the finance. They
very naturally desired that the lucrative Government appointments for
which the colony paid should be distributed among themselves. The
elective principle had been reintroduced in Jamaica, evidently as a step
towards the restoration of the full constitution which had been
surrendered and suppressed after the Gordon riots. Trinidad was almost
as large as Jamaica, in proportion to the population wealthier and more
prosperous, and the people were invited to come together in overwhelming
numbers to insist that the 'tyranny' should end. The Home Government in
their action about Jamaica had shown a spontaneous readiness to
transfer responsibility from themselves to the inhabitants. The
promoters of the meeting at Port of Spain may have thought that a little
pressure on their part might not be unwelcome as an excuse for further
concessions of the same kind. Whether this was so I do not know. At any
rate they showed that they were as yet novices in the art of agitation.
The language of the placard of invitation was so violent that, in the
opinion of the legal authorities, the printer might have been indicted
for high treason. The speakers did their best to imitate the fine
phrases of the apostles of liberty in Europe, but they succeeded only in
caricaturing their absurdities. The proceedings were described at length
in the rival newspapers. One gentleman's speech was said to have been so
brilliant that every sentence was a 'gem of oratory,' the gem of gems
being when he told his hearers that, 'if they went into the thing at
all, they should go the entire animal.' All went off good-humouredly. In
the Liberal journal the event of the day was spoken of as the most
magnificent demonstration in favour of human freedom which had ever been
seen in the West Indian Islands. In the Conservative journal it was
called a ridiculous _fiasco_, and the people were said to have come
together only to admire the Governor's batting, and to laugh at the
nonsense which was coming from the platform. Finally, the same journal
assured us that, beyond a handful of people who were interested in
getting hold of the anticipated spoils of office, no one in the island
cared about the matter.

The result, I believe, was some petition or other which would go home
and pass as evidence, to minds eager to believe, that Trinidad was
rapidly ripening for responsible government, promising relief to an
overburdened Secretary for the Colonies, who ha