83 CLARKSON'S MISSION TO AMERICA 1791-1792
Province than the generality of men. I have
had the satisfaction of demonstrating their misery to a number of the in- habitants
who have on every occasion spoken of their comfort and they have left my room
with the greatest astonishment, after being convinced that what I advanced was
just & founded on truth.
I have just seen a letter
from Annapolis, written by a Major Bouckly [Barclay]
wherein he
says that to his knowledge all the families who will embark from thence and
Digby, are men of decent property; he does not mention the number, but on the
last return 150 souls had given in their names.
Thinking as a Commercial
man I rejoice in having such valuable Settlers but I cannot help regretting
that I have not had it in my power to visit the above places as I am sure there
must by many poor creatures working upon the land of other men, without the
probability of ever having any of their own: these are the men which I am sure
Government intended should go, and the description of people I have so long
anticipated the pleasure I should receive in being partly instrumental in relieving.
Peters I expect every
hour, his wife & children were to sail from Digby about five days ago and
he talked of coming by land. I have heard nothing from Governor Canton,
but Hope to in the course of a few hours as an express was sent to him about
ten days since.
Since writing the above,
a strange revolution has taken place in the Province, nothing less than the
death of the Governor. I have written to the President of the Council, and have
just received for answer, that orders have been issued out, for carrying on
the business as usual, and with the utmost despatch.
The general opinion and
wish of this Province is that Governor Wentworth to whom I had the pleasure
of introducing you, should succeed to this Government; he has the greatest knowledge
of this Country in every respect and is universally esteemed.
I cannot conclude this
letter without acknowledging the readiness Mr. Hartsthorne has upon every occasion
shown to forward the views of the company, and though he does not write to you
nor his name appear in my letters yet he has not been deficient in contributing
everything in his power towards assisting me.
84 CLARKSON'S MISSION TO AMERICA 1791-1792
I have not received one letter
from England since I left and fear I shall not before I quit Halifax as the
October Packet has not arrived, and it is supposed she has been obliged to bear
away for New York; if so the letters will not be here till the middle of January-I
must say I have been anxiously waiting for her arrival as I so much wished to
have the report circulated here by the Captain of the former Packet cleared
up, but do not be alarmed for me, let what will have happened, as I shall take
with me four Four- pounders and about two hundred muskets with ammunition of
every kind, those articles with a great deal of coolness & prudence will
I have not the least doubt,enable me enable [sic] to hold out a siege
tii fur: succor arrive from England.
With sincere regards to all my friends-I remain
dear Sir
With
the greatest esteem
Most
truly yours
John
Clarkson.
In this letter a bill of fare of
the rations to be allowed to family was enclosed
See Appendix
The following is a copy of a private letter to
Mr. Thornton-
Halifax,
November 28th, 1791
Dear Sir
As the number of people going
with me are greatly beyond our expectations, and though I suppose £40
sterling will pay all their debts, yet as they have been obliged to leave their
property here to very great disadvantage and many of them have not been able
to sell it all and will not have it in their power to carry with them their
pigs, fowls &c. I think I shall be under the necessity of drawing upon you
for £100 it may only be £60, but a hundred will certainly be the
outside to purchase stock and other articles for their comfort on their arrival
in the New Settlement to make them some amends for their losses in leaving this
Province in such a hurry. Before I left England I received 10 guineas from Mr.
Whitbread,
10 from Mr. Parker, 10 from his father and 10 my brother
and I understood 70 men were subscribed paid into your hands and that I was
to draw upon you the money if I should think it needful.
If it should not be so, you will
speak to my brother about it as he will inform you the names of the gentlemen
who to become Subscribers for I really think it will but be proper
85 CLARKSON'S MISSION TO AMERICA 1791-1792
to assist these people at their first taking possession of their lands which
I think I shall be able to do by sending one little Sloop to the Cape de Verd
to purchase them various articles to begin with.
If you wish to make the people
of this Province happy who generally speaking are in a state of misery and if
you wish it to be in a flourishing state which it has not been for these ten
years, you will use all your interest to get Governor Wentworth appointed to
this Government if he should think it worth his acceptance; for if such an arrangement
should take place it would give heartfelt satisfaction to all descriptions of
men here you must know that he is related to Lord Fitz William
and is intimate with the leaders of Opposition though I believe he is always
received with marks of respect at Court-but talking of parties, when the happiness
of thousands is depending is illiberal and absurd-
I do not know whether the Governor
would accept such an appointrnent, the reason I mention it to you is because
it is generally wished for here and I know him to be a man of an unspotted character
and whose heart is as susceptible of the fine feelings as any that ever throbbed.
Believe me dear Sir most
truly yours
John
Clarkson
Copy of part of a private letter to Mr. Wilberforce-
Halifax November 27, 1791
Dear Sir
Having two hours leisure this
afternoon, I cannot spend it more to my satisfaction than in dedicating it to
you-I have so much to say to you that I am at a loss where to begin and fear
I shall be obliged to defer the greatest part till I have the pleasure of seeing
you.
I have written a full account of the business
I have undertaken to perform to Mr. Thornton, therefore I must refer you to
him for any information you may wish on that head- Many of the Free Blacks in
this Province are in a very distressed situation, and though I feel rather more
interested for them, than for those of my own colour, from the misery they have
continually experienced, yet I should consider myself as wanting in humanity
were I not to mention to you that the majority of White Soldiers (English &
German) who were disbanded at the conclusion of the war, are in a simi- [similar]
situation to the Blacks, and many of them have with tears in their eyes, solicited
me to give them a passage to
86 CLARKSON'S MISSION TO AMERICA 1791-1792
Sierra Leone which you know I had not the power of granting, however my
inclinations might lead them to gratify them-It hurts me beyond expression,
when I hear how liberal Government has been to the Loyalists and liberality
and gratitude are done away by the supineness & ignorance of their servants.
You will not believe me when I
tell you I can bring innumerable witnesses (all of whom were parties concerned)
who have not yet received one year's provisions though they were allowed three,
and you may depend upon it, Government paid the most extravagant price for these
three years be cause to my certain knowledge, they always purchase the best
of everything; nay many of them have neither received a mouthful of provisions
or so much as an implement of husbandry (though these articles were allowed
also) and as for their lands, as I have said before, they have been given to
some of them, but how! at such a distance that nineteen out of twenty of those
on my list have never seen though many of them have been obliged to pay the
fees of office to the amount of from 5 to 15 as the price seems to me to have
varied considerably-it is certain those in office were happy to take what they
could get, without considering that probably they deprived a poor distressed
person of his last farthing.
You will be surprised to hear
that since my writing the above the Governor has departed this life; I can say
of him with great truth that he always behaved to me with a great deal of civility
& attention and appeared ready upon all occasion to forward the views I
am here upon; this is the more extraordinary when I tell you that to my certain
knowledge he received at letter by the same conveyance as brought him his dispatches
relative to our business desiring him to do all in his power to retard it; I
will pledge myself to you to prove this at any time, but shall leave you to
guess the author of it. I can likewise say that this very letter has been the
cause of adding to the general expenses for the Governor was irresolute and
gave very improper orders not knowing which way to act, and in the midst of
his distress he produced the letter-Is not this abominable? I have hitherto
kept it to myself but I am almost ashamed to let it remain a secret, but for
your satisfaction I will endeavour to be silent till I see you.
If Administration have any wish
to see this Province in a flourishing state they will without any hesitation,
appoint Governor Wentworth to succeed this Government, should he think it worth
his acceptance, for they will not be able to appoint a man so well acquainted
with with every part of
87 CLARKSON'S MISSION TO AMERICA 1791-1792
the country, and so universally beloved by every description of men. I should
not wonder if a Memorial should be presented by the principal inhabitants of
this Province in his favour-It is my opinion, though I cannot be a sufficient
judge that Military men are very improper persons to govern any place, they
generally speaking are debauched men and mind their bottle more than their duty;
and accustomed to idleness & dissipation from their youth, it is not to
be wondered at, that they should neglect the affairs of State& be men of
no business, they are likewise so haughty & proud in general that they are
apt to add a little illiberality with it and think that no man is, or can be
a gentleman unless he is a Soldier, therefore they principally associate with
them taking their advice upon every occasion, sooner than that of a man who
has seven times the judgement & sense of the whole group of them put together.
I never knew that the prosperity of a place depended so much upon a governor
as I do since my knowledge of this country. Upon my honour, I think I should
be as scrupulous of accepting such a post as I should that of a Bishopric-
As I understand that the vessel
will sail in the course of an hour, I must conclude for the present wishing
you may carry the Abolition this year as I am sure that will add greatly to
your happiness; and with my best compliments to all my friends.
I remain my dear Sir,
Most sincerely yours,
John Clarkson
Peters arrived here this forenoon
from Annapolis Royal in the Bay of Fundy. He brought with him 90 people besides
his family-At one o'clock being dressed for the funeral, I went by invitation
to the late Governor's house. At two the procession began in the following order.
The several Lodges of Free Masons
in their badges His Excellency being Grand Master of the Order,
The 20th Regiment in which he formerly served & commanded
for many
The Church Wardens
The Physicians to the deceased
The Body
covered with a black velvet Pall
adorned with eight escutcheons-
The Pall supported by
The Honble Mr. Brymer
|
The Honble Mr. Blowers |
Major Boyd
|
The Honble Mr. Cochran
|
88 CLARKSON'S MISSION TO AMERICA 1791-1792
The Commisioner
|
Major Rollison
|
The Admiral
|
The General
|
Servants
of the
Deceased |
(The Relations and Particular Friends)
|
Servants
of the
Deceased |
The Sheriff of the County
The Hon (The Hon Mr. Bulkeley) The Hon
Mr. Morris
(President of the Council) Mr. Newton
Judge Benton
and Judge Hutchinson l38
The Treasurer
of the Province
Speaker
of the House of Assembly
Members of the Assembly in Town
The Custos Rotulorum
of the County
Justice Brinley
[Binney]
The Magistrates
Gentlemen of the Bar
Staff of the Army
Officers of the Navy and Army
Officers of the Militia
The Mayor
Gentlemen of the Town
The Garrison was under Arms and paid every honorable attention respect to his
remains-Minute guns were fired by the Fleet under command of His Excellency
Sir Richard Hughes Bart and a party Royal Artillery from the Citadel during
the procession.
The Royal Artillery the 16th and 21st Regiment
formed a through the streets from the Governor's house to St. Pauls.
At the entrance within the Church the Body was
received Right Rev. the Bishop of Nova Scotia who also performed the of the
funeral service after it was in the middle aisle leading to the
During the interment and while the corpse was
depositing vault the 20th Regiment fired three volleys.
He was of inferior abilities and in my opinion
not calculated the situation he filled.
Dined at home-Mr. Wallace & Mr. Hartshorne
drank wine The remainder of the evening employed writing letter-
89 CLARKSON'S MISSION TO AMERICA 1791-1792
The following is a copy of a letter sent to Major Skinner.
Halifax, November 29th, 1791
Dear Sir
I am so pressed for time that I know not which
way to turn myself but cannot avoid taking up my pen by the first opportunity
to return you my sincere thanks for the attention Mr. Taylor and myself received
from your family during our visit at Shelburne.
We shall find no difficulty in
procuring shipping, I believe 1100 Tons are already agreed for, therefore I
think the offers of Government should be made general-With my respectful compliments
to Mr. Skinner and the ladies in which Mr, Taylor begs leave to join-
I remain dear Sir
Your most obliged
and obedient servant
John Clarkson
November 30th - Waited upon Mr. Bulkeley
the President of the Council who received me with attention and promised to
do everything in is power to forward my business and further said that he &
every other gentleman would and ought to do every thing in their power to assist
me, who had upon every occasion conducted myself with so much candour &
fairess-Came home, received several visits from people of every description
and of whom was a young woman a Black named Lydia Jackson; her case, which I
have taken from her own mouth I shall relate since it will serve to give some
idea of the situation of the Black people in this Province.
Mr. Henry Hedley
of
Manchester finding Lydia Jackson in great distress having been left by her husband,
he invited her to come & reside his house, to live as a companion to his
wife, after she had been there for seven days, he required her either to pay
him for her board or bind herself to him for seven years; she was unable to
pay him and refused to be bound; length gradually shortening the period by a
year at a time, he by dint fair promises obtained her consent to be indented
to him for one year; the writings were in consequence drawn up by a Mr. Harrison
of the same place, but taking advantage of her ignorance the term of thirty
nine years was specified in the Indenture, instead of the one she had consented
to; and to this paper she without the least suspicion made her mark-Henry Hedley-Did
her the next day that she was to serve out the year with Dr. Bulman
of Lunenburg and sent her round for this purpose in a Schooner
commanded Alexander Brymer, Dr. Bulman soon after her arrival at Lunenburg informed
her to her great astonishment that she had been articled for the term of thirty
nine years, and that she had been made over to him for the consideration of
£20 which he had paid to Henry Hedley.
90 CLARKSON'S MISSION TO AMERICA 1791-1792
Dr. Bulman turned out to be a very bad master,
frequently beating her with the tongs, sticks, pieces of rope &c.
about the head & face, likewise was by no means backward to lend him her
assistance a occasions. For some words she had spoken with the least inter giving
offence Bulman took occasion to knock her down, and though she was then in the
last month of pregnancy, in the most inhuman manner stamped upon her whilst
she lay upon the ground; for these and cruelties she lodged a complaint against
him before Mr. Lambert Attorney at Lunenburg. This gentleman took up her case
which was brought into Court but was soon silenced by the overbearing manners
influence of Bulman, who then or soon after expressed his intention of selling
her some Planter in the West Indies to work as a slave, meantime he sent her
to work upon his farm about three miles town, giving authority and sanction
to servants to beat & punish as they thought fit. After she had continued
with Dr. Bulman three she made her escape in a wonderful way through the woods
& experiencing innumerable hardships, she reached Halifax, and got a I drawn
up and Presented to the Governor, who paid little or no to it. At length she
applied to the Chief Justice,
who promised enquire into the business
and lastly she came to me. I immediately Dr. Bulman respecting her and consulted
a Lawyer on the business who gave it as his opinion that her wages could be
recovered for the lived under Bulman but the forms of~law would most likely
prevent it finally settled, so as to enable her to go with me. Finding there
chance of the business being; settled, while I remained in the Province advised
her to give it up and leave Bulman to his own reflections.
I do not know what induced me to
mention the above story have many others of a similar nature; for example, Scott's
case, Mr. Lee, Senr. case, Smith's child, Motly Roads child, Mr. Farish's
negro servant.&c.
This day being the Feast of St.
Andrew I received an invitation dine with a party of one hundred,
the
first toast after dinner was to the memory of the late governor, when the band
of music immediately "How stands the glass around &c." passed a very pleasant
day, & till late in the evening.
December 1st - All this morning employed taking
down the names of people hearing complaints, giving advice writing letters,
&c. a letter from Jas. Mercer of Saint John's New Brunswick. An old complaining
that he, and many of his associates were in a similar situation with the Blacks
and wished to become Settlers at Sierra Leone, that several English and German
soldiers were disbanded at the conclusion of the war and promised land of Government,
but have been treated the same Blacks and are at present in a deplorable state.
It is impossible for me to admit these people generally as it is contrary to
my instructions there are two or three in the neighborhood of Halifax, I intend
to them with the Blacks to go with me to Sierra Leone.
91 CLARKSON'S MISSION TO AMERICA 1791-1792
At a conversation I had with two of the Council
of the Province this morning one of them the most intimate friend of the late
Governor, told me that Governor Parr received a letter from the Secretary of
State's office with my despatches, desiring him to do all in his power to retard
the business.
This information communicated to
me before from another quarter, accounts for the delay in the outset and may
be considered as the principal cause of the extraordinary expence for the Governor
was irresolute and very improper orders not knowing which way to act, and in
the midst of his distress he produced the letter from E. N.
Dined at home and in the evening
employed on board the Lucretia in fitting her up for the reception of myself
and the sick people. Received several petitions from individuals.
The following is a copy of a letter
sent to Henry Thornton Esqr.
Halifax, December 1st, 1791
Dear Sir:
Although I wrote to you a few
days ago by the Ark
and have sent you a duplicate of my letter
in the same vessel which will convey this yet it is the last opportunity I shall
in all probability have of addressing you before I quit this place & particularly
as Peters has arrived, I am induced to take my leave of you for the present
and give you every account in my power up to the present day.
Peters arrived here about six
days since with his wife and children and several of his companions amouting
to 94 men &c. From everything I can learn he has conducted himself with
great propriety and though he was insulted and even knocked down by a White
man at Digby, yet upon his return to that place, he put an end to the prosecution
on hearing that the man was intoxicated at the time he commited the outrage-From
has [his] account the people at New Brunswick are in a deplorable state, the
Agent appointed for carrying on the business (who is Secretary to the Governor)
has done everything in his power to prevent their going by telling them that
I intended to sell them for the Company and that Peters was to have so much
per head for his trouble; they have also been guilty of forgery, in producing
Indentures & agreements on the part of the Blacks to work upon their lands,
and in their service for certain terms, at the same time have said that if they
should offer to go, they would prosecute them for hot performing their contract,
and others to prevent some of them from going would not pay them their just
debts, telling them that if they would stay they should have their money, but
if they were determined to go they would not pay
92 CLARKSON'S MISSION TO AMERICA 1791-1792
them one farthing and some of them actually came down to Halifax without
receiving that which the [they] probably have been working for many months to
obtain. What a pity I could not visit Saint John to make these wretches act
like men! I think I have reason to say it would have been the case here, had
I not arrived just as I did-The late Governor
made several obstacles
telling me I came out too late, it was impossible for anything to be done this
year, that the Blacks were not so miserable as had been represented and made
a thousand difficulties-I replied I would be bound to do the whole in two months,
though a stranger to the geography of the country, if he would give me power
to issue the necessary orders-You may judge how everything was going on, when
I tell you that in my arrival at Shelburne which was three weeks after my reaching
Halifax) not so much as an order had been issued, though Peters had then been
in the country near five weeks.
Since writing my last letter I
have seen the President of the Council
who is now acting as governor,
his behaviour was everything I could wish so that the Governor's death has not
in the least retarded his business, for to do him justice I must say, that he
always appeared forward, to promote the embarkation from the time I arrived
in the Province.
I hope Dalrymple
has
put down in his Pocket book the private signal I gave him so that he may know
us when we appear off the land of Freedom which was a Dutch Jack reversed at
the Fore Top Gallant Mast head. The reason why I wish him to know us is that
he may send out Pilots to con- -duct us into the Harbour. I shall hoist my pendant
on board the Lucretia and as I intend that my own vessel shall be the Hospital
ship I shall then be ready to administer comfort to those who may want it, I
have got her fitted up accordingly. I expect at least 7 or 8 births in the course
of the voyage many of the women are pregnant so that I have to have more room
in my own vessel than I have given to others, and then I have made up the complement
which I do not take in the Lucretia on board another Brig, whose height between
deck is better than five feet which will be better able to carry those above
her complement that would complete mine than one or two other vessels will theirs.
I have now mentioned I believe
almost all I have to say to you that is worth communicating, but cannot leaving
off without telling you what I think respecting the New Settlement.
The people I shall carry with
me are generally speaking sober, hardworking men, and extremely grateful &
rather
|