THE Annals of Jamaica. BY THE REV. GEORGE WILSON BRIDGES, A.M. MEMBER OF THE UNIVERSITIES OF OXFORD AND UTRECHT, AND RECTOR OF THE PARISH OF SAINT ANN, JAMAICA. VOLUME THE SECOND. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET. MDCCCXXVIII. 12-13-32 27203 PREFACE OF THE SECOND VOLUME. In the long career of vice and vigour, of error and oppression, I have at length reached the term of my labours, and have completed my design of bringing down the Annals of Jamaica, from the first blush of that morning which dawned upon the long night of transatlantic oblivion, to the present evening of its decayed and feeble existence. The tedious task of selecting from the dull mass of colonial records has not been enlivened by any hope that the public favour will be extended to my work; for its subject is unpopular, and an enlightened age requires from the historian some tincture of philosophy and criticism. I cannot, therefore, expect that the narrative will possess any interest beyond the confined circle of those who still retain a share in the soil of Jamaica. Prejudice may, however, become enlightened by reason; and if a superficial glance should be bestowed by those whose ignorance has endangered the b VOL. II. |