1782 Letter on Antigua's Politics
Autograph Letters Signed (ALS) About the Council of Antigua
Publication: Monmouth [Wales]: September 3, 1782.
Notes: A 2-1/2 page manuscript letter from an Antiguan slave owner and planter to an unnamed recipient, probably an M.P. or government minister, about personnel issues on the Council of Antigua, of which McKinnen was a member. The letter was written while McKinnen was visiting Wales.
The first matter related to the removal of a Mr. Jeffreason from the council by the president, a move that McKinnen opposed. The second matter had to do with a Mr. Winstone, a lawyer newly appointed to the Council, which also served as the top court on the island. McKinnen suggests that such an appointment meant that McKinnen could be employed as an advocate on a case and then render judgment from the Council, an arrangement that, McKinnen writes, would tempt the "evil Tendency" of any man.
Eighteenth century letters about Antiguan politics are not common. This letter was printed in Vere Langford Oliver's Caribbeana, volume 5, pp. 200–201.
Written on a single sheet folded to make four 7-1/4 by 9-1/2 inch pages. Final page blank except for docketing.
PROVENANCE: Jay Kislak
Edition + Condition: Letter beginning to split at the fold; with old horizontal fold from mailing.
Item No: #364045
Price: $750