the Negroes, on one of the plantations, mistaking the day, murdered every white man on it; which gave the alarm, and saved the rest. The ringleaders were put to the torture, which they bore with fortitude, glorying in what they were about to execute. The population of Surinam and Berbice was estimated at 4000 Whites and 90,000 Negroes - being an increase of 40,000 slaves since the year 1769, while the number of Whites remained the same. The lords of the privy council determined, on an appeal from the Bahama islands, that upon change of property of a vessel, a new register cannot be obtained for her at any other port than that where she was originally registered; and that a British subject, without a fixed place of residence, cannot be the owner of a vessel, so as to be entitled to register her as a British ship. The There was not any rain fell in Antigua for seven months. crop of sugar was destroyed, and 5000 horned cattle perished for want of water. By the statement of the Liverpool merchants, in the report of the committee of 1789, the average number of Negroes exported by Great Britain was estimated at 38,000. The opinion of the French traders, mentioned in the same report, is, that the British carry over 40,000 to their West India islands, and re-export two-thirds of that number. A slave, in Tobago, was stabbed by a White, manager of an estate, in the presence of many other slaves. The man died on the spot, and the White was tried; but, for want of such evidence as West India courts of law require, was acquitted. "Another case (Mr. Justice Ottley says) occurred in St. Vincent's. A White was strongly suspected of having shot his brother-in-law. The fact was said by two or three slaves to have been done in their presence, and the coroner's inquest (he thinks) confirmed this suspicion, by a verdict of wilful murder against this White. At a court where he (Mr. Justice Ottley) presided, the cause was tried; and although there scarcely remained a doubt with the jury of the man's guilt, he was nevertheless acquitted, for want of sufficient evidence." In February, the Methodist missionary at St. Christopher's (Mr. Hammet) had raised in different parts of the island a society of 700 members. These converts were raised in the space of two years. In June, Mr. Hammet applied to General Walterstorff, the governor of Santa Cruz, for permission to instruct the slaves in that island. He was ordered to draw up a petition to the King of Denmark for that purpose: he did so; and Dr. Knox, a Presbyterian Annual Register, 1790, p. 16. Edwards, vol. i. p. 485. Brougham's Colonial Policy, book i. sect. 3. p. 531.; book ii. sect. 3. p. 179. Parliamentary Papers, 1790, Henry Ottley, Esq., Chief Justice of St. Vincent's, Evidence. Coke's West Indies, vol. iii. pp. 58. 169. minister upon the island, got it translated into the Danish language, and the original and the translation were sent to Copenhagen. On the presumption of the future success both of the petition and of the preaching, Mr. Hammet provisionally engaged a spot of land on which to erect a chapel for public worship. No answer was returned to this petition. Upon the 21st of May, the Moravians at St. Christopher's laid the foundation of their chapel: it was opened in the October following. "After the usual Sunday's service, seventeen Negroes were baptized; three baptized women were received into fellowship, and twenty-five were added to the candidates for baptism. The day was closed by the communicants, who were sixty in number, who then partook of the holy sacrament." "In general (they observe), the number of Negroes that attend the chapel has much increased this year, and many have become not only hearers of the word of God, but doers also; seventy-five adults and eleven children were baptized in the year 1789; and the number of Negroes that were baptized, or considered as candidates for baptism, belonging to this mission, was upwards of 300 at the close of the year." The King of Spain issued a royal order respecting the supplying the islands of Cuba, Santo Domingo, and the provinces of Caracas, with Negroes; by which Spaniards and foreigners were allowed for two years to import them duty free. If bought for domestic service, the purchaser was to pay an annual capitation-tax of two dollars, in order to check luxury.' It appears from official documents from the Havaña, dated July 1811, and laid before the Cortes, that the import of slaves into the Havaña, from 1763 to this year, 1789, was only 24,875. Coke's West Indies, vol. iii. p. 50. Report of the Lords of the Committee, 1789, Spain, Part VI. Inquiry into the Duty of compelling Spain to relinquish her Slave Trade in Northern Africa, 1816, p. 57. Upon the 31st of May, the Spanish government issued the following royal ordinance for the government and protection of slaves in the Spanish colonies :-- PROCLAMATION. "In the code and other collection of laws published in this kingdom; in the abridgment of the statutes concerning the Indies; in the general and particular orders communicated in my dominions in America since the discovery of it; and in the ordinances, which, being examined by my council of the Indies, have merited my royal approbation, the system of making slaves useful has been established, observed, and constantly followed, and every thing necessary decreed, with respect to the edu their masters are obliged to give them, agreeable to the principles and rules of religion, humanity, and the good of the state dictate, consistent with slavery and the public tranquillity: nevertheless, as it is not an easy matter for all my subjects in America who keep slaves to be sufficiently instructed in all the laws of the said collection, and much less in the general and particular orders and ordinances approved of for different provinces; and considering that, on this account, notwithstanding what has been decreed by my august predecessors with respect to the education, treatment, and occupation of slaves, some abuses have been introduced by their masters and the stewards, which were not at all conformable, but, on the contrary, opposed to the The French in St. Domingo had in their possession, this year, 480,000 Negro slaves. Edwards, vol. iii. p. 13. and particular orders decreed upon the subject. Therefore, in order to remedy such abuses, and having in consideration, that, in consequence of the liberty granted to my subjects by my royal order of the 28th of last February, for carrying on the slave trade, the number of slaves will be considerably augmented in America, and having a due attention to this class of individuals, in the mean time that the general code of laws, which is forming for the dominions of America, is established, and that they are published, I have resolved, that, for the present, the following instruction shall be punctually observed by all the masters and possessors of slaves in my said dominions: "CHAPTER I.-Education. "Every one who has slaves, of whatever class and condition he may be, is obliged to instruct them in the principles of the Roman Catholic religion, and in the necessary truths, in order that they may be baptised within the year of their residence in my dominions; taking care to explain to them the Christian doctrine every holy day, on which they shall not be obliged nor permitted to work neither for themselves nor for their masters, excepting at the time of the crop, when it is customary to grant them liberty to work on holy days. On those, and other days, when they are obliged to hear mass, the owners of the estate shall be at the expense of maintaining a priest to say mass to them, and to explain to them the Christian doctrine, as likewise to administer the holy sacraments, not only on such days when he is obliged to do it, but likewise whenever he is wanted; taking care that every day, as soon as their work is finished, they say the rosary in presence of the master or of the steward with the greatest composure and devotion. “CHAPTER II.-Food and Clothes. "It being manifest that the masters of slaves are under the obligation of feeding and clothing them, as likewise their wives and children, whether these be of the same condition or free, until they can earn their own bread, which it is presumed they are able to do when the females arrive at the age of twelve, and the males at that of fourteen; and not being able to give any quality of the food and clothes which are to be given them, on account of the difference of climates, constitutions, and other particular causes, it is ordered, that with respect to those matters, the justices of the districts in which the estates are situated, with the approbation of the magistrates and syndic, or recorder, as protector of the slaves, shall fix upon and determine the quantity and quality of the food and clothes which are daily to be given them, according to their ages and sexes, and conformable to the custom of the country, and like those which are commonly given to day labourers, and linen, the same as the work people, who are free, have. Which determination, after having been approved of by the audience of the district, shall be fixed upon the door of the townhouse, and the churches of every place, and of the oratories or hermitages of the estates, that every one may know it, and that no one may plead ignorance. "CHAPTER III.-Occupation of Slaves. "The first and principle occupation of slaves must be agriculture, and not those labours that require a sedentary life; and thus, in order that their masters and the state may be benefited by their work, and that they perform it as they ought to do, the justices of towns and villages, in the same form as has been mentioned in the foregoing chapter, shall regulate the work to be done in the course of the day, and they shall have two hours to themselves, to be employed in manufactures or other occupations, for their own advantage; neither the masters nor their stewards can oblige those slaves to work who are sixty years old, or younger than seventeen; nor employ the women slaves in any business which is not conformable to their sex, or in which they must be with the males; and the said masters shall contribute two dollars every year for their domestic service, as it is ordered in the eighth chapter of the Royal Order, published on the 28th of last February. " CHAPTER IV.-Diversions. "On holy days, when masters cannot oblige nor permit their slaves to work, after they have heard mass and the Christian doctrine explained to them, the said masters, or their stewards, shall allow the slaves to 26 The colonists summoned parochial and provincial meetings, for the purpose of electing deputies to be sent to the states-general then Edwards, vol. iii. p. 16. sence; but they shall not allow them to be amongst those of the other estates, nor even with the females; hindering them from excess in drinking, and taking care that their diversions are ended before prayer time. " CHAPTER V.-Habitations and Infirmary. "All masters of slaves must give them habitations, distant those of the men from those of the women, if they are not married; and they must be commodious, and sufficient to defend them from the inclemencies of the weather, with beds, blankets, and every thing necessary. Each man shall have his own bed, and there shall be no more than two in a room. Another habitation, separated from the rest, which must be warm and commodious, shall be destined for the sick, who must be assisted with every thing necessary by their masters: and in case that the latter, on account of not having room enough, or being near some town, do wish to send them to the hospital, they shall contribute a daily sum, which shall be determined by the justices, for their assistance, in the manner and form mentioned in the second chapter; and if any of them should die, it is the master's obligation to pay the charges of the funeral. "CHAPTER VI.-Old Men, and those who are constantly ill. "Slaves who, on account of old age or illness, are not able to work, as, likewise, children of either of the two sexes, must be maintained by their masters; and these latter cannot give them their liberty in order to get rid of them, except by giving them a sufficient stock, which must be approved of by the justices and syndic, to maintain them without any other assistance. "CHAPTER VII.-Marriages of Slaves. "The masters of slaves must not allow the unlawful intercourse of the two sexes, but must encourage matrimony. Neither must he hinder them from marrying with slaves of other masters; in which case, if the estates are distant from one another, so that the new married couple cannot fulfil the object of marriage, the wife shall follow the husband, whose master shall buy her at a fair valuation, set upon her by skilful men, who shall be nominated by the two parties; and in case of disagreement, a third shall be appointed by the justice to fix the price. If the master of the husband does not agree to the purchase, the master of the wife shall have the same faculty. "CHAPTER VIII. Obligations and "As masters of slaves are obliged to maintain them, to educate, and to employ them, in useful work, proportioned to their strength, age, and sex, without forsaking their children and those who are old and obligation on slaves to obey and respect sickly, so, on the other hand, there is an their masters and the stewards, to perform the work which is given them to do, conformable to their strength, and to venerate them as heads of the family. Thus he who will not fulfil any of those obligations must be punished, either by the master of his estate, or by his steward, according to the nature of his offence, with prison, chains, or lashes, which must not exceed the number of twenty-five, and those must be given them in such a manner as not to cause any contusion or effusion of blood; slaves but by their masters or their stewards. which punishment cannot be imposed on "CHAPTER IX. Of the Imposition of greater Punishments. "When slaves commit crimes against their masters, mistresses, the children, stewards, or any other person, which require greater punishments than those mentioned in the before-going chapter, the master, his steward, or any one else who was present when the offence was committed, shall secure the delinquent, and inform the justice of it, that in the audience of the slave's master and of the attorney who defends the cause of the former, a law-suit may be commenced against him, and a punishment imposed upon him according to the importance and circumstances of the offence; observing in every thing what is ordered by the laws with respect to the causes of other delinquents in general. And if the slave be sentenced to pay onethird of the charges of the law-suit, his master shall be responsible for it, besides the corporal punishment which, according to the importance of the crime, the delinquent shall suffer, after having been approved of by the audience of the district, whether it be death or mutilation of members. sitting in France: eighteen were elected, six for each province; who, without any authority from the French ministry or the colo Edwards, vol. iii. p. 16. " CHAPTER X.-Defects or Excess of their Masters and their Stewards. : "The master or his steward, who does not fulfil what is ordered in the before-going chapters, with respect to the education, habitations, &c. of slaves, or who shall forsake their children, and those that are old and sickly, shall be fined fifty dollars for the first time, one hundred for the second, and two hundred for the third; and those fines shall be paid by the master, even in the case that the fault had been committed by his steward only, if the latter were not able to pay it; one-third of which belongs to the informer, another to the judge, and the other is to be put into, the fine chest, which will be treated of afterwards and in case the before-mentioned fines should not produce the desired effect, and they should commit the same fault again, other greater punishments shall be inflicted upon them, as disobedient to my royal orders; and as soon as I am informed of their disobedience, I shall take my measures accordingly. When their masters or their stewards are guilty of excess in punishing the slaves, causing them contusion, effusion of blood, or mutilation of members; besides paying the before-mentioned fines, they shall be prosecuted as criminals, and have a punishment inflicted upon them according to the crime which they had committed; and the slave shall be confiscated and sold to another master, if he is able to work, putting the amount of him into the fine chest; and if he cannot be sold on account of being unable to work, he shall not be restored to his master, who shall be obliged to allow him a daily sum, which shall be fixed upon by the justice, for his maintenance and clothes during the remainder of his life, paying it every three months in advance. "CHAPTER XI.-Of those who injure Slaves. "As masters and stewards can alone chastise slaves with that moderation which is required, no other person who is not their master, or his steward, shall injure, chastise, wound, or kill them, without incurring the punishment enacted by the laws against those who commit the like excesses towards free people; and the master of the slave who has been injured, suit against the criminal, and the attorney, as protector of slaves, shall defend his cause. “CHAPTER XII.-List of Slaves. "The masters of slaves shall be obliged every year to deliver in to the justice of the town or village, in the district of which their estates, are situated, a list, signed and sworn to by them, of all the slaves which they have, with distinction of sexes and ages, in order that the notary of the townhouse may take an account of them in a separate book, which is to be kept for this purpose at the said town-house, together with the list presented by the master, who, whenever any of his slaves die, or absent themselves from his estate, must inform the justice of it, within the term of three days, that, by order of the attorney-general, it may be noted in the book, in order to avoid all suspicion of having been killed and if the master does not fulfil this, he shall be obliged fully to prove either the absence of the slave or his natural death, for, on the contrary, a lawsuit will be commenced against him. "CHAPTER XIII.-Method of investigating the Excesses of Masters or Stewards. "The distance of some estates from the towns ; the inconvenience that would result from permitting slaves to go out without an order from their master, under the pretext of complaining; and the just regulations of the law, which orders that no fugitive slave shall be assisted, protected, or concealed; require that means be facilitated which are proportioned to all those circumstances, in order that it may be known how they are treated by their masters; and - one of those is, that the priests who go to the estates to explain to them the Christian doctrine and to say mass, do obtain information from the said slaves how they are treated by their masters and the stewards, and if every thing be observed which is ordered in the before-going chapters, in order that they may give a secret and reserved notice of it to the attorney-general, and that he may cause it to be investigated whether the masters or their stewards are wanting in the whole or in part of their respective obligations; and the said priests, who, by reason of their ministry, do give the said secret |