In 1620 appeared a volume of Englische Comedien und Tragedien, &c. (2nd edit., 1624), which was followed by a second; and in 1670 by a third: in which last, however, the English element is not so prominent.
These statements of Dr. Hagen are confirmed by numerous quotations from original documents, published by him in the Neue Preuss. Provincial Blätter, Koningsb., 1850, vol. x.; vid. et Gesch. der Deuts. Schauspielk., by E. Devrient, Leipzic, 1848. Professor Hagen maintains, that in the beginning of the seventeenth century, the English comedies were performed in Dutch; and that, in Germany, the same persons were called indifferently English or Dutch comedians. They were Englishmen who had found shelter under the English trading companies in the Netherlands ("Es waren Engländer die in den englischen Handelscompagnien in den Niederlanden ein Unterkommen gefunden.")—From the Navorscher.
J. M.
A GENTLEMAN EXECUTED FOR WHIPPING A SLAVE TO DEATH.
(Vol. vii., p. 107.)
The occurrence noticed by W. W. is, I believe, the only instance on record in the West Indies of the actual execution of a gentleman for the murder, by whipping or otherwise, of a slave. Nor is this strange. In the days of slavery every owner of slaves was regarded in the light of a gentleman, and his "right to do what he liked with his own" was seldom called in question by judges or juries, who were themselves among the principal shareholders. The case of Hodge was, however, of an aggravated character. For the trivial offence of stealing a mango, he had caused one of his slaves to be whipped to death; and this was, perhaps, the least shocking of the repeated acts of cruelty which he was known to have committed upon the slaves of his estate.
During slavery each colony had its Hodge, and some had more than one. The most conspicuous character of this kind in St. Lucia was Jacques O'Neill de Tyrone, a gentleman who belonged to an Irish family, originally settled in Martinique, and who boasted of his descent from one of the ancient kings of Ireland. This man had long been notorious for his cruelty to his slaves. At last, on the surrender of the colony to the British in 1803, the attention of the authorities was awakened; a charge of murder was brought against him, and he was sentenced to death. From this sentence he appealed to a higher court; but such was the state of public feeling at the bare idea of putting a white man to death for any offence against a slave, that for a long time the members of the court could not be induced to meet; and when they did meet, it was only to reverse the sentence of the court below. I have now before me the proceedings of both courts.
The sentence of the inferior court, presided over by an European judge, is based upon the clearest evidence of O'Neill's having caused two of his slaves to be murdered in his presence, and their heads cut off and stuck upon poles as a warning to the others. The sentence of the Court of Appeal, presided over by a brother planter, and entirely composed of planters, reverses the sentence, without assigning any reason for its decision, beyond the mere allegations of the accused party. Such was criminal justice in the days of slavery!
Henry H. Breen.