To The Editor Of The Time...
The Times, 1824-01-19T00:00:00

given by -e frora tb6e Rev. G.W. B~ d' oc Pamphlzet, A dl c th IeNeO&.6A?Fiend toFreedoaj,"-on thle 23L1 of that montb charged inre with indfscretion, in rpointing the public ttenthon to the- "imPOsing Statemient! of Mr. BTId2es; and this corresjpondent, as. wVell as the -editor of the debaLte on Iif. Buxton's miotion, lfliinuate- thatthedctUgi Mr Brdge's ae~letare uirnvorthy of credit. Theliter,inded,styes-t " Lebleintermaixture of. irtemperate' nnma1vesio~, morret sateen~s vaue pprehcnsion3, and most inconlusiv reasnings" Mr Bridee haing gven arepl to the' Zetieof "AFrien to reedo "I frwardthe amefor publi tion i yourcolums, whre bidelit .. -#1- - . IC!- nrst que3etonedL Ia:1, Sir, &c.V S-- ; W. - . Jn.17. 1824 We have been favoured by the Iteverend Mfr. Bridges, who, we, are happy to state, has become convalesdtnt from his late illness, with the fbllowing plM to the above communication to the editor of the Iondon Evening Mfail, a copy of which wa transmitte'd on' Monday last by the Lady WcUington packet toEngland.-Jamjica TO THE EDITOR OF THE LONDON EVENINO( MAIL " Slr,-When four months ago I ventured before'the publicin re-. ply to Mr. Wilberforce, justly indignan aethe filse asprions sola- vishlybestowed upon these colonies in his IApptal,'lwaspeffedy aware of the weapons of ancient usage which woud bc directed against %hy plain statement of thecase; forit has ever been the-practiceof that false philanthropist's party, to endeavour to overwhelim, bh reiterated falsehoods, such facts as oi not suit its intereoted views. I thereforc determinmed to enter into no controversy with such a cabal, perfectly satisfied to rest my claim to credit on the conscious Impartiality and evident justice of the cause I advocate, and assured that; the reli- gion, justice, and hutmanity of the inhabitants of the British em. pire,' will not be misled by the arts of those who have been so re2 peatedly convicted of mahgnant flsehood. Your paper of the 27th of August has this morning faUen into my hands,.in which your correspondent, asning humself "A Friend to Freedo "has dared to controvert what I tsated respect. ingthe marriag svich1h5vemyself solemnized betWeen Ntegsro slaves. Togive the colour of truth to his impudent insioudtion, he tellUs you he has before him the desp2tch of the Governor of this island, containiug 'A return of the number of marriages legaUy solemnized between slaves since the Ist of January, 1808,' and that by my offilal return, there appears but eight such rnarriages have taken place since i820 in my parish. He states that the said despatchis sated oci the l7th of Match, 1823, and tbat consequently. it is strange I should have asserted in my pamphlet that I had mar- ried 187 couples, vwhich, he savs, nmust have taken place in the space of 'onelittle montb.' Now, Sir, I have befoic me the original return which I made In cqmnliance with the desire of His Grtce the Duke of Manheaster, and 'which is dated on the 6th of October, 1822; consequently, there were more than eik-ht i7ront4in- tervening between that return and the date of my oamphlet, during which period the number of marriages I state did take place in rny parish, and about 80 couples belenging to OxFord estate V;srnr rted in the eourse of two days about the la.t Christmas, Wsea.u usually selected by these people ill which -to celebrate tbtes of baptism and marriage; theremainder came-to the churcb, ed were also married in the legal way, by bans, in parties of from five to 20, belonging to varioas other properties. -Neither were they induced to marry by the persuasion of the illethodists, of which Iam happy to say,Ihavenoneinnyparish; nor, asyorcorrespona it, by the eloquent effusions of Ur. AIrilberforce, which had not then reached this island, but the only effect of which has been to- excte discontent and alarm here, and to fan the Ilame of rebelion in De merara, which unhappil has been extinguished but by the blood of hundreds. So mueh for Mir. Wilberforce's philantropy! No Sir, the marriage tie has just now commenced its influence amongst the Negroes here, who have but of late earnestly embraced the pre- litnmary tenets of Christianity fitting them for it, and, at 1 stated 'we hail it as one of the first fruits of the dispensation of Christan ';Yourcorrespondent, wishing to cast odium on the Establishedc' Church, and to pervert the actual state of the case aa much as.P sible, although heis forced to admitthat 3,598 marriaes have :en place in Jamnaic2, yet, with shameless effrontery, in thesame breath asserts that ' Alr. WVilberforce did notgreatly misrepresent the real state of things in the -West Indies, when be affirmed the absence of the marriage tie among them !' So much for the instigator of the Denuerara rebeUion, and his very Ingenious and very candid advocate IA Friend to Freedom,' of whom I taLe ray leave, regardless of his impotentthreat of attackinm me 'with respect to the rrogress of Christianity among the slaves, as evinced in the number of baptisms.' " G. W. BRIDGES. "Spanish Town, Jamaica, Nov. 10 1M~.", :- TO TE EDITOR OF TItE TIMES.