. . . At an early hour in the morning further proceedings took place, intended to be emblematical of the extinction of slavery. A hole having been dug in the ground attached to the Suffield school-room, a coffin also having been prepared, and the ordinary instruments of slavery — a chain, a whip, an iron collar, &c. — having been deposited in it, a large concourse of persons assembled between five and six o’clock, as for the purpose of celebrating a funeral. The coffin was then duly lowered into the hole prepared for it, the congregation singing the following stanza:

Now, Slavery, we lay thy vile form in the dust.
And, buried forever, there let it remain :
And rotted, and covered with infamy’s rust,
Be every man-whip, and fetter, and chain.

After this ceremony, the flag of freedom, with the union jack at the corner of it, was hoisted, and three more cheers were given.

Religious services were held throughout the day, and Knibb preached at his own chapel, from Nehemiah 12:42–43. He presided afterwards at a public meeting, memorable from this circumstance, that all the
speakers on the occasion were descendants of Africans; and greatly to their credit, both in matter and manner, did they acquit themselves.

Hinton, John Howard. Memoir of William Knibb, Missionary in Jamaica. 2nd ed. London: Houlston & Stoneman. 1849, p. 262.