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Show 268 APPEN OJX, H Cl f. best known to himself, looks forward cnry ay, or reasons . . . to " disastrous" consequences, from West lndmn cmanctpatwn. Bu t, t I1 crc can b c l1't tle <loubt, that in sober truth, the nbolition o f s Ia very 1·1 1 tl1 0 Wc st J11,]ies-althouo" h in so great a majority of Total compromised, admonished and dismissed, from l st to 31st August, Ditto from lst to 30th September, Ditto from 1st to 15th October, Total, Deficiency in compromised cases in 1837, compara~ tivcly with those of 1838, Grand Total, F1·eedom. Total of complaints vs. laborers, from the 1st to the 31st August, 1838, Ditto from the 1st to the 30th September, Ditto from the lst to 15th October, 105 I 13 38 256 158 414 582 386 103 Total, 1071 Comparative surplus of complaints in 1837, 2675 Grand Total, 3746 Total of laborers punished from the 1st to the 31st August, 1838, Ditto from the 1st to the 30th September, Ditto from 1st to 15th October, Comparative surplus of punishment in 1837, Total, 334 270 53 657 2833 Grand Total, 3490 Total compromised, admonished and ilismisscd, from 1st to 31st August, Ditto from 1st to 30th September, Ditto from 1st to 15th October, 248 116 50 Grand Total, 414 " NoTE.-It may be proper to remark that the accompanying General Abstract for August, September, and to the 15th October, 1837, d~s not include complaints preferred and heard before the Local Magtstratcs J.'REE AND FHJENDI .. Y HEl\lAHKS. 2fi!l instances unfortunately managed-is gradually proving itself to be a blessing to all classes concerned. May the day be hastened, when the same blessing slla!l crown the prosperity of the United States ! That nothing disastrous is now to be anticipated from during those months, for such offences-viz. for misdemeanors, petty debts, assaults and petty thefts-as were not cognizable by the Special Justices; so tl1at estimating these oA"enccs-the number of which docs not appear in the Abstract for 1837-at a similar number as that enumerated in the Abstract for 1838, the actual relative difference of punishments between the two and a half months in 1837, and those in 1838, would thus appear:- Surplus of Apprentices punished in 1837, as above, 2833 Offences in August, September, and to the 15th Octo-ber, 1837, heard before the General J ustiecsof the peace, and estimated as follows :- Petty thefts, Assaults, Misl1emcanors, Petty debts, Actual surplus of punishment in 1837, 75 143 98 19 335 3168" The seconl1 gives an account of the general prosperity of the colony. FROM TilE MERCURY. "Letter from W. R. II ayes, Esq. Barbadoes, 1-V. I., to H. G. Ludlow, of New Haven. "llARnADoEs, DEc. 26, 1838. "I gave you, in my last, some account of the manner in which the fil·st day of emancipation came and went in this island. We very soon afterwards received similar accounts from all the neighboring islands. In all of them, the day was celebrated as an occasion "of devout thanksgiving and praise to God, for the happy termination of slavery." In aU of them, the change took place in a manner highly crel1itable to the emancipated, and intensely gratifying to the friends of liberty. The quiet, good order, and solemnity of the day, were every where remarkable. Indeed, is it not a fact worth remembering, that whereas, in former years, a single day's relaxation from labor was met by the slaves with shouting, and revelry, and merry-making, yet now, when the last link of slavery was broken for ever, sobriety and decorum were especially the order of the day ? The perfect order and subordination to the Jaws, which marked the first day of August, are yet unbroken. " rc have now nearly five months' experience |