164 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1816. 



that faiTiine would be felt in its 

 most frightful form if this mea- 

 sure were not speedily put in 

 practice; that experience hadcun- 

 vinced the^n, that all expectations 

 of substantial relief horn the 

 British North American colonies 

 in British Ijottoms were altogether 

 visionary ; and that partial sup- 

 plies fi'oni tlie neighbouring 

 islands, doubled in tlieir ])riee as 

 they must be, woidd be above 

 the planter's means of payment. 

 The Council again advised the 

 Go\ernor not to adopt the mea- 

 sure requested, as not called for 

 by such a necessity as Mould 

 justify it ; as, on the contrary, 

 they hoped that l!ie means al- 

 ready employed would prove suffi- 

 cient to avert that necessity. 



The session of the Mouse of 

 Assendjly of Jamaica was opened 

 at the close of October with a 

 speech fr..m tlic Duke of Man- 

 <?lie.')tcr, Governor, in which, after 

 ^dvciting to the calamitous event 

 nt Barbadoes, lie recommended to 

 the consideration of the Assem- 

 bly, whether some fiirther legis- 

 lative regulations might not be 

 necessary to promote the moral 

 and religious instruction of the 

 negroes, as well as to improve 

 their general comfort and hajjpi- 

 ness. The House, in reply, after 

 aflirming, that thedelusitni among 

 the negroes whicli produced such 

 fatal effects at Barbadoes " had 

 been insidiously spread by the 

 practices of certain associations 

 in the mother country," and prais- 

 ing tlie peaceable and orderly 

 conduct of the slaves in their 

 own island, mention their pur- 

 pose of attending to the recom- 

 mendation of his Grace, and en- 

 tering into the considerations 



pointed out, " pursuant to the 

 resolutions of the late House of 

 Assembly at the close of the last 

 session." The Governor's mes- 

 sage in consequence, having been 

 referred to a committee of the 

 House, a resolution was reported 

 on Nov. 6th, in the following 

 words : 



' ' That it be recommended to 

 the House to send a Message to 

 his Grace the Governor, thanking 

 him for the communication con- 

 tained in his mcssiige to the Hou e 

 of the 1st instant ; to assure his 

 Grace that the House pi'operly 

 appreciates the care with which 

 his Majesty's jNIinisters have 

 guarded agnin&t the interference 

 (if Pailiament on a rjuestion, the 

 consideration of which exclusively 

 belongs to the Legislature of this 

 island ; an interference which 

 nuist ever jnovoke the utmost 

 irritation and alarm in the minds 

 of his Majesty's loyal subjects of 

 Jamaica, as a direct invasion of 

 their most sacred and important 

 rights ; that although the House 

 will never suffer its proceedings 

 to be influenced by an apprehen- 

 sion that the wisdom and justice 

 of the British Parliament will 

 allow the malignant and unfound- 

 ed aspersions which have been 

 cast upon the inhabitants of 

 this island to operate to their 

 disadvantage, and although it 

 has been distinctly proved that 

 no clandestine or illicit importa- 

 tion of slaves has taken place 

 here, the House is still willing to 

 satisfy, if possible, even the pre- 

 judices of those who may have 

 been deceived into a belief that 

 a change of circumstances may 

 aft'ord new facilities to a violation 

 of the Abolition Lavvs, and will, 



in 



