tion has been paid to the law which requiers

ed chiefly for the larger estates, was lost in a fleet wrecked on the coast of Portugal, and little or none was brought to the island for sale, the only means by which the smaller settlers procure this most important article. At the proclamation of martial law the country did not contain one-tenth part of the salted fish which was usually to be found at the same season of the year, and had the inhabitants with their negroes been obliged to retire from the sea-coasts, and concentrate themselves in the interior, the wants and clamours of the latter might have produced Consequences most fatal to our safety.The measures pursued by his Majesty's ministers, prohibiting the importation of animal food, would have been a more powerful aid to the enemy than additional armies and squadrons, and, in a similar emergency, may occasion the loss of this country, in despite the energy and exertions of the inhabitants Should no such important crisis occur, the greatest calamity will be brought upon our slaves, by a total want of one of the first necessaries of life. About 100,000 barrels of salted fisk, and a considerable quantity of beef and pork, are required for their annual consumption: whilst our situation was such as has been stated, calling for an immediate importation of upwards of 8000 barrels monthly, not one has arrived from Great-Britain or Ireland since the 21st of May, and from the British Colonies in America only one vessel las entered in the port of Kingston, with 105 hogsheads of salted cod, and 114 barrels of other fish.

army

and

Sakted provisions are the chief corrective of the vegetable diet of the negrees, and a want of them inevitably brings on dysentery and disorders of that class, which, whenever prevalent, never fail to carry uff great numbers. By being deprived of what they know to be absolutely necessary, and have been zocustomed to consider their right, discontents are excited, and there have already been instances of gangs of negroes leaving the plantations, to complain to the civil magistrate of the usual allowance being withheld. Enable to comprehend a political necessity, co fatal in its consequences, they attribute the deprivation to the avarice and unkindness of their owners; and those habits of respect and affection, of such importance in the government of the slave, and to the happiness of his master, are rudely tom asunder by the very men who accuse The inhabitants of not cultivating them with dne care, and have instructed your honour to institute i kies, whether strict atten

4

curing.-The poorer free inhabitants are no less injured and oppressed by the regula tions complained of. Already fresh beef and other animal food have advanced onethird in price. To the opulent this may be of little consequence; but the poor man," supporting himself and a family by daily labour, is obliged to abridge a meal which before was not abundant.The cost of fresh beef for the navy and army has augmented in the same proportion. Amongst the millions by which the statesinen of the mothercountry reckon her expenditure, this may be little regarded; but in our unfortunate situation, with a revenue unequal to the claims upon it, such an addition to the expense of subsisting the troops is a serious evil. Within a very short period the cost of the ration allowed has been tripled; and it cannot be denied that a perseverance in the measures lately adopted, must accelerate the period when this burthen will become insupportable.It would be easy to enlarge on the evils which we have thought it suffi- cient to hint at the proof of the facts is ready; the consequences cannot be doubted; and we trust that your honour will ap ply the remedy before it is too late, by issuing a proclamation giving permission to carry on the intercourse as conducted previous to the 21st May last.- -In similar situations the mother-country opens her ports to all the world, and mites subsistence on any terms. She has even respected an enemy under the pressure of famine, and permitted food to enter the ports of Spain during the present war. We only request, to be furnished with what she cannot give. Our commerce we subnut to her regulations, but, in framing them, we must be permitted to nope that the comfortable subsistence of all the lower orders of the community, and the lives of our slares, will not be sacrificed on the interested misrepresentations and for the advantage of selfish individuals, who look only to the profits of their speculations, without regard to their effect on the general

interest.

Reply of the Lieutenant-Governor.

MR. SPEAKER, and GENTLEMEN OF THE ASSEMBLY,- -In consequence of the measures which were taken during the late mar tial law for the security of Jamaica, all neutral vessels have been, by my direction, admitted to an entry at the several Customhouses in the island, although they may have contained salted provisions prohibited by my proclamation of the 20th May last. The arrival of the Cork fleet, which is daily ex

pected, will I trust tend essentially to quiet the apprehensions you entertain of a scarcity of those articles, so necessary for the support of the poorer classes of the inhabitants of the island, as well as to correct the vegetable diet of the negroes. Speech of the Lieutenant-Governor on proroguing the Assembly.

GENTLEMEN OF THE COUNCIL, MR. SPEAKER, AND GENTLEMEN OF THE ASSEMBLY,The business for which you were called together having terminated, I grant you a recess. -Mr. Speaker, and gentleinen of the assembly, I thank you for the arrangement you have made for the payment of such part of the expenses of the late martial law as called for your immediate attention, and I have no doubt that you will provide for the remainder, at your next nieeting, with your usual liberality.

Gentlemen of the council, Mr. Speaker, and gentlemen of the assembly, I do now prorogue this general assembly to Tuesday the 13th of August next, and it is hereby prorogued accordingly.

CATHOLIC CLAIMS,
LETTER III.

[The following letter was sent for publication previous to the discussion of the Catholic Question in Parliament. Want of room then prevented its appearing. It is now published at the request of, and in consequence of a promise to the author; and, an additional motive is, that this letter will naturally lead to other topics, which this ahle writer intends immediately to discuss. The 1st and 2d letters will be found in Vol. VI p, 900, and Vol. VII. p. 33.]. $

SIR, The Catholic Petition has at length been presented to both Houses of Parliament, and a discussion of the utmost importance to the vital interests of the empire, may soon be expected to take place. Its reception in the House of Commons was unattended with any remarkable occurrence; but, it is observable, that in the House of Peers, some attempts were made to prejudge the question, and to excite in the minds of that august assembly, and the public, animpression unfavourable to the object of the petitioners. The noble lord, who brought the instrument forward, abstained with the utmost forbearance from all discussion of the subject at that time, and prudently reserved the display of his great talents, extensive information, and, dignised eloquence for the important day, when his uncommon powers will doubtless appear in their full lustre. As no argument was offered in favour of the pe

tition, and insinuations were thrown out, evidently to raise a prejudice against it in the House and the country, it is a matter of curious speculation. to consider what would have been the language of a sensible and well-informed Colic Peer, had he been permitted to deliver his sentiments on that occasion. Let us suppose, however improbable the supposition, that he had been s :ffered to investigate the business at full length, and that undism yed by the novelty of the enterprise, and exhibiting a dignity of manner not unworthy of his rank, he had in a manly and energetic style, delivered his sentiments to a full house without disguise. We may conceive him to have spoken to the following effect:-My lords; unaccustomed to pursue the career of ambition, formed by habit and disposition to a life of retirement and solitude, and debarred solely by conscientious difficulties from taking my seat in this house, I should not have availed myself of the present indaigence of your lordships, had not some observations been prematurely made by a noble baron on the other side. In consequence of the insinuations, which have fallen from that noble lord, apparently without reflection, and undoubtedly without a knowledge of the question, I feel it an imperious duty, I owe it to myself, to the religion which I profess, to my King and country, and to the high character which my Catholic ancestors always maintained, to state, at some length, the grounds of the petition on your lordships' table, and to shew that an unqualified compliance with the modest and respectful supplication of the petitioners, would be unattended with the smallest danger either to church or state. It is probably unnecessary to appeal to the candour and liberality of your lordships, and to request a patient attention to this address, and a full, calm, and unbiassed consideration of this important subject. (A loud cry of hear, hear, from every quarter of the House.) Animated, my lords, with this mark of your attention, I beg leave without farther preamble, to en ter into the merits of the question, and to direct the consideration of your lordships to the plain, obvious, and avowed object of the petitioners. It is not for the purpose of diffusing discontent through the empire, of em barrassing his Majesty's government, and of adding to the disorder of these calamitous times, that your petitioners have made this manly, but respectful appeal to the justice and liberality of Parliament. The good and loyal behaviour of the Catholic body at large, and the character and respectability of the noblemen and gentlemen who have signed

their property and their lives, on that melancholy occasion, in defence of their King and country; that they braved every hardship in contributing to suppress an unnatural rebellion; and that they sacrificed every thing dear and precious in life, to a high and refined sense of honour and loyalty. (loud applauses) My lords, suffer me here to pause, and ask your lordships, on what grounds you can consent to a more length. ened suspension of the liberties of your fellow subjects, whose principles are so pure, and whose loyalty is so eminently conspicuous? I here solenmly intreat your lordships, to bestow on this affair the most attentive and unbiassed consideration, and to put it to your own minds, how the present situation of affairs can, be justified on any grounds of equity, honour, and policy? If the liberties and free customs" of Britons are their birthright, if they cannot be deprived of them but for very substantial reasons, if when these reasons cease to exist, a restoration of the privileges of the constitution, is a natural and obvious consequence, what shadow of excuse can be produced, for the continuance of the restraints in question, when not only the causes of these disabilities have long ago ceased to operate, but the sufferers are distinguished by a loyal and meritorious conduct?The noble lord has said, that if the petition should be complied with, we should see a Protestant church without 3 Protestant congregation; and a Protestant King with a Popish legislature.' My lords, from the tone of the noble baron, I should have imagined that the affair was likely to produce the most wonderful consequences, that we were about to witness a spectacle, which had never been exhibited to mankind before, that mountains were to be levelled, and that rivers were to flow back to their source. (a laugh) But after this display of the effects, resulting from a compliance with the prayer of the petitioners, what will be the amount of the real consequence of the measure? Why, my lords, we shall continue to witness in Ireland, what we see already, a Protestant church richly endowed, but with a slender proportion of adherents, as four-fifths of the inhabitants are Catholics, and nearly half of the remainder are Presbyterians. We shall behold four millions of Catholics, more closely united than they are at present to a Protestant government. But the wonder is not to stop here. A Catholic legislature is to make its appearance under the government of a Protestant King, and complete reformation is to take place in church and state. To effect this grand object, there are at present five

Catholic peers in Ireland, one of whom might possibly be chosen in the course of a dozen years, to take his seat in the Imperial Parliament. As one eighth of the landed property of Ireland belongs to Catholics, they might, in the same period, return about ́a dozen members to the House of Commons, out of the hundred who represent the whole country. Then the grand catastrophe is to commence. These twelve sturdy apostles of innovation, with a peer at their head, are to go out a colonelling, to rout the whole legislature, to take the cabinet by storm, to give up the country to the pope, and to raise the altar upon the ruins of the communion table. (Loud applauses accompanied with much laughter.)This, my lords, to trifle no longer, is the real representation of the imaginary alarm raised by the noble lord. It affords a striking proof, how easily the greatest men are led into error, by an imperfect and partial view of the subject on which they deliver their sentiments. But the noble lord proceeds to an objection of a more serious nature. He observes that the test act must necessarily be repealed, and the complaints of the dissenters be redressed; and that thus the bulwark of the church will be thrown down, and the utmost danger ensue to the establishment. May I be permitted, my lords, without the least disrespect to the personal character of the noble baron, to express my unfeigned astonishment, that on a subject which might be presumed to be familiar to him, he should have shown such a notorious deficiency of information. That the repeal of the test act is a leading object of the petition is undoubtedly true, but that concessions would thus be made to the dissenters, to the danger of the church establishment, can be asserted by those only, who are either deceived themselves, or wil ling to lead others into error. I need not inform your lordships, that the test act bears the date of the 25 Car. 2, and that it was originally framed, not from any danger apprehended from the speculative doctrines of the Catholic religion, but from the connexion of the court at that period with Catholic powers, and the dreaded succession of the Duke of York, afterwards James the Second, The title of the act clearly manifests the purpose for which it was framed, for it is called an Act for preventing dangers which may happen to Popish Recusants. Eckard, an historian not partial to Catholics, acknowledges that the law was principally, if not solely, directed against them. (Hist. of England, Vol. 3, fol. edit, p. 893.) It must be owned that the letter equally affects the rigid dissenters. But the provisions of the