Star.
London, England, 1816-08-08 00:00:00

among
though ~
been productive
ployed jogs, V
the measure ptopoled
tually restivhsini'the ithportation.of fresh -.lases into
thosoloniesi, sorl. Pie amelierating die condition of
their existing population. It unity thereto,* be im-
portant to tabs st cold* view Of the timbre and
.beatbystlirtahapproccurreace.
•• It by ;the opponeais of the forregis-
. tering tlielleirectit the Vest ladies, that its intro-
&Men 111111Perligitient petitioned the late Insurrec-
tion ; the sheets baitiag beaded toconceive, that man-
. cipation was intended by that measure. Now, even if
this woe a trete representation of the ease, who would
be to blame ? the West Indians who havit uniformly
and clamorously maintained, that the real object of
• the Registry Bill is emancipation, or the friends and
• supporters of that bill Who have cnostantly denied Mail
it has any such object f It the slaves its the West
Indles.have indeed been led to mono that registra-
tion would involves.= • who bet the West
India planters, and the {West iadia Qlanters alone,
excited that false and delusive .1
It celaittly dues not Ikea, it Grit sight, strange
that an insurrection of slaves should hive taken place
in one of oar slave colonies. Such wealth have, in
all former times, Seen common; and-the historian of
J.anaica expressly admits. that, in tbemery visi dials
of colonial bondage, there% enough to account for
such OCCUITINICOS without the necessity of tracing them
to any more emote and hidden cause.
The real nature of Wis bondage has often been
clearly explained. In no part of the British demi-
nions does this unhappy state of society 'mist in a more
'unmitigated form than in the Island of Barbados'.
When, in 1802, Lord Seaforth proposed to the As-
sembly of that island, that the murder of a slave,
which, according to the Barbadoes law, was compen-
sated by a fine off 1 14s. sterling, should be made
felony ; the Assembly resented theproposal, and ap. '
pointed a Committee to prepare a message in reply,
which should be calculated to -repel this insult, and
:shOuld evince diet the House undentood iii inierests
and its rights. We will shortly lay before our Readetsi
a horrid exemplification of the deplorably oppressed
and degtaded state of the Negro Slaves in this parti-
cular bland, as it existed in the year 11105. Since
that period the only change which the Barbadoes Le.
. • gidature has even affected to snake in their condition
has Wert the enactment of a law, whereby the mur.
der of a slave, if perpetrated tututietilli aaficies4 and'
widow mg proefteiists. is punishable with death. This
law, however, while it bean the semblance of a
nascent sense, among the legislators of Barbadoes, of
• the claim which their slaves have to legal protection,
is no mote than a gross mockery of justice.
In every otter colony, the planters have deemed it
right, of late years. to frame a bind of sew Cue Nair,
in which, to the English ear at least. many important
insprovenaeats have been introduced. How tar they
were sincerely meant to remedy' the evils of colonial
bondage, maybe inferred from the declaration of
Governor Prevost with sopa* ta the Meliorating. Act
of DJortialeal

s ...
0

IC h appears," he says, al to have been considered,
from the day it was pained until brie hour, as a poli.-
tical measure, to avert the interference of the ildf:ther
Country in the management of slaves." The clauses
which bad given a promise of better days, we are
. told by the same high authority, bad been %%luny'
, neglected. la Barhadoes, however' 'they sullenly re-'
fused even this barren professioe of reform ; end their
Cads Na remains onalsered.efeept by the single en-
SWUM already mentioned, which levee the murder
of i negro still punishable only with a fined stll 14s.
=t; except when it can be. clearly proved (for
eas must be interpreted strictly) to the satis-
faction of a Barbadian jury, that the murdei was
sessilltsed wantaily, and that tho.lnuiderer had not
• received tees the 'slightest degree of provocation.
The wads are, " WithoutOiy provocation."
• If we &aside ditii circumstances, and review the
loroofs exhibited is 1806, as they appear in the an-
• Sexed peak:Adam aerating the state of lading asking
file! Whites in abides* towards their slaves, we
•Adttet thiehitlisange, hoe:ever deeply we siafae-
•,plare .tilts sewn, that an insurrection should have
- taboo glum.
• The planters have at aU times professed to fear that
*sir gauge wduid be erased to insurrection by Par.
fiery discussions in this country. But their own
eendect, throughout the whole of the abolition cop.-
emvarey, fled, oentradicts that profession, and proyes
it isobars t tor these very discussions, of which -the ,
slaves could sewer bear without their help, haveheen
vegulerly gebrasbed lot *valueless in the Colonial
Itlorspagers.: _
.. _
raulswwzme a Amain Gazette of March. 1816,
she 1tt=1110110,161144107 arraigned as founded
ea wit • • wirsdutimurry bud; and Oticuhrted to
'predate hoserrectiim i sad it is 'held out as so mai-
cable so Arra ib desuorthe lives and propeytut of
tte Whitembilikants, that It is alleged to bi dressi-
ness% practiceastfedingad the White colonists to re.
*sit ell 'the lawn they can save to taigland and
Anoka, osvrpsweision for the worst &Sifter Imp-
pen. • Oe almoner oteasion. when de ?quail food
andiutfoteded. elarrioar bad been .... st the
,o=6
reolhaserstiot disetweion of the : -M.
• agni/instoiseirsection, the Assam* of ) is
VariArbitioslif their thorn pretested Am, .printedis
their owo °tomtit a repots which stated at amide,-
eggelength, and arith great ptecisites, the *means by
which a 1 lesonuctiess on gispnost succeed-idly
be tog . among she :dives ; ' and furnished cam
plete and:demiled Information as OD the plan of op-
l'46olls lis ultieb du insurgenti might infallibly be..
sane mown ef,thr island. We Meld mohiply strii-
lar iodate:err Dot' only in put yeas, but to timed
even of recent date. Elm in the newspaper: ei Bar-,
bAdoes, formal Resolutions of die Msembly were
published only three or low mends: before the bar-
rection broke oat, denouncing the Registry Itill as a
plan for the emancipation tithe dam Surely, if then
Were any truthin the elimmus of the pliuntrs, on the
subject of Parliamentary discussion; they would never
have been so infatuated as to make their own new
papers, which Circlilate freely throughout the islands,
the vehick of such oM:went& 1 -"Mat tan be a mote
irrefragable proof that tbe planters theiturtivii did aloe

in a -whisper, 401111-whia vee sink at tbeiltek
astute of 6,000 =Basset slavery is ths West Indies.—
But in the ;blandest, find, instead of 'this eirresse
caution, 'a most Wanton .publicity and noise no she
'subject. We say. emerstepl because there, all being of
uhe mind, newspartir illieussiOns are atlestisperfeetlp
useless. And yet i an* man desires In see thestessest
thingstah at hare ever been said ht Parliament against
the colonial system. thethings most eapeblelol besot re-
presented as pointing atgeneval eitfranehlsemeells, lye
may find them in the West Iltra gazettes. the liaein=
surrection must therefOre be traced, not to the ilkiebe.'
sloes which have taken place on the subject Oder Re.
gistrk Bill, but to the evils Inherent in a OM= of
slavery, and to the conduct of the slave grimes.,
any one read the .following pitrticniarts and belt*
Only. wonder that the Westlfidjes should ever WIN
any tither than a state. of inkntrectkm.
kn some papers lirtliented to the Haw of deitil
mesa oh the 25th of ribrnary, 180;5, is amiable'
letter from Lord Seafotth, the Governor of Ba
does. dated 13th November, JBO4, in which ha
writes to Earl Caradeni , .-.
" I enclose four papers enntaining. from dike*,
quarters, reports on the hm rid murders I mtp,
in. some fanner letters. They are selected frogs:*
great number, among which there is not one in con.
trad.ction of the horrible facts, thOugh several of the
letters are very concise and defective. The troth is,
'that nothing has given me more trotible than to get
lathe bottom of these businesses, so horribly absurd
ate the prejudices of the people." (not °foster two,
or of a few individuals, but of the Nettie). , . •

To a subsequent letter, dated 7th January, 1905,
his Lordship thus writes—" I enclose the Attorney
General's letter to me on the subject of the °ernes
so must wantonly murdered. lam sorry to say se.
veral other instances of the same barbarity have oc•
curred, with which I have not troubled your Lord:
ship, as I only wished to snake you acquainted with
the subject in general."
The letters to which Lord Seaford* refer* andl
which accompany thenisove extracts, are from
of the most respectable individuals in the island of
Barbadoes. viz. Mr. Ince, the President of the Coun-
cil Mr. Coulthurst, the Advocate General ; Mr.
Berries. the Attorney General; and the Rev. Mr.
Pil These Gentlemen alt agree in the material
facti'Ef the cases which they state. It would, there.
fore, be an unnecessary repetition to transcribe the
whole of their letters : it will be sufficient to
give the substance of the statements which they
contain.

I. Oa the 10th of April, 1804, a militia man, of
the acme of Halle, of the St. Michael's • regiment,
remain g from military duty, overtook on the . road
seas Negroes who were going quietly home from
*air Labour. ' When be came mew hecalledoebthet
he would kill them, and immediately began to run
After them. The Negroes not supposing that be
really Minded to dollies) any injury, and imagining
that he was in joke, did not eudratoot to escape, but
merely made way loc. Sim. The person nearest to
him happened to be a wontan, the property of a Mr.
Clarke, the owner of Sinsimons's estate, who is stated
to Limbers a valuable slave, the mother of five ev
six children, and far advanced in pregnancy. With-
out the smallest provocation of any kind, Halls coolly
and deliberately plunged bis bayonet several times
into her body, when the poor creature dropped and
expired without a groan. Two Gentlemen were eye-
witnesses of this horrid action. One of them, Mr.
herding, the manager of the Codringtons College
estate. went up to Halls and spoke harshly to Mu,
slid said be ought to be hanged. for he never saw I
more unprovoked. Murder, and Abet he would cer-
tainly carry him before.* magistrate. aillsils it iily
is very remarkable. ea For what?" said 1w (with the
utmost indifference as to the crime)—" For what ?
for killing a negroll1" This is a short but a signifi-
cant sentence, strongly confirming an important truth
which has frequently been' asserted, viz. that the Ne-
groes are regarded by their white-skinned oppressors
as an inferior, order of beings, and, under . the inan.
trice of this sentiment, are naturally enough dialed
the common rights of humanity, and exclnded from
the pale of that sympathy which a sense ofs common
nature and a common extraction is calculated to in.
spire. Mr. Hording, hOwever, greatly to his credit,
was prpei against the force of Fialles compendiaa
reaioneng ; and havimi procured assistance laid bold
of has, and envied hirn before Mr. Justica,Willeane
Mr. hake Wilkein, it itould appeara, was soot indie-
posed to Ow tbikainhurity with which. he was vaned
in 'Winging falls to juptice; .but.k.fountti theVg. kp.
his 111114(1011 as a magistrate, ..the law of the island
gave; him no jurisdiction c authority ores him," sea,
in short, that bathed no right to commit him. ‘ln
this dilemma, Mr. Walton applied to Mr. President
Inc.. a I id Mr. Walton,* says the President, in
hiclouer to hoed Seafortb, is that I regretted with
real concern, the deficiency is our lair ; bui thai there.
was a penalty doe to the King in such cases, (viz. the
shvagasaulifrar shillew 1) Ma that, as Mr. Harding.
bad sufficiently substantiated the fact, I wrield'order
him to be committed. till he paid the forfeiture:. nt a
,shit should be commenced against liiin."—Arcerd-
Joey be wit sent to prime.
. .2. The Second iotantit ' , produced by I,;o4.2eefiob
. .
le net Wrier in atrocity to the.firsta A Mr. Coltieek,
who flies oversew On Cabbage-tree plantation, in St.
Lucy's parish, " iii hark a ass Niro lki tow lige.
faid," (meaning the slave yard. where Nio.l4lp*re
'exposed mnk, In tite*thie niannir as the cattle and'
Any be Sanithtleld Miarbsit),' and tarried Nos hoe*:
Collsestit a Wig to the boy; hes took Mit-int° to
blissful Riediblas wak actable.' Mr. Critic:. do
dooreeer of Lewes estate, *high is near td cootig.
pee idantalime; was lathe habit of visiciottfc: Ca
bask, had sward she hey aid bow Mai lad/. • A fro
-happening ass nisht in the seighboorboodredbeok
went . to gave his assietnose, aid the heriellowed
bin. - Colbesk, On his rettweelteste, nit boy 1
'who bad lost biceray pread- as be didiemeetahit'hi
appearance the out day, be seat around to bit` eight

_rater Como) near to Intro's estate nnisi number
_rater
.Negroes. were soon astemhled abnet the place.-.-
tbe boy tiaterellylmatified- with the tbreats,theaulee,
and the appearance of so many .people, revenged into
lob* Wit rock,, having a stongjo his hand, for the
probably, of defeetCe:—Weibte time Crime;
mg other white penonal bad' Come up. By
eiiiraiden a fire was put to-the hole where the boy
lay, who, _when he began to be scorched, ran from
bidAsPleee into a pOol'of water which was near..
kb* Negroes ptirsned him into the pool ; and
efto bby, It is said, threw the stone which he held in
his hand, at one of them. On this, two of the White
osen,s; Crone and Hollingsworth, fired at the boy
several times with shot, and the Negroes pelted him
'with stones. He was at length dragged out of the
pod in a dying condition ; for he had not only re-
esti,ed several bruises from the stones, but his breast'
was io pierced with the shot that it was like a cul.
lender. The White savages (this is the language of
Mr. Attotney•General Beccles) .ordered the Negroes
to dig a gnaw... wvet they were digging it, the
poor creature made signs, of begging for water, which"
.was not given to him ; but ;04000 as the grave was
flag,
he wits thrown into it and:covered over, and,
as it,is believed, ',A&
,yet oat* Colbeck, the owner
of the.boy, hearing', that a tiepin had been killed,
went to Cane to inquire hate the troth of the report.
Crone told hilt, that a Negro had been killed and
buried, bat assured him it was not hit,' for he knew
his well, and he need not be at the tveoble of open.
ing the grave. On. this, Colbeck went away satisfied.
Iteeeivfng, however, further information, he returned
and ka4 the grave opened, when he loond the mar.
. Negro to be his own. Colbeck brought his
actioa, of damages in the Court of the Island against
Crone and Hollingsworth. The 'cause was ready to
be tried, and the Court had met for the purpose,
when they thought proper to pay double the value
of the boy, .tnd ift2s for the use of the Island (being
,e 5 less than the penalty fixed by law, of aelfi cur.
reney each), rather than wire the business logo to
a hearing....*" This, I am truly sorry to say," ob-
serves the AdrocatoGeneralo.B.was the only punish..
meet which could be inflicted for so barbarous and
atrocious a Crime."

•
This horrid recital (which is giveh almrst in the
words-of the Report, merely avoiding repetitions)
seems to require little coundient. One .circumstance
of it, however, may not strike the minds of some rea-
ders dish its force, although it appears to be the
most affecting part of the while case, Colbeck, it is
said, on hearing that it- was not his slave who bad
been murdered, went away satisfied 1 0 most op-
probriout satisfaction! Thstleeceding part of the
narrative had prvpared us to.tattect in Colbeck some
approximation to European feeling. But what is the
fact ? On being coolly told that a Negro had been
)tilled and buried—told sn by hik neighbour, she sour=
derer—is he shocked ? Does be. express' any horror
or indignation on the occasion ? No ! be goes away.
satisfied ! ! Let the reader gin its due *eight to this
one circumstance, and he must be convinced that a
state of society must exibt in the West-Indies of Which,
as. an inhabitant of this happy island, he can scarcely
form an adequate conception.
Suppose, instead of a Negro • Slave, that it had
been a horse which bad been thus killed ; Colbeck,
had his horse happened to be missing at the' time,
would have pursued exactly . the same .steps, and
would gave been affected in the .same way as in the
present instance.

FWe' may also learn, .fronithis impressive circum-
stance, the value of West-Indian' testimony when
even in favour of West-Indian humanity. The moral
perceptions and feelings which prevail in that (pm-
terof the world, it will be perceived, are wholly dit-
fereqt kens those on this side ottheAllantic. It may
be unity:red that these men mean what they say, when'
they; give each other the praise of humanity. But
'examine their standard. Who is this man of huma
nity ? It is one, who, bearing that a fellow creature
bad been cruelly and wantonly muedeted, gee: away
ritirfied, because he himself has sustained no loss by
the murder i An exception may be admitted in fa-
.vouy of a few men of enlightened minds ; but the re-
ark applies to the petiple—.to the bulk of the corn-
munityr whose prejudices are stated by Lord Sea-
ford) to be so hottribly absurd, as to resist all measures
for remedying this areadful state of things. Bin, not
to detain the reader any longet with reasonings on
subject, let us preceed to the third case commu.
• led by Lord Seaforth, and which, if possible, is
worse Ana either of the foregoing.. .
• S. A mutt of the name of Nowell, who Eyes hi St.
aireer's perish, bad bees he the habit of behaving'
.brutally towards hie wife, and one day went so far as
to lock her up in a room, and confine her in chains.
A negro woman belonging to this at in,,totsched with
compassion for her untortuoate mistress, undertook
privately to release her. Nowell found it nut, and in
border to punish her, obliged her to put her tongue
tbroigh a hole in a board, to which he listened it on
the opposite side with' a fork, and left her in 1114
situation-for some ! He-afterwards cut out het
.tongue nearly by thereat, io consequence. of which
'she almost instantly died ! Ntk puhihment followed
this Won:trans .act df barbarity f 1
.It will, doubtless, be argiied. that indiridual in-
stincts of cruelty like those Which have been cited,
are no proofs of several inhumanity. any More than
the annals, of the ad Bailey cap. be considered ils
eihibiiing afa iiTsievicipur aationatcharActer. There
is, ht tieasit, Alf eery rentarVabill.l difference in the
two Were; i difference *hitt hits 3 to the argument.
In thiaceentry, when we-seed of crimes, we read of
their . ...followed by just aetribution ;by severe
:and
..
.. y punishment.. Is. the West•lndies, on
tba c , we not only bear of the greatest crimes
.seeping with itipanity, but we find the laws theta-.
selves coagpising to shelter criminals from justice ; we
6nd•the most respectablwand enlightened part-of the
immunity. sanctioaing the perpetration even of mur-
der, by tholt,refuspl recognize the commission of it
is a feltinions m rat Slave T'rodi. 1806 ;
Aohnisise:,. ,• , 3,- .... • • .1- '. —4

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The intelligenew of an •insagrocuonlit7a: tha ioniftnrer thaitlosastMer Sidtrighilltr • a 4. •,:ismg we jig...qnest.- 74
among the dares in thol4and of BabitilMo • . . • .41atisours, . turiokat kat as. ti. ihlll4/"_ • • ....strure bas) ids send igia bow. , a
though it was speedily 111lawnd, Wok • . ,as)sny thing : the king could be. to pear
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ployed ,Jibe West.lndia.ptwty to throw dime& on of effect in • argument, they ieelitift dwell Soothe
mum* was dheaveratt. is a .ily (de deep d
the measure twirled* Mr. Wilberfoece. for drab dime, of even *dwelling t? the so*Olße' W. MO Pc". itimnai nisi ti, /times elate iciii4 a amber ii
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