Page:An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called Africans.djvu/107

Rh "Mr Koster, an Englishman living in Brazil, confirms Mr Walsh's statement. ’There are black regiments,’ he observes, 'composed entirely and exclusively of black Creole soldiers, commanded by black Creole officers from the corporal to the colonel. I have seen the several guard houses of the town occupied by these troops. Far from any apprehension being entertained on this score, it is well known that the quietude of this country, and the feeling of safety which every one possesses, although surrounded by slaves, proceed from the contentedness of the free people.'"

"The actual condition of the hundred thousand emancipated blacks and persons of color in the British West India Colonies, certainly gives no reason to apprehend that if a general emancipation should take place, the newly freed slaves would not be able and willing to support themselves. On this point the Returns from fourteen of the Slave Colonies, laid before the House of Commons, in 1826, give satisfactory information: they include a period of five years from January 1, 1821, to December 31, 1825, and give the following account of the state of pauperism in each of these colonies.

"Bahamas.—The only establishment in the colony for the relief of the poor, appears to be a hospital or poor house. The number passing through the hospital annually was, on the average, fifteen free black and colored persons and thirteen whites. The number of free black and colored persons is about double that of the whites; so that the proportion of white to that of colored paupers in the Bahamas, is nearly two to one.

"Barbadoes.—The average annual number of persons supported in the nine parishes, from which returns have been sent, is nine hundred and ninetyeight, all of whom, with a single exception, are white. The probable amount of white persons in the island is fourteen thousand five hundred—of free black and colored persons, four thousand five hundred.

"Berbice.—The white population appears to amount