My father was one of the most humane and generous persons that ever existed ; there was no indulgence which he ever denied his negroes, and his letters were filled with the most positive injunctions for their good treatment. When his estates became mine, the one upon which I am now residing was managed by an attorney, considerably advanced in years, who had been long in our employment, and bore the highest character for probity and humanity. he was both attorney and overseer; and it was a particular recommendation to me that he live in my own house , and therefore had my slaves so immediately under his eye, that it was impossible for any subaltern to misuse them without his knowledge. His letters to me expressed the greatest anxiety and attention respecting the welfare and comfort of the slaves;-so much so, indeed, that when I detailed his mode of management to Lord Holland, he observed , " that is he did all that was mentioned in his letters, he did as much as could possibly be expected or wished from an attorney ;" and, on parting with his own, Lord Holland was induced to engage mine to manage his estates, which are in the immediate neighbourhood of Cornwall. this man dies about two years ago, and since my arrival, I happened to hear that, during his management, a remarkably fine young penn-keeper, named Richard (the brother of my intelligent carpenter, Jogn Fuller), had run away several times to the mountains. I had taken occasion to let the brothers know, between jest and earnest, that I was aware of Richard's misconduct ; and at length, one morning, John, while he blamed his brother's running away, let fall, that he had some excuse in the extreme ill-usage which he had received from one of the book- keepers, who 'had had a spite against him." The hint alarmed me ; I followed it, and nothing could equal my anger and surprise at learning the whole truth.
It seemed, that while I fancied my attorney to be resident on Cornwall, he was, in fact, generally attending to a property of his own, or looking after estates if which also he had the management in distant parts of the island. During his absence , an overseer of his own appointing, without my knowledge, was left in absolute possession of his ower, which he abused to such a degree, that almost every slave of respectability on the estate was compelled to become a runaway. The property was nearly ruined, and the slaves absolutely in a state of rebellion. At length he committed an act if such severity, that the negroes, one and all, fled to Savannah la Mar, and threw themselves upon the protection of the magistrates, who immediately came over to Cornwall and investigated the complaint ; and now, at length, the attorney, who had known numerous instances of the overseer's tyranny, had frequently rebuked him for them, and had redressed the suffers, but who still had dared to abuse my confidence so grossly as to continue him in his situation, upon this public exposure thought proper to dismiss him. Yet, while all this was going on-while my negroes were groaning under the iron rod of this petty tyrant-and while the magistrate was obliged to interfere to protect them from his cruelty-my attorney had the insolence and falsehood, to write me letters, filled with assurances of his perpetual vigilance for their welfare, and of their perfect good treatment and satisfaction; and, if I had not come myself to Jamaica, in all probability I should never have had the most distant idea how abominably the poor creatures had been ill- used.
I have made it my business to mix as much as possible among the negroes, and have given them every encouragement to repose confidence in me ; and I have uniformly found all those, upon whom any reliance can be placed, unite in praising the humanity of their present superintendent. Instantly on his arrival he took the whole power of punishment into his own hands: he forbade. the slightest interference in this respect of any person whatever on the estate, white or black; nor have I been able to find as yet any one negro who has any charge of harsh treatment to bring against him. However, having been already so grossly deceived, I will never again place implicit confidence in any person, whatever in a matter of such importance. Before my departure, I shall take every possible measure that may prevent any mis-conduct taking place without my being apprised of it as soon as possible ; and I have already exhorted my negroes to apply to the magistrates on the very first instance of ill-usage, should any occur during my absence.
I am indeed assured by every one about me, that to manage a West Indian estate without the occasional use of the cart-whip however rarely, is impossible; and they insist upon it, that it is absurd in me to call my slaves ill-treated because, when they act grossly wrong, they are treated like English soldiers and sailors.
All this may be very true; but there is something to me so shooking in the idea of this execrable cart-whip that I have positively forbidden the use of it on Cornwall ; and, if the estate must go to rack and ruin without its use, to rack and ruin the estate must go. Probably I should care less about this punishment if I had not been living among those on whom it may be inflicted ; but now, when I am accustomed to see every face that looks upon me grinning from ear to ear with pleasure at my notice, and hear every voice cry " God bless you, massa! " as I pass, one be an absolute brute not to feel unwilling to leave them subject to the lash. Besides, they are excellent cajolers. Nicholas John Fuller came to me this morning to beg a favour, " and beg massa hard, quite hard! " It was, that when massa went away he would leave his picture for the negroes, " that they might talk to it, all just as they did to massa."
JANUARY 20.
THE RUNAWAY.
Peter, Peter was a black boy;
Peter, him pull foot one day:
Buckra girl, him * Peter's joy;
Lilly white girl entice him away
Fye, Alissy Sally, fye on you!
Poor Blacky Peter why undo?
Oh ! Peter, Peter was a bad boy;
Peter was a runaway.
Peter, him Musa thief-Oh! fye
Missy Sally, him say him do so.
Him money spent, Sally bid him bye,
And from Peter away him go;
Fye, Missy Sally, fye on you
Poor Blacky Peter what him do?
Oh ! Peter, Peter was a sad boy;
Peter was a runaway.
Peter, him go to him Massa back;
There him humbly own him crime:
"Massa, forgib one poor young Black!
Oh! Massa, good Massa, forgib dis time!"
Then in come him Missy so fine, so gay,
And to him Peter thus him say
"Oh ! Missy, good Missy, you for me pray!
Beg Massa forgib poor runaway!
"Missy, you cheeks so red, so white;
Missy, you eyes like diamond shine"
Missy, you Massa's sole delight,
And Lilly Sally, him was mine!
*The negroes never distinguish between "him" and "her" in their conversation.
Him say-' Come, Peter, mid me go;
Could me refuse him? Could me say 'no?'-
Poor Peter-'no' him could no say!
So Peter, Peter, ran away!"
Him Missy him pray; him Massa so kind
Was moved by him prayer, and to Peter him say;
"Well, boy, for this once I forgive you !-but mind!
With the buckra girls you no more go away!
Though fair without, they're foul within;
Their heart is black, though white their skin.
Then Peter, Peter, with me stay;
Peter no more run away!"
JANUARY 21. (Sunday.)
The hospital has been crowded, since my arrival, with patients who have nothing the matter with them. On Wednesday there were about thirty invalid , of whom only four were cases at all serious ; the rest had " a lilly pain here, massa," or " a bad pain me no know where, massa," and evidently only came to the hospital in order to sit idle and chat away the time with their friends. Four of them the doctor ordered into the field peremptorily: the next day there came into the sick-house six others; upon this I resolved to try my own hand at curing them ; and I directed the head-driver to announce that the presents which I had brought from England should be distributed to-day, that the new-born children should be christened, and that t
he negroes might take possession of my house, and amuse themselves till twelve at night. The effect of my prescription was magical; two-thirds of the sick were hale and, hearty, at work in the field, on Saturday morning, and to-day not a soul remained in the hospital except the four serious cases.
The christening took place about four o'clock. Sully's infant, which had been destined to perform, part of this occasion, had died in the hospital; but this morning the father came to complain of his disappointment, and to beg leave to substitute a child by another wife, which, which had been born about two months before my arrival ; and as the father is a very serviceable fellow, and the mother, besides having brought up three children of her own, had the additional merit of having reared an infant whose own mother had died in child-bed, I broke through the rule of only christening those myself who should be born since my coming to Jamaica, and granted his request. By good luck, the first child to be named was the offspring of Minerva-and Captain; so I told the parents that as it would be highly proper to call the boy after the greatest Captain that the world could produce, he should be named Wellington; and that I hoped that, he would grow up to serve me in Jamaica as well as the Duke of Wellington had served his massa, the King of England, in Europe. The Duke of Sully's child I wanted to call Navarre; but the father had brought over a free negro from Savannah la Mar to stand godfather, who was his fidus Achates, by name, John Davis; and I found that he had set his heart upon calling the boy John Lewis, after his friend and myself; so John Lewis he was.
There ought to have been a third child, born at seven months, whom the graundee had reared with great difficulty, and dismissed, quite strong, from the hospital; the mother had taken great care of it till the tenth day, when she was entitled to an allowance of clothes provisions, &c. ; but no sooner had she received her reward than, on that very night, she suffered the to remain so long without food, while she went herself to dance on a neighbouring estate, that it was brought in an exhausted state back to the hospital ; and, in spite of every care, it expired within four and twenty hours after its return.
The ceremony, was performed with perfect gravity and propriety by all parties ; I thought it as well to cut the reading part it very short; but I read a couple of prayers, marked the foreheads of the children with the sign of the cross, and, instead of the concluding prayer, I substituted a wish " that God would bless the children, and make them live to be as good servants to me, as I prayed him to make me a kind massa to them:" upon which all present very gravely made me their lowest bows and courtesies, and then gave me a loud huzza ; so unusual a mode of approbation at a christening that it had nearly overturned my seriousness ; and I made haste to serve out Madeira to the pa- rents and assistants, that they might drink the healths of the new Christians and of each other. The mothers and the graunde were then called up to the table, and the ladies who were in the family-way were arranged behind them.
Their title in Jamaica is rather coarse, but very expressive. I asked Cubina one day " Who was that woman with a basket on her head? " " Massa," he answered, "that one belly-woman going to sell provisions at the Bay." As she was going to sell provisions , I supposed that belly -woman was the name of her trade ; but it afterwards appeared that she was one of those females who had given in their names as being in an interesting situation, and who, in consequence, were discharged from al severe labour. I then gave the graundee and the mothers a dollar each, and told them that for the future they might claim the same sum, in addition to their usual allowance of clothes and provisions, for every infant which should be brought to the overseer alive and well on the fourteenth day ; and I also gave each mother a present of a scarlet girdle with a silver medal in the centre, telling her always to wear it on feasts and holidays, when it should entitle her to marks of peculiar respect and attention - such as being one of those first served, and receiving a larger portion than the rest ; that the first fault which she might commit should be forgiven on the production of this girdle ; and that when she should have any favour to ask, she should always put it round her waist, and be assured that, on seeing it, the overseer would allow the wearer to be entitled to particular indulgence. On every additional child, an additional medal is to be affixed to the belt, and precedence is to follow the greater number of medals. I expected that this notion of an order of honour would have been treated as completely fanciful and romantic ; but, to, my great surprise, my manager told me that " he never knew a dollar better bestowed than the one which formed the medal of the girdle, and that he thought the institution likely to have a very good effect."
Immediately after the christening the Eboe drums were produced, and, in defiance of Sunday, the negroes had the irreverence to be gay and happy, while the presents were being put in order for distribution. All the men got jackets, the women seven yards of stuff each for petticoats, &c., and the children as much printed cotton as would make a couple of frocks. The Creoles were delighted beyond measure when some of the African male negroes exclaimed, "Tank, massa," and made a low coutesy in the estimation of their gratitude. as they were all called to receive their presents alphabetically in pairs, some of the combinations were very amusing. We had Punch and Plato, Priam and Pam, Hemp and Hercules, and Minerva and Moll, called together. By twelve they dispersed, and I went to bed, on these occasions, with a violent headache.
JANUARY 22.
While I was at dinner a tremendous uproar was heard below stairs. On inquiry, it proved to be Cubina quarrelling with his niece Phillis (a good-looking black girl employed about the house), about a broken pitcher ; and as her explanation did not appear satisfactory to him, he had thought proper to give her a few boxes on the ear. Upon hearing this, I read him such a lecture on the baseness of a man's striking a woman, and told with so much severity that his heart must be a bad one to commit such an offence, that poor Cubina, having never heard a word from me before, scarcely knew whether he stood upon his head or his heels. When he afterwards brought my coffee he expressed his sorrow for having offended me, and begged my pardon in the most humble manner. I told him, that obtain mine he must first obtain that of Phillis; and he immediately declared himself ready to make her any apology that I might dictate. So the girl was called in, and her uncle going up to her said, " I am very sorry, Phillis, that I gave way to high passion, and called you hard names, and struck you; which I ought not to have done while massa was in the house;" (here I was going interrupt him, but he was too clever not to perceive his blunder, and made haste to add) " nor if lie had not been here, nor at all ; so I hope you will have the kindness to forgive me this once, and I never will strike you again, and so I beg your pardon." And he then put out his hand to her in the frank and hearty matter imaginable ; and, on her accepting it, made three or four of his very lowest and most graceful bows. I furnished him with a piece of money to give her as a peace-offering : they left the room thoroughly reconciled, and in five minutes after they and the rest of the servants were all chattering, laughing, and singing together, in the most perfect harmony and good-humour. I suppose, if I had desired an upper servant in England to make the same submission, he would have preferred quitting my service to doing what lie would have called " humbling himself to an inferior;" or, if be bad found himself compelled to give way, he would have been sulky with the girl, and found fault with everything that she did in the house for a twelvemonth after.
On the other hand, there are some choice ungrateful scoundrels among the negroes : on the night of their first dance, a couple of sheep disappeared from the pen, although they could not have been taken from want of food, as on that very morning there had been an ample distribution of fresh beef; and last night another sheep and a quantity of poultry followed them. Yesterday, too, a young rascal of a boy, called " massa Jackey," who is in the frequent habit of running away for months at a time, and whom I had distinguished from the cleverness of his countenance and buffoonery of his manners, came to beg my permission to go and purchase food with some money which I had just given him, " be
cause he was almost starving; his parents were dead, be bad no provision-grounds, no allowance, and nobody ever gave him anything." Upon this I sent Cubina with the boy to the storekeeper, when it appeared. that he had always received a regular allowance of provisions twice a week, which he generally sold, as well as his clothes, at the Bay, for spirits; had received an additional portion only last Friday ; and, into the bargain, during the whole )of that week bad been fed from the house. What he could propose to himself by telling a lie which must be so soon detected, I cannot conceive; but I am assured that, unless a negro has an interest in telling the truth, he always lies-in order to keep his tongue in practice. One species of flattery (or of Congo-saw, as we call it here) amused me much this morning: an old woman who is in the hospital wanted to express her gratitude for some stewed fish which I had sent her for supper, and, instead of calling me " massa," she always said-" Tank him, my husband."
Journal of a Residence among the Negroes in the West Indies Page 8
