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Q £ the petition in queition , I , ' of course , can Jiave no knowledge excepting what isr ^ derived frowi ^ a newspaper , and whatever construction the . petitioners may have put upon the quo- « tation , I have only to say , that I never
meant any thing more' by it than that I never saw a Negro uncovered who did not exhibit marks of the whip on his body . This fact . I repeat , and will add , ( although it may seem still more Incredible , ) that satisfactory evidence of a . ISegro ' s being nfarkea with the
whip , may sometimes be obtained without removing the garments ; that is , the blood * may be seen issuingthrough them . In confirmation of this , I pledge myself to lay before the public at least two cases , one of which shall be that of my own waiting-bov ,
John Harden , ivho was punished at my own request . I would here give the particulars , did I not fear that I should thereby swell this letter to a tedious length . When they . are known , 1 expect to be visited with an . ample share of blame . Mr . B ., no doubt ,
believes himself to be well- acquainted with every thing respecting the character and condition of the Negro Slaves , and will , perhaps , be somewhat surprised when I assure him , on my honour , that one of the blackest accounts of the morals and
disposition of these people , which I remember ever to have > heard , referred immediately to a large gang belonging to an estate in Westmoreland , well known to him . This I had at first hand , and , if true , will , I must think , afford another reason for investigating the Slave system in all its bearings .
That the exertions of the Missionaries in the West , Indies are destitute of beneficial results , lam not aware that I have ever affirmed qr insinuated ; while I certainly have presumed to question , . whether the quantum of good which they have achieved , has not been somewhat overrated .
Euelpis will beftr in mind , tha , t . I allude to the exertiops of these gentlemen on estates where , with the exception of four or five white men , the whole of the population are slaves , and not to
their labours in towns , where the mass of jthe people are free . Jn my last I made it appear , that the low estimation in which I hold Missionary labOurs on estates , is by no means without an example ; and , with a view to
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throw a little ; fresh : ligfcfc ; oifc $ ^^ tibject , I will iaow adduce a few particulars respecting what has been accomplished by the Moisavianv brethren . It is well fenow ^ i tha tK ) < n Mesopotamia estate , in Westmoreland ; the ^ brethren
have long : exerted tjiem&elfces ^ in the cause : indeed , ! they have given more than half a century of their valuable time to this station ; but certainly without " producing any veiy important improvement in tne spiritual conxKtifcn of the Slaves . This I state on the authority , of one of their own
Missionaries , in addition to the testimony of . several white gentlemen * wtell acquainted with the case . I nxigbt add , that I visited the . estate ^ myself , and had an opportunity of conversing with all the Negroes then living upon it , who had ever been under , the care of
the Missionaries , and I can truly . say , that I could not perceive that , with the exception of a few religious phrases which they had mastered , they gave any proof of possessing a . particle , of religious or any other knowledge superior , to what may be found anv day
amongst the common herd . None of them had ever been taught to read , and in morals , I was assured by those who must have known the . ttutb , that they were not a whit better th ^ n the
rest of the gaftg \ After such experience , is ; it surprising jth ^ t the brethren should ; begin to regard Mesopotamia . with , a hopeless -eye ? Irwin , in St . Jam ^ s , is another station now
in their hands ; a Missionary has resided upon it , I jhslieve , " nearly ten years ,, who . also attends to the religious concerns of , the Slaves pn three or four other properties in . the neighbourhood . He ft > Uovfs £ ke , plan of preaching and . chatecliiyiqg , but does not teach , auy one tp * , r $ ad * Jffis
success 19 - nat . yexy , dissimilar to that which , I experiea ^ ed on Geo rgia . The Negroes , will attend on him , with a few exceptions , when thqy ^ are allowed time for the purpose , ana oij a Sunday a few trill oc ^ i pnajjy make him a call . Th < e good mai * lament ^ tha t so
little aris ^ from Ify labours , but says he is wiling to . sQW in hope ; , Jtnd we may alwayei console ourselves with the ide ^ , ' . th « it . tajcp 6 ^ iyiJ | ^ or ? c fiUaqges . He is ; ar | advocate for ; teaching the Slaves . to , rea ^» an ^ l , seemX to think ihfrt it might be , done without pi ^ Udice to the existing order of things .
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. a 232 Mr . Cooper on Negro * Slavery in Jamaica .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1823, page 232, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1783/page/40/
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