On a certain occasion we were in the company of four planters, and among other topics this subject was much spoken of.  They all accorded perfectly in the sentiment that the negroes were peculiarly sensible to the influence of local attachments.  One of the gentlemen observed that it was a very common saying with them—­“Me nebber leave my bornin’ ground,”—­i.e., birth-place.

An aged gentleman in St. John’s, who was formerly a planter, remarked, “The negroes have very strong local attachments.  They love their little hut, where the calabash tree, planted at the birth of a son, waves over the bones of their parents.  They will endure almost any hardship and suffer repeated wrongs before they will desert that spot.”

Such are the sentiments of West India planters; expressed, in the majority of cases, spontaneously, and mostly in illustration of other statements.  We did not hear a word that implied an opposite sentiment.  It is true, much was said about the emigration to Demerara, but the facts in this case only serve to confirm the testimony already quoted.  In the first place, nothing but the inducement of very high wages[A] could influence any to go, and in the next place, after they got there they sighed to return, (but were not permitted,) and sent back word to their relatives and friends not to leave Antigua.

[Footnote A:  From fifty cents to a dollar per day.]

Facts clearly prove, that the negroes, instead of being indifferent to local attachments, are peculiarly alive to them.  That nothing short of cruelty can drive them from their homes—­that they will endure even that, as long as it can be borne, rather than leave; and that as soon as the instrument of cruelty is removed, they will hasten back to their “bornin’ ground.”

THIRTEENTH PROPOSITION.—­“The gift of unrestricted freedom, though so suddenly bestowed, has not made the negroes more insolent than they were while slaves, but has rendered them less so.”—­Dr. Daniell.

Said James Howell, Esq.—­“A short time after emancipation, the negroes showed some disposition to assume airs and affect a degree of independence; but this soon disappeared, and they are now respectful and civil.  There has been a mutual improvement in this particular.  The planters treat the laborers more like fellow men, and this leads the latter to be respectful in their turn.”

R.B.  Eldridge, Esq., asked us if we had not observed the civility of the lower classes as we passed them on the streets, both in town and in the country.  He said it was their uniform custom to bow or touch their hat when they passed a white person.  They did so during slavery, and he had not discovered any change in this respect since emancipation.

Said Mr. Bourne—­“The negroes are decidedly less insolent now than they were during slavery.”

Said Mr. Watkins, of Donovan’s—­“The negroes are now all cap in hand; as they know that it is for their interest to be respectful to their employers.”