Cuba Past and Present

by Richard Davey

A very interesting collection of books, maps, prints, and MSS., illustrative of the early history of the West Indies, belonging to Sir Graham Briggs, Mr Audley C. Miles, Mr Henry Stevens, and the writer, were also exhibited, and the following notes on this improvised library, which will certainly never be gathered together again, will doubtless be found of interest, as throwing considerable light on the bygone domestic history of our colonies in the Antilles.

In the eighteenth century their prosperity was at its height, and a surprising amount of luxury and magnificence existed in the capitals of each of our settlements. In 1741, we find the Island of Montserrat considerably exercised (The Laws of Montserrat from 1640 to 1788) by many open "Breaches of the Sabbath," a general neglect of "Public Worship," to the scandalizing of the Protestant religion, and by the encroachments of the "Scarlet Whore of Rome." To remedy this state of affairs, the rites and ceremonies of the Church are, according to the authority mentioned above, to be immediately placed on a footing with those practised in England, and "an able preaching minister is to be maintained, at a cost to the public exchequer of 14,000 lbs. of sugar per annum, or the value thereof in tobacco, cotton, wool, or indigo. Moreover, the said minister can demand not exceeding 100 lbs. of sugar, or the value thereof as above, for the joining together any of the inhabitants of this island in the holy and lawful state of matrimony." Meanwhile, Trinidad and Cuba, on the other hand, were gravely occupied by the question of Protestant encroachments. These islands were still Spanish, and the Inquisition was in full swing, occasionally roasting an unhappy wight suspected of heresy or idolatry.

"The Laws of Montserrat" enlighten us as to the manner in which the negroes were treated in some of the islands. Thus, in 1670, an Act was passed forbidding the negro to enter any plantation save his master's after nightfall, and should any be found, the owner or overseer of such plantation was given full power to punish him as he chose. "And should any negroes harbour or conceal any such loiterers in their cabins, they shall be taken before the next Justice of the Peace, and there his or her owner shall, in the presence of the said Justice, exercise the punishment of forty lashes."

Slaves were not permitted to enter a field of cane with any lights or fire whatsoever, as, "by their insufferable boldness in so doing, much damage has been done, and more is likely to ensue, and this is enacted to prevent future inconvenience, which may happen by such insufferable boldness."

Should a slave, transgressing this law, happen to set fire to the canes, he or she "shall not only be whipped, but, if it pleases their master, be put to death in any fashion he shall devise." If a negro stole a cow or any other head of cattle, he was to be brought before the next Justice of the Peace and publicly whipped. This punishment did not appear to have been sufficiently severe, for by the year 1693, theft had grown so common that an Act was passed ordaining that "henceforth any negro that shall be taken stealing or carrying away stock, cattle, or provisions, amounting to the value of twelve pence, shall suffer such death as his master shall think fit to award." If a negro was proved guilty of a theft below the value of twelve pence current money of the island, "he shall only suffer a severe whipping, and have both his ears cut off for the first offence, but for the second offence he shall suffer death in the form aforesaid ... and it shall be lawful to shoot at, and if possible, kill any negro he shall find stealing his provision, provided such provision be not within forty foot of the common path, and that the party so killing hath not expressed hatred or malice against the owner of such negro." The white servants might, it appears, "be kicked, but not whipped," otherwise they were treated very little better than the slaves. Negroes caught without tickets authorising their absence from their own plantation, are to be whipped with thirty-nine lashes by the constable who took them, for which service, "in each case he receives six shillings." Should a slave absent himself for the space of three months from his master's service, he was to suffer death as a felon, the owner to be allowed 3500 lbs. of sugar, out of the public stock, in compensation. Should a slave be killed or maimed by another man's slave, his owner had his choice of the manner of the offender's death for the first-named offence, and for the second he could decide whether he should be whipped, or the offence be atoned by compensation. From the Acts and Statutes of Barbados (1652), we find that the maker of a fraudulent and deceitful sale on that island of any "servant, cattel, negroes, and other flock or commodities, shall suffer six months' imprisonment, and stand in the Pillory two hours with his ears nailed thereto, with a paper in his hat, signifying the cause of his punishment ... and whosoever shall be convicted of carrying away any goods whatsoever after the same have been legally attached, shall be sent to prison during fourteen days, and if before the fourteenth day he have not made satisfaction to his Creditor, he shall be put in the Pillory and lose both his ears."

To turn to pleasanter things, we learn (from A Short History of Barbadoes, published in 1742) that nothing can exceed the splendour of the planters' manner of life. They have as fine houses as any in England, and are attended upon by regiments of negroes, and white servants in gorgeous liveries. "Their plate and their china, their fine gowns and their genteel manners, eclipse anything that the writer has ever seen on his travels, and their hospitality cannot be imagined—an hospitality for which Great Britain was once so deservedly famed." At the time when England was divided into two factions, Cavaliers and Roundheads, the planters, though naturally favouring one side or the other, made a law amongst themselves, forbidding the use of either of the two words, on penalty of giving a dinner to their neighbours. Many purposely made themselves liable to the penalty as a pretext for entertaining their friends. In those good old times, the Governors, notably those of Jamaica and Barbadoes, kept great state. When they went to church, they were preceded by pages in silver and gold liveries, and gorgeous officers—in fact, the splendour displayed recalled that of the King himself, when he betook himself in State to St Paul's. A good deal of jealousy was evinced, at times, between the citizens, as to who was entitled to attend the Governor's entertainments. The scene round Government House in James Street, Spanish Town on great ball nights, must have been of the most picturesque description. The ladies arrived in their Sedan-chairs, accompanied by armies of slaves, carrying torches. There must have been some great beauties amongst them, for we find the author of Letters from Barbadoes deeply impressed with "the majestic beauty of Miss Dolton," "the divine Miss Gordon," "the celestial Miss Alleyne," while, he declares,

"Sisters Carter, as two meteors bright,

Shine glorious round, and diffuse light."

Balls and parties, routs and dinners, suppers and theatres, occupied the attention of the West Indian ladies to an extent which would have amazed their descendants.

The advertisements in the Colonial papers of the last century teem with offers of "brocaded silk and satins, beaver hats, gold-headed canes, snuff-boxes, costly china, plate, and patch-boxes," which were imported on board every vessel, and found a ready sale amongst the luxury-loving inhabitants. No wonder that occasionally, as we learn from the Groans of the Plantation, the islanders fell into pecuniary embarrassment, and that money grew so scarce that large cargoes of negroes had to be exported for sale at Charlestown and New Orleans.

The streets of a West Indian city must have presented a very picturesque spectacle at this period. Here groups of great ladies—in hoops and sarsenets, with powdered hair and "patches," escorted by their spruce cavaliers in the daintiest satin garments which the London or Paris tailors could supply, their white clad servants at a respectful distance behind them, carrying their parasols and fans, or lagging in the rear with their heavily gilt Sedan-chairs—pass up and down under the shadow of the tropical vegetation, hardly pausing, probably, to notice the public flogging of a couple of runaway slaves, or the edifying spectacle of a white servant caught in the act of stealing, seated with his legs and arms in the pillory, and his nose and ears freshly cut off. Yon learned-looking gentleman may be Dr Hans Sloane, the famous naturalist, with his friend Dr Burton, a noted preacher, who occasionally goes the round of the various islands to exercise his eloquence, and eat a series of good dinners in return for his pious endeavours to save the souls of his entertainers. The conversation is not of the most elevated description. Little or no literature is consumed and canvassed, save such as comes out in packages from England—The Gentleman's Magazine, The Lady, The Tatler, Miss Frances Burney's latest novel, Oliver Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield, or Fielding's Tom Jones. Through the open windows of the roomy houses, with their broad verandahs, floats the tinkling of the sempiternal spinette. Very occasionally, as we learn from the Grenada Gazette (of which a complete file for the years 1792-3 are exhibited by Mr. J. G. Wells), "a grand pianoforte" makes its appearance, and is considered a great novelty, for which a very high price is asked and paid.