1829.] [ 273 J 



bUE COLONIES— THE PROGRESS OF THE WEST INDIAN GOVERN- 

 MENTS TOWARDS AMELIORATING THE CONDITION OF THE SLAVE. 

 POPULATION. 



" There are two objects for the attainment of which if is necessary that effectual provision should 

 be made. The tirst ot thein is, the gradual elevation of tlie moral character of tlie slave uopulatiun ■ 

 and, the second is, the due protectioa ofall the just rights of property which existing laws have vested 

 in the owners of slaves." Sir G. MuTTay'a Dispatch of Sept. 3, 1828. 



A POSITION SO extraordinary as that in which Great Britain is placed 

 with respect to her colonial possessions has no parallel in the history of 

 modern politics. The case may be stated in a few words. A system, 

 the growth of a great many years— the result of measures of national 

 poUcy— -involving, as all such measures must, a vast variety of personal 

 and individual interests — has prevailed so long that it has become a 

 part of the law of this country, and the very foundation of the only 

 law that prevails in its foreign dependencies. Circumstances have 

 arisen which render it expedient, or which are thought to render it 

 expedient, that a material alteration should be made in that system. 

 The alteration is proposed by the government of the metropolis to 

 the colonies ; the governments of the colonies agree to its principle ; 

 some differences arise as to the carrying it into effect: but those 

 differences apply only to the details, not to the principle of the measure. 

 Upon such topics as those Avhich come into discussion under the circum- 

 stances here stated, common sense and common justice would require 

 that the persons whose interests are most materially affected by the 

 proposed alterations, and who, possessing experience and practical 

 knowledge of the existing system, must have better means than any 

 other class of men for judging of the probable effect of the changes 

 which are to be made, should be listened to, that their reasons should 

 be heard and examined, and should be allov/ed to have so much weio-ht 

 as they may appear on the discussion to be entitled to. A questioif so 

 treated could iiot long remain unsettled ; the power to enforce on the 

 one hand, if coercion should become necessary, would of itself be 

 enough to dispose of it; but when, besides that power, there is on the 

 other side a willing and prompt recognition of the principle of the 

 alteration, a ready obedience and an unequivocal desire to comply with 

 whatever shall be found to be really for the benefit of all the parties 

 concerned, nothing but a grievous mistake, or the interference of some 



evil disposed persons, who, from prejudice, or ignorance, or dishonesty 



from an incapacity to understand what is true, or from a disinclination 

 to adopt it — create most needless obstacles, could thwart the satisfactory 

 adjustment of the matter in dispute. 



Such a dispute exists between Great Britain and her West India 



colonies — such is the avowed disposition on eitlier side to adjust it 



sucli are the causes wliich have hitherto prevented its adjustment — and 

 the same causes, unless the government is wise and vigorous enough to 

 remove tliem promptly, will not only prevent it for ever, but are too 

 likely to bring in their train consequences, the bare apprehension of 

 which is dreadful, and which, if they are once permitted to begin, no 

 man can see the termination of 



The sentence wliich forms the epigraph to this article expresses, as 

 concisely and as explicitly as may be, the principles which the govern- 

 M.M. New Scries — Vol. VIII. No. 45. 2 N 



