SCENE IN A COURTROOM. 



17 



her white scholars were always the most quick and 

 capable. 



From the negro school we went to the Grand Court. 

 It had been open about half an hour when I entered. 

 On the back wall, in a massive mahogany tablet, were 

 the arms of England ; on a high platform beneath was 

 a large circular table, around which were heavy ma- 

 hogany chairs with high backs and cushions. The 

 court consists of seven judges, five of whom were in 

 their places. One of them, Mr. Walker, invited me to 

 one of the vacant seats. I objected, on the ground 

 that my costume was not becoming so dignified a po- 

 sition ; he insisted, and I took my seat, in a rounda- 

 bout jacket, upon a chair exceedingly comfortable for 

 the administration of justice. 



As before remarked, five of the judges were in their 

 places ; one of them was a mulatto. The jury was 

 empannelled, and two of the jurors were mulattoes ; 

 one of them, as the judge who sat next me said, was a 

 Sambo, or of the descending line, being the son of a 

 mulatto woman and a black man. I was at a loss to 

 determine the caste of a third, and inquired of the 

 judge, who answered that he was his, the judge's, 

 brother, and that his mother was a mulatto woman. 

 The judge was aware of the feeling existing in the 

 United States with regard to colour, and said that in 

 Balize there was, in political life, no distinction what- 

 ever, except on the ground of qualifications and char- 

 acter ; and hardly any in social life, even in contract- 

 ing marriages. 



I had noticed the judges and jurors, but I missed an 

 important part of an English court. Where were the 

 gentlemen of the bar ? Some of my readers will per- 

 haps concur with Captain Hampton, that Balize was 



Vol. I.— C 



