Part 64 (1/2)
An aged infirm woman said to us, among other things, ”Since de _free_ come de ma.s.sa give me no--no, nothing to eat--gets all from my cousins.” We next conversed with two men, who were masons on an estate.
Being asked how they liked liberty, they replied, ”O, it very comfortable, Sir--very comfortable indeed.” They said, ”that on the day when freedom came, they were as happy, as though they had just been going to heaven.” They said, now they had got free, they never would be slaves again. They were asked if they would not be willing to sell themselves to a man who would treat them well. They replied immediately that they would be very willing to _serve_ such a man, but they would not _sell themselves_ to the best person in the world! What fine logicians a slave's experience had made these men! Without any effort they struck out a distinction, which has puzzled learned men in church and state, the difference between _serving_ a man and _being his property_.
Being asked how they conducted themselves on the 1st of August they said they had no frolicking, but they all went to church to ”_tank G.o.d for make a we free_.” They said, they were very desirous to have their children learn all they could while they were young. We asked them if they did not fear that their children would become lazy if they went to school all the time. One said, shrewdly, ”Eh! nebber mind--dey _come to_ by'm by--_belly 'blige 'em_ to work.”
In the evening Mr. M. held a religious meeting in the chapel; the weekly meeting for exhortation. He stated to the people the object of our visit, and requested one of us to say a few words. Accordingly, a short time was occupied in stating the number of slaves in America, and in explaining their condition, physical, moral, and spiritual; and the congregation were urged to pray for the deliverance of the millions of our bondmen. They manifested much sympathy, and promised repeatedly to pray that they might be ”free like we.” At the close of the meeting they pressed around us to say ”howdy, ma.s.sa;” and when we left the chapel, they showered a thousand blessings upon us. Several of them, men and women, gathered about Mr. M.'s door after we went in, and wished to talk with us. The men were mechanics, foremen, and watchmen; the women were nurses. During our interview, which lasted nearly an hour, these persons remained standing.
When we asked them how they liked freedom, and whether it was better than slavery, they answered with a significant _umph_ and a shrug of the shoulders, as though they would say, ”Why you ask dat question, ma.s.sa?”
They said, ”all the people went to chapel on the first of August, to tank G.o.d for make such poor undeserving sinners as we free; we no nebber expect to hab it. But it please de Lord to gib we free, and we tank him good Lord for it.”
We asked them if they thought the wages they got (a s.h.i.+lling per day, or about eleven cents,) was enough for them. They said it seemed to be very small, and it was as much as they could do to get along with it; but they could not get any more, and they had to be ”satify and conten.”
As it grew late and the good people had far to walk, we shook hands with them, and bade them good bye, telling them we hoped to meet them again in a world where all would be free. The next morning Mr. M. accompanied us to the residence of the Rev. Mr. Jones, the rector of St. Phillip's.
Mr. J. informed us that the planters in that part of the island were gratified with the working of the new system. He alluded to the prejudices of some against having the children educated, lest it should foster indolence. But, said Mr. J., the planters have always been opposed to improvements, until they were effected, and their good results began to be manifest. They first insisted that the abolition of the slave-trade would ruin the colonies--next the _abolition of slavery_ was to be the certain destruction of the islands--and now the education of children is deprecated as fraught with disastrous consequences.
FREY'S ESTATE--MR. HATLEY.
Mr. Morrish accompanied us to a neighboring estate called Frey's, which lies on the road from Newfield to English Harbor. Mr. Hatley, the manager, showed an enthusiastic admiration of the new system. Most of his testimony will be found in Chapter III. He said, that owing to the dry weather he should not make one third of his average crop. Yet his people had acted their part well. He had been encouraged by their improved industry and efficiency, to bring into cultivation lands that had never before been tilled.
It was delightful to witness the change which had been wrought in this planter by the abolition of slavery. Although accustomed for years to command a hundred human beings with absolute authority, he could rejoice in the fact that his power was wrested from him, and when asked to specify the advantages of freedom over slavery, he named emphatically and above all others _the abolition of flogging_. Formerly, he said, it was ”_whip--whip--whip--incessantly_, but now we are relieved from this disagreeable task.”
THE AMERICAN CONSUL
We called on the American Consul, Mr. Higginbotham, at his country residence, about four miles from St. John's. Shortly after we reached his elevated and picturesque seat, we were joined by Mr. Cranstoun, a planter, who had been invited to dine with us. Mr. C. is a _colored gentleman_. The Consul received him in such a manner as plainly showed that they were on terms of intimacy. Mr. C. is a gentleman of intelligence and respectability, and occupies a station of trust and honor in the island. On taking leave of us, he politely requested our company at breakfast on a following morning, saying, he would send his gig for us.
At the urgent request of Mr. Bourne, of Miller's, we consented to address the people of his estate, on Sabbath evening. He sent in his gig for us in the afternoon, and we drove out.
At the appointed hour we went to the place of meeting. The chapel was crowded with attentive listeners. Whenever allusions were made to the grout blessings which G.o.d had conferred upon them in delivering them from bondage, the audience heartily responded in their rough but earnest way to the sentiments expressed. At the conclusion of the meeting, they gradually withdrew, bowing or courtesying as they pa.s.sed us, and dropping upon our ear their gentle ”good bye, ma.s.sa.” During slavery every estate had its _dungeon_ for refractory slaves. Just as we were leaving Miller's, me asked Mr. B. what had become of these dungeons. He instantly replied, ”I'll show you one,” In a few moments we stood at the door of the old prison, a small stone building, strongly built, with two cells. It was a dismal looking den, surrounded by stables, pig-styes, and cattlepens. The door was off its hinges, and the entrance partly filled up with mason work. The sheep and goats went in and out at pleasure.
We breakfasted one morning at the Villa estate, which lies within half a mile of St. John's. The manager was less sanguine in his views of emanc.i.p.ation than the planters generally. We were disposed to think that, were it not for the force of public sentiment, he might declare himself against it. His feelings are easily accounted for. The estate is situated so near the town; that his people are a.s.sailed by a variety of temptations to leave their work; from which those on other estates are exempt. The manager admitted that the danger of insurrection was removed--crime was lessened--and the moral condition of society was rapidly improving.
A few days after, we went by invitation to a bazaar, or fair, which was held in the court-house in St. John's. The avails were to be appropriated to the building of a new Wesleyan chapel in the town. The council chamber and the a.s.sembly's call were given for the purpose. The former s.p.a.cious room was crowded with people of every cla.s.s and complexion. The fair was got up by the _colored_ members of the Wesleyan church; nevertheless, some of the first ladies and gentlemen in town attended it, and mingled promiscuously in the throng. Wealthy proprietors, lawyers legislators, military officers in their uniform, merchants, etc. swelled the crowd. We recognised a number of ladies whom we had previously met at a fas.h.i.+onable dinner in St. John's. Colored ladies presided at the tables, and before them was spread a profusion of rich fancy articles. Among a small number of books exhibited for sale were several copies of a work ent.i.tled ”COMMEMORATIVE WREATH,” being a collection of poetical pieces relating to the abolition of slavery in the West Indies.
VISIT TO MR. CRANSTOUN'S.
On the following morning Mr. C.'s gig came for us, and we drove out to his residence. We were met at the door by the American Consul, who breakfasted with us. When he had taken leave, Mr. C. proposed that we should go over his grounds. To reach the estate, which lies in a beautiful valley far below Mr. C.'s mountainous residence, we were obliged to go on foot by a narrow path that wound along the sides of the precipitous hills. This estate is the property of Mr. Athill, a colored gentleman now residing in England. Mr. A. is post-master general of Antigua, one of the first merchants in St. John's, and was a member of the a.s.sembly until the close of 1836, when, on account of his continued absence, he resigned his seat. A high-born white man, the Attorney General, now occupies the same chair which this colored member vacated.
Mr. C. was formerly attorney for several estates, is now agent for a number of them, and also a magistrate.
He remarked, that since emanc.i.p.ation the nocturnal disorders and quarrels in the negro villages, which were incessant during slavery, had nearly ceased. The people were ready and willing to work. He had frequently given his gang jobs, instead of paying them by the day. This had proved a gear stimulant to industry, and the work of the estate was performed so much quicker by this plan that it was less expensive than daily wages. When they had jobs given them, they would sometimes go to work by three o'clock in the morning, and work by moonlight. When the moon was not s.h.i.+ning, he had known them to kindle fires among the trash or dry cane leaves to work by. They would then continue working all day until four o clock, stopping only for breakfast, and dispensing with the usual intermission from twelve to two.
We requested him to state briefly what were in his estimation the advantages of the free system over slavery. He replied thus: 1st. The diminished expense of free labor. 2d. _The absence of coercion_. 3d. The greater facility in managing an estate. Managers had not half the perplexity and trouble in watching, driving, &c. They could leave the affairs of the estate in the hands of the people with safety. 4th. _The freedom from danger_. They had now put away all fears of insurrections, robbery, and incendiarism.
There are two reflections which the perusal of these items will probably suggest to most minds: 1st. The coincidence in the replies of different planters to the question--What are the advantages of freedom over slavery? These replies are almost identically the same in every case, though given by men who reside in different parts of the island, and have little communication with each other. 2d. They all speak exclusively of the advantages to the _master_, and say nothing of the benefit accruing to the emanc.i.p.ated. We are at some loss to decide whether this arose from indifference to the interests of the emanc.i.p.ated, or from a conviction that the blessings of freedom to them were self-evident and needed no specification.
While we were in the boiling-house we witnessed a scene which ill.u.s.trated one of the benefits of freedom to the slave; it came quite opportunely, and supplied the deficiency in the manager's enumeration of advantages. The head boiler was performing the work of 'striking off;'
i.e. of removing the liquor, after it had been sufficiently boiled, from the copper to the coolers. The liquor had been taken out of the boiler by the skipper, and thence was being conducted to the coolers by a long open spout. By some means the spout became choaked, and the liquor began to run over. Mr. C. ordered the man to let down the valve, but he became confused, and instead of letting go the string which lifted the valve, he pulled on it the more. The consequence was that the liquor poured over the sides of the spout in a torrent. The manager screamed at the top of his voice--”_let down the valve, let it down_!” But the poor man, more and more frightened, hoisted it still higher,--and the precious liquid--pure sugar--spread in a thick sheet over the earthen floor. The manager at last sprang forward, thrust aside the man, and stopped the mischief, but not until many gallons of sugar were lost. Such an accident as this, occurring during slavery, would have cost the negro a severe flogging. As it was, however, in the present case, although Mr.
C. 'looked daggers,' and exclaimed by the workings of his countenance, 'a kingdom for a _cat_,'[A] yet the severest thing which he could say was, ”You bungling fellow--if you can't manage better than this, I shall put some other person in your place--that's all.” '_That_'s ALL' indeed, but it would not have been all, three years ago. The negro replied to his chidings in a humble way, saying 'I couldn't help it, sir, I couldn't help it' Mr. C. finally turned to us, and said in a calmer tone, ”The poor fellow got confused, and was frightened half to death.”
[Footnote A: A species of whip, well know in the West Indies.]
VISIT TO GRACE BAY.