Maclean, in which he spoke in the
kindest terms of the negroes under his charge; described their state of
happiness, content and healthiness--their good conduct and the
infrequency of severe punishment--and recommended certain additional
comforts, which he said the slaves well deserved.
On the 3d of June, on the resumption of the debate on the abolition of
slavery, Mr. Gladstone again addressed the House. He now entered more
fully into the charges which Lord Howick had brought against the
management of his father's estates in Demarara, and showed their
groundlessness. When he had discussed the existing aspect of slavery in
Trinidad, Jamaica and other places, he proceeded to deal with the
general question. He confessed with shame and pain that cases of wanton
cruelty had occurred in the colonies, but added that they would always
exist, particularly under the system of slavery; and this was
unquestionably a substantial reason why the British Legislature and
public should set themselves in good earnest to provide for its
extinction; but he maintained that these instances of cruelty could
easily be explained by the West Indians, who represented them as rare
and isolated cases, and who maintained that the ordinary relation of
master and slave was one of kindliness and not of hostility.
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