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have thus presumed to use without any authority whatever, hold no such opinion; but while they feel that all changes in such a System ought to emanate solely from the Legislature, they hold it to be the duty of every Christian Government to bring the practice of Slavery to an end, as soon as it can be done prudently, safely, and with a just consideration of the interests of all parties concerned; and that the degradation of men merely on account of their COLOUR, and the holding of human beings in INTERMINABLE bandage, are wholly inconsistent with Christianity.

Secondly, That the Committee feel bound, in justice, to disavow the sweeping charge made against persons in this country, comprehended under the general terms of "Emancipatists and Abolitionists," in the said Resolutions; as written under evident ignorance of the opinions on that subject which are held in this country, by those excellent and benevolent men, who have of late most distinguished themselves by advocating the melioration of the condition of the Slaves in the West-India Colonies, with a view to the ultimate extinction of Slavery. The Committee, conducting the Wesleyan Missions, take no part in such discussions, as not being embraced by their ONE object, which is to extend the benefits of Christian Instruction among the Black and Coloured Population of the Colonies; but they can never permit any of their Missionaries to use their name and the name of "the Wesleyan Body," in casting censures upon many of the most excellent of their fellow-countrymen, by representing them as holding sentiments on the subject of the Emancipation of Slaves, and forming "designs," which, if carried into effect, would produce the consequences enumerated in the very un guarded and blameable Resolution referred to. The character and objects of the persons, to whom allusion is there made, are too well known by the Committee, for them to suffer such unjust reflections to be given to the world in their name, and not strongly to censure the said Missionaries for thus adopting the language of violent party-men.

Thirdly, That the Committee have read with great grief the very blameable language of the Fourth of the said Resolutions; though they consider the whole to be the production of a very few only of the Missionaries in Jamaica, two of whom had been placed by the Conference, held in August last, under censure, one being recalled and the other directed to remove from that Island, for the manner in which they had surrendered themselves to the party-feelings excited there in opposition to the measures of His Majesty's Government and the Proceedings of the British Parliament: and that, so far from that Resolution speaking the language of "the Wesleyan Body," as it most unwarrantably professes, that Body, while it has exerted itself for nearly Forty Years to promote the Instruction of the Slaves of the West Indies, and to render

them moral and peaceable, has always distinguished itself at home and abroad by its inculcation of the principles of entire obedience to Masters, Magistrates, and all other Legal Authorities; yet, after the examples of its venerable Founder, who was among the first, by his writings, to lift up his voice against that long-continued national sin, the Trade in Slaves, has ever regarded the System of Slavery as a moral evil from which the Nation was bound ultimately to free itself; and, throughout the kingdom, has hailed, with the greatest gratitude and satisfaction, the incipient measures adopted by His Majesty's Government, for meliorating the condition of that class of their fellow-subjects. These are measures which, as a RELIGIOUS Body, they have felt a deep interest in; not as connecting "religion with politics," as stated in the Resolution; but as they are essentially connected with the promotion of religion and morals, by regulations which refer to the observance of the Sabbath, to the Marriage of Slaves, and to their general Protection.

The Committee, attentive only to the spiritual concerns of the Missions confided to their management, would not have thus entered upon these topics, had they not been forced upon them by the publication of the Resolutions in question.

They are not unacquainted with the menaces with which their Missionaries have of late, been visited in some parts of Jamaica; the obstructions which have been thrown in the way, in some places, to the exercise of their ministry; the refusal of Magistrates, even in the course of the last year, to license their Missionaries, without any legal authority for so doing; and the threats of their expulsion from the Island, which have of late been frequently resorted to: but if the experience of the peaceable effects of their Missions for nearly Forty Years, and the faithful manner in which the Instructions of the Committee, as to the enjoining obedience on Slaves and respect for the Local Authorities, have been uniformly observed by their Missionaries and Societies-facts acknowledged by many respectable and impartial persons both in Jamaica and in the other Colonies, whose continued friendship to their Missions they very gratefully record—are not admitted as sufficient reasons for their protection, they will not seek it in any case by becoming parties to the passions of men, nor suffer their Missionaries to become so they will not compromise the principles of Christianity, in their legitimate exposition, to obtain favour. In the quiet and simple course of endeavouring to make the Negroes of the West Indies better men, and better servants, and better subjects, they will persevere and if they suffer for this righteousness' sake, they know the general character of their Missionaries and their Societies in the West Indies so well, that they will suffer patiently, until their case be redressed by the justice of His Majesty's Government, to whom they have never looked for protection, in

cases of persecution, in vain. To that protection, and to the public feeling and liberality of this country, they can with confidence leave the Religious Liberties of their numerous Congregations in the West-India Colonies, and those of the Missionaries who are there employed in promoting the best interests of society at large.

6. That Copies of the above Resolutions be transmitted to the Right Honourable Earl Bathurst, one of his Majesty's principal Secretaries of State; and to His Grace The Duke of Manchester, Governor of Jamaica.

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INDEX.

ABOLITION of the slave trade, good effects of, 130.

Africa, slavery of, 275, 304.

Airs, Negro dance, 12; funeral air, 136.

America, emancipation of slaves in the United States of, 253.
Amusements of the slaves, 9.

Anabaptists, 284, 286.

Animal and vegetable life, exuberance of, in the tropics, 331.
Anti-Colonists, peaceable and benevolent spirit of the, 292.

Antipathy, alleged, of the white to the black and brown people, Introd.

xi. 237.

Attaching the slaves to the soil, 264.

Attempt to murder by poison, 188.

Baptism of Negroes, 131.

Barbadoes, riot, and destruction of a methodist chapel in, 367.

Barham, Mr., on the right of the colonists to compensation, 16.

Berbice, experiment of Negro emancipation in, 347.

Bickell, Rev. Mr., his West Indies as they are, or Real Picture of Sla-
very,' 405.

his account of the white people in Jamaica, 427.

Bishop of Jamaica, and John Meabery, 370.

Black troops, 291.

Boyden, Joseph, trial of, for maltreating a slave, 76.

Branding of slaves, 218.

Brougham, Mr., judges of the state of the slaves from the workhouse

lists, 178.

his opinion of the importance of the colonies as a source of
wealth to the mother country, 15.

Burial grounds, negro, description of, 166.

Buxton, Mr., thinks marriage should be enforced among the slaves, 101.

Cat, use of the, as an instrument of punishment resisted by the slaves, 43.

Checks and restraint on severity of punishment, 80.

Children of colour, error of Mr. Stephen regarding, 90.

Christmas, how spent by the slaves, 10.

Christopher, St., forty years ago, 302.

Civil society, benefits of, said to be withheld from the Negro slave, 114.
Clothing, allowance of, given to the negroes, 48.

Coasting vessels commanded by slaves, 115.

Collins, Dr., of St. Vincent's, Practical Rules, 299.

Colonial and Roman slavery compared, 31, 214.

Colonies, our West India, represented by Mr. Stephen as a great evil to

the mother country, 305.

Colonists, character of the, given by Mr. Stephen, 195.

Colony trade, remarks on the, 375.

Colour, importance of educating the children of, 118.

Comfortable circumstances of the slaves in Jamaica, their allowances, &c.
48.

Commercial character of sugar estates, how it affects the slaves, 73.
Compensation, right of the colonists to, 14-Mr. Barham on, 16.
Condemned slaves, indemnification to the owners of, 205.

Cooper, Rev. Thomas, 405.

Corporal punishment, 34.

Crabs, abundant in Jamaica, and Negro methods of catching, 323.
Criminal accusations, trial of slaves upon, 197.

Crisis of the Sugar Colonies, a pamphlet, by Mr. Stephen, 308.

Crop-over, or harvest-home, on a plantation, 10.

Cropper, Mr., the calculations of, on the decrease of the slaves, 340.

Cuba, island of, 148-Instance of the superstition of the people in, 149–
Negro provision markets in, 153.

Dallas, Mr., his Negro song, 213.

Decrease of the slave population in the colonies, how to be accounted for,
336.

Defamation of slaves, 103.

Desertion and vagrancy, 168-and going off the island, 170-causes of, 176.
Discretionary power of the Judges, in punishing slaves, how interpreted by
Mr. Stephen, 193.

Dolly, a slave, anecdote of, 273.

Domingo, St., present appearance of, 145-effects of Negro emancipation in,
346-population of, 350-its armed force, 351-wealth and industry of
its inhabitants, 352-exports of, in 1791 and in 1822, compared with
those of Jamaica, 354-tonnage of, 355-value of its exports, 356-
marvellous increase of population in, stated from official reports in the
Edinburgh Review, 371-trade of, 372.

Drink of the Negroes, 179.

Drivers, or Head Negroes, description of the, 38.
Driving system, 308.

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