VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
"_Aboan_. The innocent. _Oronoko_. These men are so, whom you would rise against. If we are slaves, they did not make us slaves, But bought us in the honest way of trade, As we have done before 'em, bought and sold Many a wretch, and never thought it wrong. They paid our price for us, and we are now Their property, a part of their estate, To manage as they please."
At an early hour the party, consisting of Mr Kingston, the master ofthe brig, and Newton, set off upon mules for the habitation of theplanter. The sun had illumined the sky, but had not yet made itsappearance, although the golden fringes upon the clouds which floated inbroad belts in the horizon, indicated his glorious yet witheringapproach. The dew moistened each leaf, or hung in glittering pendantdrops upon the thorn of the prickly pears which lined the roads. Theweb of the silver-banded spider was extended between the bushes, and,saturated with moisture, reflected the beams of the rising orb, as theanimals danced in the centre, to dazzle their expected prey. The miststill hovered on the valleys, and concealed a part of the landscape fromtheir view; and the occasional sound of the fall of water was mingledwith the twittering and chirping of the birds, as they flew from sprayto spray. The air was fresh, even to keenness, and any one suddenlywafted to the scene would little have imagined that he was under thetorrid zone.
"How different this is from the ideas generally formed of the climate inthe West Indies!" observed Newton. "In England, we couple it withinsufferable heat and the yellow fever."
"Your reports are from those who seldom leave the harbours or towns,where such indeed prevail," replied Kingston. "There is no island inthe Caribbean sea where the early riser may not enjoy this delightfulbracing atmosphere. At Jamaica, in particular, where they collect asmuch snow as they please in the mountains; yet, at the same time, thereis not a more fatal and unhealthy spot than Port Royal harbour, in thesame island."
"Is the plantation we are going to situated as high above the level ofthe sea as we are now?"
"No; most plantations are in the ravines, between the hills. Thesugar-cane requires heat. As soon as we are on the summit of this nexthill we shall descend to it."
In half an hour they arrived at the end of their journey, when theystopped at an extensive range of low buildings, situated at the head ofthe valley, which descended to the sea, now for the first time presentedto their view since they had quitted Bridgetown. The owner of theestate was at the door to receive them. He was a tall, spare man,dressed in nankeen jacket and trousers, with a large-brimmed straw-hatupon his head. "Welcome, gentlemen, welcome. Kingston, how are you?"said he, as they stopped. "Now dismount, gentlemen; the boys will takethe mules. Boy Jack, where are you? Where's Baby and where's Bulky?Come here you lazy rascals and take the mules. Now then, gentlemen,I'll show you the way. I ordered breakfast on the table, as I saw youcoming down the hill."
So saying, the old gentleman led the way through a portico. At thesight of strangers the windows underneath were crowded with faces ofvarious degrees of colour--eyes and mouths wide open, the latterdisplaying rows of teeth so even and so brilliantly white, that theymight cause a sensation of envy to many an English belle.
The party were ushered into a spacious and cool apartment on theground-floor, where a table was covered with all the varieties of atropical breakfast, consisting of fried fish, curries, devilled poultry,salt meats, and every thing which could tend to stimulate an enfeebledappetite.
"Now, gentlemen, let me recommend you to take a white jacket; you'll bemore at your ease, and there is no ceremony here. Boy Jack, where's thesangoree? This is a fine climate, Captain Berecroft; all you have toattend to is--to be temperate, and not to check the perspiration."
Boy Jack, who, par parenthese, was a stout, well-looking negro, of aboutforty years of age, now made his appearance with the sangoree. This wasa beverage composed of half a bottle of brandy, and two bottles ofMadeira, to which were added a proportion of sugar, lime-juice, andnutmeg, with water _ad lib_. It was contained in a glass bowl, capableof holding two gallons, standing upon a single stalk, and bearing theappearance of a Brobdignag rummer. Boy Jack brought it with both hands,and placed it before his master.
"Now, sir, will you drink?" said the planter, addressing Mr Berecroft.
"Thank you," replied Mr Berecroft, "I never drink so early in themorning."
"Drink! why this is nothing but _swizzle_. Here's your health, sir,I'll show you the way."
The large goblet was fixed to his lips for upwards of a minute: at lastthey unwillingly separated, and the old planter recovered hisrespiration with a deep sigh. "Now then, gentlemen, do you take alittle, don't be afraid; there's nothing you mayn't do in this climate,only be temperate and don't check the perspiration." At this momentNewton was startled, and looked under the table.
"I thought it was a dog, but it's a little black child."
"Oh! there's one out, is there? Why, Boy Jack, did I not tell you toshut them all in?"
"Yes, sar, so I did," said the black man, looking under the table."Eh!--it's that damned little nigger--two year old Sambo--no possiblekeep him in, sar.--Come out, Sambo."
The child crawled out to his master, and climbed up by his knee: the oldplanter patted his woolly head, and gave him a piece of grilled turkey,with which he immediately dived again under the table.
"The fact is, captain, they are accustomed to come in at breakfast time;they are only shut out to-day because I have company. That door behindme leads into the nursery yard."
"The nursery yard!"
"Yes, I'll show it you by-and-bye; there's plenty of them there."
"Oh, pray let us have them in--I wish to see them, and should be sorryto be the cause of their being disappointed."
"Open the door, Boy Jack." As soon as it was open, about twenty blackchildren from seven to three years old, most of them naked, with theirivory skins like a polished table, and quite pot-bellied from goodliving, tumbled into the room, to the great amusement of Newton and theparty. They were followed by seven or eight more, who were not yet oldenough to walk; but they crawled upon all-fours almost as fast as theothers, who could walk erect after the image of their Maker.
The company amused themselves with distributing to the children thecontents of the dishes on the table--the elder ones nestling alongsideof the planter and his friends with the greatest familiarity, while theyoungest sat upright on the floor, laughing as they devoured theirrespective portions.
"Of course, these are all slaves?" observed Mr Berecroft.
"Yes, bred them all myself," replied the planter "indeed, out of twohundred and fifteen which I have on the estate, I think that there arenot more than twelve who were not born on this property, during myfather's time or mine. Perhaps, as breakfast is over, you will like toinspect my nursery."
The planter led the way into the yard from which the children hadentered. It was a square, of about two roods of ground, three sides ofwhich were enclosed by rows of small houses, of two rooms each; and mostof them were occupied by female slaves, either nursing children at thebreast, or expecting very soon to have that duty to perform. Theyreceived their master with a smiling face, as he addressed a question toeach of them when he entered their abode.
"Now these are all my _breeding_ women; they do no work, only take careof the children, who remain here until they are eight or nine years old.We have a surgeon on the estate, who attends them as well as the otherslaves when they are sick. Now, if you feel inclined, we will go roundthe works."
The old planter, in a few minutes' walk, brought them to an extensiverow of detached cottages, each centred in a piece of garden-ground, wellstocked with yams, sweet potatoes, bananas, and other tropicalproductions. Poultry of all descriptions were scattered in profusionabout the place, and pigs appeared to be abundant.
"Now, captain, these are the cottages of the working slaves. Thegarden-ground is allowed to them; and whatever they can make by itsproduce, or by their pigs
and their poultry, is all their own."
"But how are they subsisted?"
"By rations, as regularly served out as yours are on board of yourvessel, and they have as much as they can consume."
"Are they all single men?"
"No, mostly married to slave girls on the estate: their wives live withthem, unless they breed, and then they are removed up to the nurseries."
"And what work do you exact from them?"
"Eight hours a day--except in cropt-time, and then we are very busy; sothat they have plenty of leisure to look after their own interests ifthey choose."
"Do they ever lay up much money?"
"Very often enough to purchase their freedom, if they wished it."
"If they wished it!" replied Mr Berecroft, with surprise.
"Yes; without explanation, that may appear strange to you, and stillmore strange, the fact, that freedom offered has often been refused. Aman who is a clever workman as a carpenter, or any other trade, willpurchase his freedom if he can, because artisans can obtain very highwages here; but a slave who, if I may use the term, is only a commonlabourer, would hardly support himself, and lay by nothing for his oldage. They are aware of it. I have offered emancipation to one or twowho have grown old, and they have refused it, and now remain asheirlooms on the estate, provided with every thing, and doing little orno work, if they please. You saw that old man sweeping under theportico? Well, he does that every day; and it is all he has done forthese five years. Now, if you please, we will go through theplantations, and visit the sugar-mills."
They passed the slaves, who were at work hoeing between the canes; andcertainly, if an estimate of their condition was to be taken by thenoise and laughter with which they beguiled their labour, they were farfrom demanding pity.
"But, I must confess, that there is something in that cart-whip which Ido not like," observed Newton.
"I grant it; but custom is not easily broken through; nor do we know anysubstitute. It is the badge of authority, and the noise of it isrequisite to summon them to their labour. With me it is seldom used,for it is not required; and if you were captain of a man-of-war I shouldanswer you as I did Captain C---; to wit--I question much whether mynoisy whip is half so mischievous as your silent _cat_."
The sugar-mills, stables of mules, boilers, coolers, etcetera, were allexamined, and the party returned to the plantation house.
"Well, captain, now you have witnessed what is termed slavery, what isyour opinion? Are your philanthropists justified in their invectivesagainst us?"
"First assure me that all other plantations are as well regulated asyour own," replied Mr Berecroft.
"If not, they soon will be: it is the interest of all the planters thatthey should; and by that, like all the rest of the world, they will beguided."
"But still there have been great acts of cruelty committed; quite enoughto prepossess us against you as a body."
"I grant that such has been the case, and may occasionally be so now;but do not the newspapers of England teem with acts of barbarity? Menare the same every where. But, sir, it is the misfortune of this world,that we never know _when to stop_. The abolition of the slave-trade wasan act of humanity, worthy of a country acting upon an extended scalelike England; but your philanthropists, not content with relieving theblacks, look forward to the extermination of their own countrymen, thewhites--who, upon the faith and promise of the nation, were induced toembark their capital in these islands."
"Doubtless they wish to abolish slavery altogether," replied Berecroft.
"They must be content with having abolished the horrors of it, sir,"continued the planter. "At a time when the mart was open, and you couldpurchase another slave to replace the one that had died from illtreatment, or disease, the life of a slave was not of such importance tohis proprietor as it is now. Moreover, the slaves imported were adultswho had been once free; and torn as they were from their natural soiland homes, where they slept in idleness throughout the day, they werenaturally morose and obstinate, sulky and unwilling to work. Thisoccasioned severe punishment; and the hearts of their masters beingindurated by habit, it often led to acts of barbarity. But slavery,since the abolition, has assumed a milder form--it is a species of_bond_ slavery. There are few slaves in existence who have not beenborn upon the estates, and we consider that they are more lawfullyours."
"Will you explain what you mean by _more lawfully_?"
"I mean captain (for instance), that the father of that boy (pointing toone of the negro lads who waited at breakfast), was my slave; that heworked for me until he was an old man, and then I supported him for manyyears, until he died. I mean, that I took care of this boy's mother,who, as she bore children, never did any work after her marriage, andhas since been only an expense to me, and probably will continue to beso for some years. I mean, that that boy was taken care of, and fed byme until he was ten years old, without my receiving any return for theexpense which I incurred; and I therefore consider that he is indebtedto me as a bond, slave, and that I am entitled to his services; and hein like manner, when he grows too old to work, will become a pensioner,as his father was before him."
"I perceive the drift of your argument; you do not defend slaverygenerally."
"No; I consider a man born free and made a slave, is justified inresorting to any means to deliver himself; but a slave that I havereared is lawfully a slave, and bound to remain so, unless he can repayme the expense I have incurred. But dinner is ready, captain; if youwish to argue the matter further, it must be over a bottle of claret."
The dinner was well dressed, and the Madeira and claret (the only winesproduced), of the best quality. Their host did the honours of his tablewith true West Indian hospitality, circulating the bottle after dinnerwith a rapidity which would soon have produced an effect upon lessprudent visitors; and when Mr Berecroft refused to take any more wine,he ordered the ingredients for arrack punch.
"Now, Mr Forster, you must take a tumbler of this, and I think thatyou'll pronounce it excellent."
"Indeed--!" replied Newton.
"Nay, I will take no denial; don't be afraid; you may do any thing youplease in this climate, only be temperate, and don't check theperspiration."
"Well, but," observed Newton, who placed the tumbler of punch beforehim, "you promised to renew your argument after dinner; and I shouldlike to hear what you have to urge in defence of a system which I neverhave heard defended before."
"Well," replied his host, upon whom the wine and punch had begun to takeeffect, "just let me fill my tumbler again to keep my lips moist, andthen I'll prove to you that slavery has existed from the earliest times,and is not at variance with the religion we profess. That it hasexisted from the earliest times, you need only refer to the book ofGenesis; and that it is not at variance with our religion, I must referto the fourth commandment. How can that part of the commandment beconstrued, `and the stranger that is within thy gates?' To whom canthis possibly apply but to the slave? After directing, that the labourof all the household, `man-servant and maid-servant,' should cease, itthen proceeds to the ox and the ass, and the stranger that is within thygates. Now, gentlemen, this cannot be applied to the stranger in theliteral sense of the word, the hospitality of the age forbidding thatlabour should be required of him. At that time slaves were brought fromforeign lands, and were a source of traffic, as may be inferred by thereadiness with which the Ishmaelites purchased Joseph of his brethren,and resold him in Egypt.
"Nay, that slavery was permitted by the _Almighty_ is fully proved bythe state of the Jewish nation, until _He_ thought proper to bring themout of the house of bondage.
"If then the laws of God provided against the ill treatment of theslave, slavery is virtually acknowledged, as not being contrary to hisdivine will. We have a further proof, _subsequent to the mission of ourSaviour_, that the Apostles considered slavery as lawful."
"I remember it: you refer to Paul sending back the runaway slaveOnesimus. Well, I'll adm
it all this," replied Mr Berecroft, who had agreat dislike to points of Scripture being canvassed after dinner; "andI wish to know what inference you would draw from it."
"That I was just coming to: I assert that my property in slaves istherefore as legally mine as my property in land or money; and that anyattempt to deprive me of either is equally a _robbery_, whether it bemade by the nation, or by an individual. But now, sir, allow me to askyou a question; show me where liberty is?--Run over all the classes ofsociety, and point out one man who is free."
Mr Berecroft, who perceived the effect of the arrack punch, could notrefrain from laughing as he replied, "Well, your friend Mr Kingston, ishe not free?"
"Free! not half so free as that slave boy who stands behind your chair.Why, he is a merchant, and whether he lives upon a scale of princelyexpenditure, whether wholesale or retail, banker or proprietor of achandler's shop, he is a speculator. Anxious days and sleepless nightsawait upon speculation. A man with his capital embarked, who may be abeggar on the ensuing day, cannot lie down upon roses: he is the _slave_of Mammon. Who are greater _slaves_ than sailors? So are soldiers, andall who hold employ under government. So are politicians; they are_slaves_ to their tongues, for opinions once expressed, and parties oncejoined, at an age when reason is borne down by enthusiasm, and they arefixed for life against their conscience, and are unable to follow itsdictates without blasting their characters. Courtiers are _slaves_ youmust acknowledge."
"I beg your pardon," interrupted Kingston, "but I perceive that you makeno distinction between those enthralled by their own consent, and_against_ it."
"It is a distinction without a difference," replied the planter, "evenif it were so, which it is not, but in particular cases. The fact is,society enthralls us all. We are forced to obey laws, to regardcustoms, to follow the fashion of the day, to support the worthless bypoor-rates, to pay taxes, and the interest of a debt which others havecontracted, or we must go to prison."
"And the princes and rulers of the land--do you include them?" inquiredNewton.
"They are the greatest of all; for the meanest peasant has an advantageover the prince in the point on which we most desire to be free--that ofthe choice in his partner in life. He _has none_, but must submit tothe wishes of his people, and trammelled by custom, must take to his bedone whom he cannot take to his heart."
"Well, by your account there is nobody free, unless it be _Liberty_herself."
"Why, sir," rejoined the planter, "to prove to you that I was correctwhen I asserted that there was no such thing in this world as liberty,paradoxical as it may appear, Liberty is but Liberty when in _bondage_.Release her, and she ceases to exist; she has changed her nature andcharacter; for Liberty _unrestrained_ becomes _Licentiousness_."
"Well," said Mr Kingston, laughing with the rest at this curiousremark, "as you have now arrived at your climax, with your leave we willgo to bed."
"Have I convinced you?" demanded the planter, taking the tumbler fromhis lips.
"At least you have silenced us. Now, if you please, we will put on ourcoats and retire to our apartments."
"Yes--do," replied the other, who was not very steady "do--or you maycheck the perspiration. Boy Jack, where are the lights? Good night,gentlemen."
The negro led the way to a large room with two beds in it, for Newtonand the master of the brig. Having first pointed out to them that therewas a jug of sangoree, "suppose gentlemen thirsty," he wished them goodnight, and left the room.
"Well, Newton," said Mr Berecroft as soon as they were alone, "what doyou think of the planter?"
"I think that, considering his constant advice to be temperate, heswallowed a very large quantity of arrack punch."
"He did indeed; but what think you of his arguments?"
"I hardly can say, except that none of them were sufficiently convincingto induce me to be a slave proprietor. We may perhaps, as he asserts,have contented ourselves with the shadow instead of the substance; buteven the shadow of liberty is to be venerated by an Englishman."
"I agree with you, my boy. His discourse did however bring one ideainto my head; which is, that there is a remarkable connection betweenreligion and slavery. It was in a state of bondage that the Jews wereprepared to receive the promised land, and whenever they fell off fromthe true worship they were punished by captivity. It was through themeans of slavery that the light of the true faith was first brought toour island, where it has burnt with a purer flame than elsewhere; for,if you recollect, the beauty of some English children exposed for saleat Rome, assisted by a Latin pun, caused the introduction ofChristianity into Great Britain; and who knows but that this traffic, sooffensive to humanity, has been permitted by an All-wise Power with theintent that some day it shall be the means of introducing Christianityinto the vast regions of African idolatry?"
"True," observed Newton, "and the time may not be far distant."
"That it is impossible to calculate upon. _He_ worketh by his ownmeans, which are inscrutable. It was not the cause of virtue, but adesire that vice might be less trammelled, which introduced thereformation in England. The more we attempt to interfere with thearrangements of the Almighty, the more we shall make evident our ownfolly and blindness, and his unsearchable and immutable wisdom,--Goodnight, my boy."
Newton Forster--by Captain Marryat