeze of England now 
 
 Flings rose-scents on my aching brow, 
 
 I think a moment I inhale 
 
 Again the breath of tropic gale." 
 
 The great series of mountains which in- 
 tersects the island from east to west is, at 
 its highest elevation, nearly 8000 feet above 
 the level of the sea; but there are other 
 extensive ranges of inferior elevation some- 
 times connected with the larger series, and 
 at other times independent of it. These 
 mountains, some of which exhibit proofs 
 of volcanic origin, vary in their elevation 
 
 * A gentleman, on his return from Jamaica, being 
 asked to describe its surface, (in imitation of Colum- 
 bus when he described the appearance of Dominica 
 to Isabella of Spain.) did so by crumpling a sheet of 
 paper in his hands — a representation than which 
 nothing could give a better idea of the jagged and 
 compressed appearance of its conical mountains. 
 
 from 2000 feet and upwards. The highest 
 is the Coldridge, at the eastern extremity 
 of the island ;* the St. Catherine's Peak, 
 to the north of Kingston; the Cedar- valley- 
 ridge, in the county of Middlesex, and pa- 
 rish of St. Catherine, on which stands the 
 village of Sligoville; the Bull's Head, in 
 the parish of Clarendon, nearly in the 
 centre of the island; the Dolphin's Head, 
 in the neighbourhood of Lucea, in the pa- 
 rish of Hanover; and Yallahs Hill, on the 
 southeast coast 6f the county of Surrey. 
 In some of them are to be found magnifi- 
 cient natural excavations. 
 
 The rivers, including springs and rivu- 
 lets, have been estimated at upwards of 
 200 in number — about 40 are of the larg- 
 est class. From the mountainous nature 
 of the country, and the huge masses of 
 rock that frequently obstruct their course, 
 they are often precipitous, and exhibit nu- 
 merous and beautiful cascades, now flow- 
 ing on in unmurmuring peacefulness, and 
 anon bursting headlong in the foam and 
 thunder of a cataract. On the north side 
 of the island, near to the spot immortalized 
 by the shipwreck of Columbus and the city 
 of Sevilla d'Oro, where the rocks overhang 
 the ocean, no less than eight transparent 
 waterfalls are beheld at the same moment. 
 Very i~ew of the rivers, however, are navi- 
 gable. Among those that are available for 
 this purpose, the principal is Black River, 
 in the parish of Saint Elizabeth, which 
 is navigable for thirty miles towards its 
 source, but only by flat-bottomed boats and 
 canoes. The others are the Rio Cobre 
 and the Rio Minho, on the south ; and 
 Martha Brae, White, Ginger and Great 
 River, on the north. Before leaving this 
 subject it may be interesting to advert to 
 two natural curiosities in St. Anne's parish, 
 which Dr. Coke thus describes : — 
 
 " The first is a surprising cascade, form- 
 ed by a branch of the Rio Alto, or High 
 River, which is supposed to re-emerge 
 (after a subterraneous current of several 
 miles) between Roaring River Plantation 
 and Menzies' Bog. The hills in this quar- 
 ter are many of them composed of a sta- 
 lactite matter ; by whose easy solution the 
 waters oozing through the rocks are copi- 
 ously charged with it, so that they incrus- 
 tate all bodies deposited in them. The 
 
 * The summit of the Coldridge is said to be 8184 
 feet above the level of the sea. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 23 
 
 source of this river is at a very consider- 
 able elevation above the level of the sea, 
 and at a great distance from the coast. 
 From thence it runs between the hills suc- 
 cessively, broad or contracted, as they on 
 each side approach nearer, or recede fur- 
 ther from one another. In one of the 
 more extended spaces it expands its water 
 in a gentle descent among a very curious 
 group of anchovy pear trees, whose spread- 
 ing roots intercept the shallow stream in a 
 multitude of different directions. The wa- 
 ter thus retarded deposits its grosser con- 
 tents, which, in the course of time, have 
 formed various incrustations, around as 
 many cisterns, spread in beautiful ranks, 
 gradually rising one above another. A 
 sheet of water, transparent as crystal, con- 
 forming itself to the flight of steps, over- 
 spreads their surface; and, as the rays of 
 light or sunshine play between the waving 
 branches of the trees, it descends glitter- 
 ing with a thousand variegated tints. The 
 incrustation in many parts is sufficiently 
 solid to bear the weight of a man ; in 
 others it is so thin that some persons, 
 whose curiosity induced them to venture 
 too far, found themselves suddenly plung- 
 ed up to the waist in a cold bath. The 
 sides of the cisterns, or reservoirs, are 
 formed by broken boughs and limbs in- 
 crusted over; and they are supported by 
 the trunks of trees promiscuously growing 
 between them. The cisterns themselves 
 are always full of water, which trickles 
 down from one upon another ; and although 
 several of them are six or seven feet deep, 
 the spectator may clearly discern whatever 
 lies at the bottom. 
 
 " The laminse which envelope them are 
 in general half an inch thick. To a su- 
 perficial observer their sides have the ap- 
 pearance of stone ; but upon breaking any 
 of them there is found either a bough be- 
 tween the two incrusting coats, or a vacant 
 space which a bough had once filled, but 
 which having mouldered away after a great 
 length of time, had left the cavity. After 
 dancing over these innumerable cisterns 
 the pellucid element divides itself into two 
 currents, and then falling in with other 
 neighbouring rivulets, composes several 
 smaller, but very beautiful falls. 
 
 " The other cascade, though so named 
 by the inhabitants, may be more properly 
 denominated a cataract, similar to that of 
 the Rhine at Shaffhausen, in Switzerland. 
 
 It proceeds from the White River, which is 
 of considerable magnitude; and, after a 
 course of about twelve miles among the 
 mountains, precipitates its waters in a fall 
 of about 300 feet, obliquely measured, 
 with such a hoarse and thundering noise 
 that it is distinctly heard at a very great 
 distance. Through the whole descent it is 
 broken and interrupted by a regular suc- 
 cession of steps, formed by a stalactite 
 matter, incrusted over a kind of soft chalky 
 stone, which yields easily to the chisel. 
 Such a vast discharge of water, thus wide- 
 ly agitated by the steepness of the fall, 
 dashing and foaming from step to step with 
 all the impetuosity and rage peculiar to 
 this element, exhibits an agreeable, and, at 
 the same time, an awful scene. The gran- 
 deur of this spectacle is also astonishingly 
 increased by the fresh supplies which the 
 torrent receives after the rainy seasons. 
 At those periods the roaring of the flood, 
 reverberated from the adjacent rocks, trees, 
 and hills; the tumultuous violence of the 
 cataract rolling down with unremitting 
 fury ; and the gloom of the overhanging 
 wood, contrasted with the soft serenity of 
 the sky, the brilliancy of the spray, the 
 flight of birds soaring over the lofty sum- 
 mits of the mountains, and the placid sur- 
 face of the basin at a little distance from 
 the foot of the fall, form an accumulation 
 of objects most happily blended together, 
 and beyond the power of words to express. 
 To complete this animating picture drawn 
 by the hand of Nature, or rather of Na- 
 ture's God, a considerable number of tall 
 and stately trees, beautifully intermixed, 
 rise gracefully from the margin on each 
 side. The bark and foliage of these trees, 
 are diversified by a variety of lovely tints ; 
 and from the basin itself two elegant trees 
 of the palm species appear like two straight 
 columns erected in the water, and tower- 
 ing towards the sky, planted at such equal 
 distances from the banks on each side, that 
 the hand of art could not have effected, by 
 rule, more exactness and propriety in the 
 positions. 
 
 " Another celebrated curiosity in this 
 parish is the wonderful grotto near Dry 
 Harbour, about fourteen miles west from 
 St. Anne's Bay. It is situated at the foot 
 of a rocky hill, under which it runs a con- 
 siderable way ; it then branches into seve- 
 ral adits, some of which penetrate so far 
 that no person has yet ventured to discover 
 
24 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 their termination. The entrance has a 
 truly Gothic appearance: it exhibits the 
 perpendicular front of a rock, having two 
 arched entrances about twenty feet asun- 
 der, which seem as if they had been for- 
 merly doorways. In the centre of the rock, 
 between these portals, is a natural niche 
 about four feet in height, and as many from 
 the ground. In this niche, it is conjectured, 
 that a Madona was placed at some early 
 period of time; especially as there is a 
 small excavation in the form of a basin at 
 the foot of the niche, projecting a little be- 
 yond the surface of the rock, and seeming 
 to be a proper reservoir for the holy water 
 of the Roman Catholics. But this idea 
 implies the workmanship of art, and that 
 the grotto was anciently inhabited, neither 
 of which circumstances is to be traced in 
 Long's detailed description of the interior 
 recesses, which does not materially differ 
 from the descriptions of other grottos and 
 subterraneous cavities in various parts of 
 the globe." 
 
 In accordance with the original designa- 
 tion of the island, springs are abundant, 
 especially in the parishes of Kingston, St. 
 Andrew, St. Mary, St. George, and St. 
 Anne. They are found amidst the highest 
 mountains, and meander through almost 
 every ravine: several of them posses me- 
 dicinal properties, as the Milk River, in the 
 parish of Vere, which is thus denominated 
 from its warmth and colour. The bath- 
 springs, two in number — one cold, the 
 other hot — are in the parish of St. David, 
 and give to the village in which they are 
 found its designation — Bath. They are 
 sulphureous and chalybeate, and have been 
 found highly beneficial in several disorders, 
 particularly in those of a cutaneous kind, 
 and in visceral obstructions. 
 
 The water flows out from the hot spring 
 at a temperature of 120. They are sub- 
 fluvian, and would doubtless, if chemically 
 investigated, disclose important geological 
 phenomena. Bath is situated in one of the 
 healthiest and most beautiful spots on the 
 island, and is a great resort for invalids 
 recovering from sickness. It is indeed 
 considered of so much importance to (he 
 public, that it is supported by a yearly 
 grant from the House of Assembly. 
 
 The harbours are numerous, and many 
 of them are among the most secure and 
 extensive in the West Indies. The princi- 
 pal of these are Kingston, Port Royal, Old 
 
 Harbour, Port Antonio, and Lucea. "The 
 total number is sixteen, besides thirty bays, 
 roads, or shipping stations, which afford 
 good anchorage." Kingston is a vast 
 basin, protected by Port Royal and a nar- 
 row strip of land called the Palisades, on 
 the one hand, and the Healthshire Hills 
 and the promontory, on which stands the 
 battery of Fort Augusta, on the other. 
 Port Royal is defended in a similar man- 
 ner. Old Harbour, or the Sevilla d'Oro 
 of Don Juan de Esquimel, which was the 
 rendezvous of the Spanish galleons, has 
 been denominated the best in the world ; 
 and but little inferior to these are the road- 
 steads of Port Antonio and Lucea. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL PRODUCTIONS. 
 
 Sugar-cane, Coffee, Cocoa, Pimento, Cotton — Indigo, 
 Drugs, Corn, Grasses — Garden Vegetables — Fruit, 
 Flowers, Trees — Animajs: Wild, Domestic — Birds: 
 Wild Fowl, Domestic — Fish — Reptiles — Insects. 
 
 The vegetable and animal productions 
 of the island are too numerous to detail. 
 The principal of the vegetable productions 
 is the sugar-cane, the " arundo sacchari- 
 fera" of Linnoeus. It was first introduced 
 into St. Domingo about the year 1520 from 
 Asia, where it had been cultivated from 
 the earliest ages, and from thence into Ja- 
 maica in the early part of its settlement by 
 the Spaniards. It is a jointed reed ter- 
 minating in leaves or blades, the edges of 
 which are finely and sharply serrated. The 
 intermediate distance between each joint of 
 the cane varies from one to three inches 
 in length, and from half an inch to an inch 
 in diameter. Its height is from three to 
 seven feet, and, when ripe, is of a fine straw 
 colour. At successive periods since the 
 possession of the island by the British, 
 several other varieties of this valuable plant 
 have been introduced from the South Sea 
 Islands and elsewhere. Having been the 
 staple commodity of Jamaica and the other 
 West India Islands for a series of years, 
 the circumstances of its cultivation are too 
 well and generally known to render a de- 
 scription necessary. In the highlands, and 
 on the mountainous slopes, the coffee-plant 
 flourishes in almost every variety of soil, 
 and usually yields abundant crops. It 
 would attain the height of fourteen or fifteen 
 feet, but to increase its productiveness it is 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 25 
 
 seldom suffered to exceed four or five feet. 
 The leaf is a dark green. It bears a pro- 
 fusion of white blossoms, and afterwards 
 the berry covered with a red sweetish pulp. 
 This valuable plant was introduced into 
 Jamaica by Sir Nicholas Lawes in 1728, 
 who cultivated it on his own estate called 
 Temple Hall, in Liguanee. The cultiva- 
 tion of cotton, indigo, and cocoa or choco- 
 late, which were once valuable articles of 
 export, have long since been discontinued, 
 in consequence, as it is said, of the heavy 
 duties with which they were charged. Of 
 the sixty cocoa-walks which, according to 
 Blome, existed in 1672, not one remains, 
 and scarcely a trace of the once numerous 
 indigo factories. Drugs, dye-stuffs, and 
 spices of various kinds of excellent quality, 
 here flourish in great prolusion. Of corn, 
 the Indian maize only is productive; oats, 
 barley and Victoria wheat have been tried 
 in the highlands, but have not been culti- 
 vated with success. The principal grasses 
 cultivated are a valuable species accident- 
 ally introduced from Guinea, whence it 
 derives its name, and the Scotch grass; 
 among the indigenous varieties are the 
 pimento and a delicate species, called the 
 Bahama grass, of exquisite tint, and which, 
 by throwing out elastic fibres, weaves itself 
 into a verdant carpet which rivals in beauty 
 the finest English lawn. Most of the Eu- 
 ropean vegetables grow in the mountainous 
 regions with comparatively little trouble 
 and expense, and a succession of crops 
 may be produced throughout the year — 
 cabbages, turnips, parsnips, artichokes, 
 cucumbers, leeks, radishes, carrots, lettuce, 
 celery, asparagus, peas, potatoes, &c, &c. 
 The only exceptions of importance are the 
 onion and the cauliflower. But in addition 
 to the European esculents are some of na- 
 tive growth by no means inferior, as the 
 chocho, or vegetable marrow, ocro, Lima 
 bean, Indian kale, tomato, or love-apple of 
 the ancients, plaintains, bananas, yams of 
 several varieties, calalue (a species of spi- 
 llage), cassada, and sweet potatoes. 
 
 The fruits of Jamaica are delicious and 
 most abundant; and, as with the vegeta- 
 bles, every month presents a fresh colla- 
 tion. Some species are at maturity during 
 the entire year; and not unfrequently are 
 to be seen at the same time on the same 
 tree blossoms and fruit in all stages of 
 growth. There are the bread-fruit, the co- 
 coa-nut, the avocado pear, the custa rd-apple, 
 3 
 
 the mango, the guava, the lime, the lemon, 
 the orange, the citron, the shaddock, the 
 tamarind, the soursop, the sweetsop, the 
 Spanish plum, the guava, the cashew, the 
 papaw, the pomegranate, the grape, the 
 fig, the wall and chestnut, the mulberry, 
 the naseberry, the star-apple, the date, the 
 olive, the melon, the pine-apple, the grana- 
 dilla, &c, &c. Few of the European 
 fruits are to be found, except the apple and 
 the strawberry, and these are degenerated 
 both in size and flavour. In different parts 
 of the island there is an adaptation of soil 
 and climate to the vegetable productions of 
 almost every region of the globe, and it is 
 a matter of regret that hitherto such little 
 attention has been paid to the improvement 
 of horticulture. Among other plants much 
 might be said of the advantages that would 
 result from the cultivation of the sun-flower 
 as a substitute for corn, as well as for me- 
 dicinal purposes. 
 
 The trees of the island, of which there is 
 almost an infinite variety, are peculiarly 
 novel in their appearance to an European 
 stranger; there is scarcely one which he 
 can identify with any in his own land 
 Among the most beautiful, both for orna 
 ment and use, are the pimento or alspice 
 tree, the papaw, the tamarind, the cocoa 
 and the palmetto royal. The pimento at 
 tains considerable height, and is covered 
 with a dark green foliage, often relieved by 
 its delicate white blossom. The spice is a 
 small berry which grows in bunches, and 
 when ripe is like the elder-berry in size 
 and colour. Even the leaves of this lovely 
 tree, when pressed, emit a strong aromatic 
 odour. In the country they are disposed 
 in different compartments, or in groves 
 crowning the hills and scattered down the 
 declivities, exhibiting a clean verdant car- 
 pet of grass beneath. When swept by the 
 breeze they shed their spicy fragrance 
 through the air, imparting a charm to na- 
 ture indescribable. So powerful, indeed, 
 is the aromatic atmosphere of these groves, 
 that they admit no herbaceous production 
 to thrive within their shadow. The papaw 
 produces a delicious fruit growing as a 
 fungus below its capital of long stemmed, 
 and broad green leaves. The tamarind', 
 besides its fruit, with its umbrageous and 
 delicate leaves affords a delicious shade 
 both to man and beast. The cocoa or 
 chocolate-tree is a native of South America. 
 It somewhat resembles the English cherrv- 
 
26 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 tree, and requires a good soil as well as a 
 moist and sheltered situation. The mango- 
 tree (Magnifera Indica) resembles in form 
 
 [Cocoa -Tree.] 
 
 the horse-chestnut-tree : its fruit is about 
 the size of a goose's egg, and some of its 
 varieties not unlike an orlean plum in fla- 
 vour. The palmetto royal, with its ver- 
 dant capital of waving branches, which 
 sometimes attains the height of upwards of 
 140 feet, furnishes also a delicious vegeta- 
 ble. The bombax ceiba, or silk-cotton- 
 tree, the baobab, and the wild fig-trees, are 
 of gigantic size. The ceiba, when hollowed 
 out, has been known to furnish a boat 
 capable of containing one hundred persons. 
 The branches of the baobab, or great cali- 
 bash, extending horizontally, are each, as 
 with those of the ceiba, equal to a large 
 tree. The most remarkable of the trees is 
 the mangrove. It grows in inundated 
 spots along the sea, and propagates itself 
 
 by its seed in an astonishing manner. Its 
 elastic branches also bending downwards 
 upon the loose muddy soil around, strike 
 root and grow, and thus the original plant 
 diffuses itself in every direction and form. 
 The cedar, the mahogany, the black and 
 green ebony, the lignum vitas, the fustic, 
 the logwood, are too well known to require 
 description. In addition to these, and 
 which are used in building and in orna- 
 mental cabinet-work, are the iron-wood, 
 dog-wood, pigeon wood, green-heart, bra- 
 zillelto, mahoe, and bully-trees, some of 
 which are so compact in grain that they 
 will sink in water. The bread-nut, the 
 wild lemon, the wild tamarind, and others 
 of a softer description, are not less valuable 
 for other purposes. Altogether there are 
 fifty varieties of excellent timber available 
 to the architect, the mill-wright, and the 
 cabinet-manufacturer. 
 
 Many of the huge forest-trees display 
 thousands of parasitical plants in endless 
 varieties, with flowers of the most delicate 
 and gorgeous hues. Some of the creepers 
 entwine themselves round the trunks of 
 these giants of the vegetable world, and, 
 throwing out their tendrils from the branches 
 on all sides, attach themselves to the ground, 
 presenting the appearance of immense ca- 
 bles, as if designed to protect these kings 
 of the forest from the fury of the elements. 
 
 Of all the plants of smaller growth, per- 
 haps the bamboo cane is the most orna- 
 mental and useful. Nothing can present 
 a more exquisitely beautiful appearance 
 than clumps of these rising from eighty to 
 a hundred feet in height, and yielding their 
 graceful plumes to the breeze, while at the 
 same time they afford shade and fodder for 
 cattle, and supply some of the most essen- 
 tial wants of the husbandman. 
 
 Aromatic shrubs and flowers of every 
 variety of size, and which are raised with 
 difficulty in the hot-houses of England, 
 cover the face of the ground; but generally 
 speaking, they are " born to blush unseen, 
 and waste their sweetness on the desert 
 air." After the autumnal rains the whole 
 interior of the country presents the appear- 
 ance of an immense garden, while the sur- 
 rounding atmosphere is perfumed with the 
 most fragrant odour. Very few of the 
 European varieties are cultivated, but they 
 might be introduced with considerable suc- 
 cess. It is lamentable that in a country 
 where nature has lavished the choicest of 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 27 
 
 her beauties, and afforded such facilities of 
 ornament, that so little taste has been dis- 
 played by the inhabitants, and so lit tie in- 
 clination manifested to avail themselves of 
 these advantages. Among the less attrac- 
 tive, indeed, but not less useful plants of 
 the wilderness, is the wild pine, which, 
 like the " lovely lotus in the boundless and 
 arid wastes of Africa, enshrines in her 
 bosom the crystal drop for the relief of the 
 thirsty traveller."* Some of them are 
 said to contain a quart of water, and will 
 retain it in certain situations during weeks 
 of drought. It was from these sources 
 that the Maroons were supplied with re- 
 freshment during the extremities to which 
 they were frequently reduced in their con- 
 flicts with the white inhabitants. The most 
 lovely of the indigenous tribes are the 
 granidilla, or double passion-flower; the 
 night-blowing ceres; the African rose; and 
 some of the species of convolvolus and 
 acacia ; the cassia alata, with its golden 
 clusters; and the splendid mountain-pride. 
 Of all the flowers of indigenous growth, 
 however, none present such an assemblage 
 of floral splendour as the great aloe (agave 
 Americana). When in blossom they have 
 a most magnificent and striking appear- 
 ance. The author has seen several in full 
 blossom at one time. The spikes shoot 
 out from the centre of the plant, to the 
 height of from twelve to fifteen feet, and 
 bear branches of flowers in a thyrsus. 
 The flowerets are of a bright yellow colour, 
 and of a tubular shape. Each spike pro- 
 duces hundreds of these brilliant ornaments 
 of nature. Emphatically may it besaid : — 
 
 " This is the land where citrons scent the gale, 
 Where dwells the orange in the golden vale, 
 Where softer zephyrs fan the azure skies, 
 Where myrtles grow and prouder laurels rise." 
 
 Of wild animals there were originally 
 but eight species : — the monkey, the arma- 
 dillo, the opossum, the peccari, the agouti, 
 the alco, the muskrat, and the raccoon. 
 The only kind of importance that now re- 
 mains is the wild hog. A large species of 
 this is numerous throughout the woods of 
 the interior, and very destructive to provi- 
 sion-grounds. On this account, as well as 
 for sport, they are sometimes hunted ; but 
 the animal being of immense size, and fur- 
 nished with large tusks, such excursions 
 are extremely dangerous to the assailants. 
 
 * Hodgson. 
 
 The domestic quadrupeds are of European 
 origin, and thrive equally with those of the 
 temperate zone. The drudgery of planta- 
 tion-work, and the conveyance of produce 
 to the barquidiers, is usually performed by 
 oxen and mules. 
 
 It is notorious that, with the exception 
 of the nightingale, or mocking-bird, (turdus 
 polyglottus), that extraordinary phenome- 
 non of animate nature, but few of the 
 feathered tribe are distinguished by the 
 variety and melody of their notes. Their 
 plumage, however, is exquisitely beautiful, 
 and their number, in addition to their va- 
 riety in size and colour, affords a fine field 
 for the gratifying pursuits of the ornitho- 
 logist. The green parrot, the banana-bird, 
 the green todie, the small martin, and the 
 different species of the humming-bird, are 
 the most attractive. The beauty and ele- 
 gance of the latter, in form and plumage, 
 defy description, exhibiting alternately, as 
 it flutters and shifts its position to the sun, 
 all the colours of the rainbow, in exquisite 
 combination — now a ruby, now a topaz, 
 now an emerald, now all burnished gold. 
 
 " On their restless fronts 
 
 Bear stars illumination of all gems." 
 
 Some of them are not larger than a mo- 
 derately-sized beetle, and weigh not more 
 than twenty grains. The most beautiful 
 is the long-tailed species. It has plumes 
 of about six inches long, crossing each 
 other and expanding themselves into a fan- 
 shaped tuft. They are otherwise distin- 
 guishable by their long and slender bills. 
 The mandibles of the bill are finely toothed, 
 or serrated on their edges, and their 
 tongues, which are capable of considerable 
 extension, are terminated by a small fork. 
 This beautiful bird might be much more 
 appropriately called the Bird of Paradise 
 than that which has now the honour to 
 bear the name. 
 
 All European domestic fowls are abun- 
 dant. Wild-fowl are to be found during 
 some seasons of the year in countless num- 
 bers, and most of them are considered of 
 delicious flavour. Here is the wild guinea- 
 fowl, several varieties of the wild pigeon 
 and dove, of the duck, the widgeon, the 
 plover, the quail, the snipe, and the orto- 
 lan. The ring-tailed pigeon is considered 
 the most exquisite of the winged species. 
 Aquatic birds of the pelican, the flamingo, 
 the gull, the stork, the heron, and the 
 
28 
 
 JAMAICA 
 
 crane kind, abound in the neighbourhood 
 of the coast. Many carnivorous birds are 
 found, but of the buzzard varieties (the 
 catharles of Wilson) only is known. 
 This is vulgarly called the "John Crow." 
 Though disgusting in its appearance, it is 
 of such utility in clearing the country of 
 putrescent carcases, that any person wan- 
 tonly destroying one is by an act of the 
 legislature subject to a penalty of three 
 pounds sterling. 
 
 The sea-coast, rivers, bays, creeks, with 
 the ponds of sea and fresh water, abound 
 with fish. Of these the calipaver, the 
 mullet, the king-fish, barracoota rock-fish, 
 grouper, jew-fish, the white-bait, and the 
 snapper, are the most delicious, equalling 
 any of the best description in Europe. 
 The flying-fish, the dolphin, the sword, 
 the parrot, the sun, and the boneeto, are 
 among the second class ; and the john-a- 
 dory, the cutlass, the old wife, the torpedo, 
 and the porpoise, among the third. 
 
 The sea-monsters are the sea-cow, the 
 devil-fish, and the shark. The sea-cow 
 (Trichecus manati) is of enormous size, 
 and resembles the animal from which it 
 derives its name, both in its form and in 
 the quality of its flesh. It is amphibious, 
 and is often found grazing on the banks 
 of rivers. The devil-fish is flat, of amaz- 
 ing breadth, and altogether disgusting in 
 appearance. It is harpooned like the whale, 
 and yields a valuable oil. Among these 
 might with propriety be classed the sword- 
 fish. One of these was caught in King- 
 ston harbour some months since, measur- 
 ing from the point of the sword to the tail 
 11 feet 10 inches; length of the sword 
 3 feet 5 inches ; extreme breadth at the 
 shoulder 1 foot 7 inches ; weight 270 lbs. 
 Sharks are numerous, and are of immense 
 size and of great voracity. One of these 
 monsters was caught some time ago near 
 Old Harbour full 10 feet in length, and 
 about the girth of the largest sized man. 
 There were found in his stomach, on open- 
 ing him, fifteen asses'* hoofs and legs from 
 the knee downwards, half an undressed 
 cow-hide, rolled up for tanning, and a 
 piece of beef of about six pounds' weight. 
 Both sea and land turtle are plentiful, as 
 also oysters, craw-fish, and land-crabs. 
 
 * Asses and mules are imported in large numbers 
 from the Spanish Main: probably this huge creature 
 had supped heartilv altera shipwreck. 
 
 The oysters are small, and are usually 
 found attached to the roots and stems of 
 the mangrove, which, obtruding themselves 
 into the sea, the oysters fasten upon them. 
 This has given rise to the representation 
 of oysters growing on trees. Turtle is 
 plentiful in the neighbourhood of Kingston 
 and Old Harbour: it feeds on sea-grass. 
 The female lays an almost incredible num- 
 ber of eggs — it is supposed between 800 
 and 900. They are caught in nets, by 
 the harpoon, or by the hand, by torchlight. 
 When laid on the back they are incapable 
 of effecting their escape. There are two 
 or three species of the land-crab. That 
 distinguished by the name of the mountain- 
 crab, and which is found in particular dis- 
 tricts on the north side of the island, has 
 been considered the greatest delicacy in 
 the world. The habits of these animals 
 are remarkable. In their retreats in the 
 mountain districts, which are generally 
 about one or two miles from the beach, they 
 inhabit the earth and the stumps of trees. 
 They go down to the sea once a year to 
 deposit their spawn, and perform their 
 march in a straight line with the exactest 
 order, allowing no obstacle that can be 
 surmounted to obstruct their course, even 
 climbing over houses and precipitous rocks. 
 Here they remain until the young ones 
 have attained sufficient size and strength 
 for the journey, when they return to their 
 habitations followed by the young fry. 
 They begin to spawn in December and 
 January, and during these months, until 
 May, are considered fit for the table, but 
 are in their greatest perfection in the season 
 of moulting. Another species is found on 
 the south side of the island, but of inferior 
 quality. During the rainy season they 
 swarm, and afford abundant food to the 
 poorer classes of both town and country. 
 By some creole families they are kept for 
 months in barrels, or some other place of 
 security, and, being fed with corn and the 
 refuse of vegetables, are almost as great a 
 delicacy as the mountain species. " These 
 are often found in grave-yards, and feed 
 and fatten on the dead. Hence, while in 
 England the dead are said to be food for 
 worms, in Jamaica they are represented 
 as food for crabs."* 
 
 Reptiles are numerous, but few of them 
 are venomous. Among these are the nu- 
 
 * Martin's Colonies. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 29 
 
 merous lizard tribe ; the guano, the came- 
 lion, the galliwasp, and the alligator, or 
 caymen. Of snakes, the silver, the black 
 and the yellow. Of the smaller reptiles, 
 the centipede and the scorpion. The alli- 
 gator is the giant of the saurian race ; it 
 infests the rivers and lagoons near the sea, 
 and is frequently to be found in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Kingston, Old Harbour, Salt 
 River, and Alligator Pond, on the south- 
 ern coast. They are from twelve to fif- 
 teen feet in length, and, notwithstanding 
 assertions to the contrary, do not hesitate, 
 under certain circumstances, to attack 
 man, as on the authority of the public 
 prints, two or three individuals have been 
 killed by them within the last three years. 
 The female generally lays between thirty 
 and forty eggs ; she deposits them com- 
 monly in some sunny spot on the sea- 
 beach, covering them over with sand. 
 They are hatched by the heat of the sun 
 in about thirty days after they are laid, at 
 which time both the male and female alli- 
 gators return. As soon as the young ones 
 are hatched they are borne by the female 
 on her back into the sea, when she teaches 
 them to swim. The eggs have a highly 
 enamelled surface, are of a whitish colour, 
 and about the size of those of the Muscovy 
 duck. The smaller species of lizard is so 
 domesticated that it may be considered a 
 regular inmate of every dwelling, as are 
 also centipedes and scorpions. The stings 
 of the latter have been known to occasion 
 death. Snakes will sometimes defend 
 themselves against an attack by man, but 
 their bite is rarely known to prove fatal. 
 The yellow snake sometimes grows to the 
 length of ten feet ; it is remarkably indo- 
 lent, and is killed and eaten by some of 
 the African tribes. These reptiles are nu- 
 merous in some districts, and not unfre- 
 quently infest dwelling-houses in the coun- 
 try. The writer has in two or three in- 
 stances found them in houses which he has 
 occupied, and once narrowly escaped hav- 
 ing a black snake for his bedfellow. An 
 occurrence of this kind is related as hav- 
 ing actually taken place. A large yellow 
 snake finding its way through the jealou- 
 sies* of a plantation-house, coiled itself 
 up on the bed in which a gentleman was 
 sleeping ; feeling something press heavily 
 upon him in the morning, he opened his 
 
 * A large description of fixed Venetian blind. 
 
 eyes, and to his amazement and horror be- 
 held a huge snake close upon his body. 
 He was so terror-stricken that he could 
 neither move nor call for assistance, and 
 in this situation continued until relieved 
 by a negro servant, who had come into his 
 apartment to ascertain the cause of his not 
 having left liis room at his usual hour. It 
 is scarcely necessary to add that the rep- 
 tile atoned for its temerity by its life. 
 
 Insects crawl upon the ground and float 
 in the atmosphere as numerous as dense 
 forests, gloomy caverns, stagnant waters, 
 and a tropical sun can quicken them into 
 life. Ants, cockroaches, fire-flies, mosqui- 
 toes, sand-flies, chigoes, spiders, bees, and 
 wasps. Ants cover the whole surface of 
 the soil, and so completely infest the repo- 
 sitories of food, that the ingenuity of in- 
 dustrious and cleanly housewives is se- 
 verely taxed for expedients to preserve 
 them from their depredations. The white, 
 or wood-ant, displays on a larger scale the 
 arts and organization for which the spe- 
 cies is so famed in England, and is parti- 
 cularly destructive to houses. Cockroaches 
 are another formidable foe to domestic 
 cleanliness and economy. The fire-fly is 
 a beautiful and harmless insect, of a gray- 
 ish colour, and about the size of a common 
 beetle. It emits a brilliant light from two 
 globular orbs just above the eye ; and the 
 millions of them that in the country flutter 
 among the trees and in the cane-fields on a 
 dark night have a most interesting appear- 
 ance. They resemble a kind of second 
 firmament of luminous points moving with 
 all the eccentric courses of comets and me- 
 teoric balls, and with all the glory that 
 tracks the shooting stars — 
 
 " And every hedge and copse is bright 
 With the quick fire-fly's playful light; 
 Like thousands of the sparkling gems 
 Which blaze in eastern diadems." 
 
 The light which they emit is so conside- 
 rable that the cruel practice exists anion" - 
 the negroes of making them subserve the 
 use of candles by securing a number of 
 them in a glass or other transparent vessel. 
 The way in which they are most easily 
 caught is by blowing a fiery stick, thus 
 keeping up a kind of intermitting light si- 
 milar to that produced by themselves. But 
 of all the insect tribes the most annoying 
 is the mosquito, especially to new-comers. 
 It would appear that they have an aversion 
 to blood in which the serum is in excess 
 
30 
 
 JAMAICA 
 
 through disease, or in which the blood is 
 otherwise changed in its constituent princi- 
 ples ; as it consists with universal experi- 
 ence that a European newly arrived is 
 much more liable to their attacks than a 
 native, or an individual who has been for 
 any length of time in the country. It is 
 scarcely distinguishable from the common 
 gnar by ordinary observers. They some- 
 times fill the atmosphere ; and, being fur- 
 nished with a proboscis for puncturing the 
 skin, attack the uncovered parts of the 
 body, or those but slightly defended, and 
 cover them with blisters, which create 
 such an intolerable itching as have occa- 
 sioned very serious consequences to the 
 sufferers. 
 
 As a necessary protection against their 
 attacks by night, the beds are commonly 
 surrounded by curtains of light gauze, or, 
 as it is called, mosquito-net. In some si- 
 tuations, owing to their numbers and the 
 fierceness of their attacks, the sensation 
 they produce is scarcely endurable; and 
 the only means of obtaining partial relief 
 is by kindling a fire, and creating clouds 
 of smoke. The bite of the small black 
 spider and tarantula is sometimes fatal. 
 The cell of the latter is perhaps one of the 
 greatest of natural curiosities. Bees are 
 numerous ; and, if cultivated and preserv- 
 ed from ants and other enemies, would be- 
 come a source of considerable profit. 
 
 The sand-fly is a very minute dipterous 
 insect, which abounds on the sea-shore. It 
 is formidable from its numbers ; punctur- 
 ing the skin in the same manner as the 
 mosquito, and occasioning the same sensa- 
 tions as that insect. 
 
 The chigo is a species of acarus. It 
 penetrates the skin of the toes and feet ; 
 once secured in the cavity it has thus 
 formed, it constructs a bag or nest, — there 
 deposits its eggs, and hatches a numerous 
 progeny. The bag is extracted by a nee- 
 dle ; and, when full grown, is of the size 
 and appearance of a blue pea. If suffered 
 to remain in the flesh for any length of 
 time, its progeny would so augment, each 
 young one producing a separate bag, as to 
 occasion violent inflammation, and proba- 
 bly amputation of the limb. 
 
 The guinea-worm (filaria aredinensis) a 
 dangerous and disgusting animal, is para- 
 sitic in man- It has been found in negroes 
 imported from Africa from six to twelve 
 feet in length. It is usually found in the 
 
 thick part of the leg, or round the eye, 
 and sooner or later destroys the life of its 
 victim. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 DIVISIONS. 
 
 Counties — Parishes — Roads — Towns — Villages — 
 Houses ; exterior appearance and interior arrange- 
 ment. 
 
 The island is divided into three coun- 
 ties — Middlesex, Surrey, and Cornwall ; 
 and these are subdivided into twenty-three 
 parishes. It contains six towns and twen- 
 ty-seven villages, independently of those 
 which have been recently established by 
 the peasantry. The principal of the old 
 settlements are St. Jago de la Vega, or 
 Spanish Town, the capital ; Kingston, Port 
 Royal, Montego Bay, Falmouth, Savanna- 
 la-Mar, Lucea, Morant Bay, Port Antonio, 
 Annotto Bay, Port Maria, St. Anne's Bay, 
 Black River, and Old Harbour. 
 
 Spanish Town is situated on the banks 
 of the Rio Cobre, nearly at the extremity 
 of a noble plain, bounded by the Cedar 
 Valley Mountains on the N. and N.W., 
 and is six miles distant from the sea at Port 
 Henderson and Passage Fort. A large 
 square occupies the centre of the town, 
 formed by public buildings in the Spanish 
 American style, which are extensive, and 
 display considerable architectural taste. 
 Government House — including beneath 
 the same roof the Council Chamber, Court 
 of Chancery, and various other offices — 
 occupies the whole of the west side. It is 
 considered the most substantial and com- 
 modious of any building of a similar kind 
 in the West Indies, and was erected by the 
 colonists at the cost of 50,000/. A range 
 of equal extent, called the House of As- 
 sembly, but which includes the County 
 Court-House, and the offices of judicial and 
 other functionaries, stands directly oppo- 
 site. At one end of the northern range is 
 the Arsenal and Guard-House ; at the other, 
 the offices of the Island Secretary, con- 
 nected by a temple that contains a statue of 
 Lord Rodney, erected in commemoration 
 of his victory over the French fleet in 
 1782, and a beautiful semicircular colon- 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 31 
 
 nade. Corresponding with this, to a con- 
 siderable degree, is a range on the south 
 side, containing magnificent rooms for pub- 
 lic amusements, and offices for miscellane- 
 ous public purposes. A considerable por- 
 tion of the area thus formed contains a 
 garden in beautiful order, intersected by 
 gravel walks. Ornamented by choice trees, 
 flowers, and shrubs, and protected from 
 spoliation by elegant palisades, it creates a 
 rational source of recreation and amuse- 
 ment to the elite of the town, for which 
 they are indebted to the taste and public 
 spirit of Mr. Custos Ramsay. The Bar- 
 racks, the Church, the Wesleyan- Chapel, 
 and the premises of the Baptist Missionary 
 Society, in addition to a kw beautiful vil- 
 las that adorn the suburbs of the town, are 
 the principal objects of attraction to the 
 stranger. The population is estimated at 
 about 10,000. 
 
 Kingston, the great commercial city, 
 and which contains a population of about 
 40,000 inhabitants, stands on a gentle slope 
 of the Liguanea Mountains (immediately 
 in the rear), which form a part of the 
 highest ridge of the Blue Mountain chain. 
 It is terminated on the east by a small bat- 
 tery, called Rock Fort ; on the west by an 
 extensive lagoon on the road to Spanish 
 Town and Passage Fort ; and on the south 
 by Fort Augusta and the narrow channel 
 by which it is approached from Port Roy- 
 al, from the latter of which it appears al- 
 most enclosed by a semicircular ridge of 
 mountains. 
 
 The streets are long, formed in straight 
 lines, intersecting each other at right an- 
 gles. As with Jamaica towns in general, 
 many of the streets are narrow and dirty ; 
 and all of them being at the same time un- 
 paved, and infested with domestic animals, 
 reflect but little credit on the city authori- 
 ties. The houses of the principal inhabi- 
 tants are chiefly two stories high, and are 
 enclosed with spacious verandahs in the 
 French and Spanish style. The Church,* 
 the Chapels of Ease, the Scotch Kirk, two 
 of the Wesleyan and one of the Baptist 
 chapels, are large, substantial, and beauti- 
 ful buildings, as are also the Court House, 
 the Military Establishment at Up Park 
 Camp, and the villas, half hidden by the 
 
 * Beneatli the altar of the church lies Admiral 
 Benbow, and in another burying-place is a tomb 
 which bears the arms and name of the noble family 
 of the Talbots. 
 
 aromatic trees and shrubs that adorn the 
 skirts of the town, and the slopes of Li- 
 guanea. 
 
 Port Royal occupies the extremity of 
 the narrow peninsula which is connected 
 with the main land on the east of Kingston 
 and Port Royal harbours. The town, but 
 a miserable wreck of its former greatness, 
 is ornamented with several large and beau- 
 tiful buildings belonging to the naval and 
 military departments, together with some 
 handsome and capacious private houses. 
 It presents an imposing appearance from 
 the sea; groves of cocoa-nut trees in state- 
 ly columns, waving their verdant branches 
 among the buildings ; but the streets are 
 irregular and narrow, and the town alto- 
 gether possesses but little claim to cleanli- 
 ness. Once a place of the greatest wealth 
 and importance in the New World, it is 
 now perhaps the poorest and most wretch- 
 ed ; an occurrence which, owing to the 
 short-sighted policy of the Legislature, and 
 the " spirit and manners of the age," was 
 consummated by the removal of the dock- 
 yard to Canada, and its consequent aban- 
 donment as the chief naval station in the 
 West Indian and North American colonies. 
 
 Montego Bay towards the N.W. extre- 
 mity of the island, and the chief town of 
 the parish of St. James, is situated nearly 
 in the centre of an amphitheatre of moun- 
 tains, opening only in one direction to- 
 wards the sea. It is considered a flourish- 
 ing and opulent town ; the private build- 
 ings are in general neat and picturesque, 
 having usually a garden in front, display- 
 ing flowering shrubs, shaded by aromatic 
 trees. The streets are wide and tolerably 
 clean. With the exception of the Baptist 
 Chapel, the Court House, and the parish 
 church, it contains no public buildings of 
 magnitude and importance. The square 
 and the market-place are spacious and con- 
 veniently situated, but require a little more 
 of the elaborations of art to render them 
 agreeable as places of resort, whether for 
 purposes of business or pleasure. 
 
 Falmouth, formerly Martha Brae, stands 
 on the west side of the Harbour, and is 
 the chief town and sea-port of the parish 
 of Trelawney. It is of considerable mag- 
 nitude, and is increasing both in extent 
 and commerce. The houses are mostly 
 built of wood, and are two stories high, 
 neat in external appearance, but, as is the 
 case in general on the north side of the 
 
32 
 
 JAMAICA 
 
 island, exhibiting a very unfinished inte- 
 rior. The characterof thetown is American. 
 It contains some good public buildings, 
 among which are the Church, the Baptist 
 and Wesleyan Chapels, the Scotch Kirk, 
 the Court House, and the Barracks. It 
 possesses also the convenience of a sup- 
 ply of fresh water for domestic purposes 
 by means of an hydraulic machine. As at 
 Montego Bay, the stores and shops are 
 well supplied with merchandise, and the 
 town presents a clean and rural appear- 
 ance. 
 
 Intersected by several fine rivers, and 
 nearly surrounded by mountains and hills 
 enclosing a highly cultivated district, the 
 neighbourhood of Savanna-la-mar is inte- 
 resting if not imposing, but the town, the 
 principal one of the parish of Westmore- 
 land, situated on an alluvial flat on the 
 beach, is low and unhealthy. It was once 
 nearly destroyed by an earthquake, and 
 seems now ready to submerge in the sea. 
 Some good and substantial houses occupy 
 the principal street, which runs in a straight 
 line from the shore, and some pleasant 
 villas are seen in the suburbs, but it is not 
 distinguished for its public buildings, or its 
 social and parochial regulations. The Bap- 
 tist Chapel, a neat and substantial building, 
 was lately destroyed by fire, but it has 
 been rebuilt, and is an ornament to the 
 town. Lucea, Saint Anne's Bay, Port 
 Maria, and Port Antonio, the chief town of 
 the parish of Hanover, St. Anne's, St. 
 Mary, and Portland are next in considera- 
 tion, all of which are increasing rapidly in 
 extent and importance, and are among the 
 most picturesque and improving on the 
 island. 
 
 The houses in general are of various 
 style and construction. In the country 
 they are built chiefly of wood. In some 
 instances they are raised on a foundation 
 of stone, in others on pedestals of stone or 
 wood from two to six feet from the ground. 
 The buildings of estates are usually of 
 stone, and in the towns on the south side 
 of the island they are principally of stone 
 or brick. For the admission of light and 
 air, some are protected from the sun and 
 rain, either wholly or in part, by jealou- 
 sies, or by these and sash windows, with 
 Venetian blinds. To most of the houses 
 is attached either a piazza enclosed by jea- 
 lousies or an open colonnade. These, be- 
 ing usually painted green and white, pre- 
 
 sent a neat and interesting appearance. 
 The inner apartments commonly consist of 
 a spacious hall, a sitting-room, with bed- 
 rooms, and other smaller apartments ; 
 many of them are elegantly furnished, and 
 exhibit floors of polished mahogany and 
 cedar. The kitchen, accommodation for 
 the servants, and rooms for domestic and 
 other purposes, are situated at a distance 
 from the dwelling-house, or are, at least, 
 detached from it, and usually form three 
 sides of a square in the rear of the dwell- 
 ing-house, leaving a court-yard in the 
 centre, shaded by an umbrageous tree. 
 Altogether, the interior of the towns and 
 villages in the island is far from being pre- 
 possessing to a stranger, especially as com- 
 pared with the towns and villages of the 
 other islands, exhibiting the unsightly as- 
 pect of dirty streets, noisy inhabitants, and 
 miserable hovels intermixed with substan- 
 tial and spacious houses. In their exter- 
 nal appearance, however, most of the 
 towns and villages present to the eye of an 
 European a picture inexpressibly refresh- 
 ing and lovely, adorned by the cocoa-nut- 
 tree, the palm, the orange, the shaddock, 
 the lime, together with the umbrageous ta- 
 marind, the box, and the kenap, which in- 
 tercept the fierce rays of the sun, and af- 
 ford a shadow which the panting inhabi- 
 tants both appreciate and enjoy ; whilst, in 
 their suburbs studded with sugar and cof- 
 fee plantations, the eye roams over fields 
 of fresh and vivid green, every where in- 
 terspersed with groves of towering cocoa- 
 palms, plantains, and bananas of rich and 
 variegated foliage, mingled with plants and 
 flowering shrubs of every diversity of 
 form, tint, and perfume. 
 
 The Roads in Jamaica are a disgrace to 
 a civilized community, and militate consi- 
 derably against its agricultural prosperity. 
 Immense sums of money are annually 
 voted from the parochial taxes and the ge- 
 neral revenue for their repair, but to little 
 purpose. Even the lines of communica- 
 tion between the principal towns are very 
 little belter than river courses, which place 
 the life of every traveller in jeopardy. 
 Deaths from this cause indeed are of fre- 
 quent occurrence. Proposals were made 
 by the legislature at its last sitting to re- 
 medy this great public inconvenience ; and 
 it is hoped that the arrangements for the 
 purpose will be economical, effective, and 
 permanent. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 33 
 
 The whole island presents evident ap- 
 pearances of volcanic origin,* and on the 
 summit of one of the mountains in the pa- 
 rish of St. George, about 3000 feet above 
 the level of the sea, there exists the appear- 
 ance of an extinct crater. It has never 
 been known, however, to exhibit any vol- 
 canic action. Great variety of soil is 
 found in the island. In some districts it is 
 chalky and calcareous, in others, a brick 
 loam of a chocolate colour prevails. Some 
 of the hills are composed of a red uncohe- 
 sive earth containing a mixture of carbo- 
 nate of iron. A deep black vegetable 
 mould and a purple loam of extraordinary 
 vigour usually occurs in valleys in the im- 
 mediate neighbourhood of the high moun- 
 tain ranges. This quality of soil is not 
 unfrequently found in other situations, and 
 is best adapted for the growth of the su- 
 gar-cane and coffee. In the mountain dis- 
 tricts a substratum of dark rich mould of 
 considerable depth is found studded with 
 large masses of lime-stone rock, usually 
 cultivated as provision-grounds. A fine 
 earth is found by the Rio Cobre in Spanish 
 Town, as also in the neighbourhood of 
 Kingston, from which excellent bricks are 
 made. Many of the mountains are cover- 
 ed with lime-stone, and in some places on 
 the coast they oppose an abrupt barrier to 
 the sea. They consist generally of secon- 
 dary lime-stone, associated with deposits 
 of sand-stone, and are commonly of calca- 
 reous formation. In addition to the white 
 lime-stone as one of the principal rocks, is 
 the graywacke and the trap-rock, the lat- 
 ter of which indicates the action of fire. 
 Bastard marble, subcrystalline spar, and 
 lamellated amianthus, occur in some of the 
 parishes in large masses. Marl is formed 
 in many parts of the island, and strata of 
 argillaceous earth. Whole mountains are 
 tIso composed entirely of carbonate of 
 lime. Rock-spar is abundant in the parish 
 of St. Anne ; and in other parts, white 
 
 * " The appearance of these tropical islands," says 
 the estimable author of ' A Winter in the West In- 
 dies,' " rising suddenly from the sea, and forming 
 steep pyramidal elevations, sometimes of bare rock, 
 other times covered with greenness, leads one to trace 
 their existence to some vast impulse from below. 
 There can be little doubt, I suppose, that they are in 
 general of volcanic origin ; and that they are not of 
 that fathomless antiquity to which some of the geolo- 
 gical strata pretend, is plainly evinced by the circum- 
 stance that the fossil shells and corals, which are 
 found embedded in their mountain tops, are often 
 precisely the same kinds as are still discovered in the 
 Caribbean seas." 
 
 free-stone and quartz. The former on the 
 north side of the island forms whole strata, 
 and constitutes rocks of amazing magni- 
 tude. Maritime and land shells abound in 
 the great alluvial plains, and coral banks, 
 and madrepores, those magnificent orna- 
 ments of the sea, are found in several parts 
 near the coast, as are numerous vestiges 
 of organic bodies ; whilst on the tops of 
 the mountains both animal and vegetable 
 fossils of an extraneous kind occur. Caves 
 and caverns, some of them of very consi- 
 derable extent, and which are supposed to 
 be connected with the early history of the 
 aboriginal inhabitants, are numerous, and 
 would abundantly repay the investigations 
 of the geologist. 
 
 Several varieties of lead and iron ores 
 are contained in the mountains of Liguanea 
 near Kingston, as also several species of 
 copper ores and striated antimony. A lead- 
 mine was opened some years since in the 
 same parish ; but it was discontinued, more, 
 it is supposed, on account of want of en- 
 terprise and public spirit than from any 
 deficiency either in the quality or abun- 
 dance of the mineral. A copper-mine in 
 the same neighbourhood is now in progress 
 of being worked, and, if prosecuted ivith 
 vigour, promises considerable pecuniary ad- 
 vantages to the company by whom its 
 operations are undertaken. " The Health- 
 shire hills," says Bridges, " are reported to 
 have furnished the copper which compos- 
 ed the bells of the Abbey church in Spanish 
 Town." 
 
 Particles of golden mica have been found 
 in districts near the source of the Rio Cobre, 
 and sometimes, near Spanish Town, it has 
 been seen incorporated with potter's clay. 
 Gold and silver particles were evidently 
 found in different parts of the country by 
 the Spaniards, especially in the bed of the 
 Rio Mina in Clarendon, as the remains of 
 lavaderos or basins are still to be seen in 
 which they were cleaned from their solu- 
 ble and extraneous cohesions. 
 
 Situated within eighteen degrees of the 
 equator, it will naturally be conceived that 
 the climate is of a higher temperature than 
 that of Europe. The thermometer ranges 
 in the lowlands, throughout the year, be- 
 tween 70° and 80° of Fahrenheit, and in 
 the mountains variously, according to their 
 elevation, from 50° to 75°. Were it not 
 for the sea and land breezes, which blow 
 the greater part of the day and night, al- 
 
34 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 temately, throughout the year, and the 
 masses of cloud which often interpose be- 
 tween the fierce rays of the sun, the heat 
 in the towns on the coast, during some 
 seasons of the year, would be almost insup- 
 portable. The sea breeze usually blows 
 on the south side of the island, from the 
 south-east. It commences in the morning 
 and gradually increases until the middle of 
 the day; it then diminishes, and dies away 
 at about five o'clock. The land breeze 
 usually sets in between seven and eight 
 o'clock in the evening, increasing until 
 midnight, and ceases about four in the 
 morning. The former of these breezes is 
 occasioned by the cold air moving towards 
 those parts in which the air is rarefied by 
 the sun's heat ; and the latter by the hot 
 rarefied air of the plains ascending to the 
 summits of the mountains, where, being 
 condensed by cold, and made consequently 
 specifically heavier, it descends back in a 
 current to the lowlands. The balmy fresh- 
 ness and salutary influences of these cur- 
 rents can scarcely be conceived by those 
 who have never experienced the fervent 
 heat of the torrid zone. 
 
 The air is usually buoyant and elastic, 
 almost uniformly equal in pressure, and ex- 
 erting an enlivening influence on the spirits. 
 The temperature of the mountains alter- 
 nates at some periods of the year eight or 
 ten degrees ; but, unlike many parts of the 
 United States, in the same degree of lati- 
 tude, it is not subject to sudden transitions. 
 The coolest and most pleasant months 
 range from November to April, and the 
 hottest and most insalubrious from May to 
 October. 
 
 During the intervals that elapse morn- 
 ing and evening, between the blowing of 
 the sea and land breezes, as well as during 
 the middle of the day, at all seasons of the 
 year, the heat in the lowlands is dreadfully 
 oppressive, but in the earlier hours of the 
 morning, from four to seven o'clock, the 
 coolness, freshness, and fragrancy of the 
 air is delightful. Owing to the great rarity 
 of the atmosphere there is no twilight, and 
 the shortest day is of two hours' less dura- 
 tion than the longest, thus averaging twelve 
 hours from January to December. There 
 is a difference of four hours and a half in 
 the time of Jamaica and England. When 
 it is eight o'clock a.m. in London it is half 
 past twelve p.m. in Kingston. The ther- 
 mometer of Fahrenheit seldom varies 
 
 throughout the whole year more than ten 
 degrees. In the hottest months, on the 
 plains, the difference between the tempera- 
 ture of noonday and midnight is not greater 
 than six degrees. The medium tempera- 
 ture of the air may be said to be 75° of 
 Fahrenheit. In the hottest months, July 
 and August, it is sometimes as high as 
 100° in the shade, and in the mountains it 
 has been known as low as 49°. 
 
 Considerable variation is observable in 
 different parts of the island in the seasons 
 of the year. Some individuals divide them 
 into four, as in Europe, but generally they 
 are distinguished by wet and dry. The 
 wet seasons range from May to June and 
 from October to November. They are 
 usually preceded, especially in the spring, 
 by coruscations of lightning and peals of 
 thunder, reverberating from peak to peak 
 of the distant mountains, truly appalling to 
 a stranger in the tropics. The horizon 
 thickens with lurid clouds that roll their 
 dense masses along the troubled atmo- 
 sphere; suddenly the tempest bursts; the 
 rain falls in torrents — sometimes almost 
 without intermission for eight or ten suc- 
 cessive days, at other times during a period 
 of several hours each day through several 
 weeks. In the former case torrents dash 
 down the ravines of the mountains with 
 dreadful impetuosity, tearing up huge forest 
 trees in their course, forming hundreds of 
 cascades, rendering rivers impassable, and 
 deluging the towns and villages of the 
 plains. Fifty inches of water, it is estimat- 
 ed, fall on an average throughout the year. 
 The war of elements, as it has been often 
 witnessed at these seasons by the writer, 
 from the summit of a high mountain chain, 
 is awfully and almost inconceivably impos- 
 ing. Vast masses of clouds are collected, 
 and stand like pyramids on the surround- 
 ing eminences. A black volume, deeply 
 charged with electricity, passes majestical- 
 ly along, when suddenly pierced by the 
 spiral tops of the fixed groups it acts on 
 them like the discharges of an electric jar, 
 and streaming and vivid lightning pours in 
 all directions through the vast expanse, 
 tearing immense forest trees to atoms, and 
 carrying swift destruction in its course. 
 At length the clouds disperse, and the clear 
 blue sky appears — the glorious sun again 
 flings abroad his beams, and the tropical 
 summer reigns in all its glory. The sky 
 is now tranquil, and all nature is dressed 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 35 
 
 in her richest livery. Nor is the night 
 now less serene and beautiful ; not a cloud 
 floats over the azure sky ; the stars shed 
 their light with but little scintillation ; the 
 splendid southern constellation nearly en- 
 circles the heavens. Venus, like the moon, 
 throws her shadows from the greater ob- 
 jects around, and the sovereign of night, 
 assuming an almost vertical position, seems 
 to rule as mistress of a milder day. There 
 are, perhaps, but few places on the globe 
 to which these lines of Homer can apply 
 with greater exactness than to a West In- 
 dian summer's night : — 
 
 " As when the moon, refulgent lamp of night. 
 O'er heaven's clear azure spreads her sacred light: 
 When not a breath disturbs the deep serene, 
 And not a cloud o'ercasts the solemn scene; 
 Around her throne the vivid planets roll, 
 And stars unnumber'd gild the glowing pole : 
 O'er the dark trees a yellower lustre shed, 
 And tip with silver every mountain's head : 
 Then shine the vales, the rocks in prospect rise, 
 A flood of glory bursts from all the skies ; 
 The conscious swains, rejoicing in the sight, 
 Eye the blue vault, and bless the useful light." 
 
 With proper attention to dress and diet, 
 with temperance in the use of food, fruit, 
 and wholesome beverage ; with care against 
 exposure to the mid-day rays of the sun ; 
 with moderate exercise of body and mind, 
 together with other cautions which common 
 prudence will suggest to every reflecting 
 mind — the climate is by no means so insa- 
 lubrious, nor is the heat so oppressive, as 
 is generally supposed, being more charac- 
 terized by its duration than its intensity. 
 The reported unhealthiness of the climate 
 has arisen, in a great measure, from the 
 frequent and excessive mortality of the 
 troops — for obvious causes a very unfair 
 criterion by which to judge. Nor is it to 
 be estimated by its past influence on Euro- 
 pean life in general, as it would probably 
 appear, on investigation, that the mortality 
 has been in most cases occasioned by in- 
 temperance or imprudence.* 
 
 * Mr. Long remarks, with consid'>rab!e ndiveti, and 
 not a little truth, that "The European keeps late 
 hours at night ; lounges a-bed in the morning; gor- 
 mandizes at dinner on loads of flesh, fish, and fruits; 
 loves roijrnant sauces ; dilutes with ale, porter, punch, 
 claret, and Madeira, frequently jumbling all together; 
 and continues this mode of living, till by constantly 
 manuring his stomach with such an heterogeneous 
 compost, he has laid the foundation for a plentiful 
 crop of ailments. JNot that this portrait serves for all 
 of them: there are many who act on a more rational 
 plan ; though almost all transgress in some point or 
 other. They who have attained to the greatest age 
 here were always early risers, temperate livers in 
 general, inured to moderate exercise, and avoiders of 
 excess in eating." 
 
 In the mountainous regions it will pro- 
 bably vie in point of salubrity with that 
 of any tropical climate in the world ; an 
 opinion sustained by Dr. Adolphus, Her 
 Majesty's late inspector-general of hospi- 
 tals in Jamaica, and by Sir James Clark, 
 Her Majesty's physician : the one from 
 personal experience and observation, the 
 other in his work on the sanitive influence 
 of climate. Sir James Clark recommends 
 it as a safe temporary retreat* to invalids 
 in the early stages of consumption. The 
 principal disease to which Europeans are 
 here subject are fevers and dysentery, both 
 of which might be considerably alleviated, 
 if not in some instances avoided, by timely 
 precaution. The author has personally 
 known several persons, both white, colour- 
 ed, and black, who have attained the age 
 of from one hundred to one hundred and 
 forty years. On these accounts, and for 
 reasons relating to temporal circumstances, 
 there is perhaps no part of the world to 
 which European farmers, with small capi- 
 tal and large families, could so advantage- 
 ously emigrate. The following precau- 
 tions, by the Rev. M. Hough, B.A., for- 
 merly a missionary in the East Indies, 
 with a few alterations, may be rendered 
 applicable to the West. 
 
 " I have said that life is often endanger- 
 ed by imprudence as well as other causes. 
 This suggests a few observations that may 
 be useful to future missionaries. Many 
 good men, by inattention to their health 
 and heedless exposure to the sun, have in- 
 capacitated themselves for labour almost 
 as soon as they have arrived. A mis- 
 sionary may not immediately feel any in- 
 convenience from the heat, but he should 
 not too readily calculate upon exemption 
 from its usual influence upon the European 
 constitution. The power of a vertical sun 
 
 * Sir James, in speaking of the climate of Jamaica, 
 sa y S . — "The temperature of the mountainous dis- 
 tricts, averages, from January to April, in the early 
 morning, 55 degrees ; in the afternoon, 70. From 
 April to June, 60 ; in the afternoon, 75. From June 
 to September, 65 ; in the afternoon, 80. From Sep- 
 tember to December, 68 ; in the afternoon, 75. This 
 may be considered the mean temperature of a series 
 of years." (P. 313.)— He adds — "Convalescents from 
 other parts of the island often derive considerable 
 benefit from a residence of a few weeks only in this 
 region. It is also a safe temporary retreat for con- 
 sumptive as well as other invalids. Lucea, also, has 
 a high reputation for salubrity among the inhabitants, 
 and is often resorted to by convalescents. The cli- 
 mate is cool and pleasant, except during the months 
 of July, August, and September." (P. 314.) 
 
36 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 is indescribable, and very few persons in- 
 deed are able with impunity to expose 
 themselves to its fervid rays. A mis- 
 sionary should never go out uncovered 
 during the day. In moving about among 
 the schools and other objects requiring his 
 attention in the immediate vicinity of his 
 home, he ought always to hold an umbrella 
 over his head; and when his duties call 
 him to any distance, he should go if possi- 
 ble in a covered vehicle. To walk a mile 
 in a tropical sun, ivith the heat reflected 
 upon you from the ground, and burning 
 your feet as well as scorching you from 
 above, will generally exhaust the powers 
 of the body, and consequently depress the 
 energies of the mind to such a degree as 
 to render you incapable of attending to the 
 duty you went to perform. 
 
 " In tropical climates regularity is the 
 grand secret of health. Regularity in every- 
 thing — in exercise, rest, food, and study. 
 In most European constitutions the sto- 
 mach soon becomes deranged by the ex- 
 cessive heat and change of diet ; but its 
 health is most likely to be preserved by a 
 careful attention to the wholesome quality 
 of food, by moderation in the quantity, and 
 regularity in the hours of repast. In his 
 native land a healthy person may despise 
 such precautions, finding them to be unne- 
 cessary ; but to neglect them in hot coun- 
 tries will soon prove fatal to the constitu- 
 tion. 
 
 " Exercise should be taken in the cool 
 of the day, before sun-rise, and about sun- 
 set. The morning is greatly to be pre- 
 ferred, as the air is then fresh and the 
 ground cool from the dew; whereas in the 
 evening, both are often too much heated to 
 refresh you. In order, therefore, to pre- 
 serve your health, and keep yourself fresh 
 and active for your important work, you 
 should always be out at day-break, and 
 home again if possible before the sun has 
 been up half an hour. I have frequently 
 felt exposure to the sun for the first half- 
 hour of the day deprive me of the refresh- 
 ment received from the previous exercise. 
 Journeys should always be performed early 
 in the morning or towards the decline of 
 the day. To enable you to rise at an early 
 hour you should retire early to rest, other- 
 wise you may suffer as much inconve- 
 nience from the want of sufficient sleep as 
 from any other cause. 
 
 "The degree and description of exercise 
 
 to be taken must be regulated by every in- 
 dividual's constitution; in general, gentle 
 exercise is most conducive to the preserva- 
 tion of health. It is of great importance 
 to attend to the first symptoms of indispo- 
 sition. A slight headache might be at- 
 tended with fatal consequences if neglect- 
 ed, as it would generally arise from some 
 obstruction of the system." 
 
 Let not these hints be thought irrelevant 
 to our present design. The necessity of 
 attending to his health cannot be too for- 
 cibly impressed on a missionary's mind, 
 and cannot be more appropriately given 
 than in a missionary work. 
 
 Storms and Hurricanes* are less fre- 
 quent in Jamaica than in Barbadoes and 
 some of the other Caribbean islands, or 
 even than they were in Jamaica formerly. 
 They, however, occasionally occur, carry- 
 ing devastation and misery in their train. 
 To one of these awful visitations of the 
 Almighty, although by no means so terri- 
 ble and destructive as those which occurred 
 in 1786 and 1815, the author was an eye- 
 witness. It began its desolating course in 
 the middle of the night, and, with the ex- 
 ception of a few short intervals, during 
 which it seemed to be gathering fresh 
 energy in order to renew its assaults with 
 greater violence, continued until nearly the 
 middle of the following day. 
 
 It was preceded by an awful stillness oc- 
 casionally broken by an indistinct sound 
 resembling the roaring of a cataract, or 
 the blowing of winds through a forest, by 
 an intermission of the diurnal breeze, — by 
 an almost insupportable heat, the ther- 
 mometer standing at between 95° and 100° 
 of Fahrenheit, — by vast accumulations of 
 vapour moving in the direction of the 
 mountains, — by flocks of sea-gulls, — by a 
 deep portentous gloom gradually increas- 
 ing and overspreading the hemisphere, — 
 by all the omens, indeed, which are said to 
 be their precursors. From three o'clock 
 until nearly the break of day, the lightning 
 was terrific beyond description ; illuminat- 
 ing the whole concave of heaven, and dart- 
 ing apparently in ten thousand fantastic 
 forms, whilst the reverberations of the 
 thunder, echoed back by the distant moun- 
 
 * Hurricanes are so called from the Indian word 
 hurrica. They are violent tempests of wind, which 
 generally happen a day or two before the full or new- 
 moon nest the autumnal equinox in August and Sep- 
 tember. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 37 
 
 tains, seemed to shake the pillars of the 
 earth, as if commissioned to seal the doom 
 of the world- The rain descended in tor- 
 rents, and an awful, deep, and compact 
 gloom overshadowed the face of nature. 
 The morning of the deluge could scarcely 
 have presented an aspect more dismal. It 
 was a period of fearful suspense and terror. 
 The wind began to blow from the north, 
 but on attaining the acme of its violence, 
 it blew from all parts of the compass, and 
 carried ruin on its wings. In every direc- 
 tion were dismantled houses, shattered 
 fences, uprooted trees, and the ground 
 strewed with shingles, splinters, branches 
 of trees, fruit, and leaves. The writer's 
 garden was a wilderness, and his dwelling 
 house shook to its foundation. Every habi- 
 tation around was closed, every crevice 
 filled up, and every tenant in total dark- 
 ness. All business was of course suspend- 
 ed, and not an individual to be seen but at 
 intervals, when one cautiously appeared to 
 acquaint himself with his situation, and to 
 view the desolation around. Nothing was 
 to be seen or heard but the pelting of the 
 storm and the continued sighs of elemental 
 tumult. 
 
 " Venti vis 
 
 Interdum rapido percurrens turbini compos 
 Arboribus magno sternit montesque supremo, 
 Silvefragis vetat flabris."* Lucretius, lib. i., 1272. 
 
 The last earthquake in Jamaica was 
 that of 1692, which engulfed Port Royal; 
 shocks, however, are of very common oc- 
 currence, some of such severity as to ex- 
 cite considerable alarm and occasion serious 
 injury. One of the most appalling that has 
 occurred for many years was experienced 
 in the month of February last, which, in 
 conjunction with the unexpected appear- 
 ance of a comet and the dreadful calamity, 
 in which these awful dispensations of Di- 
 vine Providence have lately involved seve- 
 ral of the windward islands, has created an 
 alarm which it is hoped will operate bene- 
 ficially upon society at large. 
 
 * " Oft through the ravaged plain 
 The sudden whirlwind sweeps the furious sale, 
 C'erthrows majestic trees, and with strong blasts, 
 Vexes the lofty mountains." 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 POPULATION. 
 
 Census of the different Parishes, Stock, Land in Cul- 
 tivation, Agriculture, Horticulture — Improvements, 
 Implements, Machinery — Present defective State of 
 Husbandry — Thoughts on Immigration. 
 
 The number of aboriginal inhabitants 
 on the first possession of the island by the 
 Spaniards has been variously estimated. 
 According to some writers they amounted 
 to several hundred thousand ; according to 
 others from sixty thousand to one hundred 
 thousand. But to the everlasting infamy 
 of the Spanish name, it is recorded that 
 the whole of this immense mass of human 
 beings vvas entirely exterminated within 
 fifty years of their subjection to their law- 
 less invaders. As previously stated, the 
 first Spanish colony was established by 
 Don Juan d'Esquimel, under the authority 
 of Diego Columbus, and consisted of seven- 
 ty persons. At successive periods this 
 number was increased, although subject to 
 frequent variations, so that on the conquest 
 of the island by Penn and Venables, the 
 Spanish and Portuguese amounted to 1500, 
 with an equal number of negroes and 
 mulatto slaves. Under the British the 
 population rapidly increased, exhibiting in 
 the short space of seven years a total of 
 2600 men, 645 women, 408 children, and 
 552 negroes, with 2917 acres of land un- 
 der cultivation. 
 
 Owing to the unsettled state of affairs in 
 the mother country during the period of 
 the Commonwealth and the early years of 
 the Restoration, the tide of immigration 
 was very considerable. The total number 
 of slaves imported to Jamaica since the 
 conquest of the island to the abolition of 
 the slave trade in 1805 was 850,000, and 
 this, added to 40,000 brought by the 
 Spaniards, makes an aggregate of 890,000, 
 exclusive of all births since that period. 
 Immediately after the abolition of the slave 
 trade, the slave population varied from 
 300,939 to 322,421.* To the great dis- 
 
 * According to the return of the Compensation 
 Commissioners in July, 1835, the number of slaves 
 for which compensation was given was 311,692. Of 
 these about 30,000 were children under six years of 
 age, and-of the remainder a little more than one-firth 
 were non-progdials. The free coloured and black 
 people were estimated at 40,000. Estimating these 
 at 44Z. 15s. 2^1 on an average gave 6,161,927/. to Ja- 
 maica, as its share of the 2O,000,O00Z. compensation, 
 being one-thi'd of the total amount. 
 
38 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 credit of the public authorities, no accurate 
 census of the island has been taken for 
 many years, and thus no correct statement 
 can be made respecting it at the present 
 time. It is, however, generally supposed 
 that the aggregate population, including 
 30,000 whites, is now half a million, which 
 is about seventy persons to a square mile. 
 This proportion is small compared with 
 that in other parts of the world, and even 
 with Barbadoes, where there are 600 to a 
 square mile; so great, however, is the an- 
 nual increase of population, as to encou- 
 rage the hope that in a few years it will be 
 more than double. Even at the present 
 time it is fully equal to the demand made 
 upon it for agricultural purposes as well as 
 to the means of its equitable requital. 
 
 The slock required for agriculture and 
 domestic purposes are oxen, horses, mules, 
 sheep, goals, hogs, poultry, and several 
 European domestic animals. Oxen and 
 mules are almost exclusively used in agri- 
 culture, and are generally equal in size 
 and strength to those of Europe. Horses, 
 except by small settlers and draymen or 
 carriers, are principally used for the sad- 
 dle or drawing gigs and other light con- 
 veyances. Mules* are of great value to 
 
 * Although this animal, like the species in other 
 parts of the world, is often vicious and untractable, it 
 generally finds its match in the ingenuity and adroit- 
 ness of its negro rider. The following occurrence, 
 with some slight alterations, is related by the captain 
 of a merchant-vessel : — " The negro boys are the 
 most cunning urchins I have ever had to do with. 
 While my vessel was lying at St. Anne's Bay, Jamai- 
 ca, T had to go to Port Maria to look for some cargo ; 
 and on my way thither, near Oracabessa, I came to 
 one of the numerous small rivers that empty them- 
 selves into the little bays along the coast. When at 
 some distance, I observed a negro boy flogging his 
 mule most severely, but before I got up, he had dis- 
 mounted and appeared in earnest talk with his beast, 
 which, with fore-legs stretched out firm, and ears laid 
 down, seemed proof against all arguments to induce 
 him to enter the water. Quashie was all animation, 
 and his eyes flashed like fire-flies. ' Who-o ! you no 
 go ober ; bery well — me bet you fippenny me make 
 you go. No? Why for you no bet? Why for you 
 no go ober V Here the mule shook his ears to drive 
 away the flies, which almost devour the poor animals 
 in that climate. ' Oh ! you do bet — bery well ; den 
 me try.' " The young rogue (he was not more than 
 ten years old) disappeared in the bush, and returned 
 in a few seconds with some strips of fanweed, a few 
 small pebbles, and a branch of the cactus plant. To 
 put three or four pebbles in each of the mule's ears, 
 and tie them up with the fanweed, was but the work 
 of a minute. He then jumped on the animal's back, 
 turned round, put the plant to the animal's tail, and 
 off they went, as a negro himself would say — 'Like 
 mad, Massa!' Into the water they plunged — the lit- 
 tle fellow grinning and showing his teeth in perfect 
 ecstacy. Out they got on the other side ; head and 
 ears down — tail and heels up — and the boy's arms 
 
 the planter, being much more capable of 
 continuous labour than the other beasts of 
 burthen, less choice in their food, and less 
 subject to the casualties of disease. They 
 are imported from England, America, and 
 the Spanish Main, as are also horses, horn- 
 ed cattle, and sheep. Considerable num- 
 bers, however, of all descriptions are rear- 
 ed in the colony. The price of a steer for 
 agricultural purposes is about 13/. ($63), 
 and of one fattened for the market from 
 9/. to 10/. ($44 to $48) and upwards. 
 Beef is from 6d. to Id. per lb. (12 to 14 
 cents) ; veal at Is. (25 cents). Horses, 
 according to their size and breed, may be 
 had at prices varying from 12/. to 100/. 
 ($55 to $450), and mules from 15/. to 50/. 
 ($65 to $220) and upwards. 
 
 Sheep have a degenerated appearance 
 compared with those of England, but their 
 flesh is savoury. When well managed 
 they are very prolific, and, consequently, 
 a considerable source of profit to the gra- 
 zier — 30s. is the usual price of a lull- 
 grown wether, and the mutton is retailed 
 at Is. 3d. per lb. Goats and hogs are also 
 abundant : the former are kept chiefly for 
 their milk. Pork is of a very superior fla- 
 vour, and is sold at l\d. per lb. Rabbits 
 thrive in hutches, but are seldom raised in 
 sufficient numbers for the market. The 
 price of a full-grown turkey is from 12s. 
 to 16s. ($3 to $4); a goose from 10s. to 
 12s. ($3 to $4); a Muscovy duck, 5s. 
 ($1 25); a common fowl, 2s. 6d. (62$ 
 cents) ; a Guinea fowl, 4s. ($1) ; pigeons, 
 2s. (50 cents) per pair; eggs, Is. 6c/ (31 
 cents) per dozen.* Of dogs, the real Spa- 
 nish blood-hound, and those of the various 
 European and Spanish breeds, ace a usual 
 
 moving about as if he was flying ; and I lost sight of 
 him as he went over a rocky steep at full gallop, 
 where one false step would have precipitated thein 
 into the sea beneath, from whence there would have 
 been but small chance of escape. A butcher's boy is 
 nothing to a negro boy in these exploits. 
 
 " About two hours afterwards 1 reached Fort Ma- 
 ria. There I saw, in an open space near one of the 
 stores, standing, or rather leaning against the wall, 
 Quashie, eating cakes; and there also stood the mule, 
 eating Guinea grass, and looking much more cheerful 
 than when I first saw him at the river side. ' Well, 
 Quashie,'] said, 'you have got here, 1 see; but which 
 of you won V ' Quashie win, Massa — Quashie never 
 lose.' ' But will he pay?' 1 inquired. ' Quashie pay 
 himself, Massa. You see, Massa Buccra, massa gib 
 Quashie tenpenny bit lor grass for mule : Quashie 
 bet fippenny him make him go ober de river. Quashie 
 win. Quashie heb fippenny for cake — mule heb fip- 
 penny lor grass.' " 
 
 *The prices were formerly much higher. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 39 
 
 appendage to almost every domestic esta- 
 blishment, both of the higher and lower 
 classes. Numerous as these animals are, 
 however, throughout the island, cases of 
 hydrophobia seldom or ever occur. Cats 
 are also common, but are not in such uni- 
 versal favour as the dog. 
 
 By the last authenticated returns, the 
 number of stock, consisting of horses and 
 cattle, was 166,286, with 2,235,733 acres 
 of land in cultivation. 
 
 The whole island, comprising 6400 sq. 
 miles, presents an entire surface of 4,080,- 
 000 acres; thus leaving nearly 2,000,000 
 of acres uncultivated. A considerable por- 
 tion of the latter is situated in the inacces- 
 sible regions of the mountains. There are 
 however, thousands of acres in every re- 
 spect available for cultivation, and which 
 are being rapidly cleared for this purpose 
 by the peasantry. 
 
 The principal properties on the island of 
 an agricultural kind are sugar and coffee 
 plantations, together with pens or farms 
 for raising stock. A sugar-estate is usu- 
 ally situated in a rich plain or valley, at a 
 convenient distance from the sea ; the cof- 
 fee-plantation in the mountains of the inte- 
 rior; and the pen in a location on the high- 
 lands or on the plains, most convenient for 
 pasturage. 
 
 A first-class sugar-estate usually con- 
 sists of a large mansion occupied by the 
 proprietor or attorney, and one or two 
 somewhat inferior residences for the over- 
 
 seer and subordinate agents. Contiguous 
 to these are the works — consisting of the 
 windmill, the boiling-house, the curing- 
 house, and the distillery. Various out- 
 offices, mechanics' shops, the hospital, and 
 the negro-village at a little distance, com- 
 plete the establishment. 
 
 Sugar estates vary in their extent and 
 value according to circumstances, as with 
 farms in England. 
 
 An estate (says Stewart, in 1823) pro- 
 ducing 200 hogsheads of sugar, averaging 
 16 cwt., may be thus valued: — 
 
 500 acres of land, at 201. per acre on an 
 
 average £10,000 
 
 (Of which 150 acres, if the land be good, 
 is sufficient for canes, the rest being 
 in grass and provisions.) 
 200 slaves, averaging 100/. each - - 20,000 
 140 horned stock and 50 mules - - 5,000 
 Buildings and utensils - - - - 8,000 
 
 Or £25,000 sterling, 
 
 £43,000 
 
 Such an estate would now be sold pro- 
 bably for the same amount, independently 
 of the labourers. In some cases as many 
 as 500 hands were considered necessary 
 to cultivate 500 acres of land. It might be 
 accomplished by half the number. 
 
 The cane-fields and pastures on all well- 
 managed properties are enclosed by stone 
 walls, or by fences composed separately of 
 logwood, lime, lemon, or the maranga-tree, 
 or by these shrubs and trees intermixed. 
 The extent of a cane-field or pasture is 
 from ten to twenty acres. The fences are 
 
 [Cutting Sugar-Cane.] 
 
40 
 
 JAMAICA 
 
 usually trimmed to the height of about four 
 feet, and are as impervious as the haw- 
 thorn in England, to which, indeed, the 
 logwood bears a great resemblance. In 
 the orange and lime fences a tree is some- 
 times allowed at regular intervals to attain 
 its natural growth, which thus answers the 
 double purpose of use and ornament. In 
 some localities the penguin, a kind of wild 
 pine-apple, and various species of the cac- 
 tus, together with bamboo and other rails, 
 are used for these intersections. 
 
 The incipient agricultural operations of 
 an estate consist in clearing the land, open- 
 ing it up in trenches, and holing it for the 
 reception of the young plants — all which 
 is usually performed by manual labour. 
 
 The time for planting and reaping varies 
 with the seasons and with the climate in 
 different localities. The spring plants, 
 however, are usually put in in February, 
 and arrive at perfection in the following 
 December or January. After being cut 
 down, the canes, which are tied in bun- 
 dles, are conveyed to the mill in carts 
 drawn by oxen, or, from fields inaccessible 
 to such conveyances, on the backs of don- 
 keys and mules. The juice of the cane is 
 expressed by two perpendicular rollers or 
 iron cylinders, propelled by steam or cat- 
 tle, and flows into the boiling-house, where 
 it is manufactured into sugar. The scum 
 and dross occurring in this process (which, 
 contrary to the received opinion in this 
 country, is a remarkably clean one,) toge- 
 ther with the molasses, are passed into the 
 distilling-house, and converted into rum : 
 300 gallons of which are produced from 
 every acre of land yielding 3 hhds. of su- 
 gar. These processes being ended, atten- 
 tion is immediately turned to the necessary 
 preparations for the ensuing crop, and the 
 general operations of the estate. 
 
 Almost the only implements of husban- 
 dry in common use are the hoe, the bill, 
 the cutlass, and the axe. The hoe is chiefly 
 used for digging cane-holes, trenching, 
 ditching, and weeding ;* the bill and the 
 cutlass for cutting canes, denuding pastures 
 of underwood and superfluous herbage, 
 and also, in conjunction with the axe, in 
 clearing forest lands for cultivation. Ma- 
 nure is conveyed to the field on the heads 
 
 * The hoe was first introduced in the cultivation of 
 the West Indian islands to clear the land from roots, 
 as the plough and the spade could not then be used. 
 
 [Hoe and Bill for Sugar Cultivation.] 
 
 of labourers in baskets or trays filled by 
 the hoe : exhibiting, in these respects, no 
 improvement on the rude usages of our 
 Saxon forefathers. As yet chemistry has 
 been but imperfectly applied to the purpose 
 of ascertaining the peculiar properties of 
 soils. Nor is the science of agriculture 
 either generally understood or applied to 
 any practical use. Little is done in the 
 way of drainage, alternate crops, artificial 
 grasses, or manuring. 
 
 Soils are usually wrought until exhaust- 
 ed ; after which they lie fallow for several 
 years ; thus rendering it necessary succes- 
 sively to redeem tracts from the forest to 
 supply the deficiency created, and which 
 can only be effected at a great expense of 
 time and labour. 
 
 The soil best adapted for the growth of 
 coffee is a deep brown loam. Intervals of 
 about six feet are left between the plants, 
 which are frequently and carefully clean- 
 ed. The berries ripen and are gathered 
 between the months of October and Ja- 
 nuary. 
 
 After having undergone the process of 
 pulping, it is dried on terraces called bar- . 
 becues, and is then fit for local use or 
 exportation. 
 
 The pimento or alspice plantations, 
 which are usually connected with those of 
 coffee, sometimes yield two crops a year. 
 The principal season for gathering it is 
 from August to October. " It is broken 
 in" in its green or unripe state, and dried 
 like the coffee. 
 
 Particulars respecting the mode of cul- 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 41 
 
 tivating and preparing ginger, arrow-root, 
 and other articles of export, cannot be de- 
 tailed. 
 
 Pens resemble the breeding and grazing 
 farms of Great Britain. 
 
 In all these processes the same disregard 
 to improvement is -manifest. It is calcu- 
 lated that in planting canes, a pair of 
 horses and a plough will do the work of 
 thirty-five men. " The farmer may form 
 some idea of the waste of labour in the 
 West Indies," says an intelligent Ameri- 
 can traveller,* " by supposing his lands to 
 be all cultivated with Indian corn, and no 
 agricultural implements allowed him ex- 
 cept a mule, a pack-saddle, a wooden tray, 
 and a stub hoe." 
 
 By a thorough reformation of the pre- 
 sent vicious and defective system of do- 
 mestic economy — by an improved system 
 of manuring and cultivation — returns of 
 produce might be successively drawn from 
 a more compact surface of soil ip the im- 
 mediate vicinity of the plantation works. 
 
 A steam-engine saves the labour of four 
 able hands per diem during five months of 
 the year, besides ensuring a better quality 
 of sugar, and the substitution of animal 
 labour and machinery, as far as practica- 
 ble, would reduce the number of effective 
 hands on an estate to nearly half the num- 
 ber required under the present system. Tt 
 is gratifying, however, to add, that within 
 the last few years some important im- 
 provements have been introduced, which 
 are chiefly to be attributed to the Agricul- 
 tural Societies, originated by C. N. Palmer, 
 Esq., in the year 1834, first patronized by 
 his excellency, the Marquis of Sligo, and 
 now become general. 
 
 The plough, the steam-engine, the coffee- 
 pulper, a machine for clearing and weed- 
 ing canes, with other instruments of a simi- 
 lar kind, are now being gradually intro- 
 duced. The breed of plantation-stock is 
 considerably improved; — companies have 
 been formed for supplying the towns of 
 Spanish Town and Kingston with water, — 
 for working a copper-mine, and for the 
 production of silk ; and a taste has been 
 imparted for progressive scientific improve- 
 ment, which, it is hoped, will establish the 
 prosperity of the colony on a broad and 
 substantial foundation. 
 
 Much, however, as has been already ac- 
 
 Dr. Hovey. 
 
 complished, very much more still remains 
 to be done. The resources of the country 
 are not at present more than half deve- 
 loped. Its variety of soil and climate is 
 adapted to the cultivation of almost every 
 article that is grown within the tropics and 
 the milder regions of the temperate zone ; 
 whilst its resources of raw material for 
 manufactures of almost all kinds, and 
 which are almost innumerable, may be said 
 to be entirely unemployed, except for local 
 purposes by the peasantry. The old me- 
 thods of cultivation are the rule — the im- 
 provements the exception. The hoe, the 
 cutlass, and the tray,* and others of equal 
 antiquity, still usurp the place of the plough 
 and spade, the muck-fork, the wheel-bar- 
 row, and the tumbril : whilst the practical 
 knowledge of the last century is still re- 
 garded by many as superior to the expe- 
 rience and science of the present day. 
 
 The price of agricultural labour, com- 
 pared with that of former years, is consi- 
 derably diminished. The amount paid for 
 hoeing an acre of land for canes by a job- 
 bing gang in 1823, was from 51. to ll.i 
 the price now paid is 21. 10s. The rate of 
 wages for jobbers per day was from 2s. to 
 3s : it is now from Is. to Is. 6d. Stone 
 walls for enclosures, which formerly cost 
 51. per chain, are now built for 1/. 2s. per 
 chain. And this scale of reduction is ap- 
 plicable to manual labour of almost every 
 kind. Under all these circumstances, it is 
 presumed that the necessity for an increase 
 of our rural population by immigration is 
 questionable, as the diminution of manual 
 labour which these proposed changes would 
 effect would more than compensate for any 
 supposed deficiency of effective hands. All 
 disinterested and philanthropic men, both in 
 Jamaica and elsewhere, concur in the opi- 
 nion that the present immigration scheme 
 is not only unnecessary, but injurious, im- 
 politic, inefficient, and useless ; injurious, 
 from its likelihood to interrupt the progress 
 of civilization ; impolitic, as furnishing a 
 pretext for the continuance or renewal of 
 the slave trade; and altogether inefficient 
 in securing the reduction of wasres or the 
 
 * "A gentleman purchased a lot of wheelbarrows, 
 with the intention of having the negroes use them 
 instead of trays, in carrying out manure; but they 
 not taking a fancy to the rolling part, loaded them, 
 and mounted the whole on their heads. It is, how- 
 ever, scarcely necessary to remark how rapidly this 
 prejudice will vanish with the progress of intelligence 
 and enterprise." 
 
42 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 supplies desired : thus occasioning a useless 
 expenditure of the public money, and a 
 defection among the native peasantry, 
 which may involve consequences of a most 
 serious character. With the various agri- 
 cultural and other improvements suggested, 
 greater facilities of conveyance, a less 
 Tavisti expenditure of the public money, 
 diminished taxation, an improved system 
 of domestic economy, connected with a 
 leasing out of estates to the present mana- 
 ger as a remedy for absenteeism, the pros- 
 perity of Jamaica may be more substan- 
 tially and permanently secured than by 
 any other schemes that may be devised. 
 
 The following is a calculation lately 
 made by his excellency, the Earl of Elgin, 
 while at Shortwood, the estate of Joseph 
 Gordon, Esq. : 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Cane-hole moulding according to old system 4 
 
 Planting 
 
 First cleaning 
 
 Second do. 
 Third do. 
 Fourth do. 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 6 12 
 
 NEW SYSTEM.* 
 
 Ploughing one acre — wages of plough- 
 men and boys . . . .56 
 
 Planting 12 0' 
 
 First harrowing one acre, half day — 
 wages for one man driving two 
 steers in tandem, or one horse 2 
 
 First moulding do., half day, with a 
 double mould plough, 2s. for the 
 ploughman, and 9d. lor the boy 2 9 
 
 Second moulding and third do., 2s. 
 each . . . . . .40 
 
 Seven days' feeding, horses or cattle, 
 
 at 2s. Gd. per day . . . . 17 6-2 3 9 
 
 Gain 
 
 .483 
 
 Allowing that, according to the old system, 
 the rattcons took three cleanings, includ- 
 ing moulding and thrashing, at 12s. per 
 acre , . . . . . . . 1 16 
 
 ON THE NEW SYSTEM. 
 
 Three do. at 3s„ exclusive of stock and imple- 
 ments 9 
 
 Effecting a saving of . .17 
 
 The observations here made with re- 
 spect to the defective state of common hus- 
 bandry, will apply in an equal, or even in 
 
 * On the Cost of Slave and Free Labour. — A report 
 has been made 'From the Select Committee of the 
 House of Commons on the Commercial Stale of the 
 West Indian Colonies, July, 1842.' Without making 
 any remark respecting the report generally, we now 
 confine ourselves entirely to that part which relates 
 to the cost of production of sugar, as given by the 
 Committee — 
 
 a greater degree, to horticulture. Horti- 
 culture, indeed, has been wholly disregard- 
 ed, except by a few individuals, who have 
 formed themselves into a society in Kings-' 
 ton ; and missionaries, who have endea- 
 voured to give an impulse to these pursuits 
 among the peasantry of the new townships. 
 Hence, with the exception of the neigh- 
 bourhood of the towns on the soiith side of 
 the island, very few European vegetables 
 are produced, although in all the highlands 
 of the country they would flourish in the 
 greatest abundance, and attain the highest 
 perfection. 
 
 Adorned, as is this lovely island, with 
 every thing calculated to woo the embel- 
 lishments of art, there is perhaps no spot 
 on the surface of the globe, inhabited by 
 civilized men, where the beauties of nature 
 have been lavished so entirely in vain. 
 Millions of flowers and shrubs, displaying 
 hues and tints which mock all the efforts 
 of the pencil, still remain detached and 
 scattered, forgotten and unknown. No ex- 
 tensive public gardens or pleasure-grounds 
 are here found inviting healthful recreation, 
 and displaying their sylvan beauties to the 
 eye; no walks, shaded and adorned by 
 aromatic trees and shrubs, to tempt the se- 
 
 "The average cost of production of a hundred 
 weight in the British West Indies, is (with- 
 out any charge of interest or capital) . .15 8 
 
 The expense of bringing it to market in Great 
 Britain is 8 6 
 
 Making altogether 24 2 
 
 The average price of 1831 is . . . . 23 8 
 
 Leaving a deficiency of 6 
 
 " By this statement it appears that slave labour was 
 cheaper by 6d. per hundred weight than free labour. 
 If in this early stage of the working of emancipation 
 the cost of production has been such a trifle more 
 than during the days of slavery, what may not be ex- 
 pected, by the introduction of a better system of ma- 
 nagement, by the aid of machinery and other im- 
 provements by which it may be considerably reduced ? 
 
 "But, if we understand the statement aright, free 
 labour is already cheaper than slave labour. In the 
 cost of production, no charge of interest or capital is 
 made. Now, it is a well-known fact, that a much 
 larger amount of capital was required in the days of 
 slavery than under the present system. There wa,s 
 the purchase-money for the slaves. Say that an 
 estate had 200 slaves located upon it, the capital 
 withdrawn amounts to 5000Z., reckoning only at 
 25Z. per head, being a saving of 250Z. per annum, at 5 
 per cent, interest; say that 180 hogsheads of sugar 
 are produced of a ton weight each, this 250Z. saved 
 will reduce the cost rather more than Is. 4d per hun- 
 dred weight; instead, therefore, of there being an ad- 
 vantage of 6d. per cent, under slavery, there is ac- 
 tually a saving of lOd. per cent by free labour in the 
 British West India colonies." — Jamaica Baptist He- 
 rald. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 43 
 
 dentary citizen and his captive family be- 
 yond the precincts of their domicile: yet 
 in such a climate few things seem more 
 necessary or desirable ; while from the 
 profusion of vegetable life which every 
 where abounds, it would be comparatively 
 easy of accomplishment. Such an append- 
 age to Kingston and Spanish Town, espe- 
 cially, is a desideratum — and its cost, com- 
 pared with the immense sums lavished on 
 less becoming recreations, would be incon- 
 siderable. 
 
 A large botanic garden was established 
 several years ago in the village of Bath. 
 It was successively enriched with produc- 
 tions from the islands of the Pacific and 
 Indian Oceans — from Mauritius and the 
 continent of India — presented by Lord 
 Rodney, Captain Bligh, and others, and 
 which promised very considerable advan- 
 tages to the colony ; but, in accordance 
 with that want of taste and public spirit, 
 or as the effect of that apathy or avarice, 
 which then characterized the leading men 
 of the colony, it was finally abandoned, the 
 legislature discontinuing the means for its 
 progressive cultivation. 
 
 As previously stated, no class of emi- 
 grants is so well suited to Jamaica as far- 
 mers with small capital. Such might 
 most advantageously settle in the moun- 
 tain districts. This would necessarily lead 
 to improvements in practical agriculture, 
 and thus not only facilitate the develope- 
 ment of the resources of the country, but 
 add much to its social happiness and pros- 
 perity. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Council, House of Assembly, Courts of Law, Laws, 
 Public Offices — Ecclesiastical Establishments — 
 Naval and Military ditto— Taxes, Revenue. 
 
 The Government of Jamaica is formed 
 after the model of that of the Parent State, 
 with such variations as the nature of the 
 country is thought to require. It con- 
 sists of a Governor, Council, and Assem- 
 bly, or House of Representatives. The 
 Governor is appointed by the Crown, — has 
 the title of Excellency, — is Commander-in- 
 Chief of the Forces, — Vice-admiral, &c; — 
 
 is invested with the chief civil authority, 
 and, under particular circumstances, can 
 appoint pro. tern, a successor. The Coun- 
 cil, Which is similar to the House of Lords 
 or the Privy Council in England, is also 
 appointed by the Sovereign at the recom- 
 mendation of the Governor, through the 
 Secretary of State for the Colonies. The 
 Assembly, which resembles the House of 
 Commons, is chosen by a small portion of 
 the people, and enjoys all the privileges of 
 the House of Commons in England. 
 
 The Governor, the Chief Justice, the 
 Attorney-General, the Bishop, the Com- 
 mander of the Forces, and the Chancellor, 
 are all members of the Council ex officio, 
 and the others are selected from the most 
 respectable and opulent of the inhabitants. 
 They are twelve in number, and are ad- 
 dressed by the title of Honourable. The 
 Assembly consists of 47 members, being 
 two representatives to each parish, and an 
 additional one to the towns of Spanish 
 Town, Kingston, and Port Royal. Its 
 duration is seven years. The qualifica- 
 tion of a representative is the possession of 
 a freehold of 300Z. per annum in any part 
 of the island, or a real and personal estate 
 of 3000/. An elector must possess a free- 
 hold estate in the parish in which he votes 
 of the value of 61. sterling, or at a rent- 
 charge of 30/. sterling, recorded in the 
 island secretary's office for twelve calen- 
 dar months, and the right of voting there- 
 on entered in the parish books, in the office 
 of the clerk of the vestry, or clerk of the 
 common council, six calendar months. He 
 must be twenty-one years of age; and 
 actually pay taxes to the amount of SI. 
 sterling per annum. His specific place of 
 abode must be also registered. He must 
 make oath as to his actual possession of 
 the property ; — present a rent-receipt from 
 his landlord, and pay his taxes up to the 
 term of his claiming to vote, and in con- 
 tinuity afterwards, as a condition of his 
 continued privilege. 
 
 The Supreme Court, in the extent of its 
 jurisdiction resembles those of the Courts 
 of King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Ex- 
 chequer, in the Mother Country. Its sit- 
 tings are held in St. Jago de fa Vega, or 
 Spanish Town, the capital, three times a 
 year, commencing in the months of Feb- 
 ruary, June and October, and continued 
 through three successive weeks. The Chief 
 Justice is nominated bv the Government of 
 
44 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 England. He was formerly assisted by 
 eight or ten colleagues, appointed by the 
 King in council, at the recommendation of 
 the Governor, each of whom received a 
 salary of 300/. sterling per annum, and 
 who sat on the bench in rotation. By a 
 recent law this arrangement is superseded, 
 and his Honour the Chief Justice, Sir 
 Joshua Rowe, is now associated with two 
 duly qualified assistants, the Honourables 
 W. C. M'Dougal and W. Stevenson. They 
 hold their offices at the pleasure of the 
 Queen in council, and have each a patent 
 of office under the great seal of the island, 
 as is the case with the Judges and princi- 
 pal officers of all the other courts, who are 
 removable only by the sanction of the 
 Queen in council. Their salaries are paid 
 by the island, and are as follow : — The 
 Chief Justice, 4000/. per annum, and each 
 of his associates about 2000/. The whole 
 annual cost for the Judicial Establishment 
 is 23,476/. The sum of 7000/. was given 
 as retirement douceurs to the former legal 
 authorities. The other officers attached 
 to the court are Dowell O'Reilly, Esq., 
 the Attorney-General, Clerk of the Crown, 
 Clerk of the Court, Solicitor for the Crown, 
 Island Secretar} r , Provost Marshal or High 
 Sheriff of the Island, with about twelve or 
 fourteen barristers. 
 
 The Assize Courts have jurisdiction only 
 in each county respectively, and have the 
 same power and authority that the Justices 
 of Assize and Nisi Prius, Justices of Oyer 
 and Terminer, and Justices of Gaol De- 
 livery, have in England. 
 
 The Courts of Quarter Sessions are con- 
 ducted similarly to those of this country, 
 and are presided over by chairmen, lately 
 appointed by the Home Government, as- 
 sisted by local and stipendiary magistrates. 
 Formerly local magistrates presided over 
 these courts, who often decided cases in 
 which they were personally concerned. 
 
 The Courts of Common Pleas are held 
 once in three months or oftener, and have 
 jurisdiction over all causes wherein any 
 freehold is not concerned, to the value of 
 20/. with costs, and no more, but by the 
 aid of a justicias from the Chancellor. 
 The appeal against the decision of these 
 courts lies to the Supreme Court of Judi- 
 cature. They were formerly presided over 
 by local magistrates, subsequently by sti- 
 pendiary and local magistrates associated, 
 but now by a chairman of Quarter Ses- 
 
 sions, assisted by stipendiary and local 
 magistrates.* The Quarter Session takes 
 cognizance of all manner of debts, tres- 
 passes, &c, not exceeding the value of 
 40s. 
 
 Until recently the Court of Chancery 
 was presided over by the Governor, who 
 possessed the same powers as those with 
 which the Lord High Chancellor of Eng- 
 land is invested. The functions of Chan- 
 cellor are dissociated from those of Go- 
 vernor, and a duly qualified individual 
 sustains the office. 
 
 Court of Error. — This is a court in 
 which appeals are heard by the Governor 
 in council from the Supreme and Assize 
 Courts in the form of writs of error, and 
 which are allowed and regulated by Her 
 Majesty's instructions to the Governor. 
 The Court of Vice-Admiralty decides all 
 maritime causes, and adjudges prizes to 
 claimants. It is a miniature representa- 
 tion of the Vice-Admiralty Court in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 The Court of Ordinary is for determin- 
 ing all ecclesiastical matters. It is pre- 
 sided over by the Governor, as the repre- 
 sentative of the Sovereign and the nominal 
 head of the Church, who in that capacity 
 inducts into the vacant rectories. The 
 Bishop of London was formerly the dioce- 
 san of Jamaica and of all the West Indian 
 colonies ; but a bishop was appointed spe- 
 cially for the island, including the Bahamas 
 and Honduras, in 1825, with a salary of 
 4000/. per annum, and an archdeacon with 
 a salary of 2000/. from the home govern- 
 ment. The crown livings were in the gift 
 of the Governor, in virtue of his station as 
 such, but are now in that of the bishop. 
 The clergy are paid partly by a stipend 
 and partly by fees. 
 
 Of late years the average annual expen- 
 diture of Jamaica for her ecclesiastical 
 establishment has been upwards of30,000/., 
 and which is paid out of the public taxes. 
 The rectors' stipends were estimated by 
 Mr. Bridges, in the year 1835, at 8820/. ; 
 the curates' salaries at 10,550/.; the ag- 
 gregate vestry allowances, 3430/. ; and the 
 average sum drawn from the inhabitants 
 
 * The stipendiary magistrates are appointed and 
 paid by the Home Government, and'are removable 
 only through the Secretary of State for the Colonies. 
 Richard Hill, Esq., a gentleman of colour, is the 
 Secretary of the Special Justices' Department, and is 
 an honour to the Government of the country. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 45 
 
 for surplice fees, at 5372/., independently 
 of the annual expenditure in maintaining 
 thirty-nine churches and chapels. By re- 
 cent acts of the legislature the fees have 
 been abolished and an annual sum granted 
 instead, which has greatly increased the 
 salaries of the rectors, so that, including 
 grants of money for chapel and school- 
 house building, the expenditure for ecclesi- 
 astical purposes has been increased from 
 30,000/. to nearly 80,000/. per annum, 
 thus imposing a most unjust and oppressive 
 burden upon the dissenters, who constitute 
 more than half the population of the island. 
 These statements are supported by the 
 following facts : — The Clergy Act, passed 
 December 1840, expressly enacts that no 
 charge be made by clergymen of the 
 Church of England for marriages, christen- 
 ings, and burials, but that they receive in 
 lieu thereof, out of the public treasury, the 
 following sums per annum, viz : — 
 
 The Rector of Kingston 
 
 .£600 
 
 " " of St. Catherine - 
 
 400 
 
 " " of St. James 
 
 400 
 
 " ■' of St. Andrew - 
 
 300 
 
 With 17 others at 2001. each 
 
 3400 
 
 Total 
 
 £5100 
 
 Thus the salaries of rectors are supposed 
 to vary from 1500/. to 2000/. per annum 
 each. In the year 1842 there was ex- 
 pended in one parish (Trelawney) for 
 church purposes, including schoolmasters 
 and subordinate church officers, 7,000/. 
 sterling, or 35,000 dollars: about 4s. 2c/., 
 or one dollar per annum for every man, 
 woman, and child within its boundaries. 
 The sum of six hundred pounds was also 
 voted to paupers belonging to the same 
 establishment. 
 
 The total paid for the church by the island 
 in the year 1841 amounted to 65,919/. 18s. 
 fid., in addition to the 11,000/. by the Bri- 
 ish Government and societies for the pro- 
 pagation of the Gospel in foreign parts, 
 >r, as estimated by the Commissioners of 
 ^ublic Accounts, 77,519/. 
 
 " There are no tithes in Jamaica," says 
 Mr. Candler,* writing in 1840 ; " a land- 
 ■;ax was imposed in lieu of tithes, and the 
 Church of England clergy are paid their 
 stipends out of the island chest. The 
 fiverage receipts of the rectors are, I under- 
 
 * Mr. John Candler, of the Society of Friends, per- 
 formed a tour of Jamaica and Hayti in the year 1840, 
 and published some valuable information on the state 
 and prospects of these islands. 
 
 stand, about 1000/. sterling per annum, 
 and of the curates about 400/. These 
 stipends, with the salary of the bishop and 
 archdeacon, and other ecclesiastical de- 
 mands for new churches and chapels, 
 school-rooms, and national schools, swal- 
 low up about 50,000/. per annum, or one- 
 eighth of the whole revenue of Jamaica ; 
 and from the disposition recently mani- 
 fested by the House of Assembly to gratify 
 the bishop and church, this sum seems 
 likely, if not checked by the people, to go 
 on increasing." 
 
 There is no Bankruptcy Law in Jamaica, 
 but an Insolvent Debtors' Act instead, 
 which is considered very arbitrary in its 
 requirements. 
 
 As a security against fraud, the law, 
 until a very recent period, when it was 
 abrogated, required that every person in- 
 tending to leave the island should publish 
 his name for three weeks in the news- 
 papers, and obtain a certificate from the 
 Governor, without which any captain of a 
 vessel with whom he might sail would be 
 liable to a very heavy penalty. 
 
 Though the constitution of the island is 
 similar to that of England, and the legis- 
 lature enacts its own laws, these laws are 
 subject to the confirmation or disallowance 
 of her Majesty in council ; and while some 
 go into immediate operation on the assent 
 of the Governor on behalf of the Queen, 
 others of a more particular and important 
 kind are passed with a suspending clause, 
 and are not carried into effect until her 
 Majesty's pleasure is known. At the same 
 time the sovereign has the prerogative of 
 disallowing any colonial Act which she has 
 not previously confirmed at any period, 
 however remote. As with all the British 
 colonies, the island is dependent on the 
 Crown and Parliament of Great Britain, 
 who have full power to control it in alt 
 cases whatsoever. Although the common 
 law of England is here in force, it is not 
 so generally with the statute laws. Nor 
 can the latter become laws of Jamaica, un- 
 less recognised by the local legislature. 
 It is well known that the consolidated 
 Slave Act existed as a distinct code, and 
 had reference to slavery and its relations 
 alone. Colonial enactments now relate to 
 those regulations of local policy which are 
 thought necessary to the altered state of 
 things, and to which it is supposed that the 
 statute laws of England are inapplicable. 
 
46 
 
 JAMAICA 
 
 It must be obvious that the entire system 
 of British law is as applicable to the go- 
 vernment of the colonies as to that of the 
 parent state ; and its adoption in Jamaica 
 would be an important boon to the country. 
 It is well known that those laws which 
 have been enacted since Emancipation 
 have not secured to the peasantry those 
 privileges and immunities which they were 
 intended to confer: many of them, there- 
 fore, have been disallowed. Amongst these 
 there are some that are not oniy oppres- 
 sive and unjust, but utterly at variance 
 with every dictate of sound policy, such as 
 the Militia Law, the Hawkers' and Ped- 
 lars' Act, the Election Law, and the Stamp 
 Act. 
 
 A body of militia is unnecessary, and 
 serves no other purpose than that of impo- 
 verishing and demoralizing the peasantry. 
 The tendency of the Hawkers' and Ped- 
 lars' Act is to create a monopoly of trade ; 
 to form an almost insurmountable barrier 
 to honourable competition ; and to impose 
 the most oppressive restrictions upon the 
 industry of the poorer classes. A hawker 
 and pedlar in England for the sum of 4/. 
 may purchase a license, which enables him 
 to travel throughout England and Wales. 
 In Jamaica he would have to purchase as 
 many licenses as there are parishes, and 
 which, including stamp-duties and clerks' 
 fees, would probably amount to upwards of 
 100/. This Act is also as useless in the 
 accomplishment of its avowed object as it 
 is unjust and impolitic in its character, in- 
 asmuch as it fails to benefit the monopo- 
 list, is unproductive to the revenue, and in- 
 effectual in preventing the sale of stolen 
 goods. 
 
 The election law is equally liable to ob- 
 jection : by that mysterious combination of 
 ever-changing difficulties which attends its 
 operation, nearly 300,000 out of the 
 400,000 inhabitants which the island con- 
 tains, may be said to be entirely unrepre- 
 sented, and, consequently, be excluded 
 from all the common paths of honourable 
 ambition. 
 
 The Stamp Act was evidently designed 
 to prevent the possession of freeholds by 
 the peasantry, and thus to diminish the 
 amount of that influence which they would 
 ultimately exert upon the legislature and 
 other interests of the country. So unjust 
 and oppressive are its enactments that 
 every effort ought to be made by the 
 
 friends of civil liberty to effect its disal- 
 lowance.^ 
 
 Great and salutary as is the change 
 which has been effected in the judicial sys- 
 tem, it cannot be dissembled that great de- 
 fects still exist ; indeed, so palpable have 
 these evils at length become, that conside- 
 rable dissatisfaction has been for some 
 time manifested on the subject, not only by 
 the public but by the legal profession. 
 They have been denounced in the public 
 journals, and loud demands have been 
 made for their reform. The remedies 
 suggested are rules for the government of 
 the inferior courts, and the establishment 
 of island law reports, the latter to be pub- 
 lished annually, for the use of the profes- 
 sion, and the benefit of the public. There- 
 ports to extend to all causes in Chancery, 
 trials at Nisi Prius, and arguments in Banco, 
 to be revised by the judge who heard or 
 tried the cause in Chancery, or at Nisi 
 Prius, and to be then published at the ex- 
 pense of the island, and received as good 
 authority in all its courts. | 
 
 In the inferior courts great advantages 
 have been derived from the appointment of 
 chairmen of Quarter Sessions, some of 
 whom, the Honourables T. J. Bernard, 
 Mayo Short, and Henry Roberts, Esq., are 
 especially efficient. A thorough reform of 
 the magistracy is, however, imperatively 
 required. So powerfully does prejudice 
 still continue to operate against the poorer 
 classes, so little effect has a change of cir- 
 cumstances effected in the dispositions of 
 the local authorities, and so far is justice 
 removed beyond the reach of the pecu- 
 niary means of the great mass of the peo- 
 ple, that, with a very few exceptions, it 
 may be said to be entirely denied them. 
 
 Each parish has a Gustos Rotulorum, 
 answering to the office of Lord Lieutenant 
 of a county in England. He is designated 
 Honourable, and has the custody of the 
 parochial records. The affairs of each 
 parish are managed by a vestry, over 
 which the Custos presides. The vestry 
 consists of the rector, churchwarden and 
 
 * By this Act the legal expense of executing and 
 recording a title for an acre of land will, in some 
 cases, doable or treble its intrinsic value, ft is also 
 supposed to possess a retrospective aspect, rendering 
 all preceding conveyances invalid unless executed 
 by a solicitor at the legal rate of charge., subjecting 
 the present freeholders to the expense of new deeds 
 of conveyance. 
 
 t Jamaica Morning Journal. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 47 
 
 ten vestrymen. It has the prerogatives of 
 assessing and appropriating local taxes ; 
 appointing waywardens for superintending 
 the repair of public roads ; and also of 
 choosing the different parochial officers. 
 Each parish has also its coroner and clerk 
 of the peace, the duties and powers of 
 which correspond with those of similar 
 offices in England. 
 
 The business connected with forts and 
 fortifications, of public works, and of pub- 
 lic accounts, is managed by commission- 
 ers, of which the council and assembly are 
 members ex officio. 
 
 Port Royal Harbour is the rendezvous 
 of the navy. In time of peace it consists 
 of only one or two frigates and several 
 smaller vessels, which are cruising on the 
 station. Here also are the store-houses, 
 the dock-yard, and the necessary conve- 
 niences for careening ships. 
 
 The military force, including 200 artil- 
 lery-men, is about 3000, comprising four 
 European regiments of the line, and one of 
 Africans from the west coast of Africa. 
 The colonial militia lately numbered from 
 16,000 to 18,000 men at arms, comprising 
 20 troops of horse and 23 of infantry, with 
 two field-pieces and a company of artillery 
 to each regiment. The head-quarters for 
 the regiments of the line are Spanish Town, 
 Kingston, and Maroon Town, in Tre- 
 lawny. The principal fortifications are, 
 Fort Charles on the east end of Port Royal', 
 and the battery of the Twelve Apostles; 
 and Fort Augusta, at the entrance of Port 
 Royal and Kingston Harbours. 
 
 The annual revenue of Jamiaca, includ- 
 ing the local taxes of the different counties, 
 and parish vestries, is estimated at 600,- 
 000/. It sustains its own government, and 
 its ecclesiastical, naval and military esta- 
 blishments (the salaries of the bishop and 
 archdeacon excepted), besides yielding an 
 annual revenue to the Crown of J 0,000/. 
 
 The taxes are numerous, and oppressive 
 to the public generally, but especially to 
 the small freeholders : the principal of 
 them are the land tax, the stamp tax, a tax 
 of 20s. on wheel carriages not used in 
 agriculture or for the conveyance of goods, 
 a house tax of 12 per cent, on the amount 
 of rent, a tax on horses, mules, and horned 
 stock ; and a road tax, recently enacted, 
 which levies one dollar, or 4s. Id., per an- 
 num On each male person from sixteen 
 years of age to sixty. As they have been 
 
 raised with little regard to justice and the 
 pecuniary ability of the public, so have 
 they been squandered with the most reck- 
 less extravagance. Thus, in addition to 
 the 80,000/. absorbed by the national 
 church, the cost of the police establishment 
 amounts to 56,400/. per annum, and that 
 of the immigration scheme, to not less than 
 30,000/. per annum. 
 
 From the report of the committee, show- 
 ing the ways and means, the income of the 
 island for ] 842 was estimated at 427,000/., 
 and the expenditure 363,000/., leaving an 
 apparent overplus of 60,000/., thus, as was 
 said officially by one of the members of the 
 legislature, obviating the necessity that was 
 supposed to exist for an income tax. 
 
 The following extract from a letter late- 
 ly received from a missionary in Jamaica, 
 dated May 23, 1843, abundantly confirms 
 the statements contained in this chapter: — 
 
 " Our taxes are abominably high. The 
 capitation tax of 4s. per head is felt as a 
 burden, under which the people complain. 
 A poor black man is charged his full 
 amount of tax, sometimes more ; is often 
 refused the discount, though he pays with- 
 in the specified time ; is charged Is. or Is. 
 Qd. for filling up the vestry form, and some 
 of the magistrates demand Is. Id. for ad- 
 ministering the required oath or receiving 
 the necessary declaration : and now, by a 
 most wily and unjust law, a man whose 
 freehold is not worth 10/. per year is ex- 
 empted from militia duty, and exempted 
 also from a vote; so that every voter is 
 liable to serve in the militia, and then the 
 smallest privilege is not to be enjoyed by 
 our peasantry unless they purchase it at 
 about 100 per cent, above its real value." 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 COMMERCE. 
 
 SHIPPING; Imports and Exports— Monetary Sys- 
 tem ; Coins, Amount of Property, aggregate Vaiud 
 of Property. 
 
 From the transition which society has 
 lately undergone, it was natural to expect 
 that in the cultivation of the staple product 
 of the country some temporary disadvan- 
 tages would be experienced. It is, how- 
 ever, gratifying to find, as was confidently 
 predicted by the friendsof freedom, that they 
 have been but temporary, as it is stated, on 
 
48 
 
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50 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 the authority of the authenticated table of 
 exports for the year 1842, (see preceding 
 page) that the exports exceeded those of 
 1841 by 13,221 hogsheads of sugar, 3850 
 puncheons of rum, and 1233 tierces of 
 coffee. 
 
 This statement is thus noticed and con- 
 firmed by the Editor of the Morning Jour- 
 nal in Dec, 1842 : 
 
 " We have been favoured with a view 
 of the statements of exports from this island 
 during the present year, and have been de- 
 lighted at perceiving the increase which 
 has taken place over those of 1841. The 
 statement is incomplete, not including the 
 exports from Port Maria, Lucea, and Savan- 
 na-la-mar. , Notwithstanding these omis- 
 sions, it appears that 13,221 hogsheads of 
 sugar, 3850 puncheons of rum, 1233 
 tierces of coffee, have been shipped in 1842 
 over and above the shipments of the pre- 
 vious year. Our British as well as Jamaica 
 readers will be gratified at the increased 
 production of our staples, which this state- 
 ment shows, and will join us in the anxious 
 hope that they will continue to increase in 
 the like ratio every year, until our island 
 has reached that pitch beyond which in- 
 creased production becomes an evil." 
 
 Hhds. Sugar. Pns. Rum. Trcs Coffee. 
 
 1841 - 22,691 8,29S 7,570 
 
 1842 - 36,012 12148 8,803 
 Excess - 13,321 3,850 1,233 
 
 The following is an extract from the 
 Morning Journal of Feb. 13, 1843 :— 
 
 " Having laid before our readers a state- 
 ment of the quantity of produce imported 
 into London during the years 1841 and 
 1842, with the stock on hand at Christmas 
 of each year, and shown the considerable 
 increase which had taken place in the im- 
 ports of the latter period, we come now to 
 exhibit the result upon a more extended 
 scale. The return before us embraces the 
 Ports of London, Liverpool, Bristol and 
 Glasgow, and these being the principal 
 ones of the country, the result must be 
 considered pretty correct. 
 
 " It appears, then, that the imports of 
 the year 1842 of sugar from the West 
 Indies exceeded those of the previous year 
 by 16,076 hogsheads and tierces, and 5354 
 barrels; the imports of 1841 being 136,974 
 hogsheads and tierces, and 11,745 barrels, 
 and those of 1842, 253,050 hogsheads and 
 tierces, and 17,099 barrels. 
 
 " The next article on the list is rum. 
 
 The imports of this article from the West 
 Indies increased during the last year, as 
 might very reasonably be expected, the 
 sugar crops having been larger. Those 
 in 1841 were 26,647 puncheons and hogs- 
 heads ; and in 1842, 33,814 puncheons 
 and hogsheads; total excess, 7167 pun- 
 cheons and hogsheads. 
 
 "The imports of pimento in 1842 ex- 
 ceeded those of 1841, by 9333 casks and 
 bags." 
 
 On this subject we shall give, in the 
 words of Lord Stanley, the present secre- 
 tary for the colonies, in his place in par- 
 liament, an account of the amount and va- 
 lue of exports from the British West Indies, 
 during a few years before and since the 
 abolition of slavery, which is as follows : 
 
 " When he looked to the average quan- 
 tity of sugar imported into the United 
 Kingdom from the West Indies, he found, 
 that during the six years preceding the ap- 
 prenticeship it was 3,905,034 cwts. ; that 
 during the four years of apprenticeship, it 
 fell to 3,486,225 cwts. ; that during the 
 first year of freedom, 1839, it fell to 
 2,824,106 cwts.; and that during the second 
 year of freedom, 1840, it fell to 2,210,226 
 cwts. If the house would permit him to 
 state this case fully and fairly, they would 
 find that the deficiency of the quantity had 
 been made up by the increased value of 
 the produce in the different intervals. For 
 instance, the average value of sugar for 
 the six years preceding the apprenticeship 
 was 5,320,021/. ; and for the four years of 
 the apprenticeship, it was 6,218,801/. In 
 the first year of freedom the amount was 
 5,530,000/., and in the next year 5,424,- 
 000/. ; and, although in this year there 
 would be a large reduction, still there 
 would be a fair remuneration for what was 
 lost by the diminution of produce." We 
 may add that, during the past year, the 
 export of sugar from the British West In- 
 dia colonies was 2,151,217 cwts., making 
 an average of 2,395,151 cwts. since the 
 introduction of freedom, being nearly two- 
 thirds of the amount exported during the 
 period of slavery. In the present year, 
 the exports are expected to exceed those 
 of the last, by from 200,000 to 300,000 
 cwts. 
 
 The coins until the passing of the act in 
 1839 for the assimilation of the currency 
 to that of the United Kingdom, were Spa- 
 nish and Portuguese. There were no banks. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 51 
 
 Money transactions with England were car- 
 ried on by means of bills of exchange, usu- 
 ally bearing a rate of premium in propor- 
 tion to their demand in the market, besides 
 the nominal par of exchange. Sometimes 
 the premiums have been as high as 23 per 
 cent. The only paper currency consisted 
 of island checks, issued by the Receiver 
 General upon the security of the island and 
 its revenue. The gold and silver coins 
 were doubloons, pistoles, dollars, half-dol- 
 lars, maccaronies, tenpences, and five- 
 pences. There was no copper coin cur- 
 rent, and the smallest of the silver coin 
 was bd. current or 3d. sterling. 
 
 There are now three banks in full ope- 
 ration, which have removed a great impe- 
 diment to commercial intercourse, and 
 greatly facilitated the operations of the 
 planter by securing a constant supply of 
 metallic currency, thereby acting benefici- 
 ally, both on the colonies and the parent 
 state. 
 
 The total amount of annually created 
 property on the island, such as its agricul- 
 tural, vegetable, and animal productions, is 
 estimated at upwards of eight millions, and 
 the total of movable and immovable, such 
 as land, public buildings, domestic proper- 
 ty, and money in circulation, at upwards 
 of forty-four millions. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 WHITE INHABITANTS. 
 
 Their Origin, Settlement, Trades and Professions, Do- 
 mestic Habits, Dress — Social Dispositions and Af- 
 fections — Manners and Customs — Education, Mo- 
 rals, Religion— General Improvement. 
 
 The first white settlers in Jamaica after 
 its possession by the British were soldiers 
 of the armament under Penn, "Venables, 
 and D'Oyly ; immigrants from Ireland and 
 Scotland ; pirates and buccaneers, the lat- 
 ter of whom had long infested the neigh- 
 bouring seas. To these may be added va- 
 rious individuals of respectability, judges 
 and others, who had taken a conspicuous 
 part in the trial of Charles I. Some wealthy 
 planters arrived from' Barbadoes ; Scotch 
 settlers from Darien ; a number of Jewish 
 families, and several naval and military 
 officers. These were succeeded from year 
 to year by artificers and indented servants, 
 together with individuals of different trades 
 and professions, more or less reputable as 
 to character, from the three kingdoms. 
 Some also were from Germany, Portugal, 
 St. Domingo, and several of the French 
 and Spanish settlements. In process of 
 time this heterogeneous mass became 
 amalgamated, and from various local cir- 
 
 [Planter, attended by Negro Driver.] 
 
 cumstances, assumed something like a | guished in general as professional men, 
 common character. They were distin- 1 planters, merchants, store- keepers, and 
 
52 
 
 JAMAICA 
 
 tradesmen, with others occupying inferior 
 situations under them. 
 
 The descendants of these, the present 
 natives of the country, are slender and 
 graceful in form, their complexion pale, 
 and with a more languid expression of 
 countenance than the Europeans ; their 
 features are regular, their eyes expressive 
 and sparkling, their hair a fine flaxen or 
 auburn, their voices soft and pleasing, and 
 their whole air and looks tender, gentle, 
 and feminine. 
 
 In the furniture of their houses and do- 
 mestic habits, the more respectable of the 
 white inhabitants, native as well as Euro- 
 pean, differ but little from those of the 
 same classes in the mother country. In 
 consequence of the heat of the climate 
 both sexes generally dress in white. As 
 throughout the year the duration of the 
 day and night is nearly the same, there is 
 but little variation in the hours of rising, 
 meals and business. Every* morning at 
 sun-rise, about 5 o'clock, a gun is fired at 
 Port Royal, and again at sunset, about 
 seven o'clock. Five or six is the usual 
 time of rising, breakfast about eight or nine, 
 and a meal called the second breakfast be- 
 tween twelve and one. Among the more 
 respectable classes, dinner is usually served 
 at six or seven in the evening, but few of 
 the inhabitants take either tea or supper. 
 
 Though the white inhabitants of Jamaica 
 retained in a considerable degree the na- 
 tional customs, as well as many of the 
 domestic and social habits of their Euro- 
 pean ancestors, yet in consequence of the 
 peculiar circumstances in which they were 
 placed, they rapidly degenerated in their 
 mental attainments and general accomplish- 
 ments. 
 
 The females, excluded from the advan- 
 tages of a liberal education, became addict- 
 ed to pleasures, such as horse-races, dances, 
 and convivial entertainments, thus acquir- 
 ing habits which could not fail to operate 
 unfavourably on their domestic circum- 
 stances and general character. 
 
 Both sexes became alike the victims of 
 pride, avarice, and prejudice, and, though 
 kind and generous in their deportment to- 
 wards friends and acquaintances, yet to- 
 wards others, especially if their inferiors, 
 they were reserved, proud, supercilious, 
 overbearing and cruel, exhibiting, indeed, 
 an anomaly of character perfectly inexpli- 
 cable, but for the influence of slavery. 
 
 The aggregate character of the white 
 inhabitants, when composed of such ele- 
 ments, in a country abounding in facilities 
 for the gratification of the worst passions 
 of our nature, and where, at the same time, 
 they were under the influence of no salu- 
 tary restraints, may be in some degree, at 
 least, conceived. Lest, however, the testi- 
 mony of the writer (though drawn from 
 facts collected on the spot, or the result of 
 his own personal observation) should be 
 liable to suspicion, he will adduce represen- 
 tations from historical records ; a portrait 
 shall be given as delineated by men who 
 were too closely connected with the state 
 of things in the colony to be even suspect- 
 ed of exaggeration to the disadvantage of 
 the parties concerned. The character of 
 the white inhabitants was by these writers 
 deplored, and mentioned only with a view 
 either of exhibiting the progress of reform, 
 or of operating as a stimulus to greater im- 
 provement ; an object than which nothing 
 can be more anxiously desired by the best 
 friends of the country. 
 
 " Many of those," says Mr. Long, " who 
 succeeded to the management of estates 
 had much fewer good qualities than the 
 slaves over whom they were set in authori- 
 ty, the better sort of whom heartily des- 
 pised them, perceiving little or no difference 
 from themselves, except in skin and blacker 
 depravity." 
 
 The practice of profane swearing was 
 awfully prevalent among them. Without 
 it every sentence they uttered appeared in- 
 complete. Not even the most foolish and 
 unimportant story was related without in- 
 voking thesacred name of God to attest its 
 truth and facilitate its currency. " I have 
 often thought," continues the same author, 
 " that the lower orders of white servants 
 on the plantations exhibit such pictures of 
 drunkenness, that the better sort of creole 
 blacks have either conceived a disgust at 
 the practice that occasions such odious ef- 
 fects, or have refrained from it out of a 
 kind of pride, as if they would appear supe- 
 rior to, and more respectable than, such 
 wretches." 
 
 But such practices were not confined to 
 the managers and others on estates. The 
 vice of drunkenness pervaded all ranks, 
 often aggravated in proportion to the pos- 
 session of rank and wealth ; — their carou- 
 sals being usually accompanied by gam- 
 bling and all the evils which follow in its 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 53 
 
 train. " Many gentlemen of rank in the 
 country impaired their fortunes and re- 
 duced their families to the brink of ruin by 
 such excesses. It was not at all unusual 
 to see one of them, after losing all his 
 money, proceed to stake his carriage and 
 horses, that were waiting to convey him 
 home, and, after losing these, obliged to re- 
 turn on foot. Drunken quarrels happened 
 among intimate friends, which generally 
 ended in duelling, — a species of crime the 
 most awfully prevalent, and resorted to on 
 the most trifling occasions. There were 
 very few who did not shorten their lives 
 by intemperance and violence." 
 
 " The bulk of the uneducated," says 
 Stewart, "are dissolute in their lives, and 
 shameful in their excesses." Concubinage 
 was almost universal, embracing nine- 
 tenths of the male inhabitants. Nearly 
 every one down to the lowest white ser- 
 vant had his native female companion.* 
 For the most part the only exceptions were 
 to be found in the cases of a few profession- 
 al men, merchants, store-keepers in the 
 towns (principally Jews), and here and 
 there in the country a proprietor or large 
 attorney." " The name of a family man," 
 says the favourite historian of the colo- 
 nists,! " was formerly held in the greatest 
 derision, whilst for a white man to form a 
 matrimonial alliance with a woman of 
 colour, although she might have lived with 
 him for years and borne him several child- 
 ren, would be for ever to forfeit his rank in 
 white society, and to transmit his name to 
 posterity in imperishable infamy." The 
 most shameless adultery was every where 
 prevalent. This sin was so common that 
 groups of white and mulatto children, 
 legitimate and illegitimate, were frequent- 
 ly claimed by the same father, and all 
 brought up together under the same roof. 
 This gross and open violation of every 
 social duty was tolerated without the least 
 injury to character even in the estimation 
 of females of respectability, or any diminu- 
 
 * Mr. Baillie, a large West Indian proprietor, when 
 examined before a Committee of the House of Lords 
 in 1832, was asked the question — " Can you name 
 any overseer, driver, or other person in authority, 
 who does not keep a mistress ?" He replied — " I can- 
 not." For this profligacy of manners on estates the 
 subordinate white servants were not wholly account- 
 able. The formation of more reputable connexions, 
 by the wretched policy of proprietors and attorneys, 
 would have subjected them to the loss of employ- 
 ment. 
 
 t Long. 
 
 tion of public or private respect. Unblush 
 ing licentiousness, from the Governor 
 downwards throughout all the intermediate 
 ranks of society, was notorious in the 
 broad light of day. 
 
 It revelled in the multiplicity of its vic- 
 tims without resistance and without con- 
 trol. 
 
 Renny, who published a history of Ja- 
 maica about the year 1807, says, " surely 
 there never was a greater inconsistency 
 than a profession of religion here. In 
 some of the parishes, which are larger 
 than our shires, there is no church ; in 
 others there is no priest ; and when there 
 is, the white inhabitants never think of 
 attending. In a town which contains be- 
 tween 20 and 30,000 inhabitants, there is 
 but one church, whilst the attendance at 
 first sight is really somewhat surprising. 
 When you enter the church on Sunday, 
 you see the curate, the clerk, the sexton, 
 one or two magistrates, and about a dozen 
 of gentlemen, and nearly double that num- 
 ber of ladies. Nothing troubles the white 
 inhabitants less than the concerns of reli- 
 gion. Christianity, indeed, is so contrary 
 in its spirit, in its doctrines, and in its in- 
 junctions, to their conduct, their prejudices, 
 and their interests, that it is not at all sur- 
 prising that even the mutilated form of it 
 which the English church presents to them 
 should be very obnoxious, and, though not 
 much spoken against, yet secretly despised 
 and openly neglected." They paid no ex- 
 ternal respect to the Sabbath. " In the 
 towns," continues the same author, and 
 which is also attested by Stewart, " many 
 of the stores are open on the Sunday, and 
 business is transacted in them as usual, 
 with this difference, that the clerks and 
 negroes generally have that day to them- 
 selves, which the former spend in amuse- 
 ment, and the latter in idleness and de- 
 bauchery." In the country the Sabbath 
 was the grand gala day. The overseers 
 on the different estates in each neighbour- 
 hood " then meet together, dine alternately 
 at each other's houses, and spend the even- 
 ing of the day in conversation, smoking, 
 drinking, playing at cards, or dancing, and 
 sometimes, as it not unfrequently happens, 
 in all these employments." That torrent 
 of iniquity which on other days was direct- 
 ed into its separate and more confined 
 channel, seemed on this sacred day to con- 
 verge around the festive board. There 
 
54 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 seemed something in the very atmosphere 
 of Jamaica unfavourable to religion in a 
 white man, for scarcely did he touch her 
 shores, than its most important truths were 
 forgotten, and its most sacred obligations 
 violated. 
 
 " As to the great part of the white colo- 
 nists born and brought up in the West In- 
 dies," says Mr. Stephens, " I am at a loss 
 for any criterion by which their religious 
 classification can be fixed. Many of them, 
 I believe, have rarely been in a place of 
 worship in their lives. Some, it is sup- 
 posed, have never been baptized." 
 
 Multitudes of them assumed the scoffers' 
 chair, and publicly avowed themselves the 
 champions of infidelity. The press was 
 also enlisted in the same unhallowed cause, 
 and poured out torrents of blasphemy from 
 day to day; whilst the whole community, 
 regarding religion as hostile to their in- 
 terests as it was opposed to their propensi- 
 ties, opposition to its introduction by mis- 
 sionaries was to be expected. " The first 
 time I preached in Kingston," says Dr. 
 Coke, " a gentleman, inflamed with liquor, 
 began to be very turbulent; till at last, the 
 noise increasing, they cried out, ' Down 
 with him ! down with him !' They then 
 pressed forward through the crowd in 
 order to seize me, crying out again, ' Who 
 seconds that fellow?' — from whose vio- 
 lence I was principally protected by a 
 lady. On my first arrival at Montego 
 Bay, accompanied by a missionary," he 
 continues, " we walked about the streets, 
 looking and inquiring for a place to preach 
 in, but every door seemed closed against 
 us." On the following year he again 
 writes: — " The disposition which had voci- 
 ferated ' Down with him !' had not yet sub- 
 sided. On the contrary, it had raged with 
 greater violence, and persecution had put 
 on a more terrific form." 
 
 About this time, a new chapel being 
 completed, he says — " It was erected in 
 the circle of danger, and arose amidst sur- 
 rounding storms." 
 
 i" Soon after," he proceeds, " the perse- 
 cutions we have experienced in this place 
 (Jamaica) far, very far, exceed all perse- 
 cutions we have experienced in all the 
 other islands unitedly considered." 
 
 Mr. Hammet's life was frequently en- 
 dangered. Mr. B., who first opened his 
 house, several times narrowly escaped 
 being stoned to death. " Often our most 
 
 active friends were obliged to guard our 
 chapel, lest the outrageous mob should 
 pull it down to the ground." At Spanish 
 Town, it appears, he succeeded in procur- 
 ing a room for preaching ; but even here 
 the same bitter spirit of opposition display- 
 ed itself. " When I entered the room," 
 he says, " I found it filled with the young 
 bucks and bloods, as we used to term the 
 debauchees at Oxford, who, during my 
 sermon, behaved so rudely that I could 
 scarcely proceed." At the Assembly Room 
 at Montego Bay, which he obtained for the 
 same purpose, he continues — " After I had 
 enforced on the audience the great truths 
 of Christianity, a company of men, with a 
 printer at their head, kept up a loud clap- 
 ping of hands for a considerable time. I 
 then withdrew into Mr. Brown's dwelling- 
 house ; but my companion (Mr. Fish, a 
 missionary) lost me, and, going out into 
 the street, was instantly surrounded by the 
 men, who shouted and swore they would 
 first begin with the servant; on which an 
 officer of the army drew his sword, and, 
 stretching it forth, declared he would run 
 it through the body of any one who dared 
 to touch the young man." Things pro- 
 ceeded to still further extremities. At 
 Kingston, and subsequently at Morant Bay, 
 several ministers and members of their 
 congregations were imprisoned. Among 
 the rest was Mr. Gilgrass, a missionary ; 
 and that on no other charge than singing 
 after six o'clock in the evening in his own 
 house. It was under circumstances, too, 
 as far as the authorities were concerned, 
 of a still more intolerant and disgraceful 
 character, as it appears, (and this, it seems, 
 was urged in his defence) that he was 
 merely learning a tune which a brother 
 missionary had just brought from England. 
 "At present," says the same excellent 
 missionary. " I cannot read in the family, 
 or pray, without being cursed worse than a 
 pickpocket, and that by white men who 
 are called gentlemen." Respecting Mr. 
 Hammet, the first missionary who settled 
 in Kingston, he adds — "Harassed with 
 persecution and fatigue, Mr. H. was at this 
 time worn down to a mere skeleton, and 
 the restoration of his health appeared ex- 
 tremely doubtful. His enemies had often 
 killed him in report, and had even in- 
 sinuated that he had been buried by his 
 friends in a clandestine manner." Dr. C. 
 continues — " ' This night,' writes a friend, 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 55 
 
 1 we were assaulted on both sides of the 
 house at prayer with a volley of stones, so 
 that some were obliged to' fly to the win- 
 dows to secure the blinds for fear of our 
 sustaining damage/ " Subsequently to this 
 were enacted the most intolerant and per- 
 secuting laws, which aimed at nothing less 
 than the expulsion of the missionaries from 
 the island ; but which, being opposed to the 
 express command of the " King of kings," 
 and, therefore, necessarily disobeyed by 
 his servants, they were frequently subject- 
 ed to the indignities of the judgment seat 
 and the prison. These were, indeed, times 
 of rebuke, and blasphemy, and trial.- The 
 situation of the missionaries was often pain- 
 ful in the extreme ; frequently were they 
 compelled to submit to the mandates of 
 colonial law, and doomed to witness the 
 progress of iniquity, without being permit- 
 ted to raise their voice against it. Time 
 would fail to enumerate the nature and the 
 number of the laws that were successively 
 enacted by the Legislature to arrest the 
 progress of religious knowledge, and rivet 
 afresh the fetters of ignorance upon their 
 unhappy vassals. One of these enactments 
 restricted the communication of Christian 
 instruction to the slaves before sun-rise 
 and after sun-set, the only times when 
 they could possibly attend for such a pur- 
 pose ; another was an act by which every 
 missionary was subjected to a fine of 201. 
 for every negro found in his congregation ; 
 these were followed by a succession of 
 others of the same nature and spirit too 
 tedious to detail, down to the period of the 
 last eventful insurrection in 1832. Thus 
 the whites, notwithstanding their superior 
 advantages, instead of being the most re- 
 spectable and happy members of society, 
 were the most wretched and corrupt — so 
 far from setting a good example to their 
 dependants, they adopted every possible 
 means to impair the reverence due to reli- 
 gion, and to weaken the hinges of moral 
 action. The very term " sectarian" served 
 as a convenient synonyme for ignorance 
 and persecution, while misrepresentation 
 and calumny were most liberally employed 
 to alienate the people, generally, from the 
 hallowed institutions of religion, and to 
 excite their prejudices and their passions 
 against its ministers. 
 
 The following examples will illustrate 
 and confirm the truth of the preceding ob- 
 servations : — 
 
 On one occasion, when in the interior 
 of the country, an application was made 
 by a white man for an interview with a 
 missionary, who soon perceived that he 
 had been favoured with a religious educa- 
 tion, and that, although his career had 
 been marked by great excesses, that he 
 was not wholly insensible to moral feeling ; 
 and the missionary, therefore, endeavoured, 
 in a faithful and affectionate manner, to 
 press upon his attention the great truths of 
 the Gospel. The tears started in his eyes, 
 and he exclaimed, with apparent anguish, 
 of heart, "What, sir, shall I do? You 
 have no idea of the degree of wickedness 
 that prevails among the people of my own 
 colour throughout the country. I am a 
 poor man, and, therefore, cannot leave the 
 island, or else most gladly would I do so ; 
 besides, I am now out of employment ; and 
 were it known that I had attended the 
 preaching of a missionary, or were it even 
 known that I had spoken to one (and it 
 will be known throughout the parish before 
 to-morrow night), what think you will be 
 the treatment I shall receive from the over- 
 seers of the different properties when I go 
 in pursuit of employment?" The conclu- 
 sion of his statement must be omitted. 
 
 On another occasion a missionary met 
 with an individual who had once made a 
 profession of religion, but who had long 
 since awfully fallen, had given himself up 
 to sin, and to work all uncleanness with 
 greediness. He had attended a religious 
 meeting, and the singing, combined with 
 other circumstances, awakening some long 
 slumbering recollections, although partially 
 intoxicated, he requested an interview. He 
 seemed wretched, and repeatedly exclaim- 
 ed, " O, this country ! I am a wretched 
 and miserable man. So far as the body 
 is concerned, I have enough and to spare, 
 but my soul ! what, is to become of that ? 
 I have never had a happy moment, sir, 
 since I turned my back upon God !" 
 
 An apparently pious and excellent man, 
 just arrived from Scotland, was urged by 
 a near relative to give up his religion at 
 once, as it would ruin and disgrace them 
 both. On his refusal he was turned out 
 of doors, and directed to seek employment 
 as a book-keeper on an estate. He did 
 so ; and on an interview which he sought 
 with his relative (for he seemed to have had 
 the spirit as well as the circumstantials of 
 genuine piety) previously to his entering 
 
56 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 upon the duties of his new situation, what 
 does the reader think constituted the es- 
 sence of the parting adieu 1 — " If your 
 religion is not beaten out of you in a few 
 days," said the experienced libertine and 
 atheist, " I shall be sadly out of my reckon- 
 ing." Lamentable to relate, this predic- 
 tion, as has doubtless been the case in 
 hundreds of similar instances, was but too 
 strictly verified. 
 
 " I have just been conversing," said a 
 friend to a missionary one evening, " with 
 a professional gentleman from the country, 
 on the subject of religion. He wept aloud, 
 and said, ' that Jamaica was a hell upon 
 earth.' " 
 
 These are plain irrefutable facts. So 
 plain and so irrefutable that the conscience 
 of every man acquainted with the general 
 state of society, if suffered to speak out, 
 would unhesitatingly confirm them. 
 
 On some estates it was customary for 
 the head book-keeper to read the burial- 
 service at the funerals of the christened 
 negroes. It was so at R. H. ; and on the 
 death of a pious negro the book-keeper ap- 
 peared at the appointed time at the place 
 of interment, and, placing himself at the 
 side of the grave, opened the prayer-book 
 and began the service. He was agitated, 
 and read the few first lines with a falter- 
 ing voice, but when he came to that part 
 of it which refers to the resurrection of the 
 dead, he trembled to such a degree that 
 the book fell from his hands, and running 
 hastily away left the corpse uninterred. 
 The deceased having been much respected, 
 the funeral procession was numerous, com- 
 posed of almost all the negroes on the 
 estate, and others of piety from the sur- 
 rounding ones. These were all witnesses 
 of this spectacle, and were at length obliged 
 to perform the last sad offices themselves. 
 Many of the poor people who were present 
 declared this to be a fact, and moreover 
 asserted that the book-keeper, when his 
 terror had subsided, swore that he would 
 never act as chaplain again. 
 
 C , a planting attorney who had 
 
 been a great tyrant to the slaves under his 
 charge, was so afraid of being poisoned by 
 some of them that he would not eat any- 
 thing unless it had been prepared and 
 cooked for him by his house-keeper. He 
 even thought that this was not exercising 
 sufficient caution, but kept a boy, the ille- 
 gitimate offspring of one of the white men 
 
 on the estate, constantly sitting on the 
 threshold of the cook-house, during the 
 process, to watch lest any negro entered 
 either it or his dwelling, having the door 
 of the cook-house carefully locked in the 
 interval. He at one time thought that his 
 vigilance had been eluded, and that he 
 was slightly poisoned. He was wretched, 
 and his health became gradually impaired. 
 For its restoration he performed a voyage 
 to his native country. During his ab- 
 scence his slaves received more humane 
 treatment, and were comparatively happy. 
 After the lapse of a period which seemed 
 to justify the hope that they would never 
 again be subjected to his despotic sway, 
 and when cheerfully at work on the public 
 road, his return was announced. They 
 heard the tidings with consternation, and 
 on its being added by their informant that 
 he was on the road, and would soon be 
 in sight, they simultaneously threw down 
 their hoes and fled into the woods, shout- 
 ing " O, da buckra da come again, come 
 kill we." Perceiving the terror his appear- 
 ance created he again became wretched, 
 and at last left the island with a determina- 
 tion never to return to it again. 
 
 As they have lived so many of them 
 have died. Justly may it be asked, " Who 
 ever fought against God and prospered?" 
 
 Mr. , abhorred by almost all who 
 
 had a tinge of colour in their complexion, 
 a proprietor and a magistrate, among his 
 other vices, was much addicted to the use 
 of ardent spirits. A short time before his 
 death, though confined to his bed, from 
 which he had no prospect of rising again, 
 he was in a state of constant intoxication. 
 The brandy-bottle which for years had 
 stood constantly by his bed-side was fre- 
 quently emptied during the course of twen- 
 ty-four hours. A few minutes before he 
 ceased to breathe he vociferated so loudly 
 and furiously for more that he was heard 
 at some distance. On entering his cham- 
 ber the blood which had flowed from his 
 mouth as the effect of mercury and fever, 
 was seen besmeared over his face, which, 
 together with his fiend-like ravings, gave 
 such an aspect of horror to his countenance 
 and gestures that even his negro servants 
 and other attendants were afraid to go near 
 him, and their terror was not a little in- 
 creased by the horrible imprecations he 
 uttered and the curses he called down upon 
 them for not obeying his commands. He 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 57 
 
 expired on the floor, in the midst of blas- 
 phemies, while attempting to revenge him- 
 self on his attendants for their neglect. 
 
 Within the last twenty years, but more 
 remarkably since 1838, a very considera- 
 ble improvement has become perceptible in 
 this class of society, especially in the 
 towns, and in particular districts of the 
 country.* Public opinion in the mother 
 country, and more frequent contact with 
 Europeans of both sexes, added to the in- 
 fluence which has been exerted by family 
 men, as Governors, Judges, and profes- 
 sional men in general, have served to sti- 
 mulate the Jamaica females to the-posses- 
 sion of superior accomplishments and the 
 cultivation of more controllable and gene- 
 rous feelings. Numbers of them also have 
 been educated in the first board ing.schools 
 in England, and have therefore, as maybe 
 supposed, effected considerable reformation 
 in the circles in which they have after- 
 wards moved. Some, it is true, have re- 
 lapsed into the listless, apathetic habits of 
 those around them ; but a progressive ad- 
 vancement in delicacy of feeling, liberality' 
 of sentiment, and in all the refinements of 
 polished society, is clearly perceptible. 
 Many ladies in Jamaica, both as to their 
 persons, manners, and general character, 
 would be an ornament to any society in 
 the world. 
 
 A considerable reformation has also 
 been effected in the moral and social ha- 
 bits of the other sex, especially in the 
 towns. In the country, with some excep- 
 tions in favour of particular districts, and 
 isolated families, it is painful to add that 
 the picture as previously drawn is still but 
 a too faithful representation. So difficult 
 is it for anything short of divine agency to 
 correct inveterate habits of evil, that drun- 
 kenness, profane swearing, concubinage, 
 and licentiousness, with every other kind 
 and degree of wickedness, still prevails to 
 an awful extent, although less unhlushing- 
 ly than formerly. Proprietors, if they 
 cannot be prevailed upon to act from 
 higher motives, cannot fail in a short time 
 to discover it to be their interest, to encou- 
 rage, rather than discountenance, the for- 
 mation of more reputable connexions by 
 managers and others on their estates. Not 
 
 * The families of the Marquis of Sligo and Sir Lio- 
 nel Smith exerted an especially beneficial influence 
 in elevating the tone and character of society among 
 the upper classes. 
 
 only is the practice of concubinage awfully 
 demoralizing to all classes and colours, as 
 well as a source of misery to a body of 
 men, some of whom are desirous of culti- 
 vating the social virtues, but from the in- 
 fluence of religion on the minds of the pea- 
 santry, it renders the perpetrators pitiable, 
 if not despicable, in their estimation, and 
 will tend powerfully to prevent the growth 
 of that mutual respect and confidence 
 which are essential to prosperity and hap- 
 piness in a state of freedom. The forego- 
 ing statements may be regarded as descrip- 
 tive of white society in the country dis- 
 tricts at the present day. The exceptions, 
 which are gradually increasing, being from 
 their secluded habits comparatively isola- 
 ted and unknown, do not at present afford 
 any material relief to the dark and forbid- 
 ding outline. 
 
 It is delightful to contemplate the change 
 which in this respect has taken place in the 
 towns. Here a goodly and rapidly in- 
 creasing number have abandoned their 
 former licentious habits, and have entered 
 the marriage state. Amongst these it must 
 be confessed that the Jews furnish the most 
 numerous and reputable examples. Among 
 them marriages with persons of their own 
 nation have always been common, and are 
 obviously on the increase ; whilst the dis- 
 grace formerly attached to a matrimonial 
 alliance of a white man with a female of 
 colour no longer exists, numbersof the most 
 influential individuals in the colony having 
 broken down the barrier which a popular, 
 but corrupt, prejudice had raised against it. 
 Hence some of the highest civic officers 
 and merchants, with others in all classes 
 of society, have lately married the mo- 
 thers of their families, and have availed 
 themselves of the advantages of a retro- 
 spective clause in a recent Marriage Act, 
 which, under such circumstances, legiti- 
 matizes their children. Embracing all 
 these redeeming features, however, even 
 with regard to the more densely populated 
 and more highly civilized parts of the 
 island, and placing them in the most con- 
 spicuous and advantageous light, it must 
 still be confessed that they are but as 
 specks of verdure amidst universal bar- 
 renness and desolation — as obscured and 
 scattered lights amidst thick and prevailing 
 darkness. 
 
 These vices are yet to be met with in 
 high places. They "are still patronized to 
 
58 
 
 JAMAICA 
 
 a fearful degree by the examples of mer- 
 chants, tradesmen, and some high public 
 functionaries. It is yet the case, that 
 crimes which in other countries would be 
 considered and treated as a wanton insult 
 to society at large, do not generally ex- 
 clude the guilty parties from the pale of 
 respectable society, or generally operate to 
 their disadvantage among the female por- 
 tion of the community. The reckless de- 
 stroyers of female innocence and happi- 
 ness still unite in the dance, mingle in pub- 
 lic entertainments, are sometimes admitted 
 at the social board, and are on terms of in- 
 timacy with the younger branches of fa- 
 milies. Nor, revolting as it may be to 
 English feelings, is it much otherwise to- 
 wards a known and habitual adulterer. 
 Nor is this all ; the possession of an illicit 
 establishment by a suitor even at the pre- 
 sent day operates as no objection in the 
 mind of a Jamaica female to an alliance 
 with him in marriage. It is not indeed un- 
 usual, in the event of satisfactory arrange- 
 mentsof a pecuniary kind being previously 
 made, for the quondam mistress to assist 
 in the arrangements for the marriage cere- 
 mony, to reside on some part of the pre- 
 mises, or to continue on terms of intimacy 
 with the family of her former lord. 
 
 When will the respectable families and 
 individuals of Jamaica v/ipe away the re- 
 proach which such practices cannot fail to 
 fix upon their characters 1 That the bar- 
 barism and demoralizing influence of such 
 a state of things are becoming the subjects 
 of increasing discussion among all classes ; 
 that they are repudiated, privately con- 
 demned, and in solitary instances publicly 
 discountenanced, is evident. All that is 
 required in order to correct, and finally to 
 annihilate, the monstrous evil, is for ie- 
 males and family men in general to make 
 against it at once a vigorous and deter- 
 mined stand. 
 
 With so much that is evil in the moral 
 and social condition of the white inhabi- 
 tants, it will scarcely be expected that a 
 very flattering account can be given of their 
 general progression with regard to the great 
 subject of religion. A darkness in this re- 
 spect thick, gross, and palpable still pre- 
 vails. Not only is there manifested the 
 most awful indifference to the obligations 
 of Christianity, but in numberless cases 
 the most contemptuous disregard of it ; in 
 a word, infidelity, so congenial with long 
 
 habits, and so suitable with depraved tastes 
 and inclinations, still obtains to a very great 
 extent, fostered and confirmed by the vile 
 publications, few in number though they 
 are, found upon estates, and the almost en- 
 tire restriction of intercourse in such places 
 to corrupt and vicious company. Pre. 
 judice against religion and its professors, 
 however, is becoming far less inveterate 
 and general among all classes of the whites 
 throughout the country. Many have ex- 
 emplified their liberality by assisting mis- 
 sionaries in various ways in the erection 
 of chapels and school-houses, while out- 
 ward persecution has entirely ceased. 
 
 Multitudes of planters and merchants, 
 who were once the greatest enemies to re- 
 ligion and its professors, are now occasion- 
 ally seen in a place of worship on the Sab- 
 bath. Whilst many have lately become 
 savingly converted to God, have put on 
 Christ by an open profession of his name, 
 have formed reputable connexions in mar- 
 riage, are ornaments to society, blessings 
 to all around them, are confided in, es- 
 teemed, and- beloved by the peasantry, and 
 will unfailingly secure the prosperity of the 
 properties of which they are either the pro- 
 prietors or managers.* 
 
 The extent to which the change with re- 
 spect to religion has taken place in the 
 towns can scarcely be conceived even by 
 those who are most sanguine as to the pro- 
 
 * An overseer, or, as he is more properly called in 
 some other islands, manager, is the principal person 
 on an estate under the proprietor or his attorney. A 
 book-keeper is subordinate to the overseer, and su- 
 perintends the labours of the field, and the manufac- 
 ture of its produce. The latter appellation is most 
 inappropriate — a Jamaica book-keeper having no 
 books to keep. 
 
 One of the greatest blessings that could be confer- 
 red on white servants on estates would be a library 
 of good and useful books. There have been instan- 
 ces known in which two or three infidel publications 
 have been all that some poor book-keepers and others 
 have seen for years, and which, in a lew leisure mo- 
 ments after the toils of the day, or in times of reco- 
 very from sickness, they have been almost compelled 
 to read to beguile the tediousness of their solitary and 
 oftentimes melancholy hours. After all, our white 
 countrymen on estates and properties in the interior 
 of the country have been, and are still, in a situation 
 very far from enviable ; and it is high time that some- 
 thing should be done for their improvement and com- 
 fort. 
 
 In some large manufactories, &c, in England, pro- 
 prietors feel it to their interest to promote the morals 
 of their dependants, and for this purpose connect li- 
 braries with their establishments, and in every other 
 way endeavour to promote their social and domestic 
 comfort. Surely West Indian proprietors are to be 
 found who only need to be reminded of the mutual 
 advantages to be derived from similar means in order 
 to their speedy adoption. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 59 
 
 gress of favourable events. The Sabbath 
 day is now recognised as the day of God. 
 Hundreds of the most respectable families 
 are seen attending different places of reli- 
 gious worship who a short time since were 
 scarcely ever within the walls of such an 
 edifice. The Bible is no longer a proscribed 
 or unknown book, nor are children brought 
 up either to ridicule its hallowed doctrines 
 or to despise its salutary restraints. 
 
 Bible societies, school societies, anti-sla- 
 very societies, and various institutions of a 
 similar kind, have at length excited the 
 sympathies and co-operation of the respec- 
 table female portion of the community ; 
 and gentlemen of the first standing in so- 
 ciety are no longer ashamed to advocate 
 the claims of such institutions by presiding 
 at their anniversaries and contributing libe- 
 rally and openly to their funds. The opi- 
 nion that religion consisted only in an oc- 
 casional attendance at the parish church is 
 no longer general. It begins to be regard- 
 ed as a daily and personal concern, and 
 has become the subject of conversation in 
 families where a little time ago its intro- 
 duction would have excited ridicule or con- 
 tempt. 
 
 Books of all descriptions, many of them 
 the Tract Society's publications, have found 
 their way into private libraries, — are found 
 on drawing-room tables, — and are exten- 
 sively read. Above all, a. family altar is 
 erected in the houses of many leading men 
 in the community, at which they them- 
 selves preside, — a practice which even ten 
 years since would have subjected them in 
 the public newspapers to contempt and 
 scorn, and which, with the exception of a 
 few isolated instances among laymen, was 
 then totally unknown. The elevating and 
 purifying influences of religion are extend- 
 ing themselves among our countrymen and 
 their descendants, encouraging the hope 
 that irreligion and profligacy, persecution 
 and bigotry, the unfailing concomitants of 
 slavery, will disappear with the system 
 which nurtured them to such an awful ma- 
 turity and power. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 PEOPLE OF COLOUR AND FKEE BLACKS. 
 
 Former condition — Causes of difference of Com- 
 plexion and Circumstances — Political State — Pro- 
 scription from Society of White Inhabitants — Low 
 State of Morals — Removal of Disabilities — Rapid 
 Advancement in civilization and the Social Scale — 
 Present Condition. 
 
 With the exception of the Maroons, or 
 " Hog-hunters," as the term imports, de- 
 scendants of the slaves whom the Spa- 
 niards left behind them on the conquest of 
 the island by the British, the inhabitants 
 were divided into only two distinctive class- 
 es, white and black ; the external peculi- 
 arities of which determined the condition 
 of the parties as it respected slavery or 
 freedom. In process of time, owing to 
 manumissions granted to domestics as a 
 reward for long and faithful services, toge- 
 ther with those on whom that boon had 
 been bestowed by the House of Assembly, 
 chiefly for distinguished efforts in endea- 
 vouring to restore tranquillity to their oft 
 distracted community, in addition to the 
 favoured few who had been enabled to ob- 
 tain their enfranchisement by purchase, 
 there arose, from among the sons and 
 daughters of Ethiopia, an increasing body 
 of persons of free condition denominated 
 free blacks and people of colour. The lat- 
 ter, descended from an intermixture of 
 whites, blacks, and Indians, soon formed 
 an intermediate race, whom the Spaniards 
 distinguished by appellations varying ac- 
 cording to their approach in consanguinity 
 to their white or black progenitors. Five 
 principal varieties are generally enumera- 
 ted as descending from the original negro 
 stock, the sambos, mulattoes, quadroons, 
 mestees, and mestipbinoes. But to' these 
 refined distinctions, the Spaniards add the 
 tercirons and the giveros, whom they are 
 said to have proscribed and banished as 
 beings of the worst inclinations and prin- 
 ciples. The Dutch recognised gradations 
 still more minute, and which they attempt 
 to distinguish and designate by adding 
 drops of pure water to a single drop of 
 dusky liquor until it becomes nearly trans- 
 parent. 
 
 A sambo is the offspring of a black wo- 
 man by a mulatto man. A mulatto is the 
 child of a black woman by a white man. 
 A quadroon is the offspring of a mulatto 
 woman by a white man, and a mestee is 
 
60 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 that of a quadroon woman by a white man. 
 The offspring of a female mestee by a 
 white man being above the third in li- 
 neal descent from the negro ancestor was 
 white in the estimation of the law, and en- 
 joyed all the privileges and immunities of 
 Her Majesty's white subjects, but all the 
 rest, whether mulattoes, quadroons, or mes- 
 tees, were considered by the law as mulat- 
 toes or persons of colour. A creole, what- 
 ever his condition or external peculiarities, 
 is a native; thus it is customary to say, a 
 Creole white, a creole of colour, or a Cre- 
 ole black. 
 
 The colonial legislature, gravely assum- 
 ing that recently enfranchised blacks could 
 acquire no sense of morality by the mere 
 act of manumission (although it cannot be 
 doubted but that, in reality, they were in- 
 fluenced by far less exceptionable motives); 
 the political and civil condition of this class 
 was of the most abject and oppressive cha- 
 racter, desirable only when compared with 
 the bondage to which it had succeeded. 
 They were not admitted as evidence against 
 white or other free-born persons in courts of 
 justice, or allowed to vote at parochial or 
 general elections. Like the common slaves, 
 the only mode of trial which they were 
 granted, was by two justices and three 
 freeholders, the judges themselves being 
 probably interested in the issue of the case. 
 Nor did even the people of colour possess 
 immunities to an extent to justify their 
 claim to freedom even in the most restrict- 
 ed import of the term. However wealthy 
 or respectable — and some of them were 
 equally so with many of the more privi- 
 leged whites — their evidence was inadmis- 
 sible in criminal cases, both against white 
 persons and those of their own colour. 
 The right of trial by a jury of their own 
 peers conceded by the British constitution 
 even to foreigners, was denied to them. 
 They were ineligible to the office of ma- 
 gistrates or churchwardens, to serve on pa- 
 rochial vestries, to hold commissions in 
 the black and coloured companies of mili- 
 tia, or to sit on juries. To this catalogue 
 of disabilities may be added those created 
 by the 35th section of the colonial statute, 
 which enacts, " that no Jew, mulatto, In- 
 dian, or negro, shall be capable to officiate, 
 or be employed, to unite in, or for, any of 
 the public offices therein mentioned." They 
 were not eligible to the office of a common 
 constable, or even to the situation of over- 
 
 seers or book-keepers on estates. Not 
 only were they excluded from the privilege 
 of representing their own colour in the 
 colonial assembly, but they had no elective 
 franchise, and were consequently denied 
 the right of even voting at elections for the 
 return of white members to the assembly, 
 and thus virtually refused all right of re- 
 presentation. It was even held illegal for 
 them to possess property beyond a certain 
 amount, lest they might acquire an influ- 
 ence which they might one day exert " in- 
 juriously to the island." Thus in an act 
 of assembly passed in the year 1762, it is 
 declared " that a testamentary devise from 
 a white person to a negro, or mulatto not 
 born in wedlock, of a real and personal 
 estate exceeding in value 2000/. currency, 
 or about 1200Z. sterling, shall be void, and 
 the property shall descend to the heir at 
 law." They were not allowed to possess 
 either a sugar or a coffee estate ; and no 
 one of them, except he possessed a settle- 
 ment with ten slaves upon it, could keep 
 any horses, mares, mules, asses or neat 
 cattle on penalty of forfeiture.* Those 
 who had not settlements were obliged to 
 furnish themselves with certificates of their 
 freedom under the hand and seal of a jus- 
 tice, and to wear a blue cross on the right 
 shoulder on pain of imprisonment. If free 
 coloured individuals were convicted of con- 
 cealing, enticing, entertaining, or sending 
 off the island, any fugitive, rebellious or 
 other slave, they were to forfeit their free- 
 dom, be sold and banished. Unless the 
 fact could he incontestably certified by 
 documents, there was a legal presumption 
 against the freedom of a black or coloured 
 man, and in the event of the inability of 
 such individuals to produce satisfactory 
 documents, cases which were of constant 
 occurrence, he was committed to the work- 
 house, worked in chains, ultimately sold 
 by auction to defray the expenses of his 
 imprisonment, and himself and his poste- 
 rity doomed to perpetual bondage. On 
 every hand were they goaded by oppres- 
 sion as cruel and unnatural as it was un- 
 just and impolitic. Fear is the offspring 
 of tyranny and the companion of guilt ; 
 hence the whites were continually conjuring 
 up dreams of rebellion and massacre. 
 Scarcely therefore could these inoffensive 
 people meet together without being sus- 
 
 *Long, vol. ii.,pp. 321-323. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 61 
 
 peeled of insurrectionory designs. Nor 
 were the whites negligent in devising ex- 
 pedients to banish the most influential of 
 them from the colony as persons of dan- 
 gerous principles. This object indeed they 
 effected in the year 1823, by the operation 
 of an alien act introduced into the Legisla- 
 ture for no other purpose. The first vic- 
 tims of this disgraceful statute were Messrs. 
 Lescene, Escoffery, and Gonville, whose 
 cause was so ably and triumphantly plead- 
 ed before the British parliament by Dr. 
 Lushington. 
 
 Not only were they oppressed and bowed 
 down by the operation of unjust and cruel 
 laws, but there was yet another circum- 
 stance connected with the condition of the 
 coloured and black population, in some re- 
 spects still more painful. The most inve- 
 terate prejudices existed against them on 
 account of their colour. Hence they were 
 universally prohibited all intercourse of 
 equality with the whites, and if of such an 
 opprobrious distinction they ventured to 
 complain, they were often insultingly told 
 that they were " the descendants of the 
 ourang-outang;" that their mothers hunted 
 the tiger in the wilds of Africa ; and that, 
 but for the generosity of their sires, in place 
 of possessing freedom and property, their 
 lot would have been to dig cane-holes be- 
 neath the discipline of the driver's cart- 
 whip. 
 
 At church, if a man of colour, however 
 respectable in circumstances or character, 
 entered the pew of the lowest white man, 
 he was instantly ordered out. At any 
 place of public entertainment designed for 
 the whites, he never dared to make his ap- 
 pearance. With the people of colour, in- 
 deed, the whites, like the Egyptians in re- 
 ference to the Israelites, held it an abomi- 
 nation even to eat bread. This senseless 
 prejudice haunted its victims in the " hos- 
 pital where humanity suffers, in the prison 
 where it expiates its offences, and in the 
 grave-yards where it sleeps the last sleep." 
 In whomsoever the least trace of an Afri- 
 can origin could be discovered, the curse 
 of slavery pursued him, and no advantages 
 either of wealth, talent, virtue, education, 
 or accomplishments, were sufficient to re- 
 lieve him from the infamous proscription. 
 
 Under these circumstances, who can be 
 surprised that, among this class also, there 
 should have existed an awful laxity of mo- 
 rals? Unlike their white progenitors, how- 
 
 ever, they were not generally chargeable 
 with the vice of drunkenness, with opposi- 
 tion to the spread of religion, nor with 
 bigotry, infidelity, and persecution. In 
 every other respect, especially in licen- 
 tiousness, they but too faithfully followed 
 the example of the privileged orders. Al- 
 luding to the people of colour, says Stewart 
 in 1823, " few marriages take place among 
 them. Most of the females of colour think 
 it more genteel to be the kept mistress of a 
 white man." They viewed marriage as 
 an unnecessary restraint. Worse than 
 this; — and can it be heard by Christian 
 parents without a thrill of horror 1 — in hun- 
 dreds of instances, mothers and fathers 
 gave away in friendship, or sold, their 
 daughters at the tenderest ages for the 
 worst of purposes, or became the guardians 
 of their virtue for a time only to enhance 
 its future price. 
 
 " Bred only and completed to the taste 
 Of lustful appetence, to sing, to dance, 
 To troll the tongue and roll the eye." 
 
 These were not isolated cases, exceptions 
 rather than general rules ; so common was 
 the practice that negotiations for these 
 purposes were carried on at noonday. 
 Such was the debasement of moral feeling, 
 that the most infamous excesses were per- 
 petrated without a blush of shame, and 
 among this class also there was one uni- 
 versal riot in the vicious indulgences of an 
 indiscriminate sensuality. 
 
 Parents the reckless murderers of the 
 innocence of their own offspring! Wan- 
 ton and infamous abandonment of every 
 fine and virtuous feeling ! Alas ! for the 
 influence of slavery. 
 
 By the efforts of a few noble spirits 
 among their body, amongst whom as the 
 most conspicuous and influential were Ri- 
 chard Hill and Edward Jordon, Esqs., to- 
 gether with Messrs. Lescene, Escoffery, 
 and Gonville, their disabilities were at 
 length removed, and they were admitted 
 to a full participation of civil privileges 
 with the whites. This occurred in the 
 year 1828. Relieved from those proscrip- 
 tions by which they had been enthralled 
 and bowed down, they as a body immedi- 
 ately began to advance in the scale of civi- 
 lization, intelligence, and virtue, so that at 
 the present time they discover a renovation 
 of character and a degree of improvement 
 in manners, customs, and knowledge, of 
 which history, in a similar space of time, 
 
62 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 scarcely affords a parallel. In their houses, 
 dress, personal appearance (complexion ex- 
 cepted), general deportment, wealth, mo- 
 rals, and religion, many of them are on an 
 equality with the most respectable of the 
 whites. Nor are they less so in the higher 
 attainments of the mind. There are now 
 to be found among them men of talent, 
 learning, and accomplishments, who would 
 do honour to any community. They 
 fill the public offices, practise as solicitors 
 and barristers in the courts of law; are 
 found among our tradesmen, merchants, 
 and estate proprietors ; are directors of our 
 civil institutions ; are enrolled among our 
 magistrates ; and have even obtained a seat 
 and influence in the senate. The genero- 
 sity of the females of colour has ever been 
 proverbial ; and their kindness to strangers 
 suffering from the diseases of the country 
 has won for them universal gratitude and 
 admiration. Neither are they less remark- 
 able for their social and domestic qualities. 
 There have always been found among them 
 some who in no respect suffered by a com- 
 parison with the most respectable of the 
 whites. For several years this number has 
 been increasing, and soon, by the posses- 
 sion of equal advantages, every thing like 
 a characteristic distinction between these 
 two classes will be lost. 
 
 " Children we are all 
 Of one great Faiher, in whatever clime 
 
 His providence hath cast the seed of life, — 
 
 All tongues, all colours ! Neither after death 
 
 Shall we be sorted into languages 
 
 And tints — white, black, and tawny, Greek and Goth, 
 
 Northman and offspring of hot Africa; 
 
 Th' all-seeing Father — he in whom we live and 
 
 move — 
 He, th' indifferent Judge of all — regards 
 Nations, and hues, and dialects alike: 
 According to their works shall they be judged." 
 
 With this advancement on the part of 
 the more educated portion of the people of 
 colour there has been also a corresponding 
 improvement on the part of the working 
 classes and the higher orders of the blacks. 
 The latter have advanced to that degree in 
 the scale of civilization and intelligence 
 formerly occupied by the people of colour, 
 and the former to that previously held by 
 their more favoured white brethren. 
 
 In no respect do these now differ from 
 the middling and lower classes of trades- 
 men and others in England. Their eyes 
 have long been open to the disgrace and 
 sin of concubinage, and marriage among 
 them has become common. The eye of 
 the Christian is now delighted, especially 
 on the Sabbath, by the spectacle of multi- 
 tudes of these classes with their families 
 walking to and from the house of God in 
 company. 
 
 As in every other community, some may 
 live together unhappily, or may violate the 
 sacred compact, but with the great majority 
 it is otherwise. None can be better hus- 
 
 [ Mulatto and Black Female of the upper classes.] 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 63 
 
 bands, better wives, more affectionate 
 parents, or better members of civil society. 
 Nor are any people in general better dis- 
 posed towards the great subject of religion. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Sect. I. Political Condition of the Black Po- 
 pulation. — Origin of the Slave Trade — Its Atro- 
 cities — Slaves, when first brought to Jamaica, and 
 by whotn — Dreadful Nature and consequences of 
 Slavery as it existed in Jamaica. 
 
 Sect. II. Abolition of the Slave Trade. — Origin 
 of the African Institution— Efforts for ameliorating 
 the Condition of the Slaves — Conduct of the Ja- 
 maica House of Assembly — Insurrection or Distur- 
 bance in 1832 and 1833 — Its real Causes — Destruc- 
 tion of Mission Property — Wanton and Awful Sa- 
 crifice of Negro Life by the Whites — Imprison- 
 ment and Trial of Missionaries— Their triumphant 
 Acquittal. 
 
 Sect. III. The Apprenticeship System. — Tts Impo- 
 licy, Injustice, and Cruelty — Inefficiency as a Pre- 
 parative to Freedom — Special Magistrates — Exci- 
 ted and utisetiled State of the Black Population as 
 the Result of the Operation of this Systpm — Re- 
 presentation of the State of Things by Missiona- 
 ries — Messrs. Sturge, Harvey, and others. 
 
 Sect. IV. Total Emancipation. — Manner in which 
 it was celebrated — Conduct of the Newly-Emanci- 
 pated — Conduct of the Planters — Subsequent Dif- 
 ferences — Establishment of new Villages — Resto- 
 ration to Harmony and Peace — General Prosperity 
 and Happiness. 
 
 Section I. — It has been already stated 
 that, previously to its possession by the 
 British, negroes had been imported into 
 Jamaica by the Spaniards, a crime to the 
 commission of which they were impelled 
 by avarice, regarding it as the best means 
 of supplying the want of labourers cre- 
 ated by the destruction of the aboriginal 
 inhabitants. In thus making merchandise 
 of the bodies and souls of men they fol- 
 lowed the example of the Portuguese, who 
 began the infamous traffic in 1442 at Cape 
 Bojador, under their celebrated navigator 
 Anthony Gonzalez. Great numbers are 
 said to have been imported into Jamaica as 
 early as 1551, under the sanction of Fer- 
 dinand V. of Spain. 
 
 But the first cargo of which we have 
 any authentic record was conveyed to the 
 island by some Genoese merchants in 
 1517, to whom the Emperor Charles V. 
 granted a patent for the annual supply of 
 4000 slaves to his West Indian possessions 
 generally. 
 
 The traffic was found to be lucrative, 
 and the lust of avarice obliterating all 
 
 sense of justice and every feeling of huma- 
 nity, it was soon participated in by all the 
 great maritime powers of Europe. 
 
 The first Englishman who thus disho- 
 noured himself and his country was Cap- 
 tain, afterwards Sir John Hawkins, who, 
 in conjunction with several wealthy mer- 
 chants in London, fitted out three ships on 
 this execrable enterprise in 1562. 
 
 Sanctioned by Charles I. and II., as 
 well as by succeeding monarchs, to such 
 an extent had it increased under the Bri- 
 tish flag, that, in 1771, one hundred and 
 ninety-two ships were employed in the 
 trade, and the number of slaves imported 
 was from 38,000 to 40,000. 
 
 The hapless victims of this revolting 
 system were natives of the African conti- 
 nent — men of the same common origin 
 with ourselves, — of the same form and de- 
 lineation of feature, though with a darker 
 skin, — men endowed with minds equal in 
 dignity, equal in capacity, and equal in 
 duration of existence, — men of the same 
 social dispositions and affections, and de- 
 stined to occupy the same rank with our- 
 selves in the great family of man. 
 
 The means by which they were obtain- 
 ed were in the highest degree unlawful and 
 unjust. Their inhuman captors had no- 
 thing like a colourable pretext to assign for 
 their rapacity : their fiend-like purposes 
 were accomplished by violence, fire, and 
 every other instrument of devastation and 
 murder which sagacity could contrive, or 
 the lust of avarice prompt. Every tie, hu- 
 man and divine, was violated. 
 
 Nobles and princes were severed from 
 their tribes and territories ; husbands, 
 wives, and children from jeach other. 
 They were barbarously manacled, — driven 
 like herds of cattle to the sea-shore, often- 
 times at a distance of some hundreds of 
 miles, exposed to the burning heat and 
 pestilential atmosphere of their sun-burnt 
 lands, and ..then crowded into the holds of 
 slave-ships. Arrived at the destined port 
 (for a veil must be cast over the horrors of 
 the middle passage), these poor wretches 
 were sold at public outcry to the highest 
 bidder, — were driven in chains (frequently 
 naked) by their purchasers to their respec- 
 tive domiciles, and the greater part of them 
 doomed to toil almost without rest or inter- 
 mission, until relieved by death from their 
 captivity and suffering. 
 
 Chiefly by the self-denying and arduous 
 
64 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 exertions of the eminent philanthropists 
 Sharpe, Clarkson, and Wilberforce, aided 
 by different religious bodies, but especially 
 by the Society of Friends, the righteous 
 indignation of the British people was at 
 length aroused by the atrocities which this 
 hateful traffic involved, and, no longer 
 able to resist the united claims of reason, 
 justice and humanity, in 1807 the imperial 
 parliament decreed its abolition. While, 
 however, this act prevented the importa- 
 tion of fresh victims into the colony, 
 slavery itself, with all its enormities, still 
 existed. Those already brought were re- 
 duced to a state of vassalage, the most de- 
 grading to which human beings could be 
 subjected, stripped of every right that life 
 holds dear, outcasts from the common 
 privileges of humanity, deprived of the 
 essential attributes of man, without a legal 
 claim to the produce of their own labour, 
 or even to the possession of their wives 
 and children. Driven to their labour by 
 the cart-whip, classed with appurtenances 
 of the estates to which they belonged, and 
 bred for the exclusive purposes of sale and 
 labour, their condition was not distinguish- 
 able from that of the passive brute. As 
 though to keep their spirits in perpetual 
 prostration, and to extinguish every spark 
 of the man within them, many were 
 branded like sheep or oxen, with the ini- 
 tials of their owner's name, an indignity 
 to which they were liable as often as their 
 purchaser was changed. They were per- 
 petually liable to arbitrary, indecent, and 
 excessive punishment. The most trifling 
 circumstances could easily be magnified 
 into crimes which would nerve the arm of 
 the despot to whom this power was dele- 
 gated, and who, at his pleasure, could in- 
 flict whatever punishment he chose, with- 
 out any regard to condition, sex or age. 
 
 Not only did the task-master torture the 
 bodies of his vassals by the whip, but he 
 also corrupted their morals by his licen- 
 tiousness. There was no law either to 
 guard the chastity of a female slave, or to 
 avenge any insult that might be offered 
 to her violated honour. Nay more, the 
 simple expressson of nature on the part of 
 a slave as he witnessed the ruin of his 
 wife, his mother, or his daughter by any 
 of the white fraternity, was legally prohi- 
 bited, and an attempt to protect them might 
 be punishable with death. Thus, as they 
 had no protection in their domestic inter- 
 
 course, so neither had they any security 
 in their sympathies and sorrows. They 
 were subject to punishment at all times, 
 which was inflicted by various legalized 
 instruments of torture, by the common 
 stocks, the thumb-screw, the field stocks, 
 the iron collar, the yoke, the block and 
 tackle, and the cart-whip. 
 
 For running away from severe usage, a 
 slave was deemed rebellious, and might be 
 mutilated. Acts for which a white man 
 would be only imprisoned were deemed 
 capital crimes in a slave. If any event 
 transpired which could be construed into 
 an insurrection, these poor creatures were 
 shot like wild beasts, or hunted down with 
 blood-hounds; if they made the least re- 
 sistance they were hewn to pieces ; if 
 taken, were doomed to banishment or hope- 
 less imprisonment. If actually concerned 
 in treasonable practices, they were con- 
 demned without trial, and expiated their 
 crimes by sufferings inflicted with a wan- 
 tonness of cruelty never exceeded by the 
 most degraded barbarians. 
 
 While however their oppressors, as ca- 
 price or passion dictated, could thus inflict 
 upon their wretched vassals sufferings al- 
 most beyond endurance, a slave who raised 
 his hand by nature's instinct for his own 
 protection, or struck, or dared to strike, or 
 used any violence towards, or compassed 
 or imagined, the death of a master or mis- 
 tress, was doomed to suffer death without 
 benefit of clergy. On the other hand, the 
 murder of a slave by a white man was a 
 venial offence, and from the inadmissibility 
 of slave evidence often escaped punish- 
 ment altogether. The slave was therefore 
 entirely unprotected from the tyranny of 
 his master, nor could he be a party in any 
 civil action, either as plaintiff, defendant, 
 informant, or prosecutor, against any per ~ 
 son of free condition. Thus he was pro- 
 tected only as an inferior animal. Should 
 he be maimed by a free person, the damage 
 would not be awarded to him, but to his 
 master. Even the natural right of self- 
 defence was denied to a slave. Notwith- 
 standing, however, his exclusion from the 
 protection of the law, he was liable to its 
 restraints, and thus underwent the miseries 
 of a beast of burden without enjoying its 
 immunities. Such was the penal code to 
 which the slaves were subjected. The 
 manner in which they were tried was, if 
 possible, still more disgraceful and op- 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 65 
 
 pressive. On charges which did not 
 affect their lives, it was competent for a 
 single justice, or for two at most, to de- 
 cide. 
 
 The little huts in which they resided, 
 lowly though they were, yet being of their 
 own ejecting, the rural spots which they 
 k had cultivated around them, and the trees 
 >y which they were embosomed, planted 
 by their own hands, and beneath the shade 
 of which they had so often rested from 
 their toils, and especially the circumstance 
 that these spots were hallowed by the tombs 
 of their friends and kindred, would natu- 
 rally beget local attachments of -a most 
 powerful, and almost superstitious charac- 
 ter. But from these spots, thus hallowed 
 by affection, thus endeared by all the feel- 
 ings which constitute home, and perhaps 
 the only objects that ever awakened the 
 tenderness of their hearts, they were liable 
 to be torn away for ever, and with it, from 
 their wives, their children, and all the com- 
 panions of their youth, torn away either 
 at the caprice of their master, or in execu- 
 tion for his debts — sold by auction to the 
 highest bidder, and carried into a strange 
 and unknown neighbourhood. 
 
 " Numerous and cruel though the op- 
 pressions are, by which the poor negroes 
 are degraded, tormented, and destroyed," 
 says Mr. Stephen, " there are two which 
 I have regarded as by far the worst, not 
 only because the most general and afflic- 
 tive, but because they give birth, and viru- 
 lence, and tenacity to almost all the rest — 
 I mean the truly enormous amount of field- 
 labour to which the negroes are coerced, 
 and the almost incredible degree of parsi- 
 mony with which they are maintained." 
 Their labour, under the fervent heat of a 
 tropical sun, was indeed cruelly execessive, 
 sufficient, during a comparatively short 
 period of time, to expend the vigour and 
 exhaust the spirits of the strongest and 
 most energetic frame, inasmuch as they 
 had to perform by manual operation those 
 processes which, in every other country, 
 are performed by horses, oxen, and ma- 
 chinery. In thousands of instances did 
 it induce exhaustion and weakness, sick- 
 ness, and premature death, facts of which 
 no question can be entertained, it having 
 been proved to a demonstration that the 
 destruction of human life in those islands 
 where sugar is most cultivated has been 
 going on at a rate which, were it generally 
 
 to prevail, would depopulate the earth in 
 half a century.* 
 
 And for all these wearisome labours they 
 received no wages ; their toil was purely 
 unrequited — unrequited not merely in a 
 pecuniary sense, but frequently as it re- 
 spected lodging, clothing, and food. Nor 
 from their wretched condition was there 
 any prospect of deliverance. The better 
 their behaviour the more likely were they 
 to be detained in bondage. No legal faci- 
 lities were afforded by which they might 
 be enabled to purchase their freedom, even 
 if they possessed the means ; on the con- 
 trary, the law actually interfered to pre- 
 vent masters, who might be thus inclined, 
 from giving them their liberty. They would 
 have had one solace, had this dreary doom 
 been only their own ; but it was not. It 
 was hereditary. Slavery seemed to be a 
 taint in the blood which no length of time, 
 no change of relationship, could obliterate; 
 it was entailed on the posterity of the slave 
 to the remotest period. Their children 
 and their children's children, through each 
 successive generation, were heirs of the 
 same inheritance. 
 
 But there is still another light in which 
 the condition of the negro must be viewed. 
 Not only were their bodily sufferings al- 
 most beyond endurance — not only were 
 they consigned by thousands to a prema- 
 ture grave, and given over to dreary, hope- 
 less, and hereditary bondage, but their 
 cruel task-masters carefully excluded them 
 from all opportunities of Divine worship, 
 and thus interposed their power between 
 them and their Creator, as though deter- 
 mined to retain them in ignorance of the 
 gospel, as the only effectual means of per- 
 petuating the existence of their inhuman 
 system. Thus, as clearly expressed in 
 the Consolidated Slave Act of 1816, they 
 were not permitted to attend a place of 
 worship, or to engage in religious duties 
 in their own habitation, without a special 
 license from the magistrates. And for the 
 crime of worshipping God without their 
 masters' permission they were ever liable 
 to punishment. 
 
 " O for the day when slavery shall not be 
 
 Where England rules, but all her sons be free;. 
 
 When Western India, and Mauritia's isle, 
 
 Loosed from their bands, shall learn at length to smile; 
 
 When colour shall no longer man degrade, 
 
 And Christ by all shall be alike obey'd." 
 
 * See Sir Fowell Buxton's admirable work on the 
 Slave Trade. 
 
66 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 Section II. — This state of things con- 
 tinued until the year 1814, a year dis- 
 tinguished by the pledge given for the abo- 
 lition of the traffic by the representatives 
 of the great powers of Europe at the Con- 
 gress of Vienna, which led to discussions 
 in the British Parliament on the subject of 
 slavery as it existed in the colonies. At 
 the same time awful disclosures were con- 
 tinually being made by the African Asso- 
 ciation, a society formed on the 14th of 
 June, 1807, by the great philanthropists of 
 the day, Clarkson, Wilberfbrce, Brougham, 
 Stephen, Macaulay, Buxton, Allen and 
 others, for the promotion of the general in- 
 terests of the African race, and of which 
 his Royal Highness the Duke of Glouces- 
 ter was president. Missionaries of different 
 denominations becoming more numerous, 
 more familiar with the atrocities of the 
 system, and less able to submit to the pru- 
 dential restraints enjoined upon them by 
 the societies to which they belonged, added 
 their testimony as eye-witnesses to the 
 mass of evidence already before the public, 
 and the sympaties of the country were 
 again powerfully excited. Mr. Wilberforce, 
 now greatly enfeebled, was succeeded, as 
 the great parliamentary champion of the 
 African race, by Thomas Fowell Buxton, 
 Esq., who, like his predecessor, with a 
 heart deeply imbued with philanthropic 
 feelings, and unappalled by the difficulties 
 and obloquy which stared him in the face, 
 in March, 1823, brought forward a resolu- 
 tion in the House of Commons, " declaring 
 that slavery was repugnant to the princi- 
 ples of the British Constitution and of the 
 Christian religion, and that it ought to be 
 gradually abolished throughout the British 
 dominions." It was intended that this re- 
 solution should be at once succeeded by 
 ameliorative measures ; and though the 
 motion was rejected by the House, yet the 
 feelings and sentiments of the nation were 
 not to be disregarded ; and to allay the 
 general excitement, one of a similar, 
 though less comprehensive kind, was sub- 
 stituted by Mr. Canning. This was at 
 length adopted, and recommended to the 
 consideration of the Colonial Legislature. 
 It was received by them with indignation, 
 and finally rejected with contempt and 
 scorn. Ebullitions of feeling against the 
 missionaries of different denominations, but 
 against the Baptists missionaries in particu- 
 lar, were now more violent than ever. 
 
 They were denounced, both by the white 
 portion of the populace, by the press (long 
 the vehicle of malignant and vulgar defama- 
 tion), and by the Colonial Legislature, as 
 being in league with the Anti-Slavery So- 
 ciety, by whom the Government was in- 
 stigated to effect their ruin. In common 
 with missionaries of other denominations, 
 they were frequently cited before Commit- 
 tees of the House of Assembly for the most 
 contemptible of purposes — harassed with 
 warrants for not serving in the militia, cir- 
 cumscribed and impeded in their benevo- 
 lent efforts by oppressive laws, and treated 
 with all the indignity and virulence which 
 prejudice and mortified tyranny could dic- 
 tate. In Barbadoes and Demerara these 
 feelings, no longer capable of control, were 
 vented in the demolition of a Wesleyan 
 chapel, accompanied by other outrages, 
 which were consummated by the murder of 
 the missionary Smith. 
 
 These grievances, with the means adopt- 
 ed for their redress, together with the 
 factious opposition of the colonists to the 
 reasonable requisitions of the Government, 
 served to diffuse still more widely a know- 
 ledge of the evils of the existing system, 
 and had the effect of uniting all classes and 
 societies of professing Christians in a 
 prompt and determined effort for remedial 
 measures. The Anti-Slavery Society was 
 more than ever diligent in the diffusion of 
 its publications — lecturers were appointed 
 to traverse the country to inform more 
 generally the public mind — the pulpit lent 
 its aid to the same great object, as the re- 
 sult of which, petitions from all parts of 
 the land poured into both houses of Parlia- 
 ment in such numbers that the appeals 
 could no longer be withstood. The Colo- 
 nial Legislature was requested by Lord 
 Goderich, in 1831, to reconsider the de- 
 spatches of Earl Bathurst in 1823. The 
 recommendation was again treated with 
 general contempt, while the most inflam- 
 matory speeches were made throughout 
 the country, both in public and private, 
 against the missionaries and the British 
 Government, accompanied by menaces of 
 rebellion on the part of the white inhabi- 
 tants against the parent state, and a trans- 
 fer of their allegiance to America. In one 
 intance they were accompanied by an act 
 of lawless violence, connected with the 
 Wesleyan missionary and chapel, at St. 
 Anne's Bay. At night, while the white 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 67 
 
 company of the militia was on guard, the 
 house of the Rev. Mr. RatclifFe, in which 
 he, his wife, and children resided, was 
 violently attacked by a party armed with 
 fire-arms, who, without the slightest pro- 
 vocation, lodged fourteen bullets within the 
 walls. This occurred in December, 1826, 
 and was brought before the House of Com- 
 mons in the month of March following by 
 Dr. Lushington. These circumstances had 
 the effect of exciting the suspicions of the 
 negroes that freedom bad been granted 
 them by the King, but that it was withheld 
 by their masters, which led to the resolu- 
 tion on the part of some of the slaves in the 
 parishes of St. James and Trelawney, to 
 test the truth of the report by a refusal to 
 work after the Christmas holidays, except 
 for wages as freemen. Among the leaders 
 and others in this movement were found 
 individuals connected with the Baptist and 
 other churches in the parish of St. James ; 
 no sooner however was this known to the 
 missionaries on the spot than they exerted 
 themselves to the utmost to undeceive the 
 misguided multitude. This object it is pro- 
 bable they might have accomplished, but 
 for the measures that were instantly adopt- 
 ed by the authorities. Martial law was 
 proclaimed, and the militia, composed 
 chiefly of the planters in the districts, exas- 
 perated to the direst revenge, commenced 
 hostilities. Retaliation was provoked, and 
 the most wanton and horrible cruelties per- 
 petrated by the whites, accompanied by 
 outrages on the Baptist missionaries, and 
 the destruction of the Baptist and Wesleyan 
 chapels in the neighbourhood. These atro- 
 cities were sanctioned, and even abetted, 
 with but one or two exceptions, by the 
 magistrates and other local authorities, who 
 at length committed the missionaries to 
 prison on suspicion of their having instigat- 
 ed the " rebellion." This suspicion was 
 magnified into a charge, and they were 
 tried for their lives. The vilest and most 
 despicable means which diabolical malice 
 and depraved prejudice could devise were 
 employed to fix the guilt of this charge 
 upon them, but not a single accusation 
 could be substantiated. The principal suf- 
 ferers in these shameful outrages, whose 
 hardships and indignities were almost in- 
 describable, were Messrs. Gardner, Bur- 
 chell, Knibb, Abbott, Whitehorn, Baylis, 
 Kingdon, Taylor, and Barlow, Baptists ; 
 and Messrs. Bleby and Box, Wesleyans. 
 
 But for the high patronage which they en- 
 joyed, it is probable that both the Presby- 
 terian missionaries and the Evangelical 
 clergy would equally have shared in these 
 disgraceful outrages. 
 
 " Usually the best friends of mankind," 
 says a quaint writer, " those who most 
 heartily wish the peace and prosperity of 
 the world, and most earnestly strive to pro- 
 mote them, have all the disturbances and 
 disasters happening charged on them by 
 those fiery vixens who really do themselves 
 embroil things, and raise combustions in the 
 world." So in the present case. 
 
 Fourteen chapels were destroyed belong- 
 ing to the Baptist Missionary Society, with 
 private houses and other property, amount- 
 ing to 23,250/.* Six chapels belonging to 
 
 * The following letters, which the author, who was 
 then in England, received from his esteemed mission- 
 ary brethren, the Rev. J. Clarke and H. C. Taylor, 
 who were supplying his church in his absence, will 
 illustrate the spirit by which these caluminated mis- 
 sionaries were actuated, as well as the dangers which 
 surrounded them. 
 
 After stating that the rebellion was a contest carried 
 on by wicked men for the perpetuation of slavery, 
 Brother C. continues — " It is consoling to think that 
 God will maintain his cause, and in his own time 
 turn the councils of the wicked into foolishness. Our 
 trust is in him : and daily we appear in his house to 
 present our supplications at his throne of mercy in 
 the name of our adorable Redeemer — and we know 
 that we are regarded. For many weeks past we have 
 kept a regular watch to protect the chapel, as we had 
 good evidence that many wicked men had united in 
 order to pull it down. 
 
 " Three persons, not connected with us, came for- 
 ward and made affidavits, certifying that they had 
 
 been invited by a Mr. to join in this evil work. 
 
 The case was represented at the Peace Office, and 
 Mr. H. was bound over to keep the peace. But we 
 are far from being secure, as prejudice still runs ex- 
 ceedingly high, and those in power are quite as bad 
 as others. 
 
 " What a fearful tale will soon be told you, and is 
 now being told of Jamaica ! What will be the conse- 
 quences we cannot tell. Many a night have we lain 
 down in your house in Spanish Town, expecting to 
 be aroused before morning to attempt to prevent the 
 destruction of the premises. Blessed be God! all is 
 yet safe ; and we trust he will restrain the violence of 
 wicked men, and overrule all past evils for the glory 
 of his own great and holy name." — August 11, 1832. 
 
 " Things are still unsettled," says Mr. T.; " the ne- 
 groes do not fight, but fire places, and retire to the 
 woods and hills. If reports are true, I by no means 
 consider myself safe ; and I think it not very unlikely 
 but that one or more of the ministers of religion will 
 be sacrificed. The whites are thirsting for our blood. 
 All is quiet, I am happy to say, on the south side of 
 the island, so far as regards the slaves ; but as to the 
 whites, they are striving with all their might to breed 
 disturbances, by pulling down class-houses, threaten- 
 ing the missionaries, and punishing the slaves for 
 praying. I was on Monday had up to the Peace Of- 
 fice. Three affidavits were sworn to against me for 
 seditious preaching, but as the affidavits were contra- 
 dictory of each other, the object of the parties was 
 defeated. On the following Sabbath one of these ia- 
 
68 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 the Wesleyans were demolished, with a 
 total loss of 60007. in property. To carry 
 out a project long cherished and threaten- 
 ed for expelling all the dissenting mission- 
 aries from the island, and which it is sus- 
 pected was the real origin of the insurrec- 
 tion, a Colonial Church Union was formed, 
 and a system of persecution continued, un- 
 paralleled in the history of modern times. 
 Meanwhile Mr. Knibb of the Baptist Mis- 
 sionary Society, and Messrs. Duncan and 
 Barry, of the Wesleyan body, sailed for 
 England, followed by Mr. Burchell, whose 
 united statements and appeals, accom- 
 panied and sustained by the evidence fur- 
 nished by themselves and others to both 
 houses of parliament, on the subject of 
 slavery in general, excited, to a degree 
 hitherto unparalleled, the indignation of the 
 British people, and the thought of ameliora- 
 tive measures was lost in the determination, 
 that slavery itself should cease. Not con- 
 tent with inflicting sufferings almost beyond 
 endurance upon the bodies of his wretched 
 vassals, and consigning them to a prema- 
 ture grave, the monster had now lifted up 
 his palsied hand and attempted to interpose 
 his malignant power between his victims 
 and their Creator, as the only means of 
 perpetuating his own existence. This was 
 to wage war with Omnipotence, and his 
 doom was sealed. 
 
 Christians of every denomination, pa- 
 triots and philanthropists of every rank 
 and name, simultaneously arose and pe- 
 titioned with united voice and with a firm- 
 
 formers came again, thinking, probably, I should no- 
 tice the Peace Office business, but I made no allusion 
 to it whatever, determining, as I have ever done, to 
 aim at winning souls. I therefore chose for my text 
 — ' Except ye repent,' &c. 
 
 " The chapel was very full ; several white people 
 were there whom I never saw before. This day poor 
 Brother Nichols and his wife came from St. Anne's 
 Bay. A set of ruffians entered the chapel there by 
 force on the Friday night about ten o'clock. They 
 beat out the windows, and threw out the benches. 
 Brother N. called out murder, and the depredators 
 ran away. 
 
 " Things are now more alarming. You have heard 
 of the destruction of the chapels on the north side, 
 but the Governor issued a Proclamation against it. 
 This destruction of the chapels occurred when mar- 
 tial law had ceased, not by the blacks, but by the 
 whites ; who therefore are the rebels now ? 
 
 " Troopers were about all last night. We go this 
 morning to the Custos to know what is to be done. 
 There is a rumour now abroad of a conspiracy to 
 burn down all the chapels in Kingston and Spanish 
 Town. Our people were guarding ours all last night ; 
 the women, especially, are determined to defend it to 
 the last. Several of our missionary brethren, with 
 their wives, have fled hither for refuge," 
 
 ness and determination not to be resisted 
 or delayed, that liberty, immediate and un- 
 conditional, the birth-right of every man, 
 should be at once enjoyed by Africans and 
 their descendants, throughout the British 
 dominions, equally with other subjects of 
 the realm. 
 
 Section III. — The great cause, as it 
 might be supposed, was espoused by the 
 reformed parliament under Earl Grey, 
 which assembled May the 14th, 1833, and 
 was brought forward by Lord Stanley, 
 then Secretary for the Colonies. The re- 
 sult was the substitution of an apprentice- 
 ship system during a period of twelve 
 years, afterwards reduced to six years, 
 with a compensation of twenty millions as 
 an indemnity to the planters. This boon 
 was hailed by the slaves and by their 
 friends, both in England and the colonies, 
 with the greatest public demonstrations of 
 
 joy- 
 
 The following is the substance of the 
 Act introduced by Lord Stanley, and 
 which passed the British parliament on 
 this memorable occasion, one of the bright- 
 est that stands upon the statute-book of 
 English law and English freedom, the 
 Magna Charta of negro rights : — 
 
 " Be it enacted, that all and every one 
 of the persons who on the first day of Au- 
 gust, one thousand eight hundred and 
 thirty-four, shall be holden in slavery 
 within any such British colony as afore- 
 said, shall, upon and from and after the 
 said first day of August, one thousand 
 eight hundred and thirty-four, become and 
 be to all intents and purposes free, and dis- 
 charged of and from all manner of slavery, 
 and shall be absolutely and for ever manu- 
 mitted ; and that the children thereafter 
 born to any such persons, and the offspring 
 of such children, shall in like manner be 
 free from their birth ; and that from and 
 after the first day of August, one thousand 
 eight hundred and thirty-four, slavery 
 shall be and is hereby utterly and for ever 
 abolished and declared unlawful through- 
 out the British colonies, plantations, and 
 possessions abroad." 
 
 In the meantime the Earl of Belmore, 
 during whose administration these dis- 
 graceful outrages occurred, was recalled, 
 and the Earl of Mulgrave succeeded as 
 Governor. By a happy combination of 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 wisdom, firmness and energy, added to 
 liberal and enlightened views, his Excel- 
 lency, now the Marquis of Normanby, re- 
 stored tranquillity to the distracted commu- 
 nity, and induced the legislature to accede 
 to the proposals of the parent state. After 
 nearly two years of almost ceaseless effort 
 and annoyance his Excellency relinquished 
 the government, a step to which he was 
 urged by personal and relative affliction. 
 The Marquis of Sligo was now appointed 
 to see this great measure carried into 
 effect, a duty which he nobly performed. 
 And when at length the memorable day 
 arrived on which this boon was to be be- 
 stowed, it was welcomed and celebrated 
 throughout the island with high and holy 
 joy — welcomed and celebrated not only 
 for the immediate blessings which followed 
 in its train, but as the dawn of temporal 
 liberty to the world, and the harbinger to 
 the degraded sons of Africa of 
 
 " A liberty 
 Which monarchs cannot grant, nor all the pow'rs 
 Of earth and hell confederate take away, 
 Which whoso tastes can be enslaved no more — 
 The liberty of heart derived from heaven." 
 
 Man now ceased to be the property of man. 
 The former slaves were now to labour, not 
 at the caprice of an absolute owner, en- 
 forced by the whip of an arbitrary and 
 irresponsible task-master, but by settled 
 rules. They were now to be under the 
 influence of known and settled laws, admi- 
 nistered by special and duly appointed 
 magistrates, on sufficient evidence in open 
 courts — their evidence was now received 
 in a court of justice — they were admitted 
 to a participation of civil privileges with 
 freemen — they could rear their own chil- 
 dren, and dispose of their own property : 
 but this was all. They had not yet the 
 right of self-disposal and self-management 
 — not yet the privilege of selecting their 
 own employments, or of choosing their 
 own masters : and, as it is unreasonable to 
 suppose that the faults of years were to be 
 eradicated in a day, or the tyranny of the 
 passions to be crushed in an hour — that 
 the man who had treated the slave as a 
 brute would regard him as a man and a 
 brother from the simple act of manumis- 
 sion, the humane and well-intentioned pro- 
 visions of the Act were evaded and neu- 
 tralized by local enactments and by partial 
 and vicious adjudication. While, however, 
 it is confessed that the system was less 
 
 harsh and revolting than actual slavery in 
 some of its features, it was far from being 
 so in others. It was only a modification 
 of slavery — a substitution of half measures 
 for the whole: and hence it not only failed 
 to accomplish the end designed, but in 
 some respects was made an occasion of 
 greater oppression than slavery itself — it 
 was slavery disguised : " and disguise 
 thyself as thou wilt, still, slavery, still thou 
 art a bitter draught." During the short 
 period of two years, 60,000 apprentices 
 received, in the aggregate, one-quarter of 
 a million of lashes, and 50,000 other 
 punishments by the tread-wheel, the chain- 
 gang, and other means of legalized tor- 
 ture ; so that, instead of a diminution, 
 there was a frightful addition to the mise- 
 ries of the negro population, inducing a 
 degree of discontent and exasperation 
 among them never manifested under the 
 previous system ; and which, but for the 
 influence exerted by the Governor, the 
 missionaries, and some of the special ma- 
 gistrates, would, in all probability, have 
 broken out into open and general rebellion. 
 It was, in a word, a scheme fraught with 
 greater difficulties in its operation than can 
 be conceived. It was expensive, partial, 
 criminal, and altogether useless — of no 
 avail but for the purposes of dissension, 
 strife and anarchy — " Nam timor eventus 
 deterioris abest." It was unsatisfactory to 
 all parties, and beneficial to none. In ad- 
 dition to the evils it entailed on those more 
 immediately concerned in its operation, it 
 was a source of the most unparalleled diffi- 
 culty, labour, and obloquy, to the noble- 
 minded individuals under whose eventful 
 and successive administrations it was car- 
 ried on.* It was defective as a system 
 abstractedly considered ; and it had, in ad- 
 dition, to contend against obstacles insepa- 
 rable from inveterate custom, and morally 
 insurmountable. 
 
 It therefore failed — and failed signally. 
 It was obnoxious to the master — hateful to 
 
 * "The whipping of females, you were informed 
 by me, officially, was in practice; and I called upon 
 you to make enactments to put an end to conduct so 
 repugnant to humanity, and so contrary to law. So 
 far from passing an Act to prevent the recurrence of 
 such cruelty, you have in no way expressed your dis- 
 approbation of it. I communicated to you my opinion, 
 and that of the Secretary of State, of the injustice of 
 the cutting off the hair of females in the House of 
 Correction, previous to trial. You have paid no at- 
 tention to the subject." — Speech of the Marquis of 
 Sligo to the Jamaica Mouse of Assembly. 
 
70 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 the slave — and perplexing to the special 
 magistrates. Placed, as these latter indi- 
 viduals were, almost entirely at the mercy 
 of the planters, few had the moral courage 
 or the moral principle to withstand the 
 consequences of a faithful and conscien- 
 tious discharge of their duty. Among the 
 few whom no bribes could seduce, and no 
 threats intimidate — some resigned their 
 office in disgust — others sunk beneath the 
 pressure of excessive labour, anxiety, and 
 persecution. Of those that survive, the 
 names of Hill, Palmer, Maddan, Daugh- 
 trey, Baynes, Grant, Bourne, and Kent, 
 will be distinguished and cherished by the 
 great mass of the inhabitants to the latest 
 posterity. Slavery ivitt admit of no mo- 
 dification. Under these circumstances, 
 representations as to the nature and effects 
 of the Apprenticeship System were soon 
 made by the Baptist Missionaries ;* by the 
 philanthropic Joseph Sturge and Thomas 
 Harvey, who personally acquainted them- 
 selves with its results; and successively 
 by the noble-minded Governors, the Mar- 
 quis of Sligoj" and Sir Lionel Smith ; and 
 truth and justice for the last time stood 
 forth and demanded the fulfillment of their 
 claims. Within the short space of about 
 six months, deputations, varying in num- 
 ber from 140 to 400, assembled in London 
 from different parts of the three kingdoms ; 
 Downing-streetand Westminster Hall were 
 again besieged ; and petitions, signed by 
 upwards of one million of British subjects, 
 in which 450,000 English, 135,000 Scotch, 
 and upwards of 77,000 Irish females — a 
 mighty host, marshalled and led on by the 
 piety, talent, learning, eloquence, and phi- 
 lanthropy of the best portion of the public 
 
 * The following is a specimen of the language used 
 towards the missionaries at this period by some of 
 the members of the Honourable Plouse of Assembly. 
 
 It was used by the Hon. A ^~^~ ' n a debate on 
 
 a bill to legalize marriages by disslfeting ministers. — 
 " The report of a committee appointed to inquire 
 into the working of the Apprenticeship System 
 would that day be presented, by which it would be 
 clearly shown that the evil which now prevailed — 
 that the non-working of the Apprenticeship System, 
 indeed all the mischief of the present day — was to be 
 attributed to the interference of the sectarian preach- 
 ers ; they were a set of lawless miscreants in whom 
 no faith was to be placed, from whom no security 
 could be obtained. They had no reputation to lose, 
 or character to give weight to their evidence in a 
 court of justice." 
 
 t The Marquis of Sligo, who is a large proprietor 
 in Jamaica, nobly confirmed his sentiments by libera- 
 ting all his apprentices before the act of final eman- 
 cipation was carried, which had great influence on 
 the abandonment of the system. 
 
 press* — imperatively demanded the aboli- 
 tion of the System on the ground of a vio- 
 lation of the contract by the planters. For 
 a time the boon was delayed, and the Bri- 
 tish Lion was provoked to anger : he put 
 forth his might, and the monster Slavery 
 was no more. 
 
 Section IV. — At length the advocates 
 of liberty and the champions of the op- 
 pressed reaped the glorious reward of their 
 self-denying and philanthropic labours. On 
 the glorious and never-to-be-forgotten 1st 
 of August, 1838, 800,000 African bond- 
 men were made fully and unconditionally 
 free. " An act of legislation the most mag- 
 nanimous and sublime in the annals of the 
 world, and which will be the glory of Eng- 
 land and the admiration of posterity, when 
 her proudest military and naval achieve- 
 ments shall have faded from the recollec- 
 tions of mankind ;" an event which trans- 
 pired at the most auspicious period of the 
 history of the world — at a time of the most 
 profound and general peace ever enjoyed 
 since Augustus Ca?sar shut the gates of 
 Janus — when the crown of the mightiest 
 empire of the world had just been placed 
 on the youthful brow of Victoria, the be- 
 loved mistress of a free people. 
 
 When a century shall have passed away 
 — when statesmen are forgotten — when rea- 
 son shall regain her influence over preju- 
 dice and interest, and other generations are 
 wondering at the false estimate their fore- 
 fathers formed of human glory — " on the 
 page of history one deed shall stand out in 
 whole relief — one consenting voice pro- 
 nounce" that the greatest honour England 
 ever attained was when, with her Sovereign 
 at her head, she proclaimed the slave is 
 free, and established in practice what 
 even America recognises in theory: that 
 all men are created equal — that they are 
 endoiced by their Creator ivith certain 
 tmalienable rights — that among these are 
 life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 
 
 On the evening of the day preceding 
 that which witnessed the actual bestowment 
 of the inestimable boon on the apprentices 
 of Jamaica, the towns and missionary sta- 
 
 * Very valuable assistance was especially given on 
 this occasion in London by " The Sun," " The Globe," 
 " The Patriot," " The Morning^Herald," and the diffe- 
 rent religious periodicals, and seconded by a large por- 
 tion of the provincial press, as well as by that of Ire- 
 land and Scotland. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 71 
 
 tions throughout the island were crowded 
 with people especially interested in the 
 event, and who, filling the different places 
 of worship, remained in some instances 
 performing different acts of devotion until 
 the day of liberty dawned, when they 
 saluted it with the most joyous acclaim ; 
 others, before and after similar services, 
 dispersed themselves in different directions 
 through the towns and villages singing the 
 national anthem and devotional hymns, 
 occasionally rending the air with their ac- 
 clamations of "Freedom's come;" " We're 
 free, we're free; our wives and our chil- 
 dren are free." On the following day the 
 places of worship were thrown open, and 
 crowded almost to suffocation; in many 
 instances even the whole premises of a 
 missionary establishment were occupied. 
 Sermons were preached applicable to the 
 event, devout thanksgivings to Almighty 
 God at the throne of grace, mingled with 
 songs of praise, ascended up to Heaven 
 from every part of the land. The scenes 
 presented exceeded all description. The 
 whole island exhibited a state of joyous ex- 
 citement as though miraculously chastened 
 and regulated by the hallowed influences 
 of religion.* 
 
 After the services of the day at Spanish 
 Town, which were deeply interesting, the 
 congregation collected in and about the 
 Baptist Chapel, numbering full 7000 souls, 
 were to be addressed by his Excellency 
 the Governor. These, with the children 
 of the schools, which amounted to 2000, 
 accordingly walked in procession to the 
 square opposite the Government House, 
 headed by their pastor, displaying flags and 
 banners, which bore a variety of interesting 
 inscriptions. Although joy brightened every 
 countenance, the procession moved on with 
 all the apparent solemnity of a funeral, and 
 in a few minutes after it made its appear- 
 ance, his Excellency the Governor, sur- 
 rounded by the bishop, his honour the 
 Chief Justice, and other high official func- 
 tionaries, addressed the immense mass of 
 apprentices thus congregated, in a speech 
 characterized by much simplicity, affection, 
 and energy. During the delivery of the 
 speech, his Excellency was greeted by 
 reiterated and enthusiastic cheering, being 
 
 * Even the irreligious part of the community on 
 this memorable occasion seemed inspired with re- 
 ligious feeling, and flocked in crowds to the House of 
 God. 
 
 regarded by the people as their friend and 
 benefactor. After about an hour, the mass 
 having given three cheers for the Queen 
 and three for Sir Lionel, followed their 
 pastor to the Baptist mission premises, 
 cheering him in the most enthusiastic 
 manner. 
 
 Arrived in the immediate neighbourhood 
 of the chapel, the multitude surrounded him, 
 grasped him in their arms, and bore him, 
 in the midst of shouts and caresses, into 
 his house. The enthusiasm of the mul- 
 titude being now wound up to the highest 
 pitch, they declared themselves unwilling 
 to separate without greeting the different 
 flags. The flags and banners were accord- 
 ingly unfurled, and for nearly an hour the 
 air rang with the shouts of exultation that 
 were thus poured forth from thousands of 
 joyous hearts. 
 
 The school-children had remained be- 
 hind to sing several airs before the Govern- 
 ment house, and just as the mass were 
 cheering the last banner, upon which was 
 inscribed in large capitals, " We are free! 
 we are free ! our wives and our children 
 are free!" they all entered, and, adding their 
 shrill voices to the rest, raised a shout that 
 seemed to rend the air. Over the two prin- 
 cipal entrances to the chapel were three 
 triumphal arches, decorated with leaves 
 and flowers, and crowned with flags, bear- 
 ing the several inscriptions of " Freedom's 
 come," " Slavery is no more," " Thy 
 chains are broken, Africa is free;" while 
 in addition to these, and the flags and ban- 
 ners borne by the procession, one was seen 
 waving from the cupola of the metropolitan 
 school-rooms,* bearing " the 1st of August, 
 1838," ornamented by a painted wreath of 
 laurel. The bethel flag floated over the 
 chapel, and the Union Jack over the minis- 
 ter's house, which is situated in the mid- 
 dle of the two. 
 
 ORDER OF PROCESSION. 
 
 Teacher of the Sunday-School, with Union Jack. 
 
 Master of Metropolitan Day-School — Mr. Kirby. 
 
 Superintendent of Sabbath-School, Wm. Groom, Esq. 
 
 Children and Teachers, 
 
 bearing at regular intervals flags and banners with the 
 
 subjoined devices, 
 
 " Education, social order, and religion." 
 
 " Wisdom and knowledge the stability of the times." 
 
 " Knowledge is power." 
 
 " Peace, industry, and commerce." 
 
 "Freedom's bright day hath dawned at last." 
 
 The Pastor. 
 
 Deacons of the Church. 
 
 Connected with the Mission premises, 
 
72 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 10. 
 
 11. 
 
 12. 
 
 Two silk flags — " Glory to God," " The slave is free." 
 
 Singers. 
 
 Two silk flags — " Victoria," " Sir Lionel Smith." 
 
 JVlass of about 500 persons. 
 
 Large banner borne by four — " 1st August, 183S." 
 
 Mass of about 500. 
 
 Twosilkflags, "EarlofMulgrave," "Marquis of Sligo." 
 
 Mass of about 500. 
 
 Three silk flags — " Sturge," " Brougham," " Liberty." 
 
 Mass of about 500. 
 
 Flags with the following inscriptions 
 were distributed variously throughout the 
 remaining part of the procession : 
 
 1. " Am I not a man and a brother ?" 
 
 2. "The day of our freedom." 
 
 3. "England, land of liberty, of light, of life." 
 
 4. " Ethiopia bends her knee to God and gives him 
 
 glory." 
 
 5. " Freedom shall henceforth for ever be enjoyed 
 
 throughout the British empire." 
 
 6. " Equal rights and privileges." 
 
 7. " Philanthropy, patriotism, and religion, have, 
 
 under God, achieved for us this glorious tri- 
 umph.'' 
 
 8. "Emancipation in peace, in harmony, in safety, 
 
 and acquiescence, on all sides." 
 
 9. " Truth, justice, and right have at length pre- 
 
 vailed." 
 
 'Let strife and conflict from these lands be 
 driven, 
 And men and masters fill the path to heaven." 
 
 1 May the cause of mercy triumph in both hemi- 
 spheres." 
 
 ■ The 1st of August, 1838, never to be forgotten 
 through all generations." 
 
 On the evening of the following day a 
 charitable bazaar was opened at the 
 metropolitan school-rooms, which were 
 most beautifully illuminated and adorned 
 by characteristic transparencies. His Ex- 
 cellency the Governor and suite were 
 present; his honour the Chief Justice and 
 lady, several members of the Council and 
 House of Assembly, several military offi- 
 cers, and most of the respectable and influ- 
 ential inhabitants of the town and neigh- 
 bourhood. " Altogether the number of 
 visiters and persons assembled could not," 
 says a respectable spectator, " have been 
 less than 4000." Several rural fetes were 
 held on different estates in the same parish 
 in commemoration of the event, attended 
 also in some instances by his Excellency 
 the Governor and suite, and in all cases by 
 proprietors or their representatives, as also 
 by magistrates and other respectable por- 
 tions of the community. Of these, it may 
 not be uninteresting to afford the following 
 specimen which occurred at the Farm Pen, 
 the property of Lord Carrington, and which 
 united the peasantry of that nobleman and 
 Lord Seaford. 
 
 From previous reports, and the general 
 belief that his Excellency the Governor 
 
 and suile would honour the entertainment 
 with their presence, considerable interest 
 was created throughout the neighbourhood. 
 As soon as his Excellency and aide-de- 
 camp arrived within a few hundred yards 
 of the scene of conviviality, his Excellen- 
 cy's horses were instantaneously detached 
 from the carriage, and replaced by some of 
 the most athletic young men of the two 
 properties, who drew it along at full speed, 
 amidst the waving of banners and the 
 deafening cheers of the people. His Excel - 
 lency was then conducted to a kind of rus- 
 tic saloon prepared for the occasion, where 
 he was received by the Honourable Joseph 
 Gordon, the attorney of the estate. The 
 tables were stretched along a beautiful lawn 
 between the great house and the negro 
 village, and were enclosed in their whole 
 extent, which could not have been less than 
 200 feet, by a beautiful and highly-finished 
 fabric of evergreens, adorned with chaplets 
 and festoons of flowers. The exterior pre- 
 sented to the eye, at a distance, the ap- 
 pearance of a spacious arcade in the Gothic 
 style — the graceful cocoa-nut branch taste- 
 fully woven, forming the numerous arches 
 and columns. The inside was fitted up in 
 a style still more chaste and elegant, being, 
 in addition to the ornaments culled from 
 Nature's garden, supplied with various 
 articles of household furniture, and adorned 
 with flags of different colours, on which 
 were inscribed the names of the illustrious 
 living characters who, under God, had 
 achieved the glorious triumph they were 
 met to celebrate. 
 
 Every thing being announced as ready, 
 the company, numbering about 300, ad- 
 vanced to the repast. The minister then 
 invoked the divine blessing upon it in the 
 verse beginning with — 
 
 " Be present at our table, Lord," 
 
 which was sung by the assembly with such 
 a becoming seriousness as gave a tone to 
 the whole proceedings of the evening. The 
 Honourable Joseph Gorden presided. On 
 his right was seated his Excellency the 
 Governor. The other guests were vari- 
 ously distributed around, among whom ap- 
 peared several ladies and gentlemen of the 
 first respectability. 
 
 The tables were very tastefully laid out, 
 the necessary apparatus having been kind- 
 ly lent by different respectable inhabitants 
 in the neighbourhood, and the viands, 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 73 
 
 which were partially supplied in the same 
 manner, were abundant and of excellent 
 quality. The appetite at length subdaed, 
 the whole company rose and gave thanks 
 by singing — 
 
 "Praise God from whom all blessings flow." 
 
 Although scarcely any intoxicating drinks 
 were used, it was natural on such an occa- 
 sion that toasts should be given. The pre- 
 sident accordingly gave the health of Her 
 Majesty the Queen ; this was responded to 
 with rapturous applause, and was succeed- 
 ed by a verse of the national anthem, which 
 was sung with great effect. The health of 
 Sir Lionel Smith, as the representative of 
 Her Majesty, followed, and the words, "to 
 the health of our excellent Governor" were 
 « no sooner pronounced than one simultane- 
 ous and enthusiastic shout of applause 
 burst forth from the assembled multitude. 
 The choir again struck up — 
 
 " Joy, for every yoke is broken, 
 And the oppressed all go free, 
 Let us hail it as a token 
 That our much loved land may be 
 Blessed of the Lord most high, 
 Ruler of the earth and sky. 
 
 "In blest communion may we all 
 Keep holy freedom's festival; 
 Let shades of difference be forgot, 
 Parties and sects remembered not, 
 While Christians all with joy agree 
 To keep the Negro Jubilee." 
 
 His Excellency returned thanks in a 
 very excellent and appropriate speech, ex- 
 pressing his confident hope of the future 
 prosperity of the country as the result of 
 the late glorious event, and exhorting both 
 masters and servants to the cultivation of 
 feelings of mutual confidence and good 
 will, as the best means of securing it. It 
 would convey but an inadequate idea of 
 the reality to say that the advice was ap- 
 preciated. It was responded to by accla- 
 mation, amidst which his Excellency re- 
 tired, highly gratified with everything he 
 had heard and seen. 
 
 The late noble-minded and beloved 
 Governors, the Earl of Mulgrave and the 
 Marquis of Sligo, were remembered with 
 equal honour and enthusiasm. 
 
 The head man on the property next 
 arose, and in a respectful manner request- 
 ed that he might be allowed to propose a 
 toast, adding that he was sure it would 
 meet with the warmest approbation of all 
 present : it was the health, long life, and 
 happiness, both in time and eternity, of 
 
 6 
 
 Lords Carrington and Seaford, with that 
 also of their esteemed and liberal-minded 
 attorney, Joseph Gordon, Esq., a proposi- 
 tion that was loudly greeted, as was also 
 Mr. Gordon's acknowledgment, both on 
 behalf of the two noble Lords and himself. 
 The scene was overpowering, and could 
 not fail to produce a salutary effect on all 
 present. 
 
 This was closed by singing to the tune 
 " America" — 
 
 " O Lord, upon Jamaica shine 
 
 With beams of sovereign grace, 
 Reveal thy power through all our coasts, 
 And show thy smiling face ; 
 
 " Amidst this isle exalted high 
 Do thou our glory stand, 
 And like a wall of guardian fire 
 Surround our favoured land." • 
 
 Feelings of esteem and gratitude were 
 expressed towards the minister and his 
 family present on the occasion, in which 
 the honourable president united, as also 
 to the special magistrates of the district, 
 who severally expressed their obligations 
 in return. Cheers were now given for 
 Lord Mulgrave, for Lord Sligo, for Clark- 
 son, Wilberforce, Buxton, Brougham, and 
 Sturge ; for the ladies of Great Britain and 
 Ireland ; for the missionaries and other 
 philanthropists in Jamaica, and for the 
 friends of liberty throughout the world. 
 The meeting then separated, each indivi- 
 dual going peacefully and joyfully to his 
 home. This was nearly the last of the 
 entertainments held in commemoration of 
 this glorious event, and it may not be im- 
 proper, therefore, to follow the account 
 with a few observations. 
 
 The conduct of the newly emancipated 
 peasantry throughout the island would have 
 done credit to Christians of the most civi- 
 lized country in the world. At none of 
 their repasts was there anything Baccha- 
 nalian. Their behaviour was modest, un- 
 assuming, and decorous in a high degree. 
 There was no crowding, no vulgar fami- 
 liarity ; all were as courteous, civil, and 
 obliging to each other as members of one 
 harmonious family ; all were also clean 
 and neat in their persons and attire. There 
 was no dancing, no noisy mirth, no carous- 
 ing, no gambling, or any of the rude pas- 
 times and sports which often disgrace sea- 
 sons of public rejoicing in England ; neither 
 did there seem to be the least desire on the 
 part of the people so to commemorate the 
 
74 
 
 JAMAICA 
 
 event. All expressed their sense of the 
 obligations under which they were laid to 
 a faithful and conscientious discharge of 
 the duties they owed to their masters and 
 to one another, as well as to the civil au- 
 thorities. Ministers of religion were ear- 
 nestly invited to preside, or to direct them 
 in all their arrangements. God was uni- 
 versally recognised as the giver of the 
 bounties enjoyed, and from first to last He 
 was regarded as the Great Author of their 
 deliverance from bondage. Their conduct 
 was admitted by every respectable be- 
 holder, and even by those who were not in- 
 fluenced by the best of motives in mingling 
 with the spectators, as unexceptionable. 
 The masters, who in many cases were 
 present, frankly recognised the new-born 
 liberty of their former dependents, and 
 congratulated them on the boon they had 
 received, while both expressed their de- 
 sires that all past differences and wrongs 
 might be forgiven. Harmony and cheer- 
 fulness smiled on every countenance, and 
 the demon of discord for a season disap- 
 peared. On some of the properties where 
 these commemorative festivals were held, 
 the people, with a few individual excep- 
 tions, went to work on the following day, 
 while many of them presented their first 
 week of free labour as an offering of good 
 will to their masters. 
 
 Thus, the period from which the worst 
 consequences were apprehended, passed 
 away in peace, in harmony, and in safety. 
 Not a single instance of violence or insub- 
 ordination, of serious disagreement or of 
 intemperance, so far as could be ascertain- 
 ed, occurred in any part of the island. 
 
 Nor was there any interruption, on the 
 part of the labourers, to the ordinary cul- 
 tivation or business. Commended for their 
 past behaviour, encouraged and urged by 
 ministers of all denominations to continue 
 to exemplify their fitness for the boon they 
 had received, as well as to facilitate the 
 progress of emancipation in America, in 
 the islands that surrounded them, and 
 throughout the world, by a continuation 
 of industrial habits for reasonable wages, 
 the greater part appeared on the different 
 properties on the Monday of the following 
 week. Most of the estates, from the in- 
 creased labour that had been expended on 
 them previously, and which had been ob- 
 tained at a high price from the apprentice 
 in his own time to the neglect of his own 
 
 provision-grounds, were not in immediate 
 need of labourers ; and thus, to the aston- 
 ishment of the newly-made freemen, their 
 offers of service were in some cases reject- 
 ed, and they themselves treated with in- 
 difference or hauteur. It soon became 
 evident that a general determination had 
 been formed to take advantage of the feel- 
 ings and dispositions thus displayed, and 
 render them available to an uncontrollable 
 lust of avarice and power. In a word, 
 freedom was sought to be made more abun- 
 dantly compensative than slavery ; and 
 now was the time to make the attempt. 
 For this purpose the most oppressive and 
 impolitic expedients were adopted. In 
 many cases the domestic stock of the pea- 
 santry, their provision-grounds, and even 
 their houses, were destroyed. In others, 
 and which was general, demands were 
 made for rent of houses and grounds from 
 every inmate of a family, and to an extent 
 which more than equalled in a given time 
 the amount of wages received by them 
 conjointly — exactions which would have 
 produced a larger revenue to the proprietor 
 than the agricultural products of his estate. 
 These and similar acts of oppression were 
 justly but temperately resisted. Bickerings 
 and heartburnings were the result. The 
 planters persisted in their designs ; and at 
 length multitudes of the labourers were 
 compelled to sacrifice their feelings of at- 
 tachment to their domiciles, and to esta- 
 blish themselves in their own freeholds. 
 Hence, and from no other cause, arose 
 those reports of insolence and idleness 
 which were so widely and perseveringly 
 circulated- against the peasantry. It is 
 delightful to add that the injustice and im- 
 policy of such conduct have now become 
 generally manifest ; so that the causes of 
 mutual dissatisfaction are now to a con- 
 siderable degree extinct. There are, how- 
 ever, some laws, as already noticed, which 
 press unfairly on the great mass of the 
 people ; but it is hoped that, from motives 
 of good policy as well as from good feel- 
 ing, they will be speedily annulled. In 
 other respects, equal right and liberty are 
 enjoyed ; and, with these privileges, peace, 
 prosperity, and happiness. 
 
 " Great was the boon, my country, when you gave 
 To man his birthright, freedom to the slave, 
 Rights to the wronged, and to the glorious rolls 
 Of British citizens a million souls — 
 Their growing minds from slavery's sink to lift, 
 And make them worthy of the God-like gift." . 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 75 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 INTELLECTUAL CHARACTER OF THE BLACK 
 PEOPLE UNDER SLAVERY. 
 
 Ignorance of Arts and Sciences — Of Reading, Arith- 
 metic, Mechanical Arts, Civil Polity — Alleged De- 
 ficiency of Mental Capacity — Establishment and 
 Operation of Schools — The Negro under Cultiva- 
 tion and Freedom — Notions of his Natural Inferi- 
 ority disproved — Proposal for the establishment of 
 a College — The great importance and advantages 
 of such an Institution — Decline of Schools — Ap- 
 peal for these objects to the British Public. 
 
 The best informed among the slaves 
 imported into Jamaica were the Mandin- 
 goes, and those of neighbouring nations 
 from the banks of the Senegal. Some of 
 these, especially the chiefs and princes of 
 the tribes, displayed some acquaintance 
 with Arabic, but their knowledge of the 
 language generally was very superficial. 
 Very few had any idea of the art of com- 
 putation by figures, nor did the great bulk 
 of them display any acquaintance with the 
 simplest form of lettered knowledge. Ac- 
 cording to a tradition current among them, 
 they were under an impression that they 
 were prohibited the knowledge of letters 
 by a decree of the Almighty — a tradition 
 which it is probable originated with their 
 oppressors for purposes by no means diffi- 
 cult to imagine. 
 
 They believed that at the creation of the 
 world there was both a tvhite and a black 
 progenitor, and that the black was origi- 
 nally the favourite. To try their disposi- 
 tions, the Almighty let down two boxes 
 from Heaven, of unequal dimensions, of 
 which the black man had the preference of 
 choice. Influenced by his propensity to 
 greediness, he chose the largest, and the 
 smaller one consequently fell to the share 
 of the white. " Buckra box," the black 
 people are represented as saying, " was 
 full up wid pen, paper, and whip, and ne- 
 gers, wid hoe and bill, and hoe and bill for 
 neger to dis day." 
 
 Previous to the year 1823 there were 
 not more than one or two schools in the 
 whole island expressly for the instruction 
 of the black population. Hence they were 
 generally ignorant of the art of reading ; 
 while their improvement was universally 
 opposed by the planters as inimical to the 
 future peace and prosperity of the island. 
 
 It is generally admitted that they were 
 not deficient in taste or ability for music, 
 
 but their songs, which were usually im- 
 promptu, were destitute of poetry or poetic 
 images. On estates, or in particular dis- 
 tricts, there were usually found one or 
 more males or females, who, resembling 
 the improvis*atori or extempore bards of 
 Italy and ancient Britain, composed lines 
 and sung them on their festive occasions. 
 These ballads had usually a ludicrous re- 
 ference to the white people, and were gene- 
 rally suggested by some recent occur- 
 rence.* They were alike ignorant of any 
 method for computing the 'periods of time. 
 The only means by which any of them as- 
 certained, with any degree of certainty, 
 the date of particular events, was by a 
 kind of artificial memory, such as a recur- 
 rence to remarkable seasons of the year, 
 to earthquakes, and hurricanes. Some of 
 them calculated by the revolutions of the 
 moon, their Christmas carnivals, or the 
 arrivals and departures of Governors. 
 Hence but kw could fix any event nearer 
 than twelve months from the period of its 
 occurrence ; and scarcely any of them 
 were acquainted with their own age, the 
 age of their children, or that of their do- 
 mestic animals. With the exception of 
 the Aradas, and one or two other tribes 
 from the Gold Coast, they were almost 
 wholly unacquainted with the mechanical 
 arts and manufactures, while of civil po- 
 lity or the use of civil institutions they 
 were equally ignorant. Instances, indeed, 
 were common in which interruptions of 
 social peace and petty misdemeanors aris- 
 ing among themselves were decided by the 
 head men on the property, or in the neigh- 
 bourhood where they occurred ; but their 
 decisions were for the most part arbitrary, 
 selfish, and vindictive, being usually given 
 either under the influence of bribery, fa- 
 vour, or intemperance. For this latter 
 purpose, intoxicating drinks were fre- 
 quently supplied to them before they pro- 
 
 * " Sangaree kill de captain, 
 
 O dear, he must die! 
 New rum kill de sailor, 
 O dear, he must die ; 
 
 Hard work kill de neger, 
 O dear, he must die. 
 La, la, la, la," &c. 
 The following is frequently sung in the streets: 
 " One, two, tree, 
 
 All de same; 
 Black, white, brown, 
 All de same, 
 All desame. 
 One, two, tree," &c. 
 
76 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 ceeded to adjudicate from a superstitious 
 notion that intoxication was absolutely es- 
 sential to a proper understanding and dis- 
 posal of the case. Enthralled and bowed 
 down by a system that reduced them to 
 the level of the brute, and at the same time 
 carefully excluded by their superiors from 
 every means of improvement, they were 
 altogether destitute of taste and genius. 
 Unallured by the enjoyments of civilized 
 society and by whatever is sublime and 
 beautiful in natural scenery ; — the dwarfs 
 of the rational world, their intellect rising 
 only to a confused notion and imperfect 
 idea of the general objects of human know- 
 ledge ; — their whole thoughts, indeed, con- 
 fined within the range of their daily em- 
 ployments and the wants of savage life. 
 By some writers they have been described 
 as an inferior species of the human family, 
 incapable of advancing beyond a certain 
 point in the acquisition of knowledge — the 
 connecting link between the animal and 
 intellectual economies, affiliated to the 
 ourang-outang, and, like that animal, ac- 
 tuated not by reason but by instinct. 
 Hence they were said to be unable to com- 
 bine ideas, to compare, to argue, to judge, 
 or to do any thing comparable with the 
 performances of perfect men. In pursu- 
 ance of the infamous theory which sought 
 their affinity with the monsters of the 
 woods, they are represented by a Jamaica 
 historian and planter,* unable to place a 
 table square in a room from a defect of vi- 
 sion similar to that of an ourang-outang. 
 " I have known them fail in this," says he, 
 " after numberless endeavours, and it is 
 the same in other things, so that such as 
 are bred carpenters and bricklayers are 
 often unable, after many tedious and re- 
 peated trials with the rule and plumb-line, 
 to do a piece of work straight which an 
 apprentice boy in England would perform 
 with one glance of his eye." Hume, in 
 his observations on the native African, 
 says, "They are inferior to the rest of the 
 species, and utterly incapable of the higher 
 attainments of the mind." 
 
 Montesquieu pronounced them not hu- 
 man beings, but as occupying an interme- 
 diate rank below the whites, and destined 
 by their Creator to be the slaves of their 
 superiors. An attempt has been made to 
 trace the affiliation of some of the tribes, 
 
 Lorij 
 
 particularly the Angolahs, the Whydahs, 
 and the inhabitants of Benguela, with the 
 ourang-outang, and a conclusion has been 
 drawn to the advantage of the latter in the 
 supposition of their possessing the same 
 means of improvement. Such was the 
 state, and such the opinions entertained of 
 these poor degraded beings by their lordly 
 task-masters, as well as by the disciples of 
 a proud and false philosophy, and hence 
 the brutal treatment to which they were 
 doomed and the degrading epithets by 
 which they were designated. It now re- 
 mains to exhibit the contrast between their 
 past and present intellectual condition, and 
 thus assert for them that rank in the scale 
 of being which they are destined by na- 
 ture and Providence to attain. 
 
 It has been stated that but few instances 
 have occurred in which the negroes im- 
 ported into Jamaica displayed any acquain- 
 tance with the arts and sciences. Nor, 
 owing to a want of the necessary oppor- 
 tunities, are many to be found at the pre- 
 sent day who possess any thing like an 
 acquaintance with these branches of know- 
 ledge. It is otherwise, however, with re- 
 gard to elementary education. Such has 
 been the progress of school instruction, 
 within the last few years especially, that 
 thousands of adults are now enjoying its 
 advantages. 
 
 By the published reports of 1841, there 
 were belonging to different denominations 
 of Christians throughout the island, as 
 nearly as it could be ascertained from the 
 imperfect data supplied, about 186 day- 
 schools, 100 Sabbath-schools, and 20 or 
 30 evening-schools ; the latter chiefly for 
 the instruction of adults. 
 
 Of the day-schools, 48 are said to have 
 been connected with the National Church, 
 22 with the Mico Charity, 25 with the 
 Wesleyan, 61 with the Baptist, 14 with the 
 Church, and 16 with the London Mis- 
 sionary Societies, independently of those 
 belonging to the Moravians and Presbyte- 
 rians, the statistics of which the writer has 
 not been able to procure. These alto- 
 gether are reported to contain about 62,240 
 scholars ; but, deducting for irregularity 
 of attendance, for Sabbath-scholars inclu- 
 ded in the lists of day-schools, for the 
 number of schools formerly connected with 
 the National Church and Mico Charity 
 which have been since closed, the present 
 number is estimated at about 30,000. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 77 
 
 As an evidence of the proficiency that 
 is being made by these children of Ethiopia 
 in the various branches of learning taught 
 in these institutions, it is only necessary to 
 introduce one or two extracts from reports 
 which have been published on the spot by 
 disinterested individuals, who have attended 
 examinations of the scholars. The extracts 
 will refer to the Metropolitan schools in 
 Spanish Town,* established in 1825, as 
 their operations are personally known to 
 the writer, but they may be adduced as 
 specimens of all the well-regulated schools 
 on the island. Says a gentleman in 1830, 
 but five years after their establishment, 
 " I witnessed the examination of the chil- 
 dren in the lower classes with peculiar 
 pleasure and interest ; but the elder chil- 
 dren in the upper classes truly filled my 
 mind with wonder and admiration. After 
 reading portions of the Holy Scriptures 
 and the ' History of Greece,' they were 
 very minutely interrogated on those por- 
 tions, and their answers were so correct 
 that I could scarcely help blushing at my 
 own ignorance. Their facility in arithme- 
 tic was surprising — sums in Reduction, 
 Proportion, Practice, Fellowship, and Vul- 
 gar Fractions, were worked with such ra- 
 pidity, that the examiner could scarcely 
 keep pace with them. In the sciences of 
 geography and astronomy the whole school 
 appeared enthusiastic ; the whole world, 
 as it were in a moment, was divided into 
 continents, islands, oceans, seas, and 
 lakes : zones, longitude and latitude, the 
 twelve signs of the zodiac, motions of the 
 earth and its distance from the sun, were 
 all described with an expertness and accu- 
 racy I could scarcely have believed. Upon 
 the whole, it far surpassed all that I ever 
 saw in England." These, it will be re- 
 membered, were children of negroes, or 
 their immediate descendants, very few of 
 whom five years before had seen a book, 
 and who in their habits and manners dif- 
 fered but little from those in a state of 
 savage nature. 
 
 Similar testimony was borne by the 
 Honourable Alexander Bravo, a large pro- 
 prietor, who presided at an examination of 
 the same schools in 1839. 
 
 "The performances of the infant class 
 were indeed astonishing. In spelling, read- 
 
 * These schools, during eleven years, have been 
 supported chiefly by the London Central Negro's 
 Friend Society. 
 
 ing, writing, recitation, grammar, and 
 natural philosophy, in which some mere 
 children had actually made proficiency, 
 marks of improvement were exhibited in 
 every class ; the same in arithmetic. The 
 children were many of them very profi- 
 cient in geography and the use of the 
 globes, but I must not restrain the expres- 
 sions of my admiration as well as surprise 
 at the exhibition of the boys in geometry. 
 Their demonstrations were well examined 
 and found perfectly correct ; and I will not 
 withhold the pleasing and amusing fact, 
 that one of the scholars had shown his own 
 ingenuity, as well as the practical utility 
 of the science, in the construction, from 
 wood, of a most ingenious pair of compas- 
 ses, which had been imitated and percepti- 
 bly improved upon by the other scholars of 
 the class." To these testimonies the writer 
 cannot forbear adding that of another im- 
 partial witness, who was present at the ex- 
 amination of the same schools in 1842, and 
 who signs himself " A Stranger in Ja- 
 maica." At this meeting the Honourable 
 Judge Bernard presided, and Sir Joseph 
 de Courcey Laffan, one of the directors of 
 the African Civilization Society, with many 
 other gentlemen of respectability, attended 
 as deeply interested spectators. This tes- 
 timony is the more important, as the most 
 successful competitors on the occasion were 
 two black boys, one the son of an African 
 in the army, and the other the son of a re- 
 cently emancipated slave.* After referring 
 with great satisfaction to the progress of 
 the younger classes, he continues : — " The 
 elder classes also read in Scripture with 
 great satisfaction to the visiters. They 
 were then examined in ciphering, which 
 task they performed correctly, as the solu- 
 tions to their questions were exhibited to 
 the visiters to avoid even the shadow of a 
 fallacy. Some of the older boys answer- 
 ed geometrical questions with great preci- 
 sion, showing that they must have under- 
 stood the subject well. I was equally 
 amused with the elocutive part of the ex- 
 amination. Some of the children had com- 
 mitted long pieces to memory for recita- 
 tion. The visiters expressed their admi- 
 ration of the exhibitions by continued de- 
 monstrations of applause." In addition to 
 these acquisitions they possessed also a 
 
 * Alexander Fuller, now gone as a missionary to 
 A frica. 
 
78 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 considerable knowledge of civil and sacred 
 geography, of biblical antiquities, and of 
 the emblems, figures, parables, types, and 
 most remarkable passages and chapters of 
 the Bible. There was scarcely one who, 
 besides his other acquisitions, was not able 
 to recite chapters of the Bible and hymns 
 from memory. On a former occasion one 
 little boy repeated two hundred and thirty- 
 eight hymns and three chapters, compris- 
 ing sixty-six verses, almost without mis- 
 take or hesitation. A little girl recited, 
 with equal facility and correctness, forty- 
 nine hymns and eight chapters of the Bible, 
 the chapters containing two hundred and 
 forty verses. The two boys, to whom al- 
 lusion has been made, and who attracted 
 the particular notice of Sir Joseph Laffan, 
 exhibited specimens of beautiful penman- 
 ship and maps of their own construction. 
 
 A similar testimony to the astonishing 
 proficiency of many of the negro children 
 in the various branches of useful know, 
 ledge, has been borne by their excellencies 
 Sir Lionel Smith and Sir Charles Metcalfe, 
 who have honoured the schools with their 
 presence at the annual examination of the 
 scholars. 
 
 The two school-mistresses and the 
 master, superintendents of the different de- 
 partments of these schools, were once slaves, 
 and acquired all the knowledge they pos- 
 sessed in the institution over which they 
 now so ably preside. By the operations 
 of the normal schools, of which there are 
 several, a considerable number of native 
 young men and women have been quali- 
 fied for the important situation of teachers, 
 and in most cases are conducting the 
 schools under their charge as efficiently as 
 masters and mistresses from Europe. 
 
 In addition to what has been said of the 
 proficiency of the negroes in the various 
 branches of scholastic knowledge, their at- 
 tainments in music and psalmody must not 
 be omitted. Most of them are possessed 
 of fine voices, and are by no means defi- 
 cient in taste. The singing at many places 
 of religious worship, where the choir is 
 composed almost entirely of blacks and 
 their descendants, is but very little inferior 
 to that at places of worship in England ; 
 and, were the same advantages enjoyed 
 by the one class as by the other, not the 
 slightest difference would be discernible. 
 Hundreds of them are self-taught profi- 
 cients in the use of the various European 
 
 instruments of music. Many can play 
 beautifully on the violin, the clarionet, and 
 the flute, without a knowledge of notes; 
 and when regularly instructed in the 
 science are by no means inferior in ^skill 
 and execution to the whites. The band of 
 the 2nd West Indian Regiment, now in 
 Spanish Town, is composed almost entire- 
 ly of liberated or recaptured Africans from 
 Spanish and Portuguese slave-ships, and 
 their performances will bear a comparison 
 with those of any other regimental band in 
 her Majesty's service. 
 
 Any imputation of ignorance of the me- 
 chanic arts and manufactures now cast 
 upon the black population of Jamaica 
 would only excite the ridicule or contempt 
 of those who are personally acquainted 
 with them. There are now to be found 
 amongst the black population throughout 
 the country, comprehending individuals 
 of each tribe, operatives, mechanics, and 
 masons, carpenters, coopers, blacksmiths, 
 sailors, pilots ; and it may be added, from 
 their knowledge of the properties of medi- 
 cinal herbs, and their skill in applying 
 them to different disorders, veterinary 
 surgeons and medical men ; whilst in the 
 towns are also shoemakers, cabinetmakers, 
 carvers and gilders, watchmakers, jewel- 
 lers, &c. &c, who manifest as much skill, 
 and perform their work with as much ac- 
 curacy and taste, as workmen of the same 
 description in England. Most of the houses 
 and public buildings — churches, chapels, 
 court-houses — were built chiefly by slaves ; 
 and to the slaves equally with the free 
 blacks and people of colour have the white 
 inhabitants been indebted, not only for 
 their common works of art, but for nearly 
 every article of local manufacture. 
 
 So far from being now ignorant of civil 
 polity and of the use of civil institutions, it 
 is questionable whether any people in the 
 world, placed in the same circumstances, 
 possesses an equally correct acquaintance 
 with these subjects ; whilst the superior 
 style of cottage architecture every where 
 apparent since freedom (when such cot- 
 tages became their own), their furniture, 
 and the gardens that surround them, are 
 sufficient refutations of the charge of de- 
 ficiency of taste for the useful and orna- 
 mental. Not less unfounded is the impu- 
 tation that they are deficient in inventive 
 and imitative genius. Even among the 
 most untutored of the African race these 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 79 
 
 I qualities have been sometimes displayed in 
 1 a degree truly astonishing. They have 
 been manifested not only in the construc- 
 tion and manufacture of articles of domes- 
 tic use, but also (and that without any pre- 
 vious instruction) in the higher branches of 
 mechanics. Their locks and bolts, together 
 with oiher contrivances for security and 
 convenience, are a sufficient evidence of 
 the truth of this assertion ; to which may 
 be added, their contrivances for cooking, 
 manufacturing sugar of their own produc- 
 ion, as well as various other things of do- 
 mestic utility. 
 
 The faculties of wit and imitation in the 
 
 legro race are also remarkable. Scarcely 
 
 iny foible or peculiarity of gesture or ac- 
 
 :ent is discoverable, in a stranger especial- 
 
 y, but it is mimicked to the life, often to 
 
 he no small amusement of groups of spec- 
 
 itors. Instances have frequently occurred 
 
 i which white men have seen themselves 
 
 xhibited as subjects of amusement to the 
 
 k'hole fraternity of a negro village, and an 
 
 nstance is recorded in which it afforded a 
 
 alutary lesson to the object of ridicule. It 
 
 /as in the case of a drunken planter. 
 
 [earing on a certain occasion the sound 
 
 f considerable merriment in the direction 
 
 f his negro settlement, curiosity induced 
 
 m secretly to ascertain the cause, when 
 
 beheld a negro personifying his own 
 
 stures and habits when in a state of in- 
 
 ication, amidst the convulsive laughter 
 
 the multitudes of men, women, and 
 
 dren gathered around him. The whole 
 
 f; v.ie had such an effect upon him that he 
 
 » ;:x again indulged in similar excesses. 
 
 r imitative faculty is equally displayed 
 
 < 3 acquisition of trades and arts. Thou- 
 
 s of them are not at all inferior to 
 
 r of the whites, either in sound sense 
 
 , sneral information. In a word, the 
 
 h skin and the woolly hair constitute 
 
 inly difference which now exists be- 
 
 : 1 multitudes of the emancipated pea- 
 
 y of Jamaica and the tradesmen and 
 
 ;ulturists of England. 
 
 |ior are the intellectual faculties of this 
 
 ; mniated and oppressed people in any 
 
 . . oect inferior to the rest of the species; 
 
 t y have simply been suspended from 
 
 action, and the absence of those influences 
 
 nich were necessary to their developement. 
 
 •lany of their common adages are as much 
 
 distinguished by shrewdness and sagacity 
 
 as the maxims and proverbs of more civi- 
 
 lized nations. To convey an impression 
 of covetousness, with reference to any in- 
 dividual, they say, " Him covetous, like 
 star-apple," because that fruit is distin- 
 guished for its tenacity. of adhesion to the 
 tree. When they wish to represent du- 
 plicity, they say " Him hab two faces, like 
 star-apple leaf," the leaf of the star-apple 
 tree being of two colours, a bright green 
 above and a buff below. To convey the 
 impression of wisdom, forethought, and 
 peaceableness of disposition, they say, 
 "Softly water run deep." "When man 
 dead grass grow at him door," expressive 
 of the forgetfulness and disregard by which 
 death is succeeded. " Poor man never 
 vex," denoting the humility which is 
 usually the accompaniment of poverty. 
 
 Mr. Edwards mentions an instance of 
 shrewdness and sagacity on the part of a 
 negro servant which is not often surpassed. 
 Exhausted by a long journey he had fallen 
 asleep. On being awoke, and told some- 
 what sharply that his master was angry 
 because " him da call, call, and him keep 
 on sleep, and no heary," he facetiously re- 
 plied, " Sleep no heb massa." 
 
 " Wilberforce," said a negro on one oc- 
 casion, in the midst of a group of his com- 
 panions — "Wilberforce — dat good name 
 for true ; him good buckra ; him want fo 
 make we free ; and if him can't get we free 
 no oder way him will by force.'''* 
 
 During an examination of a black ser- 
 vant in the Catechism, he was asked by 
 the clergyman what- he was made of? " Of 
 mud, massa," was the reply. On being 
 told he should say " Of dust," he answered, 
 " No, massa, it no do, no tick togedder." 
 
 A negro, when in a state of heathenism, 
 contracted a debt to a considerable amount. 
 Being frequently importuned for payment, 
 he resolved to be christened, and afterwards, 
 on application being made, replied, with 
 considerable nctivete, " Me is new man 
 now ; befo me name Quashie, now me 
 Thomas, derefo Thomas no pay Quashie 
 debt." 
 
 A gentleman is reported to have said to 
 a Christian negro, " What do you think of 
 
 * A negro, having purchased a hat, was observed 
 to take it from his head on the fall of a shower of 
 rain, and to manifest considerable anxiety to preserve 
 it from the wet. On being remonstrated with for his 
 supposed stupidity in thus leaving his head exposed, 
 he wittily observed — "Hat belong to me, head belong 
 to Massa." 
 
80 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 the doctrine of election?" He made no 
 reply, but instantly brought five pieces of 
 wood. These he placed on the table, and 
 then taking two of the five, leaving the 
 other three, ho said, " There, massa, dat 
 what we mean by election." 
 
 The following anecdote in illustration 
 can scarcely be withheld. It was related 
 to the author by the son of the principal 
 party, as an evidence of the ingratitude 
 and ferocity of the negro character. A 
 white man had often beaten one of his 
 slaves very unmercifully for the most 
 trifling offences ; the latter, after a punish- 
 ment unusually severe, preferred a com- 
 plaint against him before a bench of magis- 
 trates, which had the effect of securing a 
 reprimand by them to the master. Highly 
 provoked with the presumption of the slave 
 for thus daring to expose him in open court, 
 the master meditated the most determined 
 revenge. Some time after, sending the 
 slave into a summer-house situated in a 
 secluded spot in his garden, he resolved to 
 wreak upon him the vengeance he had 
 meditated. Instantly seizing a large stick, 
 he entered the house, and securing the 
 door, vociferated, " Now, villain, I'll teach 
 you to take me before the magistrates. 
 You try to injure my character, do you — 
 I'll make you pay dear for it, I'll warrant 
 you. Nobody can see me here, and you'll 
 have no witness now," at the same time 
 beginning to beat him unmercifully. The 
 slave, being a powerful man, on hearing 
 the latter sentence, immediately seized the 
 weapon, and wresting it from the master's 
 hand, retaliated on him, saying, "If me no 
 hab witness to prosecute massa, massa no 
 heb witness fo prosecute me," and continued 
 the flagellation until the assailant was 
 obliged to cry for mercy, which was shown 
 him by the victorious Quashy, on condition 
 of a solemn pledge by the master that he 
 would never notice the circumstance to his 
 disadvantage — a promise which, from self- 
 ish motives, he was induced to preserve 
 inviolate. 
 
 The lowest and most unintelligent of the 
 tribes are the Mungolas. Their stupidity, 
 however, has often been more feigned than 
 real ; thus, when attracting the gaze of 
 multitudes at their annual carnivals by 
 their grotesque appearance and ridiculous 
 gambols, they have been often known to 
 indulge in the keenest satire and merriment 
 at their own expense, repeating in chorus, 
 
 " Buckra tink Mungola nigger fool make 
 him tan so." So far from being more de- 
 ficient in acuteness and discrimination than 
 other men, none can penetrate more deeply 
 than the negro into character, or form an 
 opinion of strangers with greater correct- 
 ness and precision. The idea of their 
 inability, even in their most untutored 
 state, to combine ideas and pursue a chain 
 of reasoning is equally erroneous, as is 
 evident from the following defence, said to 
 have been made before a bench of justices 
 in one of the country parishes by certain 
 negroes who had run away from their 
 work. The judges on the occasion were 
 two medical men. The complaint having 
 been preferred, the defendants were seve- 
 rally called upon to state their case. The 
 object of the first was to render the charac- 
 ter of the accuser odious, to conciliate 
 the feelings of the Court to himself, by 
 drawing a contrast between the cruelty of 
 the overseer and the clemency of the judge, 
 as well as to excite sympathy by a narra- 
 tion of his sufferings. 
 
 The second illustrates the hardships of 
 his case, by instituting a comparison be- 
 tween his own lot and that of a woodpecker, 
 and urges, that having been born as free 
 as that bird, the overseer had no more 
 claim to his services than he had to those 
 of the woodpecker. He draws a compari- 
 son between the condition of the two, to 
 the advantage of the latter, and. ridicules 
 the idea that he was neither to build his 
 own house nor to have any shelter before 
 going to work for the overseer, concluding 
 his defence by a recital of the punishment 
 inflicted on him. 
 
 A third had been charged with inatten- 
 tion to poultry committed to her care, 
 owing to which many of them had died. 
 She was required by the overseer to pay 
 for them, and in default of it was to be 
 punished. Indisposed, or unable to pay, 
 and dreading the threatened punishment, 
 she had absconded. It will be observed 
 that she attempts to conciliate the chief 
 magistrate, by flattering him with her 
 opinion of his medical skill ; proves his 
 inability to counteract the designs of Om- 
 nipotence, with regard to the death of any 
 of his patients; appeals to him, if under 
 such circumstances he would be justly 
 charged with a want of attention, or re- 
 quired to pay any penalty for the loss of 
 his patients, and hence infers the injustice 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 81 
 
 of the demand made upon her under similar 
 circumstances. 
 
 The defence of the two latter only will 
 be given, and that briefly and in their own 
 dialect. 
 
 " Massa," said the first of them, address- 
 ing the senior judge, " me bin no heb no 
 house, and when me bin cut one bread-nut 
 tree me see how one woodpecker bin build 
 him house in the tree, and me tink say, 
 poor me boy ! The woodpecker is better 
 off than me, him hab plenty time for build 
 him house and mind him pickinniny, and 
 when woodpecker da sleep in the mornin, 
 him no fraid of bad busha for flog him be- 
 cause him no turn out before day to do 
 buckra work, and me tink it was berry 
 hard me for live worse than woodpecker, 
 and busha say me lazy, and him will build 
 house for me, and me tell him say, him 
 must look at woodpecker house, so say if 
 busha bin built it, and me ax him why him 
 no make woodpecker cut bread-nuts, and 
 dig cane-holes, so busha flog me till me 
 most dead. Posin you youself handsome 
 somebody like you, blong to him, him 
 would flog you till you most dead too." 
 
 " Massa," said the other, " me bin fowl- 
 house woman, and the truckies (turkeys) 
 dead na me hand eberry day, so busha say 
 me must pay for dem. Now, massa doc- 
 tor, you is cleber person to cure sick some- 
 body, and if dem can cure, you will cure 
 dem, but if dem time come for dead, dem 
 must dead, for though massa doctor berry 
 cleber, him can't do more dan God. Same 
 fashion, massa, if da trucky time for dead 
 come, dem must dead. Now, massa doc- 
 tor, pose neger sick in the hot-house, and 
 dem time for dead come, and God make 
 dem dead, it no would be berry hard you 
 for pay cause dem dead ? So it berry 
 hard me for pay for de trucky dead, and 
 busha say him will flog me, so me run 
 away." 
 
 By such an array of incontrovertible 
 facts, the natural inferiority of the negro 
 in mental capacity and his consequent un- 
 susceptibility of the advantages of culture 
 and instruction are proved to be utterly fal- 
 lacious. But additional evidence may be 
 afforded as the result of repeated and im- 
 partial experiments. In schools, of which 
 the writer has for many years had the di- 
 rection, both white, coloured, and black 
 children have begun the alphabet and ad- 
 vanced together in the same school for 
 
 years, their advantages in every respect 
 being equal ; and whether it has been 
 owing, on the part of the white pupil, to 
 parental indulgence, or to the influence of 
 climate, or, on the part of the black, to 
 the absence of these causes, or to a more 
 implicit dependence on their own resources, 
 in almost every instance the black and 
 brown children have made the greatest pro- 
 ficiency, and have appeared to the best 
 advantage at public examinations. 
 
 One little boy, the son of a Mungola 
 and a Papaw, two of the tribes described 
 by an historian* as almost 
 
 " The lag of human kind 
 Nearest to brute of God designed," 
 
 but whose appearance, according to the 
 theories of phrenologists, presented some 
 of the finest indications of mental capacity, 
 could read the New Testament at the age 
 of four years and a half, and answer any 
 ordinary question from it that might be 
 proposed ; at the same time giving indica- 
 tions of powers of memory truly surpris- 
 ing. At the age of six years, continuing 
 to improve in the same degree, he had 
 made considerable proficiency in writing 
 and arithmetic, and given proofs of a rich 
 and rapidly-expanding intellect, which, at 
 such an age, have seldom been surpassed 
 in children of a fairer skin. Nor is this a 
 mere isolated case, but one out of many 
 that might be selected, as the result of 
 nearly twenty years' experience and ob- 
 servation, both in town and country dis- 
 tricts. The writer is fully persuaded that 
 our coloured and black fellow-creatures are 
 equally as capable of being conducted 
 through every stage of mental discipline 
 and taught to arrive at as great a height of 
 social and intellectual improvement as has 
 ever been attained by the most privileged 
 Europeans. 
 
 The equality of the African race in 
 mental endowments with other nations was 
 abundantly evidenced in former ages; nor, 
 where the like advantages have been en- 
 joyed, are we without similar examples in 
 our own. Among African divines are the 
 names of Clemens, Cyprian, Augustine, 
 and Tertullian; Terence among her poets; 
 Hannibal and Asdrubal in the list of her 
 heroes. Africa is said to have been the 
 parent of the arts and of civilization ; to 
 
 * Long, 
 
82 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 have given to Spain the first principles of 
 refinement and philosophy ; and even to 
 Greece and Rome their earliest rudiments 
 of learning and abstract science. " She 
 exhibited the first approach to alphabetical 
 writing by hieroglyphic emblems; the first 
 great works in sculpture, painting, and 
 architecture ; and travellers even now find 
 Egypt and Carthage covered with magnifi- 
 cent monuments, erected at an era when 
 the faintest dawn of science had not yet 
 illuminated the regions of Europe," — 
 
 "If glorious structures and immortal deeds 
 Enlarge the heart and set our souls on fire, 
 My tongue has been too cold in Egypt's praise — 
 Queen of the nations, and the boast of times, 
 Mother of science, and the house of gods; 
 Scarce can I open wide my lab'ring mind 
 To comprehend the vast idea big with arts and 
 
 arms, 
 So boundless is its fame."* 
 
 Among the distinguished Africans, of 
 later times are Friedg, of Vienna, an emi- 
 nent architect and musician; Hannibal, a 
 colonel in the Russian service, celebrated 
 for his mathematical and scientific attain- 
 ments; Lislet, of the Isle of France, a 
 member of the French Academy ; Arno, a 
 doctor of divinity in the university at 
 Wirtemberg; Ignatius Sancho, of our own 
 country ; and Francis Williams of Spanish 
 Town, Jamaica ; the latter of whom was 
 sent to a grammar school in England by the 
 Duke of Montague, afterwards to Cam- 
 bridge, and was a good politician, mathe- 
 matician, and poet. His Latin poem ad- 
 dressed to General Haldane on his as- 
 sumption of the government of Jamaica 
 was regarded as one of the first produc- 
 tions of the age. There are also the 
 names of Toussaint, Petion, and others in 
 Hayti ; Payanga in South America, with a 
 list too numerous to recount. 
 
 In Jamaica at the present time there are 
 many of the descendants of Africa, of 
 whose names delicacy forbids the men- 
 tion, but who, amidst all the disadvantages 
 with which they have had to struggle, do 
 not suffer by a comparison with the most 
 » talented and accomplished Europeans, and 
 who, had they been placed in more favour- 
 ed circumstances, would have shone among 
 the most distinguished men of any age or 
 country. The sons of Ethiopia have been 
 too long despised by the proud descend- 
 
 *The identity of the negroes with the ancient 
 Egyptians has been disputed, but in the opinion of the 
 writer with no sufficient reason. 
 
 ants of a more favoured fortune. All 
 classes have agreed together to point at 
 them the finger of scorn, and to hurl to- 
 wards them the missiles of reproach. The 
 man of science has been too ready to unite 
 with the more flippant accuser ; learning 
 and eloquence have descended from their 
 elevation to assist in the mean assault; 
 rank and station have joined in the inglo- 
 rious crusade ; half the civilized world, 
 smitten with the demon of cupidity, had em- 
 barked with a loathsome zeal in the unna- 
 tural strife. But other times are gradually 
 opening, and the great drama of African 
 fortunes is imperceptibly shifting. Though 
 her ancient glory lies shrouded behind the 
 cloud of dim mysterious antiquity, another 
 era is about to dawn upon her race, and a 
 brighter and more steady radiance than 
 that which she has lost to settle upon her 
 history. With the testimony of distant 
 ages, and the evidence afforded by passing 
 events, it will be difficult for any, except 
 they be men possessed of unblushing im- 
 pudence, to persevere in the ungenerous 
 calumnies repudiated and condemned. 
 
 Proofs of the claims of the great colour- 
 ed family to intellect and social equality 
 with those of a more favoured skin, will 
 be accumulating with ever-augmenting ra- 
 pidity amidst the new influences of these 
 passing times. The most sceptical will be 
 compelled to yield to the attestation of 
 daily multiplying facts, and the most pre- 
 judiced to abandon for very shame their 
 vicious predilections and opinions. The 
 oppressed offspring of Ham will rise at the 
 life-giving call of Christianity, and meekly 
 array themselves in beauty and in power. 
 Acquiring a taste for knowledge and a love 
 for virtue, they will receive into their midst 
 the germ of all vitality and the secret of 
 all strength, and the period is not, it is 
 fondly hoped, so remote but that some pro- 
 mise of it already illumines the horizon. 
 When gently led forward by the humane 
 of every nation they shall, under the egis 
 of an overshadowing Providence, run a 
 career of honourable progression in all 
 that adorns and elevates the species, with 
 the boasting inhabitants of some privileged 
 climes. 
 
 To realize these anticipations nothing is 
 required but the introduction of a liberal 
 and enlarged scheme of sound education 
 among the more respectable classes of the 
 coloured and black population. These ad- 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 83 
 
 vantages, now the exclusive inheritance of 
 their brethren of a fairer skin, must be ex- 
 tended to them, and seminaries of learning 
 and of science be raised and consecrated 
 to their use. 
 
 It is time that intelligent and aspiring 
 youth, who are distinguished from others 
 only by their outward hue, had the means 
 of assembling in halls of their own, safe 
 from the taunts of folly and of pride. The 
 establishment of a College in Jamaica, 
 after the model of University College 
 in London, by no means an insuperable 
 task, would be of incalculable advantage 
 to the descendants of Africa in the western 
 islands,* and do more than all else to ex- 
 pose to the ridicule it deserves the senseless 
 distinction which it is the study of so many 
 to perpetuate and extend. There are thou- 
 sands in England who would rejoice to aid 
 in so glorious an effort to elevate the co- 
 loured and black population in the scale of 
 learning, and to raise them to their just 
 and proper position among the nations of 
 the earth, while the faintest prospect of so 
 important a step in the path of improve- 
 ment inspires the breast of the writer with 
 delight. To this desirable object he begs 
 to awaken the attention of gentlemen of 
 colour abroad, and of high and honour- 
 able minds at home.f 
 
 It would be the most glorious compensa- 
 tion the British public could award the de- 
 scendants of Africa in Jamaica (for com- 
 pensation is still their due), were they to 
 erect, as a monument of emancipation, a 
 seminary of learning of this description, 
 which, independently of benefits of a higher 
 kind, would enable our black and coloured 
 brethren to take their proper rank in the 
 republic of letters, and thus not only wipe 
 away the stigma so long fixed upon them 
 by infidel philosophers, but destroy for 
 ever the pretext which is urged for their 
 degradation. Some years since the writer 
 published addresses on this important sub- 
 ject to the middling and higher classes of 
 the colony, accompanied by a prospectus 
 of such an establishment, which excited 
 considerable attention and sympathy. 
 
 The object, however, was considered 
 
 *The importance of such an institution to the civi- 
 lization of Africa also would be incalculable. 
 
 t It is a pleasing fact that a native of St. Domingo 
 lately obtained the highest honours at the University 
 of Paris, and that a negro is now a student ia one of 
 the Colleges at Cambridge. 
 
 impracticable, unaided by the Christian 
 public in England. Engaged as that pub- 
 lic was in endeavouring to abolish slavery, 
 pecuniary aid from them could scarcely be 
 expected, and the purpose was abandoned. 
 The great struggle with slavery having at 
 length so successfully terminated, and the 
 necessity for such an institution having 
 greatly increased, it is now especially de- 
 sirable that the plan should be carried into 
 operation. To inform the friends of the 
 African race more particularly of its na- 
 ture and object, and to stimulate them to 
 aid the establishment of it, particulars are 
 given in the Appendix. 
 
 " What," says the late Dr. Mason Good, 
 alluding to the progress of the arts and 
 sciences in Africa, " produced the dif- 
 ference we now behold ? What has kept 
 the Bambareens,* like the Chinese, nearly 
 in a stationary state for, perhaps, upwards 
 of two thousand years, and has enabled the 
 rude and painted Britons to become the 
 first people in the world, the most renowned 
 for arts and for arms, for the best virtues 
 of the heart, and the best faculties of the 
 understanding 1 Not a difference in the 
 colour of the skin; but, first, the peculiar 
 favour of the Almighty ; next, a political 
 constitution which was sighed for, and in 
 some degree prefigured, by Plato and Tully, 
 but regarded as a master-piece beyond the 
 power of human accomplishment ; and, 
 lastly, a fond and fostering cultivation of 
 science in every ramification and depart- 
 ment, "f 
 
 Numerous as are the common schools 
 in Jamaica, and efficient as they have been 
 in accomplishing the objects for which they 
 have been established, it cannot be forgot- 
 ten that a vast amount of ignorance yet re- 
 mains. It is estimated that full one-half of 
 the population are yet without the means 
 of instruction : a reflection which becomes 
 the more painful from the circumstance 
 that during the last two years, school 
 operations, instead of increasing, have 
 diminished throughout the island from want 
 of funds. % 
 
 * "The kingdom of Bambarra, of which Timbuctoo 
 is the capital, it is supposed, was as completely es- 
 tablished and flourished in Caesar's time as at the pre- 
 sent moment." 
 
 t Jamaica Almanac. 
 
 + The subjoined official document, while it will 
 sustain the representation here made of the late de- 
 crease in the number of schools, will, at the same 
 time, show the progressive advancement of education, 
 
84 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 The greatest calamity at this crisis of 
 the history of Freedom, next to that of the 
 diminution of the public means and ordi- 
 nances of religion, would be the decrease 
 of school instruction ; and the present 
 chapter cannot be concluded without pre- 
 senting an earnest appeal to the Christian 
 public to continue and increase their efforts, 
 both for the support and extension of these 
 institutions, until, freed from the difficulties 
 attendant on the establishment of new set- 
 tlements, added to a better appreciation of 
 the advantages of education, parents will 
 be able and willing to support them, inde- 
 pendently of foreign aid. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 Negro Villages in Time of Slavery — Houses — Dress 
 of Slaves — Personal and Domestic Habits — Licen- 
 tiousness — Polygamy — Marriage — Treatment of 
 Females — Indolence — Improvement in all these 
 Respects — Opening of a New Township under 
 Freedom — Number of new Settlements established 
 — Growing Comfort and Prosperity of the Country 
 — Evidences of these results. 
 
 The negro villages were, in general, 
 situated amongst groves of fruit-trees, pre- 
 senting to the eye at a distance, especial- 
 ly in the full blaze of the sun, an appear- 
 ance very far from forbidding ; but on a 
 nearer approach they were unsightly, and, 
 owing to the offensive effluvia arising from 
 quantities of decayed vegetable matter, far 
 from healthy. The houses were thrown 
 together without any pretence to order or 
 arrangement ; and, with a few exceptions, 
 were wretched habitations. They consist- 
 ed of posts put into the ground at the dis- 
 tance of about two feet asunder; the inter- 
 mediate space being closed up with wattle, 
 daubed over on the inside with mud. In 
 some instances they were divided into two 
 or three apartments, but thousands consist- 
 ed of one room only. This served the 
 whole of the family for all domestic uses. 
 
 and its occasional interruptions, from the year 1800 
 nearly to the present time : — 
 
 " In 1800, the children taught in all the schools in 
 Kingston, including Woolmer's, which was then the 
 only public school, amounted to 315. They increased 
 gradually, but slowly, till 1831, when the numbers 
 were 4088. In 1832 they decreased to 3738. In 1836 
 they amounted to 7707 ; in 1837 to 8753 ; and in 1842 
 the numbers decreased, as already stated, to 6525." — 
 Morning Journal, Feb. 9, 1843. 
 
 At night all huddled promiscuously round 
 a fire kindled in its centre ; and with scarce- 
 ly any other covering than their scanty 
 and well-worn daily apparel, they sought 
 the refreshment and repose necessary for a 
 renewal of their daily toil. A few wooden 
 bowls or calabashes, a water-jar, a wooden 
 mortar for pounding their Indian corn, and 
 an iron pot for boiling the farrago of vege- 
 table ingredients which composed their 
 daily meal, comprised almost all their furni- 
 ture. The beds used by the more decent 
 and civilized were wooden frames, with a 
 mat of rough material, raised about a foot 
 from the earthen floor, and their covering 
 a blanket. A few cottages might exhibit 
 a somewhat nearer approach to the customs 
 of civilized society ; but these were excep- 
 tions to the general rule. Each house was 
 surrounded by a piece of garden-ground, 
 and the village, in general, was intersected 
 by narrow, straggling, and dirty lanes. 
 
 The dress of the males consisted princi- 
 pally of a coarse cap or hat, and a pair of 
 Osnaburgh trousers, or a shirt of the same 
 material ; that of the females of a hand- 
 kerchief tied in a turban-like manner round 
 the head, an Osnaburgh under-garment, 
 and a coarse blue baize petticoat. Shoes 
 or stockings constituted no part of their 
 apparel, except on very particular occa- 
 sions. 
 
 So little did they respect the decencies 
 of life, and so little were these observed 
 towards them by their superiors, that boys 
 and girls of seven or eight years of age 
 were accustomed to work together, or to 
 roam at large, entirely destitute of cover- 
 ing. In this state it was not uncommon 
 for them to be employed as domestic ser- 
 vants. Nor was it unusual for both sexes 
 at thirteen years of age, and in stature 
 almost men and women, to wait at table, 
 at parties composed of white ladies and 
 gentlemen, with no other covering than a 
 long shirt, or a loose habit of a similar 
 description. 
 
 Multitudes were exceedingly filthy in 
 their persons. Some were particular in 
 their diet, and scrupulously clean in the 
 process of its preparation; but with others 
 cane-rats, cats, putrid fish, and even rep- 
 tiles and animals in a state of decomposi- 
 tion, were their common food.* 
 
 * Rats were a common article of commerce in the 
 public markets. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 85 
 
 The sanctities of marriage were almost 
 unknown ; there was no such thing, indeed, 
 as legitimate marriages among the slaves. 
 This sacred institute was ridiculed by the 
 negroes, and regarded as inimical to their 
 happiness. Under such circumstances 
 the state of society can be easily conceived. 
 Licentiousness the most degraded and un- 
 restrained was the order of the day. Every 
 estate on the island — every negro hut was 
 a common brothel : every female a prosti- 
 tute, and every man a libertine. Many 
 aged individuals have frequently assured 
 the writer that among the female slaves 
 there were none who had not sacrificed all 
 pretensions to virtue before they had 
 attained their fourteenth year ; whilst 
 hundreds were known to have become 
 mothers before they had even entered upon 
 their teens. Polygamy was also common. 
 So far as an agreement between themselves 
 was concerned, they may be said to have 
 formed a matrimonial alliance ; but their 
 affection was liable to frequent interrup- 
 tions, and divorces were consequently of 
 common occurrence ; whilst the manner 
 in which the ceremony attending the latter 
 was performed, was not a little singular, 
 and far from insignificant. On such occa- 
 sions they usually took a cotta, a circular 
 pad formed of the plantain-leaf,and dividing 
 it, each of the party took half. Regarding 
 the circle as a symbol of Eternity, and the 
 ring of perpetual love and fidelity, it was a 
 ceremony that certainly did not inaptly 
 express their eternal disunion. Like the 
 inhabitants of all uncivilized nations, the 
 men treated the women as inferior in the 
 scale of being to themselves, exercising 
 over those who composed their respective 
 harems a kind of petty sovereignty. The 
 women usually cooked the food of their 
 acknowledged lords, waited upon them 
 with all the obsequiousness of devoted ser- 
 vants, and assisted them in the cultivation 
 of their grounds, and the sale of their pro- 
 duce. Sometimes this assumed superiority 
 degenerated into the most vexatious ty- 
 ranny ; the consequences of which were 
 often terrible in the display of furious and 
 vindictive passions, which not unfrequently 
 led to a dissolution of the whole relative 
 connexion. Their social condition was 
 therefore deplorable. Unameliorated by 
 any firm domestic ties, their homes, if such 
 they could be called, were embittered by 
 all the dark passions of the fallen heart — 
 
 by " hatred, variance, emulation, wrath, 
 strife, envying, revelling, and such like." 
 
 The indolence of the negro race has ever 
 been proverbial : hence the necessity, as 
 their enemies have argued, of the frequent 
 application of the whip, and various other 
 modes of legalized torture, as a stimulus 
 to labour. " I have seen some," says Mr. 
 Long, " so exquisitely indolent, that they 
 have contracted very bad ulcer3 on their 
 feet, by suffering multitudes of chigoes to 
 nestle and generate there, rather than give 
 themselves the trouble of picking them 
 out." The general idleness of the people 
 is usually assigned as the cause of most of 
 the punishments inflicted upon them during 
 slavery ; and, to a considerable degree, the 
 representation is correct. Let it, however, 
 be remembered that, under the circum- 
 stances in which they were then placed, 
 they had not a single stimulus to industry. 
 
 From this revolting picture we turn with 
 pleasure to the contrast as exhibited in the 
 progress of the last twenty years. There 
 is not generally so great an improvement 
 in the size, structure, and interior arrange- 
 ment of the cottages upon estates as might 
 have been expected, but in those which 
 form the new villages that have been esta- 
 blished throughout the island since the abo- 
 lition of slavery, the difference is striking. 
 Most of these are in all respects equal, and 
 some of them superior, to the tenancies of 
 labourers in the rural districts of England. 
 They vary in size with the number of the 
 family. In general they are from 20 to 
 30 feet in length, and from 14 to 18 in 
 breadth. They are either neatly thatched, 
 or shingled with pieces of hard wood hewn 
 somewhat in the shape of slates. Some 
 are built of stone or wood ; but the gene- 
 rality are an improvement on those on es- 
 tates, being plastered also on the outside, 
 and white-washed. Many are ornamented 
 with a portico in front to screen the sitting- 
 apartment from the sun and rain : while, 
 for the admission of light and air, as well 
 as to add to their appearance, all of them 
 exhibit either shutters or jealousies, painted 
 green, or small glass windows. There is 
 usually a sleeping-apartment at each end, 
 and a sitting-room in the centre. The 
 floors are in most instances terraced, al- 
 though boarded ones for sleeping-rooms 
 are becoming common. Many of the latter 
 contain good mahogany bedsteads, a wash- 
 hand stand, a looking-glass, and chairs. 
 
86 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 The middle apartment is usually furnished 
 with a sideboard, displaying sundry arti- 
 cles of crockery-ware, some decent-looking 
 chairs, and not unfrequently with a kw 
 broad sheets of the Tract Society hung 
 round the walls in neat frames of cedar. 
 For cooking food, and other domestic pur- 
 poses, a little room or two is erected at the 
 back of the cottage, where are also arrang- 
 ed the various conveniences for keeping 
 domestic stock. The villages are laid out 
 in regular order, being divided into lots 
 more or less intersected by roads or streets. 
 The plots are usually in the form of an 
 oblong square. The cottage is situated at 
 an equal distance from each side of the 
 allotment, and at about eight or ten feet, 
 more or less, from the public thoroughfare. 
 The piece of ground in front is, in some 
 instances, cultivated in the style of a Eu- 
 ropean garden : displaying rose-bushes, and 
 other flowering shrubs among the choicer 
 vegetable productions; while the remainder 
 is covered with all the substantial vegeta- 
 bles and fruits of the country, heterogene- 
 ously intermixed. In this description there 
 is an especial reference to the settlement 
 at Sligoville* — a view of which is here an- 
 nexed. 
 
 This township was commenced in 1885, 
 anticipative of the necessity that would 
 exist for such establishments in the inci- 
 pient operations of freedom, both as a re- 
 fuge for the peasantry, and for the general 
 advantage of the country. 
 
 The representation being partially given 
 from memory, may not be so correct in 
 some of its details as could have been de- 
 sired ; but the object for which it is design- 
 ed is to give a comprehensive view of the 
 township as to its situation, appearance, 
 and character. These remarks equally 
 apply to the representation of Clarkson 
 Town by which it is succeeded. 
 
 The following; testimony was borne to 
 the former a few months since by a medi- 
 cal gentleman in a private communication 
 to a friend in England : — " I visited Sligo- 
 ville, and remained there a week. Every 
 allotment of land is now sold, and many of 
 the people are applying in vain for more. 
 This township is in a very prosperous con- 
 dition. The canes, provisions, and fruit, 
 are equal, if not superior, to any in the 
 
 * Named in honour of the Marquis Sligo, when 
 Governor of Jamaica. 
 
 island. Many of the settlers had not a 
 penny when they came ; but they worked, 
 and paid for the land by its produce. They 
 have erected comfortable cottages, and are 
 now living in perfect happiness, as far as 
 human happiness can be perfect. They 
 have no anxieties; and are eminently grate- 
 ful, both to Christians who worked for, and 
 to the God who gave them freedom." 
 
 A sketch of Clarkson Town, with the 
 circumstances attending its opening, may 
 serve to convey a still more correct idea 
 of the progress of social improvement 
 throughout the country. 
 
 This township is beautifully situated in 
 the centre of a long valley or glade, form- 
 ed by two ranges of mountains, rearing 
 their summits to the clouds, and nearly 
 meeting at their base. Beheld from a 
 mountain pass immediately in the rear of 
 the settlement, two or three sugar-estates 
 are visible in the distance ; and beyond 
 them, by an accommodation of the fore- 
 ground to avoid obstruction from the trees 
 which are in process of being cleared away, 
 are seen the towns of Kingston and Port 
 Royal ; whilst, as an additional element of 
 interest and beauty in the picture, the ports 
 disclose their shipping, and the harbour 
 the small craft, that are perpetually skim- 
 ming to and fro over its surface, with now 
 and then a merchantman or man-of-war 
 homeward or outward bound. 
 
 The settlement is already of considera- 
 ble extent, and is gradually increasing. 
 The cottages are of comfortable size, con- 
 taining about three rooms each, and are 
 very substantially built. The v township 
 contains at present but three principal 
 streets, one of which, by an angle in its 
 centre, is divided into two, named Victoria 
 and Albert. Along these, leaving a piece 
 of garden-ground in front, the cottages are 
 ranged on either side, at equal distances. 
 
 The interesting ceremony of opening the 
 township took place on the 12th day of 
 May, 1842. A considerable number of 
 people were attracted by the occasion ; 
 and, as its principal objects were to secure 
 an opportunity of preaching the Gospel 
 and administering advice, accommodation 
 for a large auditory had been provided be- 
 neath a cluster of old forest-trees, on the 
 mountain-side, and in a situation which 
 commanded a view of the whole settle- 
 ment. It was a most romantic spot — the 
 mountains forming an amphitheatre, cover- 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 87 
 
 ed with trees and shrubs of varied foliage 
 and beauty, arresting the clouds as they 
 floated along the sky, 
 
 " With thicket overgrown, grotesque and wild, 
 Access denied, and overhead up grew 
 Insuperable heights of loftiest shade, 
 Cedar and branching palm," 
 
 whilst their sides, and the extended and 
 lovely valley below, presented in beautiful 
 contrast a garden reclaimed from the wide 
 waste around by the arts of peaceful in- 
 dustry. 
 
 In consequence of the reverberation of 
 sound along the narrow defile which the 
 township occupies, a shout of the voice 
 was all that was necessary to attract the 
 company to the place of meeting. Ac- 
 cordingly, at the appointed hour, the words, 
 " Come to prayers," being vociferated two 
 or three times by one of the most robust 
 and active of the villagers, who ascended 
 the summit of a detached hill for the pur- 
 pose^ every individual in the settlement 
 was seen wending his way to this rural 
 sanctuary ; the aged and infirm supporting 
 themselves on a staff, and others more 
 vigorous climbing the steep ascent with 
 quick and eager step : all, at the same 
 time, with countenances that betokened 
 the pleasure which such a summons had 
 created. 
 
 The pulpit was a rude table, covered 
 with a white cloth, and situated close to 
 the huge trunk of one of the group of trees 
 already mentioned. The hearers were 
 seated almost in semicircles on planks 
 affixed to uprights placed in the ground, 
 beneath the shade of the wide-spread 
 branches, altogether presenting a most 
 novel and interesting spectacle. 
 
 The writer commenced the services, and 
 delivered an address containing, as is usual 
 on such occasions, advice on the subject 
 of personal and relative duties, urging on 
 all present the advantages of a conscientious 
 and faithful discharge of them, both as 
 evidences of their piety towards God, and 
 as necessary causes of their temporal pros- 
 perity and happiness. The Rev. Thomas 
 Dowson preached an energetic and appro- 
 priate discourse, relating, in an especial 
 manner, to the spiritual interests of the 
 hearers. The service was then closed by 
 prayer and praise. 
 
 These preliminary engagements being 
 ended, the writer proceeded to the cere- 
 mony of naming the town, and accord- 
 
 ingly proposed its being called " Clarkson 
 Town," in honour of the celebrated phi- 
 lanthropist of that name, to whose long 
 and untiring efforts on behalf of the Afri- 
 can race the great boon of emancipation 
 was mainly to be attributed, detailing 
 some of the difficulties this venerable man 
 had to encounter, and the sacrifices he was 
 called to make, in the prosecution of his 
 arduous work, deducing from the whole his 
 pre-eminent claim to their most grateful 
 remembrance. 
 
 This address was received with cordial 
 responses, and the designation, " Clarkson 
 Town," by men, women, and children 
 united, resounded throughout the valley. 
 " The venerable Clarkson, and his asso- 
 ciates in the great work of securing liberty 
 to the slave ! May they live to hear of 
 still greater triumphs of their philanthropy ! 
 May they persevere in their benevolent 
 efforts until slavery and the slave-trade 
 shall perish in every land ; and may they 
 be at last crowned with immortal honour 
 and happiness in heaven !" was repeated 
 by the crowd with the greatest enthusiasm, 
 and followed by loud and long-continued 
 cheering. 
 
 A statement of the circumstances which 
 led to the establishment of the township, 
 together with the leading incidents which 
 had hitherto marked its history, was then 
 read : an extract from which, designed 
 especially to show the advantages of its 
 locality, is here subjoined. 
 
 " Although the settlement is at present 
 small and insignificant, it is probable it 
 may soon become of considerable magni- 
 tude and importance, as a plan is con- 
 ceived of cutting a canal from a little above 
 Kingston harbour to the foot of the moun- 
 tains near which the town is located — a 
 design which, if executed, will be of almost 
 inconceivable advantage to the estates in 
 the neighbourhood, bring a vast tract of 
 land into cultivation now abandoned in 
 morass, afford facilities for the conveyance 
 of produce from the adjoining parishes, 
 and thereby increase cultivation in them 
 to an extent hitherto unprecedented. 
 
 " May this infant township rise under 
 the blessing of Almighty God, and may 
 its inhabitants, to the most distant poste- 
 rity, united in bonds of Christian love and 
 fellowship, be as one family, with one 
 feeling to prompt and one principle to 
 | govern !" 
 
88 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 This part of the ceremony concluded, 
 the writer proceeded to name the streets of 
 the town, and arriving at the most conve- 
 nient part of the principal street, he pre- 
 faced the designation by a short address, 
 congratulating the peasantry on their loy- 
 alty to their sovereign, in desiring the as- 
 sociation of Her Majesty's name and that 
 of her Royal consort (a general case in all 
 the new townships) with their social pros- 
 perity and happiness. And on his saying 
 aloud, " I name this street « Victoria,' in 
 honour of our beloved sovereign, by whose 
 gracious will and pleasure the great boon 
 of freedom was bestowed upon you and 
 your children," all united in loud and suc- 
 cessive cheers, followed by singing in 
 chorus two or three verses of the National 
 Anthem. The circumstances attending 
 the naming of the street in honour of 
 Prince Albert were similar, as were also 
 those which accompanied the naming of 
 the remainder, among which was " Gurney 
 Street," in remembrance of Joseph J. Gur- 
 ney, Esq., who, as described in his ' Win- 
 ter in the West Indies, in 1841,' visited the 
 settlement, and was delighted both with its 
 appearance, and the manners, intelligence, 
 and hospitality of the people.* 
 
 At the conclusion of the business of the 
 day the two ministers who conducted the 
 ceremonies, together with the friends who 
 accompanied them, retired loaded with 
 caresses and followed by benedictions until 
 the interesting spot had vanished from their 
 sight. The writer could not help specula- 
 ting, as he paced the winding solitary 
 ascent to his home, on the emotions of 
 which the venerable Clarkson and his 
 noble coadjutors in the cause of African 
 liberty would have been the subjects had 
 they but witnessed the scene — had they 
 beheld the activity and light-heartedness 
 manifested both by young and old, from 
 the earliest dawn of day. Had they heard 
 their mutual salutations — their hearty 
 cheers and enthusiastic benedictions on the 
 instruments of their deliverance from tem- 
 poral and spiritual bondage ! Had they 
 but seen the evidences of their industry 
 and providence — of their contentment and 
 happiness — these noble-minded men and 
 women would have required no other re- 
 compense, they could have desired no 
 higher honour. Nor will their names or 
 
 Winter in the West Indies, p. 116. 
 
 their deeds ever be forgotten — they will 
 descend to succeeding generations em- 
 balmed in the grateful recollection of the 
 whole posterity of Ham, when the memo- 
 rials of the tyrants that oppressed them 
 shall have perished. 
 
 The number of similar settlements that 
 have been established since the period of 
 emancipation, and the extent of such free- 
 holds, is almost incredible. It is difficult 
 at present to ascertain the precise number 
 of either, but on a rough calculation the 
 villages can scarcely be estimated at fewer 
 than from 150 to 200, or the number of 
 acres of land purchased at less than 
 100,000. Equally imperfect must be any 
 general statistics respecting them. As 
 nearly as can be ascertained, the number 
 of heads of families who have purchased 
 land is about 10,000,* and the number of 
 cottages erected about 3000. The amount 
 paid for land thus purchased is estimated 
 at 70,000/., and the value of the houses 
 100,000/., thus making the total cost of 
 land purchased by the peasantry in the 
 course of four years, and of cottages 
 erected by them, 170,000/. 
 
 The names which these simple-minded 
 villagers attach to their unpretending 
 dwellings, though a trifling incident, is not 
 without interest, as one of the lighter indi- 
 cations of their progress in social taste and 
 improvement. A specimen of these is 
 here given. 
 
 Victoria 
 Comfort Castle 
 
 Happy Home 
 Content 
 
 * As a proof that the above calculation is not ex- 
 aggerated, an extract from a speech delivered, in the 
 House of Commons, March 22, 1842, by Lord Stan- 
 ley (the present Colonial Secretary), is here inserted : 
 — " The next statement he (Lord Stanley) would read 
 to the House, was by a Stipendiary Magistrate. He 
 said it would appear wonderful how so much had 
 been accomplished in the island, in building, plant- 
 ing, and digging, and making fences, without a ces- 
 sation of labour on the part of the population. The 
 reason was, that the emancipation from bondage to 
 new hopes, new desires, and new responsibilities, 
 strengthened the exertions of the negro, and enabled 
 him to labour in his own plantation, and to spare 
 time to labour in the plantations of others. And to 
 that statement was attached a most singular docu- 
 ment, which showed the number in one parish, not of 
 those who had landed possessions, but of those who 
 had entered their names as being the owners of pro- 
 perty liable to taxation, and who had stated their wil- 
 lingness as free men to bear their proportion of the 
 public imposts. In that parish, in 1836, there were 
 317 names; in 1840, 1321; and in 1841, 1866: and 
 the number of freeholders, who had become free- 
 holders by their accumulations and industry in the 
 island of Jamaica, was in 1838, 2114; and in the 
 space of two years, in 1840, their number had in- 
 creased to 7340." 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 89 
 
 Pleasant Hill 
 Happy Wood 
 Occasion Call* 
 Envy Not 
 Albert 
 
 Thankful Hill 
 Good Hope 
 Happiness 
 Save Rent 
 Heart's Love 
 Adelaide 
 Happy Hill 
 Campbell's Delight 
 Thank God to see it 
 Happy Retreat 
 A Little of n>y Own 
 
 Industry 
 Canaan 
 Mount Zion 
 Happy Hut 
 Free Come 
 Happy Grove 
 Content my Own 
 Jane's Delight 
 Paradise 
 Come See 
 Fisherman's Home 
 Freedom 
 Liberty Content 
 Comfortable Garden 
 You no come 1 no got 
 Pleasant Farm 
 
 Among the appellations by which the 
 villages themselves are distinguished are 
 the following : — 
 
 Victoria 
 
 
 Normanby 
 
 Vale Lionel 
 
 
 Buxton 
 
 Gurney 
 
 
 Albert 
 
 Sligoville 
 
 
 Clarkson 
 
 Brougham 
 
 
 Sturge 
 
 Adelaide 
 
 
 Wilberforce 
 
 Macauley 
 
 
 Harvey 
 
 Thompson. 
 
 
 
 As an e\ 
 
 'idence 
 
 of the improvement 
 
 which has taken place, the decencies of 
 society are no longer outraged by insuffi- 
 cient and filthy apparel. Seldom, indeed, 
 is an individual seen, especially on the 
 Sabbath, except in the most becoming 
 attire, — in every respect as good as that 
 worn by persons of the same class during 
 thesummer in England. The dress of the 
 women generally consists of a printed or 
 white cotton gown, with a white handker- 
 chief tied in a turban-like manner round 
 their heads, and a neat straw hat trimmed 
 with white ribbon ; while some, especially 
 the young women, wear straw bonnets 
 and white muslin dresses. This improve- 
 ment has extended itself, not simply to the 
 mere article of dress, but also to its condi- 
 tion. It is uniformly distinguished for its 
 cleanliness, whilst the economy with which 
 it is preserved in a climate where, from 
 insects and other causes, it is so liable to 
 destruction, is truly remarkable. 
 
 [Female Negro Peasant in her 
 
 On occasions when their best garments 
 are to be worn, such as on the Sabbath, 
 at funerals, at meetings of friendship, and 
 during the public holidays, they are car- 
 ried to the spot by each individual respec- 
 
 * Becase him have 'casion. On asking a good man 
 who had given this designation to his freehold its 
 meaning, he replied— "If any person have business 
 wid me, him can come in ; but if him don't want me 
 in pottickler, me no wants him company, and him no 
 'casion to come." 
 
 t " If you don't come to trouble me, I don't go to 
 trouble you." 
 
 Sunday and Working Dress.] 
 
 tively in a basket on the head, and no 
 sooner does the occasion cease than they 
 are as carefully replaced in the basket, 
 cleaned, and consigned to the family chest. 
 Contrary to the prevailing opinion in Eng- 
 land, the taste of the females is no longer 
 characterized by the love of gaudy colours. 
 From the circumstances in which they 
 have been placed, it can scarcely be ex- 
 pected that the qualities by which the 
 female sex is so conspicuously adorned in 
 Britain should be equally displayed by 
 
90 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 these daughters of Ethiopia. Modesty, a 
 sense of shame, together with a refined 
 and delicate sensibility, are however be- 
 coming increasingly apparent. 
 
 The savage custom of impaling and eat- 
 ing reptiles and unclean animals no longer 
 exists. Polygamy is now highly disreputa- 
 ble, and is universally regarded not only 
 as sinful, but as subversive of social in- 
 terests and domestic happiness ; nor less so 
 are concubinage and general licentious- 
 ness. Since the celebration of marriage 
 by missionaries of all denominations has 
 been legalized — which right was conceded 
 to dissenters in general by an Act passed 
 by the Colonial Legislature on the 2d of 
 December, 1840 — the ceremony has be- 
 come so common as to be an almost daily 
 occurrence. Out of a population of 420,000, 
 not fewer than 14,840 marriages have taken 
 place annually since that period, being a 
 proportion of one in 29 : indeed, every- 
 where marriage is now the rule, and con- 
 cubinage the exception.* 
 
 Their ideas of the marriage state are 
 entirely changed. It is now associated 
 with everything virtuous and honourable 
 in human conduct. It is by no means un- 
 common, when a married man is charged 
 with inconsistency and sin of any kind, 
 that surprise should be expressed on the 
 ground of having entered into that rela- 
 tion ; while those who worthily discharge 
 its duties and obligations are invariably re- 
 garded as individuals deserving the highest 
 respect and esteem. 
 
 In some districts, the circumstances 
 under which a newly-married pair return 
 to the plantation or a newly-formed village 
 are peculiarly interesting; nearly all the 
 inhabitants, together with friends and ac- 
 quaintances from the neighbourhood, go 
 out to meet them attired in their best gar- 
 ments, and forming themselves into two 
 parallel lines, through which the bride and 
 bridegroom, with their attendants, pass, 
 shake them heartily by the hand, and in- 
 voke a thousand blessings on their union. 
 In other instances, no sooner is the ap- 
 proach of the party announced than they 
 are immediately surrounded, and the ear 
 is filled with the clamour of congratulation. 
 The first appearance of a negro pair at the 
 House of God after the ceremony, usually 
 presents an interesting scene. " God bless 
 
 * See Candler's Journal, p. 23. 
 
 you, my sister, my broder, my friend ! me 
 wish you much joy !" accompanied by 
 other external signs of sympathy which 
 none but the negro race can so eloquently 
 and beautifully express, are uttered in con- 
 cert by multitudes of voices. 
 
 Nor are the principles by which the con- 
 jugal, parental, and filial relations are sus- 
 tained, either imperfectly understood or 
 faintly developed. 
 
 Mutual harmony and tenderness, every 
 mild virtue and soft endearment, which 
 gives to home its solace and its charm, is 
 now to be seen in lovely exercise in many 
 a negro family. Comparatively humble as 
 are their thatched and mud-walled cottages, 
 they are associated in the minds of their 
 sable tenants with pleasures that never 
 cloy, and which leave neither stain nor 
 sting behind. "Many a family presents 
 a group worthy of the painter's pencil and 
 the poet's song — a scene to excite the pa- 
 triot's hope and the Christian's joy — a 
 scene which ministering spirits view with 
 high complacency, and a living sanctuary 
 where the promised presence of the Saviour 
 dwells." Amidst the stillness of a Sabbath 
 evening, after their return from the House 
 of God, often is such a family seen sitting 
 beneath the shadow of the trees which 
 overhang their cottage, engaged in singing 
 a hymn or in listening to the reading of the 
 Scriptures, or religious tracts, " none dar- 
 ing to make them afraid." 
 
 " Embosomed in his home 
 He shares the frugal meal with those he loves ; 
 With those he loves he shares the heartfelt joy 
 Of giving thanks to God." 
 
 A surprising improvement is apparent in 
 the manners and intercourse of the people 
 at large. They no longer exhibit their 
 former uncouth address and their sullen 
 aspect and carriage, but are respectful to 
 their superiors, graceful in their manners, 
 and social in their dispositions. They 
 never fail to return an act of civility even 
 to a stranger on the public road, though 
 they may be groaning beneath the heaviest 
 burdens, and seldom are they known to 
 offer an insult except under circumstances 
 of great provocation. 
 
 Towards each other they manifest a 
 politeness and respect sometimes approach- 
 ing to extravagance. The lowest of the 
 peasantry seldom meet without exchanging 
 salutations, accompanied in general by mu- 
 tual inquiries after the health of each other's 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 91 
 
 families. This practice is so general that 
 among friends its accidental violation has 
 often led to unpleasant consequences when 
 not followed by an apology. Gratitude 
 for favours received, respect for old age, 
 love of offspring, generous compassion for 
 the distressed, ardent and disinterested 
 friendship, have, by the most prejudiced 
 writers, been universally acknowledged to 
 be redeeming qualities of the African char- 
 acter ; qualities the developement of which 
 is daily becoming increasingly manifest. 
 
 However justly the charge of indolence 
 and improvidence was formerly brought 
 against the peasantry of Jamaica, it is now 
 no longer of general application. 
 
 The term indolent can only be applied 
 to the black population in the absence of 
 remunerating employment. But even then 
 they labour in their own provision grounds. 
 Jamaica peasants loitering along the roads, 
 — associated in groups in their villages for 
 the purpose of idle gossip, — lounging about 
 their residences, — or spending their time 
 and money at taverns or places of similar 
 resort, are seldom to be found. 
 
 On returning from their daily labour the 
 men almost uniformly employ themselves 
 in cultivating their own grounds or in im- 
 proving their own little freeholds, and the 
 women in culinary and other domestic pur- 
 poses until driven to their frugal repast 
 and to repose by darkness and fatigue. As 
 to the great bulk of the people, making 
 allowance for the influence of climate, no 
 peasantry in the world can display more 
 cheerful and persevering industry. These 
 facts have not only been confirmed by mis- 
 sionaries and disinterested men throughout 
 the island, as well as by Messrs. Gurney, 
 Candler, and other philanthropic and highly 
 respectable travellers, but by the public 
 journals of the colonists themselves,— 
 journals which are considered the organs 
 of the most respectable portion both of the 
 commercial and agricultural communities. 
 The editor of the Jamaica Morning Jour- 
 nal, a high authority, so lately as the 17th 
 of February of the present year, thus 
 speaks : — 
 
 " The colony remains in that quiescent 
 condition which is so favourable to im- 
 provement, and it is gratifying to observe, 
 as the result of this state of things, the im- 
 petus which has been given to the agricul- 
 tural societies, and the formation of literary 
 ones. We do not recollect ever to have 
 
 seen such vigorous efforts put forth for the 
 improvement of the people and of agricul- 
 ture as have been within the last few 
 months. 
 
 " Except as to the want of labourers, 
 we have no complaints ; and, whether re- 
 garded socially or politically, the state of 
 Jamaica at present is as favourable as 
 could be desired by the most ardent lover 
 of peace and quiet. The planters are 
 looking forward to large crops, and are 
 cheered by the hope that they will yet be 
 enabled to recover themselves from the 
 almost ruinous effects of the late drought." 
 The evidence of Sir Charles Metcalfe 
 from various circumstances will be re- 
 garded as important and decisive. It is 
 contained in a despatch to Lord Stanley, 
 and read by the Secretary for the Colonies 
 in the House of Commons on the 22d of 
 March, 1842. Six years after the passing 
 of the Emancipation Act, and at the end 
 of the second year of Sir Charles Met- 
 calfe's government, he said, " The present 
 condition of the peasantry in Jamaica is 
 very striking. He did not suppose that 
 any peasantry had so many comforts, or 
 so much independence. Their behaviour 
 was peaceable, and in some respects cheer- 
 ful. They were found to attend divine 
 service in good clothes, many of them 
 riding on horses. They sent their chil- 
 dren to school, and paid for their school- 
 ing, and not only attended the churches 
 of their different communities, but sub- 
 scribed for their respective churches. Their 
 piety teas remarkable ; and he was happy 
 to add, that in some respects they deserved 
 what they had. They were generally well 
 ordered and free from crime, had much 
 improved in their habits, and were constant 
 in their attendance on divine worship 
 themselves, and in the attendance of their 
 children, and were willing to pay the ex- 
 penses.'''' 
 
 The following graphic description of 
 the prosperous condition of Jamaica, by 
 J. J. Gurney, Esq., will not only form an 
 appropriate conclusion to the present chap- 
 ter, but at the same time illustrate and con- 
 firm its statements :— « The imports of the 
 island are rapidly increasing; trade im- 
 proving ; the towns thriving ; new villages 
 rising up in every direction ; property much 
 enhanced in value ; well-managed estates 
 productive and profitable ; expenses of ma- 
 nagement diminished ; short methods of 
 
92 
 
 JAMAICA 
 
 labour adopted ; provisions cultivated on a 
 larger scale than ever ; and the people, 
 wherever they are properly treated, indus- 
 trious, contented, and gradually accumu- 
 lating wealth. Above all, education is 
 rapidly spreading; the morals of the com- 
 munity improving; crime is in many dis- 
 tricts disappearing ; and Christianity as- 
 serting her sway with vastly augmented 
 force over the mass of the population. 
 Cease from all attempts to oppose the cur- 
 rent of justice and mercy — remove every 
 obstruction to the fair and full working of 
 freedom — and the bud of Jamaica's pros- 
 perity, already fragrant and vigorous, will 
 soon burst into a glorious flower."* 
 
 "Say what avail'd, till Freedom's heav'nly band 
 Deign'd to revisit this forsaken land, 
 That spicy forests here their burthens bear, 
 And the rich pine perfumes its native air, 
 That, void and sapless in less favour'd fields, 
 Here the full reed divine ambrosia yields ; 
 For long her fate the hapless island wept, 
 Whilst o'er her plains the Hydra slavery swept ; 
 From shore to shore the growing ruin spread, 
 And Justice died, and Mercy, frighten'd, fled. 
 Till Freedom bade at length these horrors cease, 
 And call'd to joy, and brotherhood, and peace. 
 Oh, think, late lords of slaves, what numbers groan 
 In all the pangs from which you freed your own ; 
 Think too, late bondsmen, and with pity melt, 
 How millions feel what you have felt!" 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 MOHAL STATE AND ASPECTS OF SOCIETY. 
 
 Different Tribes of Africans— Peculiar Characteris- 
 tics of each — Immoral Tendency of their Amuse- 
 ments — Funerals — Superstitions — Characteristic 
 Vices — Contrast presented by the present State of 
 Things — Description of a Funeral as now con- 
 ducted — Causes of the late partial Revival of Obe- 
 ism and JVJyalism — Decrease of Crime. 
 
 Section I. — Imported, as the slaves 
 originally were, from such an immense 
 continent as that of Africa, the regions 
 whence they were supplied extending 2000 
 miles from north to south, and 600 from 
 east to west, inhabited by various nations 
 
 * It is delightful to add that this state of things con- 
 tinues to the present time ; a fact confirmed by the 
 testimony of the present Governor, the Earl of Elgin, 
 in a reply to an address presented to him when per- 
 forming a tour of the Island, dated Lucea, April 8, 
 1843: — " I have observed with much gratification the 
 periect cordiality which subsists between all classes 
 and denominations of Her Majesty's subjects in the 
 island ; and, large as were my expectations, they have 
 been surpassed by the beauty and fertility of the 
 country." 
 
 differing materially from each other in 
 civilization, religion, manners, and cus- 
 toms, it may be inferred that their tempers 
 and dispositions would also vary accord- 
 ing to the circumstances of the tribe or 
 nation to which they belonged. The most 
 distinguished of the tribes brought into the 
 colony were the Mandingoes, the Foulahs, 
 and others, from the banks of the Senegal, 
 the Gambia, and the Rio Grande; the 
 Whidahs or Papaws, the Eboes, the Con- 
 goes, the Angolas, the Coromantees, and 
 the Mocoes, from Upper and Lower Guinea. 
 The Mandingoes, the Whidahs, and the 
 Congoes, are said, in general, to have been 
 docile, civil, obliging, and peaceable, in 
 their natural tempers and dispositions ; but 
 effeminate both in body and mind, and but 
 ill able to endure the sufferings and toils 
 of slavery. The Eboes are described as 
 crafty, frugal, disputative, and avaricious ; 
 also as haughty, fierce, and stubborn; often 
 manifesting a spirit of despondency, which 
 not unfrequently urged them to the com- 
 mission of suicide. Many of the Angolas 
 and Mocoes are said to have been canni- 
 bals. The Coromantees, the inhabitants 
 of the Gold Coast and its vicinity, are re- 
 presented as " possessing all the worst 
 passions of which imbruted humanity is 
 susceptible," — the tribe that had generally 
 been at the head of all insurrections, and 
 the original and parent stock of the Ma- 
 roons : characteristics which, it is proba- 
 ble, were to a considerable degree the re- 
 sult of their condition, rather than of their 
 nature. Their aggregate character when 
 amalgamated into one society, under the 
 influence of slavery, is thus described by 
 an historian as the result of personal know- 
 ledge and observation: — " In their tempers 
 they are, in general, irascible, conceited, 
 proud, indolent, lascivious, credulous, and 
 very artful. They are excellent dissem- 
 blers and skilful flatterers. They possess 
 good-nature, and sometimes, but rarely, 
 gratitude. Their memory soon loses the 
 traces of favours conferred on them, but 
 faithfully retains a sense of injuries; this 
 sense is so poignant that they have been 
 known to dissemble their hatred for many 
 years until an opportunity has presented 
 of retaliation." " A debasement of all the 
 mental faculties, and the destruction of 
 every honourable principle," says another 
 author, " seems to be the never-failing 
 consequence of slavery; so that even the 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 most high-spirited and courageous negro 
 becomes, after remaining a few years in 
 slavery, cunning, cowardly, and, to a cer- 
 tain degree, malevolent. The general dis- 
 position of the negroes in Jamaica, there- 
 fore, but to which there are some excep- 
 tions, may safely be asserted to be thievish, 
 lazy, and dissimulating." 
 
 ""Hytt/a-u yag t' ugsTHC st.7rociivvntt tv^uoiret Zsuc 
 
 'AVifOS, EUT"' £v fJI.IV X.a.TO. ioVXIOV YtTTdLg 6A»(7<V."* 
 
 Hom. Od., lib. 17, v. 322. 
 
 Section II. — Their nightly dances or 
 plays, which were frequent and general, 
 were of a character the most licentious. 
 They were usually accompanied by a band 
 of the most rude and monotonous music, 
 composed of instruments of African manu- 
 facture. The assemblage on such occa- 
 sions consisted of both sexes, who ranged 
 themselves in a circle round a male and 
 female dancer, and performed to the music 
 of their drums. 
 
 The songs were sung by the other fe- 
 males of the party ; one alternately sing- 
 ing, while her companions repeated in 
 chorus; the singers and dancers observing 
 the exactest precision as to time and mea- 
 sure. On some occasions the dance con- 
 sisted of stamping the feet, accompanied 
 by various contortions of the body, with 
 strange and indecent attitudes : on others, 
 the head of each dancer was erect, or oc- 
 casionally inclined forward ; the hands 
 nearly united in front ; the elbows fixed, 
 pointing from the sides ; and the lower ex- 
 tremities being held firm, the whole person 
 was moved without raising the feet from 
 the ground. Making the head and limbs 
 fixed points, they writhed and turned the 
 body upon its own axis, slowly advancing 
 towards each other, or retreating to the 
 outer part of the circumference. Their 
 approaches to each other, and the attitudes 
 and inflexions in which they were made, 
 were highly indecent, the performers being 
 nearly naked. On public holidays, parti- 
 cularly those of Christmas, which, in some 
 respects, resembled the Roman feasts of 
 the Saturnalia, or rather the wild festivals 
 of Africa, the scenes were oftentimes too 
 disgusting to be looked upon. On such 
 occasions each of the African tribes upon 
 the different estates formed itself into a 
 
 * The day unblest which first sees man a slave 
 Hobs him of half the worth that nature gave. 
 
 distinct party, composed of men, women, 
 and children. Each party had its King or 
 Queen, who was distinguished by a mask 
 of the most hideous appearance, and attired 
 from head to foot in gaudy harlequin-like 
 apparel. They paraded or gambolled in 
 their respective neighbourhoods, dancing 
 to the rude music, which was occasionally 
 drowned by the most hideous yells from 
 the whole party by way of chorus. The 
 following is a specimen of the airs sung by 
 the negroes on such occasions : — 
 
 233 
 
 imm 
 
 L-f-^-tx-r- 
 
 ?ig£sfSpI£§Ei 
 
 In the towns, such processions were pre- 
 ceded by a tall athletic man, attired in the 
 same grotesque habiliments, in addition to 
 which he wore a most hideous head-dress, 
 surmounted by a pair of ox-horns, while 
 from the lower part of the mask large boar- 
 tusks protruded. This hero of the party 
 was called John Connu, after the name of 
 a celebrated African at Axim on the coast 
 of Guinea, with whom the practice is sup- 
 posed to have originated. He bore in his 
 hand a large wooden sword which he oc- 
 casionally brandished, accompanying its 
 evolutions by a thousand fantastic freaks. 
 Several companions were associated with 
 him as musicians, beating banjas and tom- 
 toms, blowing cow-horns, shaking a hard 
 round black seed, called Indian shot, in a 
 calabash, and scraping the bones of ani- 
 mals together, which, added to the vocife- 
 rations of the crowd, filled the air with the 
 most discordant sounds. They were chiefly 
 followed by children and disreputable wo- 
 men, the latter frequently supplying the 
 performers with intoxicating drinks. Being 
 generally encouraged, they paraded the 
 streets, and exhibited themselves in private 
 houses, for whole days and nights succes- 
 sively ; and in consequence of the violent 
 exercise, the drunkenness, and other ex- 
 cesses in which they indulged, multitudes 
 of them annually fell a prey to sickness 
 and death. 
 
 On a New Year's Day sets of young 
 women, or dancing girls, often elegantly 
 dressed, and distinguished as reds and 
 blues, or according to the colour of the 
 
94 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 riband worn by them as a badge, went from 
 house to house of what were called the 
 respectable inhabitants, and danced for 
 voluntary gifts. The conduct of all parties 
 on some of these occasions was disgraceful 
 to humanity, while the dress of each indi- 
 vidual of the sets being furnished in many 
 cases by her owner, the profits of these ex- 
 cesses were shared between them. 
 
 Section III. — Their practices at fune- 
 rals were unnatural and revolting in a high 
 degree. No sooner did the spirit depart 
 from the body of a relative or friend, 
 than the most wild and frantic gesticula- 
 tions were manifested, accompanied by the 
 beating of drums and the singing of songs. 
 When on the way with the corpse to inter- 
 ment, the bearers, who were often intoxi- 
 cated, practised the most strange and 
 ridiculous manoeuvres. They would some- 
 times make a sudden halt, put their ears in 
 a listening attitude against the coffin, pre- 
 tending that the corpse was endued with 
 the gift of speech — that he was angry and 
 required to be appeased, gave instructions 
 for a different distribution of his property, 
 objected to his mode of conveyance, or re- 
 fused to proceed farther towards the place 
 of burial until some debts due to him were 
 discharged, some slanderous imputation on 
 his charracter removed, some theft con- 
 fessed, or until they (the bearers) were 
 presented with renewed potations of rum : 
 and the more effectually to delude the mul- 
 titude, and thereby enforce their claims, to 
 some of which they were often instigated 
 by the chief mourners, they would pretend 
 to answer the questions of the deceased, 
 echo his requirements, run back with the 
 coffin upon the procession, or jerk with it 
 from side to side of the road ; not unfre- 
 quently, and under the most trivial pre- 
 tence, they would leave the corpse at the 
 door or in the house of a debtor or neigh- 
 bour indiscriminately, and resist every im- 
 portunity for its removal, until his pretended 
 demands were satisfied. 
 
 On estates these ceremonies were gener- 
 ally performed in a manner which was, if 
 possible, still more revolting. They took 
 place at night by the light of torches, 
 amidst drumming, dancing, singing, drunk- 
 enness, and debauchery. The coffin was 
 usually supported on the heads of two 
 bearers, proceeded by a man carrying a 
 white flag, and followed by the intoxicated 
 
 multitude. They went to each house of 
 the negro village ostensibly to " take leave," 
 but really for exaction and fraud. " The 
 following air," says Mr. Barclay, "I have 
 heard sung by the heathen slaves at their 
 funerals, and probably African. To me it 
 appeared strikingly wild and melancholy, 
 associated as it is in my mind with such 
 recollections, and heard for the first time 
 sung by savages interring their dead at the 
 midnight hour." 
 
 The corpse being deposited in the grave 
 and partially covered with earth, the atten- 
 dants completed the burial (for a time) by 
 casting the earth behind them, to prevent 
 the deceased from following them home. 
 The last sad offices were usually closed by 
 sacrifices of fowls and other domestic ani- 
 mals, which were torn to pieces and scat- 
 tered over the grave, together with copious 
 libations of blood and other ingredients, 
 accompanted at the same time with the 
 most violent and extravagant external signs 
 of sorrow ; they stamped their feet, tore 
 their hair, beat their breast, vociferated, 
 and manifested the most wild and frantic 
 gestures. No sooner, however, did the 
 party return to the house of their relatives 
 and friends than every sign of sadness 
 vanished ; " the drums resounded with a 
 livelier beat, the song grew more animated, 
 dancing and festivity commenced, and the 
 night was spent in riot and debauchery." 
 Were the deceased a female, the reputed 
 husband for about a month afterwards was 
 negligent in his person and dress. At the 
 close of this period he proceeded with some 
 of his friends to the grave with several 
 articles of food, and sung a song congratu- 
 lating the deceased on her enjoyment of 
 complete happiness. This was supposed 
 to terminate their mutual obligations. Each 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 95 
 
 of the party then expressed his wishes of 
 remembrance to his kindred, repeated bene- 
 dictions on his family, promised soon to 
 return to them, repeated promises to take 
 care of her children, and bade the deceased 
 an affectionate farewell. An additional 
 quantity of earth was now thrown over the 
 grave, and the party partook of the repast 
 they had provided, concluding the cere- 
 mony with dancing, singing, and vocifera- 
 tion, regarding death as a welcome relief 
 from the calamities of life, and a passport 
 to the never-to-be-forgotten scenes of their 
 nativity. 
 
 Not only were the negroes the subjects 
 of great superstitious credulity, but super- 
 stition itself in its most disgusting forms 
 prevailed among them to a very great ex- 
 tent. Dark and magical rites, numberless 
 incantations, and barbarous customs, were 
 continually practised. The principal of 
 these were Obeism, Myalism, and Fetish- 
 ism ; and such was their influence upon 
 the general mind, that they were accom- 
 panied by all the terrors that the dread of 
 a malignant being and the fear of unknown 
 evil could invest them. 
 
 Obeism was a species of witchcraft em- 
 ployed to revenge injuries, or as a protec- 
 tion against theft, and is so called from 
 Obi, the town, city, district, or province of 
 Africa where it originated. It consisted 
 in placing a spell or charm near the cot- 
 tage of the individual intended to be brought 
 under its influence, or when designed to 
 prevent the depredations of thieves, in some 
 conspicuous part of the house or on a tree ; 
 it was signified by a calabash or gourd 
 containing, among other ingredients, a 
 combination of different coloured rags, cat's 
 teeth, parrot's feathers, toad's feet, egg- 
 shells, fish bones, snake's teeth, and lizards' 
 tails.* Terror immediately seized the in- 
 
 * Another part of the vile art was to cause the 
 death of victims by pretending to catch their shadows, 
 or holding them spell-bound, as within a magic cir- 
 cle. By the slave-law it was punishable by death. 
 The following is a description of it as given by a 
 witness on a trial that took place some years ago: 
 
 '• Do you know the prisoner to be an Obeah man ? 
 
 Ees, Massa, shadow-catcher true. 
 
 What do you mean by shadow-catcher? 
 
 Him heb coffin — [a little coffin was here produced] 
 — his set fo catch dem shadow. 
 
 What shadow do you mean ? 
 
 When him set Obeah for somebody him catch dem 
 shadow, and dem go dead." 
 
 Its nature was thus graphically explained to a gen- 
 tleman by a negro whom he interrogated respecting 
 it : — " If you want what cure it cure, if you want what 
 kill it kill, massa." 
 
 dividual who beheld it, and either by resign- 
 ing himself to despair, or by the secret 
 communication of poison, in most cases 
 death was the inevitable consequence. 
 Similar to the influence of this superstition 
 was that of their solemn curses pronounced 
 upon thieves, but which it would be too 
 tedious to detail. 
 
 Myalism, as well as Fetishism, were 
 constituent parts of Obeism, and included 
 a mystery of iniquity which perhaps was 
 never fully revealed to the uninitiated. 
 The votaries of this art existed as a fra- 
 ternity composed of individuals from the 
 surrounding neighbourhood, who were re- 
 gularly inducted into it in accordance with 
 certain demoniacal forms. They adopted 
 every possible means to increase their num- 
 bers, and proposed, as the advantages of 
 membership, exemption from pain and pre- 
 mature death ; from death, especially as 
 designed by white men ; or certain re- 
 covery from its influence when life was 
 actually extinct. It was understood to 
 counteract the effect of Obeism, but was 
 often much more demoralizing and fatal in 
 its results. The master of the ceremonies, 
 who was usually denominated Doctor, by 
 violent and excessive dancing, as well as 
 by the use of poisonous drugs, deprived his 
 victims of sensibility, and apparently of 
 life; and when, by the use of medicinal 
 herbs, he had restored them to their for- 
 mer condition, pretended that he had done 
 so by extracting pieces of glass bottle, 
 snakes, and other Obeah ingredients and 
 reptiles from their skin.* A miraculous 
 cure was hereby supposed to have been 
 effected, and contributions were liberally 
 awarded to the magician; seldom, how- 
 ever, did the constitution of the patient re- 
 cover from the effects of the experiment. 
 A Cew years since there was scarcely an 
 estate which did not contain a priest or 
 priestess of this deadly art, nor did there 
 appear to be a single negro whose mind 
 was not more or less under its influence. 
 
 The circumstances attending the Fetish 
 oath, which was a pledge of inviolable se- 
 crecy, and usually administered previously 
 to insurrections or individual murders, was 
 terrible. Blood was drawn from each in- 
 dividual of the party present; this was 
 
 * The author once saw a negro suffering from a 
 gum-boil, who persisted in affirming that the Myal 
 Doctor had extracted a snake from the affected part. 
 
96 
 
 JAMAICA 
 
 mixed with grave-dirt and gunpowder in a 
 bowl, and was partaken of by each indi- 
 vidual in the secret as a ratification of his 
 sincerity. 
 
 Section IV. — In general both sexes 
 were much addicted to drunkenness. The 
 African parent even brought up his children 
 to this destructive vice from their earliest 
 infancy, while nurses administered rum to 
 infants as soon as they were born. In 
 some cases the practice of drinking ardent 
 spirits was as much distinguished for its 
 filthiness and economy, as it was for its 
 moral turpitude, a single dram being often 
 made to gratify the taste of a whole 
 family. 
 
 To swearing they were awfully addicted. 
 Not only did they profane the sacred name 
 of God in common conversation or in the 
 fury of malignant passion, but whenever 
 they were afflicted or sustained any loss in 
 the produce of their grounds by unpro- 
 pitious seasons or any awful visitation of 
 Divine Providence. On all such occasions 
 did they accuse the Divine Being of parti- 
 ality, and lift up their voices against him 
 in blasphemy. Games of hazard with the 
 dice, and gambling of almost every descrip- 
 tion, together with cock-fighting, and va- 
 rious gymnastic games, were almost uni- 
 versal. 
 
 Moral honesty, or a conscientious re- 
 gard to truth, was not only unknown, but 
 unlooked for; no one expected his neigh- 
 bour to tell the truth, or to be upright in 
 his dealings, any further than suited his 
 convenience or interest; even parents ed- 
 ucated their children in all the arts of dis- 
 simulation, fraud, and perfidy. "Which 
 way did Fox run ?" said an overseer to a 
 negro boy, when in pursuit of a slave who 
 had escaped from punishment. The boy 
 pointed to a thicket in which the fugitive 
 had eluded the grasp of his pursuer. On 
 returning home the overseer was attracted 
 by the shrieks of a child under severe 
 punishment, and which proceeded from the 
 negro village. Curiosity urged him to the 
 spot, and on looking through the crevices 
 of a negro hut, he saw the boy to whom 
 he had just addressed himselfsuspended by 
 his heels, writhing and moaning beneath 
 the heavy chastisement inflicted on him by 
 his mother, who repeated, during the inter- 
 vals of the strokes, " Next time buckra ax 
 
 you which side neger run, you tell him me 
 no know, massa." The overseer is said 
 to have repeatedly put the boy to the test 
 afterwards, but could never get the truth 
 from him again. From these causes many, 
 as they grow up, were unable to distinguish 
 between truth and falsehood in the com- 
 mon occurrences of life. Truth, indeed, 
 was designated in negro parlance " telling 
 lies to buckra." A boy belonging to an es- 
 tate-school brought up a school-fellow to 
 his teacher for punishment on the charge 
 of his having " told a lie upon him." 
 "What lie did he tell about you?" said 
 the teacher. " Him tell driber me no turn 
 out to work a mornin, sar." On investi- 
 gation it was found that the charge was 
 true, but the plaintiff persisted in his suit 
 in spite of all the reasoning of the teacher, 
 and thought injustice was done him because 
 the defendant was not convicted and pun- 
 ished ; a feeling in which all the other boys 
 of the school, many of whom had assisted 
 in bringing the accused forward, deeply 
 sympathized. Hence it was difficult to ob- 
 tain a correct answer from a negro on the 
 most trifling subjects. Nor is it surprising 
 that under these and other circumstances 
 they should not fear an oath. Many, in- 
 deed, had an idea that a false oath on 
 " buckra's book," the Bible, would be at- 
 tended by disastrous consequences, but 
 protected themselves against them by con- 
 cealing a small piece of silver coin — a 
 broken rial — in their mouths as a charm. 
 By multitudes, however, the most solemn 
 oaths were no more regarded than a com- 
 mon declaration. Thus, as one of the de 
 moralizing effects of slavery, the whole 
 population may be said to " have gone 
 astray from the birth, speaking lies." 
 
 With this deplorable lack of integrity 
 and moral principle, added to the circum- 
 stances of their servile condition, it may 
 be supposed that theft was prominent in 
 their catalogue of sins. Their views of 
 theft were very similar to those which they 
 entertained with regard to falsehood. Dep- 
 redations on the property of an owner 
 were considered justifiable — crimes only 
 when committed among themselves. Of 
 this the following anecdote is an illustra- 
 tration : — " Me don't tief notin," said a 
 negro who was detected by an overseer in 
 the very act of stealing sugar — again and 
 again protesting his innocence. " What 
 do you mean, sir? haven't you got the 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 97 
 
 stolen property now in your possession ?" 
 " But me don't tief it, me only take it, 
 massa." " What do you mean by that ?" 
 " As sugar belongs to massa, and myself 
 belongs to massa, it all de same ting — dat 
 make me tell massa me don't tief it ; me 
 only take it." " What do you call thiev- 
 ing, then?" " When me broke into broder 
 house and ground, and take away him 
 ting, den me tief, massa." 
 
 To escape the miseries of slavery, as 
 well as from a vain hope that they would 
 then return to their own land, and mingle 
 again with their kindred beneath the shade 
 of the family tree, suicide was awfully 
 prevalent. Indeed at one period to such an 
 extent was this crime committed, that to 
 counteract its influence the legislature en- 
 acted a law that every one guilty of it 
 should be hung in chains on the public 
 roads till devoured by birds of prey. 
 
 Section V. — It is time, however, to 
 portray a brighter scene, and to awaken 
 sympathies of a higher order. From causes 
 hereafter to be detailed, this state of society, 
 especially during the last twenty years, 
 has been most astonishingly improved. 
 That cunning, craft, and suspicion — those 
 dark passions and savage dispositions be- 
 fore described as characteristics of the ne- 
 gro, if ever possessed in the degree in 
 which they are attributed to them, — are 
 now giving place to a noble, manly, and 
 independent, yet patient and submissive spi- 
 rit. They now feel themselves to be men, 
 and not, as they had been taught to be- 
 lieve, without any more claim to that dis- 
 tinction than the beasts which perish. 
 Whatever of truth there might once have 
 been in the representation previously given 
 of their tempers and dispositions, it no 
 longer applies to them as a body. Al- 
 though the subjects of ardent passions and 
 feelings, it is allowed by every disinterest- 
 ed observer that a more docile, kind-heart- 
 ed, and generous people can scarcely be 
 found. However justly or otherwise they 
 may have been formerly chargeable with 
 ingratitude, numberless cases have occur- 
 red in which, towards those who have re- 
 ally been their friends and benefactors, 
 their gratitude has been found to be both 
 general and excessive, as was strikingly 
 evinced on the departures of Lord Sligo 
 and Sir Lionel Smith from the island. 
 
 The following sketch of the latter event 
 will doubtless prove interesting. 
 
 Although Sir Lionel was to leave the 
 vice-regal residence at the hour of day- 
 break in the morning, some hundreds of 
 persons had collected full two hours pre- 
 viously ; and at half-past five o'clock, 
 when he stepped into his carriage, there 
 could not have been less than 2000 pre- 
 sent. They were collected principally at 
 the entrance of the road along which his 
 Excellency had to pass from the square. 
 
 At the head of this immense mass was 
 a large banner stretched across the street, 
 bearing the inscription " Sir Lionel Smith, 
 the Poor Man's Friend and Protector," 
 whilst others, on which was inscribed " We 
 Mourn the Departure of our Governor," 
 and similar devices, were variously distri- 
 buted throughout the line. 
 
 The feelings of regret and veneration 
 universally expressed on the approach of 
 his Excellency were overpowering, and it 
 was with the greatest difficulty that he and 
 his attendants resisted the general deter- 
 mination to convey him back again, all 
 being apparently resolved that he should 
 not leave them. For a considerable dis- 
 tance the whole mass hung upon the car- 
 riage, or ran beside it, until ready to faint 
 with fatigue, uttering lamentations and in- 
 voking blessings on his head. Mothers in 
 almost every instance exhibited their in- 
 fants as trophies — trophies of the blessings 
 and advantages of freedom. Exclusively 
 of the multitude thus congregated in the 
 town, the road leading to the place of em- 
 barkation, which extended a distance of 
 six miles, was thronged with people. 
 
 Interesting and affecting, however, as 
 was the scene already beheld, that exhibit- 
 ed on the arrival of the procession at Port 
 Henderson was doubly so. Added to the 
 number of people of all ranks and colours 
 pouring into the village along the roads as 
 far as the eye could reach, an immense 
 number, nearly all of whom were in deep 
 mourning, or wore black riband in some 
 conspicuous part of their dress, had drawn 
 themselves up in two parallel lines at the 
 entrance, and as Sir Lionel and his corUge 
 had proceeded to the middle of the lines 
 the whole mass surrounded them, and de- 
 claring that their " Governor and friend" 
 should not leave them, began to effect their 
 purpose, by taking the horses from the 
 carriage to draw him back again to the 
 
98 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 seat of government. This determination 
 being at length overruled, they then insist- 
 ed on drawing him to the beach, as the last 
 act of kindness they could show him. To 
 avoid this, probably from the excitement it 
 might occasion, the veteran alighted from 
 his carriage, intending to walk the remain- 
 der of the way. 
 
 He was in a moment surrounded by the 
 multitude, whose lamentations and other 
 expressions of sorrow at his departure so 
 completely overcame him and several of 
 his attendants that they seemed scarcely 
 able to proceed. As an evidence, indeed, 
 if any were wanting, that the hero of a 
 hundred battles had still a heart alive to 
 sympathy, his deep emotion at length vent- 
 ed itself by a torrent of tears. The effect 
 of this was, as may be supposed, irresisti- 
 ble — (a veteran warrior in tears !) — and the 
 whole mass seemed to catch the contagion. 
 At the same time the assembled multitude, 
 now greatly augmented, had formed them- 
 selves around him as an impenetrable bar- 
 rier, as though determined he should not 
 advance. After some expostulation and 
 entreaty the mass gave way, and all moved 
 on together to the beach, with all the 
 solemnity and sorrow of a funeral proces- 
 sion, in which some great benefactor was 
 the object of regret. Arriving at the water's 
 edge the scene became affecting beyond all 
 description. The sobs of the multitude, 
 hitherto half-stifled, now burst forth like a 
 torrent ; and from the noble-minded object 
 of all this affection downwards, throughout 
 the whole mass, which included several 
 officers and civilians of the highest distinc- 
 tion in the colony, scarcely a dry eye was 
 to be seen. As the boat receded from the 
 shore Sir Lionel rallied sufficiently to bow 
 to the assembled crowd, and cries and 
 lamentations, intermingled with invoca- 
 tions, followed him until he was out of 
 hearing. 
 
 Seldom has the eye witnessed a more 
 affecting scene, and certainly never did a 
 more popular Governor quit the shores of 
 Jamaica. 
 
 No people can exhibit greater tenderness 
 of disposition, or more that is endearing in 
 the various relationships of life, than do our 
 black and coloured brethren. Their charac- 
 ter is distinguished by some features un- 
 usually amiable ; by a peculiar warmth of 
 the social affections, and by a close adhe- 
 rence to all the ties of kindred. 
 
 Filial dutifulness and attachment are re- 
 markable traits in their character, and 
 sometimes manifest themselves in a way 
 peculiarly touching. 
 
 " What kind of a woman was your 
 mother?" said a slave-master some years 
 ago in a familiar mood to a fine African 
 boy whom he had purchased. The boy's 
 heart writhed beneath the associations it 
 awakened. " Come, tell me," said the 
 white man, who regarded the black man as 
 a brute only fit to be insulted, " What kind 
 of a woman was she? — Was she tall? — 
 Was she thin? — Was she old? — Was she 
 beautiful?" The boy lifted up his glisten- 
 ing eyes, and in broken accents said, " How 
 could a mother but be beautiful in the eyes 
 of her child !" Maternal tenderness scarce- 
 ly admits of an exception, and cases of in- 
 fanticide are unknown. Lander, during 
 his journey in Africa, frequently met with 
 " mothers who carried about their persons 
 little wooden images of their deceased in- 
 fants, to whose lips they presented a por- 
 tion of food whenever they partook of it 
 themselves, and nothing could induce them 
 to part with these inanimate memorials." 
 
 In no part of the world can travelling be 
 accomplished with greater personal safety 
 than in Jamaica. An attempt at robbery 
 or murder on the highway is scarcely ever 
 heard of. It is customary to travel through 
 the interior of the country, and that gene- 
 rally without any defensive weapons, dur- 
 ing any part of the night. 
 
 In this the author speaks from experience, 
 having travelled through the settlements 
 of the black population in the interior, — 
 by their houses along the public roads, or 
 scattered amidst the frightful solitudes of 
 impervious forests and isolated glens, at all 
 hours of the night, attended only by a guide, 
 and never had any suspicions awakened 
 by the appearance of a black or coloured 
 man. Even dwelling-houses in the country 
 are but rarely bolted or locked at night. 
 A white mendicant was scarcely ever turn- 
 ed from the hut of a negro unpitied or un- 
 relieved, or a fatigued and half-famished 
 traveller un refreshed. 
 
 No women in the world can possess 
 more of genuine kindness than the black 
 females of Jamaica. To a stranger arrest- 
 ed by sickness on the road, and unable to 
 proceed, none would more tenderly act the 
 part of the good Samaritan. If benighted, 
 no more friendly voice could invite them 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 99 
 
 to a shelter till the morning dawn appeared 
 — no face could beam with greater tender- 
 ness and hospitality, and no generosity- 
 could be more abundantly displayed in pro- 
 viding for his refreshment and repose. 
 
 Once, when passing through a Maroon 
 town, parched with thirst and exhausted 
 with fatigue, the writer called at one of 
 their huts, and requested a draught of water, 
 and he will never forget the tenderness and 
 compassion with which he was surveyed 
 by the inmates, the earnestness with which 
 they sprang forward to hold his horse, or 
 the eloquence with which they urged him 
 into their clean and comfortable apartment. 
 Such was the pleasure which his acquies- 
 cence afforded them, that it was with diffi- 
 culty he could deter the family from endea- 
 vouring to lay almost the whole village 
 under contribution for his refreshment. 
 Having a long journey before him, he re- 
 mained but a kw minutes, and departed 
 amidst their loud and repeated benedic- 
 tions. 
 
 On another occasion, when travelling 
 among the mountains, the author was at- 
 tacked with fever; and the symptoms in- 
 creasing, so as to render him unable to 
 proceed, he turned his horse's head towards 
 a decent looking residence, which he soon 
 found vvas occupied by a family of colour. 
 Here he was recognised ; and an angel 
 could scarcely have been more welcome. 
 The house was cheerless ; but he was put 
 in the best apartment ; the cleanest and best 
 covering the cottage could afford was 
 spread for his repose ; while the inhabitants 
 of the whole neighbourhood seemed to be 
 employed in acts of kindness for his re- 
 covery. Some gathered medicinal herbs ; 
 others were sent in different directions for 
 medicinal ingredients ; and while some pre- 
 pared them, others applied leaves to his 
 oppressed and burning head — the seat of 
 the disorder. On his restoration to reason 
 (for he had been delirious), the patient 
 found himself surrounded by an immense 
 crowd ; some of whom were pitying him, 
 some expressing their hopes that Misses 
 would not hear of it, and others praying 
 earnestly for his restoration. 
 
 The writer has scarcely ever been in 
 such circumstances without thinking of 
 the eulogium pronounced on the female sex 
 by Mungo Park, called forth by the kind- 
 ness of the African female, in the little 
 Bambarra cottage near Sego ; or the still 
 
 more beautiful and sentimental one of 
 Ledyard's : — " I have always remarked," 
 says the latter, " that women in all coun- 
 tries are civil, obliging, tender, and hu- 
 mane. ... To a woman, whether civiliz- 
 ed or savage, I never addressed myself in 
 the language of decency and friendship 
 without receiving a decent and friendly 
 answer. With man it has often been other- 
 wise. In wandering through the barren 
 plains of inhospitable Denmark, through 
 honest Sweden and frozen Lapland, rude 
 and curlish Finland, unprincipled Russia, 
 and the wide-spread regions of the wander- 
 ing Tartar — if hungry, dry, cold, wet, or 
 sick, the women have ever been friendly to 
 me ; and to add to this virtue (so worthy of 
 the appellation of benevolence), their ac- 
 tions have been performed in so free and 
 so kind a manner, that, if I was dry, 1 
 drank the sweetest draught, and, if hungry, 
 I ate the coarsest morsel, with a double 
 relish." 
 
 Scenes of dissipation and the midnight 
 revel are now comparatively unknown in 
 the island. Throughout whole districts, 
 where such practices were common, scarce- 
 ly a drum or other rough instrument of 
 music is heard throughout the year. The 
 frantic orgies and Bacchanalian festivities 
 of the Christmas holidays, with a few ex- 
 ceptions, are confined now almost exclu- 
 sively to the towns, where they are secretly 
 encouraged ; but even here they are be- 
 coming increasingly unpopular, and will 
 be speedily extinct. The processions on 
 such occasions are now few, and compos- 
 ed of the lowest and most disreputable of 
 the public, chiefly from the country, whose 
 puerilities excite the disgust of the intelli- 
 gent, and the ridicule of children. 
 
 The absurd ceremonies and disgusting 
 scenes practised and beheld at funerals are 
 now generally discontinued both in town 
 and country. They are also attended to 
 during the day, and that nearly in accord- 
 ance with civilized custom. 
 
 To relieve the solitariness of individual 
 watching, and to calm their troubled spirit, 
 it is customary in most cases for the friends 
 of the deceased to sit up with the corpse 
 on the night previous to interment; but 
 the hours are usually spent — not in rioting 
 and drunkenness, not in frantic mirth and 
 revelry — but in religious conversation and 
 prayer. It is still usual to sing on such 
 occasions ; but the songs are the songs of 
 
100 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 Zion, and the dirge is in unison with the 
 solemnity of the event. Instead of the 
 riotous, and in every way revolting spec- 
 tacles formerly exhibited in following the 
 corpse to the grave, more orderly deport- 
 ment on such occasions is not discovered 
 in the most civilized parts of the world ; 
 whilst the succeeding obsequies are re- 
 garded with a solemnity of feeling on the 
 part of the spectators, and are accompanied 
 by such expressions of subdued and reve- 
 rential sorrow by the bereaved, as seldom 
 fail to render the scene deeply solemn and 
 impressive. 
 
 As a contrast to the manner in which 
 funerals were formerly conducted in the 
 rural districts, it may not be uninteresting 
 to give the following specimen, in which 
 the author was personally concerned. It 
 was in a negro village on an estate. Some 
 time before he reached the spot, his ear 
 was saluted by the sounds of a soft and 
 plaintive air ; and on turning an angle 
 round a clump of cocoa-nut trees, he found 
 about fifty persons, chiefly females, de- 
 cently dressed, sitting in front of one of 
 the cottages, beneath a shed constructed 
 for the occasion, covered over with leaves 
 of the plantain tree. They were singing 
 a hymn from Dr. Rippon's selection. After 
 a little conversation with them, the minister 
 entered the hut to see the deceased. The 
 coffin, the shroud, and other appendages, 
 were plain and neat ; and in nothing did 
 the usages differ from those practised in 
 this country, but in the circumstance that 
 the deceased was laid out in his best suit of 
 clothes — a custom which is common 
 among all classes in the West Indies. 
 
 Every thing being announced as ready 
 by the leader of the class to which the de- 
 ceased had belonged, and who, as was 
 usual, superintended the arrangements gra- 
 tuitously, the coffin was placed on the 
 shoulders of four men decently dressed. 
 The writer placed himself at its head, and 
 was followed by the procession to the 
 bottom of a garden, rendered conspicuous 
 by rude monumental piles of brick — it was 
 the family burial-place. The last sad 
 offices being performed, the immediate re- 
 latives of the departed were assisted to the 
 side of the grave to cast a last look at the 
 coffin, over which they uttered a kw audi- 
 ble lamentations, and vented their feelings 
 in a shower of tears, in which they were 
 joined by most of the spectators. 
 
 The grave being filled up, the procession 
 withdrew in nearly the same order as that 
 in which it had advanced. The conductor 
 of the ceremony then re-entered the cot- 
 tage, and after partaking of a piece of 
 cake handed him by an aged African 
 female, on a waiter covered with a napkin 
 of purest white, delivered an exhortation 
 suitable to the solemn occasion, and re- 
 turned home. 
 
 As a further proof of the progress which 
 the negroes have made in civilization (and 
 for the illustration of which these particu- 
 lars are introduced), it may be remarked 
 that the spell of Obeism and its kindred 
 abominations is broken, and the enchant- 
 ment dissolved. In some districts, it is 
 true, Myalism has recently revived ; but it 
 has been owing to the absence of a law 
 since the abrogation of the Slave Act, by 
 which the perpetrators could be punished, 
 together with the difficulties and expensive- 
 ness,in many districts, of procuring proper 
 medical advice and aid. Thus the Myal- 
 men, having most of them been employed 
 in attendance on the sick in the hospitals 
 of estates, and thereby acquired some 
 knowledge of medicine, have, since the 
 abolition of slavery, set up as medical 
 men ; and, in order to increase their influ- 
 ence, and, consequently, their gains, have 
 called to their aid the mysteries of this 
 abominable superstition ; in many cases 
 accomplishing their purposes by violence 
 as well as by terror. The more effectually 
 to delude the multitude, the priests of this 
 deadly art, now that religion has become 
 general, have incorporated with it a reli- 
 gious phraseology, together with some of 
 the religious observances of the most popu- 
 lar denominations, and thus have in some 
 instances succeeded in imposing on the 
 credulity and fears of many of whom better 
 things had been expected. These circum- 
 stances have aroused the energies of the 
 missionaries to an exposure of the system ; 
 as also the civil authorities to the punish- 
 ment of the offenders when convicted of a 
 violation of the law ; so that in a very 
 short period it may be hoped but few 
 vestiges of the superstition will remain. 
 
 It is universally acknowledged that in- 
 temperance is not now the besetting sin of 
 the lower classes in Jamaica. On the 
 first introduction of the Gospel by black 
 teachers, abstinence from intoxicating 
 drinks was made a term of communion — 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 101 
 
 and this previously to the existence of 
 temperance and total-abstinence societies : 
 so that even before the abolition of slavery 
 intemperate habits had been abandoned by 
 nearly one-third of the population. Within 
 the last two years many small public- 
 houses have been established in different 
 parts of the country, and it has been ap- 
 prehended that the vice would revive. In 
 some districts these fears have been, to a 
 considerable degree, realized; but in others 
 they have been counteracted by the influ- 
 ence of total-abstinence societies. Of all 
 the particulars in which perhaps the least 
 improvement is perceptible is that of a 
 conscientious regard to truth and honesty 
 in commercial transactions. In spite of 
 the utmost efforts to hold up these vices as 
 injurious to society and hateful to God, it 
 cannot be denied that they are still very 
 prevalent. Multitudes regard it as their 
 duty to resort to almost any artifice by 
 which their gains may be increased. In 
 negotiating with a negro for an article he 
 exhibits for sale, a person may at any time 
 offer him less than one-third of his demand, 
 without the least apprehension of incurring 
 his displeasure. Nor are these remarks 
 less applicable to hundreds of tradesmen 
 of higher pretensions, and a fairer skin. 
 
 The violation of the third commandment 
 is now seldom heard, but under circum- 
 stances of violence and passion, and 
 scarcely ever in the public streets, without 
 exciting the cry of shame from the passers- 
 by : whilst even falsehood and dishonesty 
 are gradually yielding to the light of truth 
 and the force of principle. Burglaries are 
 said to be more frequent than formerly ; 
 but these have been chiefly perpetrated by 
 a few liberated convicts and other noto- 
 rious offenders. Although every trifling 
 infraction of the law (contrary to former 
 usage) is now publicly known and punish- 
 ed, the frequent absence of serious offences 
 from the calendar of the courts of quarter- 
 sessions and assize, and jails often desti- 
 tute of prisoners, are sufficient and palpa- 
 ble evidences of the general decrease of 
 crime. Domestic servants are beginning 
 to be eminently trustworthy ; and, when 
 properly treated and confided in, do not 
 suffer by a comparison with the great bulk 
 of the same class in England. In number- 
 less cases they are devotedly attached to 
 their employers and their families, and 
 manifest a concern for their interests 
 
 almost unparalleled in the annals of human 
 history ; watching them by day and night 
 in sickness ; and in times of danger ha- 
 zarding their lives for the protection of 
 their persons and property. Suicide is 
 now scarcely heard of throughout the 
 length and breadth of the land. In every 
 respect is society advancing to that high 
 moral standard which is fixed in the great 
 Christian code. 
 
 It is truly gratifying to add that the 
 sentiments of the country at large are in 
 delightful harmony with these observa- 
 tions, as is evident by the following Ex- 
 tracts from recent numbers of the " Morn- 
 ing Journal :" — 
 
 " St. Thomas -in-the-Vak, Aug. 1842. 
 " A Court of Quarter-sessions was held 
 at Rodney-hall on the 8th instant, T. W. 
 Jackson, Esq., chairman. 
 
 "The Chairman addressed the Grand 
 Jury briefly, remarking upon the light 
 state of the calendar, which contained no 
 cases of unusual importance. A few cases 
 which had lain over from last Court were 
 disposed of; after which, there being no 
 bills, the Grand Jury were discharged, and 
 the Court adjourned." 
 
 " Kingston, March 22, 1843. 
 " Improvement in the Times. 
 
 "Our readers will be surprised, and we 
 doubt not pleased, to learn that for the last 
 five days not a single prisoner has been 
 taken up and committed to the cage of this 
 city ! We record this fact with great 
 pleasure, as we believe such a circum- 
 stance never occurred since the building of 
 the city." 
 
 It is worthy of remark that St. Thomas- 
 in-the-Vale, the parish to which the first of 
 these extracts refers, contains a population 
 of 11,000 of recently-enfranchised pea- 
 santry, who, during the operation of the 
 systems of slavery and apprenticeship, 
 were considered the most ignorant, demo- 
 ralized, and refractory of any on the 
 island. 
 
102 
 
 JAMAICA 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 RELIGIOUS STATE. 
 
 Sect. I. — Awful Destitution of Religion in the Island 
 during the first Century of its Occupation by the 
 British — Ignorance of the Black People — Idolatry — 
 Superstition — Subsequent corrupted Christianity — 
 Influence of Ignorant and SuperstitiousTeachers — 
 Desecration of the Sabbath — Paucity of Places of 
 Religious Worship; of Hearers— Clergy — Their un- 
 favourable Opinion expressed to Parliament as to 
 the Instruction and Conversion of the Slaves — 
 Opinions of Infidel Philosophers. 
 
 Sect. II. — Arrival of Missionaries — Opposition ex- 
 perienced — Subsequent Success — Abolition of Sun- 
 day Markets — Improved Observance of the Sabbath 
 — Number of regular Places of Worship in 1843 — 
 Number of Missionaries — Great Extension of Reli- 
 gion — Village Chapels — Attendance at Places of 
 Worship — Average Size of the largest Congrega- 
 tions — Number of Missionaries of all Denomina- 
 tions — Number of Native Assistants. 
 
 Sect. III. — Number of Members in communion 
 with each of the Churches and Denominations of 
 Christians and aggregate of Inquirers, &c, con- 
 nected with each Denomination — Size of indivi- 
 dual Churches — Manner of admitting Members — 
 Wesleyans, Baptists — Number added to Baptist 
 Churches at one time ; in one year — Total Number 
 added to Baptist and Wesleyan Churches during 
 the last twenty years. 
 
 Section I. — For upwards of a hundred 
 years after Jamaica became an appendage 
 of the British Crown, scarcely an effort 
 was made to instruct the slaves in the 
 great doctrines and duties of Christianity ; 
 and although, in 1696, at the instance of 
 the mother country, an Act was passed by 
 the local Legislature, " directing" that all 
 slave-owners should instruct their negroes, 
 and have them baptized, " when fit for it," 
 it is evident, from the very terms in which 
 the Act was expressed, that it was designed 
 to be, as it afterwards proved, a dead letter 
 — a mere political manoeuvre, intended to 
 prevent the interference of the parent state 
 in the management of the slaves. 
 
 In answer to certain inquiries made by 
 Parliament in 1790, as to the actual state 
 of religious instruction in Jamaica, Mr. 
 Wedderburn replied — " There are a few 
 properties on which there are Moravian 
 parsons ; but in general there is no atten- 
 tion paid to religious instruction." The 
 same testimony was borne, at the same 
 time, by Mr. Fuller, agent, of Jamaica, 
 and two others, who, when asked, " What 
 religious instructions are there for the 
 negro slaves'?" answered, "We know of 
 none such in Jamaica." 
 
 " When I first landed in Jamaica," says 
 Dr. Coke, which was in 1789, " the form 
 
 of godliness was hardly visible; and its 
 power, except in some few solitary in- 
 stances, was totally unknown. Iniquity 
 prevailed in all its forms. Both whites and 
 blacks, to the number of between 300,000 
 and 400,000, were evidently living without 
 hope and without God in the world." The 
 language of the Apostle seemed strikingly 
 descriptive of their entire depravity : — 
 " There is none righteous, no, not one ; 
 there is none that understandeth, there is 
 none that seeketh after God. Their throats 
 are an open sepulchre ; with their tongue 
 they have used deceit ; the poison of asps 
 is under their lips ; their feet are swift to 
 shed blood, and the way of peace they 
 have not known." 
 
 " As to sending missionaries among 
 them," referring to one of the African 
 tribes, said Mr. Edwards, the historian of 
 Jamaica, in his place in the House of 
 Commons, in 1796, « I speak from my 
 own knowledge when I say that they are 
 cannibals, and that, instead of listening 
 to a missionary, they would certainly eat 
 him." 
 
 Under such circumstances the religious 
 state of the slave population must have 
 been deplorable. It may be emphatically 
 said that darkness covered the land, and 
 gross darkness the people. And if one 
 ray of light glimmered in its midst, it only 
 served to render the surrounding darkness 
 still more visible — more clearly to exhibit 
 the hideous abominations beneath which 
 the island groaned. 
 
 Most of the negroes appear to have pos- 
 sessed some notion of a Supreme Being ; 
 though, like all uncivilized nations, their 
 ideas of the Deity were very confused and 
 unbecoming. From the frequency of earth- 
 quakes, hurricanes, and tornadoes, when 
 the elements seemed to conspire their de- 
 struction, they associated with his charac- 
 ter all the base passions and attributes of 
 a vindictive and capricious mortal. Hence 
 their devotion was the offspring, not of 
 gratitude, but of terror. Some of them 
 were Papists ; some professedly belonged 
 to the Cophtic or Abyssinian churches ; 
 some were Mohammedans ; some Poly- 
 theists and Atheists : but most of them ido- 
 laters — worshippers of the sun and moon, 
 of the ocean, of the rocks, of fountains and 
 rivers, of lofty trees, and images of various 
 forms and dimensions. Their idolatry, 
 too, was of the basest possible description. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 103 
 
 They did not, like the Hindoos, regard 
 their idols as mere symbolical representa- 
 tions of the Divinity, and useful only as 
 sensible objects to awaken the memory 
 and animate devotion ; but ascribed divine 
 power to the material itself, and absolutely 
 worshipped the rude stone or block which 
 their own hands had fashioned. Serpents, 
 lizards, the yellow snake, and other re- 
 volting reptiles, also ranked high in the 
 polluted catalogue of their divinities. The 
 Moco tribe, and others bordering on their 
 territory in Africa, are said not only to 
 have worshipped snakes and other reptiles, 
 but also to have eaten them when thus 
 deified. Many worshipped the devil him- 
 self, or some imaginary being whom they 
 regarded as the source of all evil. 
 
 Absurd, monstrous, and discordant as 
 were the elements which composed their 
 religious system, there is yet to be united 
 with it another ingredient which, if less 
 revolting in its aspect and character, was 
 not only equally unproductive of rational 
 piety and consistent morality, but far more 
 injurious in its consequences. Many of 
 them, from motives of ambition and pecu- 
 niary advantage, soon acquired a know- 
 ledge of the formularies of the English 
 Church ; and, at the conclusion of the war 
 with America, some who had been im- 
 ported from that continent, mysteriously 
 blending together important truths and ex- 
 travagant puerilities, assumed the office of 
 teachers and preachers, disseminating far 
 and wide their pernicious follies. 
 
 The more effectually to impose upon the 
 credulity of their ignorant and unsuspect- 
 ing brethren, they endeavoured to persuade 
 them that they were sent of God, and were 
 endowed by him with peculiar gifts and 
 graces. They pretended to read — to fore- 
 tel future events ; to possess the gift of 
 tongues ; and to prophesy. They seldom 
 delivered their instructions without a book, 
 representing it as the Bible; although it 
 as frequently happened to be some other 
 book of a certain size and shape. In one 
 instance a teacher of this description was 
 found haranguing a large assembly from 
 ' Burn's Justice,' holding it upside down. 
 Among the other characteristic errors of 
 this sect, its teachers interpreted what lit- 
 tle they knew of the Scriptures literally. 
 
 At Christmas it was customary for them 
 and their disciples to go in groups into the 
 woods, or, if there were any in the neigh- 
 
 bourhood, among the sheep, over which 
 they pretended to watch, in imitation of 
 the shepherds, to whom the angels an- 
 nounced the birth of the Redeemer, and 
 this under the delusive expectation of being 
 favoured with a similar visitation, or, as 
 they expressed it, "they went into the 
 ' bush' to see the angels," who it was be- 
 lieved made an annual appearance. Their 
 usual attitude in prayer partook of all the 
 austerities of penance. They either stood 
 with their arms extended, and their whole 
 bodies as though transfixed against the 
 wall, or prostrated themselves upon the 
 earth ; and in this attitude they remained 
 many hours at a time, and sometimes 
 through the entire night, manifesting the 
 most violent muscular contortions, and 
 uttering the most discordant sounds ex- 
 pressive of internal anguish and agonizing 
 supplication. 
 
 At certain seasons each individual, tak- 
 ing a solitary course, wandered into the. 
 woods and most secluded parts of the coun- 
 try, in search of the Saviour, professedly 
 after the manner of John the Baptist in the 
 wilderness. 
 
 When any of the fraternity were con- 
 fined to their beds by sickness, the minis- 
 ter, or father, as he was usually called, 
 anointed them with oil in imitation of the 
 anointing of the Saviour by Mary Magda- 
 lene, before his crucifixion. The usual 
 method of its application was by pouring 
 it into the palm of the hand, and rubbing it 
 on the head of the patient ; the tata, or 
 father, singing some ditty during the ope- 
 ration, being joined in loud chorus by all 
 who assembled to witness the ceremony. 
 
 The influence and temporal interests of 
 these deluded and deluding men increased 
 in proportion to the number of their con- 
 verts ; and, most of them being free men, 
 the duties of their assumed vocation were 
 most assiduously performed. They usually 
 led a wandering life, travelling by night to 
 avoid apprehension. Wherever they took 
 up their residence for a season, they com- 
 municated their instructions from house to 
 house, and, with a gravity and importance 
 which they knew well how to assume, con- 
 firmed their disciples in the faith. On the 
 visit of one of these impostors to a new 
 neighbourhood, his inquiry at each house 
 was whether any praying persons resided 
 there? and on meeting with a negative he 
 immediately began to open his commission. 
 
104 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 If listened to with attention, and treated 
 with respect and hospitality, he lifted up 
 his hands and eyes, and exclaimed, 
 " Peace be to this house." If, on the con- 
 trary, he was treated with indifference and 
 insult, he shook off the dust from his feet 
 as a testimony against them. 
 
 These infatuated men professed a firm 
 belief in purgatory, and, like the Romish 
 priests, pretended an acquaintance with the 
 destinies of the deceased. Thus, on in- 
 quiries being made of their teachers by 
 surviving relatives or friends, the uniform 
 reply was that " they would go and dream 
 about it, and give the required information 
 on the morrow." It scarcely need be added 
 that this question involved in it several 
 conditions, and that the reply was more 
 or less in accordance with the wishes of 
 the applicant. 
 
 Dreams and visions constituted funda- 
 mental articles of their creed. Some su- 
 pernatural revelations were regarded as 
 indispensable to qualify for admission to 
 the full privileges of their community. 
 Candidates were required, indeed, to dream 
 a certain number of dreams before they 
 were received to membership, the subjects 
 of which were given them by their teachers. 
 
 The meetings of this fraternity were 
 frequently prolonged through nearly half 
 the night. The priests enjoined on their 
 followers the duty of fasting one or two 
 days in the week, and encouraged a week- 
 ly meeting at each others' houses, alter- 
 nately, to drink " hot water" out of white 
 tea-cups (the whole of the tea-table para- 
 phernalia corresponding), which they de- 
 signated by the absurd and inappropriate 
 epithet of" breaking the peace." To such 
 a deplorable extent did they carry these 
 superstitious practices, and such was the 
 degree of ignorance on the part of both 
 priests and people, that, in the absence of 
 better information as to what was to be 
 sung in their religious assemblies, they 
 were in the habit of singing the childish 
 story of " the House that Jack Built." 
 Things if possible still more absurd were 
 sung by them on such occasions, while 
 " hallelujah" was repeated at the end of 
 each verse in loud chorus. These are 
 facts which the writer has repeatedly ga- 
 thered from lips of some of the parties 
 themselves. 
 
 The consequences of these practices it 
 would be irrelevant to trace. So rapidly, 
 
 however, was their influence extending 
 throughout the country on the arrival of 
 the missionaries, that but for the efforts of 
 the latter in counteracting it, it must soon 
 have involved consequences of the most 
 serious character, not only with regard to 
 morals and religion, but also as it respect- 
 ed the pecuniary interests of the colonists. 
 There was an almost universal desecra- 
 tion of the Sabbath. The slaves regarded 
 this sacred day as one which was to be de- 
 voted wholly to temporal pursuits. To the 
 industrious it was a time for labour; to 
 others of sport and recreation. Thousands 
 on this day met in the public markets. It 
 was a kind of weekly carnival where 
 friends and acquaintances congregated, 
 universal merriment prevailed, and reck- 
 less dissipation was everywhere indulged. 
 It was spent indeed worse than were the 
 Christain holidays. The book of sports 
 seemed to have been introduced and patro- 
 nised, and all the vices which disgraced 
 the reign of Charles II. to have been exem- 
 plified and perfected. Certain places were 
 selected for public diversion. Dancing, 
 yelling, wrestling, fighting, and gambling, 
 met the eye in every direction, while the 
 horrid din of savage music fell distress- 
 ingly upon the ear. The very streets and 
 lanes in and about the towns presented 
 such scenes of riot and wickedness that 
 scarcely a decent person dared walk out 
 even at noon-day. At a very early hour 
 on a Sabbath morning every road leading 
 to the towns and market-stations of the 
 country was crowded with negroes, carry- 
 ing to the market heavy loads of ground 
 provisions, wood, grass, &c, while the 
 market itself baffled all description. Every 
 bad passion of the human heart was there 
 seen in active operation. Covetousness 
 exhibited itself under all its Protean forms ; 
 cheating, thieving, and extortion abounded 
 on every hand. Anger, jealousy, and re- 
 venge declared themselves by loud bursts 
 of furious passion, by oaths and impreca- 
 tions, by cursings and fightings, whilst 
 scenes of the most revolting drunkenness 
 were visible in all directions. On the eve- 
 ning of the day every road was crowded 
 with negroes returning from market with a 
 supply of salt provisions, and other articles 
 which their morning sales had enabled 
 them to procure, and on these roads drunk- 
 enness and riot were to be seen at every 
 step. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 105 
 
 Nor was the desecration of this day- 
 confined to the purposes of traffic. Most 
 of the rivers were crowded with washer- 
 women. The negro-houses were undergo- 
 ing repairs, and the provision-grounds peo- 
 pled with workmen. This violation was 
 constant, open, and systematic, as well as 
 universal. 
 
 There was a great paucity of places of 
 religious worship. Even in the year 1800 
 there were only twenty churches on the 
 island, the population being then estimated 
 at 400,000 souls, making an aggregate of 
 19,000 to each parish ; and on the suppo- 
 sition that each parish had a rector", there 
 were 19,000 to each clergyman, which 
 was not more than one in each district of 
 560 square miles. Accordingly, from the 
 size of the parishes, these places of wor- 
 ship were distant a day's journey from 
 thousands of the parishioners, and so small 
 that, although situated in the midst of a 
 population of 19,000 souls, they would not 
 contain more than from 100 to 150 hear- 
 ers each. Seldom were they all open at 
 one time, and less frequently did the whole 
 number of hearers throughout the island 
 exceed 300 persons. 
 
 Thus lamentably deficient in number and 
 size as were the sanctuaries of the Most 
 High, and appalling as was the indiffer- 
 ence and irreligion everywhere displaced, 
 there is another circumstance still more to 
 be deplored. From all that can be gather- 
 ed it does not appear that even one of these 
 places of worship was occupied by an 
 evangelical clergyman. The whole of that 
 professedly sacred order might then have 
 been designated, in the emphatic language 
 of the prophet, "ignorant shepherds, dumb 
 dogs that could not bark, sleeping, lying 
 down, loving to slumber, greedy dogs 
 which can never have enough, shepherds 
 that could not understand, all looking to 
 their own way, every one for his gain from 
 his quarter."* 
 
 Even at a much later period a pious 
 clergyman, or a pious white layman, was 
 not to be found in the whole island. Scarce- 
 ly could Sodom and Gomorrah have pre- 
 sented a greater dearlh of all that was vir- 
 tuous and good in human character. This 
 appalling representation is tacitly sustained 
 by the concessions of Francis Hanson, a 
 long resident in Jamaica, and who, in a 
 
 ♦Isaiah hi., 10,11. 
 
 history of the constitution of the island 
 written about the year 1805, says, " I may 
 also add that the people generally are of 
 the Church of England. We have very 
 few papists and sectaries, for neither Je- 
 suits nor Nonconformist parsons do or can 
 live amongst us. Some few have attempted, 
 but could never gain proselytes enough to 
 afford them sustenance." 
 
 In the year 1816, as the result of dis- 
 cussions in England, a curate was added 
 to each parish ; but even after the appoint- 
 ment of this additional number of clergy- 
 men the spiritual instruction of the slaves 
 seems hardly to have been contemplated, 
 as is proved by the following returns made 
 to the Colonial Secretary by clergymen 
 themselves. The rector of Clarendon, Ja- 
 maica, having under his care a population 
 of 18,000 souls, says — " I have time but 
 little more than sufficient to discharge the 
 common functions of my office, in bury- 
 ing, marrying, and christening, and at- 
 tending on Sundays my church, which is 
 situated at least ten miles from my rec- 
 tory. Limited, however, as I am with re- 
 spect to time, I have yet endeavoured to 
 do all that I could. Within the last thir- 
 teen months 1 have twice made known to 
 the principal proprietors and attorneys in 
 this parish my readiness to attend on such 
 properties, for the religious instruction of 
 the slaves, as they would permit me to 
 visit ; but I have not been able to obtain 
 the consent of more than two of them." 
 
 The rector of St. Thomas's in the East 
 agrees with the reverend gentleman whose 
 authority is just cited. " The fact is, in 
 respect to slaves in general, that their 
 knowledge of the English language is so 
 very limited that they can derive little or 
 no advantage from their attendance at 
 church. They are so conscious of this de- 
 fect, that when I go to church for the ex- 
 press purpose of catechising them, very 
 lew will attend, and not one of these will 
 utter a word but what has been put into his 
 mouth. How then, it may be said, are 
 twenty-six thousand slaves (the number in 
 this parish) to be instructed'.' The subject 
 has frequently engaged my thoughts, and 
 I cannot conceive any other mode than 
 this : let the young Creole slaves be taught 
 to speak and read, and at the same time 
 be instructed in the first principles of the 
 Christian religion, in public schools esta- 
 blished in different parts of the parish ; and 
 
106 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 let them communicate what instruction 
 they have received in their own way to 
 their African brethren, to whom it is im- 
 possible for white people to make them- 
 selves understood." 
 
 From the opinion expressed in the con- 
 cluding sentence of this latter paragraph, 
 it is evident that the conversion of the ne- 
 groes to Christianity was generally con- 
 sidered impossible, " a hopeless task," " a 
 wild and ridiculous theory." " Such," 
 says Mr. Long, " is their general inappe- 
 tency to become converts, together with 
 their barbarous stupidity and ignorance of 
 the English language, which renders them 
 incapable of understanding and reasoning 
 upon what is said to them, that it would 
 foil the most zealous endeavours." Says 
 Bosman : — " If it were possible to convert 
 the African negroes to Christianity, the 
 Roman Catholics would probably succeed 
 better than any other sect," assigning as a 
 reason, the influence which pageantry and 
 show ever exerts over the untutored mind. 
 " Among a host of similar testimonies," 
 says Long, " the Rev. Mr. Hughes, a cler- 
 gyman in Jamaica, supports the same con- 
 clusion. ' To bring them,' says he, ' to 
 the knowledge of the Christian religion is 
 undoubtedly a great and good design, in 
 the intention laudable, and in speculation 
 easy ; yet I believe, for reasons too tedious 
 to be mentioned, that the difficulties attend- 
 ing it are, and I am persuaded ever will 
 be, insurmountable.' " 
 
 Section II Such was the moral and 
 
 religious state of the black population, and 
 such the opinions entertained with regard 
 to the impossibility of their conversion to 
 God down to a comparatively recent pe- 
 riod, and such, in all probability, would 
 they have remained to the present hour, 
 had it not been for the efforts of missiona- 
 ries from other religious denominations. 
 The first of these were the Moravians, who, 
 in 1754, appointed "Brother Caries and 
 two other missionaries to Jamaica, in com- 
 pliance with the wishes of some proprietors 
 in one of the country parishes." In 1782, 
 Mr. George Lisle, a black man, the slave 
 of a British officer, and who had been the 
 pastor of a Baptist church in Georgia, in 
 the United States, was brought over by his 
 master to Kingston, accompanied by his 
 
 wife and family. He was shortly followed 
 by several members of his church, among 
 whom were Moses Baker, and Messrs. 
 Gibbs and Robinson. By some providen- 
 tial occurrences Mr. Lisle was led to exer- 
 cise his ministry in Kingston and its envi- 
 rons, in which he was greatly assisted by 
 the above-named brethren. 
 
 The Wesleyans began their operations 
 in Jamaica in 1789, under Dr. Coke, who, 
 after preaching in various parts of the 
 island, originated a permanent station in 
 the same populous city, over which he ap- 
 pointed Mr. Hammet. The Baptist Mis- 
 sionary Society directed its efforts to the 
 island in 1813. Their first missionary 
 was Mr. John Rowe, who was sent to co- 
 operate with Moses Baker, at a station 
 called Flamstead, near Falmouth, to which 
 part of the island the latter had been re- 
 moved. 
 
 Great anxiety was manifested by the 
 coloured and black people generally to 
 hear the Gospel, and thousands, hearing, 
 believed to the saving of their souls. Owing, 
 however, to the violent opposition of the 
 white inhabitants, and the successive enact- 
 ment of laws intended to counteract their 
 efforts, the labours of these servants of 
 God were often suspended, and their flocks 
 scattered like sheep without a shepherd. 
 About the year 1815, the drooping spirits 
 of both minister^ and people began again 
 to revive. His Majesty in Council had re- 
 peatedly disallowed the persecuting laws 
 of the colonists, and otherwise discounte- 
 nanced their proceedings, as the result of 
 which open hostility began somewhat to 
 abate. Accordingly, in December of that 
 year, Mr. Shipman, Wesleyan missionary, 
 obtained a license from the authorities to 
 preach, although not until after several 
 unsuccessful attempts. 
 
 The chapel in Kingston, which had 
 been closed for several years, was now 
 reopened. Two years afterwards the 
 spirit of hearing had so greatly increased 
 that another chapel in connexion with the 
 same body of Christians was opened in 
 another part of the city, and one also at 
 Montego Bay. In the meantime two more 
 missionaries with their wives had been 
 sent out by the Baptist Missionary So- 
 ciety, Messrs. Compere and Coultart, who 
 were accompanied by two pious artisans, 
 Messrs. Tripp and Thurston. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Compere landed in the 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 107 
 
 latter part of the year 1816, and proceeded 
 to the neighbourhood of Old Harbour Bay, 
 from which they soon after removed to 
 Kingston. In a few months they quitted 
 the island for America, and were succeed- 
 ed at Kingston by Mr. and Mrs. Coultart. 
 Cessation from open hostilities still con- 
 tinuing, the poor people flocked to the 
 houses of God in increasing numbers, and 
 reiterated their entreaties that more mis- 
 sionaries might be sent to them. The 
 committees of the different societies in 
 England, according to their ability, re- 
 sponded to the appeal. The number of 
 missionaries was therefore, from time to 
 time, increased, so that in the year 1824 
 there were four Moravian stations, occupied, 
 by an equal number of missionaries ; eight 
 missionaries and stations belonging to the 
 Wesleyan Missionary Society, and five 
 stations superintended by an equal number 
 of missionaries of the Baptist Missionary 
 Society. Their labours were now distri- 
 buted as widely as possible throughout the 
 country, and increasingly interesting and 
 important statements being continually 
 transmitted to the societies at home, agents 
 were successively multiplied, churches 
 planted, and thousands savingly converted. 
 At various periods during the existence of 
 slavery the dormant spirit of persecution 
 revived, and sometimes with an energy 
 which seemed to threaten the destruction 
 of the missions. But in every instance 
 did the overruling hand of God prevent the 
 accomplishment of its object. The tide of 
 knowledge and religion had begun to flow, 
 and utterly in vain was every attempt to 
 impede its onward progress. A new era 
 had dawned upon Jamaica, and a change 
 was gradually taking place, which, in the 
 short space of about twenty years, has 
 produced results probably unprecedented 
 in any age or country. It recalls to our 
 remembrance the events of apostolic times, 
 when superstition burnt her books on the 
 altar of truth, when the idols of the hea- 
 then fell, and the throne of Satan trembled. 
 It resembled the introduction of Christianity 
 into Judea, where, when the Jewish priests 
 rejected him who came to them with life 
 and immortality, " the common people 
 heard him gladly." Completely verified 
 was the prediction — -'a people whom I 
 have not known shall serve me, so soon 
 as they hear of me they shall obey me, 
 and the strangers shall submit themselves 
 
 unto me."* " So mightily grew the word 
 of God, and prevailed."']' 
 
 From the hold which superstition had 
 obtained upon the minds of the people, it 
 is but natural to suppose that its eradica- 
 tion would be extremely difficult, as well 
 as a work of time. It has, however, re- 
 laxed and disappeared, in proportion to the 
 means which have been employed. Fifteen 
 or twenty years ago, in a negro burying- 
 ground, at no great distance from the au- 
 thor's residence in Spanish Town, there 
 was scarcely a grave that did not exhibit 
 from two to four rudely carved images; 
 and it was a common custom, even for 
 comparatively respectable persons annually 
 to strew the rude tombs with which it 
 abounded with viands, and to pour upon 
 them libations of wine and blood, as offer- 
 ings to their supposed divinities. Such 
 practices have long been discontinued, and 
 were any to adopt them at the present day, 
 it would affix to their characters a stigma 
 which would almost exclude thern from the 
 pale of society. In the towns and districts, 
 where the means of moral and religious in- 
 struction have been regularly afforded, and 
 that throughout a series of years, very few- 
 vestiges of the ancient superstition remain 
 in any form. Like every other species of 
 imposture, superstition has its foundation 
 in ignorance, and in proportion to the dif- 
 fusion of sound scriptural knowledge will 
 the spell be broken, and the enchantment 
 be dissolved. Idolatry, indeed, may be 
 said to be entirely abolished. So little re- 
 verence do former deities now inspire that 
 a short time since the author found an idol 
 on the public road. The appearance of 
 such an object three years ago, in such a 
 place, would have created the utmost terror 
 and alarm throughout the neighbourhood, 
 but it was now either passed by entirely 
 unheeded, or elicited only contempt or sal- 
 lies of wit from the beholders.:]: 
 
 Instead of the public carnivals and the 
 riotous and obscene processions in the 
 streets once so common on the Sabbath, 
 that sacred day may now be said to be 
 generally hallowed. The Sunday markets 
 
 * Psalm xviii., 43, 44. t Acts six., 20. 
 
 X A black female, after eyeing it intently, thus soli- 
 loquized : — " Ah, poor boy, dat de way dem sarve you 
 no? Trow you way now dem no fraid for you again? 
 What make you no trouble dem now like a befo 
 time? Ah ! since light come we see you bin make 
 we too much fool, poor ting ! light bad ting for you. 
 You no get notin for nyarn (eat) now." 
 
108 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 are universally abolished, and the appro- 
 priate duties and engagements of the Sab- 
 bath are more extensively and properly 
 observed than even in England. From the 
 earliest dawn thousands, both young and 
 old, clothed in clean and neat apparel, are 
 seen thronging the streets and roads to and 
 from the house of God and the Sabbath- 
 schools. Such a scene would be delight- 
 ful under any circumstances, but the more 
 so from the perfect contrast it presents to 
 those so lately witnessed. The throngs 
 which sometimes issue from some of the 
 larger places of worship in the towns are 
 so great as to render the streets in their 
 neighbourhood almost impassable. The 
 whole population, both of the town and 
 suburbs, seems to be in motion, and when 
 going in one direction, resembles a torrent 
 carrying every thing before it; those who 
 are married exhibiting the truly civilized 
 and social spectacle of walking arm in 
 arm ; — a fact, the narration of which, 
 though in England it may excite a smile, 
 is here noticed on account of its compara- 
 tive novelty among a people who were 
 lately sunk in the lowest depths of degra- 
 dation and sin. Such a transformation in 
 the manners and appearance of the people 
 could, a few years ago, scarcely have been 
 imagined by any one acquainted with the 
 then existing state of society. 
 
 The number of places of worship is 
 greatly multiplied. There are now, as 
 nearly as can be calculated, upwards of 
 fifty regular churches and chapels of ease ; 
 about eleven Moravian chapels ; two large 
 chapels of the Church of Scotland ; twelve 
 in connexion with the Scottish Missionary 
 Society ; eleven belonging to the London 
 Society ; four or five in connexion with 
 American Congregationalists ; eight or 
 nine with native Baptists; seven or eight 
 with the Church Missionary Society ; up- 
 wards of fifty with the Wesleyan ; seven 
 or eight with the Wesleyan Association ; 
 and about sixty with the Baptist Missionary 
 Society : making a total of two hundred 
 and twenty-six regular places of worship. 
 Besides these, connected chiefly with the 
 Baptist denomination, are subordinate sta- 
 tions at which divine worship is regularl}' 
 performed in private houses, in temporary 
 places erected for the purpose, or in negro 
 huts, not to mention the frequency with 
 which service is conducted out of doors, 
 beneath the shade of trees and in tempo- 
 
 rary sheds. The whole number of places 
 at which the Gospel is occasionally or 
 more regularly preached by regular minis- 
 ters cannot, on the lowest calculation, be 
 estimated at less than three hundred. 
 
 Not only has religion found its way into 
 almost every town^and village of impor- 
 tance in the island, but, in a greater or 
 less degree, into the majority of the estates 
 and other larger properties. As soon as 
 its sacred influence begins to be felt on a 
 property or in a new township, the first 
 work of the converts is to add to their 
 clusters of cottages a house for God. 
 This is done not merely for their own spi- 
 ritual advantage, but with an especial re- 
 ference to that of their neighbours and 
 friends. Some of these houses will hold 
 from one hundred and fifty to two and 
 three hundred individuals, and are fitted 
 up with benches and other conveniences 
 similar to regular places of worship. Here 
 an individual of their own colour, duly au- 
 thorized by the minister to whose church 
 he belongs (and who, since the abolition of 
 slavery, often visits them himself), holds a 
 prayer or class meeting two or three times 
 in the week, and addresses the assembly 
 in the best manner he is able on the things 
 which belong to their peace. In numerous 
 instances, the " praying people" in a par- 
 ticular locality, regarding themselves as 
 one family, flock to these places every 
 morning and evening of the week for do- 
 mestic devotion. Here they are heard 
 often before the dawn of day and at the 
 latest hour preceding their repose, pouring 
 out their earnest and artless supplications 
 at the throne of grace for strength to 
 enable them to maintain their Christian 
 course. There is scarcely an evening in 
 the week but the song of praise and the 
 voice of prayer, mingling with the same 
 incense from many a family altar and 
 many a secluded closet, is thus arising to 
 heaven from all parts of the land. 
 
 " The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks 
 Shout to each other — and the mountain-tops 
 From distant mountains catch the flying joy." 
 
 From this description it will be easily 
 conceived that the attendance at all places 
 of worship favoured with an evangelical 
 ministry is astonishingly great. The ex- 
 clamation of the prophet, when wrapt in 
 visions of future days, is here actually 
 realized — " Who are these that fly as a 
 cloud and as doves to their windows V 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 109 
 
 On Sabbath days most of the churches and 
 chapels, thus privileged, are filled with 
 pious and attentive worshippers. Some of 
 these places, though calculated to hold 
 from one thousand to four thousand hear- 
 ers, are often crowded. At all the other 
 public means of grace, such as prayer- 
 meetings, and week evening lectures, the 
 same interesting appearances in a corre- 
 sponding proportion present themselves; to 
 say nothing of those which refer less 
 directly to the great objects of the Christian 
 ministry, such as Church, Bible Class, 
 leaders' meetings, singing, Sunday-school 
 teachers, and Missionary meetings. - Some 
 general idea of the attendance on these oc- 
 casions may be formed from a jubilee 
 meeting lately held at Kettering, in Ja- 
 maica, and which is thus described in the 
 " Baptist Herald:" — " We have this week 
 to record one of the most delightful seasons 
 of joy it has ever been our happiness to 
 witness, — the Jubilee of the Baptist Mis- 
 sionary Society, held at Kettering, in this 
 parish. The vast numbers who attended 
 appear universally to have participated in 
 the pleasures of the day, and we have 
 reason to believe that lasting impressions 
 of good will be the result. When the 
 living mass arose to hymn the praises of 
 the Eternal, the scene was overpowering. 
 The booth, which contained 30,000 super- 
 ficial feet, being 200 feet long by 150 
 broad, was literally crammed, and had in 
 it nearly nine thousand persons ; sixteen 
 hundred children passed through one of 
 the avenues, singing sweetly, and were at 
 the same time addressed in another part of 
 the village, and a congregation of full two 
 thousand were assembled to hear the 
 truths of the Gospel in another ; so that, 
 excluding the number who were yet in the 
 village of Duncan, there were thirteen 
 thousand listening to the deeply interest- 
 ing details of the mission." 
 
 The Baptist congregation at Spanish 
 Town, one of the largest connected with 
 Missionary Societies in Jamaica, averages 
 on a Sabbath day two thousand hearers. 
 A prayer-meeting, which has been held 
 for a number of years between the hours 
 of five and six o'clock on the Sabbath 
 morning, has averaged five hundred atten- 
 dants ; as also the Monday evening prayer- 
 meeting and the Thursday evening lecture. 
 The number at Falmouth, under the pas- 
 toral care of the Rev. William Knibb, may 
 
 be said to average two thousand on the 
 Sabbath. At Montego Bay the congrega- 
 tion, recently under the care of the Rev. 
 Thomas Burchell, is said to average on a 
 Sabbath day about two thousand two hun- 
 dred hearers. Occasionally one thousand 
 people have been known to have been 
 present at these places at an early Sab- 
 bath morning prayer-meeting. The usual 
 attendance at East Queen Street, in King- 
 ston, under the pastoral oversight of the 
 Rev. Samuel Oughton, is estimated at two 
 thousand five hundred, and seven hundred 
 are present at the week-day evening ser- 
 vices. Equal numbers are supposed to be 
 in regular attendance at two of the Wes- 
 leyan chapels in Kingston, under the su- 
 perintendence of the Rev. Jonathan Ed- 
 mondson, chairman of the district. These 
 places of worship, which will contain from 
 two thousand five hundred to three thou- 
 sand five hundred persons each, are often, 
 during the ordinary ministrations of the 
 Gospel, crowded to excess ; whilst on par- 
 ticular occasions, such as Missionary or 
 Anti-Slavery Meetings, hundreds have 
 been unable to find admission. In several 
 of the country districts the congregations 
 belonging to different religious bodies are 
 equally flourishing, and some of them 
 almost as large as those previously de- 
 scribed. Among the most pleasing cir- 
 cumstances connected with this spirit of 
 hearing is the fact that prayer-meetings are 
 generally well attended, and are not only 
 in many cases the most interesting, but 
 frequently have they been found the most 
 profitable, of all the public means of 
 grace. 
 
 Instead of there being, as stated by the 
 historian,* Francis Hanson, in 1805, no 
 " sectarian parsons" on the island, there 
 are now about 120, exclusive of native 
 assistants and catechists (amounting pro- 
 bably to an equal number), who are em. 
 ployed on the Sabbath in carrying on Di- 
 vine worship at subordinate stations. Wes- 
 leyan missionaries, 31 ; Moravians, 12 ; 
 Presbyterians, 12 ; London Missionaries, 
 11 ; Congregationalists from America, 5; 
 Native Baptists, 14 ; Baptist Missionaries, 
 31. Total 116. The following statement 
 exhibits the progressive increase of minis- 
 ters of all denominations during a period 
 of ten years, ending in 1841. In 1831 
 
 * Vide, p. 227. 
 
110 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 the number of ministers connected with the 
 Church of England was 52 ; of Presbyte- 
 rians, 4; of Wesleyan Methodists, 16; of 
 Baptist Missionaries, 16 ; of Moravian Mis- 
 sionaries, 8 : total, 96. In 1841, minis- 
 ters of the above denominations were, of 
 the Church of England, 74 ; Presbyte- 
 rians, 13; Wesleyan Methodists, 29; 
 Baptist Missionaries, 27 ; Moravian Mis- 
 sionaries, 12 : total, 155. In addition to 
 these there are the missionaries of the 
 London Missionary Society, ministers of 
 the Wesleyan Missionary Association, and 
 American Congregationalists, who have 
 commenced operations since the first-men- 
 tioned period. 
 
 Section III. — As an additional evidence 
 of the religious transformation which has 
 taken place in this part of the missionary 
 field, let us contemplate the numbers that 
 have been hopefully converted to God 
 since the introduction of the Gospel, toge- 
 ther with the multitudes who are just awa» 
 kened to a concern about their souls, and 
 the change will appear still more surpris- 
 ing and glorious. 
 
 In 1842 not less than 23,000 negroes 
 and their descendants are reported as being 
 united in Christian fellowship with the 
 Wesleyans. In the absence of express 
 data on which to ground an accurate cal- 
 culation with respect to some of the deno- 
 minations, it may be said that about 5000 
 are connected with the Moravians, 7000 
 with the Scottish Missionary Society, about 
 2000 with the London Missionary Society, 
 1000 with the American Congregational- 
 ists, 4000 with the Wesleyan Methodist 
 Association, and 30,000 with the Baptist 
 Missionary Society, making an aggregate 
 of 72,000 souls, exclusive of those con- 
 nected with the Church Missionary Society, 
 and such as are under the care of evange- 
 lical clergymen, which will increase the 
 gross amount of real converts to upwards 
 of 100,000, fully one-third of the entire 
 black population of the island. But, in 
 addition to these, let the multitudes that 
 have died since the commencement of mis- 
 sionary operations be taken into the cal- 
 culation, and estimating the number at the 
 rate of 25 percent., making allowance for 
 the great mortality of the slave popula- 
 tion, and the number cannot be less than 
 50,000, thus making the grand total of 
 150,000 souls hopefully turned from the 
 
 power of Satan unto God, chiefly within 
 the short period of thirty years. 
 
 Connected with most of the denomina- 
 tions are persons called respectively in- 
 quirers, probationers, and catechumens, 
 most of whom are considered to afford 
 pleasing indications of piety. The number 
 of probationers attached to the Wesleyan 
 denomination may be estimated at 2000 ; 
 the Moravians, about 2000 ; Scottish Mis- 
 sionary Society, 2000; the London Mis- 
 sionary Society, 2000 ; the American Con- 
 gregationalists, 1000; the Wesleyan Asso- 
 ciation, 2000 ; the Church of England and 
 Church Missionary Society, 5000; the 
 Baptists, 21,111, which, with those of 
 other denominations, will make about 
 50,000. Thus it will be found that the 
 grand total of professing Christians con- 
 nected with the different denominations in 
 Jamaica, since the commencement of mis- 
 sionary efforts to the present time, is about 
 200,000 souls. 
 
 Surely at such a recital every pious and 
 benevolent heart must leap for joy, and ex- 
 claim with adoring gratitude, " What hath 
 God wrought !" 200,000 souls converted 
 from heathenism and savage darkness to 
 the only true and living God ! 200,000 
 brands plucked from the fire, and multi- 
 tudes more inquiring the way to Zion with 
 their faces thitherward! Then think of 
 the value of one soul — 
 
 " Behold the midnight glory, worlds on worlds, 
 Amazing pomp! Redouble this amaze — 
 Ten thousand add, add twice ten thousand more, 
 Then weigh the whole ; one soul outweighs them all, 
 And calls the astonishing magnificence 
 Of unintelligent creation poor." 
 
 " Such," says a pious writer, " is the im- 
 portance of one soul, that its salvation, 
 were it the only result of all the Bible, 
 Missionary, Tract, and other religious 
 Societies in the world, all their money, 
 time, labours, prayers, and anxieties, 
 would-be well repaid. Nay, had all the 
 combined efforts of these societies been use- 
 less up to this hour, still God would ap- 
 prove their aim." 
 
 " Who that has right feelings," says 
 Mr. Candler, " can be but thankful for 
 what he sees and witnesses in this interest- 
 ing land ? A people lately dark, super- 
 stitious, and ignorant, coming by degrees 
 to the knowledge of the truth, glad to re- 
 ceive religious instruction, and giving proof 
 of their improved habits and conduct, that 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 the Lord, by his good Spirit, is himself 
 their teacher." 
 
 The testimony of Joseph J. Gurney, 
 Esq., to the same important fact, is still 
 more explicit and pertinent. Having ad- 
 verted to other great improvements that 
 were apparent, he continues : — " But while 
 these points are confessedly of high im- 
 portance, there is another which at once 
 embraces and outweighs them all — I mean 
 the diffusion of vital Christianity. I know 
 that great apprehensions were entertained, 
 especially in this country, lest, on the ces- 
 sation of slavery, the negroes should break 
 away at once from their masters and their 
 ministers. But freedom has come, and 
 while their masters have not been forsaken, 
 their religious teachers have become dearer 
 to them than ever. Under the banner of 
 liberty the churches and meeting-houses 
 have been enlarged and multiplied, the at- 
 tendance has become regular and devout, 
 the congregations have, in many cases, 
 been more than doubled — above all, the 
 conversion of souls (as we have reason to 
 believe) has been going on to an extent 
 never before known in these colonies. In 
 a religious point of view, as I have before 
 hinted, the wilderness in many places has 
 indeed begun to ' blossom as the rose ;' « in- 
 stead of the thorn,' has ' come up the fir- 
 tree, and instead of the briar, has come up 
 the myrtle-tree;' and it shall be to the 
 Lord for a name — for an everlasting sign 
 that shall not be cut off." 
 
 In another part of his journal Mr. Cand- 
 ler remarks, " The Baptists are more 
 numerous as a religious body than any 
 other, and have by far the greatest influ- 
 ence over the minds of the people in mat- 
 ters of every kind. There are twenty* 
 Baptist missionaries here, having among 
 them seventy-three congregational stations, 
 which, from the great distance some of them 
 lie from each other, considered individually, 
 cannot receive ' a pastor's Sabbath-care' 
 more than once in three weeks. Public 
 worship is kept up, however, at most of 
 these stations ; and when the stated minis- 
 ter is absent, the schoolmaster officiates, or 
 the leaders hold what they call a prayer- 
 meeting. Attached to these stations are 
 21,777 church members, and 21,111 in- 
 quirers who are seeking admission to 
 
 See Note, p. 112. 
 
 membership ; they have also 9159 record- 
 ed Sabbath-scholars ; their numbers, added 
 together, amounting in all to 52,047, show 
 us the number of what may be termed the 
 more constant attenders of Baptist chapels ; 
 but if we include others belonging to the 
 religious body who do attend, and the aged, 
 the sick, and children who do not attend, 
 we shall swell the number to perhaps 
 100,000, or a fourth part of the whole 
 population. Several of these congregations 
 are very large, filling chapels that hold 
 2000, 3000, and even 4000 people. It will 
 be seen how impossible it is for the mis- 
 sionaries, under these circumstances, to 
 exercise anything like pastoral family 
 oversight, or to know much of the individ- 
 uals who place themselves under their care: 
 this deficiency the Baptists and Wesleyan 
 Methodists endeavour to supply by class 
 leaders. The denomination called Native 
 Baptists are under the teaching of black 
 and coloured men, who were once leaders 
 in other congregations, but have broken 
 off and set up as ministers for themselves. 
 Their number is said to be 8000, assem- 
 bling at twenty-five different stations, the 
 ministers fourteen. The Wesleyan Metho- 
 dists have among them thirty-one mission- 
 aries, a large number of stations, 23,822 
 members and probationers, and 2664 Sab- 
 bath scholars ; their total numbers may be 
 supposed to comprise 40,000 people ; and 
 if we add the late seceding missionaries 
 and their congregations, which already 
 comprise about 4000 actual members, we 
 may consider the Methodist body to be 
 50,000. The Moravian missionaries are 
 ten, each attached to a separate congrega- 
 tion of, perhaps, on an average, 700 people, 
 but I should hardly think so many : take 
 their number at 7000. The Presbyterian 
 missionaries are ten, with six catechists and 
 teachers ; each missionary, as in the case 
 of the Moravians, having, with but little 
 exception, a separate station of ministerial 
 labour: the number belonging to this class 
 I would estimate at 7000. The London 
 Missionary Society has eight missionaries, 
 superintending twelve congregations, none 
 of them very large : their number is proba- 
 bly about 8000. The Oberlin Institute 
 furnishes five missionaries, who have, per- 
 haps, 3000 people ; making the Indepen- 
 dents, or Congregationalists altogether 
 about 11,000. The Church of Scotland 
 has two large chapels, one at Kingston, the 
 
112 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 other at Falmouth, with, perhaps, 2000 
 members. 
 
 « We have thus a total of 185,000 dis- 
 senters from the Established Church in 
 Jamaica, who may be said to be living 
 under some religious care; the remainder 
 of the people, amounting to 220,000, either 
 belong to no religious denomination what- 
 ever, and attend no place of public wor- 
 ship, or rank as belonging to the Establish- 
 ment. The Church Missionary Society 
 has eight missionaries here, eleven cate- 
 chists who are schoolmasters, and six 
 assistant teachers. Allow this body of re- 
 ligious instructors 4000, or perhaps we 
 may say 6000, and the fifty Episcopal 
 churches and chapels 800 each on the 
 average, we give the Church of England 
 46,000 members. The Jews are 5000, and 
 the Roman Catholics 1000. Let us re- 
 capitulate: — Baptists, 10^,000; Methodists, 
 50,000 ; Moravians, 7000 ; Presbyterians, 
 7000; Congregationalists, 11,000; Esta- 
 blished Church, 46,000; Jews, 5000; Ro- 
 man Catholics, 1000— total, 237,000; 
 leaving a population of at least 163,000 
 who have neither schools nor religious in- 
 struction of any kind."* 
 
 From these statements it will appear that 
 many individual churches are very large 
 compared with churches in England. The 
 most numerous are among the Wesleyans 
 and Baptists, and are found in the princi- 
 pal towns. The number of Wesleyan com- 
 municants, meeting in their chapel at 
 Montego Bay, is (as given in their report 
 for 1842) 1255; of Baptists, lately under 
 the pastoral care of the Rev. Thomas 
 Burchell, 1657 ; the number in church fel- 
 lowship at the Wesleyan chapel at Fal- 
 mouth is 1983 ; that of the Baptist chapel, 
 1894. The total number of members in 
 society among the Wesleyans, meeting in 
 their chapel in Spanish Town, is about 
 1884 ; the Baptist church at the same place 
 contains 2680. The church meeting at 
 Coke Chapel, Kingston (Wesleyan), con- 
 tains 5149 members; the Baptist church 
 East Queen Street, in the same city, 3959; 
 and so on in proportion throughout all the 
 stations in the island. 
 
 Among the Wesleyans and other de- 
 nominations, applicants for church-fellow- 
 
 * This estimate was made in 1840. Many of the 
 churches and congregations have considerably in- 
 creased in number since that period. Ministers also 
 have been multiplied. 
 
 ship are usually received individually as 
 they offer themselves, or are found to pos- 
 sess the requisite qualifications. Among 
 the Baptists, although each individual 
 previously undergoes a rigid examination, 
 members are often added by 100 and up- 
 wards at one time. In some cases 200 
 persons have been added to a single church 
 in one day; 400 were once added in one 
 year to the church at Spanish Town ; and 
 at Brown's Town and Bethany, in St. 
 Anne's, as many as 700 and upwards were 
 baptized and received into fellowship during 
 the same space of time. In some of the 
 larger churches the additions have ave- 
 raged 200 each for several years past. 
 The clear increase of members to the Wes- 
 leyan and Moravian churches since 1823, 
 or during the last twenty years, the writer 
 is unable to ascertain, but the number 
 added to the Baptist churches within that 
 period, exclusively of decrease by exclu- 
 sions and deaths, has been little short of 
 27,000, thus averaging, since the year 
 1823, a clear increase of 1350 per annum. 
 The following table will show the progres- 
 sive rate of increase since 1835, with other 
 particulars : 
 
 Year. 
 
 Baptized. 
 
 Restored. 
 
 Excluded. 
 
 Marriages. 
 
 1835 
 
 2606 
 
 210 
 
 156 
 
 1468 
 
 1836 
 
 2950 
 
 205 
 
 2i3 
 
 881 
 
 1837 
 
 2120 
 
 283 
 
 296 
 
 705 
 
 1838 
 
 2874 
 
 352 
 
 267 
 
 1942 
 
 1839 
 
 3457 
 
 161 
 
 541 
 
 1614 
 
 1840 
 
 4684 
 
 420 
 
 461 
 
 1256 
 
 1841 
 
 
 
 
 
 1842 
 
 2659 
 
 340 
 
 777 
 
 496 
 
 Nor is the cause advancing less rapidly 
 at the present time. Never before indeed 
 have the missionaries in Jamaica been 
 blessed with a fairer and brighter prospect. 
 The clear increase of the Baptist churches 
 alone for the year just closed.- is 2309, and 
 multitudes have crowded to fill up the ranks 
 of inquirers vacated by those who had suc- 
 ceeded to a more close and holy fellowship. 
 God not only seems to be going with his 
 servants, but to have gone before them. 
 Wherever they direct their operations they 
 find an open door; wherever they stand 
 up, beneath a tree, beneath a shed, in a 
 negro hut, or in a chapel, they are sure to 
 be surrounded by listening multitudes. A 
 holy influence is evidently breathed upon 
 the people, creating a hungering and thirst- 
 ing after the bread and water of life, which 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 113 
 
 nothing but the Spirit of God can satisfy. 
 In every direction are the people calling for 
 the messengers of salvation, and whenever 
 they see them coming from afar, they seem 
 exultingly to exclaim, "How beautiful upon 
 the mountains are the feet of Him that 
 hringelh good tidings — that publisheth 
 peace — that bringeth good tidings of good 
 — that publisheth salvation!" 
 
 Of this general eagerness to hear the 
 Gospel it is unnecessary to furnish more 
 than one or two instances. The first is 
 an application made to the author by a 
 poor black man, on behalf of himself and 
 others, who had been for some time de- 
 prived ofthe meansof Christian instruction, 
 and the other is a communication from a 
 medical gentleman to a friend in England. 
 
 " To the Rev. Mr. Phillippo. 
 
 " 3d May, 1841. 
 
 " My Dear Minister — I have now to 
 Right, and beg you to assist us, as now we 
 are Sheep without a Shepherd, and we will 
 be glad to have you, my Dear Minister, to 
 enclose us again as so much sheep that 
 have gone astray, by having no Pastor. 
 So by our free will we shall be much thank- 
 ful to my dear minister if you will come 
 amongst us, that we may carry on God's 
 work once more again, and satisfy we 
 hungry soul ; and we request the chappie 
 to be register for the Baptist Missionary 
 Society. The name of the place is Con- 
 tent. 
 
 " Signed on behalf of the family, 
 
 " John Duglass." 
 
 " During the Lord's day I spent at 
 Sligoville, a party of people came from a 
 distance to beg of Mr. P. to go to take pos- 
 session of a chapel belonging to some 
 Native Baptists who could not get on alone. 
 These people, about six in number, came 
 the Sunday previous. They had applied 
 many times during twelve months to get 
 Mr. P. to go, but he refused, on account of 
 the dislance and his own numerous engage- 
 ments. This time they determined not to 
 go without getting him to comply with their 
 request. Mr. P. was from home, but here 
 they remained until he returned, which 
 was not until the following Sunday even- 
 ing. 
 
 " He again excused himself, but they 
 would hear nothing of it ; they were sure 
 if minister would come he would do them 
 
 good ; and they sat themselves down on 
 the grass, determined not to go till he con- 
 sented. They continued urging their re- 
 quest until he promised to visit them. It 
 was now Monday, and Mr. P. offered to go 
 on the following Wednesday. They were 
 satisfied, and the whole of them started 
 home directly to carry the news. Mr. P. 
 invited me to accompany him, and early on 
 the appointed morning we set off, with 
 another medical man, to the place called 
 the 'Above Rocks,' in St. Thomas's in the 
 Vale. Tt was a magnificent ride. It 
 could only be accomplished on horseback, 
 as it was in some piaces so steep as to re- 
 quire us to dismount and lead our horses, 
 while in other parts it was a steep mountain 
 pass about two feet wide, with a mountain 
 on one side and a tremendous precipice on 
 the other. We came, after a ride of twenty 
 miles, to the district where these poor 
 people resided, which was very populous, 
 appearing to be estates thrown up and 
 bought in small lots by the people. All 
 was in beautiful cultivation ; there were no 
 signs here ofthe predicted barbarism; the 
 entire valley was like a panorama. 
 
 " The ground was very undulatory, and 
 covered as far as the eye could reach with 
 plantains, bananas, yams, cocoa-nuts, with 
 huts and houses. A guide met us about 
 three miles from our destination, and at 
 length we arrived at a hut prepared for us, 
 the people all anxiously waiting our com- 
 ing. We begged some yam, as we had 
 come a long ride without any provisions. 
 Three or four set to work, lighted a fire, 
 killed a chicken, and as soon as possible 
 brought it to table, with a plenty of cocoa, 
 yams, plantains, and other things. A box 
 was at the window, in which some bees 
 were at work, and while we were look- 
 ing and praising the man for his con- 
 trivance, he said he thought ministers and 
 doctors would like some honey ; so without 
 any ceremony he took his primitive bee- 
 hive into the open air, and abstracted the 
 honey, regardless of the stings of hundreds 
 of the bees who swarmed upon him. We 
 finished our repast, and went to the chapel, 
 which resembled a barn in England, with 
 a few seats in it. Many people came, 
 though it was in the middle of the day. A 
 short service was held, and an arrange- 
 ment made for preaching once a fortnight. 
 The field is a very fine one for a zealous 
 missionary, containing, it is supposed. 
 
114 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 10,000 inhabitants. The people are lite- 
 rally hungering and thirsting after right- 
 eousness ; they have been endeavouring to 
 carry on the service of God among them- 
 selves because they were unable to obtain 
 other instruction, but they have at length 
 made an effort which will prove to their 
 advantage." 
 
 From this wonderful concurrence of ani- 
 mating circumstances, and the co-operation 
 of other favourable events, how bright and 
 glorious becomes the prospect of the future! 
 But the most interesting feature by which 
 that prospect is distinguished, so far at 
 least as human instrumentality is con- 
 cerned, is that which regards the employ- 
 ment of native labourers, many of whom, 
 possessing zeal, talent, and piety, are now 
 rising up in our churches. Irrespective of 
 other advantages, it is almost impossible 
 to conceive how much such an agency will 
 contribute to the general diffusion of know- 
 ledge and religion, especially with that 
 training which they are about to receive 
 in the theological institution now founded 
 by the Baptist missionaries, in connexion 
 with the parent society. 
 
 And not only so, but the importance of 
 Jamaica as a field of missionary operations 
 is not to be determined by prospects con- 
 fined to its own shores. It is to be esti- 
 mated by its relative and geographical po- 
 sition. It is to be viewed in reference to 
 the influence it may exert on the neigh- 
 bouring islands and continent. And for 
 this purpose how commanding, and in 
 every way how advantageous, is its situa- 
 tion ! In the midst of the Caribbean Sea 
 — but a hw days' sail from the vast conti- 
 nent of South America and the confederated 
 states of the Mexican Union on the one 
 hand, and Cuba, Puerto Rico, St. Domingo, 
 and the whole of the western archipelago 
 on the other, — in the very centre of a popu- 
 lation estimated at 20,000,000 of human 
 beings, all literally perishing for lack of 
 knowledge. 
 
 What may Jamaica ultimately prove to 
 them if British Christians aid her in the 
 enterprise ? She might prove to them what 
 Britain has been to her— a depot of the 
 word of life — a centre of heavenly light — 
 the chief instrument of their political, in- 
 tellectual, social, moral, and religious reno- 
 vation. By what means ?— • By qualifying 
 
 and sending forth her own sons as mis- 
 sionaries. 
 
 Jamaica might indeed become spiritually 
 what she is politically — the key-stone to 
 the possession of the New World — a kind 
 of rallying post for the army of the living 
 God, in its efforts to subjugate the whole 
 continent of South America to the " obe- 
 dience of faith." 
 
 Nor do the missionaries bound their ex- 
 pectations with reference to the influence 
 of Jamaica as a field of missionary triumph 
 even by the shores of the south and the 
 west. The day of jubilee has come, and 
 arrangements are already made for send- 
 ing back her long exiled sons to the land 
 of their fathers, that they may assist in 
 diffusing throughout the African continent 
 the blessings of wisdom and of the " fear 
 of the Lord." 
 
 In a word, who can tell but that by such 
 instrumentality (for it often happens that 
 those whom God intends to honour he 
 usually prepares for it by severe discipline) 
 — who can tell but that, as if in some 
 measure compensative of her wrongs, it is 
 not the determination of Infinite Wisdom 
 to reserve for Africa the honour and the 
 glory of ushering in the millennium? — 
 " for there are first that shall be last, and 
 there are last that shall be first." 
 
 Who can tell but that we even now be- 
 hold the dawn of the coming day, when 
 the bright " bow of Christianity, commenc- 
 ing in the heavens and encompassing the 
 earth, shall include the children of every 
 clime and colour beneath the arch of its 
 promise and the glory of its protection?" 
 
 Inspired at the thought of such a glori- 
 ous consummation, who will not suppli- 
 cate, and in the devotion of his heart 
 pray— 
 
 " O thou who in ancient times didst 
 send forth thy Seraphim to touch as with 
 a live coal from thine altar thine own con- 
 secrated prophet to perfect and purify him 
 for his high mission, send down upon us 
 all thy heavenly influence — baptize us with 
 the Holy Ghost, that thy ministers may be 
 as flames of fire — that thy churches may 
 catch the missionary flame — that it may 
 burn till the whole earth shall reflect its 
 splendour, and with all her melody of 
 tongues proclaim the Tabernacle of God 
 is with Men !" 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 115 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 religious state, continued. 
 
 Sect. I. — Presumptive Evidences of the actual 
 Piety of Jamaica Churches — Character of the Mis- 
 sionaries — Nature and Extent of Scriptural Know- 
 ledge possessed by Candidates for Church-fellow- 
 ship — By Members in general — Manner of Admit- 
 ting Members — Great Christian Principle and Feel- 
 ing manifested by them. 
 
 Sect. II. — Description of Inquirers and Catechumens 
 — Nature and Objects of their Connexion with the 
 different Denominations — Usual Term of Probation 
 among Baptists for Church-fellowship — Average 
 Number of Exclusions — Intimate Knowledge pos- 
 sessed by Ministers of the State of their Churches 
 — Discipline, Faithfulness, and Impartiality of its 
 Administration — Christian Consistency of Members 
 — Testimonies — Investigation of Cases of alleged 
 Delinquency — Church Meetings — Members' Know- 
 ledge of Scriptural Discipline — Distinguished Pre- 
 valence of a Spirit of Prayer — Piety and Fervour 
 of Social Exercises. 
 
 Sect. III. — Sacrifices made by Members, of Time, 
 Comfort, Property, and Freedom — Persecution — 
 Martyrdom — Spirit exemplified under these circum- 
 stances. 
 
 Sect. IV. — Love of Converts towards each other — 
 How displayed — Charity of the Treatment of Of- 
 fences — Attention to Poor and Afflicted — Mutual 
 esteem — Love for the Service of God's House — 
 Attendance on the Means of Grace — Regard for 
 the Interests of Zion generally — Attachment to 
 their Ministers — Astonishing changes in Individual 
 Character. 
 
 Sect. V. — Zeal of Jamaica Christians — Their Liber- 
 ality — Their great Personal and Individual Exer- 
 tions — ('lass and Ticket System — Its operation in 
 Furtherance of the Gospel — Great Self-devotion of 
 many of the Members of the Churches — Astonish- 
 ing Effects produced by their Individual Labours. 
 
 Sect. VI. — Experience and Conduct of Members in 
 general in seasons of calamity — On Beds of Sick- 
 ness and Death — Their anxious Concern for the 
 Welfare of the Churches to which they belong, and 
 for the general Interests of Religion — Numerous 
 Instances of Happy and Triumphant Deaths of 
 Adults and Sunday-School Children. 
 
 Section I Unaccustomed, as the 
 
 Church has been, to such enlarged suc- 
 cess, it is not surprising that doubts should 
 have arisen whether the numbers thus 
 represented as united to Christ and to his 
 people were really the subjects of convert- 
 ing grace. As it is not the prerogative of 
 missionaries, any more than that of other 
 men, to know the heart, it would be impos- 
 sible to return a decided answer in the 
 affirmative. They can only express a 
 hope that the Christian public will give 
 them credit for being what they profess to 
 be — " Men of God." " Anxious to save 
 themselves and those that hear them, in 
 all things endeavouring to show them- 
 selves patterns of good works ; in doctrine, 
 
 showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, 
 sound speech that cannot be condemned." 
 Aware of the awful responsibilities of their 
 office, and anxious, as their highest aim, 
 to promote the glory of their God and Sa- 
 viour, they trust that they would rather 
 spend their days in sowing the seed of the 
 Divine word, uncheered by the sight of a 
 single blade, than crowd the field with 
 noxious tares : the more so as, indepen- 
 dently of the higher concerns of the soul, 
 they will be, to a considerable degree, an- 
 swerable for all the reproach which un- 
 worthy converts might bring upon the 
 Redeemer's name. Under such circum- 
 stances, and in the prospect of that day 
 when they shall have to give an account 
 of their stewardship to their great Lord 
 and Master (a period that often appears 
 before them in all its awful solemnity and 
 importance), it is not too much to ask to 
 be believed when they affirm, that they 
 have received none into communion with 
 the churches of which they have had the 
 oversight but those whom they had reason 
 to hope were " approved of Christ;" nor 
 retained any in connexion with them who 
 afforded evidence of inconsistent and un- 
 holy lives. The admission of members to 
 the churches in Jamaica has, the author 
 is persuaded, been an object of as great 
 and unremitting care to missionaries of all 
 denominations as to ministers and churches 
 in England. Had it not been thus, he has 
 no hesitation in asserting, especially with 
 regard to the Baptists, that their numbers 
 would have been more than doubled. The 
 latter body has always connected with 
 them a number of individuals denominated 
 inquirers, and who have generally amount- 
 ed to at least one-third of the communi- 
 cants. These would have been glad to 
 have advanced at once to the privileges of 
 members ; but have been retained as in- 
 quirers for twelve months or upwards, to 
 afford evidence of a spiritual change by 
 their daily walk and conversation. There 
 are, however, certain presumptive evi- 
 dences of piety by which we may judge of 
 the validity of a Christian profession, and 
 which we hesitate not to apply to the 
 Christians of Jamaica. 
 
 The most untutored of those who have 
 enjoyed the advantages of Christian in- 
 struction for any length of time, have a 
 correct, if not an extensive, knowledge of 
 the great and essential doctrines of the 
 
116 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 Gospel — of the proper Deity of the Father, ' 
 Son, and Holy Spirit — the depravity of 
 human nature — the plan of salvation, and 
 the necessity of Divine influence to regene- 
 rate the heart: indeed, the knowledge of 
 these fundamental truths is absolutely ne- 
 cessary to admission into the churches. 
 In districts where the Gospel has been 
 Ions; and faithfully preached, the greater 
 part of the candidates, to a greater or less 
 degree, have a tolerably correct idea of the 
 nature and attributes of God, and of the 
 doctrines and duties of Christianity in ge- 
 neral. The truth of these assertions the 
 following dialogues and anecdotes, in ad- 
 dition to numbers of a similar kind that 
 have been already before the public in 
 missionary periodicals, will sufficiently at- 
 test. The replies given by one of the 
 middle-class of country people at a church- 
 meeting at Spanish Town may be regarded 
 as a fair specimen of the knowledge and 
 experience of the peasantry in general 
 throughout the district. According to con- 
 stant practice, the individual was interro- 
 gated by the pastor of the church and 
 members indiscriminately, who were as- 
 sembled at a church meeting : — 
 
 Minister. Well, Thomas, do you know 
 who Jesus Christ is? 
 
 Candidate, Him de Son of God, minis- 
 ter. 
 
 M. What did Jesus Christ come into the 
 world to do? 
 
 C Him come to save poor sinners. 
 
 M. Do you think he is able to save sin- 
 ners. 
 
 C. Me know him able. 
 
 M. How can you know that he is able 
 to save them ? 
 
 C, Because him make de world : and if 
 him make de world, him able to do all 
 tings : and minister no tell we often-time 
 dis make him left him fader trone, and 
 come into dis sinful world. 
 
 M. What is it necessary for us to know 
 and feel before we can love and serve God 
 as we ought? 
 
 C. VVe must know and feel truly dat me 
 is great sinner — never do one ting good 
 since me born — before me can sarve God 
 in a right manner. 
 
 M. God's holy word says — " Except a 
 man be born again he cannot see the king- 
 dom of God." What is meant by being 
 born again? 
 
 C. It mean a new heart, minister. 
 
 M. Do you think you have got a new 
 heart? 
 
 C. Me hope so. 
 
 M. What makes you think you have? 
 
 C. Because what me bin love before, me 
 hate now ; and what me hate before, me 
 love now. Once me love to do devil's 
 work — blaspheme, carouse, and do all 
 wicked ting : now me love precious Massa 
 Jesus, who pill him precious blood for me, 
 poo dyin' sinner. 
 
 M. How was it that you came to give 
 up your wicked ways? 
 
 C. Me heary minister preach sometime, 
 and me link some person tell minister false 
 upon me, and me get vex ; bine by, sick 
 take me, and broder and sister come talk 
 to me, and pray for me, and make me 
 promise, if God so good, make me raise 
 up again, me give up me heart to precious 
 Massa Jesus ; den me tink upon what min- 
 ister and broder and sister say, and beg 
 God to have mercy on me poor soul. 
 
 M. Are you ever tempted to turn back 
 again into the world? 
 
 C. Massa, debil too busy : him some 
 time full up my heart wid all bad thought; 
 him no lub for see poor somebody like a 
 me sarve Massa Jesus good, none at all. 
 
 M. But when you are tempted to for- 
 sake Christ by turning back again into the 
 world, what do you do? 
 
 C. Minister, me heart run to precious 
 Massa Jesus, like piccanniny run to him 
 mamma before time in a Africa, when 
 white man come make we slave. 
 
 M. Then you would not like to forsake 
 your Lord and Saviour? 
 
 C. O me, minister! If me turn from 
 me blessed Jesus, den where me go ? — 
 (looking up to heaven, and the tears filling 
 his eyes, he exclaimed, with all the energy 
 he could summon, for tears had almost 
 choked his utterance) — forsake me precious 
 Massa Jesus ! no, no ; me pray him make 
 me dead first! Turn from Massa Jesus! 
 No; him too good to me poo' sinner. Me 
 only 'fraid precious blessed Jesus turn 
 away from me ! But him promise ; and 
 me hold upon de promise. 
 
 M. What makes you wish to be bap- 
 tized ? 
 
 C. Because Jesus Christ, put under the 
 water, rise up again, and me wish to pat- 
 tern after him. 
 
 M. Perhaps you think the water will 
 wash away your sin ? 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 117 
 
 C. No, no ; water no wash away me 
 sin: nothin' but precious Massa Jesus blood 
 wash away me sin? 
 
 M. Why do you wish to partake of the 
 sacrament ? 
 
 C. Because me heart crave much to 
 member Massa Jesus, like me broder and 
 sister, how him dead and pill him blood 
 for we. While me tan so, — look upon me 
 broder and sister when dem setten down 
 take de supper, me heart fret ; me seems 
 like me tranger, no belong to God family 
 like a dem. 
 
 M. You don't think you will have no- 
 thing more to do, and that the devil will 
 not tempt you any more, if you should be 
 received into the church? 
 
 C. No, me sweet minister. Devil and 
 me own heart strive more against me den, 
 because dem much vex me make de world 
 know me no belong to dem again. 
 
 Questions by two or three of the mem- 
 bers : — 
 
 Mem. Well," my friend, me hear what 
 answer you give to minister; but make me 
 ax you one or two question. Who you 
 say Jesus Christ is, and what him come 
 into this world to do? 
 
 A. Jesus Christ is God's son. Him 
 come into de world to save sinners. 
 
 Q. Who is the Holy Spirit, and what 
 does the Holy Spirit do for you? 
 
 A. The Holy Spirit is God too; and 
 him change me sinful heart, make me fit 
 for heaven. 
 
 Q. Is there more than one God? 
 
 A. No ; three persons and one God. 
 
 Q. Who are they? 
 
 A. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
 
 Q. What is your greatest enemy? 
 
 A. Me own heart. 
 
 Q. What do you mean to do with your 
 heart ? 
 
 A. Keep on pray to God to soften it. 
 
 Another. You say you began to think 
 about your soul, and cry to God when you 
 sick: suppose you had died in your sin, 
 what would have become of you? 
 
 A. If me dead in me sin, me gone to 
 hell. 
 
 Third. You know, broder, I know you 
 long time; know you to bin before time 
 very passionate, and if any person do any 
 ting to you, you begin to fight and blas- 
 pheme. Suppose any one know you to 
 come to the Gospel, try to vex and strike 
 you, what you do? 
 
 A. Me do so (putting his hands behind 
 him), and me look up, pray to God to 
 make me forgive him and to change him 
 heart, make him love God too. 
 
 Another. Suppose any one should offer 
 you a great sum of money to forsake 
 Christ, would you do it? 
 
 C. No ; me love Massa Jesus more : 
 what money can do for me when me heart 
 grieve? when me sick, and when me dead? 
 God book say, " What profit a man have 
 if him gain de world and lose him own 
 soul." 
 
 This candidate having withdrawn, in- 
 quiries were made of the friends present 
 who resided near him, as to his walk and 
 conversation, since he had become an in- 
 quirer; the answers to which being deemed 
 satisfactory, a few more questions were 
 put to him, as to his willingness to conform 
 to the rules of the church, should he be re- 
 ceived as a member, together with a state- 
 ment of the duties he would be expected to 
 discharge towards the cause of Christ in 
 general; after which the minister signified 
 his approval of him, on behalf of the 
 church. From that time to the present, 
 embracing a period of two years, his con- 
 duct has been that of a pious and devoted 
 follower of Christ. 
 
 The following is an extract of a letter 
 addressed to the author, by a pious lady, 
 the wife of a captain in the army. The 
 individual whose Christian experience it re- 
 cords is a respectable female of colour, who 
 has been for many years the leader of a 
 class of females connected with the Bap- 
 tist Church at Spanish Town, — an office 
 filled by others equally enlightened and de- 
 voted — and has been a most valuable helper 
 in that capacity in the work of God. As 
 this will give an idea of the character and 
 qualifications of some of our leaders or 
 helpers, no apology perhaps will be deem- 
 ed necessary for its insertion : 
 
 " My dear Friend, — I feel most anx- 
 ious to communicate my thoughts to you 
 on a subject that 1 know is both near and 
 dear to your heart — I mean the conversion 
 
 of a sinner. I refer to Miss , who 
 
 has given me an account of the Lord's 
 merciful dealings with her, which I here 
 subjoin. After stating the circumstances 
 which led to her first attending upon the 
 means of grace, this new trophy of re- 
 deeming love thus continues her narrative 
 
118 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 to me: — { I went to chapel again on the 
 following Sabbath ; the text was from the 
 22d chapter of St. Matthew, our Lord's 
 parable of the marriage of the king's son. 
 And when the minister explained to us who 
 they were who would not go to the mar- 
 riage feast, and what kind of a character 
 the man was " who had not on a wedding 
 garment," I said to myself, this is exactly 
 my state : do I not content myself with 
 the form of religion, without the power of 
 divine grace on my soul? Alas ! what do 
 I know of true holiness? I am as igno- 
 rant as the beast that perisheth : and he 
 appeared so perfectly to describe my state 
 that I went home quite miserable. I went 
 to bed, but could not sleep ; I felt myself a 
 condemned sinner, and the more I looked 
 back on my past life the more I saw my 
 sinfulness and vileness. I continued in this 
 unhappy state till Sunday. I went again 
 to chapel. The minister preached from 
 the 125th Psalm, which appeared to lay 
 my heart quite bare before my eyes, and 
 let me see my every secret sin ; but he led 
 me to the Saviour, and a hope sprang up 
 in my mind that Jesus would be also my 
 Saviour. He referred us to different chap- 
 ters in the Bible, which he advised us to 
 read on our return home, and judge for 
 ourselves. I did as he desired, and a 
 peace took possession of my mind that I 
 had never experienced before. I went on 
 my knees to pray, and I felt a hope that 
 God was reconciled to me through Christ, 
 and that same blessed hope has never since 
 forsaken me. I feel my ignorance very 
 much, never having mixed with any re- 
 ligious people; but I now read my Bible 
 every day, with prayer, and I feel already 
 increasing in knowledge, that I hope I may 
 soon be able to instruct others. O ! that I 
 could do any thing to glorify God ! You 
 know not how it pains me when I look 
 back on my past life, and see how I have 
 dishonoured so kind, such a long-suffering 
 and merciful Lord God ! I am grieved 
 and shocked at my ingratitude; but I trust 
 the remainder of my life will be spent dif- 
 ferently — indeed 1 wish to be led by the 
 spirit of God, as a child by its mother : 
 when I hear so many of the poor blacks 
 pray in chapel so sweetly, I feel quite 
 ashamed of myself. My friends and old 
 acquaintances often ask me what has hap- 
 pened to me, if I have been sick or from 
 home ? I am afraid to go near them, lest 
 
 they should draw me aside. I only now 
 mix with God's people, to try to improve 
 in the knowledge of God ; for what would 
 it profit me if 1 gained the whole world 
 and was to lose rny own soul ? — but I 
 would not turn back for the world. No : 
 ten thousand worlds would be a poor com- 
 pensation for the loss of my immortal 
 soul ! And I feel more real happiness now 
 than I ever did in my life.' 
 
 " Such is the substance of 's inte- 
 resting conversation with me ; and as I 
 know it would afford you a subject for 
 thankfulness to the triune God, 1 have 
 thought it right to tell you of it, as a means 
 of strengthening your hands, and encou- 
 raging your heart. And that the Lord 
 may give you many more souls for your 
 hire is the earnest prayer of, 
 
 " Your affectionate friend in the best of 
 bonds, 
 
 «B. T ." 
 
 The following conversation is of a dif- 
 ferent kind, though in some respects of 
 equal value and importance. It took place 
 some time since between an aged deacon 
 of the church at Spanish Town, the owner 
 of a small coffee plantation, and an over- 
 seer on one of the estates, and was related 
 to the author on the following day. The 
 estate had for many years been the scene 
 of this good man's pious and useful la- 
 bours. Going past the residence of the 
 overseer, who was entertaining a number 
 of his companions, on a particular occa- 
 sion, he was requested to enter the room 
 where all were assembled, and was thus 
 accosted : — 
 
 Overseer. Well, sir, I am told you are a 
 preacher ? 
 
 Deacon. I hope I am a praying man, 
 sir ; perhaps that is what you mean : as 
 white people often call praying preaching. 
 
 0. No ; I mean that you take a book 
 and preach to the people out of it. 
 
 D. How can I preach from a book 
 when I dont able to read ? Massa tink me 
 dont know better than to make fool of 
 tneself, take a book and preach, when all 
 de people too know me cant read ? 
 
 O. Well ; I don't know what you call 
 it. Don't you say prayers to the people, 
 or talk to them, or something? 
 
 D. Yes ; I talk to my neighbour and 
 friend, truly, and I am not ashamed of it 
 neider. Religion do good to me, make me 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 119 
 
 happy ; and I wants my fellow-creature to 
 feel happy too. 
 
 O. Well, then, you are a preacher. 
 
 D. Massa can call me what him like ; 
 me satisfy ; but me mouth cant shut ; me 
 must pray and talk for God as long as me 
 have breath. 
 
 O. Oh, I see : perhaps you could preach 
 to us, although you don't know a letter of 
 the book. Who betrayed Jesus Christ? — 
 for, as you are a preacher, you must 
 know — (jestingly). 
 
 JD. Judas betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ 
 for thirty pieces of silver. 
 
 O. Oh, I didn't know that you knew. 
 Well, but whose wife did David take 
 away ? 
 
 JD. Uriah wife, Bersheba. 
 
 O. Where did Uriah find his wife? 
 
 JD. In David's house. 
 
 O. How can that be, when Uriah was 
 slain ? 
 
 JD. Beg massa pardon, but Uriah was 
 not slain till David put him to the fore 
 front of the battle. 
 
 0. Was David a good man ? 
 
 JD. Yes ; a man iffter God's own heart. 
 
 O. What ! after he committed murder ? 
 Then that shows that God approved of 
 what David did ; and your parsons are al- 
 ways sending people to , who don't 
 
 do half what he did. 
 
 JD. Ah, massa ! you read God's word 
 and believe that? When David sin, him 
 fall ; and when him once fall, him do but 
 anything ; but though God love David, 
 him dont love David's sin. Massa say 
 him read de Bible. Suppose massa look 
 into de Bible now, him find God so angry 
 wid David, because him sin, dat he sent to 
 know de tree ting him will choose, and 
 den allow him son to drive him from de 
 trone. 
 
 O. I see very well that you are a 
 preacher, and I must say, I did not think 
 you knew so much ; but you had better 
 not fill the people's heads with these things; 
 they begin to know too much already. 
 
 JD. Massa, God's word is good, and I 
 bin say to massa before time me must tell 
 me fellow-creatur what good religion done 
 for me ; for if it good for me it good for 
 dem, and God's word say me must not let 
 me broder and sister alone, but must try 
 and bring dem all to Jesus Christ, dat dem 
 blood no rest upon me head in the last day. 
 
 Observes a missionary, writing to the 
 author during the insurrection in 1832, 
 " Our poor people are very much annoyed 
 by the officers of militia. The following 
 is a conversation which passed between 
 one of them and a memher of our church, 
 a sergeant in the regiment : 
 
 Officer. So you are a praying man ; 
 when we go on detachment I will put you 
 in the front ; I will take care of you. 
 
 Native. I may be as well off in the front 
 as in the rear, sir. 
 
 0. Well, I tell you beforehand, I will 
 take you to blow all these ministers' brains 
 out. 
 
 N. Are de minister guilty, den, sir? 
 
 O. To be sure they are. 
 
 N. Don't de law of we country say 
 every man is innocent until him found 
 guilty? If dem try and condemn already, 
 den it will be time enough to blow dem 
 brain out. You prosecute we minister too 
 much because you don't like we to get no 
 larnin. 
 
 0. Oh, oh ! But, as an honest man, 
 answer me one question. Don't these min- 
 isters teach the people to rob their owners 
 in order to give to them ? Answer me at 
 once. 
 
 N. No, sir. If dem did, we should 
 know it not right, and would have nothing 
 to do with them. Don't land plenty more 
 have sarvant weself? should we uphold 
 minister tellen de people to rob dem master? 
 
 O. But as you are a leader, don't you 
 get money for preaching? 
 
 N. No, I do not, sir. 
 
 O. Then you have a better heart than 
 I have ; but why do you teach the people? 
 
 N. Because it is my duty. 
 
 O. Well, I will never believe you would 
 labour with the people without you got 
 something by it. 
 
 N. If massa help a poor person horse 
 out a gully (ditch) when him fall in, and 
 like to drown, would massa want pay for 
 it ? An' don't man worth more dan a 
 beast ? 
 
 O. But what makes you pray ? 
 
 JS~. Because I am a sinner. 
 0. I suppose you found that out when 
 you were converted. 
 
 IV. I was convinced before I was con- 
 verted, sir, and then I prayed to God. 
 O. What do you mean by sin? 
 
 N. There is two kinds of sin, — original 
 sin and actual sin. 1 mean, I myself have 
 
120 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 broken God's laws, and derefore I pray to 
 God for forgiveness through Jesus Christ. 
 
 0. What do you mean by original sin? 
 
 IV. The sin of our first parents. But 
 please to let me ask if you don't pray to 
 God? 
 
 0. Yes ; but yon pray too much. 
 
 N. No; God tell we to pray always 
 and not to faint. But please let me ask 
 you another question. Don't you call God 
 your father in the Prayer Book ? What 
 ungrateful children we be if we don't obey 
 our Father's command ; an if we acknow- 
 ledge Him to be our King how shameful 
 not to be loyal to him. But 1 can account 
 for it. 
 
 O. How ? how ? 
 
 IV. Because de scripture say de carnal 
 mind is enmity against God, not subject 
 to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 
 And if de spirit of God don't teach we, we 
 is dark and ignorant people, dow we know 
 plenty a tings else. 
 
 O. What do you mean by the Spirit? 
 the spirit of rum? 
 
 IV. O fie, sir. You call yourself a 
 Christian, and make a mock at spiritual 
 tings ? 
 
 O. What else do you mean by the spirit ? 
 did you ever see it? 
 
 IV. It is felt, sir, but not seen. 
 
 O. How do you know if there is such a 
 thing if you never saw it? 
 
 IV. Don't you say, sir, dat a man have 
 a good spirit if him do anyting wordy of 
 praise, but you never see dat spirit ? You 
 believe you have souls, but you never see 
 dat soul. An', sir, would a blind man say 
 him wouldn't eat because him don't able to 
 see de vittel?" 
 
 After a kw questions more, which are 
 too indecent to meet the public eye, the 
 correspondent adds, " thus ends the con- 
 versation. I have sent it to you as the 
 poor man related it. to me, not doubting 
 but it would be interesting to you to know 
 the manner in which our poor Christian 
 blacks are enabled to stand their ground 
 before their accusers." 
 
 I felt much happiness, said the late ex- 
 cellent Missionary, Mr. Coultart, in hear- 
 ing the simple narratives of the people. 
 One of them, a woman, said, " Ah, massa, 
 me tongue so guilty, all bad word, me no 
 ready to peak good in same mout ; me 
 great sinner, and never tink bout anyting 
 good till me hear a broder read ; if me no 
 
 born again me no see kingdom of God. 
 Me don't know what dis born again mean 
 — it trouble me much, — it no let me rest, — 
 none at all. Next night broder come read 
 again ; de word trouble me more and more ; 
 me no eat, no shut me eye, fear me open 
 it in hell. Next day me send for de broder 
 to come wid de book ; him come and read ; 
 de book no tell me trouble any more ; him 
 tell me Jesus came to save sinner, great 
 sinner, no matter how great, so me go to 
 him; him forgive all: — not for me good- 
 ness, but for him own goodness, — den me 
 weep much, for Jesus Christ so good ; me 
 no able to do nothing for long time, but 
 tell of him kindness to poor me." When 
 another first went to work on the estate to 
 which she belonged, her owner asked her 
 if she prayed ? " Yes," was her reply. 
 " O, that is bad," ho said ; " you will spoil 
 all my negroes. Your religion is a nasty 
 thing, you must not spread it here !" " O, 
 massa," she replied, " religion no a bad 
 ting; if your negro love God in him heart, 
 him find someting else to do than tief 
 (steal) your fowl and your sugar ; religion 
 a good ting when nemr heb plenty of 'it.'''' 
 
 I asked a female negro whether she felt 
 any sin now her heart was changed. Her 
 reply was, " it trouble me too much — it 
 tick to me, massa, as close as de clothes 
 to me back." To another poor woman 
 who was complaining much of the dis- 
 couragements she met with, I said, " Well, 
 how do you hope to get through them all 
 to heaven ? You say you are weak." 
 " Yes, me weak for true, massa ; but me 
 hang on him arm. Jesus can help — an', 
 massa, him promise." 
 
 A letter from a missionary contains the 
 following pleasing anecdote : — 
 
 " Three nights ago, a man of decent ap- 
 pearance came to relate what he thought 
 of himself and of the Saviour ; said he had 
 been living for himself, and ' neider did 
 know or think anything about God.' The 
 greatest part of his time he had lived in 
 Kingston, and, changing masters frequently, 
 he had, as is the custom in this colony, 
 changed his old name with his master, the 
 last of whom wished him to become a 
 Christian. He asked a friend who be- 
 longed to the Baptists to stand for him, but 
 he refused, and asked him to think what 
 sort of a Christian man could make him : 
 ' As for him, he no know man's Christian, 
 him only know Christian God make.' 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 121 
 
 This puzzled the poor man, who thought 
 something in right Christian 'him no 
 know ; him made a Christian, but him still 
 go on in him old way, Tor him no know 
 him doing wrong.' Here I interrupted 
 him to learn the force of conscience, in 
 the way Paul states it with regard to the 
 heathen. I said, ' James, you say you 
 did not know God ; you no hear anyting 
 about him. When you do sin, you no 
 know it sin? Conscience within no tell 
 you dat bad ; God angry for dat ]' He 
 said, ' Yes, conscience tell me, and trouble 
 me much ; but nevertheless me no heed 
 conscience much.' William, the friend — 
 the faithful friend — as he termed him, 
 ' courted him to a little prayer-meeting 
 conducted by themselves, and dere God 
 catch him, poor run atvay ! He see Jesus 
 love him, poor ting, an' him want to love 
 Jesus, and keep his commands.' I asked 
 him who persuaded him to be baptized? 
 ' William make him hear what Jesus say, 
 Believe and be baptize. Now him believe 
 Jesus to be the Son of God, and only Sa- 
 viour, and him wish to gie himself quite 
 up to Jesus, an' take Jesus for him tick 
 (staff) to lean upon till him last day on 
 earth.' " 
 
 In further illustration of the sound scrip- 
 tural knowledge possessed by members of 
 Christian churches in Jamaica, and as a 
 proof that their thinking powers are deeply 
 exercised on these all-engrossing subjects, 
 it may be stated that applications are fre- 
 quently made by individual members for 
 the meaning of particular passages of scrip- 
 ture, which have created discussion in their 
 social meetings or public places of business. 
 Nor is it unusual for the people to request 
 their ministers to preach on some particular 
 subjects respecting which information is ex- 
 tensively sought. A black female requested 
 the author, a short time before he left the 
 island, to preach on the unpardonable sin, 
 saying, if minister pleased, herself and 
 several more would like much to hear 
 about it, as they had forgotten what minis- 
 ter had said about it some time ago. 
 
 Some years since, the friends at Chip- 
 ping Norton, Oxfordshire, kindly presented 
 to the congregation at Spanish Town, a 
 bible and hymn books for the use of the 
 pulpit. The subjoined letters of thanks 
 addressed to the kind donors, by two mem- 
 bers of the church, leaders, one of whom 
 was a free woman of colour, and the other 
 
 a young man then a slave, will equally 
 illustrate the simplicity and fervour of 
 negro piety, as well as its evangelical 
 character, and the degree in which it is 
 possessed. 
 
 " My dear Christian Friends, — The 
 reception of your kind and truly invaluable 
 present is as highly estimated as the pre- 
 ciousness of such a gift ought to be. May 
 the wish and power of dispensing the salu- 
 tary comforts and consolations it contains 
 be equally yours ! 
 
 " Its precious contents will, 1 hope and 
 doubt not, be the means of bringing home 
 many a lost and wandering sheep in this 
 dark land, and converting many repentant 
 sinners to the flock of Christ. In it alone 
 do we look for consolation from all the 
 evils that surround us in this wicked world. 
 There the sinner will find a pardon for his 
 sins, which will not be sought for in vain ; 
 it will be found to speak peace to the 
 troubled mind, consolation to the broken 
 spirit, and blessing and happiness to the 
 steadfast in faith, a stream of milk and 
 honey flowing richly into every heart, 
 which shall come to drink of its pure 
 fount. May my humble prayer be not in 
 vain that the number may not be few, that 
 the sacred pages be never unclosed in vain, 
 that its holy operation may work its way 
 into the hearts of all men, and, finally, 
 that the offering may bring down a bless- 
 ing on the hearts that bestowed it ; and 
 accept the kind wishes of all happiness 
 from one, who, though unknown to you, 
 is nevertheless An humble believer, 
 
 " Anne Simpson Thomas. 
 " Spanish Toivn, Jamaica, 
 July 29, 1826." 
 
 " Christian Friends, — Me desire to 
 return you our hearty and sincere tanks 
 for de present of de books dat we have re- 
 ceive, and dat we hope dat de blessing of 
 Almighty Fader may descend upon ebery 
 ephod dat is use in promote dat course of 
 de Gospel, and dat your prayers and our 
 prayers may unite togeder in praising Al- 
 mighty Fader for de gift of a preached 
 Gospel, and in sending his ministers to 
 proclaim mercy unto de heathens, and for 
 de prosperity of our minister and his dear 
 partner in life, dat dey may be spare, and 
 dat der days may be prolong, and dat 
 massa's ministerial duty may be attend to 
 wid dat solemnity of heart and wid dat 
 
122 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 pure affection towards God's glory, and dat 
 many sinner may be bless wid de gift of 
 de spirit, dat at lass both preacher and 
 hearers may be heirs of dat mansion which 
 our blessed Massa Jesus had gone to pre- 
 pare, and dat de blessing of Almighty 
 Fader may be sent upon us, dat we may 
 not be weary in welldoing. 
 
 " I remain your humble servant, 
 
 " Richard Bullock. 
 " Spanish Town, Jamaica, 
 July 28, 1826." 
 
 The manner of admitting members to 
 communion is precisely the same as that 
 practised in Baptist churches in England, 
 and is thus described by individuals who 
 were present on an occasion, when the 
 qualifications of candidates for church 
 fellowship were canvassed. 
 
 " After this conference was concluded," 
 say Messrs. Sturge and Harvey, alluding 
 to their interview with the officers of the 
 church, " we had an opportunity of wit- 
 nessing the examination to which the can- 
 didates for baptism are subjected. A poor 
 old woman was the first examined. She 
 was closely questioned by the minister, but 
 more especially by the deacons and lead- 
 ers, respecting the time and cause of her 
 ' coming to -religion,' her views in wishing 
 to be baptized, and on the person and 
 offices of Christ. She appeared to be a 
 simple-hearted woman, anxious to forsake 
 sin, and to join herself to a praying peo- 
 ple ; but her answers did not evince that 
 clear acquaintance with the leading doc- 
 trines of Christianity which was deemed 
 essential ; she was therefore deferred. The 
 next probationer, a young man, was deem- 
 ed suitable to be received. Before the de- 
 cision is made, the candidate is requested 
 to withdraw, and those present who are 
 acquainted with him give their sentiments 
 on the correctness of his outward conduct, 
 what change is to be observed in it, and 
 whether he is in their opinion a converted 
 character. If it is concluded to receive 
 him, he is called in, and after being ex? 
 horted by the minister not to put his trust 
 in the outward ordinance, is informed that 
 the church has unanimously concluded to 
 admit him as a member ; and on the first 
 convenient occasion he is baptized."* 
 
 Section II. — It has been already stated 
 
 From Sturge and Harvey's West Indies, p. 181. 
 
 that there are connected with several of the 
 denominations a considerable number of 
 persons called inquirers — catechumens or 
 probationers. These are generally per- 
 sons who, having renounced their sinful 
 practices, and expressed a desire to give 
 themselves up to God, are enrolled as re- 
 gular hearers, and thereby place them- 
 selves under the especial superintendence 
 of the ministers and churches with which 
 they have thus become connected. While 
 one particular object of this plan is to en- 
 courage religious impressions, and to in- 
 duce immediate decision in the ways of 
 God by bringing the hopefully penitent 
 under regular religious instruction; it, at 
 the same time, affords an effectual security 
 against the admission of improper charac- 
 ters. Hence all, before they are pro- 
 posed as members for church fellowship, 
 have been in the regular habit of attending 
 the house of God, and the various private 
 means of grace, and have also been the 
 subjects of special " oversight in the 
 Lord." 
 
 The term of probation, of course, varies 
 according to circumstances, and the views 
 of different ministers and churches. 
 Among the Baptists it is seldom the case 
 that an application is made for an admis- 
 sion to the privileges of membership until, 
 after a probation of twelve months at least 
 — the individual having, during that time, 
 as far as could be ascertained, led a con- 
 sistent and holy life. 
 
 Some of the questions asked on such 
 occasions, and which, if not answered sa- 
 tisfactorily, involve the suspension or re- 
 jection of the candidate, are such as would 
 offend an individual under similar circum- 
 stances in England : — Are you in debt 1 — 
 Are you married 1 — if not married, do you 
 live with any one according to the old 
 customs of the country 1 
 
 As an evidence that missionaries are not 
 less particular in the admission of members 
 than their brethren in England, the writer 
 will mention two or three cases out of 
 many that could be selected. On Mrs. 
 Phillippo's return to England, some years 
 ago, for the benefit of her health, she was 
 accompanied by a young woman, a na- 
 tive, who had been connected as an in- 
 quirer with the Church at Spanish Town 
 for a period of five years. A minister in 
 the country, having had some close reli- 
 gious conversation with her, was surprised 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 123 
 
 that she was without the pale of the 
 church, and proposed her being baptized 
 without delay. Mr. and Mrs. Burchell 
 were accompanied home by a similar indi- 
 vidual under the same circumstances : and 
 very soon after their temporary settlement 
 in London, the church under the care of 
 Mr. Upton, senior, were so satisfied with 
 her piety that their venerable pastor bap- 
 tized her. When the author was in Eng- 
 land himself, a few years since, he was 
 sought out by a young black man, who 
 had made his escape from slavery : the 
 latter had been attached to the church at 
 Spanish Town, and, subsequently, to the 
 church at Old Harbour, as an inquirer for 
 years. After a private conversation with 
 the minister and several members of the 
 church at Eagle Street, and after an appli- 
 cation to the writer by the venerable and 
 zealous pastor, the Rev. Joseph Ivimey, he 
 appeared before the church as a candidate, 
 was unanimously accepted as a proper 
 subject for Christian fellowship and was 
 baptized by Mr. Overbury. 
 
 Among those even selected from the 
 mass as giving evidence of superior piety, 
 many are turned back; and the principal 
 concern of missionaries on such occasions 
 is lest they have rejected many whom 
 Christ has not rejected, rather than lest 
 they should have received those whom 
 Christ has not received. Of the former, 
 as an error of judgment, the writer has 
 often had painful evidence, as well as of 
 the latter ; one instance of which he will 
 adduce. On the morning immediately 
 following the day on which he had admi- 
 nistered the ordinance of baptism, he was 
 thus accosted by his brother missionary, 
 the Rev. J. Edmondson, the Wesleyan mi- 
 nister, then in Spanish Town : — " My ser- 
 vant is in great trouble, crying from morn- 
 ing till night, because you did not baptize 
 her yesterday. She tells me she was ob- 
 jected to because she did not express her- 
 self clearly on some essential points ; but 
 I can assure you, from the testimony of 
 my predecessor, and from my own oppor- 
 tunities of judging, that I believe her to be 
 a truly sincere and pious Christian. Such, 
 indeed, is my opinion of her, that I should 
 be glad to receive her into the church 
 under my care." 
 
 " If the Lord should spare me until 
 next Lord's day," said a brother mis- 
 sionary some years ago, " I expect to 
 
 baptize eighty persons. Of these we have 
 good reason to hope well ; though some, 
 after the strictest examination, deceive us. 
 I think I do not exaggerate when T say, 
 these have been selected from twice that 
 number, who have, even with tears and 
 prayers, entreated us to receive them. I 
 often feel it painful, indeed, to refuse them 
 immediate admission ; but we wish to have 
 as extensive a knowledge of their charac- 
 ters as possible before we receive them. 
 Some of them weep when they are told to 
 stop a little longer, and say, ' Massa, sup- 
 pose dead take me ; how me die when me 
 know dis my duty, an me no do it ?' I 
 can only say, I wish them to know that it 
 is their duty, and then I shall not object." 
 Said another, who had just arrived on the 
 island, alluding to a considerable number 
 who had been recently added to one of the 
 churches : — " It was an interesting specta- 
 cle, such an one perhaps as is seldom wit- 
 nessed. The greatest caution has been ex- 
 ercised in receiving these candidates. 
 Many more have been rejected than have 
 been received. Their knowledge, doubt- 
 less, is scanty ; but many of their prayers 
 testify that they are acquainted with the 
 fundamental truths of the Gospel. They 
 have no inducements to hypocrisy, except 
 ridicule and persecution be inducements. 
 Mr. C. is as faithful in addressing them as 
 man can possibly be ; telling them that it 
 will be of no use whatever to be baptized if 
 they do not love and serve God : on the 
 contrary, it would be far better for them if 
 they were never baptized at all." 
 
 A worthy deacon of the church at Spa- 
 nish Town, when asked his opinion re- 
 specting the experience of a candidate for 
 church fellowship, usually observed, when 
 the individual appeared forward and talk- 
 ative — " Well, you peak very well ; but 
 sweet mouth and pretty words dont always 
 show dat de heart change : take care, we 
 must watch you quite close, see what you 
 do. It no hard ting to peak Christian, but 
 it quite hard ting to follow up de Christian. 
 Massa Jesus Christ say, • Not ebery one 
 as say Lord, Lord, shall enter into de 
 kingdom, but him as do de loilU " 
 
 In consequence of defective knowledge, 
 superstitious notions, the distance at which 
 they have lived from the regular means of 
 grace, or some act of inconsistency, con- 
 siderable numbers of persons constituting 
 the Baptist churches have been inquirers 
 
124 
 
 JAMAICA 
 
 during a period of from three to seven years. 
 So far as the author is personally acquaint- 
 ed with the ministers and churches of the 
 Baptist denomination in Jamaica, he can- 
 not but believe that, not only as much, but 
 even more caution is exercised in the ad- 
 mission of members into their communities, 
 than is exercised by ministers and churches 
 of any denomination in England. If, in 
 relation to the admission of members, errors 
 have been committed at all, it has been by 
 a practice directly the reverse. As pre- 
 viously observed, hundreds of applicants 
 for the privileges of church fellowship have 
 been again and again rejected ; and, as an 
 individual, the author can assure the Chris- 
 tian world that on a review of his mission- 
 ary life, scarcely anything gives him 
 greater pain than the apprehension of the 
 injury which he may have inflicted on 
 those who have been thus denied, persuad- 
 ed that, although comparatively ignorant 
 of some of the truths of Christianity, that 
 they knew Him whom to know is life 
 eternal, and will receive a hearty welcome 
 to the " marriage supper of the Lamb." 
 
 Great as is the aggregate number of 
 Christians united in church fellowship with 
 the various evangelical missionary societies 
 in Jamaica, the total number annually ex- 
 cluded from them does not probably ex- 
 ceed, in proportion to the number of their 
 members, the total exclusion from the 
 churches in Wreat Britain. With regard 
 to other denominations, the writer is un- 
 able to speak with certainty, not having 
 access to the necessary documents by 
 which to form a calculation; but the ex- 
 clusions from the Baptist churches for the 
 last four or five years, which churches now 
 comprise 30,000 members, have scarcely 
 averaged two per cent., or more than two 
 in a year to a church of 120 members. 
 Nor does this comparative fewness of ex- 
 clusions arise from any laxity of discipline. 
 Such is the system of supervision adopted, 
 and which will be hereafter explained, that 
 however large the church, or however 
 widely its members may be scattered over 
 a district, almost every inconsistency is 
 known, and every thing of importance is 
 at once reported to the church for investi- 
 gation. Matters, indeed, which in England 
 would be considered trivial are here regard- 
 ed as offences requiring the exercise of dis- 
 cipline. Such as mutual misunderstand- 
 ings, disagreements be'tvveen man and wife, 
 
 covetousness, absence from social meetings 
 and from the house of God, with others of 
 a similar kind too numerous to detail. In 
 almost all cases, where churches have been 
 for any length of time established, acts of 
 delinquency are faithfully reported : it is 
 indeed held to be a sacred duty, whatever 
 the circumstances or influence of the guilty 
 party. A gentleman who communed 
 with the church under the pastoral care of 
 the Rev. S. Oughton, soon after his arrival 
 in Jamaica, thus writes to a friend in Eng- 
 land : — " I sat down with about 3000 
 members. After the interesting service 
 two members were publicly excluded — one 
 for myalism, the other for what would 
 make many a member of an English 
 church look with astonishment — it was for 
 being at the races; and this 1 am told is a 
 constant and regular rule throughout the 
 island." In cases, however, where mem- 
 bers of churches have failed in their duty 
 in this respect, it has, in almost every in- 
 stance, been performed by those who are 
 not professors. In Jamaica, as in England, 
 worldly men are keen judges of what 
 Christians ought to be; and so common is 
 the practice on the part of the former to 
 magnify inconsistencies into crimes, and 
 to report them to the churches, in order to 
 bring the accused under discipline, that this 
 circumstance alone furnishes a strong pre- 
 sumptive evidence that if our members 
 were not sincere in their profession they 
 would not subject themselves to such con- 
 stant and annoying liabilities. By almost 
 all persons, from the highest to the lowest, 
 church discipline is made a bugbear for 
 selfish purposes. The author has frequent- 
 ly heard the observation, as he walked 
 along the street, " If you do not mind how 
 you behave, I will get you read out of your 
 church." While, on the other hand, it is 
 equally common, when a member has been 
 really convicted of sin, for an employer, 
 from the same interested motives, to solicit 
 personally or by letter that discipline might 
 be relaxed in favour of the offender. With 
 reference to this duty, in regard to mem- 
 bers themselves, fathers are frequently 
 known to bear testimony against their 
 children; husbands against their wives, 
 and the contrary ; masters against their 
 servants, and servants against their mas- 
 ters ; members of classes against their 
 leaders, and leaders against the members 
 of classes. Instances indeed are common 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 125 
 
 in which parents, from a regard to the 
 glory of God and honour of the churches 
 to which they belong, have done violence 
 to their parental affections by refusing ali 
 intercourse with their children while under 
 the censure of the church, or at least until 
 discipline has had its effect in producing 
 repentance and reformation. A few years 
 since a respectable person of colour was 
 excluded from one of the churches, as the 
 united act of 2000 members, for allowing 
 his daughter, a slave who was living in 
 fornication with her master, an occasional 
 residence beneath his roof. Attendance at 
 dances, or merry»makings of any descrip- 
 tion, as well as at horse-races, are all sins 
 which are visited with excision in all the 
 Jamaica churches with which the author is 
 acquainted. Suspensions seldom occur 
 under any circumstances. All offences that 
 properly come under the cognizance of 
 the churches are dealt with impartially and 
 promptly, although, perhaps, with too 
 much severity to be in exact accordance 
 with scriptural authority. The statements 
 here made with regard to the fidelity of 
 the members of the churches in reporting 
 sin, by whomsoever committed, is thus 
 corroborated by a missionary, Mr. Clarke, 
 now of Western Africa, who had the charge 
 of a church belonging to one of his bre- 
 thren, in the absence of the latter from the 
 island. " The deacons and leaders behave 
 well, and show much faithfulness in reprov- 
 ing sin. Your dear people in general show 
 that they love the Saviour, and bid fair for 
 being your 'joy and crown of rejoicing in 
 the day of the Lord Jesus.' One of the 
 deacons has had heavy charges brought 
 against him by a man who was excluded 
 the church for drunkenness, but, after a 
 patient investigation of the whole matter, 
 it was found that rage and malice had 
 caused the wicked man to invent falsehoods 
 against him, in order to have him also put 
 out of the church. The accused showed 
 a good spirit throughout the whole." 
 
 Many of the people manifest as high a 
 sense of Christian consistency as the most 
 enlightened members of Christian churches 
 in Britain. Some time since a missionary, 
 as he had been accustomed, went to preach 
 at a house that had been kindly lent to him 
 by its tenant for the purpose, and finding 
 no congregation to meet him, went round 
 the village, and remonstrated with the peo- 
 ple on what he supposed to be their im- 
 
 proper conduct, when he found that they 
 had absented themselves because the mas- 
 ter had been ill-using his wife. Preaching 
 at the house was discontinued as a conse- 
 quence, although no other was to be ob- 
 tained in the neighbourhood. 
 
 An Evangelical clergyman, during the 
 operation of the apprenticeship system, 
 was appointed to officiate in the dwelling- 
 house of an estate which had been conse- 
 crated by the Bishop as a temporary place 
 of worship. The population around being 
 almost wholly connected with the Baptist 
 church and congregation at Spanish Town, 
 the clergyman obtained the concurrence of 
 their pastor to their attending on his minis- 
 try, in the absence of service performed 
 by their own minister. The people, how- 
 ever, did not attend the preaching of the 
 clergyman. Thinking their conduct the 
 result of prejudice, he remonstrated with 
 them, and used every effort in his power 
 to remove it. All his attempts were una- 
 vailing, and being now satisfied, from his 
 knowledge of the negro character, that 
 they were influenced by other causes, he 
 was resolved if possible, to ascertain them. 
 Accordingly, on inquiring of one of the 
 most influential among them, the individual, 
 a black man, replied, " No, minister, we 
 can't go to your church — God no dere !" 
 "God is not there! what do you mean?" 
 " God no come which side sin is. Busha 
 livin wid woman in a house where minis- 
 ter preach widout dem married, and God 
 can't come bless de word where sich wick- 
 edness carry on." " O, indeed ! is it so? 
 and is that the reason why you don't at- 
 tend ? Well, I will soon endeavour to 
 remedy that." The clergyman represent- 
 ed the case to the Bishop, and another 
 house in the neighbourhood was secured 
 and occupied, not liable to the same objec- 
 tion. This fact, in substance, was men- 
 tioned to the author by the clergyman him- 
 self, as a gratifying evidence of the exis- 
 tence of Christian principle and feeling 
 among the people in the district, and as 
 calculated to encourage him in the prose- 
 cution of his work. 
 
 The manner in which the cases of alleged 
 delinquency are investigated is in general 
 eminently just and scriptural. Church 
 meetings in most cases being held by the 
 large churches at least once a week, it may 
 be supposed that the rule laid down by our 
 Lord for the treatment of offences is gene- 
 
126 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 rally and extensively understood. Being 
 so frequently appealed to, almost every in- 
 stance of its violation forms a matter of 
 complaint to the minister. "Minister," it 
 is often said, " I know me done wrong, 
 and me very sorry for it, but me come to 
 ax minister if it right for me broder to tell 
 me fault to another pusson, and to the 
 church, before him come tell it to me? 
 Him go against de scripture, and minister 
 must bring him up to the church too." 
 Their conduct towards backsliders, also, is 
 in general in strict accordance with the 
 word of God. On this account very hw 
 who are excluded absent themselves from 
 the means of grace, or continue long with- 
 out the pale of the church. Probably not 
 more than the proportion of one-third of 
 those excluded die in a state of apostacy. 
 
 Professing Christians, especially those 
 attached to missionary churches, are called, 
 by way of distinction and peculiarity, 
 "praying people,'''' and to this designation 
 they are eminently entitled. As previously 
 stated, prayer-meetings are almost in- 
 variably better attended than week-evening 
 lecturers. On special seasons for prayer, 
 such as times of peculiar trial and general 
 sickness, the places of worship are thronged. 
 On his first arrival in the island the author 
 was for several months prohibited from 
 preaching by the public authorities; he 
 however made repeated applications to 
 Courts of Quarter Sessions to be allowed 
 this right. On such occasions the place 
 of worship at the station he occupied was 
 crowded from the earliest dawn of day 
 until the result transpired. During the 
 interval, prayers, literally mingled with 
 "strong crying and tears," were offered 
 up almost without intermission, and with a 
 fervency which he had never before wit- 
 nessed. During the disturbances in 1832 
 daily prayer-meetings were held in many 
 of the places of public worship in those dis- 
 tricts to which the outbreak had not ex- 
 tended. They were generally crowded to 
 excess. During the space of a fortnight a 
 prayer-meeting was held every day in the 
 chapel at Spanish Town, at twelve o'clock, 
 and this notwithstanding the contumely, 
 the scorn, and punishment to which the 
 people were subjected ; and on one occa- 
 sion while engaged in earnest supplication 
 that the unhappy man who had been in- 
 duced to perjure himself against the mis- 
 sionaries, and on whose evidence their lives 
 
 depended, might be brought to repentance, 
 a messenger arrived, announcing that their 
 prayers were fully answered, thus literally 
 fulfilling the promise, " It shall come to 
 pass that before they call I will answer, 
 and while they are yet speaking I will 
 hear."* 
 
 In towns and in districts where there is 
 a concentrated population, a minister can 
 at almost any time, and at a comparatively 
 short notice, insure an attendance at a 
 special prayer-meeting amounting to two- 
 thirds of his congregation. " The scarlet 
 fever was raging dreadfully in Kingston 
 when I was there," says Dr. Newbegin. 
 "Entire families were sometimes swept 
 away. It was so bad, indeed, that not a 
 day passed without a funeral — often two 
 during twenty-four hours in connexion 
 with the church at East Queen Street, 
 under the pastoral care of the Rev. Samuel 
 Oughton. A public notice was given on 
 the Sunday that a prayer-meeting would 
 be held for theespecial purpose of supplicat- 
 ing Almighty God on behalf of the suffer- 
 ing people. The time for meeting was 
 half-past four o'clock, a. m., which was 
 long before daylight. As many as 1500 
 people assembled. There was very great 
 devotion, and many strove earnestly with 
 the Spirit." Independently of the meetings 
 for united family devotion on the estates, 
 in numerous cases each separate house has 
 its family altar. Nor is this practice con- 
 fined to the country — it is almost univer- 
 sally current in the towns, where social 
 prayer-meetings are so numerous and com- 
 mon ; thus, in traversing the streets after 
 dark, the voice of prayer and praise is 
 heard in every direction. These habits are 
 pursued abroad as well as at home. 
 Wherever they went, and wherever famili- 
 arly known, the purity, the fervour, the 
 resolution, and the constancy of their de- 
 votion, were universally apparent. On a 
 certain occasion the author, when at one 
 of his country stations, hearing that some 
 tradesmen who were then slaves were 
 
 * Isaiah xv. 24. 
 
 On the 11th of February, 1833, Samuel Stennett, on 
 whose affidavits Messrs. Burchell and Gardner have 
 been committed, sent for his uncle, Mr. George Scott, 
 a respectable person at Montego Bay, and declared to 
 him that he had sworn falsely against the missio- 
 naries, and that he had been bribed to do so. See 
 Dr. Cox's admirable ' History of the Baptist Mission,' 
 where the whole of these tragical occurrences are re- 
 lated. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 127 
 
 come to work on a plantation in the neigh- 
 bourhood, employed them on the mission 
 premises during their own time, on which 
 account he provided them with sleeping 
 accommodations. On rising before day- 
 light on the first morning after they had 
 lodged on the premises, he overheard one 
 of them in fervent prayer, and on inquiry 
 found that all of them (half a dozen in num- 
 ber) belonged to the church under the pas- 
 toral care of a missionary brother, the Rev. 
 J. Merrick, now of Western Africa, whose 
 station was about ten miles distant. These 
 brethren were entire strangers to the writer 
 until this discovery was made ; and this he 
 found was their habitual practice wherever 
 they took up their abode for the night. In 
 some cases it was customary for Christian 
 negroes employed in field labour to hold a 
 prayer- meeting during their hour of cessa- 
 tion for refreshment, in the middle of the 
 day, selecting some secluded spot for the 
 exercise. It is customary for the Chris- 
 tian negroes, both in town and country, 
 whenever practicable, emulating the con- 
 duct of David, Daniel, and others of the 
 Old Testament saints, to engage in private 
 exercises of devotion three times a day. 
 The moment they awake in the morning, 
 which is often long before the dawn, they 
 are on their knees : this is repeated at 
 noon, and again on retiring to rest. Many 
 are in the habit of praying thus whenever 
 they awake in the night, and the writer 
 has known some who, from constant habit, 
 awoke almost invariably at a certain time, 
 and poured forth their prayers in the still- 
 ness and solitude of the midnight hour. 
 To such a degree is this duty in general 
 recognised, that in towns, on the occurrence 
 of a hurricane, or the shock of an earth- 
 quake, the voice of prayer is heard in 
 almost every house, and frequently from 
 the middle of the streets. . Under these 
 circumstances it will be readily conceived 
 that social prayer-meetings are numerous 
 and frequent. At these meetings among 
 themselves females commonly engage as 
 well as males, and their prayers are often- 
 times distinguished by astonishing fervour 
 and natural eloquence. In connexion with 
 the Spanish Town district there are, on a 
 moderate calculation, 280 every week, 
 three or four being held during that period 
 by each class respectively, under the su- 
 perintendence of subordinate nativeagency. 
 This estimate will probably apply to the 
 
 greater part of the larger churches and 
 congregations on the island, as also to the 
 majority of those of smaller dimensions, in 
 a corresponding degree. On the supposi- 
 tion that these meetings averaged 100 per 
 week, at 100 of the principal stations, there 
 would be 10,000 social prayer-meetings 
 during every week of the year. 
 
 The following is a prayer that was 
 offered up some time since by a deacon of 
 the church at Spanish Town, at a mission- 
 ary prayer-meeting, and is inserted to 
 convey an idea of the fervour and pious 
 sentiment which usually pervade the sup- 
 plications of the people. It was transcribed 
 from memory as soon as the meeting was 
 concluded, and the author can pledge him- 
 self to its accuracy, both as to sentiment 
 and language. 
 
 " O, dow great and blessed God, we 
 tank and bless dy holy name dat dow give 
 we another opportunity of meeting togeder 
 in de place where prayer is wont to be 
 made. We acknowledge wid shame and 
 confusion of face we great unwordiness to 
 approach dy sacred footstool, and much 
 less to handle dy sacred name between we 
 polluted lip. We have not done one ting 
 right nor fitten in dy sight ever since we 
 born up to dis present hour. We have sin 
 gainst de all time wid a high hand and a 
 tretched out arm, and if dow been strick in 
 mark our offence, O gracious God, we bin 
 cut down long before dis like de wortless 
 cumberer of de ground. When we tink of 
 dy great love to we poor dying sinner, dat 
 dow sent dy beloved son to pill him pre- 
 cious blood upon de cross, an buffeted, an 
 spit upon, an mock by cruel man, what 
 cause heb we, O blessed Massa, to call 
 upon we heart, an all de power of we soul, 
 to bless and praise dy holy name ! Dow 
 do great tings indeed for we, an yet we 
 heart so hard, we will so stubborn and re- 
 bellious, we conscience so hardened, we 
 understanding so dark, dat instead of lov- 
 ing de as we ought, we do notin but sin an 
 grieve dy Holy Spirit. Oh ! left we not to 
 weself, for if dow do we tumble pon de dark 
 mountain, an we feet catch in de trap de 
 enemy of soul eber laying to draw we into. 
 O do dow broke we stubborn heart, for it 
 is desperate wicked bove all tings, it is full 
 of ebery cage of unclean bird. O do dow 
 root dem out same as Massa Jesus did cast 
 out de debils out of de man wandering 
 | mong de tombs ; an may we sit down like 
 
123 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 him at de feet of Jesus, clothed and in we 
 right mind. 
 
 " O Lord, me heart is full, but me is 
 poor ting, no able to find word to tell de 
 my want an desire. Me know not how to 
 pray, nor what to pray for, but me heart is 
 open to de like a well widout a cover, and 
 me come dis night, hungring and thirsting, 
 to eat de bread of life, an bring me empty 
 pitcher, like de woman of Samaria, to draw 
 water out of de well of salvation. O send 
 we not empty away. Bless we, even we 
 also, O our Fader, for dow has promts if 
 poo sinner call pon de, dow will hear dem, 
 for dy ear dont heavy dat it cannot hear, 
 neider dy arm shorten dat dow cannot save. 
 Remember Mary Magdalene and de tief pon 
 de cross; dow didst wash dem wid dy 
 precious blood, an dow is able lo save to 
 de uttermost all dat come unto de by him. 
 O Lord, save or we perish. Blot out all 
 we sin like a tick cloud from dy book of 
 remembrance, an grant dat we may love 
 de more, and sarve de belter, ebery hour of 
 we life. May we hate sin, an fly from it 
 as from de ting of de sarpent and de cor- 
 pion, and continually receive fresh supply 
 of grace from de till we keep wax tronger 
 and tronger, and appear perfect before de 
 in Zion. O do dow bless we dear minister, 
 who call pon me unwordy servant for call 
 pon him God my God. O do dow bless 
 de message of salvation'dat has been deliver 
 on de past Sabbath. Do dow pare him life, 
 an able him to lift up him voice like a 
 mighty trumpet, dat sinner may see dem 
 danger, an now begin to fly to de. O Lord 
 water de seed sow from Sabbath to Sab- 
 bath, dat him no labour in vain, nor pend 
 him strength for nought, but dat he may 
 hab many seal for him ministry, and many 
 soul for him hire. Many come here, O 
 gracious Master, to pend an idle hour, or 
 to mock pon dy precious word. O do 
 dow bring down dem high look, and soften 
 dem hard heart, dat dey may trow down 
 dem rebellious weapon, and fight against de 
 no mo, for dow say, whoeber fight against 
 de and prosper? O Lord, sarch. dem 
 heart as dow did Jerusalem wid a lighted 
 candle, an enable dem dat dem may see 
 dem state as dow see if, an as dem self 
 will see it, if dow cut dem off" widout an 
 intrus in dy precious blood. Turn dem 
 from dem evil way, as dow did de city of 
 Ninevah. Dow only can soften dem hard 
 heart. Man cannot do it ; it is dy work, 
 
 dear Jesus — dy work alone to make de 
 leper clean. Dow say Paul plant, Apollos 
 water, but God give de increase. O, bless- 
 ed Master, we plead wid de. Broke dem 
 heart as dow did Saul of Tarsus, dat dey 
 may not rush down to de pit of destruction, 
 where mercy neber come : we ax de for 
 mercy's sake. Many dem lib like dem got 
 no soul to save, no soul to lost. Top dem 
 in dem mad career, and turn dem like de 
 river of water is turned, dat day may no 
 more blasflame dy name, nor broke dy 
 Sabbath, nor prosecute dy little one any 
 more. O Lord, we eye is up unto de ; 
 have mercy pon dem befo dy mercy clean 
 gone for eber. Blessed God, do dow look 
 pon dy man-servant who train up de chil- 
 dren in de cool ; strengthen him for him 
 difficult work; gib him patience dat him 
 may be able lo bear wid all dem preverse 
 temper; an able him dat he may train up 
 dem youthful mind to love an sarve dee, 
 dat when we head lay low in de grave dey 
 may rise up, fill we places mo better dan 
 we, an become a generation to call de 
 blessed. 
 
 " Dow hast bid we pray for de whole 
 world, from de king pon his throne to de 
 meanest pleasant pon de dunghill, derefo 
 do dow hear we poo broken supplication 
 for all we poo broder and sister who is 
 sick; for de poo prisoner shut up in de 
 dungeon; for all de poo widow and orphan; 
 for all dat travel by sea or by land; an fo 
 all de poo beggar, like Lazarus, laying 
 down at de rich man's gate, full of sore. 
 O Lord comfort dem ; bind up dem wound, 
 like de good Samaritan did to de poo man 
 fell mong de tieves, when de priest an Le- 
 vite passed by, an may dem affliction drive 
 dem back to be like de prodigal son return 
 horn to him fader house. 
 
 " Heb mercy, O Lord, pon de four cor- 
 ners of de world, where dem washing up 
 tocks and tones, an de workmanship of 
 dem own hand. Neber hear of Massa 
 Jesus' blood to wash away dem guilty 
 stain. O Lord, make de cales fall off dem 
 dark eye like dow did Saul of Tarsus, 
 when him going raven to Damascus to 
 prosecute dy people. Send blessed Euro- 
 pean to teach dem how dem may excape 
 dy wrath, which one day will be pour out 
 pon de world. May dey cast away dem 
 idof, and sa what we heb any mo to do 
 wid idol, for dey cannot save we soul ; 
 notin but dy blood, dear Jesus, dy blood 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 129 
 
 alone. Has dow not said, dat like as de 
 sun go tro de earth, so de light of dy Gos- 
 pel shall shine tro de whole world? Has 
 dow not said dat Jesus shall see of de tra- 
 bel of him soul, and shall be satisfy? Dat 
 like as de rain come and de snow from 
 Heaben and cannot be gader up again by 
 man, so dow would shower down dy bless- 
 ing pon de whole world? Has dow not 
 said in dy precious word, dat all nation, 
 an king, and queen, shall bow down to dy 
 authority? O do dow fill up dy gracious 
 promise, and tur up all we heart more dat 
 we may wrestle wid de like Jacob, dat dis 
 time may soon come when dy son an 
 daughter shall come from de East and de 
 West, from de Nort and from de Sout, and 
 sit down wid Abraham, Isaac, an Jacob, 
 in de kingdom of God. O, we long for see 
 dat blessed day : hasten it, blessed Jesus. 
 Let not dy chariot-wheel tarry no longer. 
 We ax it for Jesus' sake, to whom, wid de 
 and de Holy Spirit, we excribe neber-ceas- 
 ing praises. Amen." 
 
 Their prayers are frequently full of 
 point and deeply affecting — "The sublime 
 character and the sanctifying energy of 
 the gospel flashing like brilliant beams of 
 sunshine amidst parting clouds, through 
 the forms of their broken dialect."* " Our 
 monthly prayer-meeting," said a mission- 
 ary, " is well attended, although we are 
 obliged to meet before the sun goes down, 
 to avoid the penalty. I am sure that some 
 of the prayers offered up by these sons of 
 Canaan would deeply affect your hearts, 
 could you hear them. One said in his 
 prayer last monthly meeting, with great 
 fervour, ' Lord, save we poo black sinner ! 
 break up all de debil's work him done in 
 me heart, and save poo African an me poo 
 Guinea neger, from dat place where no 
 sun shine, where no tar twinkle.' It is 
 some encouragement to hear these poor 
 things pray ; and we do hope prayer will 
 prevail against sin, and that this desert 
 will, in answer thereto, be watered and 
 become very fruitful." 
 
 Section III. — If an indisposition to 
 make sacrifices for Christ is indicative of 
 a low standard of piety, in whomsoever it 
 is found, it may fairly be presumed that a 
 willingness to part with all for his sake is 
 
 * Dr. Cos. 
 
 an evidence of the reverse; and, if this 
 reasoning be admitted, it furnishes another 
 most satisfactory evidence of the real piety 
 of the Jamaica churches. No Christians 
 in modern times have been more severely 
 tried. The instances of the sacrifices they 
 have made of worldly ease, of personal 
 comfort, and of emolument arising from 
 disreputable practices, would fill a volume, 
 and which will be conceived by any indi- 
 vidual acquainted with their history for the 
 last twenty years ; indeed, a " holy love to 
 Christ and his cause has been exhibited by 
 these poor people; a purity and steadfast- 
 ness of purpose ; a patient endurance ; a 
 pure and enlightened charity — only equal- 
 led by the confessors and martyrs of the 
 early church, and scarcely less confirma- 
 tory of the Christian faith, than the edify- 
 ing testimony they bore to the Divine 
 power of the truth as it is in Jesus."* Of 
 this fact it is only necessary to adduce one 
 or two illustrations, which will, at the 
 same time, bear upon the general subject 
 of their Christian character. 
 
 Riding along one day in the centre of 
 the island, and upon the summit of the 
 ridge of mountains which intersects the 
 country, the author discovered a group of 
 negro women and children sitting by the 
 road-side, beneath the shade of a tree, en- 
 joying their morning's meal. From his 
 knowledge of the country, and the remote- 
 ness of the estate to which they belonged 
 from any place of worship, a favourable 
 opportunity was presented of ascertaining, 
 with some degree of certainty, the extent 
 of religious influence in the interior. He 
 accordingly addressed the most intelligent- 
 looking woman of the group, little antici- 
 pating the nature of her replies. 
 
 M. " Well, my good woman, do you 
 pray ?" 
 
 W. " Ah, massa, me trust me do little," 
 she answered with a sigh and a very de- 
 jected countenance. 
 
 M. " Do you really know anything 
 about Jesus Christ?" 
 
 W. " Me sweet massa, ye poo neger 
 very sorry him no know precious Massa 
 Jesus only little, but me striven on to know 
 and lub him more." 
 
 M. " Who is Jesus Christ, and what 
 did he come into this world for?" 
 • W. " Me tink Jesus Christ is de Son of 
 
 * Macfarlane's ' Jubil ee of the World,' p. 414 
 
130 
 
 JAMAICA 
 
 God, and him come into de world to die 
 for me poo sinner. No so, massa?" 
 
 M. " Where did you first hear about 
 Christ ; and how long have you loved 
 him?" 
 
 W. " Me yeare about him in de Metta- 
 dis chapel not much long ago, and me lub 
 him eber since. Ah me sweet massa, we 
 all wish fo pray to we sweet Massa Jesus 
 long befo, but Massa Buckra prosecute we 
 so. Him no like pray none 't all. Him 
 put we in a locks, and punish we all time. 
 Ah, poor we! But, massa, we till striven 
 on ; me can't leave off to lub Massa Jesus 
 for please Massa Buckra. Massa Jesus 
 come dead fo we poo soul, and we must 
 lub him. If we dead we can't turn we 
 back pon him." 
 
 Sacrifices were made by them during 
 slavery, not only of time, comfort, and 
 emolument, but also of property and free- 
 dom. The fact that any negroes on es- 
 tates possessing a little property were pro- 
 fessing Christians, was, in numerous cases, 
 a sufficient pretence for the depredations of 
 individuals to whose power they were sub- 
 jected. Hence their huts were frequently 
 entered, and the little money, which by 
 their superior habits and industry they had 
 acquired, ruthlessly taken away. Many 
 suffered in their worldly circumstances in 
 other respects. 
 
 "If you had not joined those enthusiasts 
 of sectarians," said a gentleman to an aged 
 negro woman, " my uncle would have 
 made a good provision for you in your old 
 age; but now, unless your connexion with 
 these people is dissolved, he will stop what 
 he has been allowing you." 
 
 " Me quite sorry," said the poor woman, 
 " dat massa angry wid him old sarvant so, 
 but if massa vex because me take up God 
 work, well den me can't help it ; beggen 
 massa pardon, God's angry worser dan 
 massa's angry, an me soul wants more 
 feed dan me body want feed." 
 
 "Yes, but only think," replied the gen- 
 tleman, " how much better it would be for 
 you to have all things comfortable now 
 you are getting old." 
 
 " Massa quite good to care for him poo 
 neger body so, but me no wants fo massa 
 fo geb me notin more — me quite satisfy. 
 Me allers heb someting fo eat an drink, an 
 God so good ge me helt an trength, an den 
 what me wants again ? If me wants mo, 
 old massa heart in God hand, and den him 
 
 open massa heart an make massa ge me 
 more ; but since me no wants notin, den 
 God keep massa heart shut, so him don't 
 want to give me more. Me quite comfort 
 too, massa. God promise him no make me 
 wants no good ting : and Massa Jesus sa, 
 ' What profit a man heb if him gain de 
 whole world and lose him own soul.' " 
 
 " But why couldn't you have gone to 
 church and heard the rector preach; isn't 
 he as good a preacher as your parson ? 
 Why must you go to these ignorant men, 
 who pull down church and state, and are 
 bringing ruin upon the country ? The 
 minister of the parish church preaches ex- 
 cellent sermons, I assure you." 
 
 " Yes, massa," was her reply ; " massa 
 minister in de chutch preach very good 
 sarmon fe true, but it no use to give horse 
 corn and den don't curry him." 
 
 " Give a horse corn and then not curry 
 him ; what do you mean?" 
 
 " Please, massa, me mean massa minis- 
 ter in a chutch preach berry good sarmon 
 in de pulpit, but him neber go bout mong 
 de people see how dem lib same as we 
 minister do. Him people seems like dem 
 love God Sunday, but dem no seems to 
 care bout God and dem soul all tro de 
 week ; — dat make me tell massa sa it no 
 use fe give horse corn and den don't curry 
 him." 
 
 The following dialogue, illustrative of 
 the same particulars, took place between 
 a magistrate and a tradesman (an African) 
 before the abolition of slavery, the latter 
 being summoned before the magistrate for 
 holding a prayer-meeting in his house: — 
 
 Magistrate. " So you have got a church 
 in your yard, I understand, Mr. G. ?" 
 
 Tradesman. " Me a chutch, massa — no." 
 
 M. " O yes, you have." 
 
 T. " Please, massa, what massa mean, 
 sar?" 
 
 M. "Mean ! Why, that you are in the 
 habit of preaching in a church that you 
 have lately built in your yard (a class- 
 house), and that you are in the habit of 
 preaching there ; is it so?" 
 
 T. "Me preach, massa? me poor igno- 
 rance man ; me no able fe preach ; me no 
 able to speak much less, — me quite be glad 
 if me could preach." 
 
 M. " I am quite sure that you preach, 
 or do something of the sort there." 
 
 T. " No, massa ; me pray some time in 
 me house, dat is all." 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 131 
 
 M. " Well, what do you call that but 
 preaching and holding a church in your 
 house? — that is what I mean, to be sure." 
 
 T. " Well, den, if dat make me heb a 
 chutch in me house, massa self heb a 
 chutch in him house too." 
 
 M. "la church! — no, I have no 
 church." 
 
 T. " Please, massa, don't massa belong 
 to Chutch a England'!" 
 
 M. " Yes, certainly." 
 
 T. " Den, as massa is Christian, and 
 blongs to Chutch a England, massa no heb 
 mornin and evenin prayers in him family?" 
 
 M. " Yes, yes," hesitatingly. 
 
 T. " Well, den, dat make me sa if me 
 heb chutch in me house, massa heb chutch 
 in him house." 
 
 M. " But you have people coming to 
 you from considerable distances, and I un- 
 derstand you preach to them." 
 
 T. " Hi! Massa, what dat? Sometime, 
 when me friend and broder Christian come 
 down from de country market and call fo 
 see me, we discourse pon different tings 
 about religion, and den bow down de knee 
 togedder — das all. And when massa heb 
 friend come in for see him from de country, 
 massa no discourse and bow down wid dem 
 in de same fashion ?" 
 
 M. " I don't know, sir, how that is ; but 
 I know this, that there is an affidavit filed 
 against you in the peace-office for preach- 
 ing in your house, or somewhere." 
 
 T. " Well, as for dat, me quiet man, 
 nebber do nobody no harm ; but dere is 
 many a dem in dis country don't like re- 
 ligion, and dat's de truth ; and derefore 
 dem strive much gainst we." 
 
 M. " But you will injure your character 
 and trade by such doings, I assure you ; 
 and I would advise you to leave them off." 
 
 T. " Ah ! — well massa, me can't help 
 bout losten de trade, me can't left off to 
 pray ; and as to what pusson sa bout me 
 character me don't trouble bout dat neider. 
 Dem good word don't do me much credit, 
 and dem bad word is no disgrace." 
 
 Numerous instances have occurred in 
 which freedom has been offered to Chris- 
 tian slaves connected with missionary 
 churches, on condition of their leaving off 
 praying; but in no instance, of which the 
 author is aware, has there been a compli- 
 ance with the terms. An excellent African 
 negro woman, with a family of six or 
 seven children, who, on account of her fide- 
 
 lity and unwearied attentions to some part 
 of the family to which she belonged, was 
 promised her freedom, and the manumis- 
 sion-papers, both for herself and children, 
 were actually prepared. She had just be- 
 gun to attend on the preaching of the Gos- 
 pel, intelligence of which soon reaching 
 the ear of her master, he questioned her 
 upon the subject ; she acknowledged that 
 she had begun to pray, and that her heart 
 led her to take up God's work. The mas- 
 ter threatened that unless she at once aban- 
 doned all connexion with the missionaries 
 he would recall his promise with regard to 
 giving her her liberty. She was immov- 
 able ; he reasoned ; — reproached her with 
 obstinacy and with a want of natural af- 
 fection for her children. She wept, but re- 
 mained steadfast. He gave her a few days 
 to consider his determination. She carried 
 her case to God and to her minister. At 
 the conclusion of the specified time she was 
 again ushered into the presence of her mas- 
 ter. The writings were exhibited, and the 
 terms again proposed. She had prepared 
 herself for the result, and replied with 
 tears, and an almost bursting heart, — 
 " Massa, we want de free, but me cannot 
 deny me Saviour." The master was en- 
 raged, and commanded her to take the pa- 
 pers and put them into the fire. She did 
 so, and superintended the flames until they 
 were consumed to ashes.* 
 
 Multitudes of them were exposed to 
 grievous persecution. Even on the Sab- 
 bath day the poor people on many estates 
 and other properties were obliged to steal 
 to a place of worship. The expedient they 
 often adopted in order to elude detection 
 was to dress as on a week day, and to car- 
 ry their better clothes in a basket on their 
 heads, covered with a few vegetables, as 
 though they were going to market. In 
 some instances spies were actually sent to 
 places of worship for the purpose of iden- 
 tifying individuals belonging to certain 
 properties. Thus numbers were punished 
 for no other crime than that of going to a 
 place of worship, and to this penalty all 
 were more or less liable. 
 
 The communication of religious truth 
 by one Christian negro to another was an 
 offence cognizable by the civil magistrate, 
 
 * The wife of the author had the happiness, subse- 
 quently, of procuring the freedom of this poor woman 
 and her family. 
 
132 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 and, when detected, was severely punished. 
 An instance of this, which occurred but a 
 few years ago, it may not be unimportant 
 to detail for reasons irrespective of the 
 fact it is designed especially to illustrate. 
 A slave belonging to the Bog estate, in the 
 parish of Vere, named George Ancle, was 
 brought to the bar, charged with holding 
 and attending nightly meetings in defiance 
 of the 51st clause of the Island Slave 
 Law. Prisoner pleaded Not guilty. 
 
 Mr. Syers, overseer of the Bog, sworn. — 
 On Monday, 21st June, a man by the name 
 of Duncan, or Wilson, was sent to me by 
 the driver, as being a preacher about our 
 negro houses; he was decently dressed, 
 and had on a black coat. I talked a little, 
 and then ordered him off the property. 1 
 was then taken to the negro houses by our 
 head watchman ; went with him to the 
 chapel, saw eleven benches and a pulpit in 
 the same, gave orders that all these should 
 be taken to the overseer's house. This 
 was the Methodist chapel. I was then 
 taken to the Baptist chapel. I knew no- 
 thing more than what the head driver and 
 head watchman told me. 
 
 Head driver, sworn. — I have seen pri- 
 soner stand up and pray ; did not see any 
 pulpit ; I sometimes go to hear him, and 
 plenty others go, — some pray. We meet 
 on Sunday afternoons. I sometimes stay 
 till all is over. It is not later than eight 
 or nine o'clock. Never see or know him 
 to get any money. I go to hear prayers 
 and to pray to God. Never knew the ne- 
 groes to neglect their work or turn out 
 later in the mornings in consequence. 
 
 John Chambers, head watchman of the 
 Bog, and a Christian (i. e. who was chris- 
 tened), sworn. — The prisoner is a preacher, 
 he has been in the habit of praying many 
 years. Since old Massa's time myself and 
 others go and hear him; they meet on 
 Sunday afternoons, and Friday nights at 
 dark. Can't say the time. The candles 
 were lighted. We did not know it was 
 any harm to go and hear of our duty to 
 God. I have seen the prisoner preaching. 
 I can't say what time when we break up. 
 Prisoner never had a book. We all sang 
 hymns also. There was never any money 
 collected. Never saw, or heard of the pri- 
 soner getting paid for his preaching, either 
 by money, fowls, pigs, or any other things 
 else. 
 
 The driver was here called upon to give 
 
 the prisoner a character. — Prisoner is a 
 carpenter ; a very good working man ; a 
 moral man ; never knew him to get into 
 faults, or run away ; always pleased every 
 one. 
 
 The prisoner was here asked what he 
 had to say in his defence. There being a 
 general clamour throughout the court, the 
 prisoner was abashed. He said he attended 
 church and chapel whenever he could him- 
 self, and heard the good word, which he 
 thought was no harm to tell to his fellow- 
 slaves, and " praying with and for them, 
 that God may bless them all." 
 
 The Court then addressed him, saying, 
 that the jury had found him guilty of 
 preaching ; and as such, and in order to 
 deter others from the like, the sentence ot 
 the Court was that he should be taken to 
 Clarendon workhouse, and there placed to 
 six months' hard labour. 
 
 Similar to this is the subjoined letter 
 from a slave, addressed to the author in 
 1829 :— 
 
 " Sir, — This will inform you of the 
 state which I am situated in for this pre- 
 sent; but I am forbid, or any other slave, 
 not to be seen on the place ;* or I, or who- 
 soever is caught there, is to be sent to the 
 workhouse to hard labour for three months. 
 There is watches over me in the negro 
 house, and I am put on spell Wednesday 
 and Friday night in the boiling-house. 
 Through the mercy of God, which I hope 
 of his goodness he will keep me up, so I 
 shall be truly thankful to you for some ad- 
 vice to give me some ease, fori am desired 
 to deny the Saviour's name, and they will 
 treat me well on the property, to forsake 
 the only one which died for me poor sinner. 
 " I am, dear Minister, &c." 
 
 This man was nearly white, and had 
 been head carpenter upon the estate for 
 many years. His going to the boiling- 
 house was therefore of itself a degradation 
 of office, which many would scarcely 
 know how to endure. 
 
 An excellent man, a member of the 
 church at Spanish Town, was flogged, and 
 sentenced to hard labour in the convict- 
 gang, for no other offence than praying to 
 God. 
 
 * A small place of worship which had been built 
 through his influence near Jericho, the Baptist Mis- 
 sion fetation in the parish of St. Thomas-in the-Vale. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 133 
 
 Another was about the same time sen- 
 tenced to six months' confinement in a 
 workhouse, for giving the best instruction 
 in his power to his fellow-slaves. 
 
 The Rev. John Clarke, now of Western 
 Africa, addressing the author in the year 
 1832, immediately after the disturbances 
 of that period, says : — 
 
 " The torments, persecutions, and pri- 
 vations, now more than ever endured by 
 Christian slaves, are not to be thought of 
 without harrowing up the soul and causing 
 the heart to bleed at every pore. No Co- 
 lonial Church Union has been formed in 
 St. Thomas-in-the-Vale, and thus' it may 
 be viewed as a parish as little excited as 
 any in the island ; yet in this parish the 
 demon of persecution rages not a little. 
 Miss C — has been threatened with the de- 
 struction of her house, and the voice of 
 prayer and praise, sometimes heard from 
 among the trees, is greatly complained of, 
 though the noise of the goombay, the 
 drum, and the dance is encouraged, and 
 was heard by me from several properties, 
 not only during the night of Saturday last, 
 but until 8 o'clock on Sabbath morning. 
 Thus wickedness is encouraged, and piety 
 is contemned. One of our members has 
 been sent to Rodney Hall Workhouse* for 
 a month, simply for being a Baptist, and 
 has been caned by her brutal owner — 
 wrought as usual through the day, and 
 thrown into a dark dungeon each night for 
 a month. She told me her usage was 
 such that she would have much preferred 
 being sent to Rodney Hall. A third was 
 seen returning from worship last month b,y 
 her overseer, and had the promise of being 
 marked ; and on the Monday morning re- 
 ceived a severe flogging. I could go 
 further, but need not. What I have said 
 will give you some idea of the usage of 
 our brethren and sisters in Christ who are 
 slaves, throughout the island." 
 
 George Gibbs, a man of colour, who 
 came in the last century from the southern 
 states of North America, laboured with 
 great diligence and zeal, in the midst of 
 persecution and privation, while all around 
 was darkness and spiritual death. He was 
 once thrown into Spanish Town jail, and 
 confined there four days for preaching the 
 gospel of Christ. Frequently he was 
 
 * Notorious as a place of punishment during sla- 
 very and apprenticeship. 
 
 taken while on estates at night, and cast 
 into a dungeon ; and sometimes had his 
 feet made fast in the stocks. Nothing dis- 
 couraged, he persevered in travelling from 
 place to place, making known Christ and 
 his salvation to the perishing multitudes 
 around him. In this way he collected to- 
 gether many hundreds of people, and form- 
 ed those of them who believed into a Chris- 
 tian church. Owing to the fearful state 
 of Jamaica at that time, he baptized and 
 administered the Lord's Supper under the 
 shade of night, in unfrequented places, 
 where his persecutors were not likely to 
 come upon him or his helpless flock. After 
 a time a piece of land was privately bought, 
 and a sort of chapel was erected upon it. 
 This was surrounded by swamps, and 
 ground covered with trees and bushes : 
 here for a time they worshipped God, con- 
 cealed from the view of their enemies, and 
 hoped their secluded retreat would not be- 
 come known. Soon, however, it was found 
 out by two white men — the worshippers 
 fled, and the building was speedily levelled 
 to the ground. 
 
 For years in succession these poor 
 creatures were liable to frequent, arbi- 
 trary, and excessive punishment, and in 
 numerous instances they were called to 
 endure the bitter effects of the same spirit 
 that kindled the fires of Smithfield, and 
 originated the cruelties of the Inquisition. 
 
 Jamaica has furnished as noble a band 
 of martyrs to the truth as any part of the 
 world of similar extent and within the 
 same period of time, since the 16th cen- 
 tury. Fitzherbert Batty, Esq., who was 
 not remarkable for his liberality, observed 
 in the House of Assembly but a few years 
 ago, " If the white inhabitants had not 
 exemplified the spirit of Bonner in tor- 
 turing and burning the missionaries and 
 their flocks, it was not for want of will." 
 Pretexts, however, were occasionally af- 
 forded for the hostile and malignant spirit 
 that was latent in their bosoms towards the 
 less privileged servants of the Most High, 
 and multitudes of them ascended to hea- 
 ven by as certain a flight as the spirits of 
 the murdered "Vaudois from the valleys of 
 the Alps. Like those 
 
 " Whose bones 
 
 Lie scatter'd on the Alpine mountains' cold ; 
 
 Their moans 
 
 The vales resounded to the hills, and they 
 To heaven." 
 
 Reference is especially made to the tra- 
 
134 
 
 JAMAICA 
 
 gedy of 1832, an ample account of which 
 is furnished in Dr. Cox's history, previ- 
 ously noticed. Two or three instances of 
 this malignant persecuting spirit will here 
 suffice : — 
 
 A magistrate, and a considerable pro- 
 prietor and attorney, having frequently ex- 
 pressed to his slaves his detestation of 
 praying, and threatened with severe pu- 
 nishment any of them whom he might 
 find thus engaged, had one day an intima- 
 tion, while boasting of his success in ex- 
 cluding religion from the properties he 
 managed, that several of the negroes on 
 the estate where he then resided, had 
 caught the infection, and that they were in 
 the habit of holding evening meetings. 
 He hastened to the negro village to ascer- 
 tain the truth or falsehood of the report, 
 and, to his mortification, actually caught 
 several of them in a house upon their 
 knees in prayer. He immediately identi- 
 fied them, and after venting his rage re- 
 turned to his house. Mark the sequel. 
 This fiend in human form, raving with 
 fury, declared that they should have 
 enough of being on their knees, and made 
 them, by way of punishment, work on 
 their knees in the field, and in the perfor- 
 mance of household duties, for several 
 days ; at the same time ordered the house 
 in which they assembled to be demolished ! 
 An aged negro, who was punished with 
 great severity, on being asked after each 
 successive infliction if he would promise to 
 leave ofFpraying and teaching, as often re- 
 peated, " Massa may flog me flesh, but 
 him can't flog me soul ; me must pray, 
 massa, and me will pray, massa." He 
 maintained his determination, although al- 
 most exhausted with suffering. It is cur- 
 rently reported that one negro was actu- 
 ally executed for this " crime" in the pa- 
 rish of Manchester some years since, and 
 that his body was suspended on a gibbet 
 until devoured by birds of prey, as a terror 
 to others. Another individual, who is still 
 living, was condemned under the same 
 circumstances, and but for some providen- 
 tial occurrence would have suffered the 
 same penalty. 
 
 An overseer, who was also a magistrate, 
 had a negro flogged repeatedly and cruelly 
 several times in succession for praying, 
 first giving him thirty-nine lashes; then to 
 obviate the cognizance of the law, which 
 restricted the number of lashes to thirty. 
 
 nine at one time, released him, and tied 
 him up again, fee. At length the heart of 
 the driver relented at the sufferings of his 
 fellow-slave, and he ventured humbly to 
 expostulate with the overseer, saying, 
 " Massa, me no able to flog your neger 
 more ; him have enough already, and him 
 no able to bear more." The overseer in- 
 sisted upon obedience, and the driver was 
 obliged to submit. The victim was for the 
 last time laid down upon a ladder, and 
 whipped unmercifully. On his being taken 
 up he staggered a few paces and fell. He 
 was raised again, but he again fell, being 
 utterly unable to stand. He was then con- 
 veyed to the hospital, and the medical man 
 who attended the estate arriving just at the 
 time, was called to see him, as he had 
 fainted. He told the overseer that the 
 negro was dying. The overseer declared 
 he was not, and almost insisted on his be- 
 ing bled. "What is the use of it'?" said 
 the doctor ; " Don't you see the poor man 
 is almost gone?" With these words upon 
 his lips, taking hold of the victim by the 
 wrist, he found indeed that his pulse had 
 ceased to beat. An inquest was held on 
 the body the next day, and the verdict re- 
 turned was, "Died from infirmity." 
 
 " He dropped his quivering flesh upon the sod, 
 And flew to meet his Saviour and his God." 
 
 ***** 
 
 " He died beneath the lash — his mortal frame 
 Could bear no more, and death in mercy came ; 
 Patient and calm his spirit passed away, 
 And now his body sleeps beneath the clay; 
 His toils are over, and his weary breast 
 Has found what man in life denied him — rest. 
 Poor, slumbering dust! is there that passes by 
 And yields thy death the tribute of a sigh? 
 "Che tyrant tramples on thy lowly grave — 
 'Tis but the ashes of a murdered slave .'" 
 
 And what has been the conduct and 
 spirit which these poor creatures have ex- 
 emplified under this complication of trials 
 and sufferings? Probably no instance has 
 been known in which they have displayed 
 a spirit of revenge ; but on the contrary, 
 one of pity, forbearance, patience, and for- 
 giveness. Never did the author hear from 
 the lips of any, even when smarting under 
 the influence of punishment recently inflict- 
 ed, a single Word that implied anything like 
 retaliation ; but on the contrary, frequent- 
 ly has he seen them lift their eyes to 
 heaven, and pray for mercy on their per- 
 secutors. Their language has often been, 
 " Father, forgive them, for they know not 
 what they do," adding, " Buckra left him 
 God in England, and devil in Jamaica stir 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 135 
 
 him up to do all dis wickedness. Poor 
 ting ! him eye blind, and him heart hard ; 
 but if God open him eye, and touch him 
 heart, him sorry, and no prosecute any 
 more." A book-keeper on a certain occa- 
 sion rushed into one of the little village 
 chapels where a number of poor people 
 belonging to the estate on which it was lo- 
 cated had assembled for prayer, and ap- 
 proaching a table that was at one end of 
 the room, against which a venerable old man 
 was standing, engaged in conducting the de- 
 votions, immediately commenced a mock 
 imitation of preaching. After conducting 
 himself in a disgraceful manner for some 
 time, and finding he could not provoke the 
 resentment of these poor but pious people, 
 he thus addressed himself to an African 
 woman who was less able to restrain her 
 feelings than her associates, the rest for 
 some time observing the most perfect si- 
 lenCe. 
 
 Book-keeper. Well ! don't you think I 
 have preached a good sermon in your 
 church for the first time? 
 
 Answer. Dis don't no chutch, sar. If 
 massa want preach, hadn't massa better go 
 preach in him own chutch a England ? 
 Don't massa sa him blong to Chutch a 
 England? 
 
 B. Belong to the Church of England ! 
 yes, to be sure I do. I am none of your 
 hypocrites and methodists. 
 
 A. Ah ! well den, since massa blong to 
 Chutch a England, if him want make fun 
 him better make fun in him own chutch 
 den. 
 
 B. 1 don't want any of your lectures. 
 Let me see, I must now pray. How do 
 you go to work to pray : tell me, will you ? 
 
 A. Don't massa a buckra gentleman ? 
 Why den you ax me how fo pray? me 
 always- tink sa buckra gentleman know 
 better den neger know — how den massa 
 come ax neger fo Iarn him when massa 
 ought to much mo able fo teach poor neger 
 sarvant how fo pray ? 
 
 B. Nonsense. Tell me, I say, how you 
 pray. 
 
 A. Well ! since massa don't know, we 
 will tell him. When we pray we say, 
 " Our Fader which art in Heaven," some- 
 times — sometimes we beg God to give we 
 new heart and right spirit, dat we may love 
 him and all we fellow-creature more. 
 Pray ! — dat mean to tell God all what in 
 we heart, and beg him to forgive all we sin 
 
 tro Jesus Christ. An one ting we pray 
 for now, massa — pray God to give we 
 patience dat we no get vex wid massa fo 
 all what him do in broking up we meetin, 
 and making all de carousement about de 
 place. 
 
 B. I tell you I don't want any of your 
 preaching — I want you to show me how 
 you go to work to pray (kneeling down 
 and lifting up his hands and eyes in 
 mockery) — come, tell me what 1 am to 
 say. 
 
 [ The old man presiding at the meeting. 
 O massa ! we quite sorry to see how massa 
 go on mock God so ; and since massa don't 
 know to pray for himself, we will try to 
 pray for him, dat God may make him trow 
 down him rebellious weapon, and have 
 mercy upon him soul at de last day. Poor 
 buckra child ! sin harden you heart an 
 bline you eye too much.] 
 
 The whole company here joined in an 
 ejaculatory prayer on his behalf. 
 
 B. Ah ! I don't want your prayers ; 
 black people's, prayers are good for no- 
 thing — how can they pray truly when they 
 tell lies and thieve ? 
 
 A. No, massa, dem can't pray truly till 
 God's spirit teach dem, den dem pray truly, 
 an arter dat dem don't tief again. Befo 
 dem pray, den dem tell lie and tief. Befo 
 dem no knoio good, den dem no do good ; 
 when dem know good, den dem cant do bad 
 again. 
 
 B. Yes, but black people have no souls, 
 and therefore they have no business to 
 pray. 
 
 A. All black pusson is sinner, as same 
 as white pusson, and Massa Jesus sa him 
 hear when all sinner pray, so dat mean 
 black sinner as well as white sinner. Him 
 say him don't want no fine word, no long 
 argument ; but if we don't able to say more 
 dan " God be merciful to we poor sinner," 
 like de publican, we shall go down to we 
 house justify. 
 
 This impious man at length withdrew, 
 amidst expressions of pity and prayer by 
 the poor people, who made his case, and 
 that of similar ones, an especial subject of 
 their future supplications. 
 
 The spirit which the poor Christian ne- 
 groes have manifested under these persecu- 
 tions has been indeed most exemplary. 
 " Whan can Jesus Christ do for you now ?" 
 said an inhuman slave-master, when in the 
 act of applying the lacerating whip to an 
 
136 
 
 JAMAICA 
 
 already half-murdered slave. "Him teach 
 me to forgive you, massa," was the reply ; 
 and this has been the sentiment of hundreds 
 in Jamaica under similar treatment. The 
 following anecdote seems so accurately to 
 describe the conduct of the generality of 
 negro Christians towards their enemies, 
 that it forms an appropriate conclusion to 
 this particular. 
 
 A slave in one of the islands of the West 
 Indies, originally from Africa, having been 
 brought under the influence of religious in- 
 struction, became singularly valuable to 
 his owner, on account of his integrity and 
 general good conduct — so much so that his 
 master raised him to a situation of some 
 importance in the management of his estate. 
 This owner, on one occasion wishing to 
 purchase twenty additional slaves, employ- 
 him to make the selection, giving him in- 
 structions to choose those who were strong 
 and likely to make good workmen. The 
 man went to the slave-market, and com- 
 menced his search. He had not long sur- 
 veyed the multitudes offered^for sale before 
 he fixed his eye intently upon an old and 
 decrepid slave, and told his master that 
 he must be one. The master seemed great- 
 ly surprised, and remonstrated against it; 
 the poor fellow begged that he might be in- 
 dulged, when the dealer remarked that if 
 they were about to buy twenty he would 
 give them the old man into the bargain. 
 The purchase was accordingly made, and 
 the slaves were conducted to the plantation 
 of their new master, but upon none did the 
 selector bestow half the attention he did 
 upon the poor old decrepid African. He 
 took him to his own habitation, and laid 
 him upon his own bed ; he fed him at his 
 own table, and gave him drink out of his 
 own cup ; when he was cold he carried him 
 into the sunshine, and when he was hot he 
 placed him under the shade of the cocoa- 
 nut trees. Astonished at the attention this 
 confidential slave bestowed upon a fellow- 
 slave, his master interrogated him on the 
 subject. He said, " You could not take so 
 intense an interest in the old man but for 
 some special reason — he is a relation of 
 yours, perhaps your father'/" "No, massa," 
 answered the poor fellow, " he no my 
 fader." "He is then an elder brother?" 
 " No, massa, he be no my broder." " Then 
 he is an uncle, or some other relation." 
 " No, massa, he be no of my kinred at all, 
 nor even my friend." "Then," asked the 
 
 master, " on what account does he excite 
 your interest 1" " He my enemy, massa," 
 replied the slave ; " he sold me to the slave- 
 dealer, and my Bible tell me, when my 
 enemy hunger feed him, and when he 
 thirst give him drink, for in so doing I shall 
 heap coals of fire on his head." 
 
 Section IV. — The members of the Ja- 
 maica churches are distinguished in gene- 
 ral by great love to one another, to the 
 ordinances of God's house, and to their 
 ministers. " By this shall all men know 
 that ye are my disciples," says the Saviour, 
 " if ye have love one for another." This 
 distinguishing badge of true discipleship is 
 perhaps exemplified by no body of Chris- 
 tians at the present day in a greater de- 
 gree than by the churches in Jamaica. 
 They emphatically regard each other as 
 belonging to the family of Christ, and as 
 being members one of another. This re- 
 lationship is universally recognised. The 
 members, though numerous, know each 
 other, and are generally on terms of the 
 most friendly intercourse, whatever be the 
 difference of their worldly circumstances. 
 They are greatly distinguished for their 
 hospitality one towards another. Hun- 
 dreds are in the habit of coming from the 
 country to the towns to attend the services 
 on the Sabbath ; and for this purpose many 
 arrive on the previous evening, and all find 
 gratuitous accommodation at the houses of 
 their Christian brethren. The same dis- 
 position is manifested throughout the coun- 
 try ; so that every individual, in travelling 
 from one part of the island to the other, if 
 able to prove his connexion with a Chris- 
 tian church, is sure to meet with kindness, 
 accommodation, and refreshment. When 
 in circumstances of worldly difficulty they 
 usually assist each other. Numerous and 
 frequent instances have occurred in which 
 churches have contributed to purchase the 
 freedom of a brother or sister. While they 
 seldom fail to report actual cases of delin- 
 quency, it is not often that they judge each 
 other by a censorious and uncharitable 
 temper. They are slow to speak of each 
 other's failings and imperfections, and, like 
 their compassionate Lord, are much more 
 disposed to pity and to pray for a fallen 
 brother than to censure him. To befriend 
 and cherish the destitute, the sick, and the 
 aged, is a duly generally regarded ; hence, 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 137 
 
 whenever any one is taken ill, arrange- 
 ments are immediately made, by the leader 
 of the class to which he belongs, to secure 
 him a supply of gratuitous attendants, and 
 for the purpose of ascertaining and supply- 
 ing his wants. None are driven to the 
 necessity of seeking relief from the parish. 
 The author indeed is not aware that a sin- 
 gle individual in the island connected with 
 dissenting churches is dependent upon the 
 parish for support. In cases of death, 
 where no effects are left to cover the ex- 
 penses of the funeral, such expenses are 
 defrayed by private contributions or from 
 a fund for the relief of the poor, which is 
 supplied by donations at the sacrament. 
 
 Their attachment to each other, as bre- 
 thren and sisters of the family of Christ, is 
 associated with great respect and deference, 
 especially when met together for the dis- 
 posal of church business. Whatever the 
 respectability of some of the candidates for 
 church fellowship, or the members against 
 whom charges are preferred, they pass 
 through the same ordeal as the meanest 
 individual ; and though questioned by their 
 brethren, many of whom were slaves, rarely 
 do they manifest any signs of contempt or 
 airs of superiority. 
 
 Their attendance on the public means of 
 grace is not only numerous, but, wherever 
 those means are statedly supplied, both re- 
 gular and punctual. Habits were con- 
 tracted during slavery of attending the 
 house of God only on every alternate Sab- 
 bath, and it is so at the present time where 
 the public means of grace cannot be more 
 frequently afforded, or where difficulties 
 arise from indisposition or remoteness of 
 residence. But referring especially to the 
 towns and thickly populated districts in 
 which missionaries reside, not only is the 
 attendance of the people regular as to the 
 day, but also as to time. Some are seated 
 in the house of God an hour or more be- 
 fore the service commences, and on the 
 morning of the Sabbath, almost all are in 
 their places before the minister enters the 
 pulpit. Like Cornelius to Peter, they seem 
 to say, " Now, therefore, we are all here 
 present before God, to hear all things that 
 are commanded thee of God." The ser- 
 vices of God's house are evidently their 
 delight — " times of refreshing from the 
 presence of the Lord." Pleasure beams 
 in every eye and animates every counte- 
 nance. Their behaviour is serious, suited 
 
 10 
 
 to the place and the occasion ; whilst 
 usually their attention is remarkable, occa- 
 sionally expressed by responses and other 
 signs of interest and approval. In hun- 
 dreds of instances some of these poor crea- 
 tures have travelled fifty miles to enjoy the 
 advantage of a single Sabbath ; and there 
 is scarcely a place of worship in the island 
 but numbers who are in the constant habit 
 of attending have to travel a distance of 
 from three to ten or fifteen miles; and 
 whether going or returning, they give an 
 impression that they regard the worship of 
 God as a high and holy privilege. 
 
 On particular occasions, such as bap- 
 tisms, chapel openings, as well as at mis- 
 sionary meetings, they are enthusiastic, 
 sometimes attending in such numbers as to 
 fill the whole premises, and manifesting 
 such signs of gratification as demonstrates 
 that their love to Christ and to his cause is 
 supreme. On such occasions in the low- 
 lands some come from almost incredible 
 distances. The roads leading to the sta- 
 tions where these festivals occur are lite- 
 rally thronged ; some are seen in chaises, 
 some in carts, some in wagons drawn by 
 oxen, some on horseback, with hundreds 
 on foot, bearing baskets on their heads 
 containing their best apparel; but all press- 
 ing on with vivacity and speed. They 
 identify both their interest and their hap- 
 piness with the cause of God. The per- 
 formance of their religious duties is their 
 meat and drink. With regard to Zion, it 
 may be almost literally said that " they 
 take pleasure in her stones, and favour the 
 dust thereof." During the disturbances in 
 1832, the anxiety manifested for the pre- 
 servation of their places of worship, and 
 the grief expressed when any were demo- 
 lished, was intense. Where danger was 
 apprehended, some were guarded by hun- 
 dreds of the poor people day and night, for 
 two or three successive weeks, they being 
 fully determined to perish in their efforts 
 to save them, should any attempts be made 
 for their destruction. 
 
 The attachment of the people to their 
 pastors is proverbial. On their minister 
 paying a visit to their village, especially if 
 accompanied by his wife and children, the 
 expressions of regard towards them on the 
 part of the inhabitants are enthusiastic. 
 All, from the youngest to the oldest, pour 
 forth to welcome them. Every eye spar- 
 kles with delight, and every thing that 
 
138 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 kindness of heart can suggest is done for 
 them. The boys vie with each other in 
 climbing the cocoa-nut trees to refresh 
 them with the wholesome beverage which 
 the unripe fruit of that tree affords. They 
 are regaled with fruit of different kinds, and 
 seats are provided for them usually be- 
 neath a tree in some particular part of the 
 village, the most convenient for the social 
 interview. These are often seasons of re- 
 freshing to the aged and infirm particu- 
 larly ; and their kindness and gratitude are 
 often almost overwhelming: on leaving, 
 benedictions follow the visiters until they 
 are out of hearing. 
 
 " God bless minister and misses, and de 
 children ! come call, come see we ; give we 
 comfort." 
 
 If unexpectedly discovered among the 
 settlements of their own people when tra- 
 velling in the interior of the country, the 
 tidings are shouted from hill to hill, and 
 the whole place presents a scene of joyous 
 excitement. If compelled to leave their 
 charge for a time from ill health, the 
 scenes at parting are oftentimes affecting 
 in the extreme. Of this the following oc- 
 currence may afford a specimen. It hap- 
 pened in the case of a missionary a few 
 years ago. Urged to take a voyage to 
 some cooler climate without delay, he de- 
 cided on going for a few weeks to America, 
 and on the following Sabbath announced 
 his intention to his belovpd people. 
 
 The limits within which his absence 
 was to be confined would, he thought, 
 cause it to be regarded merely as a trip to 
 the other side of the island ; but in the 
 minds of his sable flock, the big water was 
 identified only with images of distance and 
 danger ; and it was this that made the 
 prospect of separation so formidable : if 
 he once embarked on that treacherous ele- 
 ment they might see the face of their mi- 
 nister no more. Hence, when it was inti- 
 mated that the period of his departure was 
 unalterably fixed, feelings were excited 
 which betokened how painful would be the 
 struggle on the eve of embarkation. On 
 the preceding day the mission premises 
 presented a moving spectacle of sadness. 
 No one interested in the event could be- 
 hold the poor creatures loitering about the 
 house, or sitting about the yard, as though 
 to take a long and last farewell, without the 
 deepest emotion. Impossible as it was 
 under such circumstances to complete the 
 
 necessary arrangements, a prayer-meeting 
 was proposed, at which the final farewell 
 might be given en masse. On the follow- 
 ing morning, though but a few were at 
 first acquainted with the design, multitudes 
 were knocking at the chapel-gate long be- 
 fore the break of day, and at five o'clock 
 the entire chapel was crowded. The pro- 
 foundest silence reigned until the minister 
 entered the chapel. It was then broken at 
 intervals by sighs and half-stifled sobs; 
 whilst all eyes seemed glistening with 
 tears. The scene spoke to the heart. It 
 was like a funeral. A hymn was given 
 out, which was sung in a melting tone, and 
 with a quivering voice. One of the bre- 
 thren was then called upon to pray. He 
 prayed and wept, and wept and prayed 
 again : " O dow merciful and gracious 
 God !" he uttered at intervals, " to whom 
 all hearts is open ; dow knowest dat we 
 met togedder dis mornin to pray for dy 
 dear minister servant before de, who dow 
 in dy providence is about to take from we 
 dis day. O do dow protect him on de 
 wide big water and from cruel man, for 
 dow hold de wind and de wave in de hol- 
 low of dy hand. Dow say no ting shall 
 do dy prophet harm. Establish him health, 
 and bring him back again to we, O gra- 
 cious Redeemer ; bring him back to we, 
 dy poor sheep, wandering on de dark 
 mountains widout a shepherd, dat we may 
 praise and glorify dy holy name. But 
 may be we may neber see him face in de 
 flesh no more again." Here tears com- 
 pletely choked his utterance, and sobs be- 
 came universally audible. Both minister 
 and people were in tears ; the former, 
 however, succeeded in reading a few 
 verses of the Scriptures and in giving out 
 a verse of a hymn. The whole assembly 
 now wept aloud. The place emphatically 
 became a Bochim, " a place of weeping ;" 
 and the school children adding their shrill 
 voices to the strain of lamentation, the ser- 
 vice was necessarily brought to a close. 
 Waving his pocket-handkerchief, there- 
 fore, and begging them never to cease to 
 pray for his recovery and safe return, the 
 pastor, with the most overwhelming feel- 
 ings, uttered the word " farewell," and 
 retired. Multitudes followed him to the 
 sea side, six miles distant, and, amidst 
 tears and lamentations, watched the boat 
 in which he had embarked to join the ves- 
 sel until it disappeared behind an interven- 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 139 
 
 ing promontory. Nor do they forget their 
 ministers during their absence from them, 
 as is proved by the following extract bf a 
 letter lately addressed to a missionary now 
 in England ; as also one from the teachers 
 of the Sabbath-school : 
 
 "July 8, 1842: — I read your letter to 
 the dear people of your charge, and I can 
 assure you that it is impossible for tongue 
 to express, or heart to conceive, the feeling 
 of joy which took possession of the whole 
 company. Every eye seemed to sparkle 
 with joy, and every heart to throb with 
 delight; and had you heard the. fervent 
 petitions that ascended up to the God of 
 all grace on behalf of yourself, your dear 
 partner, and the ship's crew, you could not 
 have refrained from tears. I cannot tell 
 the number that I have had this week, 
 telling me, when I write to minister, to re- 
 member them to him. I am sure I need 
 not put any thing into this letter but affec- 
 tionate remembrances." 
 
 " July 22nd. — They (the people) have 
 not forgotten you, and I am sure they ne- 
 ver will, so long as memory holds her seat 
 in each of their bosoms; and I am almost 
 sure that had it not been for the hope they 
 entertained of seeing you again, and of 
 your spending your last moments with 
 them, they would never have given you 
 up." 
 
 July 22nd. — From two of the teachers 
 of the Sabbath and day-schools, on behalf 
 of the whole : — 
 
 " This is now six weeks since your de- 
 parture, and we now think it the most fa- 
 vourable time to write to you, as we hope 
 you are by this time nearly home. You 
 are aware that while you were here we 
 have always borne that degree of attach- 
 ment to, and respect for you, not only as 
 a pastor, but a father among us. And by 
 this you will perceive that, though you are 
 now far away from us, you and yours are 
 still present to our imaginations ; for al- 
 though we are unacquainted with the va- 
 rious tacking and points by which the 
 ship goes, yet it appears to us as if we are 
 really spectators of her in her progress 
 across the Atlantic. We were exceeding- 
 ly sorry, that, owing to the lateness of the 
 hour at which you went on board at Port 
 Royal, being also tired of waiting in the 
 boat, we were unable to see the last of 
 you ; but now, as we hope you are in 
 England, or nearly so, we think it not too 
 
 late to express our good wishes towards 
 you, and earnestly hope that the blessing 
 and peace of God, may attend you and 
 your dear wife, and all who go along with 
 you ; and would entreat you never to lose 
 sight of your promise to suffer no other 
 thought to take possession of your mind 
 than that of coming back to labour among 
 the people that you have for so many years 
 been labouring amongst, and who since 
 your departure also have been the subjects 
 of sorrow at parting with you, and exhi- 
 bited the utmost concern for your safety 
 by their earnest supplications to Almighty 
 God. They are cherishing the hope that 
 you will soon have recovered your wonted 
 strength and ability, and not many months 
 shall have passed before they shall have 
 the privilege of seeing you again in the 
 flesh." 
 
 Numbers of similar cases might be 
 cited, as well as many facts illustrative of 
 the joyous feelings that have been express- 
 ed on the return of the messengers of 
 peace to their home and to their work — on 
 the latter occasion going miles to meet 
 them on the road, embracing their hands, 
 and sometimes taking them up in their 
 arms, and carrying them into the House of 
 God, to return to Him their mutual ac- 
 knowledgments and gratitude. 
 
 In their estimation there is no character 
 or office so high as that of a minister of 
 the Gospel, and throughout the different 
 sections of the church in general each 
 thinks his own minister the best, and loves 
 him the most. They esteem their minis- 
 ters " very highly in love for their work's 
 sake ;" seldom speak disrespectfully of 
 them, and are never more offended than 
 when they are spoken lightly of by others. 
 Having great respect and love for them 
 themselves, they endeavour to inspire their 
 children with the same sentiments and 
 feelings. In cases where violence has 
 been threatened or attempted towards 
 them the whole surrounding country has 
 been in a state of excitement ; and in cases 
 of death the scenes exhibited and the emo- 
 tions excited are such as to exceed descrip- 
 tion. On some such occasions thousands 
 have attended at the last sad offices, whose 
 tears and lamentations could not fail to ex- 
 cite a sympathetic feeling in every bosom. 
 A missionary, writing to a friend in Eng- 
 land, thus describes one of these deeply- 
 affecting scenes. It occurred at the fune- 
 
140 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 ral of the late Rev. F. Gardner, of King- 
 ston. 
 
 " At the dawn of the following day 
 when I arose I found it difficult to per- 
 suade myself but that the actual bereave- 
 ment was a dream. I had, however, 
 mournful evidences to the contrary in the 
 looks and gestures of those whom I met 
 upon the road. Still more substantial 
 proofs of the reality forced themselves upon 
 me in passing along the streets of King- 
 ston ; but on entering the mission-premises 
 at East Queen Street 1 was not to be mis- 
 taken. Oh ! what a heart-rending scene 
 did I there behold ! ! The yard was full 
 of mourners ; multitudes hung about the 
 doors and windows, and the house seemed 
 crowded. How was I to encounter the 
 sighs, and sobs, and tears of the motley 
 mass? But there was no time to hesitate. 
 I tried to force myself through the crowd 
 without engaging an eye or exchanging a 
 word. It was in vain. I was surrounded 
 — 1 was unmanned ; whilst the cries of 
 ' So me dear minister is gone,' uttered in 
 anguish, seemed to unstring every fibre of 
 
 my heart and loosen every nerve. 
 
 # * # # 
 
 " At length the hour appointed for the 
 interment arrived. I need not describe the 
 funeral procession ; suffice it to say that 
 the corpse was followed to its last abode 
 by a train of mourners which, perhaps, 
 either as to number or respectability, had 
 never been exceeded on a like occasion in 
 Jamaica. The deacons, as well as the 
 ordinary members of the church, followed 
 each other in regular succession and in 
 long perspective. With the exception of 
 the convulsive shrieks heard on the first 
 removal of the corpse, and the half-stifled 
 sobs now and then expressed by the crowd, 
 all moved on in solemn silence. The cha- 
 pel was crowded, and had been so from an 
 early hour. What a scene ensued on en- 
 tering ! The corpse was at length forced 
 through the crowd to the table-pew, and 
 order again restored. The solemn ser- 
 vice was commenced by singing two or 
 three verses of the hymn beginning 
 
 "'What though the arm of conquering death, 
 Does God's own house invade,' 
 
 and closed by an appropriate address from 
 Mr. Tinson. The assembly was so dense 
 that considerable apprehensions were en- 
 tertained throughout the morning for the 
 
 safety of the galleries ; but now not less- 
 anxiety was manifested for the preserva- 
 tion of that decorum befitting so sacred a 
 place, and becoming those who are taught 
 to ' sorrow not as those without hope.' 
 Every means was used to restrain the tor- 
 rent of feeling within proper bounds ; but, 
 untrained to artificial restraints as are our 
 sable brethren in general, I saw it must 
 soon burst forth into a flood. My fears 
 were realized. The corpse was borne 
 along the aisle to the vault amidst cries, 
 and groans, and other external signs of 
 sorrow that were enough to tear one's 
 heartstrings asunder. In the midst of 
 silence, frequently broken by the weeping 
 of the people, Mr. Taylor gave out a verse 
 or two of a suitable hymn. Mr. Wool- 
 dridge prayed, and the corpse was imme- 
 diately lowered down to its last sad resting- 
 place. Sighs and tears, intermixed with 
 convulsive cries, now became general. Of 
 my own feelings at this particular moment 
 I can attempt no description. I can never 
 forget them !" 
 
 Such an astonishing change has taken 
 place in the individual character of hun- 
 dreds of the members of the churches that 
 their pastors could no more question the 
 reality of their conversion to God than 
 they could question their own interest in 
 the merits of the Saviour or their faith in 
 the essential truths of Christianity. Like 
 the members of the church at Corinth, 
 " they were once fornicators, and idola- 
 tors, and adulterers, and thieves, and co- 
 vetous, and drunkards, and revilers, and 
 extortioners ; but they have been washed, 
 and sanctified, and justified in the name of 
 the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our 
 God." 
 
 From the previous state of society in 
 Jamaica, almost every individual who has 
 been united in church-fellowship has exhi- 
 bited a most striking change, both in 
 character and conduct, while in many that 
 change has been so great as fully to ex- 
 emplify the sentiment — 
 
 " Lions and beasts of savage name 
 Put on the nature of the lamb." 
 
 As an illustration the author will mention 
 two or three instances, out of many, which 
 have come under his own observation. A 
 middle-aged female was a professed teacher 
 of the obscenities practised at the Christ- 
 mas carnivals, and other nightly revels. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 141 
 
 She had a house on the outskirts of the 
 town, into which numbers of the young of 
 both sexes were decoyed, to the ruin both 
 of body and soul. Dancing, revelling, and 
 the din of savage music were here heard 
 from week to week, and usually from Sa- 
 turday evening until Sabbath morning, 
 throughout the year, and not unfrequently 
 during the whole of that sacred day. 
 About sixteen years ago she was induced 
 to hear the Gospel. It came home to her 
 with power and the demonstration of the 
 Spirit. Her haunt of sin was immediately 
 abolished, and her guilty honours and 
 gains at once abandoned. Not long after- 
 ward, accompanied by a Christian friend, 
 the writer called to see a female of his 
 flock who was in dying circumstances. 
 On entering the house he distinctly heard 
 the voice of a female in prayer in an ad- 
 joining room, and approaching nearer, 
 joined in the devotion. Never can he for- 
 get the occurrence — never before did he 
 hear such a prayer. The rich experi- 
 mental piety which it breathed, its appro- 
 priateness and fervour, together with the 
 responses it drew forth from those who 
 were present, seemed to render the chamber 
 of sickness, obscure as it was, the very 
 gate of heaven. When they rose from 
 their knees, his friend exclaimed with asto- 
 nishment, "Who can it be? It is some 
 black, or coloured, female?" It was soon 
 ascertained that it was this very individual 
 — "this brand plucked from the fire." Im- 
 mediately on her conversion, she began to 
 do what she could to counteract the influ- 
 ence of her former wicked life, and from 
 that time to the present, in addition to a 
 most exemplary walk and conversation, 
 she has been pursuing the same benevo- 
 lent object with a steadfastness of purpose 
 
 and success truly astonishing Another 
 
 was the queen of the sets of dancing-girls 
 mentioned in connexion with the descrip- 
 tion previously given of the Christmas car- 
 nivals, and who kept an establishment of 
 a similar kind to that already named. It 
 was, perhaps, less disreputable in its char- 
 acter, but in some respects even more de- 
 moralizing and wicked in its effects. She 
 also heard the truth in Christ about the 
 same time, and shortly after, like the wo- 
 man out of whom were cast seven devils, 
 was found " sitting at the feet of Jesus, 
 clothed and in her right mind," a circum- 
 stance which at the time did not fail to at- 
 
 tract general observation, and had a con- 
 siderable influence in diminishing the num- 
 ber and destroying the organization of 
 these depraved communities. Though less 
 calculated for active usefulness than her 
 former accomplice in iniquity, she has in 
 an equal, or even in a greater degree, ex- 
 hibited the milder graces of the Christian 
 character — "bowels of mercies, lowli- 
 ness, meekness, gentleness," — steadfastly 
 "adorning the doctrine of God her Sa- 
 viour in all things." — A third, a mulatto 
 female, was a person of some little pro- 
 perty, and a proprietor of slaves. Of a 
 most overbearing and tyrannical disposi- 
 tion, her conduct towards the unhappy 
 victims of her power was cruel in the ex- 
 treme. Her house was situated in the 
 country near a public road, and it was 
 proverbial that no one could pass her gate, 
 scarcely at any hour of the day, without 
 hearing the cries and groans of her wretch- 
 ed vassals under the infliction of punish- 
 ment. Of these none so often felt the 
 effects of her passion as an aged neo-ress, 
 for praying. A missionary went into the 
 parish, in the hope of securing a piece of 
 land on which to form a preaching station. 
 Disappointed in his expectation, through 
 the influence of a white planter and mao-is- 
 trate, he was returning home, depressed 
 in mind at the apparent hopelessness of 
 further attempts to introduce the Gospel 
 into that benighted district, when he was 
 met on the road by this female, attended 
 by several of her neighbours. She heard 
 of his failure, and after expressing herself 
 in strong language against the leading men 
 of the parish for combining to keep religion 
 out of it, requested him to follow her. 
 They ascended a piece of rising ground 
 a little beyond her cottage, and looking 
 round, her eye kindling with animation, 
 she exclaimed, " They want to keep reli- 
 gion out of the parish, but, minister, here 
 is an acre of land; take it, I will give it 
 you ; build a chapel upon it ; and let them 
 meddle with it if they dare."* The offer 
 was accepted, and her cheerful consent 
 also given to the occupation of her house 
 or premises for occasional services without 
 delay. These services were accordingly 
 commenced ; and for some time, in fine 
 
 *The motive by which this individual was induced 
 to offer the ground to the missionary appears to have 
 been a spirit of opposition to the white inhabitants. 
 
142 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 weather, were carried on beneath the 
 shade of a mango tree that spread its wide 
 branches by the side of her cottage.* She 
 was denounced and threatened for her con- 
 duct by the parish authorities, but with the 
 spirit of a true heroine she ridiculed their 
 menaces, and challenged any one to come 
 upon her premises for the purpose either of 
 molesting her or interrupting the worship. 
 On one occasion, when the missionary was 
 preaching beneath the tree to a considera- 
 ble number of the poor slaves, a party of 
 white men rode up to her gate, at the sight 
 of whom the whole congregation were agi- 
 tated, and were about to fly into the woods ; 
 she immediately advanced towards the 
 party, and shouted to them to come in ; 
 but before she reached the gate they had 
 galloped away. The converting and sancti- 
 fying influence of the Holy Spirit soon took 
 possession of her heart ; and after several 
 months' probation she was to be baptized, 
 with several others, in a river that flowed 
 along a part of the boundary of her little 
 domain. The ceremony was performed 
 at the appointed time, amidst a great con- 
 course of spectators. The missionary re- 
 gained the cottage before her. Her aged 
 slave, whom she had so often punished for 
 her steadfastness to Christ, was left at 
 home to make some arrangements for the 
 future services of the day. Scarcely had 
 the missionary seated himself, when the 
 tall withered form of the old African disci- 
 ple appeared before him as though para- 
 lyzed ; her eyes alternately fixed on some 
 object out of doors, and her clasped hands 
 directed ecstatically towards Heaven; he 
 sprang from his seat to ascertain the cause, 
 when he discovered among the trees a 
 tall noble-looking female figure clothed in 
 white, approaching the door. It was her 
 mistress. In a moment they were in each 
 other's arms,, and the floor was literally 
 sprinkled with their tears. "O, my misses," 
 said the aged slave, " who ever link me live 
 to see dis day ? Blessed Jesus make him 
 poor old neger eye see such a ting before 
 her dead." While her mistress, now no 
 longer a mistress, but a sister beloved, im- 
 plored forgiveness for her past conduct, 
 and ascribed all the glory of her change to 
 God. A more affecting scene was never 
 
 * This was the origin of the flourishing mission 
 establishment at Jericho, and others in the parish of 
 St. Thomas-in-the-Vale. 
 
 witnessed, and never can be obliterated 
 from the memory. O the transforming 
 efficacy of redeeming grace and dying 
 love ! the 
 
 " Lion changed into a lamb, 
 The vulture to a dove." 
 
 The tyrant and the slave, one in Christ 
 Jesus, falling on each other's necks and 
 weeping tears of joy ! Surely it was a 
 spectacle that attracted the gaze and admi- 
 ration of angels ! Nor has the subsequent 
 conduct of this once depraved and cruel 
 individual deceived the expectations which 
 were formed of the devotion of her heart 
 and life to God. She has been a real 
 blessing to the church, and through a se- 
 ries of years has maintained an unblemish- 
 ed reputation. During the persecutions of 
 1832 she exhibited a degree of moral he- 
 roism, which entitles her to a rank among 
 the noblest of her sex. In addition to 
 other instances of firmness and con- 
 stancy, she maintained her resolution to 
 keep her house open for the worship of 
 God and the shelter of the missionaries, at 
 whatever hazard, in the presence of the 
 militia force of the parish, before which 
 she was cited to appear in an open field.* 
 
 " Her loyalty she kept, her zeal, her love." 
 
 Instances of a similar kind, in relation 
 to the other sex, would fill a volume; a 
 single illustration must, however, suffice: — 
 
 " A Guinea negro," says a missionary, 
 " whose experience we lately heard, ob- 
 served respecting himself that from the 
 time he came from the Guinea coast, 'him 
 no able to take word, if any one offend him, 
 me lake knife, me take stick, me no satisfy 
 till me drink him blood — now me able to 
 lake twenty word ; — den me tief, me drink, 
 ebery bad ting me do. Somebody say me 
 must pray — me say no, what me pray for? 
 rum best pray for me — give me something 
 
 *The Rev. J. Clarke, writing at the time to the So- 
 ciety at home, says — " Miss Cooper, the person who 
 encouraged the preaching of the gospel here, was 
 taken to the militia muster-ground, and was threaten- 
 ed by the officers, but allowed to depart without mak- 
 ing any concessions to their unrighteous requirement, 
 that no more preaching should be allowed on her pre- 
 mises. She was next, on the 30th of March, taken 
 before a magistrate, and bound over, in the sum of 
 1501., to take her trial at the next quarter-sessions. 
 On the 7th of April she appeared, and traversed. I 
 then bad her c^se removed into the grand court; and 
 as it was for allowing me to preach on her ground, 
 and attending such preaching, the attorney-general 
 never brought it forward for trial." 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 143 
 
 good for eat, dat better dan pray.' < What 
 made you change your mind, then?' 
 ' Massa, me go to church one Sunday, an 
 me hear massa parson say, Jesus Christ 
 came an pill him blood for sinner. Ah, 
 someting say, you heary dat? Him pill 
 him blood ! Ah ! so ! den me de sinner, 
 me de tief, me de drunkard ! Him pill him 
 blood for Guinea neger ! Oh, oh ! Jesus 
 die for poo neger before him know him !' — 
 thinking, as seems quite natural to them, 
 that Jesus becomes acquainted with them 
 just then, because he is just then telling 
 them all they have done." 
 
 The crafty Eboe; the savage," violent, 
 and revengeful Coromantee ; the debased 
 and semi-human Moco and Angolian, with 
 those of other tribes described by histo- 
 rians as " hardened in idolatry, wallowers 
 in human blood, cannibals, drunkards, 
 practised in lewdness, oppression, and 
 fraud ; cursed with all the vices that can 
 degrade humanity ; possessing no one good 
 quality ; more brutal and savage than the 
 wild beasts of the forest, and utterly in- 
 capable of understanding the first rudi- 
 ments of the Christian religion" — these, 
 thousands of them, are now subdued, con- 
 verted, raised to the dignity and intelli- 
 gence of men, of sons and daughters of 
 the Lord God Almighty, and are bringing 
 forth the fruits of holiness, happiness, and 
 Heaven. 
 
 Section V. — Next to the salvation of 
 his own soul, a really converted man is 
 anxious for the salvation of the souls of 
 others. This anxiety is manifested in an 
 extraordinary degree by the churches in 
 Jamaica. It is evidenced by the whole 
 tenor of their conduct. Their feelings are 
 strong, and they " cannot but speak of the 
 things that they have seen and heard." It 
 is an invariable rule in the churches with 
 which the author is acquainted, on the ac- 
 ceptance of a candidate for church fellow- 
 ship, for the minister, deacons, or members 
 of the church indiscriminately, to enforce 
 upon his attention his duty to do all he can 
 personally for the conversion of his fellow- 
 creatures. This is often urged by the dea- 
 cons of the church with great earnest- 
 ness; and the similes they employ on these 
 as on other occasions, though homely, are 
 much to the purpose, and seldom fail of 
 
 their effect. Said one, "Now you hear 
 what minister say ; take care you no boil 
 de pot alone;" meaning that he was not to 
 feast on the blessings of the Gospel him- 
 self without inviting his fellow-creatures 
 to partake of them. " Suppose," said ano- 
 ther, on a recent occasion, " you were to 
 see a blind broder wandering by de river 
 side ready to fall in an drown, what you 
 do ?" " Me run to save him." " But sup- 
 pose him say, ' me don't goin to drown, 
 you must let me alone ; mind you own 
 business ; if me drown, it notin to you?'" 
 " Me must keep on coax him till me bring 
 him away." The universal sentiment, in- 
 deed, on such occasions is, " We must do 
 all we can to hail poor sinners like weself, 
 sitlin in de cave of darkness, to Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 In their prayers on this subject they are 
 generally the most animated and interest- 
 ing, often exhibiting some of the finesl in- 
 stances of pleading with God that perhaps 
 we ever heard. The writer scarcely ever 
 knew an instance in which a prayer was 
 closed without a compassionate reference 
 to the condition, and earnest appeals for 
 the salvation of their fellow-men. In times 
 of prevalent sickness it is by no means an 
 unusual occurrence for those who lead the 
 devotions at the public prayer-meetings to 
 be so overcome by their feelings that their 
 utterance is completely impeded, while the 
 whole congregation is drowned in tears. 
 At monthly missionary prayer-meetings, 
 especially, they often mention the inhabi- 
 tants of different parts of the world by 
 name. The darkness, degradation, and 
 misery of Africa awaken all their sympa- 
 thies. Sometimes on such occasions they 
 revert to the scenes of their childhood, the 
 wars in which they assisted, and the cir- 
 cumstances of their captivity, with as much 
 vividness of recollection as though they 
 were only recent occurrences, and mani- 
 fest an anxiety truly indescribable for the 
 salvation of any part of their families who 
 may be yet alive. Nor do they forget their 
 brethren in bonds, or the guilty perpetra- 
 tors of the slave-trade, or the missionaries. 
 To such a degree are they sometimes 
 drawn out in love towards their perishing 
 fellow-creatures, that when they can parti- 
 cularize no further, they supplicate, in the 
 warmth of their feelings and with true sub- 
 limity of conception, that there may be a 
 " full Heaven and an empty hell ; that 
 
144 
 
 JAMAICA 
 
 they may be saved from going to that 
 place where no sun shine, no tar twinkle."* 
 Nor are they content with merely 'pray- 
 ing for the extension of the Redeemer's 
 kingdom ; they know the necessity that 
 exists for pecuniary contributions to this 
 object, and, esteeming it both their duty 
 and their privilege thus to honour the Lord 
 with their substance, they do so in general 
 cheerfully, and according to their ability. 
 " Hence," says Mr. Candler, in his Journal 
 before referred to, " my belief is that the 
 Baptists and Methodists, who are in actual 
 connexion, pay for church purposes of all 
 kinds not less than twenty shillings per an- 
 num each, yielding an income to these two 
 bodies alone of nearly 70,000/. per an- 
 num. The other classes of Dissenters 
 from the Established Church depend more 
 on extrinsic support; but these bodies pro- 
 bably receive 10,000/. per annum from the 
 people here. These sums, which at first 
 view appear large, are devoted to several 
 different objects ; a considerable part is ap- 
 plied to the building of chapels and meet- 
 ing-houses, which, in this country, is at- 
 tended with great expense ; a chapel for 
 600 persons costing at least 1500/. ster- 
 ling. The building of school-rooms, and 
 the support of school-masters and school- 
 mistresses is another important item, as the 
 Baptist Missionary Society allows nothing 
 on this head from England, and the other 
 missionary societies only part of the ex- 
 pense; and the day-schools are numerous. 
 Some part of these congregational funds 
 are devoted to the support of the mission- 
 aries and their families, several of whom 
 depend entirely on what they receive from 
 the people, drawing no part of their in- 
 come from the societies at home; and their 
 expenses in some instances are necessarily 
 large, as they are compelled to keep many 
 horses, and travelling in Jamaica is very 
 costly. Then we may enumerate the re- 
 pairs of buildings, salaries to door-keepers, 
 grants to missionary societies, and the help 
 of the sick and infirm poor." It is, how- 
 ever, the opinion of the author that this es- 
 timate of the amount of individual contri- 
 butions is much too high. From his own 
 experience and that of his brethren in the 
 
 * With equal simplicity of language and thought, 
 they sometimes pray — " O Lord, let dy word run from 
 sugar-work to sugar-work, and from coffee-mount to 
 coffee-mount, dat de whole earth may be filled with 
 dy glory. Amen and amen." 
 
 more populous towns of the island, he is 
 convinced that one-half the amount stated 
 by Mr. Candler is as much as is, under any 
 circumstances, contributed by the people. 
 
 Every one recognises it as his duty to 
 do something in support of the cause; and, 
 generally speaking, in the absence of real 
 inability from sickness or other causes, 
 this duty is performed; and it is performed 
 voluntarily and cheerfully. 
 
 On the subject of supporting the minis- 
 ter it is a common observation, " Minister 
 no tradesman, no merchant, no lawyer; 
 don't come here to get a fortune ; as him 
 work for we, we must work for him." 
 
 Scarcely any object is brought before the 
 churches in vain. The Bible, Anti-Slavery, 
 and Missionary Societies, all secure their 
 hearty co-operation. Individuals who ne- 
 glect this duty, or whose contributions do 
 not correspond with their ability, are re- 
 primanded by the church, and in all cases 
 are treated with coolness and reserve as 
 guilty of inconsistency or sin. Covetous- 
 ness, indeed, is regarded as a stain upon 
 their profession — a disgrace upon their 
 character — a disqualification for office in 
 the church. 
 
 Some of the Baptist churches have sup- 
 ported their pastors, and to a considerable 
 degree the out-stations and schools in their 
 respective districts, for years ; and at the 
 annual association, in 1S42, the whole of 
 the missionaries resolved to cast themselves 
 entirely upon their people for support. At 
 the same time they pledged themselves on 
 behalf of their churches to supply pecuniary 
 means requisite for extending the work of 
 God around them, and to some extent, for 
 the maintenance of an institution designed 
 to furnish native agents both for Jamaica, 
 the neighbouring islands, and Africa. 
 
 As stated by Mr. Candler, the greater 
 part of the gross amount contributed by the 
 people for religious purposes is given in 
 trifling sums of from three-half-pence to 
 three-pence each, the amount of their 
 smaller coins; and these sums are given 
 weekly. Hence it is the number and con~ 
 tinuity of contributions that swell the ag- 
 gregate amount; as long-continued rains, 
 descending in single drops, form the inun- 
 dation, or the separate particles of water, 
 the ocean. 
 
 As it is not generally the practice to 
 hoard up money for events which may 
 never occur, and exigencies that may never 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 145 
 
 arise, and which might be squandered by 
 others in idleness and dissipation, they give 
 largely and to various objects. They con- 
 tribute towards chapel-building, the abo- 
 lition of the slave-trade, the dissemination 
 of the Gospel in Africa, — to their power, 
 yea, and beyond it. In many cases their 
 " deep poverty abounds unto the riches of 
 their liberality." Among Christians of all 
 denominations it is a frequent case for field- 
 labourers, and individuals in a small way 
 of trade, to give from one pound to three 
 pounds, and four pounds each, to one or 
 other of these objects on special occasions. 
 An aged African female, who obtained her 
 living by the manufacture and sale of a 
 cool and innocent beverage, brought to the 
 author some time since a piece of gold of 
 the value of two dollars (eight shillings 
 sterling) towards the building of a chapel 
 then in progress. Thinking it more than 
 she could afford, he hesitated to accept it. 
 Tears immediately filling in her eyes, she 
 said, " Minister, don't it a privilege to help 
 on God's work ; and because me poor, 
 minister don't want me to help? Me been 
 work hard for it ; rise early, sit up late, 
 hide up one fippenny, then anoder, till me 
 get to two dollar, den me bring it come to 
 minister ; and me must beg minister to take 
 it." It is common for the poorest class of 
 field-labourers, both male and female, 
 husband and wife, to give from one shilling 
 to four shillings each per month for months 
 together, towards the same objects ; and 
 sometimes, when a debt remains upon a 
 place of worship, the congregation propose 
 in a body to work additional hours per day, 
 that they may at once free themselves from 
 the incumbrance. By servants and others 
 the same liberality is manifested. A young 
 woman of colour, residing in the author's 
 family, who has six shillings per week, a 
 short time ago, after drawing small sums 
 for her support, left in the hands of her 
 mistress the value of four weeks' service 
 for the African mission, two for herself 
 and two for her aged grandmother; at the 
 same lime cheerfully contributing to every 
 other call that was made. On his recent 
 return to England this same individual sent 
 eighteen shillings, the amount of three 
 weeks' wages, as a present to some 
 children of whom she had previously the 
 charge as a nurse. At a public meeting 
 not many months since a black young man, 
 a sailor, announced, that if it pleased God 
 
 to spare him to return from the voyage on 
 which he was then about to embark, he 
 would give fifty dollars towards the Afri- 
 can Mission — a pledge which he nobly re- 
 deemed. Tradesmen, and others in a small 
 way of business, have been known to give 
 from one to three pounds and upwards re- 
 peatedly towards the liquidation of chapel 
 debts; and in some cases the wives of in- 
 dividuals of this class have employed them- 
 selves in menial occupations, to which they 
 had been unaccustomed, that they might 
 give the proceeds of it to the house of God. 
 In numerous instances in the country parts 
 of the island the congregations not only 
 contribute towards these objects in a pecu- 
 niary way, but also by actual labour, prin- 
 cipally in the conveyance of materials. 
 To mention but one instance, of the many 
 that could be selected, as a specimen. The 
 entire church and congregation at Sligo- 
 ville devoted one day in the week to this 
 object, each class labouring in succession, 
 and often conjointly. They thus conveyed 
 almost all the wood materials, and no in- 
 considerable portion of the other requisites 
 to the spot, bearing the more ponderous 
 timber on their heads up an acclivity along 
 narrow and almost inaccessible paths from 
 the woods, full three miles distant, and 
 carrying the rest from Spanish Town, a 
 distance of twelve miles of steep ascent; 
 thereby, on a moderate calculation, con- 
 tributing in cheerful, energetic, voluntary 
 labour, and that in addition to monthly 
 pecuniary donations, the sum of three 
 hundred pounds. 
 
 To these evidences of genuine piety may 
 be added another, without which the former 
 would be but of little avail. They dedicate 
 themselves to God in body, soul, and spirit, 
 and unite their efforts with their contribu- 
 tions and prayers. Among some of the de- 
 nominations, and probably in a greater or 
 less degree among al.l, it is thus with in- 
 quirers and catechumens, as well as mem- 
 bers. A negro convert cannot but tell of 
 " how great things the Lord hath done for 
 him." 
 
 The Jamaica churches in general are 
 essentially missionary churches, and each 
 individual of which they are composed re- 
 gards it as a sacred duty to do something 
 to promote the glory of God, in the salva- 
 tion of his fellow-men. Every one especial- 
 ly aims at the conversion of those with 
 whom he is connected — his relatives, his 
 
146 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 friends, his children, his servants. Male 
 and female, young and old, rich and poor, 
 are thus employed. They are not only all 
 at work, but it might almost be said, always 
 at work — not only every day, but almost 
 every hour in the day. The work of God 
 is their employment, not their recreation. 
 "And whatsoever their hands find to do 
 they do it with all their might," taking ad- 
 vantage of every favourable occurrence 
 that presents itself. Whether in the mar- 
 ket, in the field, or on the public road, they 
 seldom neglect an opportunity of speaking 
 a word for God, and this they do with 
 cheerfulness, and without hesitation or 
 apology. To facilitate these operations, 
 and to give them organization, as well as 
 to secure vigilant and proper oversight, a 
 special native agency is employed by some 
 of the denominations termed leaders and 
 helpers. In addition to the employment 
 of leaders, the Wesleyans and Baptists 
 make use of tickets. The system pursued 
 by the Wesleyans is the same as that in 
 operation among them at home. The 
 practice of the Baptists in some respect re- 
 sembles it. It is indeed a departure from 
 the custom of the Baptist churches in Eng- 
 land and elsewhere, but was adopted in 
 consequence of the law in force, during 
 slavery, prohibiting ministers of religion 
 visiting estates without permission from the 
 persons in charge. It was, in these circum- 
 stances, found essential to a successful 
 prosecution of missionary work. Where 
 the churches were large it was considered 
 also so advantageous to their purity and 
 increase, that it has been continued, with 
 slight variations, to the present day. The 
 leader is selected from the most pious, in- 
 telligent, and otherwise best qualified mem- 
 bers in a particular district, and is appoint- 
 ed to assist the minister in the performance 
 of his pastoral duties, by watching over 
 the members committed to his charge, and 
 by assisting in the work of God in general. 
 For these purposes they visit the sick, and 
 report their condition to the church meet- 
 ings ; hold prayer-meetings; meetings for 
 exhortation, and endeavour to advance re- 
 ligion generally throughout their district. 
 Tickets, which are oblong pieces of card- 
 paper, containing the date of the year, the 
 initials of the different months or quarters, 
 and sometimes a passage of scripture, are 
 given to membeus and inquirers — to in- 
 quirers to secure their regular attendance 
 
 on the various means of grace, to bring 
 them under strict spiritual supervision, and 
 to afford the minister an opportunity of 
 seeing them personally once a quarter, 
 when such tickets are renewed or exchang- 
 ed, and to enable him to ascertain the regu- 
 larity, or otherwise, with which they dis- 
 charge their external duties. They are 
 given to the members, for the additional 
 purpose of guarding the table of the Lord 
 from the intrusion of improper characters, 
 and as a guarantee to Christians of the 
 same faith and order of their good charac- 
 ter and standing in the churches to which 
 they belong. In further pursuance of the 
 plan adopted by the Wesleyans, contribu- 
 tions of the people to the several objects of 
 the station (amounting to sixpence each or 
 upwards) are usually given at the time 
 these tickets are changed or renewed. The 
 practice, however, varies in many respects 
 with almost every church and congrega- 
 tion. 
 
 Whenever any of the more private mem- 
 bers succeed in awakening religious con- 
 cern in the minds of others, they usually 
 introduce them to the class to which they 
 themselves belong, and to the house of 
 God. After a term of probation such in- 
 dividuals are usually brought up to the 
 minister by their respective leaders, as new 
 recruits (so sometimes pleasantly called), 
 for tickets, and to be enrolled in the list of 
 inquirers, the minister at the same time 
 conversing with them, and endeavouring to 
 ascertain their sincerity. 
 
 Every member of each class endeavours 
 to increase his own numbers, and mani- 
 fests especial concern for the consistency 
 and spiritual improvement of those he has 
 been instrumental in bringing to a know- 
 ledge of the truth. 
 
 When strangers are seen in the house of 
 God they are uniformly treated with 
 kindness, many vying with each other for 
 the honour of securing them as an addition 
 to their lists. They are conversed with, 
 and most probably invited to attend a 
 social prayer-meeting held during the in- 
 terval of worship or at the close of the day. 
 This done, attention and kindness are re- 
 renewed, and the result almost invariably 
 is, that the individual becomes an inquirer. 
 
 In cases of ungodly neighbours, and 
 others suffering under temporal losses, 
 relative bereavements, or personal afflic- 
 tions, the members and inquirers indis-- 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 147 
 
 criminately visit them, proffer their assis- 
 tance for domestic purposes, and in some 
 cases relieve necessities that may exist. 
 At the same time, while the heart is tender 
 and susceptible of impression, these poor 
 people talk to their afflicted friends, pray 
 with and for them, repeat their visits and 
 efforts, sometimes invite the attendance of 
 their minister on these objects of their 
 solicitude, and, under circumstances of 
 hopeful recovery, obtain from the latter a 
 promise of attendance at the house of God. 
 In the one case it is not unusual for a 
 Christian negro to bend the knees of an in- 
 quiring penitent and teach him to pray for 
 himself; in the other, to watch the impres- 
 sion produced upon his mind by the ser- 
 mon, and to enforce the great truths of it 
 upon his attention afterwards, and thus 
 persevering until (which is a frequent case) 
 their efforts and prayers are crowned with 
 a blessing from on high. 
 
 Exclusive of regular class-meetings, it 
 is a practice for members to hold prayer- 
 meetings in each other's houses, to which, 
 in pursuance of the same great object, they 
 invite their neighbours, friends, or any 
 strangers who may happen to be passing 
 by. Tradesmen, pedlers, and even ser- 
 vants removing from one family to another, 
 or to any other part of the island, act upon 
 the same principle, so that efforts for the 
 salvation of their fellow-men constitute, in 
 a word, the great work of their lives — their 
 calling — some actually making it their 
 business, as frequently as opportunities 
 occur, to go from house to house, from es- 
 tate to estate, and from the town to the 
 country, for this purpose. 
 
 The effects of such exertions in some 
 instances would almost exceed belief. An 
 aged black man, from a property six miles 
 distant, hearing Mr. Coultart preach in 
 Kingston soon after his arrival, was sav- 
 ingly converted to God, and beginning im- 
 mediately to tell " what a dear Saviour he 
 had found," was instrumental in the con- 
 version of between 100 and 200 persons 
 who contributed to the origin of the church 
 at Spanish Town. Numbers of these yet 
 survive, and have, through a long course 
 of years, sustained an honourable Christian 
 character. Two of them, now far advanced 
 in life, have been deacons of the church at 
 Spanish Town from the period of its for- 
 mation, upwards of twenty-five years ago, 
 to the present time, their characters un- 
 
 sullied by a single stain, and having their 
 names enrolled in the chronicles of heaven 
 as among the most devoted and useful, as 
 well as the most faithful and devout of the 
 church below. 
 
 A respectable coloured female, resident 
 in Spanish Town, who has been a member 
 of the same church nearly the same length 
 of time, and who has also maintained an 
 equally unblemished reputation, has been 
 the instrument in the hand of God in bring- 
 ing upwards of a thousand persons under the 
 sound of the Gospel, and thereby to the 
 footstool of mercy and the fellowship of the 
 church, who, humanly speaking, but for 
 her efforts, would have lived and died 
 without hope and without God in the world. 
 Though scarcely possessing sufficient 
 means for her support, she has devoted the 
 last twenty years of her life almost wholly 
 to the work of God. It is her meat and 
 drink. From day to day, and from year 
 to year, is she found inviting sinners, en- 
 couraging the penitent, devising and super- 
 intending plans for the conversion of the 
 young, sheltering the persecuted, warning 
 the careless, and endeavouring to reclaim 
 the backslider — labouring almost night and 
 day, and that often with a perseverance 
 and courage, under adverse circumstances, 
 which at once evinces the purity of her 
 motives and the integrity of her heart. 
 
 Instances of similar self-devotion are so 
 common that it is difficult to make a selec- 
 tion. The following relates to an aged 
 black female in the country. She invited 
 the ministers of the Gospel to preach in the 
 village in which she resides, accommodated 
 them, assisted in and superintended the 
 erection of a place of worship on her own 
 premises, travelled around the neighbour- 
 hood to invite sinners to attend it, and 
 oftentimes stood at her door by the road- 
 side, particularly on a market-day, and 
 addressed almost every individual who 
 passed by on the subject of his eternal 
 interest. She frequently devised expedients 
 for detaining some of these passengers, 
 addressing them with a natural eloquence 
 and fervour truly astonishing. Under her 
 vivid and powerful representations of the 
 love of Christ, and the base ingratitude of 
 sinners to him in return, the writer has 
 seen the tear of penitence roll down the 
 cheek of the persons addressed, and then 
 has he seen her lead them to the house of 
 prayer, and heard her almost agonize with 
 
148 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 God that he would break still more their 
 rocky heart, and make them give them- 
 selves up at once and entirely to the 
 Saviour. Regardless of persecution or 
 temporal loss, she would even address 
 white people on the subject of religion, and 
 few of them could gainsay the wisdom or 
 spirit by which she spake ; and through 
 her instrumentality, directly and indirectly, 
 hundreds have put on Christ, by an open 
 profession, who have generally adorned it 
 by a consistent walk and conversation. 
 
 Some years ago an intelligent servant, 
 then a slave, who was a member of the 
 church at Spanish Town, came to her min- 
 ister in great concern, saying she was 
 about to remove with her mistress and 
 family to Falmouth, where she would be 
 deprived of all means of spiritual instruc- 
 tion. Her minister presented her with a 
 Bible, and, knowing her ardent love to 
 Christ, and her zeal for the promotion of 
 his glory, encouraged her to hope that she 
 might be taken there, in the providence of 
 God, to open the way for the preaching of 
 the Gospel in that town and neighbour- 
 hood, at the same time recommending her 
 to exert herself to the utmost for this object. 
 She did so, seizing opportunities as she 
 could obtain them from her daily work. 
 She talked to her fellow-servants, went 
 from house to house on the same errand of 
 love, held prayer-meetings, formed a class, 
 and so successfully persevered in her bene- 
 volent efforts that in the course of two or 
 three years she collected a number of be- 
 tween 200 and 300 souls, whom she pre- 
 sented to the missionary who first opened 
 the station as her children in the Gospel. 
 After some further probation, and an inves- 
 tigation of their character and qualifica- 
 tions, the greater part of them were bap- 
 tized, and formed the origin of the church 
 at Falmouth. Among the first fruits of 
 her pious labours were two of her fellow- 
 servants, who were baptized by the author in 
 Spanish Town, whither they had come with 
 their master on his annual visit as a mem- 
 ber of the council. One of them was chosen 
 a deacon of the church at Falmouth, and 
 both himself and this devoted woman have 
 ever since been among its most useful mem- 
 bers and distinguished ornaments. Several 
 cases have occurred in which female ser- 
 vants have been instrumental in the con- 
 version of their mistresses. The writer is 
 personally acquainted with six such cases ; 
 
 two were wives of clergymen of the Church 
 of England, and the others ladies of equal 
 respectability, while numbers have been 
 induced to go to the house of God as the 
 result of the importunities of their depen- 
 dants. The influence of pious servants in 
 this respect among the higher and middling 
 classes of society in Jamaica will never be 
 known until the resurrection of the just. 
 Finding their inspiration in their theme, it 
 may be said of the devoted people that, 
 " Daily in the Temple and in every house 
 they cease not to teach and preach Jesus 
 Christ." Similar to the plan pursued by 
 the ordinary members of the church is that 
 adopted by Sunday-school teachers. They 
 endeavour to increase the prosperity of 
 their schools by personal visits and appli- 
 cations for scholars, seeking after absen- 
 tees, and visiting the sick. At a suitable 
 age the children are taken from the schools, 
 and formed into Bible classes, which are 
 placed under the care of respectable and 
 intelligent members of the church. Thus 
 all classes receive individual attention and 
 personal instruction. " Each sapling is 
 trained and nourished until it becomes a 
 tree." 
 
 Section VI — Satisfactory to every real 
 Christian as must be such evidences of the 
 real piety of our Jamaica churches, there 
 is yet another to be added which is per- 
 haps still more interesting and decisive. 
 Thousands have proved the sincerity of 
 their profession, and the firmness of their 
 confidence, on the day of affliction and in 
 the hour of death. These are seasons 
 when the reality of religion is brought to 
 the test, and no where is it more severely 
 tested than in a land where sickness so 
 often terminates fatally, and with so little 
 warning. The experience and conduct of 
 Christian negroes and their descendants 
 under such circumstances have been truly 
 astonishing. Their uniform calmness, 
 their patience, their resignation, their deep 
 spirituality of mind, their ardent relish for 
 holy conversation — all indicate the exis- 
 tence of divine and holy principle. 
 
 Calling on an aged and devoted deacon 
 of the church who was confined by sick- 
 ness, and discovering a sadness in his 
 countenance, his pastor inquired the cause. 
 He replied, " I am like the Apostle minis- 
 ter was preaching about lately. I have ho 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 149 
 
 wish to stand longer in this sinful world. 
 I desire to be with Christ, which is far bet- 
 ter. But sometimes, when I think of the 
 family (his class), my heart sinks ; some 
 of them are careless and upstart, and I am 
 obliged to coax them ; but if another one 
 come, who don't know their temper, may 
 be, they get vex, and so scatter about and 
 forsake the fountain of living water ! But" 
 — (here he paused, and, detecting the spirit 
 of self-sufficiency which dictated the latter 
 sentence, he added) — " but who is me, 
 poor old man, God cannot take care of him 
 own if I am dead ? You see, minister, 
 how my wicked heart and the devil work." 
 Here he looked upward, and ejaculated 
 for more of the grace of God, to keep him 
 humble, and that his eye, as he expressed 
 it, might be kept more steady on "precious 
 Master Jesus." 
 
 Another, under circumstances somewhat 
 similar, after manifesting a full assurance 
 of hope as to her own interest in the merits 
 of the Redeemer, said, " There is but one 
 thing that troubles me; I have not been so 
 faithful to the souls committed to my care 
 as I ought to have been. O, if I should 
 have ruined any by my neglect ! This is 
 the only thing I desire to live for, that I 
 may labour to show them more of their 
 own sinfulness — their need of more entire 
 dependence upon the righteousness of 
 Christ, and more of the Holy Spirit's influ- 
 ences, to renew and sanctify their hearts. 
 I have sometimes fretted when any of them 
 have walked contrary, and have been 
 ready to give up the work ; but I pray my 
 Heavenly Father to forgive me, and try me 
 again, if it be his blessed will ; if not, I 
 am ready to go. ' Father, not my will, 
 but thine be done.' " 
 
 Multitudes in their last moments have 
 exhibited a tranquillity which death could 
 not ruffle, and a confidence which the king 
 of terrors could not shake. "That poor 
 man's life must be a misery to him," said 
 a gentleman to a missionary, who was 
 conducting him round a negro village, al- 
 luding to an aged negro who sat at the 
 door of a lonely hut, suffering from a 
 loathsome disease. " Poor creature ! and 
 he seems to be forsaken by the rest of the 
 people." The old man caught the words, 
 and looking benignantly at the speaker, re- 
 plied, with considerable animation, "No, 
 me no poor cretur ; me family very good, 
 give me someting to eat, and Massa Jesus 
 
 too good to me, poo sinner; him give me 
 comfort here" (putting his hand upon his 
 heart). 
 
 Minister. " Well, but are you not 
 almost tired of carrying about your poor 
 afflicted body ?" 
 
 Negro. " No, minister, you poo neger 
 can't tired ; me sitten down waiten for 
 Massa Jesus to call ; den me go and left 
 me poo body behind." Lifting his eyes 
 up to Heaven, he said with a smile, 
 " There him is ; him looking down pon 
 me ; and it seems like him say, « keep 
 heart little longer, me soon come call for 
 now ;' so, minister, me satisfy. Me bin 
 waiten-boy for Buckra once, an me bleedge 
 to wait for massa time ; now me sarvant 
 for Massa Jesus, and me can't patient wait 
 fo him time?" 
 
 To one who had been active in bringing 
 strangers to the house of God, and under 
 other means of Christian instruction, but 
 who, it was feared, sometimes betrayed a 
 self-righteous spirit, his pastor observed, 
 " Take care you don't deceive yourself; 
 your heart is wicked and deceitful ; and 
 perhaps it is the devil who tells you you 
 will go to Heaven, because you have done 
 a little good to your fellow-creatures." 
 " Me minister," said the dying saint, whose 
 body was rapidly dissolving under the in- 
 fluence of a burning fever; " minister, me 
 tank you, God bless you ; give me warn- 
 ing, but no, no. What work me done for 
 God ? me poor ting, no ; me hang only pon 
 Massa Jesus' precious blood, same like de 
 dying tief who hang upon de cross ; me 
 same sinner like him." 
 
 " It is a solemn thing to go into the pre- 
 sence of a heart-searching God ; don't you 
 feel afraid at the thought?" "Minister 
 sometime read to we about de prodigal 
 son. Him fraid to go back to him fader 
 house?" 
 
 " But how do you know that God is 
 your father?" " Me heart tell me so ; me 
 tick to him same like de skin tick to me 
 poo dyin flesh ; and, minister, Massa Jesus 
 no promise ?" 
 
 He expired in the midst of convulsive 
 pain — the breaking up of the partition 
 which stood betwixt his soul and the sight 
 of that Being who was present with him in 
 his sickness, and who was about to mani- 
 fest himself to him in all the fullness of joy. 
 
 " We have had much sickness," says a 
 missionary, " among our members of late, 
 
150 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 and many deaths, as also some pleasing 
 testimonies of their happy prospects. A 
 poor negro man called to invite me to the 
 sick bed of his friend : I went, there he is 
 stretched upon a mattress which lies on the 
 floor, his hands folded and resting on his 
 breast, with his eyes shut apparently in 
 earnest prayer. After the lapse of a mi- 
 nute or two he opened his eyes, and stretch- 
 ing out his hand, said, ' Ah, massa, you 
 know Adam ! here him lie now, me often 
 hear you voice in prayer ; me often hear 
 you praise ; once more, massa, let me hear 
 your voice. O sing, singde praise of Jesus 
 once more ; and den may be while you 
 sing, me steal away to Jesus.' Placing 
 his wrist upon the finger points of the other 
 hand, and raising his elbow to give the 
 hand a rapid descent, so that nothing could 
 rest upon it, said, ' So the world tan wi me 
 now, it ready to trow me off, but den O me 
 hope, me hope, though me no sure, me will 
 den fall into the arms of Jesus.' Another 
 said, after I had talked with him and pray- 
 ed, and was leaving, ' Farewell ! to-mor- 
 row, massa, before sun rise on you, me 
 shall be wi Jesus [so he was] ; me shall 
 go singing from this bad world' [so he 
 did]." 
 
 " A negro woman at the parish-house, 
 being near death, sent for me. I found her 
 in a very small room on the floor by the 
 bed of her mistress, her mistress standing 
 by. I told her of her worthlessness. ' O 
 yes, me noting worth, me know, but me 
 must go to Jesus. So long me do bad, me 
 conduct to Jesus very bad.' I said, ' Yes, 
 you deserve hell.' ' O yes, though me no 
 know what hell mean ; but if it mean, me 
 get bad for do bad, me deserve to get de 
 worst ; but me must hope and try Jesus.' 
 'Do you think Jesus will receive you?' 
 ' Ah, massa, him no lub me when me well ! 
 yes, him love me den, now him send sick, 
 him no going to throw me off now. No, 
 no ! now me sick and near de grave, none 
 care for me poor neger like my Jesus.' " 
 
 These are instances of patient waiting 
 and steady confidence on the part of the 
 simple-hearted Christians of our churches 
 — it is true piety displayed by the depth, 
 the sublimity, the moral ardour, the men- 
 tal calm, the unfeigned reverence, the 
 cheerful affiance, and in the simplicity in 
 which it presents itself to the Father of 
 Spirits and searcher of hearts. The scenes 
 
 beheld at such periods are triumphant: 
 oftentimes the faith of the dying, treading 
 the firm ground of the promise, appears at 
 once to enter within the veil, and to lay 
 hold on eternal life, while angels seemed 
 to beckon them away, as if in waiting to 
 convey their happy spirits to the purchased 
 possession. One could scarcely fail to be 
 reminded of Jacob at Penuel, of Moses on 
 the Mount, or of David, and Simeon and 
 Paul, in their expiring moments. An in- 
 teresting individual of colour, arrested by 
 the hand of death in the prime of life, 
 shortly after a severe relative bereave- 
 ment, sent for the writer to visit him. In 
 the early part of his affliction, and for 
 many previous years, he " went about to 
 establish his own righteousness, not sub- 
 mitting to the righteousness which is of 
 God by faith." His views became gradu- 
 ally clear and comprehensive, and a short 
 time before he died his mind was filled with 
 joy unspeakable. Looking at his children, 
 who were soon to be left orphans, he said, 
 " For a long time I feared I could not 
 leave them ; the thought was like a dagger 
 to my heart; but now I can give them up 
 without a pang; 'the Lord will provide 
 for them.' I can trust his promise, he 
 cannot lie. I am now ready." Then 
 clasping his hands, and looking upward in 
 ecstacy, he exclaimed, " Come, Lord 
 Jesus, come quickly ! Why tarry the 
 wheels of thy chariot ?" A fit of cough- 
 ing seized him as the result of this effort, 
 and he ruptured a blood-vessel. A swoon 
 succeeded, from which recovery seemed 
 impossible. But he rallied ; and looking 
 around with astonishment on his weeping 
 relatives and friends he uttered at intervals, 
 as his breathing allowed him. "And am 
 I come back again ? — Oh, what happiness 
 have 1 enjoyed ! I have been in Heaven! 
 1 have heard the angels sing ! I have seen 
 the Lamb in the midst of the throne : O, 
 that you could have seen what I have seen ! 
 Alas ! that I am here again ; but it will be 
 only for a moment. This has been but a 
 foretaste of the glory that yet remains — a 
 sip of the river of life ; what will it be to 
 drink of it through eternity?" He now 
 summoned his remaining strength, and ad- 
 dressed all present with an earnestness 
 and sweetness of manner almost seraphic, 
 and soon after expired, with a hope full of 
 immortality. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 151 
 
 Never before did the writer enter into 
 the spirit of those beautiful lines, — 
 
 " When one that holds communion with the skies 
 Has filled his urn whence these pure waters rise, 
 And once more mingles with us meaner things, 
 'Tis even as if an angel shook his wings! 
 Immortal fragrance fills the circuit wide 
 That tells us whence his treasures are supplied." 
 
 Similar to the dying experience of this 
 individual were the last moments of an 
 aged female, who for many years had 
 eminently adorned the doctrine of God her 
 Saviour. Her calmness — her heavenly 
 mindedness — her almost complete abstract- 
 edness from the world — her love to Christ, 
 and zeal for his glory, in the salvation of 
 her fellow-creatures, had been long re- 
 markable, but towards the closing scene of 
 her life all the graces of the Spirit seemed 
 matured and ripened. Being greatly re- 
 spected in the town and neighbourhood, 
 numbers of persons of all classes succes- 
 sively crowded around her bed to take a 
 last farewell. Her chamber seemed the 
 verge of Heaven. She was often in rap- 
 tures indescribable. These feelings were 
 caught in some degree by her pious atten- 
 dants, and the intervals from pain and re- 
 pose were passed in reading passages of 
 Scripture, in singing, holy conversation, 
 and prayer. She seemed assimilated to 
 the spirits of the just made perfect — in a 
 mortal body, indeed, yet detached from 
 mortality — in the midst of her relatives 
 and friends, yet wholly separated from 
 them. The careless and gay amongst her 
 visiters were struck with astonishment at 
 the happiness she enjoyed, and at the fer- 
 vour and force of her appeals and exhor- 
 tations to them, and many, as well as the 
 servants about the premises, seemed in- 
 voluntarily to say, " how sweet and awful 
 is this place ! Let me die the death of the 
 righteous, and let my last end be like his." 
 She died singing those beautiful lines be- 
 ginning — 
 
 " See the kind angels at the gates 
 Inviting me to come ;" 
 
 in which she was joined, at her request, 
 by the Christian friends whom she had now 
 summoned around her bed. 
 
 Numerous instances have also occurred, 
 in which teachers and children in Sabbath- 
 schools, under dying circumstances, have 
 exhibited views of the plan of salvation 
 equally clear, evidences of their personal 
 interest in the Saviour equally satisfactory, 
 
 and happiness no less really the result of 
 the transforming, sanctifying, transporting, 
 influence of divine and sovereign grace, 
 than those of riper years. One little black 
 boy, about twelve years of age, for some 
 days before his death was almost inces- 
 santly speaking about Christ and the hea- 
 venly world. Although almost blind from 
 the effects of the disease of which he suf- 
 fered, he often sat up on his lowly bed and 
 addressed his school-fellows on these sub- 
 jects, imploring them to repent and return 
 to God, through Jesus Christ, that they 
 might meet him in Heaven, and otherwise 
 speaking and acting, so as to draw num- 
 bers of even irreligious neighbours to the 
 house to listen to his admonitions. Amono- 
 the last words he was heard to articulate, 
 and which he had often repeated, were, 
 " God is my Father, Christ is my Re- 
 deemer, the Holy Spirit is my Sanctifier, 
 and Heaven is my home." 
 
 Another, about the same age, whose im- 
 mediate relatives were of disreputable cha- 
 racter, earnestly begged them to send for 
 his minister. Fearing lest his anxiety on 
 this account might accelerate the progress 
 of the disease, a messenger was at leno-th 
 despatched in haste for him. When he 
 arrived the room was crowded with the 
 schoolfellows of the child, who, with his 
 mother and other relatives and friends, 
 were overwhelmed with grief. He imme- 
 diately recognised his minister, and asked 
 him to pray for him and for his mother, 
 requesting him afterwards to talk to his 
 parent, adding that he could not die hap- 
 pily until his mother made a promise to go 
 to the house of God. Having answered 
 various questions which were proposed to 
 him in a manner that far exceeded expec- 
 tation, he beckoned the minister to come 
 nearer to him, and whispered, " Mother 
 don't like to part with me, but 1 don't wish 
 to live; I wish to go to my precious Sa- 
 viour — to live with him, where there is no 
 sin. 1 am not afraid to die; I feel quite 
 happy." He then requested his school- 
 fellows to sing. He was asked what hymn. 
 He said " Vital," meaning " Pope's Ode." 
 He survived but a few hours, and then, 
 young as he was, ascended to his Father, 
 and his God. 
 
 These instances might be greatly multi- 
 plied, but another only must suffice. It is 
 the case of one of the first female scholars 
 in the Sabbath-school at Spanish Town, 
 
152 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 and who subsequently became one of its 
 steadiest and most devoted teachers. With 
 the exception of one or two departures 
 from consistency, which her pastor re- 
 garded as the effect of her natural liveli- 
 ness of disposition, and which were pain- 
 ful to her in the retrospect, she gave him 
 no occasion to speak to her in the lan- 
 guage of reproof. Her death was among 
 the most tranquil, happy, and triumphant 
 of any that have been recorded. When 
 the writer entered her apartment for the 
 last time, which was after an absence of 
 some months from the island, he found her 
 sitting upon her bed propped up by pillows, 
 awaiting his arrival; and never will he 
 forget the circumstances of the interview. 
 Eagerly grasping his hand, she faintly 
 articulated, " See, here I am, minister, 
 only sitting up waiting your return, which 
 I have been praying for, and which my 
 heavenly Father has been so good as to 
 allow me to see;" and then lifting up her 
 eyes to heaven, glistening with love and 
 gratitude and tenderness, she exclaimed, 
 " Now, Lord, lettest thou thy servant de- 
 part in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy 
 salvation. I have waited for thy salvation, 
 O Lord! O Death, where is thy sting; 
 O Grave, where is thy victory 1 the sting 
 of death is sin, and the strength of sin is 
 the law ; but blessed be God who giveth 
 me the victory through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ." Disease had made rapid inroads 
 upon her once apparently sound and vigor- 
 ous constitution, and it was evident that 
 death had already begun to execute his 
 commission. It was late in the evening 
 when this visit was paid, and the writer 
 hastened home, purposing to see her again 
 on the following morning ; but he saw her 
 no more. During the interval she had re- 
 signed her happy spirit into the hands of 
 him who gave it. Shortly after his de- 
 parture, she handed her Bible to a female 
 friend and attendant, requesting her to read 
 a favourite chapter, after which a verse or 
 twp of a hymn was sung, and prayers of- 
 fered ; in the midst of this latter exercise 
 she expired without a struggle or groan. 
 She departed to be with Christ, — sweetly 
 fell asleep in Jesus. 
 
 " Night-dews fall not more gently to the ground, 
 Nor weary, worn-out winds expire more soft," 
 
 Upwards of four hundred persons, in- 
 cluding the teachers and children of the 
 
 Sabbath-school, followed her remains to 
 the grave; the setting sun, to which the 
 departed bore in one respect so striking a 
 resemblance, bursting upon the procession 
 as it turned an angle of the street, afforded 
 a subject to one deeply interested in that 
 event which absorbed his contemplations, 
 until they arrived at a kind of family re- 
 ceptacle which was embosomed in a clump 
 of trees. By this time twilight had thrown 
 a softened light on every object around — 
 and from the general solemnity of the 
 scene — the many recollections of painful 
 interest it excited, and the rapid approach 
 of darkness, the ceremony was soon per- 
 formed, and the mourners who had hitherto 
 restrained their grief, or had expressed it 
 in half-stifled sobs, now gave full vent to 
 their feelings, and " dropping tears upon 
 the grave," retired. As previously pro- 
 posed, the bereaved, and many of the spec- 
 tators proceeded to the House of God, and 
 there, while the heart was yet tender and 
 susceptible of impression, the minister en- 
 deavoured to improve the event. On the 
 following Sabbath he preached a funeral 
 sermon for her from 1 Cor. xv. 55 — 57, 
 almost the last words she was distinctly 
 heard to utter. There was a crowded 
 auditory, and from the pulpit it presented 
 a truly affecting scene. Although several 
 days had passed away since the removal 
 of their young friend to her long home, the 
 circumstance had lost none of its interest, 
 especially with the youthful part of the 
 congregation. It was evident that they 
 had been bereaved, and they had a heart 
 to feel the loss they had sustained. The 
 solemn service was commenced by singing 
 the 176th hymn in the Sunday Scholai 
 Companion. 
 
 " Death has been here, and borne away 
 A sister from our side; 
 Just in the morning of her days, 
 As young as we, she died." 
 
 Pope's Ode, as founded on the language 
 of the text, followed the prayer, and 18th 
 hymn, Book I. (Dr. Watts) succeeded the 
 sermon, — 
 
 " Hear what the voice from heaven proclaims 
 For all the pious dead ; 
 Sweet is the savour of their names, 
 And soft their sleeping bed." 
 
 The verses were sung principally by the 
 teachers and children of the Sabbath- 
 school, and in such a tone of sympathy 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 153 
 
 and pathos as could not fail to affect the 
 feelings and the heart. Great solemnity 
 pervaded the whole congregation, and from 
 this and other favourable symptoms, rea- 
 sonable and earnest hopes were entertain- 
 ed that both the event and the circum- 
 stances connected with it would be sancti- 
 fied and blessed to many, both young and 
 old ; hopes that were fully realized, as not 
 fewer than seven, chiefly young persons, 
 were savingly impressed with the solemni- 
 ties of the evening, and are now following 
 the deceased as she followed Christ — orna- 
 ments to the Church and blessings to all 
 around them. 
 
 " I saw the end of time, the incipient birth 
 Of the new heavens and new-created earth. 
 Saw I the negro? Yes, I saw him there 
 In those bright robes the Saviour's followers wear." 
 
 To several of the topics enumerated in 
 this and the preceding chapter much might 
 have been added illustrative, not only of 
 the sincere and devoted piety possessed 
 and exemplified by the Jamaica churches, 
 but also of the great results of philanthro- 
 pic effort in general which has been brought 
 under review. Such additions, however, 
 the author regarded as quite unnecessary, 
 convinced as he is that no true Christian 
 can reflect upon the statements already 
 made, in connexion with the satisfactory 
 and undeniable evidence adduced, without 
 exclaiming with grateful emotion, " What 
 hath God wrought?" "It is the Lord's 
 doings, and marvellous in our eyes." 
 
 To give a consecutive view of the various 
 instrumental causes which have contributed 
 to these great results, will be the subject of 
 the succeeding chapter. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 PRINCIPAL INSTRUMENTAL CAUSES TO 
 WHICH THESE GREAT RESULTS ARE TO 
 BE ATTRIBUTED. 
 
 Abolition of the Slave Trade— Efforts of the African 
 Institution— Of Anti-slavery and Agency Societies 
 —Establishment and operation of Schools— Circu- 
 lation of Bibles and Tracts— Moral Influence ex- 
 erted by Missionaries— Their Efforts for the Im- 
 provement of the Temporal Condition of the Peo- 
 ple—Insurrection or Disturbances in 1832 and 1833 
 —Establishment and operation of Schools— Pecu- 
 liar System of Instrumentality employed by the 
 larger Churches— Spirit of Prayer possessed by the 
 People— The preaching of the Gospel, accompanied 
 by the Influence of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 It is an axiom in philosophy that every 
 effect must have an adequate cause. IC it 
 
 11 
 
 be interesting to the statesman to mark the 
 gradations through which nations, once 
 barbarous and uncivilized, have passed, 
 till at length they have become distinguish- 
 ed for their social refinement, their political 
 or commercial greatness : it cannot be less 
 gratifying to the Christian to trace the va- 
 rious steps which have led to the moral and 
 spiritual renovation of any portion of our 
 race ; by which the " word of the Lord 
 has grown mightily and prevailed," — 
 " liberty been proclaimed to the captive, 
 and the opening of the prison to them that 
 were bound." 
 
 Foremost in the list of causes which 
 have contributed to this great result in Ja- 
 maica is to be placed the formation of the 
 Society for the Abolition of the Slave 
 Trade. Almost all the mild and benignant 
 laws enacted for the benefit and protection 
 of the negro slave were of subsequent date 
 to the first agitation of the question by the 
 British Parliament, and may therefore be 
 fairly presumed to have been suggested by 
 that movement. By diminishing the num- 
 ber of the victims of this accursed traffic, 
 the abolition lessened in an equal propor- 
 tion that amount of ignorance, superstition, 
 and profligacy, which was the necessary re- 
 sult of every fresh importation from Africa. 
 So long as this nefarious system con- 
 tinued it seemed to present an insurmount- 
 able obstacle, not only to social, but espe- 
 cially to moral and religious improvement. 
 Its injurious effects were felt not only by 
 the black, but equally by the whole mass of 
 the white and coloured population. Hence 
 its abolition must be regarded as having 
 materially contributed to that series of 
 events which led to the result described in 
 the preceding chapters. By changing in 
 some degree the relative position of the 
 proprietor and the slave, by awakening in 
 the bosom of the latter a sense of the atro- 
 cious wrongs of which he was the subject, 
 and by making the former, for his own in- 
 terest, more tenacious of the life and com- 
 fort of his living chattels, as well as, by 
 leading the degraded African to imitate the 
 manners and customs of his while oppres- 
 sors, one great obstacle was removed, and 
 the way prepared for the final triumph of 
 civilization, morality, and religion. The 
 abolition of the slave-trade lcd°lo the de- 
 struction of slavery itself. The cham- 
 pions of abolition, in searching for evi- 
 dence by which to sustain their allegations 
 
154 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 respecting the monstrous cruelties and 
 atrocities of the inhuman traffic, discovered 
 that the " half had not been told them," 
 and that even should they succeed in their 
 efforts, the wretched offspring of those 
 already imported would be left, doomed to 
 hopeless and interminable bondage. As 
 the result of this conviction the African 
 Association was formed, one object of 
 which was to collect and diffuse such in- 
 formation as might awaken the public 
 mind, excite its sympathies, and secure its 
 co-operation in the further prosecution of 
 their great and godlike undertaking. 
 
 The African Association was succeeded 
 by the Anti-Slavery Society, whose efforts 
 were still more especially directed to the 
 entire extermination of the existing sys- 
 tem ; and which, by its ample means of 
 information, its effective agency, and well- 
 conducted periodicals, diffused far and 
 wide the horrifying facts it had collected. 
 So deep was the impression thus made 
 upon the public mind that it led, in 1823, to 
 the memorable resolutions of Mr. Canning, 
 and in 1832 to the Apprenticeship scheme. 
 By the better informed of the abolitionists 
 this latter measure, though hailed by many 
 as a boon, was clearly foreseen to be 
 fraught with fresh woes to the unhappy ob- 
 jects of their sympathy. Soon their worst 
 fears were realized ; and the report of the 
 missionaries, sustained by the personal 
 observations of Messrs. Sturge, Harvey, 
 Lloyd, Scoble and Stuart, whose state- 
 ments were reiterated through the land, 
 from the pulpit, the platform, and the 
 press, at length resulted, as has already 
 been stated, in the bestowment of full and 
 complete emancipation. 
 
 In order to form a correct estimate of 
 the bearing of this good measure upon the 
 moral and religious condition of Jamaica, 
 it is necessary to bear in mind that it was 
 a blessing bestowed upon a people already 
 prepared for its reception. And by what 
 means had that preparation been effected ? 
 By education. One of the first acts of 
 missionaries was the establishment of 
 schools: and, long before the abolition of 
 slavery, these institutions had exerted a 
 most beneficial influence over the negro 
 population. It was chiefly by their influ- 
 ence that the long-cherished notion of the 
 mental inferiority of the African race was 
 exploded — that they acquired an increased 
 acquaintance with the word of God — that 
 
 they were taught to regard themselves as 
 men — rational, responsible, and immortal 
 beings. More acutely than in the days of 
 absolute ignorance did they then feel the 
 thraldom by which they were bowed down. 
 Their unredressed grievances became in- 
 creasingly palpable, and assumed a dilated 
 form. While education had enlarged their 
 views it increased the sensibilities of their 
 minds : the " iron entered into their souls." 
 In the meantime the instructions of the 
 missionaries, and the precepts of the Gos- 
 pel which had taken possession of their 
 hearts, enabled them to submit to their 
 condition with patience, trusting to the 
 British people, under God, for that deliver- 
 ance which they believed to be at hand. 
 
 Since that auspicious event, when liberty 
 and hope first dawned in reality upon these 
 long oppressed descendants of Ham, the 
 value and importance of schools have be- 
 come increasingly apparent. The know- 
 ledge they conveyed was the knowledge of 
 the Scriptures — the knowledge of light and 
 truth. Thousands of coloured and black 
 children have drunk at these living streams : 
 while the most salutary habits of virtue 
 were planted and confirmed. The multi- 
 plied blessings which they have been the 
 means of communicating compel the be- 
 holder to exclaim with astonishment and 
 0-ratitude — " what hath God wrought !" 
 
 Schools contributed in a very considera- 
 ble degree to promote the temporal interest 
 of the people, enabled many of the negro 
 race to find their way into public offices, 
 fitted them to become confidential servants 
 in mercantile establishments, to become 
 subordinate managers of estates, and pro- 
 perties in general, as well as to fill other 
 important situations, to which without these 
 advantages they could never have aspired. 
 
 Nor were the moral results of education 
 less conspicuous. It inspired feelings of 
 self-respect and self-confidence — taught the 
 people that character was essential — show- 
 ed them the advantages of civilization — 
 gave them a taste for the enjoyment of do- 
 mestic life, and created a relish for those 
 pleasures or acquirements which stimulate 
 the industry and transform the aspect and 
 character of society — refining the habits 
 and awakening the charities of the pupils 
 — softening their hearts and restraining 
 their passions. Nor is it. too much to 
 affirm that hundreds of interesting young 
 females have thus been saved from prosti- 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 155 
 
 tution, enabled to form reputable matrimo- 
 nial connexions, and who are now living 
 in comfort and respectability. 
 
 The influence which schools have ex- 
 erted upon the religious condition of the 
 people has, perhaps, never been exceeded 
 in any part of the world. " They have 
 supplied a large tributary stream to the 
 church." In the metropolitan schools, 
 where, during the last ten years, nearly 
 300 children have been in daily attendance, 
 it is believed that full one half have been 
 savingly converted to God,*' while the rest 
 have been brought under an influence 
 which may, at no distant period, become 
 productive of the same blessed results. 
 Many of these are now governesses and 
 
 * " A few years ago," says a missionary, " a gentle- 
 man of colour came from the country to reside in 
 Spanish Town, bringing with him a large family of 
 children, which he had by two sisters, his slaves, and 
 begged me to take two or three of them into the 
 schools on the easiest terms the institution would 
 allow. Knowing that he was much reduced in his 
 circumstances, and that the children had been in 
 every sense of the word deplorably neglected, 1 
 offered to educate the whole on his paying a trifling 
 consideration yearly for the eldest, a girl, who seemed 
 to be about thirteen years of age. They all accord- 
 ingly attended the schools, and continued regular in 
 their attendance for several years. JNow I have the 
 high gratification to state, that, out of that whole 
 number, only two have turned out irreligious charac- 
 ters. Of the rest, one died when a scholar, a most 
 triumphant death; four are exemplary and useful 
 members of a Christian church ; and the others, some 
 of whom are still at school, and, with one exception, 
 connected with a Bible-class, already afford pleasing 
 indications of piety. Three of the four just men- 
 tioned as decidedly pious are now in charge of 
 schools under my direction, and one is respectably 
 married. Two of the younger ones succeeding next 
 in age are being trained at the Metropolitan .Normal 
 School for Teachers ; and I am not without hopes 
 that, in a short time, the whole family will be thus 
 devoted and useful. 
 
 " Soon after the children were received into the 
 school, the parents also attended the house of God. 
 The mothers almost immediately abandoned their 
 evil habits ; and, in the course of a few months they 
 exhibited such a decided and happy change of heart 
 and conduct that they were admitted as members of 
 the church under my pastoral care. To this day they 
 continue steady and exemplary in their lives and pro- 
 fession. It was my long cherished hope that the 
 father also would prove himself to be a brand plucked 
 from the fire ; and by some it is still thought that his 
 repentance was sincere, but his destiny has long 
 since been determined by an unerring Judge. At his 
 decease both the mothers and the children were cast 
 almost unknown and unbefriended on the world; 
 but the latter, from the knowledge which the oldest 
 of them had acquired in the schools of a few of the 
 mechanic arts, as well as of reading, writing, and 
 arithmetic (a school of industry being then connected 
 with the establishment), have, by the blessing of God, 
 supported themselves in comfort and respectability, 
 whilst the surviving parents have abundantly realized 
 the promise of God to those who trust in him, that 
 their bread should be given them, and their water 
 should be sure." 
 
 school-masters, or assistant missionaries, 
 the latter of whom, in addition to their 
 other duties, carry on divine worship, and 
 conduct various religious services during 
 the week. In the Spanish Town district 
 alone, including female teachers, there are 
 no less than twelve of these pious and de- 
 voted agents, irrespective of those who in 
 other parts of the island occupy similar 
 situations. 
 
 In Jamaica, schools have already proved 
 emphatically the nurseries of the churches, 
 and to them are the missionaries confidently 
 looking for a succession of well qualified 
 native agents, who shall " prepare the way 
 of the Lord," and proclaim the glad tidings 
 of mercy, not only in the still destitute 
 portions of their own land, but throughout 
 the islands of the west — in Africa, and the 
 contiguous continent of South America. 
 
 The circulation of the Scriptures has 
 been productive of incalculable benefits. 
 It has not only inspired a regard for the 
 word of God, never previously felt, but has 
 greatly increased the demand for its pos- 
 session, as well as the ability and desire 
 to read it. In a variety of respects it has 
 operated most favourably, not only upon 
 the spiritual but upon the moral and intel- 
 lectual condition of the people. At first 
 but few of the negroes were able to read ; 
 but, once possessed of the Book of God ; , 
 they could not rest satisfied till they had 
 become acquainted with its sacred con- 
 tents. In numerous instances the aged 
 and infirm were taught to read by their 
 children and grand-children. Boys and 
 girls from the schools were frequently en- 
 gaged, after school hours, as teachers of 
 adults; and hundreds, by the mere posses - 
 sion of a Bible, were induced to avail them- 
 selves of those means of instruction which 
 almost every missionary-station afforded. 
 By obtaining the assistance of others to 
 read it to them, the knowledge of divine 
 truth was also greatly extended. On in- 
 quiring of those who made application for 
 Bibles, whether they could read, the fre- 
 quent answer was returned, " No, but me 
 like to have God's book in fie house, so 
 me can look upon it, and it bring good 
 toughts into me mind ; make me tink of de 
 word minister preach to we. Me can't 
 read it now, but me hope to read it soon — 
 me goin to get one broder to larn me. 
 Besides, when a broder come to me house 
 who can read, me beg him fo read God's 
 
156 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 word fo me, and den me go call de family 
 to come sit down, and heary it read ; and 
 me feel much comfort." Sometimes house- 
 servants have assured the missionary that 
 they wanted a Bible, " because dey would 
 try and get young misses and massa to 
 read it to dem, and den, perhaps, God 
 would bless it to dem all ;" and in hun- 
 dreds of instances has this pleasing hope 
 been verified. To such means, indeed, in 
 connexion with pious example, much of 
 the great change discoverable in the moral 
 and religious habits of the upper classes of 
 society is attributed. The circulation of 
 tracts has also been followed by similar 
 results. The various publications of the 
 Religious Tract Society, being very widely 
 disseminated throughout the island, proved 
 instrumental in exciting a thirst for reli- 
 gious knowledge, and contributed to the 
 more general diffusion of divine truth, not 
 only among the negroes, but aiso in many 
 instances among the white population. 
 During the last few years it was no un- 
 common occurrence for individuals of the 
 first respectability to send for tracts by 
 their servants, regarding their bestowment 
 as a favour, and expressing the pleasure 
 and profit their perusal afforded. Fre- 
 quently, indeed, have those who but a few 
 years since would have regarded these 
 silent messengers with disgust and aver- 
 sion expressed their obligation for the sup- 
 plies with which they had been furnished. 
 At some of the stations from 10,000 to 
 12,000 tracts were circulated annually, 
 some of which found their way into every 
 house, both small and great, throughout 
 the district. Every missionary-station was 
 in reality, besides an educational establish- 
 ment, a Bible and tract depot, whence rays 
 of light continually emanated to all the 
 surrounding neighourhood, producing re- 
 sults, the full magnitude and importance 
 of which only the day of final decision will 
 fully disclose. 
 
 The moral influence exerted by themz's- 
 sionaries powerfully contributed to the 
 change which has taken place. In so de- 
 praved a community as that of Jamaica 
 the very presence of such a person was 
 productive of an amount of good which 
 can scarcely be estimated. It awakened 
 many a virtuous youthful association — 
 made many an appeal to the conscience, 
 and excited many a feeling of self-convic- 
 tion and self-reproach. To the missionary 
 
 it was that the negro uniformly looked 
 with confidence for sympathy and redress; 
 while, on the other hand, the master feared 
 that by the same agency his deeds of dark- 
 ness would be known and exposed to the 
 world. " You have no missionary here to 
 listen to your complaints, or to take your 
 part," was an observation frequently ad- 
 dressed to the slave when his task-master 
 wished to perpetrate some deed of cruelty 
 and wrong. 
 
 Being wholly independent of local in- 
 fluence, the missionaries were almost the 
 only individuals on the island who dared 
 interfere between the oppressor and the 
 oppressed. Yet in no one instance did 
 they thus interfere, until compelled by the 
 increasing efforts made to frustrate the 
 objects of their mission. When they saw 
 the members of their churches punished 
 for praying to their Maker — when they 
 beheld that accursed system, under which 
 the island groaned, aiming to quench the 
 light of heaven, to close the avenues to 
 the tree of life, and to consign its helpless 
 victims, not only to degradation and misery 
 in this world, but to everlasting torment in 
 another — then, and not till then, did they 
 feel their obligation to attempt its utter 
 extinction, and resolve never to relax in 
 their efforts until their object was accom- 
 plished. 
 
 Though from the first they had regard- 
 ed it as their bounden duty to inculcate 
 upon the victims of misrule and oppression, 
 obedience to the civil authorities, and pa- 
 tient submission to their nameless wrongs, 
 yet now impelled by justice, humanity, and 
 religion, they fearlessly published to the 
 world the atrocities they had witnessed, and 
 thus supplied the material by which the 
 philanthropists of Britain were enabled to 
 move the nation in their favour. 
 
 As an act of revenge, and as a means 
 of avoiding that crisis which they believed 
 to beat hand, and to which these exposures 
 had mainly contributed, the colonists per- 
 petrated the outrages of 1832, but 
 
 "Quern Deus vult perdere prius dementat:" 
 
 and never was this maxim more fully veri- 
 fied : never did " He who sitteth in the 
 heavens" more signally cause the " wrath 
 of man to praise Him." The very means 
 by which these infatuated men hoped to 
 secure the perpetuity of their system prov- 
 ed the cause of its destruction. This was 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 157 
 
 the turning point of that mighty struggle, 
 the issue of which had so long been doubt- 
 ful. No sooner did it become a question 
 whether light or darkness was to prevail 
 — whether God or Satan should be supreme 
 — no sooner was it clearly seen that the 
 cause of negro emancipation was the cause 
 of Christian missions — than sympathies 
 were awakened and energies called forth, 
 before which even slavery itself fell pros- 
 trate, reluctantly compelled to acknowledge 
 the omnipotence of Him who, at no distant 
 period, and in every land, shall cast away 
 its cords, and break its bands asunder. 
 
 But for the destruction of the houses of 
 God, and the attempts made upon the lives, 
 and liberty of the ministers of Christ, 
 slavery, unless it had excited the negroes 
 to massacre the whole of the white popula- 
 tion, would in all probability have con- 
 tinued to the present hour ; although it 
 must have yielded ultimately to the light 
 and influence of missionary effort. 
 
 Thus it may be said that the moment the 
 missionaries arrived on the shores where 
 slavery and its effects existed, did that 
 process commence which infallibly led to 
 its utter extinction, and is now tending to 
 the moral and social regeneration of the. 
 country. 
 
 Of their influence in this respect, the 
 pro-slavery party were themselves aware. 
 " Education and religion," said a slave- 
 holder to the author, " will make the ne- 
 groes better men, but they will not make 
 them better slaves." 
 
 " It is most unfortunate," says one of 
 the government papers of the day, the great 
 organ and advocate of slave-holders, " for 
 the cause of the planters that they did not 
 speak out in time. That they did not say, 
 as they ought to have said, to the first ad- 
 vocates of missions and education, ' We 
 will not tolerate your plans till you prove 
 to us they are safe and necessary ; we will 
 not suffer you to enlighten our slaves, who 
 are by law our property, till you can de- 
 monstrate that, when they are made reli- 
 gious and knowing, they will still continue 
 to be our slaves. 
 
 " In what a perplexing predicament do 
 the colonial proprietors now stand ! Can 
 the march of events be possibly arrested ? 
 Shall they be allowed to shut up thechapels, 
 and banish the preachers and school-mas- 
 ters, and keep the slaves in ignorance? 
 This would, indeed, bean effectual remedy. 
 
 But there is no hope of its being applied. 
 The obvious conclusion is this — slavery 
 must exist as it now is, or it will not exist 
 at all. If we expect to create a community 
 of reading, moral, church-going slaves, we 
 are wofully mistaken."* 
 
 This shameful demolition of the sanctu- 
 aries of the Most High, and treatment of 
 the missionaries, in the providence of God 
 was made subservient to other important 
 purposes. Missionary societies became 
 better known to the higher classes of the 
 community, and more appreciated by its 
 apathetic friends. The stream of Christian 
 liberality flowed through a thousand new 
 and previously unproductive channels — the 
 societies more especially interested in it 
 were animated with more wisdom in coun- 
 cil, more energy in action, and more fer- 
 vour in prayer — the sympathies of the 
 whole Christian world were aroused — 
 chapels were erected double the size of 
 those that had been demolished — the means 
 of usefulness were greatly multiplied and 
 increased, and thousands were added to 
 the church. 
 
 It was chiefly by the strenuous and per- 
 severing efforts of the missionaries also 
 that the temporal condition of the people 
 was improved. 
 
 Since the period of emancipation, repeat- 
 ed efforts were made to lessen the value of 
 the boon, by oppressing the peasantry in 
 their wages, and by the enactment of 
 equivocal and oppressive laws. These at- 
 tempts having been rendered abortive by 
 the zeal and vigilance of the missionaries, 
 contributed in no small degree to strengthen 
 and consolidate that hold on their affections 
 which they previously possessed. 
 
 It was to defeat the exactions of avarice, 
 which hoped to accomplish its object by 
 extorting labour at an unremunerating 
 price, that the missionaries projected and 
 carried into effect the new village syste?n. 
 This system, by creating a feeling of 
 mutual dependence, encouraging indus- 
 trious habits, and increasing the cultiva- 
 tion of the island, not only added to its ge- 
 neral prosperity, but rendered labour more 
 available for the properties near which 
 such settlements were located — an advan- 
 tage which many influential proprietors 
 and managers have already acknowledged. 
 
 The land required for the formation of 
 
 Quoted in the 'Martyr of Erromanga, p. 19. 
 
158 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 these village establishments had, in most 
 cases, been first purchased by the mission- 
 aries, who also surveyed and laid out the 
 allotments, superintended the construction 
 of the roads and streets, directed the settlers 
 in the building of their cottages, and culti- 
 vation of their grounds, supplied them with 
 their deeds of conveyance, formed societies 
 among them for the improvement of agri- 
 cultural operations, gave them a relish for 
 the comfort and conveniences of civilized 
 life, and improved their domestic economy. 
 They endeavoured at the same time, by 
 every means in their power, to convince 
 these simple-minded people that their own 
 prosperity, as well as that of the island at 
 large, depended on their willingness to 
 work for moderate wages, on the different 
 properties around them. 
 
 In these labours, surrounded by difficul- 
 ties, assailed by misrepresentation and re- 
 proach, weighed down by cares and respon- 
 sibilities of no ordinary kind, the mission- 
 aries have steadfastly persevered, producing 
 results which have already excited the 
 astonishment and admiration of every con- 
 scientious and disinterested man ; and 
 which will at no distant period be duly ap- 
 preciated and greatfully acknowledged, 
 even by those who under the influence of 
 pride or prejudice then most liberally stig- 
 matized them as " enemies of the country." 
 
 In all their efforts for the improvement 
 of the temporal condition of the people the 
 missionaries endeavoured to evince the 
 purity of their motives. In numberless 
 instances they prevented the occurrence of 
 insubordination. By doing justice to all 
 parties they settled differences which might 
 otherwise have been productive of the most 
 serious consequences. At considerable 
 personal inconvenience and risk of health, 
 with the certainty of being requited by 
 calumny and misrepresentation, they tra- 
 velled from one estate to another, for no 
 other purpose than to stimulate the pea- 
 santry to cultivate feelings of kindness and 
 goodwill towards their employers, and to 
 exemplify their Christian character by a 
 steady and conscientious performance of 
 their duties, whatever the circumstances 
 in which they might be placed. 
 
 It is the most solemn conviction of the 
 writer that they could not have acted with 
 more singleness of aim, with more patriotic 
 feeling, or with a greater regard to the 
 general interest of the colony, had their 
 
 ow#happiness, both for time and eternity, 
 been suspended on the result. 
 
 Nor was the system of organization 
 adopted by the Jamaica churches inefficient 
 in promoting the success of missionary 
 efforts ; on the contrary, it was powerfully 
 conducive to this important result. In the 
 words of an eloquent writer, this system 
 may described as a " combination of the 
 influence of the church acting with resolute 
 energy on a given principle, by given 
 means, to a given end." 
 
 The characteristics of this organization 
 are union, division of labour, and classi- 
 fication, combined with the most vigilant 
 pastoral direction and supervision. " Its 
 tendency is to correct indifference, to en- 
 courage zeal, to nurture talent, to promote 
 union, to insure increase."* 
 
 The churches being divided into classes, 
 which are superintended by qualified lead- 
 ers, each member well acquainted with 
 his duty, and inspired with a holy ambition 
 to excel his brother in performing it ; every 
 such society presents a well-disciplined 
 moral phalanx, combined for the especial 
 purpose of making aggressive movements 
 on the kingdom of darkness around them 
 — a centre, from which light emanated to 
 an expanding circumference — a nucleus, 
 from which other churches radiated. Like 
 the celebrated Banian-tree of India, so 
 happily described by our great epic poet : 
 
 " Spreading her arms 
 Branching so broad and long, that in the ground 
 The bending twigs take root, and daughters grow 
 About the mother tree, a pillar'd shade 
 High over-arch'd, and echoing walks between." 
 
 " It corresponded to the manner in 
 which extensive tracts of territory were 
 originally peopled by small settlements 
 swelling into large communities. It was 
 in some respects analogous in principle to 
 the conduct of the apostles themselves, 
 who, hastening from one country to ano- 
 ther, planted the Gospel in a short time in 
 many remote points, by which they at 
 once multiplied the probabilities of its sur- 
 viving, and afforded fuller scope for its be- 
 ing more extensively diffused." 
 
 By the operations of this system each 
 individual was led to consider himself a 
 necessary part of the great machine. In- 
 stead of regarding himself as a mere at- 
 tendant, he felt that he had important du- 
 ties to discharge ; duties which, as they in- 
 
 * Burton. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 159 
 
 volved no small sacrifice of time, labour, 
 and property, identified his own interest 
 and happiness with the success of his ex- 
 ertions, while in a corresponding degree 
 they stimulated his activity and devoted- 
 ness. 
 
 On the tendency of this system of orga- 
 nization it is scarcely necessary to make 
 an additional remark. This must be ob- 
 vious ; it increased the number of hearers 
 and inquirers in proportion to the number 
 and efficiency of the agents employed. As 
 every one capable of exerting himself was 
 included, a church and congregation, con- 
 sisting of five thousand persons, possessed 
 nearly the same number of Home Mis- 
 sionary agents who either directly or indi- 
 rectly were habitually employed in promot- 
 ing its piety and increasing its extent. 
 Such a manifestation of active diligence 
 and lively zeal On the part of the people 
 naturally excited corresponding feelings in 
 the breast of the minister ; thus exerting 
 an influence as universal as it was power- 
 ful and efficacious ; altogether producing 
 results surpassing the belief of those op- 
 posed to the system, or who judge of con- 
 versions by past occurrences. It was by 
 this agency that new stations were usually 
 originated. The services of the minister 
 were seldom invited until a congregation 
 had first been collected. He was required 
 merely to preach and to take the oversight 
 of the people. His active pioneers regard- 
 ed it as their duty to secure the attendance 
 of those to whom his attention was to be 
 directed — a duty which was generally per- 
 formed in a manner which more favoured 
 Christians would do well to imitate. 
 
 The frequent social meetings connected 
 with this system were important means of 
 mutual encouragement and edification. 
 They "exhorted one another daily while 
 it was called to-day ; edified one another, 
 spoke to one another in psalms and hymns 
 and spiritual songs; warned the unruly, 
 comforted the feeble-minded ; assembled 
 themselves together, and provoked one 
 another to love and to good works ;" and 
 thus " grew in grace and in the know- 
 ledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 Nor was this system less useful and im- 
 portant in promoting that spirit of love and 
 union which is in most cases so delightfully 
 apparent. It is natural for a young: con- 
 
 vert to feel a strong attachment to the in- 
 
 strument of his conversion. Especially is 
 it thus with the negro, whose affections are 
 so proverbially strong; and as all, in a 
 greater or less degree, were rendered use- 
 ful to each other, there was thus engen- 
 dered amongst them a union of feeling and 
 of effort which no other could possibly 
 have produced. " Not in word only, but 
 in deed and in truth" do they constitute one 
 family; they are all " the children of God 
 by faith." Bound closely to each other 
 by mutual knowledge, intercourse, and 
 love, " there is neither Jew nor Greek, 
 there is neither male nor female, there is 
 neither bond nor free, but all are one in 
 Christ Jesus." This organization also se- 
 cured to every missionary by whom it has 
 been adopted the most valuable assistance 
 in the discharge of his pastoral duties. 
 These agents instructed inquirers, visited 
 the sick, sought after backsliders, superin- 
 tended funerals, and reported cases of po- 
 verty and distress throughout their respec- 
 tive districts. Not only did they share the 
 duties, but in some respects the responsibi- 
 lities, of the pastor. To a certain extent 
 each individual believer regarded himself 
 as responsible for the interest and honour 
 of religion in the community to which he 
 belonged. In consequence of this he not 
 only exerted himself to the utmost, but was 
 elevated or depressed as Zion prospered 
 or declined; in proportion as his fellow 
 Christians adorned or dishonoured their 
 profession. As an electric shock runs 
 through every part of the chain, so every 
 thing that affected the welfare and prospe- 
 rity of the church affected in an equal de- 
 gree every member of which that church 
 was composed. 
 
 This system had a most direct and ob- 
 vious tendency to promote and secure the 
 purity of the churches. Each member be- 
 ing taught to regard himself as his " bro- 
 ther's keeper," not only did it induce 
 greater personal watchfulness and circum- 
 spection, but many inconsistencies were 
 thereby prevented, while every case of de- 
 linquency was speedily known and pub- 
 lished to the church. 
 
 It would occupy too much space to enu- 
 merate all the advantages arising from the 
 peculiar organization of the Jamaica 
 churches ; it may, however, be remarked, 
 that the missionaries by whom it has been 
 adopted are indebted to it, under God, not 
 simply for the continuance, but for the 
 
160 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 commencement, of their success. In their 
 incipient operations in the rural districts 
 there was no other method by which a 
 knowledge of divine truth could have been 
 diffused to an equal extent. The mis- 
 sionary, surrounded by influential indivi- 
 duals, as proprietors or managers of es- 
 tates, who were not merely hostile to his 
 object but who endeavoured, by penal 
 enactments, to prevent any access to the 
 labourers on the different properties, found 
 himself placed in a situation in which he 
 could anticipate but little good from his di- 
 rect and personal exertions. Hence, no 
 sooner was one of the slaves brought to a 
 knowledge of the truth, than he was em- 
 ployed to bear the glad tidings to others ; 
 and this as a matter of necessity, because 
 no other medium so available existed. It 
 was by this means that attention was at 
 first excited, congregations collected, a 
 spirit of hearing widely diffused, and mul- 
 titudes savingly converted to God. 
 
 Many years ago it was estimated by a 
 Jay gentleman then resident in Jamaica, 
 who urged it as an argument for mission- 
 aries to be sent thither, that there were 
 from eight to ten thousand persons on the 
 island professedly belonging to the Baptist 
 denomination alone. Nearly the whole of 
 these were the fruit of lay agency, and af- 
 forded a proof of what might be anticipated 
 by the employment of the same means un- 
 der a more direct and skilful superinten- 
 dence. 
 
 In every church this agency was super- 
 intended by the minister. He was "the 
 centre of the system, planning, improving 
 and directing all its movements," while in 
 every instance its results have been such 
 as to fill his heart with gratitude, and load 
 his tongue with praises. Like the stream- 
 let, which first betrays its silent course by 
 the verdure that adorns its banks, and by 
 the accession of tributary waters, receives 
 an impulse which widens and deepens as 
 it flows; so in every church thus orga- 
 nized did each unit of which it was com- 
 posed become an element of influence, con- 
 tributing to the increase, strength, and 
 prosperity of the whole. 
 
 Like all human plans and institutions 
 this system has doubtless been abused, 
 though by no means to such an extent as 
 has been represented.* The evils that 
 
 * Among other evils resulting from the system, it 
 has been stated that it tends to diminish esteem for < 
 
 may have been found connected with it 
 have arisen not from the system itself, but 
 from the imperfect manner in vjhich its 
 tendencies were developed. For many 
 years, and especially during the days of 
 slavery, such were the circumstances in 
 which the missionaries were placed, and 
 so hostile the influences by which they 
 were surrounded, that it was utterly im- 
 possible for them to obtain such an effi- 
 cient agency as they subsequently possess- 
 ed, or to exercise over it such a direct and 
 vigilant superintendence as they are ena- 
 bled to do at the present time. If, there- 
 fore, the system has not yet accomplished 
 all that it is able to effect, it is to these 
 causes, and to these alone, that the defi- 
 ciency is to be ascribed. And such is the 
 writer's conviction of its intrinsic worth 
 that he hesitates not to affirm, that if all 
 the evils alleged to be connected with it 
 were collected into a mass, they would 
 prove but as the "small dust of the ba- 
 lance," when compared with the vast and 
 ever-increasing amount of good which has 
 resulted from its adoption.* Let it be but 
 fully carried out with " all diligence" and 
 in a spirit of faith and prayer, and there 
 can be little doubt but that " God, even 
 our own God, will bless us," and the pe- 
 riod be hastened when "all the ends of 
 the earth shall fear him." 
 
 Greatly is the whole Christian world 
 indebted to the Rev. Dr. Campbell, who 
 in his celebrated prize essay, entitled 
 " Jethro," has so nobly defended the sys- 
 tem of lay agency, and so ably illustrated 
 the advantages which would result from its 
 general adoption. It cannot but be highly 
 gratifying to know that other missionary 
 
 the pastor, and to promote divisions in churches. 
 The whole of the author's experience is not only 
 against such a conclusion, but in every instance 
 which has come under his observation the effect has 
 been directly the reverse. In no part of the world 
 are ministers more beloved or respected than in Ja- 
 maica, neither are there any churches which enjoy 
 greater peace and harmony. In one church, compri- 
 sing upwards of three thousand members, there has 
 been but one instance in which a lay agent has taken 
 any improper advantage of the confidence reposed in 
 him, and in which there has been the slightest inter- 
 ruption to the most perfect concord, during a period 
 of twenty years — a fact which (though by no means a 
 singular one) will doubtless have its due weight with 
 the reader. 
 
 * " I have often wished to see something like the 
 Methodist class-meetings amongst us in India," snid 
 the late excellent Mr. Ward of Serampore, in his 
 Farewell Letters. "No professors on earth need 
 meetings like these so much as men recently brought 
 from heathenism." — Letters, p. 244. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 161 
 
 societies, as well as our own, have not 
 only adopted the same principle, but have 
 been favoured with the same success. 
 After speaking of the success which has 
 thus attended the labours of the Moravian 
 and Wesleyan Societies, Dr. Campbell ob- 
 serves, " the London Missionary Society, 
 though last, is not least, in this bright roll; 
 they have much to record on the subject. 
 The history of their achievements in the 
 South Seas is one unbroken narrative of 
 the successful efforts of laymen in uproot- 
 ing idolatry and turning multitudes to God. 
 The secretary of the Society (Rev. W. 
 Ellis) declares, that ' the islanders have 
 shown the great principle of the Gospel to 
 be one of self-propagation, and the spirit it 
 implants to be one of self-consecration. 
 No sooner did they themselves understand 
 the Gospel, and feel its power in their own 
 hearts, than the prayer was offered up that 
 God would graciously have compassion 
 on the ignorant around ; and efforts were 
 made for the purpose of communicating to 
 them that knowledge which they them- 
 selves possessed. God has eminently ho- 
 noured the native Christians as the means 
 of diffusing the Gospel far and wide 
 amongst the nations of the Pacific' 
 
 " That great missionary, John Williams, 
 corroborates Ellis, and says, ' I do not 
 know that the inhabitants of any island, 
 with the exception of those of Tahiti, have 
 been converted to Christianity by the in- 
 strumentality of English missionaries; the 
 work has been done by native missiona- 
 ries. Of course, they are conveyed by us, 
 and are under our direction and superin- 
 tendence; but they are the men that do 
 the work ; and, therefore, it is of the utmost 
 importance that this agency, which God 
 has put into our hands, should be carried 
 on in the most judicious, the most effec- 
 tive, and the most extensive way in which 
 it is possible to conduct it.' # 
 
 "These remarkable testimonies (adds the 
 devoted author) to the uniform efficiency 
 and stupendous effects of lay agency in 
 the South Seas, constitute illustrations of 
 our principle, which it is hardly possible 
 to surpass. "f 
 
 * Jethro, pp. 104, 105. 
 
 t " As soon as the chapel was completed at Raro- 
 tonga,"says the eloquent biographer of Mr. Williams, 
 " Messrs. Williams and Pitman distributed the bap- 
 tized, and those who were candidates for baptism, 
 into twenty-three classes, each containing from twen- 
 
 [f the churches of Britain could but be 
 persuaded to lay aside their prejudices and 
 to adopt the same system, how many evils 
 would be prevented ; how would their 
 numbers increase ; and how much greater 
 would be their moral influence and general 
 prosperity ! What Christian pastor feels 
 not the force of Jethro's stirring exhor- 
 tation : " O brethren ! bestir yourselves ! 
 Turn your whole souls towards the prepa- 
 ration and arrangement of lay agency. 
 Clothe yourselves with the united power of 
 your people; unite them; classify them. 
 Let them be as one well-compacted body, 
 of which you are the soul. Men of God ! 
 animate, arouse, inspire the people! Put 
 in motion the entire mass. Let every 
 church become a spiritual camp, where 
 every man is a soldier; and where all, 
 even the children, know the use of arms ! 
 Then will the war of truth be prosecuted 
 in the spirit of its origin ; and our beloved 
 land shall yet be filled with tokens of a 
 Saviour's presence, and overspread with 
 the triumphs of a Saviour's power!"* 
 
 It has been previously stated that the 
 churches of Jamaica are distinguished by 
 a spirit of frequent, fervent, and persever- 
 ing prayer. Like the first Christians, 
 " they continue with one accord in prayer 
 and supplication," while their numerously 
 attended meetings for this purpose, the 
 deep and intense feeling which pervades 
 them, the impassioned earnestness with 
 which they pour forth their desires unto 
 God, sufficiently attest, not only the ardour, 
 but the sincerity of their devotion. 
 
 And how much this spirit of prayer has 
 contributed to the increase and prosperity 
 of the churches is known only unto Him 
 who has said, " If two of you shall agree 
 on earth as touching any thing that they 
 shall ask, it shall be done for them of my 
 Father which is in heaven."f If it be true 
 
 ty-three to twenty-eight households. Two of the most 
 serious and intelligent natives were appointed over 
 each class, to secure a regular attendance upon the 
 catechetical instructions of the missionaries." — Life 
 of Rev. J. Williams, p. 248. Again, in p. 396, it is 
 said, relating to the same island, " This incipient re- 
 vival was the more interesting to Mr. Williams, be- 
 cause it could be traced to the instrumentality of the 
 few disciples who had so recently professed their faith 
 in Christ, When formed into a church, these con- 
 verted natives had been distinctly told by their mis- 
 sionaries, that to sow as well as to reap, to labour as 
 well as to enjoy, were among the primary and princi- 
 pal designs of their association. And these counsels 
 were not lost." 
 * Jethro, p. 394, t Matt, xviii. 19. 
 
162 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 that " he who has the ear of God has the 
 heart of God ;" that " prayer moves the 
 hand that moves the world ;" who can 
 wonder that copious showers of blessings 
 should descend upon a people who thus, 
 in congregated thousands, bend before the 
 throne of mercy, " praying with all prayer 
 and supplication in the spirit," not only for 
 themselves, but for the perishing multitudes 
 around them? By prayer have the mis- 
 sionaries been defended in times of danger, 
 sustained and cheered when "sorrow hath 
 filled their hearts." By prayer have sin- 
 ners been awakened, the desponding com- 
 forted, believers "edified and built up in 
 their most holy faith," while around them 
 the " word of the Lord has had free course, 
 and been glorified." Let but this spirit of 
 prayer continue, and we shall not fear for 
 the continued prosperity of our churches. 
 Let it subside, and from that sad moment 
 " Ichabod" will be written upon the walls 
 and portals of our sanctuaries. 
 
 " Prayer, ardent, opens heaven, lets down a stream 
 Of glory on the consecrated hour 
 Of man, in audience with the Deity; 
 Who worships the great God, that moment joins 
 The first in heaven, and sets his foot on hell." 
 
 Whatever may have been the separate 
 or combined influence of the causes hith- 
 erto enumerated in producing the glorious 
 transformation described in the preceding 
 pages, they would have been comparatively 
 useless apart from the Gospel which " is 
 the power of God unto salvation." The 
 abolition of the slave-trade; the destruc- 
 tion of slavery itself; the establishment of 
 schools ; and the various efforts which 
 have been made for the improvement of 
 the temporal condition of the people, would 
 have effected but little, had it not been for 
 this more powerful instrumentality and this 
 still more effective agency. 
 
 Of this we have an illustration in the 
 case of Hayti. Though its inhabitants 
 have long been free — though some schools 
 have been established, and civilization has 
 in some degree advanced — though the arts 
 and sciences, the manners and customs of 
 Europe have been introduced, yet but little 
 improvement has taken place in their moral 
 and social state. They remain almost as 
 motionless, indeed, in this respect as if they 
 floated on the surface of a stagnant pool — 
 present nearly the same changeless aspect 
 of intellectual and social condition as they 
 did before they emancipated themselves 
 
 from the thraldom of the French. Com- 
 pared with the happy and prosperous cir- 
 cumstances of the Jamaica peasantry, the 
 Haytians are still involved in ignorance, 
 misery, and guilt — darkness covers this 
 part of the earth, and gross darkness the 
 minds of its people.* 
 
 The history of missions proves most 
 conclusively that the Gospel is the only 
 instrument of moral and spiritual renova- 
 tion : — that this, and this alone, is " mighty, 
 through God, to the pulling down the strong- 
 holds" which the Prince of Darkness has 
 erected. In Jamaica this Gospel has been 
 preached freely, fully, and with great sim- 
 plicity — to a considerable degree in the 
 paraphrastic and metaphoric styles' — the 
 preacher dwelling chiefly on its first prin- 
 ciples, its most prominent doctrines and 
 duties, enforced by direct and powerful ap- 
 peals to the heart and conscience. 
 
 It has also been preached faithfully. 
 Having secured the confidence and affec- 
 tions of the people, the missionary felt that 
 he could lay open their defects, expose 
 their sins, and exhort them to consistency, 
 without the slighest apprehension of giving 
 offence or incurring the charge of person- 
 ality. On the contrary, he found that he 
 was beloved and honoured in proportion to 
 his fidelity, not only in preaching, but in 
 guarding the purity and preserving the 
 discipline of the church. The observa- 
 tion was frequently made, " Him is good 
 minister ; him don't no child ; him tell we 
 plain; him know neger heart well. If we 
 no go right, it we own fault ; minister 
 clean from we blood." 
 
 The Gospel was preached practically, 
 being uniformly made to bear upon the im- 
 
 * " The poet Goldsmith," says Mr. Candler, " in 
 describing the peasantry of Switzerland, has too cor- 
 rectly, and with much greater truth, described the 
 condition of the people of Hayti: — 
 
 ' Unknown to them, when sensual pleasures cloy, 
 To fill the languid pause with finer joy : 
 Unknown those powers that raise the soul to flame, 
 Catch every nerve, and vibrate through the frame. 
 Their level life is but a smouldering fire, 
 Unquench'd by want, unfann'd by strong desire; 
 Unfit for raptures; for, if raptures cheer 
 On some high festival of once a year, 
 In wild excess the vulgar breast takes fire, 
 Till, buried in debauch, the bliss expire. 
 But not their joys alone thus coarsely flow ; 
 Their morals, like their pleasures, are but low ; 
 For, as refinement stops, from sire to son, 
 Unalter'd, unimproved, the manners run; 
 And love and friendship's finely-pointed dart 
 Falls blunted from each indura"ted heart.' " 
 
 The Traveller. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 163 
 
 portance of bringing forth the " fruits of 
 holiness which are to the praise and glory 
 of God." While the missionary endeavour- 
 ed to " give to all a portion of meat in due 
 season," his grand aim was the increase of 
 converts, and in this he always calculated 
 with confidence upon the sympathies of his 
 people, who estimated the value of a ser- 
 mon by its awakening tendency, and the 
 talents of a preacher by his success in 
 storming the citadel of the passions. Hav- 
 ing themselves been made partakers of the 
 grace of God, their chief anxiety was that 
 their neighbours and friends might become 
 participants of the blessings which they 
 enjoyed. It was frequently said, and the 
 language describes the general feeling, 
 " Minister show we de right way, and tell 
 we where we can get comfort. Now we 
 want minister to keep on preach, to bring 
 in more sinner. If minister give we little 
 comfort sometime, dat will do; we will 
 try and comfort weself." 
 
 Accompanied by the promised influence 
 of the Holy Spirit, this " manifestation of 
 the truth" has been productive not only of 
 its own legitimate effects in the awakening 
 and conversion of sinners, but, by increas- 
 ing the efficiency of other instrumentality, 
 it has in the highest sense caused " the 
 wilderness and the solitary place to be 
 made glad, and the desert to rejoice and 
 blossom as the rose." Humbly and de- 
 voutly would the writer recognise divine 
 influence as absolutely essential to all 
 moral and spiritual renovation. " Neither 
 is he that planteth any thing, neither he 
 that watereth, but God that giveth the in- 
 crease." " Not by might, nor by power, 
 but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts." 
 Without this omnipotent agency the labours 
 of the missionaries would have fallen to 
 the ground. What else could have pro- 
 duced such mighty changes as have been 
 detailed 1 What inferior power could have 
 softened what was obdurate as the rock, 
 and fixed that which was inconstant as 
 the wind? What else could have influ- 
 enced the poor African slave, accustomed 
 from his youth to superstition and idolatry, 
 to rioting and mirth, to licentious indul- 
 gence and secret abominations, to cast off 
 the works of darkness — to surrender his 
 beloved lusts — to " live soberly, righteous- 
 ly, and godly," " counting all things but 
 'loss that he might win Christ, and be found 
 in him V What but the enlightening, 
 
 softening, converting Almighty operation 
 of the Spirit of God 1 It is this which has 
 excited attention — aroused the dormant 
 faculties — subdued and overcome the 
 " bondage of corruption," and caused 
 those hearts which were once barren of all 
 good, and prolific only of evil, to bring 
 forth in rich abundance the fruits of holi- 
 ness, happiness, and heaven. " Every 
 spot on the surface of the globe that is en- 
 lightened — every waste place that is re- 
 claimed — every idol that is renounced — 
 every heart that is renewed — every ingre- 
 dient that is shed into the cup of human 
 enjoyment — is a new and striking evidence 
 of the power and operation of the Spirit of 
 the Lord of Hosts" — is wholly the tri- 
 umph of Christianity. " Not unto us, O 
 Lord : not unto us, but unto thy name be 
 the glory, for thy mercy and for thy 
 truth's sake." 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 INCREASED CLAIM OF MISSIONARY SOCIE- 
 TIES, ESPECIALLY ON THE SYMPATHIES 
 AND BENEVOLENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN 
 WORLD. 
 
 Magnitude of the Objects — Past Success — Condition 
 of Africa, St. Domingo, and other neighbouring 
 Islands; South America — Increased Facilities 
 which these Fields of Labour afford — Sympathies 
 manifested by the Churches in Jamaica — Demand 
 for these Objects on the Christian Public — Sinful- 
 ness of Neutrality in such a case — Motives — Way 
 in which this Cause is to be especially promoted. 
 
 There is nothing in the whole compass 
 of human enterprise that can for a mo- 
 ment be compared in magnitude with 
 Christian missions. Smiling on every de- 
 sign which contemplates in any way the 
 improvement of the human race, it is their 
 distinguishing glory that their energies 
 are directed primarily to the promotion of 
 the dearest interests of man; that while 
 they do not overlook the fleeling circum- 
 stances of time, they have emphatically to 
 do with the infinitely more weighty con- 
 siderations of eternity. Stretching far be- 
 yond the narrower limits within which re- 
 ligious benevolence has been wont to con- 
 fine itself, these noble institutions embrace 
 all nations, aim, with a godlike generosity, 
 to remove every badge of degradation and 
 disgrace from a prostrate and enslaved 
 
164 
 
 JAMAICA 
 
 world, and to raise the vast and ever-mul- 
 tiplying family of man to holiness, happi- 
 ness, and God. What is there in the 
 whole range of human ambition that does 
 not vanish before the majesty of such a 
 design? The dazzling splendours of roy- 
 alty, the flattering conquests of the hero, 
 or even the beautiful researches of the phi- 
 losopher, sink into utter insignificance be- 
 fore it, while 'philanthropy itself is con- 
 strained to acknowledge the supremacy of 
 an enterprise which seizes with so strong a 
 grasp both upon the present interests and 
 future destinies of men. 
 
 A purpose so completely in unison with 
 the perfections of Jehovah, and in such 
 vital sympathy with the spirit of his word, 
 especially with the Gospel of his grace, 
 could but commend itself to the approval, 
 and attract the blessing, of the skies. The 
 genius of Christian missions is divine in 
 its origin, and has therefore enjoyed the 
 fostering care of its Father who is in 
 heaven. The degree of success, moreover, 
 which it has pleased the Great Head of 
 the Church to vouchsafe to his servants 
 has exceeded the bounds of rational ex- 
 pectation. A thoughtful survey of the vast- 
 ness of the work, and of the prodigious 
 difficulties with which it was crowded, 
 could not fail to moderate the anticipations 
 of every reflecting breast. Whatever 
 might have been the dreams of some san- 
 guine and superficial minds, the great body 
 of the Christian church must have enter- 
 tained subdued hopes, and sometimes have 
 felt the predominance of overshadowing 
 fears. It was in this spirit, as has been 
 before intimated, some of the more dis- 
 tinguished labourers in this mighty design 
 entered on their work. After a suitable 
 trial of the faith and patience of His peo- 
 ple, the Lord of the harvest appeared, and 
 condescended to bless their efforts in so 
 signal a manner as to awaken mingled as- 
 tonishment and joy. In a comparatively 
 short period, in the interesting island of 
 Jamaica — one corner of the great mission- 
 ary field — 200,000 souls who were sitting 
 in darkness and in the shadow of death 
 were savingly converted to God, and 
 emerged into the radiance of the Sun of 
 Righteousness. Let it be borne in mind 
 that this blessed army have not merely 
 been brought into the enjoyment of the 
 outward privileges of the Christian religion, 
 have, in the judgment of charity, been 
 
 " renewed in the spirit of their minds, and 
 become the genuine disciples of Him, after 
 whom the whole family in heaven and 
 earth is named." " Who are these that fly 
 as a cloud and as doves to their windows?" 
 Nor is the blessing of God confined to one 
 scene of missionary exertion ; it attends 
 his servants wherever they go. In other 
 parts of the western archipelago the seed 
 of the kingdom is abundantly springing 
 up ; the icy regions of the north are glad- 
 dened by the genial influence of " the 
 truth ;" the islands of the southern sea 
 have received His law; the mighty super- 
 stitions of India are tottering before the 
 presence of the cross, while in Burmah, 
 and even in China, with its teeming mil- 
 lions, the deathlike silence which has 
 reigned for ages is disturbed by the foot- 
 steps of Him who, as he advances, creates 
 all things new; the enemy has already 
 been driven from some of those strong- 
 holds which once were deemed impreg- 
 nable, and many a field of arduous con- 
 flict is now strewed with the weapons of 
 opposition and the emblems of success. 
 Had the attempts of faithful men to invade 
 the territory of the Prince of Darkness, 
 and to spoil him of his prey, been appa- 
 rently useless, it would be, nevertheless, 
 an indication of cowardice, and dereliction 
 of duty, to retire from the conflict ; but 
 with what cheerful energy and quenchless 
 devotion does it become the Christian 
 church to address itself to a work which 
 God has condescended so signally to own 
 and bless! 
 
 Encouraging as are the positive results 
 which have already followed from Chris- 
 tian missions, little comparatively has been 
 effected. It becomes us to bear steadily in 
 mind that the sublime work is only begun ; 
 that but partial inroads have been made on 
 any part of the enemy's dominions, while 
 there remains a vast amount of territory 
 hitherto unvisited and undisturbed. Surely, 
 notwithstanding every indication of success, 
 it must be felt that we have but just entered 
 on the field, while eight hundred millions 
 of our fellow-men remain involved in super- 
 stition, misery, and guilt, thousands of 
 whom are daily passing the boundaries of 
 time, with no eye to pity and no hand to 
 save. 
 
 The map of the world spread out beneath 
 the eye of the Christian philanthropist pre- 
 sents an appalling region of moral desola- 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 165 
 
 tion. What unrelenting tyranny of error ! 
 What horrid and disgusting scenes of im- 
 posture ! Every devout heart must thrill 
 with agonizing emotions, and every en- 
 lightened imagination recoil, overshadowed 
 with gloom, from a scene throughout which 
 death reigns with such unlimited sway. 
 China is enthral led and bowed down by a gro- 
 velling and debasing superstition. Persia, 
 Arabia, and Asiatic Turkey groan beneath 
 the dominion of the false prophet. The 
 teeming myriads of Hindostan are still 
 wedded to loathsome idols. Africa lies 
 involved in a darkness as profound as that 
 which veiled Egypt during the prolonged 
 and fearful night, when no man knew his 
 brother. " Instruments of cruelty are in 
 her habitations ;" her dismal altars are at 
 this moment streaming with human blood, 
 and groaning beneath the weight of mur- 
 dered victims, while her strength is con- 
 sumed by intestine wars and merciless op- 
 pression. " Awake, awake, put on thy 
 strength, oh Zion !" 
 
 Throughout these mighty portions of 
 the globe, this darkness and wretchedness 
 prevail, relieved only by a few scattered 
 rays which have been kindled by mission- 
 ary zeal. Nor in crossing the broad ex- 
 panse of waters to the islands of the west 
 do we meet with any material improve- 
 ment in the scene. Here and there, it is 
 true, the gloom is irradiated by the light of 
 Christian truth, but it is only as the morn- 
 ing star to the benighted traveller, when he 
 first beholds it emerging from the thick 
 shades that surrounded it, or but as the 
 faint glimmering of the glowworm under the 
 black canopy of night ; whilst throughout 
 the confederated states of the Mexican 
 Union — throughout, indeed, the whole ex- 
 tent of South America, and no inconsidera- 
 ble portion of the north of the new hemi- 
 sphere, successive generations of rational 
 beings are perishing for lack of the bread 
 and the water of life. 
 
 " They read no promise that inspires belief, 
 They seek no God that pities their complaints ; 
 They find no balm that gives the heart relief. 
 They know no fountain when the spirit faints. 
 O ! could I picture out the full effect 
 Of that soul-withering power, Idolatry, 
 I'd write a page which whoso dared to read, 
 His eye, instead of tears, in crimson drops should 
 bleed." 
 
 And cannot this wretchedness be ex- 
 pelled, and this vast howling wilderness be 
 revived and beautified! Are there no 
 means by which St. Domingo and other 
 
 islands of the western world, still under 
 the influence of the Prince of Darkness, 
 can be aroused from their lethargy of sin? 
 Are there no means by which they, with 
 the out-stretched continent of South Ameri- 
 ca, can be raised in the scale of nations, 
 and brought into fellowship with the Father 
 of their spirits? Are there no means of 
 healing the distracted heart of Africa; 
 of restoring her to liberty and light, to 
 holiness and happiness? — Yes! By the 
 " glorious Gospel of the blessed God" we 
 can regenerate the world. 
 
 The honour of Christ, which has been so 
 essentially promoted by the aggressive 
 efforts of his servants, is vitally identified 
 with the increase of his subjects. It is 
 scarcely possible to conceive of a heavier 
 calamity than the annihilation of Christian 
 missions. By such a catastrophe the 
 dawning hopes of an expiring world would 
 vanish, the strength of the church of God 
 would decay, and the glory of the great 
 Redeemer would suffer an eclipse. Unbe- 
 lievers, emboldened in their rebellion, 
 would reiterate the cry, " Where is the 
 promise of his coming ?" and the god of 
 this world would reascend his tottering 
 throne. The same disastrous results would 
 flow in their measure from any relaxation 
 of effort. The cause admits of no in- 
 glorious repose. The armies of the " Lord 
 of Hosts" are committed to a grand strug- 
 gle with principalities and powers, with 
 spiritual wickedness in high places, with 
 the rulers of the darkness of this world ; 
 nor can they halt without involving them- 
 selves in everlasting disgrace. 
 
 The question, as to the reasonableness 
 and probable results of the bold attack, 
 which arose before they entered on the 
 conflict, has been set at rest. It is no 
 longer dubious whether the warfare shall 
 commend itself to the divine approbation, 
 and shall be carried on under the shield of 
 omnipotent protection. The kingdom has 
 already been partially given to the saints 
 of the Most High. " He that is feeble has 
 become as David ; and the house of David, 
 as God and the angel of the Lord before 
 them." The great Captain of salvation 
 has tasted the earnest of his triumphs, and 
 waits with divine solicitude for their com- 
 pletion. A fearful responsibility rests upon 
 his disciples, and magnificent achievements 
 wait upon their fortitude and zeal. The 
 example of their devoted ancesters is be- 
 
166 
 
 JAMAICA: 
 
 fore them. His angels, whom he " maketh 
 as spirits, and his ministers as flames of 
 fire," anxiously attend them ; and nothing 
 remains but that they push their conquests 
 on every side, put to rout the armies of the 
 alien, and, animated with love to Christ 
 and care for the souls of men, in the name 
 of the Lord in every land lift up their ban- 
 ners. 
 
 In this glorious enterprise there is every 
 thing to encourage our hope and to stimu- 
 late our zeal. Increased facilities pre- 
 sent themselves on every hand, and new 
 spheres of labour are opening before 
 the messengers of the Gospel of peace. 
 Aware of their degradation, and perceiving 
 the influence of Christianity as taught by 
 the missionaries in Jamaica and other 
 British islands around them, the inhabitants 
 of Hayti have invited the servants of Christ 
 to their shores, promising the utmost pro- 
 tection to their persons and all possible 
 facilities for their work. They are begin- 
 ning to look upon missionary stations and 
 schools as necessary to enable their beauti- 
 ful island to occupy its proper place among 
 the nations of the earth. The messengers 
 of religion would meet with more respect 
 and countenance from the authorities resi- 
 dent there than from those in most other 
 parts of the world. Deeply interested in 
 the struggles of the philanthropists of 
 England for the freedom of their brethren, 
 they would vie with each other in expres- 
 sions of kindness towards any missionaries 
 who might visit their shores, since they are 
 well aware that the invaluable boon of 
 liberty, so lately conferred on thousands of 
 their coloured brethren, is mainly to be 
 ascribed to their exertions. Even here the 
 ground has already been broken.* (The 
 
 * It is but due on the part of the writer to state 
 that during a visit at Cape Haytien, and its neighbour- 
 hood, in January, 1842, nothing could exceed the 
 kindness with which he was treated by the highest 
 authorities and most respectable merchants of that 
 soon after devoted city, to whom he was introduced. 
 On authority of those individuals, chiefly, with whom 
 he had considerable intercourse, he has made the 
 above statements. As another result of the author's 
 inquiries, he found that a Baptist church already ex- 
 isted at Port-au-Prince, and in answer to a communi- 
 cation inquiring into their condition and circum- 
 stances, he received the following letter from some of 
 its members on behalf of the whole : — 
 
 "Port-au-Prince, May 15, 1842. 
 " Iteverend and Dear Sir, 
 
 "Your truly interesting and friendly letter came 
 sale to hand, which afforded us satisfaction to learn 
 that our brethren from afar had such sympathy with 
 us as to offer us assistance after knowing our situa- 
 
 Wesleyan Society has long had some in- 
 valuable agents in Hayti, men whose quali- 
 fications for the trying post they have had 
 to occupy have never been surpassed.) 
 
 Among other favourable occurrences the 
 ports of Jamaica have been recently thrown 
 open to Haytian commerce — an act of jus- 
 tice that has inspired with grateful senti- 
 ments some of the most influential citizens 
 of the republic. " England has given 
 another proof of her generous sympathy 
 with Hayti, which is to us a matter of sin- 
 cere rejoicing. It will tend to extend our 
 commerce, consolidate our prosperity, re- 
 fine our manners, establish our political 
 education, bring us the greater blessings of 
 Christianity ; and lastly, to honour and 
 happiness."* 
 
 Whilst Providence is yet more fully pre- 
 paring the way before us in the islands of 
 the West, vast continents are beckoning 
 us to their coasts. Already "Ethiopia 
 stretches out her hands unto God." In 
 many of her towns and villages, and 
 islands, the sun of Christianity has risen, 
 while the spectral train of idolatry and 
 superstition are vanishing before its rays. 
 Useful knowledge, the blessings of civiliza- 
 tion, and the arts of agriculture, follow in 
 the train of the missionary wherever he 
 goes ; and as he advances, " the wilder- 
 ness rejoices, and the desert blossoms as 
 the rose." 
 
 The honoured agents of the London, 
 the Wesleyan, the Church, and the Ameri- 
 can Missionary Societies have already 
 
 tion. We are without a pastor, and have been so for 
 
 some time At present there is not more 
 
 than a dozen of us that meet together, and that not 
 regularly, for at present we have no house in par- 
 ticular to hold our meetings in. About five years ago 
 we had a missionary from the United.States, at which 
 time we were in a very prosperous state, but he was 
 called home. After this we sent a pious, worthy man 
 from our own body to the United States, and the 
 board of foreign missions ordained him. He returned 
 and commenced his ministry, and was very prospe- 
 rous, but it pleased the Lord to take him also to him- 
 self, and we are now like sheep without a shepherd. 
 We submit these few lines for your|consideration. — 
 i. e„ to the wisdom of your body, — and beg you to 
 dictate and give us such friendly advice as might be 
 advantageous. What few there are of us are very 
 poor. It in your wisdom you send a person to instruct 
 us you will not be deceived respecting our situation. 
 We add nothing more, but remain your brethren in 
 the Lord, 
 
 (Signed) Isaac Hill, 
 
 William Peyer, 
 Samuel Jackson." 
 
 * Extract of a speech delivered at a banquet at Je- 
 remie, published in the Port-au-Prince ' Manifeste,' 
 iNov ember, 1842. 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 167 
 
 reaped a rich and glorious harvest ; and 
 the Baptist denomination has at length 
 heard the cry of her perishing millions, 
 and has gone up " to the help of the Lord 
 against the mighty." 
 
 Under its auspices an army of Africa's 
 own children, the first fruits of missionary 
 zeal in Jamaica, will, it is fondly hoped, 
 penetrate to the very heart of their father- 
 land, and plant the standard of the cross 
 on its hoary mountains, and sow the seed 
 of the Gospel along its sterile valleys. The 
 galling chain of slavery was no sooner 
 smitten from the exiled negroes in the west, 
 than their hearts yearned over their ne- 
 glected brethren at home ; and multitudes 
 of them, in the spirit of true devotion, are 
 ready, like the Israelites, to return from 
 the land of their captivity, taking the ark 
 of God with them.* Africa now begins 
 to absorb the sympathies of the whole 
 civilized world. The Anti-Slavery Socie- 
 ties of England and America, the African 
 Civilization Society, the African Institute 
 of France, are all intent on her elevation. 
 So with the whole Christian church. Every 
 thing seems to say that the time to favour 
 Africa is come ; that the day of her redemp- 
 tion draweth nigh. She " stands ready to- 
 morrow to receive a hundred thousand 
 missionaries." 
 
 Here and there on the South American 
 continent also the light of divine truth has 
 been kindled. Wherever we turn, the 
 piercing cry is heard, " the harvest is 
 great, but the labourers are few." Lovers 
 of social order, friends of education and 
 the rightsof man, Christians of every name, 
 ministers of the Gospel of Christ, awake, 
 and further the transfer of missionaries to 
 these benighted lands, but especially to in- 
 jured Africa. No longer suffer her to 
 weep for her children. Soon let it be said, 
 "Thussaith the Lord, refrain thy voice 
 from weeping and thine eyes from tears ; 
 for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the 
 Lord, and they shall come again from the 
 land of the enemy. And there is hope in 
 their end, saith the Lord, that their children 
 shall come again into their own border." 
 
 The obligations of true Christians to dif- 
 
 * The Rev. John Clarke, of the Baptist Missionary 
 Society, to whom and his colleague, Dr. Prince, a 
 wide and effectual door has been opened in Western 
 Africa, is now on his way to Jamaica, with the design 
 of conveying a considerable number of pious and de- 
 voted black and coloured men as missionaries to that 
 continent. 
 
 fuse the Gospel of Christ through the na- 
 tions of the earth, rise with peculiar pro- 
 priety out of the system of truth they 
 espouse. The direct commission of the 
 great Redeemer, as well as the more gene- 
 ral precepts of His word, fall with all the 
 weight of divine authority on the con- 
 science and the heart, and bind his dis- 
 ciples with the force of law to disseminate 
 the seed of "the kingdom." But in addi- 
 tion to these, and in vital sympathy with 
 them, there is the legitimate influence of 
 the doctrines they receive — a gentle con- 
 straining power, mightier than law, which 
 no devout heart can resist. There is not 
 a truth connected with the great evangeli- 
 cal scheme, and received " in the love of 
 it" into an " humble and contrite heart," 
 which does not feed in its measure the 
 springs of benevolence and love; which 
 does not bring into the breast which re- 
 ceives it the element of a new and a better 
 life, and awaken, by its silent ministrations, 
 the holier sympathies and aims. But when 
 the whole range of truths which compose 
 the " glorious Gospel of the blessed God " 
 exert their combined influence on the mind, 
 they " create all things new." Beneath 
 their genial effects the thoughts take an 
 ampler range, the affections kindle with a 
 purer and a diviner flame, and motives are 
 supplied by considerations of the mightiest 
 and tenderest import. The whole man is 
 raised, his moral attitude is changed, his 
 mind beats in unison with the divine intelli- 
 gence itself, and his heart, like that of his 
 great Master, breathes its solicitudes to- 
 wards a dying world. The missionary 
 spirit is not a transient fire, kindled amidst 
 heated passion, or an eccentric light escap- 
 ed from the realms of a bewildered imagi- 
 nation, but the quiet and rational growth 
 of enlightened Christianity ; the fair and 
 inevitable result of the cordial belief of the 
 doctrines of the cross of Christ ; the beauti- 
 ful offspring of a power seated amidst the 
 faculties of the soul, silently impelling them 
 to a large and comprehensive morality, and 
 spreading through them a glow of philan- 
 thropy that pants to relieve the strongest 
 exigencies of men. " I am debtor both to 
 the Greeks and barbarians, both to the 
 wise and to the unwise. For I could wish 
 that myself were accursed from Christ for 
 my brethren, mv kinsmen according to the 
 flesh." 
 
 Whether the devout believer in revealed 
 
168 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 religion contemplate its more awful dis- 
 closures, or his thoughts turn to its bright- 
 er discoveries, he derives inducements on 
 every hand for unabating efforts to extend 
 its blessings through the world. It is im- 
 possible for him to survey the nations 
 wrapt in ignorance, bound in the fetters of 
 degrading superstitions, and " led captive 
 by the devil at his will," without being 
 moved with compassion towards them. 
 Believing them to be under the curse, and 
 exposed to the anger of God, looking on 
 them as they advance in gloomy succes- 
 sion, from generation to generation, to the 
 grave, without knowledge, without holiness, 
 without hope, " his bowels yearn over them 
 in the Lord." If, turning from these 
 sombre reflections on the more dreadful 
 features of their present position, and 
 future prospects, he advert to more inspir- 
 ing themes, his sense of obligation towards 
 them acquires yet greater strength. The 
 beneficence of the great Jehovah, his un- 
 bounded grace in the gift of his Son, the 
 condescending and mysterious advent of 
 the Saviour, his awful agony and victorious 
 death, the efficacy of his sacrifice, and the 
 triumph of his power, strangely deepen the 
 impression. An experimental sense of the 
 incomparable preciousness of evangelical 
 truth, an unpresuming hope of interest in 
 its blessings, mingled with holy gratitude 
 and astonishment that he should possess 
 such treasures, enjoy such privileges, and 
 be animated by such hopes, give energy to 
 his impulses and intenseness to his desires. 
 " Have respect," he cries, " to thy cove- 
 nant, for the dark places of the earth are 
 full of the habitations of cruelty." A right 
 state of mind with relation to the claims 
 of heathen lands, like every other virtue, 
 brings a corresponding reward. From the 
 rise of the spirit of missions is to be dated 
 the commencement of an improved condi- 
 tion in the churches at home. It awakened 
 the slumbering genius of enterprise in 
 Zion ; it cast the thoughts and feelings of 
 pious persons into a new and finer mould, 
 gave amplitude to their ideas, and material- 
 ly aided in relaxing the rigidity and exclu- 
 siveness of theirtheology. It drew believers 
 into closer union, and fed the hallowed 
 fires of devotion, which are ever burning 
 on the altars of the church. The energy 
 which has gone forth from the community 
 of the faithful, to the help of those who 
 were ready to perish, so far from being 
 
 followed by exhaustion, has been the oc- 
 casion of renewed strength. As when 
 some stately oak, rising in majesty above 
 all around it, spreads its ample branches 
 freely beneath the heavens, and, as it ex- 
 pands, strikes its vast roots more deeply 
 into the friendly soil, so the vigour of the 
 church has increased since she sought a 
 wider range for her powers. No private 
 Christian, nor any society of godly men, 
 can cherish the higher virtues which are 
 included in enlightened missionary zeal, 
 without realizing the fulfilment of the pro- 
 mise that " he who waters others shall be 
 watered also himself." 
 
 Nor need the Christian patriot be indif- 
 ferent to the great advantages of a more 
 general kind, both civil and moral, which 
 accrue from the widening march of Chris- 
 tian missions. The honour of his country 
 is augmented, its progressive prosperity in 
 some degree guaranteed, and the presence 
 of the God of nations vouchsafed. As it 
 is with individuals, so with communities, 
 when their ways " please the Lord he 
 maketh their enemies to be at peace with 
 them." 
 
 But that which invests this glorious 
 cause with its highest interest, in the esti- 
 mation of devout men, is its inseparable 
 connexion with the honour of the Son of 
 God. Since the attention of the church 
 has been directed to the conversion of the 
 nations of the world a revenue of glory 
 has redounded to him unprecedented in the 
 history of his reign. The sublimity of the 
 conception, entertained by his obscure and 
 unpretending disciples, does honour to a 
 system which repudiates in its extension 
 all civil authority, and mere secular aid; 
 which, unlike every system of imposture, 
 whether political or religious, that has 
 been ambitious of dominion, casts aside 
 the warrior's sword, and the oppressor's 
 rod, and boasts of no armour but that of 
 meekness, gentleness, and truth. That 
 this mighty thought should draw all its 
 nourishment, and acquire all its fitness 
 from the doctrines which he taught, and 
 from the promises which he made: that 
 all the theories of mere reason, or of a 
 boasted philosophy, should be impotent to 
 the vast undertaking, and altogether un- 
 prepared to sympathize with it: that no 
 other set of truths except those he dis- 
 closed should inspire the generous moral, 
 or possess the requisite might, must surely 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 169 
 
 redound to his praise ! That with those 
 who entertain the loftiest conceptions of 
 his person, and the largest ideas of the 
 scope of his mission, should originate the 
 grandest moral scheme that has ever filled 
 the minds of men : that in proportion as 
 there is a descent from this elevated esti- 
 mate, the stirring impulse, and the com- 
 prehensive intention involved in the idea 
 of missions is weakened and surrendered, 
 cannot but be to his glory ! That inci- 
 dental benefits, better than any direct ones 
 conferred through other mediums, should 
 attend those regions of the earth to which 
 his religion is carried and taught in sim- 
 plicity and truth : that a spirit of inquiry, 
 an extending range of moral vision, the 
 decay of degrading custom and of bewil- 
 dering superstitions, freedom, the birth- 
 right of man, with social and domestic im- 
 provement and peace, should bless the 
 nations among whom his name is pro- 
 claimed, augments his extending fame ! 
 That, as his servants have advanced upon 
 the territories of the Prince of Darkness, 
 in whatever quarter of the globe, ignorance 
 and vice and malice and rage have fled 
 before them, and the graces of the Spirit 
 have sprung up in their path ; that tens of 
 thousands, as he has been lifted up before 
 them, have cried, " other Lords have had 
 dominion over us, but by thee only will 
 we make mention of thy name :" that evi- 
 dence of the truth of his religion, and the 
 spiritual glory of his kingdom, should ac- 
 cumulate in such masses along the line of 
 Christian missions: that unbelief grows 
 pale, and conviction begins to light up the 
 universal mind : that death and the invisi- 
 ble world should have recorded in all but 
 innumerable instances on their mysterious 
 page, from among all climes, the splendid 
 triumphs of his cross adds imperishable 
 lustre to his crown! "When thou shalt 
 make his soul an offering for sin he shall 
 see his seed, he shall prolong his days, 
 and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper 
 in his hand." 
 
 In concert with the more disinterested 
 motives which should impel professing 
 Christians forward in this great cause, they 
 may well be influenced by the recollection 
 of the most limited season within which it 
 is allowed them to labour, and the speedy 
 approach of the final audit, as well as the 
 instituted connexion between their present 
 devotedness and their future reward, " He 
 
 12 
 
 that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit 
 reap life everlasting." Who is not ambi- 
 tious of fhe plaudit of the descending judge? 
 Who would not aspire to the highest ho- 
 nours of the eternal world? "They that 
 be wise shall shine as the brightness of the 
 firmament; and they that turn many to 
 righteousness, as the stars for ever and 
 ever." 
 
 The means by which the desire of the 
 church is to be accomplished have been 
 instituted by the Saviour himself; nor will 
 he permit his people to neglect them with 
 impunity, or to substitute others in their 
 stead. Simple as they are, they are emi- 
 nently suited to the attainment of their 
 end, and are incapable of improvement by 
 the complicated contrivances of men. They 
 are as ancient as that system of truth they 
 are appointed to serve, and will admit of 
 no extraneous adjuncts or novel devices. 
 The progress of religion in the world, like 
 the growth of piety in the heart, can be 
 served only by spiritual means, by a strict 
 adherence to the laws of that " kingdom 
 which is not of this world." The injunc- 
 tions of legislators, and the mandates of 
 thrones, may do much to retard, but can 
 effect little to advance, its triumphs. The 
 subtilties of human policy have in them 
 nothing in common with the " wisdom that 
 cometh from above, which is at first pure, 
 then peaceable, easy to be entreated, full 
 of mercy and good fruits." The utter 
 weakness of human nature, and the feeble- 
 ness of its resources, are never more con- 
 spicuous than when, passing beyond their 
 province, the potentates of the earth at- 
 tempt to direct and regulate the higher in- 
 terests of mankind. They have nothing 
 to do but to unite with the obscurest citizen 
 in subjecting themselves to the divine autho- 
 rity of Him who is no respecter of persons. 
 Nor can any benefit accrue to this great 
 cause from rash innovations, or the plausi- 
 ble expedients of its sincere but too san- 
 guine friends. It is vain to carry the cal- 
 culations of commerce and the maxims of 
 the world into the Church of God. The 
 effect they produce, however apparently 
 good, is transient and deceptive ; they may 
 agitate the surface, but they weaken the 
 centre; may induce a delusive flush of 
 vigour and health, like the influence of 
 powerful stimulants on the human frame, 
 but they induce languor at the heart. 
 
 In the ordination of the means bv which 
 
170 
 
 JAMAICA 
 
 to carry forward the interests of truth in 
 the earth, as in the developement of truth 
 itself, "Jehovah has abounded towards us 
 in all wisdom and prudence." 
 
 It is impossible to attach too much im- 
 portance in the order of means, to the pro- 
 mulgation of the Gospel in its primitive 
 simplicity and apostolic glory free from 
 all the admixtures of a refined philosophy 
 and useless traditions. The proclamation 
 of the love of God in the unspeakable gift 
 of his beloved Son, the free invitations of 
 his grace and his claims to the obedience 
 of faith, have been instrumental in the 
 hands of Christian missionaries, of all de- 
 nominations, in winning the hearts of the 
 heathen to his authority ; and a conscien- 
 tious adherence to the same prescribed 
 course will secure for them his increased 
 approbation and sanction. Let but this 
 divine mission continue to be ardently dis- 
 charged by men of God, full of faith and 
 of the Holy Ghost, and nothing can with- 
 stand it ; all opposition will fall before it, 
 as Dagon before the Ark. This is the 
 grand secret by which the world is to be 
 reclaimed, and the vast empire of darkness 
 to be overthrown. 
 
 Nor must we leave out of view the ne- 
 cessity of an entire dependence on the 
 agency of the Spirit of God, an habitual 
 reference to those promised influences with- 
 out which Paul may plant and Apollos 
 water in vain. In conjunction with these 
 stands the wonderful ordinance of prayer, 
 the appointed medium of direct intercourse 
 with heaven, that holy exercise on which 
 it has pleased the blessed God to suspend 
 his communications to men. Let but the 
 devout supplications of the united church 
 ascend as incense to the great Father of 
 Spirits through the intercession of his Son, 
 and there need be no limits to the expecta- 
 tions of his servants. " Prove Me here- 
 with, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not 
 open you the windows of Heaven, and 
 pour you out a blessing that there shall 
 not be room enough to receive it."* Not 
 a petition should be concluded in the closet, 
 at the domestic altar, at the social meet- 
 ing, or in the public worship of Jehovah, 
 without the supplication "Thy kingdom 
 come." 
 
 It is an admirable law in the constitution 
 of things that the lesser virtues wait upon 
 
 * Malachi iii. 10, 
 
 the greater. Consequent on the cultivation 
 of these momentous means is the inferior, 
 but not less requisite, practice of enlarged 
 benevolence. The devotion of the heart to 
 any cause carries in it a disposition to 
 make any sacrifice to advance it. To pre- 
 tend to be deeply concerned for the salva- 
 tion of men, and yet to be backward to 
 give money to promote it, is to insult rea- 
 son, and therefore to disgrace religion. 
 The professor, who descants with affected 
 fervour on the importance of missionary 
 enterprise, but who is prolific with excuses 
 when called on to support it, may find pal- 
 liatives in the selfish maxims of a frigid 
 economy, but he does violence to moral 
 order, and will not escape the rebuke of 
 his Judge. Honour the Lord with thy sub- 
 stance, and with the first fruits of all thine 
 increase, is equally the command of God 
 as to preach the Gospel to every creature, 
 or to pray earnestly for its success. To 
 unite them is reasonable, natural, and re- 
 ligious ; but to pretend to the one while ne- 
 glecting the other is hypocrisy — a solemn 
 mockery — a contradiction in language and 
 conduct. No Christian is at liberty to 
 consider himself an independent proprie- 
 tor of his wealth any more than of his 
 talents or of his time. He is responsible, 
 by the very law of his profession, for its 
 proper appropriation, while he is bound by 
 ties of holiest gratitude to place it at the 
 disposal of him who gave his life a ransom 
 for many. Discountenancing the extrava- 
 gant doctrines of those who advocate the 
 surrender of all the possessions, and the 
 abandonment of the comforts, of life, who 
 would have men pour the fortunes with 
 which Providence may have endowed them 
 indiscriminately into the exchequer of the 
 church, as subversive of propriety and as 
 derogatory to true religion, it becomes 
 needful to guard on the other hand against 
 a spirit of parsimony and worldly policy — 
 to hold up to marked disapprobation those 
 sophistical subterfuges beneath which the 
 professed followers of Christ too frequently 
 conceal that covetousness which is idola- 
 try. Let the love of God be shed abroad 
 in their hearts by the Holy Ghost given 
 unto them — let but the spirit of prayer and 
 the grace of supplication rest upon them, 
 and generous sentiments will fill their 
 breasts, while sound discretion will regu- 
 late their hands. There is but little dan- 
 ger of the liberality of men who are under 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 171 
 
 the direction of right principles exceeding 
 the bounds of Christian prudence; or, if 
 such cases should occasionally occur, He 
 who searcheth the hearts will rather ap- 
 prove the errors of benevolence than the 
 indifference that never stirs, the caution 
 which always hesitates, or the supineness 
 that ever sleeps. Hitherto the Christian 
 church in its collective capacity has cheer- 
 fully responded to the appeals of humanity 
 and piety, and its generosity has borne a 
 gratifying proportion to its ever-increas- 
 ing claims. It is to the honour of the 
 churches of Christ in Great Britain that 
 such vast amounts have been annually 
 collected in behalf of foreign missions. 
 Still, if the work is to be conducted on a 
 scale at all commensurate with the terri- 
 tory to be reclaimed, the standard of libe- 
 rality must be raised, and increased con- 
 tributions poured in. A consciousness of 
 individual responsibility must fall upon the 
 members of the churches ; no one must 
 claim exemption, but each must present his 
 offering — the accumulating capitalist, with 
 the toiling mechanic; the several branches 
 as well as the venerated heads of house- 
 holds; the indigent as well as the affluent. 
 As an instance of what may be effected 
 by a combination of effort, it is only re- 
 quisite to turn to the Baptist and other 
 churches in Jamaica. The people com- 
 posing them are generally poor, and each 
 gives but little, but, each contributing 
 something, and doing so continually, far 
 more is raised for benevolent objects, in 
 proportion to their strength, than by Chris- 
 tian communities, however distinguished, 
 in any other part of the world. 
 
 As the divine Redeemer advances in his 
 glorious career, to take the heathen as his 
 inheritance, in answer to the ascending 
 prayers of his church, the motive for ex- 
 tended liberality is strengthened, and the 
 munificence of his people will, it is confi- 
 dently hoped, rise with the number and 
 urgency of his claims. 
 
 As a spirit of enlightened commise- 
 ration for the heathen shall mingle itself 
 yet more deeply with the piety of British 
 Christians, instances of personal dedication 
 to the work of missions will increase. No 
 reflecting person can fail to trace the fin- 
 ger of God in the noiseless manner in 
 which the great work has hitherto been 
 carried on. Instead of men leaving their 
 native shores in large bodies, and so at- 
 
 tracting the attention of society, and on 
 alighting in distant lands awakening the 
 suspicion of strangers, the messengers of 
 mercy have gone forth singly and at inter- 
 vals, almost unperceived, while by their 
 seeming weakness they have excited the 
 pity and contempt rather than roused the 
 opposition, of foes. By this arrangement, 
 the result of absolute necessity more than 
 of design on the part of the churches of 
 the Redeemer, but ordered in infinite wis- 
 dom by the blessed God, Christian doc- 
 trine, so inimical to the tastes and adverse 
 to the established superstitions of the na- 
 tions, has been silently insinuated into 
 most unlikely regions and as leaven, pro- 
 mises to leaven the whole lump. By re- 
 siding among cruel savages and effeminate 
 idolaters till, by their blameless lives and 
 disinterested efforts, they have conciliated 
 their respect by introducing the useful arts 
 of civilized society, or imperceptibly in- 
 fusing the spirit of Christian truth into the 
 prevalent literature, the solitary teacher, 
 or the little unsuspected band, " has pre- 
 pared the way of the Lord, and cast up in 
 the desert a highway for our God." Plans 
 may now be entertained and executed 
 which, if attempted in the earlier stages of 
 the enterprise, would have been frustrated 
 by unfriendly authorities, and have post- 
 poned the dawn of that day, the bright 
 morning of which now opens so enchant- 
 ingly all around. " My thoughts are not 
 as your thoughts ; nor my ways as your 
 ways, saith the Lord." But the time has 
 now arrived for a bolder and more reso- 
 lute assault. The apprehensions of the 
 rulers of the earth are allayed, the base 
 and interested nature of the opposition of 
 corrupted priesthoods is suspected by their 
 votaries. The peaceable and useful influ- 
 ence of missions on civil and social life is 
 acknowledged. A spirit of inquiry has 
 been awakened, and millions upon millions 
 are " waiting for his law." The appalling 
 exigencies of the heathen have been ren- 
 dered most affectingly conspicuous, by the 
 startling inadequacy of all attempts which 
 have been made to meet them. Lamps 
 have been lighted here and there, which 
 serve to reveal the surrounding gloom. In 
 more than one eastern city there is but a 
 single missionary to a hundred thousand 
 people, and in some instances no one like- 
 minded within a distance of a hundred 
 miles ; while in other parts, where labour- 
 
172 
 
 JAMAICA : 
 
 ers are more numerous, they are altogether ' 
 unequal to the duties laid upon them by 
 their very successes. " Verily the fields 
 are white unto the harvest." The ripen- 
 ing corn invites the sickle; it bends be- 
 neath its weight ; it waves before the 
 breeze. The sky is lowering, the wind 
 moaning, the air chilling — the season will 
 soon be past, and the opportunity ended. 
 But where a host of hands should seize the 
 spoil, a single reaper only appears here 
 and there, breast high, mocked by the 
 seeming hopelessness of his work, and 
 dispirited b\ the loneliness of his position. 
 
 " Where are the youthful Christians 
 prepared to occupy the high places of the 
 field? Where the fathers ready to place 
 them on this altar ? the mothers ready to 
 give them up ? They can surrender them 
 to the contagion of idolatry, of vice, of 
 traffic, and of war. Men of science cross 
 the seas to mark the transit of a planet, 
 and to record the appearance of the stars ; 
 and shall sloth enervate the Christian's 
 heart, or pusillanimity paralyse his arm? 
 A dying world anxiously waits for a re- 
 sponse to the appeal, ' whom shall we 
 send, and who will go for us ?' "* Churches 
 of the living God ! Families of the faith- 
 ful ! Seminaries of religion and learning ! 
 Ministers of the cross of Christ ! your in- 
 creased sympathy and aid are affection- 
 ately, but earnestly implored. f 
 
 The signs of the times, as they unfold 
 themselves around us, strengthen the obli- 
 gations and minister to the encouragement 
 of the church. Philosophic and theoretic 
 infidelity, once so active and obtrusive, has 
 exhausted its resources, and grown ashamed 
 of its sophistries, so that those energies 
 which were required to defend the Chris- 
 tian faith against learned and subtle adver- 
 saries at home are now ready to be turned 
 against systems of error and idolatry 
 abroad. Unbelief, driven from the for- 
 tresses it had thrown around itself from 
 the pretensions of the intellect, has taken 
 refuge in the cold indifference or malignant 
 resistance of the heart — a position peculiar 
 to none, and from which men of every 
 
 * Hamilton's Prize Essay. 
 
 t In the world's convention, which was held in 
 London about two years since, one of the speakers 
 stated that a poor black man of Jamaica, who wished 
 to go to Africa to tell the glad tidings of salvation, 
 on being told that, among other difficulties, he might 
 be a slave again, replied, " If I have been a slave for 
 man, I can be a slave for God." 
 
 clime can only be dislodged by those 
 words " which are spirit and which are 
 life." The convulsive throes of anti- 
 christ ; the daring but futile attempts 
 which are making to efface the doctrines 
 of the Reformation, and to revive the worst 
 errors of the Papacy, call upon the 
 churches with a voice of thunder to diffuse 
 through all lands the unadulterated light 
 of the " glorious Gospel of the blessed 
 God," and to supplant the flagrant lies of 
 the man of sin by the bold and universal 
 promulgation of the " truth as it is in Je- 
 sus." The British arms, famous in the 
 annals of military prowess, are, however 
 inequitably, extending their conquests and 
 throwing open the way to multitudinous 
 and inaccessible tribes. Dynasties, whose 
 date carries us back beyond the limits of 
 historic story, and which baffle the re- 
 searches of the learned, are disclosing 
 their mysterious secrets. Haughty mo- 
 narchsand imperious priests, on whom had 
 settled the silence of ages, are dreading 
 the approach of truth, the overthrow of 
 their foul altars, and the invasion of their 
 gorgeous temples. The decay of trade in 
 our streets, and the departure of commerce 
 from our shores, with a gradually ex- 
 hausting exchequer, will speedily compel 
 the rulers of this great empire to admit 
 the ships of all nations to our ports, and 
 open to our merchants the exchanges of 
 the world. With our traffic is diffused our 
 influence, our language, and our literature, 
 and the way is prepared for the extension 
 of our religion. Whilst we are summon- 
 ing our hosts to the battle, our fellow Chris- 
 tians in the new world are equally assi- 
 duous ; and by their confederacy with us 
 are contributing to create such an amount 
 of evidence in favour of Christian missions 
 as cannot fail to secure for them the ho- 
 mage of the world, and to render most dif- 
 ficult, if not altogether impracticable, their 
 suppression at any time by the enemies of 
 liberty and religion. With such tokens 
 glittering all around us and with the pro- 
 vidence of God thus anticipating us, dare 
 we pause in our course ? 
 
 Nor can the issue of the struggle be al- 
 lowed to be doubtful. Mere human 
 schemes, however wisely planned and vi- 
 gorously worked, are liable to be defeated. 
 They hang upon contingencies that no 
 forethought can prevent, and may be 
 thrown into confusion by casualties inci- 
 
ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE. 
 
 173 
 
 dent to the profoundest purposes of finite 
 minds. But the designs of the servants of 
 Christ, moulded according to the direc- 
 tions of his word, and executed in humble 
 dependence on his grace, are in sympathy 
 with the councils of the blessed God, and 
 run parallel with his thoughts of love and 
 mercy towards sinful men. They enlist 
 on their side the perfections of Him whom 
 no stratagems can baffle and against whom 
 no combination can succeed. Apparently 
 insuperable obstacles may stand in the way, 
 and the friends of missions may meet with 
 painful diversions and temporary defeat, 
 but why do the " Heathen rage,- and the 
 people imagine a vain thing ? He that 
 sitteth in the Heavens shall laugh ; the 
 Lord shall have them in derision." " His 
 council must stand, and he will do all his 
 pleasure." 
 
 It were folly to attempt to define the 
 distinct stage at which Jehovah has arrived 
 in his career of mercy and of love, and 
 presumptuous to attempt to assign the date 
 at which his beneficent purposes shall be 
 fulfilled. " It is the glory of God to con- 
 ceal a thing." We are familiar with the 
 history of the church, but the chronology 
 of the great work of redemption is not re- 
 vealed to us. It is impossible, however, to 
 
 compare the page of prophecy with tran- 
 spiring events, without a glow of expecta- 
 tion and hope. The Mahomedan impos- 
 ture, by which the nations have been so 
 long enslaved, is sinking beneath the 
 weight of its crimes. Forms of ecclesias- 
 tical polity, based on usurpation, and nur- 
 tured by popular ignorance, are gradually 
 declining throughout Europe. The oracles 
 of truth have been translated into the most 
 dissonant, as well as the more elegant lan- 
 guages of the earth. Enlarged spheres of 
 usefulness summon the faithful to renewed 
 activity and zeal. Almighty God, as the 
 moral Governor of the world, is advancing 
 with unwonted rapidity on his majestic 
 way, and as he proceeds " every valley is 
 exalted, and every mountain and hill is 
 made low." His exalted Son surveys, 
 with divine tranquillity, the turbulent ele- 
 ments as they roll beneath his feet, and 
 looks with high approbation on the exer- 
 tions of his servants, whilst he already 
 hears, with sublime delight, the distant 
 sound of a great multitude " as the voice 
 of many waters, and as the voice of mighty 
 thunderings, saying, Alleluia ! the Lord 
 God omnipotent reigneth !" Where is the 
 Christian who would not accelerate his 
 triumphs? 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 PLAN OF A COLLEGE IN JAMAICA. 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 It cannot fail to have been a matter of sincere 
 regret to the liberal and intelligent portion of the 
 community that a colony, in all respects so im- 
 portant as that of Jamaica, should have been so 
 long destitute of an institution for the instruction 
 of its youth in the learned languages, and in the 
 various departments of science. 
 
 As a consequence of this deficiency, all persons 
 who have resolved to participate the benefits of a 
 liberal education themselves, or have desired this 
 privilege for their families, have been obliged to 
 resort to the universities or higher schools of Eu- 
 rope or America, — a necessity which has occa- 
 sioned many painful sacrifices to the wealthy, and 
 been a source of no small disadvantage to society 
 at large. 
 
 The College of Fort William in Bengal has 
 been for years in operation, and has already se- 
 cured the most important results to the middling 
 and higher classes of British India. Similar in- 
 stitutions are in existence in Barbadoes, Nova 
 Scotia, and Canada; and proposals for the esta- 
 blishment of a university, on a liberal and com- 
 prehensive scale, have been for some time before 
 the public for the colony of the Cape of Good 
 Hope. And shall the inhabitants of Jamaica be 
 any longer debarred the inestimable privilege 
 which such an establishment would afford, and 
 continue subject to the reproach of such deficiency 
 when every means for its supply is within their 
 power, — when, indeed, scarcely any thing is re- 
 quired but unity of purpose and of energy ? If at 
 any one period, more than another, in the history 
 of Jamaica, there existed a real necessity for such 
 an institution, — and if at any time pre-eminent 
 facilities were afforded for its establishment, — it 
 must surely be the present. Apart from all other 
 considerations, 'proprietors and other influential 
 individuals are less capable than formerly of sus- 
 taining the heavy pecuniary expenses which a 
 European education involves; and if this inability 
 is experienced by many of the higher classes of 
 society, it must be obvious that the advantage of 
 a liberal education, in its most comprehensive 
 sense, must be entirely beyond the reach of the 
 intermediate portion of the community, now ra- 
 pidly increasing in number and respectability. 
 
 From such considerations, and from many 
 others of equal importance that could be urged, 
 the immediate establishment of a College in 
 Jamaica, on principles which will enable respecta- 
 ble youth of all colours to reap the advantages 
 which the most comprehensive system of educa- 
 tion can confer, must appear to every intelligent 
 individual, interested in the real welfare of the 
 country, a most important desideratum. 
 
 The adoption of such a Plan would necessarily 
 require the possession of considerable funds, and 
 would entail difficulties, in other respects, of no 
 ordinary magnitude. It is presumed, however, 
 from a deliberate view of all the circumstances, 
 that if any thing like that general sympathy is 
 awakened to the object upon which it is reasona- 
 ble to calculate, every apparent obstacle would 
 quickly disappear, and such success ensured as 
 the most sanguine mind could anticipate. 
 
 Deeply impressed with these considerations, the 
 writer takes leave to submit to the liberal and en- 
 lightened public the following Prospectus of an 
 Institution, which is designed, in accordance with 
 the views already expressed, not only to secure to 
 the students the best education in all the higher 
 branches of literature and science, for which there 
 might be any demand, and to communicate to 
 them such course of instruction as would enable 
 them to appear in the learned professions, but one 
 in the proceedings and discipline of which, also, 
 religious and political party distinctions would be 
 unknown, — where, regarding human beings as 
 free agents, liberty of conscience as the right of 
 man, and literature as a common blessing, — good 
 scholarship, good morals, virtuous habits, indus- 
 try, and talent would constitute the only basis of 
 distinction. 
 
 Should the Plan in general meet with the ap- 
 probation of the public, it is desirable that such 
 individuals as are especially interested in the ob- 
 ject would signify that interest by communicating 
 with the writer,* with a view to the formation of 
 a Committee, who would mature the Plan, and 
 begin to carry it into execution by the immediate 
 appointment of agents authorized to collect and 
 receive subscriptions for the purpose. 
 
 * Addressed No. 6, Fen Court, Feuchurch Street, 
 London. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 175 
 
 It may not be unnecessary to remark, in con- 
 cluding this Address, that the important object 
 here advocated, has already engaged the attention 
 of several gentlemen of influence and respecta- 
 bility in Jamaica, who would cordially unite with 
 others in the adoption of measures calculated to 
 insure the immediate execution of the design. 
 
 PLAN. 
 
 I. Professors : — 
 
 In the incipient operations, when only a limited 
 elementary course is contemplated, probably two 
 or three Professors would be sufficient, as, with 
 reference to many of the subjects proposed, a state- 
 ment of their scope and fundamental principles, in 
 the form of an occasional lecture, might suffice. 
 
 1. For Languages — Latin, Greek, and He- 
 brew,* — to which French and Spanish should be 
 added, as essential. 
 
 2. For Logic and Philosophy — including the 
 Philosophy of the Human Mind, Moral Philoso- 
 phy, and Political— the latter of which involves 
 the principles of political economy and jurispru- 
 dence. 
 
 3. For Botany, Chemistry, and Natural History. 
 The course of Political Economy might be con- 
 fined to the reading of a simple elementary volume. 
 
 For the study of Natural History the proximity 
 of a museum would offer great advantages. An 
 occasional visit to such a collection would form 
 an excellent comment on whatever outline of ani- 
 mated nature might be put into the hands of the 
 junior classes. 
 
 A few lectures, also, on the useful arts, en- 
 gineering, and manufactures, might perhaps sa- 
 tisfy all the requisites of the occasion. Should 
 drawing be thought a desideratum, it should be 
 taught by a master, and, together with tuition in 
 the modern languages, be paid for as an extra ; but 
 the principles of perspective should be included in 
 the course of geometry. The lectures might be 
 delivered by the different Professors by an ar- 
 rangement among themselves, under the sanction 
 of a superior power, as is the case in many of the 
 continental universities. 
 
 II. Salaries of the Professors : — 
 
 Funds for this purpose to be raised, as well as 
 for the current expenses of the establishment in 
 general, — 
 
 1. Partly from the voluntary subscriptions of 
 the public. 
 
 2. Partly by a charge of 50Z. each per annum, 
 more or less, to regular students ; and, 
 
 3. Partly by fees for the delivery of lectures. 
 
 III. Qualifications of the Professors : — 
 
 1. They should be men of an orthodox creed, of 
 high moral character, and of liberal sentiments. 
 
 2. Persons of first rate qualifications in their 
 respective departments. 
 
 3. Individuals who would have no other employ- 
 ment; and, 
 
 4. Who would endeavour to improve themselves, 
 from year to year, in the knowledge of what be- 
 longed to their department. 
 
 IV. Lkngth of the Session : — 
 
 1. The session to commence in the month of 
 , and conclude in the month of 
 
 * This desirable from local considerations. 
 
 2. Ten days' relaxation at Christmas, and a 
 month at Easter. 
 
 3. The length of the whole course of studies to 
 be three or four years. 
 
 V. Students : — 
 
 1. All young men to be admitted who might be 
 of good moral character, and who desire improve- 
 ment in useful knowledge. 
 
 2. No impediment should arise from complexion, 
 or from difference of religious denomination. 
 
 3. Such an institution would offer peculiar ad- 
 vantages to young men designed for the Christian 
 ministry, previously to their entering on a course 
 of theological study. 
 
 4. It might also be found highly beneficial to 
 theological students, after having finished their 
 course, either under a private tutor or in a public 
 theological seminary. Such individuals might wish 
 to spend a year at the college previously to their be- 
 coming candidates for the pastoral office. Simi- 
 lar advantages would be afforded by it to young 
 men preparing for the superintendence of normal- 
 schools. Persons of prudence and piety, with 
 such prospects, would prove a peculiar acquisition 
 to the college, as examples of good conduct and of 
 diligence in study. They would, moreover, by 
 their inspection, influence, and lessons, materially 
 assist the juniors in their literary pursuits. 
 
 5. Gentlemen of leisure might wish to enjoy the 
 benefits of such an institution, respectable young 
 men in public offices, and in professional and com- 
 mercial establishments. Such individuals might 
 occasionally attend courses of lectures, &c. To 
 young men, before immediately entering upon the 
 business of active life in any respectable situation, 
 the benefits which the college would confer would 
 be incalculable. 
 
 VI. Mode of Instruction : — 
 
 1. The University of Glasgow, it is conceived, 
 forms the best model of any public institution in 
 Europe in this respect, as combining — 1st, Public 
 lectures by the professors ; 2nd, Careful examina- 
 tion of the students on those lectures ; and 3rd, 
 Frequent themes in writing on the subject of those 
 lectures. 
 
 2. The professors should not be bound by any 
 statutes, or otherwise, to follow any particular or 
 precise mode of communicating their instructions, 
 but should be expected to discharge their duties in 
 the spirit of the existing age, and with the aid of 
 whatever improvements the advanced state of 
 society has discovered. 
 
 PLACE AND ACCOMMODATION. 
 
 VII. As to Place :— 
 
 A cool and salubrious situation would be of the 
 first importance for the seat of the college, as an 
 inducement to able professors from Europe, and 
 on account of the health of the students. It should 
 be retired, as a safeguard against the formation of 
 disreputable connexions, as well as to prevent as 
 much as possible abstraction from study. It 
 should be, moreover, of easy access, possessing the 
 advantages of a carriage-road ; in the county of 
 Middlesex, at no great distance from Kingston and 
 Spanish Town, yet sufficiently within the reach of 
 the respectable inhabitants of the colony at large, 
 and in the vicinity of two or more places of reli- 
 gious worship of different denominations. 
 
176 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 VIII. Accommodations: — 
 
 It would be desirable, until at least the college 
 be established, to purchase or rent an eligible 
 house for the purpose, but should no suitable pre- 
 mises offer, necessary buildings of an economical 
 description might be erected. Funds for the pur- 
 chase or rent of premises, or for the erection of 
 suitable buildings, could be raised by voluntary 
 subscription : or, as in the case of the London Uni- 
 versity (now University College), by a sale of 
 shares, as a committee or a board of directors 
 might determine. 
 
 IX. Discipline and Government : — 
 
 1. It should be liberal. 
 
 2. It should be strictly observed. 
 
 3. It should consider good moral conduct as 
 absolutely necessary. 
 
 4. It should render the college incompatible 
 with the abode of individuals in it whose habits 
 were not industrious. 
 
 5. It should aim to render the students useful 
 and ornamental members of civil society, and 
 should also regard them as immortal beings pre- 
 paring for a higher destination. 
 
 Whenever the institution might arrive at a 
 state of maturity, and the professors considered it 
 advantageous to confer literary honours on such 
 students as might distinguish themselves, it may 
 be presumed that viewing the college in all its 
 important bearings on the surrounding islands and 
 continent (not omitting Africa), but more especially 
 as designed for the learned education of the inha- 
 bitants of a colony at once so numerous and so 
 generally deprived of all other means of obtaining 
 literary distinction, the free and liberal Govern- 
 ment of Great Britain, so interested in the esta- 
 blishment of all such institutions, would willingly 
 facilitate its importance and usefulness, by grant- 
 ing a charter for that purpose. 
 
 In order to prepare a succession of young per- 
 sons for the study of the highest branches of learn- 
 ing at the college, as well as to secure other im- 
 portant advantages, it would be desirable to con- 
 nect with the Jamaica Institution, as at the Lon- 
 don University, and other colleges on the continent 
 of Europe, a seminary of elementary instruction, 
 of which the following extract from the ' Journal de 
 Geneve,' republished in the ' Bibliotheque Univer- 
 selle' of Professor Pictet, in 1817, will furnish a 
 simple and interesting example : — 
 
 " Upwards of 200 years ago, two illustrious re- 
 formers conceived the plan of founding at Geneva 
 a public school to prepare young people for the 
 higher parts of learning. This school, which from 
 that time has always subsisted amongst us, bears 
 the name of college, and is divided into nine classes, 
 in each of which beginning at the ninth, the 
 scholars learn successively to read and write, and 
 afterwards from the seventh to the first,* ortho- 
 graphy, Latin, and Greek. . . . The lessons 
 are given in each by a particular master, named 
 the regent of the class, and who is chosen in open 
 competition by the academy, under the special 
 superintendence of which the whole college is 
 
 * It would not be thought desirable, probably, to 
 form the Jamaica Preparatory Institution after so in- 
 cipient a model as this. The extract is introduced to 
 illustrate the practicability and advantage of the plan. 
 
 placed. Each regent give in his class from five to 
 six hours' lessons a day. ... I will add that 
 all the classes of the college are held in the same 
 building, but separate from one another ; that they 
 have all the same hours ; that the regents and the 
 scholars are constantly under the superintendence 
 of an inspector chosen by the academy, under the 
 name of Principal, who lives in rooms above ; that 
 once a year there are distributed publicly, and with 
 great solemnity, the prizes they are supposed to 
 have merited ; and that at last, on passing out from 
 the first class, they are admitted as students into 
 the auditories, when the professors, who compose 
 our academy, give regular lectures, on which the 
 students are required to undergo an annual public 
 examination." Thus the greater number of our 
 young boys, whatever their after destination may 
 be, receive their education at the college, and sel- 
 dom leave it without having acquired the elements 
 of Latin and Greek." 
 
 The reader in this country will perceive that what 
 is here called the " College" answers more or less to 
 our high schools. Their academy is what we should 
 have called the college. — Translator. 
 
 I-*| 
 
 NOTE 
 
 Connected with the Chapter on Agriculture, p. 37. 
 
 The following Extract from " Chambers' Edin- 
 burgh Journal" for July of the present year, is 
 worthy the attention of Jamaica agriculturists, as 
 also of those in tropical climates in general : — 
 
 " In .November last a notice of a new African grain 
 was read before the Linnnean Society of London by 
 R. Clarke, Esq., senior assistant-surgeon to the co- 
 lony of Sierra Leone. 
 
 " According to Mr. Clarke this grain, which is 
 called 'fundi,' or 'fundungi,' is cultivated in the 
 neighbourhood of Kissy village, and in other parts of 
 the colony, by industrious individuals of the Soosoo, 
 Foulah, and other tribes, by whom it is highly prized. 
 
 " The fundi is a slender grass with digitate spikes, 
 and grows to the height of about eighteen inches. 
 The ear consists of two conjugate spikes, the grain 
 being arranged on the outer edge of either spike, and 
 alternated ; the grain is attached by a short peduncle 
 to the husk, from which it is easily separated. 
 
 " The grain, which is cordiform (or heart-shaped) 
 and about the size of mignonette seed, is covered by 
 a thin fawn-coloured membrane ; and when freed 
 from this membrane is whitish and semi-transparent. 
 It is highly glutinous, and has a delicate flavour, be- 
 tween that of rice and kiln-dried oats. 
 
 " Its mode of culture is extremely simple. It de- 
 lights in light soils, and requires no manure, and is 
 very prolific. It is eaten both by Europeans and na- 
 tives, and is highly valued as an article of food. Mr. 
 Clarke is of opinion that could it be raised in suffi- 
 cient quantities it would become an important article 
 of commerce, as it would prove a highly valuable 
 addition to the list of light farinaceous articles of 
 food now in use among the delicate and convale- 
 scent. From the specimen furnished by Mr. Clarke, 
 the fundi grain appears to be quite as delicate as 
 arrow-root, while it possesses a more agreeable fla- 
 vour than sago, potato-starch, and other similar pre- 
 parations." 
 
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