The Sun.
London, England, 1823-12-29 00:00:00

stable and insecure those very rights and privileges which
prompted their emigration.
" That your Colonists and your petitioners, having the most
implicit confidence in the royal faith, pledged to them in the
most solemn manner by your predecessors, rested satisfied
• with their different portions of the royal grants ; and hay-
ing been bred, from their infancy, to venerate the name of
Parliament, a word still dear to the heart of every Briton,
and considered as the palladium of liberty, and the great source
from whence their own is derived, received the several Acts of
Parlianient of England and Great Britain, for the regulation of
the trade of the COlenies, as the salutary precautions of a pru-
dent father for the. prosperity of a wide extended family ; and
that in this light we received them, without a thoUght of ques-
tioning the right, the whole tenout of our conduct will &mon-
strate, for above 100 years; that though we received those re-
gulations of trade from our fellow-subjects of England and
Great Britain, so advantageous to us, as colonists, as English=
men and Britons, we did not thereby confer on them a power of
legislating for us, far less that of destroying us. and our chil-
dren by divesting us of all rights and property.
" That, with reluctance, we have been drawn.from the prose-
cution of our internal affairs, to behold with. amazement a plan
almost carried into execution, for enslaving. .the colonies,
founded, as we conceive, on a claim of Parliament to bind the
colonies in all cases whatsoever.
" Your humble pethioners have for several years, with deep
and silent sorrow lamented this unrestrained exercise of Legis-
lative power; still bolting, from the interposition of their Sove-
reign, to avert that last and greatest of calamities, that of being
reduced to an abject state of slavery, by having an arbitrary
government established in the colonies ; for the very attempt-
ing of which a Minister of your predecessors was impeached
by a House of Commons.
" With like sorrow do we find the Popish religion esta-
blished by law, which by treaty was only to be tolerated.
" That the most essential rights of the Colonies have been
invaded, and their property given and granted to your Majesty,
by
men not entitled to such a pewer.
" That the murder of the Colonists 'lath been encouraged by
another act, disallowing and annulling their trials by juries of
the vicinage ; and that fleets and armies have been sent to en-
toree those dreadful lawk
We, therefore, in this desperate extremity, most humbly
beg leave to approach the throne, to declare to your Majesty
that our fellow-subjects in Great Britain,. and consequently
their representatives the House of Commons, have not a right
a,
we trust we have shown, to legislate for the Colonies; and
that your petitioners and the colonists are not, nor ought to be,
bound
by any other laws than such as they have themselves as-
sented to, and not disallowed by your Majesty.
" Your petitioners do therefore make this claim and demand
from their sovereign, as guarantee of their just rights, on the
faith and confidence of winch they have settled, ant: continue to
reside in these distant parts of the empire, that no laws shall be
made and attempted to be forced upon thein, injurious to their
rim alts us Colonists, Englishmen, or Britons.
" That your petitioners, fully sensible of the great advan-
tages that have arisen from the regulations of trade in general,
prior to the year 1760, as well to Great Britain and her Colo-
nies as to your petitioners in particular, .and being anxiously
desirous of increasing the good effects of these laws, as well as
to remove an obstacle which is new in our Government, and
could not have existed on the principles of our constitution, as
it bath arisen from colonization, we do declare for ourselves
and the
ohef people of this island, that we freely consent to the over-
:itio all such. acts of the British Parliament as are limited
'to the regulation of our external commerce only, and the sole
nbiects of which are the mutual advantage of Great Britain
and her colonies.
We, your petitioners, do therefore beseech your Majesty,
that you will be pleased, as the common parent of your sub-
'teas, to become a mediator between your European and Anie-
Tan subjects, and to consider the latter, however far removed
from your royal presence, as equally entitled to your protection,
and the benefits of the English Constitution ; the deprivation
cf which must dissolve that dependence on the. parent state
Which it is our glory to acknowledge, whilst enjoying those
lights under her protection ; hut, should this bond of union be
ever destroyed, and the colonists reduced to consider themselves
al tributaries to Britain, they must cease to venerate her as an
affectionate parent.
" We beseech your Mejesty to believe, that it is our earnest
prayer to Almighty Providence, to preserve your Majesty in
all happiness prosperity, and honour, and that there never
may be wanting one of your illustrious line, to transmit the
blessings of our excellent Constitution to the latest posterity,
and to reign in the hearts of a loyal, grateful, and affec-
tionate people. The Minister who is alluded to in the
31enioritil was the Lord Chancellor Clarendon, who, in
1687, was impeached by the Commons of England of • varioit
high crimes and misdemeanours. The articles of impeachnien
are to be found in the Journals of the Commons, and the nin

charge is as follows :—That he introduced' an' arbitrary Go.
vernment into his Majesty's plantations, and bath caused inch
s complained thereof before Ids Majesty's Council, to be long
itnprisoned for so doing. In those days the Commons were
9nr defenders' because their own privileges were frequently
invaded ; but now they would arrogate to themselves supreme
Power not only in Great Britain and Ireland, but in all his
ejesty's dominions. It was in 1774 that the Parliament
of Great Britain hurried the empire into civil war, by grasp-
hig at power which did not belong to them, and it was a
wonder to him that they had so soon forgotten the conse-
quences of the war. Not only were thirteen provinces lost
to the empire ; their claims of supremacy over Ireland
were also abandoned during the unhappy contest. Twenty
thousand to 25,000
_,yeomanry, armed in defence of their
country, terrified England into the acknowledgement of the in-
dependence of the Irish Legislature, after having disputed it
from the date of the annexation of Ireland to the English Crown.
Are these examples lost on the Parliament of Great Britain ?
Have they so soon forgot the lessons they were taught by Ire-
land and .America, that they seek for a third in the West In-
dies ? But we should have nothing to fear from Parliament,
were the general concerns of the empire in the hands of an
honest and able Administration. Unhappily for us, the Impe-
rial Government did not sufficiently possess the confidence of
Parliament to enable them to exercise their' own judgment in
Matters of the greatest moment. It could not be, that men hat-
ing tha means of knowing our peculiar situation, would lend
themselves to the projects of Mr. Wilberforce and his party,
and of the East India traders. It was to be feared that the pros.
the empire,
lieritY of the colonies, which.
cannot he separated from that of
of cancili wae made to give way to the first grand consideration
ating Parties so as to maintain a majority in the Com. -
III°1111e! without which they could not keep their places. Jamaica
_wa, not consent to be made the sacrifice of any set of men ;
anu in the King's • • term, Ministers were too weak to
.protect our in-
to was fit that the House should petition his Majesty
forma stronger Government. lle (Mr. Barrett) would
endeavour to bring the charge home against at least a part
1` his Majesty's Ministy, that the colonial interests were
ll'ade subservient to purposes of party and of power. It was
true that we were not in possession of certain instructions which
ea/ere said
to have been transmitted to all the West India Gover-
rt*, but we knew something of their nature from some proceed-
Lags of the I3arbadoes which had been published. We
Jed, besides, the speech containing the honest opinions of Mr.
imning, and the resolutions submitted by him to the House of
Commons, comprising the doctrine of the Cabinet; and we had,
"2 °leoter, the letter of the agent--documents which were ei-
nes considered by us official. From these sources the House
eith
yrki ,hert could not but co the in's inters
ers r hostile to the Westllect Indies,that or were KunagbleM to shield
0)
m
he from the designs of their apponents. If, however, the
raise would refer to the Informrinadon we had at various times
eeceived from the agent, it would be found that Earl Bathurst,
,eleicolonial Secretary, and who ought therefore to be well ace
:4i:ell with our peculiar society, was at the head and the
Miter the
of ,y 4„ n measyres which threatened the existence.
State reticles a civilized community. It was to the Secretary of
protee,7"l,* Colonies that we had a right to look for special
con:I" ;hut the melancholy fact was, that he had become
toe-, 'I Otto the principles of Ir. Wilberforce and Mr. Buz-
seeuriki declared that it was not to be endured that we
of lee „cautin° for any long space of time to be the ossessors
tleetfiY:B. The House well knew that the admission of such
scene" in our islands might be expected to be followed by
fittteCu t(}°
terrible to dwell on ; and it was the duty of Earl
i 44 to have this knowledge ; and not having it, his corn-
eenv_emorance of his department was confessed; and he stood
one►"led of being an imbecile, if not a wicked Minister. In
it l!rt of the agent's correspondence, this nobleman gave
al .
thTOU °Nriioll, that in the event of losses being incurred
'troop the operation of direct English influence, the islanders
if this wlev:;loofair claim to compensation ; but shortly after, as
great a concession, he excepts from claim to
oeseirePlatien the saffeeers by any act of the local legislatures—
he Mg that all such lames must be placed to the score of
4enniry.e.npe_iostys.iblAe
mndeahnasv,ing thus determined this point, he uses
except absolute force, to intimidate this
4,„"!
wthe other islands into measures which he ought to know,
1;10,. cannot but know, must endanger the little property that
Lord t- to Ule and with that our lives. The threat by which
efaine ethurst endeavoured to ensure the adoption of his
peeeir over
was in itself sufficient to mark his incapacity as
()Mute: yiseg4vlnrattlii
teucutiolnonial interest, and even his enmity to our
s. He has attacked the independence of
fee freergislature, without which Jamaica was not a residence
jury that ne had offered us the most deadly insult and in.
who „ , ever called forth the resentnient and indignation of men
eatlatt,leghts, and knew how to value them. He (Mr. Bar-
wee elmul not sit down without commenting on the miserable
lefla•pitt.. was year after year practised upon our friends in Eng-
that .• rit had occurred I
°moue A . SO 0 ten that he thought it merited
moue deti, Peuati Whenever our dstresses from enor.
3 P
and bad .markets we a to ani intolerable height,