INTRODUCTION. 21 



peasantry in general, an immense difference becomes apparent; 

 and it is to be apprehended that whatever good has been effected 

 will soon vanish, should the present miserable and precarious state 

 of these islands continue for any length of time. Poverty is the 

 parent of ignorance, as also of consequent immorality and crime ; 

 and, I grieve to say, that the evil of concubinage has already found 

 a substitute in a greater that of prostitution. 



As to the allegation that " the blacks are fast relapsing into 

 a state of barbarism," I can only say, there ARE symptoms of 

 such a result ; but, before mentioning them, I wish to examine the 

 evidence which Mr. Martin has brought forward in favour of his 

 assertion of " an increase of chapels, churches, and schools, and a 

 decrease of crime." I am not in possession of documents to con- 

 tradict Mr. Martin's statement regarding the decrease of crime in 

 the other islands, but I can safely affirm that such is far from being 

 the result in Trinidad ; for there, as a criterion, the number of even 

 juvenile offenders has fearfully increased. There are also certain 

 crimes which may be said to be now more prevalent, and the 

 repetition of which speaks little in favour of the pretended im- 

 provement I mean incendiarism, petty thefts, and particularly 

 the horrible practice of procuring miscarriage, either to conceal a 

 lapse from virtue, or to get rid of a helpless being which might 

 become a future burden. Obeahism and witchcraft are still prac- 

 tised by many unprincipled individuals of both sexes, who know 

 they will acquire influence, and derive undue advantage, by in- 

 spiring the poor, the ignorant, and the credulous, with a dread of 

 their impostures ; others assume the garb of religion as a cloak to 

 their base and fraudulent practices ; and there are not wanting 

 those who actually profess to believe in Obeahism, witchcraft, and 

 other devices of Satan. These are facts too patent to be denied. 



" The increase of chapels, churches, and schools," proves very 

 little indeed. During the period of slavery, churches and chapels 

 existed only where villages or towns had been formed, and, if the 

 slaves were near enough, they were not merely permitted, but even 

 pressed, to attend service ; of course those at a distance could not 

 readily avail themselves of the opportunity. After emancipation, 

 numbers of the freed class united and settled in the rural districts, 

 creating villages or townships, at nearer and more convenient dis- 

 tances. In those neighbourhoods churches have gradually been 

 established by Government, as also chapels by dissenters, who par- 

 ticularly availed themselves of the opportunity of erecting places 

 of worship, and forming congregations consisting chiefly of the 

 lower classes. 



With regard to private schools, but few existed in the slave 

 colonies, because the number of those who could attend were too 

 small to encourage their establishment, and parents, likewise, pre- 

 ferred sending their children to Europe, as well for l,he benefit of 



