All
then that I mean to say is this, that, independently of the common
progress of humanity and liberal opinion, the circumstance of not being
able to get new slaves as formerly, has had its influence upon some of
our planters; that it has made some of them think more; that it has put
some of them more upon their guard; and that there are therefore upon
the whole, more instances of good treatment of slaves by individuals in
our Islands (though far from being as numerous as they ought to be) than
at any former period.
But, alas! though the abolition of the slave trade may have produced a
somewhat better individual treatment of the slaves, and this also to a
somewhat greater extent than formerly, _not one of the other effects_,
so anxiously looked for, has been realized. The condition of the slaves
has not yet been improved by _law_. It is a remarkable, and indeed
almost an incredible fact, _that no one effort has been made_ by the
legislative bodies in our Islands with _the real_ intention of meeting
the new, the great, and the extraordinary event of the abolition of the
slave trade. While indeed this measure was under discussion by the
British Parliament, an attempt was made in several of our Islands to
alter the old laws with a view, as it was then pretended, of providing
better for the wants and personal protection of the slaves; but it was
afterwards discovered, that the promoters of this alteration never meant
to carry it into effect.
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