Page:Emancipation in the West Indies.djvu/11

 12 roiliicorl iMriH-b pos^JO.'^Hions,?o that, at the, V(sfiiral!(iii of the Hfiurlioiis in IS I.'), tliny counU'il 1)U t'liur enltmios: (.lu:ulalou|ie, . (-liiiana, and Mavtiiiiijuo in ilie AVrst^ IndioH, and t!i(i Isld of Ijourbon, ■^incu called idii. near Madai^asrar. hi 'all those were slaves, and llimii;;1i the slave trade was •fionnnally aholislied in it contin- ueil, (^specially in I-ionrbon, till ISoO. The ilevdlution of "'nly, in that year, !i;ave an inipnlse to emancipalion by raisings to jiower siune of those Ibrnierly eonsjiieuous as friends of abdlllion; anioni>- them the;i,ii;ed and illustrious liafayettii. This ni)le enthu- siast, as early as 17^;"), had sent an aiijont iiained HiehcjU'ay to (Cayenne, to l!u_y land for t,he home of emancipated slaves; a gi.'ue- rnus sithuiiu; of the young .Ma.rquis, to Avhieh Washington, by letter, ,ut the work be.i^'un by Lafayelto, and by [^Muis X'l. was leit to be eonijileted by;i thii'd oeneration, I'Voni IHol to 1S4<.), !). suecessiuu of laws niitiuatinuf the condition of the I'Veneh slaves, and restrict inn; the •of the .L^'overnment of Louis Philipiie. '.I'hese laws wei'o advocated by famous men, tirst among whom th(!!>uke do Uroglie di.-serves to be named. (Jui/.ot, Harroi, l.>e 'JVacy, He To('({uevilIe, Lamartine, Vassy, Monta- lend)ei't, Ixemusat., added their reputation ami their eloijuence to the cause, in jSKb ( .March "J!ti), the grand commission, to which refei'(!nee has already been made, was ap- whom was IK) To(.'i[ueville, wei'o in favor of siinullaui'ous (anaaicipation after a dehiy of ten years for pi'cpai'alion; the nunority wish- ed for gradual emancipation. A law, caiaying out some of these jtlans, was passed in. 1.81:5, warndy supported by (Nuuit (laspai'in, whose i'ec(!ut book, "'.i'he Uprising of a (Ireat i'eople," shows his sin- gular K'uowledgi,' of our all'iirs. and his allec- tion for (uir country. lJut such was the in- fluence of the handi'ul of slavoholdrrs. and ih.eir mercantile partiu'rs, in the sea|!orts of l''rance. that tia.'y contrived to tlclay tlu; linal act of liberalioii till after the llevc"luliun of .IS IS. Ib'voluf ion>: art." not fricndlv to old abuses. Oni' of the tirst art< (jf tlu' Ih'ovisional ' iif li'ii^'ili ill *-lr. Siinnirr'.- Ii'i-iiii'f nil uivi'ii in IJns- Uui, Octiilii'r. ISi'i'). wlifiviii li(i ijui'ti'.-- 'A ii.-liinutnirs Ictfi'V. point:i conunission to prepare a hnv of liinancijiation. At the head of this l.iody, A'i(tor Schoel- (dier was named; an earnest Abolitionist, a brilliant writer, who had twice visited the Vest indies,;nid thoroughly examined their comlition. concerning which his liooks arc still the best iiuthority. The Secretary was W'alhm, himself an earnest writer on the same and kindred subjects.* The new lav; was passed on the 27th of April. .1S48, and took efii>ct in May. In the Danish colonii-s of St. .lohn, St. '.I'homas, and Santa Cruz, i'ananci|iation was ]uo- claimed by the humane (lovernor, 'au Scladten, in duly of the same year. The whole tiund.ier of slaves for whoiti indemnity WTis p.aid by l-Vance, was 2-1 S;ju(l. (includ- ing .1-1 (MM) in the petty coloidc'S of Senegal and N'ossi lU'); the whites nund)er(.'d aliout -10 (MIO. and the free colored people 100 000. In the D.anish islands there were, in ISo.").]" 27 KM slaves. S'..l22 free colored persons, and 7 122 whites; in IS-IS, there wen.; [trob- ably about. 2(i 00 slaves. What have been the conse([uences of freedom in these ctdo- nies? .i.iet it first be .said that in the French isl- •ands, the slaves were not oidy set free, but were at once admitted to all the rights of ci- tizens un(h;r the new iiopublie. They were invited to vote at the (dections of 1S4S, and they did so; they were allowed to sit on juries, to bear aims; in shoi't, to assume all the duties of the citi/.eii, The .Faigli.-h law, on the contrary, had made every step of the freed slave upward, a slow and costly one. The result showed the greater wisdom of the biiiglish method, or, at least, the more fortu- nate (.•.ircumstaiic(s of its trial. The year IS-IS passed with few troubles; but in the next year there were serious dis- turb.aiu'es at (iuadaloupe aiai .Martinique, in which the new-made freenu'ii were concerned. 'et the injury dom; was far less than in the •lamaica I'evolt of I S;.12; not a huud.redth part so great as tiiat inllicted by lliclicpanse, in 1S02, wiien. at tlu.' command of .Napoleon, he rer'stablished slavery in (iuadaloupe.;it a cost uf 20 000 negro lives. i 1 S-1S--10. were years iif l!evoluti:in, and the i'^reiich islands escaped as lightly as the l-hrropcMn Stales. 'I'lii- ntlici- nu'iiil"'!'- wi'vv Mi'.^ii'M, I'lTriniin. Oiitinc. Oiiilliliiiit. (il I'll irl; •lii:;l<iT. ) ailil I'lTrili. Sec t'lu.-liin, Ti'lllC I., p. ' CiM-llill, TMil!!' I.. pllLTC ■'i'il-2. Sl.-lhU'Il-lli-r. I'i'lilllilS l''jftuii:-y< 'I Ihtili. 'I'lillli' 1!.. |i.
 * )owcr of the master, testilied to the wishes
 * iointed. majority of its tiiembers, anu)iig
 * Si'.- Til.' ■ri.nii.-t. i-'i.li. 1^. is;i;j.