The Sun.
London, England, 1828-01-19 00:00:00

JAMAICA PAPERS.

(From the Supplement to the Royal Gazette, Nov. mod. ),
Despatch from the Right Hon. William Hoskisseu, Ina
Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the
Department, to Major-General Sir John Keane,
Lieutenant-Governor of this island, sent down by Inm in
a message to the lion. House of Assembly on Friday ilia
16th November instant : -
(Copy.)—No. 3. •
•
Downinpr-street, Sept. V
Sir,—The act passed by-the Governor, Cormeil,
and Assembly of Jamaica, in the month of Decem-
ber, 1826, entitled " An. Act Jo alter and amend
this
bt hyebslave
Majestylays
mittee of Privy Council for the Affairs of Trade and.
Foreign Plantations, that Committee have reported.
-to his Majesty. in Council their opinion that.this act,
ought to be disallowed. The.order of his Majesty s
o inf;
Council isla
tn od,t;e having been
o i.
t h referred
fcerov
Council, approving that report and disallowing the
In obedience to the Cdi
decisionttnaiiud • of his Majesty
the
in
Council, I proceed to emniltu"!
grounds of his Majesty's"ne to )
this subject.j
aetr,tti fillnl ty. be transmitted to you try the earliest op-
portunity.
The Privy Council did 110vi.Slb- upon
mit to his Majesty
d' •ma llowed with-
their advice that this Act should be... -ee of the
out great -reluctance. The great imports:._ •
subject -has been fully estimated, and his Maje..-.
has perceived with much satisfaction the advances
which the Colonial Legislature have made in many
respects to meet the recommendations conveyed to
them in Lord Bathurses despatch of the llth of
May, 18..6; but, however much his Majesty may
have been .desirous to sanction these valuable im,
provements in the slave code of Jamaica, it has
-been found impossible to overcome the objections.to
-Which other enactments of This law are open: •I am
commanded to express to you his Majestys earnest
hope; that upon a deliberate review of the subject,
the Legislative -Council and -Assembly will be dis-
posed to present for your assent another bill, di-
vested of those enactments which have prevented
the confirmation of the present act.
Among the various subjects whith this act pros
sents for consideration, none is more impertant iri
itself, nor more interesting to every class of society
iu this kingdom, than the regulations on sub-
ject of religious instruction. The 83d and the two'
following clauses must be considered as an invasion'
of that toleration to which all his Majesty's sub-
jects, whatever may be their civil condition, are alike
entitled. The prohibitions of persons in a state of
slavery assuming the office of religious teachers
might seem a very mild restraint, or rather a fit
precaution against indecorous proceedings ; but,
amongst some of the religious bodies who employ
missionaries in Jamaica, the, practice of mutual in-
struction,is stated to be an established part of their
discipline. So ling as the practice is carried on in
an inoffensive anti peaceable manner, the distress pro-
duced by the prevention of .it 'will -be compensated
by,no public advantage. , . •
The prohibitibn of oieetings-forfreligidtis Warship
between sunsset and snn-rise will, in man,- eases;
operate as a total prohibition, and will be felt xi'itb
peculiar severity by domestic. slaves inhabiting large-
towns, whose ordinary, engagements on Sunday will
not afford leisgre for attendance on public worship
before the evenjog.. It is impossible to: pass over
without remark the invidious distinction which is
made not only between Protestant Dissenters and
Roman Catholics, but even between Protestant Dis-
senters and Jews. I have, indeed, no reason td sup-
pose that the Jewish teachers have made any cell,
vcrts to their religion among the slaves, and pro-
bably, therefore, the distinction in their favour is
merely nominal: still it is , a preference, which, in
principle, ought not to be given by the legisNtut of
a Christian country.

The penalties denounced upon persons eollettin
contributions from slaves for pmposes
charity or religion, cannot but be felt, both by the
teachers and by their followers, as humiliating and
unjust. Such a law would affix an unmerited stig►r.a
on the religous instructor ; and it prevents' the slave
from obey►ng a positive precept of the !hristian re-
ligion, which he believes to be obligatory on him
and which is not inconsistent xvith the duties he
ewes to his master. The prohibition is, tberefot'e,i
a gratuitous aggravation of the evils of his condition..
It may be doubtful whether the restriction upon
private meetings among the slaves, without the
knowledge of the owner, was intentionally pointed
at the meetings for religious worship. No objection,
of course, could exist to requiring that-notice should
he given to the owner or manager whenever the
slaves attended any such meetings; but, on the
other hand, due security should be taken that the
owner's authority is not improperly exerted to pre-
vent the attendance of the slaves..

I cannot too distinctly impress upon you, that it
ti
ylil
noiltprnoadsneiyrusgta classlaid yorfe thatsht his Majesty';
aajoreittio:tt
is the settled purpose of his Majesty's Government
to sanction no colonial law which needlessly infringe,:
clause be inserted for suspending.
istolotariiita)tjtiseih.secee:isri
unlesste; l i
ig
to
ttiloadnu
ysay,
oltit:biiellv
its operation until his Majesty's pleasure shall be
known.

Having thus adverted to this most important
branch of the general subject, I proceed to inquire
how far the suggestions contained in Lord Bathurst'_i
despatch of the 1 Ith of May, 1826, have been fol-
lowed in the act under consideration.

The Council of Protection, established undet the
33d clause of this act, cannot be considered as an
effectual substitute for the office of a distinct and in-
dependent Protector. The council in each parish
will consist of those individuals, over whom the Pro-
tector was to exercise Ins superintendence. Their
duties are limited to the simple case of extreme
bodily injury, and are to be discharged only " if they
think proper." The periodical returns required
destroy.. the sense
from the protector upon oath are not to be made by
the Council of Protection, nor are they even bound,
to keep a journal of their proceedings. No provi-
sion
of the marke'ts
sion is made for executing the duties of the ofh.ce m
different parts of the colony upon fixed and uniform
principles, and the number of persons to be united
It is, h owever, impossible to
in this trust is such as entirely to.
violation. of the law of personal and individual responsibility.
sanctionprevail-
ing
i,i everythis sohteerncathicristian country. In the pro-
In the provisions for the due observance of Sun-
day, I remark that the cowl',"
by Lord Bathurst to his Grace the
on that day till the hour of I] is contemplated as a
with sonic ambiguity, permanent regulation..
their slaves
dester, a temporary departure from
permitted, but only as a relaxation r,.--
qPtDiu:iuis aTslk.
elireitsliel ltioeicryafinaworMs.ainiecasuint/citaher denouncingand
penalties
n personscircumstances.
em-
ployinggl labour s
omit) s
tSourl
leaveday , i
ta are
doubt-
fulexwhethei the penalty will be incurred at any other
tune than. during crop, or for any work excepting
that required about the mills. Neither is it clear
that an owner, procuring his slaves to work on Sun-
! day
.by persuasion, or by any other means than those
of direct compulsion, would violate the law. I do
not perceive that provision is made for those cases
of unavoidable necessity which would create an ex-
ception to the general rule.
crime andthe infliction of the
Punishments inflicted by the domestic authority
sub-
jectof a report to any public °thee'', nor does the
ot)frtehs seed owner
nr7ruviaried. shouldtb. e
elapse
a madese rhob ew,eenitahvev
creoqinumireisstihoant
oafrityhe
punishment. The presence of free witnesses at the
infliction of punishments is not declared necessary,
nor would the law be broken, whatever might be
the severity of the punishments, if it were inflicted
by any other method than that of whipping or im-
prisonment. The use of the whip in the field is not
forbidden. Women are not exempted from punish-
ment by flogging. Nor is any presumption of guilt
to arise, if the slave shall make a " probable,.parti-
cular, and consistent" charge against his owner,
confirmed by the exhibition of his person, bearing
the marks of recent and illegal punishment.
In all these respects the provisions of this Act
fall :loft of the recommendations of his Majesty's