ber
as that enumerated in the Abstract for 1838, the actual relative
difference of punishments between the two and a half months in 1837
and these in 1838, would thus appear:

Surplus of Apprentices punished in 1837, as
above 2833

Offences in August, September, and to the
15th, October, 1837 heard before the General
Justices of the Peace, and estimated as follows:

Petty thefts 75
Assaults 143
Misdemeanors 98
Petty Debts 19--835

Actual surplus of punishment in 1837, 3168

From the Journal of Commerce.

_Letter from W.R. Hays, Esq. Barbados, W.I. to Rev. H.G. Ludlow, of New
Haven_.

BARBADOS, Dec. 26, 1838.

I gave you in my last, some account of the manner in which the first
day of emancipation came and went in this island. We very soon
afterwards received similar accounts from all the neighboring
islands. In all of them the day was celebrated as an occasion "of
devout thanksgiving and praise to God, for the happy termination of
slavery." In all of them, the change took place in a manner highly
creditable to the emancipated, and intensely gratifying to the
friends of liberty. The quiet, good order, and solemnity of the day,
were every where remarkable. Indeed, is it not a fact worth
remembering, that whereas in former years, a single day's relaxation
from labor was met by the slaves with shouting and revelry, and
merry-making, yet now, when the last link of slavery was broken
forever, sobriety and decorum were especially the order of the day.
The perfect order and subordination to the laws, which marked the
first day of August, are yet unbroken. We have now nearly five
months' experience of entire emancipation; and I venture to say,
that a period of more profound peace never existed in the West
Indies. There have been disputes about wages, as in New England and
in other free countries; but no concert, no combination even, here;
and the only attempt at a combination was among the planters, to
keep down wages--and that but for a short time only. I will not
enter particularly into the questions, whether or not the people
will continue to work for wages, whether they will remain quiet,--or