The Sun.
London, England, 1825-06-24 00:00:00

-that of the Governor. It commenced as proclamations usually I
do, with " Whereas:" and to the end of it was appended the
words " God save the King and the people." The terms of
this pzoclamation were as follows:
" Bridgetown, Burbadoes, Oct. 23, 1523.
" Whereas a Proclamation having appeared, &c. &c. public
Lotice is hereby given to such person or persons who may feel
inclined, -either from pecuniary temptation or vindictive feeling,
Oat should they attempt to come forward to injure in any shape
any individual, they shall receive that punishment which their
crimes will justly deserve. They are to understand that to
impeach is not to convict, and that-6e reward offered will only
or given upon conviction, which =onto he effected whilst the
people are firm to themselves. And whereas" it may appear
to those persons who are unacquainted with the -circumstances
which occasioned the said prodamatien, that the'demolition of
t*.e chapel was effected by the rabble of this community, in
order to create anarchy, riot, and insubordination, to trample
upon the laws of the country, and to subvert good order ; it is
mlusidered an imperative duty to repel the charge, and to state,
firstly, That.the majority of the persons assembled were of the
•tirst-respectability, and were supported by the concurrence of
nme-tenths of the community ; 2dly, That their motives were
:patricide and loyal—namely., to eradicate from this soil the germ
of Methddism, which was spreading its baneful influence over
a 'certain class, and which ultimately would have injured both
(church and State:l: . With this view the chapel was demolished,
and the
.villainous preacher' who headed it, and belied us
-was compelled ,by. a speedy flight to remove himself from the
•
" With a fixed determination therefore to put an end to
MethOdism in this island, ail Methodist Preachers are warned
not to-approach our shores, as, if they do, it will be at their own

" God save the King and the People."
This mock proclamation was an open defiance of the laws; it I
. warned all persons against giving any information as to who
-were engaged in the late outrages, and threatened whoever dis.
-obeyed that mandate, should meet the punishment which their
etime deserved. This punishment was menaced against who-
ever should come forward to commit the- crime—what crime?
the crime pf aiding and assisting the Government in the due
anti efficient administration of the laws. It forbade all Me-
AtiOdista from approaching their shores—or at least, if they came
there, they should be aware that they came at their peril. This
was a manifest defiance of the authority of the Government of
-the island. Mr. Shrewsbury had been recommended mean-
while to leave the island, on the assurance being given him that
his enemies were in pursuit of him, and that if they succeeded
in apprehending. him, they were resolved upon hanging him.
lie was therefore advised to leave the house of his relation, and
-to proceed to the sea-side; where a small vessel was provided for
his flight, and he eluded the pursuit of his assailants by being
-conveyed to the island of St. Vincent. As an aggravation of
his hardships, immediately on his arrival in St. Vincent, his
.wife was taken ill in her confinement, and he found himself
'thus situated in this island, unaided, and surrounded by stran-
'lets. Yet his conduct upon this occasion was worthy the mi-
nistry of which he formed a part. Persecuted as lie had been—
,oestroyed as his house and property had been—demolished as
-had been hie chapel—torn from his flock, and compelled to seek
his safety by flight—not an expression or sentiment of anger or
resentment escaped him ; and in the letters by which he com-
municated with his flock--instead of hostility, he inculcated
peace, tranquillity, obedience, and a cheerful 'forgiveness of
injuries.
The Hon. Gentleman then-read Mr. Shrewsbury's letter from
-St. Vincent :
" Be patient towards all men. Never speak disrespectfully
of any in authority, nor revilingly of any one-who injures you.
'Whatever you are called to suffer, I beseech you take it
patiently. In general it will be best for you to be wholly
• silent. From the affection you bear towards me you will
perhaps find it difficult to retrain when you hear me spoken
against; but your wisest plan will be to hold your peace, for you
would be in great danger, in speaking with undue warmth,
were you to undertake to defend my character. You that are
-slaves will, 1 hope be exceedingly careful to adorn the
-doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.' Let no slave
who is a Methodist be dishonest or lazy, or impertinent,
either in speech or in behaviour; but let every one be sober,
honest, industrious, and useful to his owner, even as we have
-taught you, both in public and in private, from day to day.
And as to political matters, whether ye be bond or free, never
meddle with them ; but mind higher and better things, the
things relating to God and eternity. Never speak slightingly
of the regular clergy; in this respect imitate the example I set
you while- I dwelt among you."—As soon as Mr. Shrewsbury
-arrived at St: Vincent, he applied to' the Governor, who said,
that . a he catne into the island under suspicious circumstances,
lie must consider himself suspended front the exercise of his
clerical duties. Under these circumstances another this.
eionary, a Mr. Rainer, came-to the island, and a new sys-
. ewer of persecution commenced. A person to whom he be-
. fore alluded (Mr. Walton, jun. a Magistrate) went on board
the ship, and told the Captain he must be gone before
twenty-four hours. This Walton, who was then a Magi-
..steate, but has since been removed, was caught -in company
well a lawyer in the act of breaking the windows of a Metho-
eUst's hsuse, and for this he was deprivectof his commission as a
.nlagistrate. The Captain of the vessel became alarmed at the
:feelings of displeasure which were manifested against him for
bringing a missionary to the island ; and lie had good reason to
-feel alarm, for he (Mr. Buxton) stated it on authority upon
which he could depend, that persons were watching on shore to
*hoot those who attempted to land. If any thing was wanted
to prove the innocence of Mr. Shrewsbury, it was-found in the
testimonials of character which he received from persons of the
highe -t respectability. They all agreed •in declaring, that in
she exercise of his Ministry they had never heard a word from
loin exciting the slaves to insubordination, and that he was
zisoet particular, in his intercourse with tire slaves, to inculcate
-tlie duty of obedience to their masters. He should remark, that
-exertioes were made to extend the system of violence which he
tied described at Barbadoes to the other islands, nor was the
aptint of persecution at an end. A year after the destruction of
the 3/edloctist house, it was agreed to celebrate the anniversary
-of that di,graceful outrage, and to pull down the house of an old
Methodist woman. A proclamation was published to this effect:
it stated that use concerned in the demolition of the Metho-
iSiet Chapel bed resolved themselves into a" Committee of Public
eetalety."This -phrase was borrowed from the French, and the
proclamation was signed " Rock," which was taken from the
Isn't. This Committee entitled themselves the " Worthy," and
they called-upon all other worthies to meet upon the 19th Oct.,
to celebrate the an nieersary, to pull down the old woman's house,
and every where to make Methodism hide its hideous head.---
The proclamation ended with a prayer, expressive of the inten-
stion of the worthies to exterminate the Methodists with fire and
. sword, so help them God.—(Hear, hear :)—Fortunately the
iiovtwrior was informed of these sanguinary preparations. Ile
tonic the precaution of calling out the- military, and the day
.passed without any of those glorious efforts which were pro-
peeed. But the sprit of rersetutiol was yet wakeful. In April
last, hen certain- Methodists were sent over from this country
to a'sist in re-building the Methodist Chapel, another Procla-
mation was issued, in which Lord Bathurst was stigmatized as
an enemy to religion, and a traitor to his country. The spirit
Of Puritanism, st said, had shed its influence on almost every
11curber-of the British Cabinet. This fact showed that the
persecuting spirit still existed ; and there was a still more im-
portant fact, which was, that the Legislative Assembly had or-
dared the Attorney-General to prosecute an old Methodist wo-
man, who was wicked enough to spend her time in educating
- tee }too: slaves. • Thus the Legigative Assembly were prose-
cuting •Methodists, whilst the Governor, under the sanc-
tion of Lord Bathurst, was affording every protection
.and encouragement to Methodists and their Missionaries.
-In short, --there was nothing less than a reign of terror
•in the West India, • a system of persecution and tyranny,
and a triumph over the feelings of the House and the country.
lie was at a -less to knOw what the .Right Honourable
Gentleniau.(Mr. Canning) would say to this statement. Would
lee consider that the West India planters were guilty of contu-
macy ? The Right Pon. Gentleman said on a former occa-
sion, that if the West India planters resisted he should come
down and require assistance from this House, to enable Govern.
ment to pun them down. Did not the Right Hon. Gentleman
consider the acts stated as acts of resistance? The Governor
declared these acts to be gross violationibf all law and order,
--destructive to the pence of tile island and to the intercourse of
social life. Now he ( Mr. Buxton) did not desire vengeance or
revenge, but he required three things; that law should be para-
mount, that those who pulled down the Methodist chapel
should be obliged to rebuild it, and that a repetitionsof such
outrages should he prevented. He (Mr. Buxton-) now wished
to draw a parallel between the crimes and punishment of the
Magistrates of Barbadoes, and of Mr. Smith, the missionary
of Demerara. The Magistrates of Barbadoes were distinctly
aware of the insurrection in that island, and yet they had
neglected td inform the Governor. Mr. Smith, it was said,
and he was willing to allow it for argument, was acquainted
with the rising at Demerara, half an hour before it took
place, and because he did not inform the Governor with
the haste of a telegraph, he was ordered to be hanged by
i.'the neck until he was dead. Now, the Magistrates of Bar-
leadoes were only ordered to be reprimanded by the Council.
Such was the punishment inflicted on the poor Missionary, and
the rich Magistrates. He had adverted to this incidentally,
but the question now was, -whether a British-born subject,
charged with no crime, a man of acknowledged respectability,
should be cruelly, for such was Mr. Shrewsbury, persecUted.—
This was what the House 'had to determine, and it remained
with the House to provide that law and justice should be sub-
stituted in the West Indies for the system which he had de-
scribed. The Hon. Gentleman concluded by moving the
fol-
lowing Resolution :—" That. this House having taken into their
s most serious consideration the papers laid before them; relating