TESTIMONY OF CLERGY AND MISSIONARIES IN ANTIGUA IN 1837.
Rev. Mr. Jones, Rector of St. Phillips, said to Mr. Thome:—"The planters have always been opposed to improvements, until they were effected, and the good results became manifest. They first said that the abolition of the slave-trade would ruin the Colonies; next they said the abolition of slavery would be the certain destruction of the islands; and now they deprecate the education of the emancipated children, as a measure fraught with disastrous consequences. But emancipation has proved a great blessing to the people, and the planters in this part of the island are gratified with the working of the system. The benefits of education are extending, and religious privileges greatly increasing. There has been manifest improvement in the morals and manners of the children, since education has become general. With regard to marriage, there has been a complete revolution in the habits of the people.
"The Superintendent of the Wesleyan Mission informed us that the collection in the several Wesleyan Chapels, in 1836, independent of occasional contributions to Sunday Schools, missionary objects, etc., amounted to more than $6,000. Besides giving liberally, according to their small means, to the Bible Society, the emancipated slaves formed several Branch Associations among themselves, for the circulation of the Scriptures. The contributions from Antigua and Bermuda, the only two islands which had then adopted entire freedom, were double those from any other two islands. Among the Wesleyans, the freed negroes had formed four Friendly Societies, to help the aged and infirm, nurse the sick, and encourage sobriety and industry. In 1836, they raised money themselves and expended for those objects £700 currency ($2,100). In 1837, they had £600 ($1,800) in their treasury." To estimate this liberality properly, it must be remembered that the wages of these poor people was only a shilling a day, about twenty-four cents: and that they boarded themselves; also, that, until the last three years, they had received no wages at all for their labor. There was no public poorhouse in Antigua; a fact highly creditable to the emancipated people.
A Report published by the Wesleyan Brethren, alluding to the emancipated slaves, says: "They always show a readiness to contribute to the support of the Gospel. With the present low wages, and the entire charge of self-maintenance, they have but little to spare. Parham and Sion Hill (taken as specimens) have societies composed almost entirely of rural blacks; about 1,350 in number. In 1836, these contributed above $1,650, in little weekly subscriptions; besides giving to special objects occasionally, and contributing for the support of schools."
The West India Association for Advancement of Christian Faith, in its Report for 1836, makes a statement which shows that marriages in one year, at that time, were twice as numerous as in ten years, during slavery.