6

with him, down with him! They then pressed forwards through the crowd in order to seize me, crying out again, Who seconds that fellow?' on which my new and gallant friend, Mr. Bull, whose house was then my residence, stepped forth between the rioters and me, saying, I second him against men and devils.' A lady also stood up, and reasoned boldly with the rioters on the impropriety of their conduct. They soon afterwards retreated, vociferating, 'Down with him, down with him!'

"The spirits of the congregation were so discomposed by this unhappy accident, that I gave out a hymn, and then chose another text, and preached to a serious and attentive audience.

"Between three and four hundred thousand souls, living chiefly without hope and without God in the world, forbade all supineness; and the attention of many among those who heard, by giving an early promise of a productive harvest, presented an opening which pointed out our path.

"Four or five families of some property opened their houses, and very evidently their hearts also, to me; and assured me, that any missionaries we should in future send to the island should be welcome to beds, and to every thing their houses afforded.

"Thus was the work of God begun in the south of Jamaica." Mr. Wilberforce made the following propositions to the House of Commons:

"That the number of slaves annually carried from Africa to the British West Indies amounted to 38,000. That the probable demerits of the supposed delinquents, as alleged by the advocates for the trade, could not justify, or even sanction, the hardships they endured. That the waste of human life must be dreadfully enormous to require such an annual demand. That the influence which our support of this traffic must have on the minds of the inhabitants of Africa at large must be productive of the most pernicious consequences, and must for ever prevent that social intercourse which might ultimately tend to their civilization.

"That the injury sustained by British seamen engaged in this inhuman employment was almost beyond calculation. That the fatal consequences attending the transportation of slaves across the Atlantic were such as made humanity shrink with horror. That if this trade were discontinued, Africa presented sources of wealth which might be secured on the ground of honourable commerce, from which we were now totally debarred. That the causes of mortality among the Negroes might be traced to this common source of their calamities. That, with proper attention to their condition, the Negro population might easily be increased in the islands of Barbadoes and Jamaica. That the present system rendered it more profitable for the planter to import Negroes from Africa than to rear an infant in the colony. That these

This insult gave great encouragement to the mob: preaching by candle-light became impracticable. This persecution served as a stimulus, and by the end of the year the Methodists reckoned forty-four members in society. Several people of colour were compelled to quit the connexion. Blacks were forbidden to attend, 1 on pain of corporal punishment.

In February, there were 2800 persons in the society of Methodists in Antigua, and 2000 in the Moravian society.

Early in 1789, Dr. Coke says, "We again made two visits to Nevis. From this period we may date the introduction of the: gospel into the island. At this time we (the Methodists) formed a little class of twenty-one catechumens, and provided for their i instruction before our departure, by leaving them to the care of Mr. Owens, one of our missionaries, who was appointed to take upon him the charge of the mission throughout the whole colony."

Dr. Coke landed at Port Royal, in Jamaica, on the 19th of January, 1789. He was the first of that class of men who attempted to make converts in that island; and the following extract is from his own report:-" At this period the form of godliness was hardly visible in Jamaica; and its power, except in some few solitary instances, was totally unknown. The exertions of the Moravian brethren were quite inadequate to the field which lay open before them iniquity prevailed in all its forms; and both Whites and Blacks were evidently living without hope and without God in the world."

Dr. Coke preached four times in a gentleman's house in Kingston to small but increasing congregations. The room being too confined, a Roman Catholic gentleman offered him the use of a very large one, which had been a public concert-room.

6

"The first evening I preached there," he says, "the congregation was considerable, and received the word with great decency and great attention. Whilst I was pointing out to the unregenerate the fallaciousness of all their hopes, and the impossibility of reversing the decree, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven,' and seriously inquiring of them, whether they had found out some new gospel as their directory, a poor Negro woman cried out, I am sure you are a new priest.' The second evening, the great room, and all the piazzas round it, were crowded with people. I believe there were four hundred white people present (the largest number of Whites I ever preached to in the West Indies), and about two hundred Negroes, there being no room, I think, for more. After I had preached about ten minutes, a company of gentlemen, inflamed with liquor, began to be very turbulent; till at last the noise increasing, they cried out, Down

Mr. Hammett, the first Methodist missionary at Tortola, commenced his labours in the Virgin Islands and Santa Cruz this year.

The exports from the French colony of St. Domingo were 47,516,531 pounds of white sugar, 93,773,300 of brown; 76,835,219 of coffee; 7,004,274 of cotton; and 758,628 of indigo.

The produce of 1787, 1788, and 1789, amounted, on an average, to £4,956,780 sterling.

Mr. Gregg, secretary to the King's commission, and auctioneer, in disposing of the lands in the ceded islands, stated that he had sold 174,000 acres for £620,000, under a covenant for the purchaser to cut down, clear, and cultivate one acre out of twenty every year, till half the uncleared lands shall be cleared, under penalty of paying £5 per annum for every acre neglected.

Of the 106,470 acres of land which Barbadoes is said to contain, here are hardly any not cultivated which are capable of being rought into culture.

1790.

In January, the royal order for convoking a general colonial sembly was received at St. Domingo: it appointed Leogane for e place of meeting. The provincial assemblies disapproved of is order, adopted another plan, resolved to hold the assembly at t. Marc, and fixed the time for the 16th of April.

On the 8th of March, the national assembly, in France, voted, that it never was the intention of the assembly to comprehend e interior government of the colonies in the constitution which ey had framed for the mother country, or to subject them to ws which were incompatible with their local establishments: they erefore authorize the inhabitants of each colony to signify to the itional assembly their sentiments and wishes concerning that plan `interior legislation and commercial arrangement which would be ost conducive to their prosperity."

On the 28th of the same month, the national assembly passed decree of instructions for the execution of their decree of the 8th: consisted of eighteen articles, and contained, among other things, declaration," that every person of the age of twenty-five and pwards, possessing property, or having resided two years in the olony, and paid taxes, should be permitted to vote in the formation f the colonial assembly." And, "that the national assembly ould not cause any innovation to be made, directly or indirectly,

Coke's West Indies, vol. iii. pp. 112. 398. Parliamentary Papers, 1789, Slave Trade Examination, John Gregg, Esq. leport of the Lords of the Committee, 1789. Edwards, vol. iii. pp. 24, 25. 63.

profits were abominable, as they were the price of blood. And, finally, it could be proved that no considerable disadvantage would be experienced ultimately by those who were interested in the trade, if all further importation were prohibited."

The Baron de Wimpfens carried out and set the first seeds ever sown in St. Domingo of the narcissus, hyacinth, and violet

Table of West India Exports for 1789. Return to the House of Commons, 1806.

Antigua varies from 2500 to 18,000 hhds.; St. Kitt's, from 8000 to 17,000; Barbadoes, from 6000 to 13,000; whilst Grenada, St. Vincent's, and Tobago, vary only as from 12,000 to 16,000 hhds. average.

The number of slaves annually exported from Africa, as stated by the delegates from Liverpool, were 74,000.

More of these came from Bonny and New Calabar than any other place.

In February, the inhabitants of Tortola amounted to 1000 Whites, and 8000 coloured people and Blacks.

The population of Santa Cruz was estimated at 30,000 souls.

Baron de Wimpfens' St. Domingo, p. 141.

Sir W. Young's Common-place Book, pp. 28, 29.
Report of the Lords of the Committee, 1789, Part IV. No. 14.

Mr. Hammett, the first Methodist missionary at Tortola, commenced his labours in the Virgin Islands and Santa Cruz this year.

The exports from the French colony of St. Domingo were 47,516,531 pounds of white sugar, 93,773,300 of brown; 76,835,219 of coffee; 7,004,274 of cotton; and 758,628 of indigo.

The produce of 1787, 1788, and 1789, amounted, on an average, to £4,956,780 sterling.

Mr. Gregg, secretary to the King's commission, and auctioneer, in disposing of the lands in the ceded islands, stated that he had sold 174,000 acres for £620,000, under a covenant for the purchaser to cut down, clear, and cultivate one acre out of twenty every year, till half the uncleared lands shall be cleared, under penalty of paying £5 per annum for every acre neglected.

Of the 106,470 acres of land which Barbadoes is said to contain, there are hardly any not cultivated which are capable of being brought into culture.

1790.

In January, the royal order for convoking a general colonial assembly was received at St. Domingo: it appointed Leogane for the place of meeting. The provincial assemblies disapproved of this order, adopted another plan, resolved to hold the assembly at St. Marc, and fixed the time for the 16th of April.

On the 8th of March, the national assembly, in France, voted, "that it never was the intention of the assembly to comprehend the interior government of the colonies in the constitution which they had framed for the mother country, or to subject them to laws which were incompatible with their local establishments: they therefore authorize the inhabitants of each colony to signify to the national assembly their sentiments and wishes concerning that plan of interior legislation and commercial arrangement which would be most conducive to their prosperity."

On the 28th of the same month, the national assembly passed a decree of instructions for the execution of their decree of the 8th: it consisted of eighteen articles, and contained, among other things, a declaration, "that every person of the age of twenty-five and upwards, possessing property, or having resided two years in the colony, and paid taxes, should be permitted to vote in the formation of the colonial assembly." And, "that the national assembly would not cause any innovation to be made, directly or indirectly,

Coke's West Indies, vol. iii. pp. 112. 398. Parliamentary Papers, 1789, Slave Trade Examination, John Gregg, Esq. Report of the Lords of the Committee, 1789. Edwards, vol. iii. pp. 24, 25. 63.