a proceeding, but he questioned the prudence
of the step. The great change from slavery to unrestricted freedom
surely deserved some consideration. Things cannot so soon be quiet and
calm. Depend upon it, nothing will be done by force. Much may be by
conciliation and prudence. Do away with every emblem of slavery; throw
off the Kilmarnock cap, and adopt in its stead, like rational men,
Britannia's cap of liberty. He (Sir Lionel) doubted not the right of the
planters to rent their houses and grounds; in order to be more certain
on that head, he had procured the opinion of the Attorney General; but
the exercise of the right by the planter, and getting the people to
work, were very different matters. Much difficulty must be felt in
getting rid of slavery. Even in the little island of Antigua, it had
taken six months to get matters into a quiet state; but here, in a large
country like Jamaica, could it be expected to be done in a day, and was
it because it was not done, that the planters were to be opposed to him?
You are all in arms against me (said his Excellency,) but all I ask of
you is to exercise patience, and all will be right. I have done, and am
doing all in my power for the good of my country. If you have served the
people with notices to quit, with a view to compel them to work, or
thinking to force them to work for a certain rate of wages, you have
done wrong. Coercive measures will never succeed. In Vere, which I
lately visited, the planters have agreed to give the people 1s. 8d. per
day, and to let them have their houses and grounds for three months free
of charge. His Excellency, on seeing some symptoms of disapprobation
manifested, said, Well, if you cannot afford to pay so much, pay what
you can afford; but above all, use conciliatory measures, and I have not
a doubt on my mind but that the people will go to their work. Seeing so
many planters present, he should be happy if they would come to an
arrangement among themselves, before he addressed the people outside.

Mr. WELLWOOD HYSLOP remarked, that Vere and other rich sugar parishes
might be able to pay high rates of wages, because the land yielded
profitable crops, but in this district it was impossible to follow the
example of those parishes. He thought that two bits a day might do very
well, but that was as much as could be afforded.

His EXCELLENCY said that in Manchester, where he believed he had more
enemies than in any other parish, he had advised