Page:Emancipation in the West Indies.djvu/9

 10 liiiYo uYcry where boeoiiio fivtisiins. fai'iiicrs, tToolu.ihlL'r.-:; tlioy liuvo built houses, cU:arctl liuuls, fuuiided vilhigcs; and if any otic will take the Irouhle to exainiuc the answers made to ihe eircular i|ue.sliuns asked by the English (lovernniont, in 18:)i) and 184.0, he will see dial llii'se a.nsvers are unit'orni, and that all the colonial antiiorities agrc'j that the condi- tion ol" tiie black poasanlry is e((ual or supe- rior to that of die richest and happiest peas- antry oC l-lurope." M. .Jules .lieelievalier. a French writer of s:oine uute who iuul visited all tlese ishuids, and the SoutJiern States of America, testilied before ihis connnis,->ion. lie said, * "l^^rnan- cipatiun has worked mauvki.kous results for the negro. L i;a.n (bid no other word to ex- iH-csii what I think about this. Education, religion, and liberty make ixnur/i of the ne- g!'o, su(di as nol)ody woui.i rectognize — an en- tirely new b(ing. I''nr my part. I answer. Emancipation is very successful. The resjiect and allachmcntof thts negro(s for the iMiglish (lovcrmmiut has iiecome a sentiment of re- ligion. Thus a black will not name the king wiihout taking (ilT liis iiat. If you ask him wli(( is the author of t.lic libijrty which he has gained, he will reply, "'tbid and the kino-." itshuiihl be noticed tiiatthis v.-itness was un- friendly to th»j .Abolitionists. Mr. Hui-nley, for forty years a planti.'r in 'Ih-inidad, was in- troduced by his friend De Toci[uevil!e. Said, he: t "1 coidc'ss th;it the majority of the j)1aiitnrs e.specti'd disorders; but that was not the oi)iiiion of rcHect.ing people. For, setting aside thi! natural mildness of the negroes, what reasonable ground w;is there t(» e.xjiect violence; from men whose moral and social position was being >-hanged lor the better? 'hat caused doubt, and aiixietv to the intel- ligent colonists was how to keep up the su|i- ply of labor. n this p;/int we confess today, for the most jiart, that our fears were exag- gerated, and we bidieve that the blacks v.'ill work liki' the whites whmi they are subjected to the same lu.'cessities." e should do the subject an injustice, were wi; to oiiiil liere the testimony of .Mr. Emerson to the same point. quote from his address on th(.^ 1st of August IS-l;), an admiral)!e essay which, it is much to be re- gretted is out of print. ■Kr|MM-t. 1.-! I'lirr -I'.i-H'J. VM l.'art . yStli, '!.'oun; 1. "It was the stwcasni of Montesquieu, t 'It would not do to su[)pose that negroes were men, lest it should turn out that whites were not;' for the white has for ages done what he could to kec}) (he negro in that hoggish state. It now appears that the negro race is, more than any other, susceptible of rajiid civilization. The 'EmancipatiorL is observed in the island to have wrought for the negro a benefit as sudden as when a thermometer is brou»'lit out of the shade into the sun. It has given him eyes and ears. Me is now the principal, if not the only, mechanic in the West Indies, and is, besides, an architect, a physician, a lawyer, a magistrate, an editor, ami a valued;iiid increasing political power."§ A more recent authoritv, 31 r. Sewell. brings the evidence down to JStiO. ".1. think," says he, ( p. '254,) "that the position of the .Jamaica |.ieasant, in I8(.it>, is a stand- ing rebuke to those who, wittini^ly or unwit- tiuiiiy, encourage the vuliiar lie that the Af- rican cannot jiossibly be elevated. ' Very larufe numbers v/ork as merchants, median- ics, and tradesmen, and not a few!)f the ex- sla.ves of ..Jamaica, o)' their chiKlren, arc members of the Eepislature, and lill respon- sible oilices under (.Government. In the As- semlily alone, there are seventci;;n black and cedored men, out of a total of foi'ty-.soven. The whole jteopie of •Jamaica worlc; — .1. am utterly amazed at the progress they iiave made." ..Anthony Ti'o]lo])e conlirms ir.ost of the.se statements, in!iis iiijipant and shalhiw book. " y/zc Wfsf. Indies, and i/ic Spaiiish Alain.'' .Hut we will not leave the matter to re.st on authority, however illustrious or abundant; we will bring forward tl:e evidence that this improvement has taken place. There are three clmif tests of civilization i ( I. ) The security of life; ( 2. ) 'I'he security of property, and the value attached to it; {;>.) The sanctity of marriage and the posi- tion of woman. Now, these three tests can be applied rigorously by means of statistics, and we lind them all verified with increasing force in the West Indies. It is hardly needful to .say thru in slavery the right of property is constantly vi-i.i .-ioiont. ili'.-i li(iiiimi'.~i. |i;ir('(''|Ui'. .-i nuu.-; Ic.> hniiiiinv, on (•iinuiii'iu'cr.'iif;'i cniirt' lUU' tiniis m; sniiiiiu;.> jix-; aoii.'i-niOiiK'S ciiri'iicii-i." I >/in! (I' s Lois, I, ill. . ^'. §Soi.' L'l'iiNMij'j ••DiiU," CuifiuiUi, IS'jl.
 * Soo Cochin — 'Phhm^ II. p. V-VA. who r|iiuti'.-i thus: "II cs: