In the onward course of events the violence of the West Indians assumed different phases, and one of the most memorable of these had respect to the religious teachers of the slaves.  They had been sent out by various bodies of Christians in England, commencing nearly a hundred years before these anti-slavery efforts.  The object of the missionary was a definite one, to christianize the negroes.  He knew well, before engaging in his work, that those who might come under his instruction were slaves, and because they were slaves the call was all the louder upon his compassion.  Yet his path of duty lay wide enough from any attempt to render the objects of his Christian efforts other than they were in their civil relations.  Such were the instructions which the missionaries were accustomed to receive, on leaving England for a residence among the Colonists.  Nor was there ever, from the beginning to the ending of this stirring chapter in the history of Slavery, reason to believe that these instructions had been disobeyed.  Their labors had in some instances been encouraged by the planters, and their influence acknowledged to be a valuable aid in the management of the negroes.  But in these days of excitement and insubordination the missionaries were accused of encouraging disobedience in the slaves.  When outbreaks occurred, the guilt was laid to the charge of the Christian teachers.  Upon a mere suspicion, without a shadow of evidence, they were seized and thrown into prison.  One of the most melancholy instances of this was that of the Rev. J. Smith, who was sentenced to be hanged, but died in prison, through hardships endured, before the day of execution arrived.  He was only one of several who suffered at the hands of the West Indians the grossest injustice.  The case of Mr. Shrewsbury was at one time brought before the House.  Mr. Canning made reference to him as “a gentleman in whose conduct there did not appear to be the slightest ground of blame or suspicion.”  He was a Wesleyan missionary at Barbadoes, and, having fallen under suspicion, was also condemned to die.  Among other charges, he was accused of having corresponded with Mr. Buxton.  Said the latter, in an address to the House,—­“I never wrote to him a single letter, nor did I know that such a man existed, till I happened to take up a newspaper, and there read, with some astonishment, that he was going to be hanged for corresponding with me!”

If Englishmen and Christian ministers were condemned to death on such allegations, adduced at mock trials, it is not strange that negroes sometimes lost their lives on similar grounds.  After a rising among these people, several having been executed, the evidence of the guilt of a certain portion was reviewed in the House of Commons.  The witness was asked whether he had found guns among the insurgents.  He replied, “No; but he was shown a place where guns had been”!  Had he found bayonets?  “No; but he was shown a basket where bayonets had been”!  Unfortunately, the victims of this species of evidence were already hung when the review of the trial took place.