Part 91 (1/2)
G., _there was great rejoicing_ among the book-keepers in August 1834!
_The abolition of slavery was_ EMANc.i.p.aTION TO THE BOOK-KEEPERS.
[Footnote A: The book-keepers are subordinate overseers and drivers; they are generally young white men, who after serving a course of years in a sort of apprentices.h.i.+p, are promoted to managers of estates.]
No complaints were brought before Mr. Chamberlain. Mr. Gordon pleasantly remarked when we arrived, that he had some cases which he should have presented if the magistrate had come a little earlier, but he presumed he should forget them before his next visit. When we left Williamsfield, Mr. C. informed us that during five months there had been but two cases of complaint on that estate--and but _a single instance of punishment._ Such are the results where there is a good manager and a good special magistrate.
On Sabbath we attended service in the Baptist chapel, of which Rev. Mr.
Kingdon is pastor. The chapel, which is a part of Mr. K.'s dwelling-house, is situated on the summit of a high mountain which overlooks the sea. As seen from the valley below, it appears to topple on the very brink of a frightful precipice. It is reached by a winding tedious road, too rugged to admit of a chaise, and in some places so steep as to try the activity of a horse. As we approached nearer, we observed the people climbing up in throngs by various footpaths, and halting in the thick woods which skirted the chapel, the men to put on their shoes, which they had carried in their hands up the mountain, and the women to draw on their white stockings and shoes. On entering the place of wors.h.i.+p, we found it well filled with the apprentices, who came from many miles around in every direction. The services had commenced when we arrived. We heard an excellent sermon from the devoted and pious missionary, Mr. Kingdon, whose praise is among all the good throughout the island, and who is eminently known as the negro's friend. After the sermon, we were invited to make a few remarks; and the minister briefly stated to the congregation whence we had come, and what was the object of our visit. We cannot soon forget the scene which followed. We begun by expressing, in simple terms, the interest which we felt in the temporal and spiritual concerns of the people present, and scarcely had we uttered a sentence when the whole congregation were filled with emotion. Soon they burst into tears--some sobbed, others cried aloud; insomuch that for a time we were unable to proceed. We were, indeed, not a little astonished at so unusual a scene; it was a thing which we were by no means expecting to see. Being at a loss to account for it, we inquired of Mr. K. afterwards, who told us that it was occasioned by our expressions of sympathy and regard. They were so unaccustomed to hear such language from the lips of white people, that it fell upon them like rain upon the parched earth. The idea that one who was a stranger and a foreigner should feel an interest in their welfare, was to them, in such circ.u.mstances, peculiarly affecting, and stirred the deep fountains of their hearts.
After the services, the missionary, anxious to further our objects, proposed that we should hold an interview with a number of the apprentices; and he accordingly invited fifteen of them into his study, and introduced them to us by name, stating also the estates to which they severally belonged. We had thus an opportunity of seeing the _representatives of twelve different estates_, men of trust on their respective estates, mostly constables and head boilers. For nearly two hours we conversed with these men, making inquiries on all points connected with slavery, the apprentices.h.i.+p, and the expected emanc.i.p.ation.
From no interview, during our stay in the colonies, did we derive so much information respecting the real workings of the apprentices.h.i.+p; from none did we gain such an insight into the character and disposition of the negroes. The company was composed of intelligent and pious men;--so manly and dignified were they in appearance, and so elevated in their sentiments, that we could with difficulty realize that they were _slaves_. They were wholly unreserved in their communications, though they deeply implicated their masters, the special magistrates, and others in authority. It is not improbable that they would have shrunk from some of the disclosures which they made, had they known that they would be published. Nevertheless we feel a.s.sured that in making them public, we shall not betray the informants, concealing as we do their names and the estates to which they belong.
With regard to the wrongs and hards.h.i.+ps of the apprentices.h.i.+p much as said; we can only give a small part.
Their masters were often very harsh with them, more so than when they were slaves. They could not flog them, but they would scold them, and swear at them, and call them hard names, which hurt their feelings almost as much as it would if they were to flog them. They would not allow them as many privileges as they did formerly. Sometimes they would take their provision grounds away, and sometimes they would go on their grounds and carry away provisions for their own use without paying for them, or as much as asking their leave. They had to bear this, for it was useless to complain--they could get no justice; there was no law in Manchioneal. The special magistrate would only hear the master, and would not allow the apprentices to say any thing for themselves[A]. The magistrate would do just as the busha (master) said. If he say flog him, he flog him; if he say, send him to Morant Bay, (to the treadmill,) de magistrate send him. If we happen to laugh before de busha, he complain to de magistrate, and we get licked. If we go to a friend's house, when we hungry, to get something to eat, and happen to get lost in de woods between, we are called runaways, and are punished severely. Our half Friday is taken away from us; we must give that time to busha for a little salt-fish, which was always allowed us during slavery. If we lay in bed after six o'clock, they take away our Sat.u.r.day too. If we lose a little time from work, they make us pay a great deal more time. They stated, and so did several of the missionaries, that the loss of the half Friday was very serious to them; as it often rendered it impossible for them to get to meeting on Sunday. The whole work of cultivating their grounds, preparing their produce for sale, carrying it to the distant market, (Morant Bay, and sometimes further,) and returning, all this was, by the loss of the Friday afternoon, crowded into Sat.u.r.day, and it was often impossible for them to get back from market before Sabbath morning; then they had to dress and go six or ten miles further to chapel, or stay away altogether, which, from weariness and worldly cares, they would be strongly tempted to do. This they represented as being a grievous thing to them. Said one of the men; in a peculiarly solemn and earnest manner, while the tears stood in his eyes, ”I declare to you, ma.s.sa, if de Lord spare we to be free, we be much more 'ligiours--_we be wise to many more tings_; we be better Christians; because den we have all de Sunday for go to meeting. But now de holy time taken up in work for we food.” These words were deeply impressed upon us by the intense earnestness with which they were spoken. They revealed ”the heart's own bitterness.” There was also a lighting up of joy and hope in the countenance of that child of G.o.d, as he looked forward to the time when he might become _wise to many more tings_.
[Footnote A: We would observe, that they did not refer to Mr.
Chamberlain, but to another magistrate, whose name they mentioned.]
They gave a heart-sickening account of the cruelties of the treadmill.
They spoke of the apprentices having their wrists tied to the handboard, and said it was very common for them to fall and hang against the wheel.
Some who had been sent to the treadmill, had actually died from the injuries they there received. They were often obliged to see their wives dragged off to Morant Bay, and tied to the treadmill, even when they were in a state of pregnancy. They suffered a great deal of misery from _that; but they could not help it_.
Sometimes it was a wonder to themselves how they could endure all the provocations and sufferings of the apprentices.h.i.+p; _it was only ”by de mercy of G.o.d_!”
They were asked why they did not complain to the special magistrates.
They replied, that it did no good, for the magistrates would not take any notice of their complaints, besides, it made the masters treat them still worse. Said one, ”We go to de magistrate to complain, and den when we come back de busha do all him can to vex us. He _wingle_ (tease) us, and _wingle_ us; de book-keeper curse us and treaten us; de constable he scold us, and call hard names, and dey all strive to make we mad, so we say someting wrong, and den dey take we to de magistrate for insolence.”
Such was the final consequence of complaining to the magistrate. We asked them why they did not complain, when they had a good magistrate who would do them justice. Their answer revealed a new fact. They were afraid to complain to a magistrate, who they knew was their friend, _because their masters told them that the magistrate would soon be changed, and another would come who would flog them; and that for every time they dared to complain to the GOOD magistrate, they would be flogged when the BAD one came_. They said their masters had explained it all to them long ago.
We inquired of them particularly what course they intended to take when they should become free. We requested them to speak, not only with reference to themselves, but of the apprentices generally, as far as they knew their views. They said the apprentices expected to work on the estates, if they were allowed to do so. They had no intention of leaving work. Nothing would cause them to leave their estates but bad treatment; if their masters were harsh, they would go to another estate, where they would get better treatment. They would be _obliged_ to work when they were free; even more than now, for _then_ they would have no other dependence.
One tried to prove to us by reasoning, that the people would work when they were free. Said he, ”In slavery time we work _even_ wid de whip, now we work 'till better--_what tink we will do when we free?
Won't_ we work den, _when we get paid_?” He appealed to us so earnestly, that we could not help acknowledging we were fully convinced. However, in order to establish the point still more clearly, he stated some facts, such as the following:
During slavery, it took six men to tend the coppers in boiling sugar, and it was thought that fewer could not possibly do the work; but now, since the boilers are paid for their extra time, the work is monopolized by _three_ men. They _would not have any help_; they did all the work ”_dat dey might get all de pay_.”
We sounded them thoroughly on their views of law and freedom. We inquired whether they expected to be allowed to do as they pleased when they were free. On this subject they spoke very rationally. Said one, ”We could never live widout de law; (we use, his very expressions) we must have some law when we free. In other countries, where dey are free, _don't_ dey have law? Wouldn't dey shoot one another if they did not have law?” Thus they reasoned about freedom. Their chief complaint against the apprentices.h.i.+p was, that it did not allow them _justice_.
”_There was no law now_.” They had been told by the governor, that there was the same law for all the island; but they knew better, for there was more justice done them in some districts than in others.
Some of their expressions indicated very strongly the characteristic kindness of the negro. They would say, we work now as well as we can _for the sake of peace; any thing for peace_. Don't want to be complained of to the magistrate; don't like to be called hard names--do any thing to keep peace. Such expressions were repeatedly made. We asked them what they thought of the domestics being emanc.i.p.ated in 1838, while they had to remain apprentices two years longer? They said, ”it bad enough--but we know de law make it so, and _for peace sake_, we will be satisfy. _But we murmur in we minds_.”
We asked what they expected to do with the old and infirm, after freedom? They said, ”we will support dem--as how dey brought us up when we was pickaninny, and now we come trong, must care for dem.” In such a spirit did these apprentices discourse for two hours. They won greatly upon our sympathy and respect. The touching story of their wrongs, the artless unbosoming of their hopes, their forgiving spirit toward their masters, their distinct views of their own rights, their amiable bearing under provocation, their just notions of law, and of a state of freedom--these things were well calculated to excite our admiration for them, and their companions in suffering. Having prayed with the company, and commended them to the grace of G.o.d, and the salvation of Jesus Christ, we shook hands with them individually, and separated from them, never more to see them, until we meet at the bar of G.o.d.
While one of us was prosecuting the foregoing inquiries in St. Thomas in the East, the other was performing a horse-back tour among the mountains of St. Andrews and Port Royal. We had been invited by Stephen Bourne, Esq., special magistrate for one of the rural districts in those parishes, to spend a week in his family, and accompany him in his official visits to the plantations embraced in his commission--an invitation we were very glad to accept, as it laid open to us at the same time three important sources of information,--the magistrate, the planter, and the apprentice.
The sun was just rising as we left Kingston, and entered the high road.
The air, which the day before had been painfully hot and stived, was cool and fresh, and from flowers and spice-trees, on which the dew still lay, went forth a thousand fragrant exhalations. Our course for about six miles, lay over the broad, low plain, which spreads around Kingston, westward to the highlands of St. Andrews, and southward beyond Spanishtown. All along the road, and in various directions in the distance, were seen the residences--uncouthly termed 'pens'--of merchants and gentlemen of wealth, whose business frequently calls them to town. Unlike Barbadoes, the fields here were protected by walls and hedges, with broad gateways and avenues leading to the house. We soon began to meet here and there, at intervals, person going to the market with fruits and provisions. The number continually increased, and at the end of an hour, they could be seen trudging over the fields, and along the by-paths and roads, on every hand. Some had a couple of stunted donkeys yoked to a ricketty cart,--others had mules with pack-saddles--but the many loaded their own heads, instead of the donkeys and mules. Most of them were well dressed, and all civil and respectful in their conduct.