“The higher classes are in the utmost alarm at rumours1 of Wilberforce’s intention to set the negroes entirely2 free; the next step to which would be in all probability a general massacre3 of the whites, and a second edition of the horrors of St Domingo.”
It must have been with some misgivings4 then, that the great day dawned when the slaves were not exactly set free, but made apprentices6 for a short time to accustom7 them to this new-found freedom.
And the apprenticeship8 seems to have been a ghastly failure. It took away from the slave the protection of the well-meaning master who could not afford to spend lavishly9 upon property, to whose services in a very short time he would have no right, and it left him entirely at the mercy of the man who had no conscience, and who simply set out to get as much as he could out of the slave while he was in his power.
Even England was doubtful as to the effect of her step, and she sent out certain magistrates12 who were looked upon with suspicion by the planter, and only by definitely siding with the white man in all disputes were they agreeable to the ruling classes. A Dr Madden is one of these, and his description of life in Jamaica is graphic13, though when I read how he had to part with his little boy, whose life he dared not risk in so perilous14 a climate, and then of the long voyage to the other end of the earth, I see how far those ninety years have taken us.
Lady Nugent, writing about a quarter of a century before, was great on the deadly climate of Jamaica. She goes to Moneymusk, which then belonged to a widow, with whom were staying two other ladies, also widows. “Alas,” writes Lady Nugent, “how often in this country do we see these unfortunate beings.” (Mrs Sympson of Moneymusk doesn’t seem to have deserved this epithet15. The estate was managed by her, and apparently17 well managed.) “Women rarely lose their health, but men as rarely kept theirs.” She doesn’t put two and two together, though she is always referring to poor Jamaica as “this horrid18 country,” “this deceitful, dreadful climate.” Certainly the number of deaths among those around her, presumably her friends, was a little appalling20. But considering that she herself called attention to the way the people ate—and drank—I don’t know why she should have blamed the climate.
Things hadn’t improved when Madden came on the scene nearly a generation later. The amount of drink a gentleman consumed at dinner was astonishing.
“Half a bottle of Madera or so,” he writes sarcastically21, “can never do a man any harm in a hot climate, and sangaree and brandy and water are all necessary to keep up his strength, for people of all countries are the best judges of the mode of living in their own climate.”
This kindly22 magistrate11 took too much interest in the slave to have been quite acceptable to the planter of that day, who seems still to have regarded the negro as belonging to a lower order of creation and liked to feel that he—the negro—owed all benefits to the kindly indulgence of his master.
He attended on one occasion a Baptist chapel23 in Kingston where the minister was a negro of the name of Kellick—“A pious24, well-behaved, honest man, who in point of intelligence and the application of scriptural knowledge to the ordinary duties of his calling and the business of life, might stand a comparison with many more highly favoured, by the advantages of their education and standing25 in society. I was first induced to attend this man’s chapel from motives26 of curiosity, not unmixed I fear with feelings of contempt for its black parson; I confess after I had heard him for a short while expound27 the scriptures28, and prescribe to his congregation (all of whom were negroes like himself) on their duties as Christian29 subjects and members of society, and then his earnest and humble30 petition to the Almighty31 for a blessing32 on his little flock, and the hymn33 which closed the service, in which the congregation joined in one loud but very far indeed from discordant34 strain, I felt, if the pomp and circumstance of religious worship were wanting here to enlist35 the senses on the side of devotion, there were motives in this place, and an influence in the ministry36 of this man (however he might have been called to it, or by what forms fitted for its duties) which were calculated to induce the white man who came to scoff37 to remain to pray.”
This of a man who but quite recently must have risen from slavery. He received from the contributions of his congregation about ￡100 a year, which it was understood was for the upkeep of the chapel as well. Madden thought it very little, but Madden is a nice man with large ideas, and I feel sure the Rev38. Kellick was not only quite satisfied with what he received, but intensely proud of the position he held. As indeed he had every right to be. He had come a long, long way by a very thorny39 path.
Madden gives the usual account of the negroes. “Generally speaking, the negroes of the present day have all the vices10 of slaves. It cannot be denied that they are addicted40 to lying, prone41 to dissimulation42, and inclined to dishonesty....” Now what else I wonder did they expect of a slave. But he goes on to say that in the late rebellion—of 1881-32—“In no instance did the negro swerve43 from his fidelity44 to his comrades; in not a single instance was the name of the real author of that rebellion disclosed. I venture to intimate that even the rebellious45 negro has a sentiment of honour in his breast when he encounters death rather than betray one of his accomplices46. I hazard an opinion that humanity has its impulses in his heart, when he shelters his fugitive47 countryman, and shares his last morsel48 of bread with him rather than turn the outlaw49 from his door, and save himself from the fearful consequences of harbouring a runaway50.”
It seems strange that ninety years ago it had to be explained to the civilised world that the negro was like other men, capable of great heights and abominable51 depths. That a little more than a hundred years ago, so great was the prejudice against colour that a man whose grandmother had been a negress was not allowed to be a constable52, could not inherit property beyond the value of ￡1200 sterling53, nor give evidence in criminal cases.
“It was the fashion,” writes Madden, “to regard him with jealousy54 and distrust, as a rebel in disguise, who was to be branded as such on all plausible55 occasions.”
But though the laws might prevent a coloured man from inheriting money, they did not prevent his making it, and when he himself became a slave owner a very curious state of affairs arose. The danger of slave risings was always present, and the coloured planters like the white had to have on their estates “deficiency men,” white men, one for every ten slaves. But so strong was the feeling on the question of colour that these men whom their necessities compelled to take service with the sons or grandsons of slaves, declined to sit at meat with them. The owner had to have a side table set for himself, while his white servants sat at the principal one.
And the coloured people came into existence so naturally.
At first, as we have seen, many of the planters for very good reasons never brought their wives to their estates. Then again, overseers, book-keepers, and other employees could not afford to marry; they came to the country, and there were many it was said at the beginning of the last century who might be in the country over a dozen years without ever speaking to a white woman. What more natural than that they should form alliances with the good-looking daughters of the slaves who were under them. Such connections were looked upon with approval by the owners and attorneys. A white man was always bothered to take a wife, at least so I gather from the perusal56 of old stories of Jamaica.
“Why massa no take him one wife like oder buckras? Dere is little Daphne would make him one good wife—dere is one Diana—dere is little Venus—dere is him Mary Magalene, an’ dere is him Phoebe.”
Sometimes it was the other way round and he couldn’t get a wife, for if there was a prejudice against a man the word went forth57 in the slave quarters, and not a girl would look at him.
Very naturally being Christians58 did not affect this relationship. No white man would really marry a dark girl were she beautiful as the rising dawn. A white lover meant advancement59 in a coloured girl’s world, and she in her turn often gained great influence over the man who had chosen her. Indeed the majority of these women were faithful, tender and loving. They were not always the wisest of housekeepers60, I am afraid—how should they be—and the Great House so managed was apt to be dirty, untidy, wasteful61, slatternly. Its mistress had never seen anything better, had seldom had a chance to train.
The position grew to be accepted as the best for a coloured girl, infinitely62 preferable to that of matrimony with one of her own shade. There was no loss of caste, indeed the girl gained by being associated with the white man. It came to be that the man would give a bond to pay down a certain sum upon his marrying or leaving the island to the girl he had chosen for his temporary mate, and it not infrequently happened that this sum was so great that he was virtually unable ever to leave her. They say that many a coloured man made such a bargain for his daughter.
But this was in the days when life was easier for the slave, when a coloured man had some rights, even though no white man would sit at meat with him or marry his daughter.
It was sometimes very hard on the children of such alliances. Madden gives a vivid account of a visit he paid to an estate that had belonged to an uncle of his, and that had been mismanaged and gone to wrack63 and ruin.
“I arrived at the ruined works of Marly after a fatiguing64 ride of five hours in the wildest district of St Mary’s Mountains,” he writes. “The dwelling-house was situated65 on a mountain eminence” (they always are) “about two hundred feet above the works, the remains66 of a little garden that had probably been planted by the old proprietor67 was still visible on the only level spot in front of the house, a few fruit trees only remained, but it seemed from the place that had been enclosed, and was marked by a long line of scattered68 stones, the soil that was now covered with weeds had been formerly69 laid out in flower plots. In going from the ruined works to the house, I missed my road amidst the rank verdure which nearly obliterated70 every trace of a path; so that I traversed a considerable part of the property without meeting a human being. The negro huts at some distance from the house were all uninhabited; the roofs of them had tumbled in, and had the appearance of being long unoccupied. The negro boy who accompanied me was very anxious for me to return to Claremont, and said it was no good to walk about such a place, buckras all dead, niggers all dead too, no one lived there but duppies and Obeah men. It was certainly as suitable a place for such folk as one could well imagine. I proceeded, however, to the house and went through the ceremony of knocking at the door, but received no answer; the door was ajar and 1 took the liberty of walking into the house of my old uncle.
“The room I entered was in keeping with the condition of the exterior71, every plank72 in the naked room was crumbling73 to decay. I opened one of the side doors, and, to my great surprise, I perceived two women as white as any inhabitants of any southern climates, and tolerably well clad, standing at an opposite window, evidently alarmed at my intrusion. I soon explained to them the nature of my visit, and requested permission to rest for a short time after my fatiguing journey. In a few minutes two other young females and a very old mulatto woman of a bright complexion74 made their appearance from an adjoining room, and what was my surprise at learning that the two youngest were the natural daughters of Mr Gordon, the person who purchased the property out of Chancery, the two others, the daughters of my uncle, Mr Theodosius Lyons, and the old woman their mother! The eldest75 of her daughters was about forty years of age, the other probably a year or two younger; and the resemblance of one of them to some members of my family was so striking that the moment her name was mentioned I had no difficulty in recognising her origin. The poor women were delighted to see a person who called himself a relation of their father; but with the feeling there was evidently a good deal of suspicion mingled76 as to the motives of my visit, and of apprehensions77 that I had come there for the purpose of taking possession of the property; and all I could say to remove this impression was certainly thrown away, on the old woman at least.
“I do not wonder at it, for they had received nothing but bad treatment from those who ought to have been kind to them, as well as from strangers for nearly forty years since the death of their natural protector, who dying suddenly left them utterly78 unprovided for. They were left free, but that was all. One son, however, was not left free; and that young man was sold with the rest of the movable property of the estate when it was sold in Chancery. The aged16 and infirm negroes were then left on the estate; but a few years ago these poor creatures who had grown old on the property and had expended79 the strength of their young days on its cultivation80, and who imagined that they would have been allowed to have laid their bones where their friends and relatives were buried, were carried away by the creditors81 and actually sold for three or four dollars a head.”
“Who,” Madden asks, “in the face of such circumstances as these will tell me that slavery in these colonies was productive of no oppression in recent times, or was the occasion of no injustices82?” He dilates83 on the undoubted fact that many a West Indian proprietor could not be got to look upon Jamaica as his home. He wanted to get as much money as he could out of the estate, and then to retire to his native land. So all improvements were grudged84, “The Great House fell into decay, the roads were left without any adequate repair, the plantation85 was cultivated for its present advantages and without regard for its prospective86 ones; and the system of labour exacted from the negroes was productive of circumstances, which the proprietor considered in combination with the other discomforts87 of his situation, were unsuitable to the condition of a woman of refinement89 accustomed to the enjoyments90 of English society.”
He speaks very highly of the coloured mistresses; although he deplores91 such connections, and says: “They cannot be defended, but I think the victims of the state of things which led to them are more deserving of pity than of reproach. I do not remember to have heard of the fidelity of anyone of these persons being called into question. In the periods of their prosperity they know their situation, and demean themselves accordingly. In their adversity, when death or pecuniary92 embarrassments93 deprive them of the protection they may have had for many years, their industry and frugality94 deserve the highest praise.”
The 1st of August 1834, the day when the slaves passed from slavery to a position of apprenticeship, was looked forward to in Jamaica with dread19 on the part of the whites, and, says Madden, with extravagant95 hopes by the blacks. But it passed. The servile race made one little step upward, and not a single riot occurred in the island, “not a single man, woman or child was butchered to make a negro holiday.” As a matter of fact, the negroes went to church.
“I visited three of the sectarian chapels96 on the 1st of August,” says Madden, “during the morning, mid-day, and evening services; and I was greatly gratified at the pains that were taken to make the negroes sensible of the nature of the change that had taken place in their condition, and the great benefits they had to show their gratitude97 for, under Him Who had brought them out of bondage98, to their benefactors99 both at home and in England, who expected of them to be good Christians, good citizens, and good servants.”
He does indeed recall one little incident. A drunken sailor was tormented100 by some small black boys. They threw stones at him, and as he reeled after them they scampered101 away, shouting most lustily to each other.
“What for you run away? We all free now. Buckra can’t catch we. Hurra for fuss of Augus! hi! hi! fuss of Augus! hurra for fuss of Augus!”
On that night, too, there was a grand ball given by the black and brown people, to which the General and his Staff were invited. “Miss Quashaba, belonging to Mr C., led off with Mr Cupid, belonging to Mr M., while Mrs Juno, belonging to Mr P., received the blacks and buckras.”
It took a long while to shake off the shackles102.
Besides, we must never forget there was a kindly side to slavery. Many of the white people took a great interest in their slaves, and at the slave balls many a slave girl was decked out in her mistress’s jewels. Indeed, there was much competition among the ladies as to whose waiting-maid should make the best show.
They received instruction, too, these slaves, and sometimes the instruction given was extraordinary enough. Madden tells how on one occasion a girl was brought before him to give evidence against a fellow apprentice5. He asked if she knew the nature of an oath, and her mistress was a little hurt that a girl of seventeen, who had been in her charge for so long, should be asked such a question. Nevertheless, he persisted in asking the question, and the girl replied, to the no small discomfiture103 of her mistress and the surprise of the crowded Court—“Massa, if me swear false my belly104 would burst, my face would be scratched, and my fingers would drop off!” And Madden dismissed the case for want of better testimony105, though really, I think, if the girl feared such unpleasant things would happen to her if she lied, he might have trusted her to tell the truth. But that, I am aware, is a very modern view.
Slavery was abolished for good and all in 1838. The intention, when Madden came to the island, was to abolish it in 1840, but the apprenticeship which was substituted seems to have been very unsatisfactory, and I have read books by Quaker and Baptist missionaries106 which are full of the suffering of the freed slaves under these conditions. Up till 1734 the owners had the right to punish their slaves by mutilation, which, of course, often meant death, but though it was abolished, there are many ways, as we have seen, of making the life of a slave unbearable107. If the apprentice did not please his master he sent him to the nearest workhouse, and many are the ghastly tales of the tired men and women worked in the tread-mill. It takes a long, long while for mercy and pity and kindly friendliness108 to make its way.
Madden shows us too a side of slavery which I confess had not struck me.
“The law, as it now stands,” he writes, “does permit the father to hold his own son in bondage, and the son to demand the wages of slavery from his own mother, and to claim the services of his own sister as his bondswoman. These horrors are not merely possible contingencies109 that may be heard of occasionally; they are actual occurrences, two of which came before me within the last three months.
“A Jew of this town had a young mulatto man taken up for refusing to pay wages. It turned out that these wages were demanded from his own son, his child by one of his negro slaves.... I most reluctantly fixed110 for that obdurate111 father the wages of a son’s slavery, but in amount the lowest sum I had ever ordered.”
And it was not always the whites who were the unkind and grasping masters. A free ‘black’ came before him on one occasion, claiming the services of a runaway slave and her four children.
She had been absent for many months, and in support of his claim the plaintiff adduced the fact that she was his sister, the daughter of his own mother, and that both mother and daughter had been bequeathed to him, and the mother had died in slavery. The astonished magistrate puts it on record that he could hardly believe his own ears. Only, unfortunately, there was no manner of doubt as to the legality of his claim.
But Madden was something of a Solomon. He told the woman she must prepare to go back, they were all slaves, or at least apprentices except the youngest, who was not six years of age, but he would defer113 giving his decision for a couple of days, so that as many of the coloured population of Kingston as possible might be afforded the opportunity of witnessing the event. The claimant in vain protested that he was quite willing to receive back his slaves without any such public ceremony, but the magistrate was adamant114. He assured the claimant that no pains would be spared to give the decision in his favour all the solemnity which the utmost publicity115 could give it. There was such a buzz of approval in the Court that the master was in little doubt as to what would happen a couple of days later, so he said he thought of giving the woman her liberty, or at any rate allowing her to buy it at a very low rate, but the children he would have, and no price would induce him to relinquish116 his claim to them. The poor mother looked the picture of despair. He should have them, declared the just magistrate; it should be out of the power of any human being in Jamaica for the future to dispute his claim or to call in question the title by which he had held his own mother in slavery till the day of her death. The Court was with the magistrate and against the black slave-holder, for at last he said in a low tone he would give his sister her freedom, and Madden promptly117 drew up the manumission paper. But when the black man read it over he refused to sign. Madden made a dramatic scene of it. He knew he had the sympathy of the Court for the woman.
“I was in the act of tearing up the document when the audible groans118 of his own people induced him again to take the paper. I allowed myself to be persuaded to let him have it—the paper was in his hand—humanity did not guide it but shame did—he signed the paper, and never was there a manumission performed with so bad a grace.”
The man still claimed the children, but he had to deal with not only a very kindly man, but a very wise one, whose heart was full of pity for the poor mother, who evidently had no faith in the kindliness119 of her brother. The two little boys, mulattoes of seven and eight—the oldest the man had already—clung terrified to their mother, and the magistrate had them and the complainant placed before the bench “to prevent any sudden disappearance120.” Then, with the wisdom of the serpent, he began to praise this man’s generosity121, “to extol122 his humanity and to put his heart on the best of terms with itself,” and finally he got the freedom of those two little children. Clever, kind, Dr Madden!
In contrast to this black man he tells the story of a Mr Anderson, from whom he desired to buy the freedom of a slave, an Arabic scholar, a man who had come from the hinterland of the Guinea Coast, from Timbuctoo, was well born, and had had such an education as that town afforded. Madden hoped to raise the money by public subscription123, for he could not afford it himself, for this was a very exceptional man, worth over ￡300.
“Say no more,” said his master at once. The man had been a good servant to him—a faithful and a good negro—and he would take no money for him—he would give him his liberty!
“I pressed him to name any reasonable sum for his release but he positively124 refused to receive one farthing in the way of indemnity125 for the loss of that man’s services!”
It is refreshing126 to read such a story.
How much slavery was liked we may judge from the fact that even now with freedom within a few years of them—six at the very most—many a slave was anxious to purchase his freedom from the apprenticeship system. He had to apply to the special justice, and he called upon the master to appoint a local magistrate, and the two magistrates meeting, named a third, who must also be a local magistrate, two for the master and one for the slave; and then according to the age, sex, health, and occupation of the slave in question they decided127 his value. The amount to be adjudicated was left entirely to the discretion128 of the magistrates without reference to any scale of valuation, and in some instances the valuation rose to ￡170 “a sum which no negro certainly has sold for for many a long year in Jamaica,” says Madden.
As a rule, according to Madden, the value of a slave did not run so high. He says, in all eighty apprentices obtained their freedom before him either by valuation or by mutual129 agreement, and the average valuation was ￡25. It does not seem much for the services of a man, even if it were only for four years. In one instance, a tradesman was valued at ￡80, but as a rule the price ranged between ￡16 and ￡35. Madden says he attended a great many slave sales, and has never seen a negro sell for more than ￡30.
When slaves were condemned130 to death for any offences, it was extraordinary the value their masters put upon them. At first ￡40 was considered ample indemnity, but it rose, till at last ￡180 sterling was asked from the public funds for indemnity for a slave condemned to death.
“This indemnity,” says Madden, “ought to be abolished, it is a bonus on negro executions,” And he cites a case in which an owner received ￡605 for his executed slaves, “however little he might have desired to have profited by such means, while for as many living negroes when the compensation is paid, he will receive from the British Government probably about ￡240.”
Peace did not come with the apprenticeship. The planters seem to have resented it immensely, and feeling ran high. Their first act was to take from the negroes all those allowances and customary gratuities131 which were not literally132 specified133 in the new law. They were free—well, they should see what freedom was like.
Then after the 1st of August, according to Madden, there were various outrages135 committed not by the negroes but by the whites upon the blacks, and it was exceedingly hard to get a conviction.
“A planter,” he writes, “has been indicted136 for shooting at an old woman, and after wounding her severely137, discharging the second barrel at her, but fortunately without effect. The grand jury ignored the bill.
“Another gentleman was indicted for an outrage134 on a sick negro woman. The grand jury ignored the bill.
“Another planter was indicted for the murder of his negro by shooting him, and was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment138.
“Another gentleman, an overseer, was committed to jail a few weeks ago for the murder of a boy, by shooting at a number of negroes assembled in a hut in the act of singing hymns139. He has not yet been tried, but from the exertions140 making for him I have no expectation he will be convicted.
“Another gentleman was tried... for causing one of his negroes to be severely torn by dogs, for going without permission to bury his wife, who had been dead three days, and who had been refused sufficient time to prepare her coffin141.
“The strenuous142 exertions of the Chief Justice obtained a conviction. He was fined ￡100.
“But in the majority of cases convictions are not to be expected.”
How strangely it reads in these days.
Before he closes his book he goes on to analyse the price of slaves, and arrives at the conclusion that the average price of all the slaves that have been imported into the West Indies may be estimated at about ￡40 sterling.
All the sorrow, all the woe143, all the long drawn-out suffering, and yet each individual for his life might be counted as worth ￡40 sterling!
I have found no chronicler who describes the actual freeing in the same graphic way as Madden told us of the apprenticeship. I think we may be sorry for both sides.
We must pity the helpless black man who had been accustomed to guidance all his days, adrift in a land where he owned nothing, and had not the faintest idea either of the value of his services or the cost of his own upkeep. We may pity the planters who had to work their estates with labour in such an uncomfortable state of unrest.
For five and twenty years a sort of ominous144 peace reigned145. Neither the planters nor their whilom slaves were content. There seems to have been a sort of feeling among the whites which is best represented as—“Well, you’ve got your freedom! Now are you as well off as when as slaves we took care of you!” And very often I am afraid they took care their black helots should not be as well off.
Not that the coloured people did not advance. They did. But their advancement was a threat. In the streets of untidy Kingston the coloured and black people met and grumbled146 and discussed local politics at all the street corners, the very conventicles where they went to pray were hotbeds of discontent. It is no good saying they were ungrateful. They were not. They had rights, but it always takes a long time to make those who will suffer in the conferring of a great benefit understand that in spite of their discomfort88 that benefit the good of the greater number, must be conferred. I can quite understand the black people vaguely147 wanting the rights they did not understand, to land, to better pay, to education, and the white people saying—“What are we to do for service? These people are clods. They cannot appreciate such privileges. Why make a fuss about them?”
A planter would say—“That man!” in tones of scorn, “why, I remember him a little yellow piccaninny, the son of my black mammy, and there he is in a high collar and tall hat in the Assembly, laying down the law to his betters. Damned impudence148! In my father’s time his back would soon have made acquaintance with the ‘cat,’ That would straighten him out!” And both coloured and white would be bitterer for the recollection.
I think there was a certain fear among the whites of the growing power among the blacks. A desire to keep the subject race in its place.
Naturally, most naturally. I am sure had I lived in those times I should have sided with them, for a black man, ignorant and aggrieved149, and armed with a hoe or a machete can be a very unpleasant opponent.
The brooding discontent grew and grew, fomented150, said the white people by men of the half-blood like George William Gordon, men of some standing and education, and at last on the 11th October 1865, at Morant Bay in the east of the island, the place where the people from Nevis had settled in the seventeenth century, the smouldering discontent burst into flame. The blacks rose, overwhelmed the volunteers by sheer numbers and slew151 not only all the white magistrates assembled in the Courthouse, but among them a black man who was much respected among the white people and had risen to be a magistrate.
The tale of rebellion seems always the same. The assailed152 have feared and feared, and yet when the moment comes, are taken by surprise. It was so now. Twenty-two civilians153 were killed, thirty-four wounded and nearly all the public buildings in Morant Bay were burnt down. Edward John Eyre was Governor of Jamaica at the time.
In Australia Eyre had been a great man. Wonderfully he had explored desolate154 lands; he was Protector to the Aborigines, and counted a man who was just to colour. But Jamaica broke him.
The whites fled before the blacks in the first rush, as it has ever been. There were women and children crouching155 in the wet jungle at night, fearing for their lives, and because of those who feared, and those who were dead, the whites gathered themselves together, proclaimed martial156 law, and took ample—nay, bloody—vengeance. But martial law was not proclaimed in Kingston, and because it was not proclaimed there, Gordon, who had been born a slave, the son of his master, and had risen to a place in the Assembly, was taken out of Kingston, and after a hasty trial hanged by martial law as instigator157 of the rebellion on, it is said, very scanty158 evidence. Under that same law 439 coloured men suffered death—354 by sentence of the court-martial, and the others shot by those employed in putting down the rebellion, soldiers, sailors, and our old friends the Maroons159. And after martial law ceased, 147 more were put to death, while everywhere negro houses went up in flames.
In truth they put down that rebellion with a heavy hand, for the white man feared the black, who outnumbered him fifty to one.
There was a storm over it in England. But it was all very well for the people there, safe in their easy-chairs, to judge those who had quenched160 the negro rebellion. Everyone of them would probably have been on the side of Eyre had they been in Jamaica in the month of October 1865. Many, doubtless, mourned Gordon, the champion of the black man, put to death on such insufficient161 evidence. His looks may belie112 him, but he does not look a philanthropist. All the white people on the island crowded to bid Eyre farewell when he and his family left Kingston, for they regarded the prompt measures he had taken as having saved the country from all the horrors of a black insurrection. And in speaking of “black” here I mean simply mob rule, the condition of affairs that must needs prevail when the ignorant get the upper hand. Pity is forgotten, riot and flame and bloodshed prevail. And from this Eyre undoubtedly162 saved Jamaica.
Punch took his side and had a cartoon in which the shade of Palmerston reproaches Disraeli, and says that he would never have abandoned Eyre.
“Ye savages163 thirsting for bloodshed and plunder164,
Ye miscreants165 burning for rapine and prey166;
By the fear of the lash167 and the gallows168 kept under
Henceforth, who shall venture to stand in your way?
Run riot, ravage169, kill without pity,
Let any man how he molest170 you beware;
Beholding171 how hard the Jamaica Committee
To ruin are trying to hunt gallant172 Eyre,”
wrote Punch, and it represents the feeling of a large section of the community, a section to which I know I should have belonged. Punch does not enter into the question as to why there should be “savages thirsting for bloodshed and plunder,” and “miscreants burning for rapine and prey.” Those were not the question of the moment. They are questions for all time.
We think now, we are all agreed, black and white, that there must be no bloodshed and plunder, and there must be no section of the community to whom such a state of things shall seem desirable.
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rumours
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entirely
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massacre
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| n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀 | |
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4
misgivings
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧 | |
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5
apprentice
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| n.学徒，徒弟 | |
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6
apprentices
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| 学徒，徒弟( apprentice的名词复数 ) | |
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7
accustom
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| vt.使适应，使习惯 | |
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8
apprenticeship
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| n.学徒身份；学徒期 | |
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9
lavishly
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| adv.慷慨地，大方地 | |
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10
vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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11
magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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12
magistrates
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| 地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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13
graphic
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| adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的 | |
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14
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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15
epithet
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| n.（用于褒贬人物等的）表述形容词，修饰语 | |
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16
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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17
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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18
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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19
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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20
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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21
sarcastically
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| adv.挖苦地，讽刺地 | |
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22
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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23
chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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24
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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25
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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26
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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27
expound
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| v.详述；解释；阐述 | |
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28
scriptures
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| 经文，圣典( scripture的名词复数 )； 经典 | |
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29
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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30
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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31
almighty
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| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
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32
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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33
hymn
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌 | |
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34
discordant
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| adj.不调和的 | |
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35
enlist
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| vt.谋取(支持等)，赢得；征募；vi.入伍 | |
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36
ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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37
scoff
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| n.嘲笑，笑柄，愚弄；v.嘲笑，嘲弄，愚弄，狼吞虎咽 | |
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38
rev
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| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
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39
thorny
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| adj.多刺的，棘手的 | |
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40
addicted
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|
| adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的 | |
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41
prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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42
dissimulation
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| n.掩饰，虚伪，装糊涂 | |
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43
swerve
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| v.突然转向，背离；n．转向，弯曲，背离 | |
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44
fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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45
rebellious
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| adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的 | |
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46
accomplices
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| 从犯，帮凶，同谋( accomplice的名词复数 ) | |
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47
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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48
morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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49
outlaw
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| n.歹徒，亡命之徒；vt.宣布…为不合法 | |
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50
runaway
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| n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的 | |
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51
abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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52
constable
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| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
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53
sterling
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| adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑) | |
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54
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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55
plausible
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| adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的 | |
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56
perusal
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| n.细读，熟读；目测 | |
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57
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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58
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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59
advancement
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| n.前进，促进，提升 | |
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60
housekeepers
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| n.（女）管家( housekeeper的名词复数 ) | |
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61
wasteful
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| adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的 | |
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62
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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63
wrack
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| v.折磨；n.海草 | |
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64
fatiguing
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| a.使人劳累的 | |
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65
situated
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|
| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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66
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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67
proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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68
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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69
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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70
obliterated
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|
| v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭 | |
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71
exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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72
plank
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| n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目 | |
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73
crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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74
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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75
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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76
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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77
apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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78
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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79
expended
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| v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽 | |
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80
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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81
creditors
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| n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 ) | |
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82
injustices
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| 不公平( injustice的名词复数 )； 非正义； 待…不公正； 冤枉 | |
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83
dilates
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| v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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84
grudged
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| 怀恨（grudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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85
plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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86
prospective
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| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
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87
discomforts
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| n.不舒适( discomfort的名词复数 )；不愉快，苦恼 | |
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88
discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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89
refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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90
enjoyments
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| 愉快( enjoyment的名词复数 )； 令人愉快的事物； 享有； 享受 | |
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91
deplores
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| v.悲叹，痛惜，强烈反对( deplore的第三人称单数 ) | |
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92
pecuniary
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| adj.金钱的；金钱上的 | |
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93
embarrassments
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| n.尴尬( embarrassment的名词复数 )；难堪；局促不安；令人难堪或耻辱的事 | |
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94
frugality
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| n.节约，节俭 | |
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95
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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96
chapels
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| n.小教堂， （医院、监狱等的）附属礼拜堂( chapel的名词复数 )；（在小教堂和附属礼拜堂举行的）礼拜仪式 | |
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97
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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98
bondage
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| n.奴役，束缚 | |
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99
benefactors
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| n.捐助者，施主( benefactor的名词复数 )；恩人 | |
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100
tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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101
scampered
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| v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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102
shackles
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| 手铐( shackle的名词复数 )； 脚镣； 束缚； 羁绊 | |
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103
discomfiture
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| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
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104
belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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105
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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106
missionaries
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| n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 ) | |
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107
unbearable
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| adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的 | |
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108
friendliness
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| n.友谊，亲切，亲密 | |
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109
contingencies
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| n.偶然发生的事故，意外事故( contingency的名词复数 )；以备万一 | |
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110
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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111
obdurate
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| adj.固执的，顽固的 | |
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112
belie
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| v.掩饰，证明为假 | |
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113
defer
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| vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从 | |
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114
adamant
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| adj.坚硬的，固执的 | |
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115
publicity
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| n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告 | |
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116
relinquish
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| v.放弃，撤回，让与，放手 | |
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117
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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118
groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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119
kindliness
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| n.厚道，亲切，友好的行为 | |
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120
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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121
generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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122
extol
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| v.赞美，颂扬 | |
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123
subscription
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| n.预订，预订费，亲笔签名，调配法，下标（处方） | |
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124
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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125
indemnity
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| n.赔偿，赔款，补偿金 | |
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126
refreshing
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| adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的 | |
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127
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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128
discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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129
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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130
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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131
gratuities
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| n.报酬( gratuity的名词复数 )；小账；小费；养老金 | |
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132
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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133
specified
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| adj.特定的 | |
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134
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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135
outrages
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| 引起…的义愤，激怒( outrage的第三人称单数 ) | |
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indicted
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| 控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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139
hymns
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
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exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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141
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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142
strenuous
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| adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的 | |
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woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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144
ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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145
reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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146
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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147
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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148
impudence
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| n.厚颜无耻；冒失；无礼 | |
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149
aggrieved
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| adj.愤愤不平的，受委屈的；悲痛的；（在合法权利方面）受侵害的v.令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式)；令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词) | |
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150
fomented
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| v.激起，煽动（麻烦等）( foment的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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151
slew
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| v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多 | |
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152
assailed
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| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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153
civilians
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| 平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓 | |
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154
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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155
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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156
martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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instigator
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| n.煽动者 | |
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158
scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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159
maroons
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| n.逃亡黑奴（maroon的复数形式）vt.把…放逐到孤岛（maroon的第三人称单数形式） | |
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160
quenched
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| 解（渴）( quench的过去式和过去分词 )； 终止（某事物）； （用水）扑灭（火焰等）； 将（热物体）放入水中急速冷却 | |
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161
insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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162
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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163
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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miscreants
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| n.恶棍，歹徒( miscreant的名词复数 ) | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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167
lash
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| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
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168
gallows
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| n.绞刑架，绞台 | |
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ravage
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| vt.使...荒废，破坏...；n.破坏，掠夺，荒废 | |
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170
molest
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| vt.骚扰，干扰，调戏 | |
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171
beholding
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| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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