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

LINEN TRADE BILL..

Sir G. HILL brought up the Report of the Irish Linen
Trade Bill, it was read at length, and afterwards recommitted.
Several clauses were agreed to, after which the House resumed,
and the Repoit was received and agreed to, and the Bill was
ordered to be read a third time to-morrow, if then ingrossed.
CASE OF MR. SHREWSBURY, THE MISSIONARY.
Mr. F. BUXTON rose to submit a motion on the papers re-
lating to Mr. Shrewsbury, the late Missionary at Barbadoes,
of which he had given previous notice. In bringing forward
this motion, he was desirous of avoiding all extraneous topics,
and, indeed;, of waving all comment upon the case, anxious
only to submit a plain narrative of facts to the consideration of
the House. He would therefore lay a brief detail of Mr. Shrews-
bury's history before them. This gentleman had been for some
time a Dissenting Minister in this country, and had conducted
himself to the entire satisfaction of those who were connected
with him here. In 1816, he was sent out as Missionary to the
Island of Tortola. He continued to discharge the duties of a
Missionary there for two years, and obtained the most satis-
factory testimonials as to the highly creditable manner in which
he discharged the duties of his mission. From Tortola he re-
moved to Grenada. He there demeaned himself in an equally
satisfactory manner, and as a proof of the high estimation in
which he was hell, when Mr. Shrewsbury solicited sub-
scriptions for the building of a Wesleyan Chapel, he received
60 guineas from the Governor and 10 guineas from his Secre-
tary, as their respective mites to his undertaking. His conduct
merited and obtained the same approbation in Grenada that it
had received at Tortola. Mr. Ross, a proprietor of considerable
property there, had borne the highest testimony to his charac-
ter. In a letter, speaking of his conduct, he said " that he
was a man who would have done honour to any society or
any Christian community." The letter further stated, that
since his arrival in the Island, there were more frequent
marriages, the conduct of those who composed his flock was
greatly . improved, and altogether his mission was attended
with the greatest benefits to the Colony. After the success-
ful exertions of Mr. Shrewsbury in Tortola and Grenada, he
was selected to the mission of BarbadoeS, where, from the pecu-

liar situation of that island, his exertions might have been ex-
pected to be most beneficial. By the papera laid before that House
in 1803, it appeared that a most angry spirit of religious perse-
cution prevailed in that island, and he was sorry to say that he
had too strong reasons for believing that a similar spirit pre-
vailed there up to the present day. It required the appoint.
ment of a missionary to this Colony, who would combine a
sense of duty to the negroes, and a spirit of conciliation to those
who were their masters, and such an union of qualifications was
found in Mr. Shrewsbury. Mr. Shrewsbury was himself, by
connection and feeling, naturally anxious for the welfare and
advancement of those colonies. He was married himself
to a West Indian, and there was reason to suppose him any
thing rather than a partisan of the abolitionists. He had been
charged, however, with writing letters to him (Mr. Buxton),
yet he (Mr Buxton) could assure the House that he had not
received any communications from him until that he had read
in the Papers that Mr. Shrewsbury was going to be hanged for
corresponding with him.—(A laugh.;—And here he was desi-
rous of taking an opportunity of assuring the House that he
never kept up any correspondence with any of the missionaries,
either of the Moravian, London, or any other Society. A
letter, he believed, had been addressed by a Society—the Abo-
lition of Slavery Society (as we understood) with which he was
connected, requesting the missionaries to inform the-Society of
the state of the negro population on their respective missions.
One of these letters was addressed to Mr. Shrewsbury, to which
he replied, and in which he gage, certainly, a very melan-
choly, but he believed also a very true statement, of the state
of the colony of Barbadoes. This letter was published.—
It might be said, that this inquiry ought not to have been
made ; or that if made, Mr. Shrewsbury. ought not to have.
replied to it ; or that, if he replied to it, his reply ought
- not to have been published. But, in adopting this course,
the Society had only adopted the course which had been
set by the example of the Government, on a similar occasion.
In 1816, Lord Bathurst addressed letters to the Clergy of the
o l
, tic.uestingLetters to know what was the state of the Colonies
as were written in reply to these o
to nrieelsi
religion,
com-
munications, giving, certainly, a most melancholy picture of the
Colonies on the points on which inquiry was made, and these
letters were subsequently laid upon the table of that House ; so
that it would appear, in making similar inquiries—in receiving
them—and in afterwards publishing them, the Society had only
fulloweel the example which Government had given it.—(Hear,

PRICE SIWENPF,NCE.

hear )—He would now proceed to the statement of .that which
formed the subject matter of the complaint of Mr. Shrewsbury.
He had been for three yearsand three quarters in the •Imland of
Barbadoes. During the first three years of his residence.hedis-
charged the duties of his mission without any great annoyance;
he passed over without any severe complaint or animadvenden
the many insults which had been put upon him, such as personas
corn; r g into his chapel and whistling a tune. Tha meekness
with which he passed over and endured these taunts from the
gentry of Barbadoes was truly exemplary. It was not, how.
ever, until 1823 that these insults broke otit in the shape
of open violence, when Mr. Shrewsbury was insulted as a
villain in the open streets. This feeling of hostility as-
sumed a still more aggravated appearance on the .sth of
October 1823. On that day, whilst the congregation of Mr.
Shrewsbury was assembled together, an assault was tirade upon
them by a mob of persons from without—a mob in which theta
was reason to believe many of the gentry of Barbadoes were ene
gaged. The assault was made by discharging upon them bot-
tles prepared for the occasion, containing oil and aquafortis.—
These bottles actually were discharged upon the congregation ;
a woman and several other persons were severely wounded by
them, and it was hoped that means would be afforded by the
confusion created of making an assault upon Mr. Shrewsbury.
These bottles he believed were prepared by an inhabitant of the
island who was a merchant and a Magistrate.—(Hear !)—Hitt
two sons were conspicuous in the riot, and Mr. Newsom, a
member of the respectable profession of the law, distinguished
himself by assuming a formidable attitude on the rads of the
communion table. Mr. Shrewsbury meekly retired to the vestry,
waited there till the riot had subsided, and then returned to
complete the service.—(Hear !)—A reward of 30/. had been
ineffectually offered for the apprehension of those who were en-
gaged in the riot; and on tire next day, when Ala Shrewsbury
was passing through the streets, he was publicly insulted as he
was passing the shop of the merchant where the bottles had bees
prepared. A number of persons there exclaimed in his hearing,
" the villian had been served right ;" and that " he ought to
have been torn from the pulpit."—(Hear !):- He even further
heard that he ( Mr. S.) might prosecute the persons who had been
engaged in the assault, but that " he would not find a jury to
bring them in guilty."—(Hear !)--This occurred on tie! 6th of
October. On the 7th Oct. a riot was made, but comparatively
unimportant to other disturbances. lie would riot, therefore,
dwell upon it. The Bth of October was a general fasting-day
throughout the island, in commemoration of tire island. being
preserved from a storm on that day of the month, in the year
1780. In the evening of that day, an assault was. ton de on the
congregation, by 31) persons gallopping before the chapel, end
who sought an opportunity of the confusion created by the
firing of pistols which they discharged, of wreaking vengeance
upon Mr. Shrewsbury. But they were finally put to flight by
the officers who were on guard in the vicinity of the chapel,
without effecting their purpose. One of Mr. S.'s congregation
returned and said, that it was nothing but tire firing of a
cracker, and the service was resumed, and proceeded without
further interruption. And here he was desirous of stating, that
this mob which made an assault upon the chapel was composed
of persons who, as far as wealth could make them so, were
gentlemen—they were merchants and traders ; but it was com-
posed neither of the negroes or the mulattoes of the island. He
wished to be understood as to the persons who were engaged in
this disgraceful business: —The population of the island was,
divided into four classes, and the persons engaged in this
shameful business, he was desirous of taking an opportunity of
stating, were neither of the highest nor of the lowest class.—
(Hear, hear! )—The next day Mr. Shrewsbury was summoned
before one of those Magistrates; riot, however, for the pur-
pose of instituting an inquiry into the injuries that bad been
heaped upon him, but for the purpose of answering to a charga
of not having enrolled his name in the militia. By the Tolera-
tion Act in this country a person in his situation was exempt
from serving in the militia ; but an advantage, he presumed,
was taken of this Act not being enacted to extend to the Colo-
nies. Surrounded by these circumstances of embarrassment,
Mr. Shrewsbury betook himself to the house of a relation in an-
other part of the island ; and it was well that he had done so—
his house was surrounded by the party that had before assaulted
him and his congregation ; and finding that he was not at home,
they exclaimed in triumph, that " the coward had run away."
On the 16th of October Mr. Shrewsbury applied to the Cio..
vernor, and was by him referred to the Magistrates—the Ma-
gistrates, his most ferocious enemies. It must be admitted that
the Governor was unpopular, and he (Mr. Buxton) would state
the reason why he was so. A planter had occasioned a negro to
be flogged to death, and he had escaped, and a reward was of-
fered for his apprehension : another negro also had been put to
death, and a similar reward had been offered ler the apprehen-
sion of the person by whom he came by his death. It hap-
pened some time afterwards that an Englishman, a man of very
profligate and drunken habits, had been found dead in a field;
and there was no reason to apprehend that he lied come by his
death by murder—no reward was offered for his supposed mur-
derer. This was the ground of the unpopularity of the Go-
vernor, and a very unjustifiable one he (Mr. Buxton) thought
it was. Mr. Shrewsbury did not apply to the Magistrates ; and
here he would reply to an argument about to be used by his
Honourable Friend (Mr. Horton.)—(A laugh.)—He would re-
peat, that he was about to reply to an argument of his
Honourable Friend ; for if he did not rely upon the argument
of Mr. Shrewsbury not having done what he was desired to do
by an application to the Magistrates, he would not have a leg to
stand upon.—(Hear !) His lion. Friend would say ire ought
to have applied to them. Now he (Mr. BuxtonVwould say,
that he ought not, or that, if he ought, to whicloOthem ought
he to apply ? Was it to Mr. Hall, at whose shop the mixtures
to which he had alluded had been prepared ? Was it to Mr.
Moore, who had summoned him to appear beforeehim, when to
appear would he death ? Before which of these_ :.Magistrates,
all of whom had manifested their hostility towards him, lie
would be glad to know, was he to appear ? It was his (Mr.
Buxton's) conviction, that he ought not, to have appeared
before any of them. In this emergency he applied for advice
to a clergyman, who gave him,he believed, -eery sincere end
disinterested advice. The name of the clergyman he would
suppress, lest he might meet the fate of Mr. Adstin of De-
merara. He advised him to apply to the Cothicil of the
Island—an advice with which he complied. Meanwhile the
assailants of Mr. Shrewsbury had not been remiss. And here
he had to detail conduct which would comparatively cast into
the shade all that he had hitherto stated. On the
.18th October
a proclamation, professing to be from a secret committee, was
issued, calling upon the inhabitants to meet together at 6 o'clock
on the ensuing Sunday, to pull down the Methodisochapel.-•
They accordiegly met, to the number, as was stated by one
recorder of the events, of one thousand ; or," as was stated
by the Governor, " there was a vast concourse of persons. 7
—No negro nor mulatto was to be found amongst them.
They proceeded, armed with swords, &c., to the work of
destruction, anti succeeded in demolishing the chapel, in
tearing up the pews, destroying the Bibles, &e. They then
proceeded to the house of Mr. Shrewsbury, destroyed the fur-
niture of his house, and having demolished the principal part
of his property, made a flag of some of tire linen Alley found
in his house, which they waved as a flag of triumph. The next
evening they proceeded to the work of demolition, and comple-
ted in the way of destruction what they had left 'Undone. Its
the account given of their success in the work they took in hand,
the Editor of a colonial newspaper stated, that the Wesleyan
chapel was destroyed like the Temple of Jerusalem, not uric
stone being left to stand upon. another.—( Hear; hear I and a
slight laugh.)—The next day they published a proclarnatiou
over the island, boasting of the great and signal victory they
had achieved over the Methodists, and congratulating the in-
habitants on the demolition of the chapel. This annunciation
was to the following effect :
" Bridgetown, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 1823.
" The inhabitants of this island 'are respectfully informed,
that in consequence of the unmerited and unprovoked attacks
which have been repeatedly made upon the community by the
Methodist Missionaries (otherwise known as agents to the vil-
lainous African Society), a party of respectable gentlemen
formed the resolution of closing the Methodist, concern alto-
gether ; with this view they commenced their labours on Sun-
day evening, and they have the greatest satisfaction in announc-
ing that by twelve o'clock last night they effected the total de-
struction of the chapel. To this information they have to add,
that the Missionary made his escape yesterday afternoon in a
small vessel, for St. Vincent, thereby avoiding that expression,
of the public feeling towards him, personally, which he had sO
richly deserved.
" It is to be hoped that as this information will be circulated
throughout the different islands and colonies, all persona whO
consider themselves true lovers of religion will follow the laud`.
able ekumple of the Barbadians, in putting an end to Metho-
dism and Methodist Chapels throughout the Vest Indies."
The' Governor the next day issued a proclamation, condem-
natoryof the conduct of these persons, and offered a reward of
1001. Rd. the apprehension of the rioters. To this a proclama-
tion wits put forth the next day, more in ridicule than reply ter