CHAPTER VI.

THE RIDE-THE RECEPTION.

"Brutus and Cassius

"Are rid, like madmen, through the gates of Rome."

"Your graces are right welcome."

Shakespeare.

Ibid.

--

HOSPITALITY, thou art; indeed, fair and famous, and great is thy influence over society. Such are the reflections of a stranger who arrives in a foreign land, and finds himself in the midst of inhospitable inhabitants; without a being to defend him from imposition, or preserve him from neglect; without a friend to greet his arrival, in whose kindly mansion he might take a jovial meal by day, or enjoy a peaceful slumber by night. Such, too, were my own reflections, but, under far different circumstances -for although the first night of my arrival was marked by a welcome, as cold and comfortless as the temperature of the climate could well allow; yet, on the second, I found myself seated at the luxurious table of a jolly Barbadian, surrounded by a set of beings who conversed with me without reserve; and who, ere we parted, warmed by many bumpers of Madeira, and a few of that sparkling and exciting beverage yclept Champaigne-treated me with all the intimacy of an old friend; and I had the pleas

ing task of committing to my memory (which, thank Heaven, is a tolerably good one) the catalogue of about a dozen invitations, given me by the hospitable guests, in the sincerity of their dispositions, and the kindness of their hearts.

The aforementioned good memory did not allow me to forget one of these invites; and accordingly, for the first fortnight after my arrival, I was continually visiting-passing both day and night under the roof of one kind friend or other, and seldom, or never, sleeping at my hotel.

By this time, however, my father was placed in government quarters, whence he shortly after removed to a private dwelling, which passed by the lordly denomination of Chepstow Lodge.

:

Here we took up our abode, which being on a low and damp spot near the river, was none of the healthiest my father was constantly on duty; while I made the best use of the letters of introduction he had brought with him to the governor and principal officers of the garrison. My time at first was greatly employed in paying and receiving visits, to and from the military and civilians; and seldom a day passed without my receiving a summons to breakfast or dine with some of the former in their mess rooms, or an hospitable invitation to spend the day at one of the pleasant villas of the latter.

It was in obedience to one of these marks of kindness, that I found myself on a fine morning, in the month of December (look ye, good reader, there was no snow on the ground) taking a "tête à tête" break

fast with Captain Phillipson of the

regiment. Well, Bayley," said he, "what think ye of these Barbadians-they are right good fellows, are they

not?".

I

"The question," I replied, "is hardly fair; but if may judge from the short time I have been amongst them, they are, indeed, right good fellows."

"You have not, I think, been yet out of town; when you go into the country, and visit their estates, I doubt not but that your opinion, now hardly formed, will be then strengthened and confirmed.-I suppose know the process of sugar making."

you

"No, indeed, I do not," said I, "I imagine, however, that it is very laborious; and as an Englishman, and a lover of freedom, I pity from my heart the unfortunate beings who are condemned to toil incessantly for the base purpose of accumulating wealth for their inhuman masters.

Phillipson smiled. How often have I since smiled myself, when reflecting on that speech; how different are my opinions now, how completely have I been undeceived!"

"Well," resumed my friend, as the servant was bearing away the remains of what had once been a breakfast, "this is crop time, there are horses without, and if you are not better engaged, we will take a ride together. There is an estate not far from this, and I have once, and only once, spoken to the manager: this, however, is enough to warrant a more formal introduction. Thither we will go; he will treat us like noble fellows as we are; and you will see

good Barbadian sugar made after a style that have no idea of."

you

I assented to his proposal; and accordingly we mounted our horses, and before ten o'clock were clear of Bridgetown, and on the high road to Colville estate.

As we rode along, we met numbers of negroes on their way to town, carrying on their heads baskets of fruit and vegetables to sell in the market. They were, in goodly sooth, a merry set, and our ears were assailed during the ride with the continued clatter of their tongues. Nevertheless we heard not once the murmur of complaint, or the voice of discontent. All who encountered our gaze had laughing faces, joy was on every countenance, and the stamp of gladness imprinted on every brow.

"Is it possible," I asked, "that these people can be slaves, and yet so happy in their slavery?"

Phillipson had no time to reply to my question, before our attention was attracted by a group of negroes standing round a black man who was sitting on a stone by the road side. He was the most miserable being I had ever seen: and it was impossible to look on his beggarly and impoverished condition without a feeling of pity; even the group who surrounded him, regarded him with compassion; and I observed one or two of the women giving him a bunch of plantains out of their baskets. I threw him a penny as we passed; and as we continued our ride along the smooth and level road, I said to my friend, "what inhuman master could have so ill treated a human being, as to leave him, like the

miserable creature we have just passed; houseless, without clothes, and depending for his sustenance on the pity and charity of his fellow slaves. Does the legislature allow this?"

"No," said my friend. "You will be long in the West Indies before you find a slave in such a condition. That man is free, free as the air he breathes, and worthless as the stone he sits on. You saw how the negroes pitied him; you even saw they gave him food. I warrant they envied not his freedom; and yet I believe it is his own fault that he is not better off. Some incidents of his life have come to my knowledge, and they are by no means uninteresting. Indeed, I thought them worth committing to paper, and you can see them whenever you like. However, here we are, at the end of our journey: yonder are the works of Colville estate; and a little farther on is the goodly mansion of its proprietor, or what the negroes would term the great house. As our purpose is to see the process of making sugar, I propose riding to the works, where we shall be most likely to find the manager."

Accordingly we rode thither, and a couple of joyous little "sans culottes" approached to hold our horses, while an old woman conducted us to the boiling house, where, as my friend said, we found the manager.

Gentlemanly reader, thou canst have no idea of a manager; for I tell thee that I had none myself until I saw one. However, I will portray one to

thee "toute suite."