of Africa, and amongst these advocates William Roscoe deservedly holds a respectable station. I will now bring this question to a point conclusively so, as far as respects myself, by adverting to two principles of action, and shall content myself with hoping that whatever plan is adopted and pursued by the African Institution for the civilization and benefit of Africa, it will be with an uniform adherence to these principles. I mean, firstly, that we should do to the Africans as we would be done by; secondly, that, according to the approved maxim of all sound moralists and theologians, we should not do evil that good may come of it. It is the prerogative of Heaven to educe good out of evil, and were its sovereignty not exercised with this effect, lamentable indeed would be the situation of makind. In reference to these two principles of conduct, I may say with Horace, Si quid novisti rectius istis, West Hill, Wandsworth, June, 1811. GEO. HARRISON. State of the Slaves in the British West Indies. THE important step which was made by the Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, was received with that satisfaction and even triumph, which was extremely creditable to the philanthropy of the nation. It had the effect, however, which the progressive steps in the removal of evils, too frequently, and too naturally have; it shut the eyes of many, perhaps of most persons, upon the evils which remained behind. The Abolition of the Slave Trade was looked upon as a perfect cure; while, however great its importance, it was only something towards the cure. It was a measure which had in view the good of two masses of population: 1, the people in Africa, who were excited to afflict and torment one another, by the measures to which they had recourse for procuring slaves; 2, the slave population in the West Indies who were cruelly treated by their masters. With regard to the first object, the Abolition Act, except in as far as it has not been carried into execution, is a perfect remedy. In regard to the second object, that of rendering the condition of the slaves in the West Indies consistent with common humanity, the Act was, by its very nature, calculated to produce very incomplete effects. By rendering the life of the slave somewhat more valuable to the master, it gave the master, to that degree, an interest in abstaining from such courses of barbarity and cruelty as had a visible tendency to abridge the life or productive powers of his slave. But it gave him no such immediate and powerful interest, as to restrain his more violent passions, in the commission of extreme cruelty; and it had no tendency to enlighten a brutal and unintelligent mind, with regard to the gradual and slow decay produced by habitual misery. As the knowledge arrives but slowly of facts which take place at a distance, and which are prevented from transpiring by all the industry and care of the people among whom they happen, it is no wonder that it has taken some years to bring to our cognizance, under universally admitted authority, those instances of abuse in the treatment of the West Indian slaves, which the nature of the case rendered it but too certain were going on. Happily a recent enormity committed in the island of Nevis, has attracted so much attention, as to call for parliamentary enquiry; and the papers which this enquiry has rendered necessary to be laid before parliament and printed for the information of the legislature, have given us a perception, through the surest medium, of the scenes which are acting in the West Indies. As every thing deserves the utmost publicity, which tends to give us an insight into transactions which are but too carefully concealed from our view, and of which partial and flattering accounts are but too frequently received and credited, we deem it our duty to submit to our readers the substance of what the parliamentary papers, relative to the business at Nevis contain; and, as far as attention to brevity will permit, we shall, for the greater authenticity, present it in the very words of the documents themselves. An opulent planter in the island of Nevis, of the name of Huggins, exhibited such a scene of atrocity, in inflicting punishment upon the bodies of his negroes, as the assembly of the island deemed it requisite to condemn. The following resolution of theirs, with two of the affidavits on which it was grounded, will give the reader a plain unvarnished account of the facts. From the St. Christopher Gazette of Feb. 1810: Published by the Authority of the Assembly of the Island of Nevis. Nevis. At a Meeting of the Gentlemen of the Assembly at Charles, town, on Wednesday, the 31st Day of January, 1810; -Tae following Resolutions were entered into : RESOLVED, That it is the opinion of this House, that the conduct of Edward Huggins, sen. Esq. on Tuesday the 23d of this month, in inflicting punishment on several of his negroes in the public market-place of this town, was both cruel and illegal; and that particularly, in two cases, where two hundred and forty-two and two hundred and ninety-one lashes were given, he was guilty of an act of barbarity, altogether unprecedented in this Island. That this House do hold such conduct in the utmost abhorrence and detestation; which sentiments perfectly accord with the feelings of the community in general. That this House do pledge themselves to promote the strictest investigation into this cruel proceeding, so disgraceful to humanity, so injurious to the fair character of of the inhabitants, and so destructive of the best interests of the West India Colonies. Resolved, That the above Resolutions, with the Evidence taken in support thereof, be printed. That copies be trans mitted to England, and circulated through all the Islands. The Examiuation of John Burke, jun. Deputy Secretary of the said That, on Tuesday the 23d instant, he was standing in the street opposite the house of the Rev. William Green; when he saw Edward Huggins, sen. Esq. and his two sons, Edward and Peter Thomas Huggins, ride by, with a gang of negroes, to the public market-place; from whence the deponent heard the noise of the cart-whip: That deponent walked up street, and saw Mr. Huggins, sen. standing by, with two drivers flogging a negro-man, whose name deponent understood to be Yellow Quashy: That deponent went into Dr, Crosse's gallery, and sat down: that the two drivers continued flogging the said negro-man for about fifteen minutes: that, as he appeared to be severely whipped, deponent was induced to count the lashes given the other negroes, being under an impression that the country would take up the busi ness that deponent heard Mr. George Abbot declare, at Dr. Crosse's steps near the market-place, that the first negro had received three hundred and sixty-five lashes: deponent saith, that Mr. Huggins, sen. gave another negro-man one hundred and fifteen lashes; to another negro-man sixty-five lashes; to another negro-man forty-seven lashes; to another negro-man one hundred and sixty-five lashes; to another negro-man two hundred and forty-two lashes; to another negroinan two hundred and twelve lashes; to another negro-man one hundred and eighty-one lashes; to another negro-man fifty-nine lashes; to another negro-man one hundred and eighty-seven lashes; to a woman one hundred and ten lashes; to another woman fifty-eight lashes; to another woman ninety-seven lashes; to another woman two hundred and twelve lashes; to another woman two hundred and ninety-one lashes; to another woman eighty-three lashes; to another woman forty-nine lashes; to another woman sixty-eight lashes; to another woman eighty-nine lashes; and to another woman fifty-six lashes; and that the woman who received two hundred and ninety-one lashes appeared young, and was most cruelly flogged that all the negroes were flogged by two expert whippers: that Mr. Edward Huggins, jun. and Mr. Peter Huggins were present at the time the negroes were punished that Dr. Cassin was present when some of the ne groes were whipped, and when a man received two hundred and forty-two lashes: that deponent understood that Dr. Cassin was sent for by Mr. Huggins, sen: that Edward Parris, Esq. Mr. Peter Butler, and Dr. Crosse, were present at Dr. Crosse's house a part of the time during the punishment; and that Mr. Joseph Nicholson, Mr. Joseph Lawrence, and Mr. William Keepe, were present all the time. Sworn before me, this 31st Jan, 1810. at the Secretary's Office. W. Lawrence, JOHN BURKE, jun.* The Examination of George Abbott, Deputy Naval Officer of the said Island; upon oath; saith, That on the 23d instant he counted three hundred and sixty-five lashes, and that a negro woman passing his house, said, he would die. This deponent asked her if all the lashes were given to one person; to which she answered, yes: that * Papers relating to the West Indies: viz. Correspondence relating to Punishments inflicted on certain Negro Slaves, in the Island of Nevis; and to Prosecutions in consequence. Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, 31st May 1811.—p. 4—6. deponent then went down in town, and saw a yellow negro in the market-place, which appeared severely whipped. Sworn before me, this 31st Jan, 1810, at the Secretary's Office. 1810, W. Lawrence. GEORGE ABBOTT. After this proceeding of the assembly, it was impossible that the matter should be laid to rest, without a judicial enquiry. Accordingly a bill of indictment was found against Mr. Huggins, and he was tried. The fact however is, and it is a fact which speaks volumes upon the subject, he was acquitted. A jury of West India planters, (and it is of such men alone that juries in the West Indies can be formed) called to sit in judgment upon another planter, for inflicting the most inhuman torture upon a number of his slaves, whereof one of them died, being thus whipped to death, pronounced the author of this torture and death, NOT GUILTY. The first of the documents which we shall quote upon this part of the transactions is, the copy of a letter from the Earl of Liverpool, in his official capacity, to Governor Elliot. SIR, Downing-street, 12th April, 1811. YOUR several dispatches, inclosing various documents in reference to the case of Mr. Huggins, have been received; and the narrative they contain of the unparalleled severity of that person towards his slaves, has not failed to make the deepest impression on the minds of His Majesty's government. It might have been hoped that the fear of disgrace attendant on an outrage of humanity so publicly exhibited, would have been sufficient, in any civilized country, for its prevention; but it never could have been supposed possible that so flagrant a violation of a clause of the Act, called "the Melioration Act," could be submitted to the cognizance of a Court of Justice, and be exempted from the punishment which the Judge is empowered to inflict on conviction of the offender. With regard to the observations made in some of the letters transmitted by you, on the manner in which the jury was composed, and on the connexion of some persons on that jury with Mr. Huggins himself, it might be difficult at this distance of time to prove that corrupt motives influenced the decision of that jury; but as it appears uncontradicted, and indeed admitted, that persons holding the office of magistrates were present at the punishment without interfering to prevent |