“A list and abstract, or general account of all returns, made upon oath by owners, overseers, or managers, in pursuance of the 7th and 8th clauses or sections of an act, passed in December 1788, intituled, ‘An Act for the Encouragement, Protection, and better Management of Slaves[10].’
“If it appears that no such accounts or returns have been duly made, or that they have been in any great measure neglected, you are requested further to send,
“An account or list of all convictions had, and fines or forfeitures recovered, and of all prosecutions commenced against the defaulters, pursuant to the said act of Assembly.
“If the said returns and accounts have been wholly or generally neglected, and no prosecutions have taken place for that cause, you are to send a certificate to that effect.
“You will also state whether the island had in 1788, or in 1799, when the act was made perpetual, or yet has, any and what parochial or established clergy, by whom the regulations in sections 3 and 4, have been or can be carried into effect[11].”
To these inquiries no answer appears to have been returned by the Governors, either of Jamaica or the Bahamas. From those of the Leeward Islands, St. Vincent and Grenada, letters have been received, stating the difficulty of immediately complying with the requisitions of Earl Camden, but promising to take measures, without delay, for procuring the desired information. Now here it may be proper to remark, that with respect to several important heads of inquiry, particularly those which relate to the execution of the laws enacted for the protection of Slaves, a very short delay must have been sufficient. The Governors, by referring to the Secretary of the island, or to the clerks of the several courts of record, could have at once ascertained whether the legal provisions mentioned by Earl Camden had or had not been carried into effect. If they had; a copy of the record would have been all the answer which was requisite: If they had not; it was only necessary to say so, and to state the reasons of the failure.
This manly and becoming course has been pursued only in one instance, viz. in that of the Governor of Dominica: and his answers, though defective in some important particulars, yet contain a candid disclosure of facts, and are therefore calculated to throw considerable light, not only on the causes which may possibly have impeded the returns from the other islands, but on the general state of Negro slavery in the West Indies.
Governor Prevost, in his letter to Earl Camden, represents Dominica “as distinguished by the laws it has passed for the encouragement, protection, and government of Slaves;” but he goes on to remark, “I am sorry I cannot add that they are as religiously enforced as you could wish[12].” Now this is precisely what has been asserted, with respect to the laws in question, by the advocates of abolition, and as strenuously denied by West Indians. The laws may look well on paper, but they are inefficient: nay, they were never meant to be otherwise. If any one is so extremely ignorant of West Indian affairs, as not to have been already apprized of this fact, let him read the following passage in an official letter of the Governor of Dominica:
“The Act of the Legislature, intituled, ‘An Act for the Encouragement, Protection, and better Government of Slaves,’ appears to have been considered, from the day it was passed until this hour, as a POLITICAL MEASURE to avert the interference of the mother-country in the management of Slaves[13]. Having said this, your Lordship will not be surprised to learn the clause seventh of that Bill has been wholly neglected[14]. As to the eighth clause, it is too intimately connected with the public interest to be allowed to sleep.
“I am apprehensive you will find the account of all convictions had, and fines or forfeitures recovered, and of all prosecutions commenced against the defaulters, pursuant to the said act, very unsatisfactory; however, here, now and then, the act has shewn some signs of life.” P. [36].