-';'"
nllHM^H
, vvlOS-ANCflfj- ,^OF-CAl!FO%,
^- " "
s?
\" '
ft 3
MEMOIRS
or
SIR THOMAS POWELL BUXTON,
BART.
LONDON :
SroniswoonE and SHAW,
New-street-Square.
#
MEMOIRS
SIR THOMAS FOWELL BTJXTON,
BARONET.
WITH
SELECTIONS FROM HIS CORRESPONDENCE.
EDITED BY HIS SON,
CHARLES BUXTON, ESQ.
" The longer I live, the more I am certain that the great difference between
men, between the feeble and th powerful, the great and the insignificant, ii
energy, immcible determination -a purpose once fixed, and then death or
Tictory. That quality will do any thing that can be done In thii world; and
no talenti, no eircumitancef, no opportunities, will make a two-legged creature
a man without it" (Ertract qfa Letter from Sir T. Powell Burton.)
LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
1848.
PREFACE.
A GENERAL and very reasonable objection is made
against memoirs written by near relatives, and yet
tin- danger to be apprehended from their partiality
is not perhaps quite so great as it might seem. At
any rate it is not wholly avoided by transferring the
ta-k to a stranger. It has been well observed, that
u biographers, translators, editors, all, in short, who
employ themselves in illustrating the lives or the
writings of others, are peculiarly exposed to the
disease of admiration."* Now a near relative may
be especially liable to this infirmity ; but then he
is especially on his guard against [it. He cannot
eulogise : he must state facts, and leave the reader
to draw conclusions for himself.
The task of compiling my father's memoirs was
placed in my hands by his executors, partly because
those whose literary abilities would have pointed them
out as fitted foi the task were not at leisure to under-
take it ; and partly because it involved the perusal of a
large mass of private papers, which could not well
have been submitted to the inspection of any one not a
member of his family. I could hardly refuse so in-
teresting, though responsible, a duty.
A considerable portion of this work relates to the
Essays, vol. ii. p. 146.
A 4
1 223106
Vlll PREFACE.
emancipation of the slaves in the West Indies ; and
I cannot help feeling some anxiety lest it may give
a false prominence to my father's exertions in the
accomplishment of that event, which was, in fact,
achieved by the strenuous efforts of many men,
working in very different spheres. It was not for me
to attempt to write the history of that extensive
movement. The object set before me was to show,
as plainly as possible, what sort of person my father
was, so that the reader should feel as if he had been
one of his most intimate friends. I was bound, there-
fore, to confine my narrative to his individual pro-
ceedings, excluding whatever did not bear, directly
or indirectly, on the elucidation of his character.
Hence it has resulted that very slight notice is taken
in these pages of the exertions of my father's coad-
jutors, in achieving the downfall of British slavery.
I cannot conclude without gratefully acknowledging
the valuable contributions I have received from se-
veral of my father's friends, the advice and assistance
given by others, and the documents and papers put
into my hands by those who were in intimate com-
munication with him, before I was of an age to share
in that privilege.
March, 1848.
23. St. James's Place, London.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
17861802.
Notices of the Buxton family. Mr. Buxton of Earl's Colne.
Birth of Thomas Fowell Buxton. Childhood. School days.
His mother's influence. Abraham Plaistow. Bellfield.
Earlham. Letters from Ear lham - - Pages 1 13
CHAPTER H.
18021807.
Education in Ireland. Donnybrook. Emmett's rebellion.
Dublin University. Correspondence. Engagement to Miss
II. Gurney. Historical Society. Escape from shipwreck.
Correspondence. Success at College. Invitation to represent
the University in Parliament. His marriage - - 14 29
CHAPTER HI.
18071812.
Enters Truman's Brewery. Occupations in London. Letter
from Mr. Twiss. Correspondence. Death of Edward Buxton.
Exertions in the Brewery - - 30 41
CHAPTER IV.
18121816.
First speech in public. The Rev. Josiah Pratt. Increasing
regard to religion. Dangerous illness. Its effect on his mind.
Settles at Hampstead. Disappointments and anxieties.
Reflections. Narrow escape. Letter to Mr. J. J. Gurney
4256
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.
1816, 1817.
Adventure with a mad dog Distress in Spitalfields. Mr.
Buxton's speech. Letters. Establishment of the Prison Dis-
cipline Society. Death of Charles Buxton. Journey on the
Continent. Letters. Incident at the Brewery. Book on
Prison Discipline - - Pages 57 75
CHAPTER VL
1818, 1819.
Election, 1818. Letter from Mr. J. J. Gurney. Thoughts on
entering Parliament. Debate on the Peterloo riot. Burdett.
Canning. Plunkett. Brougham. Wilberforce. Letter
to Mr. Charles Buxton of Bellfield. First speech, on Criminal
Law. Committees on Criminal Law and Prison Discipline.
Letters - - - - - 7692
CHAPTER VTI.
1820, 1821.
Election. Domestic afflictions. Letters. Cromer Hall.
Priscilla Gurney. Correspondence. Speech on Criminal
Law ...... 93116
CHAPTER VIII.
18211823.
Chosen by Mr. Wilberforce as his successor in the slavery cause.
Common confusion of " Slavery " with " Slave Trade."
Previous impressions on Mr. Buxton's mind. Priscilla Gurney's
dying words. He studies the subject. Long deliberations.
Fear of servile revolt. Undertakes to advocate the question.
Letters from Mr. Wilberforce. Reflections. Suttee.
The Quakers' petition. Letter to Earl Bathurst. First
debate on Slavery. Mr. Canning's amendments. Ame-
liorations in the slave's condition recommended to the colonists.
Letter to Sir James Mackintosh - - 117 136
CONTENTS. XI
CHAPTER IX.
18231826.
Excitement in the West Indies. The Negroes refuse to work.
Severe measures. Death of Smith, a Missionary. The abo-
litionists bitterly reproached. Mr. Button's plan. Interviews
with Canning. Popular clamours. The Government draws
back. Anxieties and doubts. Letter from Mr. J. J. Gurney.
The debate. The Government gives way. Mr. Buxton
attacks them. Encouragements from Mr. Wilberforce. Mr.
Brougham's speech on Smith's case. Its effect on the country.
Mr. Wilberforce retires. The small number of abolitionists
in Parliament. Dr. Lushington. Mr. Macaulay. Mr.
Buxton's policy. Free people of colour. Treatment of Mr.
Shrewsbury. Debate. Deliberations. The London petition.
Mr. D*-n man's motion. A year's pause Pages 137 160
CHAPTER X.
18221826.
Cromer Hall. Shooting. A courteous poacher. The sporting
professor. Mr. Buxton's delight in horses. His influence
over the young. Maxims. Letter to a nephew. His love
of a manly character. His gentleness. Shipwreck of a
collier. Perilous exploit. His religious influence. Kindness
to the poor. Letter on style. Correspondence. Martin's
Act Letters on bravery, and on candour. Letter to a
rlorgyman on his new house - 161 181
CHAPTER XI.
1826, 1827.
The Mauritius Slave Trade. Mr. Byam and General Hall.
Mr. Buxton studies and undertakes the question Touching
incident. Debate. Committee of inquiry. Stormy election
at Weymouth. Letters. Laborious investigations. Frightful
nt tack of illness. Unexpected recovery - - 182 194
Xll CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XII.
1827, 1828.
Meditations. Mr. Simeon. Letter to Lord W. Bentinck.
Suttee abolished. Mr. Buxton settles at Northrepps. Debate
on Slavery. Mr. Buxton's reply. The free people of colour.
Interview with Mr. Huskisson. Thoughts on his illness
Pages ;i95 207
CHAPTER XHI.
1828, 1829.
The Hottentots. Dr. Philip. Van Riebech's regrets. Miseries
of the Hottentots. Dr. Philip's researches. Mr. Buxton's
motion. The Government acquiesces. Letter from Dr. Philip.
The Order in Council sent out. Letter to Mr. J. J. Gurney.
The Hottentots set free. Alarms die away. Happy results.
The Kat River settlement - 208219
CHAPTER XIV.
1829.
Catholic Emancipation. Reflections. The Mauritius Slave
Trade. Agreeable news. The Mauritius case revived.
Letter to Mr. Twiss. The Government admit the existence of
the Slave Trade at Mauritius. Its complete extinction.
Mr. George Stephen. Mr. Jeremie - 220 231
CHAPTER XV.
1829, 1830.
Letters. Mitigation of the penal code. Illness and death of his
second son - 232241
CHAPTER XVI.
1830.
The public begins to arouse itself with regard to Slavery.
Increasing popularity of the subject. Gradual change in the
views of the leaders. Mitigating measures despaired of.
Determination to put down Slavery thoroughly and at once.
Spirited meetings in London and Edinburgh. The Government
outstripped by the abolitionists. Mr. Buxton's appeal to the
electors. The cruelty of Slavery in its mildest form 242 253
CONTENTS. Xlll
CHAPTER XVIL
1831.
Religious meditations The Duke's declaration. Change of
ministry. The Whig Government does not take up the subject
of Slavery. Quakers' petition. Decrease of the slave popu-
lation. Debate. The Government still tries to lead the
colonists to adopt mitigating measures. Parliament dissolved.
Letter from Bellfield. Letter to a son at college. Party
at the Brewery. Anecdotes. Reflections on shooting.
Death of Mr. North Correspondence - Pages 254 277
CHAPTER XVIH.
1832.
Insurrection in Jamaica. Lords' committee. Letters to Lord
Suffield. Speech at public meeting. Position of parties.
State of the colonies. Policy of the Government. Debate,
May 24. Mr. Buxton insists on dividing the House, Form-
ation of the committee. Religious persecutions in Jamaica.
Result of the committee. Letters - 278 300
CHAPTER XIX.
1833.
Government undertakes the Slavery question. Lord Howick's
resignation. Anxieties. Question of compensation. Agi-
tation in the country. Delegates - - 301 318
CHAPTER XX.
1833.
Debate, May 14. Mr. Stanley's speech. Resolutions passed.
Blame attributed to Mr. Buxton. Letters. Bill brought in.
Debate on apprenticeship. On compensation. Progress
of the Bill through the House of Commons. Through the
House of Lords. Passed. Letters - 3 1 9 338
CHAPTER XXI.
IS 33, 1834.
Letters. Good accounts from the West Indies. Baron Roths-
child. Occupations of the Spring and Summer. Endeavours
for the benefit of the Negroes. Mr. Trew. The day of
freedom, August 1. 1834. Conduct of the Negroes. Letters
339358
XIV CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXII.
1834, 1835.
Inquiry into the treatment of Aboriginal tribes in British colonies.
Address to the King on the subject. Caffre war. Abo-
rigines' committee. Letters. Lord Glenelg's despatch.
Visit from a Caffre chief. Mr. Buxton turns to the subject of
the Slave Trade of foreign nations. An address to the King
agreed to - - Pages 359373
CHAPTER XXHJ.
1835, 1836.
Accounts from West Indies. Motion for committee of inquiry.
Correspondence. Writings, January, 1836. Committee on
apprenticeship, March, 1836. Letters. Letter from Mr.
Johnston. Irish church questions Speech on Irish Tithe
Bill, June, 1836 *' - 374393
CHAPTER XXIV.
1336.
Scotland. Capercailzie. Letters. Habits of life at North-
repps. Order. Love of poetry. His domestic character.
Letters - - 394414
CHAPTER XXV.
1837, 1838.
Aborigines' report Correspondence. Election. Defeat at
Weymouth. Letters. Efforts to shorten the apprenticeship
of the Negroes. Mr. Buxton's hesitation The apprentice-
ship abolished - - 415 428
CHAPTER XXVI.
1838.
New plan for the suppression of the Slave Trade. Laborious
investigations. Collection of evidence. Letter to Lord Mel-
bourne. Communications with the Government. Abstract
of his views. Horrors of the trade. Capabilities of Africa
429440
CONTENTS. XV
CHAPTER XXVTL
1838, 1839.
Communications with Government, and with private individuals.
African Civilization Society. Preparation of " the Slave
Trade, and its Remedy" for publication. Departure for Italy
Pages 441453
CHAPTER XXVIU.
1839, 184O.
Journey through France and Italy. Mont Cenis in a snow
storm. Rome. Italian field sports. Boar hunting.
Shooting on the Numician Lake. Adventure with robbers.
The Jesuits. St. Peter's and the Vatican. Prisons and
hospitals of Rome - - - L.{ - ' "' 454^-482
CHAPTER XXIX.
1840.
Prisons at Civita Vecchia. Italian banditti. Gasparoni.
Illness. Naples. Pompeii. Prospect of a war between
Naples and England. Excitement at Naples. Mr. Buxton
returns to England - 483 513
CHAPTER XXX.
JUNE, 1840, TO APRIL, 1841.
Great public meeting in Exeter Hall. Prince Albert in the chair.
Mr. Buxton created a Baronet. Preparations for the Niger
Expedition, Agricultural Association. Ventilation of the
ships. Sir Fowell Buxton's health begins to fail. " The
friend of Africa." Public meetings. Letter to the Rev. J. W.
Cunningham. Day of Prayer for the Expedition. Prince
Albert's visit to the vessels. The Expedition sails. Letter
to Captain Trotter - 514 528
CHAPTER XXXI.
1841.
Correspondence. Journey to Scotland. Deer- stalking. Return
home. The Niger Expedition, its successes and reverses.
Good news from the Expedition. Account of its progress.
XVI CONTENTS.
Scenery of the Niger Treaty concluded with Obi. His
intelligence and courage. The Attah of Eggarah. Sickness
appears on board. The Model Farm. The Soudan and Wil-
berforce sent down the river. The news reaches England
Distress of Sir Fowell Buxton. The Albert proceeds up the
river. Dense Population. Agricultural produce in the
markets. Some slaves liberated. The Nufis. Increased
sickness on board the Albert. It returns to the sea. Perilous
descent of the river. Mortality on board. Death of Captain
Bird Allen. Opinions of the Commissioners as to the Expe-
dition - - Pages 529551
CHAPTER XXXn.
1843, 1844.
Declining health. Efforts and views regarding Africa. The
Model Farm broken up. Letter from the Bishop of Calcutta.
Country pursuits. Planting. > Characteristic anecdotes
552570
CHAPTER XXXHI.
1843, 1844, 1845.
Continued and increasing illness. Correspondence. Religious
feelings His last illness, and death. Testimonials to his
memory. Observations on his character, by the Rev. J. W.
Cunningham - '-* - 571 598
APPENDIX TO CHAP. XVH. - - - 599603
LIFE
OP
SIR THOMAS FOWELL BUXTON,
BART.
CHAPTER I.
17861802.
NOTICES OF THE BUXTON FAMILY. MR. BUXTON OF EARL'S COLNE.
IHUII1 >| THOMAS FOWELL BUXTON. CHILDHOOD. SCHOOL
DATS HIS MOTHER'S INFLUENCE. ABRAHAM PLAISTOW.
BELLFIELD. K AIM. 1 1AM. LETTERS FROM EARLHAM.
THE family from which Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton
was descended, resided, about the middle of the 16th
century, at Sudbury in Suffolk, and subsequently at
Coggeshall in Essex. At the latter place, William
Buxton, his lineal ancestor, died in 1624. Thomas,
the son of William Buxton, claimed and received
from the Heralds' College, in 1634, the arms borne
by the family of the same name, settled before 1478
at Tybenham in Norfolk, and now represented by Sir
Robert Buxton, Bart.
Isaac Buxton, a merchant, and the fifth in direct de-
scent from William, married Sarah Fowell, an heiress ;
connected with the family of the Fowells, of Fowels-
coinbe in Devonshire.* From her was derived the name
* See Burke's Extinct Baronetage.
B
2 BIKTH OF THOMAS FOWELL BUXTON. CHAP. I.
of Fowell, first borne by her eldest son, who married
Anna, daughter of Osgood Hanbury, Esquire, of
Holfield Grange in Essex. The first Thomas Fowell
Buxton lived at Earl's Colne in the same county, but
was residing at Castle Hedingham when his eldest
son, Thomas Fowell, the subject of this memoir, was
born, on the first of April, 1786.
Mr. Buxton was a man of a gentle and kindly
disposition, devoted to field sports, and highly popular
in his neighbourhood, where he exercised hospitality
on a liberal scale. Having been appointed High
Sheriff of the county, he availed himself of the au-
thority of his office to relieve the miseries of the
prisoners under his superintendence, visiting them
sedulously, notwithstanding the prevalence of the
jail fever. He died at Earl's Colne in 1792, leaving
his widow with three sons and two daughters.*
The eldest boy, Thomas Fowell, was at this time
six years old. He was a vigorous child, and early
showed a bold and determined character. As an
instance of this it may be mentioned, that when
quite a child, while walking with his uncle, Mr. Han-
bury, he was desired to give a message to a pig-
driver who had passed along the road. He set off
in pursuit ; and although one of his shoes was soon
lost in the mud, he pushed on through lonely and
* Anna, afterwards married to William Forster, Esq., of Bradpole
in Dorsetshire.
Thomas Fowell.
Charles, married Martha, daughter of Edmund Henning, Esq., and
died in 1817.
Sarah Maria, died in 1839.
Edward North, died in 1811.
17861802. HIS CHILDHOOD. 6
intricate lanes, tracking the driver by the footmarks
of his pigs, for nearly three miles, into the town of
Coggeshall ; nor did he stop until he had overtaken
the man, and delivered his message.
One who knew the boy well in his early days said
of him, " He never was a child ; he was a man when
in petticoats." At the age of only four years and a
half, he was sent to a school at Kingston, where he
suffered severely from ill-treatment ; and his health
giving way (chiefly from the want of sufficient food)
he was removed, shortly after his father's death, to the
school of Dr. Charles Burney, at Greenwich, where
his brothers afterwards joined him. Here he had
none of the hardships to endure, to which he had
been subjected at Kingston, and he found in Dr.
liurney a kind and judicious master. Upon one
occasion, he was accused by an usher of talking
during school time, and desired to learn the collect,
epistle, and gospel, as a punishment. When Dr.
Journey entered the school, young Buxton appealed
to him, stoutly denying the charge. The usher as
strongly asserted it ; but Dr. Burney stopped him,
saying, " I never found the boy tell a lie, and will
not disbelieve him now."
He does not appear to have made much pro-
gress in his studies, and his holidays spent at Earl's
Colne, where his mother continued to reside, left a
deeper trace in his after life, than the time spent at
school. Mrs. Buxton's character has been thus briefly
described by her son : " My mother," he says, " was a
woman of a very vigorous mind, and possessing many
of the generous virtues in a very high demvc. She
ii -
4 HIS MOTHEK'S INFLUENCE. CHAP. I.
was large-minded about every thing; disinterested
almost to an excess; careless of difficulty, labour,
danger, or expense, in the prosecution of any great
object. With these nobler qualities were united some
of the imperfections, which belong to that species of
ardent and resolute character." She belonged to the
Society of Friends. Her husband being a member of
the Church of England, their sons were baptized in
infancy ; nor did she ever exert her influence to bring
them over to her own persuasion. She was more
anxious to give them a deep regard for the Holy
Scriptures, and a lofty moral standard, than to quicken
their zeal about the distinctive differences of religious
opinion. Her system of education had in it some
striking features. There was little indulgence, but
much liberty. The boys were free to go where they
would, and do what they pleased, and her eldest son
especially was allowed to assume almost the position
of master in the house. But, on the other hand, her
authority, when exercised, was paramount over him,
as over his brothers and sisters. On being asked
by the mother of a large and ill-managed family,
whether the revolutionary principles of the day were
not making way among her boys, her reply was, " I
know nothing about revolutionary principles : my rule
is that imposed on the people of Boston, ' implicit
obedience, unconditional submission.' ' Yet the cha-
racter of her son Fowell was not without some strong
touches of wilfulness. He has described himself, in
more than one of his papers, as having been in his
boyhood " of a daring, violent, domineering temper."
When this was remarked to his mother, " Never
17861802. SCHOOL DAYS. 5
mind," she would say ; " he is self-willed now
you will see it turn out well in the end."
During one Christmas vacation, on her return
home from a brief absence, she was told that " Master
Fowell had behaved very ill, and struck his sister's
governess." She therefore determined to punish
him, by leaving him at school during the ensuing
Easter holidays. Meanwhile, however, some dis-
orderly conduct took place in the school, and two
boys, who had behaved worst in the affair, were like-
to remain there during the vacation. Mrs.
Buxton felt the dilemma in which she was placed,
and on the first day of the holidays she went to
Greenwich and fairly told Fowell her difficulty ; end-
ing by saying that, rather than subject him to the
risk of being left alone with these boys, she was
prepared to forfeit her word and allow him to come
home with her other sons. His answer was, " Mother,
never fear that I shall disgrace you or myself; my
brothers are ready, and so is my dinner!" After
such a reply the resolution of a less determined
parent must have given way; but she undauntedly
left him to his punishment.
Her aim appears to have been, to give her boys a
manly and robust character; and, both by precept
and example, she strove to render them self-denying,
and, at the same time, thoughtful for others.
Long afterwards, when actively occupied in Lon-
don, her son wrote to her: "I constantly feel,
especially in action and exertion for others, the effects
of principles early planted by you in my mind." He
particularly alluded to the abhorrence of slavery
B 3
6 ABRAHAM PLAISTOW. CHAP. I.
and the slave trade, with which she had imbued
him.
His size and strength well fitted him for country
amusements; and he early acquired a strong taste
for hunting, shooting, and fishing, under the auspices
of the gamekeeper, Abraham Plaistow. This game-
keeper was one of those characters occasionally to be
met with in the country, uniting straightforward
honest simplicity with great shrewdness and humour.
He was well-fitted to train his three young masters
in those habits of fearlessness and hardihood, which
their mother wished them to possess. His influence
over them is thus described by Mr. Buxton, in a
letter dated
" Cromer Hall, August 23. 1825.
" My father died when I was very young, and I became
at ten years old almost as much the master of the family as
I am of this family at the present moment. My mother, a
woman of great talents and great energy, perpetually incul-
cated on my brothers and sisters that they were to obey
me, and I was rather encouraged to play the little tyrant.
She treated me as an equal, conversed with me, and led me
to form and express my opinions without reserve. This
system had obvious and great disadvantages, but it was
followed by some few incidental benefits.
" Throughout life I have acted and thought for myself;
and to this kind of habitual decision I am indebted for all
the success I have met with. My * guide, philosopher, and
friend,' was Abraham Plaistow, the gamekeeper ; a man for
whom I have ever felt, and still feel, very great affection.
He was a singular character : in the first place, this tutor of
mine could neither read nor write, but his memory was
stored with various rustic knowledge. He had more of natu-
ral good sense and what is called mother- wit, than almost
any person I have met with since : a knack which he had of
17861802. BELLFIELD. 7
putting every thing into new and singular lights made him,
and still makes him, a most entertaining, and even intellectual
companion. He was the most undaunted of men : I remember
my youthful admiration of his exploits on horseback. For
:i time he hunted my uncle's hounds, and his fearlessness was
proverbial. But what made him particularly valuable were
his principles of integrity and honour. He never said or
did a thing in the absence of my mother of which she would
have disapproved. He always held up the highest standard
of integrity, and filled our youthful minds with sentiments
as pure and as generous as could be found in the writings
of Seneca or Cicero. Such was my first instructor, and, I
must add, my best ; for I think I have profited more by the
recollection of his remarks and admonition, than by the more
k'urned and elaborate discourses of all my other tutors. He
was our playfellow and tutor ; he rode with us, fished with us,
shot with us upon all occasions."*
Occasionally the holidays were passed by the
children with their grandmother, either in London
or at Bellfield, her country-house, near Weymouth.f
* This faithful servant died in 1836. " The tears," said Mr.
Hanbury, who visited him on his death-bed, " trickled down his
goodly countenance while speaking of his rides long ago with his young
master."
The following inscription on a mural tablet, in Earl's Colne church-
yard, erected by the contributions of his neighbours, speaks their sense
of his worth :
" To the memory of Abraham Flaistow, who lived for more than
half a century servant and gamekeeper, in the families of Thomas
Fowell Buxton, and Osgood Gee, E&qs.
" or humble station, yet of sterling worth;
Awaiting Hearen, but yet content on earth ;
(Jn. lint, honest, simple-hearted, kind, sincere :
Such was the man, to all our village dear !
tie liv'd in peace, in hope resign'd his breath.
Go learn a Icuon from bli life and death."
f Soon after her marriage with Mr. Buxton, they had visited this
estate together, and she incidentally remarked to him, what a beautiful
spot it would be for a country-seat. The next year, when she accom-
panied him thither again, she found, to her astonishment, instead of
mere fields and hedges, an elegant country-house, surrounded by lawns
and gardens.
B 4
8 BELLFIELD. CHAP. I.
The formality of her life in town was rather un-
palatable to them : even the exceptions to her rules
were methodically arranged; her Sunday discipline,
for example, was very strict, but on one (and only one)
Sunday in the year, she gave the children the treat
of a drive in the park ! A visit to Bellfield was more
attractive, and there young Buxton spent many of
the happiest hours of his boyhood. The house, which,
at the death of his grandmother, became his own,
is beautifully situated, commanding fine views of
Weymouth Bay and the Island of Portland. To
this spot he ever continued much attached, and his
letters from thence always mention his great enjoy-
ment of its beauties. Weymouth was at this period
the favourite resort of George III., and the King and
royal family frequently visited Mrs. Buxton. Her
grandchildren always retained a vivid impression of
the cordial kindness of their royal guests.
At the age of fifteen, after spending eight years at
Dr. Burney's, without making any great advances in
learning, he persuaded his mother to allow him to
reside at home; and there he remained for many
months, devoting the chief part of his time to sporting,
and the remainder to desultory reading. When no
active amusement presented itself, he would some-
times spend whole days in riding about the lanes, on
his old pony, with an amusing book in his hand,
while graver studies were entirely laid aside. At
the same time his friends attempted to correct
the boyish roughness of his manners by a system
of ridicule and reproof, which greatly discouraged
and annoyed him. It was indeed a critical time
1786180-2. IIAULHAM. 9
for his character; but the germ of nobler qualities
lay below ; a genial influence was alone wanting
to develop it; and, through the kindness of Provi-
dence (as he used emphatically to acknowledge),
tluit influence was at hand. Before this period he
had become acquainted with John, the eldest son of
Mr. Gurney, of Earlham Hall, near Norwich, with
whose family his own was distantly connected, and,
in the autumn of 1801, he paid his friend a visit at
his father's house.
Mr. Gurney had for several years been a widower.
His family consisted of eleven children; three elder
daughters (on the eldest of whom the charge of the
rest chiefly devolved), the son whom we have men-
tioned, a group of four girls nearer Fowell Buxton's
age, and three younger boys. He was then in his
sixteenth year, and was charmed by the lively and
kindly spirit which pervaded the whole party, while
he was surprised at finding them all, even the
younger portion of the family, zealously occupied in
self-education, and full of energy in every pursuit,
whether of amusement or of knowledge. They
received him as one of themselves, early appreciating
his masterly, though still uncultivated mind ; while
on his side, their cordial and encouraging welcome
:ied to draw out all his latent powers. He at
once joined with them in reading and study, and
from this visit may be dated a remarkable change in
the whole tone of his character : he received a
stimulus, not merely in the acquisition of knowledge,
but in the formation of studious habits and in-
(a>ts; nor could the same influence fail
10 EARLHAM. CHAP. I.
of extending to the refinement of his disposition and
manners.
Earlham itself possessed singular charms for their
young and lively party. They are described at the
time of his visit as spending the fine autumn after-
noons in sketching and reading under the old trees
in the park, or in taking excursions, some on foot,
some on horseback, into the country round ; wan-
dering homeward towards evening, with their draw-
ings and the wild flowers they had found. The
roomy old hall, also, was well fitted for the cheerful,
though simple hospitalities, which Mr. Gurney de-
lighted to exercise, especially towards the literary
society, for which Norwich was at that time dis-
tinguished.
A characteristic anecdote of Mr. Gurney has been
recorded. He was a strict preserver of his game, and
accordingly had an intense repugnance to every thing
bordering on poaching. Upon one occasion, when
walking in his park, he heard a shot fired in a neigh-
bouring wood he hurried to the spot, and his natu-
rally placid temper was considerably ruffled on seeing a
young officer with a pheasant at his feet, deliberately
reloading his gun. As the young man, however, replied
to his rather warm expressions by a polite apology,
Mr. Gurney's wrath was somewhat allayed ; but he
could not refrain from asking the intruder what he
would do, if he caught a man trespassing on his
premises. " I would ask him in to luncheon," was
the reply. The serenity of this impudence was not
to be resisted. Mr. Gurney not only invited him to
luncheon, but supplied him with dogs and a game-
17861802. LETTERS FROM EAULUAM. 11
keeper, and secured him excellent sport for the re-
mainder of the day.*
Mr. Gurney belonged to the Society of Friends;
but his family was not brought up with any strict
regard to its peculiarities. He put little restraint on
their domestic amusements ; and music and dancing
were among their favourite recreations. The third
daughter, afterwards the well-known Mrs. Fry, had
indeed united herself more closely to the Society
of Friends f ; but her example in this respect had
not as yet been followed by any of her brothers or
sisters.
Such was the family of which Fowell Buxton might
be said to have become a member, at this turning
point of his life. The following letters were written
to his mother during his visit to Earlham.
-
" My dear Mother, " Earlham, Oct. 1801.
" I was very much pleased with all your last, excepting
that jiart in which you mention the (to me at least) hateful
subject of St. Andrew's.^
" It gives me pain to write, because it will you to read,
that my aversion is, ever was, and ever will be invincible;
nevertheless, if you command, I will obey. You will ex-
claim, * How ungrateful, after all the pleasure he has had.'
I'K'u.-Hire, great pleasure, I certainly have had, but not
sufficient to counterbalance the unhappiness the pursuance of
your plan would occasion me; but, as I said before, I will
obey.
1 This anecdote, which is still fresh in the memory of several of
Mr. (Junu-y's children, was borrowed by Hook, in his tale of Gilbert
(iurney.
f See Memoirs of the Life of Elizabeth Fry. Charles Gilpin, 1 847.
| His mother had proposed to send him to the College at St.
Andrew's.
12 LETTERS FROM EARLHAM. CHAP. I.
" If 'you think fit, I shall return to Cromer on Wednesday.
Northrepps is perfectly delightful. I have dined many
times with Mr. Pym: a letter he has received from his
brother in Ireland says, ' Nothing but speculation, pecu-
lation, and paper exist in this unhappy country.' I am
going to Lord Wodehouse's this morning, and to a ball at
Mr. Kett's at night."
" My dear Mother, "Earlham, Nov. 24. 1801.
" Your letter was brought while I was deliberating whether
to stay here, or meet you in London. The contents afforded
me real joy. Before, I almost feared you would think me
encroaching ; yet Mr. Gurney is so good-tempered, his
daughters are so agreeable, and John so thoroughly de-
lightful, and his conversation so instructive, which is no
small matter with you I know, that you must not be
surprised at my accepting your offer of a few days' longer
stay in this country. Whilst I was at Northrepps, I did
little else but read books of entertainment (except now and
then a few hours Latin and Greek), ride, and play at chess.
But since I have been at Earlham, I have been very
industrious. The Prince * paid us a visit this morning, and
dines here on Thursday.
" Your affectionate son,
T. F. BUXTON."
" My visit here has completely answered," he says,
with boyish, enthusiasm, in his last letter from
Mr. Gurney's house. " I have spent two months as
happily as possible ; I have learned as much (though
in a different manner) as I should at Colne, and have
got thoroughly acquainted with the most agreeable
family in the world."
In December 1801 he returned to Earl's Colne ; but
* Prince William of Gloucester.
17661802. LETTERS FROM EARLHAM. 13
his mind never lost the impulse which it had received
during his stay at Earlham. Many years afterwards
he thus refers to this early friendship, which he places
first in an enumeration of the blessings of his life.
" I know no blessing of a temporal nature (and it
is not only temporal) for which I ought to render so
many thanks as my connexion with the Earlham
family. It has given a colour to my life. Its influence
was most positive and pregnant with good, at that
critical period between school and manhood. They
were eager for improvement I caught the infection.
I was resolved to please them, and in the College of
Dublin, at a distance from all my friends, and all con-
trol, their influence, and the desire to please them,
kept me hard at my books, and sweetened the toil
they gave. The distinctions I gained at College (little
valuable as distinctions, but valuable, because habits
of industry, perseverance, and reflection, were neces-
sary to obtain them), these boyish distinctions were
exclusively the result of the animating passion in my
mind, to carry back to them the prizes which they
prompted and enabled me to win."
14 CHAP. II.
CHAPTER II.
18021807.
EDUCATION IN IRELAND. DONNYBROOK. EMMETT's REBELLION.
DUBLIN UNIVERSITY. CORRESPONDENCE. ENGAGEMENT TO
MISS H. GURNET. HISTORICAL SOCIETY. ESCAPE FROM SHIP-
WRECK. CORRESPONDENCE. SUCCESS AT COLLEGE INVI-
TATION TO REPRESENT THE UNIVERSITY IN PARLIAMENT. HIS
MARRIAGE.
As there were reasons for expecting that her son
would inherit considerable property in Ireland,
Mrs. Buxton deemed it advisable that he should com-
plete his education at Dublin ; and, accordingly, in
the winter of 1802 he was placed in the family of
Mr. Moore of Donnybrook, who prepared pupils for
the University. It was shortly before the Christmas
holidays that he took up his abode at Donnybrook,
and he then found himself inferior to every one of his
companions in classical acquirements ; but he spent
the vacation in such close study, that on the return of
the other pupils, he stood as the first among them.
Late in life he thus recalls this period in a letter to
one of his sons, then under the roof of a private
tutor :
" You are now at that period of life, in which you must
make a turn to the right or to the left. You must now
give proofs of principle, determination, and strength of mind,
or you must sink into idleness, and acquire the habits and
18021807. DONNYBROOK. 15
character of a desultory, ineffective young man ; and if once
you fall to that point, you will find it no easy matter to rise
again.
" I am very sure that a young man may be very much
what he pleases. In my own case it was so. I left school,
where I had learnt little or nothing, at about the age of
fourteen. I spent the next year at home, learning to hunt
and shoot Then it was, that the prospect of going to
College opened upon me, and such thoughts as I have
expressed in this letter occurred to my mind. I made my
resolutions, and I acted up to them: I gave up all desultory
reading I never looked into a novel or a newspaper I
rave up shooting. During the five years I was in Ireland,
I had the liberty of going when I pleased to a capital
shooting place. I never went but twice. In short, I
considered every hour as precious, and I made every thing
bend to my determination not to be behind any of my
companions, and thus I speedily passed from one species of
character to another. I had been a boy fond of pleasure and
idleness, reading only books of unprofitable entertainment
I became speedily a youth of steady habits of application,
and irresistible resolution. I soon gained the ground I had
lost, and I found those things which were difficult and
almost impossible to my idleness, easy enough to my industry ;
and much of my happiness and all my prosperity in life have
iv.-ulted from the change I made at your age. It all rests
with yourself. If you seriously resolve to be energetic and
industrious, depend upon it you will for your whole life
have reason to rejoice that you were wise enough to form
and to act upon that determination."
From Donnybrook he writes to his mother,
" Tell my Uncle Hanbury that no two clerks in his
Brewhouse are together so industrious as I am, for I read
morning, noon, and night."
During his stay at this place, the country was
disturbed by the breaking out of the " Kihvardcn
16 EMMETT'S REBELLION. CHAP. n.
rebellion," instigated by the unfortunate Robert
Emmett. To meet the danger, volunteer corps were
hastily organised, one of which Mr. Buxton joined
as a lieutenant. The current reports of the day are
thus sketched by him in his letters to his mother :
" Every body abuses the Lord Lieutenant. He received
information from all parts of the kingdom that the rising
was to take place on Saturday night, and all the preparation
he made was to send 2500 men to take care of his house
and family at the Park. The soldiers in Dublin had no
ammunition. Colonel Littlehales, Mr. Marsden, and every
officer of the Castle, were away from their posts ; and for
two hours after the rising began, and while the rebels were
murdering Lord Kilwarden, Colonel Brown, and all the
soldiers they could catch, nothing was done by government.
" After the first alarm, however, had subsided, the soldiers
collected in small parties, and the rebels were soon put to
the rout ; before morning, 10,000 pikes were taken, all the
prisons in Dublin were filled with rebels, and from 200 to
300 are supposed to have been killed. Isaac and I watched
last night at Donnybrook, with our pistols loaded, for it was
expected that they would attack the outskirts. However,
they did not come. A great many Lucan people were
found dead in Dublin. Every noted rebel was seen going to
Dublin on Saturday evening. The gardener and workmen
say there were 500 rebels at Mr. North's gate that night.
Only two mails came into Dublin on Sunday one was
stopped at Lucan and another at Maynooth."
" Dublin, August ?. 1803.
" Dublin is in appearance perfectly quiet again, but the
minds of the people are in rebellion. Pym, who goes by the
name of Lord Sage, says this is by far a more dangerous
rebellion than the last, as it is more concealed. The plan
was for three bodies of 6000 men each to enter Dublin; one
party to take the Castle, another the barracks, the other to
spread about the city and murder every Protestant. Luckily
18021807. DUBLIN UNIVERSITY. 17
the hearts of all but about 6000 failed. The attack was to
have commenced at two in the morning, but whiskey, which
was given to keep up their spirits, made them begin their
outrage the evening before at nine. They were opposed
by seventeen yeomen, and these brave rebels, who were
ivaily to sacrifice their lives for their liberty, after four rounds
of firing, all ran away from this small body !*
" The Lord-Lieutenant is abused by every loyal person.
lYople who slept in the Castle on the night of the rising, say
it must have been lost if the rebels had come."
After remaining a year at Donnybrook, he paid
another visit to Earlham. " We are most completely
happy here," he writes to his mother ; " everything
goes on well, and you need not fear that I am losing
my time, for being with the Gurneys makes me ten
times more industrious than any thing else would."
In October, 1803, he returned to Dublin, and entered
Trinity College as a fellow commoner. At that time
there were four examinations annually in the Dublin
University making in all fourteen during the college
course of the fellow commoners. At each of these a
" Premium " was given to the successful candidate in
every division or class, if he had not already received
one in the same year, in which case a certificate, which
was equal to it in honour, was given instead.
At the end of the college course a gold medal was
also presented to those who, at each examination, had
distinguished themselves in every subject (one failure
being allowed).
Mr. Buxton at once commenced his studies with great
See Annual Register, 1803 ; and Maxwell's '' History of the Irish
Rebellion," which gives an interesting account of Emmett's conspiracy,
p. 410.
C
18 CORRESPONDENCE. CHAP. II.
vigour, and in his first examination obtained the se-
cond place. This success appears to have surpassed
his expectations, and he thus writes to his sister :
Feb. 24. 1804. " I suppose you know how the exami-
nations have ended very much indeed to my satis-
faction, and I am now reading away for the next. My
mother is in ecstasies about my being so near getting
the premium." And in a letter to his mother he tells
her, he is resolutely bent on getting it next time. He
succeeded, and this being his first triumph, he was no
little elated; and he mentions as "an exceeding addi-
tion to the pleasure " that he was the first Englishman,
as far as he could ascertain, who had gained a premium
at the Dublin University.
Before the autumnal examination, he writes to
Mr. J. J. Gurney, who was then reading with a pri-
vate tutor at Oxford :
"College, Dublin, Sept. p. 1804.
" Your suppositions about my getting a certificate are, I
am afraid, very unlikely to be realised. My antagonists are
very tremendous. In the first place, there are North and
Montgomery. I hardly know which of them I ought to
dread the most ; they are both excellent scholars, and men of
the most unwearied application : next Wybrants and Arthur,
both of whom I have had the pleasure of beating already.
So far for college business; I only wish you were here to
beat every body."
In a postscript to this very letter he mentions with
boyish glee his having gained the certificate in ques-
tion. A close friendship soon afterwards sprang up
between Mr. Buxton and Mr. John Henry North, one
of the " tremendous antagonists " to whom he refers ;
and who afterwards distinguished himself both at the
Irish Bar, and in the House of Commons.
18021807. ENGAGEMENT TO MISS GURNET. 19
Their course at college was nearly parallel, and as
they did not on this or any succeeding occasion
happen to be placed in the same division, they were
never brought into competition. This friendship,
maintained during Mr. North's life, was one of the
circumstances to which, in recollections of his college
days, Mr. Buxton always recurred with the most
lively pleasure. His mention of his friend at this
early age is interesting :
" His temper is cheerful, his taste remarkably elegant, and
adapted to receive pleasure from the beauties of nature. His
manners so captivating that you must be pleased by them ;
and his heart so good that you must love him."
Whenever Mr. Buxton could escape from Dublin,
he visited Earlham, and an attachment, which he
dated from the first day they met, gradually ripened,
between him and Hannah, fifth daughter of Mr.
Gurncy ; till in March, 1805, they were engaged to
be married.
But while in this direction a bright prospect opened
before him, in another, the clouds appeared to be
ra t hering about his path. Other claimants * had come
forward to contest his right to the Irish property;
his mother had undertaken an expensive law-suit
regarding it, and her hopes of success were already
growing dim. At the same time the family property
had bci-n materially diminished, by some unsuccessful
speculations in which she had engaged.
Her son's letters, however, (addressed for the most
part to Earlham,) bear little trace of anxiety :
Of the Yorke family.
c 2
20 COLLEGE COMPANIONS. CHAP. II
"April, 1805.
" The examinations are over, but, alas, I cannot describe
the disasters that have befallen me. Think how disagreeable
a circumstance it must be to me to have all my hopes disap-
pointed, to lose the certificate, to have my gold medal stopped,
and what is worse, to know that my Earlham visit, as it was
the cause of my idleness, was the cause of my disgrace. Think
of all this, and fetch a very, very deep sigh, and look very
grave, and then think how happy I must be to have to tell
YOU, that my utmost examinationary hopes are realised,
that I have the certificate and * Valde in Omnibus,' and, what
is better, that I can ascribe my success to nothing but my Earl-
ham visit ! I am sure that, if I had not thought that I
was partly working for you, I never should have been able to
read so much during this month. The Examiner told five of
my opponents that he was sorry he had not a Premium for
each of them. I was not * cut up ' (as the College phrase
is) during the whole Examination, and if I have been the
trumpeter of my own praise a little too much, you must re-
member that one slight word of approbation from Earlham
would be more grateful to me, than the loudest applause of
the whole world besides." He mentions in a letter dated
May 15. 1805, that he had been spending the preceding fort-
night " chiefly in reading English Poetry ; " and he adds, " I
went yesterday for the first time, to a schoolmaster who gives
lectures on reading. I have long felt my deficiency in that
most useful qualification, especially when I was last at Earl-
ham, and I then made a firm resolution to conquer it. How-
ever, it was with difficulty I could keep my determination,
for my companions have entertained themselves very much
at the idea of my going to school to learn to read. But I
expect to gain two very material advantages by this plan ; the
first is, that perhaps it may afford you pleasure, and secondly,
that, as I go immediately after dinner, it will furnish an op-
portunity for avoiding, without openly quarrelling with/ a
party of collegians, into whose society I have lately got, and
whose habits of drinking make me determine to retreat from
them."
18021807. HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 21
" College, Dublin, Sept. 2p. 1805.
" My mind has lately been very much occupied with the
consideration of the lawfulness of taking oaths, because my
College pursuits would lose a great deal of their stimulus if
I thought I should not go to the Bar, for the information
which I may acquire here would be comparatively of little use
to any one but a lawyer. To remove or strengthen my
doubts, I have been reading Paley's Philosophy, and, indeed,
lit- lias almost convinced me that taking oaths is not the
kind of swearing that is prohibited. I have endeavoured to
my mind from prejudice on one side, and interest on the
other: and I think that if I felt a bias at all, it was against
s\v taring, which arose from the fear of being actuated by my
wishes, rather than by reason."
In October, 1805, he and his friend North took
thi'ir scuts together in the " Historical Society." *
In one of his letters he speaks of the dread with
which he looked forward to " such a tremendous
thing " as addressing so large an audience. His first
speech, however, met with unexpected success. One
of his fellow collegians still remembers " its pro-
ducing quite a sensation among the under-graduates,"
and lie himself thus writes to Earlham:
* This was an association established by the students of the
University, with a view of promoting the practice of elocution and
the study of history, and was art object of great interest among them.
IV lutes were held every week during the last term of the year. After
(aril debate, every member present named the one who in his opinion
had spoken most effectively, and at the end of the year the under-
graduate who had gained the largest number of suffrages, received a
silver medal. Another medal was the prize at the annual examination
in history. No one was admitted into the society until the end of
his second year of residence at the University; and, consequently, two
medals for eloquence, and two for history, were the largest number that
any one cuuld obtain.
c 3
22 HISTORICAL SOCIETY. CHAP. II.
"November, 1805.
" I did not answer your letter before, because I wished to
state the result of my speech, which is beyond my utmost
expectations. Five persons spoke besides myself: ninety-two
members gave Returns, of which eighty-five were for me.
A law exists in the Society, that if any one should get eighty
Returns for a speech, he is to receive the " remarkable
thanks" There has never been an opportunity of putting
this law in force till now."
"Wednesday, Dec. 25. 1805.
" I made a speech last night in the Historical Society, and
contrary to my former determination, I intend to speak once
more. I am induced to do this by getting a great many
more Returns than I had any reason to expect.
" I have, I fear, very little chance of getting the premium ;
however, if I do not, I am perfectly satisfied with the result
of my studies this term. I have taken very little sleep,
amusement, or exercise lately, the consequence of which is
that I have been very unwell."
His hopes were more than realised ; not only did
he again carry off the premium, but the silver medal
of the Historical Society was awarded him, and
ultimately, he gained all the other three. At College,
indeed, nothing but good fortune attended him. His
exertions were uniformly crowned with success ; his
mind found scope for its unceasing activity ; his circle
of friends was choice, yet large ; and a zest was added
to all enjoyments, by the bright prospect afforded him
at Earlham. The gradual overcasting of his hopes
of wealth but little affected his spirits. He says in a
letter to a friend :
" I am very sorry to hear of your unhappinesses ; I wish
I could do anything to alleviate them. I think I might very
well spare happiness enough for a moderate person, and still
have enough left for myself."
J 802 1807. FOND OF FIELD SPORTS. 23
From the dissipation then too prevalent in the
University, he was happily preserved, partly by his
close and incessant occupation, partly by his Earlham
connection, and partly by his early education ; for
although his letters up to this period contain no direct
mention of religion, yet the Christian principles
which his mother had instilled into his mind retained
their influence over him ; while his natural firmness of
character enabled him to disregard the taunts to which
hi- ronduct exposed him. He found more difficulty
in sacrificing to his academical pursuits, the strong
inclination for field sports, which had been cherished
at Marl's Colne, and which accompanied him through
life-. In a letter to Earlham, dated May, 1806, he
says,
" One of the various advantages I have derived from
our connection, is the check it has been to my sporting incli-
nations. I am thoroughly convinced that, had my mind
received another bent, had my pursuits been directed towards
sporting, its charms would have been irresistible. A life
dedicated to amusement must be most unsatisfactory.
*********! think you need be under no
apprehension in regard to having too much influence over
me : as to my being member for \Veymouth, it is a totally
chimerical idea, for were I ever so willing, it is quite im-
practicable, so you may lay aside all fears of my becoming
a ifrcat ;WM."
His letters to his mother at this period are chiefly
confined to matters of business; one trait in them
is, however, too characteristic to be passed over
without notice. Nearly all of them conclude with
inquiries and directions about his horses, in which
lie always took so lively an interest, that it almost
c 4
24 ESCAPES FROM SHIPWRECK. CHAP. II.
might be called personal friendship. " I mean," he
tells his mother, " to visit Weymouth before returning
to Ireland, to see how my horses and my relations
do." He was, however, obliged to hasten his return
to Dublin, and on his way thither he had a remarkable
escape, the particulars of which he thus describes :
" In the year 1806, I was travelling with the Earlham
party in Scotland. I left them to return to the College of
Dublin. In consequence of some conversation about the
Parkgate vessels, with my present wife, then Hannah Gurney,
she extracted from me a promise that I would never go by
Parkgate. I was exceedingly impatient to be at Dublin, in
order to prepare for my examination : when I reached
Chester, the Captain of the Parkgate packet came to me, and
invited me to go with him. The wind was fair ; the vessel
was to sail in a few hours ; he was sure I should be in Dublin
early the next morning, whereas a place in the Holyhead
mail was doubtful, and at best I must lose the next day by
travelling through Wales. My promise was a bitter morti-
fication to me, but I could not dispense with it. I drank
tea, and played at cards with a very large party. About
eight or nine o'clock they all went away, on board the vessel,
and of the 119 persons who embarked as passengers, 118
were drowned before midnight."*
The account in the newspapers of the loss of the
Parkgate packet, was seen by his late travelling com-
panions, on their way into Norfolk ; and it was not
till after a day of anxious suspense that they heard
of his safe arrival in Ireland. At Lynn they re-
ceived the following letter from him :
" Have you heard of the dreadful accident which happened
to the Parkgate packet ? You will see by the newspaper the
* See Gentleman's Magazine, September, 1806.
18021807. HIS STUDY OF THE BIBLE. 25
particulars. I have been talking to-day with the only
passenger who was saved; he says that there were 119 in the
vessel, and mentioned many most melancholy circumstances.
Had I gone by Parkgate, which I probably might have done,
as we were detained some time at Chester, and expected to
be detained longer, I should have been in the vessel, but I
declared positively that I would not go. Can you guess my
reason for being so obstinate ?"
o
It was during this tour in Scotland that his at-
tention appears to have been drawn, with increased
earnestness, to the subject of religion. When at
IVrtli, he purchased a large Bible, with the resolution,
which he steadfastly kept, of perusing a portion of
it every day ; and he mentions in a letter, dated
September 10. 1806, that quite a change had been
worked in his mind with respect to reading the Holy
Scriptures. " Formerly," he says, " I read generally
rather as a duty than as a pleasure, but now I read
them with great interest, and, I may say, happiness."
" I am sure," he writes again, " that some of the
happiest hours that I spend here are while I am
reading our Bible, which is as great a favourite as
a book can be. I never before felt so assured that
the only means of being happy, is from seeking the
assistance of a superior Being, or so inclined to endea-
vour to submit myself to the direction of principle."
The college examination was now again approach-
ing, and he was not so well prepared as usual, having
given, as he feared, too much time to Optics, of which
science he speaks as " the most delightful and capti-
vating of studies." He writes to the party at Earl-
ham,
26 CORRESPONDENCE. CHAP. II.
" I do not, however, feel discouraged, but in a most happy-
quiet mind ; more determined to work, than anxious about
the result ; desirous of success, for your sakes, and able to
bear defeat, alleviated by your sympathy; but, if reading
can avail, I will be prepared."
After the examination was over, he says,
" I never had such a contest. The Examiner could not
decide in the Hall, so we were obliged to have two hours
more this morning; however, I can congratulate you once
more. * * * * I venerate Optics for what they have
done for me in this examination."
******
" I was strongly pressed to play at billiards yesterday,
which of course I refused f, and was successful enough to
persuade the person to employ his evening in another way.
He is a strong instance of their injurious effects. He told
me that when he was in town, he went regularly three times
a day to the billiard table, and that playing at 4d. a game,
on an average, cost him 10s. a day. It is the most alluring
and therefore the most destructive game that ever was
invented. I have heard it remarked, and have indeed
remarked it myself, that if any Collegian commences billiard
playing, he ceases to do any thing else. I have
been employed all this morning in reading history. I find
that this study is useful, not only in itself, but also in giving
a habit of reading everything with accuracy.
Every day brings us new accounts of disturbances in the
remote parts of the country, I am almost inclined to fear
there will be a rebellion. I have been thinking a great deal
lately of w T hat I should do in case the corps were again
established in College. There is to me no question so
dubious or perplexing, as whether resistance against danger
from an enemy is allowable : however, if I can trust my own
determination, I shall not be at all swayed by the example of
t He had given a promise at Earlham not to play at billiards while
at college.
18021807. SUCCESS AT COLLEGE. 27
others, or by the disgrace which would attend a refusal to
enlist."
A day or two later, he continues :
" I was extremely tired at the Historical Society, on
Wednesday night. I was made President, and you cannot
imagine the labour of keeping a hundred unruly and violent
men orderly and obedient. The all-engrossing subject here
at present, is the prospect of a rebellion, if I may say the
prospect when I think there is the reality. Every day we
hear of fresh murders ; and the Bishop of Elphin, who is of
the Law family, declared openly in the Castle-yard, that in
the five and twenty years he had resided here, the people in
his diocese were never in so desperate a state of rebellion.
On his return to England for a short holiday, he
says,
" London, Jan. 23. 1807.
" It is a very great pleasure to me that I can tell you
some news, which I think will delight you. In the first
place, I have arrived here, safe and sound. In the second, I
have for the twelfth time secured the Premium, and Valde
in Omnibus."
On the 1 4th of April in the same year he received
his thirteenth premium, and also the highest honour
of the University, the Gold Medal. With these
distinctions, and the four silver medals from the
Historical Society, he prepared to return to England.
At this juncture a circumstance occurred which
might have turned the whole current of his life. A
proposal was made to him by the electors to come
lor ward as candidate for the representation of the
University, and good grounds were given him to
expect a triumphant return. No higher token of
in than this oxild have been offered to one
28 HIS MAERIAGE. CHAP. II.
without wealth or Irish connection, and without the
smallest claim upon the consideration of the Univer-
sity, except what his personal and academical cha-
racter afforded. Such an offer it was not easy to
reject, and he was, as he says at the time, " extremely
agitated and pleased by it." He weighed the pleasure,
the distinction, the influence, promised by the poli-
tical career, thus unexpectedly opened before him;
and he set against these considerations, the duties
which his approaching marriage would bring upon
him. Prudence prevailed, and he declined the pro-
posal. His friend Mr. North writes to him :
" I think all hearts would have been in your favour, if
you had made your appearance and still they cannot
convince themselves that you intend to go boldly through
with your resolution * Come then, my guide, my genius,
come along ! ' You were mistaken in thinking Fortune (in
one sense) a necessary qualification for a college member;
there is an honourable exception for the Universities."
Mr. Buxton, however, had come to a deliberate
decision, and it was not to be shaken. He reached
England at. the end of April, and in the following
month his marriage took place.
In one of his papers he thus alludes to the closing
circumstances of his academical career :
" On May 13. 1807, I obtained the object of my long
attachment having refused, in consequence of the prospect
of this marriage, a most honourable token of the esteem of
the University of Dublin. The prospect was indeed flattering
to youthful ambition, to become a member of Parliament,
and my constituents men of thought and education, and
honour and principle, my companions, my competitors,
those who had known me, and observed me for years.
18021807. HIS MARRIAGE. 29
" I feel now a pride to recollect that it was from these
men I received this mark of approbation, from men, with
whom I had no family alliance, not even the natural con-
nection of compatriotism, and without high birth or splendid
fortune or numerous connections to recommend me. I
suspended my determination for one day, beset by my friends,
who were astonished at the appearance of a doubt, and
having closely considered all points, I determined to decline
tin intended honour, and from that day to this, thanks to
God, I have never lamented the determination."
30 CHAP. HI.
CHAPTER III.
18071812.
ENTERS TRUMAN'S BREWERY. OCCUPATIONS IN LONDON LETTER
FROM MR. TW1SS. CORRESPONDENCE. DEATH OF EDWARD
BDXTON. EXERTIONS IN THE BREWERY.
THE first few months of Mr. Buxton's married life
were passed at a small cottage close to his grand-
mother's seat at Bellfield, and in the neighbourhood
of his mother, who had contracted a second marriage
with Mr. Edmund Henning, and had left Essex to
reside at Wey mouth.
His expectations of wealth had been disappointed,
and he found that his fortunes must depend upon
his own exertions. After deliberate consideration,
he relinquished the idea of following the profession
of the law, and entered into negotiations in different
quarters, with a view to establishing himself in
business. For a while these were unsuccessful, and
during this time he suffered severely from the pain
of present inaction, and the obscurity that rested on
the future.
In after life, when referring to this period, he said,
" I longed for any employment that would produce
me a hundred a year, if I had to work twelve hours
a day for it." Nearly a year passed away before his
anxieties were brought to a conclusion. The winter
was spent at Earlham, where his first child was born.
18071812. ENTERS TRUMAN'S BREWERY. 31
Soon afterwards, in a letter, writing to his wife from
London, he says, " I slept at Brick Lane ; my uncles
Sampson and Osgood Hanbury were there, and re-
vived my old feelings of good nephewship, they treated
me so kindly. This morning I met Mr. Randall and
your father. I think that I shall become a Blackwell
Hall factor."
This intention was prevented by an unexpected
turn in his fortunes, resulting from his friendly
interview with his uncles. Within a few days Mr.
Sampson Hanbury of Truman's Brewery offered him
a situation in that establishment, with a prospect of
becoming a partner after three years' probation. He
joyfully acceded to the proposal, and entered with
LTcat ardour upon his new sphere of action. He
writes (July, 1808,) to his mother, " I was up this
morning at four, and do not expect to finish my
clay's work before twelve to-night my excuse for
silence. I have not neglected your business." At
tin- close of the year he succeeded Mr. Hanbury in
the occupation of a house connected with the brewery,
in which he continued to reside for several years.
During these years Mr. Buxton's correspondence
was not extensive. Among the few letters which
have been preserved is the following, addressed to his
wife, who had accompanied one of her brothers to
the Isle of Wight. Mr. Buxton had arranged to
join them there; but on arriving at Southampton, he
l'"iind that all communication with the island was
5 n tin lirted, on account of the secret expedition to
WalrhtTen, then about to sail from Cowes.
32 OCCUPATIONS IN LONDON. CHAP. in.
" Southampton, June 15. 1809.
" Now that I have finished my coffee, I think I cannot
employ my time more profitably or more pleasantly than in
sending a few lines to you. I am afraid the embargo has
been a great trouble to you. It was so to me when I first
arrived, as the idea of spending some time with your party
was particularly pleasant; however, either by the aid of
' divine philosophy,' or from finding that the misfortune was
irremediable, in a short time 1 was reconciled to my fate,
and began to consider how best to enjoy what was within my
reach. As I could not have the living companions that I
most wished for, I went to a bookseller's shop to endeavour
to find some agreeable dead ones, and having made choice of
' Tristram Shandy' and a * Patriot King,' I proceeded in
their honourable company to the water side, took a boat, and
went off to Netley Abbey. I thoroughly enjoyed this ex-
cursion. First I went all over the interior, and then walked
leisurely round it at some distance, stopping and reading at
every scene that I particularly liked. Then I went up into
the wood, to a spot which seems to have been formed for a
dining-room. While the boatman was at dinner, I went
over into the next field to a higher ground. I hope this did
not escape you. The four ivy-covered broken towers just
below, a party dining on the grass plat, the intermediate
distance of trees, and the sea behind, made it, I think, the
finest view I ever saw. I only hope you have sketched it ;
and, next to it, I should wish for a drawing of the nearest
window from the inside I mean the one that is tolerably
perfect, with a great deal of ivy over the middle pillar. I
had a pleasant row home, and have since been thinking about
your party with the greatest pleasure, and, amongst other
thoughts connected with you, it has forcibly struck me how
beneficial it is sometimes to be amongst strangers, it gives
such a taste and a relish for the society of those one loves."
Although, during his term of probation at the
brewery, he was closely occupied in making himself
master of his new vocation, he yet found time for
18071812. LETTER FROM MR. TWISS. 33
the study of English literature, and especially of
political economy. He admitted, in after-life, that
even at this early period he had indulged a distant
idrii of entering Parliament ; and, in consequence of
this, he continued to practise the art of public
speaking in a debating club of which he was a
member.
" I must tell you," he writes to Mr. North, De-
<! iiber, 1810, "of a signal reformation which has
taken place. I have become again a hard reader,
and of sterling books. In spite of your marriage
cause, I hold myself your equal in Blackstone and
in Montesquieu, and your superior in Bacon, parts
<>t' whom I have read with Mallettian avidity. I have
not been much at ' The Academics,' but it goes on
famously ; your memory is held in the highest esti-
mation even our oracle Twiss speaks well of you.
(.Irant and Bowdler are, I fear, gone from us."
His former schoolfellow, Mr. Horace Twiss, thus
ibes meeting him at this time :
" We had been at school together at the celebrated Dr.
Barney's, of Greenwich, and were very intimate.
" Buxton was then, as in after-life, extraordinarily tall,
ami was called by his playfellows * Elephant Buxton.' He
was at that time, as afterwards, like the animal he was called
from, of a kind and gentle nature; but he did not then
exhibit any symptoms of the elephantine talent he afterwards
evinced.
" I myself very often did his Latin lessons for him ; and, as
he was somewhat older and much bigger than I was, I found
him in many iv-pects a valuable ally. When I was about
twenty, I became a member of ' The Academics,' a society in
London (like the ' Historical' in Dublin, and the ' Specula-
tor' in Edinburgh), \\herc the topics of the day were de-
D
34 WILLIAM ALLEN. CHAP. III.
bated. There I heard, on my first or second evening of
attendance, a speech of great ability, from a man of great
stature ; and I should have been assured it was my old
schoolfellow I saw before me, but that I could not suppose it
possible so dull a boy could have become so clever a man.
He it was, however, and I renewed my friendly intercourse
with him, botli at the society and in private.
" Our chums were poor North, afterwards distinguished in
Parliament and at the Irish Bar, who died at between forty
and fifty ; and Henry, the younger son of the great Grattan.
We afterwards sat altogether in the House of Commons,
with some others of our fellow-academics, the two Grants
and Spring Rice. Horner had been an academic, but he
was before our time. Of late years, Buxton was chiefly
resident in Norfolk, but our mutual goodwill continued to
the last."
From childhood the duty of active benevolence had
been impressed on him by his mother, who used to
set before him the idea of taking up some great cause
by which he might promote the happiness of man.
Upon settling in London he at once sought opportu-
nities of usefulness, and in this pursuit he received
great assistance from an acquaintance which ripened
into friendship, with the Quaker philosopher and phi-
lanthropist, William Allen. This good man had long
been engaged upon objects of enlightened benevolence,
and by him Mr. Buxton was from time to time initiated
into some of those questions, to which his after-life
was devoted.
One of the most important of these had already
dawned upon him. He writes to Mrs. Buxton, Dec.
1808.
" I have one reason for wishing to remain in town, which
is, that I am going to become a member of a small society,
18071812. CORRESPONDENCE. 35
now instituting, for the purpose of calling the public inind to
the bad effects and inefficiency of capital punishments."
And at a subsequent period, he says
" From the time of my connection with the Brewery in
1808 1816, I took a part in all the charitable objects of
that distressed district, more especially those connected with
education, the Bible Society, and the deep sufferings of the
weavers."
All these labours he shared with his brother-in-law,
Mr. Samuel Hoare, of Harapstead, between whom and
himself there existed then and through life, a friend-
sin j> and close fellowship, far beyond what usually re-
sults from such a connection. With them was also
linked his own brother Charles, who was settled in
London, and was the favourite companion of both.
Although Mr. Buxton was a member of the Esta-
blished Church, circumstances had cherished in him a
strong attachment to the Society of Friends, and to
tlu -ir silent mode of worship. He frequently spent
the Sunday under the roof of Mr. and Mrs. Fry, at
I'lashet in Essex; and even when at home, from the
time of his marriage up to the year 1811, he generally
attended a Friends' Meeting. In a letter written
on Sunday Oct. 22d, 1809, he mentions that he had
been reading the fifth chapter of St. Matthew, " as a
subject for reflection at Meeting," and adds,
" I think I almost always have a good meeting when I
read before it, without any intermediate occupation of mind.
It was a irivat pleasure to me to be able to engage myself so
thoroughly when there, as I had begun to think that I was
rather going back in that respect. The verse that principally
led me on to a train of thought was that * Except your
righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and
ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of
v 2
36 CORRESPONDENCE. CHAP. III.
heaven.' This text is always very striking to me. It is so
serious a thing to be only on a par with the generality of
those you see around you. This evening I have been thinking
what I can do for the poor this winter. I feel that I have as
yet done far short of what I ought and what I wish to do."
"Sept. 23. 1810.
" I have passed a very quiet and industrious week, up
early, breakfast at 8 o' clock, dinner near six, and the
evenings to myself, which have been well employed over my
favourite Blackstone. I read him till near ten last night,
and then Jeremy Taylor till past eleven, and could hardly
give him up, he was so very entertaining a companion.
******** -j^is morn i n g I went to Grace-
church Street meeting. I was rather late, which made me
feel hurried, and prevented my having sufficient time to my-
self before meeting ; however, I had made a little use of my
friend Jeremy at breakfast, and this and last night's read-
ings gave me occupation for my thoughts. I saw William
Allen, who wants me to call upon him to-morrow, as he says
he has found a place for the school as suitable as if we were
to build one. This, I know, will please you, but will alarm
you also, lest we should forget the girls.
" And now you will expect to hear something about my
return. I must tell you that you cannot be in a greater
hurry for me to come to Earlham than I am to get there ;
for I do not think I have lately enjoyed any thing so much
as the time I spent in that dear circle, and I hold it to be
quite a treasure and a blessing to have such brothers and
sisters ; I hope and believe, too, that it may be as useful as it
is agreeable. Still I do not feel altogether confident that the
stimulus which they have given me will be of any duration ;
for it is not inducements to do our duty that we want these
we have already in abundance. They are, indeed, so many
and so various, that, if we were only as prudent and as
rational with regard to our future state, as we are to our
present, none would utterly want religion, but those who
utterly wanted sense."
18071812. DEATH OF EDWARD BUXTON. 37
It has been mentioned that Mr. Buxton was the
rld'-st of three sons. Edward North, the third bro-
tluT, a wayward lad, had been sent to sea as a mid-
shipman in an East Indiaman, commanded by his re-
lative Captain Dumbleton ; but in his first voyage he
left his ship and entered the king's service. From
that time his family had received no tidings of him,
and by degrees they became impressed with the painful
conviction that he had died at sea. The suspense
of five years was at last brought to an end, by the
arrival of a letter to Mr. Buxton from one of his
brother's shipmates, announcing that he had arrived in
a dying state at Gosport, and was earnestly desirous
to see some of his relations. He had been attacked by
dysentery while on board ship at Bombay ; and, feel-
ing that his days were numbered, he became intensely
anxious to reach home once more. He hastened to
England in the first ship by which he could obtain a
passage ; and on his arrival at Gosport, was carried to
Haslar Hospital, whence he despatched a letter to his
mother. This letter was unfortunately delayed, in
consequence of its having been directed to the house
at Earl's Colne, which had been parted with some
\vars before, and the unhappy youth he was only
nineteen in the morbid state of his feelings, became
so strongly impressed by a sense of his neglect in
never having communicated with his friends, that he
felt persuaded they would now refuse to acknowledge
him. A second letter, in which he besought that some
one of the family would consent to visit him on his
drath-l.rd. reached Mr. Buxton, and in two hours he
and his brother Charles were on the road to Gosport,
38 DEATH OF EDWARD BUXTON. CHAP. III.
which they reached on the following morning. With
mingled emotions of hope and fear they set out for the
Hospital. Having been directed to a large ward full
of the sick and dying, they walked through the room
without being able to discover the object of their
search ; till at length, they were struck by the
earnestness with which an emaciated youth upon one
of the sick beds was gazing at them. On their ap-
proaching his bedside, although he could scarcely
articulate a word, his face was lit up with an expres-
sion of delight that sufficiently showed that he recog-
nised them : but it was not for some moments that
they could trace in his haggard features the lineaments
of their long-lost brother.
A few days afterwards Mr. Buxton writes
"Gosport, August 10. 1811.
" It is pleasant to be with Edward, he seems so happy in
the idea of having his friends about him. This morning I
thought him strong enough to hear part of a chapter in St.
Luke on prayer, and the 20th Psalm. Charles then went
away, and I mentioned to him how applicable some of the
passages were to his state ; he said, he felt them so, and that
he had been very unfortunate in having been on board ship
where religion is so neglected ; that he had procured a Bible,
and one of his friends had sometimes read to him, but not so
often as he wished. That he had hoped and prayed that he
might reach England, more that he might confess his sins to
me than for any other reason; that, supposing at length
that there was next to no chance of this, he had dictated a
letter to me upon the subject, which is now in his box.
When I told him, that as his illness had brought him into
such a frame of mind, it was impossible for me to regret it,
let the event be what it would, he said he considered it as a
mercy now, but that nobody could tell what his sufferings
18071812. DEATH OF EDWARD BUXTON. 39
h;ul been. I then entered into a kind of short history of what
I considered to be inculcated in the Testament * that Christ
came to call sinners to repentance.' He felt consolation
from this ; but again said, that he had been indeed a sinner.
I then told him that I hoped he did not ever omit to pray
tin- assistance, and I added that Charles and I had joined in
prayer for him last night. He seemed so much affected by
this, that I did not think it right to press the conversation
i art her. Does not all this furnish a striking proof how our
sorrows may be converted into joys ? I can look upon his
illness in no other light than as a most merciful dispensation.
It is most aflfectingly delightful to see his lowliness of mind,
ami his gratitude to all of us. I cannot help thinking that
his mind is more changed than his body."
The young midshipman survived about a fortnight
after his brothers reached him. He had the comfort,
so earnestly desired, of being nursed by his mother,
and of seeing once more his whole family. His sister
Sarah, in describing the solemn, and yet peaceful,
meeting round the death -bed of the returned wanderer,
thus mentions her eldest brother : " Fowell, the
head of our family, is a strong support ; and when
religious consolation was so much wanted, he seemed
most ready to afford it. The power of his influence
we deeply felt : it was by far the most striking feature
in the past remarkable month."
Kdward North Buxton died on the 26th of August,
1811, and was buried in the cemetery of Haslar
hospital.
In 1811, Mr. Buxton was admitted as a partner
in the Brewery ; and during the ensuing seven years,
he was almost exclusively devoted to his business.
Soon after his admission, his senior partners, struck
by his energy and force of mind, placed in his hunds
i. 4
40 EXERTIONS IN THE BREWERY. CHAP. III.
the difficult and responsible task of remodelling their
whole system of management. It would be super-
fluous to enter into the details of his proceedings,
though, perhaps, he never displayed greater vigour
and firmness than in carrying through this under-
taking. For two or three years he was occupied
from morning till night, in prosecuting, step by step,
his plans of reform : a single example may indicate
with what spirit he grappled with the difficulties
that beset him on all sides.
One of the principal clerks was an honest man,
and a valuable servant ; but he was wedded to the
old system, and viewed with great antipathy the
new partner's proposed innovations. At length, on
one occasion, he went so far as to thwart Mr. Buxton's
plans. The latter took no notice of this at the time,
except desiring him to attend in the counting-house
at 6 o' clock the next morning. Mr. Buxton met
him there at the appointed hour ; and, without any
expostulation, or a single angry word, desired him to
produce his books, as he meant for the future to
undertake the charge of them himself, in addition to
his other duties. Amazed at this unexpected de-
cision, the clerk yielded entirely ; he promised com-
plete submission for the future ; he made his wife
intercede for him ; and Mr. Buxton, who valued his
character and services, was at length induced to
restore him to his place. They afterwards became
very good friends, and the salutary effect of the
changes introduced by Mr. Buxton was at length
admitted by his leading opponent ; nor, except in one
instance, did he ever contend against them again.
18071812. EXERTIONS IN THE BREWERY. 41
On that occasion, Mr. Buxton merely sent him a mes-
sage " that he had better meet him in the counting-
house, at 6 o'clock the next morning." The book-
keeper's opposition was heard of no more.
The success which crowned Mr. Buxton's exertions
in business materially paved his way to public life.
He was gradually relieved from the necessity of at-
tending, in person, to the details of its management,
but continued to take a part in the general super-
intendence of the concern.
42 CHAP. IV.
CHAPTER IV.
18121816.
FIRST SPEECH IN PUBLIC. THE REV. JOSIAII PRATT.
INCREASING REGARD TO RELIGION. DANGEROUS ILLNESS.
ITS EFFECT ON HIS MIND. SETTLES AT HAMPSTEAD. DIS-
APPOINTMENTS AND ANXIETIES. REFLECTIONS. NARROW
ESCAPE. LETTER TO MR. J. J. GURNET.
MR.BUXTON was, of course, closely bound to his London
avocations ; but almost every Autumn he spent some
weeks at Earlham, enjoying the recreation of shooting,
in company with Mr. Samuel Hoare. It was during
one of these visits, that he first addressed a public
meeting. His brother-in-law, Mr. Joseph John
Gurney, in September, 1812, insisted that for once
he should leave his sport, and give his aid in the
second meeting of the Norwich Auxiliary Bible
Society, at which Mr. Coke and other county gentle-
men were present.
His speech on that occasion is thus alluded to by
Mr. J. J. Gurney. *
" There are many who can still remember the remarkable
effect produced, in one of the earliest public meetings of the
Norfolk and Norwich Auxiliary Bible Society, more than
thirty years ago, by one of his speeches, distinguished for
its acuteness and good sense, as well as for the Christian
* " Brief Memoir." Fletcher, 1845.
1812 181G. THE REV. JOSIAII PRATT. 43
temper in which it was delivered. His commanding person*,
hia benevolent and highly intellectual expression of counte-
nance, his full-toned voice, together with his manly yet
]>l:iyful eloquence, electrified the assembly, and many were
those on that day who rejoiced that so noble and just a cause
had obtained so strenuous and able an advocate."
Some indications have been already given of the
increasing power of religious principle in Mr. Buxton's
mind ; but he had not yet been fully brought under
its influence, nor had he acquired clear views as to
some of the fundamental truths of Christianity. In
1811, he was induced by the advice of his friend the
Rev. Robert Hankinson, to attend the ministry of the
Rev. Josiah Pratt, in Wheeler Chapel, Spitalfields :
and to the preaching of that excellent clergyman he
attributed, with the liveliest gratitude, his first real
acquaintance with the doctrines of Christianity. He
himself says "It was much and of vast moment that
I there learned from Mr. Pratt." He wrote to Mr.
Pratt thirty years afterwards, " Whatever I have
done in my life for Africa, the seeds of it were sown
in my heart, in Wheeler Street Chapel."
His mind, ever disposed (in Bacon's words) to
" prefer things of substance, before things of show "
with a strong love for truth, and susceptible of deep
fed ing afforded, perhaps, a fit soil for the recep-
tion of those truths, which at length struck deep root
there. On the other hand, he regarded his tendency
to become wholly absorbed in the work before him as
* Mr. Huxton was upwards of six feet four inches in height ; but
liis j.uwirful frame and broad chest rendered his height less ap-
parent.
44 INCREASING REGARD TO RELIGION. CHAP. IV.
a great bar to his progress in higher things. Thus
he writes to one of his relatives at Earlhara :
"Hampstead, March 21. 1812.
" I had determined, before I received your last letter, to
thank you, dear C , myself, for much pleasure, and I
think a little profit (much less than it ought to have been),
in observing the progress of your mind. It does indeed give
me real joy to see you and others of your family striving in
your race with such full purpose of heart ; and the further I
feel left behind the more I feel engaged in other pursuits
so much the more I admire and love the excellence, which
I hardly endeavour to reach : and so much the more I perceive
the infinite superiority of your objects over mine.
" When I contrast your pursuits with my pursuits, and
your life with my life, I always feel the comparison a
wholesome and a humiliating lesson, and it makes me see the
ends for which I labour in their proper light ; and my heart
is ready to confess, that ' Thou hast chosen the good part,
which shall not be taken from thee.' How is it then, with
this contrast constantly staring me in the face whenever I
think seriously, that it has no effect, or next to none, on my
practice ? I see the excellence of the walk you have chosen,
and the madness of dedicating myself to any thing, but to
the preparation of that journey which I must so shortly take.
I know, that if success shall crown all my projects, I shall
gain that which will never satisfy me, ' that which is not
bread.' I know the poverty of our most darling schemes
the meanness of our most delicious prospects the tran-
sitoriness of our most durable possessions when weighed
against that fulness of joy and eternity of bliss which are
the reward of those who seek them aright. All this I see
with the utmost certainty that two and two make four is
not clearer ; and how is it, then, that with these speculative
opinions, my practical ones are so entirely different ? I am
irritable about trifles, eager after pleasures, and anxious about
business : various objects of this kind engross my attention
at all times ; they pursue me even to Meeting and to Church,
18121816. DANGEROUS ILLNESS. 45
and seem to grudge the few moments which are devoted to
lii^licr considerations, and strive to bring back to the temple
of the Lord the sellers, and the buyers, and the money-
el laugers. My reason tells me, that these things are utterly
indifferent ; but my practice says, that they only are worthy
of thought and attention. My practice says, * Thou art
increased with goods, and hast need of nothing;' but my
reason teaches me, * Thou art wretched and miserable, and
poor, and blind, and naked.'
"I have in this letter divulged the train of thinking
which is constantly recurring to my mind If I have
said too much in any part of this letter, I am sure I do not
go beyond the truth in saying, that hardly any thing comes
so near my heart, as my love for my sweet sisters."
The period had now arrived, from which may be
dated that ascendancy of religion over his mind
which gave shape and colouring to the whole of his
alter life.
In the commencement of the year 1813, he was
visited by an illness which brought him to the brink
of the grave. How momentous an era he felt this to
have been, we may learn from the following paper,
written after his recovery :
"Feb. 7. 1813.
" After so severe an illness as that with which I have
lati-ly been visited, it may be advantageous to record the
most material circumstances attendant upon it. May my
bodily weakness, and the suddenness with which it came,
n mind me of the uncertainty of life ; and may the great and
immediate mercy, bestowed upon me spiritually, be a con-
tinual memorial, that 'the Lord is full of compassion, and
long suffering,' and ' a very present help in trouble ! '
" I was seized with a bilious fever, in January. When I
fir>t felt myself unwell, I prayed that I might have a dan-
gerous illness, provided that illness might bring me nearer to
46 DANGEROUS ILLNESS. CHAP. IV.
my God. I gradually grew worse ; and when the disorder
had assumed an appearance very alarming to those about me,
I spent nearly an hour in most fervent prayer. I have been,
for some years, perplexed with doubts ; I do not know if
they did not arise more from the fear of doubting, than from
any other cause. The object of my prayer was, that this
perplexity might be removed ; and the next day, when I set
about examining my mind, I found that it was entirely
removed, and that it was replaced by a degree of certain
conviction, totally different from any thing I had before
experienced. It would be difficult to express the satisfaction
and joy which I derived from this alteration. ' Now know
I that my Redeemer liveth ' was the sentiment uppermost in
my mind, and in the merits of that Redeemer I felt a confi-
dence that made me look on the prospect of death with per-
fect indifference. No one action of my life presented itself
with any sort of consolation. I knew that by myself I stood
justly condemned ; but I felt released from the penalties of
sin, by the blood of our sacrifice. In Him was all my trust.
" My dear wife gave me great pleasure by repeating this
text * This is a faithful saying and worthy of all accepta-
tion, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.'
Once or twice only I felt some doubt whether I did not
deceive myself, arguing in this manner : * How is it, that I,
who have passed so unguarded a life, and who have to lament
so many sins, and especially so much carelessness in religion
how is it that I feel at once satisfied and secure in the
acceptance of my Saviour ? ' But I soon was led to better
thoughts. Canst thou pretend to limit the mercies of the Most
High ? * His thoughts are not as our thoughts, nor his
ways as our ways.' He giveth to the labourer of an hour
as much as to him who has borne the heat of the day. These
were my reflections, and they made me easy."
When the medical gentleman who attended him,
observed that he must be in low spirits, " Very far from
it," he replied : " I feel a joyfulness at heart which
would enable me to go through any pain." " From faith
18121816. ITS EFFECT ON HIS MIND. 47
in Christ ?" he was asked. " Yes, from faith in Christ "
was his reply ; and, mentioning the clear view he now
had of Christ being his Redeemer, he said, " It is an
inexpressible favour, beyond my deserts. What have
I done all my life long ? Nothing, nothing, that did
God service, and for me to have such mercy shown !
My hope," he added, " is to be received as one of
Christ's flock, to enter heaven as a little child." And a
day or two afterwards he said, " I shall never again
pass negligently over that passage in the Prayer Book,
1 We bless thee ... for thine inestimable love in the
redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ ; ' '
and he broke forth into thanksgiving for the mercy,
the unbounded, the unmerited love," displayed
towards him, in having the Christian doctrine brought
home to his heart. Again and again he declared
how glad and thankful he was for his illness, and, at
the same time, how anxious he felt lest the impression
it had made upon him should become effaced.
After his recovery he thus writes to Earlham.
" Perhaps you might think that your letters were not suf-
ficiently valued by me if they remained unnoticed; they
were both truly welcome, especially where they described
your feelings, at the prospect of the termination (I earnestly
hope only the earthly termination) of our long and faithful
union. My wife tells me that she said in her letter, that I
mentioned you all in my illness. This was but a languid
description of the extent and force of love I felt towards you,
:ui<l of gratitude to you to whom I owe so great a por-
tion of all that haa been pleasant to me in my past life, and
jxjrhaps much of that which was consolatory to me at that awful
but happy period. C calls it a chastisement, but I never
felt it as such. I looked upon it when I was at the worst (and
have not yet ceased to do so) as a gift, and a blessing, and
48 BIBLE SOCIETY. CHAP. IV.
the choicest of my possessions. When I was too weak to
move or speak, my mind and heart were at full work on these
meditations, and my only lamentation was, that I could not
feel sufficiently glad or grateful for the mercy, as unbounded
as unmerited, which I experienced. This mercy, was to know
the sins of my past life, that the best actions of it were but
dust and ashes, and good for nothing ; that, by the righteous
doom of the law, I stood convicted and condemned ; but that
full and sufficient satisfaction had already been made by Him
who came to save sinners ; and such was the ease and confi-
dence with which this conviction inspired me, that death was
not attended with a terror."
Fifteen years afterwards*, he thus refers to the
impressions made upon his mind during this illness.
" It was then," he says, " that some clouds in my
mind were dispersed: and from that day to this,
whatever reason I may have had to distrust my own
salvation, I have never been harassed by a doubt
respecting our revealed religion." As his health
and strength returned he engaged, with increased ear-
nestness in supporting various benevolent societies,
especially the Bible Society ; and his common-place
books during the years 1813 1816 are chiefly
filled with memoranda on this subject. He came
prominently forward in the controversy between the
supporters of the Bible Society and those who united
with Dr. Marsh f in opposing it.
These occupations filled up the short intervals of
leisure afforded by his close attention to business ;
and while he continued to reside at the Brewery, few
events occurred to vary his life. Some glimpses into
* Cromer, 1828. f Afterwards Bishop of Peterborough.
18121816. REFLECTIONS ON CHRISTMAS-DAY. 4.9
the state of his mind are given in the following
letters.
" Spitalfields, Dec. 25. 1813.
" I have often observed the advantage
of having some fixed settling time, in pecuniary affairs.
It gives an opportunity of ascertaining the balance of losses
and gains, and of seeing where we have succeeded and
whore failed, and what errors or neglects have caused the
failure.
" Now, I thought, why not balance the mind in the same
way observe our progress and trace to their source our
mi-takes and oversights ? And what better time for this than
Cliri.-tina<-da,y followed by Sunday? And what better em-
ployment of those days? So it was fixed ; and consequently
I refused invitation after invitation to Upton, Doughty
Street, Plashet, Hampstead, Coggeshall, and Clifton. And
now for a history of my day. After breakfast, I read,
ntti-ntin-li/, the 1st of St. Peter, with some degree of that
spirit with which I always wish to study the Scriptures.
To me, at least, the Scriptures are nothing without prayer ;
ami it is sometimes surprising to me, what beauties they
unfold, how much even of worldly wisdom they contain, and
how they are stamped with the clear impression of truth,
when read under any portion of this influence; and without
it ho\v unmoving they appear.
" I also read Cooper's first Practical Sermon, the text
* What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul?'
" This is a subject which, of all others of the kind, most
frequently engages my thoughts. Well, I went to church :
\v- had one of Mr. Pratt's best sermons, and I stayed the
Communion. I could not but feel grateful to see so many
persons, who at least had some serious thoughts of religion
Socially that Charles and his wife were of the number,
and I may add, that I was also. I am not so ignorant of
myself as to think that I have made any suitable advances.
V . KUTV day's experience is a sufficient antidote against
E
50 STATE OF HIS MIND. CHAP. IV.
any such flattering delusion ; for every day, I see, and have
reason to condemn the folly, the insanity which immerses me
the whole of my mind and powers in so trifling a portion
of their interest as this world contains. But yet I feel it an
inestimable blessing to have been conducted to the precincts
and the threshold of truth, and to have some desires, vague
and ineffectual as they are, after better things.
" In the evening I sat down, in a business-like manner, to
my mental account. In casting up the incidental blessings
of the year, I found none to compare with my illness: it
gave such a life, such a reality and nearness, to my prospects
of futurity; it told me, in language so conclusive and
intelligible, that here is not my abiding city. It expounded
so powerfully the scriptural doctrine of Atonement, by
showing what the award of my fate must be, if it depended
upon my own merits, and what that love is which offers
to avert condemnation by the merits of another : in short,
my sickness has been a source of happiness to me in every
way."
In the autumn of the following year he again
alludes to that " one religious subject which most
frequently engaged his thoughts." After speaking
of the death of a near relative as " a loss hardly
admitting of consolation," he adds,
" But it is surely from the shortness of our vision, that we
dwell so frequently on the loss of those who are dear to us.
Are they gone to a better home ? Shall we follow them ?
These are questions of millions and millions of centuries.
The former is but a question of a few years. When I
converse with these considerations, I cannot express what I
think of the stupendous folly of myself and the rest of
mankind. If the case could be so transposed, that our
worldly businesses and pleasures were to last for ever, and
our religion were to produce effects only for a few years,
then indeed, our, at least my, dedication of heart to present
concerns would be reasonable and prudent; then I might
1812 1816. SETTLES AT HAMPSTEAD. 51
justify the many hours and anxious thoughts devoted to the
former, and might say to the latter, ' The few interrupted
moments and wandering unfixed thoughts I spare you, are
as much as your transitory nature deserves * * *
***** Alas ! alas ! how is it that as children
of this world, we are wiser than as children of light ! "
In the summer of the year 1815, he removed from
London to a house a* North-End, Hampstead, that his
children, now four in number, might have the benefit
of country air. The following extract is from his
common-place book :
" North End, Sunday, Aug. 6. 1815.
" I have spent the morning (with occasional wanderings in
the fields), in reading and pondering upon the Bible; viz.
St. .James's and St. John's epistles. How much sound
wi s< lorn and practical piety in the first, how devout and
holy a spirit breathes through the second : the one exposing,
with a master's hand, the infirmities, the temptations, and the
delusions of man ; the other, evidencing the love he teaches,
seems of too celestial a spirit to mingle much with human
attain*, and perpetually reverts to the source of his consola-
tion and hope : with him, Christ is all in all, the sum and sub-
stance of all liis exhortations, the beginning and end of every
chapter.
" I now sit down to recall some marked events, which
have lately happened. First then, Friday, July 7th, was an
extraordinary day to me. In the morning, I ascertained
that all the hopes we had indulged of large profits in business
were false. We were sadly disappointed, for I went to town
in the morning some thousands of pounds richer in my own
estimation than I returned at night. This was my first trial :
next, about 9 o'clock, a dreadful explosion of gunpowder took
place in a house adjacent to the brewery ; eight lives were lost,
and trixat damage done. For a long time it seemed beyond
hope to expect to keep the fire from the premises. ' The
B 2
52 DISAPPOINTMENTS AND ANXIETIES. CHAP. IV.
morning changed me from affluence to competence, and the
evening was likely to have converted competence into
poverty.
" To finish all at night, my house was robbed. This, if we
had heard it, might have seriously alarmed my wife. How
easily can I bear the transitions of fortune, and see without
murmuring, and even with cheerfulness, my golden hopes
blighted ; but * bitter indeed, and intimately keen ' would any
wound be, that affected her. I have often repeated these
lines of Shakspeare :
" ( Steep me in poverty to the very lips,
Give to captivity me, and my utmost hopes,
I still can find in some part of my soul
A drop of patience
But there, where I have garnered up my heart,' " &c.
" On the following Tuesday I went to Wey mouth, and found
affairs in which I am sincerely interested, in a very bad state.
This is to me a subject of much anxiety ; but on my return
home I had another and a deeper trial. I found that it was
necessary to investigate 's business, which seems invol-
ved in much difficulty. These two events together have been
very mortifying to me, but I have endeavoured to meet them
with submissive fortitude. Yet I find that I can suffer my
own misfortunes with comparative indifference, but cannot sit so
easily under the misfortunes of those that are near to me ; but
in this I hope to improve, and to be enabled to look upon trials
in whatever form they appear, as visitations from the merciful
hand of God. I hope my late uneasinesses have not been
entirely thrown away upon me. They have brought me to
feel the poverty and unstead fastness of all human possessions,
and to look upon life as a flower that falleth, while the grace
and the fashion of it perisheth as a vapour that appeareth for
a little time, and then vanisheth away. It has made me too
(tho' still sadly deficient) more earnest and more frequent in
my appeals and entreaties to God, that he would give me his
wisdom to direct me and his strength to support me ; and above
all, that he would emancipate my heart from the shackles of
18121816. . REFLECTIONS. 53
the flesh, and fix my hopes beyond all that is in the world,
* the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of
life.'
" Another event has occurred, which has suggested many
reflections I mean 's death. His father acquired
enormous wealth ; the son became a very highly distinguished
political diameter, and occupied great space in popular
opinion. They are both gone, and all their successes in trade
and ambition would be to them now more than outweighed by
the smallest act of piety, and real consecration of the heart to
the service of God. What a lesson to my darling projects ! I
may possibly, only possibly, by the greatest exertions, equal
the first in business, and the other as a statesman and what
then ? Suppose me in possession of the fulness of my
hopes must I be happy ? Their example says no ! They
were not happy. The father died, it is said, of vexation, and
the son perished by his own hand. But, happy or not happy,
death must come at last, and will wipe away these trifles, and
leave me to receive my doom, not according to the fame, or
the wealth I have acquired, but according to the deeds I have
done, whether they be good or evil."
"Sunday, Oct. 29- 1815.
" I do not know when I have had so many things of some
importance to manage, or when I have spent my time in
business more to my satisfaction. My mind and heart have
been in.-tantly engaged in it, and I have thought as little of
shout inir, since I returned to business, as I did of business,
while I was shooting. I know you would not like the un-
settlement of the plan I have in my head ; which is, after a
few years, to live somewhere quiet in the country, and go to
town for one week in a month. I think that with strict,
unsparing rules, this is all that would be necessary : the un-
scttlement would be no objection to me, for I do not find
that change from one employment to another quite different,
produces it; and I fancy that I could brew one hour,
study mathematics the next, shoot the third, and read
poetry the fourth, without allowing any one of these pursuits
i: 3
54 REFLECTIONS. CHAP. IV.
to interfere with the others. This habit of full engagement
of the mind, has its advantages in business and other things,
but is attended with this serious disadvantage, that it im-
merses the mind so fully in its immediate object, that there
is no room for thoughts of higher importance, and more real
moment, to creep in. I feel this continually, the hours
and hours that I spend in utter forgetfulness of that which
I well know to be the only thing of importance! How
very great a portion of one's life there is, in which one might
as well be a heathen ! "
Writing to his wife on the first of November in
this year, he says,
" I went this evening to a general meeting of the adult
school. I was very much interested by it, and made a
speech, which was received with shouts, nay, roars of ap-
plause! The good that has already been done, is quite
extraordinary : exclusive of one hundred and fifty persons
who have improved in reading, eighty-nine, who did not
know their letters, can now read well. We had five ex-
hibited, and their performance was grand ; but the effect
upon their lives, is still better than on their literature. Then
we had a variety of fine speeches. I do not much admire
meetings of ladies and gentlemen, but the tradesmen speak-
ing to the mechanics, is a treat to me ; first, it is so enter-
taining to hear them, such sublimity, such grandeur, such
superfine images ; one fine fellow harvested a rich crop of
corn off a majestic oak, and the simile was received with a
burst of applause. But if this is entertaining, the zeal and
warmth with which they speak and act, is very interesting ;
and I really prefer their blundering heartiness, to the cool
and chaste performances of more erudite orators."
Writing in February, 1816, after lamenting the
slow progress he had made of late in religion, he
adds,
" But there is one respect in which I feel different. I see
18121816. NARROW ESCAPE. 55
the hand of a directing Providence in the events of life, the
lesser o well as the greater ; and this is of great importance
t< me, for the belief that your actions, if attempted aright,
are guided and directed by superior wisdom, is to me, one of
the greatest inducements to prayer ; and I do think that the
little trials I have met with, have materially contributed to
produce with me a habit of prayer."
This strong reliance on the presiding care of God,
grew with him year by year, as his experience
widened, and he loved to count up the instances in
which (as he firmly believed) he had seen the ways
of himself and others directed by the hands of Provi-
dence to its own great ends. An unfinished paper
(It-tailing various providential escapes he had met
with, refers, after alluding to many earlier ones, to
one that occurred in the winter of 1815.
" Mr. Back and I," he says, " went into the brewery to
survey the repairs which were going on ; we were standing
upon a plank, with only room for two, face to face; we
changed places in order that I might survey a spot, to which
lie was directing my attention; his hat was on, I was un-
covered ; as soon as we had changed places, several bricks fell
from the roof, and one struck his head ; his hat in some
measure averted the blow, but he never recovered the injury,
and died shortly afterwards of an oppression on the brain."
To Joseph John Gurney, Esq. at Earlham.
" Hampstead, April 12. 1816.
" It is very true that I have been worried of late, but not
about the Malt Tax, for that is only a question of profit, one
that I could not regulate, and I find no disposition in my
mind to regret what is irremediable. The thing which has
given me uneasiness, is the discovery of what I consider
errors in the management of the department of the brewery
which has fallen to me lately ; and these errors I am de-
B 4
56 LETTER TO ME. GUENEY. CHAP. IV.
terinined to cure. Now this involves much labour but
labour I do not regard and some anxiety, considering my in-
experience upon many points connected with it ; but I cannot
say that I have felt this much. The true cause of my dis-
quietude arises from a certain feature in my own mind, which
I can hardly describe ; a kind of unregulated ardour, in any
pursuit which appears to me to be of great importance, which
takes captive all my faculties, and binds them down to that
pursuit, and will not let them or me rest till it is accom-
plished. I hate thrs ; it is so unpleasant to wake, and to go
to sleep, with your head full of vats and tubs ; and I disap-
prove it more than I hate it. No man, I think, can have
more abstract conviction of the folly and futility of such
engagement of heart upon objects so utterly trifling and un-
durable. I see that it is an infirmity ; I deeply feel that it
chokes the good seed, and is a most pernicious weed, and I
feel the breaches that it makes in my own quiet : yet so
much am I its slave, that it will intrude into the midst of
such reflections, and carry me off to my next gyle.* How
sincerely I do often wish that I could direct this fervent
energy about temporals into its proper channel : that I could
be as warm about things of infinite importance, as I am about
dust and ashes.
" If I cannot accomplish this, I wish we could divide it, I
keep half for my business, and give you half for your book, f
How can you, my dear brother, be languid and spiritless,
with such a thing before you, and with such a capacity for
doing it excellently ! Are you not ashamed that I should be
more anxious about making porter, than you are about making
Christians ? At it, my dear fellow, at it, with vigour ; but
when you find your mind unsuited for it, write me another
letter, for the last was a great pleasure to
" Your affectionate
" T. F. BUXTON."
* A " gyle " is the technical name for a brewing,
f On the Evidences of the Christian Religion. See the Works of
Joseph John Gurney.
CIIAP. V. ADVENTURE WITH A MAD DOG. 57
CHAPTER V.
1816, 1817.
ADVKMIRE WITH A MAD DOO. DISTRESS IN SPITALFIELDS.
MU. BCXTON'S SPEECH. LETTERS ESTABLISHMENT OF PRISON
DISCIPLINE SOCIETY. DEATH OP CHARLES BUXTON. JOURNEY
OX THE CONTINENT. LETTERS. INCIDENT AT THE BREWERY.
BOOK ON PRISON DISCIPLINE.
AN incident which occurred during the summer of
1816, is thus mentioned by Mr. Buxton in a letter
to his wife, who fortunately was absent'at the time :
" Spitalfields, July 15. 1816.
" As you must hear the story of our dog Prince, I may as
well tell it you. On Thursday morning, when I got on my
horse at S. Hoare's, David told me that there was something
the matter with Prince, that he had killed the cat, and almost
killed the new dog, and had bit at him and Elizabeth. I
ordered him to be tied up and taken care of, and then rode off
t t>\vn. When I got into Hampstead, I saw Prince covered
with mud, and running furiously, and biting at every thing.
I -aw him bite at least a dozen dogs, two boys, and a man.
" Of course I was exceedingly alarmed, being persuaded he
was mad. I tried every effort to stop him or kill him, or to
drive him into some outhouse, but in vain. At last he sprang
up at a lxy, and seized him by the breast; happily I was
near him, and knocked him off with my whip. He then set
oh" towards London, and I rode by his side, waiting for some
opportunity of stopping him. I continually spoke to him, but
he paid no regard t<> coaxing or scolding. You may suppose
I \va> seriously alarmed, dreading the immense mischief he
might do, having seen him do so much in the few preceding
58 ADVENTUEE WITH A MAD DOG. CHAP. V.
minutes. I was terrified at the idea of his getting into
Camden Town and London, and at length considering that if
ever there was an occasion that justified a risk of life, this
was it, I determined to catch him myself. Happily he ran
up to Pryor's gate, and I threw myself from my horse upon
him, and caught him by the neck : he bit at me and struggled,
but without effect, and I succeeded in securing him, without
his biting me. He died yesterday, raving mad.
" Was there ever a more merciful escape ? Think of the
children being gone I I feel it most seriously, but I cannot
now write more fully. I have not been at all nervous about
it, tho' certainly rather low, occasioned partly by this, and
partly by some other things.
" I do not feel much fit for our Bible meeting on
Wednesday but I must exert myself.
" P. S. Write me word whether Fowell has any wound on
his fingers, and if he has one made by the dog, let it be cut
out immediately ; mind, these are my positive orders."
He afterwards mentioned some particulars which
he had omitted in this hurried letter.
" When I seized the dog," he said, " his struggles were so
desperate that it seemed at first almost impossible to hold
him, till I lifted him up in the air, when he was more easily
managed, and I contrived to ring the bell. I was afraid that
the foam, which was pouring from his mouth in his furious
efforts to bite me, might get into some scratch, and do rne
injury ; so with great difficulty, I held him with one hand,
while I put the other into my pocket and forced on my glove ;
then I did the same with my other hand, and at last the
gardener opened the door, saying, ' What do you want ? '
' I've brought you a mad dog,' replied I ; and telling him to
get a strong chain, I walked into the yard, carrying the dog
by his neck. I was determined not to kill him, as I thought
if he should prove not to be mad, it would be such a satis-
faction to the three persons whom he had bitten. I made the
gardener (who was in a terrible fright) secure the collar round
his neck and fix the other end of the chain to a tree, and then
1816, 1817. ADVKMLKK WITH A MAD DOG. 59
walking to its furthest range, with all my force, which was
nearly exhausted by his frantic struggles, I flung him away
i 101 u ni'\ and sprang back. He made a desperate bound
after me, but finding himself foiled, he uttered the most
fearful yell I ever heard. All that day he did nothing but
rush to and fro, champing the foam which gushed from his
ja\v> ; AVC threw him meat, and he snatched at it with fury,
but instantly dropped it again.
" The next day when I went to see him, I thought the
chain seemed worn, so I pinned him to the ground between
the prongs of a pitchfork, and then fixed a much larger chain
round his neck ; when I pulled off the fork, he sprang up
and made a dash at me, which snapped the old chain in two !
He died in forty-eight hours from the time he went mad."
Mr. Buxton writes to his wife a day or two after-
wards,
" I shot all the dogs, and drowned all the cats. The man
and boys who were bit, are doing pretty well. Their wounds
were immediately attended to, cut, and burnt out.
" What a terrible business it was. You must not scold
me for the risk I ran ; what I did I did from a conviction
that it was my duty, and I never can think that an over-
cautious care of self in circumstances where your risk may
rve others, is so great a virtue as you seem to think it.
I do believe that if I had shrunk from the danger, and others
had suffered in consequence, I should have felt more pain,
than I should have done, had I received a bite."
The winter of 1816 set in early, and with great
srYfritv; the silk trade was almost stagnant, and
the weavers in Spitalfields, always trembling on the
brink of starvation, were plunged into the deepest
mi<:Tv. It was increased by the constant influx
into the parish, of the poorest class of London
work pro|.le, who could find no lodging elsewhere. A
60 DISTRESS IN SPITALFIELDS. CHAP. V.
soup society had been long before established, but
the distress far exceeded the means provided for its
alleviation. Under these circumstances it was de-
termined to hold a meeting on the subject at the
Mansion House. Mr. Buxton and Mr. Samuel Hoare
delayed their usual visit to Norfolk, in order to ex-
plore, and assist in relieving, the sufferings of the
Spitalfields poor.
To Mrs. Buxton, at Earlham.
"Spitalfields, Nov. 9-1816.
" * * * S. Hoare and I came from Hampstead to attend a
committee this morning, and afterwards visited the poor. The
wretchedness was great indeed, but I felt most compassion for
a poor old creature of eighty, living alone without a fire or
blanket. She seemed quite bewildered by the sight of silver ;
her twilight of intellect lost in gratitude and amazement. Poor
old thing! that she, with all the infirmities of age, and without
one earthly consolation, should look upon the prospect of a
good meal as a cause of extravagant joy, and real happiness,
and that we, with the command of every comfort, in full
strength, without a bodily want, should ever repine at trifling
discomfitures, is, I hope, a lesson. We are going to have a
public meeting, and I trust a profitable one, for without a
large supply of money we must suspend our operations.
George Kett sent me 507. to-day."
" Spitalfields, Nov. 22. 1816.
" I did not write to you yesterday because really I had not
a moment's time; the committees and my own business
occupy every moment. I had a pleasant journey up to town.
I had much upon my mind, our conversation about the
eclipse. The vastness of the creation is indeed a subject for
meditation. ' The heavens declare the glory of God, and the
firmament showeth his handiwork.' 'When I consider the
stars which thou hast made, and the heavens which are the
1816, 1817. MB. BUXTON'S SPEECH. 61
work of thy hands, what is man that thou art mindful of
him ? ' How truly do these words describe the thoughts to
which the vast spectacle of nature, especially the heavenly
bodies, rolling in their appointed orbits, give rise. What a
sermon these are upon the mightiness of the Creator, and
Upon the insignificance of man : and yet that we, who arc
truly dust and nothingness, should have the presumption to
defy the power of the Almighty, to resist his commands, and
to place our whole souls and hearts upon that which he tells
us is but vanity ; this is (if nothing else were) a demon-
stration that the heart of man is ' deceitful above all things,
and desperately wicked.' On the other hand, that a Being
so infinitely great should condescend to invite us to our
duty, and to call that duty his service, proves as strongly
that he has crowned us with loving kindness and tender
mercy.
" I am well, and our proceedings about the poor, prosper ;
- but oh, my speech ! When shall I be able to think of it ?
I fear that I shall go to the meeting with it all in a jumble,
ami this would be wicked, as it would injure the good cause.
I do try, I hope, not to mingle too much of self, in my
earnest desires for its success, and I am not forgetful of my
usual resource in difficulty prayer.
" I am now going to the workhouse. I shall reach Earlham
on Tuesday ; S. Hoare and Abraham Plaistow will be with
me, and I hope the latter will be treated with deserved dis-
tinction, as he was for the first twelve years of my life the
dearest friend I had."
"Nov. 27. 1816.
" Well, our meeting went off capitally. I felt very flat,
ami did not go through the topics I meant to touch upon, and
upon the whole, considered it as a kind of failure ; but as I
hal entreated that what was best might be done, I did not
feel at all di.-lirartened, but to my great surprise, all others
took a very different sense of it.
" Tell dear Priscy I send her the ' Morning Chronicle,'
that r-lic may ivad papa's speech, and I hope it will make her
<f .-m ing the poor."
62 LETTER FROM WILBERFORCE. CHAP. V.
He might fairly be surprised by the universal
attention which this speech received. Nothing
could be more commendatory than the mention
made of it in the newspapers; and letters of con-
gratulation poured in from all sides. One from
Mr. Wilberforce, the first written by him to his
future ally and successor, may be deemed almost
prophetic.
" My dear Sir, " Kensington Gore, Nov. 28. 1816.
" I must in three words express the real pleasure, with
which I have both read and heard, of your successful effort on
Tuesday last, in behalf of the hungry and the naked. *
But I cannot claim the merit of being influenced only by
regard for the Spitalfields' sufferers, in the pleasure I have
received from your performances at the meeting. It is partly
a selfish feeling, for I anticipate the success of the efforts,
which I trust you will one day make in other instances, in an
assembly in which I trust we shall be fellow-labourers, both
in the motives by which we are actuated, and in the objects
to which our exertions will be directed.
" I am, my dear Sir,
" Yours sincerely,
" W. WILBERFORCE."
The speech reappeared in publications of the most
widely different character. It was republished by
the Spitalfields Benevolent Society, as the best means
of creating sympathy with their exertions; it was
republished by Hone and the democrats, as the best
statement of the miseries permitted under the existing
government ; and it was republished by the friends
of that government, " because," said they, " it forms
so beautiful a contrast to the language of those
1816, 1817. GOOD SUCCESS OF TIIE MEETING. 63
wretched demagogues, whose infamous doctrines
would increase the evils they affect to deplore."
" By this one meeting at the Mansion House," says
the report of the Spitalfields Benevolent Society,
" 4 3,36 9/. were raised." Two days after it had been
held, Lord Sidmouth sent for Mr. Buxton, to inform
him, that " the Prince had been so pleased by the
spirit and temper of the meeting, and so strongly
felt the claims that had been urged, that he had
sent them 5000/."
With these exertions for the poor around him,
Mr. Buxton's public career may be said to have
commenced. He was now launched upon that stream
of labour for the good of others, along which his
course lay for the remainder of his life. His letters
show the eagerness of his desire to be employing his
energies in warring against the evils around him.
To one of his relations, who had entered upon a
benevolent undertaking which required considerable
personal sacrifices, he writes,
" For my part, I cannot lament for and pity those who
make great sacrifices in compliance with conscience ; such de-
dication of self is, in my view, much more a matter of envy.
Assuredly, if we could look at such sacrifices throughout
their whole extent, in their consequences here to others, and
hereafter to ourselves, we should perceive that the permission
to be so engaged, is a privilege of inestimable value. I am
certain that you are only actuated by a conviction of duty,
and shall I repine and grieve because you are enabled to
follow so high a director? Or shall I not rather heartily
rejoice that you are called to such a service, and that the call
is not resisted ? I often think of those verses in the Acts,
' n-joiciiiLT that tin \ were counted worthy to suffer shame for
hid name ; and daily in the Temple and in every house, they
64 VISIT TO NEWGATE. CHAP. V.
ceased not to teach and to preach Jesus Christ.' And so 1
am half inclined to envy you, and more than hah to wish that,
somehow or other, I were as well engaged."
It was no part of his character to indulge in vague
desires without a bold struggle for their accomplish-
ment. Having done what he could in relieving the
miseries of his poor neighbours, he soon entered upon
a wider field of benevolence.
One day, while walking past Newgate with Mr.
Samuel Hoare, their conversation turned upon the
exertions of their sister-in-law Mrs. Fry, and her
companions, for the improvement of the prisoners
within its walls ; and this suggested the idea of em-
ploying themselves in a similar manner. They soon
entered into communication with Mr. William Craw-
ford, Mr. P. Bedford, and other gentlemen, who were
also anxious to improve the condition, at that time
deplorable to the last degree, of the English jails.
The exertions of Mrs. Fry and her associates had
prepared the way ; public attention had been drawn
to the subject; and in 1816 the Society for the
Reformation of Prison Discipline was formed. In
the list of the committee, Mr. Buxton's name stands
between those of Dr. Lushington and Lord Suffield
(then the Hon. E. Harbord), both of whom were
afterwards so closely associated with him in the
attack upon negro slavery.
On January the 5th, 1817, he writes from Hamp-
stead to Mrs. Buxton,
" After I had written to you yesterday, I went with
Charles and Peter Bedford, on a visit to Newgate. I saw
four poor creatures who are to be executed on Tuesday next.
1816, 1817. LETTER TO MRS. BUXTON. 65
Poor things ! God have mercy on them ! The sight of them
was sufficient for that day. I felt no further inclination to
examine the prison. It has made me long much that my life
may not pass quite uselessly; but that, in some shape or
<>th'T, I may assist in checking and diminishing crime and its
consequent misery. Surely it is in the power of all to do
something in the service of their Master; and surely I among
the rest, if I were now to begin and endeavour, to the best of
my capacity, to serve Him, might be the means of good to
some of my fellow-creatures. This capacity is, I feel, no mean
talent, and attended with no inconsiderable responsibility. I
must pray that I may at length stir my self up, and be enabled
to feel somewhat of the real spirit of a missionary, and that I
may devote myself, my influence, my time, and above all,
my affections, to the honour of God, and the happiness of
mat. 1 . My mission is evidently not abroad, but it is not less
a mission on that account. I feel that I may journey through
life by two very different paths, and that the time is now
come for choosing which I will pursue. I may go on, as I
have been going on, not absolutely forgetful of futurity, nor
absolutely devoted to it. I may get riches and repute, and
gratify my ambition, and do some good and more evil; and,
at 1 "iigth, I shall find all my time on earth expended, and in
retracing my life I shall see little but occasions lost, and ca-
pabilities misapplied. The other is a path of more labour
and le.-s indulgence. I may become a real soldier of Christ ;
I may feel that I have no business on earth but to do his
will and to walk in his ways, and I may direct every energy
I have to the service of others. Of these paths, I know
which I would most gladly choose : * but what I would, that
I do not ; but what I hate, that do I.' "
He now began to entertain thoughts of entering
hi Hi aim 'lit, and at the election of February, 1817,
he went down to Weymouth, at the invitation of
Mr. \V. "Williams, to stand on the same interest. He
did not, however, ofter himself MS a candidate.
F
66 HIS BROTHER CHARLES. CHAP. V.
" Weymouth, February, 1817-
" I am far from regretting that I came, as I do not doubt
it will secure me an independent seat next election. That
word 'independence,' has been the obstacle upon this
occasion, and I hope to spend the next two years in prepara-
tion for the House. I hope I shall either do good, or receive
pleasure, when I get there. As yet, I have had in politics
neither one nor the other. I am pining for home : nothing
suits me worse than this kind of busy leisure."
Soon after his return home, he became absorbed
in anxiety about his brother Charles, who had shown
symptoms of a decline, which at length proved fatal.
A more grievous calamity could scarcely have befallen
Mr. Buxton. Though their characters stood far
apart, the two brothers had some points of strong
and endearing resemblance. The lively gladness of
heart which threw a constant sunshine over the
conversation of the younger, would often relax the
graver brow of the elder brother ; and, indeed, though
the pressure of care and business gave Mr. Buxtori
an habitually grave aspect, and though it was a
part of his character to be so absorbed by the pursuit
he had in hand, as to appear absent ; yet there was in
him throughout life a vein of playfulness which showed
itself often when least expected. Even when he
himself was somewhat silent and oppressed, he courted
the cheerfulness of others, and delighted in it. But
the friend that could best enliven him was lost when
his brother sunk into the grave.
His affliction was profound, but he knew whence
to draw consolation. He writes, July, 1817,
"If we only consider the loss we have sustained, we must
go mourning all the day long ; if we consider the gain to him,
1816, 1817. HIS GRIEF FOR HIS BROTHER. 67
it extracts the anguish from the wound. I cannot help fol-
lowing him in his present state. He, with whose views and
prospects, and feelings and joys, I have till within a few
been so conversant, is now in a scene so new, so grand,
so inexpressible, so infinitely beyond the rags and vanities
of earth. I do not expect to feel Charles's funeral much,"
In- says in another letter ; " I have dwelt so much upon him
as ascended to heaven, that I cannot, or rather do not, so
very closely connect the idea of him and his remains. I
mean, in committing them to the earth, I do not feel as if I
were committing him there."
Twenty years afterwards, in reviewing the leading
occurrences of his life, he thus refers to this event :
" I know of no tie (that of husband and wife excepted)
which could be stronger than the one which united Charles
and me. We were what the lawyers call ' tenants in
common ' of every thing. He was, I think, the most agree-
able person I ever knew. A kind of original humour played
about his conversation. It was not wit; it was anything
rather than that species of humour which provokes loud
laughter, it was not exactly naivete*, though that comes
nearest to it; it was an intellectual playfulness which pro-
vided for every hour, and extracted from every incident a
fund of delicate merriment. He died at Weymouth in the
\<ar 1817; and thou knowest, O Lord! and thou only,
how deeply I loved, and how long and how intensely I la-
mented him."
His brother's widow and children were the objects
of his tender care. He took a house for them near
Ins own at Hampstead, and as his brother-in-law, Mr.
Samuel Hoare, resided in the same place, the three
families became united in habits of the closest inter-
course.
In tin- winter of 1817, he went over to France
T 2
68 VISIT TO THE CONTINENT. CHAP. V.
with the Rev. Francis Cunningham, who was anxious
to establish a branch of the Bible Society at Paris.
Mr. Buxton and his brothers-in-law took a great
interest in this undertaking, and were also desirous
to procure information as to the excellent systems
of prison discipline, adopted in the jails of Antwerp
and Ghent.
In crossing over to Boulogne the party met with
an adventure, which might have turned out seriously.
Soon after leaving Dover, they were surrounded by
a dense fog, in which they drifted about for two days
and nights, with scarcely a morsel of food to eat;
and what was still worse, without being able to con-
jecture what course the vessel was pursuing. After
referring to this incident, Mr. Buxton proceeds in
his diary :
"I would not willingly forget the lesson taught of the
value of food ; of the pain of being restricted in it ; these
lines will recall my feelings,
' Take physic, pomp,
Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel,
That thou mayst shake the superflux to them.'"
The following are extracts from his diary :
" November 1. 1817.
" One cannot pass over from Dover to Calais, without being
struck with the immense expenditure which has been lavished
upon the animosities of the two countries. We hear with
astonishment of some hundred thousand pounds raised in
England for the dispersion of the Bible through the world ;
of 20,0007. per annum raised to send missionaries to commu-
nicate to heathen nations the blessings of Christianity. Such
exertions excite our admiration, elevate our country in our
eyes, and even exalt our nature. But turn for a moment to
the opposite picture, and observe ten times these enormous
1816, 1817. VISIT TO THE CONTINENT. 69
sums expended upon twenty acres of land at Dover, and as
many at Calais, not to promote civilisation or happiness, but
for purposes of mutual hostility, defiance, aggression, and
bloodshed. I do verily believe that the true, genuine, valorous,
military spirit, is the true and genuine spirit inspired by the
enemy of man, and I hope that I shall never refuse or be
ashamed to avow these strange, extraordinary sentiments."
" November 10.
" Thus far I have thoroughly enjoyed my journey ; the
people are civil and engaging, and full of life. What an odd
thing it is, that our mutual rulers should have deemed it ex-
pedient that we should have spent the last twenty-three
\ rars in cutting each other's throats ; and that we should so
nl'trn have illuminated at the grateful intelligence, that ten
thousand of these our lively friends were killed, and twenty
thousand wounded ! Surely we must now think this a strange
>n for rejoicing. Seeing the natives, is an antidote to
the pleasure of destroying them. If it be our duty to love
our enemies, the military preparations are an extraordinary
mode of displaying our affection. In truth it is a sad thing,
that
Straits interposed
Make enemies of nations, which had else,
Like kindred drops, been melted into one.' "
"November 11.
" We went to Versailles to breakfast. Almost every bush
has its statue. The fauns, tritons, Neptunes, heroes,
Venus'ses, Dianas, mixed with the statues of Louis le Grand
and Louis le Desir6 (whose features defy all meaning), present
an assemblage of fiction and fact, much to the advantage of
the former.
" After visiting Versailles, we went to St. Cloud. This is
a \vry comfortable and splendid abode, the furniture very
beautiful and costly, and as much surpassing Versailles in
cheerfulness, as falling short of it in melancholy grandeur. It
is the second record of departed glory which we have seen to
day : the third comes more home to our hearts. We this
ni^ht, on our arrival at Paris, heard of the death of our
T 3
70 VISIT TO THE CONTINENT. CHAP. V.
Princess. We have all felt it, as if she were bound to our-
selves by the ties of kindred.
"Nov. 12. We went to the Palace of the Luxemburg,
and there saw Talleyrand ; a bishop in the reign of the King,
an abjurer of Christianity when reason was deified, prime
minister of Buonaparte till his Spanish expedition, one of
the first to betray him, on his return offering his insidious
assistance again to betray him, and now in full power !
" 15th. Went to the Legislative Assembly, and saw the
rooms for the Peers. Wonderfully smart, too much so.
Very different indeed are both these chambers from the
negligent grandeur of the British Parliament."
" November 16.
" Francis Cunningham and I went to various persons, for
the purpose of establishing a Bible Society. We found only
M. Juillerat at home, with whom we had some encouraging
conversation. His description of the state of religion in the
country is truly deplorable. The Protestants are sadly in-
different, and the Catholics are either quite philosophically
careless, or thoroughly bigoted.
" Baxter says, in his Life, something of this kind :
*I did not know till now what a great sin tyranny is,
which thus prevents the propagation of the Gospel ; ' and the
difficulties we have this day felt in the establishment of the
Bible Society from the restraints of Government, have united
me in the same feeling.
"Went again to the Louvre, and greatly admired the
Italian paintings ; and, particularly, some of Claude's. I
cannot like Rubens' great, sprawling, allegorical Deities."
His diary contains very full particulars relative to
those prisons at Ghent and Antwerp, which it was
one purpose of his journey to examine. He was
especially struck with the admirable management of
the Maison de Force, in the former town, and he
determined to lay his account of it before the Prison
Discipline Society in London.
1816, 1817. DESPOTISM OF NAPOLEON. 71
He mentions having been told at Ghent, that when
lUionaparte was emperor, he demanded of the Roman
( at holic College an approbation of his marriage with
Maria Louisa, which they steadily refused. Soon
after, he sent them a bishop who was not properly
ordained by the Pope, and they refused to obey him.
On this he ordered a detachment of soldiers to sur-
round the college, and to take every priest and
student. He then sent them all off to his armies as
soldiers ; and of 330 thus sent, but fifteen returned
alive!
" Sunday, Calais.
" Here we arrived at ten o'clock this morning, being com-
pelled by the regulations of the fortified towns to travel some
di.-tunce on this day. We regret this, as we would not
willingly lend even our feeble countenance to the violation of
the Sabbath, which this country everywhere presents.
" We all felt grateful for the encouraging intelligence, that
a Bible Society had been formed in Paris. I ardently hope
that it may be the means of much direct good by the cir-
eulation of the Scriptures, and of much indirect good, by
eau.-ing intercourse between the Protestants of France and
England. France, indeed, needs every thing that can be done
for her religious welfare. Religion is, as it were, almost
abolished. I speak generally, but I trust, and indeed I am
laded, that this generality admits of very many excep-
tions ; but, altogether, there is little appearance of religion.
The ainu.-i mrnt.s and businesses of the Sunday, the utter
absence of the Scriptures, the perpetual reiteration of
'Muii Dieu ' in every sentence, the indifference as to
truth; in short, all that strikes the eye and the ear, in-
dicates the absence of any spiritual understanding."
rpmi Mr. Buxton's return to England, he commu-
nicated to the Prison l)i>cipline Society the inform-
ation which he had acquired with respect to the
r 4
72 VISITS TO PRISONS. CHAP. V.
Maison de Force at Ghent, and this led to a request
from the committee that his description of it might
be published. " When I sat down to this task," he
says, in the preface to his book, " the work insensibly
grew upon my hands. It was necessary to prove that
evils and grievances did exist in this country, and to
bring home to these causes the increase of corruption
and depravity. For this purpose repeated visits to
prisons were requisite."
Accordingly, accompanied by Mr. Hoare, Mr.
William Crawford, and others, he visited, at different
times, the principal London jails, and examined with
the utmost care into every part of the system pursued
in them.
To the Rev. Francis Cunningham.
"December, 1817-
" Since my return I have been much engaged in the
London prisons, and my inquiries have developed a system
of folly and wickedness which surpasses belief. A noise
must be made about it, and (will you believe it ? ) I am going
to turn author, and am preparing a pamphlet upon the sub-
ject of prisons.
" The recollection of our journey acquires new charms in
my eyes, and I heartily rejoice we were induced to take it.
" Tell C that if the result should in any way diminish
the quantum of misery that is endured, and of vice which is
hatched in our prisons, if it should be the means of encou-
raging the Protestant ministers of France, and of dispersing
the Bible through its forlorn population, I shall think we
were almost repaid for the terrible, monstrous, shocking
dangers we incurred, when exposed to all the horrors of a calm.
" Can you give Major Close the name of the regiment
at Mount Cassel which had no Bibles ? If so, they will be
immediately supplied."
1816, 1817. LETTERS AND REFLECTIONS. 73
He closed the year 1817 with the following reflec-
tions in his diary :
" This year has been chequered with events of deep in-
terest, some joyful, and some dressed in the darkest sable.
But how encouraging is it to be able to recognize in all, and
especially in the mournful circumstances of the year, the
hand of a merciful Providence ! This day last year I spent
with my beloved brother; together we went to our usual
place of worship, to hear our (especially his) beloved
minister*, and together we wandered through the future.
' But God has hid from human eyes
The dark decrees of Fate.'
" Soon after my return from Weymouth began the heaviest
affliction of my life the illness, the gradual and perceptible
decay, alas ! the death, of my dearest brother. No day passes
in which something or other does not recall his beloved
i maire, his lively manners, his unity of heart. I trust that
frw days pass in which I forget to thank God for this dispen-
sation, and to rejoice that he has, as I doubt not he has, 'for
tliH corruptible put on incorruption.'
" His widow and her three children have been staying
with us for some time, much to my comfort, and, I hope,
somewhat to hers. I have read and heard of acts of faithful
affection; but I never heard, or read, or saw anything to
compare with the affection, kindness, attention, and generosity
displayed by S. Hoare to her.
" On Saturday last, in consequence of an almost obsolete
promise to sleep in town when all the other partners were
absent, I slept at Brick Lane. S. Hoare had complained
to me that several of our men were employed on the Sunday.
To inquire into this, in the morning I went into the brew-
house, and was led to the examination of a vat containing
17H t<.n-\vfight of beer. I found it in what 1 considered a
dangerous situation, and I intended to have it repaired the
* The Rev. Josiah Pratt.
74 INCIDENT AT THE BREWERY. CHAP. V.
next morning. I did not anticipate any immediate danger, as
it had stood so long. When I got to Wheeler Street Chapel,
I did as I usually do in cases of difficulty, I craved the
direction of my heavenly Friend, who will give rest to the
burthened, and instruction to the ignorant.
" From that moment I became very uneasy, and instead
of proceeding to Hampstead, as I had intended, I returned
to Brick Lane. On examination I saw, or thought I saw,
a still further declension of the iron pillars which supported
this immense weight ; so I sent for a surveyor ; but before he
came, I became apprehensive of immediate danger, and
ordered the beer, though in a state of fermentation, to be
let out. When he arrived, he gave it as his decided opinion
that the vat was actually sinking, that it was not secure for
five minutes, and that if we had not emptied it, it would pro-
bably have fallen. Its fall would have knocked down our
steam-engine, coppers, roof, with two great iron reservoirs
full of water, in fact the whole brewery.
" How the new year may pass, who can tell ? I may not
see the end of it ; but these are the active objects I propose
for myself:
To write a pamphlet on Prison Discipline.
To establish a Savings Bank in Spitalfields.
To recommence the sale of salt fish in Spitalfields.
To attend to the London Hospital, and to endeavour to
make the clergyman perform his duties, or to get him
superseded.
To establish a new Bible Association.
" May the grace of God assist me in these objects ; may
He sanctify my motives, and guard me from pride, and may
I use my utmost exertions, making His will mine."
In February of the ensuing year he published his
work entitled " An Inquiry whether Crime be pro-
duced or prevented by our present System of Prison
Discipline." It was received with a degree of atten-
tion to which he had never aspired, running through
1816, 1817. WORK ON PRISON DISCIPLINE. 75
six editions in the course of the first year; and a
very considerable impulse was given to general feel-
ing upon the subject of which it treated. The work
was thus alluded to in the House of Commons by Sir
James Mackintosh.
" The question of our penal code, as relating to prison
abuses, has been lately brought home to the feelings of every
111:111 in the country by a work so full of profound informa-
tion, of such great ability, of such chaste and commanding
eloquence, as to give that House and the country a firm
assurance that its author could not embark in any under-
taking which would not reflect equal credit upon himself
and upon the object of his labours."
Mr. \Vilberforce wrote to him on the same subject,
and, after warmly congratulating him on the weight
it appeared to carry, he adds,
" May it please God to continue to animate you with as
much benevolent zeal, and to direct it to worthy objects. I
hope you will come soon into Parliament, and be able to
contend in person, as well as with your pen, for the rights and
happiness of the oppressed and the friendless. I claim you
as an ally in this blessed league."
The good effects of this book were not confined to
England: it was translated into French, and dis-
tributed on the Continent. It even reached Turkey ;
and in India, a gentleman of the name of Blair,
having chanced to read it, was induced to examine into
the state of the Madras jails. He found them in a
wretched condition, and did not rest till a complete
reformation had been effected.
CHAP. VI.
CHAPTER VI.
1818, 1819.
ELECTION, 1818. LETTER FROM MR. J. J. GURNET. THOUGHTS
ON ENTERING PARLL4.MENT. DEBATE ON THE PETERLOO
RIOT. BURDETT. CANNING. PLUNKETT. BROUGHAM.
WILBERPORCE. LETTER TO MR. CHARLES BUXTON OF BELLFIELD.
FIRST SPEECH, ON CRIMINAL LAW. COMMITTEES ON CRI-
MINAL LAW AND PRISON DISCIPLINE. LETTERS.
IN the spring of 1818, a dissolution of Parliament
took place, and Mr. Buxton now offered himself as a
candidate for Weymouth. While upon his canvass,
he thus writes from Bellfield :
" I am easy in my mind, leaving the event to Him who
knows whether the busy engagements of a public life will
draw me nearer to, or separate me further from Him ; and
who also knows whether He chooses me as an instrument of
good ; and if He does, He will bring the means used to a
successful issue. ***** j nave p asse( j a verv
leisure time since I came here. The Bible and Hudibras
have been my chief subjects of study."
Elections at this time presented very different
scenes from what they now afford ; and, very fre-
quently, the voters were anxious to decide the matter,
as Irish counsel used to decide their causes, by fight-
ing it out. This was so much the case at Wey-
1818, 1819. ELECTION OF 1818. 77
mouth, that Mr. Buxton was obliged to entreat his
friends to use moderation towards their opponents.
" Beat them," said he, " in vigour, beat them in the
generous exercise of high principle, beat them in
disdain of corruption, and the display of pure in-
tegrity; but do not beat them with bludgeons."
Four days before the election terminated, he
writes :
"June 26. 1818.
" I am very nearly sick of the bustle, and ray expectations
of success are considerably diminished this morning ; but this
is only my own opinion. I am exceedingly popular with my
party, except as to one point. We (that is the party, for I
have had nothing to do with it) have made some most bitter
attacks upon Sir for his conduct in Spain. But
when I heard from a private friend of his, that he was quite
sunk and wretched, I expressed in my speech yesterday the
<lis<lain I felt at promoting my cause by slander, and said,
that as he had been acquitted by a competent tribunal, he
must be considered as innocent. The violence of my party
could hardly bear this, and for the first time they gave some
indications of disapprobation. I told them plainly that I
would do what I considered an act of public justice, though
it offended every friend I had in the town."
To Mrs. Buxton.
"June 29. 1818.
" The election is over. I am now going to the Hall to
return thanks to my constituents. And so I am a member
of Parliament. Well, I have not yet wished to decide the
matter myself. My only feeling has been, if it is right, I
tnict it will take place; and if not, I equally trust it will be
prevented. I wish you were here to see me chaired. The
town is in an uproar. The bugle horn is at this moment
, and hundreds of persons are collected on the Espla-
78 LETTER FROM MR. GURNET. CHAP. VL
nade. Everybody has blue ribbons. I hope the children
at Hampstead wear them."
Mr. J. J. Gurney writes to him on this important
point in his career,
" My dear Brother, Norwich, 7 mo. 8th, 1818.
" My congratulations come late, which has arisen from
want of time, not of interest. I have seldom felt more
interested in any thing than in thy parliamentary views.
Many years have passed over our heads since I first expressed
my opinion to thee, that Parliament would be thy most use-
ful and desirable field of action. My wishes are now accom-
plished ; and, till the Parliament meets, I shall indulge
myself freely in pleasing anticipations of thy usefulness and
thy success. Not to flatter thee, thou hast some qualities
which fit thee admirably well for this station Nor
have I any fears of the effect of a public career upon thy own
soul. It is undoubtedly true that so extended a field of
action will require at thy hands increased watchfulness and
great fidelity ; but I am sure thy judgment is too sound, and
thy heart too much alive to the dictates of plain truth, ever
to allow thee to be puffed up for those things in which thou
hast a stewardship indeed, but no fee.
' Not more than others thou deserv'st
But God has given thee more.'
Let the five talents become ten, and the ten twenty, and let
them be rendered up at last from hands pure and undefiled,
to Him from whom they came !
" Nothing is more beautiful in the world of morals than
the great man in talents, who is the little child in religion.
With regard to a political
course I have only two things on my mind. I believe that
one great object taken up upon safe, sound, and religious
grounds, and pursued with unabating and unabatable vigour,
is a much better thing for a man of talents, who is willing to
be of some service in the world, than many objects pursued
without accuracy, without perseverance, and without effect.
1818, 1819. PLANS FOR THE POOR. 79
Thou wilt of course be considered by every body as the re-
presentative of the prison cause. To that cause thou art
jilr'lged. But in itself it will not afford thee sufficient scope.
I fully believe that thy chief aim cannot be directed to any
object so worthy of all thy efforts, as the amelioration of our
criminal code. It is a glorious cause to take up. My moni-
tions are, I dare say, very pragmatical ; nevertheless, I shall
add oue more. Do not let thy independence of all party be
tin means of leading thee away from sound Wliiggism. 1 may
shortly express my opinion that there is a great work going
ii in the world ; that the human mind, under the safeguard
of religious education, is advancing to the shaking off of so
many of its trammels, and so many of its prejudices ; that
society is at present in a state of much corruption, but that
if this work goes on, generation after generation will become
more enlightened, more virtuous, and more happy ; that
//if lllii //// <>/' (ruth, will prevail over every obstruction. I
consider this progress of the human mind perfectly safe, as
lonjr as it takes its spring from the unchangeable and most
liable principles of the Christian religion. I am sure
that these principles must ever prevent, in those on whom
they act, any steps towards wicked innovation and licentious
change. But let us not admit any check to the progress of
true light, whether moral, political, or religious ; and let us
take esiK-M-ial can- to avoid the spirit of Toryism. I mean that
spirit which bears the worst things with endless apathy,
because thi-ij are old ; and with which reason and even hu-
manity are nothing, and the authority of creatures, as fallible
as ourselves, every thing."
It will be remembered that at the commencement
<>t' the year 1818, he had determined to carry out
several plans for the benefit of the poor in Spitalfields,
aii'l for other purposes of a similar character. In a
paper written on New Year's day, 1819, he enters
very fully into tin- details of his exertions on each of
the live t:i-ks he had set himself, not one of which
80 THOUGHTS ON ENTERING PARLIAMENT. CHAP. VI.
had been neglected. The first of them had been " to
write a pamphlet on Prison Discipline," and after
alluding to the unexpected success of his work on
that subject, he adds, " It has excited a spirit of in-
quiry on the subject, which I trust will do much
good. I only hope that what has benefited others
has not injured me. I cannot render myself insen-
sible to the applause it has received. In my heart,
however, I know that it is no work of mine, but that
the Lord has been pleased, in great mercy, to make
me one of his instruments in this work. Lord, I
entreat thee, in this and in all things, to purify my
motives, and to enable me to act as unto thee, and
not unto man. Oh ! guard my heart from the
delusions of vanity."
The paper closes with the following reflections upon
the burden of responsibility which he had lately
undertaken. It is interesting to see in what spirit
he entered that arena, on which he was for twenty
years to fight the battle of the oppressed.
" Now that I am a member of Parliament, I feel earnest
for the honest, diligent, and conscientious discharge of the
duty I have undertaken. My prayer is for the guidance of
God's Holy Spirit, that, free from views of gain or popularity,
that, careless of all things but fidelity to my trust, I
may be enabled to do some good to my country, and some-
thing for mankind, especially in their most important concerns.
I feel the responsibility of the situation, and its many tempta-
tions. On the other hand, I see the vast good which one indi-
vidual may do. May God preserve me from the snares which
may surround me ; keep me from the power of personal
motives, from interest or passion, or prejudice or ambition,
and so enlarge my heart to feel the sorrows of the wretched,
the miserable condition of the guilty and the ignorant, that I
1819. DEBATE ON THE PETERLOO RIOT. 81
may 'never turn my face from any poor man;' and so
enlighten my understanding, that I may be a capable and
resolute champion, for those who want and deserve a friend."
Mr. Buxton took his seat in the spring of 1819,
and thus describes the first debate of importance at
Avlrich he was present. Its subject was the conduct
of the Manchester magistrates, on the occasion of the
riot at Peterloo.
To J. J. Gurney, Esq.
" I must give you a line to tell you how things have gone
on in the House. We have had a wonderful debate ; really
it has raised my idea of the capacity and ingenuity of the
human niiml. All the leaders spoke, and almost all outdid
themselves. But Burdett stands first; his speech was
absolutely the finest, and the clearest, and the fairest display
of masterly understanding, that ever I heard ; and with shame
I ought to confess it, he did not utter a sentence to which I
could not agree. Canning was second ; if there be any diffe-
rence between eloquence and sense, this was the difference
In-twrrii him and Burdett. He was exquisitely elegant, and
k* j>t the tide of reason and argument, irony, joke, invective,
and declamation flowing, without abatement, for nearly three
hours. Plunkett was third ; he took hold of poor Mackintosh's
argument, and griped it to death ; ingenious, subtle, yet clear
and bold, and putting with the most logical distinctness to
tin I louse, the errors of his antagonist. Next came Brougham
- and what do you think of a debate, in which the fourth
man could keep alive the attention of the House from three
to five in the morning, after a twelve hours' debate. Now,
what was the impression made on my mind, you will ask.
First, I voted with ministers, because I cannot bring myself
to .-nliji-i-t tin- Manrlir-ii -r magistrates to a parliamentary
inquiry ; but nothing has shaken my convictions that the
ma;.ri~trati.-s ministers, and all, have done exceedingly wrong.
G
82 MR. WILBERFORCE. CHAP. VI.
I am clear I voted right ; and, indeed, I never need have
any doubts when I vote with ministers, the bias being on the
other side. Did the debate influence my ambition ? Why, in
one sense, it did. It convinced me that I have the oppor-
tunity of being a competitor on the greatest arena that ever
existed ; but it also taught me that success in such a theatre
is only for those who will devote their lives to it. Perhaps
you will admire the presumption which entertains even the
possibility of success. I am, I believe, rather absurd ; but I
hold a doctrine, to which I owe not much, indeed, but all
the little success I ever had, viz. that with ordinary talents
and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable.
And give me ten years in age, ten times my constitution, and
oblivion of the truth which paralyses many an exertion of
mine, that ' vanity of vanities, all is vanity,' and especially
that fame is so, I say, give me these things, and I should
not despair of parliamentary reputation; but to one who
cannot bear fatigue of mind, who loves sporting better, who
will not enlist under the banners of party, to such a being,
fame is absolutely forbidden. I am well content ; I cannot
expect the commodity, for which I will not pay the price.
So far I scribbled yesterday, and then I went to the levee.
* * The rooms were tolerably splendid ; but, upon the whole,
I never was less attracted by any thing than courtiership, and
would not be obliged to attend regularly for all the ribbons of
all the colours of the rainbow. At dinner, afterwards, I had
a great deal of conversation with the two giants, Denman,
the attorney, and Copley, the solicitor general, and then I
went home with Wilberforce, and spent a most pleasant
evening. His family prayers were nothing short of de-
lightful. I hope I shall see him a good deal while I am in
town."
To his Uncle, C. Buxton, Esq., at Bellfield.
" I quite agree with you in reprobating the Radicals. I am
persuaded, that their object is the subversion of religion and
the constitution, and I shall be happy to vote for any measure
1819. LETTER TO HIS UNCLE. 83
by which the exertions of their leaders may be suppressed,
but I fear we shall much differ as to the nature of those
UK a-sures. I most strongly condemn the conduct of the magis-
trates at Manchester, and I equally condemn the conduct of
the ministers, in giving them public thanks; and I think in
justice, as well as in common prudence, that wretched affair
ought to be strictly scrutinised, and it will be very awkward
if it should turn out that these magistrates, having been
thanked, deserve to be punished.
" You will believe that I did not pass over, without due
attention, your remark ' I shall feel much disappointed and
'I if you do not exert yourself, and I am sure you will
give great offence to most of your Wey mouth friends.' I
think you must know how sincerely sorry I should be to vex
at ul disappoint you, and I am not indifferent to the good-will
of my Weymouth friends; but it would be the most con-
ti inptible baseness in me, if I were to allow the fear of giving
offence to operate on my conduct.
' When I entered Parliament, I determined to allow no
personal consideration, of any description, to influence my
votes ; and on this occasion I do hope I shall not shrink from
doing my duty, whatever may be the point to which that duty
apjKjars to lead."
I pon first entering Parliament, his attention was
cxd naively directed to the different forms of judicial
puni>liment. In the beginning of 1819, he took part
in two or three debates upon the subject of convict
transport ships, the state of which was proved by
Mr. Bennett and other members to be horrible in the
last degree ; still the reformation of prisons was the
subject nearest to his heart.
To J. J. Gurney, Esq.
"February 25. 181p.
" Whin I la-it spoke (on the state of convict ships) there
was no cry of question, but on the contrary, marked attention ;
Q 2
84 SPEECH ON CRIMINAL LAW. CHAP. VI.
but alas! most undeserved, for, like a blockhead, I rose,
having nothing to say, and without a moment's premeditation.
This has mortified me, which proves that my motives are not
purified from selfish desires of reputation ; and that all my
anxiety is, not eagerness for the reform of prisons and the
penal code, but, in truth, debased and alloyed by a desire
for the reputation of T. F. B. I despise this vanity. On
Monday next, comes on the question of prisons ; on Tuesday,
the question of the penal code. On the latter, I shall speak
with my arguments and facts clearly before me. If I then fail,
the failure is final I may serve the cause as a labourer,
but neither this, nor any other, as an advocate and we must
be satisfied. I endeavour to divest my mind of too much care-
fulness about the matter, persuaded that, whatever the event
may be, that event is right both for me and for the cause."
On the first of March, Lord Castlereagh's motion
for a committee to inquire into the state of prison
discipline, was carried, and on the next evening, a
motion for a committee on the criminal law s, was
made by Sir James Mackintosh, and seconded by Mr.
Buxton, wbose speech met with success abundantly
sufficient to dispel his fears of uselessness in the
House of Commons.
He began by demonstrating that the capital code
then existing, was not a part of, but an innovation on,
the ancient common law ; that, indeed, the greater
part of these capital enactments had been made within
the memory of man. " There are persons living,"
he said, " at whose birth the criminal code contained
less tban sixty capital offences, arid who have seen
that number quadrupled, who have seen an act pass,
making offences capital by the dozen and by the
score ; and wbat is worse, bundling up together
offences, trivial and atrocious, some, nothing short of
1819. SPEECH ON CRIMINAL LAW. 85
murder in malignity of intention, and others, nothing
beyond a civil trespass, I say, bundling together this
ill-sorted and incongruous package, and stamping upon
it ' death without benefit of clergy.' '
His speech, the chief merit of which lay in the
lucid and logical arrangement of a large mass of
facts, went to show that the law, by declaring that
" certain crimes should be punished with death, had
declared that they should not be punished at all.
The bow had been bent, till it had snapped asunder.
The acts which were intended to prevent evil, had
proved acts of indemnity and free pardon to the
fraudulent and the thief, and acts of ruin and de-
struction to many a fair trader."
To J. J. Gurney, Esq.
" Brick Lane, March 4. 1819.
" "Well, the effort is over. Last night came on the grand
question. I spoke for nearly an hour. I was low and dis-
piriu-d, and much tired (bodily) when I rose. I cannot say
I pleased myself. I could not, at first, get that freedom of
language, which is so essential, but I rose with the cheers
of the House, and contrived to give much of what was on
my mind. Every body seems to have taken a more favour-
able opinion of the speech than I did. The facts were irre-
/iMible; and, for fear of tiring my auditors, I confined
myself principally to facts. You will see by the papers that
\\t nhtained a victory. As for myself, I hope I did force
my. -I'll' into Hunt-thing like indifference to my own success,
provided the cause succeeded."
At the close of the debate, many of the most dis-
tinguished members of the House came up and
introduced themselves to him ; Mr. Hoare sat under
a 3
86 CHARACTER OF HIS SPEECHES. CHAP. VI.
the gallery watching, with delight, the success of his
friend. " I am sure," said he afterwards, " if I had
been received in the House as he was, I should not
have recovered from the elevating effect of it for
twenty years."
But the opinion of an impartial observer may be
more valuable. Mr. W. Smith (M. P. for Norwich)
writes to Mr. J. JVGurney
" You will see the result of last night's debate by the
papers. Buxton acquitted himself to universal satisfaction.
The House is prepared to receive him with respect and kind-
ness; and his sterling sense, his good language, and his
earnest manner, fully keep up the prepossession in his favour,
so that I recollect very few who have made their debut with
so much real advantage, and seem so likely to maintain the
station, thus early assumed."
If we have dwelt at some length upon the success
of this early effort in Parliament, it has not been
from any wish to give his speeches more credit than
they deserved. They had few pretensions to elo-
quence; but were deeply stamped with his own
character, which, as Mr. Wilberforce once remarked,
was that of " a man who could hew a statue out of
a rock, but not cut faces upon cherry stones."
His speeches were not sparkling or splendid ; their
end was utility ; their ornaments, clearness, force,
and earnest feeling. He was not one of those orators,
described by Lord Bacon, " that hunt more after
words than matter, and more after the choiceness
of the phrase, the sweet falling of the clauses,
and the varying and illustration of their works with
tropes and figures, than after the weight of matter,
1819. CHARACTER OF HIS SPEECHES. 87
worth of subject, or soundness of argument." He
usually bestowed much care in preparation ; not in
embellishing the style, but in bringing together sup-
plies of facts, and marshalling them in one strong
line of argument. Speaking, as he did, from the
heart, and for the most part on subjects which ap-
pealed to the feelings, as well as to the judgment,
he sometimes rose into passages of impassioned de-
clamation ; but the usual character of his oratory
was the succinct and business-like statement of the
matter in hand.
In accordance with the motions on the 1st and 3rd
of March, two select committees were appointed, in
both of which Mr. Buxton was included. The one
was to inquire into the feasability of mitigating the
Penal Code, of which he writes, March llth, 1819
" I conjecture that no man on the committee goes so far
as I go namely, to the abolition of the punishment of death,
except for murder ; but all go a very great way, and if we
merely make forgery, sheep and horse stealing, not capital,
it is an annual saving of thirty lives, which is something, and
satisfies me in devoting my time to the subject."
The other committee was appointed to examine
the state of jails throughout the kingdom ; and here
we may briefly state the final result of the exertions
made for the improvement of prison discipline. The
committee published its first report in 1820, and the
government was thereby induced to bring in a bill
for consolidating and amending the prison laws then
in existence. This bill was referred for revision to
a select committee, of which Mr. Buxton was a
member.
a 4
88 PRISON BILL. CHAP. VI.
" You will be delighted," he writes soon afterwards to a
friend, " to hear that the Prison Bill is going on wonderfully
well, beyond all expectation. I made a speech the first day,
stating the principles on which I thought we ought to pro-
ceed, and the committee have subsequently adopted almost
all of them ; so that I do believe that this part of the business
of my life will be done effectually."
After much patient investigation, a bill was pre-
pared by the committee, and immediately adopted by
the two Houses of Parliament ; and thus the English
jails, instead of remaining the nurseries and hot-beds
of crime, the almost inevitable ruin of all who entered
within their walls, have become, generally speaking,
places where the improvement, as well as the punish-
ment of the criminal is attempted. Perfection, of
course, is not yet attained ; the new system has been
of no avail in those prisons where exertions have not
been used to enforce it : but no man can read the de-
scriptions of the state of jails, from, twenty-five to
thirty years ago, and compare them with those of
the present day, without being astonished at the extent
of the evil and of the reform.
John Henry North, Esq. to T. Fowell Buxton, Esq.
"Dublin, April 14. 18 lp.
" During the whole of the last Circuit, which is just ter-
minated, I was seized with an inexpressible longing to write
you an interminable epistle, but the labours of Nisi Prius
forbade, and, now that they are at an end, I have begun to
think that, with the whole criminal law upon your hands,
your Prisons, Penitentiaries, and ' Colony of Antipodes,' you
will be better pleased to receive a moderate letter than
one of overgrown dimensions. I hope I need not tell you
with what exceeding pleasure I read your admirable book, or
1819. LETTERS. 89
how delighted I was with the praises that were every where
IK -towed upon it. I had some satisfaction, too, in observing
a tew little traits, by which the Author discovered himself to
mo immediately. The zeal that your exertions have excited
in this country, on the subject of prisons, is really surprising.
We have now a society in Dublin, for the Improvement of
Prison Discipline, of which I am an unworthy member.
Here is a committee of ladies, who visit Bridewell in turns
day, and who have, in a very short time, effected con-
siderable improvement, and their example has been followed
in <<>iue of our country towns. At the last Galway Assizes,
Judge Johnson, in his charge to the Grand Jury, recom-
mended this plan, and alluded to your book and Mrs. Fry's
exertions, in terms of the highest approbation. It will
gratify you to find that the seed which you have scattered
has fallen upon good ground."
Mr. Huxton replies.
To J. H. North, Esq.
"April 19. 1819.
" A report has reached me that you are likely to get a
-eat in Parliament. Is there a bit of truth in it? Is
there the remotest probability of so joyful an event?
Pray do not conceal it from me a moment, for I speak
only truth, when I say it would materially add to my
happiness. I have plenty of acquaintance, but hardly a
familiar friend in the House, and this is a very needful
thing. I much want some one with whom I can freely com-
municate, and who would honestly tell me when I am right
and when I am in error ; and I need not tell you how fully
my wishes would be satisfied, if we were there together.
IVrhap.- you will like to hear the impression the House
makes uj>on me. I do not wonder that so many distinguished
nit n have tailed in it. The speaking required is of a very
peculiar kind: the House loves good sense and joking, and
nothing else ; and the object of its utter aversion is that
species of eloquence which may be called Philippian. There
90 MR. NORTH. CHAP. VI.
are not three men from whom a fine simile or sentiment
would be tolerated ; all attempts of the kind are punished
with general laughter. An easy flow of sterling, forcible,
plain sense, is indispensable ; and this, combined with great
powers of sarcasm, gives Brougham his station. Canning is
an exception to this rule. His reasoning is seldom above
mediocrity; but then, it is recommended by language so
wonderfully happy, by a manner so exquisitely elegant, and
by wit so clear, so pungent, and so unpremeditated, that he
contrives to beguile the House of its austerity. Tierney
has never exerted himself much in my hearing. Wilberforce has
more native eloquence than any of them, but he takes no
pains, and allows himself to wander from his subject : he holds
a very high rank in the estimation of the House.
" And now let me tell you a secret ; these great creatures
turn out, when viewed closely, to be but men, and men with
whom you need not fear competition. I again, therefore, say
* Come among us,' and I shall be greatly deceived if you do
not hold a foremost place.
" My line is distinctly drawn. I care but little about party
politics. I vote as I like ; sometimes pro, and sometimes con ;
but I feel the greatest interest on subjects such as the Slave
Trade, the condition of the poor, prisons, and Criminal Law :
to these I devote myself, and should be quite content never to
give another vote upon a party question. I am upon the Jail
and Criminal Law Committees, and devote three mornings
in the week to one, and three to the other ; so I am con-
tented, and feel as little inclination, as ability, to engage in
political contentions. My body is strong enough, but any
stress upon my mind, just now, deranges me instantly. ' Indo-
lent vacuity of thought' is my only remedy ; but it is not a
very convenient medicine for one who has such a multitude
of engagements. How fares the law ? Is Ireland blessed
with abundant litigation, or does poverty deny this, the chief
of luxuries?
" Never mind discouragements. If you live and labour,
you must stand in the front of that society in which you may
be placed, be it the Dublin Courts, or St. Stephen's. So I
1819. LETTER TO MRS. FORSTER. 91
have always thought and said, and so I still think and say.
I wish you were with ud. I know you will be a Tory: you
always were one in heart, and your wife will make you still
worse : but we will contrive to agree together, for I am not
a Whig. I am one of those amphibious nondescripts called
Neutrals : but how can I be any thing else? I cannot recon-
cile to myself the doctrine of going with a party right or
wrong. I feel with you that my objects would prosper much
better if I sat behind the Treasury Bench ; but then I must
often vote against my convictions ; i. e. do wrong, that right
may come, and I do not feel this to be my duty even for
I'ri-ons and Criminal Law. Has Wyndhara Quin's business
made much noise in Ireland ? It occupied about a week of our
time, and the House were so amused, they would do nothing
Smith's evidence was excellent, and true ; for Gould's
there are more appropriate phrases. Plunkett made a speech
which did not please the House: it was special pleading,
which they hate."
The following letter was addressed to his sister,
Mrs. Forster, whose husband was preparing to go to
America, on what the Society of Friends term " a re-
ligious visit " to the members of their community.
" My dear Sister, " Earlham, January, 1819.
" Your letter has been much upon my mind, and has raised
a variety of feelings. The first impression was one of much
sorrow, that your plans and prospects of home happiness should
be interrupted, and for so long a time ; but I must confess, I
ha\e been speedily almost reconciled to it; that is, I have
brought it home to my own mind, and have considered, whether
it would not really be the greatest of blessings, if by any
means my duty would call me to such a sacrifice, and the call
were not to be disobeyed. After all, it is a noble thing it is
the noblest of all things to be permitted to be a servant of the
Infinite Ruler of the world ; and how low and earthly is that
wisdom which could prefer any delights, before the delights
of such self-dedication. We know but few things for certain ;
92 LETTER TO MES. FORSTER. CHAP. VI.
but this is one of them ; a promise is given to him, who leaves
father or mother, or wife, or children, for Christ's sake.
How can I mourn then, that William should accept the
terms of such a promise ? I rejoice that he is counted worthy
to suffer for Christ's sake. I have always felt particularly in-
terested with the vision of the man of Macedonia, calling
Paul to come over and help them, comparing it with the
Epistle to the Philippians. The discouragements at first
were so great, and yet the Epistle describes such an abundant
and happy produce. Who can tell how many may have
eternal reason to rejoice at the obedience of the Apostle ; and
who can presume to limit the effect, which Providence may
please to produce by William's visit ? We may differ on some
points, but not on this that his call is from above. I am
persuaded it has been sought in the right spirit. I believe it
is sent in mercy to others in eminent mercy to him and to
you ; and I am willing that ypu should undergo the pains of
separation. But, my dear Anna, you must not imagine I
am indifferent about this. But let me ask, Have you determined
to remain behind ? I do not give an opinion upon the subject.
All I wish to express is, that you must not stay from motives
of economy Of course, we shall see you before his
departure. I will hear of nothing else. With love to you
both, and not without thankfulness that there is something of
a missionary spirit among you,
" I am,
" Your affectionate Brother,
" T. F. BUXTON."
CHIP. vn. 93
CHAPTER VII.
1820, 1821.
ELECTION. DOMESTIC AFFLICTIONS. LETTERS. CBOMER HALL.
PRISCILLA GURNET. CORRESPONDENCE. SPEECH ON CRIM-
INAL LAW.
AT the commencement of the year 1820, Mr.
Buxton thus enumerates the subjects which he hoped
to accomplish in the course of the year : " First ;
to assist, to the best of my ability, in Parliament, to
amend our criminal code; and, secondly, to amend
our Prisons. Thirdly ; to obtain a return of the
number of widows who burn themselves at their
husbands' funeral in India, preparatory to a law pro-
hibiting such enormities. Fourthly; to establish
a fund for supporting the Sunday schools, (on the
plan of that at Friar's Mount,) in Spitalfields." He
tlit-n mentions, that his thoughts had been prin-
cipally engaged upon the Criminal Code, till in-
capacitated for study by an attack of illness ; his
health having been indifferent for some months pre-
viously.
" Now what a lesson is this," he says, " not to delay
preparation for death, till our death-beds; till our bodies,
wi-iikciii-d and wasted, are unfit for every exertion ?
" ' Let us work while it is called to-day.' I have prayed
for love to God, for faith in Christ, and for the spirit of
pray IT, constant and \\arm. "
94 HIS ELECTION FOR WEYMOUTH. CHAP. VII.
The death of the King, and the consequent pros-
pect of a dissolution of Parliament, occasioned some
anxious thoughts. " I have felt some doubt," he says,
on the 6th of February, " whether I should stand;"
and he mentions his " eight children," among the
reasons against doing so. He adds,
" Lord guide my heart and will aright, and lead me to de-
termine for the best. Oh that I could from this day oifer
myself a living sacrifice to the Lord, doing or abstaining,
speaking or being silent, spending or forbearing to spend,
simply because it was the will of God !
" Oh that I could thus put off the old man and put on the
new man. I think the time that is past should suffice me
to have wrought my own will ; and for the future, let me try
all things by this standard, * Is it the will of God ? ' Oh,
gracious God, this is what I would be ; but what am I ? Is
one hundredth part of my time, talents, money, strength,
spent for God ? No ! "
He determined at length to stand again for Wey-
mouth. He was successful, and after announcing his
re-election, he proceeds ; "I heartily hope I may
make some good use of my present privilege, and
that some of the oppressed may be less miserable in
consequence."
To J. J. Gurney, Esq.
[From the house of Mr. W. Forster, at Bradpole.]
" March 12. 1820.
" I came here yesterday, and have had a full opportunity
of learning a lesson of humility. It is very well to do good,
and to serve one's country, while at the same moment we are
feeding our ambition and gratifying our pride ; but what are
the sacrifices I make? I may call them sacrifices, but their
true name is, the pleasures I enjoy. Here, however, the
1820. LETTER TO J. J. GURNET, ESQ. 95
pleasure and the sacrifice are totally at variance. How truly
and exactly do the words, * They left all and followed him,'
convey my view of William's two years' absence from a home,
a wife, a boy, (not to mention the dear horse, and ducks, and
flowers,) the very darlings of his heart, all his wishes and
desires centering in this spot! Well, I cannot pity him, I
am more inclined to envy one who is wise enough to make a
bargain so incontestably good. I went to Meeting with him
twice to day ; his morning sermon on * Trust in the Lord
with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understand-
ing. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct
thy paths,' was one of the very best I ever heard. But the
text is one particularly interesting to me. I return home on
Wt dnesday, and mean to study hard till Parliament meets,
having at this time the following subjects in my mind :
'The Criminal Law;' The Prisons;' ' The Police;'
'Botany Bay;' 'The Slave Trade;' 'The Practice of
burning Widows in India, by Authority of the English
hut;' 'Lotteries;' 'Colonisation; viz., Land for
supporting Schools; and Emancipation of Slaves;' 'The
Prosecution of the Quarterly Review by order of the House,
for Libels on America : ' cum multis aliis.
" So you see, my dear brother, I am likely to be fully en-
gaged, whether usefully or not is at His disposal, who
disposes all things ; but I am thankful that He has given me
a desire, (mixed, indeed, and polluted, but still a desire) to
serve my brother men.
" The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the
strong ; and there are some very few occasions in which labour
fails ; but labour unactuated by selfish considerations, and
solely fixing its eye on the goal of duty, and steadfastly
determined to reach it is, I believe, never defeated,
' His way once clear, he forward shot outright,
Not turned aside by danger or delight.'"
Thus far Mr. Buxton's career had been one of
almost unchequered prosperity, as a member of Par-
liament ; us a man of business ; as a husband; as the
96 ILLNESS AND DEATH CHAP. VII.
father of a large and promising family, his heart's
desires had been fulfilled. His public undertakings
were becoming daily more important and engrossing,
and his home was a scene of unclouded happiness.
His valued friend, the Reverend Charles Simeon,
thus writes to him from Cambridge :
" My dear Friend, " January 14. 1820.
" Certainly if I should live to visit your house again, I
shall do it with no little joy, for I do not expect to see in
this world a brighter image of heaven, than I was there
privileged to behold. A sweet savor of love remained upon
my spirit for a long time after, and I am not sure that it is
quite evaporated yet. But I do not know that I shall not
thrash you for supporting the Radicals. I look to you, under
God, to be an instrument of great good in the House of Com-
mons ; and I would not that you should subvert the influence
which your habits and talents are so calculated to com-
mand."
After further warnings against the supposed
danger of Mr. Buxton's joining with the Radicals,
Mr. Simeon proceeds
" I am no politician ; but I feel a regard for you, and
seem to think that the more I know of you, the more my
heart will be knit to you ; so you must bear with this impu-
dent letter, from one who is, with no common affection,
Yours,
C. SIMEON.
But all this happiness was about to be marred by
a rapid succession of calamities. Mr. Buxton had
been hastily summoned back from the election, in
consequence of the alarming illness of one of his
children. His eldest son, a boy often years old, had
been sent home from school unwell, but no suspicion
1820. OF HIS ELDEST SON. 97
of danger was at first excited ; his disorder, however,
proved to be inflammatory ; and, in the course of a
very few days, he sank under it. His father writes
in his Journal
" Thus have we lost our eldest son, the peculiar object of
our anxious care; a boy of great life and animation; of a
beautiful countenance; of a most sweet disposition:
ami, blessed be God, we feel that in the whole event His
mercy has been extended to us. We can rejoice and mourn
together, mourn at our loss, and rejoice that, without
exposure to the trials and temptations of the world, it has
I>K used God to take him to himself. We feel the most
certain assurance that he is with God, and we feel persuaded
that, if we could but be permitted to see him as he now is,
we should never bewail him for another instant. * He
pleased God, and was beloved of Him, therefore, being
among sinners, he was translated ; yea, he was speedily taken
away, lest that wickedness should alter his understanding, or
deceit beguile his soul.' * He is gone unto Mount Zion.'
If these things be true, and true they most certainly are, can
\ve repine, can we wish to recall him? For myself, my
heart's desire and prayer has been, that this event may wean
me from the world and fix my heart on God To-
night I read Hopkins's most admirable sermon, * Death
disarmed of its Sting.' O God, make me thy servant and
soldier, was and is my prayer. I went this
morning and sat down on the top of the hill above my house ;
I then prayed for myself, my wife, each of my children,
Lilly Kdward, now my eldest son! and Harry; for my
servants ; for the heathen ; for the sanctification of my pur-
suits : and God grant that my prayers are heard 1"
His faith was destined to be more severely tried.
The younger children, who were already suffering from
the whooping-cough, were seized within a few days
with the measles. lie writes
H
98 FURTHER AFFLICTIONS. CHAP. VII.
" April 9.
" This week has passed away in great anxiety for the
remainder of my flock."
" Sunday Night, April 16.
" How wonderful are the ways of the Lord ; how sweet
his mercies ; how terrible his judgments ! The week past
has been one of the most acute anxiety. Oh ! when one
affliction flows in upon us after another, may they burst the
bonds by which we are tied to earth, may they direct us
heavenward, and may \ve, having our treasures in heaven,
have our hearts there also In myself how
much is there of unholiness, of worldliness, of pride, of
spiritual deadness; and, for myself, I would only now ask
that the Lord would eradicate and extinguish these, at what-
ever cost, at whatever sacrifice. I have just been out
walking, viewing this splendid starry night ; what imme-
surable mightiness does the firmament display ! And when we
consider that for all these innumerable worlds there is one
Arbiter, one Sovereign Director, can we say ought else
than ' Thy will be done ? ' Cannot He who rules the universe
decide what is best for the children he has lent me ? May I
yield to that will ! "
The sacrifice was required from him, for in less
than five weeks after the death of his son, it pleased
God also to take to himself the three infant daughters
whose illness had excited such deep feeling. On the
death of the eldest, a child of four years old, he
writes :
" e Though He slay me, yet will I trust in him.' I had much
desired her life, but willingly do I resign her into the hands
of the Lord, praying him that he would mercifully make her
death the means of turning me more nearly to the Lord.
"Thus, in little. more than a month," he adds, "have we
lost the darlings and delights of our life ; but they are in
peace : and, for ourselves, we know that this affliction may
1820. CROMKK HALL. 99
redound to our eternal benefit, if we receive it aright
How are all our most choice and comely blossoms cut off;
h< >\v naked do we appear, how stripped of our treasures ! Oh,
my God ! my God ! Be thou our consoler, and comfort us, not
with the joys of this world, but with faith, love, obedience,
patience, and resignation."*
"Tunbridge Wells, May 14. 1820.
" We came here, with the fragments of our family, on
^ edneeday last, in hopes that the retirement and peace of
this place may recruit the strength of my beloved wife. May
God give her every blessing ; and, for myself, my prayer is
that this trial may not pass away, but may leave a durable
impression."
The diary from which this melancholy narrative
has been drawn closes at this date; and, of the
summer, which was chiefly spent at Tunbridge Wells,
tin -re are few notices, except that before mentioned, of
the passing of the Prison Discipline Bill.
In the autumn of 1820, Mr. Buxton, who was no
longer obliged to give much attention to the Brewery,
and greatly needed rest and change, gave up his house
at Ilampstead, and became a resident, permanently as
it proved, in the neighbourhood of Cromer.
At first he resided at Cromer Hall, an old seat of
the Windham family, which no longer exists ; having
many years ago been pulled down and replaced by a
modern edifice.
It was situated about a quarter of a mile from the
sea, but sheltered from the north winds by closely
surrounding hills and woods; and, with its old
buttresses and porches, its clustering jessamine,
* " Eheu ! Eheu !" was the simple epitaph he placed upon the tomb
i't lus four cliildn-n.
u 2
100 PRISCILLA GUENEY. CIIAP. VII.
and its formal lawn, where the pheasants came down
to feed, it had a peculiar character of picturesque
simplicity. The interior corresponded with its ex-
ternal appearance, and had little of the regularity of
modern buildings ; one room was walled up, with no
entrance save through the window, and, at different
times, large pits were discovered under the floor, or
in the thickness of the walls, used, it was supposed,
in old times, by the smugglers of the coast.
Upon first settling at Cromer Hall he received
under his roof, Mrs. Buxton's youngest sister, Pris-
cilla Gurney, who was then in an advanced stage of
consumption, under which she sank in March, 1821.
This lady was a minister in the Society of Friends,
like her sister Mrs. Fry, whom she greatly resembled,
in uniting uncommon resolution and originality of
character, with the most winning gentleness of de-
meanour. Mr. Buxton had the highest opinion of
her judgment and piety ; and she exercised, as we
shall see, a peculiar influence upon his subsequent
career. He thus describes her :
" I never knew an individual who was less
one of the multitude than Priscilla Gurney. In her person,
her manners, her views, there was nothing which was not the
very reverse of common-place. There was an air of peace
about her, which was irresistible in reducing all with whom
she conversed under her gentle influence. This was the
effect on strangers ; and in no degree was it abated by the
closest intimacy : something there was, undoubtedly, in the
beauty of her countenance, and in the extreme delicacy which
constituted that beauty ; in a complexion perfectly clear ; in
the simplicity and absence of all decoration but that of the
most refined neatness, which, altogether, conveyed to every
1821. CORIlESrONDENCE. 101
one's iniiul the strongest conception of purity. And these
attractions of person were aided by manners which nicely
corresponded No less remarkable were the powers
of her mind. I have seldom known a person of such sterling
ability ; and it is impossible to mention these mental powers,
without adverting to that great, and, in my estimation, that
astonishing display of them, which was afforded by her
ministry. I have listened to many eminent preachers, and
many speakers also, but I deem her as perfect a speaker as
I ever heard. The tone of her voice, her beauty, the singular
rlrarness of her conception, and, above all, her own strong
( .nviction that she was urging the truth, and truth of the
utmost importance the whole constituted a species of
ministry, which no one could hear, and which I am per-
suaded no one ever did hear, without a deep impression."
Whilst attending his duties in London, he thus
writes to Mrs. Buxton:
" December 5. 1820.
" I am going to dine at St. Mildred's Court *, and, at 1 1
o'clock, two persons connected with the police come to me,
and we go together through all the receptacles of rogues in
the east end of the town. It will occupy about the whole of
the night, but I think it right to do so. I never was more
called into action than this time of being in town, so many
objects of great good and importance offer themselves. To-
day 1 have been much interested by the African Institution."
"Bellfield, January 17. 1821.
" I arrived here safely yesterday, but with an adventure
on the road. Just on this side of Andover, about 5 o' clock
in the morning, my sweet slumbers were impaired by the
coach suddenly coming over with a most noble crash.
J directly perceived that I was unhurt, and my first feeling
was one of thankfulness. As I was not injured, so I did not
ltd in the slightest degree hurried or disturbed, though
rather anxious lest my books and apples should be lost
through the prostrate window: so I first collected these,
* With Mrs. !
102 CORRESPONDENCE. CHAP. VII.
then I put on my spectacles, then exchanged my cap for my
hat, and then ascended through the broken window and got
upon the body of the coach, where I immediately delivered a
lecture to the coachman on the impropriety of swearing at any
time, but especially at the moment of deliverance from danger.
We then went in various directions for help, with which, in
about an hour and a half, we contrived to place the machine on
its legs. My thoughts in the course of the journey had been
dwelling on Providence a great deal ; and, at the same time, I
had been looking forward to future and distant plans, and
had been strongly impressed with the recollection that all
these might be baffled by the fracture of a linch-pin, or by
any other slight cause, under the guidance of Him who rules
the minute as well as the great events of life, and had had
the text * Thou fool, this night,' &c., in my mind.
"I find my constituents in very good humour, but my
coming was quite indispensable."
" Palace Yard, Sunday, Jan. 25. 1821.
" I slept last night at Hampstead, and came this morning
to Wheeler Street, where the service was very unusually
affecting and interesting to me. My mind has been dwelling,
or, rather, it has been fixed, on the love and mercy of God.
I look upon myself as so signal an instance of his extreme
mercy. As for my course of life, in that I have no pleasure
and no confidence ; I feel that I am halting between two
opinions, that my heart is not His, who said, ' Give me thine
heart : ' that there is a certain lukewarmness in things spiritual
which forms no part of my character in things of much less
importance : in a word, I seem to be ' stopping short' of that
full dedication of self, which is, not a part, not merely an
essential, but the very substance of the Christian character.
I see before me a path far nobler than the one which I am
treading. I could be an effectual servant of the Lord, direct-
ing the talents which he has placed at my disposal to his
service ; (when I say talents, I mean not intellectual talents,
so much as circumstances, fortune, influence, &c.,) and being
not in some small degree, as is the case, nor almost, but alto-
gether set upon serving God and man."
1821. COKKKsroNDKXCE. 103
After alluding to the illness of his sister-in-law, he
adds :
" What a pleasure and a blessing has her visit to us this
last autumn been : * giving thanks always in every remem-
brance of her' is exactly my feeling. She must not fancy
I pity her, I can most truly say I would this moment joy-
fully exchange situations with her."
" Hampstead, January, 1821.
" I have had my hands brim full of business this Lost week,
but it has not fatigued me as parliamentary business does ;
there is no stress on the mind, no anxiety, no apprehension
that a good cause may suffer by my inattention or incapacity,
which is wearisome in Parliament. We had a pleasant
dinner party at the Duke of Gloucester's yesterday. I had
spent the morning with Wilberforce, who was quite delight-
1'ul. I begin to think, that of all men he is the most sub-
jected and controlled, and invariably in the right frame of
temper. I say * begin ' because he is beginning to share
the seat in my mind, which Joseph v has so long occupied.
I shall finish my examination of the boys when I am
at Cromer, so let Miss tremble. Tell her from me,
that I look with unmixed satisfaction to her superintendence
of their education ; and I am sure, if she give them vigour of
mind 'a mind not to be changed' a determination to ac-
complish their object by dint of resolution and an un-
conquerable fixed will to succeed she will give them what
is worth more than wealth, or rank, or anything else, except
one thing, which if they have not, I trust they never will
have this energy, because this energy is a great instrument,
and, if ill employed, a great instrument of evil.
To one of his little boys.
January, 1821.
"I have had a fine gallop this morning on your capital
horse ' Kadioal.' I ride him and Abraham every day, and
always as fast as they can go, because I have so much to do
that I cannot behave like little Lord Linger. I hope that
when yon are a man, you will be very industrious and do all
11 4
104 CORRESPONDENCE. CHAP. VII.
the good you can. There are a great many poor people who
are very sick, and yet have no money to buy food, or clothes,
or physic; and there are many more so ignorant that they
never heard of the Bible, and think they do very right when
they roast and eat their enemies ! If you think this is very
right, and that it is kind to stick a man on a spit and dress
him like a pig, why don't try to prevent it ! But if you
think it very wrong, why then be sure you do all you can
to stop it. Do you know, one good industrious man may do
a great deal ; and, if you wish to be of that sort, you must
begin by being diligent now. But there is a much more
important thing than even being diligent, that is being good.
I don't much like to bring you a horn, because I am sure
you will disturb the hen-pheasants, and so we shall have no
young ones."
Mr Buxton belonged, it has been said above, to
the African Institution, the Society set on foot by
Mr. Wilberforce and his coadjutors, in order to watch
over the law, which with so much difficulty had been
obtained in 1807, abolishing the Trade in Slaves
between Africa and our Colonies. Having in a great
measure effected this purpose, and secured the osten-
sible acquiescence of France, Portugal, and other
nations, in the same measure, the Institution had at
length sunk into a state of comparative inactivity.
To Mrs. Buxton.
"January 30. 1821.
* C I had engaged to go down to Coggeshall yesterday,
shoot there to-day, and return to-morrow night ; happily, as
I think, I got notice of the meeting of the African Institution
for to-day, so I put off my shooting excursion. In the course
of the meeting an opportunity occurred, which I could not
pass over, of declaring my mind, as to the inactivity and in-
effectiveness of the Society. I told them that it was certain
1821. CORRESPONDENCE. 105
we once had the confidence of the country ; and it was now cer-
tain the public knew little and cared little on the subject. I
have often spoken plainly and been condemned by others ; a few
times I have done so and blamed myself, but in this instance
illy felt, and still feel, exceedingly grateful that I did
not shrink from the duty. My remonstrance was well re-
ceived, and a meeting was appointed for Saturday next, at
Lord Lansdowne's, of all the members of both Houses inte-
'1 in the subject, and perhaps it may be a means of great
!. I tell all this long story for my dear Priscilla, who
exhorted me not to neglect this, the first and most melan-
choly of all subjects. I thoroughly enjoyed the dear boys'
letters, but I can't think that I shall find they know so much
as tin v talk about when I get home. My hands are rather full :
Thursday, Brick Lane. Friday, Cape of Good Hope
Slave Trade. Saturday, Lord Lansdowne's. Monday, Prison
Bill. Tuesday, Brougham's Bill on Education. Wednesday,
I make a speech to the children in Spitalfields. Thursday,
l>riek Lane and Mail Coach. Friday, home! I want two
heads, two bodies, and the power of being in two places at
once.''
February 3. 1821.
" I was quite astonished at Wilbcrforce yesterday. 1 had
i n him since my vehement reprobation of the African
Institution. Yesterday he was warm to excess; over and
over again he thanked me for the boldness and openness of
my re-marks, and said they had penetrated deeply into his
he'irt,"
His siskT-in-liiw's illness was now rapidly increasing.
He writes
" London, February, 1821.
"As for dearest Priscilla, I neither grieve for the bad
account of yesterday, nor rejoice at the more favourable one
of to-day. I feel her given to the Lord, and I am sure that
lie is about her bed, and that He loves her, and, that
what.- <H \< T .-hall happen to her, will lc sent in peculiar ten-
derne.-.- : and in these certain truths I commit her to Him
106 CORRESPONDENCE. CHAP. VII.
without fear or repining. She is inexpressibly dear to my
inmost soul, but I look upon her as a saint already in the
hands of the Lord I have tried to pray for her, but
I cannot. My prayers turn into praises, and my mourning
into joy. And, after all, if we lose her, what is it ? Let our
thoughts range through eternity, dropping only the trifle
of the next fifty years, and what can we desire beyond her
present state ? We are sure that her God, whom she served
in her strength, protects, cherishes, and will guard her from
evil in her sickness. If she is destined to dwell in His
presence for evermore, will not this satisfy those who love
her dearly ? I say again, I am satisfied and joyful in her
state, and can with unbounded and satisfied confidence commit
her to the Lord, and shall be almost glad if you tell her I
send no message of hope or fear, neither can I hope or fear."
" February, 1821.
" On receiving your letter, the first impulse was to set off
directly, but a meeting about the Slave Trade to-morrow
morning, and a debate about the Slave Trade to-morrow
evening; a meeting with Stephen on the same subject on
Wednesday ; and that of the Sunday School children on
Wednesday evening, are reasons which seem to supersede
every inclination. On the other hand I ardently long to
see my beloved Priscilla again, and the recollection, that she
desired you to tell me that she had something to say to me,
weighs in the strongest manner upon me. I would not, on
any account, lose whatever this may be, whether of love, or
advice, or reproof. Circumstanced, however, as I am, I
have determined to wait, at least till to-morrow's account
comes."
He soon after left London, and reached Cromer Hall
in time to receive those dying injunctions which his
sister-in-law had been so anxious to lay upon him. What
these were we shall see hereafter. After her death *
* A letter of Mr Simeon's on this occasion will be found in p. 551.
of his memoir.
1821. SUTTEE. 107
he was compelled to return almost immediately to
London. He writes thence.
" I was quite out of heart all yesterday, and could neither
speak at the public meeting, nor study at night. However,
1 \v:is determined not to yield to low spirits, and, by dint of
obstinacy, I at length did get to work, and continued till
1 o'clock in the morning."
A few days later he speaks of " working very, very
hard." In addition to the questions of Prison Disci-
pline, Criminal Law, and the Slave Trade, in which he
cook so much interest, his attention had been drawn,
chiefly through the facts laid before him tfy the Rev.
Mr. Peggs, a Baptist missionary just returned from
India, to the subject of the immolation of widows in that
country. Having collected a large mass of information ,
he determined to bring it before Parliament ; and, in
the course of the session, he made two motions on the
subject. In his speech on the second occasion he
proved, that within the last four years, in the Pre-
sidency of Fort William alone, 2,366 widows had been
committed to the flames ! that the French, Dutch,
and other powers in India had abolished the custom
in their territories, while the stigma of its continu-
ance still rested on the British Government ; and he
showed that, so far from being voluntary, this cruel
martyrdom was generally forced upon the unhappy
widmv, either by superstitious priests or interested
relations.
vend years, however, elapsed before anything of
importance was accomplished in this matter, the
tion being one which fell within the province
108 SPEECH ON C1UMINAL LAW. CUAP. VII.
of the India House, rather than of the House of
Commons.
The Committee which had been appointed in the
preceding year to inquire into the working of the cri-
minal laws, had now closed its labours, and a bill for
the abrogation of the punishment of death, in cases
of forgery, arose from its report. A speech of Mr.
Buxton's upon this bill excited great interest at the
time ; the drift of it was to prove that the law as it
stood was at once inhuman and ineffective ; that the
severity of the punishment induced judges and jurors
to strive for an acquittal ; and that the uncertainty of
the greater penalty was therefore more readily incurred
than the certainty of the lesser one.
" We have gone on long enough," said Mr. Buxton,
" taking it for granted that capital punishment does restrain
crime, and the time is now arrived in which we may fairly
ask, Does it do so ?
" We have tried nothing else for the last century : and
we have tried it on a scale large enough. The lav/ of England
has displayed no unnecessary nicety in apportioning the
punishment of death : kill your father, or a rabbit in a war-
ren, the penalty is the same! Destroy three kingdoms, or
a hop-bine, the penalty is the same ! Meet a gipsy on the
high road, keep company with him, or kill him, the penalty
by law is the same !
" The system, then, having been tried long enough, and
largely enough, what are the results ? Has your law done
that which you expected from your law? Has crime de-
creased ? Has it remained stationary ? Certainly not. Has
it increased? It certainly has, and at a prodigious rate.*
Why, then, your system has failed ! "
Only one experimental fact had been brought for-
* In twelve years crime had increased four-fold.
1821. SPEECH ON CRIMINAL LAW. 109
ward on the other side. In the case of larceny from
tin- person, mitigation had been tried; and the con-
victions for that crime had increased. But then
every other crime had increased in an equal or
greater ratio. That is to say, no more had been
i: ained by inflicting capital punishments than by not
inflicting them
" We have done as well without as with the capital punish-
ment. That is, our case is proved. To inflict death needlessly,
can be called by no other name than that of legal murder.
" Now, at the same period, two experiments were tried.
In the one case, we proceeded from lenity to rigour ; in the
dt her, from rigour to lenity. Here, then, principle is opposed
to principle, system to system, and the result is before us.
Fir.-t, in 1807, forgery of stamps was made a capital crime.
And, the question is, with what effect?
" The solicitor of the excise declared the change to be a
change for the worse ; that the excise was better protected
>ur former lenity than by your late rigour.
" But another experiment was tried, very different in its
nature, and (I rejoice to say) as different in its effects. In
1811 the linen bleachers came to Parliament
praying for a mitigation in the law against stealing from
lilcaching grounds. That prayer was conceded; in this
House cheerfully. In another place acquiescence was
granted somewhat in the same spirit in which the satirist
(It-M-ribcs the deities of old as yielding to the foolish impor-
tunities of their votaries.
' Evertere domes tolas, optantibus ipsis
Dii faciles.'
" And here it was determined to punish these romantic
petitioners with the fulfilment of their prayer, and to inflict
upon them the- penalty of conceded wi.-hcs.
" With what effect ? To answer this question,
I will enter," he says, " into a comparison of which no man
will deny the fairness. I will take the last five years during
110 SPEECH ON CRIMINAL LAW. CHAP. VH.
which the crime was capital and the last five years during
which it has not been capital. Now, if I prove that this
offence has increased, but only in the same proportion with
other offences, I prove my point for reasons which I have
already assigned. But if I go a step farther, and prove that,
while all other offences have increased with the most melan-
choly rapidity, this, and this alone has decreased as rapidly,
that there is one only exception to the universal augmenta-
tion of crime, and that one exception is in the case in
which you have reduced the penalty of your law, if I can do
this, and upon evidence which cannot be shaken, have I not
a right to call upon the noble lord opposite, and upon his
majesty's ministers, either to invalidate my facts, or to admit
my conclusion ? "
He then read the official returns of crimes com-
mitted in the duchy of Lancaster : whence it appeared
that before the mitigation of the law, this offence
had been as rife as the other capital offences; but,
since that mitigation, all the capital offences had
increased prodigiously*, while this offence had de-
creased two-thirds.
" No man," he continued, " would justify severity for the
sake of severity itself, or would love executions in the abstract.
We have dispensed with them in one case, and the conse-
quence is, fewer crimes, greater security to property.
Shall we stop there ?
He then adverted to the punishment of forgery :
" For a multitude of years," he said, " every wretch who
was overtaken by the law, without regard to age or sex, or
circumstances in extenuation, was consigned to the hangman.
You accomplished your object, no doubt ! By dint of such
hardness you exterminated the offence as well as the offenders :
forgeries of course ceased in a country under such a terrible
* For instance, stealing from dwelling-houses was a capital offence ;
it had increased eleven-fold.
1821. SPEECH ON CRIMINAL LAW. Ill
method of repressing them ! No ! but they grew, they
multiplied, they increased to so enormous an extent victim
so followed victim, or rather one band of victims was so
ready to follow another, that you were absolutely compelled
to initiate your law, because of the multitude of the offenders
because public feeling, and the feeling of the advisers of
the crown, rebelled against such continual slaughter.
" Have I not then a right to cast myself upon the House,
and to implore them no longer to continue so desperate and
so unsuccessful a system ; and to lay side by side the two
cases forgery and stealing from bleaching grounds, both
offences only against property both unattended with vio-
lence. In the one we have tried a mitigation of the law,
and have succeeded beyond our most sanguine expectations;
in the other we have tried severity to the utmost extent
anl to the utmost extent it has failed. Well then : are we
not bound I will not say by our feelings, or by tenderness
for life but by every principle of reason and equity ; of
common sense and common justice ; to discontinue a system
which lias so utterly failed, and to embrace a system which
has been so eminently successful ? "
Such were the results of the experiments made in
our own time and country. He furnished others
from history. Henry VIII. hanged 72,000 persons
tor robbery alone; yet Sir Thomas More wonders that
" while so many thieves were daily hanged, so many
still remained in the country, robbing in all places."
Queen Elizabeth hanged more than 500 criminals
a year ; yet complains bitterly that the people will
not carry out her laws : and was obliged to appoint
st ipcndiary magistrates to inflict these penalties. We
iii id from Strype that the people would not prosecute,
and the magistrates would not act.
So ill, in these two cases, had the rigorous system
succeeded.
112 SPEECH ON CRIMINAL LAW. CHAI>. VII.
He then noticed the happy effects resulting from
the relaxation of penalties by King Alfred ; and in
modern times by the Duke of Tuscany, and by the
United States of America, and he concluded his
observations upon this part of the subject with this
remark :
" Crime has increased in England as compared with every
other country as compared with itself at different periods.
Now what species of crime has increased ? Precisely those
lesser felonies which are capital now, but were not formerly
which are capital in England, but in no other country ! "
He had next to remove a common but false im-
pression that the Criminal Code was part of the
Common Law.
He first made quotations from the codes of the
Saxons, Danes, and Normans, which were palpably at
variance with the spirit of our Penal Code. They
were as tender of human life, as the Code was reckless
in destroying it. He proved this also from Coke,
Blackstone, and Spelman.
" It is a fact," said he, " that six hundred men were con-
demned to death last year, upon statutes passed within the
last century."
After showing the hurried and careless manner in
which bills for inflicting death without benefit of
clergy, had continually passed the House, without
debate or discussion ; he stated his affection and
reverence for the English Common Law, and the
unwillingness he would have felt to attack it, and
therefore claimed " a right to gather confidence and
encouragement from finding a friend and advocate in
that pre-eminent authority." He continues,
sf,
f
1821. SPEECH ON CRIMINAL LAW. 113
" There is no country in which public co-operation is not
important to the execution of the law ; but in England
thi.- concurrence between the people and the law is absolutely
indispensable. It is taken for granted, that he who can, will
inform that the person aggrieved will prosecute. All this
is taken for granted, and was justly so taken, as long as
public feeling went along with the law; but now a man's
liti- is at issue, and this at once seals the lips of the man who
could inform, pacifies the prosecutor, silences the witness,
and sometimes even sharpens the merciful astuteness of the
judge. In fact, and in truth, it effects the deliverance of the
felon.
" But worse than this, there is a price which we have to
pay, of which, if I can prove the existence and extent, no
inuu will deny that in itself it more than countervails every
conceivable advantage, I mean the perjury of jurymen."
After giving a number of instances where juries
had clearly perjured themselves in order to save the
lives of prisoners,
" I hold in my hand," he says, " 1200 cases of a similar
description. Is it then policy or prudence I say nothing
of it.-? wickedness to tamper with what is so very delicate,
or even to permit the reputation of that oath to be impaired,
or any stain to be cast upon its purity ? But when the
public see twelve respectable men, in open court, in the face
of day, in the presence of a Judge, calling God to witness
that they will give their verdict according to the evidence, and
tliLii declaring their belief in things, not merely very strange
or uncommon, but actual physical impossibilities, absolute
'f, wilder than the wildest legends of monkish super-
it ion what impression on the public mind must be made,
if not this that there are occasions in which it is not only
lawful, but commendable, to ask God to witness palpable and
egregious falsehood ? "
Referring to the evidence which had been given by
a multitude of persons in very different situations, of
i
114 SPEECH ON CRBIINAL LAW. CHAP. VII.
very different habits and opinions, as to the pernicious
effects of the system of severe punishment upon all
classes of society,
" I ask," he said, " how happens it that persons so various
filling situations so various merchants, bankers, solicitors
of the Excise, shopkeepers, solicitors of the Old Bailey,
officers of the police, clerks of the police offices, magistrates,
and jurymen men bound together by no similarity of pursuit,
no identity of interest, by no party feeling, political or
religious, how happens it, I ask, that such persons should
" ' Weave such agreeing truths, or how, or why,
Should all conspire to cheat us with a lie ? '
******** Shall we accede to this rational
solution of the uniformity of their testimony ? Shall we not
rather conclude that they all spoke alike because they all spoke
the truth, and that the uniformity of the evidence arose from
the uniformity of the observation ?
" And this opinion of practical men being corroborated by
the opinions of men of profound thought and great learning
of Chillingworth, Johnson, Franklin, Pitt, Fox ; of More,
Bacon, Coke, Clarendon, Ashburton, and Blackstone ; I say,
when I see that the conclusion at which the wisest men
have arrived by dint of reason, is the same conclusion at
which the most practical men have arrived by dint of
experience ; and that this, the speculation of the learned,
and the observation of those that gather up their notions
from the busy scenes of life, has been put to the test in
America and in Tuscany, and that there it has realised
more than the most sanguine expectation ; and further,
that this system is the common law of England, and is
common sense : I say when I have such a body of evidence
and argument of fact and authority of reason and ex-
perience, and when our adversaries, members of a com-
mittee which sat for many months, never once ventured to
hint at an authority, or to produce a witness who could
gainsay the truth of those doctrines which I am maintaining ;
when I have so much in my favour, and so very little
1821. SPEECH ON CRIMINAL LAW. 115
nir:unst me, I cannot but indulge the hope that the noble
Lord opposite, and the Government, will do justice to the
country by aiding the milder but more efficient doctrines of
penal legislation which we have endeavoured to promulgate."
He concluded his speech thus :
" My argument then, is this. Our system is before us.
The price we pay for our system is, the loss of public
opinion, and the aid (the best, the cheapest, and the most
constitutional) which the law gathers from the concurrence
of public opinion; the necessity of doing that by spies,
informers, and blood-money, which were better done without
them; the annual liberation of multitudes of criminals ; the
annual perpetration of multitudes of crimes ; perjury ; and
tin utter abandonment of the first of your duties, the first of
your interest:*, and the greatest of all charities the prevention
of crime. This is what you pay. And for what ? For a
in. which has against it a multitude of divines, moralists,
statesmen, lawyers, an unrivalled phalanx of the wise and
good; a system, which has against it the still stronger
authority of practical men, who draw their conclusions from
real life ; a system, which has against it the still stronger
authority of the common law of England ; which, if wrong
now, is wrong for the first tune ; a system, which has against
it the still stronger authority of experience and experiment,
in England, on the one hand in Tuscany, in America, and
elsewhere, on the other : and, finally, a system, which in its
spirit and its temper, is against the temper and the spirit of
that mild and merciful religion, which * desireth not the death
of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wicked-
ness and live ! ' '
Numerous As-ere the expressions of approbation
which this speech called forth. Sir James Mackintosh
said in the House, that it was " the most powerful
appeal that he had ever had the good fortune to hear
within the walls of Parliament." 1 And in a subse-
* Hansard, May, 1821.
i 2
116 FURTHER EFFORTS. CHAP. VH.
quent debate Mr. (now Lord) Denman remarked, that
" More of wisdom, more of benevolence, more of
practical demonstration he had never heard in the
course of his parliamentary career, than was contained
in the energetic speech of his honourable friend."
When, however, the division took place on the
question, " That the Bill for the mitigation of the
punishment of death for forgery do pass," the Ayes
were 115, and the Noes 121 : and the bill was conse-
quently lost !
On the 5th of June, 1822, Sir James Mackintosh
again brought forward the question, and was again
seconded by Mr. Buxton. They succeeded in carrying
by a majority of sixteen the motion, " That the House
will in the next session consider the means of in-
creasing the efficacy of the criminal law, by abating
the rigour of its punishments."
In 1823, however, the resolutions proposed by Sir
James Mackintosh were rejected, and he and his
friends were still struggling against a superior force,
when in 1826, Mr. Peel, on his accession to office,
undertook the momentous task of remodelling the
whole penal code.
An account will be given, in its proper place, of
the final result of the movement for the mitigation of
that sanguinary code by which, at the period when
Sir James Mackintosh and Mr. Buxton brought the
subject forward, two hundred and thirty offences were
punishable with death !
CHAP. vm. 117
CHAPTER VIII.
SLAVERY. 1821 1823.
CHOSEN BY MR. WILBERFOROE AS HIS SUCCESSOR IN THE SLAVERY
CAUSE. COMMON CONFUSION OF "SLAVERY" WITH "SLAVE
TRADE." PREVIOUS IMPRESSIONS ON MR. BUXTON's MIND.
I'uisciLLA GURNEY'S DYING WORDS. HE STUDIES THE SUBJECT.
LONG DELIBERATIONS. FEAR OF SERVILE REVOLT. UNDER-
TAKES TO ADVOCATE THE QUESTION. LETTERS FROM MR. WIL-
BERFORCE. REFLECTIONS. SUTTEES. THE QUAKERS* PETITION.
LETTER TO EARL BATHUR8T. FIRST DEBATE ON SLAVERY.
MR. CANNING'S AMENDMENTS. AMELIORATIONS IN THE SLAVE'S
CONDITION RECOMMENDED TO THE COLONISTS. LETTER TO SIR
JAMES MACKINTOSH.
THE evening after Mr. Buxton had delivered his
speech on criminal law, he received the following
letter from Mr. Wilberforce :
" My dear Buxton, " London, May 24. 1821.
" It is now more than thirty-three years since, after having
given notice in the House of Commons that I should bring
forward, for the first time, the question concerning the Slave
Trade, it pleased God to visit me with a severe indisposition,
by which, indeed, I was so exhausted, that the ablest physi-
cian in London of that day declared that I had not stamina
to last above a very few weeks. On this I went to Mr. Pitt,
and begged of him a promise, which he kindly and readily
me, to take upon himself the conduct of that great
muse.
" I thank God, I am now free from my indisposition; but
from my time of life, and much more from the state of my con-
stitution, and my inability to bear inclemencies of weather,
and irregularities, which close attendance on the House of
i 3
118- CHOSEN BY MR. WILBERFORCE CHAP. VIII.
Commons often requires, I am reminded, but too intelligibly,
of my being in such a state that I ought not to look confidently
to my being able to carry through any business of importance
in the House of Commons.
" Now for many, many years I have been longing to bring
forward that great subject, the condition of the Negro slaves
in our Trans- Atlantic colonies, and the best means of pro-
viding for their moral and social improvement, and ultimately
for their advancement to the rank of a free peasantry; a cause
this recommended to me, or rather enforced on me, by every
consideration of religion, justice, and humanity.
" Under this impression I have been waiting, with no little
solicitude, for a proper time and suitable circumstances of the
country, for introducing this great business ; and, latterly,
for some Member of Parliament, who, if I were to retire or
to be laid by, would be an eligible leader in this holy enter-
prise.
" I have for some time been viewing you in this connection ;
and after what passed last night, I can no longer forbear re-
sorting to you, as I formerly did to Pitt, and earnestly con-
juring you to take most seriously into consideration, the
expediency of your devoting yourself to this blessed service, so
far as will be consistent with the due discharge of the obliga-
tions you have already contracted, and in part so admirably
fulfilled, to war against the abuses of our criminal law, both
in its structure and its administration. Let me then entreat
you to form an alliance with me, that may truly be termed
holy, and if I should be unable to commence the war (cer-
tainly not to be declared this session) ; and still more, if, when
commenced, I should, (as certainly would, I fear, be the case,)
be unable to finish it, do I entreat that you would continue
to prosecute it. Your assurance to this effect would give me
the greatest pleasure pleasure is a bad term let me
rather say peace and consolation; for alas, my friend, I feel
but too deeply, how little I have been duly assiduous and
faithful in employing the talents committed to my steward-
ship ; and in forming a partnership of this sort with you, I
cannot doubt that I should be doing an act highly pleasing to
1821. AS HIS SUCCESSOR IN THE SLAVERY CAUSE. 119
God, and beneficial to my fellow creatures. Both my head
and heart are quite full to overflowing, but I must conclude.
My dear friend, may it please God to bless you, both in your
public and private course. If it be His will, may He render
you an instrument of extensive usefulness ; but above all, may
II.' rive you the disposition to say at all times, ' Lord, what
would'stthou have me to do,' or to suffer? looking to Him,
through Christ, for wisdom and strength. And while active in
business and fervent in spirit upon earth, may you have your
conversation in heaven, and your affections set on things above.
There may we at last meet, together with all we most love,
and spend an eternity of holiness and happiness complete, and
unassailable. I must stop.
" Ever affectionately yours,
" W. WlLBERFORCE."
Many causes had been concurring to prepare
Mr. liuxton for entering upon this "holy enterprise."
His attention had, at an early period, been drawn,
though slightly, to the questions of Slavery and the
Slave Trade. In one of his private memoranda he
enumerates among the causes for thankfulness, " the
strong impression on my mother's mind, transfused
into mine in very early life, of the iniquity of Slavery
and the Slave Trade;" and he notices a remark which
she often made, " while we continue to commit such
a sin, how can we ask forgiveness of our sins ? " He
mentions also, that he used to ridicule his eldest sister
for refusing to eat slave-grown sugar ; " but," he
adds, " her doing so made me think. Singular, too,
that my first speech on entering college was upon the
Slave Trade, and my first speech on entering life was
at the Tower Hamlets, on the same subject."
We have seen that he had become an active member
of the African Institution ; and although that body
i 4
120 "SLAVERY" AND "SLAVE TRADE." CHAP. vni-
devoted its attention to the Slave Trade alone, and
did not take up the kindred question of Slavery, yet
his connection with it no doubt contributed to turn
his mind to the varied sufferings of the Negro race.
The reader need scarcely be reminded, that the
importation of fresh Negroes from Africa to our colo-
nies had been declared illegal in 1807, after a twenty
years' struggle on the part of Mr. Wilberforce,
Mr. Clarkson, and their distinguished coadjutors ;
and England had no sooner abolished her own trade,
than with characteristic energy she strove to obtain,
by persuasion or by purchase, a similar measure from
the other European powers. Whilst, however, the
British Slave Trade had been abolished, British Slavery
remained. Though no fresh Negroes could now be
introduced into our colonies, yet those who had been
already imported were still held in bondage. It is
singular how often the Slave Trade is confounded with
Slavery, even in quarters where such a blunder would
be least expected.
There were various reasons which prevented those
who had effected the abolition of the Slave Trade from
attempting also the emancipation of the slaves * ; but
we see, in Mr. Wilberforce's letter, that the latter
was a subject which constantly weighed upon his
mind, and filled him with painful solicitude.
When Mr. Buxton first entered Parliament, his
attention was drawn to this question by a letter from
his brother-in-law, Mr. William Forster, who, after
describing the interest taken by Mr. Buxton's friends
* In 1807, Earl Percy (afterwards Duke of Northumberland)
proposed the emancipation of the Negro children, but without effect.
1821. PREVIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 121
in his efforts for the improvement of prison discipline,
expresses their earnest desire that he would engage
advocate in another most important and extensive
question, the state of Africa, and of the slave popu-
lation in the West Indies." "The attention and
exertions of the wise and good," proceeds Mr. Forster,
" have been directed, and through the divine blessing,
not without much success, towards staying the progress
of evil, in the abolition of the Slave Trade ; but now
it is certainly time to turn the mind of the British
public towards the situation of those in actual
slavery."
Another circumstance, to which Mr. Buxton often
referred, had prepared his mind for accepting the
proffered advocacy of the Anti-slavery cause. He
thus mentions it in a letter, dated Oct. 22. 1821.
" Two or three days before Priscilla Grurney died, she sent
for me, as desiring to speak to me about something of im-
portance. The moment she began to speak she was seized
with a convulsion of coughing, which continued for a long
time, racking her feeble frame. She still seemed determined
to persevere, but, at length, finding all strength exhausted,
she pressed my hand and said, * The poor, dear slaves ! ' I
could not but understand her meaning, for during her illness
she li:il repeatedly urged me to make their cause and condi-
tion the first object of my life, feeling nothing so heavy on
her heart as their sufferings."
It was not, however, till after long and mature
deliberation, that he accepted the weighty charge
involved in Mr. Wilberforce's proposal. Indeed, he
does not appear to have fully resolved upon under-
taking it till a year and a half after the receipt of
Mr. Wilberforce's letter; but he spent the interval,
122 STUDIES THE SUBJECT. CHAP. VHI.
as far as his other avocations would permit him, in a
close study of the question in all its bearings. In
this he was materially assisted by the present of a
large collection of books connected with the subject
from Mr. Hoare, one of the earliest members of the
African Institution.
Many of his other friends encouraged him to enter
upon this arduous undertaking, especially Mr. Samuel
and Mr. Joseph John Gurney ; from both of whom, as
well as from Mr. Samuel Hoare, he received unremit-
ting assistance throughout the contest against Slavery,
What chiefly led him to hesitate in adopting this
question as his own, was the fear that the discussion
of it in England might lead to a servile insurrection
in the West Indies. He deeply felt the weight of this
responsibility, and it was the subject of long and
anxious thought. " If," said he, " a servile war
should break out, and 50,000 perish, how should I
like that?" But even this extreme supposition he
met by the consideration, "If I had two sons, I
would rather choose to have one free and one dead,
than both living enslaved." In his first Anti-slavery
speech he enters at length into this difficulty, and
mentions some of the considerations which had
removed it from his mind ; showing how often insur-
rections had been foretold by the West Indians, and
that their predictions had never been fulfilled; and
further, that even were this fear well grounded, the
English Government ought not to be terrified by it
from examining into the infinitely greater evil in
question.
He appears to have arrived at his final decision in
1822. LETTER FROM MR. WILBERFORCK. 123
the autumn of 1822 ; in the course of which Mr.
Wilberforce and Mr. Macaulay spent some weeks at
Cromer Hall, for the purpose of discussing the question
with him, and also with Dr. Lushington, and Lord
Suffield. Then was drawn the first outline of those
plans in which each, from this time, took his respective
and important share.
Mr. Wilberforce writes after leaving Cromer :
" My dear Buxton, October 5. 1822.
" We brought much away from Cromer Hall, but we
left there, as I have just discovered, O'Meara's voice from
St. Helena. My dear friend, never I believe, while I
remember anything, shall I forget the truly friendly reception
xperienced under your hospitable roof. I love to muse
about you all, and form suitable wishes for the comfort and
good of eacli member of your happy circle for a happy
circle it is and surely there is nothing in the world half so
delightful as mutual confidence, affection, and sympathy to
feel esteem as well as good-will towards every human being
around you, not only in your own house, but in the social circle
that surrounds your dwelling, and to be conscious that every
other being is teeming with the same esteem and love towards
you." ..." My dear friend, never shall I direct henceforth
to Cromer Hall, without a number of delightful associations.
God bless you all, and so I trust He will. It is quite re-
freshing in such a world as this, to think what a globule of
friendship has been accumulated at Cromer from different
little drops sprinkled over the sea side. Give my kind re-
membrances to Mrs. Buxton, Priscilla, the Hoares, Mrs.
Upcher, and indeed to all friends ; to Mr. and Mrs. J. Gurney,
and my old friend Mr. Hoare; to the Lushingtons and Lord
Suffield, whom I hoj>e to know better. Meanwhile,
" I am,
" Ever affectionately yours,
" W. WILBERFORCE."
124 LONG DELIBERATIONS. CHAP. VIII.
A short time afterwards, Mr. Wilberforce again
wrote, to request that he would visit him at Harden
Park, to arrange their plan of operations for the
ensuing session. He adds, " I have often rejoiced of
late years in thinking of my having you for an as-
sociate and successor, as indeed I told you. Now,
my dear Buxton, my remorse is sometimes very
great, from my consciousness, that we have not been
duly active in endeavouring to put an end to that
system of cruel bondage, which for two centuries has
prevailed in our West Indian Colonies ; and my idea
is, that, a little before Parliament meets, three or
four of us should have a secret cabinet council,
wherein we should deliberate to decide what course
to pursue."
Mr. Macaulay and Mr. Buxton accordingly arrived
at Marden Park on the 8th of January ; and (in the
words of the biographers of Mr. Wilberforce), " long
and deep were their deliberations, how best to shape
those measures which were to change the structure
of society throughout the Western World."*
It is pleasing to observe the spirit in which Mr.
Buxton entered upon that session of Parliament, in
which he was to commence his arduous Anti-slavery
career. In his common-place book, after lamenting
that " he was making no advance in spiritual things,"
he proceeds :
" O, for that spirit of devotion, of gratitude, of love to
Christ, of indifference to the world, which the Lord gave me
in my illness ! Let me then never pass a day without serious
and repeated prayer that is indispensable. Let me renounce
* Life of Wilberforce, vol. v. p. 160.
1823. REFLECTIONS. 125
the world as much as possible ; as much as possible ac-
knowledge God in all my ways and words, and let me
manfully resist every temptation, which may assault and
endanger my soul. O, God grant these things through
thy blessed Son! Next, how can I promote the welfare of
others ? In prinate, by more seriousness in family devotions,
and by much more command of temper ; by more industry ;
by more economy, sparing on my own pleasure and expending
on God's service. In public, by attending to the Slave
Trade, Slavery, Indian widows burning themselves*, the
completion of those objects which have made some advance,
viz. Criminal Law, Prisons, and Police. Send thy blessed
Spirit, O, great God, to my aid, and for my guidance, that,
renouncing sin, I may walk worthy of my * high vocation,
in and through Jesus Christ my Lord' "
To Mrs. Upcher, at Sheringham, near Cramer.
" London, February, 1823.
" My hands are entirely full with slaves, Indian widows,
and the beer question; and with the Spanish ambassador,
who is coming to dinner. How far, how very far, do I prefer
Cromer and its neighbourhood to this big town ! If I had
my choice, and could exactly think it right to follow my own
inclination, I should soon be disqualified for franking. As
* He had been encouraged to hope that this question would be taken
up by the ministers. He writes in 1822 : " I am highly gratified to
find that Government have some notion of taking up the subject of my
Indian widows. That would be delightful."
These hopes proved to be unfounded; and on the 18th of June,
1823, he again brought the subject formally before the House, but
without success. Soon afterwards he says in a note to a friend, " I
have been seeing the Governor of India, this morning, about the annual
immolation of thousands of poor widows. I do, from the bottom
of my heart, wish that he, and such as he, felt as much about them as
I do." From time to time he brought the subject before the House
of Commons, remarking on the culpability of Government in continuing
to countenance this atrocious custom. The result will be given in a
subsequent part of this narrative.
126 LETTERS. CHAP. VIII.
for fame, * that last infirmity of noble minds,' it is not much
of an infirmity of mine. To be sure I get but little of it,
and that very little I care as little about; but then Indian
widows and Slavery, these are subjects worth any sacrifices:
so no grumbling, in which I was going to indulge."
To J. H. North, Esq.
After congratulating him warmly on his success at
the Irish bar,
" February 13. 1823.
" Now get into Parliament, and be wise enough to come
there absolutely independent. . . . Come into Parliament, and
join us with all your force on such objects as the abolition of
the Slave Trade and of Slavery, the improvement of the
Criminal Law and Prisons, the advancement of civilization
and Christianity in India. Make these and such as these
your objects, and you will do vast service to mankind, to
yourself, and to your friends. I do not mean, however, that
these should prevent you from advancing in your own pur-
suits. I firmly believe that they will promote your welfare,
taking welfare in the most worldly sense."
To the same, soon afterwards.
" I presume you have seen that the great subject of Slavery
has fallen into my hands. I count on you as an assured
coadjutor. Will you accept a few pamphlets, by way of
brief, and some for circulation among persons of influence ?
How heartily and continually I wish you were with me in
the House. If it does not suit you, and if you do not suit it,
I will give up all claims to the gift of prophecy."
To Mrs. Buxton.
" March 22. 1823.
" Wednesday is the very earliest day I can be down with
you, and it requires all my energy and determination to keep
1823. PETITIONS. 127
to that. This minute Wilmot, Under-Secretary of State, has
been here, desiring me to call on Lord Bathurst on Wednesday
relative to my Slave bill. ... I am very earnest about Slavery ;
it seems to me that this is to be the main business of my life,
thU and Hindoo widows ; I am well contented, and want
no other business. How odd the transitions of the human
mind are: how occupied mine was with pheasants and
partridges till I left Norfolk : and I firmly believe I have not
thought of them five times during my whole stay in London ;
but they certainly occupied too much of my time in the
autumn."
Anti-slavery operations were now commenced with
vigour, and for some time all went on well. Dr.
Lushington, Lord Suffield, and several others, who
had taken a prominent part in the reformation of
Prison Discipline, now threw all their energies into this
new undertaking. Early in March, Mr. Wilberforce
published his well known " Appeal on behalf of the
Slaves." At about the same time, the Anti-Slavery
Society was formed (Mr. Buxton being appointed a
Vice President), and the Committee engaged warmly
in the task of collecting evidence and spreading
information through the country. Public feeling
was soon roused into activity, and petitions began to
flow in ; the lead was taken by the Society of
Friends, and it was determined that the presentation
of their appeal by the hands of Mr. Wilberforce,
should be the opening of the parliamentary campaign.
He introduced it by saying that a similar petition
which he had had the honour of presenting nearly
thirty years before, had been the first effort against
the kindred iniquity of the Slave Trade, and that in
presenting this one, " he considered that the first
128 SLAVERY IN THE COLONIES. CHAP. VIII.
stone was laid of an edifice which would flourish at
some future period, an ornament to the land."
Mr. Canning asked whether it was his intention to
found any motion upon it? Mr. Wilberforce said,
" It was not, but that such was the intention of an
esteemed friend of his."
Mr. Buxton then gave notice that on the 15th of
May " he would submit a motion, that the House
should take into consideration the state of Slavery in
the British Colonies."*
A few weeks before his motion came on, he com-
municated his intentions to the Government in the
following letter addressed to Mr. Wilmot Horton for
the perusal of Earl Bathurst.
"My dear Sir, Spring Gardens Hotel, April 15. 1823.
" A severe indisposition is, I think, some, though a poor,
apology for not having performed my promise of writing to
you.
" On the subject of the line I shall take about Slavery, I
must confess that my views are not absolutely determined,
but, such as they are, I will state them. You will not,
however, consider me absolutely and closely bound to them.
" The subject divides itself into two parts: the condition
of the existing slaves, and the condition of their children.
" With regard to the former, I wish the following im-
provements.
" 1. That the slaves should be attached to the island, and,
under modifications, to the soil. 2. That they cease to be
chattels in the eye of the law. 3. That then* testimony be
received * quantum valeat.' 4. That when any one lays
his claim to the services of a Negro, the onus probandi
should rest on the claimant. 5. That obstructions to manu-
mission should be removed. 6. That the provisions of the
* Hansard, vol. viii. p. 627.
1823. THE FIRST DEBATE ON SLAVERY. 129
Spanish law (fixing by competent authority the value of the
slave, and allowing him to purchase a day at a time,) should
be introduced. 7. That no governor, judge, or attorney-
general should be a slave-owner. 8. That an effectual
provision should be made for the religious instruction of
the slaves. 9. That marriage should be sanctioned and
enforced. 10. That the Sunday should be devoted by the
slave to repose and religious instruction ; and that other time
should be allotted for the cultivation of his provision grounds.
11. That some (but what I cannot say) measures should
be taken to restrain the authority of the master in punishing
his slaves ; and that some substitute be found for the driving
system.
" These are the proposed qualifications of the existing
slavery ; but I am far more anxiously bent upon the ex-
tinction of slavery altogether, by rendering all the Negro
children, born after a certain day, free : for them it will be
necessary to provide education.
" God grant that His Majesty's ministers may be disposed
to accomplish these objects, or to permit others to accomplish
them!"
On the 15th of May he wrote to Mrs. Upcher :
" In five minutes I start for the House. I hope to begin
at five o'clock. I am in good health, in excellent spirits,
with a noble cause, and without a fear. If I am only given
a nimble tongue, we shall do."
Then took place the first debate on the subject of
N _rro Slavery. Mr. Buxton began it by moving a
resolution, " That the state of slavery is repugnant to
tin principles of the British Constitution and of the
Christian Religion ; and that it ought to be gradually
abolished throughout the British Colonies, with as
much expedition as may be found consistent with a
due regard to the well-being of the parties concerned."
In his opening speech he plainly declared " The
K
130 THE FIRST DEBATE ON SLAVERY. CHAP. VIII.
object at which we aim is the extinction of slavery
nothing less than the extinction of slavery, in
nothing less than the whole of the British dominions :
not, however, the rapid termination of that state;
not the sudden emancipation of the Negro ; but such
preparatory steps, such measures of precaution, as,
by slow degrees, and in a course of years, first
fitting and qualifying the slaves for the enjoyment of
freedom, shall gently conduct us to the annihilation
of slavery."
He then unfolded his plan, which corresponds with
that contained in his letter to Mr. Wilmot Horton ;
but he especially urged the importance of eman-
cipating all the children of the slaves ; pointing out
how surely, yet silently, the curse of slavery would
thus die away. He proved that this had been done
in other countries, without that noise and tumult
with which his opponents predicted that it would be
attended. This change was, in fact, at that very
time silently proceeding in Ceylon, Bencoolen, and
St. Helena. " Now, sir," he said, " observe the
moderation with which we proceed. We say, ' Make
no more slaves, desist from that iniquity ; stop,
abstain from an act, in itself as full of guilt, entailing
in its consequences as much of misery, as any felony
you can mention.' We do not say ' Retrace your
steps,' but ' stop.' We do not say, ' Make reparation
for the wrong you have done ; ' but ' do no more
wrong ; go no further ; complete what you have com-
menced ; screw from your slaves all that his bones
and his muscles will yield you, only stop there : ' and
when every slave now living shall have found repose
1823. MB. CANNING'S AMENDMENTS. 131
in the grave, then let it be said that the country is
satiated with slavery, and has done with it for ever."
An animated debate ensued, and Mr. Canning
moved and carried certain amendments to Mr. Bux-
ton's resolution ; the most important of which was
the insertion of the words, " with a fair and equit-
able consideration of the interests of private pro-
perty." Plausible as this addition seemed, the Anti-
sluvery party feared, and as we shall see, but too
justly, that it would afford the West Indians a handle
on future occasions; but the discussion grew warmest
when Mr. Canning brought forward his plan, that the
proposed ameliorations should be suggested to the
colonial legislatures, but should only be enforced in
th island of Trinidad, which being one of the crown
colonies had no legislature of its own ; with the further
condition, however, that any unexpected resistance to
the suggestions should be met by authority.
The following were the resolutions carried by Mr.
Canning, to which we shall have frequent occasion
to refer in detailing the proceedings during the sub-
sequent ten years.
1st. " That it is expedient to adopt effectual and decisive
measures for ameliorating the condition of the slave popula-
tion in his Majesty's colonies.
2d. " That, through a determined and persevering, but
at the eame time judicious and temperate enforcement of
such measures, this House looks forward to a progressive
improvement in the character of the slave population, such
:i> may prepare them for a participation in those civil rights
and privileges which arc enjoyed by other classes of his
Majesty's subjects.
."I. < That this House is anxious for the accomplishment
K 2
132 MR. BUXTON'S REPLY. CHAP. vm.
of this purpose, at the earliest period that shall be compatible
with the well-being of the slaves themselves, with the safety
of the colonies, and with a fair and equitable consideration of
the interests of private property."
The debate concluded with a reply from Mr. Bux-
ton, which is mentioned by Mr. Wilberforce as having
been " not sweet indeed, but excellent." * We will
give one extract from it.f It was in answer to the
argument that the danger arose not from slavery
itself, but from the discussion of slavery in the
House.
" What then," he exclaimed, " does the slave require any
hint from us that he is a slave, and that slavery is of all condi-
tions the most miserable ? Why, Sir, he hears this, he sees it,
he feels it too in all around him. He sees his harsh, uncompen-
sated labour ; he hears the crack of the whip ; he feels he
writhes under the lash. Does not this betray the secret ?
" ' This is no flattery ; these are counsellors
That feelingly persuade him what he is.'
He sees the mother of his children stripped naked before the
gang of male Negroes and flogged unmercifully ; he sees his
children sent to market, to be sold at the best price they
will fetch; he sees in himself not a man, but a thing
by West Indian law a chattel, an implement of husbandry, a
machine to produce sugar, a beast of burden ! And will any
man tell me, that the Negro, with all this staring him in the
face, flashing in his eyes, when he rises in the morning
and when he goes to bed at night never dreams that there
is injustice in such treatment, till he sits himself down to the
perusal of an English newspaper, and there to his astonishment
discovers, that there are enthusiasts in England, who from the
bottom of their hearts deplore and abhor all Negro slavery ?
* Life, vol. v. p. 178.
f Hansard's Debates. New Series, vol. ix. p. 358.
1823. INTERVIEW WITH MR. CANNING. 133
There are such enthusiasts ; I am one of them ; and while we
breathe we will never abandon the cause, till that thing
that chattel is reinstated in all the privileges of man ! "
Although the emancipation of children was lost,
and even the alleviations of the slaves' condition were
not to be compulsory, yet this debate was an important
step gained ; and Mr. Buxton's emphatic words in his
opening speech were verified: "A few minutes ago
was commenced that process which will conclude,
though not speedily, in the extinction of slavery
throughout the British dominions."
Mr. Buxton had various communications with
Mr. Canning after the debate, and especially one long
inti-rview, in company with Mr. AVilberforce and Mr.
AVi lliam Smith. On this important occasion, for which
he had carefully prepared, he thoroughly ascertained
Mr. Canning's opinions on all points connectedwith the
treatment, present and prospective, of colonial slaves.
He then wrote down what had passed, and submitted
the statement to Mr. Canning. The document strik-
ingly displays the laborious accuracy and the sturdy
determination to verify every point of his case, which
characterised his conduct throughout the entire con-
Mr. Canning returned the paper with many
autograph notes upon it, and Mr. Buxton therefore
tly knew what were the ministers' intentions at
this period. Neither party, however, were as yet
aware of the difficulties of the case.
In accordance with the Resolutions of the House,
at the end of May, Circular Letters were addressed
by the Government to the various colonial authorities,
nun' ihliiiLT them to adopt the following reforms.
134 CIRCULAR SENT TO COLONIES. CHAP. VIII.
1. To provide the means of religious instruction and
Christian education for the slave population.
2. To put an end to markets and to labour on the Sunday,
and, instead of Sunday, to allow the Negroes equivalent time
on other days for the cultivation of their provision grounds.
2. To protect the slaves by law in the acquisition and
possession of property, and in its transmission by bequest or
otherwise.
4. To legalize the marriages of slaves, and to protect them
in the enjoyment of their connubial rights.
5. To prevent the separation of families by sale or other-
wise.
6. To restrain generally the power, and to prevent the abuse
of arbitrary punishment at the will of the master.
7. To abolish the degrading corporal punishment of
females.
8. To admit the testimony of slaves in courts of justice.
9. To prevent the seizure of slaves detached from the
estate or plantation to which they belonged.
10. To remove all the existing obstructions to manumission,
and to grant to the slave the power of redeeming himself and
his wife and children at a fair price.
11. To abolish the use of the driving whip in the field,
either as an emblem of authority, or as a stimulus to labour.
12. To establish Savings' Banks for the use of the slaves.
Surely there was good ground for anticipating
that the Colonial Assemblies would gladly listen to
these temperate and salutary suggestions.
While anxiously awaiting the result, Mr. Buxton
deliberately weighed the propriety of accepting an in-
vitation from Lord Huntingdon to visit the West
Indies in person ; but when this plan was referred to
Mr. Wilberforce, he gave a most decided opinion
against it.*
* Mr. Buxton could not, as yet, have been aware of the reception
which his proposed reforms would meet with in the West Indies, and
1823. LETTER TO SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH. 135
Sir James Mackintosh had not hitherto taken any
part in this question ; and Mr. Buxton, being ex-
trc'inely anxious to engage his brilliant abilities and
benevolent heart in its favour, addressed the following
letter to him.
" My dear Sir James, " Cromer Hall, Nov. 30. 1823.
" Your letter reached me just as I was leaving town. I
much regret that I was thus prevented from talking with you
on Criminal Law and Colonial Reform. The latter of these
very much occupies my mind. I feel that a question of
greater magnitude, affecting the happiness of a larger number
of persons, has seldom been agitated ; and I also feel that the
crisis has arrived, in which we must either begin to ameliorate
the condition of the Slaves, and indeed to strike a blow at
Shivery, or in which Slavery will be more firmly established
than ever. I am however, I must confess, alarmed, not at
the reproach which is heaped on me, nor at the danger said to
be produced in the West Indies by my motion. I disregard
the former, and utterly disbelieve the latter ; but I am alarmed
at the prodigious strength of the West Indian party, and at
the inability of the person to whom the cause of seven
hundred thousand human beings is committed. How often
luive I wished, that that good cause were blessed with the
full, hearty, unreserved co-operation of yourself. * * *
the deadly hostility with which their author would be regarded, or he
would not have entertained for an instant the idea of this visit. Captain
Studholme Hodgson, of the 19th Foot, in his work called " Truths from
the West Indies," after mentioning '' the volumes of abuse lavished upon
Sharpe, Wilberforce, Lushington, Stephen, Buxton, and Admiral
Fleming," continues : " This enmity seems to be more deadly
towards the two latter, than even that entertained for the others ; and
I will undertake to say, that were these two gentlemen to arrive in
any island in the- West Indies, and venture to move out unsurrounded
by a guard of those grateful beings, who, night and day, implore
blessings upon them, they would inevitably be torn to pieces by the
Europeans, who would all vie as to who could most mangle their
bodies." (P. 190.)
K 4
136 LETTER TO SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH. CHAP. VIII.
If I have to fight the battle without such aid, the cause
of justice and humanity will undoubtedly suffer from the
feebleness of its advocate. With that aid, and with that of
Brougham (of whom we are sure), I doubt not that the sons
of the present slaves will be raised to a state of villeinage, and
their grandsons will be freemen. * * * * Now I have
written this, I am ready to tear it to pieces, and to wonder at
my own presumption in having written it. It shall however
go. It is an entreaty for more than half a million of human
beings, who cannot supplicate for themselves, and against
whom there are many who can canvass and are canvassing
stoutly."
137
CHAPTER IX.
SLAVERY. 18231826.
IKMKXT IN THE WEST INDIES. THE NEGROES REFUSE TO
\\OKK. SEVERE MEASURES. DEATH OP SMITH, A MISSIONARY.
THE ABOLITIONISTS BITTERLY REPROACHED. MR. BUXTON's
PLAN. INTERVIEWS WITH CANNING. POPULAR CLAMOURS.
THE GOVERNMENT DRAWS BACK. ANXIETIES AND DOUBTS.
I.r.TTER FROM MR. J. J. GURNEY. THE DEBATE. THE GOVERN-
MENT GIVES WAY. MR. BUXTON ATTACKS THEM. EN-
COURAGEMENTS FROM MR. WILBERFORCE. MR. BROUGHAM'S
SPEECH ON SMITH'S CASE. ITS EFFECT ON THE COUNTRY.
MR. WILBERFORCE RETIRES. THE SMALL NUMBER OF ABO-
LITIONISTS IN PARLIAMENT. DR. LU8HINGTON. MR. MACAULAY.
MR. BUXTON'S POLICY. FREE PEOPLE OF COLOUR. TREAT-
MENT OF MR. SHREWSBURY. DEBATE. DELIBERATIONS.
THE LONDON PETITION. MR. DENMAN's MOTION. A YEAR'S
PAUSE.
THE news of Mr. Buxton's attack on what the planters
considered to be their just rights, and of the acquies-
cence of the Government in his principles, were re-
ct-ivcd in the West Indies with the most vehement
indignation.* For some weeks after the arrival of the
despatches, not the slightest restraint seems to have
been put on the violence of their rage, which drove
them to the wildest designs. Thoughts were openly
entertained of resisting the innovations of the Govern-
in* -nt by force of arms. It was even proposed to
1 To the honour, be it said, of the islands of Grenada, St. Vincents,
and St. Kilts, they did not join in the outcry, raised by the generality
of the West Indian islands.
138 THE NEGROES REFUSE TO WORK. CHAP. IX.
throw off the yoke of the mother country, and place
themselves under the protection of America. They
could find no language sufficiently bitter to express
their rancour*; and the colonial legislatures unani-
mously refused submission to the recommendations
of the Government.
When the order in council reached Demerara, the
authorities of the colony endeavoured to conceal
the intelligence from the black population. Their
precautions were worse than useless ; exaggerated
rumours soon spread abroad. The Negroes fancied
that "the great King of England" had set them free,
and that the planters had suppressed his edict ; and
under this impression the slaves on several estates
refused to work. Compulsion was resorted to they
resisted, and commenced outrages on the property
and persons of the whites. Martial law was pro-
claimed and the soldiers called out.
Destitute alike of organisation, of leaders, and of
arms, the slaves were at once reduced to subjection.
In performing this duty, not one soldier was killed ;
but pressed down and running over was the measure
of vengeance dealt to the unhappy Negroes. " It
was deemed fitting," said Mr. Brougham, " to make
* The following extract from the Jamaica Journal is a specimen of
the abuse lavished upon Parliament, Mr. Canning, Earl Bathurst, and
" those canting hypocritical rascals," the Abolitionists. (No. 11. Satur-
day, June 28. 1823.) . . . "We will pray the Imperial Parliament to
amend their origin which is bribery ; to cleanse their consciences, which
are corrupt ; to throw off their disguise, which is hypocrisy ; to break
with their false allies, who are the saints ; and finally to banish from
among them all the purchased rogues, who are three fourths of their
number."
1823. SEVEHE MEASURES. 139
tremendous examples of them. Considerably above
a hundred fell in the field, where they did not succeed
in putting one soldier to death. A number of the
prisoners also, it is said, were hastily drawn out at
the close of the affray and shot. How many in the
whole have since perished by sentences of the court
does not appear, but by the end of September forty-
n had been executed. A more horrid tale of
blood yet remains to be told. Within the short space
of a week, ten were torn in pieces by the lash ; some
of these had been condemned to six or seven hundred
lashes; five to one thousand each; of which inhuman
torture one had received the whole, and two almost
the whole at once."*
The colonists were not satisfied by the severity
with which the rebel Negroes had been visited. For
some time the attention of religious men in England
had IK en drawn to the wretched ignorance and de-
pravity of the lower orders in our colonial islands.
Various denominations of Christians had sent out
missionaries to instruct them, and the Independents
and \\ esleyans had distinguished themselves by their
rhri>tian zeal. It was no path of flowers which
these missionaries had chosen. The colonists were
violently opposed to change; and with the usual
1 1 -clings of despotic masters, they could not endure
the idea of allowing their slaves to be educated ; yet,
in the face of danger and persecution, the missionaries
JK i -evered, and many of the Negroes were brought
to the knowledge of religion. The planters had ap-
* Hansard's Debates. New Scries, vol. xi. p. 995.
140 DEATH OF MISSIONARY SMITH. CHAP. IX.
plied every means to stop this "nuisance;" and when
the rebellion broke out, they resolved to fix it upon
the Christian teachers of the Negroes.
The particulars of " Smith's case," afterwards so
ably treated by Mr. Brougham, need not here be
dwelt on. Suffice it to say, that he was an Inde-
pendent missionary ; was tried in a manner not only
unjust, but absolutely illegal, before a court martial
of militia officers, and condemned to be hanged ; but
his treatment in prison destroyed his previously
failing health, and he died in his dungeon, in time to
anticipate the executioner.*
The news of the ferment among the colonists, with
the rapidly succeeding intelligence of the revolt of
the Negroes, of their overthrow, and of the severities
inflicted upon them and upon their teachers, soon
reached England. The disappointment and grief of
the leading members of the Anti-slavery party were
great indeed; their lukewarm partisans left them
at once, and joined in the loud outcry which arose
against them. They were denounced as the causes
of the disaffections of the colonists and the disorders
among the slaves. The people at large, in looking at
* While Smith was dying in his prison (which is described as a place
only suited to purposes of torture), he was compelled by his persecutors
to draw a bill upon the funds of the London Missionary Society, in order
to defray the expenses of his so-called trial. Many years afterwards the
secretary of that Society, in arranging some old papers, met with this
bill. In looking at it, his attention was drawn to one corner of the
sheet, and, on examining it more carefully, he found, written in a minute
hand, the reference " 2 Cor. iv. 8, 9- : " on turning to which he found
the text, " We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed : we are
perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken : cast down,
but not destroyed."
1823. MR. BUXTON'S PLAN. 141
the confusions of the colonies, did not remember how
gentle a remedy for the admitted evil of slavery was
the one proposed by Mr. Buxton; that all parties in
England had agreed (with some modifications), as to
its prudence ; and that only to the wilfulness and
prejudice of the colonists were these unhappy results
to be ascribed. But the angry reproaches which
rang in Mr. Buxton's ears were as nothing, when
compared with the mortification he experienced on
discovering that the Government, appalled by the
consequences of the steps which they had taken, and
apparently as regardless of their own dignity, as of
the interests of their black subjects, were determined
to forfeit the pledge which Mr. Canning had given
that, if obedience were not voluntarily rendered by
the colonial legislatures, it should be enforced.
Rumours to this effect soon spread abroad ; but they
were of so indefinite a character, that the Aboli-
tionists could not tell what steps the Government
proposed to take, nor what preparations should be
made against them. At the same time, Mr. Buxton
was contemplating a new plan, namely, the eman-
cipation of all children under seven years of age,
ample compensation being granted to the masters:
the children were to be educated and maintained by
the British Government till they were seven years
old, and then apprenticed to their former masters ;
after which they should be free.
The following letters will show fully how the
sense of the difficulty of his position, and of the
necessity there was for firmly maintaining it, gra-
dually increased in his mind.
142 LETTERS. CHAP. IX.
To Zachary Macaulay, Esq.
" Ampton, January 14. 1824.
" Here I am, and have had the satisfaction of finding
Wilberforce in good health. He seems by no means dis-
couraged about our cause. Clarkson appears to have done
his work well. At Norwich, our friends were somewhat
intimidated ; but he had a meeting there, which revived all
their ardour. *******j nave b een nar( j a t
work, reading and making extracts from all the parlia-
mentary slave papers. I am forming a dictionary, in which
I insert information under different heads ; I call it * My
Macaulay.' " *
To Mrs. Buxton.
" February 9.
" I am intensely busy. On Saturday we had a meeting,
to which I read my plan. The more I think of it, the more
I like it. We meet again on Saturday : in the interim, an
attack will probably be made on us, which I am to answer.
I shall endeavour to do it with effect. We have a capital
case as to the Demerara insurrection. Smith is innocent.
They have offered him mercy, if he will ask for it, and he
has refused, standing on his innocence. I am in excellent
spirits, and hold my head very high in the matter, and mean
to be rather bold in my defence. I expect to see Canning
to-morrow ; he seems very cold to me, and the report is, he
will join the West Indians. If he does, we shall go to war
with him in earnest."
"February 10.
" My interview with Canning, is for the purpose of
ascertaining what Government means to do, and of seeing
whether he is disposed to receive any plan from us."
"February 11.
" I am so languid with over thought and over work, that
* When any of Mr. Macaulay's anti-slavery friends wanted infor-
mation, they used to say, " Well, we will look it out in Macaulay/' and
rarely were they disappointed in their references to him.
1824. ANXIETIES AND DOUBTS. 143
I hardly know how to write. On Saturday, we meet
Canning at 12 o'clock, and Brougham, and all the leaders of
our party, at the Duke of Gloucester's, at 3 o* clock. Then
we shall decide on our course. I am not one bit discouraged,
and heartily wish a discussion could be brought about, as I
think it would change public opinion. How much, how
very much happier I am in my Cromer retreat, than in the
midst of all this bustle and turbulence. When you come, I
shall be quieter, I hope. I am obliged to attend constantly
at the House."
" Canning's Office, 6 o'clock, February 1 4.
" We have had a very unsatisfactory interview with
Canning. * * The Government mean to forfeit their pledge t
and to do next to nothing. * * * * I have now
seen Canning again. He promises to postpone any decla-
ration to Parliament till he sees my plan."
To a Friend.
" February 16. 1824.
" The degree, I will not call it, of opposition, but viru-
lence, against me is quite surprising. I much question
whether there is a more unpopular individual than myself in
the House just at this moment. For this I do not care."
\lth. " The Slavery question looks wretchedly. I begin
to think that, opposed as we are by the West Indians,
deserted by Government, and deemed enthusiasts by the
public, we shall be able to do little or nothing; however, I
rejoice that we have tried."
To Mrs. Buxton.
" February 17.
" I sec very clearly, that I shall not be able to go down to
Cromer ; my absence would further intimidate our few
friends, who are sufficiently timid as it is. * * * * I
keep up my spirits pretty well, but what with the mental
tatiLMi' I have undergone, and the disappointment we have
experienced, I cannot feel very light-hearted."
144 GOVERNMENT DRAWS BACK. CHAP. IX.
To Mrs. Buxton.
"February, 1824.
" We had a very bustling day on Saturday ; a meeting
with Canning at 12 o'clock, in which he told us, that
Government had determined to yield to the West Indian
clamour, and do nothing, except in Trinidad, where there is
no Colonial Assembly. There they will do every thing they
promised last year. This timidity is very painful. It
frustrates all our hopes, and it will enable the West Indians
to say, that we are wild, enthusiastic people, and that the
people of England ought to be guided by the sober dis-
cretion of Government which sober discretion is downright
timidity."
To Joseph John Gurney, Esq.
"February 24. 1824.
" H sent you, I believe, my plan. It has undergone
material improvements ; when first promulgated, it met with
no support. At the first meeting at the Duke of Gloucester's
it was received very coldly : at the second it obtained some
faint praise ; at the third, an unanimous vote supported by
Lord Lansdowne, Brougham, Mackintosh, and twenty others,
sends it to Government, with the sanction of the meeting.
I have been reading Smith's trial. If ever I speak on that
subject, as I surely will, it will be without qualifying circum-
stances. He is as innocent as you are."
The ministers refused to adopt Mr. Buxton's
scheme, and as the 16th of March approached (the
day appointed by Mr. Canning for the discussion of
the question), the Anti-slavery party, now reduced to
a very small number, became much discouraged and
depressed. The Government did not attempt to
conceal that they meant to relinquish the policy of
the preceding year; and it seemed probable that,
having thus come to a breach with the Anti-slavery
1824. LETTER FROM MR. J. J. GURNEY. 145
leaders, these latter would be treated as scape-goats,
on whom public indignation might be poured.
Under these circumstances, a difference of opinion
arose in the Anti-slavery councils, as to the course to
be pursued.
Many recommended that the anticipated attack
from Mr. Canning should be received in silence, and
that the Anti-slavery party should not come forward
to state their own case till some days afterwards,
when the first impression made by his eloquence
should have died away.
To this course Mr. Buxton was altogether opposed :
he wished to make a stand at once, and indeed to act
on the offensive, by exposing the vacillation of the
Government, if it should prove that they did not
intend to fulfil the expectations held out in the pre-
ceding year. In these views he was supported by
Dr. Lushington : and Mr. William Smith, Mr.Clarkson,
Mr. \V. Evans, and Mr. S. Hoare all strongly con-
curred in the same opinion.
Mr. J. J. Gurney writes to him :
" My dear Brother, "Norwich, Smo. 10th,
" I feel very much for thee and for our cause in the pros-
pect of the approaching discussion in Parliament, and I feel
inclined to remind thee (however needlessly,) of the apostle's
injunction, * Quit you like men, be strong.' * * * * *
I look upon Colonial Slavery as a monster, who must have a
long succession of hard knocks before he will expire.
should we expect to get his extinction into full train in
less than ten years? And why should we be discouraged
oMTiiiucli, if the first knock has no other effect than to
ivn-U-r the gentleman more lively and energetic than usual?
* * * * -\vith regard to thyself, as I am fond of thy
L
146 POPULAR CLAMOUR. CHAP. IX.
popularity, I am prone to dislike the contrary. But I have
a strong belief that, in due time, thy history will afford a
plain exemplification of the certainty of a divine promise,
* Them that honour me, I will honour ! ' Till then be con-
tent to suffer thy portion of persecution, and let no frowns
of adversaries, no want of faith, no private feeling of thine
own incompetency, either deprive thee of thy spirits, or spoil
thy speech."
Thus encouraged, Mr. Buxton resolved to persevere:
the other leaders gradually fell into his views, and
the plan of operations was arranged. The previous
division of opinion had, however, been a source of
great anxiety to him ; and he was almost worn out
by his unremitting exertions, which had of late been
chiefly directed to the procuring digested proofs of
the cruelty with which the slaves were treated, and
of the rapid decrease of the black population. He
writes on the 12th February, 1824 ; " The weight
of business, and worse still, of thought, which over-
hangs me at this time, is greater than I ever expe-
rienced before;" and on another occasion, " I am
fatigued, I am distressed with fatigue." The pros-
pect before him was full of difficulties. The small
Anti-slavery party were attacked on all sides with
fury. Even in the House they were stigmatised
with the names of " enthusiasts," " saints," and
similar epithets, while beyond its walls a perfect hur-
ricane of ridicule and abuse assailed them. And,
now, if the Government were to be swayed by the
tide of public opinion, and abandon its schemes of
the previous year, how could their small unaided
band indulge the hope of even ultimate success in
their undertaking ?
1824. GOVERNMENT GIVES WAY. 147
Their fears -were but too well founded. Mr. Can-
ning carefully withdrew from his connection with
those whose principles and measures he had the
yi-ar before, in a great degree, adopted as his own,
but whom he now discovered to be acting " under
the impulses of enthusiasm ;" and he informed the
House, that the Government was determined to
compel the ameliorations in Trinidad, but to apply
for the present no measure more stringent than
" admonition " to the contumacious colonies. One
specimen of the graceful eloquence by which his
speech was distinguished, we cannot refrain from
inserting. Having shown that the conduct of the
people of Jamaica might well have justified severe
coercive measures, he adds, " but the consciousness
of superior strength disarms the spirit of resentment.
I could revenge, but I would much rather reclaim.
I prefer that moral self-restraint, so beautifully ex-
pressed by the poet, when he represents Neptune as
allaying the wild waters, instead of rebuking the
winds which had put them in a roar,
" Quos ego sed motos praestat componere fluctos."
Mr. Buxton replied, and fearlessly attacked the
Government for its vacillating conduct. He read
over the resolutions of the year before; which he
justly denominated "a distinct pledge given by
Government, that the condition of the slave population
should be ameliorated." Quoting also Mr. Canning's
words, that " if the colonial legislatures would not
consent to these ameliorations, if any resistance
should be manifested to the expressed and declared
L 2
148 MB. BUXTON ATTACKS THEM. CHAP. IX
wish of Parliament, any resistance which should par-
take, not of reason, but of contumacy, it would
create a case, upon which His Majesty's Government
would not hesitate to come down to Parliament for
counsel.
" Now," said Mr. Buxton, " if this full and comprehensive
pledge, this engagement given as to all the colonies ; is to be
frittered down, at present at least, to a single island ; if the
advantages promised are to be granted indeed, to the 30,000
slaves in Trinidad, but withheld from the 350,000 in Jamaica,
and the 70,000 in Barbadoes ; if the ( earliest period ' is to be
construed to mean some time, so undefined and distant, that
no man can say in what century it will take place; if our
pledge to do this, is now to mean no more than that we will
suffer it to be done, by the slow and gradual course of ad-
monition and example : then, I see no reason why ten cen-
turies may not elapse, before the Negroes are freed from their
present state of melancholy and deplorable thraldom. We,
who have engaged in the cause, we, at least, will be no
parties to such a desertion of duty, to such a breach of faith.
" I well know," he added, " the difficult situation in which
I stand. No man is more aware than I am of my inability
to follow the brilliant and able speech which has just been
delivered. But I have a duty to perform, and will perform
it. I know well what I incur by this. I know how I call
down upon myself the violent animosity of an exasperated
and most powei'ful party. I know how reproaches have rung
in my ears since that pledge was given, and how they will
ring with tenfold fury now that I call for its fulfilment.
Let them ring ! I will not purchase for myself a base in-
demnity, with such a sting as this on my conscience. ' You
ventured to agitate the question ; a pledge was obtained ;
you were, therefore, to be considered the holder of that
pledge, to which the hopes of half a million of people were
linked. And then, fearful of a little unpopularity, and con-
founded by the dazzling eloquence of the Right Hon. gentle-
man, you sat still, you held your peace, and were satisfied, to
1824. LETTER FROM MR. WILBERFORCE. 149
see his pledge, in favour of a whole archipelago, reduced to
a single island.'"*
1 fe concluded his speech, in which he laid bare a
series of acts of atrocious cruelty in the treatment of
tin- Negroes, by stating distinctly, "What I have now
said, I have said from a sense of public duty. I have
no hostility to the planters. Compensation to the
planter, emancipation to the children of the Negro
these are my desires, this is the consummation, the
just and glorious consummation, on which my hopes
are planted, and to which, as long as I live, my most
strenuous efforts shall be directed!" He was well
supported by Dr. Lushington, Mr. Evans, and Mr.
\Vilberforce. The latter, who, as usual, was hopeful
amidst discouragements, thus addresses him on the
day after the debate :
" My dear Friend, " Brompton Grove, March 1?. 1824.
" It was quite a disappointment to me not to see you at the
House to-day. There are points on which I shall be glad to
confer with you. Meanwhile I am strongly urged by my
tidings to express to you the solid satisfaction with which I
take a sober estimate of the progress which, through the
goodness of Providence, we have already made, and the good
li'ijit-s which we may justly indulge as to the future. To find
the two Houses of Parliament, each full of members to the
hi iin, consulting about the interests and comforts of those,
\vh >, not long ago, were scarcely rated above the level of
ourang-outangs, is almost as sure an indication of our com-
plete success ere long, as the streaks of morning light are
>f the fulness of meridian day. I hope I may live to con-
gratulate you, even in this world, on the complete success
of your generous labours; at all events, I trust humbly, that
we may rejoice and triumph together in a better world, for
* Hansard's Debates. New Series, vol. x. p. 1115.
L 3
150 FORBEARANCE OF REVOLTED NEGROES. CHAP. IX.
we, my dear friend, may, more truly than the great artist,
affirm, that we are working for eternity. And our XT^U.*
e$ dei will be enjoyed, I trust, in common with many, many
of our poor black brethren, when all bondage and injustice,
all sorrow and pain having ceased, love and truth, and mercy
and peace and joy, shall be our everlasting portion. Oh, my
friend, let us strive more and more earnestly for all that is
right here, looking forward to these glorious prospects ! "
On the 1st of June a motion respecting the
missionary Smith was brought forward by Mr.
Brougham, in a brilliant speech of four hours' length,
which produced a strong effect upon public feeling.
One remarkable circumstance by which the Deme-
rara insurrection was distinguished, namely, the
extraordinary forbearance of the rebel Negroes, is
thus mentioned by him :
" The slaves," he said, " inflamed by false hopes of free-
dom ; agitated by remorse, and irritated by the suspense and
ignorance in which they were kept ; exasperated by ancient
as well as more recent wrongs, (for a sale of fifty or sixty of
them had just been announced, and they were about to be
violently separated and dispersed,) were satisfied with com-
bining not to work, and thus making their managers repair
to the town and ascertain the precise nature of the boon
reported to have arrived from England. The calumniated
minister had so far humanised his poor flock, his dangerous
preaching had so enlightened them, the lessons of himself
and his hated brethren had sunk so deep in their minds, that
by the testimony of the clergymen, and even of the overseers,
the maxims of the Gospel of peace were upon their lips in
the midst of rebellion, and restrained their hands when no
other force was present to resist them. ' We will take no
life,' said they, ' for our pastors have taught us, not to take
that which we cannot give' a memorable peculiarity to
be found in no other instance of Negro warfare, and which
drew from the truly pious minister* of the Established Church
* The clergyman here referred to was the Rev. Mr. Austin, whose
1825. MR. WILBE11FOBCE RETIBES. 151
the exclamation, ' that he shuddered to write that the planters
were seeking the life of the man whose teaching had saved
Sir James Mackintosh followed with equal effect,
and was succeeded by Dr. Lushington, Mr. Wilber-
force, and Mr. Williams. The debate, as had been
predicted, changed the current of public opinion.
The nation, which before had partaken of the con-
sternation of the Government, began to awaken to the
truth, and from henceforth the religious public in
England was strongly enlisted on behalf of the op-
pressed missionaries and their persecuted followers ;
and this feeling soon increased into a detestation of
that system, of which such intolerance was the natural
fruit. On the 15th of June, the subject was renewed
in the House by Mr. Wilberforce, and a promise was
wrested from the Government of extending the order
in council to St. Lucie and Demerara, as well as
Trinidad.
Mr. Buxton passed the summer at Cromer Hall,
recruiting his health, and at the same time strenuously
exerting himself in procuring information which
might assist the future conduct of the cause.
In the beginning of 1825 Mr. Wilberforce retired
from Parliament. In a letter which he wrote to Mr.
l>uxton on the occasion, he says,
" I should like you to be the person to move for a new
writ for Bramber, as my PARLIAMENTARY EXECUTOR.
conduct in this transaction drew from Sir James Mackintosh the em-
phatic declaration, " that he needed nothing but a larger and more
elevated theatre, to place him among those, who will be, in all agw,
regarded by mankind as models for imitation, and objects of reverence."
* Hansard's Debates. New Series, vol. xi. p. 994.
i. 4
152 FEW ABOLITIONISTS IN THE HOUSE. CHAP. IX.
I can now only say, may God bless you and yours ; bless
you in public and private, as a senator and still more as
a man. So wishes, so prays for you and all that are most
dear to you,
" Your ever sincere and affectionate friend,
" W. WlLBERFORCE."
Mr. Buxton thus mentions this event.
"February 10. 1825.
" I went, on the night of my arrival, to Wilberforce. He
insists on my moving the writ of abdication. I feel it just
about the highest honour I could have ; and yet it gives me
unaffected pain, from a consciousness of my inability to be
his successor. I must, however, labour hard, and try how
far labour will supply his talents and reputation. I now
begin to repent that I shot so much and read so little during
my long holiday, and yet I did work pretty hard.
" Well, only one thing is absolutely necessary to do some
good, and that is a pure and fervent determination to do
my duty, in private and in public.
" I can give you no information about our measures, but I
have no other notion than that we shall eventually succeed."
In 1822, Mr. Wilberforce had mentioned in his
diary that, " the House was made up of West Indians,
Government men, a few partisans, and a few sturdy
Abolitionists William Smith, Buxton, Butterworth,
Evans, and myself." He, the great champion of the
oppressed, had now retired, and during the three inter-
vening years, the very "few sturdy Abolitionists"
had received but small accession to their numbers,
though, it may be confessed, that the great ability
and hearty zeal of Dr. Lushington, the varied talents
of Mr. Brougham, Sir James Mackintosh, and Mr.
Denman, in great measure compensated for their
want of numerical strength.
With Dr. Lushington, Mr. Buxton maintained,
1825. DR. LUSHINGTON. MR. MACAULAY. 153
from the beginning to the end of the Anti-slavery
struggle, a peculiarly close connection. " He has
ever been," said Mr. Buxton, " as disinterested, as
honest, as generous a supporter of our great cause as
could be ; and in private life a most kind and faithful
friend, with no other fault than too much zeal, and
too much liberality." They had a perfect community
of interest, of anxiety, and of council. Indeed, if
any credit whatever is due to Mr. Buxton for
his conduct of the Anti-slavery campaign, an equal
share must be awarded to Dr. Lushington ; for every
idea, and every plan, was originated and arranged
between them. Important as was Dr. Lushington's
parliamentary assistance, not one tenth part of his
exertions for the cause ever met the public eye. It
was in the long and anxious deliberations, in which,
day after day, he used to be engaged with Mr.
Buxton, that the cause reaped the chief benefit of
his great talents and far-sighted policy.
A no less essential member of the Anti-slavery
cabinet was Mr. Zachary Macaulay. The par-
liamentary leaders derived the utmost assistance from
hi> matured judgment, and from those vast stores
of information which were treasured up in his
memory. He also was the director of that important
vehicle of information, the " Anti-Slavery Reporter."
There are many who still remember Mr. Macau-
lay's stooping figure, his entangled utterance, and
IK elected dress ; but within there dwelt, the spirit of a
lien i, and a heart glowing with love to God and man.
I ; mm the moment of his embracing the abolition cause,
till the day of his death, he flinched neither from toil
154 MR. BUXTON'S VIEWS. CHAP. IX.
nor privations ; neither from obloquy nor persecution ;
but sacrificed himself, with the whole of his personal
hopes, to advancing the cause of humanity. The
privacy of his course was only checquered by occa-
sional bursts of animosity, from those who felt their
defeat to be in a great measure owing to his silent
but steady exertions. To labour and suffer without
prospect of gain or applause, in the simple hope of
alleviating the miseries of others, was the lot in life
that he cheerfully fulfilled. There may be more grace-
ful and more attractive careers can there be one of
more solemn grandeur? Still, however,
and we may hope that posterity will grant him that
just meed of honour, which, during his life, was de-
nied him.
T. F. Buxton, Esq., to a Friend.
" February 17. 1825.
" We have had a most noble debate. Burdett's and Canning's
speeches were superlative. As an object of ambition, there
is nothing to compare with such exertions; and there was
a time when my bosom burned to achieve them; but that
folly is defunct. After all, they are but an object of am-
bition ; they convey no reality of honour, or of happiness.
Falstaff and I are exactly of the same opinion on the subject
of reputation. I shall speak as well as I can for usefulness,
but not for fame ; my serious opinion being, that good wood-
cock shooting is a preferable thing to glory."
" February 24. 1825.
" I find I have got the character of being very rash and
impetuous. In our Anti-slavery proceedings, I have always
been for vigorous measures. I thought our cause invincible
in itself, and that it was always to be treated by us as if
we had no distrust of its soundness; and, therefore, the
maxim I quote in our deliberations is that of the navy in
1825. MR. SHREWSBURY. 155
the last war, ' Always fight.' This is well known to our
:ul\i.-rsaries, and makes them bitter against me to the last
IK nut. I can well bear this."
1 hiring these first four years of the Anti-slavery
struggle, the leaders were chiefly employed in clear-
ing the ground for future operations. Emancipation
-< ined far distant. They were therefore more occu-
pied in investigating and bringing to light the evils
of the present state of things, than in framing plans
for that which they trusted would eventually suc-
ceed it.
Early in 1825 Dr. Lushington commenced an attack
upon the unworthy treatment of the free people of
colour in the West Indies, selecting, as a prominent
instance, the cruel usage of Messrs. Lecesne and
offery.
In June of the same year Mr. Buxton brought
before the House the case of Mr. Shrewsbury. This
gentleman was a Wesleyan missionary in Barbadoes,
" in whose conduct," as Mr. Canning expressly stated
in the House, " there did not appear the slightest
ground of blame or suspicion." But the planters
were exasperated against him for his exertions in the
instruction of the Negroes and free people of colour ;
ami it was also charged against him, that he had
actually corresponded with Mr. Buxton ! " Though,"
said the latter in the House, " I never received from
or wrote to him a single letter ; nor did I know that
xiif/i a man existed, till I happened to take up a news-
]i;i[>< T, and there read, with some astonishment, that
he was going to be hanged for corresponding with me ! "
On two successive Sundays in October, 1823, the
156 DEBATE ON MB. SHREWSBURY'S CASE. CHAP. IX.
doors of Mr. Shrewsbury's chapel were stormed
during the hours of service by a furious mob, who
did not, however, at that time proceed to actual out-
rage ; but a day or two afterwards a " Proclamation "
was published, calling on all the " true lovers of
religion " to assemble in arms on the following Sun-
day, and pull down the chapel and mission house.
This they accordingly did ; but Mr. Shrewsbury had
concealed himself in the house of a clergyman, " whose
kindness," said Mr. Buxton, " then displayed to a
poor friendless missionary, hunted for his life by an
infuriated mob, I will now return, by concealing his
name ; knowing, that if I were to mention it with
approbation, the fate of Mr. Austin of Demerara
would await him." " There is," he continued, " in this
transaction at Barbadoes, as there was also in that
of Demerara, that which of all things I hate the most,
a rank, fierce, furious spirit of religious bigotry,
dominant throughout the island, and pursuing its
victims, the one to death, and the other to exile.
But there is that, also, which does honour to human
nature, and casts a glory round the church to which
I belong, and which I prefer to all others, namely,
that these poor victims, Dissenters, Missionaries,
Methodists, though they were, found their best
friends, and their most faithful advisers, in the ranks
of our clergy. Mr. Austin, for one of the most noble
acts which have been done in our days, is a ruined
and banished man ; and I conceal the name of the
other, in order to spare him the honours indeed,
but the sufferings of martyrdom."*
* Hansard. New Series, vol. xiii. p. 1285.
1825. DELIBERATIONS. 157
He concluded, not by demanding any punishment
on the guilty parties, but simply by moving that they
should be compelled to rebuild the chapel. The
House, however, would only join him in a vote of
censure upon those concerned in the crime.
In his reply at the end of the debate, he said,
" I wish it to be distinctly understood that it is my firm
and unalterable resolution to devote all my life and my eflforts
to advocating the cause of the slaves ; and that I will persist in
that course, in spite of opposition, unpopularity, obloquy, or
falsehood."
To a Friend.
" Jane 24. 1825.
" I have now to tell you the events of yesterday. At first
the usual fate of West India questions attended me a great
indisposition to hear anything; but I gradually won their
attention, and gave my narrative fully. No very lively in-
terest betrayed itself, but they listened like persons who
wished to learn. * * * * I am prepared for a poor
report in the newspapers, for even the reporters sympathize
with the House in detestation of slavery questions; and I
understand, that though Lushington made a most capital
speech last week on the Jamaica business, it was only re-
ported in a very superficial manner. * * * * However,
I did my duty, and that is all I care much about. As for
popularity and fame, whoever undertakes slavery, and such
foolish, methodistical questions, bids farewell to these ; and I
would rather take such causes in hand, than have all the ap-
plause in the world, for questions purely political."
In the recess of this year we find him attending
Anti-slavery meetings at Norwich and elsewhere;
and employed in arranging and settling the division
nt' 1; i hour with his coadjutors.
lit.- trlK Mr. Brougham,
158 SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH. CHAP. IX.
" Cromer Hall, Sept. 8. 1825.
" Lushington, Macaulay, and I, have now for several days
met directly after breakfast, and employed ourselves in dis-
cussing various questions relative to slavery. I now send you
the result."
After detailing the projects for the ensuing session,
he adds,
" Macaulay leaves me to-morrow; Lushington stays for
several weeks : he and I mean to continue our morning
meetings."
Sir James Mackintosh to T. Fowell Buxton, Esq.
" Dear Buxton, " Harrowgate, Sept, 25. 1825.
" I received your plan of campaign, but as I am going to
Brougham's house in Westmoreland, I reserve my observa-
tions on it till I have a conference with him. My health is
now so much better than ever I expected it would be, that I
can with more than usual confidence undertake to perform any
task allotted me to the best of my abilities.
The two great measures are, the bill to enforce and generalize
the order in council, and the particular plan of emancipation.
I almost think that both are too much for one session.
* * I hope to be in London in four weeks, where I shall
wish to hear from you.
" Ever yours faithfully,
" J. MACKINTOSH."
In the beginning of the session of 1826, Mr. Buxton
mentions that two meetings about slavery had been
already held ; and he adds,
" We are determined to bring forward, without delay, two
or three enormities, as a prelude to the Bill for compelling
the colonial assemblies. The Berbice Papers *, and the in-
surrection in Jamaica, have been selected."
* The Berbice Papers were the official statement by the fiscal of the
complaints made to him by the Negroes against their masters, and his
1826. THE JAMAICA INSURRECTION. 159
" February 23.
" I saw Canning yesterday : he was very friendly ; inti-
matfd that the Government meant to do something; but as
he had refused to tell the West Indians what that some-
thing was, he also refused to tell us. On Tuesday next I
bring forward the London Petition, and we shall have a warm
discussion. On Thursday we have Denman's motion on the
Jamaica Trials another fierce discussion ; and these will
probably be followed by a host of other questions."
Mr. Buxton presented the London Petition against
slavery on the 1st of March ; it was signed by 72,000
persons. In his speech he praised the order in council
enforced in Trinidad, and again pointed out how in-
effectual had been the recommendations of the Govern-
ment to the legislatures of the other islands. " I am
anxious," he declared, " to say nothing that can give
offence to any party ; but it is my duty broadly to
declare my confirmed and deliberate conviction, that
this House must do the work themselves, or suffer
it to be altogether abandoned."*
He thus states the result of this debate :
" March 2.
" Last night we had our debate. Canning was not
satisfactory : he preferred to give the West Indians another
i/i n r. and then to legislate. We are going to have another
<lrl>:ite to-night. I am as tired as a person well can be."
The next evening came on Mr. Denman's Motion.
Ilr to.k the case of eight of the Negroes executed
after the Jamaica insurrection of 1823 ; and demanded
judgments thereon. The cruelties thus brought to light were of the
most revolting character. Abundant extracts from these papers will
be found in the Anti-Slavery Reporter for October 31. 1825, vol. i.
* Hansard's Debates. New Series, vol. xiv. p. 968.
160 A YEAR'S PAUSE. CHAP. ix.
a vote of censure on those concerned in condemning
them. How forced and illegal some of the proceed-
ings had been, will be seen from the following brief
extract from Mr. Buxton's speech :
" Next came the evidence of the constable. He
was asked, whether he had not found guns amongst
the insurgents ? His answer was, that he had not ;
but he was shown a place, where he was told guns had
been. Then he was asked, if he had not found large
quantities of ammunition ? And he answered that he
had not. Had he not found a number of bayonets ?
' No,' said the constable, ' but I was shown a basket,
in which I was told a great number of bayonets had
been I ' Such was the evidence on which these men
were hanged."
The House resolved, that it would be inexpedient to
impeach the sentences which had been passed; but
" that further proof had been afforded by them of the
evils inseparably attendant upon a state of slavery."
After the close of this session, there was a pause in
the operations of the Abolitionists. As Mr. Canning
had positively declared that the Government would
give the colonial legislature another year's trial,
before it would take the task of amelioration into
its own hands, nothing remained for the Anti-slavery
party but to await the expiration of that period.
CHAP. X. 161
CHAPTER X.
18221826.
<-|:<MEB HALL. SHOOTING. A COURTEOUS POACHER. THE
SPORTING PROFESSOR. MR. BUXTON*S DELIGHT IN HORSES.
HIS INFLUENCE OVER THE YOUNG. MAXIMS. LETTER TO A
HEW HIS LOVE OF A MANLY CHARACTER. HIS GENTLE-
NESS SHIPWRECK OF A COLLIER. PERILOUS EXPLOIT.
HIS RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE KINDNESS TO THE POOR. LETTER
ON STYLE. CORRESPONDENCE. MARTIN'S ACT. LETTERS ON
BRAVERY, AND ON CANDOUR. LETTER TO A CLERGYMAN ON
HIS NEW HOUSE.
FOR the last few years Mr. Buxton had generally
resided in the spring and summer, near the House of
Commons, spending, however, much of his time at
Ham House, Mr. Gurney's seat in Essex, and with
Mr. S. Hoare, at Hampstead. Amid the turmoil of
his parliamentary life, these country visits were of
JT< -at advantage to him; as affording him quiet hours
for study, and the opportunity of taking those solitary
rambles which were the times of his deepest
reflection.
In 1825 he took a house in Devonshire Street, Port-
land 1 Mace ; but as long as he remained in Parliament, a
lay of leisure generally found him either at Hamp-
stead or at Ham House. Mr. and Mrs. Hoare, also,
regularly passed the months of September and
her at Cromer, and for several years Cromer Hall
wa- held in common by the two families.
After the busy summer in London, Mr. Buxton
M
162 A COURTEOUS POACHER. CHAP. X.
highly relished the retirement and recreation which
this place afforded. He never lost his taste for shoot-
ing, and had the reputation of being a first-rate shot.*
Great pains were taken by him in the management
of his game, especially in rearing his pheasants, which
used to feed in very large numbers on the lawn, im-
mediately under the drawing-room windows ; yet
he was scarcely ever annoyed by poachers. On
one occasion, however, while riding along the road,
he saw a young man in an adjoining field, fire
at a partridge and kill it. He opened the gate,
and riding up to the youth, who seemed not a
little startled at the apparition, said to him, in a
somewhat abrupt tone, "Now, sir, allow me to
ask you three questions: First, what is your name
and residence ; secondly, where is your license ;
and, thirdly, who gave you leave to shoot over my
ground ?" The young man made a low bow, and an-
swered in the blandest manner : " My name, sir, is
. As to your two other questions, with your
* One of his feats is thus alluded to in his game book.
"November, 1822. At Holkham, Coke betted that I would kill
200 head in the last two days (November 18 and 19). The first it
rained at half-past-twelve. At one o'clock the party went home. In
the two preceding hours I had killed 82 head, and I stayed out another
hour. The bet was won easily the next day. * * * This week I killed
exactly 500 head.
" December 31. 1822. Fine cold weather, very frosty, no snow.
Found at Hempstead in the distant coverts, eighteen woodcocks ; one
fled the country the first time he rose, one fairly beat me, and the re-
mainder I brought home."
At the same time it should be noticed that there never was a sports-
man who had a greater abhorrence of wounding game without killing
it ; and it roused his indignation if those who were with him took long
shots for the chance.
1822. THE SPORTING PROFESSOR. 163
leave, I'll waive them. Sir, I wish you a very good
morning;" and so saying, to Mr. Buxton's no small
amusement, lie slipped out of the field.
Once, when he was staying with Mr. Coke at
Holkham, a well-known Professor was also one of the
visitors. The venerable historian had never had a
gun in his hand, but on this occasion Mr. Coke per-
suaded him to accompany the shooting-party ; care,
however, was taken to place him at a corner of the
covert, where it was thought the other sportsmen
would be out of his reach. When the rest of the
party came up to the spot where he was standing,
.Mr. Coke said to him, " Well, what sport ? You have
IM .11 firing pretty often!" "Hush!" said the Pro-
fessor, " there it goes again ;" and he was just raising
his gun to his shoulder, when a man walked very
quietly from the bushes about seventy yards in front
of him. It was one of the beaters who had been set
to stop the pheasants, and his leather gaiters, dimly
seen through the bushes, had been mistaken for a
hare by the Professor, who, much surprised by its tena-
city of life, had been firing at it whenever he saw it
move. " But," said Mr. Buxton, " the man had never
discovered that the Professor was shooting at him!"
No Arab ever took a greater delight in horses
than Mr. Buxton; and several of his favourites,
r > pi r hilly John Bull, Abraham, and Jeremie, were
n-n owned for their strength and beauty. He was
considered a very good judge, and never hesitated to
give any price, in order to render his stud more
complete. Of dogs, too, he was very fond ; one of his
pet.s came into his possession in u singular manner.
M 2
1 64 CROMER HALL. CHAP. X.
He was standing at the door of the House of
Commons talking to a friend, when a beautiful tan-
terrier rushed between them, and immediately began
barking furiously at Sir Charles Wetherell, who was
speaking. All the members jumped up, shouting and
laughing, while the officers of the House chased the
door round and round, till at last he took refuge with
O * CJ
Mr. Buxton ; who, as he could find no traces of an
owner, carried him home. He proved to be quite an
original. One of his whims was, that he would never
go into the kitchen, nor yet into a poor man's cottage ;
but he formed a habit of visiting by himself at the
country houses in the neighbourhood of Cromer, and
his refined manners and intelligence made Speaker
a welcome guest, wherever he pleased to go.
Once at rest in the retirement of Cromer Hall,
Mr. Buxton began to lose the grave and care-worn
expression which usually marked his countenance
while under the heavy pressure of business in town ;
not that the autumn was spent wholly in recreation,
on the contrary, his studies, chiefly bearing on public
objects, were steadily pursued. He generally passed
the latter part of his evenings alone in his study,
frequently remaining there to a very late hour.
Cromer Hall was often filled with an easy social
party, but he had no wish to extend his circle much
beyond his own relatives, a select few of his parlia-
mentary friends, and the families in the immediate
neighbourhood. He had no taste for society of a
more formal, and, as he thought, insipid character,
nor did he find much pleasure in conversation,
though at table he would usually enliven the party
1822 HIS INFLUENCE OVER THE YOUNG. 165
by his playfulness of manner, and by his store of
anecdotes, which he could tell with much force and
spirit. He took great pains in providing amusements
for the younger members of the circle. There is much
picturesque scenery around Cromer, and large parties
wore often collected for excursions, to Sheringham,
one of the most beautiful spots in all the eastern
counties, to the wooded dells of Felbrigg and Runton,
or to the rough heath ground by the Black Beacon.
At home, also, he was energetic in setting on foot
amusements for his young friends, such as acting
charades, Christmas games, or amusing reading.
At one time a family newspaper was started, which
appeared once a week; and great was the interest
i \ ited in reading the various contributions, grave
and gay, which every one sent in. Sometimes he
would give a list of poets, from whose works the
juvenile part of the circle were to learn by heart; and
examinations were held, with valuable books as
prizes. Other schemes of the same kind were fre-
quent Iv set on foot, all intended to draw out the
mind, and spur it to exertion. His thoughtfulness
l'r others, combined with an unswerving strictness,
ir;t\ ( him a remarkable influence over those around
liim ; it has been thus referred to by one who was a
frequent guest at Cromer Hall.
" I wish I could describe the impression made upon
me by tin extraordinary power of interesting and
simulating others, which was possessed bySirFowell
lluxton some thirty years ago. In my own case it
like having powers of thinking, powers of feeling,
and above all, the love of true poetry, suddenly
M 3
166 HINTS FOE MAXIMS FOR THE YOUNG. CHAP. X.
aroused within me, which, though I may have
possessed them before, had been till then unused.
From Locke on the Human Understanding to ' Wil-
liam of Deloraine good at need/ he woke up in me
the sleeping principle of taste ; and in giving me such
objects of pursuit, has added immeasurably to the
happiness of my life."
He seems to have had some idea of publishing a
little work, to be called " Maxims for the Young."
The following extracts from the rough memoranda
for this work throw light, not only upon his views
as to education, but also on his own character :
HINTS FOE MAXIMS FOE THE YOUNG.
" Mankind in general mistake difficulties for impossibilities.
That is the difference between those who effect, and those
who do not.
" People of weak judgment are the most timid, as horses
half blind are most apt to start.
" Burke in a letter to Miss Shackleton says :
" ' Thus much in favour of activity and occupation, that
the more one has to do, the more one is capable of doing,
even beyond our direct task.'
" Plato, * better to err in acts, than principles.'
" Idleness the greatest prodigality.
" Two kinds of idleness, a listless, and an active.
" If industrious, we should direct our efforts to right ends.
" Possibly it may require as much (industry) to be best
billiard-player as to be senior wrangler.
" The endowments of nature we cannot command, but we
can cultivate those given.
" My experience, that men of great talents are apt to do
nothing for want of vigour.
" Vigour, energy, resolution, firmness of purpose,
these cany the day.
1827. HINTS FOR MAXIMS FOB TDK YOUNG. 1G7
" Is there one whom difficulties dishearten, who bends
t> the storm? He will do little. Is there one who will
conquer ? That kind of man never fails.
" Hunter the surgeon.
" Let it be your first study to teach the world that you
are not wood and straw some iron in you.
" Let men know that what you say you will do ; that your
(It * i?ion made is final, no wavering; that, once resolved,
you are not to be allured nor intimidated.
" Acquire and maintain that character."
******
" Eloquence the most useful talent ; one to be acquired,
or improved ; all the great speakers bad at first. Huskisson.
How to be acquired.
" Write your speeches, no inspiration.
" Labour to put your thoughts in the clearest view.
" A bold, decided, outline.
" Head ' multum, non multa, homo unius libri.'
" Learn by heart everything which strikes you. Fox.
" Thus ends my lecture ; nineteen out of twenty become
good or bad as they choose to make themselves.
" The most important part of your education is that which
you now give yourselves."
The same spirit is displayed in a letter to his
nephew, Mr. Hoare's eldest son, who had been dis-
appointed in the examination for the Trinity scholar-
ships.
"Hampstead, April 2?. 1827-
" I need not, I suppose, say that I have my full share of
thi- <li.-:ippointment ; but that is not the subject on which I am
L'oiiig to write. All my advice is crowded into this single
sentence, ' Tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito.'
" This mortification is a test which will try your character.
It' that character be feeble, the disappointment will weigh
upon your spirits; you will relax your exertions, and begin
to (lL-.-jiond, and to be idle. That is the general character of
men: they can do very well when the breeze is in their
M 4
168 HIS LOVE OF A MANLY CHAEACTEK. CHAP. X.
favour, but they are cowed by the storm. If your character
is vigorous and masculine, you will gather strength from this
defeat, and encouragement from this disappointment. If
fortune will not give you her favours, you will tear them from
her by force ; and if you were my own son, as you very
nearly are, I would rather you should have failed, and then
exhibited this determination, than that everything should
have gone smoothly. I like your letter much ; it breathes a
portion of this unconquerable spirit, which is worth all the
Latin, Greek, and Logarithms in the world, and all the
prizes which ever were given. Now, then, is the time ; be
a man and avenge yourself at the next examination. If you
are sick at heart, and can't sleep, and laugh, and defy
malicious fortune, then you may make a very decent banker,
but there is an end of you. If you can summon up courage
for the occasion, and pluck from this failure the materials for
future success, then the loss of the scholarship may be a gain
for life."*
This delight in manliness of mind led him to set
his face firmly against all listlessness in amusement
as well as in study. He was much averse to confin-
ing boys too closely to the schoolroom, and was
always ready to propose holidays and to provide
shooting, cricketing, or some other active diversion
for them. At the same time he was very strict in
enforcing his orders. " I know," he says in a letter
from Cromer Hall, " that I am often harsh, and
violent, and very disagreeable, but I sincerely think
that I do not know a person less inclined than I am
to curb the deep desires of others, or to force my
views down their throats. I believe I am a true
* This advice was not neglected by his nephew. He gained his
scholarship the next time ; was a high wrangler, and in the first class
of the Tripos.
1823. SHIPWRECK OF A COLLIER. 169
friend to liberty of feeling, and I think it high arro-
gance in one human being to pretend to dictate to
another what is for that other's happiness." These
principles were strongly shown by him in the turmoil
of public life. In transacting business, on committees,
and in the conduct of difficult affairs with those of
widely diverging opinions, his subjugation of temper,
and his gentle persuasive manner were remarkable.
One of his most faithful supporters at Weymouth
thus writes of him
" It must be well known to every one conversant with
contested elections, that nothing can try the temper more,
by the unwarrantable liberty of the press, and the unfair
im-ans, both in word and deed, used on such occasions; yet
though I have followed the late Sir Fowell through all his
hard, long, and severe contests in this borough, I never
knew him once lose his temper, once give a harsh reply, or
use an unkind word to any one ; nothing ever disturbed the
rvcn tenor of his way.' "
Before the establishment of the floating light off
Happisburgh, wrecks were very frequent on the
Cromer coast. On any rumour of a vessel in danger,
Mr. liuxton and Mr. Hoare used to be among the
first on the shore, not merely to urge and direct the
efforts of others, but to give their personal aid. On
IK- of those occasions Mr. Buxton himself ran consi-
drr:iUr risk, in the terrible storm of the 31st of
October, 1823, which was long remembered on the
Norfolk coast. About twelve o'clock a collier brig,
" The Duchess of Cumberland," ran upon the rocks off
tli Cromer light-house. The life-boat was imme-
170 PERILOUS EXPLOIT. CHAP. X.
diately brought out, but so tremendous was the sea
that no persuasion could induce the fishermen to
put off.
Once when a wave ran up the beach and floated
her, Mr. Buxton, hoping to spur them on by his
example, sprang in, shouting to them to follow him,
but without effect. Captain Manby's gun was re-
peatedly fired, but the line fell short of the vessel, in
which nine sailors were seen lashed to the shrouds.
At length a huge sea burst over her, and she went to
pieces, blackening the waters with her cargo of coal.
For an instant the spectators stood still in silent awe.
"Poor dear hearts, they're all gone now!" ex-
claimed an old fisherman ; but at that moment
Mr. Buxton thought he saw one of them borne upon
the top of a wave. Without waiting for a rope, he
at once dashed into the surf caught the man
flung himself upon him, and struggled against the
strong drawback of the retiring billow, until others
could reach him, and he was dragged to land with
his rescued mariner, both of them in a state of utter
exhaustion. The deed was considered by those on
shore to have been one of extreme peril and daring.*
He said himself that he felt the waves play with him
as he could play with an orange.
A prominent feature of Mr. Buxton's character,
was the careful employment of his influence in pro-
moting the spread of religion around him. On the
Sunday evenings his large dining-room was usually
filled with a miscellaneous assemblage of hearers;
* See the Fisherman's Magazine, March 1845.
1823. KINDNESS TO THE POOR. 171
besides his own household, many of the fishermen
and other neighbours collecting round him ; and
very impressive were his brief, but well-digested
comments on the passage of Scripture he had
read.
He and Mr. Hoare had taken much pains in
e>tal>!Miing branches of the Bible and Missionary
Societies at Cromer, and from that time they made a
point of attending and taking a part in the annual
meetings. Only on one occasion was Mr. Hoare
absent from them, up to the time of his death a
period of twenty -five years; and Mr. Buxton was
scarcely less regular. In every way he strove to
pnnnote the well-being of his poorer neighbours:
their sufferings touched him to the quick, and great
was his anxiety to relieve them. He would take
I >ai us also to gratify them in small things as well as
to benefit them in greater matters. " It is a cruel
thing," he once said, " for the poor labourer to be
obliged to part with all his pig, after nourishing it
as a daughter, and letting it lie in his bosom. When
they ask me to buy a bit, I buy two, one for my-
self, the other for them : they are so grateful and so
pleased." Proofs that he was popular among them
were often given. Having gone one day to speak to
Lord Suftk-ld at the Magistrates' meeting, in coming
out he was surrounded by a crowd of people, one of
whom said to him, " I hope, sir, you will attend the
meeting to-day." " No, I do not understand magis-
trates' l)u>iness." " Yes, sir," answered a man, "you
a iv i lie poor man's magistrate."
172 HIS LETTER ON STYLE. CHAP. X.
The following letters, written between 1823 and
1827, may find a place here.
To a Friend.
" London,, April 16. 1823.
" I will take an early opportunity of moving for the account
of the stations, and for the number of lives saved by the use
of Captain Manby's apparatus; but the purpose of niy
writing at present is of a dhTerent nature. You say
' Pathos is not, in any sense, in my composition,' and you
intimated in our conversation last Sunday, that you felt fit
for the drudgery of stating facts, but not possessed of the art
of giving to your statements entertainment and interest.
Now, this is utterly and without reserve untrue. The fact is
that all persons, if they set about it aright, have the capacity
of conveying their feelings to others. * Honestly
speaking, however, I do think there is a certain degree of
languor, and want of vivacity in your studied productions ;
and I am sure I know the cause. You imagine, when you
appear before the public, that you must appear in full dress,
correct to a nicety precise to a hair; and that artless,
native naivete, and undressed good-humour, are unbefitting
so solemn an occasion as an address to the public : in all which
you are eminently deceived. You are of opinion that the public
is so sagacious a creature, as to require only bare facts ; that
he wants no more ornament or entertainment than a mathema-
tician. Now believe me, the public, neither can, nor will,
receive into his obtuse understanding anything which is not
conveyed through the medium of his imagination or his
feelings ; and if you want to move him, you must address
yourself to those only openings through which he is assailable.
All the observations I have made in life, all the persons who
have succeeded, and all those who have failed, furnish proofs
of this. I will, however, only give you one. Dr. Lawrence,
a man of great learning and talents, used to make speeches
in the House, admirable for their facts, but to which no
man ever attended, except Fox : he was always seen sitting in
1823. CORRESPONDENCE. 173
the attitude of deep attention ; and when asked the reason, he
saiil, * Because I mean to speak this speech over again.'
He actually did so ; and those facts which, from Dr. Lawrence,
were unbearably heavy, moved and delighted the House from
Fox, and insured certain and silent attention from all. Why ?
In cause Dr. L. thought with you, and Fox had the good
fortune to agree with me !
" Now, then, the application of all this. You ought to
study the art of composition the means of conveying to the
world your own views and feelings. I am sure, from your
habits of research, and your literary powers and opportunities,
you may do a great deal of good ; but you are bound to do
your best to effect that object, in the way by which alone
it can be accomplished by tickling the fancy of the public.
*******
" First, I should advise you, in writing, to put down the
native, gay effusions of your own mind; and to avoid de-
stroying their effect, by a cold, correct emendation.
" Secondly, I would advise you to study composition ;
'but where?' In Cicero, in Quinctilian, in Chesterfield's
Letters, (you will smile at the assembly,) in the three papers
on the Speech of Demosthenes in the Edinburgh Review,
in South's Sermons, Junius's Letters, and the Spectator.
Imbibe the spirit of these, and I will venture to assert, that
the public will feel as you feel, and respond to any appeal
you make to them.
John Henry North, Esq., to T. Powell Buxton, Esq.
" My dear Buxton, " Barmouth, September 1. 1823.
" 1 have at length sat down to perform a lawyer's duty,
to explain things inexplicable, to wit: why I have not
written to you before, or why I am writing to you now, or
why I am AV riling to you from this place. When the circuit
ended and left me at liberty to think of recreation, I em-
barkril myself, my wife, a gig and horse, and without other
incumbrance or accommodation, have been moving about in
bn km weather, and on mountain roads, till I found a
sheltering place here. Here, too, I have had the good for-
174 CORRESPONDENCE. CHAP. X.
tune to meet with your venerable friend Mr. Wilberforce.
To-day I had the pleasure of walking with him for half an
hour, when he spoke of you with all the warmth and affection
that I anticipated. It quite delights me to receive the un-
varying testimony which comes to me from all quarters, of
your well-earned reputation; and I enjoyed, in a peculiar
manner, the high tribute which he paid you, because I know
you are considered as his natural successor in the House of
Commons. You have a boldness, spirit, and intrepidity, that
fit you for rougher warfare than he ever ventured to engage
in ; and public opinion, more powerful and enlightened now
than in his time, will support you in attempting the great
objects you have in view, by more direct and expeditious
methods than it would have been wise in him to adopt. Yes,
Buxton, I do hope that we shall labour together yet in
rooting out the Slave Trade in every quarter of the globe ;
in improving or perfecting the Criminal Law of England,
and in emancipating, educating, and civilising my unfortunate
countrymen.
" I suppose you have heard that I am an Orange-man,
and that my health is drunk next after the Protestant as-
cendency ; but my opinions on the state of Ireland, and the
policy it requires, remain unchanged. Lord Wellesley and
Plunket have made sad work of it.
" When I tell you that twenty miles a day is the utmost
that I can impel my horse, you will admit the impracticability
of my crossing the island to Norfolk. I wish you had some
of my roving disposition, or that there was good shooting on
the marshes of Wales, and we might yet spend three or four
days pleasantly together. Of our old friends, I have no
news. Strong you see from time to time in London. Stock
is Stock ; every thing else alters, but he remains immoveable.
He is unchanged too in his friendships, and feels the same
warm regard for you and me that he ever felt. Wray is a senior
Fellow, and surprised the college by the excellence of his
fellowship examinations. Kobinson has married, and accepted
a living.
" I do not know with what face I can ask you to write to
CORRESPONDENCE. 175
me, but one can be very impudent upon paper We
have a friend here, the most amiable of men, a Mr.
M'Ghee, a young clergyman. He is quite devoted to re-
ligion; and his views coincide entirely with what I believe
to be yours. In the pulpit, he is nearly the most eloquent
pivacher I ever heard. He is a friend of Mr. Wilberforce, who
came here at his suggestion. If he should ever have an oppor-
tunity of seeing you, let this letter be an introduction to him.
My dear Buxton, may God bless you, and your dear family,
and my dear friend Mrs. Buxton, and long preserve you to
the cause of humanity, patriotism, and religion !
" Your ever affectionate friend,
" JOHN HENRY NORTH."
M r. Wilberforce writes at the same period :
"My dear Buxton, " fiarmouth, Sept. 3. 1823.
"O how much I wish you and yours were all at this
place ! If you have any passion for rocks and mountains, here
it might be gratified to the utmost of your desires. And
there is another, and, to your friendly heart, I know a still
more powerful attraction, in the person of Mr. North, the
Iri.-h barrister, who is staying here with his lady (the sister
of Leslie Forster) for a short time. I own I had formed a
very different idea of his exterior and manners. Your Irish
man of genius commonly has somewhat volcanic about him ;
fla.-h, and fertility, and now and then a puff of smoke too,
though often also with fine confiscations and aspirations
of flame and starry scintillations ; but North's manner is
so quiet, and soft, and insinuating, that I should never have
->ed him to be an Irishman; you cannot hear him
con\rr-e, even for a few minutes, without conceiving both
;.ret and regard for him.
* * * * * *
" My dear friend, I don't like to conclude without one
serious word. Indeed, were I to do so, my letter would
be a very unfaithful picture of my mind, and a letter to
a friend ouu r lit to be quite a copy of it ; for my most affec-
tionate thoughts and I relinks about you and yours arc serious;
176 CORRESPONDENCE. CHAP. X.
far above the region of levities and frivolities. May it please
God, my dear friend, to bless you with a long course of use-
fulness, and honour, and comfort ; and may you and I, and
all that are most dear to us respectively, after having filled up
our appointed course, according to the will of God, in His
faith, and fear, and love, as redeemed and grateful purchases
of the blood of Christ, be received into that world of peace,
and love, and joy, where all will be holiness and happiness for
evermore ! So wishes, so prays,
" Your sincere and affectionate friend,
" W. WlLBERFORCE."
T. Fowell Buxton, Esq., to Mrs. Buxton.
"February 25. 1825.
" Mr. Martin brought forward last night a new cruelty bill.
Sir M. Ridley and another member opposed it, and I evidently
saw that there was so much disposition to sneer at and make
game of Martin, that the bears and dogs would suffer. Up I
got, and when I found myself on my legs I asked myself this
cutting question : Have you anything to say ? ' Not a
syllable,' was the answer from within ; but necessity has no
law ; speak I must, and so I did. ' We saved
the bill, and all the dogs in England, and bears in Chris-
tendom, ought to howl us a congratulation."
To a gentleman who had asked for the secretary-
ship of a mining company for a friend, saying, " He
had been a brave officer : "
"April 17. 1825.
" You say he is brave ; what has that to do with the
mines ? We don't want to fight the silver. Is he a vigorous,
energetic dog, who will conquer difficulties ? Is he a sharp,
clear-headed man who will not let us be cheated ? Is he a
man who will do business ? Is he a good-tempered man,
who will quarrel with nobody ? You naval gentlemen think
of nothing but courage, and think you have given the most
special recommendation, when you assure us that your friend
is most perfectly ready to knock out his neighbour's brains;
LETTEU ON CANDOUR. 177
whereas we cowardly landsmen are not so fond of fighting, or
fighting men."
To a friend who had remonstrated with him on
speaking too strongly to a person in power on the
subject of slavery
" 1 82C.
" I cannot leave London without acknowledging the re-
ceipt of your letter, though I am not very well.
" Our conversation has left a kind of double impression on
my mind. I am glad I spoke out. I have made it a sacred
rule to myself never to change my opinion of a man for
whom I felt a friendship, without telling him, to his face,
what I hud to object against him. I have sometimes found
myself altogether mistaken; and often, if not always, there
has U-eu something to be said on the other side which I had
not anticipated. I am not aware that I ever had a quarrel
with any one who had been my friend, and to this good rule
I owe my preservation. I am glad, therefore, that I did not
disguise what had been long and much on my mind. It is to
me matter of amazement that any man of principle can mate-
rially diit'er with me on the subject of slavery. I wonder
when I see an honest man who does not hate it as I do, who
does not long for the opportunity of giving it a death-blow ;
and as I cannot believe that any change of circumstances
could make me any thing but a favourer, and well-wisher,
and enconrager to those who were devoted to that duty, I
am quite perplexed by finding that there are persons who
look upon me, because thus engaged, with an unfriendly eye.
i- a man for whom I have ever entertained both respect
and liking, I am therefore glad I hazarded the truth; but
I am not glad that I did it in so strong a manner. I did not
tell my \vlmle mind. I wished to have said that I was very
sorry I could not acknowledge many services he had ren-
dered to our cause ; but I wished to have said this in sorrow,
not in anirer : and if I left the impression that I had any
feeling of enmity towards him I did myself great injustice."
N
178 LETTER TO A CLERGYMAN, CHAP. X.
To a Clergyman.
" My dear , " Cromer Hall, August 22. 1826.
" I very much wish you would come into Norfolk, for I
really want to have a conversation with you ; and, it is odd
enough, that it is upon a business entirely yours, with which
I have no kind of concern. I remember two observations of
yours, which little a* I might appear to heed them at the time,
made a deep impression on me. The one was, ' I should
very much like to be a country gentleman. I would not
have the best horses, or dogs, or farms, in the county ; but I
would exert myself to improve the people who were under
my influence. A country gentleman, thus employed, totis
viribus, might accomplish a vast range of good.' The other
was, when you said to one of your parishioners who was fond
of music, * I, too, love music ; I hope to enjoy a great deal of
it, but I will wait till I get to heaven.' Now, having had
the use of these observations for some years, I feel bound to
return them to you for your use and benefit, for it strikes me
you want them just at this time. I hear you are going to
build a house ; no doubt you will do it with excellent taste :
then it will require to be suitably furnished ; then the
grounds must be improved about it, and, by that time, your
heart will be in it. I am sure that house will lead to your
secularization. It will melt you down towards an ordinary
country parson ; not the parson who loves his dinner and his
claret, but rather towards that refined class of triflers, who
exquisitely embellish houses and gardens, and who leave the
minds and souls of their flocks to take care of themselves.
You see I have scratched out * into' and inserted ( towards,'
because I am bound in truth to confess, that I am sure you
will, under any circumstances, and, in spite of all seductions,
be an exemplary clergyman. You will have your schools,
and your weekday services, and your sound, lively, evan-
gelical doctrine in the pulpit ; but what I mean to say is,
that just so much of your affections as you give to your
house, exactly so much will you withdraw from your parish.
182G. ON HIS NEW HOUSE. 17'.'
" After all, the discharge of a man's duty, and, afortiori y of a
clergyman's duty, requires all the strength we can give it. The
world, and the spirit of the world, are very insidious, and the
older we grow, the more inclined we are to think as others
think, and act as others act; and more than once I have seen
a person, who, as a youth, was single-eyed and single-hearted,
and who, to any one who supposed he might glide into laxity
of /eal, would have said, * Am I a dog ? ' in maturer age
.uc, if not a lover of the vices of the world, at least a
ti iKrator of its vanities. I speak here feelingly, for the world
has worn away much of the little zeal I ever had. * What is
the harm,' you will say, * of a convenient house : what is
the harm of a convenient house being elegant ; of an elegant
house being suitably furnished? ' The same personage who
in.-inuates this to you, said to me, 'Where is the harm of
having a few dogs, those few very good ; you preserve game
do it well do it better than other people : ' and so he
stole away my heart from better things. I have more game,
and better horses and dogs than other people, but the same
ciH-rgy, disposed of in a different way, might have spread
liible and Missionary Societies over the hundred of North
Erpingham.
" All this applies to you, more than to any person I know.
You have, by a singular dispensation of Providence, obtained
a -tat ion of influence; you have a vigour and alacrity of mind,
with which few are gifted; upon no man's heart is * the vanity
of this life ' more strongly stamped. You have a great, and,
as far as my experience goes, an unequalled influence
over those around you. These together constitute great
power of doing good. The question is, shall you give it
wholly to God, walking through life as one who really
dc-pises the indulgences on which others set their hearts;
acting fully up to your own creed, and the convictions of your
better momenta, or will you give two-thirds of that power
to ( iod, and one- third of it to the world? Will you have
your music here, or will you wait a few years for it? Old
We<ley said, when called upon, according to the Act of
Parliament, to /ive an account of his service of plate, in
N 2
180 LETTER TO A CLERGYMAN, CHAP. X.
order to be taxed, ' I have five silver spoons ; these are all
I have, and all I mean to have, while my poor neighbours
want bread.' That is the spirit, which becomes a minister.
Will you say, twenty years hence, to death, when he pays
you a visit, { I built this house, by the confession of all
men, a parsonage in the purest taste ; I selected these pic-
tures : observe the luxuriance of the trees I planted ; just
do me the favour to notice the convenience of this library,
and the beauty of the prospect from that window ? ' or will
you say, ' I have spent my days in this homely habitation,
where there is nothing for luxury to enjoy or taste to ad-
mire ; but there is my parish, not a child there but can read
the Bible, and loves it too : in every house there is prayer,
in every heart there is an acknowledgment of Christ, and
that he came into the world to save sinners? ' I do not mean
to say, even if you build your house, that when that epoch
arrives you will not be able to show a very good parish, as
well as a very good parsonage ; I only mean to say, that the
house and the parish will be the inverse of each other, the
better the house, the worse the parish. The less you sur-
round yourself with accommodations, the less you conform
yourself to the taste of the multitude ; the more exclusively,
and the more powerfully, you will do your own work.
" No man has a surplus of power: meaning by power time
talents, money, influence. There is room for the exercise
of all, and more than all, which the most affluent possesses.
Perhaps one parish is enough for the full employment of this
power; if not, the neighbourhood will take off the redun-
dance ; if not, there is three quarters of the world : which is
heathen, and wants his aid. There, at least, is full occu-
pation for the wealth of his mind, and his purse. It is,
therefore, arithmetically true, that so much as he devotes to
the secular object he withdraws from the spiritual. It is not
more clear, that a man having a large hungry farm for his
livelihood, and a garden for his recreation, that as much
manure as he spreads on his garden, of so much he deprives
his fields. He grows more flowers and less bread. But this
is not all : it is not merely the quantum of his force which
182G. ON HIS NEW HOUSE. 181
lie thus wastes, that is the least part of his loss. He touches
the world at one point, and the infection reaches him by the
nontact. If he resembles others in his house, why not in his
t:il)le? why not in his society? why not in anything, which
is not positively wrong ?
" Now every word of this sermon is inconsistent with my
own practice ; but never mind that, truth is truth, whoever
speaks it.
" It may be a way
' Out of this wreck to rise in,
A sure and safe one, though thy master missed it.'
" But why do I write all this to you ? solely because I have
the highest opinion of you and your powers. I have watched
your course now for many years with interest ; apd I am
very desirous that the Rector of A should equal the
Curate of B . The objects of vulgar care, and the
piir>uits of vulgar ambition, are not for you. I hope to see
in your parish, an example of what may be done by a
clergyman having talents, income, influence, out of the
eoiinnon order. It just occurs to me that all this may be
misipplied, that your house has not, and is not likely to have,
a tittle of your affections. Be it so then give this letter to
your housemaid to light your fire with. But if you suspect
that you want the friendly freedom of this hint, in the midst
of your present prosperity, keep this as a memorial of the
attaehment of
" Yours, very truly,
" T. F. BUXTON."
182 CIIAP.XI.
CHAPTER XL
1826, 1827.
THE MAURITIUS SLAVE TRADE. MR. BY AM AND GENERAL HALL.
MR. BUXTON STUDIES AND UNDERTAKES THE QUESTION.
TOUCHING INCIDENT. DEBATE. COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY
STORMY ELECTION AT WEYMOUTH. LETTERS. LABORIOUS
INVESTIGATIONS. FRIGHTFUL ATTACK OF ILLNESS. UNEX-
PECTED RECOVERY.
THE year of trial granted by the Government to the
colonial legislatures, suspended during that time all
anti-slavery proceedings. This interval was not thrown
away Mr. Buxton at once turned his whole mind to
a new, though kindred question.
A few months previously he had received a visit
from a gentleman of the name of Byam, who had been
Commissary General of the police at the Mauritius,
and had come home full of indignation at the abuses
he had there witnessed. He asserted that the slave-
trade was still prevailing in that island to a frightful
extent ; that the inhabitants and the authorities
were alike implicated, and that the labouring slaves
were treated with atrocious cruelty ; the greater,
because their loss could be so easily supplied.
The Mauritius * had not been ceded to England by
* The Mauritius was discovered in 1505, by Mascaregnas, a Portu-
guese. It received its name from that of the ship of Van Neck, a
Dutchman, who first settled on it in 1595. The story of Paul and
Virginia throws a romantic interest over this rich and beautiful island.
182G. THE MAURITIUS SLAVE TRADE. 183
France till 1810, which was three years after the
Abolition of the British slave-trade. It appeared that,
partly owing to this circumstance, and partly to the
facilities afforded by the proximity of the African
coast, the traffic had never been put down in those
quarters, except during one or two brief intervals.
To these startling assertions Mr. Buxton could not
yield immediate belief; still less could he refuse to
investigate them. From Mr. Byain, and other indi-
viduals, especially General Hall (who had been a
governor of the Mauritius), he obtained a large mass
of documents, and after a long and minute study
of their contents, he came to the certain conviction
that the charge was true. He was appalled by
the greatness of the evil thus unveiled to him. It
was no light matter, however, to begin a struggle
with a foe so distant and inaccessible, and at first
he shrank from the undertaking. But how could
In- know of such iniquities without standing up
'list them? At that time he little thought that
in >ix years British slavery would be done away. He
ctcd a far more lengthened contest; and, mean-
while, should these horrors be permitted to continue ?
-No! A year's leisure lay before him, and, in con-
junction with Dr. Lushington and others, he took
the task in hand.
A plan of operation was soon laid, in accordance
with which Mr. (now Sir) George Stephen, a staunch
and hereditary abolitionist, took upon himself the
labour, demanding no less skill than perseverance, of
discovering and examining witnesses. The first of
thr>c was Mrs. liyamV Knglish maid servant, who,
if 4
184 TOUCHING INCIDENT. CUAI-. XI.
while in the Mauritius, had done various little acts of
kindness to the slaves.
One incident related by her powerfully affected
Mr. Buxton. In the middle of the night preceding
the departure of Mr. Byarn's family from the island,
she was awakened by a low voice calling to her from
without ; she rose, and was terrified at finding the
whole court-yard filled with negroes. They beseech-
ingly beckoned her to be still, and then, falling upon
their knees, they implored her, as she was going to
the country of Almighty God, to tell Him of their suf-
ferings, and to entreat Him to send them relief.*
On the 9th of May, 1826, Mr. Buxton brought the
Mauritius question before Parliament. In the com-
mencement of his speech he reminded the House
that the traffic in slaves was by law a felony. " And
yet," he continued :
" I stand here to assert, that in a British colony, for the
last fourteen years (except during General Hall's brief
administration), the slave trade in all its horrors has existed :
that it has been carried on to the extent of thousands, and
tens of thousands ; that, except upon one or two occasions,
which I will advert to, there has been a regular, systematic,
and increasing importation of slaves."
* Mr. Buxton used to relate a conversation as having occurred at his
own table, in connection with this question, which much amused him.
A gentleman who had been resident in the Mauritius, one day dining
with him, laboured to set him right as to the condition of the slaves,
assuring him that the blacks there were in fact the happiest people in
the whole world. He finished by appealing to his wife. " Now, my
dear, you saw Mr. F 's slaves, do tell Mr. Buxton how happy they
looked." " Well, yes," innocently replied the lady, " they were very
happy, I'm sure only I used to think it so odd to see the black
cooks chained to the fireplace ! "
182C. DEBATE. 185
He then proceeded to prove this statement, adduc-
ing the evidence of one admiral and four naval cap-
tuins, one general and three military officers, five
high civil officers, and two out of the three governors
of thv island; and then, from calculations which he
had very fully and accurately made, he proved every
one of the eight distinct heads of accusation which
IK- had brought forward. By a return of the num-
ber of the black population in the Seychelles, he
showed that there was only one alternative, either the
slave trade had been carried on, or every female in
that group of islands must have been the mother of
one hundred and eighty children.* He concluded
liis speech by sketching with a powerful hand the
features of the trade which he was attacking; and
let the reader, while perusing the following extract,
remember, that the same barbarities are going on at
this very day, between the West coast of Africa and
the Hra/ils.
After describing the system of capture, &c., he
said,
" The fourth step is the voyage, the horrors of which are
beyond description. For example, the mode of packing. The
hold of a slave vessel is from two to four feet high. It is
filled with as many human beings as it will contain. They
:uv made to sit down with their heads between their knees :
first, aline is placed close to the side of the vessel; then
another line, and then the packer, armed with a heavy club,
itrikea at the feet of this last line in order to make them
M as closely as possible against those behind. And so
the packing goes on ; until, to use the expression of an eye-
witne-s, tin -y are wedged together in one mass of living cor-
* Hansard, P. D. xv. p. 1030.
186 COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY. CUAP. XL
ruption.' Then the stench is so dreadful that I ani assured
by an officer, that holding his head for a few moments over
the air hole, was almost fatal to his life. Thus it is that
suffocating for want of air, starving for want of food,
parched with thirst for want of water, these poor creatures
are compelled to perform a voyage of fourteen hundred miles.
No wonder the mortality is dreadful ! "
He obtained a select committee to inquire whether
the slave trade had, or had not, existed in the Mauri-
tius. But its investigations were soon arrested by the
dissolution of Parliament; and in the beginning of
June, Mr. Buxton found himself involved in a stormy
election at Weymouth, which at that time, with the
united borough of Melcombe Regis, returned four
members. The non-electors and the mob were
in favour of the Tory candidates, and resorted to
main force to prevent the polling of Whig votes ;
their plan was, with the aid of a large body of
stout Portlanders, to obtain possession of the Town
Hall, at the further extremity of which the booth was
placed. No Whig voter reached the table without a
violent struggle and very rough treatment. Some
were delayed for hours, first by this means, and then
by the objections urged by the lawyers ; and so great
was the success of all this, that on one day but six
votes were polled. To remedy in some degree this
evil, the mayor extended the hours of polling from
4 to 6 o'clock. This measure was extremely un-
popular with the mobility of the place, who of course
wished the election to last as many days as possible.
It was rumoured that an attack on the Town Hall
was in contemplation, and a strong body of cavalry
was called into the town. The mob, however, were
1826. STORMY ELECTION AT WEYMOUT1I. 187
not dismayed. At 4 o'clock they assembled in great
force, and suddenly rushed with a loud yell upon the
door of the Town Hall. Some passed under the
horses of the soldiers, others pressed between them ;
the ranks of the cavalry were broken, and the crowd
poured in. At the same moment a great number of
them ran over the leads of the houses adjoining the
Town Hall, lowered themselves from the roof into
its upper windows, and came tumbling into the Hall
in crowds, rushing towards the polling booth with
loud shouts, and pressing back the gentlemen to the
further end. Most of these scrambled out of the
windows at once; a few kept their seats till they
almost suffocated by the mob, but were forced at
to jump from the windows into the arms of their
friends below. Subsequently a large number of
special constables were sworn in and placed in the
Hall. On two successive days the mob broke all
their >taves to pieces, and drove them out with great
\ i<>lence.
.Mr. Buxton kept himself as clear as possible from
tin-so tumults: his own election was throughout
secure, and he was personally highly popular. He is
rilx-d as being received, even by the Tories, "with
loud shouts of approbation ; crowds came about him
to shake hands ; indeed," adds the letter, " he does
not appear to have a person against him in the
town."
lit- was at "the head of the poll by a majority of
sixty-nine, but the other Whig candidate was de-
bated, and three Tories came in.
188 LETTERS. CHAP. XI.
To Samuel Hoare, Esq.
" Weymouth, June 16. 1826.
" This is the sixth day of polling, and there is every pro-
bability of six days more. The election is carried on with the
utmost violence, and at monstrous expense. It is said that
spends 1500Z. a day, and his party confess to 1000/. He
has nine public houses open, where anybody, male or female,
from town or country, is very welcome to eat and get drunk ;
and, the truth is, the whole town is drunk. I send you a
copy of a letter which I wrote to our committee yesterday,
protesting against any such proceedings on our side."
The letter referred to is as follows :
" My dear Sir, " Weymouth, June 15. 1826.
" I wish to repeat to you in writing, what I stated to you
several times, and what I declared yesterday on the hustings ;
I will be no party to any expenses which are contrary to
law. I will pay no part of the expense of opening houses.
If any individual on his own responsibility does so, pray let
him clearly understand that he will hereafter have no claim
upon me. It is contrary to my principles to obtain any
accession of strength by illegal means. I will not do it, and
will not sanction it. I request you will make this commu-
nication known to the candidates, the agents, and the com-
mittee.
To Joseph John Gurney, Esq.
(Who had offered to share in the expences of the election.)
"^Spitalfields, July 18. 1826.
" I was very much pleased with your letter. That kind of
community of feeling and interest which subsists between
us all, is a rare, a good, and a most pleasant thing ; and,
under certain circumstances, I should have no kind of indis-
position to be aided by you and the rest. My clear opinion,
however, is, that there is no necessity for it at this time.
I feel warranted in depriving my family of the sum my
election will cost, considering the very peculiar situation in
which the slave question, and the Mauritius question, and
1826. LABORIOUS INVESTIGATIONS. 189
Suttee (Indian Widowt) question stand. Without ex-
travagantly overrating my own usefulness, I think it would
be inconvenient for me to be out of Parliament just now.
There are plenty of people with more talents, but a great
lark of those who truly love a good cause for its own sake, and
whom no price would detach from it; and so, for this time, I
feel warranted in robbing my family. I therefore decline your
most generous offer to assist in my election expenses; and I
do so with many thanks, and with great pleasure that the
offer was made. *
u I am very, very sorry I cannot join Wilbcrforce at
Karlhnm ; nothing prevents me except the Mauritius question,
and that to him will be a pretty good reason.
" I shall not be at Cromer Hall till early in August, so
despatch the Aylsham Bible Society without me ; I am sick
of public duties, and run away from them without scruple."
The rest of the year 1826 was chiefly employed in
tin- laborious task of preparing Mauritian evidence
lor the ensuing session. For this purpose Mr. G.
Stephen and Mr. Byam visited every part of England,
where soldiers were quartered, who had at any
time served in the Mauritius. The depositions of
l>otli officers and men, at Hull, Norwich, Liverpool,
Chelsea, and other places were taken ; thus the testi-
mony was produced of more than 150 witnesses of
good character, who all spoke to the fact of a trade
in >laves. Early in 1827 Mr. Buxton moved for a
renewal of the committee; but, at the request of the
< iov< Tiiment, his motion was deferred till the 26th of
May ; and, meantime, he strenuously exerted himself
* Mr. Samuel Ciurney and Mr. Joseph J. Gurney several times bore
a large part of his election expenses. They insisted on doing this, being
tlct. iiiiiiu-d to promote in every way, direct and indirect, the objects he
had at heart.
190 ATTACK OF ILLNESS. CHAP. XL
in the further investigation of the case. In his speech
on the 9th of May, 1826, he had accused the au-
thorities of the island of culpable neglect.
This was highly resented by the late governor, Sir
Robert Farquhar, who, in the beginning of May,
1827, complained in the House of Commons of the
charge, and dared Mr. Buxton to the proof. This
entailed upon him what he had hoped to avoid, the
painful necessity of individual crimination. But he
was already almost sinking under the weight of busi-
ness, and the anxiety with which the whole case was
fraught, proved at length more than he could bear.
His health showed decided symptoms of giving way,
and his physician, Dr. Farre, strongly urged him to
have, recourse to rest and quiet ; but he was far too
deeply impressed by the sufferings of his unhappy
clients, to desert their cause while a particle of
strength remained. In spite of the feelings of illness
which rapidly gained ground upon him, he spent the
week previous to that on which his motion was to
come on, in severe and harassing labour. One of his
friends writes on Tuesday, May 15th, 1827:
" I went to breakfast with Mr. Buxton, but he was too ill
to come down stairs, and Dr. Farre was sent for. Pre-
sently, however, General Hall, Mr. George Stephen, and
Mr. Byam arriving, he joined the party. A large sheet of
paper, full of notes, was produced, and they were soon
immersed in business. He appeared hiuch oppressed with
headache, and very languid. * * * When Dr. Farre ar-
rived, he ordered leeches, quiet, and total abstinence from
business. I then was about to go, but Mr. Buxton said I
must stay and read to him, which I did for many hours. The
book was ' Thompson's Journey in South Africa.' At night
he seemed very ill."
1827. FRIGHTFUL ATTACK. 191
As he continued seriously unwell, and business
necessarily pressed upon him in London, he removed
on the Thursday afternoon to Ham House, whence he
wrote the following note to Mrs. Upchcr:
" My dear Friend,
" I am far better, but rather feeble and incapable of
exertion, and somewhat perplexed by the question, Ought
I ID overwork myself, or underwork my slave cause ? My
judgment is for the second, but my inclination for the first ;
and the result will be that I shall do both. I am now going
to take a ride."
Ills prediction was but too true. He spent the
S;tt unlay in taking a general view of the evidence
which had been collected, of the atrocious cruelties
practised upon the negroes, both in their importation,
and afterwards, when they were reduced to slavery.
In the course of that unhappy morning, he was so
completely overwhelmed with anguish and indigna-
tion at the atrocities on which he had been dwelling,
that lie several times left his papers and paced rapidly
II j> and down the lawn, entirely overcome by his
ings, and exclaiming aloud, " Oh, it's too bad, it's
too bad ! T can't bear it."
The t'riirhtful result which ensued, is thus forcibly
(!r>crile<l by himself, some months afterwards.
' Nearly a year ago the whole force of my mind, and
all my faculties, were engaged in preparing for the Mauritius
([iir-tion. I hud pledged myself to prove that the slave trade
had existed and flourished in that colony ; that the state of
slavery there was pre-eminently cruel, and that persons of
eminence had tolerated tln-e enormities. It is, I think,
l>iit justice to m\.-ell' to admit, that the object was a worthy
192 UNEXPECTED RECOVERY. CHAP. XL
one ; that I had embraced it from a sense of duty ; that my
mind was imbued with deep affliction and indignation at the
wrongs to which the negro was exposed. I spared no pains,
and no sacrifices, in order to do justice to my cause ; and the
anxiety and labour which I endured preyed upon my health.
About the middle of May I went to Upton, in order to
improve it by change of air, but I was then under the
pressure of disease, and my physician described my state by
saying, "you are on fire, though you are not in a blaze."
I concealed from others, I did not even admit to myself, the
extent of my indisposition. I could not doubt that I felt ill,
but I was willing to suppose that these were nervous feelings,
the effects of fatigue of mind, and that they would vanish, as
they had often done before, when the question was at
an end.
" On Saturday, May 19th, I took a survey of the case of
cruelty to the negroes, and for two or three hours I was
distressed beyond measure, and as much exasperated as
distressed, by that scene of cruelty and horrid oppression.
I never in my life was so much moved by anything, and I
was so exhausted by the excitement, that I could not that
day renew my exertions. The next morning I awoke feeling-
very unwell. My wife and the family went to a place of
worship, and my daughter remained with me ; I think, but
I have not any clear recollections, that I told her about
1 2 o'clock to send for Dr. Farre. I have a vague idea of my
wife's return, but beyond that, all is lost to me. The fact
was, that I was seized with a fit of apoplexy, and it was not
till the following Wednesday that I showed any symptons of
recovery. I am glad that the first object I noticed was my
dear wife. I well remember the expression of deep anxiety
upon her countenance, and I am sure I had seen it before.
To her delight I spoke to her, and the words I used were
those that expressed my unbounded affection towards her.
Thanks to her care, joined to that of my brothers and sisters,
and of the medical attendants, I gradually recovered. I
remember, however, feeling some surprise, as well as mortifi-
cation, at finding that the day fixed for my motion on the
18-27. REFLECTIONS. 193
Mauritius had passed ! Then came the slow progress of
recovery ; we went to Cromer ; all my pursuits, such at least
as required mental exertion, were given up, but hence resulted
some leisure for reflection. I was then sensible of the sins
which I had committed, and was deeply affected by the love
and mercy of God, that he had been pleased to spare my life,
that he had not called me suddenly into his presence. I
In 'i 10 ami believe that I have not lost the sense of his goodness.
I never can advert to this warning without acknowledging
from my heart, that his goodness and mercy have followed
me all the days of my life. O gracious Father, grant that
I may always retain a most lively feeling of the indulgence
and tender compassion, which I have experienced at thy hands.
Give me repentance, even bitter repentance, that I have ever
offended so gracious a Master, and keep me from future
transgression."
So deeply had the subject which caused this
alarming seizure become rooted in his mind, that
almost his first words, on recovering full conscious-
ness, were uttered in a decided tone, to the effect
that he must get up, and go to the House, to bring
forward his motion on the Mauritius. When told
that the day was already past, he would not give
credit to the statement, till it was put beyond doubt
by reference to the newspaper in which the proceed-
ings of the House on the evening in question were
reported.
Such was the history of this remarkable check in
the very midst of his career. It need not be said how
strong a sensation his illness occasioned both among
hi- immediate friends and fellow-workers, and in
a wider circle also. His brothers and sisters col-
lected around him, his children were sent for from
o
194 UNEXPECTED KECOVERY. CHAP. XL
a distance, and the strongest alarm was felt, until
his almost unlooked-for return to consciousness.
" What a change (writes Mr. Macaulay on the 6th of June,)
has the mercy of God to us all produced ! We have almost
ceased to inquire from hour to hour, and day to day, with
breathless solicitude, about every little symptom that might
have occurred. We now hear only of returning strength, of
spirits, and of approaching convalescence ! Let us not for-
get the change ! May God establish and perfect it ! "
CHAP. XII. 195
CHAPTER XII.
1827, 1828.
MKDITATIOXS. MR. SIMEON. LETTER TO LORD W. BENTINCK.
SUTTEE ABOLISHED. MR. BUXTON SETTLES AT NORTHREPPS.
DEBATE ON SLAVERY. MR, BUXTON'S REPLY. THE FREE
PEOPLE OF COLOUR. INTERVIEW WITH MR. HUSKISSON.
THOUGHTS ON HIS ILLNESS.
THE Mauritius case was of course dropped for the
year. Mr. Buxton returned to Cromer Hall, and for
a long time was obliged to relinquish all sedentary
occupation. This interval of unaccustomed leisure
was not thrown away ; his mind, cut off from its
usual employments, turned to reviewing its own
state ; and while removed from active life, he was in
fact strengthening by reflection and prayer those
principles from which his actions sprang. Much
larger portions of time were given to religious me-
ditation, and to a diligent study of the Holy Scrip-
tures. The marks in his Bible attest his ready
application of the Word of God to his own necessities.
There still exists a large portfolio full of texts, copied
by him and arranged under different heads. He greatly
delighted in the Psalms ; and on one occasion, when,
to use his own words, " some circumstances had
arisen which involved him in distress of mind," he
thus writes :
" Finding comfort no where else, I resorted to the Bible,
and particularly to the Psalms ; and truly can I say with
o 2
196 MEDITATIONS. CHAP. XIL
David, *In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he
delivered me.' The Psalms are beautiful and instructive to
every man who really studies them ; but anguish of mind is
necessary to enable us fully to comprehend and taste the
pathos and emphasis of their expressions. In David's de-
scriptions of his own anxieties, I found a most lively picture of
my own mind. In his eloquent language I uttered my
prayers ; and, thanks be to God, I was also able to use for
myself his songs of rejoicing and gratitude. I have spent
some hours almost every Sunday over the Psalms, and I have
extracted under separate heads, David's prayers his as-
surance that his prayers were heard and answered his
thanksgivings, &c. ; and I meditate, at some future period
of leisure, preparing some work for publication on the
subject.
" This I may (I believe) say, that these studies have had
a strong, and I trust not a transient, effect upon my mind.
I recur to the Bible with a pleasure, and sometimes with a
delight, unknown to me before. When I am out of heart, I
follow David's example, and fly for refuge to prayer, and he
furnishes me with a store of pray er ; and I hope *I love God,'
better, ' because he hath heard the voice of my supplication ;
and therefore will I call upon him as long as I live ; ' and
I feel what the text expresses, which I found in my text-book
for this day, ' The Lord is my defence, and my God is the
rock of my refuge.' And this lesson I have in some degree
learnt, that afflictions, as we consider them, are sometimes the
chief and the choicest of mercies."
After his illness, he was in the habit of frequently
committing his thoughts to paper, and a large number
of these comrnunings with his own heart still remain.
Many of them are preparations for prayer, according
to a habit, which he thus mentions in one of his papers
about this period :
* * * *
" There is a practice which I have found highly beneficial,
1827. MEDITATIONS. 197
and should any of my children ever see this memorial, I
earnestly advise them to adopt it.
"I am in the habit of preparing the substance of my
private and family prayers. I believe that we are far too
extempore in that duty, not that I recommend any verbal
preparation, but a meditation upon the points on which we
wish to ask the help of God. The want of this seems to me to
lead the mind to wander about, and rather to fill our mouths
with a train of words to which we are accustomed, than our
hearts with a sense of our necessities. I, at least, have
found the habit of reflecting on what I shall ask for, before
I venture to ask, highly serviceable.
" I am bound to acknowledge that I have always found that
my prayers have been heard and answered not that I have
in every instance (though in almost every instance I have)
received what I asked for, nor do I expect or wish it. I
always qualify my petitions, by adding, provided that what I
ask for is for my real good, and according to the will of my
Lord. But with this qualification I feel at liberty to submit
my wants and wishes to God in small things as well as in
L r ivat ; and I am inclined to imagine that there are no ' little
tilings' with Him. We see that his attention is as much
bestowed upon what we call trifles, as upon those things which
we consider of mighty importance. His hand is as manifest
in the leathers of a butterfly's wing, in the eye of an insect,
in the folding, and packing of a blossom, in the curious
aqueducts by which a leaf is nourished, as in the creation of
a world, and in the laws by which the planets move.
" To our limited powers some things appear great and some
inconsiderable ; but He, infinite in all things, can lavish his
power and his wisdom upon every part of his creation.
Hi nee I feel permitted to offer up my prayers for every
tiling that concerns me. I understand literally the injunc-
tion, * Be careful for nothing, but in every thing make
your requests known unto God ; ' and I cannot but notice
how amply these prayers have been met."
During a visit to Karlluim this autumn, in the
o 3
198 MB. SIMEON. CHAP. XII.
company of the Rev. Charles Simeon, Mr. Buxton one
day persisted in going out shooting, instead of accom-
panying his friend to a meeting of the Jews' Society
in Norwich. Mr. Simeon was a little hurt by this : but
receiving not long afterwards a parcel of game, he
wrote Mr Buxton the following characteristic letter.
" King's College, Cambridge,
" My dear Friend, October 16. 1827.
" A kind present of game demands my grateful acknowledg-
ments, which with much pleasure I send you. But the pre-
cise time of its arrival necessarily excites in my mind some
reflections. What ! is my beloved friend conscious that in
withstanding all my extemporaneous oratory he has humbled
me, and does he send me this as a peace-offering? That
I have sighed it is true ; that thoughts have arisen in my
mind of somewhat a painful nature, is true. And I will tell
you what they were :
" 1. I have deeply sympathised with him and his beloved
relatives in his affliction.*
" 2. My beloved friend has prayed with that dear departed
saint, and therefore has doubtless his own soul, perhaps in
consequence of his own affliction, in a devout state.
" 3. My union with that whole family is near akin to the
union of the saints in heaven, and my soul in consequence of
dear Rachel's experience being read to me had been so in
heaven, that I actually felt it a condescension to come down
and dine with the party, even though they had all been
dukes and duchesses. Peter on Tabor was scarcely more
averse to descend than I.
" On these grounds I thought that an act of condescension
and self-denial on your part, if self-denial it was, might have
been not unseasonable. But I checked and condemned
myself, and said, What ! shall I wish my beloved friend to
serve and honour God, for my sake ? No ! if he will show
kindness to me for the LorcCs sake, I will accept it as the
* This refers to the death of his sister-in-law, Rachel Gurney ; see
memoir of Elizabeth Fry, vol. ii. p. 55.
1827. LETTER TO LORD W. BENTINCK. 199
most grateful offering in the world ; but to serve the Lord for
niy sake would be productive of nothing but grief and shame
to my soul.
Now, my dear friend, you see you have shot me flying, and
penetrated my heart, and let out, not ill blood, (there is none
of that I assure you,) but the stream of love, which was pent
up there. And to show that you are pleased with your
success, you shall, if convenient to you, send me a little more
game to be dressed on Oct. 30. (this day fortnight), when
I shall have a large party of Jews (friends of that despised
people) to dine with me ; and this will show you in what spirit
1 write, and with what cordiality and affection I am
" Yours,
" CHARLES SIMEON."
About this time, Mr. Buxton heard, to his great
satisfaction, that Lord William Bentinck was ap-
pointed Governor-general of India, and immediately
-went up to town to discuss with him the subject of
Suttee, and to urge him to employ his authority for
the abolition of that atrocious practice. A short time
afterwards he addressed the following letter to him :
*
" My dear Lord, " Cromer Hall, Oct. 22. 182?.
" The short interview which I had with you lately has
been to me a matter of sincere gratification. I now feel
that I can leave in your hand the question, whether the
British Government ought, or ought not, to tolerate the
annual sacrifice of several hundred females; and I have the
satisfaction of knowing that you will do every thing which
ought to be done. When Mr. Canning was going to India, I
ventured to trouble him on the business: his answer was
the same as I received from you. He assured me, that the
subject should engage his most earnest attention, and that
what he could do should l>e done. I have always lamented
that he did not go to India, from a conviction that his great
mind would have been ill at ea.<c, while such horrid customs
as suttee and infanticide prevailed. Forgive me for saying,
o 4
200 SUTTEE ABOLISHED. CHAP. XII.
that I feel the same confidence in your Lordship as I did
in Mr. Canning. I enclose you a copy of a letter I received
from Lord Hastings. I applied to him, in consequence of
hearing from a friend of mine (the Rev. Mr. Glover of this
county), that he said, ' he should have abolished the prac-
tice of suttee, if he had remained in India another year.'
In the letter he says, ' he would have suppressed it, if he
had been sure of support at home.' Happily, there is not
the same doubt now as to support at home. In March last,
Mr. Poynder moved a resolution at the Court of Proprietors,
declaring that it is the duty of the paternal government to
interfere to prevent the destruction of human life. Some
opposition was made ; but the general feeling was too strong
to be resisted, and it was carried by a great majority, the
minority being only five or six. I venture to send you the
report of that debate, and also a publication called the
' Friend of India,' in which there are some valuable papers
on the subject, written, I believe, by Dr. Marshman of
Serampore. With every wish that you and Lady William
may return in safety from India, and that millions may have
reason to rejoice that you went there, I have the honour," &c.
It is well known that, soon after Lord William
Bentinck reached India, he abolished the practice of
Suttee at a single blow. Mr. Buxton hailed the
news with delight and thankfulness. The evil had
indeed been extirpated by the hand of another ; but he
had the satisfaction of feeling that no opportunity had
been wasted by him of forwarding that happy event.
In the course of this winter, Mr. Buxton was
obliged, with much regret, to leave Cromer Hall,
the proprietor, Mr. Wyndham, having determined to
replace it by a new mansion for his own residence.
There was no house equally suitable near Cromer;
but being much attached to the neighbourhood and
very unwilling to leave it, he gladly accepted Mr. R,
1828. MB. BUXTON SETTLES AT NORTHREPPS. 201
H. Gurney's offer of Northrepps Hall, which, although
smaller than his last place of abode, yet possessed
many points of attraction; especially, that within a
quarter of a mile lived his sister, and his cousin Miss
Carney .
Northrepps Cottage, the residence of these ladies,
stands in a deep secluded dell, opening on the fishing
village of Overstrand and the German Ocean. The
path to it from the Hall lies through the woods ;
and thither he always turned his steps when his
.-pirits needed to be enlivened, or his anxieties shared ;
well knowing that his presence there would ever be
hailed with eager delight.
He was scarcely settled at Northrepps, when he
\va> called to London to resume his parliamentary
labours, which had been so unfortunately cut short
in the preceding year. His still very uncertain
licalth made the prospect of recommencing work an
anxious one; and he appeared quite unable to re-
sume his attack on the Mauritius Slave Trade. " It
is a problem to me," he said, "what I shall do this
session, and what will happen;" adding, "however,
perhaps I shall outlive you all. I should not wonder,
if I do not overwork myself."
His exertions were first called for on behalf of
the West Indies. The year of probation granted by
Mr. ('aiming to the colonial assemblies had now
more than expired ; and they had done nothing
towards the mitigation of Slavery. Of the eight bills
recommended for their adoption by Mr. Canning, not
one had been accepted by any colony, except Nevis.
Int the Government were not yet discouraged; they
202 DEBATE ON SLAVERY. CHAP. XII.
were still anxious to persuade, rather than to compel.
Nor could they be blamed for trying every method
of suasion, before resorting to force. The right of
the mother country to legislate directly for her
colonies had, in one great instance, been successfully
defied. It might, therefore, have been no wise policy
to attempt coercion, till all gentler methods had been
tried in vain. Accordingly, in 1828, Sir George
Murray, as a last experiment, despatched circular
letters to all the colonial assemblies, once more urging
them, in strong terms, to effect for themselves the
required improvement in the condition of their slaves.
Most truly did Mr. Stanley state in his speech on
the 14th of May, 1833, that it was not " till all means
had been exhausted ; till every suggestion had been
made ; till every warning had been given ; and had
not only been given in vain, but had been met by
the colonial legislatures with the most determined
opposition; that England took the work of re-
constructing West Indian society into her own
hands." These circular letters were " entirely dis-
regarded."
Had Mr. Buxton been in vigorous health, he would
certainly ha*ve done what he could to obtain bolder
measures from the Government, but his bodily powers
failed him.
On the 6th of March, Mr. Wilmot Horton, a leading
member of the West Indian body, brought forward a
motion for the publication of some minutes relative
" to the Demerara and Berbice Manumission Order in
Council." *
* Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, March, 1828.
1628. MB. BUXTON'S REPLY. 203
Mr. Buxton had brought together some documents
from which to answer Mr. Horton ; but he became so
u 1 1 wc-11 that he was obliged to give up the attempt to
Ionise them, and went down to the House of Com-
mons without any intention of speaking. To his
dismay he found, on reaching the House, that Mr.
William Smith was the only abolitionist present
beside himself. Mr. Horton's opening speech was
cxnvnu'ly able, and was listened to by Mr. Buxton
with t't dings of real distress, while he looked in
vain towards the door of the House, in the hope that
Mr. Brougham or Dr. Lushington might come to the
rescue.
At length a bitter tirade against the Abolitionists
from one of their opponents, stung him to the
quick ; and he rose to reply, beginning with a some-
what severe comment " on the acrimonious speech of
the honourable member for C , who, after a
long lecture on command of temper and control of
tongue, has ended," he said, " by charging us with
exaggeration, misrepresentation, quackery, and non-
sense."
" I must confess, however, that he has sneered at us in
\.TV good company ; the rights of man and the laws of God
were equally visited by his sarcasm. Now, I defy him to
]>n>\r :uiy one instance of misrepresentation. I challenge
him to abstain from general condemnation, and to put his
fiiiL r <T upon that particular in which we have deceived the
country. I will do so with regard to him I will mark out
those particulars in which he himself has been guilty of mis-
representation."
1 1 e then went through the common assertions of
the West Indiana they had denied the cxi.-u-uce of
204 ME. BUXTON'S REPLY. CHAP. xir.
flogging ; of Sunday markets ; of obstacles to manu-
mission ; he proved, and from the evidence of the
West Indians themselves, that these did exist. His
opponents were for ever dwelling on the happiness
and comfort of their slaves,
" But how comes it," he asked, " that these happiest of the
happy decrease at a rate entirely unequalled in the history of
man? * * * * The honourable member has indig-
nantly censured my honourable friend (Mr. "W. Smith) for
introducing the phrases * rights of men and laws of God ; '
and I do not wonder that he is somewhat provoked at these
obnoxious expressions ; for one cannot think of Slavery with-
out perceiving that it is an usurpation of the one, and a
violation of the other. The right honourable gentleman, the
mover of this motion, tells us that no one can reconcile the
promise we have given for the extinction of Slavery, with a
promise which we have also given for a due consideration of
the rights of the parties interested. We are reduced to the
alternative, he tells us, of sacrificing the planter to the in-
terests of the slave, or the slave to the interests of the planter.
If we are in that predicament, and must decide for the one
or the other, my judgment is unequivocally in favour of the
slave. And it is a consideration of the e rights of man, and the
laws of God ' which leads me to that unequivocal decision."
He concludes in these words :
" I would give the Negro all that I could give him with
security ; I would do every possible thing to mitigate and
sweeten his lot ; and to his children I would give unqualified
emancipation. Having done this, I would settle with the
planters. I am a friend to compensation but it is com-
pensation on the broadest scale. * * * * Do you ask
compensation for him who has wielded the whip ? Then I
ask compensation for him who has smarted under its lash ! -
Do you ask compensation for loss of property, contingent and
future ? Then I ask compensation for unnumbered wrongs,
the very least of which is the incapacity of possessing any
1828. THE FREE PEOPLE OF COLOUR. 205
property whatever. If compensation be demanded, we re-echo
the demand. It is that which we most fervently desire ; only
ht it be just compensation, dealt out for the many who have
suffered, and not confined to the few who may suffer in one
particular."
One of his friends writes to Mr. J. J. Gurney :
" The whole House was carried along by his earnestness,
cheered him vehemently, and listened attentively. He was
much congratulated on the success of his reply."
Little more could be done towards advancing the
Anti-slavery question during this session. Mr.
Brougham, who had intended to bring it forward,
was prevented from doing so by ill health ; and
Dr. Lushington's duties were too onerous to permit
of his carrying on the struggle single-handed ; but
during the last year he and Mr. Brougham had been
engaged in their arduous contest on behalf of the
free people of colour in the West Indies, endeavouring
to rescue them from their painful and humiliating
position. Dr. Lushington wrote in November, 1827.
" I send you sundry letters and documents from Wilmot
II<>rton, and by his desire. We have had warm work since
you left London, and it seems likely to continue ; however, I
am in high spirits. We have Brougham in full energy,
strength, and determination, and we have a case in all points
impregnable. Would I had more leisure! for my appetite is
whetted by all the follies and iniquities of the planters."
At length, in the session of 1828, Dr. Lushington's
rtions in behalf of the free people of colour were
crowned with complete success. An order in council
was issued, by which they were at once placed on
the same footing in every respect as their white
206 INTERVIEW WITH MB. HUSKISSON. CHAP. XII.
fellow-citizens; a measure fraught with momentous
consequences to the welfare of the West Indies.
On the 20th of March, Mr. Buxton had an inter-
view with Mr. Huskisson. He offered to put Govern-
ment into possession of all his documents and evidence
respecting the Slave Trade at the Mauritius, if they
would go on with the inquiry, as he was unable to do so,
and he strongly urged them to take it up. Mr. Huskis-
son replied that they should consider about it, and
desired that documents relating to the cruel usage of
the slaves would be sent to him. He also assured
Mr. Buxton that the trade was now stopped, that
the registry was enforced, and that some orders in
council would be sent out and put into operation.
No other steps were at present taken by the
Government ; they had previously sent out a com-
mission of inquiry, and further measures were deferred
till its report should have been received.
Mr. Buxton writes in a paper dated Sunday, the
25th May, 1828 : " I keep this as the anniversary of
my illness, which began on Sunday, May 20th, 1827 ;
and I must not let the day pass without returning my
solemn and fervent thanks to thee, my God, for that
most gracious visitation, coupled with solemn and
fervent prayers that I may never lose the benefit
which this visitation was sent to confer."
He then expresses his deep gratitude to God, both
for the warning itself, and for his deliverance, and
after quoting at length the four first verses of the
103d Psalm, he adds,
" These words, I can use with some emphasis and some
1828. THOUGHTS ON HIS ILLNESS. 207
application to myself. There is not a clause in these
verses which is not my own. My disease was healed, my
iniquity was pardoned, my life, natural and spiritual, had
a Redeemer, and loving kindness and tender mercy was that,
which I, a sinner, received at the hands of God ; and there-
fore my cry unto Thee is that thou wouldest give me such a
<kvp sense of Thy mercy, such a sense or rather vision of Thy
goodness, that I may love Thee with all my heart, and all my
mind, and all my strength ; and therefore I pray that I may
remember my latter end, the approaching day of judgment,
ami prepare to meet it."
208 CHAP. XIII.
CHAPTER XIII.
1828, 1829.
THE HOTTENTOTS. DR. PHILIP. VAN RIEBECH's REGRETS.
MISERIES OF THE HOTTENTOTS. DR. PHILIP* S RESEARCHES.
MR. BUXTON'S MOTION THE GOVERNMENT ACQUIESCES.
LETTER FROM DR. PHILIP. THE ORDER IN COUNCIL SENT OUT.
LETTER TO MR. J. J. GURNET. THE HOTTENTOTS SET FREE.
ALARMS DIE AWAY. HAPPY RESULT. THE KAT RIVER
SETTLEMENT.
ALTHOUGH unable to take much part in public affairs
during this session, yet, at the instance of the Rev.
Dr. Philip of the Cape of Good Hope, Mr. Buxton
made an effort in behalf of the Hottentots, which was
crowned with easy and complete success.
Eight years before, Dr. Philip had been sent out
by the London Missionary Society, on a deputation
appointed to inquire into the state of their missions
in South Africa. In the course of these investi-
gations he had become acquainted with the grie-
vous state of degradation in which the Hottentots
were held by the inhabitants of the colony, and
especially by the Dutch boors. One hundred and
seventy years before, they had been the undisturbed
possessors of that fertile tract of country which is now
comprehended under the name of the " Cape Colony."
In 1652, the first Dutch settlement was formed,
and the curse of Christian neighbours fell upon the
hapless owners of the land.
1828. THE HOTTENTOTS. 209
The first germ of the treatment they met with
ii lay be seen in the following extracts from the
journal of Van Riebech, the Dutch governor.
"December 13. 1652.
" To-day the Hottentots came with thousands of cattle
and sheep close to our fort, so that their cattle nearly mixed
with ours. We feel vexed to see so many fine head of
cuttle, and not to be able to buy to any considerable extent.
If it had been indeed allowed, we had opportunity to-day to
drjirive them of 10,000 head, which, however, if we obtain
orders to that effect, can be done at any time, and even more
conveniently, because they will have greater confidence in us.
AVith 150 men, 10,000 or 11,000 head of black cattle
illicit be obtained without danger of losing one man ;
and many savages might be taken without resistance, in
order to be sent as slaves to India, as they still always come
to us unarmed."
A day or two later we find him " wondering at
the ways of Providence, which permitted such noble
animals to remain in the possession of heathens." It
was not long before he thought it best to thwart the
ways of Providence instead of wondering at them ; and
the system which he began was carried out by the
Dutch, and afterwards by the English, until the
Hottentots had sunk to the lowest depths of misery.
Nothing can be more painful than the accounts given
of them at the time of Dr. Philip's first visit to the
< 'ape. They were not like the Negro slaves, the legal
property of certain individuals; they were at the mercy
of all who chose to oppress them and compel their
SIT vices: not even possessing that degree of protec-
tion which the hateful system of slave ownership
affords. Their tribes were public property, and any
one might sei/c as many of them as he pleased for
p
210 DR. PHILIP'S RESEARCHES. CHAP. xni.
his private use. Their rich lands and vast herds of
cattle had long since become the spoiler's prey. At
the caprice of the Dutch boors they were subjected
to the heaviest labours, to every species of harass-
ing annoyance, to every kind of revolting punish-
ment. Beneath this grinding misery their numbers
had dwindled, their persons had become dwarfed,
and their minds brutalized, till the very Negro slaves
looked down on them as lower and baser drudges, far
below the level of mankind.
In 1822 Dr. Philip returned for a short time to
England, and communicated this information to Mr.
"Wilberforce, Dr. Lushington, and Mr. Buxton, who
agreed that the former should move in the House for a
commission of inquiry to proceed to the Cape ; as also
to the Mauritius, and to Ceylon : this was accordingly
done, and in 1824 we find Mr. Buxton moving for
the reports received from these commissioners ; which
afforded some information of value. In 1826 Dr.
Philip again came back to England, and after a time
published his " Researches in South Africa," which
excited much attention ; and he urged Mr. Buxton to
bring the case of the Hottentots before Parliament.
Although feeling great interest in the subject, Mr. Bux-
ton was too deeply engrossed by the Mauritius question
to turn aside at that time. In 1828, however, he
was able to make himself master of the subject, and
gave notice of a motion for an address to the King
on behalf of the natives of South Africa.
He writes, July 1828,
" I have not yet determined what I shall say about the
Hottentots. I shall take as the foundation of my argument
1828. MR. BUXTON'S MOTION. 211
their legal freedom, prove that they are practically slaves,
and demand that we act up to our engagement and make
them free; but it is doubtful if I shall speak. Government
will probably give way to my motion, on condition that I
abstain from speaking. Terms not to be rejected I think."
To this compromise the government agreed. Mr.
Buxton brought forward his motion without a single
comment ; and Sir George Murray, (Secretary for
the Colonies,) then rose and briefly expressed the
concurrence of the government. The address was
unanimously agreed to, and the Hottentots were free !
Mr. Buxton walked up to Dr. Philip, after the motion
had been carried, and said, " Ah, these men do not
know the good they have done ! "
In a hasty note to Mrs. Upcher, he thus announced
the triumph:
"July 17. 1828.
" I have only time to say, that we have recorded a reso-
lution of the House of Commons, with regard to the Hot-
tentots, which is their Magna Charta ; and which will
.-piviul liberty, and, with liberty, a thousand other blessings
over that great and growing territory."
The Rev. Dr. Philip to T. F. Buxton, Esq.
" My dear Sir, " July 1 6. 1828.
" The more I reflect upon the decision of Parliament on
Tuesday evening, the more I am struck with its importance.
It is intimately connected with all the great questions now
before the public, which have for their object the amelioration
of the coloured population in every region of the globe ; it is
one of the principal stones in the foundation of that temple
which Mr. Wilberforce has been so long labouring to rear,
for the protection of the oppressed ; and it has given a
strength and an elevation to the building, which will render
the whole inure secure, and its future progress more easy. I
p 2
212 LETTER TO ME. J. J. GURNEY. CHAP. XIII.
wish you could be present at our missionary stations when the
glad tidings shall be announced ; you would see many a spark-
ling eye, many a cheek furrowed with tears of joy, and hear
your name associated with many a thanksgiving to God for
this unexpected deliverance."
It was a singular coincidence that, only two days after
this motion had passed in Parliament, Major General
Bourke, the just and humane Governor of the Cape,
promulgated an ordinance (well known afterwards as
the fiftieth ordinance), by which the Hottentots were
placed on the same footing as the other inhabitants of
the colony. As soon as Sir George Murray heard of
this step, an order in council was issued (January 15,
1829), ratifying the ordinance, and, moreover, prohi-
biting any future alteration of it by any colonial
authority. When Mr. Buxton, who had spent the
autumn and winter at Northrepps, came back to
London for the session of 1829, he found the busi-
ness thus happily concluded.
He sent this intelligence to Mr. J. J. Gurney ; but
begins his letter by alluding to the excitement which
prevailed on account of th Duke of Wellington's
expressed intention, to take into consideration the re-
moval of the Catholic disabilities.
"February 9. 1829.
" We had a slave meeting at Brougham's yesterday ; and
Sam. Gurney would go with me, to prevent them from
putting too much upon me. Brougham, Mackintosh,
Denman, Spring Rice, Wm. Smith, Macaulay, were the
party. They were all in the highest glee about the
Catholics ; Brougham particularly. They seemed exquisitely
delighted with the vexation of the Tories, who are, and
have reason to be, they say, bitterly affronted ; and the
great ones among them vow they will have an apology,
1829. LETTER TO MR. J. J. GURNEY. 213
in the shape of some good place, or they will never forgive
the Duke for letting them go down to the House as strong
I'mti-tants, and insisting upon their returning that very day,
stout Catholics! They say they do not mind changing
their opinions, that is a duty which they must sometimes
pay to their chiefs, but they think it hard to be obliged
to turn right-about-face at the word of command, without
a moment being given to change their convictions.
" The Duke is very peremptory. The story goes, that he
said to Mr. , who has a place under government, * We
have settled the matter, and hope you like it.' Mr. said,
he would take time to consider it. ' Oh yes ! you shall have
plenty of time, I don't want your answer before four o'clock
tu-il;iy. I shall thank you for it then; for, if you don't
like our measures, we must have your office and seat, for
somebody else.'
" To-morrow, we are to have a fierce debate. The high
church party are very furious, and talk of calling upon the
country ; and I expect we shall have a good deal of bit-
terness.
" As to slavery, we determined not to fix our plans for a
week, in order to see the turn this Catholic business is likely
t<> take, for the House will hear nothing else now; but we
are to have a day fixed for Brougham's motion before Easter.
He wanted me to begin on the Mauritius ; but I said,
' No ! if they are not in a ^temper to hear you, I am sure
they will not hear me.'
" Spring Ilice said, that he had seen General Bourke, late
governor of the Cape of Good Hope, who tells him that
Government have sent out an order in council, giving entire
emancipation to the Hottentots. If this proves true I shall
be excessively delighted, and shall never say again that I
am -< MTV I went into Parliament; not that I did much in
the business, but I flatter myself I did a little."
\\\> dfliirht was well-founded. From the day that
flu- iit't'h th ordinance became law, the Hottentots
to the level of tlit-ir white oppressors,
F 8
214 THE HOTTENTOTS SET FREE. CUAP. XIII.
they were protected by the same laws, they could
own property, they could demand wages in return
for their labour, they could no longer be seized " like
stray cattle" if they left their village bounds; in
short, they were become a free people ; and since
that day civilisation and Christianity, with all their
retinue of blessings, have flourished among them.
For a while dismal forebodings and fierce complaints
rang among the colonists at this sudden inroad upon
their oppressive privileges ; but after a few slight
commotions, both their anger and their fears died
away: and the experience of eighteen years has
abundantly approved the wisdom, as well as the
justice, of this important measure.
To the N. E. of the colony lies the rich pasture
land of the Kat River ; from which, in 1827, the
Caffres had been expelled after a long guerilla
warfare with the colonists. On this tract of country
the Colonial Government, at the suggestion of Captain
(now Sir Andries) Stockenstrom, determined to form
a Hottentot settlement, as a sort of outwork against the
Caffres, and also to afford an opportunity for drawing
forth the latent energies of the Hottentots themselves.
The latter quickly poured into the settlement from all
parts of the colony, but for a long time they had to
struggle with every species of privation and danger.
Captain Stockenstrom had no tools to give them;
when they asked him what means they would have
to cultivate the ground, he could only answer, " If
you cannot do it with your fingers, you had better
not go there." However they set to work, lending
each other such tools as they possessed, and soon
1828. THE KAT RIVER SETTLEMENT. 215
began water-courses to irrigate the land for the seed-
corn allowed by Government.
When Dr. Philip returned from England to Africa,
he found them still in want of even the necessaries of
lite ; but they had commenced the cultivation of the
soil, ami many of them, having been trained under
missionaries while in the colony, were thirsting for
education, though, as yet, no regular teachers were
allowed by the Colonial Government to visit them.
At one of the new hamlets, named after Mr. Wil-
berforce, a school had been established, which was
attended by sixty or seventy children. The teacher
A young Hottentot, who could himself read but
very imperfectly. To an observation of Dr. Philip,
he replied, that he could teach but little, and that as
soon as a qualified master should come, he would
n his charge and take his seat among the
children. At another hamlet, named after Mr. Bux-
ton*, a school had already been brought into excellent
order, under the direction of a daughter of Andrew
St< fHes a converted Hottentot.
Further on they observed a well-dressed female
Hottentot standing on a stone, tinkling a small bell.
* Sixteen years later, the Rev. James Read thus refers to the village
of Buxton :
" Kat River, May 2p. 184.'*.
" Buxton is one of our largest locations ; we have a good school
there. The school-room, which is so large that it serves also for a
chapel, has been built chiefly at the expense of Sir Powell Buxton.
The people are very proud of the name of their place : the situation is
delightful ; the soil very fertile, being watered by a small stream,
which is tributary to the Kat River. It is furnished with forests of
the finest timber." (Report of the London Missionary Society, 1844.
p. 125.)
p 4
216 THE KAT RIVER SETTLEMENT. CHAP. XIII.
They followed her unperceived, and soon found her
in a hut with fifty children closely wedged in around
her. She was the village school-mistress; her only
apparatus being the separated leaves of a New Testa-
ment, one of which was held by each of the children,
and they were quickly learning to spell the words.
A few days after Dr. Philip's arrival, the Hottentots
assembled to petition him to provide them with a
teacher. " At an early hour," says he, " we sat down
under the shade of some spreading trees, near the
banks of the Kat River, and surrounded by some of
the noblest scenery I ever saw. After prayer and
singing a hymn, several of the head men addressed
the assembly, and then Andrew Stoffles delivered a
speech which produced an effect I had never before
seen equalled. The main topic of his address was
the former oppression of the Hottentots, and he de-
scribed what he had seen and felt ; rapidly pointing
out the parallel between their own position (former
and present) with the bondage of the children of
Israel in Egypt, and their entrance into the promised
land. The analogy was finely brought out ; and, as
he went on from point to point of the resemblance, it
was wonderful to see the effect produced upon the
feeHngs of his audience ; they became, at length, con-
vulsed with emotion. Numbers, unable to support
their feelings, hastened away to weep apart. When
they were a little composed they assembled round us
again, and closed the business of the meeting by an
urgent and unanimous request that the Rev. J. Read
might come among them as their missionary. The
request was granted, and with the happiest effects."
]vjs. HAPPY RESULTS. 217
The following extracts, from authentic documents,
will show the remarkable success of this experiment.
But it must be premised that the Hottentots, who
did not emigrate to the Kat River, amounted at that
time to about 25,000. They continued in the colony,
working industriously, like any other labourers, for
v,-;i^es, and protected by the laws. A gentleman of
great respectability, writing in 1832, says, " The
number of crimes charged against the Hottentots
in the colony, at the circuits, has of late greatly
diminished, * * * a great improvement is
clearly manifest in their moral condition."
The Kat River settlement originally contained
about 5000 Hottentots. It has continued to flourish
in the most satisfactory manner, and has proved a
strong defence to the colony, in the late Caffre war.
So early as 1832, we find it stated that
" The success of the Hottentots has been equal to their
industry and good conduct. By patient labour, with manly
moderation and Christian temperance, they have converted
the desert into a fruitful "field." *
It is worthy of remark, that, although while in a
state of servitude the Hottentots had been very much
given to drinking, they acquired, at the Kat River,
ivnmrkablc habits of temperance ; and of their own
accord petitioned, and successfully, against the esta-
blishment of brandy canteens.
They had already " two missionaries whose chapels
were regularly filled, and several schools crowded
with orderly :nd acute children." f
Letter in Anti -Slavery Record, vol. i. p. 124v
f Ibid.
218 HAPPY RESULTS. CHAP. XIII.
In 1832 they paid taxes to the Government to
the amount of 2300 rix dollars. In 1833 Colonel
Bell (the Government Secretary for the colony) stated
that,
" As to that large proportion of the Hottentots who
remained in the service of the colonists as free labourers,
their character and condition are every day improving.
Those settled at the Kat River, as small farmers, have made
a very surprising progress. A large portion of them, from
being an indolent, intemperate, and improvident class, have,
since a field was opened for virtuous ambition, become in-
dustrious, sober, and prudent in their conduct."
In the same year Captain Stockenstrom (Chief
Civil Commissioner of the Eastern Province) writes.*
" The Hottentots at the Kat River have cultivated an
extent of country which has surprised every body who has
visited the location. * Instead of apathy or in-
difference about property, they have become (now that they
have property to contend for) as covetous and litigious about
land and water as any other set of colonists. They have
displayed the utmost anxiety to have schools established
among them. * * * They travel considerable distances
to attend divine service regularly. Their spiritual guides
speak with delight of the fruit of their labours. No where
have Temperance Societies succeeded half so well as among
this people. They have repulsed all the attacks of the
Caffres. They pay every tax like the rest of the colonists.
They have rendered the Kat River by far the safest part of
the frontier. * * * * As far as the land is arable they
have made a garden of it from one end to the other."
According to Colonel Wade,f
" They had, in 1833, completed 55 canals for irrigation,
44 of which measured 24 miles ! Their works," said he,
* To T. Pringle, Esq.
t Evidence before Aborigines Committee.
1828. HAPPY RESULTS. 219
" give the beat evidence that the Hottentots can be indus-
trious, and are as capable of contending with ordinary
difficulties as their fellowmen."
Dr. Philip had described the Hottentots in bondage,
as
" In a more degraded and imbruted state than they were
in a state of nature ; trampled upon by their masters ; held
as a perquisite of office by the Colonial Governor ; regarded
by the Negro slaves as only fit to be their drudges ; despised
by the Caffres, and by all the natives in a state of freedom :
and represented by travellers as scarcely possessing the
human form, as the most filthy, stupid beings in the world ;
as scarcely to be considered belonging to the human race."
He thus describes them after their settlement at
the Kat River :
" The Kat River now presents a scene of industry,
sobriety, and decency, not surpassed by the peasantry of
any country in Europe. They are building themselves good
houses; they are very decently clothed; their industry is
admitted, even by their enemies."
In 1839, Mr. Backhouse mentions his having
visited the Hottentots, and found them " dressed like
decent, plain people of the labouring class in Eng-
land. In the sixteen schools of the Kat River district,
they had about 1,200 scholars, and an attendance
of about 1000."
220 CHAP. XIV.
CHAPTER XIV.
1829.
CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION. REFLECTIONS. THE MAURITIUS SLAVE
TRADE. AGREEABLE NEWS THE MAURITIUS CASE REVIVED.
LETTER TO MR. TWISS. THE GOVERNMENT ADMIT THE
EXISTENCE OF THE SLAVE TRADE. ITS COMPLETE EXTINCTION.
MR. GEORGE STEPHEN. MR. JEREMIE.
DURING the session of 1829, Parliament was chiefly
occupied by the discussions on the question of Ca-
tholic Emancipation. Mr. Buxton's constituents at
Weymouth were opposed to the measure ; and the
knowledge of this opposition, combined with his own
doubts, made him for a considerable time unwilling
to vote at all on the question. With this neutrality,
however, he could not long remain satisfied. After
serious deliberation he became thoroughly convinced
of the justice and expediency of the measure, and
thenceforward gave it his support ; a step which
much offended many of his friends, and seriously
endangered his seat for Weymouth.
To a Friend.
" House of Commons, March 5.
" Here I am waiting for the Catholic debate, and you
will be sorry to hear, no, you will not, you are too valiant,
that I am going to secure my non-election next Parlia-
ment by voting for the Catholics to-night. I really must
vote, the peace and safety of Ireland depend on our vote.
I spent yesterday with Macaulay and Wilberforce very
pleasantly. I am full of business, but not overworked ; this
is just what I like."
1829. REFLECTIONS. 221
On the 29th of March, he gives a kind of summary
of the preceding twelve months.
" Wednesday next is my birthday, I shall then be forty-
tlnvL'. That day I have engaged to spend with my admirable
friend Wilberforce, who, having devoted his life to the pur-
pose of conferring upon Africa the greatest blessing which
man can bestow on man, is now passing the remnant of his
in retirement and repose. I wish, according to my usual
practice, to review the proceedings of the past year. In public
life I have taken but little part ; Brougham's illness prevented,
during last session, the proposed discussion on slavery ; and
during this session nothing has been thought of but the
Catholic question. I assisted, however, in one great work,
which, although it passed almost in silence, is likely to be
attended with the most important and happy consequences,
the liberation of the Hottentots.
" It is recorded of Paul that he thanked God and took
courage ; and with thankfulness to God that I was en-
trusted with this easy and honourable task, I hope to
gather from it confidence and encouragement in those other
works of humanity in which I am engaged. Another work
of a public nature which has engaged me, is the state of the
Church Missionary Society. I attended in February a
meeting of the Society, and felt it my duty to say that I
thought it desirable a close and sifting inquiry should be
instituted into its circumstances; in that I am now en-
After mentioning other events of the year, he
continues :
""Within the bounds of my own immediate family I
have been peculiarly prosperous. * * * Bless the Lord,
my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
" And peculiarly happy am I also in the next circle that
of my chosen friends. I have often thought that there is
no one so rich in friends as I ; but tliis is a large topic, so
1 waive it.
222 REFLECTIONS. CHAP. XIV-
" In my public capacity it has pleased God, in depriving
me of strong health, to deprive me of the power of much
exertion. My public reputation has, I think, considerably
fallen. If I could be sure that I have done as much as my
reduced strength would admit, this would give me no
concern ; and, to speak the truth, it does give me no concern.
" In my outward affairs I have had, as I have said, many
trials in some particulars ; in others, I have been equally
successful. But I do believe, I recognise both misfortune and
success, as coming from the same divine and fatherly hand."
After other prayers and thanksgivings, he thus
concludes :
" I pray also that I may evermore be helped of Thee in my
public pursuits : that in the cause of the oppressed Negro,
I may not be a negligent or a useless advocate. Be thy
blessing there, O Lord !
" That particularly with regard to the oppressed Negro at
the Mauritius, I may have thy help. * For the oppression of
the poor, for the sighing of the needy ; now will I arise,
saith the Lord.' O may this be verified, and that speedily.
"That thy help may attend me in my present labours
on the missionary question.
"I do thank thee, O Lord, that I have not now, as
heretofore, to address prayer to thee with regard to the
Hottentot question, but praises and thanksgivings."
******
" And now for those dear to me, for my friends, I pray that
every blessing I have asked for myself, may attend them. I
feel especially prompted to pray for some of them ; especially
for poor dear Macaulay, who I know is in much sorrow.
Let me plead, O Lord, his sacrifices in the slave question,
his many trials, his unparalleled labours ; the services he has
rendered, and the reward he receives at the hand of man,
reproach, calumny, and insult. Be pleased, O Lord, thyself
to reward him ; smooth away every difficulty ; grant him
prosperity; and grant him to grow in grace: enrich him
1829. LETTER TO ZACHABY MACAULAY, ESQ. 223
with the comfort of thy Holy Spirit, make him prosperous
h. IT, and happy hereafter. * * * * For some other of
niv tVu'iids, I pray that their hearts may cleave to thee, that
their affections may be set on things above, not on things on
the earth ; and that finding mortification and disappointment
here, they may seek comfort with thee, at whose right hand
are pleasures for evermore.
" For all my relatives, and for all my friends, I pray that
tlu 1 blessing of God, through Christ Jesus, may rest upon
them."
He had hoped this session to have again brought
forward the Mauritius case.
To Zachary Macaulay, Esq.
"London, April, 1829.
" When I was last in town I had been for some time
extremely unwell; and I then thought, as I believe you
thought also, that it would not be prudent for me to under-
take any heavy business this session. Since that time I have
been much better ; and, reflecting much upon the Mauritius
horrors, I cannot feel comfortable to let those questions rest.
I really wih to ask your advice ; I well know the deep
interest which you take in my welfare, as well as in that of
our cause : and now tell me, whether in your opinion I
ought to hazard the * inevitable death ' with which Dr. Farre
last year threatened me, or to desert a cause which now
more than ever wants the aid of all its friends. I confess the
bias of my mind is strongly in favour of bringing forward the
Mauritius cruelty case; and if you agree with me, so i
believe it must be. If you fix a meeting of our friends
at Brougham's I shall make a point of being there. * * *
" With respect to our proceedings in Parliament, I am
still inclined to believe, that the best thing which could
be done would be for Brougham to make his motion.
" It is clear that a very powerful statement is wanting in
224 THE MAURITIUS SLAVE TEADE.
order to renew the interest of the public ; and having him,
and Mackintosh, and our other friends ready for a great effort
upon the admission of slave evidence, we are so safe, and so
certain of making a great impression, that I cannot bring
myself to think anything else is so good."
The attention of Parliament was so entirely en-
grossed by the Catholic question, that his intention
respecting the Mauritius could not be carried into
effect, nor was his health equal to any exertion in
public. In private, he continually pressed the
Government to further measures; one of which is
alluded to in the following memorandum, which also
refers to the success of Mr. Brougham's endeavours
to procure the recognition of Negro evidence in the
colonies :
" May 17. 1829.
1. " On Tuesday last Sir George Murray told me that
Government would next session introduce a bill for admitting
Negro evidence; and, likewise, a bill for improving courts
of justice. 2. That they would grant a commission for investi-
gating the Slave Trade at the Mauritius, and the condition
of the slaves. 3. Twiss told me on Thursday that Govern-
ment had resolved to send out orders to emancipate the
Indians at Honduras, in whose cause, at the instigation of
Colonel Arthur, we moved about three years ago. 4. Dr.
Philip on Thursday told me that the order in council
with respect to the Hottentots was all that he wished.
So far, then, God has been pleased to answer our prayers.
My text and my comfort to-day has been ' Delight thyself
in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him, and he
shall bring it to pass.'"
Towards the close of the session, Sir Robert
Farquhar recurred to the statement formerly made,
that slave trading had existed in the Mauritius
1829. THE MAURITIUS SLAVE TRADE. 225
during his government, and required that the charge
should be investigated, or retracted. Mr. Buxton
explained the reason why it had been dropped, and
read the opinion of his physician, that he could not
attend to public business in Parliament without danger
to his life. But he pledged himself, if alive in the
next session, to accept the challenge of the Honour-
able Baronet.* However, in the course of the summer
the commissioners returned, and their report rendered
any further exertion unnecessary. In spite of the great
difficulties by which they had been surrounded (for
the inhabitants had banded themselves together in
a sort of conspiracy, to prevent any evidence from
being laid before them), they had established the
fact of the Mauritius Slave Trade, and to a great
degree ascertained its extent ; and they clearly proved
that this trade had continued in full vigour, except
during the administration of General Hall.
On August 23. 1829, Mr. Spring Rice, whose
co-operation in this question had been in the highest
decree valuable, writes to Mr. Buxton,
" My principal object in writing respects the Mauritius
In the first place, let me congratulate you on the
oniiipU'tc; vindication of yourself contained in the Report.
But what course is next year to be taken ? If a committee,
you may depend on my best help, night and day, if necessary ;
but only on the condition of being authorised by Mrs. Buxton
t< uutcli you as attentively as the Inquiry, and to send you
parkin*:, if I see the matter press on your health or spirits.
Pniy till Mr-. I'mxton to furnish me with full powers over
you, or otlirr\vi.-r I shall never go down. Also let me know
See Mirror of Parliament, June 3. 182Q.
Q
226 THE MAURITIUS SLAVE TEADE. CIIAP. XIV.
what are your plans, and what I ought to fag at during the
recess. All this assumes a committee to be the fitting course ;
but I have my doubts, now that the case is launched, whether
a commission* in the islands is not a better mode of proce-
dure. Turn this in your mind, and consult Lushington and
Brougham ; I think Murray is deserving of every confidence."
The following letter was Mr. Buxton's reply to a
suggestion from Mr. Horace Twiss (under Secretary
for the colonies), that he should leave the matter in
the hands of Government.
" Northrepps Hall, Cromer,
" My dear Twiss, October 21. 1829-
" Upon the most deliberate consideration, I am afraid it
is impossible for me to adopt your suggestion. I originally
stated that the Slave Trade prevailed during Sir Robert
Farquhar's government. Ill health prevented me from
bringing forward, in the session of 1827, the proofs I pos-
sessed. In 1828, I took no steps, except that I offered to
Mr. Huskisson to put the Government in possession of my
case, as I was unable to go on with it. He declined my
offer, but told me that it was Sir R. Farquhar's intention
to require me either to retract my statements, or to proceed
with the investigation. My reply was, that I would retract
nothing, and that if I were thus called on, I would, at any
personal inconvenience, move for a committee.
" I heard no more of the question in 1828. At the latter
end of last session, Sir Robert thought proper to make pre-
cisely the same demand, as that of which Mr. Huskisson had
warned me. I could do no less than accept the challenge,
and declare that I would bring forward the question in the
next session. If I were now to decline doing so, Sir R.
Farquhar would stand in the best possible situation : charges
were made against him he had in Parliament defied his
accuser to produce the proof that accuser had pledged
* i. e. an executive commission.
1829. THE MAURITIUS SLAVE TRADE. 227
himself to do so, and had not performed his pledge : in short,
he would obtain a triumph, and that at my expense.
" Now, considering that the commissioners have proved
beyond a doubt that Slave Trading did exist during his
government ; and considering that I have irresistible proof
of all I have asserted, and of much more than I ever did
state, this would not be to me a very eligible termination of
the controversy.
" I have entered into this long explanation, in order to
.-ntisfy you that I am placed in a situation by Sir R. Far-
qu liar's challenge, which leaves me no alternative but to
proceed.
" I confess to you, that, as far as he is concerned, I do
so with the greatest reluctance. I have no enmity against
him ; and I should be very glad to be spared the task of
being his accuser. Of this the best proof I can give is, that
I should be ready, at this moment, to abandon the inquiry,
with a full sense, that I expose myself to severe reflections,
provided I could do so without sacrificing the interests of
others. The Slave Trade did prevail; that is not disputed:
every negro, thus illegally brought into the colony, is by law
free. Consequently, before I shall be justified in abandoning
tin- inquiry, I ought to know that Government will take
efficient measures for restoring freedom to these persons.
Secondly, I can prove that the slaves at the Mauritius have
: treated with unparalleled cruelty. I cannot abandon
their case, till I have security that Government will take
decided measures for improving their condition. Thirdly,
my motive for taking up the question, was a desire to sup-
the Slave Trade. Before I can quit the subject, it
must be proved to me, that the Slave Trade is extinct, and
tlr.it it cannot, in all human probability, be revived.
" Surely there is nothing in these requests, to which the
Government can make any objection. They must be as
anxious as I am that no persons shall be held in illegal bond-
ap 1 in a I'mtish Colony, that extreme cruelty should be
prevented, and that the Slave Trade should bo t-uppressed.
in, it' these public objects can be accomplished, I
228 THE MAURITIUS SLAVE TRADE. CHAP. XIV.
shall take leave of the question, caring little whether my
contest with Sir Robert Farquhar ends with credit to me, or
without it"
To Mrs. Burton.
"February 5. 1830.
" I have had another interview with Sir George Murray
this morning ; and I am heartily grieved and heartily angry,
that he is not prepared to act as I wish about the Mauritius.
It is not however settled ; he is to give me a final answer
in a few days. Is not this horrible ? I am however well,
and in good spirits, believing that though there be the arm
of flesh on one side, there is a stronger arm on the other."
Mr. Buxton was, however, spared any lengthened
exertions on this subject. The unexpected death of
Sir Robert Farquhar put an end to that part of the
Mauritian controversy that related to him, and in the
spring of 1830, the Government, convinced by the
report of the commission, declared their willingness
to take up the main question with vigour.
To Edward Byam, Esq.
" My dear Byam, " London, April 30. 1830.
" After repeated disappointments, Lushington, Spring
Rice and I, saw Sir George Murray to-day. He admitted,
in the most unequivocal terms, that slave trading to a vast
extent had prevailed at the Mauritius, and that all our state-
ments had been well founded.
" I urged a committee for the purpose of putting our evi-
dence on record. He maintained that it was unnecessary,
as the Government admitted, and no one denied, all I wished to
prove.
" He is to take measures to liberate all slaves illegally
imported, and Lushington approves the plan by which this
is to be done.
" When he had made all these admissions, I then said that
the time was come in which those who had been injured and
1830. ITS COMPLETE EXTINCTION. 229
ruined * for no other crime than that they had not connived
:it the Slave Trade, ought to be indemnified. I gave him
your letter, and bore the same testimony or even stronger to
your character than I did in my letter to you. He promised
to read your letter. I then turned the conversation to
General Hall, and expressed the opinion I have always
entertained of his noble conduct, and intimated that some
public notice should be taken of it, or at the very least, that
it -hould be admitted that he was right in all he did. I do
not despair of seeing this done by Murray."
The labour bestowed by Mr. Buxton and his
i'ri -nds on this subject, was thus crowned with
complete success. Long unnoticed and unchecked
by the Government at home, the evil had grown
up and flourished ; but it withered in a day. Those
who had readily joined in it, while veiled from
sight, now shrunk from the light which fell upon
their doings. At the same time new vigour was
thrown into every department of the executive ;
and thus the remnants of the trade in slaves were
soon extinguished. It only remained to make
reparation to those who had been its victims.
Sir George Murray had agreed to the proposition,
that every slave in the Mauritius should be set
free, whose master could not prove a title to his
possession ; but Lord Goderich, who at this time
succeeded Sir G. Murray in office, insisted on laying
tin- onus probandij not upon the master, but on
the slave, a difference and a hardship of no smnli
magnitude.
* Mr. Bytm ha<l been deprived of his situation as Commissary-
General of Police, in consequence of his activity in suppressing the Slave
Trade. General Hall, who when governor had distinguished himself
by his exertions for the same end, had also suffered severely from the
misrepresentations of the colonists.
a 3
230 MR. GEORGE STEPHEN. CHAP. XIV.
Notwithstanding, a considerable number of slaves
were able to prove that they had been illegally im-
ported, and accordingly obtained their freedom. The
business was wound up in 1830; but when those
that had undertaken it came to settle their affairs,
a circumstance occurred to which Mr. Buxton often
referred with strong expressions of admiration. Mr.
George Stephen had taken a deep interest in the
case when it was first mooted. He was afterwards
retained as the professional assistant of its parlia-
mentary advocates ; and in this capacity had incurred
a very heavy expense of money, labour, and time.
Of the remuneration justly due to him, amounting to
2000/., he refused to receive any part.
We cannot conclude this brief outline of the
" Mauritius Case," without some allusion to another
of the gentlemen who acted a prominent part in the
drama. Mr. Jeremie, who had held a public office in
St. Lucia, had there ruined his prospects by the bold-
ness with which he struggled against the ill treatment
of the slaves. Ardent in his abhorrence of wrong and
cruelty, singularly wanting in selfish prudence, he never
cared what might befall him, while pushing forward
what he felt to be right ; but in planning, he was too
hasty, in action, too impetuous, for complete success.
This gentleman returned from St. Lucia, at the
very time when the Government had determined to
appoint Protectors of Slaves in the four Crown
Colonies. It struck Mr. Buxton, that he had just the
resolute boldness and principle which a Protector of
slaves in the Mauritius would most especially need.
Upon his making the suggestion, however, Mr.
Jeremie replied, that he had already suffered enough.
1830. MR. JEUI MI!.. 231
" Nothing," said he, " shall induce me to go to a slave
colony again." " Why," said Mr. Buxton ; " it sig-
nifies very little whether you are killed or not ; but it
si unifies very much whether the right man goes to
the Mauritius or not, at this juncture." Mr. Jeremie
smiled and went away ; but he came back the next
day, and said : " I have been carefully thinking over
what you said yesterday; and I have fully made up
my mind that it is better I should be sacrificed than
not have the thing done as it ought to be. There-
fore, I am ready to go;" and he accordingly applied
for and obtained the appointment.
The undertaking was no light one. So hateful to
the planters was the character in which he came, that
he could not even land without encountering resist-
ance ; and during the short time he remained ashore,
he was harassed and withstood at every turn ; abuse
and insult were lavished upon him ; his life was
repeatedly threatened, and even attempted. He was
at last obliged to take refuge onboard a man-of-war
in the harbour; but he still continued to perform the
functions of his office, till at length the governor,
Sir Lowry Cole, considered himself under the ne-
cessity of appeasing the people by commanding him
to leave the island. No sooner, however, did he
reach England, than, to his great delight, he received
on UTS to return at once, with an increased military
force, and to resume his office. He returned, and re-
commenced his plans for the defence of the Negro.
in, however, the popular clamour arose, and
threatened the pence, if not the safety, of the island;
and he was finally recalled, and reached England at
the close of the year 1834.
Q 4
232 CHAP. XV.
CHAPTER XV.
1829, 1830.
LETTERS MITIGATION OF THE PENAL CODE. ILLNESS AND
DEATH OF HIS SECOND SON.
ME. BUXTON'S own health was much restored during
the winter of 1829 ; but illness in his family caused
him severe anxiety. On leaving home, when this
was in a great measure relieved, he writes :
" Spitalfields, Nine o'clock at Night,
November 25. 1829.
" I was very sorry that I was only able to write that
short, shabby letter, which I sent this morning. I never
before felt iny heart so entirely rivetted to home ; everything
else seems flat, except that centre of my affections.
" But now for a history of my travels. Nurse and I were
very good friends, and had some instructive conversation
upon the pleasing subjects of wounds, operations, &c. ; and I
presume I won her heart, as she began and concluded every
sentence with, * My dear Sir.' I lapsed however, at last,
into my books. It was a wretched night ; but I was none
the worse for that, as my great coat and snow shoes kept me
from cold. I soon set myself to a review of late events, and
that led me to go over my list of the mercies which have been
granted to me, and a grand list it appears. When I go over
it item by item, the account seems surprisingly large. Mercies
of all sorts. * * * * Children to my heart's content ; brothers
and sisters the same ; friends the same ; station in life and
circumstances the same ; the public objects to which I have
been directed, the same ; and there are fifty other dittos
of the same order. Then my own life, so often preserved,
and my children, given to me, as it were, a second time. I
1829. I KTTERS. 233
read some lines lately in one of those wicked newspapers
(as called them), the Weekly Dispatch, which I must
get hold of again. I forget the lines ; but their substance
was, that ere long death shall open his casket; and they
end thus :
' Then shall I see my jewels to my joy, my jewels me.'
" Then come personal mercies of the same sort. I have
clear, undoubting views of the efficacy of prayer. I know
tin- Holy Spirit will be granted to those who ask for it, and
I see wonderful mercy, love, and grandeur developed through-
out all creation ; and I know that I have a Redeemer !
Upon these grounds, and such as these, I am thoroughly
thankful, or rather I perceive that I ought to be so.
" These thoughts and hearty prayers for us all, with a fond
recollection of the dear invalids I had left, carried me to
Ipswich ; and after that I cannot give a very clear account of
any thing, having fallen sound asleep. The snow became so
deep, that we were obliged to part with the guard and the bags,
who rattled away in a postchaise and four ; while we crawled
into the fog of this great town. I dressed at the Brewery ;
: to Lombard Street, to Macaulay's, and to the Anti-
j-lavery meeting; (we are to meet again at Brougham's
on Friday evening, 1 believe ; so forgive me for not giving
you the history of our proceedings ;) then to Dr. Lushington ;
then to the Real Del Monte; then to dinner at the London
in by myself; then to the meeting about the Indian
widows, from which I have just returned.
" I am really eager to know whether the storm pro-
duced any wrecks : I trust it did not ; or if it did, that Anna
(iuiney saved the crew, and is now subjecting them to
.IK! and a greater peril, from repletion at the Cottage.
Then the whale; then Mrs. Fry; then Cromer Hall. "NYhy,
what a wonderful place Cromer is! This big city cannot
supply half as much real important news as little Cromer
can t'urni.-h.
Your affectionate Husband, Father,
"Brother, and Frinid,
" T. FOWELL BUXTON."
234 LETTERS. CHAP. XV.
Again, during a second visit to London : .
" I had a pleasant journey, going outside as far as Bury,
for the purpose of satisfying myself with surveying the stars.
I never was out on a finer night, or was more sensible of the
majesty of the spectacle. A man must preach very well in-
deed, before he conveys such a lesson of the greatness of
God, and the unworthiness of man, as a view of the heavens
discloses. It always strikes me that such a sight turns
into downright ridicule and laughter, our (in our own eyes)
important pursuits. * * * I am in good spirits
and health, and not without a sense, that mercy and truth and
love, are about me in my solitude.
What a comfort it is to me, that you are all going on well. It
seems to make all other things easy and light. I have my
worries, but I do not regard them. As for those affairs which
just now are a bit of a torment, I depend upon it, that it will
come right ; and as to public matters, they are not at my
disposal ; I can only do my best, and leave the result to
Him, to whom those good causes belong."
To Joseph John Gurney, Esq.
" House of Commons, March ip. 1830.
" I am far from being dissatisfied with the beer revolution.
In the first place, I do not know how to be so ; I have
always voted for free trade, when the interests of others
were concerned, and it would be awkward to change when
my own are in jeopardy. Secondly, I believe in the principles
of free trade, and expect that they will do us good in the
long run, though the immediate loss may be large. Thirdly,
I have long expected the change. And, lastly, I am pleased
to have an opportunity of proving, that our real monopoly is
one of skill and capital.*
* Referring some years afterwards to the enormous sum which the
twelve largest breweries in London had lost by this Beer Bill, he
remarked, " But it was right ; it broke in upon a rotten part of our
system I am glad they amputated us ! "
1830. CAPITAL PUNISHMENTS. 235
" I have a letter from Calcutta, saying that Suttee has
been suppressed by Lord "William Bentinck. Is not this
comforting? I am also not without hopes that Sir G.
Murray will Jo right about my Mauritius slaves. *
IV. 1 tells me he is with us about Capital Punishments, but
' you must give me time.' On slavery, nothing new.
Colonists will do nothing. I am strongly in favour of bolder
measures on the part of the Abolitionists, and think they
will be taken.
" I nm now attending, and (as you may observe) listening
to, a debate on the distress of the nation, meaning to vote
against the conspiracy of high tories and radical whigs, and
in favour of Government."
Our readers will recollect the efforts made in 1821
and the following years for the reform of the Penal
Code. Sir James Mackintosh had continually kept
the subject in view, and had made various attempts,
but apparently without success, till Mr. Peel, after
taking office in 1826, commenced his revisal of the
O '
Code. He cleared the statute-book of many obsolete
and barbarous acts, and arranged and consolidated
the whole body of Criminal Laws. In the progress
of this great work, Mr. Peel introduced in the year
1830 a Bill for the consolidation of the laws relating
to Forgery. lie, however, retained the punishment
of death in several cases, and, on this point, a strong
opposition was raised in Parliament, whilst out of the
lloii>e Mr. Sidney Taylor effected a change in public
opinion, through the columns of the " Morning
Herald." It had long been Mr. Buxton's opinion
that death for injury to property was adverse to the
interests, as well as to the feelings, of the commercial
world in Knirland. It happened that one Sunday
morning during thi^ period, he was visited at break-
236 THE BANKERS' PETITION. CHAP. xv.
fast by Mr. John Barry, who suggested the extreme
importance of getting this feeling formally expressed ;
Mr. Buxton, while continuing his breakfast, dictated
the following petition :
" That your petitioners, as bankers, are deeply interested
in the protection of property from Forgery, and in the con-
viction and punishment of persons guilty of that crime.
"That your petitioners find, by experience, that the
infliction of death, or even the possibility of the infliction of
death, prevents the prosecution, conviction, and punishment
of the criminal, and thus endangers the property which it is
intended to protect.
" That your petitioners, therefore, earnestly pray that
your Honourable House will not withhold from them that
protection to their property which they could derive from
a more lenient law."
This form of petition was sent to all the principal
towns in the kingdom, and quickly obtained the
signatures of firms representing above 1000 bankers.
It was presented on the 24th May by Mr. Brougham.
Sir James Mackintosh's amendment to abolish capital
punishment for forgery was, however, lost ; but
immediately after this defeat Mr. Buxton returned
into the House, and gave notice (in the name
of Sir James Mackintosh) of another motion to
the same effect on a further stage of the Bill. On
this debate a majority was obtained against the
Punishment of Death for Forgery ; and, though this
decision was reversed by the House of Lords, the
question was virtually settled. No execution has
since taken place for Forgery in Great Britain.
In succeeding years the infliction of Capital Penalties
was more and more reduced by the efforts of Mr.
Ewart, Mr. Lennard, and others, to whose exertions
1830. LETTER TO HIS SON. 237
Mr. Buxton always gave, while he remained in Par-
liament, his strenuous assistance ; and it is satisfac-
tory to know that the number of crimes, now legally
punishable with death, is reduced to eight or nine ;
and that, practically, no executions now take place
in England or Wales, except for murder or attempts
t< murder.
At the close of this summer, Mr. Buxton was
called away from his public duties by the illness of
lii- second son, a youth of great promise, who was
gradually sinking in a decline.* During a short
period of absence, he addressed the following letter
to the invalid :
" Newmarket, September 20. 1 830.
" Here I am, ray dear Harry, and I will make use of my
pen while tea is brewing. I have had a pleasant journey.
To be sure, I could not read, for it grew dark about the time
_rot to Pearson's ; but though I could not read out of a
book, I read all the better a sermon out of the stars ; and a
imMe sermon it was, ' the heavens declare the glory of God ;'
and it ended thus, * What is man, that thou art mindful of
him?' One jcirt of the sermon I recollect: * Vanity, vanity,
says the preacher, all is vanity.' Nay, there, Solomon,
with all your wisdom, you are wrong ! It may be vanity to
j nil-sue pleasure, to gratify appetite, or to hunt after renown.
It may be vanity to buy fine houses, preserve pheasants,
plant tivi-s acquire an estate with the hills from the Light-
In nise to Weybourne for a boundary; but^it is not vanity, it
.fill-lit j;ood sense, to perve with the heart and soul, and
mirht and main, tin- Master and Creator of those heavens:
it is not vanity to conquer evil passions, and stifle unholy
it is not vanity to be patient and submissive,
* Mrs. Fry thus mentions him in her diary: " He was a child, who
in no common degree appeared to live in the fear and love of the Lord ;
hi- was cheerful, industrious, clever, very agreeable, and of a sweet
ii. "' (Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 118.)
238 LETTER FROM REV. C. SIMEON. CHAP. XV.
gentle and cheerful, during a long and weary season of trial.
It is not vanity, in the midst of trials and privations, to spread
around a loving and a holy influence, so that the sufferer
becomes the teacher and the comforter ; comforting us and
teaching us that unsafe we cannot be, while we are in the
arms of a most merciful and tender Father.' So said the
preacher to whom I was listening, and many other things he
said, which I forget at this moment, but I recollect he wound
up one paragraph thus ' Look at that cluster of stars, con-
ceive the power which framed, and the wisdom which guides
them, and then say, if you can, I am able to improve upon His
dispensations ; I can change His decrees for the better ; not
His will, but mine be done ! ' But the tea is getting cold, so
I will say no more about the sermon, except that the preacher
drew a most striking and lucid likeness of Northrepps,
painting to the life each member of the family ; so graphic
were his touches, that I never felt more strongly what a
blessing it is to belong to it. When we had done with the
Hall, he sketched the Cottage, and in the gravest manner
possible, gave a sly hit or two, which made me smile in the
midst of my approval. But now I must conclude. May the
God of hope preserve you in all peace ; help, cheer, enliven,
strengthen you, and gladden you with the consolations which
come from Jesus Christ our Lord ! Good night, dear Harry,
and all at Northrepps."
The Rev. Charles Simeon to T. Powell Buxton, Esq.
"My dear Sir, November 4. 1830.
" I beg leave to thank you for a most munificent present
of game. It has come most welcome in point of time, but
doubly welcome as a remembrance from you, for whom I
have so long entertained a most affectionate regard. I may
even say, that the very affliction which you are now suffering
greatly endears it to me. Sympathy, under such circum-
stances, is both heightened and refined ; because I am made
to feel, that, whilst your domestic trouble might well engross
your every thought, you can yet extend to a distant friend
your kindness in a matter of such minor importance. In
1830. LETTER TO DR. PHILIP. 239
truth, it is by the furnace that Jehovah usually purges away
our dross ; and if we come out of it purified, we have reason
to acknowledge our afflictions as blessings in disguise. To
you, who during the sitting of Parliament are so much occu-
pied with public affairs, it is a peculiar blessing to hear the
' still small voice ' of God at home, and to have a season for
self-examination, and for communion, deep communion, with
your own heart ; and in seeing death making its inroads upon
your dearest relatives, you are brought, I doubt not, to con-
template its gradual approach to yourself, and, I trust, to be
thankful that your time has been protracted to the present
hour, that you may be more fully prepared to meet its stroke.
Above all, I rejoice to hear of the state of your son's mind.
Yes ; let him only commit himself into the Saviour's hands,
and his joy shall indeed be both intense and lasting! AVith
my affectionate regards to him, and Mrs. Buxton,
" I remain
" Most truly Yours,
" CHARLES SIMEON."
While Mr. Buxton most acutely felt the sorrow of
this calamity, he was no less alive to the consolations
afforded him in the state of his son's mind. "It is
most painful," he said to a friend one day, on leaving
the sick room, " It is most painful, and yet most full
of comfort. As painful as it can be, and as comfort-
able as it can be." The same spirit breathes in a
letter to Dr. Philip at Cape Town.
" My dear Friend, "Northrepps Hall, NOT. 10. 1830.
" I must not let my wife's and daughter's letters go without
n line to tell you that I have very sincerely sympathised
with you in the trials to which you have been exposed. I
am sure your stout spirit needs not encouragement; but it
may be a satisfaction to you to know that your friends on
this ,-ide of the water look upon you as convicted of the
erime -of putting an end to tin 1 slavery of the Hottentots.
That is your real offence; for this the friends of slavery
240 LETTER TO DR. PHILIP. CHAP. XV.
meditate your ruin : but they will find themselves mistaken.
We, too, lay our claim to a share of that guilt, and we shall
pay the penalty.*
" I think you need not trouble yourself at all about the fine
or the costs ; and as for shame and disgrace, &c., I would
take a thousand times as much to have written a book which
has done so much good, and think it a capital bargain. Pray
take ample vengeance on the enemy by exposing all kinds of
oppression. Do twice as much as you meditated,
" ' Tu ne cede inalis, sed contra audentior ito.'
" We are, as you will see by the newspapers, in a state of
convulsion and alarm : I believe it to be imaginary, and that
the only real danger arises from our own fears.
" Perhaps domestic griefs make me insensible to those of
a public nature. My poor boy is at the gates of death.
To-day we took the Sacrament together. I think it hardly
possible for any father to sustain a greater loss ; but then no
father can have greater consolation. As a little child leans
upon his mother, so our dear Harry leans upon his Saviour.
He knows the event which is coming, and is prepared to
meet it with entire serenity. He is truly ' walking through
the valley of the shadow of death,' and, as truly, ' he fears no
evil.' Excuse me for saying so much on a subject which
engrosses all our thoughts. You will be happy to hear that
his poor mother, notwithstanding unceasing nursing, con-
finement, and anxiety, is tolerably well ; a great mercy, and
one among a multitude which are granted to us.
" Our slavery concerns go on well ; the religious public
has, at last, taken the field. The West Indians have done us
good service. They have of late flogged slaves in Jamaica
for praying, and imprisoned the missionaries, and they have
given the nation to understand that preaching and praying
are offences not to be tolerated in a slave colony. That is
right it exhibits slavery in its true colours it enforces
* Dr. Philip had been fined by a court at the Cape, for some of his
expressions in the " Researches/' which were condemned as libellous of
the colony.
1830. LINES ON HIS SECOND SON. 241
your doctrine, that, if you wish to teach religion to slaves,
the first tiling is, to put down slavery.
"I have 100, perhaps 150 petitions waiting for me in
London, but I do not leave home at present When another
election arrives, and if we have a change of ministry, which
may come soon, the subject will be more thought of than it
has been ; but I must go to my afflicted wife. May God
be merciful to you and bless you, and lift up the light of
His countenance upon you.
" Your sincere and affectionate friend,
"THOMAS FOWELL BuXTON."
Under every mitigation which intense parental
solicitude could supply, the invalid sank peacefully,
and died in the 17th year of his age, on the 18th of
November. He was buried in a retired spot within
the ruined chancel of Overstrand church ; and upon
a tablet is the following inscription written by his
father :
" Full of bright promise, youthful, courteous, brave ;
Grace in the form, mind beaming from the eye ;
All that a mother's fondest wish could crave
Were lent awhile by Heaven, and here they lie.
Here lies the wreck, the spirit wings her flight,
The ransomed spirit, to the realms above;
Ranges unfettered through the fields of light ;
Rests in the bosom of eternal love ;
Beholds the unnumbered host of angel powers,
Who, round Jehovah's throne, their anthems sing,
And joins that kindred band, those lovely flowers,
Cut down and withered in their early spring.
Scenes by no tear disturbed, no sin defiled,
Scenes nor by heart conceived, nor tongue confessed,
Unveiled to thee, dear spirit of our child ;
And we are comforted, for thou art blessed."
242 CHAP. XVI.
CHAPTER XVI.
SLAVERY. 1830.
THE PUBLIC BEGINS TO AROUSE ITSELF. INCREASING POPULARITY
OF THE SUBJECT. GRADUAL CHANGE IN THE VIEWS OF THE
LEADERS. MITIGATING MEASURES DESPAIRED OF. DETER-
MINATION TO PUT DOWN SLAVERY THOROUGHLY AND AT ONCE.
SPIRITED MEETINGS IN LONDON AND EDINBURGH. THE GO-
VERNMENT OUTSTRIPPED BY THE ABOLITIONISTS. MR. BUXTON's
APPEAL TO THE ELECTORS. THE CRUELTY OF SLAVERY IN
ITS MILDEST FORM.
DURING the last three years the leaders of the Anti-
slavery movement had been forced into comparative
repose; but the movement itself went on. The nation
was turning its attention more and more to the
question of slavery ; inquiring into its true nature,
and receiving impressions from the facts and ar-
guments brought forward in the Anti-slavery Re-
porter, and other publications.*
A few years before, the idea of emancipation had
been odious both to Parliament and to the people.
"If," said Mr. Buxton, in 1827, "a man had a large
share of reputation, he would lose the greater part
of it by espousing the cause of the slaves ; if he had a
moderate share, he would lose all : that is my case,
and it is just what I like ! " At that time he wrote
to Mr. Macaulay :
* In 1830 Mr. Stephen published the second volume of his work on
the Slave Laws, described in one of Mr. Macaulay 's letters as "Stephen's
mighty book, which marks the hand of a giant."
1830. INCREASING ANTI-SLAVERY FEELING. 243
" God grant you, my dear friend, good health and good
spirits; I, like you, have my share of slander. To-day
I have received a letter from Joseph John Gurney, telling me
the reports he has heard against me, and from our friends too !
No matter ; if slander against individuals is the method our
adversaries take of justifying slavery, they will have hard
work in inventing lies before they succeed in silencing us."
But, at the period we have reached, although in
some quarters a clamorous spirit of opposition still
prevailed, yet the Anti-slavery feeling had been
steadily making way. The planters, in fact, by their
invincible obstinacy, had chilled the sympathy with
which many had been inclined to regard them. They
liud all along been playing a losing game. The
Government would gladly have left the colonial le-
gislatures to work out for themselves the needful
reforms in their system; they had hurled back the
quiet suggestions of the Government with every
expression of defiance and contempt: they had
punished the rebel Negroes with a severity which
shocked every feeling of humanity : they had con-
demned Smith to the gallows, and thus turned the
Independents against them : they forced Shrewsbury
to fly for his life, and the Wesleyans were aroused :
the Baptist chapels were razed to the ground, and the
Baptists became their enemies.
Mr. Buxton had early foreseen this result. In his
speech on the persecutions of Mr. Shrewsbury, he ex-
claimed,
" Proceed, then, faster and faster ; you are doing our work ;
you are accelerating the downfall of slavery. A few more
such triumphs, a few more such speaking testimonies to the
R 2
244 MITIGATING MEASURES CHAP. XVI.
merits of your system, and the people of England with
one heart will abhor it, and with one voice will dissolve it."
While they were thus exasperating one class after
another, the planters stimulated the exertions of their
opponents by the vehement abuse which they poured
out upon them. To the ceaseless charges of false-
hood and hypocrisy, the Abolitionists replied, by
laying bare first one and then another feature of the
system ; and thus a series of impressions was made
upon the public mind, which at length wrought a full
conviction.
In 1830, these views, which had been slowly
expanding, suddenly put on a new and more definite
form.
Like all who begin to climb towards great objects
of attainment, Mr. Buxton had at first taken the lower
eminences in the path before him to be the highest it
would reach. At first, he had not questioned that
emancipation must be a disastrous boon to the blacks,
unless previously trained to enjoy it. Thus in his
opening speech, in 1823, he expressly said:
" The object at which we aim, is the extinction of slavery.
Not, however, the rapid termination of that state not
the sudden emancipation of the Negro, but such preparatory
steps, such precautionary measures, as by slow degrees, and
in the course of years, first fitting and qualifying the slave
for the enjoyment of freedom, shall gently conduct us to the
annihilation of slavery."
But this declaration had been made seven years
before, when, to use his own words, " We did not
know, as we now do, that all attempts at gradual
abolition are utterly wild and visionary." *
* Mirror.of Parliament, May 30. 1833.
1830. DESPAIRED OF. 245
Since that time the conduct of the colonists had
plainly shown, that there was no hope of the Ne-
groes being raised to a fitness for liberty, while they
were still slaves. This could not be done, at any rate,
without the hearty co-operation of the planters; and
all co-operation the planters had refused. Nay, even
had they turned to the work of improving their
human property, for the sake of having it taken from
tin-in, it may yet be questioned whether the in-
herent nature of the system would not have for-
bidden success. Either you must have compulsion,
fruitful in abuses, and debasing to character, or you
must have the natural and wholesome inducement of
"Slavery," said Mr. Buxton upon one occasion*, "is labour
extorted by force. Wages, the natural motive, are not given,
but their place is supplied with the whip. In this House,
discussions frequently take place as to what slavery is, and
what it is not; but one thing it is by the confession of all
men it is labour extorted by force. * * * * *
Under the most mitigated system, slavery is still labour
obtained by force ; and, if by force, I know not how it is
possible to stop short of that degree of force which is neces-
sary to extort involuntary exertion. A motive there must
be ; and it comes at last to this, inducement or compulsion ;
wages or the whip."
The evil, then, being, from its very nature, incapable
of much amelioration, and the planters thus set
against all reform, it was time for the Anti-slavery
leaders to relinquish the hope of making mitigation
the first step to freedom. Xot soon, nor without a
* Hansard, vol. xiii. p. H-.
E 3
246 DETERMINATION TO PUT DOWN SLAVERY. CHAP. XVI.
struggle, was that hope given up ; so plausible does
the proposition seem, that " no people ought to be
free till they are fit to use their freedom." " Yet
this maxim," says a brilliant writer of our day, " is
worthy of the fool in the old story, who resolved not
to go into the water till he had learnt to swim. If
men are to wait for liberty till they become wise and
good in slavery, they may indeed wait for ever ! "
What, then, was to be done ? should things be left
as they were ? To Mr. Buxton the answer was
plain. He held it to be sheer robbery for one man
to hold in bondage the person of another ; he thought
it a crime in itself; he knew that its offspring was
wrong and wickedness ; and he could not shrink from
the risk of doing it away.
The conviction that slavery could not be slowly
modified, with a view to its ultimate extinction, but
must be rooted out, and that speedily, wrought a
thorough change in the policy of the Anti-slavery
leaders. They had been lopping the branches ; they
now struck at the root. In 1823 they had sought to
better the slave's condition, by lightening some of
his burdens. In 1824, the plan was mooted for
the purchase, emancipation, and apprenticeship of the
Negro children. The next three years were spent in
discussions on Smith's death and the treatment of the
rebel slaves; on the oppression of the free people
of colour ; on the non-admission of Negro evidence ;
on Shrewsbury's banishment, and the destruction of
his chapel. During 1828, 1829, and 1830, the Govern-
* Macaulay's Essays, vol. i. p, 42. ' Milton.'
1830. MEETINGS IN LONDON AND EDINBURGH. 247
ment had been still vainly striving to induce the
colonial legislatures to begin the work of ameliora-
tion with their own hands. But a more stirring
time was at hand. The Abolitionist party was grown
too strong and zealous to shrink from any measures
which its leaders might bring forward. In their
minds bolder views had ripened, and needed only to
be once spoken out in words, to become principles of
art ion. In May, 1830, a crowded meeting assembled
in Freemasons' Hall, with Mr. Wilberforce in the
chair. The first resolution, moved by Mr. Buxton,
( x j tressed that " no proper or practicable means
should be left unattempted for effecting at the
earliest period the entire abolition of slavery through-
out the British dominions." It was seconded by
Lord Milton (now Earl Fitzwilliam), who had through-
out supported the cause with all the weight of his
station and character, though by so doing he had
pluo-d himself in opposition to the administration of
which his father was a member. Other speeches and
resolutions followed in the same strain, till at length
.Mr. Pownall rose to declare in a few vigorous words
that temporising measures ought at once to be aban-
doned. " The time," said he, " is come when we
should speak out, and speak boldly, our determina-
tion that slavery shall exist no longer." These
words embodied the feeling which already pervaded
tin- Anti-slavery party, and from this time immediate
emancipation became its avowed object.
A meeting held in Edinburgh, in the course of the
same year, gave a further impulse to public feeling.
At'trr an eloquent address from Mr. (now Lord)
R 4
248 ENERGY OF THE ABOLITIONISTS. CHAP. XVI.
Jeffrey, urging the meeting to aim at nothing
short of " abolishing slavery at the earliest prac-
ticable period," Dr. Andrew Thomson broke in with
a vehement protest against any further pretexts
for delay, exclaiming, " We ought to tell the legis-
lature, plainly and strongly, that no man has a right
to property in man, that there are 800,000 indi-
viduals sighing in bondage, under the intolerable evils
of West Indian slavery, who have as good a right
to be free as we ourselves have, that they ought to
be free, and that they must be made free !"
These bold expressions excited such contending
feelings, that the meeting broke up in confusion, but
only to reassemble a few days later, when a most elo-
quent speech having been made by Dr. A. Thomson,
a petition for immediate emancipation was adopted,
to which 22,000 signatures were rapidly subscribed.
But while the Abolitionists were for pushing
forwards, and doing what must be done, at once,
the Government had no desire to accelerate its pace.
It was still determined to plod on in the old track ;
its patience had not as yet been wearied out by the
utter hopelessness of the task it had undertaken.
It still hoped that the planters might be won over by
gentle treatment. It was true, they had baffled its
plans, they had trampled under foot its suggestions ;
but it was still fain to humour their prejudices and
put trust in their good intentions. If patience be a
virtue, then was the Administration most virtuous ;
with such fortitude did they submit to the sufferings
of the slaves.
As the Government was thus standing still, while
1330. MR. BUXTON'S APPEAL TO THE ELECTORS. 249
the Anti-slavery party was moving onwards, there
could not but arise a breach between them; and
accordingly from this time we find Mr. Buxton, not
so much wrestling with the West Indians, as with
the Government itself, and spurring it on to adopt
decisive measures.
During the session of 1830, nothing of moment
was effected, except that, on the 13th of July, Mr.
Brougham obtained a. large minority in favour of
ultimate abolition. On the 20th of the same month,
three days before Parliament was prorogued, Mr.
i>uxton, in his place in the House, made an earnest
appeal to the electors throughout the kingdom, re-
peating the statement made by Canning in 1823, that
" the first step towards emancipation should be the
abolition of the practice of flogging females." He
showed that even this first step had not yet been
taken ; a decision having recently been made by a large
majority in the Jamaica House of Assembly, that
females should continue to be flogged indecently * ;
and he proved in detail that each of the other
abuses, which in 1823 it had been proposed to miti-
gate, still existed in the colonies, unchecked and
unaltered.
As to the existence and extent of these abuses, a
few words may not be out of place, for many still
IxTieve that although slavery was a barbarous in-
stitution, which it was well to abolish, yet that the
Negroes were, in the main, both kindly treated and
happy k This impression has been deepened by the
accounts given by some casual visitors of the West
* Mirror of Parliament, July -JO. 1830.
250 THE CRUELTY OF SLAVERY CHAP. XVI.
Indies, who, seeing little but the surface of things,
gave no heed to the horrors that lurked below.* For
instance, it was repeatedly asserted that the whip was
a mere " emblem of authority," and that the cases of
its cruel employment were either fictitious, or at
least extremely rare.
With regard to the use of the whip, some official
statistics remain, which show it to have been no
imaginary evil. But before producing them, it may
be well to observe that the lash was, after all, but
one of many hardships which the slave endured.
His scanty supply of food and clothing was a source
of constant and bitter suffering ; all his domestic
ties were utterly dissolved ; every hinderance was
thrown in the way of his education ; his religious
teachers were persecuted ; his day of rest encroached
on ; every prospect of attaining civil rights was
taken away; however grievous the injury inflicted,
to obtain redress was extremely difficult, if not
impossible f ; his hopes of emancipation were opposed
by the greatest obstacles, and the slightest offences
subjected him to the severest punishments, to the
stocks, to the prison, to the whip.
But of all his grievances, none was greater than the
intense severity of his toil. In Jamaica, for example,
the amount of field labour allotted by law was nine-
* There were abundance of eye-witnesses on the other side also. It
was remarkable that some of the most energetic of the Anti-slavery leaders
(for example, Mr. Stephen and Mr. Macaulay) had both studied slavery,
and had learned to abhor it, from dwelling under its shadow for years.
t In the four crown colonies protectors of the slaves had been ap-
pointed. But the Negroes were often flogged by these very protectors,
if they could not substantiate a charge made against a white man.
Against this iniquity, Sir George Murray set his face with his usual
decision and vigour. (See " Protector's Reports.")
1830. IX ITS MILDEST FORM. 251
teen hours a day during crop time, and fourteen and
a lialf during the remainder of the year, (with intervals
of rest amounting to two hours and a half per diem.)
This work had to be done, it must be remembered,
under an almost vertical sun ; and the mode of its
performance is thus described: u The slaves were
divided into gangs of from thirty to fifty men,
generally selected of a nearly equal degree of
strength, but many were often weak or diseased.
They were placed in a line in the field, with drivers
(armed with the whip) at equal distances; and were
obliged to maintain that line throughout the day, so
that those who were not so strong as the others, were
literally flogged up by the drivers. The motion of the
line was rapid and constant."
These evils were general and were not denied. For
the most part, indeed, they were authorised by the
Colonial Laws, but the flogging, of which the Anti-
slavery party complained, was made light of by their
antagonists, as if it were a mere chimera. " How,"
a-ked the West Indian leaders, " will the country
believe that the proprietors of colonial property men
of honour, humanity, and prudence would suffer
their negroes to be torn to pieces by the lash ?"
It was, indeed, suggested in reply, that these pro-
prietors were non-resident, that they employed
and the agents employed drivers, whose
* In 1823, Mr. C. KHis, afterwards Lord Scaford (himself a West
Indian planter), stated his conviction that "the whip was generally
placed in the hands of the drivers more as a badge of authority, than as
an instrument of coercion," and was considered " only as a symbol of
office ; " and this opinion was held in all sincerity by many others of the
Indian proprietors. (See Hansard, May, 1823.)
252 THE CRUELTY OF SLAVERY CHAP. XVI.
interest it was to wring the most work each year
from the muscles of the slave, and to spend as little
as possible upon him, though to the ultimate ruin
of the estate.*
But we have to deal, not with speculations, but
with plain facts.
The colonies of Demerara, Berbice, Trinidad, and St.
Lucia were, as it is termed, " crown colonies," and,
as such, were under the direct control of the Colonial
Office at home ; whereas, in the other islands, the
planters were governed by Assemblies of their own.
In those four colonies alone had the ameliorations
been enforced, which the other islands had spurned
to receive. Here alone had the Government placed
protectors of the slaves, at whose hands, when
wronged, they could seek redress ; and among other
measures of precaution, returns were required of the
punishments inflicted by the magistrates, f It was,
* The following is aft extract from " Truths from the West Indies,"
by Captain S. Hodgson, of the ipth Infantry ; " There are few bond
fide proprietors resident on the spot ; the greater part of the estates are
mortgaged to nearly their full value, and are superintended by some of
the mortgagees or their agents. These people have no idea beyond
grinding out of the property the largest possible sum in the shortest
possible period, perfectly indifferent to the eventual ruin they must
entail by the over-working of the soil ; and having no sympathy for
the slaves, whom they literally regard as cattle, they think alone of
the present gain to themselves. Where the proprietor resides, I have
generally observed him kind, and his people happy and contented."
f It is obvious that a large number of punishments would remain
unregistered, through the unwillingness of their inflictors to record
them ; thus, in the Report of the Protector of Slaves in Demerara, we
find, in J829, " Mary Lowe, convicted of tying up first a little girl,
and then a little boy, by the wrists, the one for five, the other for nine
hours, and flogging them 'unmercifully ;' and of other cruelties." Yet
her estate gave in no returns of punishment. (See Parliamentary
Returns.)
1830. IN ITS MILDEST FOUM. 253
then, in the four Crown Colonies that slavery existed
in its mildest form ; and yet, upon the oath of the
planters themselves, there were registered in these
four colonies, in the two years 1828-9, 68,921
punishments, of which 25,094 were registered as
inflicted upon females.*
Now, as the law allowed twenty-five stripes to
one punishment, which limit was frequently passed f,
we cannot (taking it at twenty stripes to a punish-
ment) estimate the total amount of stripes inflicted
during 1828-9 in those four colonies at less than one
million three hundred and fifty thousand.
* See Protector's Reports. Parliamentary Papers.
t Ibid.
254 CHAP. XVII.
CHAPTER XVII.
SLAVERY. 1831.
RELIGIOUS MEDITATIONS. THE DUKE'S DECLARATION. CHANGE
OF MINISTRY. THE WHIG GOVERNMENT DOES NOT TAKE UP
THE SUBJECT OF SLAVERY. QUAKERS' PETITION. DECREASE
OF THE SLAVE POPULATION. DEBATE. THE GOVERNMENT
STILL TRIES TO LEAD THE COLONISTS TO ADOPT MITIGATING
MEASURES. PARLIAMENT DISSOLVED. LETTER FROM BELL-
FIELD. LETTER TO A SON AT COLLEGE. PARTY AT THE
BREWERY. ANECDOTES. REFLECTIONS ON SHOOTING. DEATH
OF MR. NORTH. CORRESPONDENCE.
THE day before the commencement of the session
of 1831, Mr. Buxton thus implores help and guidance
from on high :
"January 30. 1831.
" Give me, O Lord, thy help, thy present, and evident,
and all-sufficient help in pleading the cause of the slave.
Let the light of thy countenance shine upon me. Give me
wisdom to select the proper course, and courage to pursue it,
and ability to perform my part ; and turn the hearts of the
powerful, so that they may be prone to feel for, and prompt
to help those, whose bodies and whose souls are in slavery.
* If ye ask any thing in my name,' said our Saviour, e I will
do it.' In His prevailing name, and for His merits, do this,
O Lord God ! * * * * * But whatever may be thy
will in my secular concerns, give me patience, faith, thank-
fulness, confidence ; a sense of thy Divine Majesty, of the
benignity of Christ, a love for thy scriptures, a love of
prayer, and a heart firmly fixed on immortality. May I
remember that, ere the year closes, I may be snatched away
and hurried before thy judgment- seat! Be with me, then,
1831. APATUY OF THE GOVERNMENT. 255
in health and in sickness, in life and in death, in events
prosperous and adverse, in my intercourse with my family,
in my public duties, in my study. Be Thou my strong
habitation to which I may continually resort. Be with me
and mine every day and every hour during this year."
The recent political changes augured well for the
cause of Emancipation. The Duke of Wellington's
celebrated declaration against Reform had broken up
his ministry. That of Earl Grey had succeeded, in
which the post of Lord Chancellor was filled by Lord
Brougham.
^ ' Dr. Lushington writes,
*' For the sake of all the great interests of humanity, I
trust that you may now resume your public duties. I am of
opinion that this is a fearful crisis for many of the great
ol.jivts you have at heart. Without great exertion both
slavery and Capital Punishment will be almost unaltered. I
liavi- but little confidence in the merely voluntary good-will
of the new government, and feel strongly the necessity that
they should be taught that the voice of the people will not
admit of dilatory or half measures."
With the Reform question on their hands, there
ied but little chance that the Whig Government,
however friendly to emancipation, would undertake
its accomplishment. But Mr. Buxton would leave no
chance untried. On the 25th of March, in stating his
intention to move a resolution for the complete
abolition of slavery, he declared that he would " most
ivadily leave the matter in the hands of Government,
if Government would take it up ; " * but to this offer
no reply was made.
* Hansard for that il.it.-
256 DISTRUSTS AMELIORATIONS. CUAP. XVII.
It is to this subject that the following letter
alludes, addressed to a member of the Administra-
tion :
"April 6. 1831.
* * " I feel bound to tell you that upon the
most attentive consideration I shall feel compelled to withhold
my concurrence from any resolutions which do not declare
' the extinction of slavery ' to be their object. I am aware
that I do not go farther in detestation of slavery than his
Majesty's Government; but perhaps a long and laborious
investigation may have led me to entertain a deeper sense of
the practical evils of the system. In my mind, these amount
to nothing short of a crime ; and, if it be a crime, the way to
deal with it, is, not to strip it of some of its worst features,
but to abandon it altogether.
" I confess I distrust all ameliorations of slavery. If the
Government resolve to undertake them, theirs will be the
responsibility ; and if they succeed, theirs exclusively the
merit.
"I believe their intentions to be perfectly honest, and that
they will act resolutely in carrying those intentions into
execution. For these and for other reasons, it gives me the
greatest pain to be unable to yield my opinions to theirs. I
am sure if I act thus, it is not from obstinacy, or from
unwillingness to meet their wishes ; but it is from fidelity to
the cause itself, and to the friends of the cause, to whom I am
pledged to bring forward a motion, not for the mitigation,
but for the extinction, of slavery."
A few days later, in presenting, among 500 petitions
against slavery, one subscribed by the Society of
Friends, he said :
"I have great pleasure in presenting this petition from
that body; as they were the very first persons in the
country, who promulgated the doctrine that the buying,
selling, or holding of slaves was contrary to the Christian
religion. Forty years ago they presented the first petition
1831. DECREASE OF POPULATION. 257
for the abolition of the Slave Trade, and eight years ago
they presented the first petition for the abolition of slavery."*
It was a part of Mr. Buxton's policy to avail
himself as little as possible of the evidence furnished
by men favourable to emancipation ; he always strove
to draw his statements from the speeches and writings
of his opponents, or immediately from official reports.
In this branch of his labours (and it was no small
one) he derived much assistance from the great
knowledge and practised sagacity of Mr. Macaulay,
and also from the secretary of the Anti-slavery
Society, Mr. Thomas Pringle, whose poetical writings
are well known. Mr. Pringle's originality, conjoined
with other qualities, as useful if less brilliant ; his
admirable English style ; his diligence, tact, and
temper, rendered good service to the cause. Being
ready to catch a hint from any quarter, they fre-
quently tracked documents of great value into the
Colonial Office, and then by reiterated motions Mr.
Pmxtim usually succeeded in bringing them to light.
In this way vast funds of information had been
collected; and between the sessions of 1830 31,
Mi-. P)iixton ransacked all his stores for evidence re-
lative to the decrease of the slave population. Having
completed his calculations, he laid them before the
House on the 15th of April.
In the commencement of his speech, he assured the
* George Fox (the founder of Quakerism), when in Barbadoes, urged
the overseers " to deal mildly and gently with the Negroes, and not to
use cruelty towards them, as the manner of some has been and is."
(See " A popular Life of George Fox." C. Gilpin, 1847-)
S
258 DECREASE OF POPULATION. CHAP. XVH.
House that he had not the slightest feeling of hostility
towards the West Indian proprietors, nor the slightest
disposition to cast reproach upon them ; and he dis-
claimed any wish to rest his argument on cases of
individual atrocity, though abundance of them might
be brought forward.
He proceeds:
"But, amid the conflicting statements as to the con-
dition of the slaves, it would be extremely desirable to
find any fair and unequivocal test of their condition.
* * There is such a test in the rate at which the slave
population has increased or decreased. It is a doctrine
admitted by all parties, that, under all circumstances, except
those of extreme misery, population must increase. Such is
the law of nature, and it is conformable to the experience of
all mankind. That law of increase may be interrupted, but
it can be interrupted only by causes of extreme misery.
" The question, then, is, whether in the fourteen sugar-
growing colonies, the slave population has increased, has
been stationary, or has decreased? The answer is, it has
not increased, it has not been stationary, it has decreased.
Not only has it decreased, but it has decreased at a rate
so rapid, that I confess it surprises me, and I am sure
will astonish the House. In the last ten years the slave
population in those fourteen colonies has decreased by the
number of 45,800 persons." *
* In 1835 numerous papers relating to the statistics of the colonial
dependencies of Great Britain were ordered by the House of Commons
to be printed. Amongst them appeared some tables, which showed the
yearly decrease of the slave population in eleven West India islands,
during a period of twelve years previous to emancipation. They differ
in some degree from those on which Mr. Button founded his argument,
but they give a still greater decrease. By these tables it appears that
in those eleven islands the decrease in the number of slaves (exclusively
of manumissions) had been 60,119- (See Parl. Papers, in the
Appendix.)
1831. DECREASE OF POPULATION. 259
In Tobago, within ten years, one sixth of the slave
population had perished. In Demerara it had di-
minished by 12,000, in Trinidad by 6000, within
tuvlv. years. "The fact is," he said, "that in
Trinidad, as the late Mr. Marryat observed, * the
slaves die off like rotten sheep.' ' These diminutions
AVfiv x elusive of manumissions.
He then showed that, while in slavery the numbers
of the Negroes decreased thus rapidly, in freedom
tlu-v were doubling. For example, the free black
population of Demerara had (exclusive of manu-
missions) been doubled in fourteen years. And the
free Negroes of Hayti had increased by 520,000 in
twenty years, that is, their numbers had more than
doubled.
* * * " Now, Sir," he continued, if the blacks in
.-lavrry h:ul increased as the free blacks have increased, the slave
population should have added in the last ten years 200,000 to
iinbers; whereas that number has been diminished by
45,000. To keep part passu with the free blacks, the blacks
in slavery should have increased 20,000 a year; whereas
they have decreased 4000 a year. They should have in-
H-d fifty a day, whereas they have decreased ten a day.
For this effect, this striking exception to the universal law
of nature, there must be a specific cause. It could not occur
liy acciilt-nt. What is the cause ? I will tell the House
\\\\:\t it is not. It is not, as it has been affirmed to be, any
disproportion between the sexes ; any deficiency in the
number of females. In 1814 the number of male slaves was
295,909 ; the number of female slaves 300,930. The cause,
therefore, of this decrease in the slave population, is not any
dii-ptMp'irtion betwern the sexes; it ia not war sweeping
away its thousands; it is not climate; it is not soil. If any
one thinks that the last two eireuni.-tanccs may operate in-
juriously upon the slave population, I ask him why, under
2
260 DECREASE OF POPULATION. CHAP. XVII.
the same circumstances, the free black population has so
much increased? Sir, the real cause is the forced labour in the
sugar colonies, and nothing else. The law of nature would
be too strong for any other cause. It is too strong for cli-
mate, witness Bencoolen. It is too strong for war, witness
Africa. It is too strong for savage life, witness the Maroons
of Jamaica. It is too strong for vice and misery, witness
Hayti. All such impediments yield to the law of nature j
but the law of nature yields to the cultivation of sugar in the
sugar colonies. Where the blacks are free, they increase.
Climate, soil, Avar, vice, misery, are too feeble to withstand
the current of nature. But let there be a change in only
one circumstance ; let the population be the same in every
respect, only let them be slaves instead of freemen, and the
current is immediately stopped.
" I hope the resolutions I intend to submit will appear
temperate, although in them I declare myself no friend to
ameliorating measures, in which I have no faith. I do not
think that by such measures the mortality can be repressed.
Besides, Sir, I must tell you, that I look upon the enslaving
of our fellow men as a crime of the deepest dye ; and I there-
fore consider, that it should be dealt with, not by palliatives,
but by destroying it altogether."
He concluded by moving the following resolu-
tion :
" That in the resolutions of May, 1823, the House dis-
tinctly recognised it to be their solemn duty to take measures
for the abolition of slavery in the British colonies ; that in
the eight years which have since elapsed, the colonial
assemblies have not taken measures to carry the resolutions
of the House into effect ; that, deeply impressed with a sense
of the impropriety, inhumanity, and injustice of colonial
slavery, this House will proceed to consider of and adopt the
best means of effecting its abolition throughout the British
dominions."
The motion was seconded in an able speech by
Lord Morpeth.
1831. DECREASE OF POPULATION. 261
Lord Al thorp stated that, although he could not
consent to this motion, he thought it was time " to
adopt other measures with the colonists than those
of mere recommendations," and that he should pro-
pose that a distinction in the rate of duties should
be made in favour of those colonies which should
comply with the wishes of Government as to ame-
lioration. After an animated discussion, the debate
was adjourned. Mr. O'Connell, who throughout gave
a steady and energetic support to the Anti-slavery
cause, came across the House, and said, " Mr Biucton,
I see land." The prognostic was true ; for although,
owing to the dissolution of Parliament, the debate
wa> not resumed, and the motion therefore dropped,
yi-t to the argument founded upon the decrease of
population may be attributed more than to any-
thing else the speedy downfall of slavery. The
force of that argument was well understood in Par-
liament ; accordingly it was vigorously sifted by the
opposite party, but having been drawn from the re-
turns of registration, sworn to by the planters them-
selves, it was found impossible to shake it. The
appalling fact was never denied, that at the time of
the abolition of the Slave Trade, the number of slaves
in the West Indies was 800,000: in 1830, it was
700,000. That is to say, in twenty-three years it had
diminished by 100,000.*
It may here be well to mention, though it be in
anticipation of our history, how fully Mr. Buxton's
inferences were confirmed by subsequent events. In
* See Anti-slavery lUporUr, vol. v. p. '..'> I.
3
262 BELLFIELD. CHAP. XVII.
1834, emancipation took place, the law of nature
resumed its force, the population began to increase,
and the census in 1844 proves that in the twelve
previous years, the black population in fourteen of
the islands had increased by 54,000.*
At the end of April, Parliament was dissolved, and
the country was hurried into a whirlpool of reform
agitation, in which all other interests were merged,
so that Mr. Buxton might think himself fortunate
in having forced upon the ear of Parliament the
short but impressive argument which has been laid
before the reader. The approaching election ren-
dered it necessary for Mr. Buxton to visit Weymouth.
He thus writes home from Bellfield on the 28th of
April, 1831 :
" I was up at seven o'clock this morning, and have been
taking another charming walk in the shrubbery, looking at
the sea, which is splendid, and enjoying the Epistle to the
Colossians. At nine o'clock we breakfast, and at ten I
renew my canvass, which was very successful yesterday.
" I found all my constituents eager for Reform beyond
conception ; had I voted against it, I should hardly have got
any support. Is not this unexpected ?
" The weather is delightful, and I thoroughly enjoy a
taste of spring in the country. The walks about are lined
with quantities of flowers ; it is a charming place ! Give my
love to my secretary f and tell her that I find an attorney's
clerk a poor substitute.
" I hope you will enjoy Simeon's visit. I deeply lament
* Not more than fourteen of the islands sent in their returns of
population. Had they been received from the whole twenty-one, the
increase would of course have been far greater, especially as Jamaica is
not included. (See Parl. Papers in the Appendix.)
t His eldest daughter.
1831. LETTER TO HIS SON. 263
missing it ; I was in great hopes we should have got a great
deal of good out of the old Apostle. Pray get all you can,
and keep a piece for me."
To his eldest Son, at Trinity College, Cambridge.
" Devonshire St., May 15. 1831.
" My mind has much turned towards you of late, and I
have thought more than you might suppose of your approach-
xainination. Not that I am very solicitous about the
result, except so far as your heart may be set on success. I
should be very sorry to have you damped and disappointed,
but for myself I shall be just as well satisfied with you, if
you are low in the last class, as if you are high in the first.
" But I have a piece of advice to give you, with regard to
the examination, which I am sure will, if attended to, be of
service ; and if you remember it, and act upon it, it will
be useful, whenever, during your future life, you are about
to engage in anything of more than usual importance. Go
to God in prayer ; lay before him as before your wisest and
best friend, your care, your burthen, and your wishes ; con-
sult him, ask his advice, entreat his aid, and commit yourself
to him ; but ask especially, that there may be this restraint
upon the efficacy of your prayers, that his will, and not
your wishes, may govern the result; that what you desire
may be accomplished, provided he sees it to be best, and not
otherwise.
" The experience of my life is, that events always go
right when they are undertaken in the spirit of prayer. I
have found assistance given and obstructions removed, in a
way which has convinced me that some secret power has
at work. But the assurance of this truth rests on
g i-trouper than my own experience. Scripture is
full of declarations of the prevalence and efficacy of prayer,
ami of the safety of those who resort to it. 'Commit thy
way unto the Lord, and he phall bring it to pass.' * This
poor man cril. and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of
all his troubles.' "Wait on the Lord, be of good courage,
and he will strengthen thy heart ; wait, I say, on the Lord.'
s 4
264 BREWERY DINNER. CHAP. XVII.
" It is not often I give you my advice ; attend to it in this
instance. Depend upon it, pi'ayer is the best preparation
you can have for your examination, and for every thing else."
In June, 1831, several members of the Govern-
ment, and other gentlemen, came to look over the
brewery in Spitalfields, and afterwards dined there
with Mr. Buxton, professedly on beef-steaks, cooked
in one of the furnaces. Mr. J. J. Gurney gives the
following account of the party :
" Earlham, 12 mo. 23rd, 1831.
" The Premier, grave and thoughtful
as he seemed, did great justice to our dinner. * Milord
Grey,' cried the Spanish General Alava to him, as he was
availing himself of a fresh supply of beef-steaks (pronounced
by the Lord Chancellor to be ' perfect ') * Milord Grey,
vous etes a votre sixiemeS
" The contrast between Lord Grey and Alava was curious ;
the former, the dignified, stiff, sedate British nobleman of the
old school ; the latter, the entertaining, entertained, and
voluble foreigner. He had been the faithful companion of
the Duke of Wellington through most of his campaigns, and
now had displayed his usual energy by coming up all the
way from Walmer Castle, near Dover, in order to help in
devouring the product of the stoke-hole in Spitalfields.
" The Lord Chancellor was in high glee : he came in a
shabby black coat, and very old hat ; strangely different
from the starred, gartered, and cocked-hat dignity of the
venerable Premier. * * * * It was my agree-
able lot to sit between Lord Grey and Dr. Lushington, and
the latter being occupied by his friend on the other side,
I was left to converse with the Premier, which I had the
pleasure of doing for nearly two hours. ******
We talked of his long political course, and Lord Shaftesbury,
who sat next to him, on the other side, complimented him on
the subject.
1831. EARL GREY. 265
" Lord Grey. ' I came into Parliament for Northumber-
land when I was two-and-twenty, and I have been forty-five
years a senator.' Of course it was eafjr to draw the infer-
ence that he was sixty-seven years of age. On my expressing
the interest I felt for him, and even sympathy, under the
burthen he was bearing, he replied, ' I am much too old for
it. I would have refused the undertaking, if I could have
done so consistently with my duty.'
" Our next subject was parliamentary eloquence. I asked
him who, amidst the vast variety of orators whom he
had been accustomed to hear, appeared to him to be the best
speaker and most able debater.
" Lord Grey. * Beyond all doubt and comparison, Fox.
His eloquence was irresistible. It came from his heart, and
produced a corresponding effect on the hearts of his hearers.'
" I asked his opinion of Sheridan. The answer was,
* He was very able, but could not speak without prepara-
tion.'
" I ventured to insinuate that there was no part of a
Premier's office more responsible than that of making bishops.
I le assented, adding, * You know I have had none to make
at present.' We talked of the Bishop of Norwich. Lord Grey
expressed his admiration of his conduct and character, though
he only knew him in his public capacity. * I fear the
bishop is too old to accept any offer that I can make him,
but I assure you that the very first and best thing that I have
to give away shall be at his service.'
" This declaration has since been fully verified, by his
(Hi. -ring to the Bishop the see of Dublin, which the latter,
as had been untiei] ated, refused ; observing, in the words
of old Erasmus to the Emperor of Austria, that dignity
rimf'envd upon him would be like a burden laid on a falling
hor.-r : Saivina cijuo collabenti imposita.'
" "When the dinner was ended, I quitted my post by Lord
. and joined Buxt>n, Lord Brougham, and the Dukr nf
Kichmond, at the top of the table. Buxton was telling a
story on the subject of Reform (the only way in which that
266 BKEWERY DINNER. CHAP. XVII.
subject could be mentioned, as the dinner was not political,
and Tories were present). ' A stage coachman,' said he, ' was
driving a pair of sorry horses, the other day, from London
to Greenwich. One of them stumbled, and nearly fell.
* Get up, you borough-mongering rascal, you ! ' said the
coachman to the poor beast, as he laid the whip across his
back.' The Chancellor laughed heartily at this story. * How
like my lord there was the old horse ! ' said he to me,
laughing and putting his hands before his face, Lord
sitting opposite to us.
" Buxton now left us, to talk with Lord Grey, whom
he very much delighted by praising Lord Howick's speech
upon slavery. It was a speech which deserved praise for its
honesty and feeling, as well as for its talent. But the old
Premier seemed to think that his son had been carried by his
zeal rather too far.
" Something led us (Lord Brougham and myself) to talk
about Paley, and I mentioned the story of his having on his
death-bed, condemned his * Moral Philosophy,' and declared
his preference of the ' Horae Paulinae,' above all his other
works. This led Brougham to speak of both those works.
' Did you ever hear that King George III. was requested
by Mr. Pitt to make Paley a bishop ? The King refused ;
and taking down the ' Moral Philosophy' from the shelf,
he showed Pitt the passage in which he justifies subscription
to articles not fully credited, on the ground of expediency.
1 This,' said the King, ' is my reason for not making him a
bishop.' Lord Grey overheard the Chancellor's story and
confirmed it ; s but,' added the Chancellor, ' I believe the
true reason why George III. refused to make Paley a bishop
was, that he had compared the divine right of kings to the
divine right of constables ! ' * * * * The Chancellor
was very cordial, and we were all delighted with his enter-
taining rapidity of thought, ready wit, and evident good
feeling. Nor was it possible to be otherwise than pleased
with all our guests, with whom we parted, about eleven
o'clock at night, after a flowing, exhilarating, and not.
altogether uninstructive day."
1831. LORD BROUGHAM. 2G7
Mr. Buxton subjoins,
" Our party at the brewery went off in all respects to my
.-a tist action. Talleyrand could not come, having just received
an account of Prince Leopold being elected king of Belgium.
Brougham said this was a severe disappointment, as his
llcncy never eats or drinks but once a day, and had
depended on my beef-steaks.
" The party arrived at about six o'clock, and consisted
of the Lord Chancellor, Lord Grey, Duke of Richmond,
Marquis of Cleveland, Lords Shaftesbury, Sefton, Howick,
Durham, and Duncannon, General Alava, S. Gurney, Dr.
Lu-hington, Spring Rice, W. Brougham, J. J. Gurney,
R. Hanbury, &c., twenty-three in all.
" I first led them to the steam-engine ; Brougham ascended
the steps and commenced a lecture upon steam-power, and
told many entertaining anecdotes ; and when we left the
engine, he went on lecturing as to the other parts of the
machinery, so that Joseph Gurney said he understood
ing better than any person on the premises. I had
Mr. (TOW uj> with his accounts, to explain how much our
horses each cost per annum ; and Brougham entered into
long calculations upon this subject. To describe the variety
it ion is impossible
" ' From grave to gay, from lively to severe.'
" At dinner I gave but two toasts, * The King,' and ' The
memory of George III.,' whose birthday it was. We had
no speeches, but conversation flowed, or rather roared like
a torrent, at our end of the table. The Chancellor lost
not ;i inoim -nt : lie was always eating, drinking, talking, or
laughing; liis pmvrrs of laughing seemed on a level with his
other capacities. * * * *
" Talking of grace before dinner he said, ' I like the Dutch
grace best, they >it prrt'cctly ftill and quiet for a minute
or two. I thought it very solemn.'
" He inquired the wages of the draymen. I told him
268 LORD BROUGHAM. CHAP. XVII.
about 45. weekly, and we allow them to provide substitutes
for a day or two in the week, but we insist on their paying
them at the rate of 26s. per week. * Yes,' said he, ' I
understand ; these rich and beneficed gentry employ curates,
and the curates of the draymen get about as much salary as
those of the clergy.'
" After dinner we took them to the stables to see the
horses. Somebody said, * Now the Lord Chancellor will be
at a loss ; at all events he knows nothing about horses.'
However, fortune favoured him, for he selected one of the best
of them, and pointed out his merits. Some one proposed that
he should get upon his back, and ride him round the yard,
which he seemed very willing to do ; and thus ends my
history of the Lord Chancellor.
" Lord Grey looked care-worn, but was remarkably cordial.
The new Parliament, which had met on the 14th
of June, was altogether occupied in debates on the
Reform Bill, and Mr. Buxton, who was deeply in-
terested in the progress of the measure, was detained
in London till September.
The following paper was written after his return
to his usual recreations in the country.
" Northrepps Hall, October 26. 1831.
" Samuel Hoare goes away to-day. Shooting has been
good medicine for him ; he came down with very gloomy
views on the state of public affairs, but the dangers from
Reform or the rejection of Reform the perils of the
Church and the State, have gradually disappeared, and now
as far as he can see, the country, if not prosperous and
secure, is at least threatened with no imminent danger ! As
for myself, I feel about shooting, that it is not time lost if it
contributes to my health and cheerfulness. I have many
burthens, and it is well to cast them off, lest they should so
1831. MEDITATIONS. 269
dispirit and oppress me, that I become less capable of active
exertion.
"But now my holiday is nearly ended; shooting may be my
recreation, but it is not my business. It has pleased God to
place some duties upon me with regard to the poor slaves,
and those duties I must not abandon. Oppression, and
cruelty, and persecution, and, what is worse, absence of reli-
gion must not continue to grind that unfortunate race
through my neglect Grant, O God! that I may be enabled
by thy Holy Spirit to discharge my solemn duties to them.
Thou hast promised thy Spirit, thy aid, and thy wisdom to
those who a.-k them, and under a sense of my utter incom-
p tnicy to do anything of my own strength, I humbly and
earnestly crave and intreat thy guiding wisdom, and that
power and strength which cometh from thee. Make me
an instrument in thy hands for the relief, and for the eleva-
tion of that afflicted people. For the oppression of the poor,
lor the sighing of the needy, now arise, O Lord! and grant
me the privilege of labouring and combating in their behalf.
Once more I pray that it may please
tlur, O God! for Christ's sake, to lift up the light of thy
countenance on me, my labours, my meditations, and my
[.layers ; grant me to grow in grace, and call forth the powers
tliou hast given me for thy own service ; strengthen me with
might in the inner man ; deal bountifully with thy servant.
Amen."
A few days later he writes again :
"November 6. 1881.
Accept, O Lord! my thanks for that indulgent mercy
u hi.'h h:w followed me all my days. I thank thee that I am
in vigour of body and mind ; that I am not under the influence
at this moment of any sore calamity ; that I am not racked
with pain, nor tormented with grievous apprehension; but
that it is a time of some peace and serenity.
" I bless thee, that in all the outward circumstances of life,
thou ha-t dealt bountifully with me; that thou hast given me,
270 MEDITATIONS. CHAP. XVII.
not indeed great talents and endowments, but a sound mind
and enough force of understanding for the performance of
my duties ; that thou hast placed me in a reputable station,
given me a good business, fair health, competence ; in short,
that in these things I am more prosperous than many that
deserve them better ; that if not placed on the hill, I am not
cast down into the valley. In my family I have been happy.
Severe afflictions have come ; some of those most dear to me
have been snatched away in the dawn of their days, and one
is lately gone whom I unceasingly deplore ; but he is gone
to his God ; he is in peace ; he is an inhabitant of those
mansions prepared by thine Almighty power for those who
love thee. Then, hast thou not rescued me from a thousand
perils, from temptations, from sins ? Can I not respond to
the thanksgivings of the Psalmist? (Psalm ciii. 1 5). Am
I not within reach of great spiritual advantages ? I thank
thee, O Lord ! that thou hast led me to read my Bible, and
hast supplied me with thy Spirit while I read, so that my
heart and mind have been fixed on the power of prayer, on
the influence of the Spirit, on the mercies of my God, on the
deliverance of mankind, through a blessed Saviour. Yes !
thou hast offered to me that ' living bread which cometh
down from heaven,' and giveth eternal life to those who feed
on it. Thy mercies, in truth, have been to me abundant and
innumerable, as the leaves of the forest, as the sands of the
sea. Benignant and bountiful hast thou been to me all the
days of my life, and may it please thee ever more to be so,
to continue to bless me in body, in mind, in estate, in pur-
suits, in family, in friends, in business, in prayer, in medi-
tation, in thankfulness for the visible mercy of God, and in
the atonement of Christ.
*****
" We stand now in a peculiar crisis ; though I am not
troubled with care, or depressed with apprehension, there is
reason for alarm. It is both in private and public matters,
a time of trouble, and I have good reason to seek thee with
earnestness of supplication in this perilous period. As for
1831. M MUTATIONS. 271
public matters, have I not reason to turn steadfastly to Him
who can shield us from dangers however imminent and how-
terrible. Last week the Bristol riots prevailed, and the
r-ame spirit may spread through the country. In this neigh-
bourhood the incendiary has been briskly at work. Last
night the news arrived that the cholera had really com-
menced its ravages in England ; and to-morrow a meeting of
the working classes is to take place in London. Storms
seem gathering in every direction, and the tempest may soon
break upon my own house. Assist me, then, O Lord ! to
prepare for events which may so soon approach. Let my
M be planted on a rock which shall stand firm in the
bullet ings of the winds and the waves. Oh my God! I feel
that there is no security, save the perfect security which
belongs to thee. Vain is the help of man; folly is his wisdom ;
feebleness is his strength ; but in entire unshaken confidence
I tlr.-ire to commit and to commend to thee myself, my
family, my friends, my neighbours, my country.
" Give us wisdom to act aright ; preside over our councils ;
lead us to the right path, and to do the right thing. Let
Spirit be poured forth upon us in rich profusion, prepare
11- tor outward danger by inward grace. Teach us that no
i< al calamity can befall us if we are in the hands of our God,
that we are safe under the shadow of His wings. Give us the
fpirit of true prayer and let it abide with us, and, if death be
coming, ' in the hour of death and in the day of judgment,
good Lord deliver us,' for the sake of our blessed Redeemer,
Christ Jesus."
At the beginning of this autumn Mr. Buxton had
>M -i ained the loss of his early and highly valued
friend John Henry North, who had sunk under the
liitiirue incurred by his exertions in Parliament against
the Reform Bill. Their friendship had not been
cooled by the difference in their political careers.
272 DEATH OF MR. NORTH. CHAP. XVII.
To Mrs. North.
" My dear Friend, " Cromer, November 20. 1831.
" I have not written to you of late, partly from a reluctance
to intrude on your griefs, and partly from another feeling.
What can I say to comfort you? There are topics of con-
solation for ordinary calamities, but in your case the blow has
been too deep and too terrible to admit of any comfort, save
one, and, with that, I trust you are abundantly blessed. I
have made, however, some inquiries about you, and was
distressed to hear of your extreme depression; not that I
wonder at it, your loss has been great indeed, but I wish to
say to you Cheer up, my friend ! the day is coming in
which you will, I confidently believe, be restored to the
object of your affection. The blow which has levelled your
joys and your hopes with the dust, came from the hand of a
most loving Father, and hereafter you will know that it was
sent in mercy and loving kindness. I heartily wish that I
had sometimes the privilege of seeing you. I, too, have had
very deep afflictions in my family ; many of the pleasant
pictures which my imagination had painted have been de-
stroyed. This, I believe, makes my heart more susceptible of
the distress of others, and I should be glad of the opportunity
of pointing out to you those passages in Scripture and else-
where, in which I have found relief and comfort. But if I do
not see you, I do not forget you. I remember your forlorn and
solitary state, and the bitter contrast between your home now
and in former times. * * ' I can conceive the dreariness
of it and how constantly you must miss such a friend and com-
panion as you have lost, but there is consolation in reflecting
on what he said and what he felt in his last hours, and in
tracing his happy change from this sorrowful world, to the
inexpressible joys and glories of which he is now, I firmly
trust, a partaker.
" This is a very painful period of the year to me. This time,
almost this day, last year I lost a son and such a son ! But
God's will be done ! I find that nothing so takes off the sting
of my grief as a realising sense of his perfect happiness. My
1832. LETTER TO A FRIEND IN BAD HEALTH. 273
dear boy's name was John Henry, so named after the dearest
friend of my youth.
"Believe me, my dear friend, very truly and in sincere
sympathy,
"Yours,
" T. FOWELL BUXTON."
He thus writes to a gentleman with whom he had
been engaged in important business, and who was
now labouring under indisposition.
" Devonshire Street, March, 1832.
" It seems very long since I have written to you, or heard
from you, but I am rejoiced to hear the better tidings which
brings. The worst part of the spring is now over. I
have more confidence in air and gentle exercise, than in all
tlu- doctors; and I confidently hope that these will recruit
your spirits and your health, so as fully to re-establish you.
" You will remember that I spoke to you some months
ago upon the subject of religion. I, at least, well recollect
that you received what I said with your usual kindness.
I had some doubts as to the kind of books which you would
be inclined to read. I have sent you a few, and shall be
re-ally glad to hear that you have read them and liked them.
" After all, the main purpose of our living here is to
prepare for eternity. It matters little how we fare in this
world, provided a better awaits us. Death will soon over-
take both the sick and the healthy; you, and I, and all
v alive, must soon quit this world: and it is an awful
to know that either perfect happiness or eternal misery
awaits us.
" It is difficult to dwell sufficiently on these things in the
busy occupation of life, and I believe that sickness is often
>. lit in mercy, for the purpose of turning our minds to re-
flection and repentance; and that thus, to many, illness has
been the greatest blessing of their lives. I both hope and
believe this is tin- rust- with you. I can bear testimony, and
have often done so, to your many excellent and generous
qualities; but these alone will not suffice, something more is
T
274 EXTRACT FROM HIS PAPERS. CHAP. XVH.
necessary, and that something is repentance for past sins ; a
desire and determination to obey God, and, above all, faith in
Jesus Christ.
" My hope and wish for you is, that you may be led to
pray fervently and constantly for the Spirit of God to teach
you. If you ask for that Spirit it will be given to you, it
will teach you to read the Bible, it will enlighten your mind on
the truths which it contains, and, especially, it will make you
to know and feel two things, first, that God is ready to
pardon even the greatest of sinners ; and, secondly, that this
pardon is derived, not from our own merits, but from the
merits of our Saviour.
" I have been led, my dear friend, to say thus much from
the sincere interest and friendship I have always felt for you.
I entreat you to take it as kindly as it is meant, and to make
good use of the leisure, which you now have, in attending
to the most important concern you ever were engaged in."
The following is an extract from one of his papers,
dated Jan. 1. 1832.
" Grant, O Lord, that I may begin the next year under the
guidance and influence of that blessed Spirit, which, if I
grieve it not, if I follow it implicitly, if I listen to its still
small voice, if I love it as my friend and consult it as my
counsellor, will surely lead me in this life, in the pleasant
paths of peace and holiness, and as surely conduct me here-
after to the habitations of unutterable joy.
" Again and again I crave and entreat the presence and the
power of that heavenly guide. O Lord, how much have I
had in the past year to thank thee for ! What mercy, what
love, what compassion for my weakness, what readiness to
pardon and obliterate the memory of my misdeeds. * * * * *
" Now am I sufficiently assiduous in the discharge of my
duties ? My great duty is the deliverance of my brethren in
the "West Indies from slavery both of body and soul. In the
early part of the year I did in some measure faithfully dis-
charge this. I gave my whole mind to it. I remember that
1832. EXTRACT FROM HIS PAPERS. 275
I prayed for firmness and resolution to persevere, and that in
spite of some formidable obstructions I was enabled to go on ;
but, latterly, where has my heart been ? Has the bondage
of my brethren engrossed my whole mind ? The plain and
tin painful truth is that it has not Pardon, O Lord,
this neglect of this honourable service to which thou hast
called me.
" Give me wisdom to devise, and ability to execute, and zeal
and perseverance and dedication of heart, for the task with
which thou hast been pleased to honour me. 2. Chron. xx. 12-17.
" And now, Lord, hear and answer my prayer for myself;
my first desire is, that this next year may not be thrown away
upon any thing less than those hopes and interests, which
an- greater and better than any that this world can contain,
no subordinate cares or earthly interests interrupt my
May I act as one whose aim is heaven ; may my
be girded, and my lights burning, and myself like unto
men who wait for their Lord. Conscious of my own weakness,
of my absolute inability to do any thing by my own strength,
anything tending to my own salvation, I earnestly pray for
the light and the impulse of thy Holy Spirit, and that Christ
may dwell in my heart by faith.
" Bless, O Lord God, my efforts for the extinction of that
cruel slavery ; or, rather, take the work into thine own hands.
" Bless, O Lord, I earnestly pray thee, bless my family,
relations ami friends. With what deep affection I pass them
in review, and feel that never was any one privileged to possess
a larger number of most faithful friends. I entreat, O Lord,
that thou wouldest bless them with all thy choicest blessings,
in their families, in their concerns, in their health, and, above
all, in the growth of grace in their souls.
" There are some of them from whom I have received much
more in kindness than I have ever requited. There are
others who seem to need o.-pecial intercession. There are
those with whom I have all my life been bound by the
t':i-t<'<t ties of unclouded affection. For each and for all of
them I pray thee, O Lord, turn their hearts to thyself; deliver
them from pain, from sorrow, and from sin, and conduct them
T 2
276 LETTER CONCERNING HIS NEPHEW CHAP. XVII.
in thine own way to that fold of which Jesus Christ is the
shepherd, and receive them at length as thine own, for the
sake of Christ Jesus."
One of his nephews had joined in a school outbreak.
Mr. Buxton thus writes to his father
"Northrepps, January 8. 1832.
" Your letter reached me to-night, and I lose no time in
answering it.
" As for the ' insurrectionary movements,' if you did not
take them so seriously, we should rather be inclined to smile
at them. Let me ask you one plain question. Do you
really think one bit the worse of the boy for having been one
of these rebels ? I do not. Non-resistance to oppression, or
supposed oppression, built upon a deep investigation of the
tenor of Scripture, and upon the spirit evinced by the author
of Christianity, is a very high attainment : it is not to be ex-
pected from a lad of his age. Again, it is of all things the
most difficult to stand against the current of popular feeling,
especially where the motive for doing so may be misconstrued
into timidity and truckling.
" In short, if I were his father, I should affectionately and
gently remind him, that his fault consisted in a departure
from the principles which his parents held. I should instil
into his mind, that it was more noble to stand alone, main-
taining that course, which they would approve, than to per-
form the most gallant insurgent exploits ; and I should give
him to understand, that I expected to hear no more of such
proceedings : and, in my own heart, I should be quite at ease
on the subject. I certainly should send him back again. I
would give the school another trial, and I should whisper in
the master's ear, that if another rebellion took place, it must
be the fault of the system.
" The only thing about which I should feel any serious
apprehension, should be lest the boy should get indirect
praise for his high spirit. I speak from experience. When
I was a boy I obtained what then appeared to me to be the
glorious discredit of being high-spirited and haughty, and
1832. ON AN OUTBREAK AT SCHOOL. 277
careless of consequences. There is something in this to please
the fancy and excite the pride of a boy ; and this character,
which stands upon the borders of good and evil, made me
very fierce and tyrannical. I say this the more freely,
because I think I discern in his mother's letters a great deal
of sorrow and apprehension at top, but underneath a little
secret, sly satisfaction at her boy's spirit. I send him my
love and a sovereign ; and, if you like, you may read him
what I say, as to the more noble and manly part, which we
expect him hereafter to take."
i 3
278 CHAP. XVIII.
CHAPTER XVIII.
SLAVERY. 1832.
INSURRECTION IN JAMAICA. LORDS' COMMITTEE. LETTERS TO
LORD SUFFIELD. SPEECH AT PUBLIC MEETING. POSITION OF
PARTIES. STATE OF THE COLONIES. POLICY OF THE GOVERN-
MENT. DEBATE, MAY 24. MR. BUXTON INSISTS ON DIVIDING
THE HOUSE. FORMATION OF THE COMMITTEE. RELIGIOUS
PERSECUTIONS IN JAMAICA, RESULT OF THE COMMITTEE.
LETTERS.
WHEN the session of 1832 commenced, the nation
was shaken to its centre by the closing struggle on
the Reform question. Some may be disposed to
wonder that Mr. Buxton, at such a crisis, did not
take an active part in the exciting discussions of the
day ; but though warmly interested in the subject,
and constant in giving his attendance and his vote,
the incessant occupation arising out of the abolition
question, prevented him from coming prominently
forward on other occasions. His attachment to the
cause which so deeply interested him,
" Had killed the flock of all affections else
That lived in him ; "
and his best exertions were needed to prevent the
pressing questions of the day from engulphing all
remembrance of the far distant slave. The attention
of all parties was, however, for a time recalled to
the subject; first, by the violent irritation expressed
in the colonies at the declaration of Lord Althorp
1832. INSURRECTION IN JAMAICA. 279
in the preceding year, that he would " insist on the
enforcement " of ameliorating measures *, and at the
consequent order in council issued, with a despatch
from Lord Goderich, in November ; and, secondly, by
the news of an alarming insurrection among the
roes in Jamaica, in consequence of the refusal of
their usual Christinas holidays. |
A warm debate took place on the 23rd of March,
in which Lord Howick defended the conduct of
Government, in having promised advantages to those
colonies which would adopt unchanged the order in
council ; and asserted that, as the remonstrances of
three successive Secretaries of State had proved in-
effectual, " the time had arrived when the language
of exhortation should cease." J
On the 25th of March, Mr. Buxton mentions that
twenty of his leading Anti-slavery friends dined with
hi in to discuss the subject of slavery, and devise the
means of its extinction.
" But," says he, " this select band of our special friends
and faithful supporters, differed upon every practical point ;
and opinions wavered all the way, from the instant abolition
of slavery without any compensation, to its gradual ex-
tinction, through the agency, and with the cordial concur-
rence of, the planters."
* April 15. 1831. Hansard.
t A further reason is mentioned in a despatch from Sir Willoughby
Cotton to Lord IJelmore, dated Jan. 3., in which he says, " The whole
of the men shot yesterday stated that they had been told by white
people for a long time past that they were to be free at Christmas, and
that the freedom order had actually come out from England, but had
been withheld." (See Parl. Paper for iCtli March, 1832, No. 285.,
quoted in A. 8. Reporter.)
{: Hansard.
T 4
280 LORDS' COMMITTEE. CHAP. xvm.
" Let me then turn," he adds, " from the weakness of man,
to the strength and council of my God. Now, if never before,
I see how precious is that promise, * If any of you lack wis-
dom, let him ask of God and it shall be given him.' I feel
that I do indeed lack this divine wisdom. The 142nd psalm
speaks my feelings."
The West Indian proprietors in the Upper House*
now moved for, and obtained, a Committee of inquiry
on West Indian affairs. " This Committee," said
Mr. Buxton f , "is a pretext for delay, and nothing
else ; I look on it as a calamity to our cause." He
foresaw that its not having completed its inquiries,
would be urged as a motive for deferring the settle-
ment of the question J ; and he could not expect
much impartiality from its decisions, knowing, as he
did, that there was scarcely a stirring friend of eman-
cipation in the Upper House.
To Lord Suffield.
" My dear Lord, " April 19. 1832.
" Will you have the goodness to ascertain for me, when
you have an opportunity, what the powers of this hopeful
Committee are likely to be, with regard to witnesses ;
whether it will authorise us to send for them from the West
Indies, &c., by agreeing to pay their expenses, and re-
munerate them for the loss of time and business? and
* It is likely that the greater part of the nonresident proprietors were
entirely ignorant of the proceedings on their estates, and of the cruelties
inflicted on the slaves. Thus, Mr. Lewis, in his entertaining work,
" Negro Life in the West Indies," in which he does not fail to abuse
Mr. Wilberforce, yet mentions his indignation when he landed in
Jamaica, at finding that his agent, who had given him glowing de-
scriptions of his own humanity to his slaves, was in fact a worthless
scoundrel, who had all the time been ill-treating them.
t At the General Meeting of the Anti-slavery Society, May, 1832.
; Thus, see Sir R. Peel's Speech, May 24. 1832.
LETTER TO LORD SUFFIELD. 281
wln-ther the Anti-slavery party, that is yourself, will have
any authority or control in the Committee?
" I protest, I think you Lords are even worse than we
Commons, bad as we are. I could hardly listen to them in
.-ik-nce the night before last, or refrain from cheering the
solitary voice that was lifted up for truth and righteousness.
AYell, much as we must lament that there are not many to
echo it, how deeply rejoiced and thankful am I, and that in
the name of the best part of England, and all the slaves,
that there is that one! Personally, I cannot but congra-
tulate you on what I consider so pre-eminently the post of
honour.
" ' For this was all thy care,
To stand approved of God, though worlds
Judg'd thee perverse.' "
He writes again, a few days later, to the same
friend, who was dispirited by one of the many dis-
couragements to which the struggle exposed him.
* Away with all mortification. I can truly
>ay, that I would rather incur obloquy, and shame, and dis-
appointment in our good cause, than get glory in any other;
and I know nothing of your mind, if you are not of the
same opinion."
Mr. Iiuxton himself was one of the numerous
witnesses examined before the Lords' Committee,
and he gladly availed himself of the opportunity of
communicating some of his abundant information,
\vhich he arranged for the occasion in twenty-seven
documents, prepared with extreme care. Although
the report of the Committee was indecisive, the effect
of its investigations was to diffuse more knowledge
and sounder principles. After its labours were
closed, Lord Suffield no longer stood alone in the
House of Lords.
282 SPEECH AT PUBLIC MEETING. CHAP. XVIII.
An animated public meeting was held on the 12th
of May, at which the venerable Mr. Stephen presided.
Mr. Buxton concluded the address which he made
on the occasion, in these emphatic words :
" When I call to mind the fact that, contrary to the la\v
of nature, in a country friendly to the increase of population,
it has diminished with such frightful rapidity, I would tell
all who countenance such a system, that they will have to
account at a solemn tribunal for the 50,000 murders that
have been committed through its agency. When I think of
this, and of the cart whip, and of the millions of stripes
inflicted by that accursed instrument, I am at a loss for
words to express my feelings. When I trace the system
through its baleful ramifications, when I contemplate this
hideous cluster of crimes, there is but one language, the
language of divine inspiration, that can convey what passes
within me. * They are a people robbed and spoiled ; they are
all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison-houses ;
they are for a prey and no man delivereth, for a spoil and no
man restoreth.' When we look at the career of affliction of
our brother man, for, after all, he is our brother, moulded in
the same form, heir to the same immortality, and, although
in chains and in suffering, on a level, in the eyes of God,
with the proudest noble in that Committee which has been
appointed to sit. in judgment upon him, when I view him
entering life by the desert track of bondage ; when I view
him writhing under the lash of his tormentor ; when I see
him consigned to a premature and unregarded grave, having
died of slavery ; and when I think of the preparation which
we, good Christian men and women, have enabled him to
make for his hereafter, there can be but one feeling in my
heart, one expression on my lips : ' Great God ! how long,
how long, is this iniquity to continue ? ' '
The position in which the Government, the West
Indians, and the Abolitionists, stood to each other,
in 1832, was nearly that of equilibrium. The Abo-
1832. POSITION OF PARTIES. 283
litionists had received a considerable accession of
Parliamentary force in the late general election, many
of the candidates having pledged themselves to take
tin- Anti-slavery side. With his hands thus strength-
ened, Mr. Buxton determined to press forward again
the resolutions moved in the preceding year, aiming
at an abolition of slavery, at once speedy and safe.
I Jut to this idea of speedy emancipation, the minis-
ters were by no means prepared to yield. They
fully admitted the principle, that slavery should be
abolished ; but they were still clinging to their old
notion, of gradually mitigating its evils before doing
it away.
In the first place, they felt the responsibility which
makes men in power so often shrink from a hardy
policy. In the second, they were compelled to con-
sult for their own preservation, by conciliating the
West Indian party. The immense Parliamentary
stivngth of that body must be borne in mind, if we
wuuld understand the varied and often baffled course
of the Anti-slavery movement, during this and the
i 'ii.-i fillip year. The fact was, that many of the great
landowners at home held colonial property also, and
inherited with it a natural hatred of that " reckless
enthusiasm," which was bent on taking away their
>laves. It was, therefore, the policy of the Govern-
ment to avoid bringing the Anti-slavery question to
a eri>i> ; to keep it at arm's length ; and, by prevent-
inir it from eoiuinu: to the test of a division, to escape
committing themselves to either one or the other of
the opposing parties.
Against such a policy it behoved the Negro's advo-
284 STATE OF THE COLONIES. CHAP. XVIII.
cate to stand firm. But this was rendered the more
difficult to Mr. Buxton, by his hearty attachment
to Whig principles, and by his personal regard for
many members of the Cabinet. Besides, he looked
upon the maintenance of the Whig ministry as of
almost paramount importance to his own cause. By
these contending considerations the perplexities of
his course were greatly increased ; but he daily became
more impressed with the necessity of vigorous and
speedy measures. Deeply versed in the state of the
West Indies, it was to him a thing plain and un-
doubted, that no policy could be so pernicious, as
that of hesitation and delay. He thought that the
dangers of rapid emancipation were not nearly so
great as they were held to be. He believed that a
good police and kind treatment would suffice to pre-
vent those " frightful calamities," (the result of such
an act,) which Sir Robert Peel " shuddered to con-
template."* He boldly stated his belief that the
Negroes would go to work for wages, as soon as they
were released from the terrors of the whip. And
that at any rate the Legislature would find it the
most hopeless task in the world to do what Lord
Althorp called " employing itself most usefully, in
bringing the slaves to such a state of moral feeling,
as would be suitable to the proposed alteration in
their condition. "f
The statistics which he had brought forward in
the previous year, appeared to him to demonstrate
the utter folly, as well as the utter cruelty of slavery.
* Hansard, vol. xiii. p. 65. f Ibid., vol. xiii. p. 59-
1832. POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT. 285
A system that was killing off the labourers of the
colonial islands at such a fearful rate, could be of
no real good to any one. The best thing to be done,
as he thought, would be to get rid of it at once,
whatever the cost might be.
If experience can prove anything, it seemed to him
to prove the necessity of a thorough change of policy
with regard to slavery. For nine years the Govern-
ment had been trying the gentle means indicated by
the resolutions of 1823; yet the state of the slaves
was not a whit better than it had been nine years
before. The mortality was advancing with the same
rapid strides. Nay, in Demerara, Essequibo, Jamaica,
St. Kitt's, and St. Vincent, the official returns show
that the loss of life was greatest in the last three of
the twelve years, during which those returns of popu-
lation were made.*
The punishments officially reported, had never
!MM! a more appalling number. The cases of
individual cruelty brought to light in many quarters,
but especially in the reports of the protectors of
slaves, were as startling and as rife as ever. And
as for religious instruction, the rancour of the
planters against it, justified by their own doctrine,
that it " is incompatible with the existence of
slavery," f had grown stronger and more violent
\ear by year. I' -ido this tried and tested hope-
lessness of producing any real effect by mitigatory
measures, there \vjis another still weigh ter reason
for not delaying the day of freedom. In this case,
' Hansard, vol. xiii. p. 39.
f Public Meeting at Trinidad. (See Hansard, Yol. xi. p. 839.)
286 POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT. CHAP. XVIII.
most surely, would indecision be decisive. A
moral effect had been produced by the prolonged
discussions of the question. The planter had been
exasperated to the highest pitch of indignation ; the
slave had learnt reflection, but not self-control.
A breach, deadly and imminent, lay between them ;
and already had some mutterings been heard of
the storm, which would surely burst with terrific
fury, if steps were not quickly taken to turn its
wrath aside.*
Yet the Government, though enforcing their re-
commendations with increasing urgency, still wished
to defer emancipation till " a progressive improvement
should have been made in the character of the slave
population, by the temperate enforcement of ame-
liorating measures." f
Here, then, Mr. Buxton came to issue with them.
Indeed, the debate, on which we are about to enter,
(and it was one of eminent consequence,) hinged on
that point.
The Government first strove to prevent him
from bringing his motion forward. Failing in this,
they endeavoured, and with success, to add to the
resolution which he proposed, the words " conformably
to the resolution of 1823." To this he offered
a strenuous resistance ; and persisted in dividing the
House, so as to compel it to declare in the face of the
* This idea, of a general revolt of the Negroes, was a source of
constant distress to Mr. Buxton. " The gun is cocked and on the
shoulder," said he, with great emphasis, in speaking of the subject to
one of his friends.
t See the Resolutions of 1823, p. 131.
1832. DIFFICULT POSITI" 287
nation, what it really meant to do on this great
question.
The following letter*, written by his eldest
(lauirliter to the inmates of Northrepps Cottage, gives
the details of all that occurred :
" The debate f has at length actually taken place, and great
cause have we tu l>r satisfied with the result, now that we
are safe on the other side of it. It is difficult exactly to
recall the feelings and opinions of the preceding days; it
was however the usual course, every possible assault from
friend and foe to make my father put off his motion, and
when that was found hopeless, to induce him to soften it
down, or not to divide the House. Dr. Lushington was of
opinion that it would endanger the cause to persevere, and
difference of opinion with him is worse than any thing to my
father. The Government were also most pressing, and
the terms they offered extremely tempting. On Tuesday
morning my father and Dr. Lushington were a long time
with Lord Althorp and Lord Howick, both of whom used
every argument and almost every entreaty. I believe he
did not reply much at the time, but was cruelly beset, and
acutely alive to the pain of refusing them, and, as they
said, of embarrassing all their measures, and giving their
(in inies a handle at this tottering moment. They said,
les, that the public were so occupied with Reform, that
it was only wasting the strength of the cause; nobody would
listen, and the effect would be wholly lost, whereas if he
would wait a little, they would all go with him; their hearts
wi -re in fact with him, and all would be smooth, if he would
ha\v a little' reason and patience. On his return, he related
all this to us, and proposed writing a letter to Lord Althorp,
previous to the final interview, which was to take place the
next day. So a letter was written, which I will copy.
This is the first of a series of letters, addressed to the same indivi-
duals, to which we shall have frequent occasion to refer.
f May 24.
288 MR. BUXTON PERSISTS CHAP. XVIII.
To Lord Althorp.
( My Lord, ' May 22. 1832.
* I am fearful lest I should have failed in conveying to
you, at least in their force, the impressions under which I
am acting. The fact is, from the study I have given to the
subject, I am so deeply sensible of the practical, as well as
the inherent horrors of the system, and of the persecution
and cruelties which are daily going on, that it is impossible
for me to let this opportunity pass over, without at least
bearing my testimony against them. Allow me moreover to
remind you, that, however insignificant in myself, I am the
representative, on this question, of no mean body in this
country, who would be, to an extent of which I believe you
have no idea, disappointed and chagrined at the suspension of
the question. But further, (and this is a consideration far
more really influential on my conduct,) I cannot but feel
myself the representative of a body who cannot speak for
themselves, and for whom I must act, without other guide
than my own conscience. There is nothing, whatever may
be the result of my motion, which I should look back upon
with so much regret, and I may add, shame, as the having,
in any measure or degree, slighted their interest for my own
convenience, or that of my friends in England, more par-
ticularly as those friends are powerful and important, while
those for whom I am acting, however feebly, are helpless
and oppressed. In short, I believe it to be most for their
advantage that I should bring on my motion, and therefore
I am necessitated to say candidly, that I cannot either
postpone it, or substitute for it anything short of Abolition.
To say, I do most reluctantly anything that can possibly
inconvenience the present Ministry, is needless and useless.
' I am, my dear Lord, with great esteem and respect,
' Yours most faithfully,
< T. F. BLXTOX.'
" It was early on the Wednesday morning this letter was
sent, and in the afternoon he went again to Lord Althorp,
1832. IN HIS MOTION. 289
who immediately gave him to understand that he saw it
was of no use attempting to turn him, and that he gave
him every credit for his motive. Accordingly they re-
solved on their several courses, the motion, and the
amendment. Thursday morning, May 24th, came. My
father and I went out on horseback directly after breakfast,
and a memorable ride we had. He began by saying
that he had stood so far, but that divide he could not. He
said I could not conceive the pain of it, that almost num-
berless ties and interests were concerned, that his friends
would be driven to vote against him, and thus their seats
would be endangered. But then his mind turned to the
sufferings of the missionaries and of the slaves, and he said
after all he must weigh the real amount of suffering, and
not think only of that which came under his sight ; and
that it' he were in the West Indies, he should feel that the
advocate in England ought to go straight on, and despise
those considerations. In short, by degrees, his mind was
made up. When we got near the House every minute we
met somebody or other, who just hastily rode up to us.
' Come on to-night ? ' * Yes.' ' Positively ? ' * Positively ; '
and with a blank countenance, the inquirer turned his horse's
head, and rode away. I do not know how many times this
occurred. In St. James's Park we met Mr. Spring Rice,
whom he told, to my great satisfaction, that he positively
n-inilil divide. Next Sir Augustus Dalrymple came up to us,
and, after the usual queries, said, * Well, I tell you frankly
J mean to make an attack upon you to night.' * On what
point?' ' You said some time ago, that the planters were
opposed to religious instruction.' ' I did, and will maintain
it.' We came home, and dined at three. It is difficult to
recall, and perhaps impossible to convey to you the interest
and excitement of the moment. Catherine Hoare, and I,
and the little boys, went down with him. We were in the
\vntilator by 4 o'clock ; our places were therefore good. Fora
long time we missed my lather, and found afterwards, he had
been sent for by Lord Al thorp for a further discussion, in
U
290 LOED ALTHORP'S AMENDMENT. CHAP. XVIIT.
which, however, he did not yield. Many Anti-slavery
petitions were presented ; the great West Indian petition
by Lord Chandos. At length, about 6, ( Mr. Fowell
Buxton ' was called : he presented two petitions, one from the
Archbishop of Tuam, and his clergy, and the other from the
Delegates of the Dissenters in and near London. The order
of the day was then called, and he moved his resolution, which
was for a Committee * to consider and report upon the best
means of abolishing the state of slavery throughout the British
dominions, with a due regard to the safety of all parties con-
cerned.' He spoke very well indeed, and they listened to
him far better than last year ; in short, the subject obviously
carried much greater weight with it, and the effect of the speech
last year on population was manifest, as indeed it has been ever
since. He touched on that subject again, and alluded to his
statement *, which he was happy to see in the hands of honour-
able members, (he had sent it round to each, a day or two be-
fore, signed by himself ; and they were many of them looking
at it, while he was speaking.) I was very much pleased to see
it in their hands. I will not, however, attempt to go over
the debate, or to relate the speeches. Mr. Macaulay's was
strikingly eloquent. Lord Howick's capital, and giving such a
testimony to the speech of last year as delighted me. He
said, it had indeed startled him, and that he had examined
into all the facts, which he found undeniable ; he evidently
spoke under the effect of the impression it had made upon
him. Lord Althorp proposed the amendment of adding * con-
formably to the resolutions of 1823.' Then came the trial:
they (privately) besought my father to give way, and not to
press them to a division. ' They hated,' they said, ' dividing
against him, when their hearts were all for him ; it was
merely a nominal difference, why should he split hairs ? he
was sure to be beaten, where was the use of bringing them
all into difficulty, and making them vote against him ? ' He
told us that he thought he had a hundred applications of
* April 15. 1831. See "Hansard "of that date; also "Anti-Slavery
Reporter/' vol. v. No. 100.
183-2. THE DIVISION. 291
this kind, in the course of the evening ; in short, nearly
every friend he had in the House came to him, and by all
considerations of reason and friendship, besought him to give
way. Mr. Evans was almost the only person who took the
other side. I watched my father with indescribable anxiety,
seeing the members, one after the other, come and sit down
by him, and judging but too well from their gestures, what
their errand was. One of them went to him four times, and
at last sent up a note to him with these words, * immovable
as ever ? ' To my uncle Hoare, who was under the gallery,
they went repeatedly, but with no success, for he would only
send him a message to persevere. My uncle described to me
one gentleman, not a member, who was near him, under the
gallery, as having been in a high agitation all the evening,
exclaiming, ' Oh, he won't stand ! Oh, he '11 yield ! 1 'd give
a hundred pounds, I'd give a thousand pounds, to have him
divide! Noble! noble I What a noble fellow he is!' ac-
cording to the various changes in the aspect of things.
Among others, Mr. H came across to try his eloquence ;
' Now don't be so obstinate ; just put in this one word,
* interest ; ' it makes no real difference, and then all will be
easy. You will only alienate the Government.
Now,' said he, * I '11 just tell Lord Althorp you have con-
sented.' My father replied, *I don't think I exaggerate
when I say, I would rather your head were off, and mine
too ; I am sure I had rather your's were ! ' What a trial it
was. He said afterwards, that he could compare it to
nothing but a continual tooth drawing, the whole evening.
At length he rose to reply, and very touchingly alluded to
the effort he had to make, but said, he was bound in con-
science to do it, and that he would divide the House. Accord-
ingly the question was put. The Speaker said, ' I think the
noes have it.' Never shall I forget the tone in which his
solitary voice replied, * No, sir.' * The noes must go forth,'
said the Sprakrr, and all the House appeared to troop out.
Those within were counted, and amounted to ninety. This
WM :i minority far beyond our expectations, and from fifty
D 2
COMMITTEE OF ENQUIRY. CHAP. XVIII.
upwards, my heart beat higher at every number. I went
round to the other side of the ventilator to see them coming
in. How my heart fell, as they reached 88, 89, 90, 91,
and the string still not at an end; and it went on to 136.
So Lord Althorp's amendment was carried. At 2 o'clock
in the morning it was over, and for the first time my father
came up to us in the ventilator. I soon saw that it was
almost too sore a subject to touch upon ; he was so wounded
at having vexed all his friends. Mr. would not speak
to him after it was over, so angry was he ; and for days after
when my father came home, he used to mention, with real
pain, somebody or other who would not return his bow. On
Friday, Dr. Lushington came here and cheered him, saying,
' Well, that minority was a great victory ; ' and this does
seem to be the case ; but we hardly know how to forgive
some of those who ought to have swelled its numbers. My
father, however, cannot bear to hear them blamed. M
was wishing that some of those who professed so much, and
voted against him, might be turned out. * Oh ! ' he said, ' I
would not hurt a hair of their heads.' He feels it a great
cause for thankfulness and encouragement, to have a com-
mittee sitting to consider the best means of getting rid of
slavery. The formation of this committee was the next
business, and very difficult indeed it was. My father went
many times to Lord Althorp about it. Once Lord Althorp
said, * The fact is, Buxton, the West Indians object, not only
to your friends, but to every body who has any constituents :
they won't have any body out of schedule A.' Lord
Howick's name being mentioned, Lord Althorp said, ' Why
he 's one of yourselves,' but added, * we, the government, the
middle party, must be represented in the committee.' My
father said, ' Now, laying aside the caution of power, and all
the pledges you have given, do you mean to say you don't
agree with me in your heart ? ' He did not deny it."
In this debate, as Mr. Buxton afterwards said,
" the cause made a seven-league stride." One sentence
of his speech may be given :
183-2. MR. BUXTON'S SPEECH. 293
" How is the Government prepared to act in case of a
general insurrection of the Negroes ? War is to be lamented
anywhere, and under any circumstances : but a war against
a people struggling for their freedom and their right, would
be the falsest position in which it is possible for England to
be placed. And does the noble lord think that the people
out of doors will be content to see their resources exhausted,
for the purpose of crushing the inalienable rights of mankind ?
" I will refer the House to the sentiments of Mr. Jefferson,
the President of the United States. Mr. Jefferson was
himself a slave-owner, and full of the prejudices of slave-
owners ; yet he left this memorable memorial to his country :
' I do, indeed, tremble for my country, when I remember that
God is just, and that his justice may not sleep for ever. A
revolution is among possible events ; the Almighty has no
attribute which would side with us in such a struggle.'
" This is the point that weighs most heavily with me :
The Almighty has no attribute that will side with us in such
a struggle. A war with an overwhelming physical force, a
war with a climate fatal to the European constitution, a war,
in which the heart of the people of England would lean
toward the enemy ; it is hazarding all these terrible evils ;
but all are light and trivial, compared with the conviction I
feel, that in such a warfare it is not possible to ask, nor can
we expect, the countenance of Heaven. I assure the House I
have been discharging a most painful duty, and my endeavour
has been to perform it without offence to any one."
Mr. Buxton writes a few days afterwards to his
daughter:
"London, May 31. 1832.
" One line, if it be only to say, that we are well and happy.
I earnestly hope that you are the same. Pray enjoy yourself
all you can ; you are entitled to a holiday.
" I had a successful though laborious day yesterday. City
Committees till 10 o'clock ; Secondary Punishments, from 1
till 4 ; a ride ; Criminal Law from 5 till 1 1 ; the motion carried.
c 3 '
294 PERSECUTION OF CHAP. XVIII.
" To-morrow, the West- Indies Committee meets for the
first time. Love to all your party, and above all to your-
self, my daughter, sister, friend, companion, counsellor."
Pursuant to the amended resolution, a committee
was named, of which Sir James Graham was chair-
man. It prosecuted its investigations from the 1st
of June to the llth of August. Yet this period was
far too short for it to receive half the evidence which
each side was eager to bring before it, and it broke up
without coming to a definite conclusion ; stating only
that the condition of the affairs disclosed by its in-
quiries demanded the earliest and most serious atten-
tion of the Legislature.
Much of the evidence related to the insurrection of
the Negroes in Jamaica, which had been followed by
proceedings on the part of the colonists, equally de-
serving the name of insurrection, had they not been
perpetrated by the militia, the magistrates, and the
gentry of the island. These persons had come to a
resolution to maintain slavery, by putting down the
religious instruction of the Negroes. They accord-
ingly destroyed seventeen chapels, and inflicted upon
the pastors and their flocks every species of cruelty
and insult.
" I stake my character," said Mr. Buxton, " oh the ac-
curacy of the fact, that Negroes have been scourged to the
very borders of the grave, uncharged with any crime, save
that of worshipping their God."
And he adds, in reference to the unfortunate
missionaries,
1832. THE MISSIONARIES. 295
" There has not been, in our day, such persecutions aa
these brave and good men have been constrained to endure.
Hereafter we must make selections among our missionaries.
Is there a man whose timid or tender spirit is unequal to the
storm of persecution ? Send him to the savage, expose him
to the cannibal, save his life by directing his steps to the rude
haunts of the barbarian. But, if there is a man of a stiffer,
sterner nature, a man willing to encounter obloquy, torture,
and death, let him be reserved for the tender mercies of our
Christian brethren and fellow countrymen, the planters of
Jamaica." *
The more obnoxious missionaries, particularly
Messrs. Knibb and Burchell, were driven from the
island, and arrived in England at the very juncture
when their evidence before the Committees was of
the utmost value, and went forth to the country
under Parliamentary sanction. Mr. Buxton fre-
quently adverted to the overruling hand of Provi-
dence, which thus turned the intolerance of the
system to its own destruction.
The investigations of the Committees of both
Houses were published together, and the general
impression was that they had established two points :
First, that slavery was an evil for which there was
no remedy but extirpation ; secondly, that its ex-
tirpation would be safe.
The nation willingly acceded to these conclusions,
and impatiently desired to act upon them. How they
affected the minds of those in office, we shall
presently Irani.
Such was the state of the slavery question when
* Anti-Slavery Reporter, voL v. p. 149-
u 4
296 EFFECT OF THE DEBATE. CHAP. XVIII.
the session closed ; and Mr. Buxton returned with
his family to Northrepps. During a short visit to
London in September, he thus writes to his daughter.
" Spitalfields, Sept. 27. 1832.
" Yesterday I got through all my business well ; we had
really an excellent Bible Meeting, and we have resolved to
reform our auxiliary, upon the celebrated plan adopted by
the ladies at Cromer. I saw T. B. Macaulay yesterday : he
told me one thing, which has much occupied my mind ever
since, and which furnished the subject matter of my medi-
tations as I rode by the light of the stars to Upton last night.
He said, * You know, how entirely everybody disapproved of
your course in your motion, and thought you very wrong,
very hard-hearted, and very headstrong ; but two or three
days after the debate, Lord Althorp said to me, ' That
division of Suxton's has settled the slavery question. If he
can get ninety to vote with him when he is wrong, and
when most of those really interested in the subject vote
against him, he can command a majority when he is right.
The question is settled : the Government see it, and they will
take it up.' So reported Macaulay; and he added, ' Sir
James Graham told me yesterday, that the Government
meet in a week ; they will then divide themselves into
committees on the three or four leading questions, for the
purpose of settling them. Slavery is one.' Now it is not
so much the fact that Government are going to take into
their own hands the question for the purpose of settling it,
which occupied my mind, as the consideration of the mode
by which we were led to that division, to which such im-
portant consequences attach. It certainly was not the
wisdom of my coadjutors, for with the exception of my own
family, Sam. Hoare, Evans, Johnston, and one or two others,
they were all directly at variance with me. Brougham,
when he heard of my obstinacy, said, * Is the man mad ? . does
he mean to act without means? He must give way.' It
really was not the wisdom of my counsellors, and as cer-
tainly, it was not either my own wisdom or resolution. I
1832. OPPOSITION ENCOUNTERED. 297
felt, it is true, clear that I was right, but I did not find it
easy to explain the reason why I was so clear.
" Then as to the resolution, I found it very difficult to stand
firm. I felt far more distressed than I ought to have done,
at acting in hostility to my friends. I was unusually weak
on that point. Then, what led to the division ? If ever there
\\as a subject which occupied our prayers, it was this. Do
you remember how we desired that God would give me His
Spirit in that emergency, that He would rise up as the
champion of the oppressed? How we quoted the promise,
' He that lacketh wisdom, let him ask it of the Lord, and it
fhall be given him?' And how I kept open that passage in
the Old Testament, in which it is said (2 Chron. chap. xx.
12.), 'We have no might against this great company that
cometh against us: neither know we what to do, but our
eyes are upon thee : ' the Spirit of the Lord replying, ' Be
not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude, for
the battle is not yours, but God's.' If you want to see the
passage, open my Bible, it will turn of itself to the place. I
sincerely believe that prayer was the cause of that division ;
and I am confirmed in this, by knowing that we by no means
calculated on the effect which that division seems likely to
produce. The course we took appeared to be right, and \ve
followed it blindly.
" I must now leave off. I am going to Sir James
Graham, and the Colonial Office, to-morrow, to see what I
can pick up."
It was not only from his antagonists that Mr.
Buxton encountered opposition ; the storm at times
was almost as fierce from those who were as ardent
as himself in the cause of Emancipation. On the
eve of the election of 1832, he published a letter to
Sir George Chetwynde, in which the electors were
urged to enact pledges from the candidates, that they
would aim at " the extinction of slavery, at the
earliest period compatible with the safety of all classes."
298 LETTERS. CHAP. XVIII.
This last condition was unacceptable to one section
of the Anti-slavery party, whose zeal could no longer
brook any degree of moderation. The following
burst of indignation was from the pen of one of these
impetuous advocates.
" To be candid, Sir, I would rather see you throw up your
brief, and take a retaining fee from the planters, than that
you should, in a reformed Parliament, bring forward a motion
in accordance with the sentiments expressed in that letter.
And if you appear as the advocate of such a profane measure,
we will look to some more enlightened advocate to forward
that cause which must be carried."
Mr. Buxton's reply was as follows :
" Dear Sir, " Northrepps, Oct. 15. 1832.
" I am so thoroughly inured to expressions of the strongest
condemnation from all sides, as to my course with regard to
slavery, that I should scarcely be prevailed on to notice
those I have received from you, were it not that I like the
spirit which dictates them, and should be glad if it were
more general. Without therefore noticing the violence of
your expressions, or questioning their propriety towards one,
who, however unworthy and unsuccessful, has certainly been
for many years, almost wholly devoted to this cause, let me
attempt to justify the letter to which you refer. I said to
Sir George Chetwynde, as I have said on every other
occasion, and as the words of my motion expressed, that my
aim was * emancipation, at the earliest period compatible
with the personal safety of all classes.' Where did you find
a word of ' convenience ? ' How little do you know the heavy
battles I have had to fight on this very point. If the
emancipation of the slaves were in my power, I could not
dare to accomplish it without previous police regulations,
which is all the delay I mean. These ought to be under-
taken instantly, for I know our power of emancipating in one
way or another, is fast drawing to a close: I mean that the
LETTERS. 299
Negroes will take the work into their own hands. But
whoever else is willing to undertake the weight of so
enormous a responsibility, I am not, without considering
the personal safety of all classes. If you, ray dear Sir, can
send some * more enlightened advocate/ you may believe me,
that we are far too much oppressed and borne down with the
weight of our task in parliament, not to hail his assistance
however given. But in the mean time, I must take the
liberty of saying that I did not undertake this serious work
at man's bidding, nor shall I, I trust, lay it down at the
bidding either of enemies or friends.
" With every good wish, and begging you to continue
your exertions, and to blame me as much as you please, if it
will stir up one of our friends, I am, dear Sir,
" Yours very truly,
" T. FOWELL BUXTON.
" P. S. Perhaps you will let my friend Sturge see this
letter, and pray believe that I write in perfect good-humour."
The day of freedom for the slaves was now evi-
dently dawning, and the autumn was spent in the
welcome, though anxious, task of preparing for that
long sought consummation. In November he went
up to London to discuss his plans with Dr. Lush-
ington : from thence he writes :
To Miss Buxton.
" Nor. 8. 18S2.
" Thanks for your letters, which always cheer me. We
had a capital meeting at Lushington's last night, arranging
our plan of Emancipation ; we made good progress. This
morning I saw the Government on it, and they are well
satisfied ; our views are so much in unison with their
own."
300 LETTERS. CHAP. XVIII.
To Zachary Macaulay, Esq.
" Dec. 1832.
" I am waiting for Lushington's plan. My conclusion
is, that we must stick firm and fast to our claims of justice.
Immediate and total emancipation is our right, and if we
yield an iota of it, it must be, not for the sake of the planter,
nor for the sake of Government, but for the benefit of the
Negro ; and we must give up no more than it is the interest
of the Negro to surrender. In short, we must fight the
battle with a single eye to the benefit of our clients the
slaves."
To Miss Buxton.
'< Weymouth, Dec. 14. 1832.
" Here is my first frank in this parliament : I trust that
before I give my last, the Negroes will be elevated to the
rank of freemen and Christians, and all in peace. I find by
Cropper's letter, that I am standing for the north division of
the county of Lancaster, but I hope my letter will be in
time to stop all proceedings. The election closed yesterday
in a way which Avas very gratifying, and even touching to
me. The town, i. e. the voters on both sides, took the alarm
lest I should be thrown out, and I found they had in very
many instances reserved their votes for the purpose of giving
me plumpers if needful. They have shown a degree of
feeling, interest, and anxiety for me which I hardly expected,
and I now see that I had a strength in reserve, which
rendered my defeat impossible. I am now going to be
chaired. I wish the boys were here to * pursue the triumph
and partake the shout.'
" I saw the sun rise in gold out of the sea, with Portland
in the foreground, this morning. I never saw anything so
grand or so sublime. I am quite well and very cheery."
CHAP. XIX. 301
CHAPTER XIX.
1833.
GOVERNMENT UNDERTAKES THE SLAVERY QUESTION. LORD
HOWICK'S RESIGNATION. ANXIETIES. QUESTION OF COM-
1'KXSATION. AGITATION IN THE COUNTRY. DELEGATES.
MR. BUXTON began this year the most important
of his life by publishing a brief address to the
members of the Established Church, in which he
invited them, together with the principal dissenting
bodies, to unite in setting apart the 16th of January
as a day of prayer on the subject of slavery. In his
own prayers it was never forgotten. Just before
the session commenced he thus refers to it in one of
his papers.
" Northrepps, Sunday, Feb. S. 1 8SS.
" I go to London to-morrow. Parliament meets on
Tuesday, and I have reason to hope that the King's speech
will declare that Government has resolved to effect the total
and immediate emancipation of the slaves.
" This then is a season, if ever there was one, for fervent
prayer to Thee, Almighty God, that the light of thy coun-
tenance may rest on that good cause, and on me, one of its
advocates.
" Now that I am about to quit this peaceful haven, and
( inbark on a tumultuous sea, what provision and safeguard of
prayer do I desire to carry with me ?
" Grant that I and all of us, may be strengthened with
ini^ht by Thy Spirit in the inner man, and that Christ may
dwell in our hearts by faith. That is my prayer as to the
302 GOVEENMENT UNDERTAKES CHAP. XIX.
spirit which may reign within. And my general prayer as
to our external actions is the collect of the day, fourth Sunday
after Epiphany.
* * * * #
" For the slavery cause, my prayer is that Thou wouldst
not leave it to the weakness and folly of man, but that Thou
wouldst rise up as its advocate, and wouldst dispose all
hearts, and mould all events, by Thine Almighty power, to
the accomplishment of that which is good and right. Oh
give these thy unhappy creatures their liberty and that
liberty in peace, and protect their masters from ruin and
desolation. In my labours give me always the spirit of
prayer, and the spirit of confidence in Thee, * The battle is
not thine but God's;' and the spirit of discretion and
resolution, * Thine ear shall hear a word behind thee, saying,
this is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right
hand or to the left.' "
It was generally understood that Earl Grey's
government was about to undertake the settlement
of the question, and Mr. Buxton went down to the
House of Lords, on the 5th of February, in full
expectation of hearing from the King's speech, that
one of the great measures of the session was to be
the emancipation of the slaves. Great was his dis-
appointment, when the speech closed without any
allusion whatever to the subject. He hastened back
to the House of Commons, and immediately on the
Speaker's return gave notice of a motion on the
19th of March for the abolition of slavery. This
prompt proceeding had an immediate effect. He
writes to Mr. Joseph John Gurney :
" London, Feb. 7. 1833.
" You may suppose, that I was affronted and vexed at the
silence of the King's speech. I instantly gave notice of a
1833. THE SLAVERY QUESTION. 303
motion, and last night, as you will see by the papers, I asked
the Government what their intentions were. They replied,
tlmt they would undertake the question, and introduce ' a
safe and satisfactory measure* I feel excessively relieved and
delighted, and not a little thankful for this great mercy."*
He says, in a hurried note to Miss Gurney, dated
from the House of Commons :
" The Government have to-night taken the slave question
into their own hands, promising to settle it ' in a safe and
satisfactory manner.' This delights me, and now I scorn
those critics, who maintain that the children of Ham ought
to be flogged by all good Christians.**
A government must have been short-sighted indeed,
which could have hoped to keep clear of this great
question. Public feeling had been of late gathering
with prodigious rapidity, and a crisis was evidently
near. The outcry against slavery seemed to be rising
at once from every corner of the land. Men of all
ranks, of all denominations, were joining in the attack.
And the House itself, where but a few years before
M -.lively half a dozen hearty advocates for emanci-
pation could have been numbered, was now filled
with zealous friends of the cause. This rapid growth
of popular opinion may be partly attributed to the
settlement of the Reform question, in the previous
year. That event was eminently favourable to the
anti->lavery movement; not merely because the
nation's will now held greater sway in Parliament,
but also Inrause the late struggles had roused, with-
out wearing out, the nation's feelings, and never are
* " The smiles on his countenance are delightful to see," says one of
the family letters.
304 INCREASE OF PUBLIC FEELING. CHAP. XIX.
those feelings so readily called forth as when just
lulled after a storm.
The country being thus at leisure for the strife,
with kindled energies and the power to enforce her
will, we cannot wonder at the sudden increase of
velocity with which anti-slavery principles spread
through the nation in 1832-3. But the principles
themselves were not the growth of a day. They had
been sown when the spirit of Christianity awoke
again in England, towards the latter part of the last
century. The anti-slavery movement sprang from
religious principle, and thence came its strength.
Some may think that the people were misled in
fancying slavery to have been cruel and unchristian ;
others will think that the pictures drawn of its
horrors, were outdone by the reality ; but in either
case, thus much is clear that the people had no end
of their own to gain : that they were, for a while at
least, looking oif from their own interests to shield
those of others. It was an event as yet scarcely
known to the annals of mankind. Instances we have
in history of a nation arousing itself and demanding
deliverance from its own wrongs, and there are few
spectacles more great and noble. But in the deed
before us virtue was exhibited of a far rarer kind.
Impelled by the pure motives of mercy and justice,
unsullied by selfish views, the English nation rose up
as one man to befriend a far distant people, itself
undergoing a heavy sacrifice that oppression might
cease out of the land.
It has been mentioned, that the House itself partook
of the same impetus as the people. This welcome
1833. INCREASE OF PUBLIC FEELING. 305
change is thus referred to in one of the letters written
to XorthreppsCottage:
" My father tells us that the number of strangers who
have come up and addressed him, is extraordinary ; a hundred,
he thought, last night, and all on this subject. One gen-
tleman, member for an agricultural county, told him, that he
hud been five months canvassing, and that all the way through,
instead of Corn Laws, or any thing else, slavery was the cry.
At one out-of-the-way village they began by asking him,
whether he was trying to get into the Lords or Commons?
' But,' they said, * whichever you do get into, you must vote
fur the poor slaves.' So it appears that there is quite a band
in the House, and an army out of it. My father is very often
with the ministers, and seems, on the whole, well satisfied.
He said yesterday to Lord Howick (the under Colonial
Secretary), ' Lord Howick, you hear both sides ; now tell me
fairly, have we exaggerated? Are our statements correct
or incorrect?' The answer was, * I cannot say that they are
correct, for they are vastly understated. You know not one
half of the evils of the system; you have not brought to
light half its wickedness.' 'Well,' he said, 'bring in your
bill, my lord, I will act under you as soon as you please.'"
But while he was quite willing to give up the
conduct of the case to the ministers, he did not cease
ti \vatch their proceedings with the utmost vigilance.
1 1< >i>r> and fears alternated as to the nature and extent
of the measures that were to be expected from them,
and as the, time advanced, he became more and more
uneasy.
He had consented to abstain from making his
motion on the 19th of March, on the condition that
tin- ministers would themselves bring in "a safe and
satisfactory measure;" but some \\.k> had now
elapsed, and still not one word had been said publicly
I
306 ANXIETY AS TO THE INTENTIONS CHAP. XIX.
as to their intention of fulfilling their pledge. They
had named no day for a motion ; they had officially
announced no plan ; and rumours got abroad that
there were divisions in the camp, that the Govern-
ment collectively had by no means decided on adopt-
ing the vigorous steps, which some of its members
proposed.
From ten years' experience, Mr. Buxton had but
too well learnt the immense weight of the West
Indian party in the councils of the nation. He
knew also that the Government had the questions
of Finance, India, and the Church to grapple with
during this session, and were probably not so im-
pressed as himself with the extreme danger of
delaying the emancipation of the slaves. He could
not, therefore, but feel it a cause for alarm, that
notwithstanding Lord Althorp's promise of a safe
and satisfactory measure, so long a period should
have elapsed without the appearance of any measure
at all. " He is much depressed, because the ministers
do not name a day ; he does not know whether or not
to execute his threat of bringing his motion forward
next Tuesday ; for this he is almost unprepared :
and besides, they promise so well that it seems
doubtful whether it would be right or politic to
go to Avar with them. He sleeps badly and is very
anxious." *
Since the ministers were thus overwhelmed with
business, and fettered by their relations with the
West Indian proprietors, the question naturally
* Letter to Northrepps Cottage, March 16.
1833. OF GOVERNMENT. 307
occurs, why did he leave the question in their hands ?
Backed by such a band of followers, why did he not
wield all his powers, and drive forward the measure
with his own hand ? It was because he believed that
while emancipation in the end was certain, it was
only as a cabinet measure that it could be carried
through during this session ; and delay, fraught as
it might be with servile revolt, was the one thing
that he most dreaded. He contented himself there-
fore, with spurring on the Government, resolving not
to take the lead unless compelled to do so. Nothing
divw such notice from his friends as the indifference
he evinced as to any personal credit to himself. " It
is surprising," one of them writes, " how he puts
himself entirely out of the question. It does not
seem to excite one feeling in his mind, whether, after
all his toils, he is to appear in the matter or not.
He seems to care for nothing, but the advancement of
the cause."
His whole heart and soul, in fact, were given up to
the work, and the depth and intensity of his feelings
were visible in all his deportment ; he looked pale
and careworn, and his tall figure began to show signs
of stooping. He spoke little, and was continually
engrossed in thought. His demeanour could not be
more exactly portrayed, than by Spenser's lines :
" But little joye had he to talke of ought,
Or ought to heare that mote delightful be ;
1 1 | niiiul was sole possessed of one thought
That gave none other, place."
So abstracted used lie to become when engaged in
his fits of musing, that often some minutes would
x 2
308 NEGOTIATIONS WITH GOVERNMENT. CHAP. XIX.
elapse before a reply could be obtained for the
simplest question.*
The 19th of March was now approaching. A
letter written a few days afterwards describes the
difficulties of the crisis.
" Ever since the notice was given on the first night of the
session," writes his daughter, " my father has been engaged
in an anxious negotiation with the ministers, who have been
endeavouring to offer terms just sufficiently favourable to
prevent him from adopting active measures; but on Saturday
the 16th of March, all hope appeared to be at an end; no
day had been mentioned by the Government, and he felt
that he must now make up his mind without delay. He
accordingly addressed a letter to Lord Althorp telling him
so in very decided terms, and took it himself to Downing
Street. He found that a council was sitting, and the porter
refused to take in his letter; just then the Duke of Richmond
went in, and kindly undertook to deliver it ; but my father
soon received a message, that they could give no answer.
" On Monday the 18th he went down to the House, at
twelve o'clock, armed with numerous petitions (one from
Glasgow signed by 31,000 people), and took the opportunity
of saying, that he should certainly bring on his motion the next
day, ' as he had no alternative left him ; ' f afterwards he
received intelligence that the Government intended to deprive
him of the day. He went down again at five o'clock, seated
himself behind Lord Althorp, and said, ' So I hear these are
your tactics.' Lord Althorp replied, * that they really were
obliged to do so, they were in such a strait.' My father
gave him to understand that he should resist to the utmost,
* At this period he was threatened with a petition against his return
for Weymouth, which seemed likely to he troublesome and expensive,
but was afterwards withdrawn. It being remarked by a friend how
provoking was this attempt to annoy him, " Oh," he replied, " it is a
thousand leagues behind my slavery matters to me."
f See the Mirror of Parliament, March 18. 1833.
1833. THEY FIX A DAY FOR THEIR MOTION. 309
and was determined to push the matter through. After a
good deal of argument and hesitation, Lord Althorp said,
Well, if you will not yield, use must ; ' and accordingly
agreed to name a day for a ministerial motion on the subject.
All this passed in private: my father still feeling uneasy, as
no public declaration had been made, would not leave the
House (which was then in committee on the Irish Coercion
Bill). At three o'clock in the morning Lord Althorp got
ii], and moved an adjournment of the debate till the fol-
lowing day. The effect of this would have been to deprive
him of his day, he therefore went across to the opposite side
of the table, and said aloud, that he would not give up the
lay unless he had satisfaction from the Government re-
specting the abolition of slavery ; no reply was made, but
the threatened adjournment was not persisted in. Ac-
cordingly, the next evening he rose to bring forward his
motion. Lord Althorp then requested him to postpone it to
a future time ; but he replied that he was compelled to resist
the request, unless upon two conditions : first, that the
Government would prepare a plan for the complete and
immediate abolition of slavery ; and secondly, that they would
Jix a day for introducing that measure to the House."
" I see clearly," he said, " what will be the fate of this
great question, if I postpone it without some definite as-
surance that it will be brought before the consideration of
the House. It will be postponed for the session * * * and
then, there is much reason to fear, it will be settled elsewhere
in the most disastrous manner. Therefore, however obstinate
I may appear, and however painful it may be for me to resist
the request, before made to me in private, and now in public
by the noble Lord, I am compelled to proceed at once with
the motion, unless His Majesty's Government can fix a day
on which they will be prepared to explain their plans with
respect to colonial slavery." *
" Lord Althorp, upon this, named the 23rd of April, and
thru my father formally told the Government that he gave
* Mirror of Parliament, March 19. 1833.
x 3
310 DISAPPOINTMENT. CHAP. XIX-
up the question into their hands, upon the security of the
declaration made to him that the proposed measure was to be
safe and satisfactory."
The fears by which he had been harassed lest the
ministers should allow the session to pass away
without bringing any measure forward, were now at
an end. The day for the motion was fixed, and
when this long desired step was taken, he sank for a
while into a feeling of profound repose. He was
able to sleep at night, and began to resume his
cheerfulness of manner. He thought that as the
Government had been prevented from delaying the
question, the grand point was gained; and that it
only remained for him and his friends to await the
unfolding of their measure. " I have no more to do
with slavery now than any other gentleman," was an
expression frequently on his lips, during that interval
of rest. But he soon found that he had been too
sanguine; at the end of a few days fresh causes of
anxiety began to arise. To his dismay, he heard a
rumour that Lord Howick, on the soundness of whose
principles he thoroughly relied, was about to resign
his place, on the ground that the Cabinet refused to
concur in his scheme of immediate emancipation.
Afterwards he learned that the Government were
inclined to make the Negroes buy out their own
freedom. The details of the measure Mr. Buxton
could not learn, but the process was sure to be dila-
tory, and was on the face of it unjust. Full of
chagrin and disappointment, he hurried to Dr. Lush-
ington. They agreed to call a special committee of
the Anti-slavery Society on the following day, and
1883. AGITATION RESOLVED ON. 311
li- then went home, "looking as if some heavy mis-
fortune had befallen him." The next day, the heads
of the party met to deliberate on this new turn of
affairs. Their opinion as to the course they should
pursue was unanimous. The higher powers were
clearly about to fail them ; the nation was firmly on
tin ir side: why not, then, place the matter in the
nation's hands ?
" Flectere si ncqueo superos, Acheronta movebo,"
was the feeling in every bosom there.
Having resolved to arouse the people, they spared
no pains to do so with effect ; and, in this endeavour,
a most opportune aid was afforded them. Just at
tin- time when they were anxious to call forth a burst
of public feeling, Mr. Buxton being one morning at
breakfast, surrounded as usual by papers, and deep
in discussion with Mr. George Stephen, a young man
named \\ lately was brought in and introduced to
him by Mr. Pringle, as a book-keeper who had just
returned from the West Indies. He told what he
had seen, a tale of cruelty and suffering such as Mr.
Buxtori had heard a hundred times before. The
young man took his leave ; but scarcely was he gone,
when the thought struck Mr. Buxton, that such a
picture fresh from the spot was the very thing they
needed. He ran into the street without his hat,
rauulit Whitely us he turned the corner into Portland
Place, and having brought him back, told him that
he absolutely must put down this story in writing,
and must also produce certificates as to his own
character. These certificate.-* proved to be highly
x 4
312 WHITELY'S PAMPHLET. . CHAP, xix
satisfactory *, and in a few days the pamphlet was
in print.
The effect was prodigious. The narrative, written
in a homely but graphic style, brought home to the
mind of every one the real import of what he had
previously heard, as to the dwindling of the popu-
lation and the terrors of the lash. Truth, too,
was stamped on every word. It contained indeed
nothing new, but in reading Whitely's simple narra-
tive of the common incidents of a sugar plantation,
the whole scene appeared to stand before the eye.
The driver looking on with lazy indifference, the
piercing cries and supplications of the miserable
Negro woman brought out and tied down upon the
ground to receive her punishment, the crack of the
fearful cart-whip, and the shriek of agony as it cut
deep into the flesh, appalling as the description was,
yet no man could deny its truth. In four colonies,
and these the best ordered, the planters had themselves
sworn to the infliction of sixty-eight thousand punish-
ments in two years. And let any man say how they
could be inflicted, without these circumstances of
horrible suffering and degradation ?
The pamphlet spread abroad with wonderful
rapidity. " Whitely," says a letter to Northrepps,
" nothing but Whitely, is the order of the day ; the
sensation It creates is immense ; the printers can
scarcely supply the demand. Mr. Pringle says ten
thousand have been ordered to-day." In short, with-
in a fortnight's time, nearly two hundred thousand
copies were scattered abroad.
* They are given at the end of the pamphlet.
1833. COMPENSATION. 313
Eager as the leaders were to urge the Government
t< mvard, by turning upon them a strong pressure of
popular opinion, they were at the same time most
anxious to preserve their alliance, and keep them
in the front of the movement, by every allowable
concession. And the first concession which the
Government required, was the concurrence of the
abolitionists in granting compensation to the planters.
On this question the opinions held by the Anti-
slavery leaders were not those of the main body of
their followers. The former maintained, that neither
la\v nor custom could give one man a real claim
to the possession of another; and, therefore, they
could not admit that the planters had any moral
rit//tt to compensation. On the other hand, they
were both willing and desirous to give compen-
sation, first, because they thought that a bonus to
the planters was the best if not the only way of
obtaining emancipation with safety to all parties ;
secondly, because they were anxious that, while the
Negroes were set at liberty, the planters should not
be exposed to a ruinous loss. But the greater
numbers of their followers did not comprehend the
real position of affairs. They were not aware of the
relative strength of the three parties in Parliament,
nor did they perceive, that unless a juncture were
effected with the Government, success could not be
insured against the West Indians.
Carried away by their anxiety to do justice to the
Negro, they deemed all compromise, and all conces-
sion to his OWIHT, a dereliction of principle; nor
could they endure the idea of striking a bargain
314 ANTI-SLAVERY MEETING. CHAP. XIX.
with the oppressor. It is likely, also, that in the
minds of many, a feeling of personal hostility towards
the planters had grown up during the long continu-
ance of the contest. Mr. Buxton and his more
temperate coadjutors, had now therefore to undertake
that task which has so frequently dethroned the
leaders of a popular movement, that of teaching
their followers to rein in their zeal.
It was determined that the idea of acquiescing in
some system of compensation, should be broached to
the Anti-slavery Society at its approaching annual
meeting. This meeting was held on the 2d of April,
Lord Suffield taking the chair, and Mr. Buxton
undertook the delicate task of introducing the pro-
posal.
His friends listened with extreme anxiety as he
commenced his speech : for a time he seemed to hover
about the subject, as if shrinking from his task ; but
at length he grappled boldly with it, and his appeal
was met with apparently unanimous applause. He
was ably followed by Dr. Lushington, Mr. Joseph J.
Gurney, and others ; and their exertions appeared
to be crowned with unexpected success.
But nothing can be more transient than such
triumphs of oratory, which can only withdraw a party
for an instant from its natural career. Smooth as
the beginning seemed, at this point commenced
divisions in the ranks of the abolitionists, and the
seeds of discord were sown, which bore fruit in due
season, though happily too late to be of injury to the
cause.
But while the leaders of the Anti-slavery party
1833. THE NATION AROUSED. 315
made this concession to the Government, they still
defined it necessary to rally all their forces, and render
their victory complete. The Government certainly
was pledged to effect emancipation ; but the details of
their measure how and when it was to be brought
about, was still undetermined. Lord Goderich had
been created Earl of Ripon, and Mr. Stanley had
succeeded him as Secretary of the Colonies, while
Lord Howick's place was supplied by Mr. Shaw
Lefevre. Mr. Stanley's position, in the midst of con-
flicting opinions and interests, was one of great
difficulty, and he found it necessary to postpone his
motion till the 14th of May.
Now, therefore, when full success might be gained
by a vigorous effort, or lost if that effort were not
made, now was the time to bring every force to bear,
and to sweep away all obstacles by an irresistible
impetus of public feeling. This was the moment to
make the Government feel to what a pitch the hatred
of slavery had risen. Nor was it difficult. The
meeting in Exeter Hall, and the publication of
Whitely's pamphlet had led the way. These first
steps were followed up by the most vigorous proceed-
ings, under the direction chiefly of Mr. George
Stephen and Mr. Pringle, whose services were of
essential value at this critical juncture. Lectures
were delivered in all the counties of the kingdom.
Crowded meetings were everywhere held, and the
friends of the cause bestirred themselves from one
end of the country to the other. The newspapers
and periodicals caught the enthusiasm. The cause
of mercy seemed the cause of religion, and many of
316 THE NATION AROUSED. CHAP. XIX.
the clergy and dissenting ministers did not hesitate
to urge upon their flocks the sinfulness of slavery,
and the righteousness of joining heart and hand for
its overthrow. The flame soon spread far and
wide ; from every corner of the land petitions poured
in, breathing the earnest desires of the people ; from
Devonshire came five hundred, from West Essex
three hundred ; the number of signatures attached to
the petitions presented this session were calculated
to amount to nearly a million and a half ; and just at
this moment, when the ferment was highest, a step
was taken which gave double effect to all the pre-
vious proceedings. A circular was addressed by the
committee to the friends of the cause in every consi-
derable town, requesting them to appoint delegates,
who were" to meet in London on the 18th of the
month, to represent in person the wishes of the
nation.
Mr. Buxton had been spending a few of these
eventful days in a delightful, and as it proved, a
farewell visit to Mr. Wilberforce, at his son's house
at East Farleigh ; but when the day for the assembling
of the delegates drew near, he returned to town, and
again plunged into the whirlpool of affairs. He
found his house, which had before been a kind of
depot of Anti-slavery petitions, now half filled with
them. In every corner they lay in heaps, with
letters and papers from all parts of England, and
anxious consultations were going on among the
leaders of the party in London. The call for dele-
gates had been answered to an unexpected extent ;
and now the question arose how most prudently and
1833. DELEGATES SUMMONED. 317
effectively to wield the force about to join them.
Nor was the moment unattended with anxiety. It
was very doubtful whether so many earnest advo-
- could be brought to act in concert ; each had
his own conscientious scruples, and does there exist
any thing more wayward and hard to manage, than
tin conscience of a scrupulous Englishman? They
were not unlikely to mistake matters of expedience
for matters of principle, and in particular, to think
that it would be a crime to give the planter com-
pensation, however much the interests of the Negro
might require the concession. "People's principles
are the greatest nuisances in life," playfully ex-
claimed Mr. Buxton, when he returned from the first
meeting of 330 delegates in Exeter Hall. It was an
occasion which called forth all his tact and powers
of argument; but the delegates, strong and inde-
j undent as their views were, placed a generous con-
lidence in their leaders, and a suificient degree of
unanimity was at length obtained.
It was necessary to frame an address to the Pre-
mier which should embody their sentiments. This
difficult task fell to the lot of Mr. J. J. Gurney, and
the paper which he prepared received a cordial assent.
On the ensuing day they met again in Exeter Hall,
and proceeded in a body to Downing Street. Drawn
as they had been from almost every place of note in
tin- I'niti-d Kingdom, they included in their ranks
nun of every calling and denomination ; among them
w.re to be seen, we are told, "merchants, squires,
bankers, magistrates, clergymen, and dissenting
ministers." Lord Althorp and Mr. Stanley received
318 MEETING OF THE DELEGATES. CHAP. XIX.
them; and after Mr. Samuel Gurney had read the
address and commented on it, Mr. Buxton stepped
forward and pointed out the extent of the movement
which had sent the delegates thither. " This, my
lord," said he, " is the deputy from Cork this is the
one from Belfast ; these are from Edinburgh, those
from Dundee ; this gentleman is from Aberdeen, that
from Carmarthen; these are the delegates from
Bristol, those from Liverpool, Birmingham, Man-
chester, Sheffield ; these from York and Leeds," &c.
It cannot be doubted that this manifestation had
a great effect on the Government ; it was the first
occasion on which public feeling so emphatically
expressed itself, and it was felt to be called forth by
no ordinary earnestness of purpose. Mr. Stanley
afterwards acknowledged its importance, but, at the
time, he gave no further pledge than that he would
not again postpone his motion. With this the ap-
plicants were, for the present, compelled to be
satisfied. They retired, and on the same day dined
together. When the cloth was removed, Mr. Buxton
spoke with great feeling, expatiating more than was
usual with him on his deep sense of the Providence
that had attended their course, as well as on the
hopes for the future, and the motives and principles
by which they ought to be governed. He ended
with "gladly seizing a long-wished-for opportunity of
bearing testimony to the merits of the real leader of
this cause the Anti-slavery tutor of us all Mr.
Macaulay."
CHAP. XX. 319
CHAPTER XX.
1833.
DEBATE, MAT 14. MR. STANLEY'S SPEECH. RESOLUTIONS PASSED.
BLAME ATTRIBUTED TO MR. BUXTON. LETTERS. BILL
BROUGHT IN. DEBATE ON APPRENTICESHIP. ON COMPEN-
SATION. PROGRESS OF THE BILL THROUGH THE HOUSE OP
COMMONS THROUGH THE HOUSE OF LORDS PASSED.
LETTERS.
THE Government plan was now expected with the
utmost anxiety. In the interval Mr. Buxton, who
stood much in need of rest and quiet, retreated with
his daughters to a fishing cottage at Dagenham
Breach, near the Thames, belonging to Mr. Fry.
This could be reached only by water, and afforded
the most perfect seclusion. " We trust," writes one
of the party, " not to see the face of a visitor, nor
the direction of a letter, till Monday the 13th."
Dr. Lushington remained in town, to watch the
progress of affairs. Many contradictory reports were
afloat, and Mr. Buxton's brief holiday was spent in
deep meditation on the course which he should
pursue. His eldest daughter thus writes from
Dagenham :
" Saturday, May 11. 18SS.
" Here we are in our singular retirement, living out of
doors on the rich bunk, which is overflowing with grass and
flowers, and watching the hundreds of fine ships, which from
here seem to float among the fields; but when we climb
the bank, there lie* the river stretched out its lovely reaches
glittering in the sun. We have tasted some real enjoyment
in the exuberance of spring in this place, but far more in
320 WOMEN'S PETITION. CHAP. xx.
seeing my dear father wandering about without his hat
for hours together. He has, I fear, been reflecting too
deeply during these walks. A set of harassing letters came
from London yesterday, which immediately gave him a sharp
headache."
At last the 14th of May arrived. Mr. Buxton
afterwards told his daughter, that just as they were
going off to the House on that memorable evening
perhaps the most memorable of his life he had
reached his study door, when he went back to have
one look at his Bible. It opened on the fifty-eighth
chapter of Isaiah, and he read those two verses, " If
thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the
afflicted soul : then shall thy light rise in obscurity,
and thy darkness be as noon day : and the Lord
shall guide thee continually," &c. " The remem-
brance of them preserved me," he said, " from being
in the least anxious the whole evening; I felt so
sure the promise would be fulfilled to me, ' The
Lord shall guide thee continually.'"
The proceedings of the evening commenced with
the presentation of a huge petition from the females
of Great Britain. The scene is thus described in
the Mirror of Parliament :
" Mr. Fowell Buxton, on presenting the petition from
the females of Great Britain, said, ' Ten days ago, this
petition was not prepared ; it was not even in contemplation ;
but within that short period, without any solicitation what-
ever, it has received from all parts of the country through
which it has been circulated, no less than 187,000 signatures.
I wish to consult you, Sir, as to the manner in which I am
to get it to the table, for it is so heavy that I really am
unable to carry it.'
" The Speaker. * If the hon. gentleman cannot bring up
1833. MK. V's SIT.ECII. 321
tlu- petition hinusclf, he must procure the assistance of home
utluT members of the House.'
" Three hon. members then went out with Mr. Buxton,
and liy the united exertions of the four, the petition was
brought in and placed upon the table," (as we are told else-
where,) amidst the laughter and cheers of the House.*
Mr. Stanley then opened the debate. He had
been Colonial Secretary little more than a month,
he showed that, vast as the subject was, he had,
in that short time, completely mastered its details,
had become conversant with all its dangers and diffi-
culties, and was prepared to settle it for ever. He
began by noticing the depth and extent of public
iV-ding upon the question of slavery ; and that this
It ding had its source in religious principle. He
then entered into the history of the case, pointing
out how confidently Parliament had looked for the
co-operation of the colonial legislatures, and that in
tin ->e expectations " the country had been grievously
disappointed."
This bulky document was the result of a very simple movement.
A short form of petition was sent through the country with the inti-
mation, that if sheets of signatures were sent in by Monday the ISth,
they would be appended to the original in London. The time being
so short, many answers to this appeal were not anticipated, but by the
appointed day they poured in from all parts of the country in numbers
almo-t unmanageable.
Tlii- preparation of the petition is thus described by a member of the
Ladies' Committee: " We were hard at work at it from ten in the
morning till past nine at nijit. The two petitions became enormous;
much heavier than we could move, or even roll over ; so we had two
men to each, tureens of paste, and everything in proportion. They
AM r<- like two great feather beds. One broke entirely to pieces, and we
had to hei^in it all again, BO we kept bracing them with broad tape, and
at last they were sewn up, each in a great sacking, and sent off, the one
to Lord Suffield, the other to Mr. Ituxton, for presentation.
322 MR. STANLEY'S SPEECH. CHAP. xx.
" The voice," he said, " of friendly warning the
voice of authority, has been found to be in vain.
Not a single step has been taken by any one of the
colonial legislatures, with a view to the extinction
of Negro slavery."
After asserting the right of the mother country
to legislate for the colonies, he proceeded to show
that the distresses of the colonists were not owing
" to the unceasing efforts of the abolitionists," and
the discussion of the slavery question in Parliament ;
and he read documents to prove that those distresses
existed to the same extent, not only before slavery
was discussed, but even in the days of the Slave
Trade.
He then entered forcibly into the arguments founded
on the rapid decrease of population, and the immense
amount of punishments with the whip, proving the
pregnant and dreadful fact, that as the population
diminished, the number of stripes increased.
" We are told," he said, " that the slaves, at the present mo-
ment, are unfitted for the enjoyment of the blessings of free-
dom ; that they have no domestic ties, and no habits of in-
dustry ; that they do not provide for their wants, and would not
provide for their families ; that they have no forethought, no
discretion ; and that, in short, they would be totally ruined,
were you to throw them loose upon the world. * * Sir,
it is slavery which debars them from acquiring industrious
habits ; it is slavery Avhich prevents them from exercising the
virtues of foresight and prudence ; it is slavery which leaves
them nothing to labour for ; it is slavery which takes away
from them all the incentives to industrious labour, which
debars them from all the ties of social intercourse : and then
you declare them to be ignorant of the duties of social life,
that they have no foresight, no industry, no prudence, no dis-
1833. PROVISIONS OF THE BILL. 323
erction, and therefore they must continue in a state of
slavery ! "
I'p to this point Mr. Buxton and Dr. Lushington
had been listening to the speech with satisfaction and
(Irliirht. The very principles, the very facts, the very
arguments, which they had for years been endeavour-
ing to impress upon the House, they had now heard
enforced from the Treasury bench, with the splendid
eloquence of Mr. Stanley.*
But when Mr. Stanley turned from the general
principle! on which he proposed to act, to his scheme
for their application, the feelings of the advocates of
the Negro underwent a painful change. His plan
contained the following main propositions, some
good, some, as they conceived, fraught with evil.
That slavery be abolished throughout the Biitish
dominions.
But that the present slaves should be apprenticed
for a certain period of time to their former owners ;
that is, should be bound to labour for their former
masters during three fourths of the day, the master
in return supplying them with food and clothing.
I 'urt of the slave's value would be secured in this
In reference to Mr. Stanley's adoption and illustration of their
sentiments, Mr. Buxton afterwards quoted Cowper's lines to Mrs.
Courtenay :
My numbers that evening she sung,
And gave them a grace so divine,
As only her musical tongue
Could infuse int.i numbers of n.iiu'.
The longer I heard, I esteemed
The work of my fancy the more,
And e'en to myself m-vir ' mod
So tuneful a poet before."
T 2
324 PROVISIONS OF THE BILL. CHAP. XX.
way to his former owner. The remainder was to be
paid by England in the shape of a loan of 15,000,000/.
sterling (afterwards changed to a gift of twenty
millions).
All children under six years old were to be at
once set completely free. Stipendiary magistrates
were to be appointed to carry out these measures, and
provision was to be made for the religious and moral
training of the Negro population.
The Negro was to be liable to corporal punishment,
if he refused to give his due portion of labour.
When Mr. Stanley had announced the resolutions of
which these were the leading features, their further
discussion was adjourned to the 30th of May.
Upon the whole Mr. Buxton was satisfied with the
result of the evening, for although some of the pro-
posed arrangements were utterly distasteful to him,
he looked forward to great modifications of the
obnoxious clauses during the progress of the bill
through Parliament. According to his invariable
practice, he laid the matter before God in frequent
and earnest prayer.
The following was the substance of his supplications
at family prayers, on the second morning after the
announcement of the Government measure.
" We beseech thee, O Lord, to be thyself the champion
of the captives ; their champion, yet not the avenger of their
sufferings. We pray thee so to assist this great work, that
it may be the means of spreading temporal peace, ease, and
industry among the Negroes, and of leading them spiritually
to the knowledge of God, that by it millions may be brought
into thy happy fold. And for those who have laboured in
1833. RESOLUTIONS DISCUSSED. 325
tliis good and great work, may their reward be in the
outpouring of thy Spirit; may they live in thy light, and
may their darkness be removed for ever: may the Lord
guide them continually; may their soul be like a watered
garden, and may they be satisfied in drought. Bless the
country that shall make this amazing sacrifice.
" And now I desire to return thanks unto thee, O Lord,
for the great mercies thou hast shown us; that thou hast
turned the hearts of those who have influence and power,
and made them to be labourers in the cause of the oppressed.
We thank thee, that thou at length hast shown thine own
[>.,\\.T and come forth."
The discussion of the resolutions occupied the
House till the 12th of June. At this point the
uTand object of the Anti-slavery leaders was to see
tin- Government and Parliament fully committed to
tin- measure. " For," said Mr. Buxton, " were an
amendment on this plan to be moved and carried,
and we were in consequence to lose this measure
altogether, an insurrection would inevitably take
place, and I confess I cannot with firmness con-
template so horrible a termination of slavery."*
Therefore, while protesting against the apprenticeship,
they abstained from dividing the House upon it till
the principle of the bill had been admitted. They
:iN<> acquiesced in the grant of compensation to
the planters. On the clause relating to the moral
and religions instruction of the Negroes
" I shall move," - w :iid Mr. Buxton, " as an amendment,
the word- which have been used by the Hiirht lion. Secretary
in his speech, namely, that the system of instruction .-hall lie
conducted, not on e.\clu-i\e. n.t on intolerant, but on
* Mirror of Parliament, June, 1>
T 3
326 APPRENTICESHIP. CHAP. XX.
'liberal and comprehensive principles.'* I am the more
anxious on this point, as I know on the one hand, the
extreme animosity of the colonists to all religious teachers
of their slaves, except those of the Church of England,
while on the other, I know the vast benefits which the
dissenting missionaries have imparted, and are likely to impart
to the Negro population. I think a system of perfect and
unbounded toleration ought to prevail in the West Indies, as
in England."
But the main features of the plan were, " ap-
prenticeship for the Negro," and " compensation
to the planters ; " and these were so extremely
obnoxious to the more vehement abolitionists, that
Mr. Buxton was most severely blamed for having
acquiesced in the principle of a measure of which
these formed an essential part. He should, they said,
have at once gone to war with the Government.
But his own deliberate opinion was, that if this
measure were refused, no other would be obtained,
and, therefore, he was most anxious to modify rather
than to reject it. Dr. Lushington took the same
view, and by degrees they had the satisfaction of
finding that all their original coadjutors acquiesced
in its prudence.
But the Anti-slavery movement was out-stripping
its leaders. In so large and zealous a body as that
which now followed them, there could not but be
* The words were inserted, but when the bill came before the Lords,
the Duke of Wellington moved their omission as an amendment: it
was however negatived. " Were you not much amused," Mr. Buxton
wrote at the time, " to see the Duke of Wellington's protest against my
words, ' liberal and comprehensive ? ' This did us real service, giving
fifty-fold emphasis to the terms, and preventing the possibility of their
being forgotten."
1833. POLICY OF THE LEADERS. 327
many so earnestly bent on the success of their cause,
as to be unable to heed the obstacles which still
blocked the way, and who,
" Forgetting
That policy, expecting not clear gain,
Deals ever in alternatives,"
looked with extreme jealousy on the slightest con-
cessions made by their chiefs. And thus the party
quickly fell into two sections, one of which was
ready to make any reasonable sacrifice in order to
attain success, while the other firmly opposed all com-
promise, looking on it as a breach of principle. This
latter section, dissatisfied with the moderate counsels
of the original committee, established another of its
own, under the name of the " Agency Committee."
There soon appeared in the newspapers a resolu-
tion, purporting to come from this new committee,
in which Mr. Buxton was severely condemned;
and indeed his fidelity to the cause more than
itioned.
This proceeding, authoritative as it professed to be,
proved afterwards to have been the production of
only two individuals. On first hearing of it, he was
naturally hurt and indignant; but with him it was
easy to forgive a personal slight, when it sprang
iVoin zeal for the slave. Instead of expressing any
ivM-mment, he wrote to those two individuals a
letter, in which he calmly pointed out how entirely
ihev had mistaken his vidws, and expostulated in
mild terms auiiiiist the severity of their censur. .
lint when a certain member of Parliament thought
io ingratiate himself with his constituency, by calling
T 4
328 SEVERE CENSURES. CHAP. XX.
Mr. Buxton to account, through the medium of the
public press, for his anxiety to keep terms with
the Government, he addressed him as follows :
" Dagenham, June 17. 1833.
" Sir, The undoubted zeal and honesty, in the cause
of the abolition of slavery, of the two gentlemen, who, in the
name of the Agency Committee, passed and published the re-
solution of the 13th of June, called for an explanation from
me, and I have given it, by showing that they had mis-
conceived the facts, and had ascribed language to me which
I never used.
" But what title you may have to demand an explanation
of my conduct, through the medium of the newspapers,
still remains a mystery to me.
" For ten long years we have been fighting the arduous
battle of the Anti-slavery cause. You never offered us that
assistance which we should have so thankfully received
you never touched that heavy burden with one of your
fingers; the first and the last manifestation of your zeal
occurred on the eve of the election of 1832, and even
that was not of the most unequivocal description it was not
an offer on your part to serve the cause, but an entreaty that
the cause might serve you.
" You have a right in the House of Commons to question
my Parliamentary conduct. I shall be in my place to-
morrow at twelve o'clock, and shall be happy to hear,
and anxious to reply, to your accusation.
" Your obedient servant,
" T. FOWELL BUXTON."
To a vote of censure passed on him by a com-
mittee in the country, he thus replied :
" London, June, 1833.
" Our cause, I trust and believe, is essentially prospering.
Patience and confidence we cannot perhaps expect from
lookers-on ; but we are not therefore absolved from our duty to
God and the Negro race to act according to the best of our
1S33. Mil. WILBERFOIICE. 329
judgment.- and consciences, and this, I can safely affirm,
I. at least, have done. My character is of very little con-
sequence. Indeed, had I not long ago learnt that I must
saeritiee that, as well as almost all else to this cause, I should,
lift ween my foes and my friends, have led a very unhappy
life.* But I have learnt, that severe as is the task of
incurring the displeasure of those I esteem, my duty
frequently calls for it, and I acknowledge myself amenable to
no human tribunal in this cause. * * * * Pray believe
that I write in perfect good humour ; but it is necessary
I should be independent, and independent I will be, or how
ean I give an account of my stewardship ?"
In the midst of these attacks, it was most cheering
!r. Buxton to receive assurances of sympathy and
approbation from those veterans of the cause, whose
opinions he most highly valued.
Mr. Wilberforce thus expresses himself to Mr.
if. Smith:
" Bath, June 25. 1833.
" I have but one moment to-day at my command, but I
( -annot bear to remain silent, when your letter touches a
.-tring which vibrates in my inmost soul. I feel more in-
dignant than I can well express, at the unworthy treatment
dear hone.-t Buxton has experienced. Even had he been
mistaken in his judgment, yet, knowing the purity of his
motives, and the zeal, and the anxiety, and the labour which
he, has been experiencing, any liberal man would have taken
him to his bosom, and endeavoured to cheer and to comfort
him. I entirely concur with you as to our true policy.
( hie of the letters to Northrepps Cottage, says :
" The career of victor}' has" been mixed with many per-
" In 18VJ/>, when the small body of abolitionists were the objects of
universal odium and ridicule, one of his friends a-ked him, " What shall
. when 1 hear people abusing you ? '' " Say ! " replied he, snapping
his tinkers, "say that. You good folk think too much of your good
name. Do right, and right icill be done you.''
330 MR. STANLEY'S BILL CHAP. xx.
sonal humiliations and mortifications ; and now the Anti-
slavery people are so violently turned against my father for
not voting against the twenty millions, that they can hardly
find words to express their displeasure. I must say, that his
spirit through all is wonderful. He is as uninfluenced by
the attacks of friends as of foes, and goes straight on to his
mark with a degree of firmness, which, considering it is
unaided by that very supporting quality, natural obstinacy,
seems almost incomprehensible.
" Every day he receives violent letters of censure, from
one party for voting for the money, from another for saying
the planters have no right to it ; but he is under such a deep
and powerful impulse for the good of his cause, that nothing
else touches him. He seems to be devoted to it in a way
that renders him insensible to minor influences, and reminds
one of the description of Howard, in Forster's Essay on
Decision of Character. Himself, is strangely forgotten ; not
subdued or resisted, but genuinely forgotten."
When Mr. Stanley's bill was brought in, Mr.
Buxton was disappointed to find that it retained the
obnoxious points in full force. He writes :
" London, July 6. 1833.
" I do not think our slavery matters are going on very
well. The Government are going to bring in their bill to-
night. It retains the apprenticeship for twelve years, which
makes me very indignant, and would make me very unhappy,
if I did not indulge the hope, that we shall be able to beat
them out of it in committee."
To Thomas Pringle, Esq.
" July 16'.
" In all our deliberations at this moment, the first question
which arises is, at what stage of the bill we ought to make
our opposition to it.
" I am decidedly of opinion that it ought not to be on the
second reading. It seems to me that, in the first place, we
1833. COMES UNDER COMMITTKi:. 331
ought to muster all our strength for tin occasion on which we
could hope to be victorious, and this we certainly could not
on the second reading. Moderate men of all parties would
tivinhlo at the idea of throwing the bill out.
" Secondly, because I think if even we could, we ought not
to throw out a bill of this kind, and at this period of the
session, till we see what is done to it in committee ; for
though we know the sentiments of ministers, we do not know
those of Parliament. I should be exceedingly terrified at the
idea of throwing out the bill without giving it this chance ;
an awful conclusion might ensue, and it behoves us to give
no M .to, which, in that event, we could not review with
::iction. The good of the Negroes ought to be our sole
guide, and I cannot believe, if they could judge, they would
wish us to throw out this bill on the second reading.
" We must allow no feelings to interfere with this great
principle, no subordinate motives, no want of lavish libe-
rality, supposing our object really gained. Then, in com-
mittee, we must muster all our strength for the most vigorous
opposition to the objectionable clauses, and if we direct it
jnlici..n.-ly and exert it fully, I feel a great hope of gaining
our point.
" I hope my friends distinctly understand that my point is
to overthrow the apprenticeship, at the price of the twenty
millions.
" To this end, I think, all our efforts should be directed,
and the committee seems to me the right time for making
our attack."
According to that plan of operations which had
;-il so much angry feeling, Mr. Stanley's bill was
allowed to pass through the second reading un-
, but no sooner had it come under committee,
than the batik- began.
The first and most important struggle was on the
duration of the apprenticeship.* Mr. Uuxton moved
July 'J4. See Mirror of Parliament for the course of the Slavirv
332 DEBATE ON APPRENTICESHIP. CIIAP. XX.
an amendnemt for limiting it to the shortest period
necessary for establishing the system of free labour,
and suggested the term of one year ; " for," he said,
" if we are to have neither wages nor the whip,
neither hope nor fear, neither inducement nor com-
pulsion, how any one can suppose that we shall be
able to obtain the labour of the Negroes, is to me
unintelligible."
After a spirited debate the amendment was lost,
though only by a minority of seven ; but, as Lord
Howick observed, the first fruits of the discussion
were gathered the next day, when Mr. Stanley con-
sented, in deference to the wishes of the House, to
reduce the period of apprenticeship from twelve to
seven years.
In the course of the debate on the 24th inst.,
Mr. Stanley " warned his honourable friend (the
member for Weymouth), that any expression falling
from him, would come upon the minds of the
Negroes with much greater weight, than any similar
expression coming from any other person."
In his reply, Mr. Buxton said :
" The right hon. gentleman has done me the honour to
say, that the language which I hold towards the Xegroes
may have some influence upon them. If I thought that
were the case if indeed the faintest echo of my voice could
ever reach them most earnestly, most emphatically would
I implore them, by every motive of duty, gratitude, and
self-interest, to do their part towards the peaceful termi-
nation of their bondage. I would say to them, ' The time
of your deliverance is at hand, let that period be sacred, let
it be defiled by no outrage, let it be stained by no blood, let
not the hair of the head of a single planter be touched.
1833. DKIJATE ON COMPENSATION. 333
M;ike any sacrifice, bear any indignity, submit to any
privation, rather than raise your hand against any white
inan. Continue to wait and to work patiently ; trust im-
plicitly to that great nation and paternal Government, who
are labouring for your release. Preserve peace and order
to the utmost of your power, obey the laws, both before
and at the time of your liberation, and when that period
.-hall arrive, fulfil the expectations of your friends in England,
and the promises they have made in your name, by the most
orderly, diligent, and dutiful conduct !'"
\\ hen the question of compensation came under
discussion, Mr. Buxton was strongly urged to oppose
it, as the apprenticeship clauses had not been given
up. The difficulties that beset him are thus de-
scribed*:
" Mr. Stanley declares that if any point is carried against
him regarding the grant, he will throw up the bill ; whether
or not to run this risk, is now the very point of the matter,
and numerous are the dilemmas the question involves. We
had (|uite a levee this morning ; Messrs Pringle, Cropper,
Sturge, Moorsom, and George Stephen, all came in at
breakfast time, and my father made them a speech, tell-
ing them that on such a difficult and critical point, he
would never enter the House with his hands tied. They
wanted him to promise to fight the money battle, and to
drt'eat Mr. Stanley, if possible. He will not promise to do
nny such thing, and says he must be at full liberty to act
according to the discretion of the moment. They went
away to deliberate upon it, and it is now time to go down
to the House again. He told me he trusted but in one
thing The Lord shall guide- thy steps.'"
In tlu- division which followed, Mr. Buxton voted
for the grant of 20,000,000/. to the planters f, "as
* Letters to Noithrepps Cottage.
t The following afternoon his sister sail to him, " Surely you acted
lustily last night in voting for compensation?" "No," replied he,
334 DEATH OF MR. WILBEHFORCE. CHAP. XX.
giving the best chance and the fairest prospect of a
peaceful termination of slavery," but he moved as an
amendment that one half of that sum should not be
paid till the apprenticeship should have terminated.
He thought this would act as a check upon the
planters in their treatment of the apprentices. This
amendment was thrown out.
Mr. Buxton thus writes to a friend on the 1st of
August :
" I must tell you how comfortable and happy I feel to-day.
Last night at twelve o'clock we got through the committee ;
the bill, therefore, for the abolition of slavery, must pass this
session, and may Providence make it a blessing to millions.
We were defeated upon my proposal to hold back half the
money till the apprenticeship was over. Stanley declared
that if we carried that proposal, he would throw up the bill.
I thought it right, however, to persevere, but I must confess
that I should have felt uneasy, if we had obtained a victory.
The newspapers give but a wretched report of the debate,
which was one of the best we ever had.
" Upon the whole I went to bed well pleased. To-morrow
night we have the report, and on Monday the third reading.
How grand it is to be so near the top of the mountain, which
it has taken ten years to climb, it makes me quite cheery.
Upon an average, during the last fortnight, I have had to
make one long, and two short speeches per diem, so that I
have lost all sense of modesty. My plans are by no means
fixed ; I certainly cannot leave London till the bill is through
the Lords."
The joy with which the abolitionists looked forward
to the speedy termination of their labours in behalf
of the slaves, was tempered by an event of deep
slowly rising off the sofa, and speaking with great deliberation, " no !
I would do the same again. I did it to save bloodshed ; that was my
motive, and I arn glad I did it."
18:13. ABOLITION BILL PASSE I'.
interest to them, the death of Mr. Wilberforce.
Tin- great Anti-slavery leader expired on Monday
the 2!'th of July, having, shortly before his death,
<. \daiincil with fervour, " Thank God that I should
have lived to witness a day in which England is
milling to give twenty millions sterling for the
abolition of slavery."
The announcement of his death was received by
the House of Commons, then in the midst of the
discussion on compensation, with peculiar feeling.
Mr. Buxton referred to the event, and in expressing
hi- love and admiration for the character of Mr.
Wilberforce, applied to him the beautiful lines of
Cowper:
" A veteran warrior in the Christian field,
Who never saw the sword he could not wield;
Who, when occasion justified its use,
Had wit, as bright, as ready, to produce ;
Could draw from records of an earlier age,
Or from Philosophy's enlightened page
His rich material and regale the ear
With strains it was a luxury to hear."
On the 7th of August, 1833, the Bill for the Total
Abolition of Colonial Slavery, passed the Lower
House.
" The bill has already passed the House of Commons,
two or three hours," writes Miss Buxton to Mr. Macaulay;
" would that Mr. Wilberforce had lived one fortnight longer,
that my father might have taken back to him f/tt/illcd, the
task he gave him ten years ngo ! "
Mr. r>u.\t(in writes on the following day:
" London, Aug. 8.
" I have been intensely engaged in winding up, or
watching the winding up, of this, the main object of my
336 HOUSE OF LORDS. CIIAP. XX.
life. The bill passed its third reading last night, and I
cannot but feel deeply relieved and thankful, great as are its
faults. May a blessing be with it ! The fullest toleration
we have, I trust, obtained. And now the thing is done ; and
all the duty respecting it, which remains for us, is to do our
utmost to render both the people of England and the Negroes
satisfied with it, and to labour for the religious instruction of
the latter."
The bill now went with little delay through the
House of Lords. Mr. Buxton thus alludes to Lord
Suffield's exertions on that occasion.
" When the bill reached the Upper House, Lord
Suffield's task was of the most difficult and laborious
kind. Dr. Lushington, and I, and some others, used to
go and spend hour after hour at the bar of the House of
Lords, watching our friend in his arduous conflict ; and I
find that scarcely any one of the many memorable scenes
and incidents of that session has left so strong an impression
upon my memory, as witnessing his unsupported but de-
termined struggle over each clause of the bill, as it passed
through the Committee of the whole House."
" On Tuesday, the 20th," writes Miss Buxton, " was the
third reading in the Lords. Dr. Lushington came in after-
wards, unexpectedly, to dinner ; he was just setting off for
his holidays, and seemed very much pleased with the events of
the session, which he discussed in the most lively manner. Lord
Althorp said to him in the House, a few days ago, ' Well !
you and Buxton have wielded a power too great for any
individuals in this House. I hope we shall never see such
another instance.' Among other incidents, it was mentioned
that one day, in the House of Lords, Lord Grey went up to
my father to speak to him about yielding the ' removal '
question. The Duke of Wellington said, l I see what the
influence is under which you are ; and if that individual is to
have more power than Lords and Commons both, we may as
well give up the bill.' All the Commons' ministers who
were standing there, were highly entertained."
1833. LETTER TO MR. MACAULAY. 337
T. F. Buxton, Esq., to Zachary Macaulay, Esq.
"My dear Friend, August 20. 1833.
" Priscilla will tell you what was done last night in the
Lords' Committee. The result was, that after two or three
rather mischievous alterations, the report passed. The Go-
vernment told me that the Tories had collected their strength,
and were determined to throw out the bill. No symptoms,
however, of such infatuation appeared. So now we are
nearly at the end of our labours. I must confess I am, if not
quite satisfied, exceedingly well-pleased. I look back to the
I- tt-r which you and I wrote to Lord Bathurst in 1823,
containing our demands, twelve in number. Bad as the bill
is, it accomplishes every one of these, and a great deal more.
Among the rest, the day is fixed after which slavery shall
not be !
" Surely you have reason to rejoice. My sober and deli-
berate opinion is, that you have done more towards this con-
summation than any other man. For myself, I take pleasure
in acknowledging that you have been my tutor all the way
through, and that I could have done nothing without you.
This should and must cheer you. It has
pleased Providence to send you sore afflictions, but hundreds
of thousands of human beings will have reason here and here-
after to thank God that your zeal never slackened, and that
\<>ii were enabled to labour on against difficulties and
obstacles, of which no one perhaps, except myself, knew the
extent ; dragging to light one abomination after another, till
tin- moral and religious feeling of the country would endure
.-iidi crimes no longer. So cheer up.
" I continue very well. This session has done me less mis-
chief than any former one. We have had something to
console us, and we knew but very little of that kind of fare
in former tin.
Kvcr yours very truly,
" T. FOWELL BUXTON."
338 TO MR. CLAEKSON ANSWER. CHAP. XX.
On the 28th of August the bill for the abolition of
British slavery received the royal assent. Mr. Bux-
ton sent a copy of it to Mr. Clarkson with the following
letter :
" My dear Sir, Northrepps Hall, Sept. 22. 1833.
" I cannot forward to you the enclosed Act without a
line to inquire how you are, and to say how sincerely I trust
you are really cheered and happy in the contemplation of the
Abolition of Slavery ! I am sure you ought to be, for you
have greatly contributed towards it. I always think your
pamphlet, which first gave us the true tone, was of most
essential importance to our cause. Such as it is, it is done ;
and I do more and more think we ought to be very grateful
and satisfied. It is a mighty experiment at best ; but we
must trust that it will answer to the full, and be as it were
the pulling away of the corner-stone of slavery, throughout
the world.
" I should be delighted to hear your opinion of the mea-
sures.
" Yours very faithfully,
" T. F. BUXTON."
" Dear Mr. Buxton, " Playford Hall, Sept. 25. 1833.
" I received your letter the day before yesterday, and I
can truly say in answer to it, that I am immeasurably, more
than I can express, thankful to God, for that rich display of his
mercy, which at length, in his own good time, he has vouch-
safed to manifest to the long lost children of the African
race. That the bill is not entirely what I wished I have no
objection to confess ; but yet I am thankful, inexpressibly
thankful for it.
" I tremble to think what might have been the conse-
quences, if you had refused the proposals of Government.
What would another administration have done, had it been
left to them? We may judge of this by the speeches of the
Duke of Wellington last session. ********
" Yours most truly,
" T. CLARKSON."
CHAP. XXI. 339
CHAPTER XXI.
1833, 1834.
LETTERS. GOOD ACCOUNTS FROM THE WEST INDIES. BARON
ROTHSCHILD. OCCUPATIONS OP THE SPRING AND SUMMER.
I NM \\OURS FOR THE BENEFIT OP THE NEGROES. MR. TREW.
THE DAY OF FREEDOM, AUGUST 1. 1834. CONDUCT OP THE
NEGROES. LETTERS.
Now that slavery had fallen, Mr. Buxton looked
forward with delight to the leisure which lay before
him. The autumn proved, however, to be one of
much sorrow. Early in September, the eldest son of
Mr. Hoare, a young man of the highest promise*, began
to sink under consumption ; and closely as the two
families were linked together, the blow which fell
upon the one, was felt almost as keenly by the other.
It is to this event that the following letters refer :
To Samuel Hoare, Esq.
"Northrepps Hall, Sept. 1. 1833.
" Your 'letter was very painful, and made us very truly and
liitterly sympathise with you. I know by sorrowful
experience, how much is to be endured, and how many tor-
menting changes there are in the disease. There is, however,
one part of his case, which is liable neither to anxiety nor
< . II' lias built upon a rock. A century hence it will
signify nothing, whether at this time he was stronger or
weaker in luxly : I>ut it will then and for ever after be a
matter of the greatest moment, that he held a certain and just
hope of eternal lite through Christ.
* See Mr. Buxton's letter to him in 1827, p. K>7.
z 2
340 TO MBS. HOARE. CHAP. XXI
" I had intended to have divided a great part of this day be-
tween you and myself, that is, between a review of your circum-
stances and of my own mind, which particularly wants setting
to rights. It is difficult to say what I mean, so as to be under-
stood, but I find there is such a thing as bringing the mind
actually to partake of the cares and sorrows of those we love,
and eating the same bread which is before them. However,
my intentions wei*e frustrated. We have had a terrible storm,
three at least, I fear five or six vessels have foundered at
sea, and all hands lost. I started after church, and rode to
Sheringham by the sands, and then to Weybourne, where I
found a Weymouth vessel on shore. I saw in this excursion
eleven vessels on shore, but all lives were saved. I did not
get home till half past eight o'clock. The storm is much
abated now, but it has had a strange effect among the trees.
It is impossible to walk about the wood at the back of the
house, or down to the Cottage, except in the broad daylight, so
many trees are overturned. So ends this 1st of September.
I have, I hope, arranged that some birds shall be slain for you
to-morrow, but I must be excused at present, I am in no
great mind for shooting."
To Mrs. Samuel Hoare.
"Northrepps Hall, Sept. 8. 1833.
" This has been but a low and gloomy day here, as well as
at Hampstead. I think that we have felt as sorely, and as
much shared your sorrows, as if we had been on the spot.
We have been in a state of much dejection since our return
home, and very remarkable it has been. I had made up my
mind for months that this was to be a first rate holiday, I was
to throw off my arms and my armour, and forget slavery,
(except now and then as a relish,) in short, it was to be my
business to be merry and happy, at a great rate. The event
has not been such. I have tried to shoot, but made only a poor
hand of that. However, to-day I got rather near true com-
fort, and was able to ask, f Why art thou cast down, O my
soul, and why art thou disquieted within me ? Hope thou in
God ! ' And I do see in the event before us great stores of
1833. TO MRS. HOARE. 341
comfort. Nothing less than the greatest comfort would
avail ; for I do not disguise from myself, that, all things con-
Mclrred, (wife, father, mother, station, prospects of usefulness,)
it i- an affliction of no common kind. Yet dark as it is, and
strongly as it proclaims that all the glory of man is as the
flower of the grass, still there is that in it which tells us to
gird up the loins of our mind, and rejoice and be glad. After
all, in reason as well as in faith, it is no such miserable thing
to be somewhat nearer than we supposed we were, to that in-
heritance, incorruptible, and undefiled, and glorious, which
Christ has provided for His own. But, my dearest sister, I
shall consume my paper and my time, before I come to the
point about which I wish to write. I hope you do not allow
yourself to give way to that self- tormenting delusion of un-
availing regrets and repentances, as if you had not done all
that you might. I think it is a narrow view to suppose that
minor matters have had any weighty influence. I believe the
sickness came from the hand of God, and that he also
ordained the treatment you should resort to. I believe, from
first to last it was His doing, and this consideration is suffi-
cient to stifle all complaint as to the event, and all remorse as
to the means. Pray do not give way to any regrets, but
accept the event as wholly coming from God, and as wholly
merciful, and fraught with blessings. I cannot say how
deeply and tenderly I feel for each of you."
Great anxiety now began to be felt as to the man-
ner in which the Emancipation Act might have been
received in the West Indies. The accounts of this
event at length arrived, and proved to be highly
satisfactory. The planters had received the new
law without irritation ; the Negroes without ex-
citement or insubordination ; and the Colonial legis-
laturcs Immediately prepared to carry it into effect,
on the following 1st of August.
"Northrepps Hall, Dec. 29. 1833.
" In turning to my prayers for the slavery cause, on last new
z 3
342 GOOD ACCOUNTS FROM THE WEST INDIES. CHAP. XXI-
year's day, I cannot but acknowledge that they have been
most signally and surprisingly fulfilled. Thou, O Lord, hast
stood forth its advocate, thou hast controlled events, and dis-
posed the nation to the accomplishment of liberty, and that
liberty in peace : and peaceful liberty to the slave has been
accompanied by increased prosperity to the master; every
word of that prayer has been accomplished, and I bless thee
for thy signal bounty."
To Miss Buxton at Earlham. ^
"54, Devonshire Street, Feb. 4. 1834.
" It is curious how many compliments we West Indian
fanatics* have had on the success of our measure. I have
just been in the House; and among a great variety of
congratulators, I saw , who said that nothing could be
doing better ; and he added, that having lately read my
speeches from the first to the last, he must confess that he
was surprised to find how true and sound they had been.
Stanley whispered, * I congratulate you.' I answered, * I
congratulate you.'
" But I now come from the House of Lords, Avhere Lord
Grey, in reply to the Duke of Wellington, has been pro-
nouncing a splendid eulogium on * that beneficent measure,'
as it was called in the King's Speech, ' which extirpated the
worst of all human evils;' and taunting the Duke with
having been a prophet of evil, whereas nothing but good has
as yet resulted. I am quite pleased. This is the impression
which the events of the day have made on me.
" Love to Joseph and M , quote to them my favourite
verse :
" ' Those are not empty hearted, whose low sound
Reverbs no hollowness.' f
" It applies much to my silent feelings towards them."
On the 17th of March, Mr. Stanley gave a most
* He overheard one member say to another, " So, after all, the
fanatics were right ! "
t King Lear.
1834. CHEERING INTELLIGENCE. 343
>; i tisfactory account, in the House, of the continued
tranquillity and prosperity of the West Indies, while
awaiting the day of freedom. Mr. Buxton is de-
scribed as " full of joy at Mr. Stanley's speech ; he
says, * I go to sleep thinking of it, I wake thinking
of it." Some one said to him in the House, in
ivl'i-rence to Mr. Stanley's statement, ' This is worth
living for, and dying for.' Indeed the cordial tone,
not only of his coadjutors, but of his late opponents
also, was most gratifying to him.
To Miss Buxton.
"Devonshire Street, Feb. 14. 1834.
" We yesterday dined at Ham House to meet the Roths-
childs ; and very amusing it was. He (Rothschild) told us
his life and adventures. He was the third son of the banker
at Frankfort. ' There was not,' he said, * room enough for
us all in that city. I dealt in English goods. One great
trader came there, who had the market to himself: he was
quite the great man, and did us a favour if he sold us goods.
Somehow I offended him, and he refused to show me his
patterns. This was on a Tuesday ; I said to my father, " I
will go to England." I could speak nothing but German.
On the Thursday I started ; the nearer I got to England,
the cheaper goods were. As soon as I got to Manchester, I
laid out all my money, things were so cheap; and I made
good profit. I soon found that there were three profits
the raw material, the dyeing, and the manufacturing. I said
to the manufacturer, " I will supply you with material and
dye, and you supply me with manufactured goods." So I
got three profits instead of one, and I could sell goods
cheaper than anybody. In a short time I made my 20,000/.
into 60,0007. My success all turned on one maxim. I *ai<l,
I ran do what another man can, and so I am a match fur the
z 4
344 BARON ROTHSCHILD. CHAP. XXI.
man with the patterns, and for all the rest of them ! Another
advantage I had. I was an off-hand man. I made a bargain
at once. When I was settled in London, the East India
Company had 800,000 Ibs. of gold to sell. I went to the
sale, and bought it all. I knew the Duke of Wellington
must have it. I had bought a great many of his bills at a
discount. The Government sent for me, and said they must
have it. When they had got it, they did not know how to
get it to Portugal. I undertook all that, and I sent it through
France ; and that was the best business I ever did.'
" Another maxim, on which he seemed to place great
reliance, was, never to have anything to do with an unlucky
place or an unlucky man. ' I have seen,' said he, ' many clever
men, very clever men, who had not shoes to their feet. I
never act with them. Their advice sounds very well ; but fate is
against them ; they cannot get on themselves ; and if they can-
not do good to themselves, how can they do good to me ? ' By
aid of these maxims he has acquired three millions of money.
" ( I hope,' said , ' that your children are not too
fond of money and business, to the exclusion of more
important things. I am sure you would not wish that.'
Rothschild. ' I am sure I should wish that. I wish them
to give mind, and soul, and heart, and body, and everything
to business; that is the way to be happy. It requires a
great deal of boldness, and a great deal of caution to make a
great fortune ; and when you have got it, it requires ten
times as much wit to keep it. If I were to listen to all the
projects proposed to me, I should ruin myself very soon.
Stick to one business, young man,' said he to Edward ;
' stick to your brewery, and you may be the great brewer
of London. Be a brewer, and a banker, and a merchant
and a manufacturer, and you will soon be in the Gazette.
One of my neighbours is a very ill-tempered man ; he tries
to vex me, and has built a great place for swine, close to
my walk. So, when I go out, I hear first, grunt, grunt,
squeak, squeak ; but this does me no harm. I am always in
good humour. Sometimes to amuse myself I give a beggar
a guinea. He thinks it is a mistake, and for fear I should
1834. NORTHREPPS COTTAGE. 345
find it out, off he runs as hard as he can. I advise you to
give u beggar a guinea sometimes, it is very amusing.'
" The daughters are very pleasing. The second son 13 a
mighty hunter; and his father lets him buy any horses he
liL s. He lately applied to the emperor of Morocco, for a first'
rate Arab horse. The emperor sent him a magnificent one,
but he died as he landed in England. The poor youth said
very feelingly ' that was the greatest misfortune he ever had
suffered ; ' and I felt strong sympathy with him. I forgot
to say, that soon after M. Rothschild came to England,
Bonaparte invaded Germany ; ' The Prince of Hesse Cassel,'
said Rothschild, ' gave my father his money ; there was no
time to be lost ; he sent it to me. I had 600,000 arrive
unexpectedly by the post ; and I put it to such good use,
that the prince made me a present of all his wine and his
linen.'"
During the Easter recess, Mr. Buxton thus writes
from Northrepps Cottage :
March, 27. 1834.
" Xow for a history of my day. After a cheerful breakfast
I lounged with a book to the Hall. It looks brighter than
I expected ; the day so fine, the flowers so abundant, and the
Mnl.s so happy ! I am going to sell my sheep, so there is an
end of that sagacious speculation. Anna called for me there
and took me first to Mr. Law's, where I saw a great cranio-
logist, who spent an hour over my head, and told me
strange news of myself; some hitting the mark, and others
far away from it.
" Then we drove to Trimingham, where we looked at
fossils, and at the calm sea, and the land which I am to have
for shooting. We got home about 2 o'clock, and she read
to me till our quiet lively dinner; everything vastly agree-
able. Moscow was allowed to come in and dine with us.
After dinner, reading and a trifle of sleep, and so on, till
now. The only take off is, that I am quite out of my
element, hardly knowing what to do in the country, at this
tillir of \
346 EEFLECTIONS. CHAP. XXI-
April 13. 1834.
" My birthday is just passed ; though I did not minute
down my thoughts, it did not pass unheeded. How had I to
exult and to thank my God for His mercy with regard to
the slave question! On the 17th of March, Stanley, in
answer to a question from me, gave a most highly en-
couraging account of what was going on in the West Indies :
the whip abolished, the Negroes more industrious, no
disturbance, no murmur, no ruin to the planter.
" Three years ago who dreamt of such a termination?
What would I have given to secure such good tidings, even
one year ago, on the 19th of March, the day of my motion !
Do I say more than the truth, when I say I would have
given my life ?
" Blessed be God, for ever blessed, for this singular
mercy !
*****
" I have now been walking in the garden, and having an
hour of earnest prayer. I was much affected by looking at
the expanse of the skies the moon the masses of cloud.
They gave me a more realising view of Him who created
them all, that wonderful Being, so great as to govern the
universe, so merciful as to regard such a worm as I am, and
to bear with my transgressions.
" Oh ! that I might always carry with me the same awful
sense of his presence, and such a realisation of his majesty
and of his goodness ! "
Neither in public nor in private did he forget to
give God the glory of the success, that was obtained.
At a meeting of the -London Missionary Society,
May 15th, after alluding to Mr. Wilberforce and Mr.
Macaulay, he said:
" But let it not be supposed that we give the praise of
the abolition of slavery to Mr. Wilberforce, or to Mr. Macau-
lay, or to any man. I know the obligations we owe them ;
but the voice of the Christian people of England was the
1834. LADY MICO'S FUND. 347
instrument of victory. Its author, however, was not of human
ra.-e ; but, infinite in power, what His mercy decreed His
fiat effected."
The spring and summer of 1834 were spent chiefly
in active exertions for the benefit of those so soon
to be liberated, watching the regulations adopted in
the different islands; carefully investigating the
appointment of the stipendiary magistrates; and
cially endeavouring to provide for the education
and religious instruction of the Negroes. He was
in constant communication on this subject with Mr.
Stanley, and corresponded largely with the secretaries
of various benevolent societies, trying to stir up their
7.1 "A on behalf of the newly emancipated blacks. A
noble example was set by the British and Foreign
Bible Society, which promised a New Testament and
Psalter to every Negro who should be found able to
read on the Christmas day after emancipation.
Amongst other schemes there was one of great
importance, "which at length succeeded. Some years
before this time, Mr. Buxton had received information
that a certain Lady Mico, who died in 1710, had
It- It a sum of money to her daughter, on condition
of her not marrying a certain individual, in which
case it was to be devoted to the redemption of white
slavfs in P.arbary. The daughter married and lost
the money, which accumulated till, in 1827, (when
no Christian slaves remained in Barbary,) it amounted
to more than 110,000/. "This sum," wrote Mr.
I'uxton to Mr. Macaulay, " Lushington thinks we
shall be able to get applied in the right way, if you
COVM l>ii ?//< lllt coach on ,S /////</,/_>/. William Smith
348 MR. TREW'S RECOLLECTIONS. CHAP. XXT.
comes on Friday. I will send for you to Holt on
Saturday night."
At length, after much expense and trouble, the
money was obtained, and invested in the names of
Dr. Lushington, Mr. Buxton, and two other trustees,
to be employed in the education of the Negroes. To
the interest of this sum the Government added a tem-
porary grant of 20,000?. per annum; and the proper
and most efficient application of this money, occu-
pied much of Mr. Buxton's time and attention. He,
as well as the other trustees, spared no labour in
the endeavour to establish schools, and to procure
schoolmasters of ability and piety. Their chief
agent was the Rev. J. M. Trew, now Archdeacon of
the Bahamas, who had won Mr. Buxton's highest
esteem by the sacrifices and efforts he had made
on behalf of the Negroes, during a long residence in
Jamaica.
The following interesting memoranda, in connection
with the subject, were preserved by Mr. Trew:
" The letter in which Mr. Buxton announced my appoint-
ment, said, ' I have named you to the trustees for this im-
portant work. They are abundantly satisfied; and if you
are prepared to carry out their views upon a liberal and
comprehensive basis, you will proceed immediately to Lon-
don.' Immediately on my arrival in town, I called upon Mr.
Buxton, and said to him : ' I do not quite understand what is
to be the basis of your system, or what is meant by your
" liberal and comprehensive principles." s What is your own
view of the case?' was the rejoinder. ' My view of the case,'
said I, ' is simply this : I take the whole word of God to be
the only right basis, upon which a Christian education can rest ;
will you concede this ?' * Granted,' he replied ; * and let me
assure you, that upon no other principles would I have any-
1834. MR. TREW'S RECOLLECTIONS. 349
thing to do with this charity.' Upon those principles he com-
menced, and by those principles he and his co-trustees ever after
continued to be governed. Having been deputed by his
colleagues to examine the teachers when selected by their
agent, preparatory to their embarkation for the West Indies,
it was delightful to witness the condescension and tenderness
with which he was accustomed to address them. He had
a word of kindness and of encouragement for each. To one
he would say, as he reached forth his hand to bid him
iUrowell : * Well ! you are going upon an arduous work ; but
it is a noble undertaking. I hope that you may do well,
and that God may bless you.' To another : * Write to us
often, we are deeply interested in your welfare ; you have
tlu prayers of many for your success.' He used to remark,
' I like to know these men, that I may identify each with his
peculiar sphere of labour.' And if he thus desired to know
them, truly it may be said, that his affectionate parting
remembrance was never forgotten by any of them. They
honoured him, and they loved him.
" Never shall I forget the effect which his manner and address
produced upon some young men, who were shortly afterwards
t> proceed to the West Indies. On the occasion referred
to, Mr. Buxton having been detained beyond his appointed
hour, owing to his having been at Court, came direct
from the palace before he changed his dress. The school-
masters in waiting, who were simple men, chiefly from
Scotland and Ireland, not one of whom had ever been
in London before, were much struck by his appearance ; but
when, as they were severally introduced, he took them kindly
by the hand and conversed with each, as one interested
in their respective prospects and welfare, they were astonished
beyond measure, and went forth to their labours, assured that
they h;ul in him a sympathising Christian friend; and many
Indeed were the opportunities which subsequently presented
theniM'lvr-. \\licrcl.v lie proved that his feelings of interest in
their welfare were not evanescent, but the result of Christian
principle, operating upon a naturally amiable and generous
heart.
350 APPROACH OF THE DAY OF FREEDOM. CHAP. XXL
"In those islands, for which comparatively little had
been done, previously to the period of their emancipation, as
in Trinidad, St. Lucia, Mauritius, Seychelles, &c. he took the
most lively interest, always maintaining the principle, and
acting on it also, that the training of native agents was
essential to a general diffusion of knowledge amongst the
islanders. With a view to this, he advocated the estab-
lishment of normal schools in the most important of our
colonies ; and he had the happiness of living to know that so
successful were the operations of the Board of Trustees, that,
under the blessing of God, upwards of 500 teachers were
trained in these model seminaries ; and that, too, for every
denomination of Christian Missionaries."
The first of August, 1834, the day on which
the emancipation of the slaves was to take place, was
drawing near ; an address, written by Mr. Buxton in
the name of the Anti-slavery Society, forcibly shows
what were his feelings on the occasion :
" Surely a day of such vast moment to the welfare of one
part of the empire, and to the honour of the whole, ought not
to pass unnoticed. * * It is a day for undoing the
heavy burdens and letting the oppressed go free ; and
the true celebration of such an event is in hearty and united
thanksgiving to God for this marvellous achievement, and
prayer that He will bless the work, bless the givers, bless the
receivers, and make it a source of blessing to the oppressed and
afflicted throughout the world. Some may
think that this great work was accomplished by the act
of man ; some will ascribe it to one body, and some to
another ; but we trust that our friends, now that the conflict
of party has ceased, and the cloud raised around us by
the passions of man has been dispersed, will unite in ac-
knowledging the signal providence of Almighty God, who
has, from the beginning to the end, been the true doer of the
glorious work ; originating it in the hearts of its advocates ;
lifting it over the all but insurmountable obstacles of its
1834. APPROACH OF THE DAY OF FREEDOM. 351
early day ; setting at nought the counsels alike of friends and
foes; providing means, providing , instruments, unexpected,
diverse, conflicting; yet, under the skilful guidance of the
Divine hand, all urging forward the same conclusion; and
from the chaos of confusion, from the battle of irreconcileable
opinions, bringing us to the scarcely credible consummation
of emancipation in peace, in harmony, in safety, in con-
gratulation and acquiescence on all sides."
Five days before the first of August, on which the
emancipation of the slaves was to take place, he thus
refers to it in his book of meditations :
" July 27. Sunday.
" On Friday next, slavery is to cease throughout the
British colonies ! I wished, therefore, to have a season
of deep retirement of soul, of earnest prayer, and of close
communion with my God, and for this purpose, I went
to a Friends' meeting. I began with earnest prayer for the in-
fluence of the Holy Spirit. Then, in deep humiliation, in a
sense of my own great guilt and ingratitude, I made con-
ii ion of such sins as occurred to me, and pleaded hard with
God, for Christ's sake, ' in whom we have redemption through
Hi- blood ; even the forgiveness of sins.' This prayer was
offered in some trouble of soul, and in a full sense that every
other cord was broken, and that the only cable by which
I could hold on was forgiveness through Christ. Then
I prayed for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, on those
700,000 oppressed and persecuted children of our common
Father, who will be liberated on that day. O thou
who ha-st been indeed their merciful Deliverer, who, for the
oppression of the poor and the sighing of the needy,
hast arisen and set them in safety ; add, we beseech thee, to
all thy benefits, by such an effusion and outpouring of
thy Spirit, as shall make them a people, peculiarly obedient
to thy commandments, and peculiarly visited by thy presence,
and that, as by thy goodness they are eli:niLrl from slaves to
freemen, they may also be transformed from heathens
into Christians ; in deed, in spirit, and in truth."
352 THE DAY OF FREEDOM. CHAP. XXL
" And now I commend next Friday to thee, my merciful
God. May it be a happy day, and the harbinger of many
many happy days, to one very very dear to me, and to
multitudes for whom I have been favoured long to labour ! "
The anxiously expected first of August at length
arrived. It was kept very generally throughout
England as a day of rejoicing. To Mr. Buxton
it was rendered memorable, not only by the con-
summation of that great work to which his heart had
so ardently been given, but also because on this day
his eldest daughter was married to Mr. Andrew
Johnston, of Kenny Hill in Fifeshire, M. P. for
St. Andrews. He thus alluded to the circumstance, in
a letter to Dr. Philip at Cape Town : lt I surrendered
my vocation, and, next to Macaulay, my best human
helper, on the same day, and I am not only well con-
tented, but very happy, and very thankful, that she
is so bestowed."
A large circle of his connections assembled at his
house on the occasion, and expressed the lively
interest with which they had sympathised in his
public labours, by presenting him with two hand-
some pieces of plate, in commemoration of the
emancipation of the slaves.
It was indeed a day which called forth the ex-
pression of his deepest feelings, of thankfulness, and
of his most earnest desires for blessings on those
near and afar off, to whom the day was one of such
signal importance.
" Never had we," he said, " such a call for thanksgiving ;
never such occasion to pray for a blessing, as upon the work
of this day. It is demonstration to our understandings, it is
1834. T1IK FIRST OF AUGUST. 353
vision to our minds, that God has done it. We had no
mi<Jit, neither knew we what to do. The battle was not
"in-.-, but God's. The Lord has been with us."
To Mrs. Upcker.
" My dear Friend, "August 1. 1834, Four o'clock.
" The bride is just off. Everything has passed off to admi-
ration, and there is not a slave in the British colonies ! "
" Mark the seal, * Safe and satisfactory.' "
In the evening, the leading Abolitionists dined
together at the Freemasons' Tavern ; the Earl of
Mulgrave, the late Governor of Jamaica, in the
chair.
But many of those who shared in the festivities
of the day, could not divest themselves of a feeling
<>!' uneasiness, when they thought of what might, at
that very time, be passing in the West Indies. The
period that intervened between August, 1833, when
Mr. Stanley's measure became law, and August 1.
1834, when it was to take effect, had indeed passed
away in unexampled tranquillity. But would not
the gloomy predictions of the West Indians be now
fulfilled ? The bloodshed, the rioting, the drunken-
ness, and confusion they had so often foretold would
not these tarnish the lustre of this glorious deed of
the British people ?
It was, therefore, with feelings of deep solicitude,
that Mr. Iluxton and his friends awaited the news
fn>m the colonies. He was at Northrepps Hall, when,
on the Huh of Sq>ti'inl>rr, u large pile of letters came
in with the colonial stamps upon them. Well
knowing that they would contain tin: long-looked for
A A
354 THE DAY OF FREEDOM. CHAP. XXI.
intelligence, he took them, still sealed, in his hand,
and walked out into the wood ; desiring no witness
but One, of the emotion and anxiety he experienced.
He opened them : and deep indeed was his joy and
gratitude to God, when he found that one letter
after another was filled with accounts of the admirable
conduct of the Negroes on the great day of freedom.
Throughout the colonies the churches and chapels
had been thrown open, and the slaves had crowded
into them, on the evening of the 31st of July. As
the hour of midnight approached, they fell upon their
knees, and awaited the solemn moment, all hushed
in silent prayer. When twelve sounded from the
chapel bells, they sprang upon their feet, and through
every island rang the glad sound of thanksgiving to
the Father of all; for the chains were broken,
and the slaves were free.*
* Amongst the many beautiful verses which the occasion called forth,
the following, by Mr. James Montgomery, stand pre-eminent :
" Hie to the mountains afar,
All in the cool of the even,
Led by yon beautiful star,
First of the daughters of heaven :
Sweet to the slave is the season of rest :
Something far sweeter he looks for to night,
His heart lies awake in the depth of his breast,
And listens till God shall say, ' Let there be light ! '
" Climb we the mountain, and stand
High in mid air, to inhale,
Fresh from our old father- land,
Balm in the ocean-borne gale.
Darkness yet covers the face of the deep :
Spirit of freedom ! go forth in thy might,
To break up our bondage, like infancy's sleep,
The moment when God shall say, ' Let there be light ! '
1834. CONDUCT OF THE NEGROES. 355
To the Riyht Rev. Daniel ff7fcon, Lord Bishop of Calcutta.
" My dear Friend, " Cromer, Oct. 21. 1834.
" How long have I neglected to write to you, and how
often have I reproached myself for it ! My only excuse for
it is, that Andrew Johnston, M. P., (who breakfasted at your
house, just before your departure,) has run away with my
secretary, Priscilla. They were married on the 1st of Au-
gust, the day, on which, says the Act of Parliament,
' Slavery shall cease, and be unlawful in the British colonies,
plantations, and possessions.' I know you heartily rejoiced
at this termination of our labours ; for I remember with grati-
tude, that you were ever steadfast and faithful to that good
cause. We have now accounts from the West Indies, of
the way in which the 1st of August was passed; and highly
factory they are.
" The apprenticeship seems to go down with the Negroes.
This is wonderful to me ; for I cannot reconcile it even now
to my reason, that this system should flourish. In Antigua,
the legislature wisely dispensed with the apprenticeship, and
from thence we have most encouraging reports.
" A letter, dated the 2d August, says, * The day of wonders
of anticipated confusion, riot, and bloodshed has passed
" Gaze we awhile from this peak,
Praying in thought while we gaze ;
Watch for the dawning' s first streak,
Prayer then be turned into praise.
Shout to the valleys ' Behold ye the morn,
Long, long desired, but denied to our sight ! '
Lo ! myriads of slaves into men are new-born,
The word was omnipotent ' Let there be light ! '
Hear it and hail it ; the call
Island to island prolong;
Liberty ! liberty ! all
Join in that jubilee song.
Hark, 'tis the children's hosannahs that ring !
Hark, they are freemen, whose voices unite !
While Kngland, the Indies, and Africa sing,
' Amen ! hallelujah ! ' to Let there be light ! ' '
A A 2
356 CONDUCT OF THE NEGROES. CHAP. XXI.
by, and all is peace and order.' On Monday the Negroes
all returned to work. Now this quite amuses, as well as
pleases me. During four days' examination before the Lords,
they asked me, among a thousand strange questions, * If
emancipation were to take place to-day, what would the
Negroes do to-morrow ? ' I replied, ' To-morrow they would,
I think, take a holiday; so they would on Saturday; on
Monday, I expect they would go to work, if you paid them
for it!'
" Another letter, dated the 4th, says, * Yesterday I was
round the island, and did not hear of a single improper act,
not even of a man being intoxicated. Our chapels were
crowded to suffocation.' And not only from Antigua, but
from every other quarter, we hear that almost the whole
population attended chapel or church, on the day of their
liberation."
To Mrs. Buxton.
"Bellfield, Nov. 23. 1834.
" I could not get a place in the Dorchester Mail, so I took
my place to Salisbury in another. Soon after I was seated,
the Bishop of Barbadoes got in, and a great deal of very
interesting conversation we had. He has received letters
from many parts of his diocese, giving the most encouraging
accounts. At Antigua seven important results have fol-
lowed emancipation :
" First : Wives and husbands hitherto living on different
estates began to live together.
" Second : The number of marriages greatly increased.
One of his clergy had married ten couple a week, since the
first of August.
" Third : The schools greatly increased ; a hundred chil-
dren were added in one district.
" Fourth : The planters complain that their whole weed-
ing gang, instead of going to work, go to school.
" Fifth : All the young women cease to work in the fields,
and are learning female employments.
1834. REFLECTIONS. 357
" Sixth: Friendly societies for mutual relief have in-
creased.
" Seventh : The work of the clergymen is doubled. One
of the chapels which held 300 is being enlarged, so as to
contain 900, and still will not be large enough.
The utmost desire is felt by the Negroes for religious in-
struction, and their children are in every way as quick in learn-
ing as the whites. The most intelligent and influential of the
Antigua planters tells him that the experiment is answering to
his entire satisfaction. It will require some time, he says, for
the planters to overcome their prejudices against machinery.
II has not heard of an act of violence anywhere. The
Negroes are a very affectionate and docile race. He has
seventy-seven clergymen in his diocese, and most of them
zealous good men. Twenty young men have been educated
at Codrington College for the church, and some of them,
who are already ordained, are excellent ministers.
" But now about my journey. When we got to Salisbury,
the Bishop and I posted on together. I dressed and break-
t'a-trd at Dorchester, and went on very cheerfully. As soon
as I got to Weymouth, I collected some of the best of my
party, and got them to advise me to do the things which I
had resolved to do, viz., to canvass immediately, and to
abstain from anything like treating or giving beer.
" I said publicly, and said truly, that if my election de-
pended on a single vote, and that vote was to be sold for
sixpence, I would not give it."
" Northrepps, Dec. 23. 1884.
" On February 3, 1833, I prayed that thou, O Lord,
\vouldst rise up as the Advocate of the oppressed, disposing
all hearts, and moulding all events, to the accomplishment of
HlxTty, and that liberty in peace: protecting their masters
from ruin and desolation. Thou didst rise up ! It is said in
tin- I'.-alms, that "the nations shall see that it was thy
doint:." and how manifest was thy instrumentality! Who
rai-rd up the population of England to demand as one
man the liberation of the Negro? who sent that con-
A A 3
358 REFLECTIONS. CHAP. XXL
vincing warning, the insurrection in Jamaica, to prove to a
hesitating Government that the crisis would brook no delay ?
Who, contrary to our wishes, caused the formation of
those Parliamentary committees which, designed and de-
manded by the enemy, ended in their discomfiture ? Who
sent witnesses at the very crisis in which they were needed ;
carrying conviction to the minds of many of our antagonists,
that slavery must be abolished ? Who prevailed on a money-
loving people freely to sacrifice twenty millions of money ?
Who thus delivered the masters from ruin and desolation ?
Who moulded the hearts of the Negroes, so that their first act
was universally crowding to the chapels, to return thanks to
thee ; then of their own accord abolishing Sunday markets,
and abstaining from any instance of intoxication ? and who
enabled the Governor to report that * no act of violence on
the part of the Negroes had occurred?'
" In each of these events, and in numberless others, it
were blindness not to perceive the guidance of a more than
human hand.
" Let me intreat thee, O merciful Father, to go with me,
to guide me, and guard me, and prosper my ways. Oh ! the
comforting plainness of that promise, * If any man lack
wisdom, let him ask of God, and it shall be given him.'"
CHAP. XXH. 359
CHAPTER XXII.
TREATMENT OP ABORIGINES.
1834, 1835.
IRY INTO THE TREATMENT OF ABORIGINAL TRIBES IN BRITISH
COLONIES. ADDRESS TO THE KING ON THE SUBJECT. CAFFRE
WAR. ABORIGINES' COMMITTEE. LETTERS. LORD GLENELG'S
DESPATCH. VISIT FROM A CAFFRE CHIEF. MR. BUXTON
TURNS TO THE SUBJECT OF THE SLAVE TRADE OF FOREIGN
NATIONS. AN ADDRESS TO THE KING AGREED TO.
ALTHOUGH the summer of 1834 was mainly occupied
by Mr. Buxton in endeavours to complete the great
work of emancipation ; yet his mind was much occu-
pied by a new undertaking, which, however, was in
many respects similar to that upon which he had been
engaged.
This was an inquiry into the condition and treat-
ment of the aboriginal inhabitants of our colonies;
a subject peculiarly calculated to arouse his interest,
and, indeed, to excite his indignation. " I protest,"
he said, " I hate shooting innocent savages worse
than slavery itself."
He thus concludes a long paper of meditations,
dated January, 1834:
" Though I practise not, I see what a noble course there
is opened for me ; and if I have a desire, it is that by the
in-tnimrntality of thy <z;race, O Lord, thou \vouldest mould
me into a man \vho is altogether thy servant, in temper, in
objects of pursuit, in labours, in meekness, in charity, in
A A 4
360 TREATMENT OF ABORIGINES. CHAP. XXII.
faith, in godliness, in prayer, and in practice, directing my
steps heavenward.
" My attention has been drawn of late to the wickedness
of our proceedings as a nation, towards the ignorant and
barbarous natives of countries on which we seize. What
have we Christians done for them ? We have usurped their
lands, kidnapped, enslaved, and murdered themselves. The
greatest of their crimes is that they sometimes trespass into
the lands of their forefathers ; and the very greatest of their
misfortunes is that they have ever become acquainted with
Christians. Shame on such Christianity ! My object is to
inquire into past proceedings, for the purpose of instituting
certain rules and laws, on principles of justice, for the future
treatment of the aborigines of those countries where we make
settlements.
" O thou God of mercy and justice, who hast supported
me and strengthened me in the ten years' combat for the
deliverance of the Negro, be thou my guide and guardian in
this effort. Let it be conducted under the direction of thy
good Spirit. Let prayer be made for its good issue. Give
us wisdom and resolution. Move the hearts of those who
have power, and the hearts of all thy righteous people in this
land, to come to our help. Purify the motives from which
we act : let no unworthy desire of praise spring up ; but let
this good cause begin in a hearty desire to serve thee. Let
it be conducted under the guidance of thy wisdom, and under
the succour of thy strength. And let it terminate in the
entrance of millions of our fellow-men, now barbarous, igno-
rant, and heathen, into thy Church ; let innocent commerce,
civilisation, knowledge, and that which is better than all,
true faith in Christ, be extended to the barbarous nations,
to whom we are as yet known only by our power and our
cruelty.
" O God, for the sake of Him who healed the sick, com-
forted the sorrowful, instructed the ignorant, and shed abroad
that light and that influence to which we owe all our present
enjoyments, and on which all our future hopes are built, for
His sake hear and answer these prayers."
1834. ADDRESS TO THE KING. 361
To the Rev. Dr. Philip, at Cape Town.
"January 1?. 1834.
" It appears to me that we ought to fix and enforce cer-
tain regulations and laws, with regard to the natives of all
countries where we make settlements. Those laws must be
based on the principles of justice. In order to do justice
we must admit
" 1st. That the natives have a right to their own lands.
" 2dly. That as our settlements must be attended with
some evils to them, it is our duty to give them compensation
for those evils, by imparting the truths of Christianity and
the arts of civilised life.
" Having agreed on the points to be aimed at, our next
business is to ascertain in what degree we have acted, and
now act, in violation of justice and humanity towards the
natives what encroachments we have made on their pro-
perty what moral and physical evils we have introduced.
Next, as to the reparation of these oppressions. Have we
done our best, or have we done any thing, for the purpose
<>f improving their condition, and making them Christians?
or have we resisted both the one and the other, and done
our best to retain them in a condition of debasement and
(Irpravity? And, finally, how must we now retrace our
steps ? and what are the most judicious modes of securing to
them some portion of their own land, and giving them an
equivalent for their losses and sufferings, by making efforts
for their civilisation and conversion to Christianity?"
On the first of July, 1834, he moved an address
t> the king on the subject. In his speech on this oc-
casion, he dwelt upon the grievances of the commando
system in South Africa. These commandos greatly re-
sembled the border forays of the fifteenth century. On
some plea of cattle having been stolen, the colonists
ii>td to ami and make inroads into Caffreland ; and
362 LETTER TO DR. PHILIP CHAP. XXII.
after despoiling the lands of the barbarians, they would
march home in triumph, usually with large booty.
Thus in a single year (1819) as many as 52,000
head of cattle were taken from the natives ; and this
system of spoliation was continued, till the colonists
became persuaded that nothing could secure their
own existence, but the annihilation of their irritated
foes.*
The address, having been seconded by Mr.
Spring Rice, (the Colonial Secretary,) was passed
unanimously. It prayed his Majesty, that he would
be graciously pleased to take such measures, as should
secure to the natives the due observance of justice,
and the protection of their rights, promote the spread
of civilisation among them, and lead them to the
peaceful and voluntary reception of the Christian
religion.
To Dr. Philip, at Cape Town.
" September 30. 1834.
" I have received, and heartily thank you for, your long
letter dated May 6th. Pray keep me well informed.
" I have also received the letters and newspapers about
the attempted renewal of the Vagrant Act.f I think it will
* The following is an extract from a description given by an eye-
witness, of a commando sent out from the Cape, in 1 830. (See Evidence
before Parliamentary Committee, 1835.) : " The military were divided
into three or four parties. ***** ~\y e were on ly aware of
the presence of the other parties in the country by the smoke of the
burning villages. One Caffre shouted to us across a ravine, to ask why
we were burning his cottage ; it seemed difficult to make a reply ; there
was silence throughout the party ! "
t This vagrancy act was an ingenious contrivance of some of the
colonists, to reduce the Hottentots once more to slavery ; but it was
prevented from becoming law by Mr. Spring Rice.
18:34. ON TREATMENT OF THE NATIVES. 363
come to nothing, but if so, your prompt interposition pre-
vented it. I wrote a very strong letter to Spring Rice, our
Colonial Secretary, and my old friend and coadjutor on
Mauritius and slavery matters. Power would make great
changes indeed, if it were to give Aim any fellowship in
feeling with West India planters, or your boors.
" I have also received your note about the commando
system. Upon that I feel most deeply interested : furnish
IMC with facts; give me facts about commandos, and I will,
if alive and in Parliament, aim an effectual blow at them.
I stay in Parliament very much against my inclination, for
no other purpose except to watch the West Indies, and to
protect the aborigines, chiefly the latter. Did you ever
read Wordsworth's Life of Baxter? Baxter says, ' There is
nothing in the world which lieth so heavy upon my heart, as
the thought of the miserable nations of the earth. I cannot
be affected so much with the calamities of my own relations,
or the land of my nativity, as with the case of the heathen,
Mahometan, and ignorant nations of the earth. No part of
my prayers is so deeply serious as that for the conversion of
the infidel and ungodly world.' I feel, in my poor way,
somewhat of the same kind, and desire and pray that my
la-art may be turned, and my exertions directed, to the
<juvad of peace, and justice, and knowledge, and Christianity
aMiuMir them. I think England is a deep offender in the
>ii_ r ht of God, for the enormities she permits to be practised
upon these poor, ignorant, defenceless creatures; and, with
God's help, I hope to do something for them yet. I have
nad with great interest your letter to America, In one
respect you are in error: you praise the American Coloni-
sation Society. It is nothing else than an artifice of the
.-lave-owners, who wish to divert public attention from
the question of slavery, and to get rid of the people of
colour. They pass the most furious and bigoted laws
apiinst them. For example, they make it death, for the
second offence of teaching Negroes and people of colour to
: and thus forcing the people of colour to quit America,
364 PLANS FOR THE YEAR. CHAP. XXII.
they are pleased to set up for philanthropists in Africa.
With this exception, I was highly gratified by your letter.
There is one question which I beg you to consider. What
are the measures which I should aim at for the benefit of
countries where we make settlements ? I have thought of a
protector, through whom all bargains shall be made, that
they may not be cheated out of their land; and secondly,
that as inevitably we must do them much injury by spreading
our diseases, and our brandy, and our gunpowder among
them, we ought to make them compensation by measures
for the diffusion of Christianity. What more shall I aim at ?
You know I look to you as my chief informant and adviser,
so pray help me. Let me have every species of information
about the Kat River Settlement. How does * Buxton '
get on ? I am now going to a Bible Society in the neigh-
bourhood, where I shall make a speech out of your letters
and the Kat River : they do me frequent and good service
at Bible and Missionary Meetings."
At the commencement of 1835, he thus refers in
his common-place book to the coming year :
" I shall devote myself to the three great subjects now on
my hands.
" 1st. The completion of emancipation ; for much remains
to be done.
" 2nd. The abolition of the Spanish and Portuguese Slave
Trade.
" 3rd. The just treatment of the aborigines.
" Then, (if I am to have these honourable duties, and shall
be enabled to fulfil them) I desire and pray that I may be
returned at the approaching election ; but if, O Lord, thine
eye perceives that I shall be turned away from the path of
duty, that I shall pursue my own pleasure or aggrandise-
ment in preference to thy service, then I heartily pray thee
to avert from me the temptation. But in all acts, in all
counsels, be with me, and teach me what I shall do and say
for Christ's sake."
1835. CAFFRE WAR. 365
At the election of January 1835, he stated to his
constituents that his labours should be devoted to
the objects above mentioned ; and in fact they formed
his principal occupation throughout the year. The
grievous accounts of the Caffre war turned his at-
tention more especially to the last named of the three,
the state of the natives in the colonies. The depre-
dations of the Caffres had led to severe retaliations
on the part of the colonists, which ended in open war
and the complete overthrow of the Caffres.
In a despatch to Lord Glenelg, Sir Benjamin
D' Urban announces that
" 4000 Caffre warriors have been slaughtered ; 60,000
head of cattle, and almost all their goats captured ; their
country (now called the Adelaide territory) is taken from
them ; their habitations are everywhere destroyed, and their
gardens and corn fields laid waste." *
Mr. Buxton obtained a Parliamentary committee
to inquire into this war, as well as into the general
treatment of the aboriginal nations bordering on our
settlements.
To Mrs. Buxton.
" London, August 8.
" I went yesterday into the city, to the Alliance, to the
Anti-slavery Society, to the Aborigines' Committee, and to
a meeting at Lushington's about the Mauritius. The variety
ami interest of these subjects, especially the two lust, ani-
mated mi-.
" We had a pleasant journey down to Coggeshall, where
Kduard, Kdmnnd, Abraham Plaistow, and myself, took a
walk <>!' an hour and a hall', and very interesting it was to
* November, 1835.
366 TREATMENT OF NATIVES. CHAP. XXII.
me and Abraham, recounting old events. It is strange, that
having hardly been at Coggeshall since I was a boy, of all
the numbers of persons associated in my recollection, only
my uncle and Abraham remained as my seniors. I was all
but the oldest of the party. Abraham, in whom I could
remember nothing but that he was my tutor, was a little
more reverential than suited my recollections ; but I was
greatly pleased to meet that most honest, brave, facetious, old
associate."
When the session closed, Mr. Buxton occupied
himself in a careful investigation of the evils of the
system hitherto pursued towards the native tribes,
and of the remedies to be applied.
In commencing these inquiries he as usual sum-
moned to his aid the .members of his family circle,
especially those at Northrepps Cottage, whom he
employed to make extracts from, and abstracts of,
those documents which related to the tribes of South
Africa.
To his Sister, Miss Buxton, at Northrepps Cottage.
"Earlham, Sept. 28. 1835.
" I hope you read Anna Gurney my letter, about her pre-
paring an epitome of Philip's letters. I am thus hard-
hearted in taxing her strength, because I do believe, that an
able digest of these letters, sticking close to the text, might
save a nation of 100,000 beings, and several flourishing
missions, from destruction. It is a cause well worth an
effort. I gave our new Colonial Secretary a disquisition to
my heart's content, on the treatment of savages, the death of
Hintza, the atrocities of white men, and above all, on the
responsibilities of a Secretary of State ; and I assured him
that I knew there was a corner in the next world hotter than
the rest, for such of them as tolerate the abominations which
we practise abroad. I feel happy that I let loose my mind,
1835. LETTER TO LORD GLENELG. 367
but I am afraid Ellis of the London Missionary Society was
almost shocked at the recklessness of his lordship's feelings,
with which I spoke. I believe, however, that Lord Glenelg
feels both soundly and warmly on the subject.
To Zachary Macaulay, Esq.
"Northrepps Hall, Oct. 1835.
" I am deeply interested about the savages, particularly
the Caffres. Oh ! we Englishmen are, by our own account,
fine fellows at home ! Who among us doubts that we
surpass the world in religion, justice, knowledge, refinement,
ami practical honesty? but such a set of miscreants and
wolves as we prove when we escape from the range of the
la\v.s, the earth does not contain."
\Vhen the statement of the South African case had
been prepared, he communicated it to Lord Glenelg,
accompanied by the following letter :
" My dear Lord, "Northrepps Hall, Oct. 10. 1835.
" I send you by the mail to-morrow various documents
relative to the commando system, the Caffre inroad, and
Ilint/a's death. I think the papers sent, establish
" 1 st. That the colonists, or at least some of them, have
long been actuated by an eager desire to get possession of the
Caffre territory.
" 2ndly. That the commando system has been the real cause
of the war.
" 3rdly. That facts are stated relative to the death of Hintza,
which, if true, throw a deep reflection on the colonial
authorities, and which demand a close inquiry.
" I cannot forbear adding, that I am persuaded the future
peace of the colony, and the life or death of many thousands
of human 1>< inu;s, depend upon your decision. That you
may be guided to a righteous one, and that you may. stand
between the oppressor and his prey, is my heartfelt deniv
368 LORD GLENELG'S DESPATCH. CHAP. xxir.
and prayer. Believe me, my dear Lord, with every sentiment
of respect,
" Your faithful Servant,
" T. FOWELL BUXTON."
Shortly after this he was exceedingly gratified at
finding that the subject had been thoroughly investi-
gated by Lord Glenelg, and that he had come to the
conclusion that the Adelaide territory had been un-
justly taken away from the Caffre people. Accordingly,
with a regard for justice as rare as it was noble, his
lordship determined not to acquiesce in our usur-
pation of the territory, but to restore it to its rightful
possessors.
" Lord Glenelg," says Mr. Buxton in a letter to
Mr. Macaulay, " has sent a most noble despatch to
the Cape of Good Hope, restoring the territory we
lately stole, to the Caffres, and laying down the
soundest principles, with respect to future intercourse
with them." He was also greatly pleased at finding
that the Government had agreed to place protectors
of the aborigines in every colony where the English
came in contact with them, and he writes
" Many other things did I hear, equally delightful. I lay
awake almost all last night, from an exuberance of gratifica-
tion and thankfulness, the image rising before me of the
hunted people restored to their land; of Macomo, now so
dejected, soon amazed with unlooked-for relief.
" How glad am I," he remarks in December 1835, " that
I did not give way to the difficulties of obtaining a committee!
I was too near letting it be postponed to another session.
The events of the war, Hintza's death, and the clamours of
the settlers for permission once more to spoil these ' irre-
claimable savages,' have called the attention of the Govern-
ment to our evidence, and coming at the very nick of time,
1835. RESTORATION OF THE CAFFRES. 369
I have reason to know it affected the decision of the ques-
tion."
When the news arrived that the restoration of the
Caffres to their own lands in the Adelaide territory
hail been effected, he thus conveyed it to Miss Gurney
of Northrepps Cottage * :
" I have to tell you a piece of news, which has made me
sing ever since I heard it. You, of all people, ought to have
known it two or three days ago, and should, if I had not
been too busy to write on Wednesday, and too desperately
tired on Thursday. Well, what is it ? It is life itself, and
liberty, and lands and tenements to a whole nation.
" It is nothing short of this ; the hand of the proud op-
pressor in Africa has been, under Providence, arrested, and
a whole nation, doomed to ruin, exile, and death, has been
delivered and restored to its rights. On a given day the
drum was beat in the front of Tzatzoe's house, and the troops
were marched directly back again to the British territory,
and the ' fertile and beautiful Adelaide ' was once more
Caffreland. Only think how delighted must our savage
friends be, and with what feelings must they have viewed our
retreating army ! Surely we must make a party, and pay
King Macomo a visit. This is, indeed, a noble victory of
right over might."
On the re-appointinent of the Aborigines Com-
mittee in 1836, Dr. Philip brought over to England
Tzatzoe, the Caffre chief alluded to above, and
Andrew Stoffles, a Hottentot, to be examined before
it. As a matter of course Mr. Buxton invited them
to his house, and the following description f gives
an account of the evening which these children of
the desert spent with him :
" Dr. Philip dined here yesterday with his two African
* March 18. 1837. t Letter to Northrepps.
B B
370 TZATZOE AND STOFFLES. CHAP. XXII.
proteges, Tzatzoe and Stoffles, Mr. Read and his half Caffre
eon being also of the party. Tzatzoe was dressed in fan-
ciful English attire, with a gold-laced coat, something like
a naval officer. He is rather a fine-looking, well-made
man, but his hair is like a carpet. Both he and Stoffles
behaved in a perfectly refined and gentlemanly manner.
James Read acted as interpreter ; he looks more like a Caffre
than an Englishman ; he is full of animation, and very clever
and observing. He sat by Tzatzoe at dinner, and kept up
the conversation capitally. Tzatzoe was asked what struck
them most in England ? He said, * First, the peace, no fight-
ing, all looking " kind;" secondly, no beggars; everybody had
their own business and wanted nothing of other men, but
all looked comfortable and happy ; thirdly, no drunkards,
no fighting about the streets.' He was then asked, what he
could mention to our discredit. He hesitated at first, but
then boldly said, we abused our sabbaths ; he was shocked to
see the carriages about, and people selling in the streets ; he
admired the horses, but could not think what the donkeys
had done to merit such different treatment ; and as to the
dogs, he thought it a most wicked thing ' to make them
work like Hottentots.' He pleased my father very much
by saying, that if it had not been for his labours in the
committee, his nation must have been entirely extirpated.
He told us, so great was the gratitude felt towards him,
that in most of the Christian settlements about the Kat
River they held a regular meeting every Wednesday evening,
to pray for Mr. Buxton, Dr. Philip, and Mr. Fairbairn.
When Tzatzoe spoke in Caffre, Stoffles translated it into
Dutch for Mr. Read. Doing this gradually roused up
Stoffles himself, and now when we applied to him on the
subject of infant schools, he lighted up in a most extraor-
dinary way, his heavy face beamed with life and pleasure,
and he was all action and animation. Dr. Philip says, that
in oratory, he is quite the Lord Brougham of his country.
# * * * After dinner they sang to us : first, the
three together a hymn in Dutch, then Tzatzoe and Read
in Caffre, and then Stoffles alone sang a war song in Hot-
tentot. It had a most extraordinary effect. Ices then came
1835. TZATZOE AND STOFFLES. 371
round. The poor men bad seen none before, and the
Lrriinuces made at the first mouthful are not to be told.
They could not eat more, but laughed heartily.
" When they were about to go away, they commanded
silence, and Stoffles rose formally, with Read to interpret,
and made a very good speech, returning thanks to his host.
* I thank God,' he said, ' that my life has been spared long
enough to come to England, and that Buxton's life has been
spared long enough also for me to see him. I have long
desired nothing so much, but never thought I should have
that happiness. I hope Buxton will live much longer, and
continue to help the oppressed, and that he will never cease
to hold his hand over my nation.' He thanked him heartily
on behalf of all the Hottentots, for his labours for them.
Tzatzoe then rose, and made a similar speech, expressing
himself most warmly. My father then thanked them for
their good wishes, and said he hoped then* nation would go
on improving, and especially that religion would increase
among them, that they would be firm to their God and
Saviour, for that was the only path to peace, to happiness,
and to Heaven."
Even while the discussions on British slavery had
been pending, Mr. Buxton's thoughts were often
directed to the subject of the Slave Trade, as con-
ducted by foreign nations, between the coast of
Africa and the slave states of America and Cuba.
So long before as 1832, Mr. Wilberforce had thus
written to him respecting the Slave Trade :
" My dear Friend,
" Let me beg you, unless you happen to have recently
looked into this subject, do not suppose yourself to know it,
but do review your inquiry and consideration, and you will
be a.-* ready to burst into a flame as I am. I feel, and shall
I. 1 tlii- utHiir the more, because I myself am not guiltless.
I myself ought to have stirred in it more than I did, before
B B 2
372 FOREIGN SLAVE TRADE. CHAP. XXII.
I left the House of Commons, and now that I am there no
longer, you I consider as my heir-at-law; and I really
believe, if you cannot get Government to concede to your
wishes, you might carry the measure in the House of
Commons. Farewell, may the blessing of God be with you
and yours, and believe me ever
" Sincerely and affectionately your's,
" WILLIAM WILBERFORCE."
But important as Mr. Buxton felt this subject to
be, he could not enter upon it while his time and
strength were engaged in the contest with the more
immediate evil of British slavery. Now, however,
he was able to examine it more closely.
" Bellfield, April 2p. 1835.
" I had a pleasant journey, and the coach to myself, so I
had plenty of time for both reading and reflection. I shall
spend much of my time over the Slave Trade question, in
which I feel the deepest interest, and perhaps a quiet day
here may be useful. I am very fond of this garden as a
study, it is so lonely."
A day later he continues :
" I am now going to wander about these charming walks
with the Slave Trade question on my mind. Then my
uncle is to drive me with the four ponies. On Saturday
I shall, I doubt not, take my place inside the Magnet, and
after a pleasant ride, fruitful in meditation, have the great
pleasure of getting home again. The constant
subject of my wondering gratitude is, that we have so much
to be thankful for. Now for the garden."
To Miss Gurney, of Northrepps Cottage.
"54, Devonshire Street, May 6. 1835.
" I hope to bring forward the Slave Trade question next
Tuesday. I have abundance of facts, but the House of
Commons ( careth for none of these things,' and I care very
little for any political things, these excepted. I went to the
Missionary Meeting yesterday, and made a speech, which I
1835. ADDRESS TO THE KING. 373
thought vastly fine, but I was singular in that opinion. The
clergy are desperately sulky with me for my Church speech."
On the 12th of May, 1835, Mr. Buxton laid the
results of his investigation before Parliament. He
proved that though, at the congress of Vienna, Spain
and Portugal had received more than a million of
money from England, on engaging to give up their
traffic in men, yet that they were still carrying it on
to as great an extent as ever; no less than 264
vessels, avowedly engaged in the Slave Trade, having
sailed from the single port of Havannah between
January 1. 1827, and October 30. 1833, this
being but a small part of that detestable commerce.
II< moved for an address, suggesting the consolida-
tion of all the treaties on this subject with various
powers, into one great league, which was to contain,
amongst other clauses, a proposal for extending the
right of search, for giving the right of seizure in the
case of vessels equipped for the Slave Trade, though
not actually having slaves on board, and for declaring
the trade in slaves to be piracy. This address was
agreed to.
" I now feel," he said on the following day, " as if
the session was over. Let me see, what is there
more for me to do ? There is the Apprenticeship,
16th June; Aborigines, 14th July; Irish Education;
and I must have another little touch at the Church,
which they have so vilified me about."
Lxrrjit that from time to time he brought the
subject before the House, no further step could be
taken for the present upon the Slave Trade question ;
but it continued to occupy his thoughts, and to be a
< "iirce of continual solicitu<l-.
B B 3
374 CHAP. xxm.
CHAPTER XXIII.
1835, 1836.
ACCOUNTS FROM WEST INDIES MOTION FOR COMMITTEE OF
INQUIRY. CORRESPONDENCE WRITINGS, JANUARY, 1836.
COMMITTEE ON APPRENTICESHIP, MARCH, 1836. LETTERS.
LETTER FROM MR. JOHNSTON. IRISH CHURCH QUESTIONS.
SPEECH ON IRISH TITHE BILL, JUNE, 1836.
THE best news continued to arrive from the West
Indies, of the industry and excellent behaviour of the
Negroes, during the period to which the preceding
chapter refers. Crime had rapidly diminished ; mar-
riages had considerably increased ; education and
religion were progressing. " The accounts from the
West Indies are capital," writes Mr. Buxton, March?.
1835, " this puts me into excellent spirits. The truth
is, my spirits rise or fall according to the intelligence
from that quarter."
To his Sister, Miss Buxton, Northrepps Cottage.
" House of Commons, March 16. 1835.
" I must give you a taste of the good news which I have
received within this hour. Lord Aberdeen said yesterday,
that every thing was going on marvellously well in the West
Indies. The Negroes quiet, dutiful, diligent. It is quite
amazing, it is contrary to reason, it cannot be accounted for,
but so it is ! * Just now Stanley came over to me, saying, he
had a letter from Lord Sligo to-day, dated the 29th January.
He read me the greater part of it, and most gratifying it was.
* He had often expressed his distrust of the Apprenticeship system ;
see p. 333
1835. GOOD ACCOUNTS FROM WEST INDIES. 375
The Christmas holidays had gone off more quietly than for
many years. No case of riot had been reported, and the
Negroes had all returned to their work in good humour. The
produce of the crop sent to England would be a good average
one. Lord Sligo had recalled all his troops and vessels (which
had gone out to quell possible disturbances), because every-
thing was perfectly quiet. f In short,' said Stanley, * it is
impossible that matters can be better than in the focus of
danger Jamaica ; except it be,' he added, ' in Antigua.'
Is not that something like good news ? It makes me two
inches higher for pride."
To Zachary Macaulay, Esq.
" Northrepps Hall, 1 835.
" Now as to Jamaica, I send you copies of Lord Sligo's
It- tiers. It is curious that I have before me at this moment
letters from him and Lord Mulgrave, in which they unite in
saying, that so far from having exaggerated, we have never
told a tithe of the horrors of slavery. What an honour, and
what a privilege, to have had part in overturning such an
abomination."
The following is one of the letters from Lord Sligo,
r t'erred to above :
To T. Powell Buxtony Esq.
" My dear Sir, " Mansfield Street, 8th April.
" In reply to your inquiries, whether my opinions on sla-
\<-ry had undergone any change while I was in Jamaica, I beg
to say, that when I went out there, I thought that the stories of
the cruelties of the slave owners, disseminated by your so-
eiety, \\-fiv UK rdy the emanations of enthusiastic and humane
persons ; rather a caricature, than a faithful representation of
what aetually did take place. Before, however, I had been
vi TV long in Jamaica, I had reason to think, that, the real
state of the case had been far understated, and that, I am
quite convinced, was the fact. I was an ardent supporter
B B 4
376 DEATH OF LORD SUFFIELD. CHAP. XXIII.
of emancipation before I went out, but after being there a
short time, I was shocked at ever having held different
opinions.
" My dear Sir, most truly yours,
" SLIGO."
To Lord Suffield.
March, 1835.
" The news from every part of the slave colonies is most
excellent. I hear this from a variety of quarters friends,
enemies, colonial bishops, and the Secretary of State. I saw
a letter from the Bishop of Jamaica to the Bishop of London,
saying everything that we used to say ; I recollect one ex-
pression, * the industry of the Negroes when working for
wages, has so entirely belied the apprehensions of the planters
here, that I have not a doubt of the entire success of the
emancipation measure.' In short, we have every reason to be
happy and to be thankful."
This was one of the last letters addressed by
Mr. Buxton to his excellent coadjutor and friend.
Lord Suifield was thrown from his horse on the 30th
of June, 1835, and died a few days afterwards from
the injuries he had received. " Every day since the
event happened," writes Mr. Buxton, " I have felt
more and more strongly what a calamity it is, and
what a loss we have all sustained."
It was, indeed, a time when Lord Sumeld's co-
operation was particularly missed. The favourable
accounts from the West Indies were chequered by
intelligence of the occasional ill-treatment of the ap-
prentices by their masters, who could not divest
themselves of the habits formed under the system of
slavery.
On the 19th of June, Mr. Buxton moved for a
select committee to inquire whether the conditions
1835. LETTER TO AN ABOLITIONIST. 377
on which the twenty millions had been granted,
for the abolition of slavery, had been complied with ;
but upon receiving an assurance from the Govern-
ment that the most vigilant measures had been taken
and would continue to be taken, on behalf of the
newly emancipated people, he consented to withdraw
his motion.
For so doing he was severely blamed by some of
the more vehement abolitionists. He thus replies to
one of those who had expressed himself with great
warmth on the subject :
" September 11. 1835.
" You think it right to say that you could see no reason
for my withdrawing ray motion, except it was a wish to please
the ministers. I am conscious of a thousand defects in the
management of our great question, but I Jo not and cannot
charge myself with having, at any time, sacrificed one iota of
our cause to please any set of men. You add, that * I should
h:i\e gained public confidence, by pressing my motion to a
division.' I hope you do not do me the injustice to suppose,
that a momentary popularity with you, or with those worthy
and faithful men who think with you, would be bait enough to
allure me to do that which I thought likely to prejudice the
eau-e or impair the prospects of the Negro. I should be still
more unworthy than I am to be the advocate of that afflicted
and oppressed race, if I were to be biassed by any such con-
sideration; or if I sacrificed opinions, formed deliberately,
.vith the whole tacts before me, and with an earnest desire to
be directed aright, to the wishes of friends, or foes, or minis-
ters of the Crown.
" I 1m vc thought it right to enter thus at length into my
views, that you may not be prevented from taking any steps
in order to secure a division, when the subject comes to be
debated in Parliament. Think of me as you please; I think
you an hone-t man, a true friend to the Negro, a faithful
advocate of freedom ; but I give you this unequivocal warning,
378 LETTERS ON THE WEST INDIES. CHAP. XXIII.
that I never will take your advice as to my conduct on these
questions, when I think that advice likely to be disastrous to
those for whom we feel an equal concern.
" You are quite at liberty to show this to anybody, or to
publish it, if you please."
A day or two later he thus writes to Mr. Macaulay :
" The fact is, my apprehensions lie in a direction different
from the apprenticeship. The planters will, I think, try for a
vagrancy law ; which will be slavery in reality, and for a per-
manence. Sorry should I be that by our want of support about
the apprenticeship, the Government should be led to suppose
that we could not make a good fight against a vagrancy law.
Is it not dangerous, then, to reveal our weakness ? or, rather, is
it not dangerous to go to battle on a question where we have
no chance of success ? Some of our warm friends write in
newspapers and periodicals as if they believed that I should
hesitate, because I did not like to offend the Government.
I flatter myself, you know that neither that, nor any personal
consideration, should tempt me to betray the cause of our
poor clients."
During this autumn the Rev. Mr. Trew left England
for the West Indies, taking out with him the agents
selected for schoolmasters. This was an occasion of
deep interest to Mr. Buxton.
To the Rev. J. M. Trew.
"Northrepps, Dec. 1835.
" Many thanks for your letter just received. Depend on
my disposition to * strengthen your hands, and to make all
reasonable allowances.' The truth is, I feel very grateful
to you for going out, and consider it my duty to do all to
make your labours as light and as pleasant to you as possible.
* * * And now I wish you God speed. In going you
make a noble sacrifice. The sacrifice of your living, and the
derangement of your family ; the opposition and persecution
you will have to encounter, and many other similar things
1836. REFLECTIONS. 379
you have to surrender or to endure ; but I trust that God's
blessing will go with you, remain with you, remove diffi-
culties, and crown you with success and with rejoicing."
On Jan. 1. 1836, he thus speaks of the end of one,
the beginning of another year.
" What mercies has the past year produced, and what
events may the next unfold ! My prayer at the beginning
of 1835 was for myself, that I might give God my heart ;
that in matters public and private He would instruct me in
the right way, especially in slave questions, the cause of
natives, Slave Trade, instruction of Negroes, and Church
kgkbtkm.
" O God, grant that we may each of us be branches of
the living vine, that are fed and nourished from the sacred
stem, may bear fruit, and much fruit. I thank thee, O
Lord, that I know there is none other source of profit to my
own soul, or of usefulness to others, save through Christ. If
I abide in Him, I shall be enabled to bring forth rich clusters
of heavenly fruit ; if not, a withered and unprofitable branch
am I. Grant, then, O Father, to thy weak, poor, most
unworthy servant, that I may be the true servant of the
Lord, that I may belong to him, and may be made useful
through the fructifying influence of his Spirit; that that
Spirit may carry with it the whole man to his blessed service ;
that it being my ruler and guide, I may be enabled to do
something this year for the Negro race, something towards
(U'li vering them from the remnants of their cruel bondage,
especially something for their souls; and may large flocks be
brought to thy fold. May I this year do something towards
the further abolition of the Slave Trade, and something for
tin natives of our colonies.
" Help me, O Lord, in forming a right judgment of the
critical :iH:iirs of the Irish Church. Direct me aright, and
let m-ithrr the love of liberal ]>olicy on the one hand, nor the
fear (if the resentment and reproach of the evangelical clergy
On the other, lend me :i>tray.
" May all peace and all pn.titahle prosperity be granted in
380 COMMITTEE ON NEGRO APPRENTICESHIP. CHAP. XXIII.
this year to all my relatives and friends. Each and severally
I recal them, and present them before thee, craving health
to the sick, consolation to the afflicted, strength to the weak,
instruction to those who know not thy saving grace, and
happiness, wisdom, grace, the guiding, the encouraging, the
comforting influence of thy Holy Spirit to all. This year I
shall have numbered half a century. It is a subject of deep
meditation, where shall I be at the end of the next half
century ? Through mercy, through love unbounded, through
Christ, I trust that I shall be in His kingdom. Walk with
me, tutor me to thy will, be with me in every struggle,
shape out my course, be my wisdom, my guard, my guide, in
every hour of this year, for Christ's sake."
The following memorandum, in Mr. Buxton's
handwriting, appears on the last page of a book of
" Papers on the abolition of slavery."
" January 7. 1 836.
" I have finished this collection of papers with a degree of
satisfaction and thankfulness which I cannot express. My
expectations are surpassed, God's blessing has been on this
perilous work of humanity."
On the 22nd of March, he moved for a committee
to inquire into the working of the apprenticeship
system. His investigations on that subject had cost
him much time and labour ; and he now brought
forward a mass of statistical facts, proving on the
one hand, that the Negroes had behaved extremely
well, and on the other, that they had been harassed
by vexatious bye-laws and cruel punishments. " This
is my case," he said, in conclusion ; " it shows at
least this : that if the planters have misconducted
themselves, they can find no excuse for it in the
conduct of the Negroes. There has been no dis-
appointment in that quarter."
1836. PRESS OF BUSINESS. 381
The committee was granted, and Sir George Grey,
(the Under Secretary for the Colonies), soon after-
wards introduced a bill for enforcing in Jamaica,
certain measures in favour of the Negroes.
The Aborigines Committee had likewise been re>
appointed, and Mr. Buxton's attention to these two
subjects, in addition to matters connected with them,
occupied him closely. A friend, who spent a day at
his house in Devonshire Street during the spring of
this year, described it as " curious and almost fearful,
to witness the multiplicity of business, the wave
upon wave of deep interests which poured in upon
him. No time for air or exercise, no time for re-
laxation." His strength was barely equal to the
claims upon it. " Oh ! how we shall throw up our
hats," he said, " when I am out of Parliament."
To the Rev. J. M. Trew.
"July 1. 1836.
" I Jim truly grieved not to hear a better report of your
health, for I do regard it as invaluable. We are not less
over-worked at home. The Apprenticeship and Aborigines
Committees have been heavy and incessant work, and there
are innumerable calls upon our best exertions.
" I look upon your exertions and those of your fellow
labourers with unmixed comfort. I hope that ' meekness of
wisdom ' may be yours, and I desire that we may all truly
remember that ' One is our master? With cordial good
wi.-ihea to you and yours, in which my family warmly join,
I am, &c. &c.
To Zachary Macaulay, Esq.
" Kenny Hill, Fifeshire, Sept. 6. 1836.
" Once more I have to feel how scandalous it is, that I
have been so remiss in writing to you, but I must lay the
382 NEGEO APPRENTICESHIP. CHAP. XXUJ.
blame on the labours of the session. What with the Com-
mittee on the Apprenticeship, which occupied two days in
the week, the Aborigines Committee, which occupied two
more, the House itself, and my own private business, I was
as much overworked, or more so, than at any former period ;
but for the last month I have done literally nothing, except
learn to sleep in my bed, and to eat at my meals, arts which
I had nearly lost while in London.
" It is, however, full time that I should tell you something
of my impression as to the effect of the Apprenticeship Com-
mittee. I think we proved, beyond dispute, that the Negroes
are subjected to many oppressions quite at variance with the
intentions of the Abolition Act. On the other hand, it was
proved, that these had gradually, but decidedly, abated, and
that feelings of hostility had much subsided.
" In discussing the report, I was placed in a difficult and
painful position. Johnston was in Scotland ; O'Connell
could not often attend; in short, had I divided upon its
continuance, I should have been alone. I contented myself,
therefore, with a protest, and got for my moderation the
introduction of a paragraph, declaring that, after 1840, the
Negroes were to have f unqualified freedom ; ' and to be sub-
ject to no other restrictions than those imposed on white
labourers at home. This, to my mind, is a great victory.
The Government are pledged up to their teeth to consent
to no act, which shall in any way cripple or encroach upon
perfect freedom, when the apprenticeship ceases.
" The Mico teachers are going on excellently well in the
West Indies. They describe the thirst for instruction among
the coloured people as excessively strong.
" The Aborigines Committee went on exceedingly well.
I wonder whether you have seen Lord Glenelg's despatch
about the seizure of the Caffre territory. It is most admir-
able, and is about the first instance of a nation acting towards
the weak on the principles of justice and Christianity.
" I begin to hope that my period of public service is
nearly expired, and that I shall be so fortunate as to be
turned out at the next election. I should not be satisfied
1830. DECLINES LEAVING PARLIAMENT. 383
if I resigned ; but if I stood and failed, I should think it a
most happy consummation."
Mr. Buxton's friends were anxious that he should
not expose his broken health to the fatigue of another
Parliament. His uncle, Mr. Charles Buxton, had
written him a pressing letter upon this subject. In
reply, he says :
****** At present I am remarkably well, have
no headache, and no complaint, except rather too good an
appetite. I have received very encouraging accounts from
the West Indies of the conduct of the Negroes, and this I
am sure will please you. Three years ago, it appeared by
official returns, that in Jamaica there were 300,000 floggings
with the cart whip in a year. Last year, the number was
reduced nine-tenths, from 300,000 to 30,000. The result
being such, I grudge neither the time, nor the money, nor
tin labour, nor the health I have spent on this object; and
I hope this consideration will make you better satisfied with
my having been in Parliament. Can I, as an honest man,
retire now, when I know for a certainty, that the effect of
my motion in the House last year and the year before, has
been to frighten the magistrates, and to save the backs of
thousands of poor fellows from unmerciful floggings?
** You may say what you please, I know it is all in kind-
ness for me, but I also know that if you were in my place,
no personal consideration would be sufficient to prevail
on you to abandon your duty."
His conduct upon these committees has been well
portrayed by his son-in-law, Mr. 'A. Johnston, who
WM his companion and assistant in them, and who
supplied the place of a private secretary during the
last three years that he was in Parliament. His
remarks, as will be seen, refer also to the earlier and
still more important warfare on the slavery question,
384 REMARKS BY MR. JOHNSTON. CHAP. XXIII.
in which Mr. Johnston had been one of his most
faithful allies.
" I had," says Mr. Johnston, " been well acquainted with
Mr. Buxton's name, and had watched his proceedings with
interest, before I entered Parliament in 1831. Shortly after
I took my seat I introduced myself to him as one who
aimed at being enlisted under his Anti-slavery banner, and
before long, I was honoured with that friendship which I
ever felt I could not sufficiently prize. I was soon strongly
impressed by seeing his almost exclusive devotedness to the
object he had in hand at any given time ; he spared no pains
to achieve his purpose, he was constantly on the watch, and
by his tact and perseverance frequently succeeded in obtain-
ing documents, which would otherwise have remained in
obscurity. Often did he patiently wait to the end of the
usually long debates for the small chance of success in a
motion for papers ; often did one tiresome opponent, in
particular, who seemed to make it his peculiar vocation to
hinder his progress, succeed in frustrating his endeavours,
after he had remained till two or three o'clock in the morning.
Then did Mr. Buxton, night after night, postpone the motion
till a favourable opportunity should arrive, and in our
refreshing walks home, in the early cool morning, after the
heat, glare, and fatigue of the House, he betrayed no im-
patience, but showed himself content to labour on, accepting
with thankfulness every little success which he was per-
mitted to enjoy, in this harassing but most necessary portion
of his duty.
" He was very often at the Foreign Office, and at the
Colonial Office he WAS, during the sitting of Parliament,
almost a daily visitor. Though his proceedings called forth
bitter opposition from some quarters, and though the Govern-
ment generally resisted his proposals, at least for a time, I
soon saw that his honesty and singleness of purpose, his
manly understanding, and the weight of his character, com-
manded a decided and increasing influence in Downing
Street. He was thoroughly liked and respected in the
1836. REMARKS BY MR. JOHNSTON. 385
II"iise, and yet his constant urbanity and kind feeling, even
towards his bitterest opponents, ought to have disarmed them
more than it seemed to do. His firmness was sometimes
exposed to severe trials. I remember in particular the
debate of May 1832, when the Government, who were un-
willing to oppose his resolutions directly, endeavoured to
neutralize their effect by a ' rider.' He was earnestly
entreated by a great many members to consent to this
without dividing the House ; but strong in his own convic-
tion of what was right, he resisted them all. I sat by him
through the whole of that anxious evening, and was as-
tonished at the firmness which he displayed. He obtained
a large minority, but many of those who voted in it were
very angry with him for placing them in opposition to the
ministry.
" This debate led to the appointment of a committee, on
which I was one of Mr. Buxton's nominees, as well as on
those which were subsequently appointed at his instance, on
the state of the Aborigines connected with our colonies, and
on the working of apprenticeship in the West Indies. These
cost him very many toilsome hours. Nothing, indeed, could
exceed the perseverance with which he pursued his inquiries,
or the zeal with which he endeavoured to elicit truth. His
energy never flagged, nor do I remember his ever losing
temper in the fatigues and annoyances of these labours. In
( neral, at the rising of the committee, when the members
summoned to the House, a number of persons were in
waiting, each of whom had his own observations on the
evidence, or his suggestions to submit to Mr. Buxton, or it
might be some grievance to bring under his notice, or some
scheme of benevolence for which his patronage waa requested.
Kadi of these watched his opportunity, probably believing
his own to be the business of all others paramount in im-
portance. To all these persons he was accessible, and though
exhausted by his juvvious exertions, to all he gave a patient
and attnimr ear. Often on these occasions I have urged
him to break away from this additional strain upon his mind,
and leave the heated eommitUc room, but he invariably
C C
386 IRISH CHURCH. CHAP. XXIII
persevered, until he had dismissed his numerous applicants,
satisfied with the manner of their reception, and charmed
with his great kindness and consideration.
" For some years Mr. Buxton and myself were associated
with a select band of members of Parliament who, though
of varied and even opposite political opinions, met on every
* House night,' for a short period, to enjoy confidential inter-
course on the one subject upon which all were agreed.
"Reading from Scripture and prayer, were the leading
objects for which we assembled Mr. Buxton was one of the
most constant attendants, and very often ( the chaplain.'
Nor can I doubt that these meetings greatly strengthened
and sustained him, under the fierce opposition, with which he
was too often assailed."
In one of Mr. O'Connell's speeches on some Irish
question, he exclaimed, " Oh ! I wish we were blacks !
If the Irish people were but black, we should have
the honourable member for Weymouth coming down
as large as life, supported by all ' the friends of
humanity ' in the back rows, to advocate their cause."
This allegation was jocosely made, but it was not
entirely wide of the truth. Every thing connected
with the African race seemed to touch a chord of
feeling in Mr. Buxton's heart, and to bear a stronger
sway over his sympathies than any other subjects
could attain.
Yet the affairs of Ireland deeply interested him.
" Never," he said, in 1835, " did I make any public
subject, except slavery, a matter of so much prayer
as this question of the Irish Church." In the session
of that year he moved as an amendment to Lord
John Russell's motion on the application of its
surplus funds, the insertion of the words " moral arid
religious," instead of "general" education ; and a pro-
183G. LETTER TO HIS SONS. 387
vision for the resumption of the surplus by the
Cl lurch, when required.
The following letter was addressed, after that de-
bate, to his younger sons at Northrepps :
" My dear Boys, ' Devonshire Street, April it. 1835.
" C. will tell you how I have been engaged this week. It
has been very laborious work. I did not get to bed this
morning till broad daylight, near seven o'clock ; so I sup-
pose you were up before I was down.
" I have scarcely time to write, as I must be at the House
of Commons again early, and there I shall be kept all night,
I suppose ; but I am quite equal to the exertion, and (I must
confess it) somewhat cheered and exhilarated by the success
of last night's effort. Work hard, my lads, and what you do
learn, remember ; fix it in your minds, and then write it in
your common-place books. The passage of my speech last
night which was best liked was a quotation picked up by me
some thirty years ago, when I was a youth planted in my
mind and there it was when I wanted it. I have just been
taking a delightful walk with your dear sister, Priscilla,
talking about slavery, and savages, and Slave Trade. When-
ever I want to clear and brighten up my mind, I find
nothing so effectual as an interchange of thoughts with
her.
" Give my best love to the ladies at the Cottage, and tell
them, that there, on the table before me, lie their Caffre
papers, and I now and then glance at them, and smile
at them as a treasure. Tell Miss Glover I am going to treat
IKT as the king treated Daniel. I call upon her, not only to
interpret niy dream, but to tell me what my dream is.
" I want her to find a passage to this effect : ' Our religion
Knives the face of day ; it does not skulk from truth.' But
where is it? Oh, that is more than I know. I think
it is either in a volume of South *, or in the fourth volume of
He quoted this passage from Dr. South, in his speech, in the fol-
lowing year. It stands thus: "Some of their (the Catholic) clergy
c c 2
388 CHURCH QUESTIONS. CIIAP. XXIII.
Hopkins ; and I think it is on the bottom of the left-hand
page, and marked by me. If she can find it by these clear
directions, and will send it to me, the world shall have it.
I think you might ride over to Sheringham, to tell them
all the news ; they would be so pleased to find that we were
pleased.
" I was delighted to have Edward at the House last night.
I was sure of one auditor, who would listen attentively,
and judge with partial acuteness."
Mr. Buxton's readiness to go hand-in-hand with
Dissenters in any work of mercy, and the hearty
friendship with which he was honoured by many
eminent Christians of different persuasions, gave rise
to an impression, that he had little affection for the
Established Church. This impression was entirely
erroneous. Thrown, as he had been, amongst pious
and benevolent Dissenters, he could not but rejoice in
the deep fellowship of heart which existed between
them and him ; but he was not the less firmly attached
to his own branch of the Church of Christ : he loved
her sublime and solemn ritual, and he looked upon
her as a most important means of preserving and
propagating Christian truth. But he could not
consider any particular form of Church government
as having come from God, and therefore too sacred
to be touched by the hand of man. Accordingly,
his desire to increase the efficiency of the Church led
him to seek the reform of those abuses which during
deal with their religion as with a great crime ; if it is discovered, they
are undone. But our religion is a religion that dares to be understood,
that offers itself to the search of the inquisitive, to the inspection of the
severest and most awakened reason ; for, being secure of her substantial
truth and purity, she knows, that for her to be seen and looked into, is
to be embraced and admired. "'
1836. NOTES FOR FAMILY PRAYERS. 389
the lapse of ages, had crept into her institutions.
Put on this, as on all other important occasions,
he did not act without deep deliberation and earnest
prayer for guidance. In the lists* which he made
almost every Sunday, of the subjects to be dwelt
upon in his family prayers, " the Church " is, at this
pi-riod, usually inserted as one on which he required
help and direction.
The following notes for his family prayers, were
written by him when about to leave Northrepps
in February, 1836, to engage in the duties of the
session :
" In removing, we pray that that merciful Providence
which has stood round about us, may continue ; sheltered,
refreshed, councilled, strengthened by thee. Ward off dan-
ger, baffle our enemy, rob sin of its temptations; make us
wholly, in inward thoughts and outward deeds, thine own.
" Be thou the mover of every work in which we engage.
" The councillor to teach us what to say and do.
" The source of strength, confidence, and comfort.
" May we labour, not with eye- service, but in singleness of
heart.
" Bless those rising from bondage, and all efforts on their
In -half; the heathen, suffering from the evils and oppression
of men, calling themselves Christians; and may a choice
blessing rest on the efforts made for their physical advantage,
and religious advancement.
" Bless the spread of education, and of thy truth.
Uless me in dealing with the Church; no self-will, no
meaner motive than a desire to advance its interests."
Nor did lie omit to use every means of rendering
These were mere notes, to aid him in his family devotions ; they
won. 1 not the same as the papers of religious meditations, from which
extracts have been given before.
c c 3
390 IRISH TITHE BILL. CHAP. XXIII.
himself fully acquainted with the case. Writing
to the Bishop of London, to request information
on many points connected with it, he adds, "I
trust the importance of the subject, and my anxiety
to be fully persuaded as to my vote upon it, will
be my excuse for giving your lordship so much
trouble." These examples prove, that whether his
conduct on these Church questions did or did not
deserve the severe reprobation which it received
from many of his religious friends, it was, at least,
not undertaken in a spirit of rash self-confidence.
The second reading of Lord John Russell's Irish
Tithe Bill was brought forward on the 1st of June.
Mr. Buxton argued strongly in favour of each of the
three leading clauses, which provided, in his own
words, " First, that the incumbent should no longer
apply to the wretched cottager and impoverished
tenant, but should have his claim upon the land
itself." " Will any one," exclaimed he, " pretend to
say that this is ruin, or even peril to the Church?"
" Secondly, that the funds of the Irish Church should
be more equally distributed among its ministers."
" The present system," he said, " by which the
Church is often liberal and bountiful to the ineffective,
and parsimonious to the useful labourer, is not
merely injustice, but also the worst husbandry in the
world." " Thirdly, that the remuneration to the clergy
should thereafter be confined within certain limits on
either hand." " It should be," he said, " not a state
of poverty, not a state of abundance ; it should neither
rise so high as to attract the envy of the people, nor
fall so low as to forfeit their respect. * * * *
1836. MB. BUXTON'S SPEECH. 391
in I ask, where is the wickedness of all this, and
where lies the danger?"
lie strongly supported the plan of giving the
surplus fund (after the new distribution of the
Church revenues) to defray the expense of a system
of education in which as much of the Bible was to be
read, as the Catholics would allow.
" Do I say that this is enough ? No ! I lament that
Scripture is thus sparingly doled out. * * But though
this system does not do all, it does much. It teaches the
Catholic to read it gives him a portion of Scripture to read.
I have better faith," he added, " in the truth of my religion,
than to dread that instruction can damage it; and this is
good, old, sound, Protestant doctrine."
I le concluded by pointing out how little the harsh
system hitherto pursued, had done towards the spread
of truth.
" How has it been," he asked, " that truth itself, backed
i Protestant establishment, by a Protestant king, a
Protestant army, a Protestant parliament that truth itself,
go far from advancing, has not kept her ground against
error ? My solution of the question is, that we have resorted
to force where reason alone could prevail. We have forgotten
that though the sword may do its work, mow down armies,
and subdue nations it cannot carry conviction to the under-
standing of men; nay, the very use of force tends to create
:i Carrier to the reception of that truth, which it intends to
promote. We have forgotten that there is something in the
human breast no base or sordid feeling, the same which
makes a generous mind cleave with double affection to a
distressed ami injured friend, and which makes men cleave
with tenfold fondness deaf to reason, deaf to remonstrance,
reckless of interest, prodigal of life to a persecuted religion.
I charge the failure of Protestant truth in converting the
Irish, upon the head of Protestant ascendency.
c c 4
392 ME. BUXTON'S SPEECH. CHAP. xxur.
" Protestant ascendency ! It sounds well enough in
English ears. It seems to mean no more than the Church
under the peculiar protection of the State. But happy had
it been for the Protestant Church had Protestant ascendency
never been heard of happy had it been had we dared to
present our truth to the Irish, not in arms, not in pomp } not
decorated with the symbols of earthly power, but in that
lowliness and gentleness which naturally belong to it.
" But I dare not trespass longer on the House. I like
the bill, and shall vote for it : first, because tithe is adjusted ;
secondly, because stipend is to be measured by duty ; thirdly,
because education is to be granted. I like, and shall vote
for the bill, lastly, because it bears no affinity to the old,
overbearing system of PrCtestant ascendency ; and because,
as I have so often said, it gives my faith fair play ; because,
at last, the Protestant religion will do herself justice. Stripped
of her odious disguise, she will appear to the Irish what we
know she is. She will appear in her natural, her peaceful,
her charitable, her attractive character."
This speech gave great displeasure to many of his
clerical friends, who conceived that he was bent on
the ruin though all he desired was the temperate
reform of the Irish Church establishment ; and
although " he had taken the opportunity," as he
writes the day after the debate, " of separating him-
self from the Radicals, by condemning Hume's pro-
posal for paying church rates out of the money to
be saved from bishops and deans."
To Joseph John Gurney, Esq.
" The Vicarage,, Lowestoff, 1836.
# * * * Francis Cunningham preached a noble ser-
mon last night ; plain, strong, earnest, and no self about it.
It would not have disgraced Goat Lane * ; as I have heard
* The Friends' Meeting House, in Norwich.
1836. LETTERS. 393
those there, and at Bradpole, which would have done honour
to a cathedral.
" It is curious and instructive to see F. and his wife going
full drive, and devoting their all to their sacred calling. I
. at least I think I love, the real thing this entire
dedication, whether it displays itself among Churchmen or Dis-
senters. But I am not flattered by Churchmen for my views !
Our friend writes thus to Francis: * Buxton cuts me
to the heart ; I never read such hollow, weak, flashy, unsatis-
factory speeches in my life:' and this but represents the
general impression among Evangelicals; for whom I feel,
nevertheless, the strongest affection, and with whom, I must
add (though they would be indignant at my presumption if
they heard it), the strongest union."
394
CHAPTER XXIV.
1836.
SCOTLAND. CAPERCAILZIE. LETTERS. HABITS OF LIFE AT
NORTHREPPS. ORDER. LOVE OF POETRY. HIS DOMESTIC
CHARACTER. LETTERS.
OVERWROUGHT with toil and anxiety, Mr. Buxton was
delighted to escape to Scotland in the beginning of
August. While he was on this tour, the Marquis of
Breadalbane, with true Highland hospitality, placed
one of his moors at his disposal, and, accordingly, he
remained for some time at Dalmally, and afterwards
at Luib*, enjoying the sport afforded by the sur-
rounding country.
Wishing to express his sense of this act of kindness,
he applied to his relative, Mr. Llewellyn Lloyd f,
who was residing in Sweden, engaging him to use his
best exertions to procure as many live capercailzie
as possible, as a present to Lord Breadalbane.
The capercailzie, or cock of the woods, as it is well
known, were in former times denizens of the Scotch
forests; but the last specimen was shot about a
hundred years ago in Perthshire. They are large
birds, a full-grown cock weighing about twelve
* While at Luib Inn, he was rendered uneasy after two or three
days by the non-appearance of his letters. " I understood you had a
post here," said he to the landlord. " Oh yes, sir," was the reply,
" but the last day or two he has been out shooting with you."
f Author of " Northern Field Sports."
1836. CAPERCAILZIE. 395
pounds ; they live, for the most part, in larch forests,
and are found throughout Sweden and Norway. Mr.
Lloyd sent advertisements for live capercailzie, to the
villages up the country; these advertisements, ac-
cording to the Swedish custom, were read from the
pulpits after divine service, and in the course of the
winter, thirteen cocks and sixteen hens were procured,
which were placed under the care of Larry Banvill,
(Mr. Buxton's faithful Irish gamekeeper,) who had
been sent to Sweden for the purpose, and by whom
they were successfully conveyed to Taymouth Castle.
After a time, they were all turned out into the larch
woods at Taymouth, in which they have thriven so
wi-11, that they are now stated to amount to about
two thousand ; and as several other proprietors have
followed the example, and have introduced them from
Sweden, there is every reason to expect that this fine
bird will become once more naturalised in Scotland.*
Mr. Buxton writes from Loch-earn-head :
"August 27. 1836.
" I am astonishingly idle, and it agrees with me beyond
any other medicine. I do not get much shooting, but plenty
of walking and wetting, plenty of appetite, and plenty
of sleep. Sad thoughts of distant friends cloud the imagi-
nation, but the bodily benefit is still obtained ; I certainly
wanted a holiday, and, in one sense, I have got a complete
* When the Queen visited Lord Breadalbane, in 18+2, he kindly
permitted my brother and myself (then staying in the neighbourhood)
to shoot the first of these birds that had been killed in Scotland for a
hundred years, in preparation for Her Majesty's dinner. They were so
extremely wild that it took the whole day to get six shots. We could
just see them vanishing from the tops of the tall larches while we were
still a great dMumv from them, and we could only kill them by using
cartridges of No. 3. Ei.
396 DEATH OF MRS. HOAUE. CIIAP. XXIV.
one ; for I have nothing to do, nothing to read, and this
is almost the only letter I have written for a week."
The illness of his sister-in-law, Mrs. Samuel Hoare,
was one of the painful circumstances to which he
refers as clouding his enjoyment. On receiving the
account of her death, he writes from the house of Mr.
Johnston, to the Bishop of Calcutta :
"Renny Hill, Fife, Sept. 10. 1836.
" Our minds have been occupied of late, by a most sad
event, the death of my wife's sister. I am sure you must
remember Mrs. Samuel Hoare of Hampstead. I hardly know
how to speak of her as I ought ; she was almost as dear to me
as anything upon earth. For more than thirty years, I have
been united to her in the closest intimacy. In all that time,
I cannot recollect one moment's ruffle between us, or one
word which betokened anything but affection or love. But
what is my loss, compared with that of her husband and
children ? She came as near perfection as any human being
I ever knew. It was not that she had one kind of merit
carried to a great height. She possessed each accomplish-
ment of a female and a Christian, in the same rare degree.
Soft and gentle as she was, she was no less steadfast, firm, and
immovable. To these moral qualities, to the most winning
manners, to a noble countenance, to the utmost refinement
and delicacy, she joined an intellect of a very high order.
Her views on every subject were broad and capacious.
There was nothing petty about her. She laid
out her talents to the best advantage, and never was idle.
She read a great deal, and turned all her reading to account,
as her Tracts, and her Hints on early Education evince.
* * * I know not why I pour out all this to you, but
my mind and my pen can turn to no other subject."
After spending a few weeks at Renny Hill, Mr.
Buxton returned to Northrepps ; and having resumed
the usual tenour of his life there during the autumnal
months, he writes to his son :
1836. LETTERS. 397
" I have again made an alteration in my gun-stock, con-
trary to your advice. I have shot execrably all the year,
and could stand it no longer, so I employed a Holt carpenter
to hew me a stock, according to my own fancy, out of the
trunk of a tree. It is in its primitive simplicity, and is so
wide as to * contrive the double debt to pay,' of stock while
shooting, and table at luncheon ; but rough and awkward as
it is, I shall, I trust, take the conceit out of the young ones
with it.
" I have been calculating that since Parliament closed,
I have ridden 500 miles, and walked 1500.
" ' Better to hunt in fields for health unbought,
Than fee the doctor for a nauseous draught,
The wise, for cure, on exercise depend.'
" So sings Dryden, and what he preached, I practise.
" I shall send you a basket to-night, as proof that my log
of a gun-stock can do execution. We are very
happy here. If you catch the influenza, lie up at once
obsta"
To Charles Buxton, Esq., at Bellfield.
"October, 1836.
" I take shooting very easy this year, having always a
shooting pony with me ; he is a wonder, has as good action as
your old leader, and is as handsome ; as quiet as a lamb, and
strong enough to carry, and sometimes does carry, Mr. Hoare
and myself together, eats bread and cheese, drinks beer, is a
particularly good judge of porter, and prefers ours."
Kvery year seemed to increase his delight at leav-
ing behind him the cares and turmoils of London,
and often, when nearly worn out by the fatigues of
the session, would Swilt'> lines rise to his lips :
398 POWER OF THOUGHT. CHAP. XXIV.
" Thus in a sea of folly tost,
My choicest hours of life are lost ;
Yet always wishing to retreat,
Oh, could I see my country seat !
There, leaning near a gentle brook,
Sleep, or peruse some ancient book,
And there in sweet oblivion drown
Those cares that haunt the court and town.
O charming noons ! and rights divine !
******
Each willing to be pleased, and please,
And e'en the very dogs at ease ! "
His system on coming into the country was, after
a thorough arrangement of his personal affairs, to
abandon the first few weeks to the relaxation of field
sports. Towards the end of October, when Mr.
Hoare usually left Norfolk, Mr. Buxton resumed his
settled occupations, and was strict in devoting to
them the best hours of the day. He thus adapted
to himself the well known lines of Sir William
Jones :
" Secure six hours for thought, and one for prayer,
Four in the fields, for exercise and air,
The rest let converse, sleep, and business share."
Six hours may appear a large proportion of his
day to give to reflection, but his singular power of
sustained and concentrated thought was unques-
tionably the most remarkable feature of his mind.
Not, indeed, that he had a turn for meditation upon
speculative or philosophical questions, but when (as
very often happened) his decision was required upon
practical matters of an intricate character, he would
wrap his mind in reflection upon them, with an
intensity not often equalled. He could not, like
HABITS OF ORDER. 399
SOIMP, take a question by storm, and in a moment
put every doubt to flight ; he seemed to give every
difficulty its fullest weight, and to balance the
arguments on one side against the arguments on the
other, with accurate care; giving them such close
attention, that whatever might be going on around
him, his mind could scarcely be diverted by any-
thing from its track. When going to London with
various important matters on his hands, he would
often take a list of them with him, and going
regularly through it, would clench his mind upon
them one after the other, till by dint of strenuous
thought, he had mastered all their bearings and made
up his mind for ever. Once decided, he seldom
turned to the question again. His character may
be said to have been formed of a " durable ma-
terial," so that an impression once effectually made,
seemed never to be obliterated, scarcely even to
lose the sharpness of its edge, by the lapse of years.*
This quality was seen in lesser as well as in greater
matters, and in no instance was it more displayed than
in the important point of order. The love of order,
and power to maintain it, had certainly not been given
him by nature ; for many busy years of his life, his
study, wherever it might happen to be, seemed a chaos
of confusion, crowded with heaps of books and papers,
letters and documents, unsorted and unlabelled, nor
* In early life he was often unpunctual in his attendance at church ;
but after hearing a sermon from the Rev. Samuel Crowther, on the duty
of iK'in.tr present at the beginning of public worship and joining in the
confession, he was thoroughly convince*], and was never again (as he
siid himself thirty years after) late at church through carelessness.
.'.
400 HABITS OF ORDER. CHAP. XXIV.
would he allow any one to touch them. But in the
year 1827, he was vividly impressed by a casual
view of the order and precision maintained in one of
the Government offices. After the illness of that
year, when he could not bear mental application, a
favourable opportunity presented itself for carrying
out his resolution, to have his " papers in subjection."
For three weeks he devoted himself, with his domestic
helpers, to this task ; every document in his possession,
public and private, was looked over, folded to a
certain size, with its contents accurately endorsed
upon it, and then classified. The parcels of papers
were tied up in boards made to the same size, legibly
marked ; the more copious subjects, such as slavery,
filling many of these packets, under different sub-
divisions. Pigeon holes in his book-cases and other
expedients were provided, by which these packets
were so placed as to be instantly accessible. The
work once accomplished, he never relaxed in it
again ; from this time to the end of his life every
paper that came into his hands was subjected to the
same regulations, and his various secretaries will
remember the playful but unremitting strictness,
with which he required the execution of his plans in
this respect. The same principle extended to all his
pecuniary affairs. He had some unalterable rules
about money matters, which preserved him from the
dangers that might otherwise have resulted from his
natural tendency to free expenditure. In his private
accounts he was exact but not minute ; and once a
year he thoroughly investigated the whole state of
his property. At the beginning of his private ledger,
1836. HABITS OF ORDER. 401
the following sentences were written:
" ' Quid refert igitur quantis jumenta fatiget
Porticibus, quanta nemorum vertetur in uuibr.i.
Jugera quot vicina foro, quas emerit ivdes ?
Nemo inalus felix.' Juvenal, Sat. 4.
" ' What need so much provision, for so short a journey.'
Hopkins vol. iv. p. 57. October 20. 1833.
" * What a nothing it is that we make so much of, and
follow so greedily, and hold so fast ! ' Baxter, vol. iii. p. 429.
" ' To work our own contentment, we should not labour
so much to increase our substance, as to moderate our de-
sires. Bishop Sanderson.'
" He that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave
them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.
Jeremiah, chap. 17. verse 11."
Except that his hospitalities were more bounded
by want of room, his life at Northrepps was much
the same as it had been at Cromer Hall, domestic,
yet social. The mornings were spent, as has been
said, in his study or with his gun; and after dinner
he usually lay upon the sofa, while some one read
aloud to him from the passing literature of the day.
liiiL r , in fact, filled up every leisure hour; he
never tired of listening to it. " Well, what shall we
read?" v, as the first question upon his entering the
drawing-room; and he paid the closest attention,
bring always able to repeat the words that terminated
the passage read on the previous evening. He had
a great taste for biography, perhaps still more for
works of humour; but especially he had, as he said
himself, an "insatiable thirst for military adventure."
1 !'- love of poetry has been alluded to before, and he
D D
402 LOVE OP POETRY. CHAP. XXIV.
endeavoured to cultivate the same taste in those
about him. Every Sunday evening his children
were expected to repeat a passage of poetry, and he
always required the utmost fluency and accuracy in
the repetition : he insisted also on the reciter looking
him full in the face while going through the task.
He distributed his rewards with his usual open-
handed generosity, and sometimes his guests were
playfully invited to join in the exercise, and re-
ceived their half-crown with the rest. His frequent
quotations (especially from Shakspeare, Pope and
Dry den) showed how thoroughly his mind was
imbued with the writings of the principal English
poets. Johnson's " Vanity of Human Wishes " was
a favourite with him. On the well-known lines
<e In life's last scene, what prodigies arise,
Fears of the brave, and follies of the wise."
" I take that," he remarked, "to be one of the
truest things ever said in poetry, but," he added,
" the word ' last ' should be omitted. Life is crowded
with ' fears of the brave, and follies of the wise.' "
With Cowper's poems he became acquainted some-
what late in life. He was with a shooting party at
Marham (the seat "of Mr. Yillebois, in Norfolk),
when, being driven in by rain, and thoroughly wetted,
he retreated to his room. It happened that there
was no book there but a volume of Cowper's poems.
He read them for hours, and ever afterwards took
the greatest delight in 'them. For more modern
poetry he had less taste, but to that of Sir Walter
Scott he would listen again and again with the
keenest enjoyment. When tea was finished, he
INTEREST IN MISSIONS. 403
usually walked into his study, and returned after
a time with any letters or papers connected with his
undertakings, that he might have received or written
iu the course of the day, and the reading of these,
with the discussions upon them, which he encouraged,
usually occupied the remainder of the evening. In
all Missionary enterprises he took the liveliest interest,
listening with avidity to intelligence of their progress.
Many private communications of this nature were
also made to him; especially from Africa and the
\\Yst Indies. He annually made himself complete
master of the affairs and proceedings of the Bible
Society, his fidelity to which never wavered. " I
am ready to confess," he once wrote, " that there is
no cause, not even Emancipation itself, to which I
would more readily give a helping hand than to the
Bible Society."
Some mention ought to be made of the part he
took in the establishment of the London City Mission.
lit was not alarmed at the novelty and boldness of
the experiment; its catholic character was com-
pletely to his taste, and it always received his
adherence and generous support. On its first foun-
dation by Mr. David Nasmith, in September 1835,
he wrote to that gentleman:
" Dear Sir,
" I have only reached home within these five minutes;
but, in order to save the post, which is just starting, I write
at once to say that I will, with pleasure, accept the office of
treasurer ; and only hope that you are right and I am wrong
as to the propriety of the selection."
This office he held till his death.
404 HIS DOMESTIC CHARACTEK. CHAP. XXIV.
His family were early trained to take an interest
in his pursuits, and to share in his hopes and fears ;
he encouraged the remarks and the criticisms even
of its younger members, and would accept from them
the most trivial assistance. Indeed, he seemed to
have a strong feeling of personal gratitude to any
one who would share his solicitude for the welfare of
his black clients. " From the time that I became
closely connected with him," writes Mr. Johnston,
"I. saw how much of his time and mind were given
to his great objects, in his domestic circle, as well as
in his study. He had a happy art of imbuing all
those around him with his own feelings, and of
inducing them to give him their most strenuous aid.
He was, indeed, a delightful chief to work for, so
stimulating, yet so indulgent, and so ready to repay,
with lavish liberality, every effort, however trifling,
made on behalf of those to whom he was devoting
not labour only, but life itself. * * * * His
generosity, in fact, was unbounded he seemed to
watch for opportunities of heaping kindness upon
those he loved."
The extreme tenderness of his feelings was es-
pecially shown if any of them were in sickness or
distress ; or when he received them again under his
roof after any lengthened absence, " Never, I think,"
observed one, " was such a welcome seen on any
human face." His papers bear witness to his unre-
mitting, untiring " labours in prayer" for the members
of his family; they are individually mentioned, on
every occasion, with discriminating affection, and
1836. CONDUCT AS A FATHER. 405
striking, indeed, was the solemnity and the fervour
with which he poured out his supplications.
As a parent he was remarkably indulgent : a trivial
in>tunce may be quoted from one of his letters to
Mrs. JJtixtun :
" I write now about the coursing to-morrow. As
did not behave well and kindly, you were quite right in
deciding to deprive him of the sport to-morrow ; but, as it is
so very great a pleasure to me to think of him as happy and
enjoying himself, I hope you will for this time excuse him,
and that he will make a point of repaying the indulgence by
very good behaviour. Thus we shall think of him as happy
and good too."
At the time of his hardest work in London, he
would often, on his way to the House, buy pictures,
and conceal them in his waste-paper basket, to enjoy
the glee of his younger children, and their daily
renewed astonishment at discovering them there in
the morning.
His ma nner to them, as they grew older, is shown
in the following casual mention of it by one of his
sons, then a mere boy.
" I cannot help being struck with the exquisite tenderness
of heart which my father always displays; his unwillingness
to debar us from pleasure, the zeal with which he will make
any sacrifice, or take any trouble to gratify us, is most sur-
prising. One little example to-day will describe his whole
c. induct. Hi-, lii-ing really unwell, was lying nearly asleep
(.11 the sofa, and observing me upon another, with my feet
hanging over the side, he quietly got up, placed a chair
under till-in, and tlu-n lay down again. His whole
appearance, with his worn ami thoughtful Jan-, is ?o much
that of a man whom one would approach with sonic seii.-:iti>n
D D 3
406 LETTER TO ONE OF HIS SONS CHAP. XXIV.
of awe, that these small, though exquisite, acts of tender-
ness are the more unexpected, and, consequently, the more
pleasing."
He occasionally, but very rarely, gave direct admo-
nitions. The following letter was addressed to one
of his sons on entering Trinity College, Cambridge :
" My dear ,
" It is always a disappointment to me to be absent, when
my boys are at home ; but I particularly regretted being
away last week, as I think I might have done something for
your shooting, before you went to College. I need not, I hope,
tell you of the extreme interest I take in the launch of your
little skiff on the ocean of life, and how ardently I desire that
' soft airs and gentle hearings of the wave,' may accompany
your voyage ; and that you may be safely piloted into the
serene and lovely harbour prepared by the love of God. It is
not often that I trouble my children with advice, and never,
I believe, unless I have something particular to say. At the
present time, I think I have that to say which is deeply im-
portant to your success in the business of life ; nay, its effects
may extend beyond the grave. You are now a man, and I
am persuaded, that you must be prepared to hold a very
inferior station in life to that which you might fill, unless you
resolve, with God's help, that whatever you do, you will
do it well ; unless you make up your mind, that it is better to
accomplish perfectly a very small amount of work than to half-
do ten times as much. What you do know, know thoroughly.
There are few instances in modern times of a rise equal
to that of Sir Edward Sugden. After one of the Weymouth
elections, I was shut up with him in a carriage for twenty -four
hours. I ventured to ask him, what was the secret of his
success; his answer was, 'I resolved, when beginning
to read law, to make every thing I acquired perfectly
my own, and never to go to a second thing, till I had entirely
accomplished the first. Many of my competitors read as
much in a day as I read in a week ; but, at the end of
183G. ON ENTERING COLLEGE. 407
twelve months my knowledge was as fresh as on the day
it was acquired, while theirs had glided away from their
recollection.
" Let the same masculine determination to act to some
purpose, go through your life. Do the day's work to-day.
At college I was extremely intimate with two young men,
both of extraordinary talents. The one was always ahead of
his tutor; he was doing this year the work of next year, and
although, upon many parts of the subject, he knew more than
\aminer, yet he contrived to answer what was actually
proposed to him, most scandalously; while the other, by
knowing perfectly what it was his business to know (though
not confining himself to that), never, to the best of my recol-
lection, tailed to answer any question that was put to him.
"Again, be punctual. I do not mean the merely being
in time for lectures, &c. ; but I mean that spirit, out of
which punctuality grows, that love of accuracy, precision and
vigour, which makes the efficient man ; the determination,
that what you liave to do, shall be done, in spite of all
obstacles, and finished off, at once, and finally. I
believe I have told you the story of Nelson and his coach-
maker, but you must hear it once more. When he was
on the eve of departure for one of his great expeditions,
the coachmakcr said to him, * The carriage shall be at the
door punctually at six o'clock.' * A quarter before,' said
NYIson, ' I have always been a quarter of an hour before my
time, and it has made a man of me.'
"How often have I seen persons, who would have done
well, if they would but have acted up to their own sense
of duty ! Thankful I am to believe that conscience is the es-
tablished ruler over your actions; but I want to enlarge
it- province, and to make it condescend to these, which may
appear to you minor matters. Have a conscience to be
fitting yourself for life, in whatever you do, and in the
management of your mind and ] lowers. In Scripture phrase,
' (Jircl up the loins of your mind.' Sheridan was an example
of the want of this equality. In early life, he got into a
P D 4
408 LETTER TO ONE OF HIS SONS. CHAP. XXIV.
grand quarrel and duel, the circumstances of which were
to his credit (always excepting the fighting the duel), but
they were misrepresented : he came to town, resolved to set
the British public right, and as Perry, the Editor of the
'Morning Chronicle,' was his friend, he resolved to do so,
through the channel of that paper. It was agreed between
them, that Sheridan, under a fictitious name, should write a
history of the affair, as it had been misrepresented, and that
he should subsequently reply to it in his own name, giving
the facts of the case. The first part he accomplished, and
there appeared in the Chronicle a bitter article against him,
written, in fact, by himself; but he could never find time to
write the answer, and it never was written : * The slothful
man roasteth not that which he took in hunting.'
" All the men who have done things well in life, have been
remarkable for decision of character. Tacitus describes Julius
Ca3sar as ' monstrum incredibilis celeritatis atque audaciae ; '
and Bonaparte, having published to all the world the day on
which he should leave Paris to meet Wellington at Waterloo,
did actually start on that day ; but he had so arranged
matters, and travelled with such expedition, that he took the
British army by surprise.
" The punctuality which I desire for you involves and
comprehends the exact arrangement of your time. It is
a matter on which much depends; fix how much time
you will spend upon each object, and adhere, all but ob-
stinately, to your plan. ( Method,' says Cecil, ' is like
packing things in a box; a good packer will get in half
as much again as a bad one.' My letter, I see, is swelling
into a sermon, but the day is fine, and Larry is waiting, so I
must bring it to a close. Ponder well what I have said, and
call on God to help you in arraying yourself in the qualities
which I desire. If you mean to be the effective man,
you must set about it earnestly, and at once. No man ever
yet ' yawned it into being with a wish ; ' you must make
arrangements for it ; you must watch it ; you must notice
when you fail, and you must keep some kind of journal
of your failures.
1836. LETTER FROM BELLFIELD. 409
I 'ut, whatever negligence may creep into your studies,
or into your pursuits of pleasure or of business, let there
no point, at least, on which you are always watchful,
always alive: I mean in the performance of your religious
lu ties. Let nothing induce you, even for a day, to neglect
the perusal of Scripture. You know the value of prayer; it
is precious beyond all price. Never, never neglect it.
" Well, my dear boy, or man if you please, if I have been
somewhat hard upon you in parts of thia letter, you must
excuse me, remembering that few have a father so deeply and
tenderly attached as you have; or one, in general, more
Mind to defects, or more keen-eyed in the discernment of
llencies.
" Your most affectionate friend and father,
" T. FOWELL BUXTON."
One event of the year 1836 had been the marriage
of his eldest son to Catherine, second daughter of Mr.
Samuel Gurney.
Soon afterwards, he writes to Mrs. Buxton, from
lic-lliield:
It is now five o'clock ; we dine at half- past; the interval,
my dearest wife, is reserved for you. I have much enjoyed
In ing here; I went off from London very comfortably, having
the coach to myself almost the whole way. I slept the first
and the last, so I had from seven in the morning
till seven at night, to read and reflect; and I was very
happy, and I feel very strongly, perhaps never so strongly,
that mercy and goodness have followed me all the days
of my life. Others may deny that there is a special Pro-
v'ulenee, but it is too barefaced a lie for me. What kept me
fn. m the r.rewery at fourteen, and sent me to College,
ami made me avail myself of its advantages? What led
me to Earlham. * * * * What plaeed me in so pros-
a bu.-ine>s, without which 1 never could have thought
public life? What plaeed me under Pratt's ministry
410 HIS VISITS TO BELLFIELD. CHAP. XXIV.
where my eyes were first opened to real truth ; and what
sent severe illness to confirm and ripen the impression made
at Wheeler Chapel? What placed me in Parliament, and
kept me there for nearly twenty years, in spite of almost
desperate probabilities against me ? What made my mother
sow the seeds of abhorrence of slavery in my mind ; and dear
Priscilla exhort me to undertake the subject, when she
was dying, and Wilberforce commit it to me, when he became
unable to continue the task ? I could go on till the dinner-
bell to-morrow evening, recounting the instances in which
I have seen the finger of a blessed and divine Providence.
" I looked yesterday and to-day, in walking through this
serene place, at the present posture of our affairs, and I
could see only cheering prospects, and causes of deep thank-
fulness. How happy this connection of Edward's ! I feel
the kindness of Providence in giving me, in a new child, the
very person I most like; ****** an( j then
what confidence I have that it will be blessed. I sat still
and prayed, and a loving Providence arranged it all. Then
I turn to A., and to P., who is rich in the things her
happiness requires. If dinner would but wait, I would
tell you how happy I have felt about the younger ones. But
in none have I had a greater sense of comfort and of God's
mercy, than in one who, though not here to cheer us, is
in the regions of perfect bliss. I can contemplate his state,
and the dealings of Providence with us, as concerns him, and
be very thankful, and very sure, in feeling as well as in
reason, that all is right. There goes the bell."
In his often repeated visits to Bellfield, Mr. Buxton
showed himself in quite a new character. His uncle
(who was very fond of him, and towards whom he
felt like a son) treated him, to the last, as quite a
young man, and it was amusing to observe the happy
mixture of deference and decision, playfulness and
respect, with which his uncle's continual admonitions,
especially with respect to his health, were received
1836. LETTER TO HIS UNCLE. 411
by one, who was generally somewhat impatient of the
uncalled-for interference of others.
From Mr. Buxton's numerous letters to his uncle,
the following may be given :
To Charles Buxton, Esq., at Bellfield.
" North repps, December 31.
My dear Uncle, Eleven o'clock at Night.
" In the first place, as the old year is just going, I must
wish that the new one may be a really happy one to you and
my aunt. I hope that you both will pass through it in
health and comfort. No nephew had ever more reason
tor tlii- sincere wish than myself, and few nephews have
so truly desired it. The termination of one year and the
:ming of another is always a tune of much reflection with
inc. I look back to the past year, and see innumerable
errors and sins, and forward to the coming year, and con-
sider that, before it terminates, I may be called to judgment.
Ktcrnity is at hand with us all. Happy they, and only they,
who know that they have no merit which can save them, who
look for mercy only through Christ, who repent of past sins,
(! -ire to do God's will while on earth, and believe on Christ,
that lie can and will save those who obey him, and trust
in him. I know you are never offended by my talking
on such subjects, and they naturally spring up in my mind
ju?t as a new year is coming."
lit- was ut all times deeply anxious for the religious
interests of those with whom he was in any way
connected, and occasionally he felt it his duty to
express his opinions to them on the subject. The
following letter was thus addressed to a friend,
much his senior; and it is evident, that nothing
Itut stn>nir conscientious feeling could have induced
him to write it :
" I sun i>ei>iuuk'<l you will forgive me for saying to you
412 LETTER TO AN AGED FRIEND. CHAP. XXIV.
what has been upon my mind for some time. I have very
much wished to have some conversation with you on religious
subjects, but, from various causes, chiefly, perhaps, my own
want of courage, I have hitherto left you without un-
burthening my mind of the few things I wished to say. As
you were, however, so kind as to say that the hint I dropped
was not lost upon you, and that you had of late read through
the New Testament more than once, I must venture to
add something to that hint. I trust, then, that the great and
capital truth of Christianity is always before your mind, viz.,
that there is salvation in no other way than through the
atonement of Christ. The whole New Testament is a
declaration that in ourselves we are sinful, and deserving
nothing but condemnation ; but that the Son of God bore
the punishment of our offences, and that, by his merits,
those who believe on him are delivered. Faith, then, in
Christ is all in all. With it, however guilty we may have
been, we shall be safe ; and without it, no virtue, no moral
excellence, nothing in the shape of meritorious works, will
suffice. You will find the New Testament full of these
two simple, but all important, doctrines ; viz. our sinfulness,
and salvation through Christ, and he who knows them,
knows almost all that is essential. But then, those only who
believe in Christ shall have the benefit of the pardon and re-
conciliation which he came from heaven to obtain for us.
* No man cometh unto the Father but by me.' John, xiv. 6.
St. Paul has explained his faith in the 3d Chapter of
Philippians, v. 7, 8, 9 ; and in 2 Titus, ii. 1 1 14 ;
' There is none other name given among men, whereby
we may be saved, but that of Christ alone.' ' What must I do
to be saved ? ' said the gaoler to the Apostles : Acts, xvi. 30.
The plain unequivocal answer is, ' Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved.' It would be easy to
multiply texts to the same effect, for Scripture is full of
them. Faith in Christ, then, as the Son of God, and as
delivering us from our sins, being essential, how is it
to be obtained? It is to be obtained only through the
influence of the Holy Spirit ; and it is said, over and over
1836. REFLECTIONS. 413
again, that if we pray for the Holy Spirit, it will be given
us; that is the promise; Luke, ix. 13. Then comes the
point which I venture to urge, prayer to God for the Holy
Spirit to teach us all the truths essential to our salvation ;
to reveal Christ to our understandings, to impart to us that
holiness which is required of his disciples, to give us true re-
pentance, and to prepare us for the day of judgment. I
am persuaded you will forgive me for thus unburtheuing
my mind. It is some effort to me to do so, and I am
sure you will ascribe it to its true motive."
As usual, the year was closed by him with an
enumeration of the mercies received during its course.
To his list of domestic blessings, he now adds his
little grandson, who, he says, " is a source of delight,
and infinite amusement."
He proceeds :
"The accounts from the West Indies of the conduct
of our Negroes, is gratifying in the List degree ; so that that
subject, which for eleven years was a source of daily dis-
quietude, is now the refreshment and solace to which I
continually turn. The history of the past year is of favours
heaped upon me and mine, on the right hand and on the left."
After expressing his earnest desire that the Lord
might be with him in every public duty (enumerating
" the report about the Aborigines ; all that relates to
the Negroes ; the Apprenticeship Committee ; the
M'u-o fund; our speeches, and all our doings"), he
jukls :
me aright in all that I may say or do about
the C'hmvh <|ii<'.-tiuiis and let me take no part which shall
impair the real efficiency of that which I am sure I love and
atlmiiv.
" Bless my little grandson, ***** my brothers,
414 DESCRIPTION OF MR. BUXTON. CIIAP. XXIV.
sisters, and dear friends, and myself also, with the best
of blessings, for Christ's sake.
" f Thou hast given me a goodly heritage,' is the language
which I ought continually to be using. In what respect
have I not been bountifully dealt with ? Especially in having
pursuits in life so deeply interesting as they proceed, and
so full of promise as to the vast importance of their results,
that they may well satisfy my whole mind ? I would not
change objects with any man."
The following description of Mr. Buxton's ap-
pearance and manner at this period of his life is
from the pen of the Rev. John Richards, long a
valued inmate of his family :
" I shall never forget my first interview with your father.
I had been passing the night at Ham House, where he was
expected by an early coach from Norfolk. We were already
seated at the breakfast-table, when his arrival was announced,
and in he walked, stooping as he passed beneath the door-way,
and then drawing himself up to the full height of his com-
manding form. My thoughts had been previously busy
pourtraying the image of one with whom I was to be
brought into such close contact, and that, as you may
suppose, with an interest which excited me ; but, as he stood
dilated before me, though his frame was not so firmly knit
together as to convey the idea of robust strength, the real im-
pression was certainly one of awe. This feeling, however,
soon subsided on witnessing the joyous hilarity with which
he returned the greetings of his nieces, or, if it recurred for
a moment, when, on being presented to him, he surveyed
me with a somewhat scrutinizing look, it was at once com-
pletely dispelled by the warmth of his welcome and the kind-
ness of his manner ; and I was not long in discovering, from
the playful sallies and affectionate tones of his conversation,
that within that manly form there glowed the sensitive heart
of a child."
CHAP. XXV. 415
CHAPTER XXV.
1837, 1838.
AI'. UJIGINES* REPORT. CORRESPONDENCE. ELECTION. DEFEAT AT
WEYMOUTH. LETTERS. EFFORTS TO SHORTEN THE APPREN-
TICESHIP OF THE NEGROES. MR. BUXTON'S HESITATION. THE
APPRENTICESHIP ABOLISHED.
WITH the session of 1836, had closed the sitting
of the Aborigines' Committee, and the drawing up of
its report was entrusted to Mr. Buxton as its chair-
man. He was anxious to render this report a sort of
manual for the future treatment of aboriginal nations,
in connection with our colonies. Accordingly, in
January, 1837, he invited Dr. Philip to Northrepps,
and commenced his work.
" Dr. Philip has been here three days," he writes.
We arc in the heart of the Report on Aborigines.
Oh! for a spirit of wisdom poured down on our
labours."
The object of the report was to prove, first, the de-
structive cruelty to which the native tribes had gene-
rally been subjected: and, secondly, that wherever
they had received equitable and humane treatment,
they had increased in numbers, acquired the arts of
civilized life, and accepted the blessings of religion.
"April 2. 1837.
" The next few months are very important, as in them the
Aborigines' Koport will be settled. Most earnestly I pray
that it may stop tin. 1 oppressor, and open tin- door for the ad-
mission of multitudes of heathens to the fold of Christ.
416 THANKSGIVINGS. CHAP. XXIV.
" Then there is the Apprenticeship Committee, which
I bring forward on the 20th ; and the Slave Trade Question,
and East Indian slavery ; and other deep and various in-
terests which will speedily be unfolded. Grant, O Lord
of mercy, that in all I have to do, I may be steered by thee ;
that each event may be fraught with mercy ; that the influence
of thy grace may operate more directly and more forcibly on
my heart than it has hitherto done ; that thy blessing may
reside with my family, my friends, and my fellow-workers ; with
the Aborigines, the West Indies, Africa, India ; and if I have
offended, forgive me, or at least shield me from the dreadful
punishment. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take
not thy Holy Spirit from me.
" I must confess I look back without much sense of satis-
faction to my course on the English Church Rate bill. I did
desire and pray to be guided aright ; but yet I have a lurking
suspicion that secondary motives did, in some measure, bias
my judgment. If it were so, I beseech thy forgiveness, O
Lord, and pray that in future nothing may influence me, or
turn me aside from what is my duty to thee."
Many of his papers and letters at this period are
full of expressions of those grateful feelings to which
his heart had always been disposed, but which seem
to have risen higher and higher after the great
purpose of his life, the abolition of slavery, had been
achieved. In this strain, he writes from Northrepps :
"May 14. 1837-
" I dwelt much yesterday, and still more
to-day, on the mercy which has been showered upon me by
a gracious and indulgent Lord. I feel that I cannot be
grateful enough for the heaps and loads of mercies which
have been my lot, since my marriage thirty years ago. * *
That may fairly stand among earthly blessings as number one.
*****
" Then, my success in business, so good and so untrouble-
some; my seat in Parliament for nineteen years, and the
1837. ABORIGINES' REPORT. 417
which have been entrusted to me. * * * * My
children, my brothers and sisters, my friends ; the success
which has crowned my public labours. These are a few, and
but a few, of my sources of grateful satisfaction.
" My cup runneth over ; surely goodness and mercy have
followed me all the days of my life, and (may it be !) I shall
dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
" Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his
benefits (and every clause in that catalogue of mercies, each of
which has been offered for my acceptance). He maketh me
to lie down in green pastures.
" Farewell ! Farewell ! I must go and hear the birds sing,
and turn my eyes to the wonderful Giver of such stores of
mercies."
During this session, Mr. Buxton was chiefly oc-
cupied in completing, and carrying through the
committee, the report on the treatment of Aborigines,
which had been drawn up with so much care at
Northrepps. Before it was printed, it was carefully
revised by Sir George Grey, and it appears to have
had considerable weight with the Government in
promoting the equitable treatment of the natives in
our colonial dominions.
It was with peculiar satisfaction that he saw this
work completed ; for it was very doubtful whether
In- would long have the opportunity of continuing his
exertions in the House of Commons. The death of
the King, on the 20th of June, produced an immediate
dissolution of Parliament, and Mr. Buxton's return
for AVeymouth had never before appeared so insecure.
On account of his health he had felt serious doubts
as to standing again ; and he had been advised by
many to withdraw, at least for a time ; but he was no
i: i:
418 CORRESPONDENCE. CHAP. XXV.
willing to take the responsibility of leaving his post.
" I am of opinion," he writes, " that I ought to remain
in Parliament, even at a vast sacrifice."
To Charles Buxton, Esq., Bellfield.
" My dear Uncle, " Spitalfields, 1837.
" You must not be alarmed about the election. *
I really think I should not be happy, or feel that I had done
my duty, if I were to retire. I think (though, perhaps, it is
absurd vanity to say so,) that my being in Parliament is of
some little consequence to the Negroes in the West Indies ;
to the oppressed natives of our colonies ; and to the in-
habitants of Africa, exposed to the Slave Trade. As the first
are nearly one million, the second three millions, and the
third a great many millions, it would not be right to give up
a chance, if it were only a chance, of being returned, merely
because there may be some little humiliation to myself, in
being turned out.
" I don't care a straw about the disgrace. If I am turned
out, I cannot help it : I have done my best, and I shall
be satisfied. But if I were to go out of my own accord,
I think my conscience would reproach me. Besides all
which, I do not think they can turn me out quite so easily as
they imagine."
The following letter was addressed to Mr. Joseph
John Gurney, who was about to proceed to America,
on a religious visit to the Society of Friends :
"Upton, June 25. 1837.
" I think it is hardly possible for any one, at least of our
harder sex, to feel more than I do, in all that concerns your
going to America. We have been bound together, for
not far short of forty years, in one cloudless friendship. As
boy and man, I have been partner in all your fortunes,
and you in mine. I do not believe you ever, by word
1837. CORRESPONDENCE. 419
or deed, gave me a momentary vexation. You, I dare say,
are IK it aware how you have refreshed and encouraged me iu
my career ; in truth, I look to you with almost boundless
atKrtion and gratitude. It is against the grain with me
to let you go without seeing you again, but I fear it must be
so. After much deliberation, I have resolved to go down to
Wrymouth. The way in which Parliament affects my
health, has had great weight in the one scale, but, in the
other, there are three great points : West India Negroes,
Ka~t India slavery, and the Brazilian Slave Trade. If it were
the Wist India Negroes alone, I believe I should retire,
liccau-c nine-tenths of the work is done, and because there is
let- ling enough in the country to accomplish the remainder, and
persons enough, willing and able to call forth that feeling. I am
>u-adt'a>t in the belief, that that great experiment has been,
and will continue to be, crowned with more complete suc-
cess than the most sanguine among us anticipated. I know
very well that evil influences are working hard against it,
and that thousands of the Negroes are exposed to cruel injus-
tice. Nevertheless I do rejoice, and will rejoice in the ex-
tinction of slavery ; and the more I see of the posthumous
brood, the more I rejoice in the death of the old parent
dragon.
" And now, my dear brother, if I do not see you before your
dqiartmv, I take leave of you with a heart full of love, with
the most pleasant and grateful remembrance of you, and
with the most earnest prayers for your safety, comfort and
peace, for the full success of your mission, and for your
fruition of all that is contained in these words, ' Fearthou not,
for I am \\ith thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God.
I will strengthen thce, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold
thce with the right hand of my righteousness."
<>n tin- <lay that the Queen dissolved Parliament,
he writes to Mrs. S. Gurney, whose aged mother he
had visited on the previous day :
" My dear K , "July 17. 1837.
" I tin- day saw our youthful Queen surrounded by all the
E E 2
420 WEYMOUTH ELECTION. CHAP. XXV.
chief officers of state, herself wearing a crown of diamonds,
and arrayed in royal robes, and the House of Lords filled
with all the great ones of the country. She delivered an ad-
mirable address to the Parliament, with the utmost sweetness
of voice and the most exquisite grace of manner ; and yet
this spectacle has left a less pleasing, a less lively impres-
sion on my mind than the sight which I had yesterday the plea-
sure of witnessing, of an aged Christian, refined and puri-
fied, her work completed, waiting in patient cheerfulness the
will of her Lord. That is a sight full of instruction and conso-
lation. So much must I say, my dear sister, and you may
repeat it to her who is ready to depart and to be with Christ."
In July, lie went down to the election at Wey-
mouth. After mentioning to his eldest son the
difficulties into which he had been thrown by the
non-appearance of the other Whig candidate, he
adds :
" If Burdon does not stand, I think it all but certain
I shall lose the election. After hearing, on my arrival
last night, all the particulars I have given you, I felt so
perfectly satisfied, and so devoid of a momentary feeling of
regret, that I am confident I shall be very thankful if I am
turned out. Per contra, I am equally confident I shall be
very thankful, if I am once more turned loose in the House,
against slavery, Slave Trade, and white men's cruelties So
I am pretty sure to get a triumph. Love to C , and
my smiling namesake."
To Mrs. Buxton.
" Bellfield, July 24. ] 837.
" Here I am looking out on this splendid view ; nothing
can be more calm. I have passed a restless night, and have
been awake for hours.
" This day will, I expect, make an entire revolution in my
vocation. I have no expectation of being returned. When
I look at some of the arts that have been employed, I am half
1837. DEFEAT OF MR. BUXTON. 421
ready to be provoked ; but when I turn to the Creator of
the-c fields, and those waters, and remember, that all events
are in His hands, that nothing occurs but at His bidding,
I am restored to full peace. Heordereth all events, and that
ison enough for satisfaction ; and though, for the moment,
we are earned away by the current, it is not very difficult to
perceive, that we shall derive a hundred family benefits from
my exclusion from Parliament. I look upon myself as an old
horse turned out to grass, and it is folly to worry myself
by supposing, that other and better steeds will not be found
to do the work.
" I must now get ready. I do not expect to be in any
way disturbed by the events of the day ; but before it closes,
I >hall l)o a man of leisure ; that is no mean blessing :
a man, not slaving himself to death, but with time to walk,
to read, to sleep, to reflect, and better than these, time to
pray.
" One o'clock. Well, my dearest wife, your wishes are
realised : the troubles and worries of Parliament are over
with me ; and now we must be as happy, as healthy, and as
long-lived as possible. I am perfectly well satisfied with the
iv-ult, and view it as a release from a vast deal of labour."
To Joseph John Gumey, Esq., in America.
* My dear Brother, " Upton, July 30. 1837.
" We have gone so much hand-in-hand together all our
days, that I greatly miss you, now that a change has taken
place with me. I am reprieved from death, and emancipated
In >m slavery ; and both these blessings came under the form
of dismissal from Weymouth on Tuesday last. But you
.-hall have my history for the last fortnight, at least as much
of it as I can remember.
" You know, I believe, that a few days before the session
cl"-ed, I presented our report on the Aborigines. It is
a fair compendium of the evidence given In-fore the com-
mittee during three years, and a.s 1 had but a small portion
of the merit of drawing it up, I may be allowed to call it an
I
422 LETTER TO MR. GURNET. CHAP. XXV.
admirable document ; and I have little doubt it will go far to
check that desperate and wide-spreading villany, which
has rendered the intercourse of the civilized and Christian
man with the savage, little else than one uniform system of
cruelty, rapacity, and murder. In short, I am well satisfied ;
and have little more to say on that subject. Two or three
days before the session closed, I brought before the House
briefly, the questions of the Slave Trade, East India slavery,
and the transportation of the Coolies from India to the Mau-
ritius and the West Indies.
"But now for my personal history. On Monday, the 17th
of July the Queen dissolved the Parliament. Before her
messenger gave his three taps at our door, I gave notice
of a motion on East Indian slavery for next session. We
were then called before her Majesty. She looked well and
quite composed; in delivering her speech, her voice was
sweet and clear almost to perfection. In that great room,
with the multitude of people and some bustle, every syllable
was so distinctly articulated, as to be perfectly heard ;
and her voice rose into suitable emphasis when she said, that
her reign was auspiciously begun by giving her assent to the
mitigation of the Criminal Law.
" Thus, a second time, I have been drawn away from my
history, but these things may interest you, and I shall not
have anything to tell you of queens and parliaments for one
while. But now to my history in earnest.
" Before I went down to Weymouth, I began to fear ; for
one of my supporters told me that if I wished to secure
the election, it would be necessary to open public houses and
to lend money (a gentle name for bribery), to the extent of
WOOL I of course declined. It might or it might not
be my duty to get into Parliament, but it could not be
my duty to corrupt the electors by beer and bank notes.
" At ten o'clock on the day of nomination, out came Burdon's
address resigning the contest. George Stephen happened to
arrive by the mail at half-past ten, unshaven, unbreak-
fasted, we converted him into a candidate. The Tories
had hired a stout mob from the adjacent country, and as they
1837. REGRET OF WEYMOUTII ELECTORS. 423
kept the beer going, our audience was rather of the noisiest.
It seemed to me that I could not be heard ; but I find I was
distinctly. * * * In the middle of the day I found
the affair was hopeless, and ceased to press my voters to come
ti.-rward.
At the close of the poll I went with Edward to the
booth, where my opponents and their friends were collected,
>hook hands with them, wished them joy, walked about the
town for half an hour with Barlow and Edward to cheer up
my friends, who were sadly out of spirits, and then went to
Bellfield, where we passed a very cheerful evening ; and up
to this moment, not one shade of regret on my own account,
however slight, however transient, has passed over my mind,
at the memory of my departed honours.
****! j iave not jj a jf described the manifestation of
feeling which took place in the town. The children set them-
selves to work to collect subscriptions to give me a piece of plate.
The men are also doing the same thing on their part. The
very Tories, they say, are disconsolate! In the evening,
several of the working men who had not joined the pro-
cession in the morning, came up to bid me farewell; and
at six o'clock the next morning, when I got into the coach,
tlu'iv was an assemblage of them looking sadly downcast.
Spite of all this lamentation, I have been in great glee
tin- whole time. I am right glad that I stood right glad
that I have got a holiday. My own impression is, that
I could not have stood the fatigues of Parliament many
sessions more ; and perhaps this turning out to grass may, in
the long run, enable me to do more work, if I should have the
privilege of being called to it. I saw , who said more
about the rrgret of Government, than I should like to
it. On the other hand, Dr. Holland has sent me a
message by Samuel Iloare, of warm congratulation.
" I had fully resolved, had I continued in Parliament,
to have sent you a kind of journal of notable events, but
in my pre.-ent ium-eiKvti\ e condition, I am nut likely to have,
am tiling moro interesting to tell you, than the history of the
m m 4
424 TESTIMONIAL TO MR. BUXTON. CHAP. XXV.
pigs and poultry at Northrepps. As I leave Parliament for
health, I do not by any means intend to defeat that end
by dedicating myself to any other objects. I mean, for con-
science sake, to ride, shoot, amuse myself, and grow fat and
flourishing."
He soon afterwards went to Weymouth to receive
from his friends there, two pieces of plate : the one, a
candelabrum from his late constituents ; the other,
which, as he said, pleased him if possible still more,
a silver snuff-box from their children. He was ex-
ceedingly gratified by these testimonials of regard
from the place with which he had so long been con-
nected, and few of his possessions were valued so
highly.
From no less than twenty-seven different places
were proposals made to Mr. Buxton to stand as a
candidate, but he felt at liberty to take advantage
of the opportune repose afforded him, and accordingly
declined them all.
On returning from a short visit to Scotland, he
writes to Mrs. Johnston at Rennyhill.
"Northrepps Hall, Oct. 7. 183?.
" I have just been debating on this difficult question shall
I write to Rennyhill, or stretch myself on the sofa ? you see
how I have decided.
" Our return home is vastly pleasant, and I hope we feel
something of true thankfulness at being permitted to re-
assemble none missing, none injured, and many benefited.
* * * * jyjy W eek in London was anything but idle. I
got through my fifty-six memoranda. We resolved that
Mr. Trew should, without delay, provide thirty-four first-
rate teachers for the colonies. Only think of sending forth
such a troop ! Is it not cheering ? Whilst I was in London
three separate deputations called upon me on the same
1838. NEGRO APPRENTICESHIP. 425
morning, to urge me to go into Parliament. They were very
philosophic on the subject of my health, and said in substance
that it was good economy for them to work me up now, and
that when I was fairly dead, they dared to say they should
iiii'l some other agent ; but I was steadfast against this kind of
argument."
At the end of 1837 a work was published by
Messrs. Sturge and Scoble, wbo had visited the West
Indies, describing the condition of the Negro appren-
tices, and such general indignation was excited by
tln-ir narrative that a large body of delegates was sent
to London in the beginning of 1838, to urge the dis-
continuance of the apprenticeship system. Mr.
Buxton, for some time, refused to join them, and he
thus states his reasons in a letter to G. W. Alexander,
Esq. :
"February 5. 1838.
" I have received your very kind letter, and have given
the subject of it my very best consideration. The result is,
that my opinions, as expressed in my letter to the delegates,
yet remain unchanged. I thought, and continue to think,
that the attempt to overthrow the apprenticeship will be
fruitless, while there is another object to be accomplished,
viz., that of securing to the Negro the full and entire liberty
of a British subject in 1840, which is at once more impor-
tant, and far more practicable.
" I am afraid that this main and capital object should be
in some degree lost sight of by the peculiar prominence that
is given to the abolition of the apprenticeship, and I could
not attend any meeting without stating my doubts as to the
policy of tin pivsent movement. I am, however, far from
wishing to give circulation to these doubts. It is very possible
that I may he altogether mistaken in the views I entertain :
and I should be extremely sorry to weaken the probability,
small as I consider it, of Parliament consenting to the
immediate abolition of the apprenticeship I appro!
426 NEGRO APPRENTICESHIP. CHAP. XXV.
therefore, that I should best serve the cause of the Negro by
abstaining from attending your meeting. It is needless for me
to add, that it is with hearty regret I cannot on this occasion
altogether unite with those good and zealous men with whom
I have so long acted."
His refusal to attend the meeting excited great dis-
pleasure among those who were bent on breaking
down the apprenticeship. After alluding to the
severe censures to which he had been exposed, he
proceeds,
" "Well, after all this, I am in excellent health and spirits,
not the least chagrined. I do not repent of any step I have
taken in this business."
As the spring advanced, he found that he had been
in error, and that public feeling was less torpid than
he had expected. He writes, on the 12th of March, to
one of his old Anti-slavery coadjutors : "It seems
just possible that the delegates may succeed, and if
so, I am sure we shall both say, ' thank God that other
people had more courage and more discernment than
ourselves.' "
On the 23d of March he received a letter from
Dr. Lushington, urging him to come to town and
meet the delegates, and he accordino-lv left North-
O O ;
repps for London, and after much deliberation he
determined to join them.
After mentioning in a letter the charge of incon-
sistency which he might thus incur, he adds,
" No matter. The sin unpardonable in my eyes would be,
to do anything for any consideration whatever, the result of
which was likely to injure the sacred cause. So long as I
retain the assurance, that I am acting with a single eye to
that, you may be sure I shall not be dejected."
1838. SIR GEORGE STRICKLAND'S MOTION. 427
" You ask, what will the world say ? " he writes to
another iriciul. " Let the world say what it pleases:
" 'Tis not the babbling of a busy world,
Where praise and censure are at random hurled,
Winch can the meanest of my thoughts control,
Or shake one settled purpose of my soul:
Free and at large, may their wild censures roam,
While all, while all, I know, is right at home.' "
On the 30th of March Sir George Strickland brought
forward a motion for the abolition of the apprentice-
si iij), but it was lost by a majority of 64. Mr. Buxton
thus describes the evening, having been present under
the gallery:
" London, March 31. 1838.
" I am alive, after having been in the detestable position of
having to sit for ten hours in the House of Commons last
night, to be shot at by everybody, Avithout the possibility of
firing one round in return. I would have given something
to be allowed to speak, and I literally was two or three times
upon the point of springing up. Gladstone, Lord John
Russell, Grey, &c., would have it that I was a friend to the
apprenticeship, because I sold an unavailing division on it, in
Committee, for the solid profit of getting them to insert a
clause for unqualified freedom, when the apprenticeship should
06M6."
In consequence of what had been stated in this
debate, Mr. Buxton addressed a letter to Lord John
Uussell, in which he proved that he had been
throughout a steady opponent of the Apprenticeship
in.
In May died .Mr. Xachary Macaulay, just before
the complete consummation of all his labours, for in
tin- same month, Sir Eardley Wilmot gained, by a
majority of three, u motion against the Apprentice-
428 APPRENTICESHIP ABOLISHED. CIJAP. XXV.
ship ; and the planters afterwards agreed to surrender
it on the 1st of August, 1838. " The Apprenticeship
is abolished," writes Mr. Buxton, " thank God for
that."
" I bless God for the event," he says in a letter to Mr.
Sturge : " I bless God, that He, who has always raised up
agents such as the crisis required, sent you to the West
Indies. I bless God, that during the Apprenticeship, not
one act of violence against the person of a white man has, as
I believe, been perpetrated by a Negro, and I cannot express
my grateful exultation that those, whom the colonial law so
recently reckoned as brute beasts, * the fee simple absolute
whereof resided in their owners,' will so soon be invested
with the full rights of man. * * * Let none of us forget
that those who are emancipated will be assailed with many
an attempt to curb and crush their liberty ; nor that two
millions of human chattels in the East Indies require our
protection ; nor that the Slave Trade, of all evils the monster
evil, still defiles and darkens one quarter of the globe. May
that same public voice, which has now been so happily
exerted, and under the influence of that same gracious Lord,
who has wrought its present victory, never be hushed while
a taint of slavery remains ! "
To the Hon. Mrs. Upcher.
"Athenaeum, May 23. 1838.
"I must write a line to tell you that Sturge and that party,
whom we thought all in the wrong, are proved to be all in
the right. A resolution for the immediate abolition of the
Apprenticeship was carried by a majority of three last night.
The intelligence was received with such a shout by the
Quakers, (myself among the number,) that we strangers
were all turned out for rioting ! I am right pleased."
CHAP. XXVI. 429
CHAPTER XXVI.
1838.
PLAN FOR THE SUPPRESSION OP THE SLAVE TRADE.
LABORIOUS INVESTIGATIONS. COLLECTION OF EVIDENCE.
LETTER TO LORD MELBOURNE. COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE
GOVIUNMINT. ABSTRACT OF HIS VIEWS. HORRORS OF THE
TRADE CAPABILITIES OF AFRICA.
ON quitting Parliament, Mr. Buxton had looked
forward to a period of repose ; but this expectation
waa not realized. Even before that time, an idea
had suggested itself to his mind, the development of
which proved more than sufficient occupation for all
his remaining years.
" I well remember," writes one of his sons, " the com-
mencement of that long train of toils, anxieties, and sorrows.
Wliilr my t-itluT and I were staying at Earlham, in the
-iiiin^ of the summer of 1837, he walked into my room
OM morning, at an early hour, and sitting down on my
1" 'tl.-ide, told me that he had been lying awake the whole
ni<^lit, reflecting on the subject of the Slave Trade, and that
he believed he had hit upon the true remedy for that por-
tentous evil."
Two years before this time, he had moved an
address for making our treaties on this subject with
foreign powers more stringent, and the penalties of
the crime more severe. The idea that now struck
him so forcibly, was this, that " Though strong
external measures ought still to be resorted to, the
430 NEW PLAN FOR THE CHAP. XXVI.
deliverance of Africa was to be effected, by calling
out her own resources."
For some months he was compelled to defer the
following up of this new train of thought; but on
reaching home at the fall of the year, he addressed
himself to the pursuit with all his heart and mind,
and never was his character shown more clearly than
in his conduct of this great affair. The exquisite
sympathy Avith suffering, the long investigations and
deep thought before action, the intense and untir-
ing energy when the work had once begun, the large-
ness of his plan, the care bestowed upon its smallest
details, the hearty trust in Providence, joined with
the solicitous choice of means, the patient faith
with which disappointment and calamity were borne ;
all these qualities had been apparent in his pre-
vious undertakings, they now stood forth in still
bolder relief. Nor was there less of the same
ardent and exclusive devotion to the one work be-
fore him, which had characterised his earlier years.
Having struck out the idea, it did not slowly fade
away again, like the visions of less effective men.
Nor was he content merely to lay his views before
the public, satisfying himself with an undefined hope
that some one else would carry them into practice.
He at once applied himself to the subject, and through-
out the winter, he was incessantly revolving it in his
mind, reading every book that could assist him, and
inquiring wherever information could be gained, until
at length the whole idea was fully developed in his
mind.
1838. SUPPRESSION OF THE SLAVE TRADE. 431
His task was twofold : on the one hand, he had to
I > rove the magnitude of the evils now existing, in the
human traffic, and consequent condition of Africa :
on the other, he had to point out the capabilities of
Africa, and thence to deduce the possibility of her
becoming peaceful, flourishing, and productive, by
the force of legitimate commerce.
While he himself was occupied in elaborate calcu-
lations drawn from official documents, respecting the
extent and desolating effect of the trade, he set
- others to work in collecting proofs of the produc-
tiveness and commercial resources of Africa.
To Edward N. Buxton, Esq.
"Northrepps Hall, Feb. 1838.
" Andrew Johnston and I are working like dragons at the
Sl:ivc Trade a task as interesting in its prosecution, and
promising to be as important in its results, as any that I ever
had the honour to be engaged in. I only wish that the
number of the hours in each day were doubled, and the
number of minutes in every hour quadrupled."
To John Jeremic, Esq., in Ceylon.
" My dear Jeremie, Northrepps Hall, Feb. 2?. 1838.
" I wonder that I have not written to you long ere this,
and especially that I have not answered your very welcome
letter of the 14th of August last. But procrastination,
always an insidious enemy, makes foreign letters its especial
prey. They may perhaps sail as soon, if written next week,
as if sent off to-day, and therefore arc postponed: and I
have no lack of good excuses. Though perhaps I ought to
IH> at leisure, now that I am released from the harness of
Parliament, I still find every day nioiv than supplied with
its work. Your long letter I have not now before me, as I
432 AFRICAN COMMERCE. CHAP. XXVI.
left it with Dr. Lushington. He has promised to read it
attentively, although as usual overwhelmed with business.
" My principal occupation is the consideration of the
Slave Trade. I am quite convinced we are all on a wrong
tack about it, and that we never shall do good, or at least
effectual good, by pursuing only our present plan. The
scheme therefore that I am now meditating is, to represent
to all powers the immense field for commerce, which is
closed by the Slave Trade. "When I am thoroughly master
of the subject I shall lay it before the Government.
" You will not doubt, my dear friend, that all you tell me
about yourself and your own state of mind is very interesting
to me. I do indeed trust that you may more and more
taste of the knowledge of that, which can above all else,
satisfy the mind and heart, and lead into the way of peace.
What I have learnt of this has been at the price of heavy
sorrow, but I can say it is worth its price, and it is my chief
and settled desire for myself, and all who are most dear to
me, that above all prosperity, all knowledge, all success or
honour, we may know and partake of the riches of Chris-
tianity. By this I do not merely mean morality, even of the
highest tone ; I mean the knowledge of Christ as a Saviour,
which knowledge brings the heart to humility, love, gratitude,
and all that is good, as well as all that is happy. I can
desire nothing better for you, my dear friend, than that you
and yours may be led on and taught the fulness of these
things, of which may we all know more and more ! "
To Miss Gurncy, Northrepps Cottage.
" Hampstead, April 28. 1838.
" I can't say how mean I appear to myself for not having
acknowledged the paper on African commerce. Acknow-
ledged it I have a hundred times, but never in a letter to
you. You do not know, nor did I till two days ago, how
important it is. I now find that either the observations,
which I made in a conversation with Lord Palmerston
some time ago, or, which is much more likely to be the case,
1838. LETTER TO LORD MELBOURNE. 433
his own wit has led him to the same conclusion as my own,
\i/.., that the Slave Trade is to be abolished by legitimate
trade. If this be so, our commercial speculations come
just at the right time. They will exactly hit the mark,
and they will operate upon the Government at large ;
:iml I do believe that your labours could not have been
better employed. I am more hard run than I used to be,
in Parliament."
Having come to London prepared with all his sta-
tistical details, he spent the spring, assisted by Mr.
Johnston, in verifying them by evidence of first-rate
authority, both naval and mercantile. When he had
done this, he laid an epitome of his plans before
different members of the Cabinet ; by several of whom
a disposition was evinced to investigate the subject
further, and he was requested to prepare his views in
a more developed form by the beginning of the
recess. Accordingly, at the end of May, he went to
Leamington, where he was joined by Mr. Scoble,
an able and hearty fellow labourer; and by Mr.
^Inc.queen, who was intimately acquainted with the
geography and productions of Africa, and who had
some years before declared his conviction, that the
true way to abolish the Slave Trade would be to
supplant it by lawful commerce. Aided by these
gentlemen, he devoted himself sedulously to the task,
frequently working at it about twelve hours a day.
This " Letter to Lord Melbourne " was intended ex-
clusively for the members of the Government, and,
accordingly, but twenty copies were printed.
" The book is fairly launched, he tells Mr. Johnston (who,
when the work was fini-lu-d, had left him for Scotland), "and
F F
434 INTERVIEWS WITH MINISTERS. CHAP. XXVI.
I am for the present a gentleman of leisure, and begin to
think vehemently about Northrepps, Felthorpe, shooting, and
such things ; and in about a fortnight's time I expect to be
as much occupied in labours by day, and in dreams by night,
about rabbits and partridges, as I have been about negroes
and Fernando Po. Our plans are fixed, and I go to Poles
on Thursday ; to Earlham, Friday ; to Northrepps, by
Felthorpe, Saturday ; and all sorts of people are summoned to
meet us at Northrepps on Monday.
" And now how does my little Andrew do? He's just the
lad I should like to see at this moment. My little Tommy
chatters away most fluently, and is exceedingly improved."
To Miss Buxton, Northrepps Cottage.
" August 14. 1838.
" Now I must tell you a little about my adventures. Yes-
terday I saw almost all the ministers, and almost all their
secretaries ; and held the same language with them all. * I
have put my views in print, in order to tempt you to read
them. While Parliament is sitting I expect nothing of you,
but, promise me this, that as soon as the recess begins, you
will read my book before you take up any other subject.
Give me an unequivocal yes or no ; and, if you say * Yes,' act
with vigour.' I have got a specific promise from each, that,
without delay, they will read, consider and decide. I saw
yesterday, Lords Melbourne, Glenelg, Palmerston, and
Howick; Hobhouse, Spring Rice, Grey, Stanley, Wood,
Porter, Anson, Stephen. The last sent me word that he was
very busy, so our interview must be very short. I walked
into his room, put the book into his hand, and, without saying
a word, walked out again. He called out, * What does this
mean ? ' * The shortest interview you ever had with any
body,' said I. * Ah,' said he, ' the head is short enough,
but there's a terrible long tail to it.' * * * In short, I
am remarkably well pleased with my day's work."
1838. ABSTRACT OF HIS VIEWS. 435
To J. J. Gurney, Esq.
" Earlham, August 18. 1838.
" To begin with that which has chiefly occupied my
attention for many months past ; last November I started on
a pilgrimage through all the books and parliamentary do-
cuments connected with the Slave Trade. I began from
tin very beginning, and, partly in person, still more by
deputy, I traversed the whole subject ; and such a scene
of dial><>Iim, and such an excess of misery, as I have had to
survey, never, I am persuaded, before fell to the lot of an un-
happy investigator. Will you believe it, the Slave Trade,
though England has relinquished it, is now double what it was
when Wilberforce first began; and its horrors not only ag-
gravated by the increase of the total, but in each particular
case more intense than they were in 1788 ? Will you believe
it, again, that it requires at the rate of a thousand human
beings per diem, in order to satisfy its enormous maw ?
* How glad have I been to have escaped
from the turmoils of Parliament, and to have my mind and
my time my own, that I might bestow them without inter-
ruption on this vast mass of misery and crime."
A sentence in this letter may give the false im-
nre.->ion that Mr. Wilberforce's exertions in putting
down the Slave Trade, had proved a failure ; whereas
his main attack was directed against the British Slave
Trade, and this had been effectually stopped. That
winch Mr. lluxton attacked, and which, unhappily,
still exists, is the trade carried on by the Spanish,
Portuguese, and Brazilians.
The following is an outline of Mr. Buxton's plans,
as su;_ r i:e>t<'d in the first instance in the letter to Lord
Melbourne, and afterwards more fully detailed in the
work called u The Mave Trade and it> liVim-cly."
F F 2
436 HORRORS OF THE CHAP. XXVT.
The first part of these works was devoted to the
examination of the actual state of the Slave Trade ;
and startling indeed were the facts unfolded. Mr.
Buxton demonstrated from official evidence, that, at
the very least, 150,000 Negroes are annually imported
into Brazil and Cuba alone ! He drew also from a vast
number of sources, a description of the horrors at-
tendant on the trade, which, he says, " has made
Africa one universal den of desolation, misery, and
crime." He showed what a waste of human life is
incurred in the seizure of the slaves for the mer-
chant ; in the hurried march through the desert to the
coast, with scarce a pittance of water, under the
broiling sun ; in the detention at the ports, where
hunger and misery carry off numberless wretches,
whose fate might yet be envied by the miserable
beings who survive. These, pressed down for weeks
together between the decks of the slave ship, have
to endure torments which cannot be described.
Scarcely can the mind realize the horrors of that
dreadful charnel-house; the sea-sickness the suffo-
cation the terrible thirst the living chained to the
putrid dead the filth the stench the fury of
despair. Even after landing, multitudes more perish
in what is called " the seasoning on the coast ; " and
the remnant who have lived through all this misery,
are then sold to endure as slaves, the abominable
cruelties of Spanish and Portuguese masters. He
showed that, at the very least, two Negroes perish for
every one who is sold into slavery. " In no species
of merchandise," he exclaims, " is there such waste of
the raw material, as in the merchandise of man. In
1838. SLAVE TRADE. 437
what other trade do two- thirds of the goods perish, in
order that one-third may reach the market ?"
He recommended the adoption of two preliminary
measures ; one, the concentration upon the coast of
Africa, of a more efficient naval force ; the other, the
t urination of a chain of treaties with the native chiefs
of the interior. These two measures were not
brought forward as the remedy itself, but merely as
clearing the way for its operation.
" The real remedy, the true ransom for Africa,
will be found," says Mr. Buxton, " in her fertile
soil ; " and he drew up, from a vast variety of au-
thorities, an account of the boundless resources
which West Africa contains. He established the
fact, first, that gold, iron, and copper, abound in
many districts of the country; secondly, that vast
regions are of the most fertile description, and are
capable of producing rice, wheat, hemp, indigo,
coffee, &c., and, above all, the sugar-cane and cotton,
in any quantities ; while the forests contain every
kind of timber mahogany, ebony, dye-woods, the
oil-palm, &c. ; besides caoutchouc and other gums.
He also proved, that the natives, so far from shun-
ning intercourse with us, have been in every case
eager and importunate that we should settle among
them.*
While the capabilities of Africa are thus extensive,
* As an indication of the care and labour bestowed in consulting
authorities, those may be enumerated, to whom reference is made,
upon the single item of cotton. They consist of Sir Fulk G re veil,
Beaver, Dalrymple, Col. Denham, Clapperton, Mungo Park, Ashmun,
Lander, Laird, thr IU-v. J. 1'inney, tlu- Ki-v. J. Seys, M't^iu-en, De
Caille, Dupnis, and Kul>ertson.
T T 3
438 CAPABILITIES OF AFRICA. CHAP. XXVI.
the facilities for commercial intercourse are on the
same scale. He mentioned those afforded by the
great rivers on the west coast of Africa, especially
the Niger, which had been explored by Lander to
the distance of 500 miles from the sea, and the
Chadda, which runs into it ; and he dwelt much on
the singular fitness of the situation of Fernando Po,
as an emporium of commerce. He emphatically
declared his conviction, that Central Africa possesses
within itself everything necessary for the growth of
commerce ; and he proceeded to point out in con-
firmation of this statement, that in certain spots on
the west coast of Africa, where some degree of
security had been afforded, agriculture and commerce
had as a consequence immediately sprung up, and
the Slave Trade had withered away. He derived his
facts from authorities of the most varied and impartial
description, including extracts from the authors most
conversant with Africa ; from the writings of the
governors of Sierra Leone, Fernando Po, and the
Gambia; from those of all the travellers who had
explored Western Africa ; and from those of African
merchants, scientific men, and others, who had studied
the subject at home.
" It was not," he says, " till after I had come to the
conclusion that all that was wanting for the deliverance
of Africa was, that agriculture, commerce, and instruction
should have a fair trial, that I discerned that others
had arrived by practical experience, at the same result
which I had learnt from the facts, and from reasoning upon
them ; and I was very well pleased to renounce any little
credit which might attach to the discovery, in exchange for
the solid encouragement Jind satisfaction of finding that, what
1838. CAPABILITIES OF AFRICA. 439
with me was but theory, was with them the fruit of ex-
perience."
While he laid such stress upon the importance
of protecting and encouraging legitimate commerce
in Africa, he enforced, with equal earnestness, the
necessity of raising the native character by imparting
Christian instruction. " Let missionaries and school-
ma-ters, the plough and the spade, go together." " It
is the Bible and the plough that must regenerate
Africa ; " and he gives details proving the powerful
influence, moral and physical, which missions have
exerted over the aborigines in different parts of the
world.
The following were some of the specific steps sug-
gested by him, for turning the attention of the
Africans from their trade in men to the trade in
merchandise.
That the British Government should increase the
efficiency of the preventive squadron on the coast.
Should purchase Fernando Po, as a kind of head-
quarters and mart of commerce.
Should give protection to private enterprises.
And enter into treaty with the native chiefs ; for
the rel'mquishment of the Slave Trade, for grants of
land to be brought into cultivation, and for arrange-
ments to facilitate a legitimate trade.
Hi- proposed that an expedition should be sent up
the Niger for the purpose of setting on foot the pre-
liminary ;m-;mL'x i MK,'iits in Africa for the agricultural,
commercial, and missionary settlements; of entering
into treaties with the native chiefs; of convincing the
r r 4
440 MR. BUXTON'S SUGGESTIONS. CHAP. xxvi.
Negroes of the uprightness of our intentions ; and
of ascertaining the state of the country along that vast
tract of land, which is traversed by the river Niger.
A company was also to be formed, by private indi-
viduals, for the introduction of agriculture and com-
merce into Africa. This was to be effected by sending
out qualified agents to form settlements in favourable
situations ; to establish model farms ; to set up fac-
tories, well-stored with British goods, and thus to sow
the first seeds of commerce ; and, in short, to adopt
those means, which have been elsewhere effectual, in
promoting trade, and the cultivation of the soil.
This company would, of course, consist of private
capitalists ; but he cautiously forewarned them against
expecting speedy returns, although he strongly main-
tained the reasonable prospect of eventual profit.
Upon private individuals also, would devolve the
responsibility of co-operating with the religious socie-
ties in sending out a strong force of those upon whom
he especially depended for the deliverance of Africa,
missionaries and native teachers.
He dwelt much upon the importance of making
use of native agency for this purpose.
11 The climate of Africa," he writes to the Rev. Hugh
Stowell, " presents an obstacle to European agents being
employed in the work to any extent, and we must look to
the natives themselves to be the agents in this great enter-
prise. This is no new scheme, for you will observe that it
has been tried in various quarters of the globe with con-
siderable success, and various denominations of Christians
are following out the plan, with zeal and perseverance, in
India and Africa."
CHAP. XXVII. 441
CHAPTER XXVII.
1838, 1839.
COMMUNICATIONS WITH GOVERNMENT, AND WITH PRIVATE INDI-
VIDUALS. AFRICAN CIVILIZATION SOCIETY. PREPARATION OF
"THE SLAVE TRADE, AND ITS REMEDY" FOR PUBLICATION.
DEPARTURE FOR ITALY.
MR. BUXTON watched with great anxiety the effect
that might be produced on the ministers by the
statements thus laboriously prepared. In the begin-
ning of September he was summoned to town by Lord
Glenelg ; he writes thence
To Andrew Johnston, Esq.
" Colonial Office, Sept. 5. 1838.
" Lord Glenelg sent me word on Monday, that he wanted
an hour's conversation with me. With the ardour natural to
authors, I construed this into a Slave Trade conference, the ac-
quiescence of the Government in my plan, and Africa almost
iMivrivd. I have now been waiting till half of my hour
has elapsed, so I am getting fidgetty and fearful that my
dreams will not be realised. However, I believe that a good
Providence has undertaken the management of this business,
and therefore I will not be troubled.
" Near five o'clock. Thank God, I say it with all my
heart, thank (Jod, tho Government, says Lord Glenelg, are
deeply interested by my book. Melbourne writes to him
strongly about it. The cabinet meet on Friday on the subject.
(ili'iu-lji -"} - they accede to till I have said, as to previous
failures. They think I have- greatly underrated the extent, and
still more the mortality. In short, he was convinced, to my
442 LETTER TO J. J. GURNET, ESQ. CHAP. XXVH.
heart's content. I have since seen Lushington ; he is delighted
with the book ; accedes to it with all his heart. In short, a
happy day."
" I am highly pleased," he writes home, " and very,
very thankful, and feel very keenly, what am I that
this mercy should be heaped upon me ? "
To Joseph J. Gurney, Esq.
"Northrepps, Dec. 7. 1838.
" Within the last month, I have been to town and have
had many interviews with members of the cabinet, and I
find that my book has made a deeper impression upon them
than I had ventured to hope for. They all admit that the
facts are placed beyond all dispute. They tell me, that they
want no further evidence whatsoever of the extent and
horrors of the trade ; and they admit, in very strong terms, that
they are converts to the views which I have developed. In
short, the subject now under consideration is, how they shall
act ? I have been embodying my views in nine propositions,
and have stated seriatim the steps they ought to take, and the
order in which they should be taken. I expect that this Slave
Trade question will find me in employment for the rest of my
days, and my hope is that you and I may work together in
it for many years to come. I am not so sanguine, as to ex-
pect that so vast a work will be rapidly executed. Our
favourite text is ( not by might nor by power, but by my
Spirit, saith the Lord.'
" Now for a little domestic news. Everything is going
on smoothly with us. * * * I am in fair health, in
excellent spirits, and with causes for thankfulness, turn
which way I will. * * * The Cottage ladies are much
as usual in health. It is a vast pleasure to us to have their
cordial co-operation and assistance in all my objects. The
Book goes by my name, but in truth it is the production of
us all.
" You will be nterested to hear that we have at length
got a Bible Society at Holt. Finding it in vain to wait for
1838. COMMUNICATIONS WITH GOVERNMENT. 443
the co-operation of the clergy, we determined to act without
them. I took the chair, and I hardly was ever present at so
s-atisfactory a meeting. The ladies are active, they have
ahvady got ten districts, though the society is only in its
infancy."
The Government had acceded to his theory, it
now remained to be seen whether they would adopt
his practical suggestions. He writes from London
" I was ushered into the presence of Lord Glenelg,
muttering to myself, ' O God, give me good speed this
day ! ' * * * * I soon found that my nine propositions
had worked admirably. They were formally discussed in
the Cabinet. Glenelg intimated that the ministers were
unanimous, and that they had resolved, with some modifi-
cations, to act upon them. I was told that Lord said
it was the boldest conception that had been struck out in
our days. * * I am now going to Upton to dinner.
God grant I may hear good accounts from Northrepps, and
tin ii I shall be full of gladness of heart. Is not my news
delightful?
" I did not sleep well," he tells Mr. Johnston ; " who
could expect it, after such a day ; after finding that it was
intended to realise my most intense desire? I was also
delighted at learning at the Colonial Office, that the Kat
River Hottentots, Caffres, Slaves, are all doing beautifully."
The result of these interviews was a request on
the part of Government, that he should enlarge and
publi>li hi> work to arouse the public mind, but it
was desired that the practical suggestions should be
k( j>t back till they had more fully determined on
thrir course. The resignation, shortly afterwards, of
Lord Glenelg, was deeply regretted by Mr. Buxton.
Lord Normanby, however, adopted the views of his
predeces><>r, and the whole Cabinet appears to have
444 CORRESPONDENCE. CHAP. XXVII.
considered the advantages which would accrue to
England, as well as to Africa, from the opening of so
vast a field of commercial speculation, as sufficiently
important to warrant their attempting to carry them
into effect.
To Joseph J. Gurney, Esq.
"March 5. 183Q.
" Lord Glenelg's retirement from office is a very heavy
blow, and if it were not that I have all-sufficient proof that
the great questions of slavery and the Slave Trade are under
the management of better than human hands, I should be
very uncomfortable indeed. Our friend Joseph Sturge is
somewhat restive about my Slave Trade views ; won't go
along with me. No matter ; he'll take his own line, and
nevertheless the truth is preached, and therein I will rejoice."
On the 1st of April he was much pleased by
receiving the following lines from his valued friend,
Mrs. Opie.
To Thomas Fowell Buxton, Esq,, on his Birthday.
1st, 4th mo., 1839.
I saw the dawn in brightness break,
That ushered in thy natal day,
And bade my humble lyre awake,
To breathe to thee our votive lay.
Too soon such hopes away were driven,
But, while I sat in mute despair,
I felt a dearer power was given,
And breathed a holier tribute PRAYER.
And lo ! from forth my inmost heart,
For thee did solemn prayers ascend,
Prayers such as voice could ne'er impart,
Arose for Mercy's child, and Afric's friend !
1839. LINES BY MRS. OPIE. 445
I wish'd thee years of vigorous health,
Thy Christian labours to pursue :
I wish'd thee still increasing wealth,
To do the good thou fain would'st do.
I wish'd, alas ! what ne'er may be,
That ere thou reach thy well-earn'd rest,
Thou may'st behold thy Afric free,
And know her myriads call thee blest.
And, O ! I wish thy toils this nobler meed,
To thee more dear than aught of earthly fame,
May Afric's sons from heathen darkness freed,
Be taught to know and bless the SAVIOUR'S name !
To Edward N. Buxton, Esq.
"Northrepps Hall, April 12. IS.Sp.
" I am hard at work upon my second volume, but the
present subject, namely, the mode of delivering Africa,
requires a vast deal deeper thought than the mere detail of
enormities. I earnestly hope that I shall be kept by a good
Providence from falling into any gross errors. I am sure I
have very little reliance on my own knowledge or wisdom
in such abstruse considerations. But we must hope to be
guided by a better than human wisdom, and defended by
something stronger than the human arm."
To the Rev. J. M. Treic.
"Northrepps Hall, April, 1839-
" I am amused by the generous indignation expressed by
yourself and Stokes, as to the attack made upon me in the
Kmancipator. I cannot however say that it provoked me
in the slightest degree. I know that a little unfair censure
is part of the- bargain in any great work, and for my part,
abused as I have been, I must confess that in summing up
the two accounts, of unmerited blame and unmerited com-
nirn<l:ition. I find that tin- balance is on the side of the latter.
"It would havt. 1 lirrn utterly at \ariaiirc with all my notions
446 LETTERS. CHAP. XXVII.
to have given it an answer. Silent disregard is the severest
and most justifiable species of revenge.
" But now for business : I am strongly of opinion with
you, that the time is come for doing something more with
respect to the agents, with whom the West Indies will supply
us. I am entirely engaged with my second volume, and
with digesting the details of the general plan ; so I must
beg you to turn your attention to a new address to the mis-
sionaries and schoolmasters in the West. Will you do this ?
In any other case I should apologize for throwing a burden
off my own shoulders on to yours ; but I have come to a very
convenient compromise with my conscience, viz., that in the
great cause of African deliverance, I have a right to the ener
getic services of every one, who feels as I do ; and hence, no
scruple is admissible as to giving trouble. Upon this prin-
ciple, I slave all my family, and not a few of my neighbours.
" I send you Miller's letter from Antigua, telling me that
he has already ten good Christian Blacks ready to be lo-
cated on the Niger."
To the same.
" I am more and more impressed with the importance of
Normal schools. It is not only that there will be a great
demand for schoolmasters in the West Indies, but I have a
strong confidence that Africa will, ere long, be opened to
commerce, civilisation and Christianity ; and then there will
be need, indeed, of educated and religious black school-masters
The idea of compensation to Africa, through the means of the
West Indies is a great favourite with me ; and I think we
shall see the day, when we shall be called to pour a flood of
light and truth upon miserable Africa. Pray, therefore, bear
in mind, that we ought to do a great deal as to Normal schools."
To his Grandson, Andrew Johnston, Jun.
" My dear little Andrew, " Upton, April 26. 1839.
" I was quite pleased with your letter. I am very sorry
for those dear little rabbits. Tommy has found a bird's nest
with five little birds. Grandpapa wanted to get to London
1839. LETTERS. 447
to-day very quick, and the stable was locked up, and the
man gone away, so he could not get a horse. Just then a
butcher, with a blue apron on, came driving by in a cart,
with his meat, and Grandpapa said, 'Ho! man! stop!' He
jumped into the cart, and away they drove to Stratford ; and
all the uncles, and aunts, and cousins are laughing at Grand-
papa for riding with a butcher: but he was very glad to
meet with such a good friend."
The rest of the letter is addressed to his daughter
" Somehow or other I am in rather a low key about Africa.
It does not seem much regarded. The world is busy about
something else. But this is all nonsense, I have nothing to
do with that part of the story ; my business is to get my
second volume out, and my plan arranged, and then it will be
lodged in better hands than ours, so I do not mean to mope
about the matter."
To Miss Gurney and Miss Buxton, at Northrepps Cottage.
" My dear Ladies, " Spitalfields, June 10. 1839.
" I have received your magnificent packet to-day, and mean
to read it with the party to-night. When shall I have Mr.
Richard's commencement? I spent yesterday at Poles, and
very much enjoyed myself, spending hours in the wood.
* Then they arc glad because they be quiet.' If we do meet
at Home this winter, we will enjoy ourselves. * We'll never
do nothing whatever on earth,' and if that is not pleasure,
what is ? I am sick of turmoiling."
To Mrs. Johnston.
"Upton, June 28. 1839.
" In the first place, let me utter that which has settled
down upon my mind for some days, namely, a hearty desire
that lilcr-.-iiigs of all sorts, and the best of their kind, may be
pomvil down upon your llulesworth habitation, and that you
may all of you flourish in health and wealth, cheerfulness and
popularity, in neighbours, friends, and dearest relatives, and
in a w idr and drep stream nf that water, ' whieh sprin^cth up
unto eternal lite !'
448 PRELIMINARY MEETING. CHAP. XXVII.
" Yesterday I was whipt off to a meeting in the City, on
the subject of Bethnal Green, and had to tell the Bishop of
London that I was ready to join Methodists, or Baptists, or
Quakers, or any honest body, in spreading Christianity in
Bethnal Green ; but he took it very Kindly'' 1
Mr. Buxton spent some months in the neighbour-
hood of London ; incessantly engaged both in com-
munications with the government, and in endeavour-
ing, with great success, to excite the interest and
obtain the co-operation of many of his friends. In
this as in previous undertakings he acted in complete
concert with Dr. Lushington, with whom every plan
was carefully discussed, and who bore his full share
of the burden.
At Dr. Lushington's house was held a preliminary
meeting of a few select friends, before whom Mr.
Buxton wished in the first instance to lay his views. *
* The following was the memorandum prepared by him for this
meeting :
"April, 1839.
" The principle has been sufficiently explained: It is the deliver-
ance of Africa, by calling forth her own resources.
" In order to do this, we must : 1 . Impede the traffic ; 2. Establish
commerce; 3. Teach cultivation ; 4. Impart education.
" To accomplish the first object we must increase and concentrate
our squadron, and make treaties with coast and inland chiefs.
" To accomplish the second, we must settle factories and send out
trading ships.
" To accomplish the third, we must obtain by treaty lands for culti-
vation, and set on foot a company.
" To accomplish the fourth, we must revive African institutions : look
out for Black agents, &c.
" What then is actually to be done now by government ? Increase the
squadron ; obtain Fernando Po ; prepare and instruct embassies (or
authorize governors) to form treaties, including, prevention of traffic ;
arrangements for trade ; grants of land. By us ; form a trading com-
pany ; revive the African Institution."
1839. CLIMATE OF AFRICA. 449
He writes
\Ve have had a highly satisfactory meeting. I felt that I
had ray case well up, and was troubled by no worrying doubts.
Kvery one expressed that they were perfectly satisfied upon
\ point. Lord Ashley was very hearty indeed.
" The line I took about the climate of Africa was this : I
stated that my plan was, to employ only a few Europeans, and to
depend chiefly on the people of colour. I said at once, that I
gave up all the mouths of the rivers, and all the swampy
ground, and looked only to the high ground at the foot of
Ki'iiir Mountains; that Iwould not pledge myself to the healthi-
ness even of that part, but that I expected that it would prove
v< ry different from the general notions of African climate."
This occasion is thus referred to by Archdeacon
Trew :
" The first meeting (preparatory to the formation of the
African Civilization Society), which was strictly private, and
at which Mr. Buxton made known his plans for prosecuting
that great work, was attended by about twenty noblemen
aixl gentlemen. I never shall forget his calm and dignified
composure upon that occasion. Before he enunciated a
syllable, hr seemed to feel as if the destinies of Africa were
suspended upon the events of that memorable day. I could
in it but lift up my heart in silent prayer, that the blessing of
the most High God might rest upon his undertaking. And
sun I am, that such was the frame of mind in which he
ventured upon his work; eo humble was he in his address,
showing such ready deference to his friends, such touching
sympathy for the objects of his solicitude, so alive to the impor-
tant; of wisdom in his deliberation, and prudence in his plans.
M.-.-tintr after mectiuir, private conferences with his more
immediate ailvi.-rrs, ami public committees of men of all
parties in politics, and opposite opinions in religion, only
tended to show how eminently calculated he was for uniting
men together on the great platform of benevolence."
Tin- first meeting of the Society for the Suppression
G G
450 DEATH OF CHAP. XXVII-
of the Slave Trade and the Civilization of Africa, was
held at the end of July : it proved highly satisfactory.
The Bishop of London, Lord Ashley, Sir Robert Inglis,
Sir Thomas Acland, and other influential individuals
took an active part. Considerable funds were raised,
and, " in short," Mr. Buxton writes to Mr. Trew,
" It was a glorious meeting, quite an epitome of the state.
Whig, Tory, and Radical ; Dissenter, Low Church, High
Church, tip-top High Church, or Oxfordism, all united. I
was unwell, and made a wretched hand of my exposition, but
good men and true came to my assistance, and supplied my
deficiencies, and no one better than the Bishop of London.
" We determined to form two associations perfectly distinct
from each other, but having one common object in view, the
putting an end to the Slave Trade and slavery. One of these
associations to be of an exclusively philanthropic character, and
designed mainly to diffuse among the African tribes the light
of Christianity, and the blessings of civilization and free labour.
The other to have a commercial character, and to unite with
the above objects the pursuit of private enterprize and profit."
A few days afterwards, Lord Normanby announced
to a deputation, consisting, amongst others, of the
Bishop of London, Lords Euston, Worsley, and
Teignmouth, Sir T. D. Acland, Sir R. H. Inglis, and
Dr. Lushington, that the Government had come
to the conclusion to send a frigate and two steamers
to explore the Niger, and if possible to set on foot
commercial relations with the nations on its banks.
Sir Edward Parry was appointed to prepare these
vessels, and thus began the Niger Expedition.
The gratification which this success gave Mr.
Buxton, was soon clouded by private sorrows. His
much loved sister, Sarah Maria Buxton, of Northrepps
Cottage, died very suddenly at Clifton, on the 18th of
August, 1839.
1839. HIS YOUNGER SISTER. 451
This sister, whose brightness and activity of mind
triumphed over the infirmity of very feeble health,
was ardently devoted to her brother, and took the
liveliest interest in his undertakings.
He deeply lamented her loss, which he said was
the loss of a friend, no less than of a sister. He thus
mentions the event, in a letter to Mr. Joseph J.
Gurney :
"It is a vast void to us ; she was part of our daily
t xi-tence; her affection towards me was surpassing the love
of women. However, there is exceeding comfort in the
reflection that her battle is fought, her pains endured, her
labours completed, and that henceforth a crown of glory is
provided for her from her bounteous Lord."
To the Rev. Josiah Pratt.
"Northrepps Hall, Aug. 26. 1839.
" I was absent from home when your letter arrived. A
very severe family loss, the death of my sister, rendered it
impossible to write on the day of my return. * * * *
1 was very glad to receive your letter, my impressions and
anxieties with regard to Africa, and my desire for the
spread of the Gospel, were planted in my mind in Wheeler
C Impel, and this has led me particularly to desire to have you
as a coadjutor in our present enterprize. I feel deep gratitude
to you, little as I show it, for the stream of strong Christian
truth which you poured upon my mind and my wife's, when
we were first entering upon life.
"In looking at a great subject, every one has his fa-
vourite point of view. None takes such hold of me, as the
conception of the possibility, with God's help, of pouring
a stream of true light into Africa."
To Joseph J. Gurney, Esq.
"Northrepps, Sept. 1839.
" While I was in London, we had heavy work to perform.
The expedition which we have been urging upon Govern-
Q G '2
452 LETTERS. CHAP. XXVII.
ment, for the purpose of making amicable treaties with the
natives up the Niger for the suppression of the vile traffic,
and for trying the effect of agricultural cultivation, is to sail
in November. We had also to select five commissioners,
whom we propose to send out ; and it is not very easy to find
persons, possessing at once nautical skill, and missionary
spirit, habits of command, agricultural knowledge, and a deep
interest in the Negro race. We have, however, found them.
" Again, we want black persons for all conceivable si-
tuations, from the highest to the lowest, in our African
colony, and every one ought to be a real Christian; but
a good Providence has prepared these in the West Indies and
at Sierra Leone.
" Again, we want a combination of all sects and all parties
in England, without going to the public ; this has been
managed.
" The Bishop of London and S. Gurney, Wesleyans,
Baptists, &c., sail along very quietly together. The persons
present at our first private meeting, will show that politics do
not obtrude themselves. It consisted of Whigs : Lushington,
W. Evans, Buxton ; Tories : Lord Ashley, Sir R. Inglis,
Gladstone. Since that time we have vastly increased. We
have obtained plenty of high names, a great deal of money,
and a working committee of the right sort. In short, our
prospects are encouraging ; but I should not say so if I did
not perceive, even more manifestly than in the slavery question,
that we have ONE, INVISIBLE but IRRESISTIBLE, who takes
care of us.
"Ever yours, my dear Joseph, in the threefold cord of
tastes, affection, and religion, if I may presume to include
the last,
" T. FOWELL BUXTON."
It was at first hoped that the Niger expeditioD
might have been fitted out very speedily, but Sir
Edward Parry found it necessary to build ships ex-
pressly for the purpose. In the interval, therefore,
Mr. Buxton had the opportunity of following his
1839. DEPARTURE FOR ROME. 453
family to Rome, whither they were gone for the
benefit of Mrs. Buxton's health. But it was necessary
for him before he left England to prepare a complete
edition of his work on " The Slave Trade and its
Remedy ; " the publication of which had been delayed
in order to afford the Government time to deliberate
DM the plan.
To Mrs. JBuxton, at Florence.
"Northrepps, Nov. 3. 1839.
" I have been working hard during the week, but yesterday
we had our hardest day. With the exception of a few
minutes in the garden, and a run to the Cottage, and dinner,
I did not stop from breakfast till past one o'clock at night ; and,
what is more extraordinary, I had seven capital secretaries at
wuk, and many of them during the whole day. We got on
famously ; till then I had been very doubtful whether I should
not be obliged to stay a week longer."
To Mrs. Johnston.
" London, November 18.1 839.
" My book is finished ; there it lies in a bag ; a precious
tug it has been to get it done. I do not think I have worked
so hard since I left college ; day after day, from breakfast
till two or three o'clock the next morning, with the interval
of only a short walk and meals. I quite wonder at my
rapacity of exertion.
"The effect of this is, that I believe I shall not, when
I start to-day, have a single memorandum unattended to,
and hardly a letter unwritten."
"Montreuil, Nov. lp. 1839.
" Since I left London I have spent four hours in sailing,
some time in meals, a few minutes in chat and reading, but
my great bus'mr-- has been sleeping, which I have effected
with laudable energy."
o a 3
454
CHAPTER XXVIII.
1839, 1840.
JOURNEY THROUGH FRANCE AND ITALY. MONT CENIS IN A SNOW
STORM. ROME. ITALIAN FIELD SPORTS. BOAR HUNTING.
SHOOTING ON THE NUMICIAN LAKE. ADVENTURE WITH ROBBERS.
THE JESUITS. ST. PETERS AND THE VATICAN. PRISONS
AND HOSPITALS OF ROME.
DURING the winter which Mr. Buxton spent abroad,
he became, what he had never been before, a very
good correspondent on miscellaneous subjects. We
shall give some copious extracts from his letters,
which are written in a style of playfulness very
natural to him when relieved from the pressure
of business. Accompanied by Miss Gurney of Nor-
threpps Cottage, and his second son, he travelled
quickly through France and crossed over to Italy by
Mont Cenis :
" Poste Royale, Mont Cenis,
Nine o'clock, Nov. 30. 1839-
" For our journey from Lyons to Chambery, and from
Chambery to Lanslebourg, I refer you to Fowell's journal,
only stating that we were in the carriage and moving, at
a quarter before four in the morning, and out of the carriage
at twelve o'clock at night. The last two stages were rather
awkward ones to pass in the dark, as we had a continued
succession of tremendous precipices on one side of the road ;
on one occasion, on seeing a light straight down, an immense
way below us, A said, * There is a star, only in the
wrong direction.'
" At Lanslebourg we heard accounts of the roads being
very difficult, but still passable and safe ; so we gave them
their own time and started this morning at half-past nine, with
eight horses to our carriage, two to our cart carrying our
1839. MONT CENIS IN A SNOW STORM. 455
luggage, and thirteen attendants to bear up the carriage,
in case of difficulty from the snow. Things went smooth
enough till about one o'clock in the day, when we encoun-
tered u " tourmente,' as they call it, and, at the same moment,
ral carts coming from Italy loaded with casks of wine.
1 1 \v:is difficult enough to keep the carriage up when we had all
the road to ourselves (for it was snowing so fast that we could
scarcely see), but when, in addition to all this, we had to
break out of the way to make room for these caravans, it was
by no means agreeable. Our soundings of the snow, I should
tell you, had not been very nattering ; we had, first, a foot
deep; after some time, two feet and a half, four feet, five
feet ; and between five and six feet of snow on the level, was
the encouraging report just before we met the wine carts.
Well, at this pass, just upon the verge of the top of the
mountain, the snow falling, the wind howling, we had this
encounter with the caravans ; and, first, there was a war of
words between the leader of their train and the Maitre de
Poste of Lanslebourg, who had volunteered to conduct
our expedition. Words ran to the highest pitch, and the
shrillest tones, and the most vehement and menacing action
seemed to threaten a charge, in which the enemy had the safe
side, and we the precipice ; but, at length, an amicable
compact was made between the belligerents, by which the
whole force of both parties was employed in hoisting their
cart further into the snow on their side. All this, however,
had consumed some time, the tornado had then passed, but
the accumulation of snow which it had occasioned remained,
and here we had our greatest chance of an overturn, but
not over the precipice, which was a great way off (full seven
" Over we must have gone, again and again, if it had not
been for our little army, half of whom were on one side
pulling the carriage towards them ; the rest on the other
side holding it up. Spink * tells me, that at times the hind
wheel was nearly a foot from the top of the snow.
* Miss Gurney's coachman.
o o 4
456 A WOLF SEEN. CHAP. XXVIII.
" We had just got through this difficulty, when the men
cried out, ' there's a wolf; ' and sure enough there sat the
beast ! This was an almost irresistible bait for us ; my gun was
loaded after a time (for we had some difficulty in finding the
things), but then I recollected that a pretty thing it would
be to leave A under such circumstances, and go a
wolf hunting ; so, with a sigh, I was obliged to commit the
task to one of our guides, who is a chasseur by profession.
He, from ignorance of our guns, got the locks wet and
missed fire, and away went the wolf.
" In comes the Maitre de Poste, and tell us that it is in
vain to attempt to descend this night. So here we are
perched in a little bit of an inn at the top of Mont Cenis ; the
night very quiet but hazy, which is a bad business, for last
night they killed three foxes, and we might have had famous
sport at them to-night ; three chasseurs are employed to
watch them and give me notice ; but, with submission to them,
I now conclude my letter and go to bed, only just saying,
that though we are on the top of the Alps, we are very com-
fortable and warm, thanks to roaring fires, admirable trout
from a tarn which is close below us, and double windows.
****#*****j nave j us p u |- mv nose
out, and it is snowing furiously ; we have no great taste for
a month here with nothing to eat but foxes, but, never-
theless, we are very cheery.
" Turin, Dec. 2. 1839, Five o'clock.
" Well, I must just finish my letter. We passed a quiet
night, and found in the morning that a good deal of snow had
fallen, but that the weather was bright, frosty, and calm ; the
last being the question of importance. We did not start
early, as our guides begged permission to go to mass fir.st,
from which they did not return till nine o'clock. Then
we started in a sledge. We called at the monastery, and
left something for the poor, and saw the only remnant, as it
is supposed, of the ibex, a race of goats. The appearance of
the tops of the mountains, gloriously gilded by the sun, was
as beautiful as it was strange : we enjoyed it much. We
1839. ARRIVAL AT ROME. 457
saw on the road several carriages which had been left, and
one which had been overturned. It took us between six and
seven hours to sledge down to Susa ; it was a pleasant mode
of conveyance. The little waterfalls, the water, as it seemed,
turned into dust, and glittering in the sun ; a little rainbow
about six feet span between us and the rock, only a yard
li-tant ; the view of the valley, reckoned, and no doubt
justly, one of the finest in the Alps ; all these united, made
our journey a delightful contrast to that of the preceding
day."
The party reached Rome about the 12th De-
cember. Mr. Buxton thus writes on the 17th:
" The weather here is delightful ; I am now sitting
opposite a large window on the shady side of the street, wide
open, and it is warmer than any day in England last summer.
We hear grand accounts of wild boars and woodcocks. I went
to the Capitol yesterday morning. I am old, have never
cultivated the fine arts, and all romance has been thumped
out of me. One might as well expect to see a hackney
coach-horse frisking about like a colt, as to see me in ecstacies
and raptures with antiquities and classical recollections.
However, I was greatly taken with the view of the whole of
Rome. There we saw before us, gathered in a very small
space, the city so famous for everything : at one time, the
mi-tress of the world in arms; at another period, the ruler of
nations by the fiat of the Vatican; and, again, the great
nursery and school of the arts. You cannot conceive how all
tin- objects of interest are clustered together close around you.
Kiirht beneath you, the yellow Tiber; within gun-shot, as
it appears, the palace of the Caesars: but I will not go
describing, or, in spite of myself, I shall grow quite
romantic'. But one thing did strike me more than all. In a
little narrow dark cell, undoubtedly a Roman dungeon, there
i- a weU-groanded tradition that St. Paul was confined im-
mediately prior to his martyrdom. What a leaf is this in the
history of man ! In that palace lived the proud and cruel
Ca-sir, dreaming of immortal reputation. He is almost for-
458 VISIT TO THE COLISEUM. CHAP. XXVIII.
gotten ; while the prisoner, who lay in the dungeon loaded
with chains, despised and detested, is still remembered. We
daily read his works, and ten thousand copies of the history
of his life are published every day !
" To-day I visited the Coliseum, the Flavian Amphi-
theatre. It wonderfully revives and brings to life their
ancient spectacles, it is immense; one can quite understand
that a hundred thousand people could have a perfect view of
the whole spectacle. The building in its substantial parts is
perfect. What an enlightened people to be capable of
erecting such an edifice ; and what a set of ruthless savages
to take delight in seeing poor captives there slaughtering
each other, or torn to pieces by wild beasts ! I have been
interested beyond what I could have conceived possible, by
these two spectacles, and quite vexed that I bring with me so
slender a stock of classical lore.
" But now for business. I was more gratified than you could
guess at hearing of your Spitalfields' school : that is better than
Laocoons and Amphitheatres. I will subscribe what you ask
with pleasure, and ten times more when you tell me it is
wanted.
" An officer of justice called here this morning with a
huge paper in columns, in which I was to describe myself in
all possible ways, and concluding with the question, Why
did I come to Rome ? I desired Richards to insert, under
this head, this
' If the truth I must tell, I came here in the hope,
Of curing my wife and converting the Pope.'
But I find that the Pope wants no conversion, he has issued a
few days ago a capital Bull, hurling the Vatican thunders
in excellent style on the heads of all dealers in human flesh.
The Portuguese minister here is in a fine fury, but the Pope
having got into the scrape, excuses himself from the charge
of being actuated by the English, by employing the Propa-
ganda Society to send his Bull to all the bishops and eccle-
siastical authorities, in Cuba, Brazil, &c. I am mightily
WILD BOAR HUNTING. 459
pleased with this affair. Pray tell it to the Committee
when they meet.
" Pleased as I am with the conduct of his Holiness, I am
.-till more pleased that the steamers are ordered, and to be
built, too, under the direction of Sir Edward Parry ; this is
working to some purpose. Dearest 's letter describing
the Sunday at their new home was cheering and charming :
my love to her and to all who formed that sunshiny picture.
I have thought more than once, more than twenty times, that
' Godliness with contentment is great gain.'
" Rome, Dec. 24. 1 839.
" The time for wild boars is not fully arrived, though there
were five in the market this morning. You must know that
my chief duty here, is to escort young ladies to parties, as
my \vili> cannot go; so I have become more fashionable and
il:m<ly-like than I have been for the last forty years. On
Thursday last, in the performance of this duty, I met Mr.
Wyvill, an old M. P. friend, who told me he was going to
hunt the boar, and invited me to join them, which of course
I did. Conceive us then, starting before daylight, Fowell
and I inside, and Spink on the box, with three other carriages
full, distance about thirty miles, a road good for the first ten,
for the next twenty, super-execrable; with blocks of granite
placed on it by the Romans, and never mended since the
days of Julius Caesar. The journey would have shattered our
own carriage to pieces, killed our horses, and broken the
heart of the coachman. However, we all arrived about
sunset ; we brought a sumptuous entertainment with us, and
were lodged in the house of a priest, which was clean and
comfortable. On our road we passed the beautiful lake and
castle of Bracciano, which now belongs to Torlonca, the great
.Jewish hanker at Rome. At five next morning we break-
la.-trd, and immediately mounted a herd of various quadrupeds.
Mine was a most raw-boned, lazy, stumbling horse, and my
riLjht hand sutl'nvd much by the effort to get him along;
l>ut a ft i T a while, seeing that Spink had a sprightly jack
I changed with him and got on gloriously. Seven miles of
460 WILD BOAR HUNTING. CHAP. XXVIH.
rock and quagmire, and stumps of trees brought us to our
hunting-ground, where we saw congregated our native ' Com-
pagnons de chasse.' The leader was Velati, the Roman
painter, and a fine fellow. He put us in our places, after
first marching us over a fine wooded mountain. This made
me reeking hot : but I was soon well cooled, for I was lo-
cated in a dank sunless valley, the steam from which soon
rusted my barrels, and made Spink's hands die away. There
I stood for an hour and a half with my rifle in my hand.
Spink said to me ' They tell me these beasts fly out upon
you,' and forthwith he produced a case of pistols, but he had
no opportunity this time of using them. By sound of bugle
we were ordered over the next hill, and such a scene opened
upon us ! I never saw such a combination of the sublime and
the lovely. Our next station was on a jutting rock high up
the mountain, the sun in full power, and as hot as with us in
July ; a valley below us, a high hill (the Monte Sacro) op-
posite, we ourselves surrounded with myrtle, wild lavender,
and arbutus loaded with fruit ; and all below and opposite,
the same splendid foliage. In the distance, Soracte, as
Horace says
' Vides ut alta stet nive candidum,
Soracte/
and to the right the blue Mediterranean.
" The assemblage of the boar hunt at luncheon was most
curious ; forty dogs of every degree, from the turnspit to the
wolf-hound, upwards of seventy native chasseurs with guns
in their hands, clad in skins, and fame is a lying vixen if
they do not at odd times do a little in the bandit line : but here
we were upon honour. Two foxes, two deer, and six boars
were the product of the excursion. I have wild boar enough
to stock a butcher's shop ; one of the boars was the biggest
that has been killed for eight years, weighing 400lbs. I
have the tusks of the second/which are awkward weapons.
You will want to know what F. and I did ; but I am as
modest in relation, as valiant in deeds of arms, and so I only
say that each of us did as much as any gentleman of the
party. We started for home by moonlight, my donkey had
1839. SHOOTING ON THE NUMICIAN LAKE. 461
been usurped, and I bestrode another of no generous breed ;
go he would not, and we were left behind. Again I changed
with Spink, to whom Fortune had given a capital horse, and
I soon joined and headed our party. Well was it we re-
gained the party, or we should assuredly have slept in the
open field or in the cave of a bandit ; for after a time I was
seized with a furious cramp, and had to be hauled off my
horse, and this delayed us half an hour.
" December 25. 1 83p.
"Last night I finished the history of our excursion against the
boars on Monte Sacro. I am now going to tell you of another
district famous in classic lore. On Monday, Prince Borghese
Aldobrandini, the DukeRoviero, Aubyn, Richards, Charles and
I , t \vo dogs and a chasseur, started precisely at 4 A. M. for Ostia,
the very spot where ^Eneaa pitched his camp, so if you wish to
li:i \ o a description of it, you may turn to Virgil. We travelled
about fifteen miles along a very decent road, the Tiber
almost always close beside us. At length we came to a lake,
* fontis vada sacra Nuraici,' on which, excepting Richards, we
all embarked, each having a boat, and started in exact line
up the lake, which was covered with wild fowl. I think we
must have seen at one time at least a thousand upon the
wing together. We had to sit in the boats and fire as they
came by. The two boats that went near the reeds had plenty
of sport, but as I was in the middle, and had but one gun, I
diil not get many shots, and the position being awkward, and
the distances very long, I was not exceedingly destructive.
We got, however, upwards of seventy head, and it was
something to be shooting wild fowl within sight of the grove
I' pines recorded by Virgil, and on the very spot where
.\i-n- and Knryalus perished. Pray read the story in Virgil,
liook IX., and in Dryden for the benefit of the ladies. The
most curious part of the affair was the test it afforded of
the climate. On the 23d of December, I started on the
lake, in a wet boat, before sunrise, without any thing on but
my September .shooting clothes, and there I sat till 3 o'clock
in the afternoon without mu\ing, no glove on my right hand.
462 ST. PETER'S. CHAP, xxviu.
and my feet in damp hay ; a heavy fog prevailed during part
of the morning, and we were often enveloped in thick reeds ;
but during the whole time I had not a sensation of cold, and
only suffered from the bite of musquitoes.
" But now I must turn to Richards, who went to explore the
ruins of Ostia. A discovery had lately been made there of a
burial-place on the Insula Sacra on the Tiber. As yet little
has been done towards robbing the tombs, so that he found a
variety of interesting antiques, sarcophagi, urns, inscriptions
&c. He brought us a perfect specimen of a lamp, and we
are resolved to go, en masse, and lay our sacrilegious hands
upon some of these treasures, and astonish the Antiquarian
Society by the extent and novelty of our discoveries. To-day,
I have been, for the first time, at St. Peters, and seen high mass
performed by the Pope himself. But to tell you the truth, I
and my scribe are very sleepy ; therefore, instead of at-
tempting to give you a notion of the wonderful grandeur of
the building, or the splendour of the ceremonies, I shall con-
fine myself to saying that, as a show, it was pre-eminently
grand ; as a service, there was
' Devotion's every grace, except the heart.'
For ornament, for the display of wealth, for music, for,
in short, a scene, fifty to one on St. Peter's Cathedral,
against the Friends' Meeting at Plaistow ; for religion, for
worship in spirit and in truth, fifty to one on Plaistow
Meeting, against St. Peter's and all its glories ! "
To Edward N. Buxton, Esq.
" Rome, January 1. 1840.
" * * The tramontane, or northern wind, has
come down upon us and has cooled us ; nevertheless, we
spent three hours yesterday most pleasantly, in walking to
gether about the grounds of the Villa Albani ; as many the
day before on the Palatine Hill. It is wonderful what a
deal there is to see in this city. ' But in all their
finery there is dirt, and, on the other hand, in the midst
of their dirt, there is some remnant of magnificence. You
1840. THE VATICAN. 403
will see a palace and a pigstye close together ; and, moreover,
the pigstye will have a small touch of the palace, and the
palace a large toucli of the pigstye. Nothing, however, can
exceed the beauty and luxuriance of the villas round about
Rome. I only wish you had seen the deep blue sky over
the Alhani villa; the residences of Cicero and Horace before
us ; the hills, some of them covered with snow ; and a pro-
fusion of roses and oranges growing in the gardens around.
"January 3. 1840.
" I yesterday went with a large party, for the first
time, to the Vatican. I have, as you are aware, no
knowledge of paintings or statues, no cultivated taste, no
classical recollections ; and it is well for me I have not.
That place would have set me raving ; it almost did as
it was. You may walk there all day long, and at a good
pace, too ; and at either side of you there is something which
strikes the meanest capacity with admiration and reverence.
There were two or three rooms full of birds and beasts
in marble, to the very life ; and then there was the Apollo ;
why, man, it is beautiful past description. It rivets your
eyes. What a most wonderful people those Romans were, to
have congregated together such a profusion of excellence !
Wi 11, if these sights produce such an effect upon me, old,
obtuse, and unromantic as I am, woe betide those who come
in their youth, and are lovers of the arts. It is enough
to make them all daft. I am going to-morrow to wash
off the effects of the Vatican, by some snipe shooting in the
Pontinr Marshes."
To Joseph J. Gurney, Esq.
"January 6. 1840.
" How passing strange it is, that I should write from
Rome, addressing you in Barbados. I wish we could
change places for a few days. Neither St. Peter's, nor the
Capitol, imr the dying gladiator, nor Apollo himself, all
beautiful as he is, are so iiitnv-tiiig to me as would be the
of the Negroes, working for their own benefit, and
464 THOUGHTS ON ROME. CHAP. XXVIII.
sheltered by law from the lash of the cart-whip. It is a
sight I pant to behold.
" And now as to my worthy self. I have enjoyed both
the country and the wonderful works of art in Rome, more
than I had any notion that I could. I sometimes laugh at
my own romancings, and wonder that such an old, untaught
man should give way to such true pleasure, in matters which
he does not understand. Rome is, in truth, a wonderful
place. There is hardly any thing more remarkable than the
profusion of its treasures. What Rome must have been in
its glory, when the relics are so surprising ! * *
" Every thing bespeaks wonderful intellect on the part of
the Romans ; but then the base, cruel, cowardly ruffians !
Fancy the whole population pouring into the Coliseum, to
see the poor captives hew one another to pieces, and finding
infinite delight and merriment in such a holiday I "
To Edward N. Buxton, Esq.
"January 21. 18-tO.
"I picture to myself your arriving at Northrepps on
Monday, January 13th, and you and your party hugely
enjoying yourselves during the week; and I fancy I know
precisely where you shot each day, if not the exact number
of the slain. I thought you had an especial nice party ; but
why did Gurney Hoare absent himself? I suppose that Ed-
mund was at the top of the tree. I hope you took decent care
of yourselves, age and wisdom being absent, I at Rome, and
Sam Hoare at Lombard Street. You may well suppose that
I was un pen faclie to be absent for more than twenty years
from my humble task of attending to the wants and pro-
moting the sport, of a rabble of boys. I was resolved,
however, to console myself as best I might, and I accom-
plished this so effectually, that I am ready to back the
Pontine Marshes against all Norfolk. On Monday, most of
our party embarked, with three dogs, on board a huge monster
of a vehicle, and rumbled along to Albano. The next
morning, our friend Cresswell, myself, the cacciatore, and
our Italian servant Pittini, with three Italian pointers and
1840. SHOOTING ON THE PONTINE MARSHES. 465
little JUDO, pursued our voyage, leaving the boys and girls
behind, and reached Cisterna at ten, where we had fair accom-
modation, and made friends with another shooting-party, who
breakfasted and dined with us. We shot in the woods, an
immense tract of which extends on each side of the road.
" The next day we did very little, our bag being only
eighteen woodcocks; but oh ! such a mishap. While Cress-
well and the cacciatore were diving through a thick fen in
the wood, up sprung three wild boars within ten yards of
them, two young ones, and one bigger than a donkey ! Cress-
well thought them tame ones, and did not fire, though he
had a clear and beautiful shot. The cacciatore gave them his
two barrels in vain, and roared out to me; but before I could
get a ball into my gun, one of the younger ones passed before
me at about fifty yards. But what was the use of a charge
of No. 6 at that distance? however, I had a perfect view of
the fellow, as pure a wild boar as ever was littered, about the
size of one of the pigs at Cross's.
" On Thursday morning we passed early through Tre Ponti,
the * Three Taverns' of Scripture, and thence went on, five
miles further, to Appii Forum, so called now, and so called
in the days of St. Paul. I read St. Paul's account of his
journey, and on the road he traversed, and in view of the very
same hills which he saw (and most remarkable hills they are),
I pictured to myself his friends approaching, ' whom, when
Paul saw, he thanked God and took courage.'
" We had a letter from the Duke of Braschi, the owner of
twenty miles square hereabouts, to his steward, whoreside< in
an immense old building, once the palace of theBraschi ; and at
an earlier period, a great monastery. The steward was
ab.-cnt, and, alas! the key of the cellar was in his pocket;
the servants, however, received us with all civility.
" Our first inquiry was about beds. To look at, they were
very well. 'Have they been slept in ?' I inquired. 'Oh!
yes.' -Who >li-pt last in my bed?' ' The Duke of Braschi
himself.' At ni^ht, when I was going to bed, I asked
another little question, which wholly altered the view of
things, and would have sent us back to Cisterna that night,
II II
466 SHOOTING EXCURSIONS CHAP. XXVIII.
if we had possessed any mode of conveyance. But, as it was,
we were in for it. The unlucky question was, * When was
the Duke last here?' 'Ten years ago was his last visit.'
So my bed, it was quite clear, had not been slept in for ten
years ! The house was haunted to the last degree ; it was
quite a preserve of ghosts. But there were more rats than
ghosts, more fleas than rats, more musquitoes than fleas, and
more musical frogs than any of them. Oh ! such a concert,
such an orchestra of bull-frogs, such a band of mosquitoes,
and such a rattling of ghosts, (for assuredly they were ghosts
if they were not rats,) all combined together, formed, if not
as harmonious, at least as remarkable a chorus, as ever de-
lighted mortal ears. In the morning I saw poor Cresswell ;
in addition to my musicians, he had had four indefatigable
cats, who during the live-long night had serenaded him for
admission into his room, where our game was lodged, and
over his window was a dovecote into which the rats were con-
tinually making commandos ; in short, he had enjoyed such
a concord of ' sweet sounds,' as conferred upon him what
Milton calls 'a sober certainty of waking bliss.' 'I have
not,' he exclaimed, ' slept a single wink all night.' ' How
classical,' said I, ' you and Horace attempt to sleep on pre-
cisely the same spot, and, for aught I know, in the same
bed, and he tells us,
' Mali culices ranaeque palustres
Avertunt somnos.'
" We rode three miles along the canal which carried Horace,
then entered a deep marsh with gigantic reeds. There were
more snipes there than you ever saw, or ever will see, unless
you come to Rome, and yet the people complained that they
were very scarce. I believe it, for our sporting friends at
Cisterna declared that the day before they had put up ten
thousand ; but they had only bagged ten. The snipes
were terribly wild ; and no wonder, for what between the
peasants who are always at them, and the Romans who
dedicate their Sabbaths to them, they are shot at every day
in the week, and twice on a Sunday. We managed, however,
to bring home twenty couple, a rail, a quail, a hare, and
840. ON THE PONTINE MARSHES. 467
three ducks. But the next day was the grand one. AVe
went two miles further, and then entered a noble wood. It
was almost impenetrably thick. We had a good stout fellow
of a cacciatore, whom we brought from Rome. He wore a
breeches-plate made of the skin of a wolf, which even the
Human thorns could not penetrate ; he is a hunter of renown
here, and his name is * Gabbiate,' which, literally translated,
m. -a us * the uncombed.' I fought, I confess, rather shy of
the bushes, and so did Juno, and so did two of our pointers,
so also one of our two remaining beaters. In about a quarter
of an hour this fellow emerged from the wood, and planted
himself by my side ; but, as I was sneaking myself, I was up
to his tricks, and by signs, sufficiently significant, sent him
baek into the brambles. Of him we saw and heard no more
till luncheon time, when he re -appeared with a pipe in his
mouth ; and fur the remainder of the day, while we shot, he
naked. The woodcocks flew about in every direction. If
we had had Larry, and our crew of men, and every dog in
North Krpingham, we might have done some work. But
this was not the worst, we could not speak Italian, and our
attendants could not understand a word of English ; and so,
after a very superficial beating of this superb part of the
wood, they marched us off, in spite of our unintelligible remon-
strances, to another part, where we got but one woodcock
and a few snipes, and our day was spoiled for want of being
able to utter a sentence. Another illustration, added to a
and before, of the evil of not speaking modern languages.
However, this day yielded twenty-one woodcocks and nine
snipes. Upon the whole you may well suppose that I
enjoyed myself greatly; but you will hardly guess what it
\\ M that pleased me most, it was the splendid day, and noble
mountains, and dark forests, and glittering villages, anil
various lights, that were, beyond snipes and woodcocks, the
great attractions to me.
" Feb. 3. 1840, 44. Via Condotti, Rome.
" Now prepare your mind for an adventure which occurred
to us in our shooting excursion on Saturday, into which good
live banditti are introduced, and blows struck, and all the
11 H 2
468 ADVENTURE WITH ROBBERS. CHAP. XXVII.
charming accompaniments of daggers and pistols. You will
be dying, I am sure, to hear the story, and to learn the
return of killed, wounded, and prisoners. But suspend your
curiosity, be content with knowing, for the present, that our
adventure is to-day the talk of all Rome, and that troops are
sent off to the marshes to shoot, not snipes, but robbers ; at
least I suppose so. But to business first, if you please.
* * * *
" Well, now, sleepy as I am, I will tell you our story: On
Saturday morning, Aubin, I, and Spink, in the inside, our
cacciatore and the coachman on the box, with our three dogs,
started to Macarese after the snipes. You may remember that
I told you in a former letter the distance of this marsh, also
that we saw in the road the blood of a man who had been mur-
dered the preceding night, and a little cross stuck into the
hedge to commemorate the event. About half a mile further
on, turning into a gate, we observed another cross, intimating
that another murder had been committed since our last visit ;
and I hear there is no part of the country where you will
find a more choice collection of robbers and assassins than
this same Macarese. I took Spink merely to attend me ; but
he had the wit to borrow a little single-barelled gun, and as
I saw he was bent upon signalising himself, I had not
the heart to baulk him. Alas ! the waters were down, and
the snipes were up, and, though we shot capitally, we only
managed to get eleven couple. We might have brought home
a rare stock of vipers if we had wished it, for we saw about a
dozen in a quarter of an hour. When we were going to have
luncheon I selected my spot, but little Juno made such a
fuss that we looked into it, and saw a viper nearly two feet
long. We removed, and out of the bush at our feet went
another great banging fellow.
" We lunched, however, and went again at the snipes. At
length we started towards home ; but an unlucky jack snipe
seduced Spink some way back again. He went after it and
killed it. No sooner was his gun off, than from a broad,
alir.ost impenetrable hedge, which crosses the swamp, out
rushed two fellows; the first who arrived snatched his gun, the
1840. ADVENTURE WITH ROBBERS. 469
other seized his collar, gave him a hard kick on his leg, and
drew a long knife out of his side-pocket. Could any situation
be more forlorn ? we out of hearing, his gun discharged, his
knees knocking together through terror, his head turning
round and round, his heart in his mouth. I use his own ex-
pressions, and never did I hear so vivid a description as he
gave of the scene, for he lives to tell it. What did he do in
such adversity ? Why exactly the right thing : he let go his
gun, put his two hands into his waistcoat pockets, and pro-
duced a pair of pocket pistols, loaded, capped, and cocked,
and presented one at the breast of each robber ! The state of
affairs was suddenly changed. The heroes, who a moment
before jabbered so loud, and kicked so hard, turned tail,
dropped the gun, and dashed into the hedge, and Spink re-
mained master of the field of battle. But he did not keep it
long. ' I seized the gun,' said he, * I did not know where
I was, nor anything about it ; I ran through a pool up to my
waist, and never stopped till I fell from fright and want of
breath ; then I loaded and fired my gun as a signal of dis-
tress.' Now I must tell you that we had waited nearly half
an hour for him, somewhat disconcerted at being detained ;
and thought it very cool of him to be following his sport
while we were kicking our heels. This gave occasion to the
atore to exercise the wit, for which he is famed. ' Why
the man must have got a charm, he has had more shots than
all of us put together, he must hereafter be called The For-
tunate Youth.' Little did we dream that the poor fellow
was then in the extremity of distress, hardly able to move,
and not knowing whether his road lay to the right or to the
It -ft. But upon hearing another gun fired by him, it oc-
curred t<> me that he might be making signals, so having fired
our guns, which .-insularly enough he never heard (probably
he was 1\ in:: down in a kind of swoon from over exertion), I
began to halloo as loud as ever I could, and at length he heard
me, and was eluvred by the sound of my voice, and came
running after us.
" When he arrived near me, 1 was l>cirinniiiLr an oration to
apprize him how we had been all kept waiting; when, on
u ii 3
470 ADVENTURE WITH ROBBERS. CHAP. XXVHL
looking into bis face I saw him pale as ashes, and looking
most strange and bewildered. I immediately gave him some
brandy, told him to compose himself, and at length we heard
the history of his adventures.
" His extreme satisfaction that he had not shot the two men,
which if they had persisted a moment longer he certainly
would have done ; his most natural and graphic description of
his exquisite terror; his conviction that neither he nor his
mistress would ever have been happy again if the blood of
these men had been upon his hands ; his deep detestation of
snipe shooting, marshes, Rome, and Romans; his solemn
resolution never to quit my side if he had the misfortune
again to go a shooting ; his vivid apprehensions, and most
anxious inquiries whether we thought there was a chance of
our getting back again to Rome without encountering a fresh
gang of banditti these beguiled our way home.
" Everybody approves the course he took ; and it seems
likely to be the fashion for every one, in imitation of him,
to carry pistols in their waistcoat pockets when they go out
shooting. I ought to have told you that, probably, these fel-
lows had been watching us all day. I saw one creeping
along on the other side of the hedge some time before, and if
I could have spoken Italian, should have tempted him to
assume the place of my attendant which Spink had relin-
quished. Well, there ends my story. I wish you could
have heard him tell what he felt when these hideous fellows
rushed out, and when the knife met his eyes. It was, as
he told the story, not only very tragical, but irresistibly
comical. To do him justice, however, I am right glad
that the accident befel him and not me. I am afraid if
I had had a pair of pistols in my hand, under such circum-
stances, in such a fright, I should have had to bear upon
my nerves a sense of two human beings plunged into a
most awful eternity. But, good night. Rome is affluent in
robbers, we hear of a robbery or murder every day, and a
gang has taken post they say in a wood twelve miles off." *
* This gang afterwards robbed Don Miguel, the ex-king of Portugal,
as he was returning from a shooting excursion.
1840. PROPAGANDA MISSIONS. 471
To Samuel Hoare, Esq.
"January 28. 1840.
" Of one thing assure yourself, my visit to Rome has not
tended to make me a Roman Catholic. This city hns as
many fountains and as much dirt, as many priests and as
much wickedness, as any in the world. Not, however, but
that there is a great deal to admire here. The spirit and
stimulus with which they urge forward their religion, is well
worthy the imitation of Protestants. I was yesterday with
Father Glover, one of five who rule the Jesuits, and he told
me that their Propaganda Society for Missions, gets 40,000/.
a year.
" Their mode of proceeding is this : one man engages to
collect the subscription, amounting to a halfpenny per week,
from ten persons ; another, of a higher order, collects ten of
these first, and so on ; so that, in substance, the last person
i- answrraMe for the subscriptions of a thousand. Their plan,
also, of Missions, is admirable; their missionaries in every
country are instructed to look out for young men of talent
and xcal, and likely to make good missionaries. These they
import to Rome, and give them, in their Propaganda College,
a first-rate education. They detain them there, if upon their
first coming they understand the rudiments of Latin, &c.,
seven years, otherwise twelve, and then send them back as
Binaries to the country from which they were taken. In
this way, they have here at present under education, 130
young men from all parts of the world, and recently
discourses were delivered by them in forty-three different
lan^ua-jvs : ami they seem a body of very intelligent and
well-educated youths.
No wonder, then, that their religion spreads as it seems
to lie doini;. In 1825, they had but thirteen Catholics in
(Juiana, and now there are 5000 1 "When the United States
separated from Great Britain, they had one bishop, twenty
prie-ts ami a small Catholic population. They have now
)i 11 4
472 ROMAN PRISONS. CHAP. XXVIII-
1,500,000 Catholics! Surely these facts, which I collected
from the head of the Jesuits, are both stimulating and
instructive.
" Excuse me for putting all this down. I keep no journal,
and only contrive to record the facts which I wish to re-
member, by inflicting them upon somebody, in the shape
of an epistle. I will only add, that I think we must have a
grand college at Antigua, or somewhere, for youths from all
the tribes of Africa.
" But now for another matter, on which I am really
distressed for the want of your assistance. You advise me
to visit the prisons. The fact is, I have been doing so. I
thought it a shame for an old prison fancier to be here with
so much to be seen in this way, and not to devote some
portion of his leisure to it. I therefore made a formal applica-
tion to the Cardinal Minister, and almost immediately I
received, to the astonishment of both Romans and English, a
full permission to visit all the gaols, with the offer of every
species of information ; also all the hospitals, and all the
places for education. To the two last, the Cardinal offered
to accompany me ; but, as yet, I have not been to them, and
it is very likely I shall not have time, but a party of
us have gone the round of the prisons within Rome. To-
morrow, I visit the prison hospitals; and on Friday next,
I go to two large out-lying gaols. I shall then have com-
pleted this part of my work, as far as Rome is concerned.
There are some large prisons at a distance within the Papal
Dominions, and these I shall endeavour to see.
" The subject has attracted some attention. The Romans
are mightily taken with it, and look upon the permission
given to me, as an unheard-of instance of liberality on
the part of their Sovereign, and beg that I will avail myself
of the opportunity and speak out. Three English noblemen
have been amongst the number of my companions, and they
are engaged to go with me on Friday. I was yesterday
taken by one of them to Lord Shrewsbury, who tells me,
that Prince Borghese is inclined to establish a Prison Disci-
pline Society. This is what I am at now.
1840. ROMAN PRISONS. 473
" The state of the prisons is substantially this : they are
very clean (to be sure they knew we were coming, and it
must be remembered throughout, that we were never able to
take them by surprise), the rooms are very lofty, and the air
always fresh and good ; the provisions good in quality, and, I
should think, sufficient. But one of the questions which
I c-pecially want you to give me an answer upon, is, what,
in addition to a ladle-full of weak meat soup, being in
quantity, I should imagine, about three quarters of a pint,
ought to be the allowance of bread for a prisoner, not in
solitude and not employed?
" I now come to the defects. There is no such thing as
clarification, except, indeed, an attempt upon a small scale,
\\ ith regard to boys. Male prisoners of all ages and for all
crimes, from common assault to murder, are congregated to-
gether. In one instance, there were 200 in one spacious
room. There is no inspection whatsoever. There is no work
for the great majority. The felons convicted and sentenced
for long periods, are worked in the public streets ; but the re-
mainder, tried and untried (and they amount to several hun-
dreds), have nothing whatever to do. There is no regular
gaol delivery ; so that we met with several persons who had
been detained before trial, for upwards of a year. There is
no school ; and, with the exception of mass on the Sunday,
and the repetition of a creed at nightfall, there is little effort
made to convey religious instruction. These, I think, are
the leading particulars. I should have said, however, that
tli re are no chains, except for persons convicted of infamous
crimes (answering to our felonies), and that there is neither
the solitary nor the silent system.
\o\v, then, I want you and Crawford to tell me what I
.-lnmld ur^e upon the Government. They have plenty of
space about their #iols, so that there is room enough within
the walls fur any improvement ; but the Government is poor.
"I find myself considerably at a loss from my inability to
rc\ive my old Prison Discipline lore. I am doing my best to
:i book, irhii-li I tlunh I our, read; it was written in tin:
curlier stu^c.s of the Prison Discipline Question, and is
474 ROMAN INSTITUTIONS. CHAP. XXVHL
called, if I recollect right, ' Buxton on Prison Discipline.'
If I get this, it will be something ; but I look far more to an
immediate communication from you and Crawford.
" Neri, who I understand bears the title of Chancellor,
and is a very intelligent man, accompanied me through all the
gaols, and has earnestly asked me to apply, both to our Govern-
ment and your Society, for any documents, plans, c., which
might be useful to a Government desiring to improve its
prisons. So, if you please, you must get me what your
Society can furnish, and Crawford must apply to the Marquis
of Normanby, who will, I am sure, cheerfully lend his assis-
tance in such a cause.
" Executions are rare, especially considering that murders
ai'e so plentiful. They told me that there were only two or
three in a year. I ought to add that books are not allowed
to the prisoners except by special permission. We saw, I
think, but four or five in all the gaols.
" Not another moment have I, except to say that I
heartily hope the boys enjoyed themselves as much in their
Norfolk excursion, as you and I used to do some thirty years
ago."
To Edward N. Buxton, Esq.
" January 30. 1840.
" I went yesterday with Richards to the Santo Spirito
Hospital. It beats every thing of the kind we have in
England, and is a most noble institution. I measured one
room, 170 yards long, and broad and lofty in proportion.
There were four rows of beds, all superlatively clean, the
ventilation perfect : another room as large above, and into
each of these, other rooms opened, all very spacious. It is
capable of containing 1400 patients. There are 260 at-
tendants, including 90 young physicians and surgeons. Any
person, no matter of what country, or of what religion, has a
right to admission, and they have never been reduced to the
necessity of sending any one away for want of room. The
museum with preparations of the human body in every form,
the library, the lecture-rooms, &c., &c., are all admirable.
1840. ROMAN INSTITUTIONS. 475
Tlu v have thirteen resident chaplains. In short, every thing
was of huge dimensions, and in the highest order. Annexed
to it was a criminal prison. There was also a mad-house, in
which there was no solitary confinement, and only ten out of
ili.- whole number had strait waistcoats; and these were
concealed under their clothes. They told us that one-fourth
were annually dismissed as cured. There was also a
Foundling Hospital, and an institution for the girls who had
brought up in it. We saw 550 of these damsels all
employed ; and they have one curious plan. Any body who
wants a wife may order one at this shop. He has but to
knock at the door, prove that he his respectable, and then
tin \ are singly paraded before him, and he has to pick out
one to his liking ; and, after a time, he carries her off, and
with her ;x hundred crowns. What fine fun the ladies must
when any one comes to inspect them ! The old abbess
who accompanied us seemed highly amused by our diligent in-
quiries, especially on this point ; and by the notes we took."
On the 31st of January Mr. Buxton writes at great
length to Mrs. Johnston about his Slave Trade book,
which had undergone considerable revision since his
departure, and he expresses his most cordial con-
currence in all the proposed alterations. The letter
then proceeds
" But I must tell you about the dinner party at Lord
Shrewsbury's yesterday. Except myself, and, I think, one
more, there was no one who had not some mark of nobility
in his coat There were three ambassadors, some English
noblemen, and about half a dozen princes, twenty-four in all.
I had scarcely entered the room before a Monsignor seized
my hand and all'e ted to kiss it ; this was the Governor of
lioin.-. who had j/iven us the order of admission into all the
prisons, hospitals, &c. lie and I had a very interest inir
conversation, and as long a one as could well be expected,
-iderintr that he understood but two words of English,
and 1 about three of Italian. Oh! this plague of languages!
476 THE DUG DE BOKDEAUX. CHAP. XXVIII.
Next came up Prince Borghese, a very pleasing young man,
who spoke a little English, and before whom I threw the
proposal that he should become the chairman of a Prison
Discipline Association. I was afterwards introduced to the
Due de Bordeaux, with whom I had some conversation on
the Slave Trade, and who expressed a wish to see my book.
He also said mighty civil things. Poor fellow ! he has a
sweet expression of countenance ; conceive Mrs. , with the
same expression, and the same extreme clearness and clean-
liness of skin, but with broader features and a stouter person,
and a heavier eye, and you have a good picture of the man.
" The Pretender's course is not a smooth one. If he has
either extreme of character he may do well. Let him be
excessively quiet, devoid of ambition and enterprize, that
may do. Or let him be clever, daring, sagacious, ambitious
and commanding, and that, perhaps, will do. But, if there is
any mixture in his composition, if the least dash of adven-
ture is coupled with his love of ease ; or the least love of
peace is mingled with his ambition, he will assuredly be a
martyr. One cannot see the Duke without liking him, and
wishing that he may have the good sense to steer clear of
turbulent politics.
At dinner I sat next to Lady Shrewsbury's sister, who told
me every thing about every body. Among the rest, that that
beautiful refined creature, the Princess D , actually
goes every day in the Holy Week to wash the feet of the
patients in the hospital. Well, well, good people may abhor
the Roman Catholics if they please, and may feel, as I do,
that they are led dangerously astray in their doctrines,
but I never will join in setting them down as creatui'es
devoid of deep feelings of religion, nor can I deny that there
is humility and self-denial in such an act as I have described.
" I will now tell you a circumstance which, as I think
Andrew Johnston was a party in the matter, will please him,
as I confess it did me. Does he recollect that a clergyman
named Nixon wrote to me from Ireland, complaining of the
operation of the law, by Avhich he and several others severely
suffered ; some losing a third, some half, and, in two or three
1840. THE SAN MICHELE ASYLUM. 477
cases, all their income ? Does he recollect also that I took up
the case, and got Lord Morpeth to insert a curing clause in
the Irish Church Bill? That Bill, however, was thrown out;
so I presumed that my effort had been fruitless. Not so,
however; Nixon is here, and tells me that last year, when
there was a new Church Bill, they reminded Morpeth of his
promise, my clause was again introduced, it became law; a
hundred clergymen in his diocese, and an equal proportion
in all the other dioceses were greatly benefited by it, and
some very deserving men saved from complete ruin. This
has really pleased me, I am glad that my slight effort has
contributed to the comfort of these good people.
"Februarys. 1840.
" I had fixed to start early this morning snipe shooting, but
the rain has kept me in. I have been in Rome now nearly
two months, and till a week past we had no rain; but when
it does come it is in right down earnest. To walk along the
streets then, is as if there were people at every window
throwing buckets full of water at you. It is calculated that
the number of days of rain at Rome is one-third less than in
London ; while the quantity of rain which actually falls here
is one-third more.
" On Wednesday next I am engaged to the Prince of Mu-
signano, Bonaparte's nephew and heir, who, if we had been
lieaten at Waterloo, would probably have been king of the
world. Not that I believe a word of this. I am well per-
suaded that there is a good Providence over England, and
that while sheisemployed in abolishing slavery and the Slave
Trade, sending out missions and Bibles, she is safe enough,
both from chartists and French. We have a great many friends
here. In the mornings, I have for some time been visiting
the prisons, hospitals, c., two or three days a week, and
afterwards joining the ladies. On Tuesday I finished the
prisons by seeing the San Michcle. This is an asylum
for orphans, old men and old women (several hundreds of
each i, and a very good one it is. Annexed to it was a female
prison, 280 women in it ; some imprisoned for life, others for
periods from twenty years, down to one. It is a wretched
478 THE JESUITS. CHAP. XXVIII.
place, with next to no instruction. Of the 280 prisoners only
thirty could read. Why don't they elect me Pope ? The
army of priests should soon have something to do in the way
of Infant Schools, &c. I am going to make a report to the
Governor here, who has been excessively liberal in furnishing
me with information ; but I am sadly distressed for want of
my book on Prisons.
" On Tuesday, as I said, after seeing the San Michele, I
went with Lord Meath, Lord De Mauley, and Richards, to
the church of St. Augustino. The panels adjacent to the
altar were covered with knives and pistols, which had been
presented by robbers and murderers to the Virgin. I suppose
you have heard of Spink's adventure ; it made us look upon
the knives with something more of interest. On Wednes-
day we went to the Corsini Palace : there are two such
pictures there of Christ, with a crown of thorns ; the one,
the Ecce Homo of Guercino, the other, in some respects still
more touching, by Carlo Dolce. There was also the
exquisite picture of the Virgin and Child, by Murillo. I
longed to steal it. Yesterday we saw a splendid collection
at the Borghese Palace, and then we had a long conver-
sation with a Jesuit. I am very anxious to make my-
self master of their system of missions and of that of the
Lyons Society. They seem to effect so much, with means so
limited ; besides, I am persuaded they are upon the right
principle. Their whole fight is for native missionaries.
Their first act is to establish schools, in which, however, the
instruction of the people is a very secondary object; the
main purpose being to get a number of children, so far edu-
cated that they may pick out a few fitted by talent, dispo-
sition, and ready reception of Christianity, to be sent to Rome
to receive a thorough education. Here they detain them,
in some cases for seven, in others for twelve years, and send
them back, well instructed as missionaries, to their own country.
" Now I must tell you that the Jesuits and I are playing a
game of chess. They hope, I fancy, from my willingness to
listen, from my eagerness to learn, from my ready laudation
of all that I find reason to approve, that they will make me a
1840. TUB JESUITS. 47 \)
convert to Popery. I, on the other hand, wish to make
myself master of the secrete of the system which has
rendered tin- Jesuit missions so eminently successful ; and I
tell them, without reserve, that this is my object. Never-
thele.-.-. tiny ure vastly communicative.
" I was adverse to the Catholic religion when I left Eng-
land, because I saw the error of their doctrines ; but now, when
I see in their practice the fruit of their system, and the de-
pravity of the people that are so taught, 1 am still more
-tant than ever, if it be possible. To do them justice,
preaching Christ is part of their practice, but the divine
powers of our Saviour are shared with the Virgin Mary, and
she takes not only the mother's share, but the lion's portion.
Then their system of religion seems to be destitute of spiritu-
ality. Moreover, they seem to teach scarcely any morality.
I found my wife yesterday announcing to our Italian maid the
novel intelligence of the Ten Commandments. This girl had
had an education, but apparently not a very profound one ; for
according, as she said, to the practice of Rome, she had only re-
mained at school one week, in order to learn how to say mass.
" I have just been looking out of the window at the rain,
the like of which I never saw, except on one occasion, when,
as some one described it, * the drops were as thick as hail,
and every drop a pail full.' Collier (the Jesuit) told us of a
speech of a priest in Maranham against slavery, of so power-
ful a nature that after it the whole congregation liberated
tluir slaves; and he said that priests in slave colonies had
been the natural and enthusiastic protectors of the Negroes.
II also used or quoted a sentence which just hit the mark in
my mind. Speaking of some one he said, ' He is of the
IH ly of the church, but not of its soul.' "
Among all the amusements of Rome, his mind con-
tinually turned to his accustomed objects of interest.
He thus writes to the Bishop of Calcutta on the 15th
of 1-Vliruary:
" I ne ly say that I feel deeply your promptitude
in acting upon my letter relating to the Indian slaves. It
480 INDIAN SLAVERY. CHAP. XXVIII.
was just like yourself, and reminded me of the Daniel Wilson
who used to pour his whole heart into a good cause, and
who, unvexed with the cautions and qualifications of ordinary
men, threw the whole weight of his influence into the right
scale. I have no doubt that this movement of yours will be
attended with real advantage. I regret that I have little
further intelligence to communicate to you. There was,
towards the conclusion of last session, so much party spirit,
and such a nice balance of parties, that Lushington thought
it inexpedient to bring on the question of East Indian slavery.
This discretion is scarcely in consonance with my dis-
position ; I am more inclined for working, in season or
out of season, with the tide, or against it. But, on the other
hand, Lushington is most true and faithful to the cause ;
knows far better than I do the temper of the present House
of Commons, and is swayed by no other motive than a desire
to act for the best. I send him a copy of your remarks,
which cannot fail to be an encouragement to him.- I expect
to be in England in April, and you shall then know what
is intended to be done; but assure yourself of this, the
question will not be allowed to go to sleep. I learn that a
grand Anti-slavery congress is to meet in London next June ;
and India will form one great branch of discussion.
" Now for another subject, the Slave Trade. Again I
must express the pleasure which your cordiality gave me.
The Government have, as I told you before, embraced and
adopted my plan, and have acceded to our request that an
expedition shall proceed up the Niger, in order to make
treaties with the native powers, and to explore the country ;
and, possibly, to acquire territory, on which we may set the
example of growing cotton. The expedition will sail in
October. It will consist of three steamers of large dimen-
sions but of little draught of water. They will be commanded
by Christian officers, some of them renouncing better pros-
pects, and going in a true missionary spirit. I have consi-
derably enlarged my e Remedy,' and have especially dwelt
on Christian education, and the elevation of the native mind.
I do not enter here into particulars, because I have ordered a
1840. M.AVE TRADE. 481
copy to be forwarded to you as soon as it is printed, and also
a copy of the prospectus of our new Society, which is some-
thing akin to our old African Institution.
" I nni vexed to tell you that Fernando Po is not as yet
acquired: the negotiation is, however, still going on, and
till that be settled, one way or the other, the Government
object to my book being published. It is vexing enough
thus to l>e kept in suspense, or rather it would be so, if I did
not feel a comforting assurance that there is a great and
guiding hand regulating all our movements.
" I am happy to tell you that there is true harmony
among the friends of the cause. Two of its principal sup-
porters are Sir Robert Inglis and Lushington. "We have
many others with the same views belonging to the two great
political parties. Our prospectus, too, will be signed by the
llishop of London, and by the heads of the Methodists,
Baptists, Quakers, &c.
" It grieves me that we cannot agree upon one great and
uniform system of religious instruction. Men will divide
their affections between their religion and the denomination
to which they belong. But what we cannot do as one great
body, must be effected by us as separate bodies. If you ask
me what of all things I should best like, I answer, to see
somewhere on the coast of Africa, in a healthy situation, a
t Black College, for the education of native missionaries
and schoolmasters for Africa, on the purest and most evan-
gelical principles. That is what we want. Without
Christianity all our efforts will be but idle dreams; and
happy am I to say that this is the unanimous and avowed
M ntiment of our Society. If you like our prospectus, I must
ask you to permit me to enrol your name amongst our
members."
To Edward N. Buxton, Esq.
" February 15. 1840.
" On Thursday, after a busy morning, I went with
Kirhards and had a thorough study of the Forum, and stood
on the very spot where Cicero pronounced his speeches?
ndt Catiline; and where, in view of the Capitol, he
I I
482 THE FORUM. CHAP. XXVIII.
uttered those noble words, ' Turn tu, Jupiter, quern Statorem
hujus urbis atque imperil vere nominamus, hunc et hujus so-
cios a tuis aris, ceterisque templis, et tectis urbis, ac moenibus,
a vita fortunisque civium omnium arcebis, et seternis sup-
pliciis vivos mortuosque mactabis.' This was in the senate,
then held in the Temple of Concord. I also saw the place
where the rostrum stood, from which the orators used to
address the people at large : also the Temple of Antoninus,
and the one which Augustus dedicated to Jupiter Tonans,
in commemoration of his servant being killed at his side by
a thunderbolt ; also the well-preserved and beautiful remains
of the Temple of Fortune. What scenes have passed within
a stone's throw of the spot where I stood ! There Romulus
fled from the Sabines, and there he rallied, and built a temple
to Jupiter Stator ; there the Gracchi had their tumultuous
meetings ; there Anthony made his oration over the dead
body of Caesar; and there the Roman senate issued their
decrees affecting "all the known world, which they say were
designed, ' Parcere subjectis et debellare superbos,' which,
properly translated, means ' to slaughter those who resist and
to make slaves of the rest.' I put down all this parade of
learning, (with much of which Richards has crammed me,)
with no view to your edification, still less for your amuse-
ment ; but when one has more learning than one knows what
to do with, it is very convenient to deposit it in a letter, where
it is safe for future use without the trouble of carrying it
about."
-I S3
CHAPTER XXIX.
1840.
1 Kl-OXS AT CTVTTA VECCHTA. ITALIAN BANDITTI. GASPARONI.
II.I.NESS. NAPLES POMPEII PROSPECT OF A WAR BE-
TWEEN NAPLES AND ENGLAND. EXCITEMENT AT NAPLES.
MR. BUXTON RETURNS TO ENGLAND.
To Samuel Hoare, Esq.
" March 3.
" I HAVE had occasion to remember the excursion to the
pri.-im at St. Albans, which you and I took long ago, when,
on Monday morning, Richards and I were trotting along in a
diligence to Civita Vecchia. The gaol there, which was the
object of our journey, is an old and strong fortress close
by the sea, and contains 1,364 desperate-looking criminals,
all for the most aggravated offences. I am sure you never
saw such a gang of malefactors, or such a horrid dungeon.
We went, first, into a vaulted room, with a low ceiling,
as I measured it, thirty-one yards long, twenty-one broad.
There was light, but obscure. A good deal of the room was
taken up by the buttresses which supported the arches. The
noise on our entrance was such as may be imagined at the
cm ranee of hell itself. All were chained most heavily, and
fastened down. The murderers and desperate bandits are
fixed to that spot for the rest of their lives; they are
chained to a ring, fastened to the end of the platform, on
which they lie side by side, but they can move the length of
their chain on a narrow gangway. Of this class, there were
upwards of 700 in the prison ; some of them famed for a mul-
tituilr of murders ; many, we were told, had committed six
or seven ; and, indeed, they were a ghastly crew, haggard,
ferocious, reckless assassins. I do not think that the at-
tendant gaoler very much liked our lu.-inir there. A sergeant,
in uniform, was ordered to keep close by me: and 1 observed
i i 2
484 PRISONS AT CIYITA VECCIIIA. CHAP. XXIX.
that he kept his hand upon his sword, as we walked up the
alley between the adjacent platforms.
" There was a fourth room at some distance, and our
guide employed many expedients to divert us from going
there. ****** This was worse than any
of the others : the room lower, damper, darker, and the
prisoners with, if possible, a more murderous look.
* * * * The Mayor afterwards told us, that he in
his official capacity knew that there was a murder every
month among the prisoners. I spoke to a good many of
them, and, with one exception, each said that he was con-
demned for murder or stabbing. I will tell you one short
conversation : ' What are you here for ? ' said I, to a heavy-
looking fellow, lying on his back at the end of the room.
He made no answer; but a prisoner near him, with the
sharp features and dark complexion of an Italian, promptly
said, ' He is here for stabbing ' (giving a thrust with his hand
to show how it was done). ' And why is he in this part of the
prison!' * Because he is incorrigible.' * And what were you
condemned for ? ' * For murder ! ' ' And why placed here ? '
* Sono incorrigibile.'* * * * In short, this prison combines to-
gether in excess, all the evils of which prisons are capable. It is,
as the Mayor said, a sink of all the iniquity of the state. The
Capuchins certainly preach them a sermon on the Sunday,
and afford them an opportunity of confession ; of which, if the
prisoners avail themselves, the priests must have enough to
do. The sight of it has kindled in my mind a very strong
desire, that the old Prison Discipline Society should make a
great effort, and visit all the prisons of the world. I had
hoped, that sound principles of prison discipline had spread
themselves more widely ; but I now fear that there are
places, and many of them, in the world, in which it is horrible
that human beings should live, and still more horrible that
they should die.
"March 4.
" Having in yesterday's letter given you a heavy and
dreary account of the prisons here, I must now furnish you
with a history of some of their inmates. In the citadel
1840. ITALIAN BANDITTI. 485
of Civita Vecchia, Gasparoni and his gang arc confined, and
have been so for the last fourteen years. There are many
vned robbers in this country, but none so celebrated as
thi< Gasparoni; and I had the honour of an interview of
t\v<> hours with him and his band. He is a very fine-looking
fello\v, about five feet eleven high, with as strong and brick-
vail an arm as ever I felt, except, perhaps, General Turner's ;
lu- wore an old velvet coat, which had seen service with him,
and :i large peaked hat. There was nothing ferocious in the ex-
pression of his countenance. I am going to have his picture
taken, a compliment which his appearance well deserves ; for
I the beau ideal of a Robin Hood or Rob Roy. By his
.-'nil- there was a fiendish-looking wretch, who plagued us with
hi< interruptions. This fellow is said to have joined the
band chiefly from his love of human blood, and his post was
that of executioner.
" Gasparoni was very communicative ; only that either from
the modesty which belongs to great men, or some latent
hope of pardon, he greatly underrates his own exploits. For
example, to my question, * How many people have you mur-
dered ?' he replied, ' I cannot exactly recollect, somewhere
about sixty ! ' whereas it is notorious that he has slaughtered
at least double the number. Indeed, the Mayor of Civita
hia assured me, that he had received authentic in-
formation of 200; but he believed that even that number
-till below the mark. This man, according to his own
account, when he was but a young lad, killed a person in a
quarrel and fled to the mountains, where he was joined by a
few youn^ men of similar character. Before he was twenty
years old, he had committed ten murders, and was at the
head of a band of fifteen or twenty robbers, which afterwards
amountrd to about thirty of his own bodyguard; but there
two .r thix-e other bands under separate commanders,
one of whom was his brother; he, however, was lord
paramount.
' It is incontestable that he kept a district of country of at
me hundred mile.- in riivumt'erence, between Rome and
Naples, in the utmost terror and subjection. Those propri-
I I o
486 ITALIAN BANDITTI. CHAP. XXIX.
etors who were not slain by him, fled the country, and were
obliged to receive such a modicum of rent, as the tenants who
compounded with Gasparoni chose to pay ; but the black mail
which he levied was not extravagant. The Government at first
offered 200 crowns for his head. This mounted up at last
to 3000 crowns, and that was the fixed price for many years,
and a thousand soldiers were regularly employed in hunting
him. * But how then,' said I, ' did you escape ? ' * That you
will never understand,' he replied, ' till you see the rocks and
precipices that are there. I and my men knew every turn ;
we have often been close to the soldiers, and let them pass
us, when they had no notion they had such near neighbours.'
Gasparoni had many conflicts with the military, in which
he was uniformly successful ; but in one affair he received a
ball in the lower part of his neck, the scar of which he
showed us. He described one conflict, in which, with ten or
twelve of his men, he beat off, as he said, thirty soldiers ; but
the ill-looking scoundrel by his side said there were full sixty.
" Gasparoni's head-quarters were at Sonnino, where his
wife and children resided, and where the whole population
were devoted to him. This town had obtained so evil a
reputation that on his surrender the Pope made a great
effort to get it rased to the ground, but could not get the
assent of the proprietor. I was interested by learning
from him that the haunts he chiefly occupied for the purpose
of observing the road, were the three little towns perched on
the rock, and shining like silver, Cora, Norma, and Sermo-
neta, which had so much attracted my admiration when I
was at Appii Forum. He told me that he had spent a large
proportion of his plunder upon spies at Rome, by whom he
was made acquainted with the plans designed for his capture,
and who also told him what persons coming along the road
were worth catching ; if emissaries were sent for the purpose
of entrapping him, he was forewarned, and the vengeance he
took on them was terrible. He crucified one of these men,
and wrote underneath, ' Thus Gasparoni treats all spies. '
Pie cut out the heart and liver of another, and sent them
back to the man's widow.
1840. GASPAKONI. 487
" If any persons in the towns were active against him, he
always found means to punish them. If their offence was not
very deep, they received a letter ordering them to pay, on a
certain day, at a certain place, 1000 or 2000 scudi; and such
was the terror of his name, that these demands were gene-
rally obeyed. Some of the magistrates in the strong town of
Ti narina, thinking themselves secure within their walls,
ventured to incur his displeasure. Soon after, the boys of
tin chief school, while taking a walk near the gates, were
surpri>ed by him and his men, and carried away to the
mountains ; and a message was sent to the parents of almost
all, fixing the amount of ransom, upon the payment of which
they were restored. But the children of those who had ex-
a-pi -rated him were not allowed to escape, their heads were
sent back in a sack. Of the truth of this dreadful story
there can be no doubt. A friend of mine asked Gasparoni
about it ; he admitted that he had seized the children, but
siid nothing about the murders. The gentleman said to him,
' 1 have heard more than this, I have been told you cut off
the heads of three of them.' 'It is false,' said Gasparoni ; * it
was but two.'
" Mr. Jones, the banker here, told me that last October
he saw a man who had been one of this party of boys, and who
d< -i Tibed to him the whole scene of their capture and of their
!ence in a cavern among the mountains. This man ac-
tually saw Gasparoni plunge his knife into the body of his
two victims. Mr. Jones also told us that he had travelled
t In ough the country where Gasparoui and his men used to hide
tlieni.-elvr.- ; but such was still the terror of his name, and the
painful associations connected with it, that he could not get
re.- prc table persons to speak on the subject, nor could he
pn-vail upon any one to be his guide to their cavern. The
'ii, who, when a boy, had been carried to the mountains,
\\ a- the mo.-t communicative. As Mr. Jones was walking with
him on a little terrace adjacent to the walls of Terracina, he
-topped at the corner of a wall, and said, * Such a one, an
ulliccr of the town, had rambled thus far at mid-day, Gaspa-
i I 4
488 ITALIAN BANDITTI. CIIAIV XXiX.
roni sprang out of that hedge, struck him with his knife, and
here he fell dead.'
" You must know that Gasparoni, according to his own
account, was especially merciful. He protested that he had
never murdered merely from the love of blood; but he
seemed to think there was no harm in killing, and admitted
that he had killed many who came as spies to entrap him, or
who presumed to make resistance. Rumour says, however,
that he was by no means so squeamish. A friend of mine
came up to a diligence which had just been plundered, and
found that the whole party, including several priests, had all
been wounded, although none of them mortally. They said
that the first intimation they had of their danger was a
volley from the whole gang, and my friend took out of the
lining of the carriage a whole handful of shot of all sizes.
" It is odd enough that Gasparoni is very religious now ; he
fasts not only on Friday, but adds a supererogatory Saturday.
He told me that he repented of his former life ; but what it
was he regretted I could not well make out, for he expressly
justified the occasions in which he had proceeded to extre-
mities with spies or travellers who resisted him. But curious
as his theology now is, it is still more strange that, according
to his own account, he was always a very religious man. I
asked him whether he had fasted when he was a bandit.
He said 'Yes.' * Why did you fast?' said I. < Per die
sono della religione della Madonna.' * Which did you think
was worst, eating meat on a Friday or killing a man ? ' He
answered without hesitation, ' In my case it was a crime not
to fast, it was no crime to kill those who came to betray me.'
With all his present religion, however, he told the Mayor of
the town the other day, that if he got loose the first thing
he would do would be to cut the throats of all the priests :
and the Mayor said in this he perfectly believed him, and if
he were now to break out he would be ten times worse than
ever. One fact, however, shows some degree of scrupulosity.
The people of the country bear testimony that he never com-
mitted murder on a Friday !
" The Mayor said the only good thing he ever knew him
1840. GASPAHONI. 489
iv illy do, was this: he took an Austrian officer and his newly
married bride and carried them up to the hills. His gang
;>cd her of all her clothes and proposed to kill her, but
this he resisted, and ultimately sent her and her husband
back in safety. It is some deduction from his humanity on
-ion to hear, as I did from another quarter, th.it the
Austrian general, hearing of the capture, sent word to Gas-
paroni that if any injury was done to his officer, or if he was
not directly restored, he would send 4000 men against him,
u ho should be quartered in the village, and on his friends, till
he should be taken.
" Gasparoni told me that he had never taken an English-
man to the mountains. I asked him why, rather expecting
that he would reply with some gross flummery, but he
answered very simply, * Because I never had the luck to
catch one!' He assured me that he had not in all taken
above fifteen or twenty persons to the hills, but the current
report makes the number upwards of two hundred. From
these he was inexorable in extorting the precise sum that he
fixed upon as their ransom. It is well known that he ob-
tained from a Neapolitan nobleman, who is still living, 4000
scudi. The Mayor told me that an intimate friend of his was
cajitured by him, and the sum demanded was his weight in
.-ilviT ; his friends being unable to pay this, at the end of a
fortnight received his head neatly packed up in a basket!
All, however, who did return, bear testimony to their good
faro, and to his good humour ; and his courtly, and somewhat
delicate conduct, while they were his guests in the cavern.
" One incident which was related to me, is in part attested
by many living witnesses. A wedding was celebrated in a
part of the country at some distance from his haunt. When
dinner was placed on the table, a man, fully armed, but un-
known to the guest-, stalked in and seated himself by the side
of the bride, with a kind of trumpet between his knees. The
:_Mir-t-. Miinewhat startled, showed little disposition to eat; and
the bridegroom told the intruder that * it was not usual f.-r a
stranger to take the post he occupied.' He replied, ' I am
no stranger. I am ( i:i-j>aroni, I am a friend to the bride; eat,
490 CAPTURE OF GASPARONI. CIIAP. XXIX.
and be at your ease, or you will make me her enemy.' It is
said his terrible name rather quenched the merriment and
appetite of the party. At length Gasparoni sounded his horn,
two troops came rushing down the hill, and seized the bride,
Gasparoni saying, * I told you I was her friend, and I show
it by taking her away with me.' It would be well if the
story stopped here, but it is said that she was afterwards
murdered.
" You will wish to know how he was taken. He became
such a nuisance, that partly from the strength of the military
parties, which were constantly sent in pursuit of him, and
partly from the diminution of traffic on the road, his funds
became short, and he could not pay his spies. The Govern-
ment then took the decisive measure of seizing all his rela-
tions and friends, and those who supplied him with food and
ammunition ; in other words, the whole population of Sonnino.
Without money, and half starved, unable to obtain intelli-
gence, and surrounded on all sides by troops, he was on the
point of being captured, when he listened to the proposals of
a priest, who, as it is said, went beyond the authority given
him, and offered him a full pardon and a pension ; upon which
he and his comrades surrendered, and hence it was that I had
the opportunity of seeing him, surrounded by twenty -one ruf-
fians, the remainder of his band. I asked him which of them
was the man he chiefly trusted, in other words, who was his
lieutenant ; he answered, ' My gun was my only lieutenant ;
that never failed to obey me.'
" He complains loudly of the violation of the promise made
to him, and still seems to dream of being liberated. He was
the son of a herdsman, and cannot read or write ; but his
little demon-like executioner, who stood by his side, is said to
be a tolerable scholar. He amuses himself by making caps,
of which I bought three. I have hardly done justice to Ms
appearance : he is greatly superior in this respect to those
around him. He has the air of a chieftain, and, though his
look is very commanding, there is something far from un-
pleasing in his face ; it is decidedly handsome in features, but
the expression also is gentle and intellectual. While speak-
1840. ROBBER STORIES. 491
ing with me, he looked me full in the face the whole time. I
told him that I intended to have his likeness taken for a par-
ticular purpose, of which you shall know more another time.
Ilr -aid he had no objection. I told him that the painter would
m >t lie able to come for some time. * No matter,' said he,
* let him suit himself, he will always find me at home.'
" It is quite astonishing how much terror was attached to
his name. One proof of its surviving, even to this time, I
witnessed when I was shooting at Appii Forum ; for at the
distance of every three or four miles on the road there were
military stations or huts : in some of which, indeed, they still
keep soldiers.
" A curious incident was related to me last night by
Captain Franks. He was travelling along the road from
Naples to Rome, when the Austrians had possession of the
country, and were sending a large sum of money to their
army at Naples. He saw a body of about ten or a dozen
men with .guns, who, he thought, were going out snipe-
shooting. He had not proceeded above 300 yards, when
he met a detachment of thirty Austrian cavalry, escorting a
money-chest. When Franks said he had seen some shooters,
the officer observed that they were indeed shooting, but
not the game that Franks supposed, for that it was Gaspa-
roni and his band. They left the money on the spot and
gallopped forward, and in a quarter of an hour he heard a
good deal of firing. The military soon returned, having
being defeated by the robbers, Franks saw many of them
severely wounded ; and the troop, with the money, returned
to Terrac'ma.
" I iy this time, I think you must be pretty sick of robber
stories. But I must inflict upon you one more.
\ ii Knglishman arrived here this year, who could scarcely
.-peak a word of Italian. lie heard, of course, not a little
about assassins, robbers, and such like, and prudently resolved
i- to go alone, and never to be out after dusk. Both
lution< were fated to fail. lit- dined with a friend
near Rome, and was obliged to walk home alone the same
night : this looked terrific before dinner: but a lew glasses
492 SLAVE TRADE. CHAP. XXIX.
of Marsala, and a few more of Champagne, braced up his
courage, and away he started, about ten o'clock. As he
walked briskly along in the darkness, he came full butt
against a man. He was startled, and the tales he had heard
recurred to his recollection; but the man passed on, and in a
short time our hero felt for his watch, and found that it was
gone. Then the good wine came into play : he rushed back,
seized the rascal, and vehemently demanded * Montre ! Mon-
tre ! ' The robber trembled and reluctantly yielded up the
watch.
" On reaching home, he recounted, with no little ex-
ultation, his heroic exploit, and vowed that, if the rest of the
world would behave as he had done, robbery would cease
in Rome in a fortnight. When he had finished his oration,
his sister said, ' All this is very strange, for after you went
out I saw your watch hanging in your room, and there
it is now.' Sure enough there it was. So it appeared, past
all dispute, that, instead of being robbed, he had himself
committed a robbery ! "
To Edward N. Buxton, Esq.
" March p.
"I do not recollect that I ever read a paper which
gave me more thorough satisfaction than Lord John's letter
about the Slave Trade.
"The project of overturning the Slave Trade by ci-
vilization, Christianity, and the cultivation of the soil,
is no longer in my hands : the Government have adopted the
principle, and taken the task upon themselves ; and if
it fail for want of energetic working, they are to blame. In
short, I feel much more a gentleman at large, than I did
before I read that letter. Pray tell all this to Lushington.
I should be the most ungrateful of men, if I whispered
a complaint of not having heard from him for some little
time. He has been most generous in writing ; but I do
hunger for one more letter from him, to be received by me
at Naples, to cheer me on my journey homeward, and to give
me a clear understanding how matters stand.
1840. INTERVIEW WITH THE POPE. 433
" Yesterday we went to the Palatine Hill ; we saw where
the house of Romulus stood, and that of Numa, and the
Temple of Vesta, and the old Senate House of Tullus Hosti-
lius nil grouped together in the little vale below us; and close
liy there was the Coliseum, and the Forum, and a grove
of pillar-, and a swarm of temples.
" To-day I have been in the house of the heir of the
in :uul the successor of St. Peter. The Pope is a civil,
li\vlv little gentleman. Our party consisted of the Han-
overian Ambassador, Baron Kesncr ; a Danish Count just
returned from the Holy Land; an English officer ; Richards,
in Kesner's court dress; Fowell, Charles, and myself. He
pivc us an audience of upwards of three quarters of an hour.
" He was very inquisitive to know what I thought of the
Roman prisons. Kesner (who understands neither English
nor Italian) interpreted for us, and I heard him say for me
rather more than I liked, of ' contentissimo.' This was not
ly what I wanted to express; so I referred to Richards,
and had him to speak for me. I praised every thing I could
think of, which deserved commendation ; such as the Chan-
cellor of the Gaols (Signer Neri), the Boys' Prison, the San
Michele Hospital, and the liberality of the Government in
giving me free access, and full information ; to all of which
he very gracefully replied, that, if gentlemen from motives of
benevolence took the trouble to visit their institutions, the
he could do was to afford facilities, furnish documents,
and listen attentively to every suggestion.
" Well, having praised wherever I could, I gently inti-
mated that the Roman gaols, in general, wanted a good deal
of purification ; and that I felt bound in honesty to tell him
that t\vo, namely the female prison of San Michele, and the
L r r( at LT.ml of Civita Vecchia, were to the last degree bad ;
and called aloud on those who arc influenced, whether by
policy, humanity, or religion, for a thorough reformation. To
all this he seemed very attentive and well disposed. We then
had a long conversation about the Slave Trade and slavery.
He I it a little proud of what he had done, and I toM
him of the satisfaction which his Hull had given in England,
494 INTERVIEW WITH THE POPE. CHAP. XXIX.
on the score of the Slave Trade, at which it Avas pointed ; and
also with reference to slavery and the mal-treatment of Abo-
rigines, which it indirectly hit. He called the Slave Trade
an infamous traffic, said that charity was the soul of religion,
and that, whilst forbidding all cruelty, it expressly pro-
hibited that which was inflicted on the human race ; and he
concluded with saying, and laughing loud at his own speech,
* Thanks to me, if you please; but no thanks to Portugal.'
In short, he expressed himself capitally. Having disposed of
my own two pets, Prisons and Slave Trade, I felt constrained
to put in a word relative to some atrociously cruel practices
here, in the treatment of lambs by the butchers. He hardly
seemed ripe for this ; but Richards stuck to it manfully : and
the matter ended by my giving him A 's paper on
the subject, and his promising to give it his best consi-
deration.*
" Thus, very amicably, ended our interview, and we pro-
ceeded to Cardinal Lambruschini, the Chief Secretary of
State, where we had as gracious a reception, and we repeated
much that we had stated to the Pope. To-morrow we go
to Tivoli."
To the same.
" Rome, March 19.
" I have been employed of late in preparing my report
about the prisons for the Pope, and in having it translated
into Italian. To-morrow morning, Lord Meath, Lord De
Mauley, Lord Farnham, and two or three others, meet here
to have it read to them, and I hope to get it completed and
presented before I go to Naples.
" Trew tells me that the book is published ; and I have
* Some months afterwards, Mr. Buxton heard that his representations
on this subject had been attended to. He wrote to Miss Gurney, through
whom the news reached him, " I must thank you for your letter about
the Pope and the Lambs ; it really was an achievement. I never see
one gallopping about a field now, without thinking of the benefactress
of lambs ! What a thing it is to have rescued such a multitude from
torture. I do believe there is much good in Pope Gregory, after all ; it
is capital when great people will respond to good advice."
1840. EXCU11SION TO TIVOLI. 495
seen it advertised in the newspapers. If you wish to know
what ferling in our minds this intelligence has called forth,
turn to the 17th verse in the ninetieth Psalm, Prayer-Book
ion. If it were not that we have good reason for assuring
our.-i-lvcs of His aid who can make all things bend to His
will, we should think any hope for Africa, after so many
cvntmirs of such deep debasement, chimerical in the last
degree. As it is, we are in right good heart, and feel that,
however the instruments may err or fail, the great Actor
and Leader will give the victory to His own work.
" On Wednesday last, after some hesitation, on account
of the weather, all our party started for Tivoli ; the distance
about twenty miles, which was increased three or four more,
I suppose, by going round by Hadrian's villa. About eleven
o'clock the day cleared up, and was beautifully fine, without
1 icing too hot.
" Hadrian certainly chose a noble situation for his
country-house ; and the remains are so perfect, that one can
see with some degree of certainty where he slept, where he
dined, and how he managed things generally. Strewed
about his grounds, in various directions, are his imitations of
all the edifices in Greece and elsewhere, which were cele-
l.ratrd iu his day. He had travelled a great deal, and, instead
of taking a picture, as we do, of what he admired, he built it
over again.
" We then proceeded to Tivoli ; ordered our dinner, and
took the smaller excursion, in order to see the water-falls ;
which would be very fine if the people would let them alone.
But, as in England we sometimes see pains taken to make
artificial cascades look natural, so here, at great cost, they
Ir.nc contrived to give a spruce artificial air to the work of
natuiv. As we went along the ridge of the hill opposite the
town, the river created by the water-falls being between us,
we -aw tin- >[ot where Horace must have drawn the land-
: the noi.-y Allumra was no other than the sybil herself,
and her temple stood in the inn-yard we had quitted. The
' pneceps Anio ' made himself known in accents so intelli-
jrililc as almost to deafen us. We were in the Tiburtine
496 EXCURSION TO TIVOLI. CHAP. XXIX.
grove, and the ' uda mobilibus pomaria rivis ' was a sketch
to the very life ; some forty minor water-falls were throwing
their spray over the fruit trees scattered among them. I, too,
as well as Horace, should wish for no better resting place for
my old age, provided there were no malaria, and that all the
people could be taught to speak English. Some of the party
slept at Tivoli, and went the next day to Horace's farm,
where, they say, no lady has been for the last ten years.
" The weather has now become chilly and boisterous.
I am glad we are not at Naples. To-day the parties I spoke
of have read and approved my Prison Report, and we went
to Prince Borghese to urge him to take up the subject of
Prison Discipline. Afterwards, by way of recreation,
Richards and I went to explore two palaces. The day was
dark, and I did not take much to the pictures, but in the
corner of the garden of the Colonna Palace, there stood
what was merely the frieze (or rather a bit of it) of the
temple which Heliogabulus erected to his divine self. This
bit of ornament consisted of two fragments of marble of
astonishing magnitude, and curiously carved. What must
the temple have been, judging it by this minor part? and
what has become of the rest of the edifice? and what a
magnificent people these Romans were ! Their works,
indeed, were wonderful. But, after all, the reflection which
most naturally presents itself to my mind when I look at
such gigantic ruins, turns in this direction. Here is deathless
fame ! here immortal glory ! here the proudest monuments
of the great ! and this is all that remains of them. But I am
sure it is time to say good night, or I and my amanuensis
shall terminate our descriptions in a gentle slumber."
"Rome, March, 1840.^
" On Friday we started with a large party, the Foxes,
Lord cle Mauley, Captain Back, Captain Franks, and Mr.
Silvertop, for Veii, the great enemy of Rome in her early
existence. We saw the place where the whole family of the
Fabii, three hundred in number, were put to the sword. It
is in a very beautiful country, and the land, though very
rich, hardly cultivated at all. We were told that in growing
1840. PRESENT FROM CARDINAL TOSTI. 497
win-lit in England, one bushel produces seven ; in this terri-
tory one bushel produces thirty- two, and yet there was
hardly any land under the plough. *
" On Saturday the Chancellor Neri called upon me,
l>rin^ing four splendid medallions as a present from Cardinal
i, Lii\rn as a memorial of my visit to his Institution for
<>M people and orphans, and to the prison annexed to it. I
am afraid I shall soon grow somewhat conceited, for I never
before was treated with so much distinction as at Rome.
Not only the English, but the Italians, have paid me all
manner of civilities. I am pleased to have got these medals,
yet it is somewhat awkward, as in return I shall have
soundly to abuse the said prison, which is the worst I have
in Home. In the afternoon I walked with Mr. Ellison,
ami saw some splendid views of the city, particularly the
Coliseum. We went into the garden of the Armenian
College; the monks of that persuasion come from Mount
Libanus and talk Syriac. I was much struck with the
beauty of their cast of countenance ; they told me that their
own country was pre-eminently fertile, and the climate most
healthy, but that terrible insecurity prevailed : few, they
said, die by disease, multitudes by the knife.
" I do not think I can fish up another morsel of Roman
news for you, unless you may like to hear of one of our acts
in visiting the prisons. When we went among the debtors
\vc were desirous of giving them some relief, for they were
sufficiently wretched ; but where was the use of scattering a
lew shillings amongst them to be spent in drink? In this
dilemma, Lord DC Mauley suggested that we should select
some deserving man and liberate him, and we found a subject
tly suited to our purpose, in the shape of a sensible
looking tailor, with a wife and ten children ; who, just as his
harvest was beginning, and as he was anticipating a flood of
i^old from tin; produce of his needle in preparing for the
Carnival, wa- elappid into gaol by a malicious creditor, for
'21. HI.*., with t!i r, i ciinty of remaining there for a year and
a da_ :liis ninth part of a man we t-rnt, told him our
K K
498 RUMOURS OF A WAR WITH NAPLES. CHAP. XXIX.
whim, and ordered him to begone. After a most loving and
graceful kiss of our hands, away he started, the happiest
tailor in the Roman dominions."
" March 25.
" We have had several stinging cold days, and at this
moment, and for the last hour, it has been snowing as hard
as ever I saw it do in England. This morning the boys and
girls set off for Grotta Ferrata, to see a Roman fair in the
mountains, about eleven miles distant; but they very dis-
creetly returned when the snow began. I am very proud to
say that, after a fortnight's very cold and treacherous weather,
and a great deal of wind, my dear wife is perfectly well ; for
which we ought to be, and are, very thankful.
" I protest at this moment the boys are erecting a gigantic
snow man in the court before us, and the material is coming
down merrily. Our intention had been to start for Naples
on Monday, but the report is current that we are going to
war with the Neapolitans upon the sulphur question. I do
not believe a word of it, but as I have no taste for the
possibility of being cannonaded by our own fleet, and
pillaged by the insurgent mobility of Naples, we shall pro-
bably keep away from that town for a few days, till we hear
the truth. The worst of this is, that I fear my letters are
gone there, and I am hungry for news of my bairns and my
book. In our way to Naples we are going to visit the
recesses of the mountains, till very recently the dens and
fastnesses of the banditti. I understand that, although it is
a charming country, it is seldom visited, save and except by
those who were carried there by the robbers, and who pro-
bably at that moment did not pay much attention to the
picturesque. Rippingille goes with us ; so, I believe, does
Sir George Back. H. and A. will wait for us upon the
road, but all the young or the foolish of our party will go to
the hills, and a wild romantic excursion we expect to have.
I sent my Report on the Prisons and Institutions of Rome,
to one of our Italian friends, who had visited them with me,
and asked him to sign it. His hair stood on end at the bare
idea of this proposal. * What ! ' said he to the gentleman
1840 REPORT ON THE PRISONS OF ROME. 499
who took the Report to him, * am I to concur in telling my
Government the plain truth ! Am I in the plainest manner
to expose the errors and evils of their system ? There is not
a Roman subject in the whole state who dares with the most
cautious circumlocution to hint a fiftieth part of what Mr.
Huxton states to them of their mistakes. He speaks as
plainly as if he was speaking to his brother ! I see how it is ;
Mr. Buxton thinks he is in England, and he has no notion that
there is any harm in telling the Government that they ought
to be all hanged. But we live under a different sky. Speaking
plain truth to the authorities is quite an unheard-of thing at
Rome ; and any one who ventured on so unpalatable a task
would assuredly be ruined.* The Government, when they
admitted him, never dreamt that he would venture to find
fault. lie was expected to see a little, and compliment a
^ivat deal ; and there the matter was to end. To tell you
tin- truth, if I had known that this kind of searching inquiry
was intended, I should not have dared to accompany him.'
" Much more of the same kind followed, and it appears
clear enough that the Government will stare terribly when
they read my Report, although its chief defect is that it is too
complimentary.
" There are a good many double snipes here at this time.
We had two for dinner yesterday, and I dare say Aubin will
shoot some to-day. Some time between the 15th of April
and the 10th of May, there is a most wonderful inroad of
(juailsi, and the whole country turns out against them. Sir
Thomas Cullum told me that on the 2nd of May two or
three years ago, he found upon inquiry that duty had been
paid on 80,000. Pretty well for one day ! And I remember
that an officer who during the war was quartered upon the
coast, told me that the ordinary ration of a common soldier
was six quails a day. I rather hope to have one day's
* The head of one of the Institutions informed Mr. Buxton that the
letter he had received from the Government, directing him to throw the
Institution open to his inspection, contained these expressive words,
"show him every thing, but irith due caution."
K K 2
500 SEVERE ILLNESS. CHAP. XXIX
shooting at the fellows. * * * * The snow is now melted,
but it is cloudy."
At this juncture Mr. Buxton was attacked by very
serious indisposition, in which his breathing was, for
the first time, painfully aifected. He was, however ?
well enough to write home on the 1st of April.
" My dearest daughters,
" I think you will like to have a few lines from myself on
my birthday. I make little doubt that your affectionate
anxiety has exaggerated my late indisposition, and that you
will be looking out eagerly for the post. I am better. I am
positive upon that point. I am also sure that I have been
very unwell, and that I have been nursed with the most
loving care. There ends all my certainty. I have no clear
notion what my malady has been ; I have had next to no
fever, very little of what, correctly speaking, can be called
pain; and, I believe, not much danger: but, on the other
hand, I have suffered a great deal from weariness, from head-
ache, from want of sleep, and from great difficulty of breathing.
" The result is that, as Dryden says,
' The thin chilled blood is curdled in my veins,
And scarce a shadow of the man remains/
* * * But really when I began my letter I had no inten-
tion of speaking to you about this trumpery. I wanted to
tell you that I am, I believe, decidedly on the mend ; that my
birthday has been far from an unpleasant one, and that I
look upon this illness as one of my many mercies.
" As soon as I felt that I was in for a bout, I remembered
Andrew's capital observation, * Begin at once to prepare for
the worst, act as if you foresaw it would be fatal, set your
house in order.' In some slight measure, and no more, I
have been able to do this, and have realised the scene which,
if we escape it now, must soon occur. One cannot be too
thankful for this kind of warning, and for the plainness with
which, after preaching to us upon the prodigious difference
1840. JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 501
bet ween things temporal and things eternal, it says, with all
emphasis, * Set your affections on things above.' That is
the way that it gives a shake and a tumble to darling
object:; and cherished schemes, and says to us peremptorily,
* Away with such trifles, there is no time for them.'
" April 2.
" I got so far yesterday when my wife came in and tyran-
nically prohibited me from writing another word. But to-
ilay I may pronounce myself decidedly better. All my most
important enemies are subdued. What remains is very great
debility, and my brace of doctors talk much about a consti-
tution ' vehemently exhausted,' and seem to think me, at my
best, good for little more than to read a newspaper by way of
study, ride three miles by way of exercise, and, these duties
performed, to spend the rest of my time in pure idleness."
To Edward N. Buxton, Esq.
" Mola cli Gaeta, one day's journey from Naples,
April 10. 1840.
" I wrote to you last on the 1st of April, in the worst of
my illness. We left Rome as soon as I was able to move.
I suffered not a little from exhaustion in going up stairs at
Albano.
" There is, and always has been to me, something very
pleasant in illness, in having your mother nursing me all
day and all night. * * * * There is no poetry like
that of the Bible. Where can we find an expression so
forcible, yet so exactly just, ad that of David : ' His love to
mo was wonderful, passing the love of women.' * * *
" We loitered some days at Albano, and then proceeded
to this place by very slow journeys ; judging by the glimpses
which we have occasionally had, it is a most lovely country,
but cloud, rain, and mist have been our all but constant
companions. There is now, immediately below us, a garden
covered with orange and lemon trees, looking quite yellow
with the fruit, the Mediterranean beating against its wall.
There, to the right, jutting into the sea, is the town of
K K 3
502 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. CHAP. XXIX.
Gaeta, with the bold hill which joins it to the main land.
To the left, is Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples. We have
been here two hours, and we have had one walk of two
minutes. "We hardly know what kind of reception we shall
meet with at Naples, as we have learned that a messenger
has gone to our fleet at Malta, ordering it up. So do not
be surprised if you happen to see in the Gazette that the
girls are killed by cannon balls on the battlements. Our
plan is, at all events, to take a peep at Naples, and to be off
again in a moment if we see occasion for it. I must now
get ready for dinner, for they are come in half-drowned.
" We are just told that our lives would not be worth two-
pence a piece if we went to Naples now.
" I must not forget to tell you that my prison labours
terminated happily the day before I left Rome. My Report
was addressed to Cardinal Tosti, and it seemed to us rather
a good omen that, on the following day, we saw his car-
riage standing near the door of the Prison for Females ; and
before my departure, I received a letter from him, promising
in the handsomest manner to attend to my suggestions, and
thanking me for them.
" My illness alone has prevented us from paying a visit to
Sonnino, the town of robbers. As you enter it, I am told,
you see the prison ornamented with fourteen cages, contain-
ing the heads of so many bandits ; if you go into the streets
and speak to three men, the chance is that one out of the
number has been upon the hills, and that two out of the
three are of the lineage of some predatory hero. It is, how-
ever, not easy to get at information ; the Government cannot
bear the subject to be mentioned ; the guilty, therefore, who
have been conditionally pardoned, dare not speak, and the
others who were their prey, have too many painful associa-
tions to make the subject agreeable. Two Englishmen who
have travelled there tell me that if you ask a question of any
respectable person on these dark transactions, he usually
utters not a word in reply, or if he says anything, it is some-
thing like this, { Every stone hereabouts has its own
bloody tale to tell.'"
1840. MUSEUM AT NAPLES. 503
"Naples, April 13. Monday.
" We reached this place on Saturday night, and our
terrors of bombardment, for some of our party did tremble,
h:uc .-ul>.-ided. Our fleet just poked its nose into the Bay
on Sunday morning, but sailed away to Salerno, a port some
ten miles distant, where it waits, I suppose, the turn which
:iation8 may take. I have seen our minister, Mr.
Temple, and he gave me to understand that we may safely
remain till he throws out a hint to the contrary. *
Instead of finishing my letter to you this morning, I was
t (.'in]) ted by good company and fine weather to look about
me ; and first, after a passing glance at Vesuvius, which was
unusually clear, we went to the Museum, and saw all the
curious things collected from Pompeii and Herculaneum.
There was the service of plate, which some active butler had
fjuvad out for an intended dinner, eighteen hundred years
ago ; the loaf which that day was to have been cut, the store
of eggs and of chesnuts which were dressed somewhat sooner
than was designed. Then there was Mrs. Diomed's gar-
ment, at least a piece of it ; the ornaments that were found
upon her head, the ring on her finger, and the key which her
hand still kept hold of; there was the helmet of the faithful
si ntiiR'l who was found at his post, and the iron to which the
legs of three prisoners were still fixed ; there were the ap-
purtenances which belonged to a very fine lady, rouge among
tin iv-t. But it is difficult to say what there was not. It
is strange to see that the world wanted and possessed in
tho:-e day.-, almost every thing to which we now attach value.
" After this sight some of us went to Puteoli, and saw
tin- spot where St. Paul must have landed. From thence
we proceeded by the shore of the Mediterranean, which was
eminently beautiful, giving us a full view of a great part of
the Bay : and we then paid a visit to the Sibyl. The country
was originally a plain, but many hills have been thrown up,
of them not long ago, by the operation of volcanoes,
Through these \ve wound our way ; at last we stopped oppo-
> little path, leading to the left, and inarched along by
the side of the Lake Avenuis to the foot of a n,>mitain.
K K 4
504 LAKE AVERNUS. CHAP. XXIX.
As for this lake, which has been sung so often, by Homer, if
I recollect right, and certainly by Virgil ' Divinosque
lacus, et Averna sonantia sylvis' it has about as much
beauty and romance as the great pond at Weybourne ! It
was, however, exceedingly curious to be visiting the Infernal
Regions,
f And where that mayne broad stream for aye doth flow,
Which parts the gladsome fields from Place of Woe ;
Whence none shall ever pass to Elysium playne,
Or from Elysium ever turn agayne.'
" I always thought that these strange places were deep
underground, but, I tell you, this day I saw Acheron, and
Styx, and Elysium, and what not ; and with my own hands
threw a stone into the Mare Mortuum, and with my own
eyes saw the stone swim.
" We next proceeded
' To ascend the sacred hill
Where Ph rebus is adored, and seek the shade
Which hides from sight his venerable Maid.
Deep in a cave the Sibyl makes abode.'
" Leaving the ladies at the entrance, I marched with four
guides into the mountain. The cave is said to extend about
a quarter of a mile, but it seemed to me that they had
measured it with some poetical licence. At first it was very
fair walking, but it grew steeper as we proceeded. The
walls were of lava, grown hard by age. At length we came
to some water. I mounted on the back of a strong guide,
and another carried a flambeau ; at length we arrived at the
Sibyl's drawing room, a narrow cell, in which there was a
kind of stone sofa, and a sulphurous bath, in which the Sybil
used to show herself to those who consulted her, and among
the rest to Julius Cajsar. After seeing all these lions, we
returned to Naples.
"Naples, April 14. 1840.
" Nothing can be more lovely than this day ; my window
looks towards the Bay, and it glitters so as quite to dazzle
me. Beautiful as it is, it is singularly like Wey mouth. I
1840. ADDITIONAL ADVENTURES OF GASPARONI. 505
believe we are presently going upon the water, but I wish first
to put down something more about the brigands, with whose
TV I have been much amused. I have heard something
more about Gasparoni. When we were at Terracina, we
in his native neighbourhood, and there he had a charac-
ter much above his companions for intelligence and humanity.
Th Sonnino surgeon who dined with us, and who profes-
sionally attended the brigands, said that Gasparoni had in his
time saved hundreds from the fury of his associates. I asked
whether he was a clever man ; ' the best answer to that,' he
saul, ' is, that for eighteen years he set at defiance the Pope
and the King of Naples, and acquired for himself the title
of ' the Monarch of the Mountains.' At one time a Polish
regiment was marching to join Murat, and the Colonel was
following close in the rear in his carriage ; at an angle in the
mud Gasparoni and his band silently seized the Colonel, and
were out of reach with their prey before the regiment knew
anything of the matter. When they came to understand how
the case stood, they marched in pursuit. As they were
going along a narrow defile, the Colonel and Gasparoni made
their appearance on the hill, and the former desired them to
return, saying, that the mountains agreed with his health,
but might be dangerous to theirs. After a time Gasparoni
escorted him to the barracks, having taken the precaution of
changing clothes with him. He always spoke with satis-
faetion iti' his excursion to the mountains, and of the good
cheer which he had enjoyed.
" Gasparoni's wife and son still live at Sonnino. Our
friend the surgeon said to the mother one day, * the child
seems very self-willed.' 'Yes,' said she, ' that he is, and he
would not be a Gasparoni if he were otherwise.' Monacelli,
one of his companions, told the surgeon that when at last they
were pressed the hardest, and when they were nearly starved,
mmi addressed his band, and said, ' Three hundred scudi
and a free pardon arc offered for my body, you may as well
<Xct them as any one else, deliver me up.' None of the men
stirred. ' I understand this,' he said: 'you know it is not very
safe to touch me, but I am in earnc.-t,' and he then threw
506 POMPEII. CHAP. XXIX.
down all his arms ; but the band would not consent to the
sacrifice, and said it was far better that they should die
together."
"Wednesday, April 15.
Eight o'clock in the evening.
" We started soon after eight this morning for Pompeii.
It is most curious to be thus, in 1840, walking about a town
which in many respects is as fresh and as perfect as it was on
the 23d August, A. D. 79. There were the streets with
their ancient names, and the ruts worn by the carriages. At
No. 1, Via Consularis, lived the ^Edile Pansa with his name
over his door, and just within it was found the skeleton of his
porter. At No. 2 resided a poet, who, unlike his fraternity,
appears to have been very wealthy. The house, though not
large, was very elegant. Among his pictures was a beautiful
and very well preserved one, of Venus and Cupid fishing. On
his table were fish, bread, and olives. In his kitchen were
found the bones of two of his cooks, with many less important
articles of kitchen furniture. In another apartment, stretched
on a bed, the left arm holding up the head, was found another
body. In another house there was a table spread with five
knives, and there were the skeletons of six men who seemed
to have been surprised while they were making themselves
comfortable, for on the table before them were eggs and ham,
fish, figs, &c. At No. 6 resided the baker, and there were
his grinding stones and his oven, in which there was still
some bread. Not far off lived a musical gentleman, and
many instruments of music were found in his house. In one
room there were nine bodies, three of them with flageolets in
their hands. Sallust's house in the same street was very
elegantly furnished, and there we got a very good conception
of the way in which he used to dine. At one end of the
building there was a good painting, of windows, sky, and
country. It appears that Mrs. Diomed had taken refuge in
the cellar, her husband was making his escape at the back of
the house, and was there found standing upright. The
statue of the Faun, which is much celebrated, was found
in the centre of the garden of Marcus Tullius, round which
1840. POMPEII. 507
there were the remnants of forty-four great pillars; he
seemed to have lived well through the year, for there was a
great number of large wine-jars (amphorce), which were turned
bottom upwards, showing they had been recently emptied ;
there were several beautiful mosaic pictures, one of the Nile,
with its animals and birds, sea-horses, alligators, snakes, and
shoveller ducks, which last the boys thought admirably exe-
ented. There was also a very fine mosaic of Alexander and
Darius. In a small room were found the remains of the
whole family, at least twenty-four bodies of men, women and
children, also a silver candelabrum, and a good deal of money,
la the adjacent Temple of Fortune we were struck with the
brilliant whiteness of the marble, and we noticed half a square
of very thick glass in an aperture between two apartments.
The Forum was splendid. It was very extensive, and gave
us a good notion of the various purposes to which it was
turned a Senate House in one place; a Temple of Jupiter,
if I recollect right, in another ; the spots where they made
speeches and measured corn ; an Exchange, &c. &c.
" But such a beautiful scene as there was before us to the
left and immediately opposite to us, a line of high hills ; to the
right, the sea with Castel-a-mare, and on its shores several
white towns, with the Island of Capri, and the promontory
of .Minerva in the distance ; certainly this region is eminently
beautiful. One of their national proverbs says, that Naples
is a piece of heaven which has tumbled down upon earth.
" We had intended to dine in the Forum, but by mistake
our dinner was laid out in a kind of barn-looking room at
some little distance from it. To say nothing of our food (which
however, was very acceptable), we were highly amused by the
whole scene. We had plenty of native waiters, but I do not
think they mustered a single stocking among them. A musi-
eian made his, appearance, who first played on a cracked in-
strument, and then sung a variety of fine Italian airs in very
good style. Thru he set two men and a boy figuring away in
a dance, somewhat like an Irish jig ; and finally, renouncing
his m.-tnmu-nt, set to work daneing himself to the music of
his own voice. The l>anl, however, like Walter Scott'-.
508 POMPEII. CHAP. XXIX.
us to understand that the higher efforts of his art required
the inspiration of a tumbler of wine. We afterwards saw the
Temple of Isis. The worshippers stood below, the oracles
were delivered from above, and we saw clearly the aperture
by which the priest obtained admittance behind the altar, and
spoke for the goddess when she happened to be in a silent
mood. The guide assured us that he had tried the experiment,
and the people below supposed that the voice really came from
above. It seems that the priests made a good thing of it, for
some money and wine were found, and the skeleton of a man
with an iron bar in his hand, with which he had endeavoured
to break through the wall.
" We afterwards saw at some distance a beautiful theatre,
as perfect, I should think, as it was at the moment of the
eruption. Also an immense amphitheatre in an equal state of
preservation ; so that we have the clearest conception of the
stage on which the captives and Christians fought with wild
beasts, and of the order in which the gentle folks of Pompeii
sat while they were amusing themselves with this delicious
spectacle. But it began to grow cold ; so my wife and I re-
turned home in our carriage, and I gladly leave it to others
to supply you with further information."
At this time great excitement prevailed in Naples,
the king having announced his determination to go
to war with England rather than give up his
rights on the sulphur question. Large bodies of
troops were embarked for Sicily. The fortifications
were repaired and extended, and everywhere the din
of military preparations was heard. Mr. Buxton,
however, did not take alarm, but remained at Naples,
and one morning, the apprehensions of war having
somewhat subsided, his party visited the crater of
Vesuvius. While approaching Naples, on their re-
turn home at night, they observed lights in a part of
the harbour where they had never appeared before.
1840. NAPLES BLOCKADED. 509
On entering the town it was found to be in an uproar
of confusion ; the Bellerophon, seventy-four, and the
Hydra, armed steamer, had entered the harbour,
and, to the astonishment and indignation of the
Neapolitans, had anchored under the teeth of their
batteries. The streets were thronged with the whole
population of Naples, in the utmost excitement.
Regiments of horse and foot were marching rapidly
to their posts; cannon and tumbrils of ammunition
were rolling by, and soon the king dashed past in a
barouche and four on his way to Posilippo, where
the English were expected to land.
Mr. Buxton, however, felt quite confident, as
indeed it proved, that the king was only endeavouring
to obtain good conditions by a pretence of re-
sistance. In a note written on the evening of
the arrival of the Bellerophon and Hydra, after
mentioning the excitement of the town, "people
running about in all directions, companies of soldiers
on the esplanade, cannon posted along it," &c., he
proceeds
" Do not be frightened. "We are not. We have no idea
that our sleep this night will be broken by the thunder of
these guns. We have, however, ordered our passports to
be prepared, ready for a start ; and I am sure to be right,
when, after the manner of the Delphic oracle, I pronounce
that the whole hubbub will end in smoke ! "
Tliis appears to be the last letter written by Mr.
Tuixton from Italy. At the end of April he was
compelled t> hasten to England (on account of the
African business), leaving the rest of the party
l>rliind till the advance of summer should render it
510 LEAVES NAPLES. CHAP. XXIX.
safe for Mrs. Buxton to return to a northern climate.
In the interim, some of the travellers proceeded
across Italy to Ancona, and there embarked for
Greece.
To Miss Gurney, at Athens.
" Fontainbleau, Sunday, May 10.
"Tf an angel were to offer to tell me at this moment any
earthly news, the question I should ask him would be, How
fares it with our Athenians ? Has the time gone merrily
with them ? are they safe and sound, satisfied and happy ?
and are they now sitting on Mars Hill, reading, as we have
done to-day, the 17th chapter of Acts? What a curious
scene that was, and how the Stoics would have wondered,
had they been told by an oracle that the barbarian bab-
bler before them would be more renowned at the end of two
thousand years than Theseus or Themistocles ! and that
in a little bit of an island, which they had never heard of. the
time would come when his description of them their scorn
their avidity for news would be copied off at the rate of
one 3, minute !
" Well, I can truly say I have eagerly watched you,
thought of you, and sailed with you ; and my first inquiry
every morning has been ' Is the day fine for our Attic
party ? ' Alas ! the answer has not always been gladdening.
Our days have been alternately wet and dry, never very fine,
sometimes excessively wet ; so I fear for you. Surely, I
shall find a line from you at Paris to-morrow. At Paris
to-morrow ! you will say ; why how you must have raced !
Nay, we have travelled very slowly ; up betimes in the
morning, always housed before eight in the evening, and yet
here we are, notwithstanding we lost half a day for want of
horses, half a day by breaking our springs, and half a day
by our wish to see the city of Lyons.
" Our journey, which cost so many sighs before we started,
has been nothing else but pleasure. G. B. has been a capital
companion. He is always gay and cheerful; humours me
in the choice of rooms and dishes ; does all the work ; reads
1840. JOURNEY THROUGH FRANCE. 511
in the Bible to me the first stage ; talks when I want a chat,
and holds his tongue or goes out a stage or two when I want
to meditate ; or reads Byron to me when I am tired of my
own employments. I suppose you have read the Giaour and
the Corsair ? They have furnished me with charming ideas
of Greek scenery. In our voyage to Marseilles, I saw the
sun rise out of the sea, and he did, indeed, come forth * as a
bridegroom out of his chamber.' I had been reading Byron
tlu- evening before, with, I confess, unexpected admiration,
but sitting upon the deck that morning, and reading the 1 9th
Psalm as the sun began to peep over the waves, I thought
that David was the greater poet of the two. The verses
of Byron's I had been reading, as we floated by the hills
between Genoa and Marseilles, were those beginning
' Slow sinks, more lovely 'ere his race be run,
Behind Morea's hills the setting sun ;
Not as in northern climes, obscurely bright,
But one unclouded blaze of living light,
O'er the hushed deep the yellow beam he throws,
Gilds the green wave that trembles as it glows,' &c.
" They are charming, as much for their fidelity as for
their poetry, but Byron never ploughed through a perfectly
calm sea at the rate of nine knots an hour ; if he had, he
could not but have described the velvet waves, as they were
turned up by the steamer, without breaking. I never saw
any thing so lovely.
" But now to answer your questions. Yes, I am well,
famously well, no headache, no cough, no cramp, no nothing.
1 am in capital spirits, hoping that 1 am going to see * my
children's children, and peace upon Africa.'
" The roads, to my surprise, have been very good, and the
country all the way from Marseilles very pretty. I wish my
wife would return by it ; it would be so safe for her monster
of a carriage. She saw it when the trees were in the sear
and yellow leaf, but now, the olives first, then the walnuts,
last of all, the forest trees, are in full foliage, and give one
quite a new idea of France.
512 LETTER TO MRS. BUXTON. CHAP. XXIX.
" "While at Paris I hope to see Madame Pelet, and ask
her to go with me to the Due de Broglie, that we may have
a talk about the Slave Trade, and that I may give him a
copy of my book.
" How I do long to hear of all your adventures and
histories.* Do you find you can talk Greek ? What do you
think of the Acropolis ? Are Charles and Richards availing
themselves to the utmost of so unprecedented an oppor-
tunity ? "
To Mrs. Buxton, at Genoa.
" Paris, May 12.
" I am full of imaginations of your inns : windows not
fastened, curtains not closing, and the keen winds rushing
down the mountains. May God have preserved you ! But
I have felt, if possible, even more for those dear Athenians.
I keep a little map in my pocket, and often turn to it, but
I cannot say with pleasure. I would give something to
* One of these adventures was of a rather disagreeable character.
On our way home, after crossing the Splugen, and passing through
the Via Mala, we found the road blocked up by a waggon full of
wood, but without any horse or man. The postboy blew his horn,
but no one appeared ; so at length we got down, and tried to move
the waggon, but were unable to do so, and at last we were forced to
upset it in order to let the carriage pass. The woodmen, no doubt,
had seen what we were doing from the hill-side, and probably had
been coming down to move the waggon, but, on seeing it upset,
they rushed down upon us in a state of the most ungovernable
fury. Three of them fell at once upon the coachman, threw him
down, and mauled him terribly ; another ran to the horses' heads
to prevent the postboy from going on ; while a fifth attacked Mr.
Richards with a shower of blows. Mr. Richards at length flung
him off, and sprang upon one of the men who was kneeling on the
coachman and beating him ; thus relieved, Spink jumped upon his
feet, knocked over two of the ruffians with such force that his blouse
was covered with their blood, and, after a moment's desperate scuffle
with the others, he broke away, and springing upon the coachbox
produced his pistols. On seeing them the fellows fled. The writer of
this, meanwhile, was lying insensible on the road, having been put
hors de combat by a heavy blow on the mouth. They lifted him into
the carriage, and we reached Ragatz without any further molestation.
1840. RETURN TO ENGLAND. 513
know when they set foot again on the solid earth, tossed,
as they have been, I fear, and sick and sad, and at their wit's
nul. I am glad they wandered to Mars Hill; it will be a
pleasure to each of them all their lives. Would, however,
that you were all at home again."
The last in the series of Mr. Buxton's letters,
is dated from Havre de Grace :
" My dear A. & C. " May J5. 1840.
" We are going to start to-night for England. The wind
is lair, the sea smooth, and we hope to breakfast to-niorrow at
Southampton. I was exceedingly amused with your letters
from Ancona ; 1 know you put in all that Greek to puzzle
me, but there you were mistaken, for I made it all out.
While I was at Paris, Madame Pelet was most kind to me,
and introduced me to many persons whom I wished to see, and
r.-pecially to some good abolitionists. I called on M. de St.
Antoine, and was much pleased with his heartiness. I think
he is more likely to be useful than any of them ; he has so
much heart in the work. It was, I think, this day seventeen
yrars ago that I first brought forward the slavery question,
and on Wednesday thirty-three years, I was married; the
two chief events of my life."
r. I-
514 CHAP. XXX.
CHAPTER XXX.
JUNE, 1840, TO APRIL, 1841.
GREAT PUBLIC MEETING IN EXETER HALL PRINCE ALBERT IN
THE CHAIR. MR. BUXTON CREATED A BARONET. PREPARA-
TIONS FOR THE NIGER EXPEDITION. AGRICULTURAL ASSO-
CIATION. VENTILATION OF THE SHIPS. SIR FOWELL BUXTON's
HEALTH BEGINS TO FAIL. "THE FRIEND OF AFRICA." PUBLIC
MEETINGS. LETTER TO THE REV. J. W. CUNNINGHAM. DAY
OF PRAYER FOR THE EXPEDITION PRINCE ALBERT'S VISIT
TO THE VESSELS. THE EXPEDITION SAILS. LETTER TO
CAPTAIN TROTTER.
MR. BUXTON arrived at his son's house in tolerable
health, and full of impatience to resume his African
labours. To these. he at once devoted himself, with
all the ardour that might be expected after the period
of relaxation he had enjoyed. In order to bring the
whole case effectually before the public, a meeting was
held on the 1st of June ; at which, to the high gratifi-
cation of all those interested in the welfare of Africa,
H. R. H. Prince Albert consented to preside. The
meeting took place in Exeter Hall, and formed, say
the contemporary papers, " a most grand and magni-
ficent display of national feeling." At eleven o'clock
His Royal Highness entered the hall, which was
already crowded with an audience of the highest
respectability. Among those present, were the
Duke of Norfolk, the Marquis of Ereadalbane, the
Marquis of Northampton, the Earls of Ripon, Howe,
Chichester, Euston, Devon, and Morley ; Lords
Ashley, Sandon, Mahon, C. Fitzroy, Worsley, Mont-
eagle, Teignmouth, Seaford, Howick, Eliot, Calthorpe,
1840. PUBLIC MEETING. 515
Nugent, K. Grosvenor, &c. &c. ; M. Guizot, and the
Bishops of Winchester, Exeter, Chichester, Ripon,
Salisbury, Hereford, and Norwich.
Prince Albert opened the meeting, and Mr. Buxton
moved the first resolution, concluding his address in
words:
" I do not forget the military triumphs which this country
has achieved, but there is a road to glory more noble, more
illustrious, purer, and grander, than the battles of Waterloo
or Trafalgar ; to arrest the destruction of mankind ; to
pour a blessing upon a continent in ruins ; to send civilisation
and the mild truths of the Gospel over a region, in comparison
with which Britain herself is but a speck upon the ocean ;
this is the road to true and enduring renown: and the desire
ami prayer of my heart is, that Her Majesty may tread it ;
and that, crowned with every other blessing, she may
' Shine the leader of applauding nations,
To scatter happiness and peace around her,
To bid the prostrate captive rise and live,
To see new cities tower at her command,
And blasted nations flourish in her smile.' "
He was followed by Archdeacon Wilberforce (the
present Bishop of Oxford), by Sir Robert Peel, the
Bishops of Winchester and Chichester, the Marquis of
Northampton, Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, Sir George
Murray, Dr. Lushington, Mr. Samuel Gurney, the
Rev. Dr. Bunting, Rev. J.W. Cunningham, and several
itlu-r noblemen, clergymen, and gentlemen. At one
]> iiod an interruption was caused by the entry of
Mr. 'Con m -11, and the clamours of part of the
audience for a speech from that gentleman ; but,
altogether, the meeting passed off with the most
triumphant success.
i. i. 2
516 THE NIGER EXPEDITION. CHAP. XXX.
Short!} 7 after this meeting of the African Civilisa-
tion Society, it was intimated to Mr. Buxton, by Lord
John Russell, that it was her Majesty's wish to confer
the rank of baronet upon him. After some delibera-
tion, having ascertained that the idea had not been
suggested to the Government by any of his friends,
but was a spontaneous mark of her Majesty's appro-
bation of his conduct, he accepted the title with much
gratification.
The summer was spent in active preparation for
the Niger Expedition, for the service of which three
iron steamers, the " Albert," the " Wilberforce,"
and " Soudan," were fitted out ; and to the great satis-
faction of all who were interested in the subject, the
command was given to Captain Henry Dundas Trot-
ter ; Commander William Allen was appointed to the
"Wilberforce," and Commander Bird Allen to the
" Soudan." These gentlemen and Mr. William Cook *
were the four Commissioners empowered to make
treaties with the native chiefs for the abolition of the
Slave Trade.
The African Civilisation Society also engaged seve-
ral scientific gentlemen to accompany the expedition ;
Dr. Vogel as botanist, Mr. Roscher as mineralogist and
miner, Dr. Stanger as geologist, and Mr. Fraser, Cu-
rator of the Zoological Society of London, as natura-
list. Mr. Uwins a draughtsman, and Mr. Ansell a
practical gardener or seedsman, were also appointed ;
and the Church Missionary Society was allowed to
send the Rev. Frederick Schon and Mr. Samuel
* Well known as the Captain of the Cambria, which saved the crew
of the Kent East Indiaman.
1840. OBJECTS OF THE EXPEDITION. 517
Crowthcr* to examine into the practicability of es-
tablishing missions on the banks of the Niger.
The object of the expedition was, to explore that
great artery of Western Africa, the river Niger ;
to examine the capabilities of the country along its
banks ; to enter into treaties with the native chiefs
for the abolition of the Slave Trade ; to clear the
road for commercial enterprise, and to afford that
enterprise the security which alone seemed necessary
for its development.
Sir Fowell Buxton and his friends were also ex-
tremely anxious that this opportunity should not be
lost, of putting the natives in the way of cultivating
tlic soil, and drawing forth its varied and immense re-
sources. It will be remembered that, in 1839, an Agri-
cultural Association was proposed. To its formation,
Mr. Buxton had devoted much of his time during the
summer of 1840. The expression recurs again and
again in his letters, " There is nothing to which
I attach more importance, than to the Agricultural
Association." " I am firm in the conviction that,
n. \t to religion, the Agricultural Association is the
means on which we ought chiefly to rely."
To Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, Bart.
"August, 1840.
" This consideration has presented itself to me with great
force; \\c never shall Imve again so favourable an opportunity
1 '"'lie Rev. S. Crowther (who is an African Negro) having been
ordained by the Bishop of London, is now zealously labouring as a
Mi ionary, at Abeokouta. An interesting account of hit deliverance
from a slave ship, will ho found in A pp. III. of Messrs, Schon and
Crowther's Journals of the Ni;jrr Kxpcdition.
i i. 3
518 PLAN FOR A MODEL FARM. CHAP. XXX.
for making an experiment in agriculture. The few people whom
we shall send will go out under the escort and protection of the
vessels. They will be carried through the mangroves and
miasma of the delta by steam ; they will have the medical help
of at least eight surgeons or physicians ; above all, they will
have the sound and cool judgment of Captain Trotter to re-
strain them from settling, unless the circumstances of climate,
soil, and disposition of the natives, should be very favourable.
If, then, we are ever to make the attempt, why lose such an
opportunity ? Our intention is to make a mere commence-
ment, on a most moderate scale. If it answer, we shall en-
large our operations hereafter, and we shall have something
practical and positive to lay before the public."
It was at length resolved to adopt this agricultural
experiment. Four thousand pounds were subscribed
for the purpose by Mr. Evans, M. P., Mr. James
Cook, Mr. Samuel Gurney, Sir T. D. Acland, Mr. T.
Sturge, Mr. J. G. Hoare, Sir Fowell Buxton, and Mr.
E. N. Buxton. Sir Fowell further proposed, that a
tract of land should be purchased in a healthy situa-
tion near the confluence of the Niger and Tchadda; this
proposition was unanimously adopted, and measures
were immediately taken for carrying it into effect.
Referring to this plan for a model farm, Sir Fowell
says, in a letter addressed to Miss Gurney, on the 6th
of December
" I cannot conclude these particulars about Africa, without
telling you of a text which has been cheering me up all day,
' There shall be showers of blessing, and the tree of the field
shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase,
and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am
the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and
delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves
of them.'" (Ezekiel, xxxiv. 2628.)
1840. HIS PLANS ATTACKED. 519
The severe attacks made upon his plans by some of
tin- lr;i<lin<; journals, gave him much pain ; " But," he
t< 11- Mrs. Johnston, " I cannot help remembering,
when I feel the breezes that blow upon us now, what
the gales were in 1825 and 1826, when our Anti-
>!avi TV bark put to sea. That cause was indeed cradled
in a hurricane, and yet how safely is it havened ! "
Throughout his correspondence, innumerable pas-
sages occur, which show his extreme anxiety for
the safety of those who were voluntarily about to en-
counter so dangerous a climate. He says, in a letter
to Captain Washington,
" Trotter tells me that the expense of the ventilation
already exceeds the estimate by 14007., and that a further ex-
pense of 5007. is still required, which he will not proceed to
incur till he has the authority of the Government. Now I am
as clear as daylight about two points : first, that the Govern-
ment ought to pay this ; and secondly, that if they will not,
we must ; and that, therefore, it ought to be so proceeded
with as not to delay the departure of the expedition. As far
as I am concerned, I give my hearty concurrence, and will
take my full share of the responsibility.'*
To Mr. Samuel Gurney, after requesting him to
attend a meeting of the Agricultural Committee, and
p:iy in a subscription for him :
" I leave it to you to put down my name for the sum you
think riirlit. To tell you the truth, I had thought of being
MTV niran in my subscription. In one way or another Africa
has co.-t UK a good round sum, and on this ground I thought
it' ju.-tifuil in subscribing only 1000/., but if you think
that the Mimllness of this will discourage other people and do
misehief, \>u\ me down for two, or tlnvc, or four thousand. I
am very glad to think that Africa has a friend like you, more
able, and more willing, to ^"m .
L I 4
520 DECLINING HEALTH. CHAP. XXX.
On the 7th of August, Dr. Lushington and Sir
Fowell Buxton, addressed a letter to Lord John
Russell *, setting forth the importance of establishing
the model farm. After this, he was constrained to
go into the country for the re-establishment of his
health. " To tell you the truth," he writes to Sir
George Stephen, " I am dead beat ; I do not recollect
ever to have felt so languid and good for nothing."
To the Right Hon. Stephen Lushington, D. C.L.
" My dear Lushington,
" Dr. Farre has been pleased to write me a letter, telling
me that I have just this alternative; viz. that it is open to me
now, either to live, or to die for Africa, but that if my
judgment be in favour of the former mode of proceeding, I
must ' cut and run,' ' go to the country and animalise.' This
is curiously in concurrence with what Dr. Holland told me
six months ago.f I think I shall send you these medical
letters, for if there be any thing on earth which I mortally
hate, it is the sense that I am skulking away from the field
of battle, while you, in spite of your ailments, go on fighting
manfully. But I really cannot help it ; there is not a stroke
of work left in my great carcase. I am like my old horse
John Bull ; he does well enough for a lady to take a canter
in the park, but give him a brush along the road, or a burst
across the fields, and he is done up for a month.
" Now what does all this tend to? this, that I must
avail myself of your permission to leave town this week,
subject to being recalled by you on any great emergency,
particularly with regard either to treaties or instructions."
Private anxieties were now added to his public
* See Parliamentary Papers relative to the Niger Expedition.
j" Dr. Holland, some time before, wrote to Mrs. Buxton : lc From
what I have seen, Mr. Buxton is working beyond the power, which even
the strongest natural constitution can give."
1840. " THE FRIEND OF AFIilCA." 521
lal)ours, but these occupied his thoughts far less than
Africa ; he thus writes to Lady Buxton from Bury,
while on his way to London in obedience to a sum-
mons from Lord John Russell.
"August 27. 1840.
" It will cheer you to hear that I am so far on my jour-
ney, safe and sound, remarkably comfortable, and perfectly
well into the bargain. * * * What are mines, and mise-
ries, and mail coaches, as compared with the vision, all sun-
shine, of a people, thousands and hundreds of thousands,
springing from bondage to liberty, from stripes and howling
to wages and singing, from being things to being men, from
blindness to the Gospel. ******
" I feel very thankful, and am a happy man this night."
Among other matters of interest which demanded
his attention during his short visit to London, was
the setting on foot a periodical under the name of
" The Friend of Africa," the superintendence of
which was undertaken by Captain Washington, R. N.,
an energetic member of the committee.
During September great pains were taken to in-
form and interest the public on the subject of the
African Expedition, and with this view it was re-
solved that meetings should be held in the principal
commercial towns. It was of importance that these
should be ably conducted. The Marquis of Breadal-
bane presided at the one convened at Glasgow.
" For Manchester," Sir Fowell writes to Captain
Washington, " Dr. Lushington would be the man.
His presence would ensure success, but I really
know not how to ask him. We trouble him enough
upon matters even more important. He wants rest
as much as any man, and yet he is of so free and
522 CHAKT1ST INTERRUPTION. CHAP. XXX.
ardent a nature, that he will kill himself rather than
not do any thing he can."
Dr. Lushington, however, and Sir George Murray,
attended the Manchester meeting. Another, at
which many of the nobility and gentry of Norfolk
were present, was held in St. Andrew's Hall, Nor-
wich, the bishop of Norwich being in the chair;
but a large body of Chartists broke into the hall,
and after great uproar and confusion compelled the
meeting to disperse. It is to this meeting that the
following letter alludes.
" My dear Lushington,
" What with the Chartists at Norwich, and the Times news-
paper, and the Edinburgh Review, and the bitter Resolutions
of the Liverpool Anti-slavery Society, and the recognition
of Texas, and the threatened admission of slave-grown sugar,
clouds seem to be gathering round about us. But I do not
mean to allow these things utterly to vex me. I am as sure
as ever, that we are upon the right tack, and, if so, we shall
beat them all yet. My chief anxiety is, that the instructions
to the commissioners, and the model treaty, should be
finished in good style. I will be with you at dinner on Wed-
nesday, and we will talk over these matters."
The following is an extract of a letter to the Rev.
J. W. Cunningham of Harrow, in which Sir Fowell
urged him to give lectures in different places, on the
subject of the Slave Trade :
" Northrepps, Sept. 23. 1840.
ts * * * A month spent in going from town to town,
would do us infinite good infinite, literally speaking, for it
affects Negro souls as well as bodies.
" So, O man of God, pray send to Trew * the instant you re-
* The Rev. J. M. Trew, Secretary to the African Civilisation
Society.
1840. LETTER TO E. K. BUXTON, ESQ. 523
eeivc this, and offer to traverse a district for at least four weeks.
The effect will be, that a hundred other clergymen, evangeli-
cal and eloquent, will follow your example, and the tocsin will
be sounded through the kingdom ; the subject will be no
longer dormant ; our Society will be rich instead of poor ;
and being rich will adventure to do things connected with the
expedition, and things of essential importance, at which it
now starts and trembles.
" I speak most seriously when I say, I think you may thus
do us vast good; and, moreover, the West Indians also.
You tell me you heard one of them confess that my plan
was * their only shelter from ruin.' Very curious that
it should have come to this. But it is true enough ; nothing
but the horrors of the Slave Trade, fixed and stamped in
tin- mind of the public, will avert the introduction of slave-
grown sugar.
" But the most wonderful part of the case is, that the
Wr<t Indians look on very quietly, and leave me to fight
their battle. Mac Queen has essentially served the cause,
(iladstone, Lord Seaford, and John Irving, have served
it ; and there ends, pretty nearly, the catalogue of West
Indian proprietors, who have so much as lifted up a finger
for us. Excuse my thus troubling you, but I really am so
pressed, so overdone, that I must press on others. Every
proposition is brought to me ; every step taken I am obliged
to act in."
To Edward N. Button, Esq.
"Northrepps Hall, Oct. 1840.
" You talk about ' idle people shooting in the country,' I
to .-ay this does not apply to me, as my secretary
eouM t 11 \<>ii. He lias just groaned out to me, that in five
i lays la.-t week he despatched eighty-eight letters of mine,
and some of them very lengthy, and a very great majority
connected with the Slave Trad*'."
The motto of the Buxt>n family had been, " what-
524 DAY OF PRAYER. CHAP. XXX.
ever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might."
Of this lengthy but appropriate sentence, he retained
only the last clause, and " Do it with thy might " was
the motto attached to the arms which he bore as a
baronet. " But I do not think," he writes to a friend,
" my motto and I square well together now-a-days. I
have no ' might, nor energy,' nor pluck, nor anything
of that sort, and this kind of listlessness reaches even
to my two pet pursuits, Negroes and partridges. In
short, I feel myself changed in almost everything."
As the time for the departure of the vessels was
now drawing near, he became anxious that a day
of prayer should be appointed for the safety and
success of an expedition which would be exposed to
so many dangers. "Pray do not let us lose sight
of this," he wrote to Mr. Coates, then one of the
secretaries of the Church Missionary Society, " never
was there a case which more required the Divine
blessing."
On the same subject, he addressed Sir John Je-
remie, the Governor of the West Coast of Africa :
" Dear Jeremie, Northrepps Hall, Nov. 1. 1840.
" It is determined that a day shall be set apart for prayer,
on behalf of our efforts for Africa, and especially for the
safety and success of the expedition. Sunday, November
the 8th, is the day appointed. I can confidently say, that
the new Governor of Western Africa and his family will not
be forgotten. I greatly rejoice that this determination has
been come to. Surely, considering the difficulties, the perils,
the prejudices at home, the brutal ignorance in Africa ; con-
sidering, again, how many brave and good men are hazarding
their lives in the cause of humanity and righteousness, and
1840. PRINCE ALBERT'S VISIT TO THE VESSELS. 525
above all, reflecting on the mighty consequences which may,
ami whieh, ly the blessing of God, as we hope, will follow the
combined effort we are now making, I say, considering all
these things, surely we have need to crave Divine help, and
the guidance of more and better than human wisdom. Fare-
well, my dear friend, and be God's blessing upon you and
your's, for Christ's sake."
During a visit to London in the spring of this
year, he minutely inspected the vessels fitted out for
the expedition, which were then lying in the river;
and he was one of the party which waited upon
II. R. H. Prince Albert when he visited them on the
23rd of March.
To Miss Gurney.
" Leamington. April 1. 1841.
N'ow I must tell you about Prince Albert's visit to the
vessels. I went an hour before he was expected, and found
everything in the most perfect order, and the officers in full
dress. Trotter looked remarkably well in his uniform, and I
was glad to have the opportunity of seeing him actually
engaged in the command of his people At the appointed
time, two carrisiges and four drove on to the quay, con-
taining Prince Albert, Mr. Anson, Major Keppel (our late
member for Norfolk), and half a dozen others. I was upon
the quarter deck, and Professor Airy with me, near the steps,
which the Prince immediately came up. He greeted me with
tin mu.-t good-natured familiarity, and expressed his pleasure
at seeing me ' on board my fleet.' He then closely examined
everything, and seemed to take great delight in the whole
concern, and t-> understand mechanics. He was especially
delighted with a buoy, fixed ready at the stern of the ship, to
1-e let down at a moment's notice. It contained a light,
which (at least they said *<>) water only inflamed. This was
f>r the purpose of saving any one who might happen to fall
overboard at night. I said to Keppel, not intending the
526 PRINCE ALBERT'S VISIT TO THE VESSELS. CHAP. xxx.
Prince should hear me (which, however, he did), * I wish His
Royal Highness would order one of his suite, yourself, for
example, to be thrown overboard, that we might save your life
by this apparatus.' The Prince took up the idea, and seemed
half inclined to set Keppel a swimming, in order that we
might have the gratification of the salvage. After examining
everything in the ' Albert,' the boat came alongside ; the
Prince and six of his attendants got in, and I was also
invited, and was not very far from having reason to regret
the honour. The wind was blowing hard, and the tide
rolling along at its full force. Our sailors were not ac-
customed to the navigation of the Thames, so the tide ran
away with us, and dashed us with considerable violence
against a yacht at anchor, the ' William and Mary.' We got
entangled amongst the ropes attached to her anchor, and a
cry was raised from the vessels, ' You will be dragged over,
lie down ! ' Down went His Royal Highness flat to the bottom
of the boat, and without ceremony we all bundled down
too. As it was, the rope scraped along my back. When we
got clear, the Prince sprang up, laughing heartily at the
adventure, saying, ' I have had one ducking before this year,
when I fell through the ice, and I thought we were going to
have a second of a much worse kind.' The alarm felt on
board the vessels for our situation was very considerable ;
and Bird Allen had ordered his boats to be lowered.
" After visiting the two other vessels, the Prince took
leave of Trotter and the company, and expressed himself
highly pleased with what he had seen."
On the 14th of April, 1841, Captain Trotter and
Commander William Allen sailed for the Niger, with
the Albert and Wilberforce, the Soudan having put
to sea a few days earlier. It need not be said that
this event was one full of the deepest interest to Sir
Fowell. His prayers were indeed fervent for the
success of the expedition, and the welfare of its
gallant commanders and crews ; and, though deeply
1841. DEPARTURE OF THE EXPEDITION. 527
impressed by the risks they were about to incur, his
unshaken confidence in the presence and providence
of God did not fail him now. The chief source of
apprehension lay in the deadly climate, but against
its dangers every human precaution had been taken.
The ships were to steam as rapidly as possibly
through the mouths of the rivers, where the miasma
chiefly prevails ; Dr. Reid had invented a system
of ventilation by which a constant current of air,
impregnated with chloride of lime, could, by the
a-jvncy of the steam engines, be maintained through
all parts of the vessels ; a large proportion of the crews
were natives of Africn, and the medical staff was re-
markably able and efficient. With these precautions,
the whole expedition, also, being under the com-
mand of so able and judicious a man, whose eminent
qualifications had pointed him out for this responsible
office, it was confidently hoped that all the perils
which it was well known were inseparable from such
an undertaking, might be passed through with safety.
With reference to the expedition Sir Fowell fre-
quently repeated Cowper's lines:
" Heaven speed the canvass, gallantly unfurled,
To furnish and accommodate a world ;
To give the pole the produce of the sun,
And knit th' unsocial climates into one.
Soft airs and gentle heavings of the wave
linj)cl the fleet, whose errand is to save,
To succour wasted regions, and replace
The smile of opulence in sorrow's face.
Let nothing adverse, nothing unforeseen,
Impede tlu> bark, that ploughs the deep serene;
Char^'d with a fn ipht transcending in its worth
The gems of India, nature's rarest birth ;
That flies, like Gabriel, on his Lord's commands,
A herald of God's love to Pagan lands."
528 LETTER TO CAPTAIN TROTTER. CHAP. XXX.
On the evening before the ships sailed, Sir Fowell
wrote to Captain Trotter from Leamington.
" My dear friend, April 13. 1841.
" Once more I bid you farewell. I need not, I am sure,
repeat to you the extreme interest with which I shall follow
you ; nor the earnest prayers which my heart will pour forth
for your welfare and prosperity. You will find all that I
feel at this time, regarding you and your whole party, in the
121st Psalm. May I beg you to convey to Captain W.
Allen, Lieutenants Fishbourne and Strange, Dr. M c William,
and indeed to each of your officers, my very best wishes and
regards. * * * With my best regards, and with the
sympathy of us all for Mrs. Trotter, I once more crave that
the blessing of the Lord may be with you in your mission of
peace and mercy. Your's ever, most faithfully,
" T. FOWELL BUXTON."
" P.S. April 14. How ardently I trust that you are
steaming away to your satisfaction this blowing day. The
expression is often on my lips, and always in my heart,
' Soft airs and gentle heavings of the wave,
Impel the bark, whose errand is to save.' "
c..u-. XXXI. 529
CHAPTER XXXI.
1841.
CORRESPONDENCE. JOURNEY TO SCOTLAND. DEER-STALKING.
K I TURN Ih'Mi:. - THE NIGER EXPEDITION, ITS SUCCESSES AND
ITS REVERSES. - GOOD NEWS FROM THE EXPEDITION. ACCOUNT
OF ITS PROGRESS. - SCENERY OF THE NIGER. - TREATY CON-
CLUDED WITH OBL HIS INTELLIGENCE AND COURAGE. - THE
ATTAH OF EGGARAH. SICKNESS APPEARS ON BOARD. - THE
MODEL FARM. - THE SOUDAN AND W1LBERFORCE SENT
DOWN THE RIVER. THE NEWS REACHES ENGLAND. DISTRESS
SIR FOWELL BUXTON. - THE ALBERT PROCEEDS UP THE
UIVKK. DENSE POPULATION. AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE IN
THE MARKETS. - SOME SLAVES LIBERATED. THE NUFIS. -
INCREASED SICKNESS ON BOARD THE ALBERT. - IT RETURNS TO
THE SEA. PERILOUS DESCENT OF THE RIVER. - MORTALITY
ON BOARD. - DEATH OF CAPTAIN BIRD ALLEN. OPINIONS OF
THE COMMISSIONERS AS TO THE EXPEDITION
THE departure of the Niger Expedition from the
shores of England left Sir Fowell's mind compara-
tively disengaged. Nothing now remained but to
await the issue of the undertaking ; and his broken
health imperatively demanding attention, he stayed for
some weeks at Leamington, under the care of Dr.
From thence he writes:
7'" the Rev. Dr. Bunting and Rev. John Beecham, Secretaries
of the Wesleyan Missionary Society.
" My dear Friends, " Leamington, April 26. 1841.
" I regret much that I shall be prevented by indisposition
from Attending your :uimi:il meeting. Do me the favour to
j>t the enclosed very small and in:i<k'i[ii:ito token of my
M M
530 CORRESPONDENCE. CHAP. XXXI.
interest in your missionary operations, more especially those
connected with Africa and the West Indies. May God's
blessing rest upon all the labours of your Society : may He
raise up for you multitudes of new and generous friends ; for
never was there a time when a greater necessity existed that
your hands should be strengthened, and that you should be
furnished with the means of embracing other and hitherto
neglected fields within the range of your exertions. I must
not lose this opportunity of expressing the deep sense I en-
tertain of the benefits which our Society for the Extinction of
the Slave Trade and Civilization of Africa has received from
the active and cordial co-operation which each of you has
afforded."
While on a short visit to Matlock, he writes to
Mrs. Johnston :
"May 4. 1841.
" The thing that has most interested me, and has awakened
many old and slumbering feelings, is the circumstance that
thirty-nine years ago I spent a Sunday here with the
Gurneys on our excursion to the lakes before H. and I were
engaged. Could we then have drawn aside the curtain, and
have seen what we should be on our next visit to Matlock
our youngest child with us on the point of entering Cam-
bridge letters in our pockets from two of our married
children, speaking, in most pleasant terms, of their sons and
daughters ; could we also have been aware that in the
interim I had spent nearly twenty years in Parliament y and
that the gracious Lord had blessed my efforts with regard to
Slavery and the Slave Trade; could we, I say, in the former
period have realised what we should be nearly forty years
after, how strange but yet cheering would have been the
peep into futurity ; and now looking back through this long
series of years, I am constrained to confess that "goodness
and mercy have followed me all the days of my life."
His health having been in a great degree restored
under Dr. Jephson's care, he agreed to join his son,
1841. VISIT TO SCOTLAND. 531
and his nephew, Mr. Edmund Buxton, at a moor
they had taken in the north of Scotland. Being sur-
rounded by a cheerful party, the month he spent in
the wild seclusion of Ausdale, a little shooting-lodge
near the top of the Ord of Caithness, proved a time
of peculiar pleasure and refreshment to him. To-
wards the end of his stay there he writes to his
younger sons.
" Ausdale, Sept. 6. 1841.
" To-morro\v morning we leave Caithness, and expect to
reach London about the 25th instant. Every thing here
marks that our visit has come to its natural conclusion. In
the first place, all the grouse are killed. We may go out
for half a day and not see above a brace ; and then our tea,
our wine, our marmalade, our currant jelly, our novel, are,
some of them quite, and the rest all but, out. We have very
much enjoyed being here. Nothing can have been more
harmonious and one-minded than our party. We have lived
in luxury, and, in one respect, have fared like savages, for
our next day's dinner has been playing in the stream or
roving in the forest. We have killed rather more than 500
grouse and 70 black game : and I am now going to tell you
of certain other exploits of ours, which have created no little
sensation in Ausdale House. Two days ago Edmund
started, at 4 o'clock in the morning, to go, chiefly on foot,
about nine miles, and then to look for a deer. To tell you
the truth, I expected he would return very wet, very tired,
and unencumbered by any weight of venison. After break-
fast Edward and I set off in the same direction, hoping to
meet him, and first met his man, who astonished us with the
intelligence that he had killed a noble buck. We went on,
and found him and Larry with the deer. Larry was in per-
fect ecstacies, and, though extremely tired, could hardly help
dancing every time he looked at the beast. This adventure,
you may suppose, did not abate our zeal to get a deer for
ourselves, of which, ln>\vtjvi-r, tluiv ajij>earcd no kind of pro-
M M 2
DEEK-STALKING. CHAP. XXXI.
bability. On the Monday morning I had set myself down
to my letters, when intelligence was brought that another
deer had been seen about the same distance from home. A
great calling there was for rifles, and ponies, and balls, and
hammers, and we were off immediately. A long and a
tedious drag we had, till we reached the shepherd who had
discovered the stag. He made us take off our macintoshes,
and creep on all-fours till we were about 200 yards from the
deer, when, on looking over a little rise, we saw his horns.
A few minutes more,, and Larry cried out, " He's moving !
get up and fire." When we rose we saw two of them, and
we fired at that which presented the best aim. My ball
hit him, and he speedily fell dead.
" I soon returned home, where I found every body in a
state of great excitement, and the whole hamlet turned out to
welcome the arrival of the stag. About 7 o'clock Edmund
and Edward came in, Edmund having slain another very fine
deer, which made our third ; and we are all of us at the very
pinnacle of glory !
" Well, dinner is now coming upon the table, and so ends
my epistle.
" Ever your affectionate father
(who would have been delighted if you had been of the party,
and each slain your buck),
" T. FOWELL BUXTON."
Sir Fowell Buxton now resettled at North repps ;
the season was advancing, and every week increased
the anxiety with which tidings of the Niger Ex-
pedition were looked for. At length they ar-
rived, dated "August 20. River Niger," and were
of the most encouraging character. " With two ex-
ceptions," said Captain Trotter, " the whole company is
in good health." " This," writes Sir Fowell, " I think
highly satisfactory ; and may God in his mercy grant
1841. THE NIGER EXPEDITION. 533
that we may continue to hear such favourable reports.
I am, I confess, not devoid of anxiety."
I le thus replies to Captain Trotter's letter:
" Northrepps Hall, Nov. 12. J 841.
" I must write a few lines, if it be only to assure you that
my anxiety is unabated to hear tidings of the Expedition, and
more especially to hear about yourself, Captains William and
I>inl Allen, and Cook. I was going to add Lieutenant
Fi>hbourne ; but I may as well say at once, all the officers
and all the crews. I believe I should hardly exaggerate if
I should say that while engaged in our family devotions I
have never, or at all events most rarely, neglected to offer up
my prayers for the safety of you all, for the success of the
Expedition, and for the outpouring of God's grace upon
Africa. I trust and I believe that I am but one of many
thousands with whom these things form a subject of daily
and heartfelt prayer."
The history of the Niger Expedition is so closely
associated with that of the subject of our memoir,
that it may not be deemed irrelevant to give a short
account of its progress, its fair promise of success,
and its lamentable reverses ; taken from the par-
liamentary papers and despatches, and from the pub-
li>ln-<l accounts of Dr Mac William, the Rev. J. F.
Schon, and the Rev. S. Crowther.
The Niger Expedition entered the Nun branch of
tin- river on the 13th of August, 1841, that being
the season recommended by Captain Becroft, and
other gentlemen well acquainted with the subject.*
" Every one was in the highest spirits, cheered by the
* Captain Trotter to the Secretary of the Admiralty. Parl. Papers
relative to the Niger Expedition, p. 4?.
M M 3
534 SCENERY OF THE NIGER. CHAP. XXXI.
novelty and beauty of the scenery and by the exhilarating
feeling of the air, which, to our senses, appeared perfectly sa-
lubrious ; and it was difficult to imagine that it could be other-
wise. * t * * As we proceeded upwards from Sunday Island,
where the influence of the tides give place to the constant
downward current of the river, a marked change took place
in the scenery. The banks began to be slightly elevated
above the water, and, instead of the mangrove, a variety of
beautiful palms and other trees formed a forest so dense, that,
for upward of 100 miles (except where spots were cleared for
cultivation), the eye could not penetrate more than a few
yards beyond the water's edge. These cleared spots, con-
taining yams, cocoas, cassadas, Indian corn, plantains, and
occasionally sugar-cane, began to appear immediately after
leaving Sunday Island, and gradually became more frequent.
Solitary huts were now succeeded by clusters, and clusters of
huts by villages, the villages became larger and more popu-
lous ; while the natives showed themselves less timid, and
often came off in their canoes to hold intercourse with us.
For the first 50 miles there was little appearance of trade ;
but afterwards large canoes were seen carrying palm oil,
destined for Brass town and Bonny. Their timidity,
however, especially in the lower parts of the river, was such,
that our intercourse produced little worthy of remark, though
the disposition of the natives was invariably friendly.*
On the 26th of August the vessels reached Aboh ;
and on the following morning Obi, the chief of the
Ibo country, came on board, accompanied by several
of his family and head-men.
" The objects of the Expedition, as well as each article of
the treaty, were then fully explained to him by an intelligent
interpreter, brought with us from Sierra Leone ; and we
were exceedingly pleased with the intelligence, judgment, and
apparent sincerity of Obi's remarks. The momentary oppo-
sition elicited by some of the articles only tended to show us
* Captain Trotter's Report, p. 90.
1841. VISIT TO ABOH. 535
how clearly he understood the objects of the treaty. We
consider it a fact worthy of remark, that the substance of his
frequent interruptions was, that if he abolished the Slave
Trade his people must have some occupation by which to
obtain subsistence, and that he, therefore, wished plenty of
ships to be sent to trade with him.* He came without any
pomp or state. With the exception of his dress, which was
:i liritish scarlet uniform coat and scarlet cloth trousers, his
appearance was more that of a keen trader than of a sovereign
chief of an extensive country. His manner, however, though
friendly and unceremonious, showed a consciousness of
power, and his attendants treated him with marked respect.f
" His appearance is certainly prepossessing : he is upwards
of six feet high, and stout in proportion : his forehead is large,
and hU countenance generally indicates acute perception.
" An instance of his firmness," says Dr. Mac William " was
shown one day on board of the Albert : while he was engaged
with the commissioners, I was amusing his brother and some
of the head-men by performing some experiments with Sraee's
galvanic battery. Obi came up to us just as the instrument
was fitted for giving shocks: Anorama the judge, a little
man, touched the cylinders at the end of the conductors,
and as the battery was at the moment acting rather power-
fully, he dropped them with rapidity and would not again
come near. Most of the others looked upon this new and
c xtmordinary agent with suspicion and awe: even Obi
himself stooped somewhat doubtingly to take the shock ;
but he seemed determined to show no signs of irresolution
or fear before his people. He took a firm grasp of the
cylinders, and held them upwards of a minute, although I
could perceive the muscles of the shoulder and chest in
strong electric excitation." J
Commissioners' Despatch, pp. 32, 33.
f Captain Trotter's Report, p. 92.
j Dr. Mac William, p. 64. He displayed less courage on another
occasion. Prayers being about to be read, he was requested to kneel
down. This he did ; but when the service concluded, he was found
almost overwhelmed with terror, the perspiration streaming down his
M M 4
536 VISIT TO ABOH. CHAP. XXXI.
" The Ibos are, in their way, a religious people," writes
the chaplain. " The word * Tshuku,' God, is continually
heard. Their notions of some of the attributes of the
Supreme Being are, in many respects, correct, and their
manner of expressing them, striking : ' God has made every-
thing; he made both white and black,' is continually on
their lips. On the death of a person who has, in their
estimation, been good, they say, * He will see God,'
while of a wicked person they say, ' He will go into fire.' *
* * * I opened the English Bible, and made Simon
Jonas read a few verses, and translate them into Ibo. Obi
was uncommonly taken with this. That a white man could
read and write, was a matter of course : but that a black
man an Ibo man a slave in times past should know
these wonderful things too, was more than he could have an-
ticipated. He seized Simon's hand, squeezed it most heartily,
and said, ' You must stop with me ; you must teach me and
my people ; ' and he would not be satisfied, until Simon had
made his desire known to Captain Trotter. This desire
proves the sincerity of his heart to perform the terms of the
treaty into which he had entered. If he had any intention
of evading them, he would not have expressed a desire to
have a person around him who understands his own language,
can watch over all his proceedings, and who, as he well
knows, will join the Expedition again, and will be able to
make his report to the commissioners of Obi's conduct, "f
Jonas was accordingly left at Aboh for a few weeks, during
which time no less than two thousand children were com-
mitted to him for instruction. \
" The huts at Aboh were in general raised some feet from
the ground, resting either upon an elevation of clay, or sup-
ported on strong wooden pillars from four to eight feet high.
In the latter case, access to the hut is gained by a ladder
leading to the principal aperture. They all seemed to be
face. He had thought, it seemed, that the white men were invoking
curses on his head.
* Mr. Schon's Journal, p. 50. f Ibid. p. 6l.
J Ibid. p. 231.
1841. THREE KINGDOMS. 537
BBBUUrkably clean and well matted. The actual number ot
huts in Alx>h is estimated by Laird at from 800 to 1000. *
" Obi has only two large canoes in use ; but he is said to
possess in all fifteen, each having a small cannon lashed in the
bow : they have from twenty to fifty paddles ; and the largest
can carry twenty fighting men. Besides these, there are
at Alx>h about ten head-men who have each from two to six
war canoes. On an extraordinary occasion he can muster
about 300 canoes, armed with swivels and muskets." f
Captain William Allen (who had previously ex-
plored the Niger, in 1833) states that the nations on
the banks of the river as far as Rabba (500 miles
from its mouth) are under the influence of only three
powerful and independent chiefs ; first Obi, king of
Ibo ; secondly, the Attah, or king of Eggarah ; and
thirdly, the king of the Fulatahs, at Rabba.
The treaty having been formally concluded with
Obi, for the abolition of the Slave Trade in his do-
minions, for the protection and encouragement
of legitimate commerce, and for the permission to
missionaries to settle among his people, and presents
having been given to him as a mark of good will, the
Expedition proceeded towards Iddah, the capital of
Eggarah.
A great change soon took place in the scenery :
the banks of the river had hitherto been flat: but
now " elevated land," says Mr. Crowther, " was gra-
dually pet-ping behind the thick bushes on the banks
of the river ; and the faces of all were bright at the
>i^ht of these long-looked-for places."
The amount of cultivation of yams, bananas, and
- Dr. Mac William, p.lil .
t Captain W. Allen's Report, P.P. p. IS?.
538 VISIT TO IDDAH. CHAP. XXXI.
plantains, indicated more extensive habitation than
we had yet seen, with the exception of Aboh.
" At Iddah, in the kingdom of Eggarah, the opposite shore
is for some way low, flat and swampy. The land behind,
however, gradually rises to hills of considerable height, which
seem to be richly wooded. From the anchorage (within 200
yards of the cliff) a magnificent range of rounded and conical
hills and high table land was seen in the distance, stretching
from the north-east to south-west, with a dense forest, ex-
tending from the table land downwards, through which a
series of streams were pursuing curiously tortuous courses,
until they joined the main stream of the Niger, a short dis-
tance above the town of Iddah.*
"Dr. Mac William calculates the population of Iddah at
about 7000 souls.
" The soil," he adds, " partakes of the nature of the rocks,
with a stratum of vegetable mould. The natives do not
seem to pay much attention to cultivation. Yams, dawa
corn, shea butter, ground nuts and cocoa-nuts were, how-
ever, exposed in the markets in considerable quantities.
The magnificent Baobab or monkeys' bread, abounds in
various parts of the town and neighbourhood.''!
A market was held in the town; but Mr. Crowther,
himself a negro, received an unpleasant impression of the
inhabitants of Iddah. " As they were rude in their appear-
ance, so were they in their manners, for they made it no
matter of consideration whatever to put their hands on any
part of our dress, which, considering how dirty they were,
was not at all agreeable. * * * I had met with a wild
people before ; this was one of that kind."|
The Attah of Eggarah appears to have been much
less intelligent and civilised than Obi. A similar
treaty, however, was concluded with him. During
* Dr. Mac William, p. 70. f Ibid. p. 13.
J Mr. Crowther's Journal, p. 291.
1841 ATTAH OF EGGARAH. 539
tin interview between him and the Commissioners,
" he now and then made a remark, and inquired about
things which, at first mentioning, did not appear clear
to him ; and every word he said, or remark he made,
fully proved that he understood what was said to
him."' The treaty was signed with all due formality,
in the presence, and with the full concurrence, of his
head-men, and the principal people of the town, f
" Up to this time (the conclusion of the treaty with the
Chief of Eggarah) the Expedition," says Dr. Mac William,
" had been fortunate beyond all expectation. The Delta had
been passed, and we were entering the valley of the Niger,
under circumstances seemingly the most auspicious. The
crews contemplated with delight the novel and diversified
scenery of the high land before them. With such prospects,
so favourable beyond all anticipation, it is not to be wondered
at if we indulged a rather sanguine hope that the continuance
of health would be granted to us, and that we should, under
Providence, thus be enabled to persevere in the great object
of our mission. But it was otherwise ordained. "J
On the 4th of September, fever of a most malignant
character broke out in the Albert, and almost simul-
taneously in the other vessels. The Expedition, not-
withstanding, proceeded towards the confluence of the
Niger and Tchadda, resting, however, on the Sunday,
as the frequent shoaling of the water subjected the
engineers and stokers to great exhaustion, and ren-
dered the husbanding of their strength imperatively
necessary."
" The country was remarkably well cultivated, and in ex-
Mr. Schon's Journal, p. 92.
| Despatch from the Commissioners, p. 37-
j Dr. Mac William, p. 7^
Captain Trotter's Report, P.P. p. 91.
540 MODEL FARM. CHAP. XXXI.
cellent order ; plantains, yams, Indian corn, and cotton being
the principal occupants of the soil. * The villagers have large
farms of Guinea corn, which grows beautifully ; it does credit
to their industry, f The town of Adda Kuddu was found to
be in a ruinous condition, having been destroyed by the
Fulatahs. The soil was a rich vegetable mould. Castor oil,
cotton, indigo, and other plants were abundant." J
Mr. Schon observed a mallam or priest wearing a
silk robe of native manufacture ; the weaving was
done remarkably well ; the silk could not weigh less
than seven or eight pounds.
An agreement had already been made with the
Attah for the cession of land at the confluence for a
model farm. A tract of land was chosen, near
Mount Patteh, where the soil, although not of the
best quality, " grew a considerable quantity of
cotton," || and " there seemed every probability that
coffee would grow on the hills." ^[
The natives of these parts were exposed to the
ravages of the slave trading Fulatahs ; but, as the
Commissioners observed
" The mere occupation of one or two stations by a few
British subjects would have the effect of establishing confi-
dence among the natives, who, once assured of the protecting
care of Great Britain, would be easily induced to build up
their former habitations, and thus furnish an useful population,
and have a beneficial effect on the surrounding tribes."*
These observations coincided exactly with Mr. Mac-
queen's opinion (formed from the reports of previous
travellers), who wrote with reference to a settlement
* Mr. Schon, p. 106. f Mr. Crowther, p. 295.
J Dr. Mac William, p. 77. Mr. Schon, p. 11 6.
|| Commissioners' Despatch, P.P. p. 41.
IT Mr. Schon's Journal, p. 118.
** Despatch from the Commissioners, P. P. p. 41.
1841. CONDUCT OF THE NATIVES. 541
at the confluence, that "a city built at that point,
under the protecting wings of Great Britain, would,
ere long, become the capital of Africa. Fifty millions
of people, yea, even a greater number, would be de-
pendent on it." *
Mr. Cook informs us that
" As soon as the land had been selected for the model farm,
the people in the vicinity brought abundance of provisions to
the new settlement for sale, and those who had nothing to
dispose of came and hired themselves as labourers : nothing
could exceed the good feeling shown by the natives on every
occasion.f Cotton cloths of good manufacture, spun cotton,
calabashes beautifully carved and ornamented, tobacco, cam-
wood balls, shea butter, dried buffalo flesh, and dried fish,
were brought on board in great quantities. * * * As
with most Africans, traffic seemed to be the predominant
passion with the people, with the usual good share of dex-
terity in turning a bargain to their own account.''^
" So far," says Mr. Commissioner Cook, " the object
of the Expedition had been attained, and everything
promised a favourable termination to the mission."
But now the sickness on board increased with such
appalling rapidity, that Captain Trotter deemed it
advisable to send the sick back to the sea in the Sou-
dan, in charge of Lieutenant Fishbourne, who dis-
played equal zeal and ability in rapidly bringing the
vessel through the difficult navigation of the river,
notwithstanding the disabled state of the crew. At
tin mouth of the Nun, the Dolphin, Commander
],irtl( hales, fortunately encountered the Soudan, and
* Quoted in the " Slave Trade, and Remedy," p. 356.
t Mr. Cook's Report. P. P. p. 159.
| Dr. Mac William, p. 83.
542 SORROWFUL TIDINGS FROM CHAP. XXXI.
immediately relieved her of the sick, conveying them
to Ascension.
The intelligence that the Soudan had returned to
Fernando Po, and that nine men had died of the
fever, reached England in the beginning of December.
It may well be conceived how this news was felt by
the friends of the cause in England. Sir Fowell
Buxton writes to his son :
"Northrepps Hall, Dec. 4. 1841.
" I was very glad to receive your letter, reminding me
that, in such a storm, there is but one anchor ; but that one
all sufficient. The blow, however, is tremendous. There is
no comfort to be found under it, save in the assurance, that it
is the will and the work of our merciful God. Mysterious it
certainly is ; but could we survey the whole, there can be no
doubt we should perceive that all was done in true mercy
and never-failing love. Our text for the day has been
* Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be moved,
and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the
sea.' The sympathy of dear Catherine's letter was quite
charming it has been a great comfort both to my wife and
me. I think Sir Robert Inglis could not have done a better
thing than asking the Bishop to prepare a prayer for us.
How extremely gratified I shall be, if a day is appointed
for the purpose ! "
To the same.
"December 6. 1841.
"Even now I do not wish the whole effort undone. A
way, I firmly believe, is opened for the missionary into the
heart of Africa, and we have found, in some respects, greater
facilities than we expected. And is the price we have to
pay so intolerably heavy ? Is the loss of nine men enough
to damp all our zeal and quench all our courage ? Would it
have been enough if we had been at war with the French, or
the Americans, or even the Chinese to stop us ? Would the
public feeling have been quite satisfied if it were said, ' Why,
1841. THE EXPEDITION. 543
we have lost nine men; we must give over; it would be
madness to fight any longer ! * Oh ! but war with France is
quite a different case ; great national interests are concerned.
And are no interests concerned in the overthrow of the Slave
Trade, in the spread of gospel light over the darkness of
Africa, in the addition of a fourth quarter to the productions
and the requirements of the world? Not only the interests
of the nation, but those of human nature are concerned in
this expedition ; and it is not a trifle that shall put us to
flight. Perhaps these very calamities have been sent in
order to try us, and to ascertain whether we have faith
enough, sufficient reliance on the promises of God to hear
our prayers and to be near us in our trials. It may be, that
after all, a better day is now dawning for Africa, and I am
disposed to Mieve, that this is the tact, and that, if we do
our part manfully, we shall not be defeated, even in this very
expedition."
The next tidings which reached England did not
confirm this hope. The sickness still continuing,
Captain Trotter was compelled, on the 21st of Sep-
tember, to direct the Wilberforce to follow the
Soudan to the sea, whilst he and Captain Bird Allen
pushed forward in the Albert, in hopes of reaching
Rabba, a very large town, the capital of the Fu-
latahs. After leaving the confluence, the banks of
the river were found to be better peopled, and u a
great many villages " were observed :
" In the market-place of Gori, we saw not less than from
1500 to 2000 people. The articles exposed for sale were
lairs of salt from Rabba, tobes of various colours, country
cloths, camwood in balls, iron-work, as hoes and shovels,
Indian corn, ground nuts, twine, silk, seeds of various kinds,
shea butter, straw hats with enormous brims, platters of
wood, and calabashes beautifully carved."*
Dr. M. ic William, p. 8?.
SLAVES LIBERATED. CHAP. XXXI.
Mr. Schon also mentions " several large bags of cotton in
its raw state." He asserts, that the price of cotton there
could not be less than in England ; but, he adds, " it is true
that they might grow ten thousand times the quantity they
are now growing."*
" The trade of dyeing blue is carried on here. * * * *
The blacksmith was busy at his anvil, and the grinders of
the Guinea corn at the stones." f
The district of Gori is dependent on the Attah
of Eggarah, and, accordingly, the treaty formed with
him was acknowledged as binding by the inhabi-
tants. Captain Trotter having found there some
slaves in a canoe, liberated them after a formal trial.
The owners pleaded ignorance of the new law, and
were therefore suffered to retain the canoe. The
poor slaves fell on their knees to Captain Trotter
in token of gratitude for their liberation. Both
the owner of the slaves, and the son of the Attah,
who attended the trial as his father's representative,
at once acquiesced in the justice of Captain Trotter's
decision. J
When some weeks afterwards the Albert descended
the river, the commissioners found that at Budda, the
furthest point of the Attah' s territory, he had faith-
fully proclaimed the law against Slave Trade :
" The inhabitants," says Mr. Schon, " candidly admitted
that Budda had ever been a great slave-market, but said
that from the time they heard that the Attah abolished the
Slave Trade, they relinquished it altogether. They were
* Mr. Schon's Journal, p. 14.'}.
f Mr. Crowther's Journal, p. 305.
J Captain Trotter's Report, P. P. p. 96.
1841. TOWN OF EGG A. 545
glatl to hear that an English settlement had been commenced
at the confluence, and said that they would go and see how
white people built houses and made farms ; and they would
settle near them to be protected from the Fulatahs. The
same desire was expressed at Kinami, a few miles further ;
the first village in the Nufi country, which is tributary to
the powerful and warlike Fulatah nation, who keep the
Nufi's in continual terror. The inhabitants of Kinami, are
estimated at 1000 by Captain Trotter. They occupy
themselves in weaving, and carry on some trade with Egga,
in country cloths, ivory and bees' wax."
The Albert reached Egga, the largest Nufi town,
on the 28th of September.
Some alarm was found to have been excited there,
by the news of the seizure of the slaves at Gori.
" But when the nature of the treaty under which the
seizure had taken place was explained to the Go-
vernor, he was quite satisfied, and expressed himself
desirous that the Slave Trade should also be abolished
in the Nufi country." * He, however, declined en-
tering into any treaty without the permission of his
superior, the king of Rabba; stating, that he did
not think the Fulatahs would be willing to relinquish
tin- Slave Trade. Mr. Schon spoke very earnestly
upon the subject, to a slave dealer in the market.
The man replied, "that all he said was very true,
and that if the king of Rabba would make a law
against it, he should be as glad of it as any person,
and that the people in general would willingly give
it up." " To gain over the Fulatahs," adds Mr.
Seli.",n, " is certainly a most desirable thing, as then
Captain Trotter's Report, P. P. p. 97.
N N
546 NUFI NATION. CHAP. XXXI.
the axe would be laid to the root of the Slave Trade
in this part of Africa." *
" Egga is the largest town we have yet seen on the banks
of the river ; the population may safely be stated at seven or
eight thousand. f The people were in general tall and well
made ; the form of the head, the countenance, and the lighter
shade of the colour of the skin, indicated an intermixture of
the Caucasian with the Negro race.J
" At Egga the manufacturing of country cloths deserves
the first notice ; with nothing of African industry I ever
saw, was I more pleased. There are no less than about 200
looms employed in various parts of the town, sometimes as
many as ten in one place. The looms are very simple ; and
the cloth made is uncommonly neat, never being wider than
three inches. Some is quite white; some striped white,
blue, and red. The dye is likewise made by themselves.
The blue colour is made with indigo, of which they possess
a large quantity; dye pits are seen everywhere. The red
colour is obtained from cam-wood. * The people desired
me,' says Mr. Crowther, ' to tell them what kind of country
cloth I should like, that they might get it ready against
our coming this way again.' ||
" The cotton is purchased from the left bank of the river
where it is said to grow in great abundance. They commence
planting it after the first fall of rain, and five months after-
wards it is fit for use." IF
At Egga, Captain Trotter had reached a point 320
miles from the sea. He had accomplished his object
with respect to two of the three kingdoms to which
he had been sent ; but he was now compelled to relin-
quish his hope of completing his work by reaching
the town of Rabba. " A very little mediation on our
parts," he observes, " might probably have had the
* Mr. Schon, p. 178. f Ibid. p. 180.
$ Dr. Mac William, p. Q2. Mr. Schon, p. 174.
|| Mr. Schon, p. 331. IT Ibid. p. 15?.
1841. INCREASED ILLNESS. 547
effect of making the Nufi nation more independent,
mid less oppressed, and have tended materially to
the diminution of the Slave Trade." * But the sick-
ness on board had become so very alarming, that it
was found absolutely necessary, on the 4th of Oc-
tober, to steam down the river with all speed. Cap-
tain Bird Allen, who had been most anxious to
persevere, and in fact almost all the officers and
men on board, except the negroes, were seized with
the deadly fever. Captain Trotter himself was at
length disabled by it : and at this critical period the
engineers became too ill to perform their duty ! Dr.
Stanger (the geologist) however, having learned how
to manage the engines, from a scientific treatise on
board, undertook to work them himself: and Dr.
Mac William, in addition to his laborious duties in
attending the sick, conducted the ship down the
river, with the assistance of only one white sailor,
"in the most able and judicious manner."
" One of the officers," writes Mr. Schon on the 8th of
October, " is apparently dying, many are still suffering ; and
others, though free from fever, are in such a state of debility,
that they will not be able to do duty for a considerable time.
* * * Nothing that I have hitherto seen or felt can be
compared with our present condition." " Yet," he afterwards
add.-, " there was not one of those whom I attended in their
sickness and at their death, but who knew perfectly well that
the climate of Africa was dangerous in the extreme, and had
finintnl the cost before engaging in the hazardous under-
taking. And, to their honour be it mentioned, no expression
of disappointment or regret did I ever hear; on the contrary,
tin -y appeared in general to derive no small consolation from
* Despatch to Lord J. Russell, P. P. p. 44.
i K 2
548 RETURN TO THE SEA. CHAP. XXXI.
the conscious purity of their motives, and the goodness of
the cause in which they had voluntarily embarked." *
" When the Albert approached the model farm," says Dr.
Mac William, " the quantity of cleared land and the advance
made in the building of the superintendent's house, induced
us to hope that he and the two Europeans had been merci-
fully protected from disease ; but in these hopes we were
doomed to disappointment, "f
Mr. Carr, Mr. Kingdon, and Mr. Ansell, were all
ill, and had to be taken on board. But the negroes,
none of whom had suffered from the fever, were left
at the settlement, under the care of Mr. Moore an
American negro. The natives had shown a great
readiness to engage as labourers at the model farm.
" They had been on all occasions most friendly to
the settlers, and abundance of provisions and labour
had been easily procured at a moderate price." J
Dr. Mac William informs us that when the Albert
reached Aboh
" Obi and his people brought abundance of wood, besides
goats, fowls, yams, and plantains. His prompt assistance to
us on this occasion was of the highest importance. He is
decidedly a fine character, and assuredly did not discredit the
high opinion we had already formed of him. He was melted
into pity when he saw the captains sick in the cabin."
While the Albert was still a hundred miles from
the sea, its disabled crew were surprised and delighted
by seeing a steamer coming up the stream towards
them. It proved to be the Ethiope, commanded by
Captain Becroft, who had been directed by Mr.
Jamieson to afford every assistance to the Expedi-
tion. This timely assistance was of the greatest
* Despatch to Lord J. Russell, P.P. p. 243.
f Dr. Mac William, p. 99. J Ibid. p. 100.
1841. REACHES FERNANDO TO. 549
importance. Captain Becroft and his engineer took
charge of the Albert, and brought her in safety to
J '( rnando Po. It was hoped that Captain Bird Allen
and his gallant fellow sufferers would rapidly revive
under the influence of its purer air ; but many were
already too much sunk to receive benefit, and the
mortality was most painful. Of the 301 persons
who composed the Expedition when it commenced
the ascent of the Niger, forty-one perished from the
African fever. It may be worth while to observe,
that of the 108 Africans on board, not one died from
the effects of the disease. Captain Bird Allen fell a
victim to it at Fernando Po, on the 21st of October.
Thus failed the NIGER EXPEDITION. From the
facts stated by all the different gentlemen who were
on board, and who have written accounts of what
they saw, and also from the direct assertions of the
four commissioners, it would appear that nothing but
the climate prevented the Expedition from fulfilling
the sanguine hopes of its promoters.
On its own part it possessed, in vain, as is re-
marked by a contemporary writer, " all that modern
science and human skill ; all that undaunted courage
and determined enterprize could contribute to success.
To its officers and men, dead as well as living, the
highest credit appears to be due; they conquered
every thing but impossibilities ; nature they could
not conquer, and they only ceased to persevere when
the survivors had almost ceased to live."
On the other hand, the natives proved to be far
more inclined to trade, and far K >< barbarous and
disorganised, than could have been supposed possible,
H If 3
550 CONDUCT OF THE NATIVES. CHAP. XXXI.
in so secluded a part of Africa. They eagerly sought
the protection of the British from their slave trading
oppressors, the Fulatahs, and that protection it would
have been perfectly easy to give. The country
although less fertile than had been anticipated, was
found to produce cotton, sugar cane, coffee, indigo,
ginger, arrowroot, dyewoods, forest timber, palm oil,
and many other important articles of commerce.
Ivory also was frequently seen.
The chiefs were quite ready to enter into treaties ;
and Captain W. Allen emphatically declares :
" I have no doubt that if the climate had not opposed a
barrier to frequent intercourse, those treaties would have
been mainly instrumental in putting an effectual stop to the
traffic in slaves, in the waters subject to those chiefs. The
principles of humanity, so new to them, which we expounded,
were received with great satisfaction ; and all classes earnestly
desired the presence of British influence as the surest means
of ameliorating their condition, and of procuring a cessation
of the wars which now desolate the country. Very small
means, such as the occasional passage up and down the river
of Her Majesty's steamers, would have been sufficient for this
purpose.
" The arts of life, in a high state of perfection, are neither
practised nor required, but commerce is widely extended.
Every town has a market on the fourth day, and there are
large marts at which neighbouring nations meet to inter-
change their commodities and produce, about once every
fortnight. * * * The voice of vituperation has loudly
charged the Expedition with total failure. This I may
boldly say, is not true ; for although the lamentable loss of
life which it suffered, had the effect of preventing the accom-
plishment of all the objects for which it was equipped, its
success, until our exertions were paralyzed by sickness, was
complete; since we were able to make satisfactory treaties
with two of the three most powerful chiefs that are known.
1841. OPINION OF THE COMMISSIONER. 551
* * It la much to be deplored that the single obstacle
of the climate should have thwarted all the great efforts
wh u-h have been made for the benefit of Africa."*
It was the climate also, and the climate alone, that
prevented the Expedition from being the herald of
Christianity to West Africa. The disposition of the
natives was found to be eminently favourable to the
settlement of missionaries among them.
" Their conduct,* says Captain Trotter, " not only at the
model farm, but on all other occasions that came under my
notice, is a subject to which I feel much pleasure in ad-
verting ; as during the entire period in which the vessels
under my command were in the Niger, not only the native
chiefs of the country, but the people in general, evinced the
most friendly disposition towards us, and this not only during
our prosperity, whilst going up the river, but also in our
forlorn condition when corning down. ... I may remark,
th;it the desire evinced by the natives in the neighbourhood
of the model farm to be taught the Christian religion, gives
me reason to believe that when the day happily arrives of
missionaries reaching that part of Africa, they will be gladly
welcomed by the inhabitants. "f
In a despatch addressed to Lord J. Russell from
Iddah, the four commissioners expressly state their
belief that " Christian missionaries and teachers may
be safely J and advantageously introduced into this
part of Africa; a measure which, by the blessing of
Almiirhty God, would tend effectually, in our opinion,
to enlighten this unhappy country, and to put an end
for ever to the abominable Slave Trade."
Captain W. Allen's Report, P.P. pp. 135. 138.
f Ibid. p. 105.
J At that time there had not ln-rn any appearance offerer on board.
Coiumissiuiirr's Dop.itcli. P.P. p. 38.
.1 N 4
552 CHAP. XXXH.
CHAPTER XXXII.
1842, 1843.
DECLINING HEALTH. EFFORTS AND VIEWS REGARDING AFRICA.
THE MODEL FARM BROKEN UP. LETTER FROM THE BISHOP
OF CALCUTTA. COUNTRY PURSUITS. PLANTING. CHARAC-
TERISTIC ANECDOTES,
IT may well be conceived with what anguish Sir
Fowell Buxton received the melancholy tidings of
the Niger Expedition. Deeply did he sympathise
with the sufferings of the brave men who had at-
tempted to carry out his plans; nor was he less
dejected at feeling that the door was closed,, for the
present at least, through which he had hoped that
so many blessings might have been poured upon
Africa. His health, which had been undermined
before, became gradually more feeble, and he could
no longer bear any sustained mental exertion, es-
pecially if attended by any sense of responsibility.
To a man, the law of whose nature it was, to be at
work, with head, hand, and heart, it was no slight
trial to be thus prematurely laid aside. He was only
fifty-five years of age, but already the evening was
come of his day of ceaseless toil, nor was its close
brightened by the beams of success and joy. The
idea of what he so forcibly termed " the incom-
parable horrors" of the Slave Trade, had fastened
itself on his mind with the most vivid reality ; the
burning and plundered villages of Africa, the ships
184-2. DECLINING HEALTH. 553
traversing the Atlantic with their cargoes of torture,
these pictures were ever before him. When un-
conscious that he was observed, he would at time 
