Part 63 (1/2)

”We thank thee, Lord, for this our food, But bless thee more for Jesus' blood; Let manna to our souls be given, The bread of life sent down from heaven.”

The benediction was p.r.o.nounced, and the a.s.sembly retired.

There was an aged negro man present, who was noticed with marked attention by the Archdeacon, the Rector and other clergymen. He is sometimes called the African Bishop. He was evidently used to familiarity with the clergy, and laid his hand on their shoulders as he spoke to them. The old patriarch was highly delighted with the scene. He said, when he was young he ”never saw nothing, but sin and Satan. _Now I just begin to live_.”

On the same occasion the Governor remarked to us that the first thing to be done in our country, toward the removal of slavery, was to discard the absurd notion that _color_ made any difference, intellectually or morally, among men. ”All distinctions,” said he, ”founded in color, must be abolished everywhere. We should learn to talk of men not as _colored_ men, but as MEN _as fellow citizens and fellow subjects_.” His Excellency certainly showed on this occasion a disposition to put in practice his doctrine. He spoke affectionately to the children, and conversed freely with the adults.

VISIT TO GREEN CASTLE.

According to a previous engagement, a member of the a.s.sembly called and took us in his carriage to Green Castle estate.

Green Castle lies about three miles south-east from St. John's, and contains 940 acres. The mansion stands on a rocky cliff; overlooking the estate, and commanding a wide view of the island. In one direction spreads a valley, interspersed with fields of sugar-cane and provisions.

In another stretches a range of hills, with their sides clad in culture, and their tops covered with clouds. At the base of the rock are the sugar Houses. On a neighboring upland lies the negro village, in the rear of which are the provision grounds. Samuel Bernard, Esq., the manager, received us kindly. He said, he had been on the island forty-four years, most of the time engaged in the management of estates.

He is now the manager of two estates, and the attorney for six, and has lately purchased an estate himself. Mr. B. is now an aged man, grown old in the practice of slave holding. He has survived the wreck of slavery, and now stripped of a tyrant's power, he still lives among the people, who were lately his slaves, and manages an estate which was once his empire. The testimony of such a man is invaluable. Hear him.

1. Mr. B. said, that the negroes throughout the island were very peaceable when they received their freedom.

2. He said he had found no difficulty in getting his people to work after they had received their freedom. Some estates had suffered for a short time; there was a pretty general fluctuation for a month or two, the people leaving one estate and going to another. But this, said Mr.

B., was chargeable to the _folly_ of the planters, who _overbid_ each other in order to secure the best hands and enough of them. The negroes had a _strong attachment to their homes_, and they would rarely abandon them unless harshly treated.

3. He thought that the a.s.sembly acted very wisely in rejecting the apprentices.h.i.+p. He considered it absurd. It took the chains partly from off the slave, and fastened them on the master, _and enslaved them both_. It withdrew from the latter the power of compelling labor, and it supplied to the former no incentive to industry.

He was opposed to the measures which many had adopted for further securing the benefits of emanc.i.p.ation.--He referred particularly to the system of education which now prevailed. He thought that the education of the emanc.i.p.ated negroes should combine industry with study even in childhood, so as not to disqualify the taught for cultivating the ground. It will be readily seen that this prejudice against education, evidently the remains of his attachment to slavery, gives additional weight to his testimony.

The Mansion on the Rock (which from its elevated and almost inaccessible position, and from the rich shrubbery in perpetual foliage surrounding it, very fitly takes the name of Green Castle) is memorable as the scene of the murder of the present proprietor's grandfather. He refused to give his slaves holiday on a particular occasion. They came several times in a body and asked for the holiday, but he obstinately refused to grant it. They rushed into his bedroom, fell upon him with their hoes, and killed him.

On our return to St. John's, we received a polite note from a colored lady, inviting us to attend the anniversary of the ”Juvenile a.s.sociation,” at eleven o'clock. We found about forty children a.s.sembled, the greater part of them colored girls, but some were white.

The ages of these juvenile philanthropists varied from four to fourteen.

After singing and prayer, the object of the a.s.sociation was stated, which was to raise money by sewing, soliciting contributions, and otherwise, for charitable purposes.

From the annual report it appeared that this was the _twenty-first anniversary_ of the society. The treasurer reported nearly 60 currency (or about $150) received and disbursed during the year. More than one hundred dollars had been given towards the erection of the new Wesleyan chapel in St. John's. Several resolutions were presented by little misses, expressive of grat.i.tude to G.o.d for continued blessings, which were adopted unanimously--every child holding up its right hand in token of a.s.sent.

After the resolutions and other business were despatched, the children listened to several addresses from the gentlemen present. The last speaker was a member of the a.s.sembly. He said that his presence there was quite accidental; but that he had been amply repaid for coming by witnessing the goodly work to which this juvenile society was engaged.

As there was a male branch a.s.sociation about to be organized, he begged the privilege of enrolling his name as an honorary member, and promised to be a constant contributor to its funds. He concluded by saying, that though he had not before enjoyed the happiness of attending their anniversaries, he should never again fail to be present (with the permission of their worthy patroness) at the future meetings of this most interesting society. We give the substance of this address, as one of the signs of the times. The speaker was a wealthy merchant of St. John's.

This society was organized in 1815. The _first proposal_ came from a few _little colored girls_, who, after hearing a sermon on the blessedness of doing good, wanted to know whether they might not have a society for raising money to give to the poor.

This Juvenile a.s.sociation has, since its organization, raised the sum of _fourteen hundred dollars_! Even this little a.s.sociation has experienced a great impulse from the free system. From a table of the annual receipts since 1815, we found that the amount raised the two last years, is nearly equal to that received during any three years before.

DR. DANIELL--WEATHERILL ESTATE.

On our return from Thibou Jarvis's estate, we called at Weatherill's; but the manager, Dr. Daniell, not being at home, we left our names, with an intimation of the object of our visit. Dr. D. called soon after at our lodgings. As authority, he is unquestionable. Before retiring from the practice of medicine, he stood at the head of his profession in the island. He is now a member of the council, is proprietor of an estate, manager of another, and attorney for six.

The fact that such men as Dr. D., but yesterday large slaveholders, and still holding high civil and political stations, should most cheerfully facilitate our anti-slavery investigations, manifesting a solicitude to furnish us with all the information in their power, is of itself the highest eulogy of the new system. The testimony of Dr. D. will be found mainly in a subsequent part of the work. We state, in pa.s.sing, a few incidentals. He was satisfied that immediate emanc.i.p.ation was better policy than a temporary apprentices.h.i.+p. The apprentices.h.i.+p was a middle state--kept the negroes in suspense--vexed and harra.s.sed them--_fed them on a starved hope_; and therefore they would not be so likely, when they ultimately obtained freedom, to feel grateful, and conduct themselves properly. The reflection that they had been cheated out of their liberty for six years would _sour their minds_. The planters in Antigua, by giving immediate freedom, had secured the attachment of their people.

The Doctor said he did not expect to make more than two thirds of his average crop; but he a.s.sured us that this was owing solely to the want of rain. There had been no deficiency of labor. The crops were _in_, in season, throughout the island, and the estates were never under better cultivation than at the present time. Nothing was wanting but RAIN--RAIN.

He said that the West India planters were very anxious to _retain_ the services of the negro population.

Dr. D. made some inquiries as to the extent of slavery in the United States, and what was doing for its abolition. He thought that emanc.i.p.ation in our country would not be the result of a slow process.

The anti-slavery feeling of the civilized world had become too strong to wait for a long course of ”preparations” and ”ameliorations.” And besides, continued he, ”the arbitrary control of a master can never be a preparation for freedom;--_sound and wholesome legal restraints are the only preparative_.”

The Doctor also spoke of the absurdity and wickedness of the caste of color which prevailed in the United States. It was the offspring of slavery, and it must disappear when slavery is abolished.