that this revolting work was done in the name of her Majesty the Queen, and at a time when all disturbances had ceased.

GOVERNOR EYRE has given warm expression to his sense of obligation for the valuable service rendered by Mr. Ramsay, the provost marshal. He would no doubt recommend him for the Victoria Medal.

We are now prepared after this description given of themselves by the ministers of justice in Jamaica at this critical time, to believe that the people so treated might have wrongs of which to complain-indeed it is rather difficult to imagine how in the hands of such administrators of law, right could prevail. We will therefore listen to a negro witness.

5. GEORGE CLARK, the husband of Paul Bogle's daughter, told the commissioners, that he was taken to Morant Bay in custody, and that while he was asking questions of some men who had made charges against him, he was several times struck with a cat. Ramsay was there at the time and snatched the shirt studs from his bosom and pocketed them, saying that they "could not belong to a nigger." He saw James Marshall flogged; at the forty-eighth lash Marshall called out, "Lord a' mercy!" and Ramsay ordered him to be hung; all the prisoners were taken out to see him hung and Ramsay shouted to them "look at him, ye brutes, you thieves, the whole of you will be hung like him.” He himself (Clark) was tried by a court martial consisting of Mr. Espent, Mr. Hutchins and Mr. Lewis; while he was under a shed waiting for his trial, Ramsay took hold of him, and asked, "will anybody give evidence against these brutes?" Two men gave evidence against him, and the court asked Ramsay whether that was all the testimony that he had. Ramsay said that some persons had promised to come, but had not done so; witness was told by the court that if he had any evidence to produce he was to ask Ramsay to send for any one who would speak in his favour; he accordingly asked Ramsay to send for some persons whom he named. Ramsay said "if you open your mouth to me, you brute, I'll shoot you; how dare you?" He afterwards attempted to speak to a constable named Williams, who would have given evidence as to his character, when Ramsay said "who is allowing this man to talk? give him a dozen," and he accordingly received a dozen lashes. He saw George William Gordon in custody; he spoke to an old man, when Ramsay said to the men who were guarding them "if you see him speaking to anybody, blow out his brains." Ramsay afterwards showed Gordon, who had not then been tried, the gallows upon which a man was hanging, and said, "there is one of your friends, you will be hung like him." Ramsay called out to the prisoners that anyone who gave evidence against Gordon, would save his life and be rewarded.

6. In the case of Marshall, the testimony of the negro witnesses is confirmed by Mr. Marshallech, a magistrate at Morant Bay, and others. Marshall was removed from the gun to which he had been fastened while being flogged, and his hands and feet being both tied, he was shoved towards the court house; he was too weak to walk, and fell down once if not more; a rope was then

attached to his neck, and Mr. Marshallech described the occurrence: "he was dragged to the steps of the court house as a barrel is worked up the side of a ship;" or as another witness said: "a rope was rove round his neck, they ran it round the court house steps and got it round the railings, and he was hoisted right up." Mr. Marshallech, although a justice of the peace, neither interfered at the moment, nor gave any information to the Government what had been done. The explanation which he gave to the commissioners of his conduct in this respect, was, that the magistrates were treated with the greatest disrespect by the provost marshal, and were afraid to say a word.

We leave these painful facts, from such witnesses, to make their own impression. From the most reliable testimony, we know that for twelve or fifteen years subsequent to emancipation, the progress of the negro in Jamaica was remarkable. Lord Stanley in 1842, said, "since emancipation the negroes have been thriving and contented: they have raised their manner of living and multiplied their comforts and enjoyments; their morals have improved, marriage has substituted for concubinage, and they are eager for education." Lord Howard de Walden, an extensive Jamaica proprietor, in his evidence before a committee of enquiry in 1848, said, "I believe they have amazingly improved in every respect since emancipation; everybody agrees that the change has been very remarkable," Sir Henry Barkly in 1854, speaking of the mountain villages in Jamaica, says, "there is a decided air of pregressive civilization about them." Now all this is completely reversed. A writer in one of our periodicals, citing Dr. Bowerbank (the Custos who assisted in dragging Mr. Gordon to his untimely and undeserved doom) in his support, insists there is no remedy but that of compulsion, compulsory labour, compulsory education, compulsory religion. Before we accept this proposed remedy we must look at the disproportion between the negro population and that of the white people-14,000 white people amongst 450,000 coloured people—and we must bear in mind that the symbols of British power in that beautiful and productive island, are the "cat with piano wire," and the "gallows;" the representative men of British authority are Jackson, Ramsay, Bruce, Bowerbank, Warmington and Kirkland. We have great misgivings as to the continuance of the compulsory system by government officials; the people must have had quite enough of brute force; the power to raise Jamaica must be one that will inspire confidence and awaken hope-that which is exerted by such men as John Eliot, John Howard and Robert Moffat. If we could find no missionaries but those who yield to the influence of the government house, and who cannot conceal their hatred and contempt for the race they are sent to evangelize, there would be no hope for Jamaica; but we have no such opinion. At this time Bishop Crowther, as "black as ebony" with coadjutors of the same race, are planting missions on the banks of the Niger. Providence has in store the right agency for the restoration of the Freed-men of Jamaica. It is time surely to give them a gleam of hope from British kindness, prompt yet well directed.

We will not conceal from our friends, that we are warmly blamed for "touching the Jamaica business." They tell us "it will ruin our Society." This does not alter our conviction of duty; we know where it is written "if thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?" Can any person of reflection be ignorant at this time, of the heart-rending calamities that must of necessity be endured by starving and homeless thousands in Jamaica? How long in the judgment of those who blame us, will it be prudent to wait, before we lend a helping hand to these downcast and miserable people? The golden hour of opportunity is Now. The "business of Jamaica" ought to touch the conscience, the heart, and the pocket of every lover of his country and of every friend of the human race.—W.

AMERICAN FREED-MEN.

SIGNS OF ENCOURAGEMENT.-There are gleams of light in the South to assure us that with patient perseverance, the well-directed labour of christian philanthropists will not be in vain.

MR. HENRY S. FOOTE, ex-Governor of Mississippi, who, in the Senate at Washington, threatened to hang Mr. Hale, senator for New Hampshire, has published a book on the war, in which he says: African slavery is indeed gone for ever; and I am confident that there is not one thousand intelligent persons in that region, of all the slave-holding class, who would now resuscitate this defunct system, even if they had the power to do so. The result should not now, and I am well assured it will not hereafter, be a source of permanent regret to the white population of the South; they will, indeed, be far better off in time to come without slavery than with it. The whole Southern people will be far more prosperous hereafter than they have been heretofore; labour in the South will be more diversified, and be likely to yield more solid benefit of every kind. Manufacturing and mineral industry will now be seen to flourish for the first time in that great and prolific region; and even southern commerce may hereafter attain a more healthful and self-supporting existence."

In respect to the treatment of the newly made freed-men, he says: "It is really astonishing to hear that men in this enlightened age, should for a moment hesitate in regard to the propriety of allowing persons of African descent to testify in courts of justice, especially in cases where their own life, liberty or property are involved; it is heartlessly unjust to the black man to assert that he is not a respector of truth, and less inclined to the exercise of justice than the white man; I have lived amongst this race all my life, and what I now say on this subject is the fruit of more than half a century's experience and observation."

GENERAL GREGORY, assistant commissioner, in reply to a petition from the citizens of of Panola county, Texas, for the appointment of a provost marshal for that county to preserve order, said, "In general, the Freed-men of Texas

present a record which, for service and order is most commendable. Turned headlong into freedom, without preparation, without pre-monition, by men at war with their masters, and told that they have been wronged and have an heritage of vengeance, they exhibit in their industry, docility and patience, an example beyond the expectation of man. No people have ever been so tried, none have ever so stood trial.

"While this bureau has jurisdiction over all matters that concern the Freed-men, its uniform policy has been to avoid class legislature. It cordially invites the court authorities to take cognizance of all offences committed by or against the negro, and it interferes only when the State has neglected to act, or when, manifest injustice has been done.

Special legislation is uncalled for and unwise when every occurrence of disorder, violence or crime among the coloured people can be met by the simple preventive of the civil code.

"If in your locality the labourer refuses to work, it may be because, though slavery be extinct, its collateral influences and ideas still survive, and new inducements have not taken the place of the lash and the chain; it may be that the planter, as well as the negro, has not yet learned what free labour means. "Many of the Freedmen were last year defrauded of their earnings, where the crop was gathered by their toil; they were turned loose upon the state, without money, means, or clothing.

"This unchivalric and bitter injustice has not been forgotten by the sufferers. They now hesitate to labour because they are not sure that the day's work will bring the day's wages. Better treatment and prompt pay will correct this distrust sooner than a brigade of provost marshals."

The AMERICAN FREED-MEN'S AID COMMISSION states that in South Carolina, where the work was first begun, and where the subjects were among the least promising, the results have been such as to convince the most sceptical. Herds of human chattels, impelled by force, have been converted into communities of human beings regulated by law. Ten thousand ignorant blacks degraded to the lowest point within the power of slavery, have been lifted up to a condition of comparitive intelligence. These now constitute a self-supporting law-abiding, wealth-producing community; and one more orderly or better behaved may not easily be found.

What has been said of the Freed-men's enterprise in South Carolina, may be asserted with equal truth of every other similar undertaking in the Southern States. The REV. HORACE JAMES, in a letter dated New Berne. N.C., Feb. 11th, 1866, says: "We have had our hundred and fifteen hands at work in the month of January; by March, the number will be increased to one hundred and fifty. They work cheerfully and well, and were never so happy before; an accomplished female teacher from the North resides upon each plantation; and their day and

evening schools are thronged, and intensely interesting; these ladies are Miss Harriet S. Billings and Miss Kate A. Means; not less than two hundred coloured people reside on the two plantations, and Sabbath worship is regularly maintained for their benefit, with careful instruction in the Sabbath school.

"Several other plantations in the vicinity have been rented by Northern men, and upon them all the ploughs are running merrily. It will soon be proved beyond a doubt that, while negroes will not work for their old masters or under the overseers who used to drive them to their tasks with the lash, they will cheerfully work for men who treat them like human beings, and pay them reasonable wages. They do not work like skilled labourers at the north, for they have never learned how; but they do as well as they can at present; whether they are susceptible of elevation and of high culture in industry, art, learning, science, is yet to be tested; a nation may be born in a day, but years are necessary for its growth."

The importance of education can hardly be over-estimated." It underlies every hope of success for the Freed-men; everything depends on the youth and the children being thoroughly instructed in every industrial pursuit. Through education, embracing moral and religious training, the fearful prejudice against the blacks can be overcome." The friends of the Freed-men in America are fully alive to the necessity of providing the means of instruction for the Freedpeople of all ages. There is no lack of suitable agents; all that is wanted is more money. Christian women, generous and painstaking, form themselves into associations to adopt a school in the South, send out their own teacher, provide the books and keep up with their devoted representative in the field of labour a constant and most interesting correspondence. Their great aim however is to call out the energies of the Freed-men themselves. The superintendent of the schools for refugees and Freed-men in New Orleans says, Jan. 27th, 1866, "There are eight schools in the city, with from two to eight hundred pupils each, which with those in the suburbs, amount to sixteen schools, with nearly six thousand pupils and one hundred teachers, all of which are under my supervision.

"But difficulties have settled down upon us; our schools have been held in confiscated or abandoned houses, and the owners are now returning penitent and pardoned, and demanding their property; we have given up several houses, and expect soon to surrender all; the Government is about to give up the schools financially and the burden of sustaining them is soon to rest upon the Freed-men. The payment of teachers and the erecting of school houses will be more than they can accomplish unaided.

"In all missionary efforts the first point to be gained is to secure the assistance of the natives themselves, so here our first aim should be to employ the coloured people as missionaries to their own race.

"We have here the elite of the coloured people of the whole South, French and creoles, who have always been free and well educated; we have, too, growing