SD745. Lord Howick to Samuel Moulton-Barrett (uncle)
Published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 2, 372 (in part).
Downing St
Octr 7th 1831
My Dear Sir.—
I have to return you my best thanks for your very interesting & satisfactory letter, if the West Indian proprietors generally wd only shew a similar disposition how infinitely better it wd be for all parties.– Unluckily I fear this will never be the case, they seem determined to oppose every measure of amelioratn introduced by the Govt, forgetting that by doing so they are only putting arms into the hands of the extreme Anti-Slavery party, & making it more difficult to prevent the adoption of some violent course.——
If they wd shew themselves to be ready to cooperate with the Govt in adopting all safe & practicable measures of amelioratn, with a view to the ultimate extinctn of slavery, I am quite sure the people of this country wd not endeavour to make them do anything really dangerous, & wd willingly if a sacrifice of property is to be made, bear their share of the burthen of an act of justice rendered necessary by a system to which they were parties, & for the consequences of which they are no less responsible than the planters themselves.
Our new order in Council which is to be recommended to the adoptn of the Colonies having legislatures is not yet passed but the draft is in the hands of the agents for their objections, the clause (to which you seem to think there are objections) for progressive manumissn is left out, & we now only ask the Assemblies to adopt compulsory manumissn as it has existed for the last 6 or 8 years in the Crown colonies, where it certainly seems if not productive of much good to have done no harm.——
Believe me My Dear Sir
Yrs most Sincerely
Howick
Address: S. M. Barrett Esqre / Cinnamon Hill / Little River Post Office / Jamaica.
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Eton College Library.
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