The Watchman,
And
Jamaica Free Press
VOL, I. Saturday Afternoon, September 12, 1829. No. 22
To the Editor of the Watchman
Sir,
I am at a loss whether to compare Augustus’s printed speech at the Westmoreland Inspection to the nursery tale of the Seven-Leagued Boots, or that of Tom Thumb and the Gaint, or Chrouonhothonthologos, or Peter Pindar’s account of the Louse that threatened to avenge the encroachments of the nail by gaping wide his ponderous jaws to bite off the head which yielded sustenance to his loathsome carcase. At any rate it is a fee-faw-fum oration -Lilliput versus Brobdignag. A true simile, of the Polish Dwarf, armed cap-a-pee, in defiance of Big Ben, the pugilistic champion. Who would believe that in 1829, a native of the United States of America, a Hop-o-my-Thumb North American, would mount the Rostrum in the Island of Jamaica, to hold forth the language of defiance, under the term of “Constitutional Resistance.” against the Parliament of Great Britain? A pigmy alien elected a Member of Assembly, to introduce a system whereby he is, pro bono publico, to embarrass the Ministers! An exploit of which neither France, Spain, nor Russia can brag. This is, indeed, an age of wonders. Yet, more wonderful than all this, the follower of “Quamina and Quasheba,” possessing the second sight, sees, in a prospective view, the future operations of the Marquis of Chandos, and lavishes upon him, beforehand, the praises which he shall hereafter merit, for he must of course be the pilot that will “weather the storm,” and prove a match for the “Devil and Doctor Faustus.”
After all this parade, what do we gather from the speech of Augustus? Demagogue as he is, he has not touched the little finger of Mr. Wilkes, or even Orator Hunt, or any other radical that ever figured at a dinner-party, on a beer-barrel, in the open air, or in a barber’s shop; he merely shews what use may be made of fusil types, to…
dress up a lame speech, and with the help of his lamp, to convey across the Atlantic that which appears like a “galaxy of intent;” and this is the talisman, by whose necromantic power, he binds in adamantine fetters the judgement of those who, but that their vision is distorted, would perceive that the true interests of the Island are bound up in conciliatory measures, and that this upstart possesses no other talent than that which is productive of confusion. But he has possessed himself of the important secret, a secret which must not be divulged, and in pursuance of the revolutionary sentiments continually expressed in his Courant, he is the hardy champion who, with Noodle (*****) on his right and Doodle (*****) on his left, is to hold up, interrorem, the bug-bear of transferring the government of Jamaica to the United States! – Glorious embarrassment!
A plan so genuine, so patriotic, and so well concocted, with such a leader, needs no comment. This, however, I must say, that “when the sky falls, we shall catch larks.” When Britain shall have been so far degenerated as to hold no better place among the nations of Europe, than Spain does at this day, then will the ape embarrass the lion, and the ass take possession of his coat.
If the ignis fatuus emitted from these doctrines of resistance and contumacy, still retains so strong a glow as to attract the partizans of Augustus, and lead them to the imaginary enterprise of making such a transfer. I make bold to announce that it will conduct them to the quagmires of disappointment, and the slough of despondency. It is to be hoped, however, nay, it is “a consummation devoutly to be wished,” that reason and common sense may have such a ascendancy over the minds of our rulers, as shall set at nought the inflammatory doctrines of this self-interested demagogue.
I am, Sir, your obedt. servant,
TWIG.
To the Editor of the Watchman,
Sir,
It may not be generally known that the wood of the Jack-tree is so very durable as to be used in the East Indies in the erection of substantial buildings. It is rather weighty, of a yellowish cast, receives nearly as high a polish as mahagony, and looks very handsome when manufactured into household furniture; the shavings make an excellent yellow dye. Perhaps this communication may induce some of our “cabinet-makers” to manufacture some small article, from this wood, by way of trial. Boxes made of deal may be so stained with the colouring matter procured from the shavings, as to pass on slight inspection, for the wood itself.
I am Sir, yours,
AGRICOLA
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For the Watchman
Mr. Watchman,
I have no wish to be troublesome, but beg you will allow me to congratulate you on the success of your undertaking, especially in beating down Billy-poor fellow! I wonder what colour you will make him by-and-bye.
I am also pleased to find you occasionally advocating the cause of those persecuted men who are so zealously engaged in endeavouring to improve the moral condition of our slave population, poor William and his master have laboured hard to oppose them, but they have laboured in vain.
It is not strange, Mr. Watchie, that at this period of enlightenment, there should be found individuals actively engaged in opposing the spread of Gospel truth-but so it is.
It is aid, that in a certain parish, in a northerly direction, (the Reverence Rector of which, by-the-bye, has never been proverbially humane) persecution has covertly existed, and that an individual, a slave, is at this moment, and has been for a considerable time pa…
2 The Watchman
in (indistinguishable). for having attended on the Sabbath, the ministration of one of those Clergymen whose only object appears to be the spiritual improvement of their hearers. As the case to which I allude has already excited considerable interest, will you tell me if it is in the power of an attorney to send a nergo to a workhouse in a (indistinguishable) distant from that to which he belongs, for no other offence than that of attending a Dissenting place of Worship: and if the negro became seriously ill, to remove him from one workhouse to another, without his being brought to trial.
By answering these questions, you will oblige.
Mr. Watchie (indistinguishable)
A SUBSCRIBER
On (indistinguishable) of the Slave Law of 1816, which is the one now in force, we can find no clause that prevents the owner of slaves from sending them to any Workhouse he pleases-it is, however, not customary to send them to distant Workhouses, and the man who would do so merely because his slave attended a Sectarian Place of Worship, deserves to be held up to the execration of the public – Editor W.
An Affair of Honour, A Sovereign Cure For Dropsy.
An intelligent traveller informs us that some time since, a Dr. Blanchard Alexandria, on Red River, challenged Mr. Murray, an attorney, on some rival account, who, at this time, was bouring under an abdominal dropsy. They met in the province of Texas, and Murray was shot through the abdomen. The dropsical matter was discharged, and the bowels from the inflammation created by the wound, adhering to the (indistinguishable), a permanent care was accomplished, dished. The parties became friends (indistinguishable) the attorney remains grateful to (indistinguishable) Doctor for his gratuitous surgical station.
We know of no law against shedding (indistinguishable), though there is an imperative against shedding blood. It is a fact generally known to medical men, that intentional excitement of such a (indistinguishable) of inflammation upon the (indistinguishable) should be sufficient to produce (indistinguishable) between its surface, has, in a (indistinguishable), succeeded in curing abdominal dropsy.
According to a Census just (indistinguishable) the American Congress, the (indistinguishable) of the United States is (indistinguishable),000.
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The Watchman,
And
Jamaica Free Press
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Kingston, Jamaica:
Saturday. Sept. 12, 1829.
The late Buccanier-like seizure of the British brig John Catto, and the unjust constitution of the property of the Captain, J. W. Clarke, as well as the illegal and cruel imprisonment of that person, in a miserable prison among convicts, not only exhibits the nefarious policy of the Colombian Republic, but arouses the indignation of every patriotic Britain. Faithless as the Colombian Republic appears to be, yet to Britain is the principally indebted even for that rank which she retains among nations. But to mark her attachment, and to show her gratitude, she dares to raise her her puny, savage arm to oppress a son of that power which generously deprecated the sanguinary fury of the Spanish Court.
Internal strifes have hardly ceased to glut the ferocity of the South American States; and, threatened also with an invasion by well-equipped Spanish troops, who have, perhaps, by this time, made some alarming inroad on their delusively-supposed invincible Republic, yet they have ventured to treat with indignity the British dag-that flag long known as the banner of Victory or the ensign of Death-and to which the world has paid universal homage.
The narrative of the unjustifiable seizure of John Catto will, however, speedily reach the British Ministry, who will require but little consideration to devise means of effectually processing the peaceable merchantmen that may hereafter trade (indistinguishable), or near, the coasts of that semi-civilized Republic; and for securing to a British (indistinguishable) that respect, even from a semi-Indian Prefect, to which he is entailed, as the legitimate representative of a (indistinguishable) and effective government.
It is not improbable but that Admiral Sir C. E. Fleeming will, in the mean time, shew his authority and treat the Dons with the sight of a few British men-of-war, recommending with their gentle eloquence, less summary and arbitrary mock-judicial proceedings in the future.
The Courant Editor make the following remarks in his introduction to an article, taken from an American paper, respecting an Order for deporting from Ohio upwards of 2000 coloured…
persons within thirty days. This Editor, whatever may be his motive for the publication of such an article, should remember that this is a British Colony, and not an American State!
“We refer our readers to the following article, which we have extracted from the Cineinati Gazette of the 6th of July last, respecting Free People of Colour in the State of Ohio. We do not publish this from any invidious motive, but merely to shew our free coloured fellow colonists hows arbitrarily and unjustly that class are treated under what the Americans are pleased to term the freest Government in the world! The day is fast approaching when the disabilities under which the Free People of Colour in this Island now harbour, must be done away with; and we only hope the period may not be retarded by any intemperate or improper conduct on their own part. A (indistinguishable) feeling is abroad, and we appeal to their own good sense not to be led away by the machinations of a few turbulent and evil disposed individuals.”
We are glad to see the Courant Editor coming down a peg at last. He admits, in his paper of this morning, that the People of Colour have been unjustly treated by the American Government, and that the day is fast approaching when the (indistinguishable) under which the People of colour are labouring in this Island, must be done away with. We give him no credit, either for his liberality or his foresight. This is a piece of Old (indistinguishable), which is wrung and twisted from him in spite of all his hopes and expectations to the contrary! What a (indistinguishable) to predict an event after its consummation, or accomplishment. So, he wishes to be in at the death, eh! At the death of a deep-rooted (indistinguishable), and most unnatural prejudice. O. no! He has been too long trimming between two opinions. He will come off a No-Party-Man at last, and receive a No-Party-Man’s reward-not even the simple of an approving conscience.
We have given mention to a letter signed a “Subscriber,” on the persecution of a negro man slave, for worshipping the Deity according to the formula or mode of worship in practice among Dissenting Christians. “Servants be subject to your masters, with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward,” is part and parcel of our own creed, and “subjection to the powers that be” is the very soul of social and political order. Whether this persecuting, planting, Attorney conceives that the soul, as well as the body, of the slave is under his special care and superintendence, we know…
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AND JAMAICA FREE PRESS
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not, neither do we care; but this we know, that this LITTLE GREAT MAN has exceeded the bounds and limit of his power or commisssion, and has rendered himself, in every sense of the expression, obnoxious to the insalted laws of the country; for, immoral as the Courant Editor has described the people of Jamaica to be, a no plus ultra is affixed to the punishment, as well as to the common management or government, of the slave.
It is remarked that Alexander and Caesar conquered the best part of the world, but mad as they were with ambition, and one of them very superstitious, it never entered into their hearts to set up a spiritual monarchy over the religious conjectures and rovings of the hearts of men. Nor has the successful and armed phrenzy of the Mahometans been ever able to effect it; they have given it over as an impossibility, and not only tolerate numerous sects of their own, but every sect of Christians in their dominions. A noble example this to emulate, though set us by a Turk or Mahomedan; but we lament to say this is not the case in Jamacia. The very army here has become tainted with the venom of religious persecution and intolerance, and white soldiers, who have fought and bled for their country, are treated with the same kind and degree of religious persecution as the commonest negro that tills our West Indian fields!
If there be one thing more than another that could cause us to expatriate or abandon our country, it would be religious intolerance. But, thank God we have the most tolerant Government upon earth. Tares will grow up among the wheat, in spite of all the ill and industry of the husbandman and tyrants will sometimes erect their unhallowed cresis in the bosom of the mildest and most liberal Governments.
The planting attorney alluded to appears to have more business on hand than he can well manage. If he is unable to represent his constituents without having recourse to persecution, and the slow but certain murder of the negroes intrusted to his charge; we would advise him, as a man of honour and of principle, to throw up the management of the properties, and endeavour to redeem his already tottering and tarnished reputation.
As to the Clergyman residing in the North Highlands of Jamaica, he has talents to render him respected, unless a heart and principle are wanting. We would caution him as a friend, to be…
Ware of a precipice, on the brink of which he is standing-for if he makes another slip, he will fall far and deep into the glen-never to rise again,
“In the Court of Common Council yesterday, Alderman Mitchel moved that the Pastor of the Jewish Church should be relieved from his taxes. He said the Jews contributed considerably to the support of the public expenditure, and provided for their own poor thus contributing to our public establishments, but sustaining no benefit from them. He therefore considered that their Clergyman should be relieved from the assessment, – Courant. Sept. 8.
The motion was seconded and carried
We were highly gratified by the very liberal exemption, allowed at the last meeting of the Corporate Body, in favour of the Pastors of the Synagogues, in this city from all future civic taxations. The very heavy expense necessarily borne by the Jewish congregations in support of their religious establishments, and the tax to which they voluntarily submit themselves for the maintenance of their own poor, without having had, or even having solicited the smallest assistance from the parcel all funds for that purpose, characterizes the relief now afforded as an act of strict justice. Indeed it is to be regretted that the Jewish Pastors ever had been assessed, or ever were applied to for the amount of their several assessments. The members of the Jewish Synagogues, like the Dissenters, have not only to defray the expense incurred in support of their religious Institutions, but, in common with their fellow parishioners, have to contribute their quota towards public establishments-such as parish and poll tax, church and poor, &c. If any credit be attached to the punctuality of those who do not incur any expense in addition to their annual tax bill, too much cannot be said in favour of the Dissenters and the Jews who, without murmuring, contribute, not only towards the Public Institutions, but conscientiously defray the contingencies of their respective religious establishments. Instead of abuse we think much commendation is due them for their praiseworthy conduct
THE ARMY – We understand that a General Order has recently been issued respecting Offier’s whiskers, which are in future, to be shaped to a particular size, that is, to be so curtailed that the bottom part of this ornament to the face is to reach no lower than the tip of the ear, in a line with the upper lip. We should think our Militia Officers,
in this warm weather, would be glad to adopt this shaving regulation – NAME
A fire broke out at the West end of this City yesterday, in a negro-yard, supposed to have been occasioned by part of alighted sugar being thrown among some wood-shavings it was, however, very soon extinguished by the prompt exertions of the neighbours, and several of the Firewardens of the City speedily repaired to the spot.-Ibid.
In the Courant of Thursday there appeared a stupid story about the Milita Ball given bu the Officers, of the St. Thomas’ in the Vale Regiment the preceding week, the detail of which was a fabrication and a hoax upon the Editor of that paper. Neither were the toasts given and drank, the speeches delivered nor the appropriate tunes played, as stated by the witless author of the imposition-Ibid.
On the 8th inst. The Lord Bishop consecrated the Burytag Ground at Mandeville Church, Manchester. His Lordship was attended by the Rev. Robert Dallas, Rector, the Rev. Mr. Hall, Island Curate. The Rev. Mr Stoney, Curate of Clarendon, and the Registrar. The weather was uncommonly favourable for the purpose. The Moring Service was read by the Rev. Mr. Hall, and the Rector Delivered an excellent discourse, adapted to the occasion, taking his text from the 9th chapter, 27th verse, of the Epistle of St. Paul to the Hebrews- “And as it is appointed unto men once to die.” The Bishop afterwards went through the forms of Consecration in a very solemn and impressive manner. The Chruch wardens, Members in Assembly, and several of the Magistrates and ladies of the Parish, afterwards paid their respects to the Bishop and his Lady. (indistinguishable) was pleasing to observe a very respectable congregation at Church, as well as a large concourse of well-dressed slaves-Ibid.
In the course of the trial of the Rector of a parish in France a few days since for a violent assault on a child, one of the witnesses deposed that having met the rector one day, when he had been administer extreme unction to a dying man, he enquired after the health of the patient. “Oh,” said the priest, “I have just been oiling his boots; he may stand as soon as he likes.”-London Paper
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Sept 12, 1829
WANTED,
BY A WATCHMAKER.
A respectable man as (indistinguishable), who can be (indistinguishable) recommended. Apply at this Office.