of residents in the West Indies; far from it; this was a solitary case. Murder is a crime generally detested; man must become an incarnate demon, or one from whom all reason has fled, before he can perpetrate such an act: and whoever may be the victim, all classes are anxious to bring the murderer to justice. But, and I feel confident I am not going beyond the truth, in many instances, crimes of less magnitude, where loss of life and limb has not ensued, have been passed over, or if noticed, and the form of trial complied with, Astræa has not equally balanced her scales, and the negro has not been righted because he was only a

negro.

Oh! I have heard and read of deeds of blood which would chill the very soul-deeds which in other days have been practised in Antigua, noted as she was for the mildness of her slave laws. Those infernal instruments of torture have been used, even invented, by man in his most debased state"the detestable, ever-to-be-detested cart-whip," the heavy chain, the dark loathsome dungeon, the thumb-screw, and the barbarous "mouth-piece," as it was termed, which was a plate of iron pressing upon the tongue, while bars of iron enclosed the head, and a padlock, fastened behind the victim's neck, prevented their agonizing cries from reaching mortal ears. But the Infinite from his bright throne saw and pitied these poor wretched sons of Ham, and sent men of milder mood-men whose hearts were touched with their miseries, whose ears were open to their cries-to labour and exert themselves in their behalf, and at last obtain their liberty.

Sometimes iron rings were fastened round their legs, which their kind and humane masters jocularly termed, "negro-boots;" at other times massy iron collars were fixed round their necks, to which was attached galling chains; and fearful these might give too little pain, or occasion too little inconvenience, half-hundred weights were hung to them. It used to be a method of punishment, it is said, in former times, when owners did not mind losing the value of a negro

24

MODES OF PUNISHMENT.

or two, to take an empty hogshead, and after driving plenty of nails into it, making the points to protrude in the inside, to put a slave or two into it, and heading it up, roll them down a steep hill; and thus leave them to expire. Some masters, when their slaves were very ill, or very old, and could be of no further service, used to bury them alive; and it is said, that upon being put into their graves, they have been heard to say, "Pray, massa, no bury me, me no dead yet; do, massa, let dem take me out ;" and the master, with a curse upon his lips, has replied that he had plenty of money to buy more; he did not want an old, half-dead negro.

Gibbeting alive was another mode of punishment formerly in use; and when adopted, the sufferers have been known to live more than a week. That any one could deliberately condemn a fellow-creature to such intolerable anguish seems almost impossible; yet that such has been the case in Antigua, is remembered by some alive; I have heard of one instance in which a white man was the sufferer. I should not have noticed it in this place, was it not that it proves how much cruelty was practised even in those days. All will allow, or at least ought to do, that when a criminal suffers the extreme penalty of the law, it is done for the sake of example, not revenge; and consequently, the mildest and quickest kind of death should be practised. The circumstance alluded to, was as follows. A white man, known as Captain White, the owner of a small vessel, had for some length of time committed piracy upon the high seas; but at last was taken, and brought into Antigua. He was condemned to die, and that death to be by gibbeting. A gibbet was accordingly prepared; the wretched man was carried to a bay, near where St. James's Fort is now erected, and there, in the face of heaven, he was hung up in chains, alive! with a loaf of bread and a calabash of water almost within his reach; but which, like the waters of Tartarus to him of old, only mocked him with their approach, as the wind blew them backwards and forwards. The man lived nine days in this

situation; and in the extremity of his hunger, actually ate the flesh from off his shoulders. The place where he was executed is well known to many in Antigua as White's Bay, and a few years ago, the remains of the gibbet was to be met with. How ought we to bless God, that we lived not in those days; that our feelings are now not outraged by any of those dreadful exhibitions: certainly, his crime (piracy) was a dreadful one, but who cannot but feel for his after-sufferings?

The following letter from a white inhabitant throws a further light upon the insurrection of the negroes, in 1736, which we have noticed in the "Legend of the Ravine;" and points out the particular punishment awarded to many of the actors in that tragedy:

"Dear Friend,

Antigua, Jan. 15th, 1736.

"We are in a great deal of trouble in this island; the burning of negroes, hanging them up on gibbets alive, racking them upon the wheel, &c., takes up all our time; that from the 20th of October to this day, there have been destroyed sixty-one intelligent negroes, most of them tradesmen, as carpenters, coopers, and masons.

"I am almost dead with watching and working, as are many more. They were going to destroy all the white inhabitants of the island.Count,' the king of the negroes,

6

Tomboy,' his general, and Hercules,' his lieutenantgeneral, who were all racked upon the wheel, died with obstinacy. Mr. Archibald Hamilton's Harry,' after he was condemned, stuck himself with a knife, in eighteen different places, four of which were mortal. Colonel Martin's Jemmy,' who was hung up alive from noon to eleven o'clock at night, was then taken down to give information. Colonel Morgan's Ned,' after he had been hung up seven days and seven nights, that his hands grew too small for his hand-cuffs, he got them out and raised himself, and fell down from a gibbet fifteen feet high; he was revived with cordials

VOL. II.

C

and broths, in hopes to bring him to confess, but he would not, and was hung up again, and in a day and a night expired. Mr. Yeaman's Quashy Coonah' jumped out of the fire half burnt, but was thrown in again; and Mr. Lyon's Fine,' jumped out of the fire, and promised to confess all, but it took no effect. In short, our island is in a poor, miserable condition, and I wish I could get any employment in England to do."

I mean not to sicken my readers by too minute details of what slavery was in its dark and fearful days; but it is proper that a few instances should be given, that the young in particular may rejoice they live in a day when "liberty, that thrice-sweet and gracious goddess," has so ample a domain; and while they delight in the freedom of British negroes, drop a tear of pity to the fate of those unfortunates who are torn every year from all the endearing ties of country, friends, and home, that they may obtain for their unfeeling masters a little more of the "honey of Hybla," which is so sweet, that even peace of mind is too often sacrificed for it.

The examples which I have already given may be said to have happened many years ago; but still, for long after that, the life of a slave was looked upon as of very little value, provided the master was reimbursed for the cash they cost. If brought before a magistrate one day, they were, perhaps, condemned and executed the day after; and should a condemned criminal accost a passer-by in these words"Ah! buddy you no no me now; but p'raps you will," and such salutation be heard by the sentinel, that person, if even a stranger, and guiltless, perhaps, of all offence, was taken up on suspicion of having some dealing with the captive, and in some instances suffered death with him. The intrigues which were carried on between negroes in those days, rendered it, it is said, expedient to adopt these harsh measures.

I have heard it asserted, that the reason slaves first came to be tried by jury, in 1785, was this:-A black man was brought

up before two magistrates, on suspicion of having committed some heinous crime; and after hearing the case, the culprit was condemned and executed. A week or two elapsed, and something transpired to lead to a suspicion that he was not the guilty party. Through the exertion of a Mr. Gunthorpe, the case was tried again; and the result was, that the man was pronounced innocent. After that it was ordained, that no slave should be condemned to death, without being first brought before a jury, consisting of six persons.

memory cried

For the particulars of this case, I am indebted to an old man well known in Antigua. He bears the burthen of eighty-six years, and is still as active and strong as many a one only half that age. I heard him speak very highly of our late gracious majesty William IV., who, when he was in the navy, visited Antigua for some time. "Prince Henry was a good young gentleman, God bless his the old man. "I used to wait upon him, and have often heard him speak of what good he would do, should he ever come to the throne. He has spared many a black person a good flogging. And when we all heard he was king, every one said-God bless him!" Old Mascall, for that is his name, can tell many a tale of other days, and no doubt has seen many shocking sights in the course of his long life. I heard him tell of another gentleman, who used to treat his slaves in a most barbarous manner, giving them commonly fifty lashes at one time, and then calling for a lighted candle, drop melted sealing-wax upon the gashes. His cook used to be chained to a "fifty-six," (a weight of fifty-six pounds,) with a chain long enough to enable him to walk from the kitchen to the house; and his washer used also to be chained in like manner to her wash-tub, in which situation, my informant told me, one woman dropped down dead, with her chains around her.* With regard to this piece of cruelty,

* Old Mascall's information may be doubted by some, but it certainly agrees with the authenticated cruelties which were practised in former years, the details of which have been omitted from want of space.