The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave
absence, was entrusted with the keys, &c.; and was always
considered by the neighbours and visitors as their
confidential household servant, and as a person in whose
integrity they placed unlimited confidence,--although when
Mrs. Wood was at home, she was no doubt kept pretty closely
at washing and other hard work. A decided proof of the
estimation in which she was held by her owners exists in the
fact that Mr. Wood uniformly refused to part with her,
whereas he sold five other slaves while she was with them.
Indeed, she always appeared to me to be a slave of superior
intelligence and respectability; and I always understood
such to be her general character in the place.
"As to what Mr. Wood alleges about her being frequently
before the police, &c. I can only say I never heard of the
circumstance before; and as I lived for twenty years in the
same small town, and in the vicinity of their residence, I
think I could scarcely have failed to become acquainted with
it, had such been the fact. She might, however, have been
occasionally before the magistrate in consequence of little
disputes among the slaves, without any serious imputation on
her general respectability. She says she was twice summoned
to appear as a witness on such occasions; and that she was
once sent by her mistress to be confined in the Cage, and
was afterwards flogged by her desire. This cruel practice is
very common in Antigua; and, in my opinion, is but little
creditable to the slave owners and magistrates by whom such
arbitrary punishments are inflicted, frequently for very
trifling faults. Mr. James Scotland is the only magistrate
in the colony who invariably refuses to sanction this
reprehensible practice.
"Of the immoral conduct ascribed to Molly by Mr. Wood, I can
say nothing further than this--that I have heard she had at
a former period (previous to her marriage) a connexion with
a white person, a Capt. ----, which I have no doubt was
broken off when she became seriously impressed with
religion. But, at any rate, such connexions are so common, I
might almost say universal, in our slave colonies, that
except by the missionaries and a few serious persons, they
are considered, if faults at all, so very venial as scarcely
to deserve the name of immorality. Mr. Wood knows this
colonial estimate of such connexions as well as I do; and,
however false such an estimate must be allowed to be,
especially When applied to their own conduct by persons of
education, pretending to adhere to the pure Christian rule
of morals,--yet when he ascribes to a negro slave, to whom
legal marriage was denied, such great criminality for laxity
of this sort, and professes to be so exceedingly shocked and
amazed at the tale he himself relates, he must, I am
confident, have had a farther object in view than the
information of Mr. Taylor or Sir Patrick Ross. He must, it
is evident, have been aware that his letter would be sent to
Mr. Allen, and accordingly adapted it, as more important
documents from the colonies are often adapted, _for effect
in England_. The tale of the slave Molly's immoralities, be
assured, was not intended for Antigua so much as for Stoke
Newington, and Peckham, and Aldermanbury.
"In regard to Mary's narrative generally, although I cannot
speak to the accuracy of the details, except in a few recent
particulars, I can with safety declare that I see no reason
to question the truth of a single fact stated by her, or
even to suspect her in any instance of intentional
exaggeration. It bears in my judgment the genuine stamp of
truth and nature. Such is my unhesitating opinion, after a
residence of twenty-seven years in the West Indies.
"I remain, &c.
"JOSEPH PHILLIPS."
_To T. Pringle, Esq._
"P.S. As Mr. Wood refers to the evidence of Dr. T. Coull in
opposition to Mary's assertions, it may be proper to enable
you justly to estimate the worth of that person's evidence
in cases connected with the condition and treatment of
slaves. You are aware that in 1829, Mr. M'Queen of Glasgow,
in noticing a Report of the "Ladies' Society of Birmingham
for the relief of British Negro Slaves," asserted with his
characteristic audacity, that the statement which it
contained respecting distressed and deserted slaves in
Antigua was "an abominable falsehood." Not contented with
this, and with insinuating that I, as agent of the society
in the distribution of their charity in Antigua, had
fraudulently duped them out of their money by a fabricated
tale of distress, Mr. M'Queen proceeded to libel me in the
most opprobrious terms, as "a man of the most worthless and
abandoned character."[20] Now I know from good authority that
it was _upon Dr. Coull's information_ that Mr. M'Queen
founded this impudent contradiction of notorious facts, and
this audacious libel of my personal character. From this
single circumstance you may judge of the value of his
evidence in the case of Mary Prince. I can furnish further
information respecting Dr. Coull's colonial proceedings,
both private and judicial, should circumstances require it."
"J. P."
[Footnote 20: In elucidation of the circumstances above
referred to, I subjoin the following extracts from the Report
of the Birmingham Ladies' Society for 1830:--
"As a portion of the funds of this association has been
appropriated to assist the benevolent efforts of a society
which has for fifteen years afforded relief to distressed
and deserted slaves in Antigua, it may not be uninteresting
to our friends to learn the manner in which the agent of
this society has been treated for simply obeying the command
of our Saviour, by ministering, like the good Samaritan, to
the distresses of the helpless and the desolate. The
society's proceedings being adverted to by a friend of
Africa, at one of the public meetings held in this country,
a West Indian planter, who was present, wrote over to his
friends in Antigua, and represented the conduct of the
distributors of this charity in such a light, that it was
deemed worthy of the cognizance of the House of Assembly.
Mr. Joseph Phillips, a resident of the island, who had most
kindly and disinterestedly exerted himself in the
distribution of the money from England among the poor
deserted slaves, was brought before the Assembly, and most
severely interrogated: on his refusing to deliver up his
private correspondence with his friends in England, he was
thrown into a loathsome jail, where he was kept for nearly
five months; while his loss of business, and the oppressive
proceedings instituted against him, were involving him in
poverty and ruin. On his discharge by the House of Assembly,
he was seized in their lobby for debt, and again
imprisoned."
"In our report for the year 1826, we quoted a passage from
the 13th Report of the Society for the relief of deserted
Slaves in the island of Antigua, in reference to a case of
great distress. This statement fell into the hands of Mr.
M'Queen, the Editor of the Glasgow Courier. Of the
consequences resulting from this circumstance we only gained
information through the Leicester Chronicle, which had
copied an article from the Weekly Register of Antigua, dated
St. John's, September 22, 1829. We find from this that Mr.
M'Queen affirms, that 'with the exception of the fact that
the society is, as it deserves to be, duped out of its
money, the whole tale' (of the distress above referred to)
'is an abominable falsehood.' This statement, which we are
informed has appeared in many of the public papers, is
COMPLETELY REFUTED in our Appendix, No. 4, to which
we refer our readers. Mr. M'Queen's statements, we regret to
say, would lead many to believe that there are no deserted
Negroes to assist; and that the case mentioned was a perfect
fabrication. He also distinctly avers, that the
disinterested and humane agent of the society, Mr. Joseph
Phillips, is 'a man of the most worthless and abandoned
character.' In opposition to this statement, we learn the
good character of Mr. Phillips from those who have long been
acquainted with his laudable exertions in the cause of
humanity, and from the Editor of the Weekly Register of
Antigua, who speaks, on his own knowledge, of more than
twenty years back; confidently appealing at the same time to
the inhabitants of the colony in which he resides for the
truth of his averments, and producing a testimonial to Mr.
Phillips's good character signed by two members of the
Antigua House of Assembly, and by Mr. Wyke, the collector of
his Majesty's customs, and by Antigua merchants, as
follows--'that they have been acquainted with him the last
four years and upwards, and he has always conducted himself
in an upright becoming manner--his character we know to be
unimpeached, and his morals unexceptionable.'
(Signed) "Thomas Saunderson John D. Taylor
John A. Wood George Wyke
Samuel L. Darrel Giles S. Musson
Robert Grant."
"St. John's, Antigua, June 28, 1825."
In addition to the above testimonies, Mr. Phillips has brought over to
England with him others of a more recent date, from some of the most
respectable persons in Antigua--sufficient to cover with confusion all his
unprincipled calumniators. See also his account of his own case in the
Anti-Slavery Reporter, No. 74, p. 69.]
I leave the preceding letter to be candidly weighed by the reader in
opposition to the inculpatory allegations of Mr. Wood--merely remarking
that Mr. Wood will find it somewhat difficult to impugn the evidence of
Mr. Phillips, whose "upright," "unimpeached," and "unexceptionable"
character, he has himself vouched for in unqualified terms, by affixing
his signature to the testimonial published in the Weekly Register of
Antigua in 1825. (See Note below.)
The next testimony in Mary's behalf is that of Mrs. Forsyth, a lady in
whose service she spent the summer of 1829.--(See page 21.) This lady, on
leaving London to join her husband, voluntarily presented Mary with a
certificate, which, though it relates only to a recent and short period of
her history, is a strong corroboration of the habitual respectability of
her character. It is in the following terms:--
"Mrs. Forsyth states, that the bearer of this paper (Mary
James,) has been with her for the last six months; that she
has found her an excellent character, being honest,
industrious, and sober; and that she parts with her on no
other account than this--that being obliged to travel with
her husband, who has lately come from abroad in bad health,
she has no farther need of a servant. Any person Wishing to
engage her, can have her character in full from Miss Robson,
4, Keppel Street, Russel Square, whom Mrs. Forsyth has
requested to furnish particulars to any one desiring them.
"4, Keppel Street, 28th Sept. 1829."
In the last place, I add my own testimony in behalf of this negro woman.