The Sun.
London, England, 1818-04-23 00:00:00

DOM INICA.

Sir S.. ROMILLY said, the .objeet of the istoti9n
he had to•submit %vas to put the I-louse in pos-
session of information which he bad been made
acquAinted with on the condition of the Sl;a►es in-
the IVest Indies, hut particularly in the colony
of Dominica, and the state of- the laws there.
It was possible that some of the facts might be
met charged, though he had little doubt of their
geUeral:cotrectness ; however, he made this 0b...
set vation, to protect himself front becoming re•
sponsible for their accuracy, because he might
have been led _into error. To the motio❑ itself,
ht. anticipated no obj-ction, because it was merely
fur the production of papers, or extract's from.
them, which already lay in the office of the Co-
lon:al Secretary. 1 he complaint which he, had
to make' lay chiefly against the Grand Jury- pi

D • ' onntirca, before wbotil s6veral -bills of indict-
mdut were presented last 'Spring, 'against certain
slaves. In one of those cases, the Grand Jury
happened to throw out the Bill; add theinaster,
determined upon- vengeance, absolUtely took Ills
Slave, whom' the Cmirt had thus declared innocent.;
into the public market place,. and inflicted 39
lashes upon him, in the open face of day.
(hilt being the cumber beyond which a master
could not 'extend, his punishment, according to
the laws of the Colony.
.This infamous transac-
tion excited -such, a sensation, that the Attorney:
Generallound,hintself called_ noon to prosecute
tlAs man, who, with such daring effrontery, had
toirtured his helpless victim. Now the house
lentil() mark the fact,
,as it sheaved the state' of
feeling in the Colony. Upon the Attorne,y Ge-
nerars'presenting his indictment before the Grand
Jory,„ the bill was *thrown' out, as Were two
others against
„slave masters : one accused of
floggitig a female slave'in a shocking manner;
and the other charged with a similar act of bar-
barity. This,, however,
,was not all ; the Grand
Jury in their presentment absolutely remarked,
that the great number of indictments on-charges
of bad areatment
.of slaves might be attended with
dangerous consequences to the white population,
andonght to be discountenanced, especially (as
they added) as in most cases the slaves.meriied
the treatment they had received, . Such was the
character of that tribunal in Dominica, which in
this country. was considered as one of the best
safeguards of the people's, rights. There was so
little apparent chalice of obtainiudustice through
the medium of a Grand Jury, that the Attorney-
General of ,the Coltiny would' not trust theta
again, aod.absolutely suspended the Constitution,
and resorted to the expedient of criminal informa-
tions in, three eases, which were to be hr ought
before the Court, in
.which the mastera had or-
tiered chains to be put upon their limbs, and
iron collars aloof.) the necks of their 'slaves..—;
The GrAnd Jitry, however, deterMinedopt;ii cit-
. •
ehdini'slaVes from the bene6t:ot all • laW,
presented, " that theinterterenee between master
`and slave was likely to produce the worst conse-•
apiences." The Court retnsed to receive this pre-
sentment ; but the 'Grand Jury, steady to their
purpose, proposed another, complainiog of tells(
they called the, dangerous interference, oil the
Tort of the executive, bet Ween masters . and
slaves.—He would put if to the house, if
this statement was true (and he did not doubt it
was to a,great extent), what must be the condi-
,
tioo of the wretchedAfricao, who, when Sofferilig
under the cruchyof inbuinato
tier or relative to present a Bill before a Grand
Jury ro oilcann redress, as the law had tkterinined
that none hut the master coulsh do that; the per-
son, in fact, against whom the law was to be in-
voked. lie was not disposed to say any thing
which migl!t disturb that conciliatotyspirit, which
in the mieds of the Gentlemen oponSite was ne7
.cessary to be preserved towards the West.lndia
planters, by those who wished well to the aboli-
tiou or slavery., At the same time, he ulit] not
but remark, that it was the general concurrent
feeliag tat the whole colonies, that nothing was
more improper than an intet femme between
ntas-
ter and slave. At least, that such was the feel-
ing, in Dominica could not he controverted. It,
therefore, would become the House to look to
some means of protecting these unhappy beings,
whose lives, under the present system; were
of;en one continued scene of stifle' ing. It was
a common practice to send slaves iu Domi-•
nice who had committed any aoffence to the'
jails; this was clone by
,their masters anti in
such cases it was not.in the [mu er of the Gover-
nor to extend at pardon towards them, although
lie was invested with the powers Of the Royal
prerogative, as representing the Sovereign.- When
the. Attorney-General was.consulted. by the Go-
vernor on the subject, he gave it es-his''opitiiiin
that the. Governor had no right to interfere with
the domeitic tribimals Ofthe islands. It seas easy
to foresee, the abuses which this system waist lead
to. It was enough to make one's tunianitY-revolt
at the idea, of such things being possible. It was
like the practice that once prevailed in the island
of Saint Domingo, where toasters got rid of their
slaves by sending them to the public gaols, there
to be attached
,to what was t fie public chain.
The' young and the old, the infirtt and the
strong, were all fastened together by one long
chain, and iii that situation all obliged to per-
form the same win*, whether they were able to do
so or not ; and if :hey did norwork, they were
flogged by cart whips: It seemed then, that in
•the island of Domiuica, the prerogative of the'
crown was restrained by the superior prerogative
,ot the master's. This was an evil which it was.
,ineemhent oti cite British Legislatiee to notice,
and to. remedy. It would be necessary- in every
island, as Mr. Burke'once recommended, tocon-
stitute the' Attorney-General thegtiardian of the.
slaves. It would also be necessary, in this eoun7
,try,lor the British Parliament to legislate for the
IColonies. It would be a 'pocket yto apply to 't he
islands those, principles that were contended (or
on behalf- -of the Notth American Colonies
before the Amerian war ; for if the inha-
bitants of the islands claimed the right of legislat-
ing for themselves by representatives, they must
show that they acted on the plinciples of the
British Cinistitntion ; and such tights they never
could claim so long as the system of slavery was
kept up among them. In Dominica, masters could
Rot even manumit their slaves without paving a
tax ; and there was a law in that island, which
edared, drat if even a free black landed there, he
was immediately declared a slave. The whole
course of the laws there, in short, tended to render
slavery perpetual, instead of allowing that most
useful practice of letting slaves obtain freedim,
awl arrive at something like independence: Let
it be recollected, that those aunhappy creatures,
although slaves, were the subjects of the King,
bound by the same allegiance as mochas the people
'of Aritain. .He would mention the case of a Mr.
Higgins, of the Island of Nevis, who had been tried
for cruelty towards his ownalaves. The case was
well known. The same man had since been guilty of
'another act of crumb y--.-that of ordering the pnitiSh-
mem of 100 lashes to be inflicted on t wo young lack,
who were !nit his own slave's, but those of another
person, who had employed hitn as his Attorney.
They were punished with extraordinary severity.
There were two young Woinen slaves present at

. • -
the time of the pani'iltorent--;'6ne-Clif-lbese was the
sister of one of the lads. andille other allomestie
servant ';4ftod "becance they -inerelY-'shed Oti
the occasion, 'Mr. Huggins ordered, one 'Of them
to receive thirty, and the other twenty lashes.
For, this offence Huggins %Vas triA 'by ofae'r'of
the Attorney-General ; he Was - and tt
was considered as a most unwarrantable ioterpo--
sitionin the rights of masters,to have institutedsuch
a prosecution. Ile concluded With moving for an
Address Prince Regent,to request (bathe be
pleased to give direet ions hat t here be laid before the
HOuse Copies or Extracts of the depositions sent
toi the Secretor.), of State relative
.to John Baptist
and others, agains-t whom bills of indictment had
been preferred by Attorney-General of St.
Mining°, since February, 1817; and with respect
to the power exercised by the QINAels of slave*•
to send. them to the public chain.
Mr. GOULBURN fully agreed-that such gets AS
had been stated by the Hon. and Ledrued-Gen-'
tleinan, were most.abliorrent to homanity and
justice ; hot until full information were received
concerning then"); he wished to put' Gentlemen on
their'kuai-d 4,,airMAcceiving an impression. that
what had been Stated was an exact representation
of the facts. ,could assure the Hoo`se, that
,whateVer the practice 'might he Nevis,, or Do
the conduct towards the slaves in the
larger islands was• very different. In Jamaica, it
was known that slaves were possessed of consi-
derable property, and often purchased their free--
.doin. It had liee.nstated by an lion. Member of
that House, that lie had purchased property from
a slave,. With respect to the present motion,
the lion. Gentleman noticed the eirctitostance of
' presentments having. been thrown -oat by the
Grand inrys. and as to-the conduct of petty S.es-
sions in Dominica, it would be impossible for the.
1-I,iiise to come to any decision, without haying
the whittles, of 'trials before it. Far was it from
hi,z'vekit to attempt..to vindicate• any'such acts as
those stated by the Learned Gentleman, and be,
'had no objection to his Motiou.
R.'!...:.strirewaS' happy to .hear'thar the;state
of society. was .not so bad in the larger as the•
,smaller islands; but it .way evident •from every
silting which had been sail, that•Pailiattient was
bound tb exercise A vigilant supetintendance over
alfrhe istatids.
Mr GIiANT xvas not disposed to.deny flue state-
ments made by the Learned Gentleman, relative
to tlie'Wtiocities 'cionThitted in 'Dominica and ,Nre.s
vis but. theist 'places were very insignifreant
compared. to the other. islands, where no such
acts were dooe, and it was not fair to make
a statement' from which or..e might''concei'e
gelaeral prejudice against the larger Ceilonies. • He
assured the Honourable anti 14,artied- Gent lemon,
that no such things.were ever known, to take place
in island of -Janiaica: He Cotic6ved it very
unfair in'Che•Hortil Gehtternarr tO have-made such
freqUent use-of the term cart-whip ; and as to
Negrne_s being chained, that act was not a punish-
ment.; there was merely a chain lightly. placed
round' off'enditig 'Negroetti to prevent thein front
running. away.

; Mr. A. BROWN denied that there was any eel-
deuce before the House to induce it to believe
that the fact stated by the Hon. 'Gentleman. as to
the Severity of punishment in ,Doininica, was true.
On the c!unrary, there were documents to show
that such was not the faet.- But if it was true With
retard to" one -island; it writ: twit so•inoregard* to
other islands: Ile would leave it to the Hon.
Gentleman to say, whether the simple act of a
Grand Jury could ji:stily hint in making his.state-
went. The I.l6nonrable Gentleman gave. a co-
lour to to the transaction in Ntvis which di'd not he-
long to it. Ile had received a very different ac-
count from the agent of that island. He was no
apologist' for the 'conduct of Mr; Iltiggins•; but
there was reason tO suppose his conduct was not
sO bid as had been represented. lie had acted as
an attoftiey for' another' person ; finding that two'
nei;roes had COminitted a theft, he ordered them
to recekeloo ladies each ;' but they dill not re-
celee-alttlie and the liiiiiishment Was 5O
slight, that the- two nOgroes appeared at a etas-'
tleißcle- the' neja evening,:. one in the cha,-
racter of Buonaparte, and the other in the chir-
raeter of the .Dhke'of WellingTan:.-gfoally incor-
rect was the statement of the plThisbnient in-
flicted on the two women ; (hey were not punished
for shedding tears; but for tai3ing yell's in such an
obstinatentatmer as tended to destroy the antho-
,rity of the masters: Nor was one of these women
a domestic servant of the latter ; for in conse-
quence of ber violent and bad temper, she had been
condemned to wink in the fields, Mr. Cot-
tle, who was now in this country, highly approved,
,of the conduct of Mr. tigg ius, his at t entry,
when he heard of it. When Mr, Huggins was
brought to trial by order of the Assembly, the
:Jivy acquitted him Of the charge of cruelty ; and
(.4overinu. Prevost expressed his approbation of
the verdict of the Jury. He wiShed.that,all abuses
:in the' islands should find a re-inedy; but he wished
it to be a remedy consistent with' the general
peace and security of the empire.
Sir JAMES MACKINTOSH expressed his astonish-
, ment .that the Hon. Gentleman should attempt
to vindicate the character of- thar man noggins,
by quoting a certificate of the master who had
employed such-a culprit—a defence that only went
to place the guilt of the master in a much stir nger
light. The Hon/Gentleman had-said, that the
rem-ales had not been punished for shedding teams:,
but for raising. yells of obstinacy ; but he would
ask whether such yells- should- not be considered
as stronger emotions of vie( and- whether they
by any,ingenuity that despotism might de- '
vise, be construed into an offence -It was the
first time. in
,the history of 'tyranny, he had
heard of a ponishMent being iniliefed on spec-
tators for sympathizing in the solterings of
others. Was --it to be said that these wo-
men, under pretence of 'sensibility, had set

up cries for, the were purpose of preventing
a punishment from being inflicted. The -cause of

. -
the West India islands could never be :serVed by
such cruelties as these; or, by setting up such a:
defence as be had just beard for the atrocities in
question. So much for what 'had peen done in

the island or Nevis. In consequence of the Grand
Jury throwing ont the Bill, the Golierniftent
reeled the Airoi•iley4itnerl tofile a Bill ex ,o,rtirio,
and then the Urrand Jury, violating the prerogative
uf.the truth,
.declAreki thavinferafaticnuto be a

111.113ahee; 400.-- thus: fiArred up - all the itt'efi'''es la
' •
justice, and•-.not „only thatblit _dint; declare i‘
to be a public offence to seek to obtain e. '
It waq evident 'that on the'rart of the authoriti
ifland; tens twat . disreggrii"f gva •
law-an& juStice,• and it was to remedy that
thilt, the present motion Was wade by hits
*nit' Learned Fr'iehd.
Mr. BROWN explained:
MAilmia•ir -entered • into some statertientg;''
,respettitik• thtr preientineniulladed to, which
nOt confined to the information of the Attornere
General, but tO several o her things ;0"(1 tit
priesentment, or) the whole, was not onlY it,e;
fiAble; but -erille4l ,fot by tlienecessity•of th"%.5-
The intst• culpable part of the preseottput
ix
the incorrect manner in which It bad been dive
up. And it should be known, that this very
Grand Jury had then found_a—trtie bill agaillst...
white planter, of the name-of Saullope, for Intl'
diring H slave.
reraLl
IMr. WitsEßFoßce, in 9.4Pc11 CC of CO. ftbC
• Ichgth, enlarged on the state of degraflaii"°*pc
r
?•egr°el in. the West Indies. He adniittol
4-tallied the Legislattire had• throvat rt°
stftck's ih the way; of tnanumissiow,•-tind 11°(10 4
wilier respects
.sicbalized themselves beY"nediiirs.
other Islands. He dwelt on t he. many bard` •+
tO which they were subjected in 'all the IsWitic;tt.
and the necessity of commutricating•teligi"'iLsing.'
moral instruction .to them. and of intr":l-any '
map iago . among Item. No attempt .baulolo
where been yet made' to prevent Net:ll4s:or'
being sold. fOr the debts-of 'their-master, (1
cumstance. of cruelty dwelt on• in the most 'J.
ble language by Mr. lit yan Edwards. " grit
Mr. W. SMITH wits glad to ileac., for I'll-
- in that House, the Nev;ro Slates ternle":lo
jects of his Majesty. if they 'Were subjecl,s-1,141-'
Majesty, he.should be glad. to know er•
were to be placed under the tincontronJedr-°:r
of a handful of then,-who iveri:'.interested'W

essing Achy?, •• . . •
;pc
Sir S. R0m11..4y, in rt'ply, read..the-evidettlCef;l3.•
the trial of Huggins, i.n cortoboration,ot
per statement. lie observed, that froth the,reefi.
the story ;of -the. masa-pit:rade Joust be -ioc°;),y*-'
One of the .witnesses, driver,-saiii ,that si% 4,
es,
after there were marks of severity on, the Negtrii -la
such as he had never before observed.' Of
who 'ere pintished,, it ;was distinctlY. state.".l;c4
the trial, that-they did not..scream 5 o)llcaatP
,%.,-
their faces, and shed tears., An 1-ion. Go)".,e4at
had been offended at- the word " cart whiP' •taff
this. was Phi- plrrase which -ivas used
and as, it thence„appeared, the coma:)ll4°r'
the Island. I oed.
OrtitiLß LI z,:r tend Mr: MA •
RRY ATT - ,
'•
on. the ill it''

The motion was agreed- to, ,as wits 031.1°‘
papers relmiug.tp thygins, of tuF
Gen. THO4INTo.N mowed, for an Accannt .:
lies •
Grants to the' British Musetun, and API) Atr;
tine of 'them but. -after a few words
W. Smith and Mr. 1). Gilbert, he cons"tet
witlitiraw it.
'Die nth- I,isposecl 061

4 ne other Orders of. the Dify were
end the ffouise Adjourned to Friday.

PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS:

AI
TITLES of PAPExs orderrri to be produced bri rber-I°s'-
. COMMONS. k ticito'
. An Account of, the. Total Weekly Amount Hof pan- '„ ta, •
and Bank Post Bills in circulation, from the :13, of ,„1
the 7th of April 1818; together with an Account of clic ',`'eo
Amount of Bank Notes and ank Post 13.01; out;tand'''-,04
the 11th of April, at night; distinguishing,_ the Beirj-
Amount of Notes under the Value of Fic •

and stating the aggregate Amount of the Whole' f tbs
An Account of All Exchequer Bills issued virtae t"
4ct-5'7 Geo, s,-enir.-16,. intitttled;:" An Act for raisiri iero
Sup, of Eighteen Millions, by ExchequeF Bills, f°r
victi,of the YearASl7,"—outstanding and unPrnridoedrilf:rs,'
Return
to an Ortle'r of the Honourable House 0f
dated. ad Apnl ISIS, for a Return of the Manner ' 156,
the BOoks received under the Copyright Act, 54 Ge°3;'l ~gief
and stated by a Return made to art Order of thi' ibod
dated Roth Febi'Mtry 1818, as not placed in the bltc f
of the University of Cambridge,—have been disrsts. °of
ti
Report on-the
.11e-committed Report ,08,,th0-re'ji°
Sheffield and Hallainshire Cutlers.
e ill*
-
A Bill to carry into Execution a T bet°l
reaty made , oopr
Majesty and the King of Spain, for the preveul'ing.

• •
in Slaves.
"3
A Bill (as amended by the, Committee) for ",o ,a;
promoting the building of additional Churches 1" P°"l
Parishes.

wider tile
A Bill fut diminishing, the Expoice of Birdoo'

Great Seal.

gore)
A Return of the Net Amount of the Wiodow nd
ioaii
Tax is Irelnd, for the Years ending the 5111 0I ja
1818, 1817, and 1818, respectively,

c lt
Return of the Number of Taxable- Articles, for w.'lc ort
tices of 'Discontinuance, and Increase, had heel) Ser"-- eoci•
the seteral Collectors of Excise in Itelancl, for the 'Yea'.