Star. — London, England, 1824-06-02 00:00:00

U s mut mention • while those who told more credible w as against Mr. Smith, were saved and brought for ward. They did not dare to bring forward Paris and gaily, because the prisoner would then have shewn digit falsehood; but the effect of their statements re osioe,l—(lear. hear). It was brought before the Judges in t h e s h a pe of insinuation, and imputation, and hearsay five times renroved—(Ciseers). In very shame, they werecornpelled to hide these witnesses beneath the earth *a covered them, but yet they resorted to the most *l e nt and flagrant injustice to render their evidence available for their abominable purposes. But to shew t hat not a shadow of crime could be charged against t hi s poor Missionary, he would read a letter which was written by a Gentleman whom lie should not Dam e, but the letter mentioned a name to whom ap peal could be made, and whose respectablit would se ifici ent ly authenticate the contents. The y Gentle *an so named was Mr. Austin, who was no Medico 'dist, no sectary, but a member of the Church, as by law established. The letter stated that the negroes w ho accused Mr. Smith in their confessions, when throwing themselves upon the mercy of the Court, de tied those confu s ions just before they were launched into eternity. Tneir last statements were then taken d ow n, read to them, and signed upon their oaths. fdris, in particular, made this disavowal, and prayed Gun to forgive him the lies he had told against Mr. Smith, and said he did it at the instigation of a person whose name he should not mention. Sandy made a similar recantation ; and others declared that they knew nothing but what they had heard agaiast Mr. Smith. The confession of Jack was a most curious document, and deserved the attention of the House. The fii st cf it was taken down by his Counsel, and put into his own language. It stated that he was guilty, and that be was satisfied with his trial. Flom that point the con fession was written by a Gentleman whose activity he thought did him very little ciedit. The language of this petit of the confession was very florid, and stated that the prisoner had received every kindness since his imprisonment, and that he believed if there had been res Methodists in the colony there would have been no revolt. These Gentlemen seemed to have discovered the infallible means of taming the savage soul, and ei.iighteaing the untutored mind of an African slave. --They clapped him into a Demerara prison, and Irought him to trial before a Court-martial, and it was perfectly astonishing to see how quickly he adopted te highest moral and philosophical views, speaking of u:e degrees of knowledge calculated to benefit the hu man mind, and discovering that half instruction was a very dangerous thing, and nevet should be permitted— alleers and Laughter). He wondered that this slave Lad not found a poet to illustrate Isis newly-adopted principles. He now came to the pat t of the proceedings where hearsay evidence was stopped by the Court; for al‘ght did at last break in upon them, and they dis- Lovued the illegality of taking such evidence. In the r:mlitiati.sn of his third or fourth witness, the Court ss:.pped Mr. Smith, and told him lie must not ask ques tH, as to what the witnesses had heard, as such evi t;:rce would not be received in future. Bet it had been ad , r;t:ed in the past—and by these Judges themselves courtcJ, received with open arms—they having ex ceeded, if possible, the violence with which the prose cutor had gone beyond his duty for the purpose of heating down this unfortunate man. They refused to hear plo t ter legal evidence, upon a point going to the very marrow of the case—namely, that of communi cating to the overseer of the estate what he knew of the revolt. lie was prevented from putting those questions, and they were suppressed in the minutes of the pro ceedings. Directly after this, however, the Court itself was found asking a witness in cross-examination," Were you not told that plenty of people would be at the cha pel?" &c. Then they examined as to the private con versations with Mrs. Smith in her husband's absence, not one question of which was justifiable by legal prac tice. Other parts of Mr. Smith's defence were garbled by the suppression of what was supposed to reflect on the Court, the Judge-Advocate, or the Government. Many of the charge's were, that he had read improper parts of the Bible to the slaves, and that he had protested against what the law of Goo and the law of the land equally forbade; namely, the violation of the Sabbath. When de tendin.; himself upon these points, the prisoner quoted passages from Scripture in vindication of his acts as a M i sister, the Court interfered and told him he must not do so, because the Gentlemen of th Coda were supposed to be acquainted with all the contents of the Bible;---(A laugh). The Ilon. and Learned Gentleman next addressed himself to the crime of which it was the intention of the prosecutor to convict the prisoner, and to the evidence upon which it was supported. The only authority which they had to try him upon the charges preferred was the existence of martial law. Supposing that state to make every man a sbldier, he could only be considered a soldier from the date of the Proclamation. Accord ing to this, he was enlisted on the 19th ; but the evidence referred to his conduct on the 18th and 17th, and even to a distance of six years previous to the transactions out of which the trial arose. Oilier charges were, that he lu and concealed the existence of the conspiracy and revolt, and that on the 20th be was with Quamina, corresponding and abetting the revolt. Ile did see tittamina, and every tittle of the evidence proved that he met him for the purpose of dissuading him Dorn the acts in which he was engaged. Upon this point the Judge-Advocate stated that there was no evidence asto what passed at these meetings, and that it was not ma terial that there should be. Now he would contend that it was necessary to shew, clearer than the sun at mid day, that these meetings related to the revolt, and to a criminal participation in it by the prisoner. But this was loudly contradicted by evidence, which sheaved that he used every means in his power to induce the slaves to abandon their design. Upon this the Judge Advocate remarked, that Mr. Smith remained half an Lour with Quamina, and then let him depart without let or molestation. To this he would repeat the words ,if the poor Missionary, when upon his trial he desired Ins Judges to look at Isis emaciated form, and say whe ther he was able to seize upon a youthful strong negro thgaged in 'desperate designs? All he kitew of the in tentions of the tiegioes he communicated to Mr. Stewart, the overseer of the Success estate. There was no other anthority to whom he could then communicate this.—' Next came the count wishing to found upon the conviee tion and destruction of Mr. Smith a system by whiclC to crush all missions and to put down all Missionaries;' to prove to the colleagues, the fellow-labourers of Mr. Smith, that it was at the hazard of their lives they 'hould open the Scriptures in the Colonies; they, there fore, convicted the poor man, and sentenced him to be hanged by the neck until be `Arnold be dead, and for offences not proved-(Chetra). At the utmost, it was mot until six o'clock on the Monday evening that any thing was done or said by the slaves that can bear the A...m.iilliaiii srghtest appekrance of disaffection. Grumbling had certainly been previously heard; the slaves had been agitated by various reports of theiremancipation. One of these reports came to them from the servant of the Governor ; another hearsay report to the same effect came to them on the high authority of the kept woman of one of the functionaries—( A laugh). To ascertain the truth of these reports the Negroes came to Mr. Smith ; but the moment he suspected their object to be dange; ous, he disclosed those suspicions to the lawful authorities. Vague suspicion might, no doubt, have imbued his mind; but until something tangible appeared, until he could say, here is a conspiracy about breaking out, I will ask the House would he have been justified in betraying and discovering his poor flock, and subject ing them to the penalties of the law ?—(Hear, hear). — At six o'clock on the Monday, therefore, half an hour , before the breaking out of the revolt, could Mr. Smith' only have been guilty of knowledge of the conspiracy, and of the intended explosion. 13ut, even if he had known of the intent, even though he was aware of the preparations for the revolt, a man is not to be hanged for misprision. After being tried for a plot to take away the life of the King, and to put down his two Estates of Parliament, the utmost possible extent of punishment to which that of the guilty man could reach, even in the wildest dream of the highest prerogative lawyer in the kingdom, did not amount to that of a capital felony. Not so the Court-martial ; they pushed their sentence on Mr. Smith to the utmost point. Why did they stop there? Was it from a feeling of humanity? No ; it was rather from an apprehension that they had exceeded the bounds within which they ought to have confined themselves. Perhaps they recollected the sen tence pronounced by the ltaotestErt,—. , ‘Vhosoever sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed;" and they shrunk at the idea of retribution—(Cheers). For had they touched one hair of his head, had they murdered him, they would themselves have had to die the felon's death —(Cheers). Monstrous as were their proceedings, unjust as was the conviction of the pri soner, and horrible as was the sentence pronounced against him, they sunk into nothing when compared with that most remarkable fact, the conviction that they had acted wrong, proclaimed by themselves in their commutation of the sentence—(Hear, hear, hear). No doubt had the guilt been proved, how light in comparison with that of Mr. Smith would have been the guilt of those poor benighted Africans. Had all the guilt, all the blood which had been shed, lain upon his head, it WAS upon his head also tlrlt all the punishment should have fallen, and yet he was the only individual im plicated and convicted who was recommended to mercy. I have just said one word about the other persons who had suffered. Judging from the proceedings of the Court martial by which Mr. Smith was tried, I would fain hope that all those charged before it had met with a fair trial. / hope it was so, and that a greater portion of mercy and justice had been dealt to them than to him ; but even making all allowance for the necessity of making a prompt and striking example in the eyes of those who might be tempted to engage in similar attempts, it is clear that no distinction ought to be drawn in the nature of their respective punishments ; and that no more examples ought to be made thin were absolutely neces sary for the occasion. But I think many of the unhappy examples made upon this occasion might have been spared. What was the extent of mischief done by the rebels ? Three White men only had fallen-on the field, on a scale of forty plantations, peopled by upwards of 13,000 slaves—all of whom were more or less concerned in the rebellion. I do not speak of these casualties as trifling, but I shall quote the words of Mr. Austin, to shew that " nothing but the religious principles imbibed by the Negroes, nothing but the doctrine which had been inculcated by Mr. Smith, was capable of prevent ing the shedding of the blood of those who now sought to shed his"—(Cheers). To one witness a Negro said, We will take no lives—we will strike work—(for that is the meaning of the words used by the Negroes) we will make the managers go to town ; but we must take no life —we cannot give life; and Mr. Smith tells us that we must not take that which we cannot give"—(cheers). —Thus in a moment of insurrection—a moment almost of frenzy—when the blood was heated and the spirits effervesced—such was the language spoken by those poor people, and incontestibly proved to be the fruit of *their instruction by Mr. Smith—(Hear, hear). A great effusion of their blood, however, took place; upwards of 200 fell in the field; mote than 20 of the prisoners were drawn out and shot upon the spot to make a striking example to the remainder ; and next came the trials. The amount of those condemned had not been particularly ascertained ; but one account which he had seen, stated that 47 had already suffered.—(The Honour able and Learned Gentleman here read extracts from the Newspapers, exhibiting the number and extent of minor punishments that had been inflicted ; one of which stated that the troops had been called out to witness the punishment of three Negroes, one of whom had been sentenced to receive 1000 lashes and to hard labour in chains for life; another to 1000 lashes and ten years labour in chains; and third to a punishment similar to the first.)—The first man received his whole punish ment—one thousand lashes!—(Hear) —the second nine hundred! and the third eight hundred lashes I —(Hear). [The 11 onourable and Learned Member proceeded to read further similar extracts].—l do not think I should be discharging my duty if I did not say that a great deal of this punishment was ill-judged, unnecessary s and un called for. In a moment of alarm, I should be much more inclined to pardon an excess of punishment than at a period when the apprehension had subsided, and the mind had become cool. I shall only say that it was unjustifiable, and tended not only to the disgrace of the White name in the Colonies, but more especially to the insecurity of the White inhabitants. But what was that state of misery arising out of alarm compared with that of the poor Negro, when we hear of the Governor of a Colony threatening to transport from the Colony a Mis sionary, should he attempt to teach the Negro how to read ; and I cannot help casting my eyes backward on the authority which was in that act imitated. I find that it was in a French Colony the order originated.— EThe Honourable and Learned Gentleman here quoted the order in question, by which the Jesuits *ere pro hibited from continuing to administer what they called the Sacrament of Matrimony to the slaves, from teach ing them to pray, to chaunt psalms, or Catechism—but Baptism was to be permitted to be administered twice or thrice over 'if paid for.]—l suppose (continued Mr. Brougham) that this last permission was given on the principle of inoculation for the small-pox, which people sometimes apply twice or thrice to make assurance doubly sure"—(Hear; and a laugh). In consequence of this Ordonnance there were no more public prayers—no more marriages—no more Psalms—no more Catechisms—and this was the system copied and acted upon is one of our own colonies! To take a negro by the hand is an act of kindness to which, these poor people are not accustomed; and yet those who shudder at the very thought of a Missionary making such an advance—those enlightened sup porters of the Established Church, say it is only in the • Bethel Chapel, and by Mr. Smith, that these poor pen , ple are ever addressed as fellow-men by these words-.- 4‘ Dearly beloved brethren ; " forifetting that in these very words the Mi n i sters of the hstabltshed Church al ways commence their discourses. The language of the, colonial proprietors to the Missionaries is—" You must not be allowed to teach our slaves, unless you can sliew that the result will not endanger our property." Short sighted, infatuated men—in what a predicament they stand ! Profoundly ignorant, indeed, might Mr. Smith well say they were (in the words of his text), of the things necessary to their own peace. So monstrous had been that power which had grown np out of that iniqui tous traffic, that all the talent of all the rulers who had been placed over the colonies could. do little more than hat el) , keep that society together. Enough of difficulty had they previously, trifling in numbers as they were— enough of difficulty had they to be the mitst.Ts of mil lions of slaves—enough to be placed in the neighbour hood of a Republic, the black inhabitants of which had, like themselves, been slaves, but had attained freedom by the slaughter of their masters—enough to be sepa rated by an immense distance from home—enough to be cut off from all resources, all assir.ance from the mo ther country ; but with all this, with all their compara• Live insignificance, to merit the detestation or all those who ale rrparated from them by a line, an indelible im peii,habie line, drawn by Nature herself, from the peaceful Yboo to the fiery Coromantu—yet to all these (short-sighted men that they are!) they add to the dan gers to be thence apprehended, 'oy exasperating to mad ness, by adding to all the enthusiasm which religious per secution is certain to produce, and which increased to fa naticism, rendered them a body fearful to contemplate. This is the system of the British Colonies ; and to this system, and for the reasons I have stated, I thought it my duty to call the attention of Parliament to this sub- ject. I call upon Parliament to save the Negro on that principle of gratitude which we owe to those who have suffered ill treatment at our hands. I call upon Parlia ment to interfere, from consideration for the West In dians rather than ourselves. If persecution be the only means by which they hope to retain their present dominion, I shall tell them that their tenure is but of a feeble nature—(Chcers). I fear I have taken up too much of the time of the House, and shall therefore con clude by moving— " Tha t a bumble Address be presented to his Majesty, represent ing that this House having taken into its most serious consideration the papers laid before them relating to the trial and condemnation of the late Rev. John Smith, a Missionary in the Colony of Deme rara, deem it their duty now to declare, that they contemplate with serious alarm and deep sorrow the violation of law and justice which Is manifested in these unexampled proceedings, and most earnestly praying that his Majesty will be graciously pleased to adopt such measures as in his Royal wisdom may seem meet, for such a just and humane administration of law in that Colony as may protect the voluntary instructors of the Negroes, as well as the rest of his Majesty's subjects, from oppression." Mr. WILMOT-HORTON observed, that the details into which the Honourable and Learned Gentleman had entered, made it necessary for him, in the first in stance, to solicit a larger portion of the attention of the House than, tinder other circumstances, he should feel himself justified in requiring. The papers to which the Honourable and Learned Gentleman had referred pro ceeded from the Colonial Office. The Honourable and Learned Gentleman commenced his speech by alluding to the interests inseparably interwoven with the ease then before the House, and he had attributed a consi derable share of that interest to the Methodists. But the proceeding of which the Honourable Gentleman com plained was not levelled against the Methodists, nor against the Missionary Society generally; for had Mr. Smith followed the advice given by the Society, he would not have fallen into those errors of enthusiasm— not to call them by a harsher name—into which he had most certainly been betrayed. The Honourable Mem ber stated, that the feeling in this House on the present question bore but a small proportion to that excited out. of it. He well knew what means had been taken to ex cite that feeling; and on a former night, when a petition was presented by the Honourable Member for Knares borough (Sir J. Mackintosh) on the subject, full of mis statements, he said, that when the proper time came he would point out the inaccuracies, and he should do so before he concluded. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman had descanted upon the duties of a Missionary ; but were times and circumstances to make no alteration in the conduct of a preacher? Let them consider whereMr•. Smith was? He landed on an island where the barter ing in slaves was by law established; and how did he demean himself? I wish to think and speak of Mr. Smith as nothing more nor less than an enthusiast, in whose conduct, however•, were clearly discernable all the attributes attendant upon criminality. Let them consider in what this charge originated. It grew out of an alleged participation in a most alarming revolt, which very revolt involved a necessary suspension of the law. A Court-martial was appointed; and it it be proved, as the Honcurable and Learned Gentleman had argued, that there had been a departure from the strict rules of evidence, he was not satisfied that justice was on that account withheld from the prisoner. He was not satisfied that a strict adherence to these rules was always necessary. But from what sonrce did the Honourable and Learned Geetleman derive his infor mation ?—(Hear, Hrar.)—[Mr. BROUGHAM explained —that the facts on which he had argued were to be found also in"the official documents.) —Mr. WILMOT HORTON, hi continuation, said, he did not believe that the hearsay evidence was rejected when offered by the prisoner. • Was it not likely that a much more impar tial trial would be obtained before a Court above the island prejudices, than if Mr. Smith had been tried before the planters or inhabitants of the place? The Honourable and Learned Gentleman had adverted to the continuance of martial law, and he had charged the continuance on the Governor. Now the fact was, that after the insurrection the Governor had ad dressed a letter to Lord Bathurst, stating that such was the apprehension among the whites, that an ac tive militia and martial law must be continued. — The next fact he had to notice was, as to what extent the population were concerned in the insurrection ; the numbers amounted, more or less, to 13,000. All these circumstances considered, he was convinced of the reality of the revolt, and of the reality of the danger. He had said that Mr. Smith must be pronounced by all who examined his motives by his conduct, an enthu siast ; but he did not attach blame to him for this, he only alluded to it, to shew that he was not the man the Missionary Society pointed him out to be; but an en thusiast both by habit and feeling, and one who could ' reason himself into certain things, or persuade himself that he had better let them pass, and be left to the di- rectlon of- Heaven ; and therefore who did not treat his flock as he ought to have done. The whole of the circumstances proved this, and shelved him to be a man who, perhaps without desiring it, was calculated to raise in the minds of the slaves principles which might lead to danger. lie (Mr. Wilmot Horton) would particularly allude to those instances of his root ing from the Bible the pas-ages which speak of the children of Israel, and his characterising them a;.. slaves. To consider Mr. Smith as an enthusiast, it was neces sary to refer to that journal, the reference to \‘ hieh bad been objected to by the Honourable Gentleman (Mr. Brougham); and in which Mr. Smith observes, " I felt my spirit move within me at the soiroWs of the slaves, and I hope that Goo will bring then nut of thei . troubles." And then adds, that " he thought it his duty to state openly his opinions relative to the slaves, bait feared lest it might criminate hirit and not relieve them." And he afterwards adds, in allusion to the Governor, that " he seems to do all he can to keep down the slaves, but he shall not if I can hell it." lit 182,2, he states, tbat " if the slaves were mote enlightened,they would he better treated." In another sentence he says of one Hamilton: " He, however, comforted himself in the belief, that the project of Mr. Canning will never be carried into effect, and in this I certainly agree with him. The rigours of Negro slavery, I believe, can never be mitigated: the system must be abolished." In another place he ex presses himself dissatisfied with the conduct of Parlia ment, but content, however, that things should take their course, and shew how vain all these attempt. were. On another occasion he was accused by Bond, No. 1, page 7, with stating that the Blacks would do as well without white people as with them, as in the Island of St. Domingo. Being asked did he wish to see such ant)• ther scene acted over again as that of St. Domingo? he appeared confounded at this observation, though the answer could not be called to recollection by Bond. Here there appeared no discrimination to treat the shed ding of blood as a matter of no consequence. All these things, however, shewed distinctly the frame of this person's mind, and that he was actuated by at least a dangerous spirit of enthusiasm up to this time, if nothing else. In the evidence of Manuel, it appeared, that Quamina told Mr. Smith, " that Jack and Joseph finding there was no liberty in the Newspapers come for the Negroes, wanted to make a push for it, and for that reason he wished the Parson to speak to them." There was a distinct avowal of an intention by force to make themselves free being communicated to and withheld by Mr. Smith from the Government of the Colony. The further conversation detailed by this wit ness shewed that Mr. Smith was conversant and ac quainted with the intended revolt, that measur e alluded to as necessary, after coming out of chapel one day, though Mr. Smith was not present. The letter of Jack Gladstone to Mr. Smith appeared to be one freely cunt municating about the intended revolt ; and the conver sation which took place between Mr. J. Read alai Mr. Smith as to the blood shed in the revolt, proved dearly that this turn of Mr. Smith was extremely un,sfe and dangerous; for he observed to them in custody, that much blood had been shed at times in reftsious wars, as if it was perfectly justifiable. A reference was proved to be made to the rising in this letter, and the hour of six in the evening mentioned, with a claim of a promise on that even to be keot by Mr. Smith.— He, however, contents himself with not wishing to ob tain any information ; and tells another slave that vio lent preconcerted measures are not consistent with our religion, and that he had therefore better abstain! What ! know that this was a violent preconcerted mea sure, likely of course to end in blood, and yet be sr udioos to conceal the knowledge of such a revolt being in con templation ! If this were not actual treason, certainly it was a very high misprision —(Hear, Ileac). The whole case afforded a strong prima facie evidence of guilt. Were they then to believe that every act of Nlr. Smith, that the whole of his conduct was consistent with per fect innocence? He would appeal to any person who read the evidence, and ask him what the impression produced on his mind was ? (Cheers from the Opposition.) lie was perfectly willing to rest is upon that test; and if the impression produced by the perusal was not that Mr. Smith was guilty of misprision of treason, he would admit that the Court-martial could not be justified.— If Mr. Smith, by his interference, might have prevented the insurrection, he was responsible for the results that followed, from not having used his exertions to that ef fect. He wished to refer to certaia parts of the Petition which had been presented on this subject, for the pur pose of strewing that they were not borne out by the facts. It stated that .4 many Negroes were shot and hanged, though little if any injury was done to any pri vate property, and though the life of no white man was voluntarily taken away by them." Though pro perty was not destroyed by fire, though there was no devastation that brought ruin on the population, still he would put it to the House, what must have been the effect produced on the value of property by such an in surrection—what must have been the effect" on public credit ? The Missionary Petition now before the House, stated that many slaves had been executed, although little injury had been done to property. What did the Society mean by saying this? Were not a suspension of the law which protected property, a diminution of the credit which was placed upon the property, and a te dious, harassing Militia duty forced upon its owner fpr its protection—were not these an injury to property? With regard to personal injury, he begged to refer the House to the evidence of Mrs.Waldron, who stated that the Blacks forced open her husband's house, fired at and wounded her twice, dragged her about, demanded of her where het husband was, and treated her cruelly while she was streaming in her blood. They had killed a Mr. Forbes, a respectable man, who was the superin tendant of the slaves, and who, while dying, exclaimed, that " he wished Wilberforce was present to see the effect of his work"—(Load cheers). He read this, not to justify the remark, but to shew what were the facts, in the face of which the Missionary Meeting had pre sented their Petition. Did or did not the Missionary Society know of these facts which appeared in evidence, when they presented their Petition ?—(Long continued cheering).—And how did it happen that out of the whole Colony the slaves who attended the Bethel Chapel were the only persons affected by the impulse of in surrection?—(Hear.) b su e rr a e s c su ti r o e n d ? t — ha cH t e h a e r y .) alon T e he co N u li .d ssi n o o n t arT ic Society co nrplisl might t of the objects so much desired by t his countr y ; and that they never could have any c hance of accomplish ment without an unkn of prudence and tem p er.—. What had been the claims cf Mr. Smith to these qua lities the House might alre ad y have collected; but tie Missionary Society appea red to g ive him ample creak for both of them. T he tact was, that Mr. Smith,, might have averted the danger without h been e:en disposed, s breachp general terms, ha ve cautioned the Government : and se of confidence: for be.might, -' :114 • '~~ I t 1 r i I I