The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-01-25

8ilflldrllf 8ispatrt,
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WEDNESDAY MORN ING. ;. JAN Is, wsn
"rhe AlmAeASy Niger In the Wet indies
~ Ssanhd y Jamascs i ONE Of the most fer
tilsttoN % - aass OF tAs slobs. The capa
hiltte 81 - SOIL Are marvellous, the growth
OF 4setn, usss asd vegetables 10 laxariant y
sxssn, sAoaavarnl scenery h magsiacsns o.
yon1 - dreams u poetry. Az the time o.
the e1ancipatioa act In 1894, the whole island
hacSuenused l,ks = rose. It teem<d with all the
predicate a. tropical country. II supplied
"a a. .mersan tiDe world enormous crops Of
sue~r ard cofes. Bat with that act came =
bliSht upoa In prosperity. Exeter Hall 60,
hoN II JanajcA and what ever flouished after
hael.e nasssA thrsueh such handsi The Par.
ltasaent q 0rsat Britatn pWssed an act eman-
ctpattne the slaves In the Wet India islands.
aad appropriaung fa1OeN, go sterling to pay
their masters. This act was lauded as "a s,r!a-
ineAAnlfestAtion Of nAgna nlmisy on the par
Of ~ Brittsh Parliament. HOW easy il Is to
Be nAgaaaimous IT the expense Of other peo-
plsi TIE slavss emanc.pa;ed were about a
million in nsmber !; the sum paid .ae owners
amountsd " about one hundred dollars for
each slave. Negroes averaged Al the tame, in
the West Iudies, about one thousand dollars,
the planter was thus violently robb~d Of nine
hupdred dollars upon every slave he owned.
and eAs BRUSH Parliament perpetrating this
atrucious spcl,ation, under the shield Of that
omaipotsncs within It's own sphere attributed
to IL b. writers On British Law, was applaud
Cd - the most ,naSnanimous body that had
coN rn1o lin nf
mankind. g.s-lt l..
This sentiment was not exactly universal
The planters who were ruined did not precise
~ understand why they were to pay the cost
Of Ill The renowu accruing to the Parlia-
mont. Some English journals and periodi-
Gals Of the day ventured 10 impeach the wis
dom Of the measure, and even Its humanity.-
Even the negroes themselves were, by no
means, unanimously in favor OF the liberty
forosd - rudeIy upon them. In the third
volume Of PaISce's Parallel History of the
World" work Of great value, occur the fol-
lowing remarks: =" In the West India colonies,
Negro slavery was At length totally abolished,
by the stipulations Of former acts of Parlia-
ment t1s3iO the negroes service being con-
verted into compulsory apprsn ticeship for
. limited period, aud = compensation of go.
OO0,Oo0 sterling being awarded to the devoted
prOpfietors. In spite of the frequent solicit
tatiOnsand prayers made to their masters by
multitudes OF the 30 emancipated slaves,
whose condition In very many instances had
been far more ehviable and secure than
that of free born ssrvants-furnished, as they
were, In return for their labo-, with conf
able houses-both they and their children be-
ing we'll clothed, las far as they needed, boun-
e.
Of religion. and In the laws OF morality-and
all care and anxiety about living removed
from them-being thus rendered cheerful,
evea to merriment-in spite OF their prayers
TO remain projected beings as heretofore-they
were forced to begin a mode of life wholly OPP
posed t. their inclinations and habits, in nu-
merous instances SO destructive of their
health as to bring them speedily to their
graves, and in many more so ruinous to their
morals that men, hitherto noted for being
peaceful, contented, and laborious beings, be-
came, on sudden, idle, dissolute, and, even
tually, restless. and actually rebellious NAL
contents."
This was only the beginning of the end
The reader is familiar with the terrible
denunciations thundered against Babylon,
Judea, Moab, and all that country which lies
on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean sea,
by isaiah, JEREMIAH, MICAH and other
prophets Of God, ages before the birth Of
Christ at time when they were the most fer.
tile regions Of the then inhabited globe He is
doubtless. also familiar with the works Of
some Of the many travellers who have Of late
years borne testimony to the awful fulfiIlment
OF all those messages OF wrath, even TO the
very ninth part of a hair. What The Assyrian,
the Persian, the Egyptian, the Macedonian,
the Roman, the Saracen, the Christian and the
Turk, working out the vengeance Of offended
Deity with fire. famine and the sword, were
enabled to accomplish in twenty-five cen.
turtles, Aboliti0nism has done for Jamaica in
twenty five years. 1t has converted it from an
immense garden into q bowling Wilderness II
has left its fields untitled its crops unga thered
its noble mansions in decay, its cities falling
in ruins, its churches, its chapels, and its
schools crumbling where they stand, it's roads
worn into ravInes, and all that wealth.
taste, aud industry had been iabsring for
two hundred years to effect in the cause
of civilization, presenting to the Traveller ole
hideous and unbroken pros psct of ruin be-.
You'd hope, decay beyond nscitaiion-
Men who visit that doomed Lad hold their
breath in awe, and ask what grea. crime did
these people commit, that they have been VIZ
tied by judgmen Is awful, So swift, SO nnac-
countabie Why is it that the miserable 10.
cabin rears its head i'll the very SHADOW OF the
palace VI hich, but u quarter of a centur, ago
was The abode OF luxury, OF Refinement. Oh
wealth, Of taste. OF all that makes life de-
sirable to civilized man! Why are the
streets, which were once ,hronged with
active aud en:erprising merchants, mechan-
les, mariners, and Citizens Of all occupa-
tons, now given over for a roofing ground
to the pigs, or promenade to the dogs,
that swarm in myriads, where man was once
lord Of all this prospect! Why are the mag
nidcent sugar estates aud the glorious coffee
plantations turned into fields for the law.
thoughtiess, half-sAvage negro to raise his
squashes, or his pumpkins, or his potatoes. and
the farm houses Of the proprietors supplanted
by log cabins, before the doors of which the
flthy denizen lies snoring in the sun. or wakes
but tor q moment to scratch the vermin that
seem q part of his being, aud then turns over
10 snort like the gruniing, groyelling swim.
that share his tenement, aud are only one de-
gree less human than himselfl Why has this
Whole Aand once smiling like the garden OF
Eden, become the very "abomiuation of desc.
laaoa" Ia period little more than one third
OF that allotted by the Psalmist to man as the
term Of has average life ! The answer again
10, abolition has wrought this great mirac le.
1t has done TOR Jamaica in twenty five years
what eight hundred years Of almost incessan,
war have never been able to do for any part OF
the European con tinent.
Lest any reader suspect us of exaggeration.
We beg leave to refer to the pages of q hooL