Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1836-04-14
I ID

military were always in attendance " 4ueil
disturbance and riots. At the last Cnrlst-
mas, nothing of the kind occurred Al.
,ho,,oh The slaves had every liberty, Of
~.r.5;no Tho streets night and day, with
rns;e and all night long, for ten days,
th.re w,s not q single complaint prefer
- .oainst any Of them, nor one confined
y .nT guard house or prison for miscon-
A., In the midst Of their usual past
fimes, the people respected the. Sabbath
day, and most ofthem went well-dressed
and orderly, TO their churches. They
said, ave are free now, and it is not re-
spectable to do as we used to-" Former
". thew could not 90 to church at christ
mas, without running the risk of getting
their backs striped with the lash.
Since the Abolition, the Sunday markets
are abolished, and no man goes to market
to buy or sell on the Sabbath. Saturday
is now the market day. AS our informant
had frequent occasion to pass one Of the
most populous roads from Kingston to the
country, he could not but be struck with
the marked difference-in the personal ap-
pearancs, dress, and behavior of the peo-
pie in coming TO and going from market.
Formerly the slaves used to live in con-
cubinage, now they are getting married,
and are ambitious to be thought Christians
and TO have their children baptized, pre-
vious to which they are examined by the
clergyman as to their knowledge Of this
sacrament and ofreligion.
The ministers Of the church Of Eng
land are supported by the Society for Prop
>agating the Gospel. The salary of
minister is 300L sterling (Sl500,) with
sol per annum for his wife, if married,
and 25l. for each child, house, dona-
ton Of 1901 to purchase horses, and q
yearly allowance of36I. for servants
Many valuable ministers are already sta :
toned, and the influence oftheir labors
has called forth high commentators even
from the bitterest opposers Of religion, so
that now, the planters even complain and
are Jealous If others have ministers, and
their own parishes are not supplied. Ma
nv catechists Of the Church Of England
have also been sent out and Stationed
They are persons we'll educated, and ap-
proved for piety and zeal, and generally
candidates for holy orders. They are al
lowed yearly salary Of $500 to $4,000,
with free quarters and other emoluments,
and have done immense good in teaching
and catechising. Not only Episcopalians
but Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists
&C., are equally anxious and Jealous in
the work Of reformation.
When churches are to be built, the
slaves are first to put their names down to
give money for the work. Much is done
in the way of schools, wherever there art
ministers Of any denomination. The cler
gy all denominations, are jealous ant
exemplary, and such is their success, as t
leave no room to doubt that the Who'll
population of the island will in twent
years be in the enjoyment ofall the bles
sings of civilization, freedom and religion
Il is impossible to look at this people
and not see how essential is religion, a
the great means of civilization. They ar
allambitious ofbeing able to read the b
bic, and feel that it is now a,disparagt
ment not to be able TO read. In the coun
try parishes, those who have the mean
ofcomfort will sometimes not work o
Saturdays for wages, because they wis
to employ the day in receiving instru'
tion. The slaves used to speak barb'
rous dialect of broken English, unintell
gible to stranger. Now they are takln
pride in being able to speak English, an
each is ambitions of speaking it better tina
the rest. That they should make som
ludicrous mistakes, and often get hold of
hard word. is not strange, The negI
dialect will soon disappear, as well as Il
negro habits. ,-.
A clergyman, German by birth, an
a man Of science, who has been connec
ed with the African mission, is now el
gagged in q high school, or college.
valuable place has been purchased, ar
the plan is, to select promising youth fro
the different schools, and educate them f
the church. There is a gentleman {
the island, who with his lady, supports
his own housesome two hundred childre
belonging TO another estate, and has the
taught at his own expense; and their ar
ness in learning is astonishing, and the
moral department bears the strongest te
timony in favor of the influence Of
knowledge Of the Bible.
The security which the people on Il
island now feel, both as to person al
property, is astonishing. They no long
have thought about i. The "magazil
ofpowder," over which they used TO sle'
|. IN fear, Is wetted and turned to clay.
The horrid stories with which the J
maica papers used to feed the anti alb
lition press in the United States, were
VIGOROUSLY exaggerated, as to give rise
a strong suspicion among the Jamaican
that they were paid for from this countr,
The most creditable press on the island
the Jamaica Watchman, conducted by y
colored men, Messrs, Jordan and Osbor
Even before the abolition, many gent
49, ,,..,l A., 49, tka Wafchman ho...,,