Mr. Long, with a view of preventing
insurrections, had advised, that a duty, equal to a prohibition, might be
laid on the importation of Coromantine slaves. After noticing one
insurrection, which happened through their means, he speaks of another in
the following year, in which thirty-three Coromantines, "most of whom had
been newly imported, murdered and wounded no less than nineteen Whites in
the space of an hour." To the authority of Mr. Long he would add the
recorded opinion of a Committee of the House of Assembly of Jamaica, which
was appointed to inquire into the best means of preventing future
insurrections. The Committee reported, that "the rebellion had originated,
like most others, with the Coromantines," and they proposed that a bill
should be brought in for laying a higher duty on the importation of these
particular Negros, which should operate as a prohibition. But the danger
was not confined to the introduction of Coromantines. Mr. Long accounts for
the frequent insurrections in Jamaica from the greatness of its general
importations. "In two years and a half," says he, "twenty-seven thousand
Negros have been imported--No wonder that we have rebellions!" Surely then,
when his honourable friend spoke of the calamities of St.
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