are many from the neighboring estates.”  We listened, but all was still, save here and there a low whistle from some of the watchmen.  He said that night was a specimen of every night now.  But it had not always been so.  During slavery these villages were oftentimes a scene of bickering, revelry, and contention.  One might hear the inmates reveling and shouting till midnight.  Sometimes it would be kept up till morning.  Such scenes have much decreased, and instead of the obscene and heathen songs which they used to sing, they are learning hymns from the lips of their children.

The apprentices are more trusty.  They are more faithful in work which is given them to do.  They take more interest in the prosperity of the estate generally, in seeing that things are kept in order, and that the property is not destroyed.

They are more open-hearted.  Formerly they used to shrink before the eyes of the master, and appear afraid to meet him.  They would go out of their way to avoid him, and never were willing to talk with him.  They never liked to have him visit their houses; they looked on him as a spy, and always expected a reprimand, or perhaps a flogging.  Now they look up cheerfully when they meet him, and a visit to their homes is esteemed a favor.  Mr. C. has more confidence in his people than he ever had before.

There is less theft than during slavery.  This is caused by greater respect for character, and the protection afforded to property by law.  For a slave to steal from his master was never considered wrong, but rather a meritorious act.  He who could rob the most without being detected was the best fellow.  The blacks in several of the islands have a proverb, that for a thief to steal from a thief makes God laugh.

The blacks have a great respect for, and even fear of law.  Mr. C. believes no people on earth are more influenced by it.  They regard the same punishment, inflicted by a magistrate, much more than when inflicted by their master.  Law is a kind of deity to them, and they regard it with great reverence and awe.

There is no insecurity now.  Before emancipation there was a continual fear of insurrection.  Mr. C. said he had lain down in bed many a night fearing that his throat would be cut before morning.  He has started up often from a dream in which he thought his room was filled with armed slaves.  But when the abolition bill passed, his fears all passed away.  He felt assured there would be no trouble then.  The motive to insurrection was taken away.  As for the cutting of throats, or insult and violence in any way, he never suspects it.  He never thinks of fastening his door at night now.  As we were retiring to bed he looked round the room in which we had been sitting, where every thing spoke of serenity and confidence—­doors and windows open, and books and plate scattered about on the tables and sideboards.  “You see things now,” he said, “just as we leave them every night, but you would have seen quite a different scene had you come here a few years ago.”