GENERAL HISTORY. 



[161 



British West India Islands. No- 

 tice was taken in the history of 

 the last year, of the unfavoui able 

 reception which the Slave Regis- 

 try Bill, introduced into Parlia- 

 ment by Mr. Vv'ilberforce, met 

 with in t'.ie Island of Jamaica. 

 The feeling respecting it w,<is 

 participated, as might be supposed, 

 by all tlie other liritish Islands in 

 the West Indies. The Houses of 

 Assembly in each appointed com- 

 mittees to report on the tendency 

 of the proposed bill, which ex- 

 pressed their opinions in strong- 

 language, generally contending 

 against the right of Parliament 

 to legislate internally for the co- 

 lonies, and attributing the agita- 

 tion of the measure to fanatics, 

 unacquainted with the matter on 

 which they undertook to legis- 

 late. 



In this state of affairs an alarm- 

 ing insuri'oction broke out among 

 the negro slaves in Barbadoe;-. 

 On the night of April 14th, the 

 slaves of some estates on tiie 

 windward part of the island rose 

 in open revolt, and began to e.^e- 

 cute a plan of destruction ^vhich 

 appears to have been gener.il. 

 They began with deinolisliing the 

 houses of the overseers, and pro- 

 ceeded to destroy the sugar })ans 

 and all the implements belonging 

 to the works, and to spiead con- 

 flagration over the fields of sugar 

 cani'S. The alarm soon readied 

 Bridgetown, and martial law be- 

 ing proclaimed, the militia and 

 troops from the garrison niarclied 

 against the insingcnts, who wei'8 

 dispersed through the interior in 

 perpetrating their javages. Hav- 

 ing apparently formed no con- 

 certed project of resistance, they 

 jetreated in all directions at the 



Vol. LVill. 



sight of the military, and weie 

 fired upon with so much effect 

 that eight or 900 were killed or 

 wounded, and a great number 

 n)ade prisoners, (^n the follow- 

 ing morning tranquillity was per- 

 fectly restt)red, but not feucr 

 than twer.ty estates in a single 

 parish had been entirely laid 

 waste by lire. Of the white in- 

 habitants very few suffered in 

 their persons ; and ti;e negroes 

 in many estates stood to the de- 

 fence of th.eir masters. Notice 

 of these occurrences was trans- 

 mitted to Gen. Sir Jaaies Leith 

 at Gu.adaloupe, who imniediately 

 embarked in a French vessel, ;y\d 

 reached Barbadoeson the 24th. A 

 considerable number of the in- 

 suigents were executed ; and Sir 

 James issued an address to the 

 whole slave population, for the 

 purpose of correcting their mis- 

 taken notions, and reconciling 

 them to the lot in life which liatf 

 befallen th.em. The event v,as 

 studiously connected with the 

 consequences of the proposed re- 

 gistry bill by all the enemies of 

 that measure ; and it was aflirmed, 

 that the negroes had been led to 

 consider it as a lavv- of general 

 emancipation, the delay of which 

 had roused their fui y. Some ar- 

 gumentation on this subject will 

 be found in cur parliamentary 

 history. 



An alarm could not fail to 

 spread throughout the West India 

 islands on the intelligence of such 

 an insuri'ection ; and as early as 

 April 24th, Sir Charles Bris- 

 bane, Go\ernor of St. Vincent, 

 and the other islands bearing the 

 name of the (Grenadines, thought 

 it advisable to issue a proclaaia- 

 fion rclitive to the sul^ject. He 



[-i] spoke 



