lt of the Sikhs. With a woman's modesty he
had the spirit of a knight-errant. Sir Henry described him as the 'very
soul of chivalry,' and seemed himself to be a man of the same pure and
noble nature, perhaps liable, from the generosity of his temperament, to
believe more than I could do in modern notions and in modern political
heroes, but certainly not inclining of his own will to recommend any
rash innovations. I perceived that like myself he felt no regret that so
much of the soil of Jamaica was passing to peasant black proprietors. He
thought well of their natural disposition; he believed them capable of
improvement. He thought that the possession of land of their own would
bring them into voluntary industry, and lead them gradually to the
adoption of civilised habits. He spoke with reserve, and perhaps I may
not have understood him fully, but he did not seem to me to think much
of their political capacity. The local boards which have been
established as an education for higher functions have not been a
success. They had been described to me in all parts of the island as
inflammable centres of peculation and mismanagement. Sir Henry said
nothing from which I could gather his own opinion. I inferred, however
(he will pardon me if I misrepresent him), that he had no great belief
in a federation of the islands, in 'responsible government,' and such
like, as within the bounds of present possibilities. Nor did he think
that responsible statesmen at home had any such arrangement in view.

That such an arrangement was in contemplation a few years ago, I knew
from competent authority. Perhaps the unexpected interest which the
English people have lately shown in the colonies has modified opinion in
those high circles, and has taught politicians that they must advance
more cautiously. But the wind still sits in the old quarter. Three years
ago, the self-suppressed constitution in Jamaica was partially
re-established. A franchise was conceded both there and in Barbadoes
which gave every black householder a vote. Even in poor Dominica, an
extended suffrage was hung out as a remedy for its wretchedness. If
nothing further is intended, these concessions have been gratuitously
mischievous. It has roused the hopes of political agitators, not in
Jamaica only, but all over the Antilles. It has taught the people, who
have no grievances at all, who in their present state are better
protected than any peasantry in the world except the Ir