The Sun.
London, England, 1839-12-05 00:00:00

Your letters same duly to Land. My people, myself;
and many other friends are delighted with your replies.:
We prize them highly, especially as they are -Written
hith your own hand. They are to us interesting me-
mentos of one whom, although we have not seen in the
flesh, we venerate and love and hope to meet in heaven.
We shall preserve them
.carefully, and- theyswill be
handed down with some other valued documents, that
our children's children may look upon the handwriting'
of Clarkson. Believing that no information will be
inereziatifying.to you than to, hear that the. hY)jects vf
your solicitude and labours have, during the first year of
freedom, and up to the present time, acted i-vnrthily of
the boon they have received, I shall endeavour to give
3ou some information respecting them,abipecially those
residing in the district in which it. is my happiness to
labour. The negro population of this district may be
estimated at 10,000, of which tplaards of 3,000 attend
every Sabbath-day at myatVe; stations—Brown's Town
and Bethany ; about
.2,000 more attend other places of
worship. If 2;500 be allowed for- those detained at
their hemeaaby sickness and other causes, but one-
qu artet are left who are not under regular religious
instruction. On the coming of freedom I had no fear
respecting those connected with Christian congregations.
I felt confident that they at. least would act as became
Christian. freemen—nor have I been disappointed.
Respecting the other portion of the population I had
fears. I thought there might be idleness, drunken-
ness, and petty thefts, but at the end of the first year
of freedom what is the result? No one person in the
whole district has been convicted of, or even charged
with any crinzinal act I There haVe, it is true, been a
few cases of misdemeanour, but of so trifling a nature
as to be punished only by light fines. There have also
been acts of immorality committed, of which the law
cannot take cognizance, but even these have been corn-
paritively few. Rum-drinking and Sabbath-breaking are,
I rejoice to say, fast giving way before the light of the
Gospel, which now has free course. During the last
sixteen months I alone have married upwards of 250
couples, while the numbers married by other ministers
must have been considerable. Our congregations are-
also greatly increased and 'increasing.
In our Sabbath Schools we have yet nearly 1,000
children and 'adults under instruction. 1 havOseen
privileged to put into circulation many hundreds, I may
say thousands, of copies of the New Testament and
Palms to those of the negroes who have learned to
read ; also more than 1,000 Hymn-bsoks, and nearly
500 Bibles have been sold. So great is the demand for
copies that Mr. Wheeler, the agent of the British and
Foreign Bible Society, received a few weeks since names
for more than 500 Bibles, a large portion of the quarto
size. The liberality to the cause of God is also worthy
of notice. Since the coming of freedom, not yet 14
months, my congregation, composed entirely. of the la-
bouring class, have contributed the large sum of 2,0001.
towards enlarging the chapel here, and building new
chapels at Bethany and Clarkson Villa. So anxious
are they to send the Gospel, which they have found to be
precious to their own souls, to Africa, the land of their
fathers, that they have also subserised 1701. towards
the interesting .objset, and not a few are them-
selves desirous of going to instruct :heir kindred to the
best of their ability in that knowledge " which ruaketla
wise unto salvation."

Believe not, my dear Sir, the cry that the negro
is idle and 111-dispo.d. Tee charge is false. It is
scarcely possible fur a people to be more industrious.
Few have left the properties to which they formerly be-
longed when they have been fairly dealt with ; and
even when they have been oppressed by tbe exaction
of exorbitant rents, by the destruction of their provisioa-
grounds, and the shooting of their pigs, they have borne
it with exemplary patience. There may, it is true, be
a diminution of field-labour, but it does not follow that
there is more idleness. Tire fact is, that the most in-
dustrious and clever men are unwilling that their wives
should work in the gang in eerie fields, and that their
children should be deprived of the advantages of edu-
cation. They therefore send their younger children to
school, and keep their wives at home to attend to their
dorra.stic du:.ies, a coarse which cannot but be commended
by every humane man. Notwithstanding this diminu.
tion of the number of hands, on many sugar estates as
much work
,has been done, and as mach sugar made,
as during slavery. It is a fact which speaks volumes,
that so far from the people being so idle as to refuse to
do the necessary work, there is scarcely an estate or
property but where there has been more labour done
than money forthcoming to pay for it ; and if lets
sugar be made, withdrawing the women and young
children, the result fully compensates for it
in the increased comfort, morality, and intelligence
of the people. Do not suppose from this that the
women and children are unwilling to labour. The
contrary is the fact, and at the present time tbe gather-
ing in the pimento and coffee crops, as in an English
harvest, all who can do anything ..re at work. The
cottages are almost deserted during the day time. Alen,
women, and children, are gathering in the crops, and
while their hands are busily employed, they may be
heard singing the songs of Zion. Tree villages ate
being formed in different parts of the island. At the
request of the people I have lately purchased two pro-
perties, one ofl2o acres, and the other of 624 acres, which
are being laid out in building and provision lots. One
we call " Sturge Town." The other as before men-
tioned, Clarkson Villa. They are nearly twenty miles
apart, both beautifully situate and healthy. The latter
wit contain nearly 100 cottages, with three to four hun-
dred acres cf provision ground, a school, and be-
fore long a chapel. It will, I trust, be the happy.
Ihome of 100 free, religious, and loyal negro families.

Mr. James Stark, of Edinburgh, has been ap-
pointed Queen's Advocate General for Ceylon.

Mr. James, the poptilar Novelist, has just pub-
lished a New Historical Tale, entited " Henry of
Guise, or the States of Blois," of which the Monthly
Review speaks in the following high terns of praise :
" Henry of Guise' will stand the test in a competi-
tion with the noblest of his historical romances . It
absorbs the reader from the moment he opens the first
volume to the close of the concluding chapter. The
story is full of action, bustle, and exciting interest." The
following works, by this distinguished author, may be
bad at all the circulating libraries :-1. The Gentleman
of the Old School.-2. The Huguenot ; a Tale of the
French Protestants.-3. The Robber.-4. The Life and
Adventures of John Marston Hall.-5. Mary of Bur-
gundy; or, the Revolt of Ghent.-6. One in a Thou-
sand ; or, the Days of Henri-Quatre.-7. Attila ; a
Romance.-8. The Life of Edward the Black Prince.
—9. The Lives of the most eminent Foreign States-
men.

EXTENSION OF THE CIRCUIT COURTS OF
JUSTICIARY TO RENFREWSHIRR.—Our readers will
recollect that Mr. Wallace, of Kelly, the indefatigable
and patriotic member for Greenock, moved and obtained
a committee on this subject at the last general meeting
of the county, held at Renfrew, in October fast. The
commtttee met at Paisley on Tuesday. They have
not yet made up a final report, but a unanimous ap-
proval has been expressed, not only of the important
facts brought out by Mr. Wallace's resolutions, namely,
that ignorance, idleness, and destitution, as the fruitful
causes of crime, ought to be diminished by every post&
ble means; and education, employment, and comforts
fostered as the best preventatives of crime, but that the
present practice of imprisonment before conviction
should as far as possible be prevented, and in all
cases of crime, that trial and punishment (where
it is to follow by conviction) ought to follow as.
speedily as possible ,after commitment. One universa
sentiment seems also to prevail, that in order to accom-
plish these desirable objects, houses of refuge and pene-
teotiaries should be, more encouraged, than the old mode
of dreary imprisonment, or transportation, or the extreme
penalty of the law. It seems further to be universally
admitted, that more frequent circuits by the Lords of
Justiciary, and the extension of these to such crowded
communities as Reufrewshire, would contribute vastly to
the prevention and diminution of crime, as well as to
lead to the reformation of criminal offenders. We
most ardently hope and trust that Mr. Wallace and
he Committee who act along with him will not relax
in their exertions until a change so much to be de-
sired, nay, so obviously a desideratum to the due ad-
ministration of criminal justice in this populous district
of Scotland, shall be accomplished.—GlasgowChronick.
THEATRICAL PIECES IN PARlS.—During
the month of November, at the twenty-five theatres
opened nightly, forty-two new pieces hare been given,
thus subdivided :—One comedy, one comic opera, nine
ruelo-drames, twenty-eight vaudevilles, burlettas, and
comedy-vaudevilles, and three pantomimes. Made-
moiselle Rachel made her re-appearance after a long in-
disposition at the theatre Francais on Friday night, in
the tragedy of Cinna. She was most enthusiastically
received, and greeted by an immense audience.
DARING AND EXTENSIVE BURGLARY.—
Oa Tuesday, about a quarter to six o'clock, as Henry
Brent!, a porter in the service of Messrs. P. Watson
and Co., silk-mercers, Nos. 55 and 56, Ludgate-hill,
was 'bout to ring the bell for admission into his master
premises, he found the shop door ajar, and was about to
give the alarm to the policeman on duty, when two men
made their appearance at the door, heavily laden with
rolls of silk, and perceiving him, one of them immedi-
ately threw his luggage at him (which knocked him
down), and made good his escape. The other al k 0
endeavoured to effect his escape, but the policeman
coming up, he was captured and conveyed to the station-
house, where he gave his name John Smith. He was
subsequently conveyed to Guildhall Police-office, in
custody of police Constable Tuiley, 204, and the pre-
; perty stolcn, which is valued at upwards of fifty pounds
was produced. Police-sergeant Waller stated that the
prisoner was a well-known thief, aed that if he were
remanded, he had no doubt that the whole of the par-
ties connected with the robbery would be captured. The
prisoner was accordingly remanded. The entrance into
Mr. Watson's premises was effected by means of ske-
leton keys.