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What, under these circumstances, was the conduct of the West India planters, resident in England? They evinced a deference to public opinion greater, perhaps, than would have been shown at a period of calm, deliberate discussion: They agreed to the propriety of adopting regulations in the colonies, which, though judicious in the main, might not have been made so soon or to such an extent, had it not been deemed a matter of the last importance, to satisfy the public that the planters were sincerely desirous of ameliorating the condition of their negroes, and might safely be trusted to carry into effect the measures proposed for that purpose. The result was, that the discussion of the subject in the House (15th May) passed without a division; in the understanding that the execution of the measures in favour of the negroes should, in the first instance, be left to their masters on the spot, but that government was pledged to prevent all unnecessary delay, and to call for the interference of parliament, if requisite, to stimulate the proceedings of the colonists.

Such being the vote of the House, the next step in the prosecution of this important matter rested with Lord Bathurst, as colonial minister; and a very full dispatch or letter of instructions was forwarded by his lordship in July, to the governors of our West India settlements.

In what way, it is natural to ask, were these votes and resolutions viewed by the planters and others resident on the spot?-As in a considerable degree premature and theoretical; as discovering an imperfect knowledge of the condition of the negroes in regard, on the one hand, to the comforts which they enjoy, and, on the other, to the general indolence and ignorance which prevails among them and must render the adoption of the measure in contemplation a work of time and difficulty. Representations to this effect have, we understand, been already made from Jamaica, Barbadoes, and the lesser colonies, while Demerara has sent her comment in a different tone. The time is therefore now arrived for a comprehensive and deliberate consideration of the subject. This we shall attempt in the following pages, and begin it by cursorily passing in review the various publications of the abolitionists, and the debate in the House of Commons. We shall then endeavour to give, what ought long since to have been given, a sketch of the actual treatment and condition of the slaves in our colonies; and conclude by an anxious inquiry into the practicability of effecting improvements in the system of colonial labour,' without hazarding the property of the planters or the welfare of the negroes.

Without further preamble, we proceed to examine the principal publications on the side of the abolitionists. Among these,

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the first place is due to Mr. Wilberforce's Appeal to the British Public,' and the anonymous pamphlet entitled 'Negro Slavery.' Mr. Wilberforce's Appeal' is of a mixed character, containing a greater condensation of matter than is commcn on the part of men accustomed to the diffuseness of public speaking, though by no means entitled to rank among argumentative compositions. It is made up, in a great measure, of general allegation, and must, in plain terms, be pronounced almost equally defective in correctness of reasoning and moderation of language. Accustomed to contemplate Mr. Wilberforce in the light of a calm inquirer and deliberate arbiter, it is with no little reluctance that we offer this censure on a production which comes from a person of so benevolent a disposition. But what other opinion can be expressed on such assertions as (p. 31.) that the negroes in our colonies are inferior to the savages of Africa?' or, (p. 42.) that it is a rule with the colonial legislature to discourage manumissions by exorbitant fines'? West India planters are in the habit of maintaining that their negroes enjoy even a larger share of comfort than the labouring classes in Europe, an assertion which, as we shall have occasion to observe presently, is in part correct, in part otherwise; but Mr. Wilberforce, instead of treating it in that qualified manner, and showing, in a few plain sentences, that no enjoyment of physical comfort can counterbalance the absence of civil rights, declares abruptly that the proposition is monstrous, and implies a total insensibility to the native feelings and moral dignity of man.'-To several of the specific charges made by Mr. Wilberforce against the treatment of the negroes, answers have been given by persons resident on the spot; and to the general tendency of his arguments might be made one comprehensive rejoinder, viz. that for such evils emancipation is not the cure.' We will not, however, dwell longer on an ungracious topic, or descant on a publication so much at variance with the mild character, which we are desirous to attribute to this veteran friend of humanity. If we cannot express ourselves favourably of his pamphlet, we can at least seek an indirect relief for ourselves and our readers, by pointing their attention to his speech ;* in which we recognize all his accustomed moderation, and are led to ascribe the deviation from it in the present publication less to his own feelings than to the influence of over zealous friends.

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The accompanying pamphlet, entitled 'Negro Slavery,' has been composed with much more skill and deliberation. The author, who is understood to be Mr. Macaulay, makes it a rule to abstain from declamation, and is at pains to avoid the odium of a direct attack on our planters. With this view he begins with * Debate on the Mitigation of Slavery, 15th May, p. 36,

an account of the situation of the negroes in Virginia, Carolina, and Georgia, citing from the travels of Fearon, Hall, and others, a number of examples of hardship to the slaves and injury to the masters. From America he passes to the West Indies; after a preamble, in which he disclaims the aid of the ardent abolitionists, and fixing on Jamaica, as the most improved of our settlements, and selecting in that island the estates of affluent and liberal planters, he proceeds to urge that, even under these favourable circumstances, the negroes make a very slow progress in religious and moral instruction. His principal arguments are, that they ought to be allowed additional time both for these purposes and the culture of their provision grounds; that the mode of punishing by flogging is subject to abuse; and that in regard to the care of their health, a good deal yet remains to be done, whether we look to the treatment of invalids or the rearing of children. He enlarges also on the hardship of separating negroes from their connexions, or from the spot to which they are attached, when circumstances lead to the sale of an estate. On the whole, this pamphlet, though by no means impartial, in as much as it keeps in the back ground the arguments favourable to the planters, is entitled to considerable attention, from the ability with which it is composed.

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The Declaration of the Objects of the Liverpool Society for promoting the Abolition of Slavery,' admits that a considerable time must elapse before the negroes can become fit for a state of freedom; but urges that the change will be beneficial to the planter, because the cautious economy of the freeman will be found to consume much less than the wasteful profusion of the slave.' It argues farther that we need not apprehend that general indolence or neglect of work will be the consequence of emancipation; because the children of negroes will then become more numerous, and the parents will not fail to exert themselves for their support. In these views we, in some measure, concur with the Liverpool Society; our objections to their 'Declaration' relate to other points, such as their silence in regard to the main question of indemnity, and their determination, somewhat peremptorily expressed (p. 11.), to pursue their object, whatever may be the loss inflicted on the planter.

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The Review of the Arguments for the Interference of Parliament,' is useful chiefly as a record of the opinions of the leading speakers on the slave trade during the last thirty years. The object of the author is to show that not only Pitt, Fox and Mr. Canning, but Lord Melville, and other members of parliament equally friendly to the West India planters, contemplated the eventual freedom of our negroes as a consequence of the cessa

tion of the importation of Africans. Another principal object in this pamphlet is to urge that the fears entertained by the West Indians, from the discussion of the question of emancipation, are carried too far,- a point to which recent events give an unfortu nate contradiction.

The pamphlet of Mr. Clarkson is entitled to a more ample notice. This indefatigable opponent of slavery regrets that history, either ancient or modern, should cast so little light on the transition which has taken place in the lower orders, in almost all countries, from servitude to freedom. Enough, however, has, in his opinion, occurred in the present age, to justify a favourable anticipation of the conduct of the negroes when admitted to the rights for which he contends. In Trinidad and Sierra Leone, we have, he says, evidence that the blacks, when left to themselves, do not sink into absolute indolence; and even the tremendous example of St. Domingo becomes, when described by him, divested of a great part of its terrors. From this appeal to past events, Mr. Clarkson proceeds to the practical question of the measures necessary to prevent injury from emancipation. This leads him into very interesting ground; to a recapitulation of the regulations of Toussaint as to the wages of the negroes, the mode of preventing idleness, and of punishing offences. The plan pursued by the late Mr. Steele of Barbadoes, is then analyzed (p. 31) at great length; and Dr. Dickson's ingenious but ill-digested volume on the Mitigation of Slavery,' is ransacked for arguments on such points as the 'inefficiency of negro labour when conducted on the present plan,' and the superiority of the Javanese and other eastern nations, who cultivate sugar with less aid from manual labour and more from machinery.'

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Such is the substance of Mr. Clarkson's arguments, and none can desire more cordially than ourselves that the result so eagerly anticipated by him may be found practicable. But if we are called on to say how far his reasoning can be received with confidence, or himself regarded as an impartial adviser, we must pause, and refer to those passages in his publication (pp. 5, 18) which are disfigured by loose assertion, as well as to his studied silence in regard to the increased comfort of the negroes, although proved by the testimony of almost every respectable clergyman at present in the West Indies.

We come now to the consideration of the Debate of the 15th May. Mr. Buxton, taking the lead, which advanced years no longer permitted to Mr. Wilberforce, began by contending that the danger of such discussions was much overrated by the West India planters, and that the negroes were not likely to be roused

to insurrection by debates in parliament. How greatly he was mistaken in this, has but too clearly been shown. We turn with more satisfaction to the declaration which follows; viz. that, with all his ardour in the cause, he would be content with measures of very gradual operation-with steps calculated to conduct us, by a slow process, to the decline of slavery, and to its eventual disappearance by a natural death.

Mr. Wilberforce contended that the danger arising from discussion was not so great as that which arose from a continuance of the present state of things. He drew a contrast between the increase of negro population in Georgia and Carolina, and its stationary condition in the West Indies; ascribing the latter, not, as has often been done, to an inferiority in the number of females, but to abuses inherent in the system. His favourite object, the conversion of the negroes into a free peasantry, would, he thought, prove greatly to the advantage of the planters; but in the adoption of measures to that effect, he had found the colonial administrations hitherto extremely tardy, even when the propositions proceeded from men connected, like Mr. Bryan Edwards, with their own body.

These animadversions on the West Indians called up Mr. Charles Ellis, who maintained that our planters were not responsible for the evils of slavery; the importation of negroes from Africa having commenced before our sugar cultivation had existence, and having been carried on more with a view to promote the navigation and manufactures of the mother-country, than the interest of the colonies. Before renouncing the present system of slave labour (he said) the negroes must be rendered fit for the enjoyment of freedom; our first duty therefore is, not to emancipate, but to improve them.-But, is it true that the colonial administrations have failed to exert themselves in the work of improvement? Twenty-five years ago, added Mr. Ellis, I certainly flattered myself that these administrations would have made greater progress; but they have had many difficulties to contend with, and the list of their successive acts shows that, in Jamaica in particular, they have not been idle. That during the present age the condition of the negroes has been greatly ameliorated, may be asserted without fear of contradiction; as well as that the great majority of the planters will co-operate cordially in giving effect to the recommendations of government for their further improvement.

Notwithstanding this declaration, Mr. W. Smith, who followed Mr. Ellis, repeated the complaint of Mr. Wilberforce, that the measures of the colonial administrations for the improvement of the negroes had been very tardy, particularly in regard to religion. This remark induced Sir George Rose to rise, and enter, at consi

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