SD1019. Edward Moulton-Barrett (father) to Samuel Moulton-Barrett (brother)
Published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 4, 355 (in part).
London
July 15. 1839–
My dear Sam
You are or will be rather when this reaches you safely landed, through God’s mercy, in Jamaica, & I trust with dear Stormie nothing the worse for your voyage– Your reception among the People, & the influence it may effect upon them, I shall be anxious to know– Sad accounts I have from Mr Jump, & the intolerable interference of Mr Knibb will I fear prove the ruin of those Properties– Of course, having been told of the ill-conduct of G. P. of Wales you have neither given him my letter, or the Articles I sent by you, only to be his conditionally– He wrote to me by the last Packet, complaining of Jump having discharged him in consequence of seeing some refuse of Canes in his Pigstye, & which he asserted he had grown in his garden, but I suspected the fact was otherwise, & Jump’s letter by the Castle Lachlan received this morning gives a very different version of the Story– He must be got rid of for he will prove a nuisance to the Estates– I see Knibb means to rule it with a high hand, & how to counteract him, I scarcely know, for the People are too ignorant not to percieve that all this interference of his in secular matters is at issue with his Character as a Christian Missionary, & that his general conduct has no justification for it in the work of God– Suppose that I could find & procure a Minister, who would go out merely, & so in the spirit of the Gospel, to preach & teach the everlasting truths; for truely [sic] what the People now witness, must be injurious, not only to their neighbours, but to their best interests; this might in a measure counteract the mischief going on– Consult Jump & let me know your united opinion– Something must be done & that soon–
The new Governor goes by this Packet; He is everywhere well spoken of, & I have great hopes that he will be able to give us a good government, that is a firm & impartial one, but what can he do with these self-called Ministers of the Gospel?
I heard from Tinkler by the last Packet, by which I find that at Cinnamon Hill they were also going on ill– I think that he must be quite right with respect to the yams, for with the present high cultivation of the Negroe Ground, we should not be able to get a remunerating price for them in the Market–
So poor R. Barrett has gone, at a moment humanly speaking rather unfortunate for the settlement of the Suit, & what the effect is likely to be on it by his death I know not, but I expect difficulties will arise in consequence– I bore him no ill-will, & I am gratified to find by a persual of his Will, which George Barrett gave me to read, in the mentioning of me in it, there is an indication of returning good-feeling towards me– What do you hear of his affairs, has he died as many suspect very involved, or as others say his debts being paid, which will take two years to do, very affluent, so that Sam will get £6000 a year, & George £3000– You will hear much of his affairs from Sam, & anything that may be important for George to know, & which are not confidentially communicated, I should like to know for his information & guidance– He talks of going out, but when, he does not say– Pray do what y<ou can> for his Boys, he seems anxious for the sake of their health that they should remain up at the Penn in St Anns–
Should Mr Carey not have sailed, tell him I concluded that he was on his way home & hence my silence–
Write to Mr Jump also, & tell him that I shall not write until next Packet– Look sharp after Stormie, that he does not neglect his health, & that he does not fret at his Collar, like an unbroken Colt, & so take too much out of himself at first–
Our dear Ba is much the same as she has been four times out, which has fatigued her very much. I am happy to say that she has finished her poem for the Tableaux—which she says she is happy in the thought that no one will be able to read by Candle light, still less by sun light– She says it consists of 350 lines for the most part of fourteen syllables—& in Nuns & devils & orgies & marriages & deaths & little boys, she couldn’t get out of the mud without a great deal of splashing. She writes in great spirits, & I trust in the Lord that she is going on tolerably– But I hope Bro or Henrietta will have consideration enough to send you the latest intel[l]gence by writing from Torquay by this Packet– The Rest are as usual quite well–
I am glad to hear that matters are not so bad at the Retreat, but I hear of no profits from them except it be 4 [illegible word] of Coffee– We shall be all ruined this year, & how much the better shall we the next? In addition Sugars have fallen 3/– owing to the state of the money market– Logwood here £7.10 a Ton–
Tell dear Stormie how-dye from me & that I have some hopes that his presence may have an influence upon the mind of the Negroes, which he must exert, but not very actively– My best blessings attend you both–
Yrs very affectionately
E M Barrett.
Arabel writes to Stormie by this Packet—& her letter I dare say will contain all the domestic news, perhaps indeed I doubt not the far most interesting[–]
All the People must pay Rent, it is the only wise & fair mode of acting as between Master & Man & then if they go off, we still get something from them– How are the Hyde Hall <peo>ple acting & what Crop has it made–
Address, on integral page: S. M. Barrett Esqre / Cinnamon Hill / Little River / St James’s / Jamaica / Pr Pt
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Eton College Library.
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