number of that class called "leading questions," the mode of printing which was very material. The objection to a leading question was, that it put words into the witness's mouth, and made the answer, in fact, not so much his testimony as the statement of the person who examined him. But this objection was doubled and trebled if, in printing the evidence, the question was altogether sunk, and the answer put as part of the statement of the witFor instance-a man was asked a week before this revolt broke out, "Did you hear Quamina tell the negroes that they were to lay down their tools and not work?" The witness answered, "Yes;" and this was pretty well as given with the question; but in the minutes the whole stood as a statement, and the words were "I heard Quamina tell the negroes," &c. &c. which made a good deal of difference. (Hear, hear.)

ness.

The examples of this practice were so numerous, that it would be tedious to quote them. The next circumstance of irregularity was of a remarkable description: it was the admission of evidence upon hearsay -a species of testimony rejected by all properly conducted courts, whether military or civil; if, indeed, it was not doing hearsay evidence injustice to apply that character to statements which appeared sometimes to be caught up from rumour, and sometimes from recollections three and four deep. The questions came sometimes, for instance, to this effect-" Did you ever hear any body, at any time, say any thing about so and so; and what was it that was said, as nearly as you can remember?" The honourable and learned gentleman proceeded to point out examples of the course

which he alluded to. As-(house minutes, page 49, question by the court)" Have Jack, Bethney Dick, (and several others named), all except Quamina, been tried by a courtmartial for having been actively engaged in the rebellion ?" Answer"I believe they have, but am not quite certain." Question-" Was not Quamina a reputed leader in the revolt ?" Answer-" I have heard he was, but did not see it." This was mere rumour-not reputation at first hand. The admission of hearsay evidence, however, was extended to the cross-examination of the prisoner's witnesses. The rev. W. S. Austin was asked by the prosecutor. Question-" Did you ever converse with any of the negroes during the revolt, with reference to it up to the present time?" Answer" Yes, I have." Question-" Did these negroes ever insinuate that their misfortunes were occasioned by the prisoner's influence over them?" To this restatement of insinuations Mr. Austin objected, on the ground that what he had heard, he had heard as a member of a board of inquiry, before which these negroes had been examined; but the court took up the question, and decided that a reply must be given; upon which Mr. Austin answered in the affirmative. And here there was another point, of which it was fit the house should be reminded, that threefourths of the statements which were made upon this court-martial were already familiar to all the members of it, from having previously been made before the hoards of evidence, inquiry, &c. "And therefore," contended Mr. Brougham, " if I had been of counsel for Mr. Smith-but he was trepanned into pleading to the charges against him, without having a fair opportunity of chal

lenging

lenging the jurisdiction or constitution of the court-if I had been of counsel for Mr. Smith, I would have objected that the court, constituted as it was, was not hearing even those statements for the first time. That they had all been members of boards of inquiry, and had tried other prisoners,—that they had tried, in fact, twenty or thirty other persons for their shares in the same transaction upon which they were now trying Mr. Smith." In point of fact, could it be said, that the court came to the trial of Mr. Smith under such circumstances with clean hands? Were they not imbued, rather, to such a degree with what they had heard, that it was impossible for them to distinguish evidence from hearsay? Statements and confessions which had been evidence in one case, became hearsay in another; but the first impression remained, and they were acted upon as though it had been just and legal to receive them. And these were not the most extraordinary circumstances connected with the evidence adduced against Mr. Smith. Part of the proceedings embraced the trial of a negro named Paris. This poor creature, being convicted, confessed the crimes laid to his charge, and (seeing, probably, the spirit in which the affair was conducted) fancied that he might save his own life by impeaching Mr. Smith. Accordingly, it appeared, he uttered such a tissue of wild improbable follies, that even soldiers could not give credit to them, and it was agreed to put them in the back ground. The poor creature swore that Mr. Smith had given them the sacrament on the day preceding the revolt-that he had desired Mr. Hamilton (the manager of an estate!) to take down the bridges, to prevent the bringing up of the big guns-that

he told the slaves to take good heart, for they ought to have their freedom. Paris afterwards swore-(all this had passed before the board of inquiry, and formed part of what Mr. Austin was compelled to admit against Mr. Smith as "imputation," in his cross examination by the court-martial)– Paris swore that the arrangement was that Mr. Smith was to be emperor; that he heard Mr. Hamilton say that the president's wife would be his wife in a few days; with many more circumstances equally reasonable, and no doubt equally true; and then, directly after, it would be seen that he swore-being felo de se of his own evidence that Mr. Smith was alarmed, and said he hoped that he should not be hurt if the negroes succeeded. This man's evidence was too good altogether-it could not be made use of. Some others who spoke less extravagantly, were brought forward and listened to. Those who had sworn deepest were packed off to present execution; and here-if any doubt could remain as to the value of their declarations, contradicted as they were by themselves and by each other, and at all points by the witnesses for Mr. Smith-it would appear from the evidence of the rev. W. Austin, who was neither a methodist, a missionary, nor a sectarian, but a clergyman of the church of England, and the government chaplain at Demerara, that previous to their deaths they retracted, upon oath and in writing, all that they had stated against Mr. Smith. This fact was worthy of attention, because there were circumstances connected with, and arising out of it, which fully proved that there must have been contrivances resorted to, to obtain the original testimony given by those men.

The negro Paris, in dying, prayed
God

God to forgive him for the lies he had been induced to tell about Mr. Smith, by a person who had promised that his life (as well as " Jack's") should be spared. Another negro (Sandy) declared Mr. Smith to be innocent before he died. Jack confessed that he knew nothing against Mr. Smith, except from hearsay. But the evidence which he had originally given was material to be dwelt upon for a moment. This man concluded his statement in defence as follows:-"I am satisfied I have had a fair trial. I have seen the anxiety with which every member of this court-martial has attended to the evidence, and the patience with which they have listened to my cross-examination of the witnesses. From the hour I was made prisoner by captain M'Turk up to this time, I have received the most humane treatment from all the whites, nor have I had a single insulting expression from a white man, either in prison or any where else. Before this court, I solemnly avow, that many of the lessons and discourses taught, and the parts of scripture selected for us in chapel, tended to make us dissatisfied with our situation as slaves, and, had there been no methodists on the east coast, there would have been no revolt, as you must have discovered by the evidence before you; the deepest concerned in the revolt were the negroes most in parson Smith's confidence: the half sort of instruction we received I now see was highly improper; it put those who could read on examining the bible, and selecting passages applicable to our situation as slaves; and the promises held out therein were, as we imagined, fit to be applied to our situation, and served to make us dissatisfied and irritated against our owners, as we were not always able

to make out the real meaning of these passages; for this I refer to my brother-in-law Bristol, if I am speaking the truth or not. I would not have avowed this to you now, were I not sensible that I ought to make every atonement for my past conduct, and put you on your guard in future."

The effect of prison discipline was really grown surprising! Here was a poor slave-a negro-only kept in gaol a little, and brought properly to trial; and the house found him coolly adopting the evidence against himself, philosophising — drawing nice distinctions, almost poetical ones, between a little learning and an ample draught, though even a little, it appeared, under some circumstances, might be attended with effects most valuable and surpassing. The genuine style of this man's deposition could not fail to strike all who read or listened to it. The truths which it contained were as self-evident as the truth of the statement that he had himself composed it; and no doubt all of them had been included in the hearsay evidence extracted from Mr. Austin in his cross-examination. (The honourable learned member proceeded to state, the unfairness with which hearsay evidence was admitted against the prisoner, and rejected when in his favour.)

There were four charges raised against the prisoner, one of which was divided into two, so that there were in fact five charges. The first laid that, "long before the time of a certain revolt and rebellion which broke out in this colony, and on or about the 18th of August, now last past, he, the said Smith, did promote, as far as in him lay, discontent and dissatisfaction in the minds of the negro slaves towards their lawful

masters,

ap

masters, managers, and overseers; he, John Smith, thereby intending to excite the said negroes to break out in such open revolt and rebellion against the authority of their lawful masters, managers, and overseers, contrary to his allegiance, and against the peace of our sovereign lord the king, his crown and dignity." That charge, he would say, the court had no right to try, even if they could have proved their right to try him for any thing which he had done after the 19th of August. The only colour for their authority was the proclamation of martial law, which took place on the middle of the 19th. The first charge referred to a period antecedent to the 19th, which period, as stated in the charge, ended before the day on which martial law was proclaimed. The same remark plied to three out of five charges, upon each of which the court convicted the prisoner. Suppose, then, for a moment, (that which at other times he must deny) that they had a right to try by a court-martial a clergyman charged with a penal offence -suppose that, according to ordinary construction, the proclamation of the 19th had made Mr. Smith, as well as all other men in the colony, soldiers, and as soldiers responsible to martial law; still the proclamation could have no retrospective effect it might make Mr. Smith a soldier after the 19th; it could not have the effect of constituting him a soldier on the 18th, nor on the 17th; still less two years, the period to which the witness Bond spoke; and less, again, the period of six years before spoken to by a witness in other transactions; and less than them all, could it have turned this responsibility back to the whole period of Mr. Smith's residence at Demarara, to which some parts of the

evidence referred. And this objection, as he had before remarked, was applicable to three charges out of the five.

The second charge ran thus-that he, the said Smith, "having about the 17th of August last, advised, consulted, and corresponded with a certain negro, named Quamina, touching and concerning a certain intended revolt and rebellion of the negro slaves within these colonies; and further, that he the said John Smith did aid and assist in such rebellion, by advising, consulting, and corresponding touching the same, with the said negro Quamina, to act on the 19th and 20th of August last past, he the said John Smith then well knowing such revolt and rebellion to be in progress." This charge, then, alleged that. Mr. Smith had conversed with Quamina touching a revolt. Touching a revolt!! What was the charge-of what did the guilt consist? Consult with Quamina touching a revolt! How consult, and with what purpose? It might be with the intention to dissuade him from it. There was not supposition only in this, he had actually done so. Time after time had he met and conversed with Quamina; and every tittle of the evidence which proved any thing, showed that he had used his utmost endeavours to dissuade him from any intention to revolt. Look at what the public prosecutor himself said upon this part of the charge-" Even he could not undertake to prove the precise words which passed between the prisoner and the rebel Quamina-the friendly nature of the interview is shown by the fact of Quamina's coming out of the prisoner's house with a bottle of porter, which he had not when he went in. It was, most probably, this bottle tied in a handker

chief, and slung at the end of his stick, that Elizabeth meant when she said that he had a bundle over his shoulder."

Now, instead of these surmises, it was quite clear, that to put Mr. Smith on trial, three things should have been previously proved to the unquestionable satisfaction of justice. First, that Quamina was a revolter, of which there was absolutely no proof. Secondly, that Mr. Smith knew him to be a revolter, of which there was, if possible, even less proof. Thirdly, that Mr. Smith, knowing Quamina to be a revolter, had done all in his power to aid and encourage the revolt, and had used no endeavour to frustrate it. The judge-advocate himself said, that he could not speak to the precise words of the conversation. There was no proof, in short to either of the three points. As to that part of the charge which condemned him for not seizing Quamina, the answer was best conveyed in the words of the poor man himself, in that part of his address which referred to this particular point; in which he puts to the court, whether he was likely to have been successful in seizing upon a strong robust young man, inflamed with the desire of liberty, as Quamina must have been, had he been preparing for revolt. He (Mr. Brougham) contended, that there was no evidence of Mr. Smith's knowing of that revolt; but there was manifest proof that he took especial, zealous, and watchful care to tell all he did know to the proper authorities to the overseers of the estates. This was to be gathered from Mr. Stewart, one of the chief witnesses for the prosecution. And who were the proper authorities for Mr. Smith to convey his information to, if not to the managers and slavemasters, against whom he was charg

ed with conspiracy? Such was the course taken by this court, and such was the use which they made of evidence. (Hear, hear.)

Such were the charges, and so loosely entertained, not for the sake of justice, but to put down missionaries, and to prevent their benighted slaves from participating in the knowledge of religion, and from hearing the word of God preached to them; to convey terror to the minds of all who should attempt to enlighten them, and to prove to those teachers and missionaries, that if they would persist in their sacred duty, it must be at the hazard of their lives that they were to do so. Upon these charges, the court convicted him, and sentenced him to be hanged by the neck till he should be deadand for what crime? (Hear.) It appeared, that from six o'clock on Monday evening the negroes were going to and fro, excited by some expectation of news coming out from England of a law which was to give them freedom. Reports had spread among them to this effect, having been brought by different individuals from various quarters; one had heard it from another, who had got it from a servant of the governor's, who had got it from another servant of the governor's, who had heard the governor himself mention it at table. Another negro had heard of it from the maid servant of captain M'Turk; a third had acquired his knowledge by a circuitous route from the kept woman (to use the language of the report) of one of the proper and lawful authorities. It was to know if these hopes were likely to be realized that the negroes were seen moving hither and thither with animation in their gesture and conversation; and when Mr. Smith conceived that their conversation indicated danger, he

made