In viewing last night's "history of Bermuda'' broadcast it was interesting to see Mr. Churchill's message to Bermuda regarding the leasing of parts of Bermuda to the US government in 1940, but it was very disappointing not to have seen any reference to Bermuda's message to Britain declaring the Colony's loyalty at that time. It is important to remember today what our sentiments were at that time of extreme danger, so I hope you will give the space to the following.

Taken from the Journals of the House for August 20, 1940 is as follows: "May it please Your Excellency: The House of Assembly has unanimously adopted the enclosed Memorial, and respectfully requests that Your Excellency may be pleased to transmit the contents by cable immediately to His Majesty's principle Secretary of State for the Colonies.'' Sessions House, August 20, 1940.

To the Right Honourable The Secretary of State for the Colonies of His Majesty's Government: The Memorial of His Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects of the Bermudas or Somers' Islands humbly sheweth as follows: 1. The people of Bermuda are deeply disturbed lest some new conception of American hemispheric defence may affect the status of this ancient Colony as an integral part of the British Commonwealth.

2. We reaffirm our unswerving loyalty to His Majesty the King.

3. Our island home is one of the oldest Colonies in His Majesty's Empire. Our Parliament ranks in seniority second only to that of the Mother Country.

4. Many of His Majesty's subjects in Bermuda trace their ancestry with unbroken domicile here for over three hundred years.

5. During that whole period the inhabitants of this loyal Colony have lived happily, governed themselves justly under British Rule, and regulated their public affairs in such a manner as to command respect and confidence.

6. Grateful for past protection and proud of our heritage we pledge ourselves to play our part in the present struggle and shoulder our share of Britain's burden.

7. We earnestly pray that the ties of tradition and the bonds of affection which unite us to the Mother Country may never be severed.

8. We again swear allegiance to His Majesty the King, we express our conviction of the righteousness of His cause, and our confidence in his final victory, but we humbly and respectfully ask that nothing be allowed to prejudice our Constitution, our Government or our complete happiness and contentment under British rule.

9. We recognize that His Majesty's Government, in weighing the merits of new defence proposals, intend only to further the interests of the Empire at this critical juncture. We pledge our support to any agreement reached, but pray that such agreement may take heed of our deep-rooted and fervent attachment to the Crown.

And your Memorialists, as in duty bound, will ever pray, etc.

Speaker, House of Assembly, Bermuda.

A reply dated the August 24 reads, "His Majesty's Government are deeply touched by the loyal sentiments which inspired the Memorial, and the pledges of sturdy, continued support it contains. These are but in keeping with the traditions of their ancient Colony. HMG desire to assure the House that there is no question of Bermuda, or any part of it being separated from the British Empire, or of the people ceasing to be British subjects.'' Just in passing it is right to note, following Dr. Harris's accurate statements regarding "bases for destroyers'', that while there was some such deal with regard to some other bases, Bermuda and Newfoundland did not have any part in such deal.

In telling Bermuda's history it is important to tell ALL sides of any situation.

JOYCE D. HALL, MBE Pembroke A sincere apology April 6, 2000 Dear Sir, This letter is prompted by a recent suggestion made by Dr. Eva Hodgson that members of the white community should apologize to the black people we know and work with. I have given this some thought and I agree that it would be appropriate for me, at this time, to do as she suggests. Therefore I would like to apologize to every black Bermudian and any other member of our community, who has ever been adversely affected by, or suffered from, any acts of racism, prejudices, or racial hatred.

I would like to go even further and sincerely thank all the people, especially those black Bermudians, who have worked, and continue to work tirelessly to eliminate racism, prejudices and racial hatred from Bermuda altogether. You have all helped me leave behind a view of reality that is out dated, unjust, ineffective and very debilitating. I do not mean to imply that other white Bermudians are trapped in this way of thinking. I do not speak for them. I can only speak for myself. For myself, it feels as if someone has unlocked a cage that held my mind prisoner for a long time and set it free. The cage had become comfortable and I still find my mind prisoner for a long time and set it free. The cage had become comfortable and I still find my mind slipping back inside from time to time. But the door is now open and I have begun to see people for who they really are. I can assess whether I like or dislike, trust or distrust, admire or not admire people based on the content of their character, not the colour of their skin, ethnic origin, or any other superficial criteria. This is not the way I have always seen things. I would also like to take this opportunity to make the observation that many of us, that is Bermudians in general, are in the habit of looking outside of ourselves to find the reasons for and solutions to our problems. Although problems do exist out there. I would like to suggest that by looking at the truth of how we feel inside we provide ourselves with the best opportunity to generate positive change and make our community a better place in which to live.

NICK HUTCHINGS Sandys Parish Thanks, but no thanks The following letter was sent to Bermuda Cablevision Ltd. and copied to The Royal Gazette.

April 10, 2000 Dear Cablevision, Cancel Subscription. Account:102499032 effective immediately.

I think the above caption sums up my request that I no longer have any need for your services. I would, however, like to take the time to thank you for all you have taught me and thought I would try to shed a little positive light on your often criticised service.

In the interests of brevity, and after nearly four years as a loyal, prompt paying customer, I shall express my gratitude to Cablevision thus: Thank you for teaching me the lesson of "there are no free lunches'' when I was initially charged for the `installation' of cable to my cable-ready apartment, plus an activation fee. It was so nice of you to tell me I had figured out how to fit the cable into the back of my TV.

Thank you for teaching me not to waste my time on this planet by being able to replace my TV's clear picture with noisy snow, seemingly every week-end between 6.30 p.m. and 10 p.m. With all the free time you gave me I now have a beautiful baby daughter.

Thank you for demonstrating to me that you are never too old to learn. Your preference in broadcast channels has enabled me to make Spanish my second language.

Thank you for letting me discover that I am not alone. If you listen carefully to the telephone, after Cablevision put you on hold, you can hear the voices of all the other lost souls waiting for customer service - takes about 25 minutes to decipher.

Thank you for teaching me the virtues of patience. Useful when waiting for the Cable-guy to show for an appointment to inspect/fix the cable on the pole outside the apartment. Shame they never show up because I'm still eager to find out why I even had to be at home.

I really wish I could stay for more lessons, unfortunately I am about to move to a dwelling that has the Dishnetwork Satellite service. I'm sure I'd miss you if we had ever met.

DANIEL D. MATTHEWS Sandys Parish Get to the real issue April 4, 2000 Dear Sir, I guess I should not be surprised, just very saddened that the St. George's Schools issue should be reduced to a racial problem.

We at the Prep do not care what colour our trustees and teachers are, they can be orange with green spots as long as they continue to provide our kids with the quality education they are giving. Thank goodness the parents that send, and want to send they children to the Prep do not have racial problems. All our kids, staff and parents get on well whatever their colour, religion or nationality and this is how it should be in this day and age. COLOUR NOT AN ISSUE St. George's Don't ignore test results April 10, 2000 Dear Sir, In my previous letter "School will survive'', people may have been confused by what I meant. Other people were offended and we are on the same side in this fight for the school. I do not want the second year one entry level class to be closed. I still do not feel that the school will close down in the near future. Didn't the Government do a literacy test in all of the schools? St.

George's Prep had one of the highest scores throughout the Island. Why would you give a test and then not even pay attention to the results? One of my concerns is what will happen to that extra teacher if the class does get closed down? The teachers that I had are not all still teaching at St. George's Prep, but that does not mean that teachers are still not caring and effective. I know that there are still good teachers in this Island because I can see how my little cousins are being taught. My brother, who went to St. George's Prep, became a teacher because there were not many male teachers in the public school system. He cares very much for his students and is a very good teacher.

SYRICA RICHARDSON St. David's