The Sun.
London, England, 1817-07-23 00:00:00

TRINIDAD.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

. .
Sitt,---,Tbe acit.nowledgement in yone Paper of
Saturday last , that the Author of the article_ .re- ,
specting TnlNtnAn, inserted in it the. day before,
‘• had been tots informed in many particulars, and
-nose especially in iris allusion to several mint re-
spectable persons in this great Commercial City,"
rather confirms than corrects the- misrepresenta-
tion that article was calculated to excite : for the
inference it leads to is, that these most respect!
able persons were not. patties to a certain memo-
rial-transmitted to his.Majesty'S Government, and
MOO) is stated in yout Paper to be the work of a
cabal:against the Governor of Trinidad. • As one
of the parties ennnected with that Colony, I feel
it my duty, therefore, to giv,e you the trite history
of the Memorial in question ; which you will in-
sert, unless you mein to make, your Paper the
vehicle of acknowledged Misinforniation and un- '
contradicted fii I Stllood, .. .
From the first cession of Trinidad to the Crown
of Great Britain, the continuance of Spanish
Laws has been the subject of repeated complaint,
both from the Inhabitants of that Colony, and
the British Merchants connected with it ; and in
proportion as toe nature and 'effect of those Laws
Have been better ascertained and understood, the
complaints against them have increased,- and thej
petitions to be relieved from them have become '
more.numerous and urgent.
Soon after the arrival of •the Commissioners,
in 1802, an application was made to them by the
Inhabitants, praying them to recommend to his
:Majesty the establishment of British Laws. •When
the three years hart expired, which were allowed
the Lihah.tants by the Treaty of Peace to settle
their affairs, in order to their departure if they
did not choose to become subjects of Great Bri-
tain., and when it was hoped that British Laws
would be introduced, another petition from the
Planters and .Merchants, dated January 18, 1805,
was presented to his Majesty, praying for British
Laws as established in the other Islands. In 1806,
a petition 'from the Merchants of London trading
to Ttioithol was presented to his Majesty, praying
for British 14--ms for the recovery of debts. In
1808, a pil it u," from the Inhabitants was 'pre-
sent cd to' the Crown, praying for the Bri-
ish Constitution r as established in. the oilier
lir fish West India. Colonies. In the same
• •
ye,r, similar petitions were presented front
the Merchants of London, Liverpool, Lan-
. easter, ' BtistOl, and Glasgow. In March,
1810, an Address from the Inhabitants of

rn,ithui, praying for British Laws, was presented
to tioverttor 11 IsLoP, so numerously and respecta
bly signed, that on the 18th. of May fond wing, the
COUneil of the Island, with the concurrence of
the Governor, addressed his Majesty, expressing
their hope that the general wish of. the proprie,
tors and inhabitants would be complied %vith.-=
In 1811, petitions were presented to the House
of Commons, from the merchants of London, Li-
verpool, Bristol, Glasgow, Dvblin, and Cork,
praying for the establishment of British Laws in
Trinidad.
in that year, a motion founded on these peti•
Botts was Made in'thellOiise of Conn-nous ; but
bewg opposed by his 'Majesty's Monsters, who
had previOusly announced their deterinination tsl
continue tile present system, and the House
being persuaded to credit the preposterous
assertion, that the Petitioners only wished for
LAws.to enable them to tyrannize over
the Free People of Colour and the Slaves, and
to vi,late the Abolition Laws, negatived the

:notion.
This decision put an end to all further petitions
oo the subject; and the effects of this divine system,
as it was talsdy ;',eetned (being in fact a pure `and
perfect despotism), have been progressively Shew-
lug themselves groin that time,to the present : not,
as your ad Correspondent- states, " in, the rapid
advance of the Island to con,ideration and pros:

verity, an advance unexampled in the history
,of
British Colonization," but in increasing eliscou,
tent, in murmurs not loud but deep, open cont•
plaints being stifled by the perilous consequences
of offending a .Goverobr armed with powers of
so unexampled a magnitude. Every tree is known
by, its fruit
.; and the fruits of this systeru,
Which your Ohl Correspondent characterites
" as one of the fittest systems . 'it juriva
prudence tor a colony that. human ingenui-
ty bah possibly devise, the Spanish Code ad-
ministered by British justice. and .humanity,"
have been, that • the.. taxes of the colony have
been treble; that fees of office have been. in.
creased and multiplied, to a degree commensurate.
with the avarice of those by whom they are ex.-
acted ; that the value of property is dreadfully
depreciated, and credit absolutely annihilated.
All these evils, being considered as irremedia-
ble, were long submitted. to in silence; till among
other instances of power, a Proclamation was is-
sued, dated the 5111 December, 1815, which struck
at the-root of the titles of almost all the landed
property in the bland, declaring the.greater part
of them to he defective or absolutely void,. and
calling on the proprietors to redeem than from
confiscation, by paying to the CroWn a finv of I oei.
for each grant, an apoual quit, rent of five shillings
per (parte for ever, and acknowledging. new
rights in the Crown, not_reserved in the original
grants by the King of Spain, which would have
left the property of every man at the mercy of the
Governor ;
.and not forgetting a obble docket of
fees to hilts and others in office, for the renewal
of the respective grants. The number-of grantS
Made by the S:lanish Government is estimated at
between 2100 and 2200, only 137 of n hibli were
exemptud trout the grasp of this Proclamation ;
so that the proprietors were 31* opon .to pay