Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1845-01-21

The 100000 which was appropriated lot liie
indemnify OF the planters amounted 10 nclhihs
as scarcely dollar OF it lett London, Il cenSte-
ceved by British mortgages OF West India pan
lalions And an agitation was al once coinihen-
ced, in the hypocrilical name of philanthropy, IN
favor of The abolition of slavery. And as soon
as it was accomplished in the West Indies, The
theatre corporations was transferred 10 this coun-
try in the manner have very briefly noticed
The fact that philanthropy had nothing 10 do in
the matter is shown, if other proof were wanting
by Tie emancipation act of the British Parliament
ITSELF By the 44lh section of that act, II IS de-
claIedthat iii shall moi extend 10 any OF The tcrrl
tory in the possession ofihe East India Company
or the Islands Of Ceylon or 81. Helena And
vel this is precisely the country where slavery
exists in lis most horrid form, and where lhe
British Government is itself the greatest slave
holder in the world and hires oul its slaves Tor
profit
"GovERSMENT or SLAVES IN MALABaR.-We
know that there is not a servant vi Governments
in the South of India, who is not intimately ac-
quainted with The alarming fact, that hundreds
of hundreds of his feow-crealures are ietterea
down for life to The degraded destiny oil slavery.
We know that these unfortunate beings are mol,
as in other countries, seriS OF the soil, aud m
capable of being transferred, and the pleasure OF
their owners from one estate 10 another. NO;
they are daily sold like cattle by one proprietor 10
another; the husband is separated from The vile,
the parent from the child; they are loaded with
every indigniiv; the utmost quantity OF labor IS
exaced from them, and the most measer fare
that human nature can possibly subsist on IS
doled out 10 them. The slave population is com
posed of great variety OF classes. The descend
ants of those who have been taken prisoners in
time Of war; persons who have been kidnapped
from the ncighborin2 states; people who have
been born under such circumstances as that they
are considered without the pale of ordinary
cases and others who have been smugSled IN
from The coast Of Africa torn from their coun-
Try and their kindred, and destined 10 more
wrelched lot, and, as will be seen, 10 a more
enduring captivity than their brethren of the
Western world. Will ii he believed that Govern
ment itself participates in this description Of
property; that il actually holds possession OF
slaves, and lets them out for hire 10 The cult
vators Of the country, the rent Of 4 whole family
being Two iarams, or halt a rupee, (about 80 30,
the hire OF Il slave and his whole family per
annum!
But why dwell on these comparatively free
slaves? The whole Of Ilindos.on, with the adj
Jacent possessions, is one magnificent plantation,
peopled BY more than one hundred millions Of
slaves, belonging TO a company o gentlemen in
England called the East India Company, whose
power is Tar more unlimited and deSpo,ic than
.
power upheld by The sword and bayonet, exact
ing more and leaving less of the product OF their
labor 10 the subject race than is left under our
own system, with much less regard 10 their COM
tort in sickness and age"
ASatic JoHrnQi FIR 1888, p. 22l.
| As startling as these disclosures are. the whole
story is not yet told England has not only en-
gagged in hypocrical crusade against slavery
al The time she is herself the greatest Slayehuhi-
er in the world but she has absolutely made the
aci OF her Parliament for the abolition OF The
slave trade The means Of converting her national
navy into slavcrs as | shall show For the fol-
lowing iacS am indebted 10 an article in The
Southern Literary Messenger written by Lieut..
Aiaury, of The T. States Navy:
| We have the authority Of MIR. Barrcyer ol
The French Chamber, who stated il in recent
! speech that in June of last year. the British Co
vernnent issued an Order in Council 10 aulho-
rise tie importation into Dcmarara of ono hun
drcd thousand hired negroes from Africa. And,
in continuation of this statement late arrivals
bring us, i'll the 'Semaphore lie Marscilles' The
report OF Tie master OF French merchantman.
who, not lour months ago, saw in the river Cam
bia an English vessel OF 800 tons take in 2 car
60 OF 500 Africans for the English Colonies
These poor ignorant creatures engage for they
know mol what, and ship ioi they know not where.
Charmed with a hawks bell and daZzed with
string oil glass beads, they are cnliced away be-
yond lie seas; and the ties which bind them 10
kindred and 10 country are as clleclually severed
though, perhaps, not as rudey broken. as if they
had fallen in The hands OF the kidnapper. Being
ignorant of their rights in a civilized land.
they are liable 10 The mosl cruel WRONGS: rs
slaves their owner would have The inducement
oil Se!i-interestio preserve them his property, from
wanton injury; nay more with The master. who,
n lFl .I,,ot ~, l. ..l.,.
higher motive, there arc inducements OF pccu-
MARY nature 10 secure that consideration in The
treatment OF SLAVES which will preserve their
health so as not TO impair their efficiency as la
borerS But as bondmcn and apprentices The
object OF such an one, and there are many such
obedienl to The inercenary disposition Of man, is
10 get ont of them all he can. What then is The
condition Of the hired savage during his long ard
cruel apprenticeship many times worse than
that Of the slave? And, when lie has cancelle,
his ndenture, wherein is he better off! He has
then but JUS! made the last payment for the pri-
vilege OF being brought over Tor hire in ship
crowded 10 suilocaion. Our laws will not allow
a ship 10 bring into The country more passengers
than two 10 every five tons; and the laws Of Eng
land forbid vessels 10 crowd her Own snJy.fis ON
their passage hither more closely than in The pro-
portion OF three souls 10 every five tons OF mea-
sulement. But the humane Orders in Council
can find in vessel of 800 tons, with more than
half her room nonopolized by her officers and
crew, ample accommodation for five hundred
wild Africans who have never known restraint
Tell US moi that IL is mans inhumany 10 man
that moves that Government 10 action.
ITO show that the motives which operate with
The officers are no better than those ascrihed to
their Government, we subon an extract from
paper published in The last Maryland Colonial
lion Journal. IL IS from the pen OF DR.. Hall, an
eminent philanlhropisl who has been much on
the African coast in connection with The business
OF the Colonization Societies of this country tc
tells what he saw:
- The late commandant of the station, Lord
George Russell, was most of the time in a state
OF inloxication, consequently unfit for The trans
action OF any business; and with such a head il
cannot I've supposed that the under officers would
depor themselves over correctly. The prize
money received by the officers and crew, in case
OF successful capture, operated aS strong in
ducement TO seize whatever came in their way
The apparent object of all the officers of the
squadron under Lord Russell was the making
successful and rich captures, rather than sup
preston OF the slave trade. An Instance in
proof came under our own observation The
commander of 4 cruiser (eher The Forester or
the Wanderer) boarded a small schooner which
lay at anchor near our vessel, and afterwards
boarded Us. He stated thai The schooner had
enough on board 10 condemn her. but she was
old and wonld moi pay him for taking her to
Sierra Leone; he would wait and watch her until
she had taken on board her slaves, which would
much increase their prize money, and then cap
ture her. She lay OFF for day or Two for that
purpose, but in The night the schooner took on
board her slaves, and went 10 sea. Our brig,
the Trafalgar Of this port, was boarded by
boat from the Forester, our papers examined, and
apcrmit demanded for having on board oil casks
which might be converted into wafer casks
We informed him. that our port regulations
required no such permit He disputed, and said,
when the Forester came up, the brig should be
captured and taken 10 Sierra Leone Ii was lhoacht
best 10 leave the cruising ground ofhe Forester be-
fore shecame up, and we accordingly pu, oul. A
few weeks after, isiting that section ofllc coast
again we discoveries sclcarly in The morning,
close in shore, getting under way She soon made