THE AFFAIRS OF THE WEST INDIES.
In the latter part of 1831, a violent hurricane had occasioned a great deal of injury in Barbadoes, St. Vincent, and St. Lucia. During this session ministers proposed, and parliament agreed, to grant his majesty £100,000 for the relief of the sufferers in those islands. Jamaica was soon after visited by a calamity of a different kind, though not less destructive. About the end of 1831, a formidable insurrection, which had been organised for some time, broke out among the slaves, particularly in the parishes of Trelawney, Portland, and St. James. The negroes on several estates began at first to refuse to go to their work, and then they assembled together in large bodies, and marched over the country, spreading devastation around them. The destruction which they caused was not confined to the whites; the houses and small settlements of free people of colour were attacked equally with the large plantations of the white inhabitants. It was found necessary on the 20th of December to proclaim martial law, and the militia of the different parishes was called out. Sir Willoughby Cotton also marched to Montego Bay, with between two and three hundred troops. Two engagements took place between the negroes and the militia, in both of which the former were routed. They again made head in some quarters; but at length the troops succeeded in dispersing them; and offers of pardon being issued to all but the ringleaders, the greater part of them returned to their masters. Of the ringleaders, some were shot after trial by courts-martial; and by the middle of January the danger was over, though some of the negroes still remained out, and martial law was not recalled. The insurrection was ascribed by the whites partly to the vague notions existing among the negroes by the orders in council intended to effect the amelioration of their condition, and partly to the arts or imprudence of sectarian missionaries. A belief had been produced among the former that their liberty had been granted by the king; and it was said that they had been encouraged in these ideas by some of the missionaries. This unfortunately gave rise to the work of retaliation. At Montego Bay. Falmouth, Lucia, and Savanna-la-Mer, the chapels of the Baptists were razed to the ground by the mob, probably at the instigation of the planters. A Baptist and Moravian missionary were arrested on the charge of exciting the insurrection, but nothing was found to criminate them. But apart from the effect which the orders in council might have had in misleading the negroes, they were regarded by the colonists as an unnecessary and mischievous interference with the rights of property, and even with their political privileges. The orders appointed slave-protectors to attend to the rights of negroes against their own masters, fixed the hours of labour, and contained various other regulations, all deemed useful, and intended to prepare the way for a general emancipation. These orders were considered in both sets of islands as dangerous incitements to turbulence among the negroes, and ruinous to the property of planters. There were discontent and irritation everywhere against the government at home; and in the colonies which had legislative assemblies it was plainly spoken out by resolutions and petitions. Nor were the proprietors at home silent on the occasion. On the 6th of April the West-India mercantile body of London presented a protest against the order in council to the secretary of state. This was followed by a public meeting of persons interested in the colonies, where it was resolved to petition the house of lords, praying, “That a full and impartial parliamentary inquiry should be instituted for the purposes of ascertaining the laws and usages of the colonies, the condition of the slaves, the improvements that had been made in that condition, and what further steps could be taken for the amelioration of that condition consistently with the best interests of the slaves themselves, and with the rights of private property.” This petition was presented on the 17th of April, by the Earl of Harewood, and the prayer of their petition was granted. Mr. Buxton, on the 24th of May, made a motion on the other side of the question. He moved: “That a select committee be appointed to consider and report upon the measures expedient to be adopted for properly effecting the extinction of slavery throughout the British dominions at the earliest period compatible with the safety of all classes.” Lord Althorp objected to this motion as too unqualified, and he wished Mr. Buxton to add the words, “in conformity with the resolutions of 15th of May, 1823.” To this Mr. Buxton would not consent, and Lord Althorp then moved them as an amendment on the motion, and they were carried by a large majority. These measures were subsequently followed by pecuniary relief to those who had lost property. The sum of £100,000, which had been granted to the sufferers from the hurricane in Barbadoes, St. Vincent, and St. Lucia, was raised to £1,000.000, and extended to the sufferers in Jamaica by the insurrection. In addition to this, the sum of £58,000 was granted to be applied in giving aid in regard to the internal expenses to the crown colonies, which had adopted the orders in council, and had carried the same into effect.