being accounted scandalous, that it is looked upon by every person as a matter of course; and if a newly-arrived young man happens to have brought a few moral or religious ideas with him from Great Britain, he is soon deprived of them by taunt and ridicule, and is in a short time unblushingly amalgamated into the common mass of hardened and barefaced licentiousness. This does not depreciate the privileged white men even in the eyes of most Creole white ladies, for they often pay visits to the mistress of a relative, and fondle and caress the little ones; nay, I have known some married ladies pay visits to the kept mistresses of rich men, who were not relatives, though they would not look upon a more respectable woman of the same colour, who might be married to a brown man. They generally treat overseers and book-keepers with much contempt, though when any one is fortunate enough to become an attorney or proprietor, or to thrive in the world in any other way, the family of brown children is no obstacle, for the white ladies' smiles are sure to be won. The Latin proverb, "Omnia vincit amor," does not hold good with the fair ones of Jamaica, unless it be the love of money, for certainly, as a Greek poet says, “ Μονον αργυρον βλεπουσιν,” they look at the money only, and when that comes, no matter how the hero got it, he is admitted to

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dinner parties, and at balls and assemblies; and, by and by, Esquire Barber, or any other ignorant Esquire, becomes, through the weight of the same precious metal, Custos Rotulorum, or member of assembly, and his honourable lady, now advanced to the first colonial circles, is no more moved at what becomes of the poor mistress and the coloured brats, (as they are contemptuously called,) than if they were so many dumb animals. *

What a horrible picture is this! In Jamaica alone, there are seven or eight thousand white men, nearly the whole of whom live in this wicked state, in defiance of the commands of God, and in spite of the examples and precepts inculcated upon their minds in the mother country.

For the proprietors, merchants, and wealthy tradesmen, there is little or no excuse to be made, as they could provide for a wife and family; but for the overseers (the book-keepers are too poor and dependent, and therefore are out of the question) there is much to be said, as, if they were inclined to marry, they dare not do it; for in nineteen cases out of twenty, a loss of their situation would immediately follow; so great, so universal an objection is there with the great attornies and the few resident pro*Note 15. See Appendix.

prietors, to the marriage of overseers, or to employing them when married.* I do not say that there is a general wish among the overseers themselves to enter the married state, for, unfortunately, though most of them arrived in the colonies without a shilling in their pockets, nay more, numbers have been imported (particularly from Scotland) in a demi-kind of Slavery, their passage out being paid by instalments by the managers who hire them, in two or three years after their arrival; yet such is their infatuation and pride, that they look forward, most of them, to making fortunes and to becoming great men, and would not marry if they could, to live decently and religiously. There are, however, many respectable men amongst them, who, I believe, would gladly get married, if they were permitted, and especially if they had a more certain tenure in their situations; for now an owner or attorney may dismiss them at a day's notice, and they frequently are dismissed for no fault at all, particularly if a gentleman in this country finds it advantageous to change his attorney, the overseers from his estates are then often dismissed, without ceremony, by the successor, to the great injury and loss, perhaps, of the proprietor. I might here remark, that two or three large attornies from the north country, *Note 16. See Appendix.

are very much in the habit of doing this, (more especially if there be any from the south among them,) to make way for their own countrymen. This should not be, as most of the estates belong to English noblemen or gentlemen.

The only reasons, and they very lame ones, which I have heard assigned for this extraordinary objection to marriage amongst overseers, are, that they would be so comfortable at home, they would not pay sufficient attention to the management of the estates, and that the maintenance of a wife and white family would bring a greater expense to the owner. This, however, is quite erroneous, as may be easily proved, for an overseer is not required to be in the field all the day long, and I am quite certain that the generality of them spend several hours of the day, in and about the house, which is as much as affectionate, but reasonable women would require; and if they were not very good husbands, some part of that time, I dare say, would be gladly dispensed with. But as to the other objection, that a wife would bring greater expense to the estate, I imagine it is equally fallacious with the former, and will vanish at the touch of reason and truth; for it is very well known that the poor woman of colour, feeling, and duly considering the precariousness of her situation, can have no interest, at least, in the

prosperity of the estate, or for its owner, but is anxious to lay up something for a rainy day, to provide for herself and unfortunate children; whereas the wife being upon a more secure footing, would economise and use all diligence for the advantage of the proprietor, in order that, with her husband, she might give general satisfaction, and that he might have a permanent situation: the husband's interest would be the wife's interest, and it undoubtedly would generally promote the interests of those who owned the estates.

If it would then promote the master's interests, how great an improvement would take place in another point of view; for the manager's residence, instead of being an abode of profligacy and infidelity, as it now too commonly is, would then be the habitation of virtue, of morality, and (it is to be hoped) of religion too; the poor degraded and shunned mistress, who is thrust into a back-room with her unfortunate offspring, and must not appear at the breakfast or dinner-table, would give place to the respectable, and acknowledged, and unobtrusive wife, who would adorn her husband's board, and at the same time that she gave birth and life to harmless and pleasant chat, and encouraged virtuous love and admiration by her smiles and agreeable demeanor, and the proud