Mr. Grenfellpresented a petition from Falmouth, complaining of the unwarrantable treatment of the late Mr. Smith, at Demerara. The hon. member observed, that it was too much the fashion now-a-days to apply the epithets of methodist, fanatic, and saint, to any body who thought proper to complain of the hardships of the negroes in the West-Indies. He was neither a methodist nor a fanatic, and most certainly not a saint; but, as a member of a religion, inculcating peace and good-will to all men, and teaching the 1168 precept of doing to others as he would wish to be done by, he would fearlessly declare, that he did not believe the declarations which had been made respecting the good treatment of the negroes. On the contrary, he thought that these poor creatures were the most wretched of the human species, and suffered under an infliction which was every way aggravated by their task-masters. He also believed that there was in Demerara a rooted objection to permit the slaves to be taught the doctrines of the Christian religion; nor did he wonder at it, when that religion could only inculcate more strongly the heinousness of their treatment. Entertaining these opinions, he should tomorrow give his cordial support to the motion of his learned friend.
Mr. Robertsoncould assure the House, that there were many in the West-Indies who highly recommended the diffusion of instruction by missionaries, and who thought that the Christian religion could be best imparted to the negroes, by that meritorious class of persons.
§ Sir I. Coffinsaid, that the blacks were contented and happy, as long as they were left alone, and without having their heads stuffed with nonsense, which they did not understand. He had seen thousands of negroes as fat and as jolly as the hon. member himself.
§ Mr. Warreprotested against the wanton cruelty which had been inflicted by the recent commutation, as it was called, of the sentences of some of the black prisoners. To give a man his life, and then to torture him to death, was a singular sort of commutation. Yet such was the fact. What else could be called the sparing a man from being hanged, to inflict upon him the military execution of a thousand lashes? He hoped that while the government at home were so laudably engaged in discouraging and abolishing that species of torture, they would express such an opinion upon its infliction in the colonies, as would prevent a repetition of these acts.
§ Mr. Manningdeclared, that when he was in the West-Indies, he had seen no instance of the infliction of exorbitant punishments; and he could add, that pains were taken in the colonies to promote religious education.
§ Ordered to lie on the table.