The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-01-26 00:00:00

PETITION FUR THE IMMEDIATE TOTAL ABOLITION OF NEGRO

SLAVERY.

The Mayon said Mr. Blackburn's motion on this subject
stood next on the list, he should therefore call upon him. This
was a most important question, involving the happiness of many
hundred thousand human beings, and. the property of many
others, he should be excused if he called on the council to dis-
cuss it ill a calm deliberate way, to avoid any useless expressions
of irritation that conflicting interests might call forth, and to
conduct the discussion in a way creditable to the council, and
as was becoming so great a question.
Mr. BLACKBURN then rose and said, at the last meeting of
the council lie availed himself of the courteous permission of
the council to auuounce his intention to bring forward this sub-
ject at the next meeting of the council: and of course by that
annoulicernent it was understood that he should bring it forward
at the next monthly meeting Of the council; but it had so hap-
pened that a special meeting had been called, and he thought it
right to avail himself of that earlier opportunity thus afforded
to bring it under their notice, and take it up somewhat more at
large than he could have done at a quarterly meeting, when the
ordinary general business was to be attended to. H e, however,
thought it right, before entering upon the discussion to state,
that, if any gentlemen were kuowu to be absent Irvin the coun-
cil in consequence of its being brought on sooner than was in-
tended, or there were any gentlemen present that thought
themselves taken by surprise, he was quite willing to withdraw
his motion fur the present, and to bring it on as he had origin-
ally intended. tie was quite in the hands of the council in
that respect. He deemed it of so much importance that every
one desirous to do so should have au opportunity to express his
opinion thereon. If there was no objection to his proceeding
he should conclude that no objection existed. After a short
pause, he proceeded. He entered fully into the spirits of the
mayor's remarks, with which he had thought it his duty wisely
to introduce the discussion. There was, perhaps, uo subject
connected with the internal policy of our nation that required
greater caution and a more calm deliberation, and which was
more calculated to excite strong feelings, than the subject of
slavery. He had always approached its discussion with trem-
bling hesitation, and he then threw himself on the indulgence
of the council; and if, in the warmth of tire moment, any strong
expressions should escape him, he hoped he should be pardoned.
He could nut introduce that subject to their notice without
adverting for a single moment to the very satisfactory change
which hadtaken place on that point during the last half century.
Liverpool had possessed, he would not say enjoyed, a sad and
unevitable preeminence respecting slavery, and the town-coun-
cil of that borough had, in past ages, taken the leadiu the efforts
which had been made in enforcing' and perpetuating the system;
and tee council-chamber of that great and influential town had
made many efforts with that object in view. But he rejoiced
that they lived to see a change of circumstances. Times are
now altered in that respect must gloriously and satisfactorily,
and no candid man could reflect on the change which had taken
place without being grateful, and being constrained to acknow-
ledge that we owe much to the progress of au enlightened liber-
alism, and the genuine influence of Christian principle and
Christian knowledge, a consequence of which was that the town-
council of that great community was convened, not for the
purpose of upholding oppression, but for the mole benevolent
and suitabie purpose of taking into consideration and he trusted
of adopting a measure the object of which was the justice of
proclaiming universal freedom to every subject of Victoria's
crewn, of every colour and of every clime—unconditional and
perfect freedom. ( Hear, hear.) They were aware that such
was not the case at that moment. An act had passed the im-
perial parliament in the summer of 1833, having for its object
the abolition of slavery in the colonies and the dependencies
of the British crown. That act presented one of the most
splendid itnoehs 01 Christian philanthropy and genuine bene-
yo,ence which had been recorded in- the history of mankind.
They saw there a great people under the conscientious influ
ence of the improper course which had been pursued, coining
forward voluntarily, under the influence of those Christian
principles, and consenting to the payment of an enormous sum
of money—of twenty millions sterling, in order to the removal
of the great evil of slavery. It was a noble attempt, which re-
flected the highest honour on them as a nation ; but there were
parts of that act that could not be spoken of in the same terms
—he alluded to that which enacted the apprenticeship system,
as it was called, which was of a different character. It might
have been expected, that after so large a sacrifice had been
made, that effectual means would have been taken, in the very
enactment itself to secure the attainment of the object. Such,
unfortunately, bad not been the case; a different course had
.been followed. Under the guidance of a mistaken philosophy,
it had been assumed, that the negro was unfitted for the enjoy-
ment of freedom—that so great a transition would not be at-
tended with safety—that himself would not be benefited, and
that our colonies would be endangered by the change ; and,
therefore, it had been deemed proper that there should be an
in termermediate, a purgatorial process, through which the negro
should pass, that the crimes engendered by slavery might be
purged, and the slave fitted foet he enjoyment of entire freedom.
Such were the main provisions of that act, which, even after
the compensation had been paid to the planters, continued the
negroes in thraldom in our colonies, under the denomination of
apprentices,—such, he said, were the provisions of that act ;
and it was melancholy to reflect that the brightest and the dark-
est features were there mingled together. They saw in it
Christian principles which reflected the highest honour on man,
and the apprenticeship system a vile substitution of expediency
for the acting out of fair and voluntary principles, by which the
negro was mortgaged at the disposal of another for a long period
of time, to the indelible disgrace of tire nation and of the age.
He was quite aware that many persons were disposed to view
that act of parliament in the light of a contract or compact be-
tween the planter and the government of this country, and they
were disposed to contend, that if the conditions of the contract
have been fairly and fully complied with by both parties, it
would be not only improper, but absolutely unjust to interfere
in any mariner with the bargain. (Hear.) Now, whether those
conditions had been fully and fairly complied with by both
parties, he would endeavour to show before be sat down, but,
waving that for the present, he altogether objected and demur.-
red to the principle, that any contract had taken place. Ile
contended that the planter was not to be viewed as an indepen-
dent power in a condition to enter into a compact with the im-
perial parliament, but was himself a subject of the government,
liable to render obedience to the laws, and not to stipulate the
conditions on which that obedience should be rendered. (Hear.)
Beyond -that, be contended, neither the legislature nor the
planter had any just or equitable power to order and make, as
the subject matter of that contract, a bargain to deprive the
negro of the use of his own body and his own mind, and the
title, the inalienable title of the negro to his personal freedom—
for that it was that which was mortgaged and bargained away by
that so called contract, which placed at disposal of the planter
one part of this population fur four or six years; and he con-
tended, no power existed on- earth, nor ever did exist, by which
the inalienable right of any man to the use of his own body and
mind could be taken away and placed at the disposal of another.
The whole compact therefore was founded on fraud and injustice,
and ought. never to have taken place He was addressing an
assemblage, all of whom, he trusted, without exception, how-
ever much they might differ in their views, and wood all agree
with him in considering interpretations of scriptural doctrines,
th e Bible as the grand source and fountain of moral truth—
(hear)—and they inferred from it those principles ant precepts
by which they were bound to guide their euuduct. He would,
therefore, make no apology for quoting from the sacred Bible.
In the book of Psalms there was language peculiarly appro-
priate to that subject. The psalmist in addressing the supreme
I;„ing, says, " shall the throne of iniquity have falsehood to
themselves, which promote mischief by a law ?" and if ever
there was an instance of mischief framed by the laws, it was
the enactment of the apprenticeship system. For what was
that system but the doling out by line; and measure, and rule,
the precise quantity of injustice, oppression, and cruelty which
one tinnier: being should be permitted and authorised to inflict
on another. ( Hear, hear.) What was it but asserting by the
provisions of legal enactment, the extent to which nature
should he infringed, the extent to which unrequited labour,
and toil should be exacted, the extent to which the rights, and
privileges of all men should be trampled on ; and that where
individuals were charged with no crime, and were as fully en-
titled to the enjoyment of their own priviliges as any other
human beings on the face of the earth. lie contended that the
whole of that enactment, so far as the apprenticeship system
was cuncerned, was founded in fraud and injustice. The party
who gave the negro river to the master, and the planter who
received him were neither entitled to receive nor to make the
gift. It was an instance of power trampling on weakness, and
lie who looked down from his sanctuary had solemnly declared,
that the govei imient which is guilty of making such enactments
is " a throne of iniquity." Let them never shrink for a mo-
ment from carrying out their principles to their full, and fair,
mid legitimate results. What was the helpless negro who laid
at their feet, concerning whom they claimed tho right to legis-

late without the slip hest limitation to their wishes—hinnan be-
ings of the sine circler with themselves, occupyiug the sante
rank in the creation of God—the offspring and Merge of their
Ai inigut y pa reut (hear) possessing the seine constitutiou and
flame of burly—the same talents and faculties,—tuinds of the
saute responsibility., the saute immortality. Whatever belongs
of right to luau belongs to him, fur he is a man (hear), and to
deprive elm of any of his natural rights is as great au act of
injustice, oppression aid tyranny, as to despoil in the same way
a peer of the realm, in- a prince of the blood. The uegro stool
in the relation of natural rights on the broad platform of their
common humanity, where conventional distinctions had no
place between the king on his throne, and the meanest subject
to the land. lie well knew that the twelfth clause of the
emancipation bill enacted from and after the Ist of August,
1631, with the exception!of certain disabilities previously euacted,
the negro should be " to all intents and purposes free, and ex-
empt from all manner of slavery." But such an enactment was
perfectly nugatory, and stultified itself, for the first eleven
clauses of the act went to establish a system that took away the
substratum of the uegro's rights on which all the others rested.
It weut to establish a system which imposed upon him what was
inconsistent with freedom, and made hint a serf attached to the
soil, bound to labour for one individual and no other, and placed
hint in dependence on that individual fur his daily support;
and under such circumstances could anything in the na-
ture of liberty exist ? That 12th section was bitter mockery of
the uegro, adding insult and derision to the injury previously
inflicted upon !inn ; and keeping him, notwithstanding Unit
enactment and the enormous compensation that had been
paid, to all intents and purposes, a slave. (Hear, hear, hear.)
He had spoken of natural rights, if there was anything that
could be called a natural right, common to every human being
—arising out of his constitution as a human being,—it was the
power he ought to possess of carrying his own labour to the best
market, to employ himself on whatever avocation he pleased,
to work for whatever master he chose, and to stipulate the terms
on which his labour should be given, to move about from place
to place iu search of employ ruent fir' his own advantage.
negro possessed all these rights—inalienable be contended they
were, and not to be taken away without injustice—and if th we
were taken away he could have no other, fur they laid at the
foundation of every other, and therefore the apprenticeship.
system left the negro in a condition of perfect slavery to all
intents and purposes. Give him the power even in this country
to prohibit a Ludy of people from working for any oue but fur
himself, or on any estate but his own, and to regulate by law
the precise quantum of compensation they were to receive, and
he should find it no difficult matter, amidst the light and know-
ledge of the British nation to play the tyrant, and snake them
feel that they were slaves. And if that was the case in England,
as he contended it was, how much more so would it be in a
distant colony where the tide of public opinion was all one way
—where the master was everything and the slave nothing—
where the making and administration of the law was in the
hands of one party and the making of the law also—where the
wealth of the community was in the hands of oue set of indivi-
duals whose interest it was to trample on the rights of the other?
(Hear, hear.) He had stated that opinion boldly and frankly,
because he considered it right to go to the foundation and es-
sence of the question, and he could not do justice to his own
convictions—his own deliberate convictions on that subject—
, unless he had done so. He felt it due to himself and his own
consistency to state the light in which he viewed the apprentice-
ship system, which he had ever regarded, and should ever regard,
with unqualified abhorence. But it was not on the ground on
which some gentlemen might be disposed to regard it as an
abstract and theoretical view of the subject; it was not on that
ground that he intended to found the appeal he made to that
council to petition the legislature on the subject; unhappily the
strength of his argument rested on other grounds so broad that
he could well afford to throw that out of the question. Hie re-
marks had gone to prove that such a system ought never to
have existed at all; but it did exist; it had been in operation
three years and a half. It had been tried and the question was,
had it answered its object, and the expectations of the legislature
that adopted it? On this issue he was disposed and prepared to
place the appeal he made to the council to petition the legisla-
ture; and he was prepared to show that this country had ful-
filled its contractsby the payment of the twenty milli es as the
full compensation for the slave—fur slave he was, though under
the name of an apprentice—while the slave for the present
hour had patiently toiled fur his master, and performed his part
of the contract, that the planter had flagrantly and systemati-
cally violated that contract, and ou that ground alone they
were now entitled to ask the legislature for immediate manu-
mission, and to set the qu-stion at rest. (Hear.) Let them
look for a moment at the spirit and intention of the emancipa-
tion act, and it would not be disputed for a umnaeut that its
intention was remedial, that its grand object was to improve
the condition of, the slave—to relieve him from his many mis-
eries and sufferings, and raise him iu society, until he became
a free man. That enactment they were bound to construe on
the supposition that it was remedial. Where any doubt existed
they must judge from the spirit and design of the originators of
the act itself. Now, it was provided in the 12th section of the
original enactment that, after the Ist of August 1831, subject
only to the obligation of a temporary apprenticeship, the British
slave, from the perioA of that act coming into operation, should
become and be free and discharged of and from all manner of
slavery, and absolutely and for ever be manumitted; and that
from the same period slavery should be for ever abolished and
declared unlawful throughout the British dominions, The 17th
clause enacted the necessary rules for the apprenticeship, but
%illicit were iu no case to be repugnant to the spirit of the Im-
perial act or any part thereof; otherwise these rules were de-
clared to be absolutely null and void. The design of the pro-
jectors of the enactment might be gathered from a speech
delivered by Mr. (now Lord) Stanley, who had introduced that
act to the House of Communs. He had a short extract from
that speech, which he would take the liberty to read :
" I propose, then (said Lord Stanley), that every slave, on
the passim of this act, shall forthwith have the power of claim-
ing to be put in a situation in which he shall enjoy all the
privileges of a free man—in which he shall feel no taint of his
servile condition—in which he shall be freed from the atrocious
system of irresponsible corporal punishmeut—in which he shall
have the full enjoyment of his domestic ties—in which he shall
not be compelled to see those that are Dearest and dearest to
hint insulted by punishment or liable to degradation—in which
his evidence shall not be disputable in a court of justice—in
which his right to property ot every description shall be as
undisputed as every other class of the king's subjects—in which
he shall enjoy every right and every privilege of freeman,
subject to this restriction. and this restriction only, that he shall,
for a certain trine, remain under contract to labour industriously
in the service of his present owner, but his then employer."
Now such was the spirit of the act, and such was the declaration
made concerning it by that distinguished nobleman who brought
it in. Inquire then whether it had been acted upon by the
planter, and was the condition of the slave at the present mo-
ment, such as they were entitled to expect it to be. There were
many points that might be adverted to, and he should feel it
his duty to trespass on the indulgence of the council in advert-
ing to several of them; it was necessary that he should do so,
but he would be as brief as possible. I! irst, as to the labour
exacted from the slave under the apprenticeship system. The
law provided that an enactment should be passed by the colon-
ial legislature for the express purpose of carrying into effect
the original intention of the imperial parliament, and that very
strict regulations should be adopted directing the precise amount
and quantity of work and sustenance so as to secure the advan-
taees which it was the intention of the imperial parliament to
confer on the slave: but he believed that he was correct in
saying
,• s that up to the present hour, there did not exist in the
colonies any enactment that came up to the requirements and
spirit or the imperial act, and that the negro apprentice remained
entirely under the caprice, the will, and wish of his maser, and
dependent on him under all circumstances attending his labour.
It was -provided that praedial slaves should be employed in home-
fed colonies, where a certain portion of land was allotted to
them, and that the slave should,work 40i hours a-week. In the
foreign-fed colonies, where the provision is imported and dis-
tributed, the hours Of labour are 45, but no provision was made
in the imperial act to fix the precise times those 45 hours'
labour should be exacted, and at the present moment they were
at the mercy of their masters to exact the whole of the 45
hours witherla intermission ; and the only check on this tyranny,
when fully carried out, was the power of the special magistrate
to inflict a trifling fine on the master for this cruelty, which was
often exercised, which did not go into the pocket of the slave. '
Let them advert for one moment to Jamaica, where a sharp
contest had been carried on as to the way the 45 hours should be
divided—whether into the Bor the 9 hours' system. According
to the nine hours' system, the negro worked nine hours a-day
the four first days of the week, and four and a half hours on the
Friday, anti by that arrangement he had the half of Friday for
the cultivation of his ground for RIS own support. Now they
had the statement of the Marquis of Sligo that the nine hours'
system was advantageous to the master as the eight hours; yet
many of them, from mere caprice or love of annoyance, insisted
on the men working eight hours a-dai the first four days of the
week and eight and a half on the 14riday, thus depriving the
negro of the opportunity of labouring, for his own subsistence,
and that, the Marquis ot Sligo said, the masters did merely for
the sake of annoyance. (Hear, hear.) And in one district
of Jamaica, particularly in St. Thomas-in-the-Vale, this an-
noyance was carried to such an extent that a great portion of
the population was in a state of starvation, and so reduced to a
state of weakness, that they were incapable of the labour re-
quired of them. Of that they had the undoubted evidence of
persons who had witnessed what they related, and could bear
testimony to its truth. He would not dwell longer on this sub-
ject of employment but pass on to the subject of food. Food
was to be provided the apprentices, or land, in home•fed colon-
ies, but up to the present time there was no law whatever to
determine the quantity of laud to be given to the slave for the
support of himself and family; there was no law to regulate the
distance it should be from the plantation on which he was em-
ployed; there was no law to give him sufficient time for the
cultivation of his ground, and in many instances for want of
food they were in a state of starvation. And in cOlonies-where
they were foreign-fed, by provisions imported from other places,
the condition of the slave was not at all better; and it was a
fact—he would not go into detail, as the gentlemen around him
might ascertain them fur themselves—that the allowance by law
did not amount to one-half the quantity allowed them while in
a state of slavery—not one-half the quantity of farnacious food,
most important of all to the slave, which was allowed to them
by law when in slavery. There were one or two points incidental
and apparent, to show the animus of the planters towards the
negroes to which he would advert. There were certain sylvan-
, tastes and iudulgencies, as they were called and allowed under
I the former system, which were not forced by law, but customary
lindulgences constantly afforded the gangs in the fields, but not
included in the letter of the law, and therefore it was now con-
' tended that they could not be enforced as the word in the act
was maintenance, and not indulgence. It was the custom, when
I in slavery, and working under a tropical sun, to employ some
that ware not able to perform other labour, as water carriers,
to carry water to quench the thirst of the slave. But as this
indiegence was not secured by the law, it was withdrawn. The
water carriers were not permitted to attend gangs in the fields,
and in consequence it frequently happened that the slave, la.
bourine under the heat of a vertical sun, left his labour fora short
time to procure water to quench his thirst, and in many instanc-
es, when lie has done so, he has been actually brought before
the special justice on a charge of absence from, and negligence
of work, and he was punished for getting water to quench his
thirst, as though it were a crime committed against the laws,
Another indulgence was, that for a gang, a person was em-
ployed to cook their food, so that when the time came for them
to be relieved from labour for the dinner hour, they found their
food prepared for them, and it became a season of rest and real
refreshment, but that allowance was withdrawn, and the food
was not cooked for them—they had to cook it for themselves iu
the interval of labour, and therefore the interval of rest had
ceased to be an interval of rest at all. (Hear. hear.) Ile men.
tinned that, though a trifling thing, to show the animus which
guided the masters iu the administration of the law. On the
subject of punishment, he must remark, there was decisive evi-
dence that the condition of the negio was not one whit better—
perhaps rather worse than when a slave—and the amount of
punishment was quite as arbitrary, and quite equal to what it
was before. Ile held in kis haud a short statement drawn from
a tabular view, of the amount of punishment inflicted its differ-
ent colonies fur is certain period of time deducted from official
returns, evidence which could not be contradicted. In the
table they had the view of the punishments inflicted in Jamaica,
Barhadues, British Guiana, Grenada, and St. Luria, and he
futind that in the firs! 22 mouths—from the let of Angus', 1831,
to the 31st of May, 1836—the total 1 unishtnents were 99,440, of
which 17,050 were by flogging, on whom the tuts! amount of
Dishes inflicted was 353,601, and 82.390 punished by imprison-
ment, bard labour iu penal gangs, the tread-mill, solitary con-

JANUARY
,26, 1

finenient, confinement in dark cells, fines, &c. A great portii n
of these imuisitinents were inflicted at the will of the special
magistrates, without any p•iwer of appeal from his decision on
the part of the-appreutices; and many of the offences were of
the nature (or losoieuce, :15 it was edited;; almost anything might
be called insolence, tor which they suffered the infliction of 20
lashes ; and absence from work to get a drop of water to quench
their thirst, was also punished as a crime. They were aware
that by the imperial act, one clause specially forbade the flog-
ging of women, that that horrible barbarity should for eve,
cease under ally circumstances: it was a distinct provision of
the emancipation act that women should not be subject to the
lash. Had that been acted upon ? No, there was decisive
evidence that the flogging continued in Jamaica to the present
hour. An.l how was that brought about? Why, by a legal
quibble. The apprenticeship system enabled the special justice
to send poor women to a prison, and to the tread-mill, and there
the apprenticeship law left them, and they came under the opei-
atiou of the colonial law of prison discipline, where part of the
punishment was the infliction of the lash, so that the flogging
of women was accomplished. It reminded him of a practice in
one of the conaruonwealths of Europe some centuries ago, of
burning heretics. There was no vestige in the ecclesiastical
law which condemned a man to be punished. The ecclesiasti-
cal law did not condemn them to be burned; oh no; but it
banded them over to the civil power, after convicting them of
heresy, and the civil power burned them. So it was in Jamaica.
The apprenticeship law did not punish women, but it handed
them over to the prison, there they were scourged without
met cy. He was not going to draw on their feelings, but there
was one circumstance which occured in prison discipline in the
Island of Jamaica, which he must allude to. A miserable female
was put on to the tread-mill in an advanced state of pregnancy,
and there silo was Ragged as they all were. The driver stood
over them and "touched them up,;' as it was technically called.
After the usual period of the revolution of the will, ten minutes,
she descended, and on the floor of the prison she gave
birth to a dead child. The manager of the treadmill did not
at first observe what had happened, and began to remonstrate
at the people in his usual violent way, and to drive them out of
the place. And it was a fact, that that miserable being was
left to take away her dead child, after remonstrating with the
keeper. " I cannot leave my picaninny on the the" She
took it away with her own hands, and With a hue dug a grave
for it. After that, he need hardly tell them that for weeks she
remained in the utmost danger. So the law remained in the
colony precisely in the same situation as it was before. And,
perhaps, while he was then addressing them, many a miserable
female in that that distant settlemen twas dancing the treadmill,
and writhing under the lash of some monster in human form,
and the piercing cries she uttered were ascending to heaven; and,
if they; without remonstrance, suffered this horrible system to
go on, the God of justice might well say, " it is the voice of
thyfellow-creature's blood that crieth uutu us from the ground."
(Hear.) There were various other topics equally illustrative
of the great facts he was endeavouring to prove, that the spirit
of the abolition act had not been acted on in the colonies ; but
he would net trespass further. Suffice it to say, that the con-
dition of children, of women in slavery, the condition of aged
persons, who were past labour, was universally considered to be
worse under the apprenticeship system, than it was under the
system of slavery. If children were born before the operation
of the emancipation act in August, 18.31, the master had no in-
terest in them, and became indifferent to their preservation,
and it was a well known fact, that if a pour woman was obliged
to attend her sick, and dying child, she was compelled to make
up for her absence by labouring for her master, in her own time.
The number of infants that perished through such a system,
from want of care and nourshinent, would be unknown, until
the awful day when all secrets should be disclosed. Enough
had been said, bethought, to show that the position from which
be set out in his address, that the planter bad not fulfilled the
conditions which were required of him in the enactment of the
emancipation laws. The appretentice was at that moment in
no better condition than the slave. His condition had not been
in the slightest degree improved. He contended that by law
the whole system had failed, and therefore, they were bound to
demand of the legislature an immediate interference to eman-
cipate the slave from his condition. And this was the object
he had in view in addressing them on that occasion. He en-
treated the council to present petitions to both houses of Par-
liament, imploring the legislature to put an end to the system
that now existed to the colonies. He was deeply sensible of
the importance of fixing this great principle on the minds of
the council, that there was no condition of relief for the slave
but bestowing on him entire freedom. If any other method
were resorted to, it would certainly fail. He knew many gen-
tlemen who were of opinion that the point having been settled
by the abolition law, and the time of its expiration being only
two years and a half, it might be allowed to go on ; or that the
law was satisfactory, and that its failure must be considered, not
from any inherent vice in the system, but front a want of a pro-
per administration of the law, and the course was to implore the
government for a proper administration of the law. He was
prepared to meet that objection. He thought it a plausible
one, but a very unsound one. He was prepared to hold that
the law was to give protection and freedom. It was a remark
made by Mr. Burke, when speaking of the subject, that " all
legislation in the regaid to the condition of the colonies was
utterly nugatory, because it wanted the executive principle—
the existence of the means of the executive to catty it into
effect." He apprehended that that 'mark was precisely true
just now, as much so as it was when made. In order to the
making of any law effective which had for its object the pro-
tecting of one class of society from another, two things were
essential. The first was, that there should be in the law itself
such a machinery set up as was calculated to secure its being
carried into effect as intended ; that it should have such con-
ditions in the shape of penalty as would insure obedience to it;
and the other thing essential was, that it should be adapted
to the state of society for which it was intended, that is that
there should exist in society some class of persons who were
possessed of both the ability and will to see the law carried into
effect. In the colonies the apprentices were in abject slavery,
in ignorance the most deplorable, and in a state of want of
means of information so complete, that it was wholly( impassible
that they should know what the law was capable of altering,
or to unite with his fellows to obtain the redress of grievances
by law. Harassed and oppressed if be complained, his com-
plaint might be. deemed frivolous and recoil on himself in
punishment, the negro sank down in desponding submission,
and the planter had no inclination to carry the law into effect ;
he had the power but not the will. The law was trade against
himself; it was against his own ins!-practices that the law was
directed, and it was against reason to suppose that a man could
be at one and the same time determined to enforce and to break
the law. And this had been acknowledged by this country
when they sent out special justices. In the very appointment
of these special justices government declared that they did not ,
think the resident gentry and magistrates of our colonies were
worthy to be trusted with the administration of the law. He
need not tell them that that special scheme of justices had en-
tirely failed. It was not to be denied that the vast majority of
those sent out as special justices had drank in the spirit of
slavery, and had become the willing instruments of oppression
to the negro though sent out to prevent it; and the very few
individuals who had manfully discharged their duty, had been
persecuted by every means and driven away. The adoption of
special justices had therefore entirely failed, and the conclusion
was, that the relief of the apprentices by any other means than
perfect freedom was a matter perfectly impossible. He con-
tended that from the circumstances of the case, when the law
deprived the man of the power of defending himself, it deprived
him of the power of affording protection, The law recoiled on
itself, and left the helpless apprentice under the unmitigated
pressure. The immediate abolition of this apprenticeship sys-
tem was, therefore, the only effectual course, and, more than
that, it was the only safe course, and be stood firmly on the
ground of evidence when he made that assertion. The cuckoo
cry of the pro-slavery party, in all periods, had just been this,
"insubordination and revolt would necessarily result in the
colonies if they met this question, therefore be quiet, say
nothing about it." If you stir up the negroes to regard their
rights and privileges, the result will follow that they will rise,
and the whites will be put down of course. There was some-
thing very anomalous in the fact, that the white should
be continually living from age to age under the influence
of this sort of creed. Was it consistent with the experience
of mankind generally, that persons blessed with wealth
enough to emp:oy labourers, lived in continual dread from
the labourers they employed, if they used them with any
degree of justice tied fairness ? No; bad as human nature was,
and depraved as it was, this was contrary to ordinary experi-
ence. Any man who had capital to employ, who could give
labour to the poor, if he acted towards them with fairness, could
count on their protection, and might live amongst them with
saftety to the end of his days. But such had not been the ease
in the West Indies. How did they account for this constant
oppression on the mind of the planters? He asked no other
proof that the treatment of the negro had be en harsh and cruel
in the highest degree; and he doubted not but, in the solemn
stillness of midnight, the time for sober, serious thought and
reflection, that many a planter and many an attorney, and many
an overseer in those distant colonies, had turned pale at such
thoughts as these, " We have been harsh and cruel task-masters
to these our brethren; we have exacted an enormous amount
of toil, and recompensed it with a miserable pittance, barely
sufficient to support life. To this we have added cruelty; we
have lashed their bodies; do they not bear marks on their per-
sons of our barbarity, injustice and cruelty? We have added
insult; have we not spoken of,them as of inferior beings to our-
selves, and in the light of beasts of the field? This muss, in the
very nature of things, have produced on their minds resentment
and hostility; and if their spirits are broken by this cunsluct,,
and now bowed down to the ground, the very first emotion that
will rise in their minds, when free, will be hostility and revenge.
Revenge is the watchword which will resound from hill to hill,
and the rivers will flow with blood." (Hear.) " Conscience
does make cowards of us all." But though these fears did ex-
ist, and though they were the natural result of this state of so.
ciety, he verily believed that these fears were groundless; he
was persuaded they were utterly groundless. He would not
conceal that there existed in the colonies grounds of fear. He'
warned' them not to be too sanguine for the permanent peace of
that part of the empire. He would warn them not to trespass,
too far on the feelings of outraged and oppressed humanity Ls
the classification of slaves, which had taken place into prtedial
and non-prandial, the prandial labourers having, an apprentice-
ship of six years to undergo, and the nun-prandial four years,
there was abundant evidence to show that gross frauds were
practised on the negro; that a very large portion of the non-
ptmdial slaves in British Guiana had been classed amongst
the prmedials. Large numbers of apprentices were anticipating
that their deliverance was at hand in the month of August, 183E3;
and expected to be set at liberty, and would find their mistake;
and would they attempt to persuade him, that this would be
submitted to? When they knew that this was done in direct
violation of the wish of the mother country, that man must
truly be a hold man indesd who could look at such things
without apprehension. It was the last drop which made the cup
overflew, and perhaps the last drop which might result in sting-
ing the negro into such a measure of resentment as might result
in turmoil. And if the flame of rebellion broke out into a few
states, how should they stay it? Would it not wreck the very
frame-work of society there. Now, the only way, he contended,
to prevent this danger, was to grant in August, 1838, complete
emancipation of the slave. Let them all become free; it would
be a ineasuie perfectly safe to the colonies and highly advanta-
geous to the planters themselves, inflicting no injustice through-
out the kingdom. Let the trumpet of the jubile sound through.
out the length and breadth of the land, and the negroes would
look on it as an act of grace, and would heal all the sorenesses
which existed, and lay the foundation for permanent peace in
the colony. This was the only safe course, and the only effec-
tual course. To carry out those views which he had already
stated, he entreated the council to present petitions to both
houses of parliament, praying them to bring the apprenticeship
to an end on the Ist of August, 1838. For this purpose he bad
prepared a petition, and put it into the bands of the Town-clerk,
who would do him the favour to read it, and he would sit down.
He consdered that measure to be one of justice to the planter
and of humanity to the apprentice, and one that Great Britain
demanded at their hands. He should rejoice if this council
were one of the first in the realm to step forward and demand
the abolition of the apprenticeship. In conclusion, they would
permit hitn to say that he had a settled conviction, anti under
that conviction he felt it his duty to conic forward on that occa-
sion, that until the measure prayed for in the petition was
granted, and had become the law of the land, nothing virtually
had been done to ameliorate the condition of the apprentice,
and to lift him up from the deep degradation, natural and moral,
in which slavery had involved hint; nothing had been done that
had the slightest tendency to communicate the substantial
blessings—to spiced abroad the imperishable Floriea of British
law and British religion in those glowing regions of the earth,

JANUARY 26 N:;8

Mr. Blackburn-sat down amidst loud, applause.
'rtie Tow N.-CLERK then read the following resolution and pe
itjr"Mr. Blackburn, ac follows:—
"That petitions be presented to both lionSes:of parliament,
praying For the abolition of, the apprenticeship system in ill the
British coletiles, that the members for the lioron4h be'reqnsted
hi present the smite to the Commons, that the Earl of•Deritylie
requested to pi esent the slime to the Lords, and that the follow-
ing be the petition:— •
" Sitoweth,—That your•petitiouers, in common with the coun-
try generally,.regarili;tl the abolition act of 1833 as designed by
the itnperialparnament to provide the means ornumediate re-liel
and progressive ituproveMent to the negroes in the British
colonies. • .
"'That your petitioners regret to find that the said act has
been proved; -by official and accumulated evidence,. to have lie-
Come, in the hands •of the administrators, an instrument of
cruelty and 'misrule ; and, that by colonial statutes some of the
worst features-of slavery, with great agaraeations, though under
a milder name, are still permitted toexist.
"':hat the apprenticed labourers 'are not allowed adequate
maintenance; that the privileges nominally conferred upon
them have not been duly enjoyed; that the it hip is still severely
used; that the flogging of women is still practised, in manifest
and flagrat&Vit'ilation of the spirit:of the abolition act, and the
recorded intention of its projeetors.
" That no sufficient protection has ever been afforded to the
faithful speciatnbegistrates, in the fair and conseientious admi- •
nistratiou of justice between the empleyer and the apprentice.
" That your petitioners are apprehensive thattio such altera-
tion or ameadment of • the said act 'Can be 'tirade as will obviate
the evils resulting from the enactments of colonial -assemblies,
or render it beneficial to the neve ;. and that any act which
does not canter upon hint entire emancipation will assurediy
furnish occasions of injustice and oppression.
"That as the slaveholders have received the sum of twenty
. millions sterling to repair any less which they might suffer from
the projected change, and as the conditions en. which the grant
was. made-have been systematically violated, in despite of the
imperial legislature and the repeated remonstrances of colonial
governors, your petitioners areasiititled to seek the immediate
liberation 'of the negroes front every species of thraldom.
"Yuur petitioners, therefore,earnestly implore your honorable
house to pass a law for the entire abolition of the apprenticeship
system, and the deliverance of the negroes in our colonies front
every vestige Of bondage On the Ist of August, 1833.
"And your petitioners Will ever pray," &c.
Mr. Councillor Junta Caaapa„ begged leave to second the
resolution. -Ile did so being full persuaded that every senti-
ment that:Mr. Blackburn had uttered could be substantiated oil
official documeuti; ' •
Mr. Councillor G.-H. La wessiest•rose to oppose the petition
on account Of its irregularity for discussion there, awl also be-
cause he was-interested in the ive:ifa.re of the colonies—not only
because he was connected with them, • but because he was
anxious for the prosperity of the begin, stud also because he
felt it incumbent on him to protest against discussions of that
nature in that council, for it did Seeni to him that if every indi-
vidual came forward with subjects of that kind, not appertain-
ing to the town, there would' be 'n6-end to theni. Discussions
on " vote by ballot," " extension` .fif,bußrage,", awl " anrusl
Parliaments," might be brought on, and that Council might be'
transferred into a' mere frothy, frivolous debating society. He
honoured the feelings of those who had introduced the subject
iu this town, and Amongst them numbered some of. his best
friends; but he did think they might turn their philanthropy
to better account in those places where slavery really existed in
all its horrible barbarity—to Cuba, to the .Brazils, and to the
United States,. and endeavour to present the traffic of slaves
rather than attempt to interfere with and upset the abelitiou
act and infringe ..a solemn compact with the nation. Surely
they were'not in earnest in expecting that any success would
attend their.agitatien of this question—an aoitation which even
Mr. Fowell Lluetou repudiated •and the Edinburgh Review dis-
countenanced,' though it did not condemn. was free to
confess that it might have the effect of showing the•colonial
legislature that the eyes of, this country were 'timid it—that
though it had done much in a state of great difficulty and ex-
citement more was eaperaed from is, and that equal and not iu-
- operative laws must prevail=that protection for all parties was
demanded front this country. Still, this adVantage, if it were
One, lie was -of opiniou, would be more than cottaterbalancedly
the spirit of and diseonteut• it might engender in the
minds of labourers towards their. employers. He knew the
abolition act had been of -benefit. to the planter, and of still
greaterbenefit to the slave and he believed without the apprentice-
ship syitern before freedom idleness would have taken the place
of induStry and perseverance, whichavere becoming more and
more apparent. He thought it too much to ask pat liament to
Interfere in the system which was. working satisfactorily to the
planter and beneficially to the neginee, on the .strength of the
representations of a few individuals. It was the opinion of many,
he did not give it as his own, that the negkies were better off
1?w-than they were likely to be when they were free in 1810.
He concluded with proposing the following resolution, as an
amendment :—" That this .co.uncil looks forward with satisfac-
:lou toentire- extinction of slavery in the Britisticolouies as de-
ermined by the emancipation act, and sees no reason to in-
terfere-now with its provisions.")
Mr. Alderman SCANSHANU seco-yed the amendment. He con-
tended that the negro would be benefited. by emancipation, yet
it would have the contrary effect if it came upon him too sud-
denly.' People did not immediately give freedom to their chil-
dren, but made apprentices of them. He thought it would sip.
Pear presumptuous iu the- Council,. to get up and tell • the
goveranteut that they were in error; that what they had decreed
should take place in 1840, the Town Council or Liverpool
wished to have done in 1833.• " If they went on, the effect of this
agitation would be to set master and negro in opposition. It
would be touch more wise to Booth than to irritate. The coal,
position which had been so much spoken of. was hut a poor
compensation in a pecuniary point of view, for he had known in-
dividuals who were impoverished by the change which had taken
Place:' It was said ttiat.the 20 millions had been given for
nothing, and that it bed also been given on certain conditions.
If so,' the blaMe rested on those who had taken su much money
out of the people's pockets- for-nothing..
Mr. Couueillor Cultic's: said that the-Council had not taken
up the subject, but it had been forced upon the general atteution
of then and of the country, and it was' impossible for 'any indi-
vidual to leek on without feeling intensely. He did nut know
however bow far the Council.,auelit to. go in a matter of this na--
• e
ture.• He drought" inquiry: ought to be made respecting the
frauds alleged to have been committed, andthat for the remain-
ing two years the law ought to be strictly enforced. If Mr.
I3lackburn could- modify-- his- resolution dowu tothis.pOint, he
"rid be happy to go
bad Alderman accordance with what
to after
h rne
t failed from Mr.-Currie. He wished Mr.. Lawrence so
his • dineut that it should urge the government to
enforce the fulfilineni.of the contract for tine next.two years.
hl! ;COuncillor G. 11. LAWRENCE and Mr. SH AND acquiesced
and
A! tired for the purpose of altering the aineudinent.
r. Councillor David Ho oGsoN:supported Mr. Blackburn's
resolution. lie contended that nothing had. heeashewn to prove
that the apprenticeship system Was any amelioration of the
''sves' conditiou and-at-all -fitted_ him for. perfect freedom, but
on the contrary that he would- be as unfitted or. more so at the
termination of his attprenticeship as if ernan.cip.ted at once. •
Mr. Councillor t. IL: La!whaNcu here returned .with his
altered amendment to the.following • •
at this council 400 ks forward with satisfaction to the en-
tire extinction of slavery iii the British colonies, as determined,
by. the emancipation act of 1833, and feels bound to call upori
the government to see that none of its provisions are in any way
violated."
Mr. Alderman BROWN was notsattsfied with the amendment.
Mr. Councillor 'PLATT supported the motion and cougratula-
ted the council on the altered tone of public feeling oil this
subject within the-last half century.
Mr. Alderman SthEL supported the motion. He thought
the amendment not improved by the alteration. He contended
that it was a subject very fitting ,for the council to debate on.
That council was to take into consideration all matters of local
importance and a question in which the payment of 20 millions
was a question fitting to be taken up by one of the greatest
commercial communities in the world. He contended in re-
ply to Mr. Shand that 20 millions was ample compensatiou.
£here were about 800,000 slaves including the aged and children
and 20 millions of money paid for these was equal to £25. for
each slave, robust, and infirm which he contended was a very
handsome equivalent. It was very goad advice to tell them to
go to Cuba, the Brazils and the United States; it was "go
where you like, only leave the aloue."
Mr. Councilor BOLTON supported the motion.
Mr. Councillor COGL AN rose in Support of the motion. He
said his remarks would have-this novelty attached to them,
compared with the speakers that had gone before him that they
would be brief. Mr. Ceglau then in exemplification of brevity
spoke for a quarter of an hour on the saute points as his pre-
decessors.
Mr. Alderman Eva Ns said when he gave a pledge of brevity
he would keep it better than his friend had done (a laugh).
lie thought if the.,CoUncil went to Parlianieut tor, frequeutiv,
and when the occasion did not appear to call for it, they might
injure their immediate interests. He should wish to see a
good amendment offered, otherwise he should vote for- Mr.
Blackburn's tiotion. They ought to look upon the twenty
millions of money paid and the time of the negroes as it bargain.
It seemed wrong to ask for -a remission of two years of tithe
from the planterswitheut offering compensation for it. If they
did not do so they would be inflicting innumerable private
wrongs. He thought if they were to urge a partial manumis-
sion, whenever the planters violated the laws, Parlianieut Would
meet their views.
Mr. Alderman Buowls proposed a. second amentment to the
follewing effect:
•` That petitions be presented to both houses of Parliament,
l
effectually
that such measures may be devised and adopted as
secure the protection relief, and benefit to the negro,
really intended by the apprenticeship plan of 18.33 • •
future violation. Or, that if itshall I • against
any
appear in Parliament that
such security against future violation cauuot be effected the,
that an act may be'pasSeefor •the tietermin,ation of the whole.
apprenticeship:`gystem; 'and • the •absoluW.a•bolitiort of slavery
upon the Ist of August,lB3B." •
Mr. Alderman LEaTHOM was sorry to 'hear /Ilr. Blackburn
make some of the statement he had done. He had oppor-
tunity of seeing the papers of some estates in. the West Indies, 4:
and could, therefore, speak to the facts .of their management.
Ile denied that the master had the power ur making the ap-
prentice work 45 consecutive hours without incurring the dis-
pleasure of the governor, and being fined by the law. As to the
food, the cookit, was made ready fur the labourers, as it always
had been, and tile returns gave the number of cooks employed.
As to the education, and religious instruction .of the appren-
tices,' he could only say that schools Were provided, and that
there was a chapel on the estate, of which he particularly spoke,'
where a friend of his had seen 1200 negroes regularly and de-
voutly assembled as iu any chapel in England. If Mr. Black-
burn was -aware of any isolatett cases of wrong, he should not
visit the while of the planters with their fault.
Mr. Councillor liarasnaN read an extract from Lord Sligo's
report, 'to prove that abuses against the law existed iu the
colonies.
Mr- Councillor BLACKBURN replied at considerable length,
when
Mr. Aldetnian EVANS tendered in the resolution he had
thought or moving. as a third ainendtnent to the following effect.
'That petitioits be adopted, concluding with a prayer, that
an act may be passed that will grant emaucipation forthwith in
every case in which the act of 1.833 shall be found to be violated
-such emancipation extending to all slaves upon the plauta-
dim ur ekewhere, the property of the offending platiter."
The MAYOR went to the division, when the following were
the results • •
Mr. G. H. Lawrence's amendment-7 for, 40. against.
Mr. Brown's,amondment-15 for, 34 agaiust.
Mr. Evans's amendment-15 for, 31 agaiust.
The original inotion-42 for, 7 against.
The original motion was carried. by a majority of 35.
-

The next 'question for discussion stood iu summons as fol.
love :
" The.by.-laWs made under the 99th section of the municipal
torporation act of 5 and 6 Wm. 4, c. 76, as they now stand, in
Consequence of the Liverpool amendment act of last session,
As hereby most of such by-laws are superceded; and the grope:
t 1 KO, therefore, amending and simplifying the local code."
They were referred to the Finance Committee, and the coon
.cil broke up at a / past three o'clock.

Ou the Arrival of th.. Dower mail-coach at the Elephant • and
Cast), on Sat', rda } morning,
.an outside passenger, a poor,mau,
was tVond it,LCU iu death.

ANDREW HALLIDAY ON THE WEST INDIA
QUESTION.
. .
To the Editor of the Dwmfries Gulkray.Courier., .
Stu,—Lhave read with simile attention, and ant salty to add,
with deep regret, he letters Which have appeared- in the
Courier, freer the pen of my old and most esteemed friend, Dr.
Duncan, of Rethweil, no "the; West India Apprenticeship
System." That. a Clergyman lof the Doctor's good sense,
Anil jedgritent, nil high cliareater, should lend the sanction
of his name to the circulation of reports, in every instance
grossly
.exaggerated, and, in many; utterly false, has surprised
rue not a little, Mot the emore' especially as the Rev. Doctor
appears t,' be perfectly ioneratitof the true bearing of the ques-
tion on. which he ,has written. It may be possible that in Ja-
maica some. irregularities have taken place,-and sonic cruelties
have been practiced. but I can assure you, sir, that, even in
that colony, they could neither be so frequent or so continued,
unless, indeed, all the authorities were asleep, and the law
totally disregarded. That this,: however, is not altogether the
case, we have proof in a trial that. lately took place in the
island, Where ail apprenticed labourer recovered thirty pounds
damages against the keeper of a house of correction for'putting
him to hard lahoui when the sentence of the magistrate was
simply ineprisonment. I have no reason to speak well of West
India planters. They persecutedane with a rancour that perhaps
neser was equalled, because they supposed that I was one of
their enemies—my character having• preceded me as a bumble
philantropist, and my zeal, like Dr. Duncan's having out-run
discretion. A most horrid instance of cruelty and barbarity
was detailed to me in a manlier most eh cunistantial, by a cler-
gYaran of great worth, and long experience too, in the colonies.
He had the details from the staring individual in a public
prison, and they were in a great measure confirmed by the
keeper of the prison. The object of their being mentioned to
me, was to get an investigation ordered from the colonial office
(with. which it was known 1 corresponded), as it was said the
local authorities wished to screen the guilty planter, and had
refused to hear the slave's complaint. Now, sir, through my
representation, an inquiry was ordered—the whole matters fully
and fairly investigated—and then it turned inn to be an artfully
contrived tissue of falsehoods, founded upon a very trifling
incident, or rather accident, that might have happened in even
the best ree,Cated European fatuity, as well as between a \Vest
Indian planter and his slave. - lf, then, a man who had expe-
rience—who had resided fur years in te. colonies, • could be so
easily imposed ueon, we may well suppose that a wandering
philanthropist like Mr. Stung-e
—who went out on purpose to
collect such tales, would find no lack of informets: I never
tract with more shrewdness, cunning, ave. and sly wit among
any race of men, than I found among the negro population of
the West Indies. They will compretteod in a moment voor
object or intention in entering' into conversation with them—
more especially if a stranger in the-cOlony—and they are sel-
dein at a loSs in framing a romance to suit the taste of the in-
quirer, 0r..t0 gratify._ him with such informatien'as they see he
is in quest of. But I ate wandering from the subject, which is-
the principal cause of my addiesSing you—theqeestion of abol-
ishing " the Apprenticeship system. • And now, sir,- I assert,
without the tear Of ' contradiction from practical men, and I
can prove front the most ample; satisfactory; and authenticated..
documents, than whatever niiv'-'have taken place in Jarnaica,
the system :has worked, welo;e';:is"•.wo.rking ivell—and that to.
alter or interfere ,with- the'eitsllng arraneethents would he
far more 'ruinous to the Ce.,:isolioliulation than.to.their rues-
tersthe planters:• The apprenticed labourer is now as free as
any labourer in
.England, or. any 'farm.. servant in Scotland.
His interests are more strietly.c:ired for, and his comforts more
firmly secured, than ate those. the labouring population in
Britain. Every bias of the law is in favour of the negro and
against his employer, so that. ifcruelties are practised, or injus-
tice done him, the whole pewee-of, the court is at his command;
and in the colonies (at least those which I have visited) neither
power, wealth, nor rank, could save a guilty master from that
punishment which the laW' inflicted. But; as I have already
said and shown, that I have:little reason to praise West India
planters, I must, in justice to that greatly misrepresented and
calumniated .class of men, state; and I do it with pleasure, that
there have been few •instances indeed, th the inward and lee-
ward colonies,. where any diSposition was shown either to con-
travene the law or ill-treat the
,negro. It is impossible to do so
with impunity. In 1.4 e colonies, where the preprictots are; for
the most part, resident, the utmost harmony and good order
prevails among all classes of the community. W-henever there
was anything like harshness in the commencement of the sys-
tem. it was only when the estates were under the management
of hirelings; and I imagine the disorders that have taken pmce
in Jamaica may be traced, to. the same cause; and from these
hirelings, whether attorneys,'Managers, or overseers, not being
so strictly looked after as they have been in the lesser colonies.
It requires some. person more acquainted with human nature
than. anhen. Earl or a uoble Marquis to govern properly a
West- India colony. Look at the good order, industry, and
happiness which such men as Sir James Carmichael Smyth can
procure for a whole community, by merely -cat rying into effect
the wholesome laws which have been passed for their govern,
auce. Sir Lionel Smith has neither the temper nor the talents
of the governor of .British Guiana; but still I ant certain, that
since he assumed the cominand in Jamaica, the abuses upon
which Dr. Duncan basso largely Commented, never could have
taken place. But ought a whole nation to be ruined and laid
desolate because there are a few individuals who may have com-
mitted robbery or murder to be found within,the boundaries?
Are our West India possessions to be • lost' and destroyed be-
cause in Jamaica there are one or two cruel managers'? God
forbid! As well_might you turn ten thousand children of seven
years of age into the. streets of London, and tell them to pro-
vide for and manage their own concerns, and expect that they
would be able to de so, as suppose for a•monnent, that the great
mass of the negro population of our West India colonies could
exist or prosper if released frinn the superintendence of their
white masters and employers. Except in some of our oldest
colonies, such as Barfiadoes and Antigua, the cegto is a perfect
child in intellect, and perfectly. .without care or consideration
for the future. The present system ought rather to be prolonged
than shortened, if we have any, the least regard for the temporal
or eternal welfare Of our sable brethren. The character of the
people has changed enure in the last three years than even the
most sanguine could have anticipated=the value of moral con-
duct begins to 7.beonderstood—religious knowledge is eagerly
,sought after—the 'churches and . chapels are crowded; and
schools cannot.be,btrilt .fast enough—every day the people ate
becoming more orderly and indlistrions, and instead of this
country being a laser by the sum, laige as it .was, that they
paid for thechainS that toting the slave, it.w ill, in a short time,
(unless the devil,...in,the shape of some radical -Ex-Chancellor,
unhinge the whole fiame,) be returned a thousand-fold. Al-
ready have our exports to the colonies been more than doubled,
while the increve 91 their staple products exceeds •by a third
the-Most prochictlve seasons orslave labour. Let all such good
meu as my Rev.'Vrieud of Ruthwell join in petitioning the go-
vernment to send out only such men to the West Indies as are
fit to be Governor's and, magistrates—men who will carry into
effect theregulalforts of the legislature, and act uprightly.' Age
and'infirmitieS are not compatible with such important trusts;
political interest' nor private friendship ought to, guide the mi-
nister in these critical times. • If a colony is well governed
under the existing laws, there • cats be neither oppreSsors nor
oppressed. The utmost extent that a labourer can be corn-
Veiled to work is'only 45 hours in the seven days. If he work
hours daily, -he is employed_ for six days; but if he works for
9 hours daily, which was the term of. slave labour latterly, he
'has fulfilled his duty to his master in free days, and has the
sixth to himselK• This,' now, is .generally the arrangement, and
it the sixth day is !giVen to his employer, he has regular wages.
.
In fact, sir,l never witnessed more contentment or real hap-
pines than amongst.the labouring classes, in our windward and
even our leeward velimies; and why disturb their tranquillity?
All the non-prMiliaLwill :he free •in six or seven months—the
prcedial in two years, from August -next. This, now, is perfectly
understood by all,aud contentedly acquiesced in; 1 never heard
the least impatience expressed 'in any quarter. But there are
many men, alas! who think they know better what is good for
us than we do ourselves; and such, I fear, are the would-be
philanthropists who have begun- to agitate the question of the
West India apprenticeship system. I enclose a few rental ks
extracted from a Demerara paper, and' I can from personal
knowledge corroborate every sentence, of what the editor has.
stated. I pray you find a place for this extract in your widely-
circulated journal,' and you will oblige, sir; yours very .truly,
ANDREW HALLIDAY.

The following are the remarks of the editor of the British
Guiana Gazette on the meetings lately held in England :
" In zeal for the cause of human rights, and for the untram-
melled mental and bodily freedom of the whole human race,
we (if we be acquainted at all with our own hearts) would yield
to no contender for the entire abolition of slavery on the face'of
the globe. Cruelty and injustice could not be more detested
by any Sturge, Palmer, or' Lloyd, iu England, Ireland, or
Scotland, nor by any lady whose name appeared iu the Glasgow
petition to the Queen, than they are by ourselves; but if the
principal object of these philanthropists (fur such we really be-
lieve them to be) be :the moral amelioration of the sable popu-
lation of the West Indies, we doubt much whether it would not
be retarded rather than, advanced by the immediate and total
annihilation of the apprenticeship.
" The narrations of the speakers at the several meetings
which have been lately held at home are well calculated to rouse
the sympathies of a humane wind, and to lead to resolutions of
a rash and hasty character in kindly bosoms, which, if the sub-
jects to which they relate were better understood and more ma-
turely considered, would never have been formed.
"That negroes, or, indeed any people, are better fitted for
religious and moral improvement when they are impressed with
the idea that industry and sober habits are necessary fur their
well-being, than when they have no • ambition to obtain a
higher station in society than that of the wandering and-unci-
vilized tribes of men in their natural condition, is nearly a self-
evident fact which has been often tested by experience. It is
bey acting upon this
.principle that the present Moravian mis-
sionaries are inure successful, in proportion to their numbers,
in civilizing and moralizing, than any other society who have
their labourers inAhetield of missions. The, use of the spade
and plou,gb, of thdLscy-the and the reaping-hook, is:.by them
taught siarillianeortily,iwitli the doctrines of Christianity at the
greater number ofitheir stations, and by these means they in-
fuse a spirit of cotittinted takingsdusty and independence, which.
would be much 10111101 mind, in possession of the untutored
iu the absence pr neglect of such instruction.
all the districts of this colony, where subordination; con-
tenreduess, and attention to business prevail, there is always
found to be the. most numerous attendance at church and
at school, and we are touch mistaken, if an attempt were made
by a clergyman to seal home religious instruction on the negro
mind, it he would ,not find it much more practicable among
those who are under the influence of the apprenticeship, than
he would among yearly who are entirely free. It is presumed
there are few in any, pea of this dependency, upon estates
where the apprenticeship.is working as it ought to do, who do
not attend public worship on the Sabbath; and we are well as-
sured, on the other hand, troth 'from irersonal knowledge and
from respectable authority, that of the.free negroes who are go-
ing at large about Georgetown and its vicinity, very few indeed
does the worshipping temple ever cover.'
"'These gentlemen, philanthropic as they are, who have con-
tributed so 110 Ch to inspire the British mind with an abhorrence
of the conduct of the West Indians generally, ought to reflect
on the moral consequences' of passing an obliterating sponge
over the Act of •August, 183-1; and to ponder deeply. whether
they will not, by their precipitancy, roll hack the tide of im-
provement and amelioration which is, undoubtedly, in general,
gently flowing, and which would, in ail probability, if let alone,
hear and thatt he long benighted negro to the happy shores of
Christian knowledge and dignified citizenship.
" The proceedings and enactments of the British legislature
in the formation of the emancipation act, were founded on the
soundest policy, and on a deep knowledge of human nature.
The greatest friends to the unrestrained privileges of mankind,
(among whom are we ourselves,) must see the 'direful conse-
quences that would have attended upon the unrestrained eman-
cipation of the negoes at the commencement of the apprentice-
ship, and, we verily believe, that many of these consequences
would even yet be the result of its entire abolition.
"'To many of these lovers of mankind in England and Ire-
land, and particularly to the fair daughters of ' Glasgow and its
vicinity,' who never saw hnman nature only in its highest state
of elegance and 'refinement, it may appear highly laudable to
urge upon the government the beneyOlence Of the sudden and
'final overthrow of the bondage of their sable brethren. But
while we do not yield to any of them in sympathy towards
suffering humanity, we beg to assure theM, that our most firm
conviction is, that such a- measure, under present circum-
stances would tend but little to better their temporal condition,
and. would certainly much retard their religious and moral
ilweccimeut. If theme be any truth iu the horrible relations to