Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1860-03-03

rupeds. Again commissioner went up among
the mountains to treat with negotiators at Hrst in.
visible; again we're hats and jackets iutercha nged
not without coy reluctance on the part Of the we'll
dressed Englishmen; aud a solemn agreement
was effected. The most essential part Of tho BARI
gain was a guaranty Of continued independence,
demanded by the suspicious Maroons. General
Wa!pole, however, promptly pledged himself that
no such unfair advantage should be taken Of them
as had occurred with the hostages previously sur
rendered, who we're placed in irons, nor should
any attempt be made to remove them from the
island. 1t is painful to add that this promise was
outrageously violated by the Colonial government,
to the lasting grief Of General WalpoIe, on the
ground that the Maroons had violated the treaty
by a slight want Of punctuality 10 completing with
its terms, and by remissnese in restoring the fugi.
tive slaves who had taken refuge among them. As
many Of the tribe as surrendered, therefore, were
at once placed in confinement, and ultimately
shipped from Port Royal to Halifax, to the mum.
Der of six hundred, on the 9th of June, 1876. For
tho credit of English honor, we rejoice to know
that General Walpole not merely protested against
this utter breach Of faith. but Indignantly declined
the sword Of honor which the Assembly voted him
in its gratitude, and retired from military service
forever.
The remaining career of this portion of tho
Maroons is easily told. They we're first dreaded
by tho Inhabitants Of Halifax; then welcomed,
when ssenS and promptly set to work on the cita-
del. then in process of reconstruction, whore the
Maroon Bastion' still remains their only visi-
BILE memorial. Two commissioners had charge OF
them, one being the redoubtable Colonel Quarrel,
and twenty-five thousand pounds were appropria-
ted for their temporary support. or cot rse they
did not prosper; pensioned colonists never do, for
they are not com PEELED into habits of industry
After their delicious life in the mountains of ia
maics, it seemed rather monotonous to dwell upon
that barren roil-for theirs was such that two
previous colonies had deserted it-and in q eli
mate where winter lasts seven months in the year.
They had q echoolmaster, and be was also q prea-
cher; but they did not seem to appreciate that lux
ury of civilization, utterly refusing, on grounds
Of conscience, to forsnke polygnmy, and on
grounds Of personal comfort to listen to the doctri-
nal disccurses of their pastor, who was nn ardent
S~andemanian. They smoked their pipes during
service time, and left old Montagu, who still sur.
vived, to lend a vicorious attention to the sermon.
One discourse be briefly reported us follows, very
much to the point :-'Masss parson say no mus
tief, no must NEEDLE with somebody wife, no mus
quarrel, mus set down softly So they sat down
very softly, and showed an extreme unwillingness
to ge. up again. But not being naturally an idle
race, tat least in Jamaica the objection lay rather
on the other side they soon grew tired Of this
~inAcGion. Distrustlul Of those about them, suspi-
cious Of all attempts to scatter them among the
community at large, frozen by the climate, and
constantly petitioping for removal to a milder
one, they finally wearied out all patience. A
long dispute ensued between the authorities Of
Nova Scotia and Jamaica. as to which was prop
nrly responsible for their support; and thus the
heroic race. that for a century and a half had sus-
tanned themselves in freedom in Jamaica, we're re-
duced to the position Of troublesome and impracti-
cable paupers, shuttlecocks between two selfish
parishes. So passed their unfortunate lives, until,
in 1900, their reduced population was transported
TO Sierra Leone. at a cost of six thousand pour is,
since which they disappear from history.
II was judged best not to interfere with those
bodies Of Maroons which had kept aloof from the
late outbreak, as the A~ccompong settlement, and
others. They continued to preserve a qualified
independence and retain 1t even now. In 1885,
two years after the abolition of slavery in Jamai.
ca, there were reported sixty families of Maroons
as residing at AccOmpong Town, eighty flmilies
at Charles Town, aud twenty families at Scott
Hall, making two hundred and seventy families
In All-each station being, as of old, under the
charge of a superintendent. Bot there can be
little doubt, that, under the influences of freedom,
thoy are rapidly intermingling with the mass Of
colored population in Jamaica.
The story Of the exhiled Maroons attracted at
tenticn in high quarters. in its time; the wrongs
done to them were denounced in Parliament by
Sheridan and incurred By Wilberforaa; while the
employment Of bloodhounds against them was
vindicated by Dundas, and the whole course Of thu
Colonial government defended, through thick aud
thin, by Bryan Edwards. This thorough parti
san even had tho assurance to tell Mr.. WILDER
force, in Parliament, that he knew the Maroons
from personal knowledge, to De cannibals, and
that. il a missionary were sent among them il No
VI Scotia, they would Immediately eat him, q
charge 80 absurd that he did not venture to repeal
II in his history of the West Indies. though his
injustice TO the Maroons is even there 80 glaring
as to provoke the indignation o. the more mOder
ate Dallas. But, 10 spite of Mr.. Edwards, tht
public indignation ran quite high in England
against the blood.hounds and their employers. Sc
that the home ministry found is necessary to send
. severe reprooi to the Colonial government. Fol
q few years the tales Of the Maroons thus emerged
from mere colonial annals, and found their way
into Annual Registers ard Parliamentary Debates
but they have vanished from popular memory
now. Their record still retains its interest, how,
ever, as that Of one e the heroic races of tbs
world; and al The more, because It is with theil
kindred that this nation has to deal, ia solving
the tremendous problem of incorporating their lib
critics vita our own. We must remember the sto
~ Of the MarOons. because we cannot afford to ig
more a single historic fact which bears upon