1 LETTER FROM A PERSON IN JAMAICA | enchantment that dwells with the romantic. TO A FRIEND IN ENGLAND. If what I have said respecting a journey into the interior of the island shall have awakened in you an expectation of interesting descriptions, I am afraid I shall disappoint you in what I shall detail in this communication. The fact is, that the scenery in Jamaica, though novel and extremely striking-sublime in some of its features, and beautiful in others-possessing every thing to awaken inquiry, and to satisfy curiosity is associated with so little of sentiment, and that little of no pleasurable character, that, to one who has imbibed the maxim that to feel delighted is nothing without feeling the mind instructed and the heart improved, its natural beauties in its social deformities imprint no interesting emotions. Over the valleys, refreshed by their influence, the waters dash onward in continual cascades. The trees adorning their banks, scattered over the long and vivid grass, add ever-varying beauty to the whole. Where nature is permitted still to revel in wild luxuriance, nothing can be a more pleasing vicissitude than the coolness of the woodland roads, upon which the overarching fig spreads the dense shade of its thousand branches. After gaining the successive eminences that mark this distance, as the traveller advances to the interior of the island, rising now in loftier and more rugged elevations, he is surprised by the sudden opening into extensive plains, stretching far, and parallel to the range of the deep inland mountains. Here, beneath clumps of shade, left to adorn an occasional To the voyager, approaching the shores of swell, or to overshadow the waters of the Jamaica, the country appears, from the ex- cattle-pond, the peculiar herds and flocks are treme clearness of the atmosphere, to be one seen to repose. From these levels the hills splendid mass of mountain scenery, rising in precipitately rise in frequent cones, between boldness and fertility from the ocean. The whose hollows the labour of cultivation has bright green of the nearer objects, and the planted the coffee shrub. Beyond, the eye endark blue of the more distant, under a piercing counters a boundless amphitheatre of wood, sun and a cloudless heaven, so nearly assimi--forests of stupendous trees,-the magnificent late to each other, that the valleys between ceiba, the wild tamarind, the St. Mary-tree, each successive ridge, from the sea to the in- and the stately cedulla; heights over which the land mountains, cannot be traced by the eye. lofty and majestic palm rears its empire-an It is only when we approach these lands of unexplored, exhaustless, and leafy solitude, eternal freshness, in the grey clearness of the covering with splendour of colour the vast sunrise, or in a cloudy sky and a moist and range of mountains, till these again mingle slightly dense atmosphere, that the character of with the clouds. the country is readily discoverable. Then, in the clear and distinct colours of the aerial perspective, we perceive hill succeeding hill, extensive valleys intervening, and the interior mountains rising in majesty over all. Quitting, about the middle coast of the island, the shore, which opposes its rocks covered with foliage and flowers to the blue and tranquil waters, the eminences are seen in bold yet not ungentle acclivity, with valleys of pleasing inequality between. As, with a beauty calculated to awaken attention, the convexities of every retiring height are rounded into a regularity of form, so the separating hollows are marked with an evenness of surface that gives to the transitions an appearance uncharacterised by abruptness. Though diversified by frequent rocks, rugged and unequal, they seldom burst in those bold, barren, and immense masses, to claim the appellation of crags, or to create any remarkable deviations from the general character of the country. The different foliage that crown these continual undulations, coloured in the brightest and most contrasting green, combine beauty with their variety. Where the hand of the cultivator has pruned the exuberance of nature, no scenery can be more delightful than the groves of the dark-leaved pimento, with which she had spontaneously clothed the face of the uplands. Detached in groups, with an interval that admits not their branches to intervene, they expose to the view the bright verdure of the turf beneath. As this tree suffers no unkindred rival to rear itself within the shadow of its leaf, the close, even, and unspotted sward, nourished by the showers of its dew-drops, enjoying a free air and unceasing shade, flourishes in perennial beauty. From their aromatic leaves and flowers, the breezes, that pour from every glen, waft a perfume of the most delicious fragrance with the coolness which they bring. Though every scene be calculated to impart delight, it is amid those through which the rivers take their course that we experience the | The blooming rose its fragrance breathes in vain, Within a month from this, I expect to be at what I call my home, partaking a little domestic happiness, the only portion of earthly felicity afforded me here. Believe me, when away from the circumscribed dominion of the household gods, my portion is a silent heart brooding wretchedness. I write this to you from among scenes of complete loneliness; the only sounds that break the silence of the solitude are the music of the mocking-bird, the voice of the dove, the evening call of the wild guinea-fowls, and the rushing of waters deepening occasionally the murmurs of the seabreeze. Amid these scenes, I find a happiness in a converse with nature, since the society of man affords me none. I must not, however, omit one striking feature presented amid the scenes here. In the many naked persons one encounters, enjoying the cool freshness of the woods and waters, the mind familiar with classic imagery does not fail to recall the fabled beings of the olden time-Dryads and Naiads, nymphs that loved the woods and streams; while some brown and brawny native, tending his flocks and herds, or stripping to seek a repast in the floods, personates the fauns and sylvans of the same primeval times of fancy and of fable. Though my circumstances supply me with a theme in which, as you may perceive, imagination can run riot, my strange misfortunes make up the greatest portion of my thoughts. The hope of my return to the domestic and social luxuries of England is now fast receding from my view. I know the consolations friendship would give; but I should be inclined to exclaim with Nævolus, in the Satires of Juvenal, though not with the same impulse, "Reserve them for happier men. My Destinies would rejoice if my efforts could avail me any thing. Ŏ the sweet small devotions of home! in which I was wont to offer a little incense-a cake-a chaplet of flowers,-when will my circumstances be such as to secure my old age from poverty and calamity!" ON THE HABITS OF TAME BIRDS. BY MATTHEUS SYLVATICUS. Ir is a common observation, confirmed by those naturalists who have had the greatest experience, that our knowledge of the wonders of creation is still in its infancy. One very interesting point, on which we are much in the dark, is that faculty of the brute creation called instinct. Now, Sir, it has always been my opinion, that one clearly substantiated fact tends more to elucidate truth than any number of theories and hypotheses, either wholly unfounded in fact, or built upon some casual exception to the general rule; and, with this feeling, I submit the following statement as a candidate for a corner in the "Field Naturalist's Magazine.". I am extremely fond of what I call practical natural history; but, as I reside in a large town, you will suppose I may find some little difficulty in pursuing it. I am, however, so happy as to possess a garden, about 140 feet in length by 40 in breadth; in which, besides as many flowers as it will contain, Í usually keep one or more tame birds, in the full enjoyment of unclipped wings, and at free liberty to leave my demesne if they feel so disposed; but several have thought proper not to do so for three or four years; and I believe that, when they at last disappeared, they were either stolen or devoured by cats. The bird with which I have had the most intimate companionship is the magpie, and I will now proceed to tell you a little of what I have observed in him. I shall not attempt to give you the characters of individual magpies, which I believe differ as widely as those of individuals of the human species: their loquacity and propensity to theft are well known; but I do not find many who are aware of the high notions which a magpie possesses of his own rights in whatever he deems his property. My magpie considers my garden as his estate; he walks jealously behind any stranger who goes into it; and if any attempt be made to touch a plant, a stick, or a stone, he flies at the offender with every demonstration of rage and fury. He perambulates his boundaries, i. e. the top of the surrounding wall, and never by any chance goes beyond them. Every evening, he voluntarily enters a cage appropriated to him, shuts the door after him, and goes to roost on the perch. On one occasion, having some greenhouse plants turned out in the borders, I wished to send them, for the winter, to a friend in the country: a cart was accordingly brought to the gate, and a man commenced removing the plants from my garden; but Mag, seeing his estate thus plundered, made a vigorous attack upon the spoiler; he would jump on each pot as the man took it up for removal, and peck his hand until the blood sprung from it; and he followed him, constantly pecking his heels, to the garden gate, but no further; for he then would run back to me, chattering loudly, and looking up to me for approbation. He once entered the open window of a room where breakfast was set out, before the family came down stairs; he drank largely out of the milk jug, tasted the butter, and concluded by throwing down upon the floor the toast, spoons, knives, and every thing that he could move. Having done this, he sat on the back of a chair apparently quite delighted at his exploit. If any one looked particularly at a flower, he would nip it off, and bury it for security. I had, for some time, a tame jackdaw to keep him company. This bird is fond of getting into dark holes and corners, which Mag studiously avoids. In a small lobby, opening into the garden, there is a little cupboard in the wall, about a yard from the ground. I once saw the jackdaw enter this cupboard, and, with great labour, drag out a bunch of large keys, which he threw down to his friend Mag, who was waiting below. Jack then descended, and the two together worked in good earnest at pulling the keys into the garden, no doubt intending to hide them, had I not stopped their proceedings. This jackdaw frequently hid himself in a dark corner by the larder door, waiting patiently until the cook came to open it; he would then try to slip in unperceived behind her, and hide himself behind a large cheese-pan, in hopes of being left among the good things. I once had a magnificent cock pheasant in the same manner; he was as tame as the magpie, but not so amusing or cunning. I also had a thrush who was perfectly tame; he would wade up to his neck in a little pond of gold fish, which was under the branches of a large mulberry-tree, for the purpose of getting the fruit that fell into it. In short, I have not met with any bird in whom kind treatment would not give rise to tameness and affection.-Field Naturalist's Magazine. PRISON DISCIPLINE. We have, in our accompanying number, given an account of the prison system in Jamaica. We will now present the last report of the prison at Auburn, in North America, just stating that there are reports, from a number of similar establishments in the same country, of an equally favourable character. in twelve. The legislature is so far impressed "I have now spent two years among the "The ordinary religious services have been regularly performed. To the preaching on the Sabbath the convicts have uniformly listened with fixed attention, and often with deep and overwhelming emotion. The services are always characterized by perfect order and apparent solemnity. It has been the common remark of casual visitors, as well as others, that they never witnessed an equal degree of attention, and apparent seriousness and interest, in any other congregation. From the chapel, I have followed them, in the afternoon, to their solitary cells, and there, in the best possible circumstances for producing sciences, individually, the truths which they effect, have pressed home upon their conhad heard in the public assembly, in such manner as I conceived to be the best adapted to their different capacities and states of feeling. In these visits I have often witnessed the power of truth, in making the stoutest heart, the heart that could be approached in no other circumstances, to tremble. This I regard as the most important part of my duty, THE prison at Auburn maintains the same and that which has been most evidently acgeneral character which it has sustained for a companied by the blessing of God. The truths course of years. It continues to be, as it was of the Bible, applied closely to the conscience, five years ago, a specimen of neatness from have generally produced a visible effect upon the gate to the sewer. In this respect, it fur- their feelings, and, in some instances, I have nishes a good lesson to many private families. every reason to believe, exerted a transformCombinations in villany, and communications ing influence upon their hearts. I have found of evil, are to a great extent, if not wholly, the men readily accessible, almost without prevented. Silence, industry, and order, reign exception; softened in their feelings, willing throughout the establishment. The health, and glad to converse upon the subject of reliamong a population of more than 600 within gion, convinced of the necessity of a radical the walls, is about equal to that of the most change in their own hearts, and often powerfavoured country villages in New England, fully awakened to the immediate obligation of and greater than that of the city of Boston; yielding to the demands of the gospel. Nothe deaths in the last six years having been thing is more common than to hear them exone in seventy-one, and, during the last year, press their surprise that they never thought of less than one in one hundred. The cases of these things before, and their gratitude that sickness in the hospital have been, on an aver- they have been arrested and brought into a age, six nearly, or about one in one hundred. place where they are taught them, and where The moral influence is good, as might be ex- they cannot but think of them. In this lapected from the public worship, the Sabbath-bour I have been assisted by the use of tracts, school, the reading and study of the Bible, the solitude, the private admonition, the absence of temptation, the mild and wholesome discipline, and the daily acknowledgment of God, which is proved by numerous cases of reformation, and, comparatively, few cases of recommittal. The well-authenticated cases of reformation are more than one hundred and forty, and the re-committals are less than one been uniformly attended, is the best evidence of the convicts' interest in the exercise, and of its effect upon their feelings. One, who had been in prison but a few weeks, sent for me to let me know what a change had been wrought in his feelings respecting it. I always hated to hear prayers (said he), and the first time that I heard you pray in the prison I could hardly contain the contempt that I felt for you and your prayer; now, I feel it a great privilege to kneel down and pray with you.' "The Sabbath-school still holds a prominent place in our system of instruction, and claims our highest regard. Its number has been gradually increased, till it now contains about one hundred and sixty pupils, in thirtyone classes, which are under the care of thirtytwo theological students as teachers, one of whom takes the immediate oversight of the whole. I scarcely know which most to admire, the devotedness of the teachers, or the ardour and industry of the scholars. The liveliest interest is manifested by both. A mutual and strong attachment springs up between them. The teachers seem willing to forego any other privilege for the sake of meeting and instructing their pupils; and among the scholars, generally, no other punishment is more dreaded than the exclusion from the school. It has been interesting to me to observe, upon the discharge of these scholars from prison, how often the first inquiry has been, where they might find their teacher." The discipline of the institution, to secure such a result, would be supposed good; but a single fact will place it in a stronger light. At midnight, during the last year, there was a cry of fire. It was soon ascertained that it was in the prison. An extensive shop, filled with combustible materials, directly under the eaves of the north wing, in which were confined five hundred and fifty convicts in separate cells, was in flames. The fire spread with great rapidity, and very soon communicated with the windows of the building in which the convicts were locked up; and, before any progress could be made in arresting it, the flames burnt through the windows, and threatened the convicts in their night-cells with suffocation. The keepers, at the hazard of their lives, rushed through fire and smoke, and succeeded in unlocking every door, and discharged into the yard at midnight five hundred and fifty convicts. Two avenues had now been opened to the street, through either of which the convicts might have escaped, in the confusion of passing the water, and the passing and repassing of citizens. Instead, however, of attempting to escape, they formed a most efficient fire-company, extinguished the flames, and, when this was done, were found in their places, no one having attempted to escape. The chaplain, in view of this fact, says, 66 My attachment to my people is constantly increasing." Such being the facts in regard to discipline, and the proceeds of labour, the question arises, whether there is evidence, after their discharge, of its being reformatory. Intelligence has been received, during the last year, in answer which the keeper has kindly given me per- to letters addressed to post-masters and sheriffs, mission to put into their hands on the Sab- in all parts of the State of New York, concernbath, and which, by a suitable selection and ing two hundred and sixty discharged conadaptation to particular cases, have not un-victs, of whom one hundred and forty-six are frequently proved to be efficient co-workers in producing and strengthening salutary impressions upon their minds. "The profound and impressive stillness, with which the daily evening devotions have reformed. Concerning many of the one hundred and forty-six here mentioned, information has been received, three years in succession, giving them the same character; and some of them the character of decidedly pious men. Three years ago this system of inquiry | conversant with our English poets; and there- There is another class of facts proving the same thing concerning the reformatory character of the prison at Auburn. The recommitments in 1827, out of four hundred and twenty-seven, were only nineteen. And in 1829, out of five hundred and seventy, only seventeen. The health of the institution is also remarkable. The cases of sickness in the hospital being, on an average, one to one hundred, according to the physician's report, and the deaths one to seventy-five annually. HISTORY OF THE SONNET. THE sonnet, as is generally known, is altogether of Italian origin; and its structure is ascertained with so much rigid precision as to be insusceptible of any, or only of the most trifling, variation. Of the fourteen lines, of TO THE NIGHTINGALE. To rocks, to springs, to rills, from leafy bowers most experienced in his endeavours to explain why so many flashes of lightning have occurred over London, perhaps some thousands, when not more than twenty of its towers have felt their effects in the revolving of several centuries. Iron is acknowledged to be one of the best conductors; and, as every steeple is surmounted by a pointed spindle for the vane, we might suppose part of the contents of electric clouds would be attracted to them, and the destruction of the structures follow from the want of a continuation of the same metal to the earth. The celebrated Franklin, aware of the numerous partial attractors to be found on towers, churches, and other buildings, suggested the use of iron rods, linked and pointed, to ascend their sides and the highest parts of the edifice; the efficacy of which cannot be for a moment doubted, as the upper ends of the rods are frequently ascertained to be melted into drops, without the inhabitants of the houses to which they are generally affixed, in America, being sensible of the least shock during the passage of the fluid. Had those excellent safeguards been discovered 128 years past, the cupola of the Escurial might possibly have escaped very serious damage. In the which it is to consist, the first eight are to ad- still more happily by Drummond, the peculiar month of June, 1679, a flash of lightning demit one change only of rhyme for their termi- object, as it would seem, of Milton's applause scended on the brass ball of 750 pounds be and imitation. By Milton this minute poem has frequently been animated with a great and mighty soul. That which he wrote "when the which he addressed to Cyriac Skinner (the assault was intended to the city," and those grandson of the great Lord Coke), to Fairfax, to Vane, and to Cromwell, are eminent for their vigour and loftiness. Some greater accu nation; and are to be distributed into two stanza. flow the verse, but must not transgress the This little poem is impressible with various characters; and, while with Petrarch it is tender and pathetic, with Dante, in equal consistency with its nature, it is elevated and forcible. Peculiarly adapted to the language and the taste of its native Italy, it has been considered, though in my opinion without sufficient reason, as insuperably unaccommodated to those of Britain. When happily constructed, it will be found to gratify every English ear, attuned to the harmony of verse; and the idea, which it suggests, of difficulty encountered and overcome, must contribute, as has been more than once remarked, to heighten the power of its effect. During the prevalence of our Italian school of poetry, this short and pregnant composition was much in favour with our bards; and in the childhood, as it may be called, of the English Muse, it was made the vehicle of his love by the tender, the gallant, the accomplished, and the ill-fated Surrey.* When I speak of Surrey as a sonnetteer, I either take the fact on the credit of others, or I adopt the vague language of writers who call every short poem, comprised within fourteen lines, a sonnet. Surrey has justly been honoured by Mr. Wharton with the title of our first English classic: but I am not acquainted with one regular sonnet which he has constructed. I am far from being profoundly *From the notoriety of the fact, it can scarcely be necessary to inform the reader, that this ornament of the English nobility (Henry Howard, eldest son of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk) fell a victim, in the flower of his age, to the jealousy of that capricious and remorseless tyrant, Henry VIII. ing of these short poems; but they are conceived and executed in a grand and broad style. Like a small statue by the chisel of Lysippus, or a miniature from the pencil of Angelo, they demonstrate that the idea of greatness may be excited independently of the magnitude of size.—Symmons's Life of Milton. The English reader may form some idea of the general character of Petrarch's sonnets by the following specimen. It is translated by Lady Dacre, and was evidently written after the death of his Laura. Not skies serene, with glittering stars inlaid, Nor gallant ships o'er tranquil ocean dancing, Nor tidings new of happiness delay'd, So Her to behold, whom ne'er to have seen were best! EFFECTS OF LIGHTNING. THE effects of lightning have ever been particularly dreadful on high buildings, and yet it is singular that steeples and towers are not more frequently injured by it; many instances might be adduced to prove that cottages and the earth have felt the force of this subtle fluid, when objects infinitely more elevated have escaped without injury. Philosophers speculate almost in vain upon the phenomena exhibited by the electric fire in its passage through the atmosphere, and such substances as it meets in its way; and it would baffle the weight, which was supported by a pyramid of stone, and beat both to the ground. FREE LABOUR. IT is assumed that the slaves will become idle on obtaining their freedom; but this is a mere assumption. The report of the privy council (1788) speaks, on the authority of witnesses from the British West India islands, of the "invincible repugnance of the free negroes to all sorts of labour." Messrs. Fuller, Long, and Chisholm declare, that "free negroes are never known to work for hire, and that they have all the vices of the slaves." Mr. Brathwaite states, that "if the slaves in Barbados were all offered their freedom on condition of working for themselves, not one tenth of them would accept it." Governor Parry reports that "free negroes are utterly destitute of industry;" and the council of the island add, that, "from their confirmed habits of idleness, they are the pests of society."-Report, 1788, part 3. Strange that, in the face of these declarations, proceeding from persons in high official trust and authority, the free blacks have, by their superior industry, driven the lower order of whites from almost every trade requiring skill and continued exertion. I believe that not one in twenty of the working shoemakers in Barbados is a white man. The working carpenters, masons, tailors, smiths, &c., are, for the most part, men of colour; and this at a time when a large white population are in the lowest state of poverty and wretchedness. In the application for casual charity, the number of white persons soliciting relief is far greater than that of the free coloured. The free black and coloured inhabitants have always contributed in their full proportion to the parochial taxes, for the support of the poor whites, while their own poor receive no parochial relief, but are supported by private contributions among the more wealthy of their own colour. Do these facts indicate habits of irreclaimable idleness?-Archdeacon Elliot's Lectures. THIS animal is found chiefly in Southern Africa, and combines in its form the beauties and adaptations for strength and speed of several animals. It is generally described as having the head square, the neck thick, the shoulders deep, the body short and rounded, the legs long and finely formed, and composing altogether an animal exceedingly compact and active. They are remarkably lively, trotting, ambling, and galloping with great swiftness; and so sportive that even when alarmed they always commence by playing with each other, striking side VISIT OF WILLIAM III. TO THE UNI VERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, 1689. THE following interesting article is extracted from the London Gazette, October 10th, 1689. "On Sunday last, the vice-chancellor, the heads of colleges, and doctors in all faculties, with several regents and non-regents, in their proper habits, waited upon his majesty at Newmarket, being introduced into his royal presence by his Grace the Duke of Somerset, Chancellor of the University. The Rev. Dr. Covell, Vice-Chancellor, addressed himself to his majesty in a proper and elegant speech, congratulating the glorious successes his majesty had been blessed with in his endeavours to rescue this church and nation from the imminent dangers that threatened both, and which were more particularly pointed against the Universities; and concluded with an humble recommendation of themselves to his majesty's protection, wherein the Protestant religion had so much concern. To which his majesty was pleased to return in answer, that as God had blessed him in this undertaking, so he should faithfully discharge his trust in preserving the church of England, and giving all protection and favour to the Universities. They then waited upon his majesty to church, and at their return from thence were conducted to the king's house, where, by directions from his majesty, they were received and splendidly entertained at dinner by Sir James Forbes, clerk of the green cloth. | ways with their horns. This, however, ter, his majesty was pleased (that none might be left there doubtful of his favour) graciously to assure them, that he willingly granted all they desired, or could wish, and that they might admit Dr. Roderick to be their Provost as soon as they pleased; which they received with the greatest joy and gratitude imaginable. "After this, his majesty went to Trinity College, and in the first court thereof was congratulated by the Hon. Dr. Montague, the master, and in the second by Mr. Norris, a fellow of that College, and with a copy of English verses in the new-built library, the structure whereof his majesty was very well pleased with. And here his majesty was pleased to accept of a dinner, provided by the University, in the College-hall; where, at the upper end, was a table raised five steps above the floor, at which sat his majesty, and at one end his Royal Highness Prince George of Denmark, who attended him hither; and at the other tables, on each side of the hall, were their Excellencies the Spanish and Dutch ters, together with the nobility and principal Ambassadors, with several other foreign minisgentry in great numbers. All which his majesty was graciously pleased to accept, sending from table a message to his Grace the Chancellor, that he drank to him, and wished prosperity to the University of Cambridge. Immediately after dinner, his majesty returned to Newmarket through infinite throngs of people, who crowded from all parts to have the hap piness of seeing his majesty." EIGHT MONTHS' RESIDENCE IN THE following article is handed to us by the writer, whose name we have, with the highest testimonies to his veracity and respectability. I had the misfortune to become acquainted, in the spring of 1830, with a gentleman then lately returned from Jamaica, after having resided in the island for nearly twenty years. At that time I was wholly unacquainted with the real nature of colonial slavery, and drew my conclusion on the subject, partly from hearsay, and partly from the perusal of letters written by relatives resident in the slave colonies, who all agreed in their praises of the system. These conclusions, although I trust they never could have confirmed me a lover of slavery, did actually-I confess with shame "The next day, his majesty was pleased to make a visit to the University, and arrived here in the morning, being met without the town by the mayor and aldermen of the corporation in their formalities, who complimented his majesty, by Mr. Pepys, their present mayor, and made a present of a large basin and ewer. They marched before him into town, at the entrance whereof his majesty was received by rows of scholars, according to their several degrees, on each side of the streets leading to the public schools, and amidst the loud acclamations of all sorts of persons. His majesty, go a great length in rendering me an apoloalighting at the schools, received there the gist for the system. Such were my views public thanks of the University, by the Vice- when I came in contact with this gentleman, Chancellor and their orator, for the great-and, having long had thoughts of trying honour that was then done them; and an ex- my fortune in the West Indies, I rejoiced that traordinary Commencement being then held on I had at length met with an individual who this signal occasion, for conferring degrees on could inform me of the true nature of things persons of worth in all faculties, Mr. Kiddler in Jamaica. I therefore lost no time in and Mr. Pelling were created doctors in his making every possible inquiry of him, that majesty's presence, being presented by the might tend to afford me correct views on the Regius Professor, Dr. Beaumont, with that subject. The information he gave me was unimitable elegancy which is so peculiar to uniformly laudatory of the system, and garhim. nished with pleasing descriptions of the "From the schools, his majesty walked to contented and enviable condition of the King's College, where Mr. Layton, a fellow of slave population, delivered with a tone of so that society, declaring in his speech the appre- much seeming earnestness as to leave me no hensions they were under least they might room to doubt their truth. I agreed at once have offended his majesty by a late petition, to a proposal that I should accompany his wherein they only mentioned one single per- brother to Jamaica,-both of us having made son as duly qualified to succeed in the vacancy up our minds to make trial of a planter's life. of their Provost, and humbly beseeching his On being furnished with recommendatory letmajesty's favourable construction of that matters, we sailed from Greenock in the end of April, and, after a pleasant passage, arrived | at Falmouth, Jamaica, on Sunday, the 13th of June, 1830. After having gratified ourselves with a walk through the town, and listened to the songs of praise (in which we mentally joined) that were ascending from out a chapel crowded with negroes, we adjourned to the lodginghouse of a free black woman, named Clark, where we took apartments. This advocate of "vested rights" actually possessed her own brother and two sisters as slaves,-uniformly treated them as such,-flogged them with her own hand, or under her immediate superintendence. Frequently have I heard her bawl | out to them, "Now, mind what you be about; you'll catch something you don't like else." Both of her sisters had at the time infants at the breast; but even this circumstance did not screen them from the harsh usage of their unfeeling relative, who, though but lately a slave herself, now exercised all the despotism of an owner. I called next day on the Hon. William Miller, the Custos, and delivered to him one of my introductory letters. He received me with affability and politeness, in his elegant mansion, and said that if I called next day an appointment would be written out for me. His apparently mild and urbane disposition, contrasted with the revolting spectacle I witnessed in the court-yard before his house, were, to me, perfectly irreconcileable. There I beheld about a dozen convict slaves, chained to each other, who were busy macadamizing the yard,-a surly looking driver, whip in hand, superintending their operations. But my feelings were infinitely more shocked by witnessing in the public street, in the face of day, six or eight workhouse slaves dragging at their heels a cart heavily laden with stones; men and women chained legs and arms to the vehicle: they were literally driven by a stout black, armed with a tremendous cart-whip, which he carried ready poised, and occasionally applied to their naked backs, shouting, at the same moment, with loud execrations. I never was so horrified and disgusted in my life, as on beholding this degrading sight. The poor creatures never raised an eye, but looked despondingly to the ground; their whole appearance telling a tale that spoke of accumulated misery and woe. They looked, in fact, as if on earth they had no hope, and that death itself would be a welcome relief. It was now that my belief in the comforts of slavery began to be a little shaken. I afterwards ascertained that these gangs were partly composed of convict slaves, and partly of slaves sent thither by their masters, to undergo extreme punishment. On calling next day (Tuesday) at Mr. Miller's office, I received a letter to the overseer of Llandovery estate. I hired a horse on the Wednesday morning, and on my journey I passed two gangs, with drivers, and whips at their backs; and, after witnessing on my route the most enchanting scenery, arrived in the afternoon at Llandovery. The overseer received me with open-hearted attention, and, after a few common-place inquiries about my passage, had just commenced an eulogium on the comforts of the slaves, when a negro was brought to the foot of the steps, followed by four others and a driver, in order to undergo punishment. All the stories I had ever heard about the cruelty of the planters towards their slaves now rushed in a moment on my thoughts, and I deeply lamented that I should be doomed to witness One such, ere I had well been fifteen minutes on in reply to either driver or overseer only occathe estate. The overseer, observing my un- sions renewed punishment. My observation easiness, desired that I might retire for a few induces me to believe that many of the punishminutes. Glad in the opportunity thus affordedments arise from hatred engendered in the me of withdrawing myself from the scene, I breast of the drivers; the severest punishdid so accordingly: but whether it was that ments are being continually inflicted on the the heart of the overseer relented, or that he same individual without just cause. did not wish to show extraordinary rigour wretched creature, of the name of Polly Betty, during my first appearance, I cannot pretend was continually flogged by the driver in the to say; however, the poor negro, after a field. Her life was a continued scene of shower of oaths and abuse had been liberally wretchedness and misery, as, in addition to bestowed upon hini, received comparatively the cruel treatment she received at the hands few lashes,-not half, I should consider, of of the driver, she was afflicted with an incuthe allowable quantum. They proved suffi-rable disease, which rendered her incapable of cient, however, to cause him to roar in agony, doing so much work as the others. Her deand imploringly to entreat the overseer that ficiency of natural strength he endeavoured to he would pardon him. "Do, my good massa! supply by the constant application of the whip. do let me go dis one time," was his oft-re- There was a little girl also on the estate, newed exclamation. The appeal struck deeply named Elizabeth, who, some how or another, into my heart, and was sufficient to have wrung was particularly hateful to the old driver, pity from any one unaccustomed to such Jack. She was flogged, without mercy, alscenes. After he had "dismissed the case," most daily, frequently for no visible offence, he remarked to me, "If I were not occasion- and worked all day long in sorrow and in ally to flog these fellows they would get the tears. She was actually quite lame from the upper hand of me;" and he laboured to effects of the lash; she went hobbling along to prove, by a long stretch of puerile argument, her work bent down like an aged person. that the slaves of Jamaica were far more Frequently did this poor, ill-used girl feign comfortably situated than the peasantry of sickness in order to escape the horrors of her Britain. The anti-slavery advocates at home unpitied lot; but this subterfuge was, of had their share of abuse; and, in particular, course, easily detected, and she subjected to he remarked that the part Dr. Thomson, of additional rigour. Edinburgh, had taken, was enough to expose every planter's throat to the knife of the negro. I was destined, however, to see the fallacy of these futile assertions fully verified in my own sad experience. After a few days spent in looking about the estate, I had, on the fourth day, my written instructions given to me by the overseer, which ordered me to attend daily the youngest gang, and to look after the small stock of the estate. very soon discovered that the work which the slaves of all ages had to perform was terribly severe. I may safely say that, after having been a week on the estate, my mind was completely made up as to the atrocious character of the system. I set it down, without the least hesitation, as one of detestable injustice, cruelty, and oppression. And from this period, until my final departure, my whole mind was bent on leaving the country, and slavery, for ever; and I never enjoyed peace of mind till I had attained my object. Nevertheless, I was an unwilling witness of the system for nearly eight months. I need hardly declare that the negroes in Jamaica are overworked. Out of crop they toil from sun-rise to sun-set; that is, generally, throughout the year, from 5 A. M. to 8 P. M.; and during crop, which lasts five months in the year, for thirty-six hours out of the forty-eight, allowing an hour and a half each day for meals, sleep only being conceded to them every alternate night. The majority are, also, to speak in plain terms, half starved, seven salt herrings, and a few indigestible esculent roots, being their only support. The old worn-out men and women have still less food, chiefly subsisting on the partial bounty of their fellow slaves-or, indeed, upon cats and rats, when they are fortunate enough to procure them. I assert, also, that they are uniformly harshly treated, and, in numerous cases, cruelly so, and that for trivial faults. If a slave is only a few minutes behind the time he ought to be at work, he is either flogged by the black driver on the instant, or receives thirty-nine lashes on the arrival of the overseer. A word spoken Neither age nor sex protects the victims of slavery from the cart-whip. From seven to seventy, and beyond that age, there is no reprieve from its arbitrary infliction. An inoffensive African, called familiarly Old Billy, of upwards of seventy years of age, was shamefully flogged during my stay at Llandovery, for some alleged mistakes connected with the dressing of the overseer's garden; but it struck me forcibly at the time, and has been my firm belief ever since, that this poor, defenceless old creature was flogged by the overseer out of mere cruel sport, to amuse some strangers who were with him, and for no other reason whatever. The case of this unfriended creature was particularly painful to me; nor will the agonizing expression of his countenance, and his dismal cries, ever be effaced from my memory. The condition of the aged and worn out, who have such strong claims to proper maintenance in old age, is wretched beyond description. From hunger, and the dreadful infliction of the lash, death is their only relief. The drivers are uniformly the strongest and most active negroes the estate can furnish, and, to save their own backs, never fail to act up to their instructions. They are liberally allowed rum; and of an afternoon, when their acquired cruel dispositions are heightened by its use, the scenes of cruelty that then took place were, to my mind, revolting in the utmost degree. The negroes at Llandovery were given to understand that if they considered themselves ill-used they might complain to the attorney, on his periodical visits to the estate. But this was a course scarcely ever resorted to. They were well aware that such a proceeding could only have one effect, that of calling down aggravated cruelty upon them. During my residence, a Mulatto washerwoman was severely flogged for merely hinting that she would adopt this course. I kept no journal during my residence at Llandovery, an omission I deeply regret, as I should have been enabled, by adopting this course, to have given actual dates to many monstrous acts of oppression and cruelty. I think I may safely |