Poems, essays, satires, and letters in the style of "The Spectator" provide an authentic portrait of many aspects of life in 18th-century Barbados in this anthology of writings drawn from newspapers, journals, and society newsletters of the time. While the writing ostensibly reveals the perspectives of the white slave-owning class, many authors wrote under pen names, and the dialogues presented about the legal rights of slaves suggest that these sources may have also received contributions from the free mulatto class. This inclusive anthology of 18th-century Barbadian letters demonstrates that a lively literary world existed alongside slavery.
This second volume provides glimpses into daily Barbadian life represented in the "Barbados Mercury" and "Barbados Gazette."