A View of the Past and Present State of the Island of Jamaica: With Remarks on the Moral and Physical Condition of the Slaves, and on the Abolition of Slavery in the Colonies

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Oliver & Boyd, 1823 - Jamaica - 363 pages
 

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Page 44 - LEAR. Let the great gods, That keep this dreadful pother o'er our heads, Find out their enemies now.
Page 270 - Verily, verily, I say unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord, neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
Page 257 - ... or alligator's tooth, pieces of eggshell, and other nameless ingredients, compose the fatal mixture. The whole of these articles may not be considered as absolutely necessary to complete the charm, but two or three are at least indispensable.
Page 208 - ... may escape condign punishment while this defect in the slave laws is suffered to exist. There is only one way of removing this obstacle to the more effectual amelioration of the condition of the slave ; and that is, by rendering his evidence, under certain modifications, legally admissible against Whites. Such an innovation would indeed probably raise an outcry among a certain class of persons, who see danger in every boon of kindness extended to the slaves ; but a day will arrive, when it will...
Page 165 - Even* if slavery and its attendant abuses did not exist here," he observes, " no great improvement in the state of society could be expected, while the most gross and open licentiousness continues, as at present, to prevail among all ranks of the "Whites. The males', of course, are here exclusively meant."—' " Every unmarried white man, and of every class, has his black or his brown mistress, with whom he lives openly : and of so little consequence is this thought, that his White female friends...
Page 279 - ... But you must allow me, Gentlemen, to add, that I by no means rest this great question on the ground either of private or public utility, but on much higher and nobler principles; on the principles of justice, of humanity, of religion, of duty ; by which most sacred ties you are bound as men and as Christians, to take care of the souls as well as of the bodies: of that numerous race of men, over whom you have obtained the most absolute dominion. They are yours, the whole man,
Page 75 - Some idea will be formed of the immense swarms of those destructive animals that infest this island, from the fact, that on a single plantation thirty thousand were destroyed in one year. Traps of various kinds are set to catch them, poison is resorted to, and terriers, and sometimes ferrets, are employed to explore their haunts, and root them out; still, however, their numbers remain undiminished, as far at least as can be judged by the ravages they commit. They are of a much larger size than the...
Page 297 - Nothing could be more ill-judged in such a contest, nor more subservient to the views of their savage and artful foe. The sound of these instruments could answer no other end than to warn the Maroons to keep out of the way, or to throw themselves into a convenient ambush, from whence they could cut off their assailants, without danger of annoyance to themselves.
Page 165 - The males', of course, are here exclusively meant."—' " Every unmarried white man, and of every class, has his black or his brown mistress, with whom he lives openly : and of so little consequence is this thought, that his White female friends and relations think it no breach of decorum to visit his house, partake of his hospitality, fondle his children, and converse with his house-keeper...
Page 258 - ... are afraid to discover them to the whites; and others, perhaps, are in league with them for sinister purposes of mischief and revenge. A Negro under this infatuation can only be cured of his terrors by being made a Christian ; refuse him this indulgence, and he soon sinks a martyr to imagined evils.

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