The Rev. James Phillippo, who was a Baptist Missionary in Jamaica for twenty years, says: "During the short period of two years, 60,000 apprentices received in the aggregate one quarter of a million of lashes; and fifty thousand other punishments by the tread-wheel, the chain-gang, and other modes of legalized torture. Instead of diminution of the miseries of the negro population, there was a frightful addition to them; inducing a degree of discontent and exasperation never manifested even under the previous system. Had it not been for the influence of the Governor, the missionaries, and some of the special magistrates, it would probably have broken out into open and general rebellion."
THE NEGROES' STATE OF MIND, IN 1837.
While Mr. Thome was travelling in the rural districts, he talked with many of the apprentices. He says: "They all thought the apprenticeship very hard; but still, on the whole it was rather better than slavery. Then they were 'killed too bad.' It was all slash, slash! Now, they couldn't be flogged unless the magistrate said so. Still, some masters were very hard; and many of the apprentices were so badly used, that they ran away into the woods. They should all be glad when freedom came.
"They gave a heart-sickening account of the cruelties of the tread-mill. Sometimes their wives were tied on the wheel when they were in a state of pregnancy. They suffered a great deal from that; but they couldn't help it. We asked why they didn't complain to the magistrates. They replied, that the magistrates wouldn't take any notice of their complaints; and besides, it only made the masters treat them worse. One of them said, 'We go to de magistrate, and den, when we come back, massa do all him can to vex us. He wingle (tease) us, and wingle us, and wingle us; de bookkeeper curse us and treaten us; de constable he scold us and call us hard names; and dey all try to make we mad; so we sometimes say someting wrong, and den dey take we to de magistrate for insolence.'
"We asked them what they thought of the household slaves being free in 1838, while they had to remain apprentices two years longer. They said, 'It bad enough; but we know de law make it so; and for peace' sake, we will be satisfy. But we murmur in we minds.' One of the magistrates told us that on several estates the house servants announced their determination to remain apprentices until the field hands were all free; giving as a reason, that they wanted all to have a jubilee together.
"We inquired whether they expected to do as they pleased when they were free. They answered, 'We couldn't live widout de law. In other countries, where dey is free, don't dey have de law?' We asked what they expected to do with the old and infirm. They said, 'We will support dem. Dey brought us up when we was pickaniny, and now we come trong, we must take care of dem.' We asked whether they would work when they were free. They replied, 'In slavery time, we work, even wid de whip; now we work till better; what tink we will do when we free? Wont we work when we get paid!' It was said so earnestly, we couldn't help acknowledging ourselves convinced. Some of them had to travel too far to market, to get back till Sunday. One of them said to us with tears in his eyes, 'I declare to you, massa, if de Lord only spare we to be free, we be much more 'ligious. We be wise to many more tings.'"
FAVORABLE TESTIMONY OF PLANTERS, IN 1837.
"At Amity Hall, Mr. Kirkland, the manager of the estate, introduced us to his wife and several lovely children. It was the first and the last family circle we saw in that licentious Colony. The motley groups of colored children which we found on other estates, revealed the domestic manners of the planters. Mr. Kirkland considered the abolition of slavery a great blessing to the Colony. He said the apprenticeship was a wretchedly bad system; but things moved smoothly on his estate. He said the negroes of Amity Hall had formerly borne the character of being the worst gang in the parish; and when he came to the estate, he found that half the truth had not been told of them. But they had become remarkably peaceful and subordinate. He said he looked forward to 1840, with the most sanguine hope. He believed complete freedom would be the regeneration of the island. Forty freemen would accomplish as much as eighty slaves. If any of the estates were abandoned by the laborers, it would be on account of the harsh treatment they received. He knew many cruel overseers, and he shouldn't be surprised if they lost a part of their laborers, or all of them.
"Mr. Gordon, the manager of Williamsfield estate, is among the fairest specimens of planters. He has a naturally generous disposition, which, like that of Mr. Kirkland, has outlived the witherings of slavery. He informed us that his people worked as well as they had done under slavery; and he had every reason to believe they would do still better after they were completely free. He said he often hired his people on Saturdays, and it was wonderful, with what increased vigor they worked when they were to receive wages. Fifty free men would do as much as a hundred slaves. He condemned the driving system, which was resorted to by a great many planters.