New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1858-07-27
THE TRUTH ABOUT JAMAICA.

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ranifested IL reference 20 TIE sueids IN sra ssE-
,anglenept Of any properties sr.srs OF: OF c,,-
sheraton OF the re.uns OF the en.nc patton Of TIA
negro, ss q general principe, srd Of toe gaonlam
slaves OF The BI.isl Yves; Icdies n p1rica,sr pa.
pose addressing nysef to az nveseaor Of tie X..sr
branch Of THE nts-estrg srhsc., tlroush 70 II Eer-
Ell sl paper, ard TO .y before TIE tmerc pubic the
experience OF year,, resung rom personal vis...ors
of TIE most important OF these colonies by way of
rtbu.tirg the ynfyun1td statements which have 90
frequently been made and Of correcting many Of the
popuisr errors which exist question never proper
ly ventilated out Of tie colonies themselves.
Tha. many serious evils, not TO ssy depl,-sbe
calamites have fallen upon tie British oolonsl de-
perdepcies since the passage Of the &C. which srsck
tie letters from he limbs OF the ssves, c,uro: either
in reason or IL truth, bs denied; bu. the: these
reverses can be jrsty charged upon the sb'lti,n
principle or upon the elteror effects Of the emsrc ps
ton Of the slaves thoroughly opposed 70 those p,n
eples Of truth which ough, never to be violated or
condemned. That the arguments Of lsrge section OF
iodviduas have been strained TO establish this bsse
lsss assertion, and "to make the worse tie better
cause appear" We sra well aware; but facts are
stubborn things," and despite the psint and vsrnish
with which the question has been uuspariDgy
beseared the purity Of tra.h must shine forth iu its
native briar cy when We bring TO the touchstone Of
inquiry the actual " nature of the case
In pursuing this inquiry-ao well calculated to
elicit tIuth-it will be advisable to c,nfne our re-
marks az much as possible to che colo:y Incidentally
referring to any Of the Others ss occasion may require
We shall, therefore, select the that lie generally
admitted to have been the m5s prosperous and pro-
ductve during the reign Of Slavery, but the most
d. stitute and poverty stricken At the present time,
under the more enlightened and hHmsnizng influence
ofberty ard religion. 1t is needless TO say that We
alude to the island Of Jamaica.
There is not q more beautiful and highly favore
country in tie world than this isle of the The
bountful hand Of gracious Providence has shoSered
down upon it blessings without rumber. The exu-
berant fertility of its soil could not suffer IN comparison
with that Ct any other land and II the labor and
capital go essential to the propulsion of agricultural
mover erts were but bestowed upon it, the earth is
s ready to yield it's Increase and to bring wealth to
those who expend their energies upon it.
Before proceeding any further, it will be necessary
that We should take brief retrospective view Of the
condition of the negro population of the issnd under
the ancien regime, inasmuch az shall have to ns
tue few comparisons between their true position 10
the colony at this time, and that which they occupied
cay or at length into the treatment which the slaves
received for it must be generally understood that as
in H. Southern States of the Union, the privileges
accorded to them were of the most insufficient and
contracted kind. The masters only granted what it
wss impossible for them to refuse without materially
as ctipg their own interests, and the permission to
eat drink, ard occasionally to sleep, constituted the
enjoyment Of the negro in state Of bondage.
On the vast majority Of the most founshing sugar
estates and coffee properties throughout the island,
there was at that time cessation from labor on the
Christian Sabbath and the slaves who had been toll
rg continuously all the week had 10 go on as ususl
boiling fus ar picking coffee, or pruning pmeno trees
on Sunday o. airy other day. AL that the masters
sought for was TO make the labor at their command as
productive as could be, and in this they sbundanty
succeeded. There were, is true, come exceptions to
the rule of Sabbathday labor but that the practice
existed very generally in almost every parish is an
established fact No books Of any kind were permit
ted 10 be brought AIN lpg the slaves and it was az
much &c TIE skin Of any Methodist or Baptist parson
was worth TO attempt get up cassneeting on any
OF the estates. Churches ard cbapels were, like
apgels yists, "few and far between !" and 10 the
mountainous agricultural distrcts they were under the
ban of decisive prohibition. The founding of negro
schools as an experiment that had dawned upon very
few minds and in fact such a movement would
not simply have been regarded as an sbsurdity
in itself. hut would have been attended with serious
results to those who sought to promote it. For 1t was
then consdered-as it now is in some paces-that by
educating the regro he would be untitled to fulfill the
de stpy for which he hsd been created But OF this
hereafter The overseers who exercised control over
the lives and fortunes Of the vast body of the slave
population were for the most psrt rough, uneducated,
brutal and unpublished men. In truth, the less edu-
cational qualification they had they were thought to
he the better overseers. The tide of emigration to the
British West Indies al this period was not, therefore,
very pure ard healthy Escaped prisoners, dsseitsrs
fro M the army and similar characters, formed the
great stream which supplied the estates and planta-
tops with their oveIseers and arecord Of the aroci
ties committed by these we're given to the world,
il could rot fail to excite greater sympathy for those
who suffered than the affecting narrative of Mrs.
Stowe. Unsccustomed as the most of them were to
anything but associations Of the most corrupt nature,
ard having been let loose upon the country with the
reips of power in their hands they soon began to e.
erciss pernicious influence which was spresd far
and wide. The holy ties o! matrimopy, and the or
dnarces OF God for the procreaon OF children within
the encrcpg halo of that sacred state, were entirely
and get at naught by these men; and if
ary Of their tribe We: ~y Of the unmts 'ted folly
of entering the corLubial state, lie would nsos'
ssiy forf4it r.: s rank among bis companions and be.
come TIE butt ard ridcule Of all Nor they con-
tent to live without the pale u domestic ssncty them
selves, but often ned their vices into the sancthed
homes of y unfortunate negro who having no Po xer
to resst the Outrage had to cary his sonow IN silence
to the grave The ssves, having no education nor In
formation of any kind unable to form any just
comparison between good aud evil. They had some
very vague and underlined idea that those who occu