any amendment as to these objectionable clauses in 1739, and is, Mr. Stephen says in 1824, "probably still unrepealed." In this pitiable case of involuntary crime, the legislature, by directing the execution immediately to follow the sentence, shuts out the possibility of pardon: the prosecutor having a private interest in the execution of the criminal, the granting a pardon without his consent might be a matter of some embarrassment, and by the act he had a legal right to insist on the execution of the sentence. In every case, however deserving of mercy, he was to receive part of the price of blood, and therefore might demand its effusion. Dr. Coke returned again to Jamaica. "But the persecution (he says) which we have experienced in this place, far, very far, exceeds all the persecutions that we have met with in the other islands, unitedly considered. Mr. Hammett's life was frequently endangered. Mr. Bull several times narrowly escaped being stoned to death, particularly one night, when he eluded the vigilance of the rioters by being disguised in a suit of regimentals. "We forbear to record specific instances of brutality and wickedness, or to mention the names of those whose sons shall blush their fathers were our foes. "To depart from persecution, was to flee from duty; and to apply for justice, was but another name for sustaining wrong. To abandon the chapel altogether, was to expose it to ruin and demolition; and to persevere in the usual course, was to endanger life. To quit the scene of action was to give up the contest, and to arm those by whom we were oppressed with that victory for which they had been contending, and which would become a formidable weapon on a future day." Mr. Hammett was obliged to refrain from preaching by candle-light, Dr. Coke, however, on the first evening of his arrival, ventured to open the chapel again for preaching by candle-light, and had a numerous audience; but some of them, he says, were very rude. The following is his report of his proceedings in Spanish Town: "In the evening I appeared in the long-room of the tavern, according to permission, having previously sent notice round the town. When I entered, I found it nearly filled by the young bucks and bloods (as we used to term the debauchees at Oxford), and not a single lady was present: soon afterwards, many of the coloured people, of both sexes, came and filled the vacant places. During my sermon the bucks behaved so rudely, that I observed, before I concluded, that if any house-keeper would lend me a hall, I would preach again the next evening; otherwise, I should probably be obliged to leave the place. Farewell, sir!' said one; • Good luck to you, sir!' said another: and thus they went on, till I withdrew. When Mr. Brazier and I consulted together on the subject, we were fully persuaded, from the countenances and behaviour of the coloured people, that the Redeemer's kingdom might be enlarged by preaching the gospel to them, and that we ought not by any means to give up the point. Before bed-time, two gentlemen came to me at my lodging, and offered me their halls to preach in; but, alas! when I called on them the next morning, they had been frightened by their friends, and both of them retracted their engagements. We were then determined to move on the true gospel plan, from the least to the greatest.' Accordingly, we hired a poor cheap house (if it may be called by so lofty a name), in the outskirts of the town, of a Mulatto, from month to month. Here I preached in the evening to a considerable number of the people of colour; and, notwithstanding the poverty of the place, some of the bucks attended, and were ruder, if possible, than the night before. During the height of the noise, I felt a spirit which I think I never felt before, at least in the same degree - I believe it was a spark of the proper spirit of martyrdom. At the conclusion, therefore, of a pointed though short address to the rioters, I told them I was willing, yea, desirous, if the kingdom of Jesus could be promoted thereby, to suffer martyrdom; and my words seemed to have a considerable effect on their minds.” A few days afterwards, Dr. Coke preached at Port Royal, in the house of Mr. Fishley. "There had been some persecution in this place, many of the outrageous in Kingston having agreed to assassinate Mr. Hammett here; but the magistrates behaved with such spirit and intrepidity, that the persecutors were glad to hide their heads." Dr. Coke sailed in a few days for South Carolina, leaving 234 in the society of Methodists in the whole circuit, which was an increase of eighty-four since the last accounts were made up. From Easter 1791 to Easter 1792, 640 Negroes were baptized in Antigua by the Moravian missionaries. In 1792, upon the average of four years, Antigua produced and exported only 3900 hhds. of sugar. The national assembly of France passed a decree of thanks to the King of Great Britain, to the English nation, and to Lord Effingham, the governor of Jamaica, for his generous conduct, in relieving the planters of St. Domingo from the horrors of famine, and in furnishing them with arms and military stores against the rebel Negroes. The West India merchants voted £500 to Captain Bligh, of the navy, for his services while on the West India station. In February, Flora Gale, aged 120 years, died at Savannah-laMer, in Jamaica: she retained all her faculties till within three Coke's West Indies, vol. i. p. 425.; vol. ii. p. 426. days of her death. There was not a house in that town when she came to the parish. She was a free black woman, but would never be baptized, because there might be a dance at her funeral. General Mathews, the governor of Grenada, conceived so favourable an opinion of Mr. Owens, the Methodist missionary to that island, that he offered him the vacant living of Cariacow, if he would go to England and be ordained by the Bishop of London. "But Mr. Owens (Dr. Coke says), influenced by a sense of duty, with all the fortitude of a man of God, nobly declined the offer, and chose to continue a poor dependant Methodist preacher." The living of Cariacow was worth about £800 currency per annum. The Moravian missionaries report, that "their chapel was well filled with Negroes every Sunday. Thirteen adults had been baptized, and ten had been added to the number of their communicants, in the preceding year." This year, the Moravian missionaries at St. Christopher's added 335 Negroes to their congregation by baptism, or by admission to their class of candidates for it. The Moravian Missionary's Account of a Flood at St. Christopher's. "St. Kitt's, April 11, 1792. "By this opportunity I send you an account of the dismal situation into which this island, and in particular the town of Basse Terre, has suddenly been thrown. "Ever since Palm Sunday, we have had at times smart showers of rain. In the night a strong wind arose, with repeated violent gusts of flying showers, which lasted till morning. Towards noon it rained much, and great quantities of water flowed down Collegestreet. At two, it began to lighten and thunder; and the stream increased, so that it spread as far as our new wall: and about eight in the evening, the rain grew more violent. Between nine and ten, we heard much noise. I went into the garden, and heard distinctly the cries and shrieks of the poor Negroes opposite to us; for the waters coming across Mr. L's cane-lands, had passed through their huts. I would gladly have gone to their assistance, but could not; for the current was very rapid and the water higher than our walled fence. I called upon the Lord to have mercy upon them; but, soon after, saw the Negro houses carried away, with their inhabitants. "As I went to our burying-ground, I perceived that about fifty feet in length of the wall, from the corner below the gate, was washed away, the planks of the remaining part torn off, and the strong cedar posts bending towards the street. The ground within the wall, to the depth of five or six feet, was washed out, and carried away. It was now between eleven and twelve o'clock at night, and I went in to inform the sisters how things appeared; we then prayed to our Heavenly Father to help us in our distress. We soon felt comforted; and presently after, the violence of the rain abated. At six in the morning, a few people who had escaped the danger came to our church, to pray the Easter litany. Having sung a hymn, we kneeled down, thanked our merciful Saviour for having protected and preserved us, prayed for the island and its inhabitants, read the history of our Lord's resurrection, and then prayed the litany in the church. "We were soon afterwards informed of the great damage done in the town. On L.'s plantation, two women, one of whom was a candidate for baptism, with two children, were lost. A woman from W.'s estate, who had put up on L.'s for that night, with four children, her husband, and a blind woman, were all in great danger. As they stood in the water, the children cried, Dear Father ! dear Saviour ! hear the cry of us poor children, and help us and our mother.' God heard their cries, and preserved them. ، In College-street, the torrent carried away all the fences, walls, and steps, and in some places tore down the houses some falling upon the inhabitants, and some being carried away with them. The water also broke into the house of one of our communicants, gained vent, and swept away two adjoining houses into the sea. In one of these was a communicant sister and her son. The parish house was broken down. The English church and the Methodist chapel were filled with mud and water. Several houses were carried into the sea, with all their furniture, and dashed to pieces. Most of the merchant's cellars were filled with water, mud, and sand; and great quantities of provisions were spoiled. "A Mrs. T., with her house and family, was carried into the sea : she cried out, Lord have mercy upon me, and help me. A Mulatto hearing her cries, ventured out, and swimming after her, caught her hair, and saved her, though she was almost dead. Her daughter's dead corpse swam by her side: her son was saved, but two of the inhabitants were lost. ،، One of our people, a Mulatto woman, said, “ It is of my Saviour's mercy that my life is preserved:' and indeed the Divine mercy was signal in her behalf; for her neighbour's house was swept away, while her's was left standing, though so filled with mud and water, that her goods were spoiled. "The strongest walls were unable to withstand the vehemence of the main current ; and the oldest inhabitants cannot remember so formidable and destructive an inundation, whereby so many lives were lost. "In the forenoon, brother Reichel returned from a visit upon Burt's plantations, after a very dangerous journey. "In our church alone divine service could be performed, and but few attended, both in the fore and afternoon. We were thankful that we had so good a wall to defend our premises, otherwise we must have been overflowed, and both the house and the church would have been in danger, because the floods used generally to break in at the corner of our burying ground. We have certainly sustained some damage, but nothing in comparison with the rest of the inhabitants: however, we feel it much. "In the town of Old Road, some houses have been washed into the sea, and on the north side much injury has been done. "You will undoubtedly join us in thanking our gracious Lord, that our dear Negroes in the town have been so mercifully preserved only Henrietta, a communicant, and a candidate for baptism on L.'s estate, have lost their lives. Had poor Henrietta staid in her own house, she would in all probability have been safe, for that was left standing. "On Good Friday, previous to the calamity, our church was filled with Negroes from the country: these were very attentive, and shed many tears during the prayer with which the meeting closed. Thanks be to God! we are at present well in health, and recommend ourselves to your prayers and remembrance before the Lord. "G. C. SCHNELLER." Some rum caught fire in the carenage at Grenada, by which accident the most valuable third of the town was destroyed. In April, the King George, slave ship, was wrecked to windward of Barbadoes. Two hundred and eighty-one slaves were drowned between decks: they were in irons, and the gratings locked. The captain and crew were saved-eighty-seven women, and a man and a boy, swam on shore, and were sold. Upon the 1st of August, several plantations at Antigua were destroyed by a hurricane-most of the other islands also suffered. Upon the 17th of November, Ninian Hume, Esq. was appointed lieutenant-governor of Grenada. Sugar and coffee, the produce of foreign plantations, were permitted by the English to be imported into certain of the Bahama islands, in foreign vessels, subject to regulations, by the acts 27. and 30. of the King. The British parliament voted, that the slave trade should cease upon the 1st of January, 1796. Fifty-five Moravians (some of whom were women) were stationed in different islands in the West Indies. Three men and their wives resided in Jamaica. The number of slaves in Barbadoes was estimated at 65,074. Depon says, that the Spaniards are litigious, "one would hardly Annual Register, 1792, pp. 29. 31. 48. -1796, p. 181. Coke's West Indies, vol. i. p. 408.; vol. ii. p. 122. |