The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-02-08 00:00:00

LAW . INTELLIGENCE.

COURT OF CHANCERY, JAN. 31.
THE SLAVE CASE-TBORNELY v. BYRNE.

It will be recollected that his lordship postponed his judgment in
this extraordinary case, for the purpose of having an opportunity to
consult the government. His lordship now began by observing that
the bill, as originally filed, prayed the appointment of receiver to the
estastes of Lord Crawford and Lindsay, in the Island of Antigua, in
the room of a Mr. John Farr, deceased ; and then it went on to pray,
in the second part, that directions may be given by the Court respect-
ing the manumission of the slaves on the estate, according to the
intentions of the late noble proprietor, as declared in his will. The
whole case was, he thought, one of peculiar importance and difficulty,
and more particularly as it affected immediately the whole question
of the manumission of slaves in future, and the state of the law in the
Island of Antigua. During the time that had elapsed since the hear-
ing, his lordship observed that he made himself fully acquainted with
all the facts of the case, and inquired with the greatest industry into
the accounts of the law of the Island of Antigua as it bore on this
particular case. Before, however, he entered on the merits, he could
not avoid expressing his regret that the conduct of the person who
had the management of the slaves of Lord Crawford bad not been
more carefully attended to. It appeared that this person (a Mr. Buck-
thorpe, we think his lordship said) had let out the labours of the 140
slaves for a long p ?riod of time, and yet neglected altogether to obtain
the price of their hire. It was indeed deeply to be regretted that this
person had not been called to account, or that the executors of the
will had not striven to obtain justice against him for the benefit of the
property. Had the labour been fairly accounted for, and the proceeds
recovered according to the benevolent intentions of the testator, the
Court would not now have been calledto interfere, as there would not
have been a question to dispute. Applying himself now to the state
of the law of Antigua, as it regarded the manumission of slaves, it
appeared that any person who manumitted a slave was bound to
deposit three hundred pounds in the treasury as a security for the
maintenance of that slave, and that he or she might not become
chargeable to the colony, and in default of doing so he was called on
to pay a certain penalty. This was said to be the law, but there
seemed to be great doubt on the subject ; or, at all events, if it had
been the law, it must have fallen into disuetude, for there was no
evidence that it had ever been acted on in that island. At any rate,
however, whether there was such a law or not, his decision would
not be affected by it. The great difficulty in the matter was this—Of
the one hundred and forty slaves there were fifty-seven who, either
from infancy, disease, or age, must be considered as unable to support
themselves, while the remainder were able-bodied • artisans and
labourers. The slave trade had been now abolished so long, that his
lordship could not doubt but that many of the children were Creoles,
and therefore possessing connections who would assist them to earn
their support, for it was beyond question one of the characteristics of
the negro, that be his clime or colour what it may, he always exhibited
humanity to those connected with him by blood or kind. The ques-
tion of the subsistence of the negro in a state of freedom had been in
fact tried before with success, and, singular to say, in this very island
of Antigua. He had at that moment lying before him copies of two
despatches transmitted by the Governor of Antigua to the Secretary of
State for the Colonies. In one of them it was stated that two himdred
negroes had been liberated in the year 1829. They did not belong to
the colony itself. They appeared to have been negroes from Africa
who had never been slaves, or slaves who came from other islands.
Nothing, however, could be more satisfactory than the account of
their conduct. Not one complaint had been made against them since
they obtained their freedom. The Governor observes in the despatch
that they occupy themselves industriously to obtain a livelihood like
the other inhabitants of the island. The second despatch is much to
the same effect. Now, with this case before them, he saw that there
were among Lord Crawford's slaves thirteen artificers—a description
of men whose wages were always very high in the West Indies.
Indeed, they could earn full thirteen times as much by their labour as
would be required for their own support, and therefore a large surplus
must remain for the benefit of the others. The gentleman who
managed the affairs of the 200 slaves liberated at the time mentioned
in the Governor's despatch was now in London. His name was
Wight, and he filled the situation of Comptroller of the Customs. He
had seen that gentleman, he had consulted with him on this subject,
and finding that he was willing to undertake another task of the same
description, the first part of the order he should make on this occasion
would be to appoint Mr. Wight receiver of the estate of Lord
Crawford. As receiver, he would at once take the management of the
property, and he probably might be able to bring Mr. Buckthorpe to
account, and to recover some portion of the 1'2,500 now due for the
labour of the slaves. As to the second part of the prayer of the bill, it
was his lordship's opinion that he had a right to order the liberation
of the slaves, even although the three hundred pounds for each of the
infirm could not be deposited; and it was also his opinion that the
slaves were entitled to a full distribution of all the funds intended for
them by the testator. As to the support of the aged or the infirm, he
believed there was a fund called the Amigo Fund, which could be
applied to that purpose, although the scheme for its apportionment
was not yet settled by the Master in Chancery, to whom it had been
referred. The avowed object of that fund was the support of the
destitute slaves in the British colonial possessions. It must be admitted
that the fund had reference to liberated slaves only; but then the
condition of the deposit required by. the law of the colony was not a
condition precedent to the manumission. If it were so, the fund
would not, under such circumstances, be applicable ; but as it was not,
then he eonsidered that the Amigo Fund was liable to be called on to
support the • slaves now manumitted. With respect to the small
balance of 1:750 or C 370 as it rather appeared to be, he was inclined
to order that it be invested in the name of the receiver, as a trustee,
and he hoped that no opposition would be offered to this proceeding
by any one resident on the Island. With respect to the executors,
who were resident in this country, they might take an opportunity to
see Mr, Wight, and resign to him, their trust for the future manage-
ment of the property.