On the contrary, great numbers of the old slaves had purchased land, and it was an amazing fact that, at this moment, three-fifths of the cultivated land in Jamaica was the _bona fide_ property of the blacks. (Applause.) He held in his hand a return of one mission congregation, and there were some interesting facts contained in it which he would take the liberty of quoting. In that congregation there were seventy-three heads of families, of whom sixty-two were once slaves, which should be charitably considered when looking at the progress they have made in the arts of civilization and mental culture. It could not be expected that in twenty-one years all the old feelings and passions and moral taints of slavery would be removed from the land. These seventy-three families possessed among them 342 acres of freehold land, and rented an average of two acres each besides. They possessed amongst them seventy horses or mules--a species of property negroes were very anxious to have. Surely these facts proved that they were not "squatters," in the sense in which that word was used. The report of the Hanover Agricultural Society strongly supported him in the conclusions to which he had arrived in reference to the negro population. That report stated that in six districts of the parish, containing four or five thousand people, there were 802 proprietors, holding about 4,200 acres amongst them, which would be about five and a-half acres to each family. He valued the land possessed by the people at 3l. 10s. per acre, which was a much lower estimate than he might fairly put upon it. This would make 1,050,000l. as the price they had paid for the land. But they had not only bought land--they had built houses upon it. The cottages in which they lived during slavery had been destroyed, and he was thankful it was so. The people had built for themselves a better class of houses, at a cost which could not be less than 10l. per house, and he was very glad to say it was very rare to find more than one family in a house. That amounted at least to 600,000l. Their furniture would be very moderately valued at 3l. per house--about half the real value--making an additional 180,000l.; and their carts, horses, mules, pigs, &c., could not be put at less than 50,000l., which was, in fact, much under the mark. The next item was a very interesting one, namely, the value of the sugar-mills, and implements used in the production of sugar. There were 143 sugar-mills in a portion of Hanover alone, and there could not be less than 5,000 in the island of Jamaica. These mills were valued by the Hanover Agricultural Society at 10l. each. Then, as to their clothes, they were as well dressed as the agricultural laborers of England, and every negro had at least one if not two suits. It was not true that the moral and respectable people were gaudily dressed. Upon the whole, the clothes would be cheaply valued at 1l. per head--making 380,000l. Then,