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LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 JAMES MURSELL PHILLIPPO, 
 
 Missionary in Jamaica. 
 
 EDWARD BEAN UNDERHILL, LL.D., 
 
 Honorary Secretary of the Baptist Missionary Society. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 YATES & ALEXANDER, 21, Castle Street, Holborn. 
 
 E. MARLBOROUGH & CO., 51, Old Bailey. 
 
 MDCCCLXXXI. 
 
LONDON : 
 
 YATES AND ALEXANDER, PRINTERS, 
 
 LONSDALE BUILDINGS, CHANCERY LANE, W.C. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 On his last visit to this country, Mr. Phillippo 
 brought with him one or two volumes of manu- 
 script, containing a portion of an autobiography, 
 the preparation of which had occupied his leisure 
 moments for many years. He showed it to me, 
 and asked my opinion as to its publication after 
 his decease. On examining it, I found it to con- 
 tain very full records of the events through which 
 Jamaica, and the Jamaica Mission of the Baptist 
 Missionary Society, had passed during his long 
 life, combined with records of his own personal 
 experience and history. There appeared to be 
 much information too valuable to be lost, and a 
 picture of a true and successful missionary life 
 that might be of advantage as an example to 
 future generations. In reply to my suggestion 
 that he should make arrangements to secure the 
 publication of these papers, he at once urged me 
 to undertake it. His earnest wish I hardly knew 
 how to resist, and the less so as my personal 
 acquaintance with so many of the events recorded, 
 and my warm affection and esteem for him after 
 nearly forty years of friendship, gave me some 
 
iv Preface. 
 
 special advantages in preparing his manuscript 
 for the press. 
 
 Two or three months after his decease, I received 
 from his family a large box, containing a mass of 
 papers and documents for which I was scarcely 
 prepared. It consisted of two parts — a series of 
 diaries kept during many of his later years, with 
 almost daily entries of events as they transpired, 
 and his own summary, in the form of an auto- 
 biography, more or less complete ; the whole ac- 
 companied with letters, papers, and extracts (both 
 manuscript and printed) illustrative of the facts 
 he had recorded. On examination, I soon found 
 that it would be impracticable to publish large 
 portions of the materials before me, if only from the 
 number of volumes that would be required to con- 
 tain them. The incidents of his early years were 
 narrated at great length, while those of a later 
 period were left in the shape of mere annals or 
 extracts from his diaries. It therefore seemed to 
 me that I should best serve his memory, and attain 
 his object, by re-writing the whole, availing myself 
 as much as possible of his own words, condensing 
 and abridging them where I could not, for want of 
 space, quote them verbatim. This course being 
 approved by his family, the result is the volume 
 now in the hands of my readers. 
 
 My chief object has been to present a picture of 
 the active Christian life of my friend, and I have, 
 therefore, seldom obtruded my own views. On 
 
Preface. v 
 
 some subjects it would have been in my power to 
 give information beyond that which these pages 
 furnish ; but the purpose of the volume is to 
 depict the life of Mr. Phillippo and its connection 
 with the events in which he bore a part. Hence 
 it is but seldom that I have gone beyond Mr. 
 Phillippo's own collections ; and, whether the sub- 
 jects under discussion relate to the political and 
 social condition of the island, or to the history of 
 the Baptist Mission in Jamaica in particular, resort 
 for fuller information must be had to other 
 sources. 
 
 The task has been more laborious than I ex- 
 pected ; but it has been a great pleasure to retrace 
 events and to renew acquaintance with persons 
 and places familiar to me in years gone by. 
 
 It is my pleasant duty to acknowledge the assist- 
 ance I have received from the members of Mr. 
 Phillippo's family ; from my dear friend, the Rev. 
 D. J. East, the tutor of the Calabar Institution ; 
 and from the numerous letters of Mr. Phillippo 
 kindly placed at my disposal by the Committee of 
 the Baptist Missionary Society. 
 
 Edw. B. Underhill. 
 
 Derwent Lodge, Hampstead, 
 April nth, 1 88 1. 
 
" I would express him simple, grave, sincere, 
 In doctrine uncorrupt : in language plain, 
 And plain in manner : decent, solemn, chaste, 
 And natural in gesture : much impressed 
 Himself, as conscious of his awful charge, 
 And anxious mainly that the flock he feeds 
 May feel it too ; affectionate in look, 
 And tender in address, as well becomes 
 A messenger of grace to guilty men." 
 
 COWPER. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. — Early Days 
 
 II. — The Consecration 
 III. — The Student 
 IV. — His Designation... 
 
 V. — The Voyage 
 
 VI.— Settlement at Spanish Town 
 VII. —Commencement of Regular Labours 
 VIII. — Opening of the New Chapel 
 
 IX. — The Slave Code 
 
 X. — The Gospel of Salvation 
 XL —Persecution — Voyage to the United States... 
 XII. — Successful Labour— Illness — Departure from 
 
 Jamaica 
 
 XIII. — First Visit to England 
 
 XIV. — Renewal of Missionary Labours 
 
 XV.— The Apprenticeship 
 
 XVI. — Educational Labours 
 
 XVII. —White unto Harvest 
 
 XVIIL— The Apprenticeship abandoned 
 
 XIX. — Celebration of Freedom 
 
 XX. — Progress under Difficulties 
 
 XXL— Origin and Formation of Townships 
 
 XXII. — Visit to Windward Islands 
 
 XXIIL— Independence assumed by the Churches 
 
 XXIV.— Residence in England 
 
 XXV.— Deputation to the West India Islands 
 XXVL— The Law Suit 
 
 pag>: 
 I 
 
 16 
 
 24 
 30 
 35 
 43 
 53 
 63 
 
 90 
 98 
 no 
 117 
 132 
 '39 
 147 
 165 
 169 
 180 
 192 
 198 
 210 
 218 
 220 
 
Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER PA 
 
 XXVII. — State of the Mission 2 37 
 
 XXVIII.— State of the Island— The Cholera 25° 
 
 XXIX. — Times of Refreshing 2 59 
 
 XXX.— The Work of Faith - 2 7° 
 
 XXXI. — Public Affairs 2 '6 
 
 XXXII. — Visit to the United States and England ... 281 
 
 XXXIII.— Resumption of Labour 2 93 
 
 XXXIV The Revival 3°4 
 
 XXXV— Patient Toil 3'5 
 
 XXXVI. — The Disturbances 325 
 
 XXXVIL— Hartlands 34& 
 
 XXXVIII. — Education and Disestablishment 357 
 
 XXXIX. — The Aged Pastor 369 
 
 XL Retirement from the Pastorate 377 
 
 XLI The Jubilee of his Ministry 383 
 
 XLII. — Decease of his Wife 395 
 
 XLIII The Aged Christian 400 
 
 XLIV. — Final Visit to England 409 
 
 XLV. — His Last Days 419 
 
 Appendix 433 
 
LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 JAMES MURSELL PHILLIPPO. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EARLY DAYS— 1798 to 1813. 
 
 James Phillippo was born in the little market town of 
 East Dereham, Norfolk, on the 14th October, 1798. East 
 Dereham contains some 4,000 inhabitants, and is not 
 altogether undistinguished in English history. The 
 famous Bonner was rector of the parish before he entered 
 on his sanguinary career as Bishop of London. More 
 pleasant associations attach to the memory of the poet 
 Cowper, who, towards the close of his sorrowful, yet not 
 altogether unhappy, life, resided here. His earthly re- 
 mains have their resting-place in the church, and the 
 monument which marks the spot was erected by his 
 attached friend Lady Hesketh, the almost forgotten poet 
 Hayley supplying the epitaph. It was from Mrs. Ann 
 Bodham, his cousin and a resident in Dereham, that 
 Cowper received his mother's picture, and from which 
 sprang one of the finest poems in the English language. 
 The site of Cowper's residence is now occupied by an 
 Independent chapel. George Borrow, a native of Dereham, 
 and a contemporary of Mr. Phillippo, calls their common 
 birthplace "the pattern of an English country town," 
 lying in picturesque fashion, " pretty and quiet," along 
 the borders of the little stream which gives fertility to 
 the valley through which it runs. 
 
Early Days. [1805 
 
 James was the oldest of the four surviving children — 
 three sons and a daughter — of Peter and Sarah Phillippo. 
 His father was a master builder, and part proprietor of an 
 iron foundry in East Dereham. Mrs. Phillippo was the 
 daughter of Mr. Matthias V. Banyard, a respectable trades- 
 man and farmer. It is, however, probable that the 
 Phillippo family were originally emigrants from the Nether- 
 lands, driven hither by the persecutions of Alva in 1575 
 or 1580. Two descendants of the refugees of this name 
 lie buried in St. Saviour's Church, Norwich, one of whom 
 was High Sheriff of Norfolk in 1675. 
 
 Very early in his young life James Phillippo exhibited a 
 striking aptitude for the acquisition and retention of 
 knowledge. At four years of age he began to attend, as 
 a day scholar, a boarding-school in the town. He often 
 carried away the palm from his fellows for ready and 
 fluent recitation of the pieces they learnt. His imitative 
 powers were remarkable, and were frequently put to the 
 test for the amusement of his friends. His apt imitation 
 of the preachers whom he heard led his grandfather to 
 remark that some day the boy himself would become a 
 " Methodist parson." 
 
 At seven years of age, James was sent as a pupil to a 
 school conducted by the Rev. Samuel Green, the minister 
 of a small Baptist congregation existing in East Dere- 
 ham. His stay in the school was not long. H© reports 
 himself while there as distinguished for little else than 
 disobedience and mischief, which brought upon him 
 merited chastisement. Probably with the hope of better 
 results he was removed to the grammar school at Scar- 
 ning, a small village, two miles distant from Dereham, of 
 which the rector was the principal. This gentleman was 
 held in high repute as a scholar, and was of High Church 
 proclivities, but was particularly noted for his forbidding 
 manners. Some years before, the celebrated Robert Robin 
 
r 807] Early Days. 
 
 son, of Cambridge, hadbeen a scholar in the same institu- 
 tion, and among Mr. Phillippo's contemporaries was the 
 Rev. W. Gathercole, well known in later years for his bitter 
 attacks on Dissent. Here James seems to have made fair 
 progress, especially in those studies which require the 
 exercise of a good memory ; but the discipline of the 
 school was ill-calculated to bring out the finer qualities of 
 the scholars. The master was very severe in his treat- 
 ment of defaulters, capricious in the exercise of his powers, 
 and tyrannical in his bearing. " He was as much feared 
 by the boys," said Mr. Phillippo years afterwards, " as the 
 most tyrannical slave-master I have ever known was by 
 his slaves." Cruel floggings were inflicted without dis- 
 crimination, and in . paroxysms of anger. On one occa- 
 sion, for no known cause, he began to flog the whole 
 school, consisting of fiftyboys, till, coming to the seniors, 
 they broke out into rebellion, and in the melee that ensued 
 the master was thrown to the floor. Even his own sons 
 were not exempt from the infliction of his cruel wrath. 
 
 In the diary which Mr. Phillippo kept in after-years, 
 under date of April 10th, 1851, he thus refers to some of 
 the incidents of this period : — " During snatches of time, 
 within the last two or three days, I have read Mr. Borrow's 
 ' Lavengro ' — a curious production. He was a fellow- 
 townsman ; I knew his father, mother, brother, and him- 
 self; as also the High Church rector, and the still more 
 aristocratic clerk, Philo, and several of the occurrences he 
 describes — all truthful. Yes ! pretty Dereham, how many 
 recollections of bygone days did George Borrow's narrative 
 recall ! Old Captain Borrow especially stood before me, a 
 tall, gaunt, gentlemanly old man. How often, when a boy, 
 have I gazed at the decorations on thy splendid scarlet 
 uniform! I also knew his gallant corps, drawn <mostiy 
 from that pretty town and neighbourhood. I never saw 
 a finer set of men than were embodied in the East 
 
 b z 
 
Early Days. [1810 
 
 Anglian or West Norfolk Militia. I was at that time 
 a great favourite of the old clerk, and also of the rector. 
 The clerk taught me to sing, and from the gallery where 
 I sat I often saw Captain Borrow and the author of 
 ' Lavengro ' in the family pew, while I had many a stroll 
 with him about the lanes and alleys of the town and in 
 places where 
 
 ' The primrose, ere her time, 
 Peeps through the moss that clothes the hawthorn-root.' ' 
 
 At this period of Mr. Phillippo's life, his parents were 
 attached adherents of the Established Church, but from 
 some cause, probably owing to conscientious scruples on 
 the part of the mother, none of the children had been 
 baptized. The rite was now observed. Soon after, James 
 Phillippo was confirmed by Dr. Bathurst, Bishop of Nor- 
 wich. But at fourteen years of age he had begun to un- 
 derstand the responsibilities under which he lay to God. 
 Convinced of his unfitness, and sensible of the worldliness 
 of his spirit, he steadily refused to go to the Communion. 
 He shrank from an act so solemn, and one that he knew 
 ought to be accompanied by a change of heart and life. 
 
 It was when between twelve and thirteen years of age 
 that he left school, and for a short time assisted in his 
 father's business, He then went to reside with his grand- 
 father, for whose occupation he had a stronger predilec- 
 tion. There he was subject to less restraint than at home, 
 and he seems to have availed himself of every opportunity 
 for worldly pleasure, His chosen companions, though of 
 respectable parentage, were irreligious. The pious instruc- 
 tions and example of his mother were lost to him. " Prayer 
 was restrained," he says, "and religious duties were 
 entirely neglected." His habitual resorts were the tea- 
 garden, the bowling-green, the theatre, the club-feast, 
 and the country wake. The Lord's-day was more or 
 less desecrated by these pursuits, till at length he began 
 
t8i4] Early Days. 
 
 to cherish contempt for the Word of God, and to entertain 
 ideas of the non-existence of God and of a future life. He 
 joined his wild companions in disturbing the worship of 
 a small community of Methodists, and frequently took part 
 in deriding them as they passed along the streets. His 
 old teacher, the venerable minister of the Baptist congre- 
 gation, with his people, shared in this contemptuous dis- 
 regard of the civilities of life. Nevertheless, " all my re- 
 ward," he says at a later time, " consisted in disappoint- 
 ment, disquietude, and remorse." 
 
 In the midst of this career of worldliness and sin, God 
 did not leave Himself without witness in the heart of His 
 wandering child. A visit now and then, on a dark Lord's- 
 day evening, to the Independent chapel brought him 
 under the faithful ministry of the Rev. Mr. Carter, of Mat- 
 tishall. The impression made by his home instruction 
 was on these occasions revived, and for a little while his 
 mind would be filled with fearful apprehensions of a judg- 
 ment to come. A voice as of thunder would summon him 
 to repent, and, although appetite and passion might resume 
 their sway, there was left an abiding conviction that sooner 
 or later he would be constrained to abandon his worldly 
 life. The struggle with his inclinations was often violent. 
 "More than once," he says, " I ran from the house of 
 prayer to the theatre, there to check the rising tide of 
 conviction." Several striking escapes from death also had 
 a lasting influence on his mind. Twice he was saved from 
 drowning ; once he barely escaped with life from a fall 
 from an upper floor, with the chain of the factory crane, 
 on a wagon thirty feet below. At another time, returning 
 from a harvest-home on a very dark night, his horse 
 stumbled in a narrow lane said to be haunted, and the 
 terror of an apparition was added to the frightful fall and 
 the contusions he received. The horse had stumbled 
 over the clanking chain of a hobbled donkey. 
 
Early Days. [" l8l 5 
 
 : 'in this state of feeling the desire sprang up in his mind 
 to go to the Baptist chapel. His habits, and the preju- 
 dices which had been sedulously fostered against the 
 Baptist community by the master of the grammar school, 
 were opposed to the idea. A visit to this lowly sanctuary 
 was, however, made. As he sat beneath the pulpit, the 
 preacher's words smote him to the heart. He was over- 
 whelmed with shame. Tortured with anger and remorse, 
 he hasted from the chapel, determined, if possible, to 
 stifle his convictions. For several weeks the strife with 
 conscience and with the Spirit of God was severe. In his 
 distress he at length found a friendly counsellor, who led 
 him to the footstool of mercy, and there, as he himself 
 expresses it, " with all my sins about me, and with an 
 earnestness and .fluency I can never forget, I supplicated 
 mercy through the blood of Christ as the greatest boon 
 that Heaven could bestow." The prayer was heard. " I 
 felt," he says, " like Christian when he lost his burden at 
 the sight of the Cross ; my mind was filled, with joy un- 
 speakable. I thought I was in a new world, surrounded 
 by new objects, and possessed of new senses. Every- 
 thing assumed a different appearance. It was heaven to 
 me to please God, and to be fashioned into His likeness. 
 Old things emphatically passed away ; behold, all things 
 became new ! " And James Phillippo entered on that life 
 of consecration and devoted service to the Saviour which 
 the ensuing pages will describe. . 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE CONSECRATION— 1815 TO 1819. 
 
 A year elapsed, during which James Phillippo left his 
 grandfather for other employment at Elsing, a small 
 village five miles from Dereham, before he summoned 
 courage to present himself for membership with the 
 Baptist church. Various obstructions blocked his way. 
 Many of his intimate friends were in fellowship with the 
 Independent congregation, and desired him to unite 
 with them. His theological opinions on some subjects 
 were unformed and immature. His family also threw 
 impediments in his path, not the least of which was the 
 prevalent prejudice arising from the apparent poverty and 
 weakness of the Baptist church. These difficulties led 
 him to a close study of the Holy Scriptures. With the 
 sacred volume open before him he sought on his knees 
 for the light of heaven. The result was a resolve, even 
 though the act might involve obloquy and worldly 
 disadvantage, to give his life publicly to the Saviour, and 
 by baptism to range himself on the Lord's side. The 
 observance of the sacred rite became an emphatic declara- 
 tion of fealty to his Lord, such as may be fitly expressed 
 in the words of the two tribes and a-half of Israel to 
 Joshua : " All that thou commandest us we will do, and 
 whithersoever thou sendest us we will go" (Joshua i. 16). 
 As in many similar cases, his difficulties fell away with the 
 decisive act, and some members of his family who had 
 endeavoured to prevent it, impressed with the solemnity of 
 
8 The Consecration. [1816 
 
 the service, were among the first to obtain a blessing from 
 on high, and follow the example of the brother and the 
 son. The administrator of the rite to the youthful dis- 
 ciple was the venerable pastor of the church, who for a 
 short time had been the early instructor of the boy. 
 
 The new life in Christ now openly manifested its 
 power. James Phillippo gave himself to the diligent and 
 systematic study of God's Word. For improvement in 
 general knowledge he placed himself at an evening school. 
 Stirrings of desire for usefulness among his fellow-men 
 began to be felt, especially among the far-off nations 
 lying in darkness and in the shadow of death. He read 
 the missionary publications of the African traveller 
 Campbell with avidity, and gave his leisure to the acquisi- 
 tion of such handicrafts as he thought would be useful 
 in a missionary's career. Medicine, brickmaking, house- 
 building, cabinet work, the wheelwright's toil, agriculture, 
 and the manufacture of articles of food and clothing, 
 all attracted in turn his serious and ardent attention. His 
 progress in knowledge, and his natural gifts, soon marked 
 him out for employment as a preacher of the Gospel in 
 the surrounding villages. His first appearance was as the 
 substitute of a friend, suddenly prevented by illness from 
 fulfilling an engagement, in the village through which 
 Mr. Phillippo and his employer's family regularly journeyed 
 on their way to the Lord's-day services at Dereham. He 
 began also to visit the houses of the villagers for religious 
 conversation. His companions in business were invited 
 to listen to the Word of Salvation, and he records with 
 gratitude to God that in not a few instances his 
 ministrations were blessed. A young friend who succeeded 
 
 him in his situation at Elsing writes in 1817 : 
 
 " My dear Friend,— I have great pleasure in informing 
 you that Mr. T. and Mr. G., the senior apprentices, were 
 baptized on a confession of faith last month. Mr. T. is 
 
1 817] The Consecration. 
 
 very much altered since he came here. He is now, I am 
 sure, truly pious. He attributed his first religious im- 
 pressions to your reproofs, advice, and expostulations. 
 You will regard his conversion as an answer to your 
 prayers, and take courage. Mr. G., too, attributed his 
 first impressions to two sermons which you preached when 
 in Elsing last. May the Lord give you many more souls 
 to your ministry ! " 
 
 It was during the serious illness of his employer, on 
 whom he attended with great assiduity, giving support and 
 comfort by his prayers and Scriptural expositions, that the 
 duty of devoting himself entirely to the ministry of the 
 Gospel was brought distinctly before him. After grateful 
 reference to his services, " I should be sorry to part with 
 you," said his master, " and I do not know what I should 
 do without you ; but I can no longer withhold my im- 
 pression. Have you never thought of the ministry ? " 
 The secret longings of James Phillippo's heart now found 
 utterance, and he told of the visions of usefulness he had 
 entertained in some foreign land, where the Gentiles were 
 ignorant of " the unsearchable riches of Christ." " Have 
 you never expressed your desire to our pastor ? " He had 
 not ; and, as his master had promised to send Mr. Green 
 to the neighbouring village of New Buckingham, it was 
 at once arranged that James should be the driver, and 
 thus obtain an opportunity to communicate to the pastor 
 his cherished hopes. 
 
 Much occurred on the journey to check the utterance of 
 his wish. Fear of a repulse tied his tongue. Then the 
 conversation of the pastor with a farmer on whom they 
 called by the way was discouraging. Instances of failure 
 of some young aspirants to the ministry were referred to, 
 while the cost of their education was said to render the 
 greatest caution necessary. It was, moreover, of the last 
 importance that none but truly able and godly men should 
 
The Consecration. [1818 
 
 be encouraged to abandon their worldly pursuits for the 
 solemn and momentous responsibility of the care of 
 souls.* At the house of another, a highly esteemed 
 friend, who was visited on the route, the conversation 
 turned on the qualifications of a true missionary. Not only, 
 it was argued, must there be good capacity, but the temper 
 and conduct in daily life should exhibit a pattern of 
 exalted piety. It was not till the village worship was over, 
 and the journey home nearly accomplished, that with 
 much trembling and hesitation of speech the subject was 
 broached. Contrary to expectation, and in a tone and 
 manner altogether different to that he feared : " Well," 
 said the pastor, " I have sometimes thought that if Provi- 
 dence should cast your lot in some dark country-place in 
 your own land, you might make yourself useful." 
 Phillippo intimated that his wish was to go abroad, in 
 however mean a capacity, to do service for his Lord. 
 " Then," was the immediate reply, " you must read books 
 on the subject ; " and various works were at once named, 
 to be lent from the pastor's library. 
 
 The die was cast. Business arrangements of con- 
 siderable advantage had already been set aside for the 
 object in view. Mr. Green, who was about to remove 
 into Huntingdonshire, lost no time in introducing his 
 " son in the Gospel " to that eminent servant of Christ, the 
 Rev. Joseph Kinghorn, of Norwich. " I conveyed this 
 letter in person," writes Mr. Phillippo in his journal, " my 
 late employer lending me a horse for the journey. As some 
 evidence of. my anxiety of mind as to the results of the 
 interview with this venerable and learned minister of the 
 
 * Mr. Phillippo adds in a note : " This venerable minister, being 
 once asked his opinion respecting a young man proposed for the 
 ministry, inquired, ' Is there clay ? '—a question usually proposed by 
 purchasers or lessees of farms in Norfolk, without which a farm would 
 be comparatively valueless." 
 
1 8 1 8 J The Consecration. 
 
 Gospel, from a fear of my not possessing, in his judgment, 
 the requisite qualifications for the work to which I aspired, 
 not unmixed with awe which his presence and manner 
 inspired, I prayed earnestly to God during the whole of 
 the journey, a distance of fourteen or fifteen miles, some- 
 times dismounting from my horse and retiring for prayer 
 to private places in the fields or along the road. My 
 earnestness amounted to an agony that God would give 
 me favour in the sight of His honoured servant, so that 
 my journey might be successful." 
 
 Those still living who can remember the tall form and 
 dignified mien, the suave manners and grave accents, of 
 Joseph Kinghorn, can readily understand the " awe " 
 which a country youth would feel on entering his 
 presence. His kindness and courtesy, however, soon 
 dispelled all fear. A long conversation ensued. The 
 dealings of God with the young aspirant were fully 
 related. The sincerity of his consecration was tested 
 with kindly care, and at length James Phillippo was 
 encouraged to communicate his views and wishes to the 
 Committee of the Baptist Missionary Society, with the 
 assurance that Mr. Kinghorn would sustain the appli- 
 cation by a private letter from himself. 
 
 Mr. Phillippo forwarded, in a few days, to the Rev. 
 John Dyer, the Secretary of the Society, a long and 
 interesting paper, in which, in much detail, he explained 
 the origin and motives of his application. He states 
 that in taking this step he was acting on the advice of 
 his pastor, the Rev. Samuel Green, and the Rev. Joseph 
 Kinghorn. He relates the Divine process by which he 
 had been brought out of the darkness of a sinful and 
 injurious life into the marvellous light of the Gospel. 
 From the moment that his own eyes were opened he had 
 longed to be an instrument in the hands of God to turn 
 " the heathen from darkness to light, and from the power 
 
1 2 The Consecration. [181S 
 
 of Satan unto God." It had been the subject of constant 
 prayer. The prayer of the "man of Macedonia" was 
 ever sounding in his ears — " Come over and help us. ' 
 To fulfil this desire he had declined advantageous offers 
 in business, and endeavoured, in various ways, to prepare 
 himself for the great task he had in view. Only the hope 
 of leading even one poor pagan to the Saviour's feet 
 could have persuaded him to leave his native shore for a 
 strange land, " The promotion of the glory of God," he 
 says, " in the conversion of the heathen is, I hope, my 
 only aim." He then briefly states his belief in the main 
 doctrines of the Christian faith, and, as he does not seem 
 to have swerved from them during the whole term of his 
 long ministry, the statement may here be inserted. 
 
 " I believe in the total depravity of all mankind ; in 
 the absolute necessity of a change of heart ; in man's 
 inability to accomplish this work ; that it is effected by 
 the Holy Spirit, through the use of means ; that Christ is 
 the only way of salvation; the necessity of personal 
 holiness. I recognise also two Ordinances : Baptism, 
 administered to adults on a profession of faith in Christ ; 
 and the Lord's Supper. I believe in the final salvation of 
 believers, and the final destruction of unbelievers." 
 
 His paper is closed with the pious aspiration that 
 wherever his lot may be fixed, whether in Europe, or 
 Asia, or Africa, or America, " I may copy the example of 
 my glorious Lord and Master, and go about doing good." 
 
 This document was forwarded to Mr. Dyer in the last 
 month of 1818. A time of prolonged and wearisome 
 waiting ensued. This was probably owing to the many 
 perplexing events which gave great anxiety to the friends 
 of the Society. Writing about this time Mr. Gutteridge 
 says : — " Difficulties increase from Serampore and Cal- 
 cutta. Colombo is a source of expense almost unwarrant- 
 able. Jamaica is stretching out its arms for assistance, 
 
1819J The Consecration. 13 
 
 and we possess not the means of help." * Pecuniary 
 embarrassments threatened the very existence of the 
 Society, and considerable sums had to be borrowed to 
 meet the most pressing obligations. No reply was 
 given, till the patience both of Mr. Phillippo and of 
 bis friends was well-nigh exhausted. A portion of 
 the time was spent in preaching in various towns and 
 villages in Norfolk. But as months passed away, and a 
 short term of remunerative employment could not be 
 found, a return to business was painfully contemplated. 
 Negotiations, which were commenced, failed in some 
 mysterious way, when suddenly the welcome summons 
 to London arrived. 
 
 On the 27th October, 1819, after nine months' weari- 
 some suspense, the Rev. John Dyer, writing from 
 Reading, invited Mr. Phillippo to meet the Committee, on 
 the 25th November, at the Baptist Mission Rooms at 15, 
 Wood Street, Cheapside. It was not without anxiety that 
 Mr. Phillippo obeyed the call. He had had to resist the 
 importunities of friends who desired to keep him at 
 home ; but their entreaties were easily endured in com- 
 parison with the fear that he might fail to approve 
 himself before a committee (as he says) "of ministers 
 and highly educated lay gentlemen." His duty, however, 
 was now plain, and, with a letter of introduction from Mr. 
 Kinghorn to the Rev. Joseph Ivimey, we find him, on the 
 20th November, taking up his abode at the house of his 
 uncle, the Rev. J. Denham, then minister of the Baptist 
 congregation in Poplar. 
 
 On entering the ante-room of the Mission House, on 
 the evening of the appointed day, he says, " I found there 
 a young man, who, after the usual salutations were 
 exchanged, inquired if I were one of the members of the 
 
 * Kinghom's Life, p. 374. 
 
14- The Consecration. ['8 19 
 
 Committee. Answering in the negative, and adding that 
 I was come to appear before the Committee as a 
 candidate for missionary service, ' What ! ' said my inter- 
 rogator, ' are you the young man from Norfolk ? ' On my 
 replying yes, he rose from his chair and, grasping my hand, 
 said with great warmth of feeling, ' My name is Burchell ; 
 I am come for the same purpose from Gloucestershire ; 
 how glad I am to see you.' " Mutual explanations 
 ensued, and a fellowship, was established which lasted to 
 the end of Mr. Burchell's useful and distinguished career. 
 Mr. Phillippo was the first to face the assembled board, 
 whose inquisition was so much feared, Mr. Ivimey's 
 hearty welcome, the kindly greetings, the pleased expres- 
 sion on the countenances of other gentlemen present, 
 speedily dispelled the fears of the youthful candidate, and 
 assured him that his apprehensions of an undue severity in 
 the tests to which he was about to be exposed were vision- 
 ary. His examination was brief. His testimonials were 
 explicit and satisfactory, and, after some cheerful advice 
 from Dr. Newman and others as to the studies he should 
 pursue, he rejoined his friend in the ante-room with the 
 joyful tidings of his acceptance. A similar welcome re- 
 ception awaited Mr. Burchell, and the two friends retired 
 together, rejoicing that they were " counted worthy " to 
 serve the Lord among the heathen. Their future course 
 fully sustained the views which at this time seem to 
 have pressed with more than usual force on the minds of 
 the Committee. In the Report of this year, referring to 
 the character of a true missionary, the Committee say : 
 " To sustain a character so arduous with reputation and 
 success requires a combination of mental qualities not often 
 united in the same individual, superadded to the indispens- 
 able qualification of a heart thoroughly devoted to God."* 
 
 '-Periodical Account, 1819, p. 16. 
 
1 819] The Consecration. 1$ 
 
 A few days were pleasantly spent in visiting the novel 
 sights of London, in fulfilling some preaching engage- 
 ments, and in hearing discourses from the lips of leading 
 ministers of the denomination. Among those to whom he 
 listened must be mentioned the Rev. William Gray, pastor 
 of the Baptist church in Chipping Norton. He had been 
 selected by the Committee as the preceptor of the young 
 missionary. 
 
 On the 29th November, Mr. Phillippo received a hearty 
 welcome from the students and the family of the excellent 
 man under whose roof his first essays into the regions of 
 theological study were about to be made. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE STUDENT— 1820 TO 1821. 
 
 Mr. Phiixippo found three associates in his student-life 
 at Chipping Norton, afterwards increased to seven, two 
 of whom, like himself, were destined to missionary 
 service. He began his studies in a very hopeful spirit. 
 " Now," he says, " I can look forward with a hope, full 
 of animation, to that day on which, if spared, I shall 
 embark on the great and wide sea to impart to the 
 infatuated slaves of sin and Satan ' the glorious Gospel 
 of the blessed God.' Henceforward let my motto be, 
 Energy, Prudence, Economy, Temperance, Perseverance, 
 with ardent love to God and man." 
 
 In an interesting letter, written about a month after his 
 arrival in Chipping Norton, to the Rev. J. Denham, he 
 thus speaks of the feelings with which he girded himself 
 for his task. 
 
 " I arrived here the evening after my departure from 
 town. . . . The days and weeks that have passed away 
 since my coming may be numbered among the happiest 
 of my life. . . . There are several dark villages around 
 us, to which we go alternately to break the bread of life. 
 Last Sabbath I preached at Middleton Cheney, a village 
 in Northamptonshire. I felt more comfortable than I 
 expected, and I trust that my one great aim was, and I 
 hope ever will be so, to preach the truth earnestly, faith- 
 fully, and simply, that when called away I may leave the 
 pulpit and the world clear of the blood of all men. I 
 
1820] The Student. 17 
 
 have commenced my studies. I find them difficult, of 
 course, but I am determined, by grace given me from 
 above, to surmount them all, in view of the great object 
 of my heart, to preach among the Gentiles the unsearch- 
 able riches of Christ. I do feel, as the holy Pearce says, 
 ' a glowing satisfaction in the thought of spending my life 
 in something nobler than the locality of this island will 
 permit.' In order to make full proof of my ministry I 
 must, I know, be diligent, and make the best use of my 
 time. I must have method, and, as you have been 
 similarly circumstanced, I should be glad of your advice 
 on the subject. Be assured that I will endeavour to act 
 upon it to the best of my ability." 
 
 To his parents he wrote : — 
 
 " Providence has fixed my habitation for a time here, 
 which is nearly two hundred miles remote from the place of 
 my birth. My thoughts often disentangle themselves from 
 the pursuits of study, and force themselves to the place 
 of your loved abode. I am sure you keenly feel the 
 separation. But you must remember that I am to be 
 engaged in a glorious cause. Who would not lend a 
 hand to dispel the darkness of Satan's kingdom, and erect 
 upon its ruins the Kingdom of God ? This world is not a 
 place of repose for a faithful soldier of the Cross. I may 
 be subject to many trials and difficulties that I should not 
 be exposed to in the common walks of life at home ; but 
 how animating the thought that the conflict will soon be 
 over, even at the longest term of service, and, if faithful, 
 I shall be crowned with glory and honoured with the 
 commendation of my great Master. 
 
 " Oh ! how blessed is the religion of Jesus ! how it 
 smooths the furrows of care and gilds the dark paths 
 of life ! Blessed, for ever blessed, be the day when I was 
 brought to experience its blessed influence on my heart 
 
The Student. [1820 
 
 and life! Give my best love to sister, brothers, and 
 friends." 
 
 Mr. Phillippo about this period began to keep a diary, 
 in which he inserted notes of passing- events, with such 
 reflections as occurred to him. A few extracts covering' 
 the first term of his student-life will exhibit the nature of 
 his employments, and the spirit with which he prosecuted 
 them. 
 
 "January 8th, 1820. Rode to Blockley to-day. The 
 weather was intensely cold ; but the most to be lamented 
 was my cold and lifeless heart. It is this which mars my 
 comfort, and prevents my holding that communion with 
 my God and Saviour which is so essential to my happiness 
 and usefulness. 
 
 " 9th, Sabbath-day. Proceeded from Blockley to 
 Campden, accompanied by Mr. J. Smith. How charming 
 were the prospects ! I could not but be struck with the 
 romantic scenery, which surpassed in beauty and grandeur 
 all I had ever seen before. Preached from Isa. liii. 3 and 
 4. I trembled for fear of man, but the Lord stood by me, 
 and strengthened me, so that I proceeded beyond my 
 most sanguine expectations. Bless the Lord, O my 
 soul ! 
 
 " Preached in the afternoon at Blockley from 8th Rom. 
 28. Oh ! that I could feel more of the importance 
 of the work. Took tea with Mr. and Mrs. J. Smith, and 
 conversed on the privations and hardships of a missionary's 
 life. But ' none of these things move me.' 
 
 " Monday, January 1 oth. Spent the greater part of the 
 day in reading the memoirs of Henry Martyn. Oh ! that 
 I possessed the spirit of this holy man ; that I felt more 
 for the salvation of the poor heathen ! Blessed Jesus, 
 melt this stony, this rocky heart into tenderness and 
 compassion ! 
 
 "April 8th. Went to a double lecture at Eatington, 
 
1820] The Student. ig 
 
 Warwickshire. Messrs. Price, of Alcester ; Beetham, of 
 Hooknorton ; Coles, of Bourton-on-the- Water, and W. 
 Gray preached. Two or three of the students conducted 
 the devotional services. The sermons were excellent and 
 very appropriate. I was particularly interested in the 
 evening sermon, by our tutor, from the words, ' They shall 
 come from the east,' &c. It was both an interesting and a 
 profitable day. May the services be abundantly blessed 
 by the God of all grace ! " 
 
 "April ioth. Rose at 6 o'clock and walked about the 
 village until 7. Afterwards accompanied three or four of 
 the ministers and students to Edge Hill, celebrated for 
 the memorable battle fought on it. On ascending the 
 summit of a tower dedicated to the memory of the battle, 
 we saw the spot which receptacled four thousand of our 
 fellow-creatures. 
 
 "April 19th. One of our missionary students has left 
 to continue his studies at Bradford under the venerable 
 Dr. Steadman. Our number is thus reduced to five, one 
 other having gone to Bristol for home service. Thus our 
 turns of writing sermons and essays for criticism, also 
 sermons to, be preached before our tutor and the 
 congregation on week evenings, in addition to those to be 
 prepared for village congregations, are more frequent. 
 Our hands are always full. Religion, I may say, flourishes 
 in this town and in the villages around. Every place in 
 which Divine service is held is filled. Nothing can be 
 more encouraging than the attendance. One of our 
 number, Mr. Mursell,* is one of the most powerful 
 preachers I have ever heard. His addresses are so 
 adapted to the understandings of the poorer people as to 
 produce a powerful effect on them. He bids fair to be a 
 very superior and popular man. These labours among 
 
 * The Rev. James Phillippo Mursell, of Leicester. 
 
 C Z 
 
The Student. [1820 
 
 cottagers are doubtless a very excellent preparation for 
 ministerial work at home and abroad, especially the latter, 
 and make me long to spend my days in some heathen 
 land." 
 
 With Mr. Mursell a very intimate friendship was 
 established, which was sealed by an exchange of names, 
 Mr. Mursell adopting the name of Phillippo, and Mr. 
 Phillippo that of Mursell. This friendship was in subse- 
 quent years a source of great comfort and strength to Mr 
 Phillippo, and was only interrupted by his death. 
 
 Mr. Phillippo's first vacation commenced on the 30th of 
 May. The slow travelling of those days enabled him to 
 enjoy the scenery on his way, of which he speaks with 
 delight. His road first led him to Oxford, where he paid 
 a brief visit to the author's parents, and then, passing on 
 to London, he made a short sojourn with his relative, the 
 Rev. J. Denham. His holidays in Norfolk were spent in 
 visiting friends, in preaching among its numerous towns 
 and villages, and in pursuing, with diligence, the studies 
 on which he had entered. He relates, with amusing 
 detail, the repetition, among a party of villagers, of the 
 examples of the Latin syntax as an illustration of his 
 skill in acquiring a foreign tongue which, as a missionary, 
 he might be called to exercise. Everywhere he kept his 
 great object in view, reading every missionary publication 
 within reach, and taking every opportunity of consulting 
 with those who had a practical knowledge of missionary 
 work. After one such interview with a retired missionary 
 from Ceylon, he says, " Mr. Griffiths gave me encourage- 
 ment to go forward. I fee) more decided than ever to 
 live and die a missionary. It is my purpose to spend the 
 residue of my years in labouring among the ' rough and 
 savage pagans of the wilderness,' rather than occupy the 
 highest position as a minister, in the crowded cities of 
 my own land, if the Lord should see fit to qualify me for 
 
1821] The Student. 
 
 this important work by the inward teachings of His Holy 
 Spirit." 
 
 On the i st of August he resumed his studies at 
 Chipping Norton. The following months were fully 
 occupied with them, only varied by an occasional visit 
 to the surrounding villages, or to more distant places, 
 for the purpose of "holding forth the Word of Life." 
 
 The vacation, commencing in April, 1821, was chiefly 
 spent at Lymington, Hants, with the family of his intimate 
 friend, Mr. Mursell. A serious illness, increased in danger 
 by exposure on the sea during a dense fog, in which the 
 party nearly perished, laid him aside for several weeks. 
 Kind care and assiduous nursing brought him safely 
 through, after which he returned to Chipping Norton to 
 complete the term of his probationary studies with the 
 Rev. William Gray. His residence with this devoted 
 servant of Christ was a period of unalloyed pleasure. 
 The small number of the students gave the party the 
 aspect of a family. They lived together as brethren and 
 friends, looking for a closer and holier fellowship in the 
 " better land " when their work was done. Under the wise 
 superintendence of their tutor, their abilities were called 
 forth, and an ardent and devout spirit of piety was 
 cherished. At the same time, cheerfulness without undue 
 levity characterised their intercourse, and the generally 
 grave demeanour of the heads of the household did not 
 weigh too oppressively on the abounding spirits of its 
 younger members. 
 
 In January, 1822, by the direction of the Secretary of 
 the Mission, Mr. Phillippo left Chipping Norton for 
 Bradford, to complete his preparations for the missionary 
 life under the able tutorship of the Rev. William Stead- 
 man, D.D., then President of the Academy at Horton. 
 Introduced by a former fellow-student at Chipping Norton, 
 Mr. E. Crook, he received a cordial welcome from the 
 
The Student. [1822 
 
 students, as well as from the venerable Doctor, and im- 
 mediately set himself, with his usual diligence, to master 
 the studies of the place. His attainments scarcely fitted 
 him for the lessons of the first class in which he was 
 placed. But by early rising and a diligent economy of time, 
 though at some cost of health, he quickly surmounted 
 this difficulty. His imperfect knowledge of Hebrew was 
 principally made up during a visit of six weeks to Rich- 
 mond, whither he was sent for rest. In the Castle walks, 
 and in the solitude of its deserted chambers, he conned 
 the grammar of the language, and mastered the first 
 chapters of Genesis, so that on his return he was able to 
 rejoin the class on equal terms, receiving the commenda- 
 tions of his tutor for his industry and perseverance. 
 
 In common with his fellow-students, he was a frequent 
 preacher in the villages and hamlets around Bradford. 
 Sometimes among the colliers their zeal and patience were 
 sorely tested by the savage conduct and blasphemous 
 language of groups of free-thinkers, infidels, and Papists, 
 with which the district was infested. At other times, odd 
 and laughable incidents would happen from the uncouth 
 patois of the people, which the students from the South 
 could not understand, while, on the other hand, their more 
 polished tongue was alike unintelligible to their grimy 
 auditors. Opposition was not confined to the lower orders. 
 At one village the lady of the squire had herself driven 
 one preacher from his stand beneath an overspreading 
 tree on the village green. On the following Sabbath Mr. 
 Phillippo, with one or two friends, undauntedly challenged 
 the same fate. A large crowd assembled to witness the 
 collision ; but the lady now sent her bailiffs. Whether 
 awed by the aspect of the people, or conscious of the 
 unworthy nature of their errand, they contented them- 
 selves with observing the order of the service, and, after 
 listening for a time to the earnest appeals of the student- 
 
1 822 J The Student. 23 
 
 preacher to the consciences of his hearers, they left the 
 assembly in peace. The " liberty of prophesying " thus 
 vindicated, eventually led to the formation of a prosperous 
 Wesleyan community and the erection of a chapel very 
 near the spot where the first preacher was so roughly 
 treated. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HIS DESIGNATION— 1823. 
 
 In the autumn of the year 1823, Mr. Phillippo received 
 a communication from Mr. Dyer informing him that the 
 Committee had fixed on the Island of Jamaica as the 
 sphere of his labours, which also was the destination of 
 his friends Phillips and Burchell, whose student-life had 
 been passed in Bristol. The East Indies had for the 
 most part occupied his thoughts ; but he cheerfully and 
 gratefully at once submitted to the wishes of the Com- 
 mittee. It was ever a consolation to him to feel, in 
 hours of difficulty and depression, that his lot was not 
 chosen by him but for him. He was assured that God, by 
 the hands of His servants, had placed him where he was. 
 It was clear to his mind that it was his duty there to stay, 
 until Providence, by an equally emphatic missive, directed 
 his removal from itwf' 
 
 The time fixed for his departure was the month of 
 November, and the period of preparation was short. The 
 designation service was fixed for Wednesday, the 23rd 
 September. A very large congregation assembled in 
 Westgate Chapel, Bradford, to assist at the solemn service, 
 the particulars of which were afterwards published in an 
 interesting pamphlet.* It may be well to give in some 
 
 * Entitled, " Services at the Designation of Mr. James Phillippo as 
 a Missionary to the Island of Jamaica. Bradford, in Yorkshire, Sep- 
 tember 24th, 1823." 
 
1823] His Designation. 25 
 
 detail the order of the service, and the more so that 
 in later times the early practice of Baptist churches on 
 the ordination of a minister to his charge has been laid 
 aside, probably to the detriment of the pastoral office 
 itself, by depriving it of that solemnity and gravity which 
 should mark a pastor's entrance on his responsible work. 
 The Rev. J. Acworth, M.A., of Leeds, commenced by 
 reading the Scriptures and offering prayer. The Rev. B. 
 Godwin, Mr. Phillippo's classical tutor, delivered the 
 introductory discourse and proposed the questions. The 
 Rev. I. Mann, M.A., of Shipley, offered the ordination 
 prayer, accompanied with the laying on of hands. The 
 Rev. Dr. Steadman addressed the charge to Mr. 
 Phillippo ; and the Rev. R. Pool, Independent minister of 
 Kipping, concluded with prayer. Of these venerable men 
 only Dr. Acworth lingers amongst us, the calm evening 
 of whose life is brightened by the assured hope of a 
 glorious immortality in the presence of the Lord, in whose 
 service he has so long been honourably employed. The 
 others have left behind them recollections fragrant with 
 the holy memory of eminent devotedness and success in 
 the vineyard of their Master and Lord. In introducing 
 the service, Dr. Acworth said : " We profess not by this 
 service to convey to Mr. Phillippo any powers, or to 
 confer on him any qualifications which he does not 
 already possess ; our object is simply to show our cordial 
 approbation of him as a person suitably qualified for 
 this important undertaking, and to unite in commending 
 him to the blessing and protection of God in fervent 
 prayer." After this disclaimer of all sacerdotal privilege 
 or character, the preacher went on to speak of the 
 missionary enterprise itself. He pointed out how con- 
 genial missionary efforts are with the spirit and genius of 
 Christianity. " Christianity," he said, " is like the vital 
 air, or the light of heaven, needed by all, and suited to all. 
 
26 His Designation. ['823 
 
 In its invitations it is unlimited, and its promises make 
 no distinction of sex, or age, or station, or country, or 
 colour. Every Christian feeling prompts to exertions of 
 this kind. In our endeavour for the extension of the 
 Kingdom of Christ we are acting in accordance with the 
 plans and purposes of God. We are treading in the steps 
 of the apostolic churches and primitive Christians." Then, 
 turning to the youthful minister, he thus described his 
 character: — "In religion he is no novice; his piety has 
 been for years unquestionable. For some time, he has 
 given up all secular engagements to devote himself 
 entirely to the study of the Scriptures and the acquisition 
 of useful learning ; and his progress has been satisfactory. 
 His general conduct has been such as to give us no 
 apprehension for the future. And we all, who have 
 known him, have witnessed the deep interest he has 
 taken in all that relates to the salvation of the heathen, 
 the animation which the subject of missions has always 
 produced, and the sacred ardour which has appeared to 
 glow in his breast without interruption, determining him 
 to live and die in the work of the missionary." 
 
 The following were the questions which Mr. Godwi 1 
 then addressed to Mr. Phillippo, and to which, with con- 
 siderable fulness of detail, he replied : — 
 
 " 1. We shall be glad to hear an account of your con- 
 version to God. 2. Will you give us a brief outline 
 of your views of Divine Truth? 3. Will you state the 
 motives which induce you to engage in the work of a 
 Christian missionary, and your views of this important 
 undertaking ? " 
 
 The replies were eminently satisfactory ; a few sen- 
 tences from the answer to the final question will suffice 
 to show the spirit in which Mr. Phillippo was entering 
 on the work of his life. 
 
 " My desires for this work arise from the firm and 
 
1823] His Designation. 27 
 
 decided convictions of my judgment, my thoughts having 
 for seven years, in a greater or less degree, been exercised 
 on the subject. Much less am I induced to engage in so 
 arduous an employ, from a vain opinion of my self- 
 sufficiency ; for God, who knows my heart, knoweth that 
 at this moment I deeply feel my weakness. I esteem 
 myself ' less than the least of all saints,' and only a babe 
 in all the important qualifications requisite for the work. 
 Had it not been for the persuasion that, more especially 
 to display the exceeding greatness of His power in the 
 accomplishment of the mightiest of His designs, God has 
 often chosen the ' foolish things of the world, and things 
 that are despised,' I had long abandoned the undertaking 
 in despair. 
 
 ** The work of a missionary, I am aware, is arduous. I 
 am sensible I shall need much wisdom, much faith, much 
 patience, much devotedness to God, and love to precious 
 souls ; and, when I reflect on the small proportion of every 
 Christian grace that I possess, I am discouraged. The 
 sacrifices I must make, and the difficulties I must en- 
 counter, I have also steadily contemplated ; but, implicitly 
 depending on Almighty aid, none of these things move me, 
 neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I may 
 finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have 
 received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the 
 grace of God." w 
 
 Dr. Steadman next entered the pulpit, and, with the 
 following impressive words, the venerable tutor dismissed 
 his scholar to his chosen work : — 
 
 " By this time you are probably led to exclaim — Who is 
 sufficient for these things ? In reply, let me entreat you 
 to remember that He who appointed the Apostle to his 
 course of service said to him, and that upon a very trying 
 occasion, ' My grace is sufficient for thee.' He says 
 the same to you, and will not fail to make good His 
 
28 His Designation. [ l8z 3 
 
 /declaration. To Him, therefore, let your eyes be directed. 
 If you are ready to faint, look up to Him to encourage 
 you — if your views of His Gospel be confined and un- 
 animating, look to Him to enlarge and invigorate them — 
 if your love to Him wax cold, look to Him to quicken and 
 enflame it — if you are at a stand as to the path you must 
 pursue, look to Him to direct your steps — if obstacles 
 to success seem insurmountable, look to Him for the 
 removal of them — if dangers and death surround you on 
 every hand, look to Him to inspire you with courage 
 superior to them, to enable you to feel safe under His 
 protection, to resign your immortal spirit into His hands, 
 and to triumph in the prospect of the 'crown of righteous- 
 ness laid up for you, and for all those that love His 
 appearing.'" 
 
 It was a solemn moment, and the impression of 
 it left an abiding mark on the future life of Mr. 
 Phillippo. 
 
 One other necessary preparation had to be made — his 
 marriage. While yet a student at Chipping Norton he 
 had met with the lady who ultimately became his wife. 
 A strong affection ensued, and a few days before his 
 departure he was united to Miss Hannah Selina Cecil at 
 the parish church of her native place. This union was 
 followed by a long and happy life of conjugal blessedness. 
 Mr. Phillippo found in his bride one every way calculated 
 to hold up his hands in his arduous and successful 
 career. 
 
 In the following lines from a well-known poem on the 
 life of a missionary, Mr. Phillippo records the feelings 
 with which he entered on his course : — 
 
 " Henceforth, then, 
 It matters not if storm or sunshine be 
 My earthly lot ; bitter or sweet my cup ; 
 I only pray — God fit me for the work ; 
 
l2$~\ His Designation. 29 
 
 God make me holy, and my spirit nerve 
 
 For the stem hour of strife. Let me but know 
 
 There is an arm unseen that holds me up, 
 
 An eye that kindly watches all my path 
 
 Till I my weary pilgrimage have done ; 
 
 Let me but know I have a Friend that waits 
 
 To welcome me to glory ; — and I joy 
 
 To tread the dark and death-fraught wilderness." 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE VOYAGE— 1823. 
 
 On Wednesday, the 29th of October, Mr. and Mrs. Phillippo 
 sailed from Gravesend in the congenial company of Mr. 
 and Mrs. Phillips. Mr. Phillips had been a fellow-student 
 at Chipping Norton. The name of the vessel was the 
 Ocean, bound for Honduras, and was the property of a 
 well-known friend of the Mission, Mr. G. Fife Angus, by 
 whom a free passage was given them to their destination. 
 They found in Captain Whittle a courteous and Christian 
 friend, who, during an imprisonment at Arras, in France, 
 was instrumental in the conversion of the Rev. Thomas 
 Godden, the predecessor of Mr. Phillippo in his work at 
 Spanish Town. Mr. Godden, in early life, had entered 
 the Royal Navy. After several years' service his naval 
 career was brought to an end by the ship to which he 
 belonged falling a prey to a French cruiser. A captivity 
 of eight years followed, in which he met with Captain 
 Whittle, like himself a prisoner of war, and by him Mr. 
 Godden was led to the Saviour. The voyage began un- 
 favourably. The weather was gloomy, the accommodation 
 on board inconvenient. They were also ill-prepared for 
 the gale which sprang up in the night, and detained them 
 for days tossing about in the Downs. Such was the fury 
 of the storm that several vessels were driven from their 
 moorings, among which the large ship bound for Portugal 
 that had on board the celebrated Don Miguel was in great 
 jeopardy for many hours. 
 
1 823 J The Voyage. 31 
 
 With a calmer sea the Ocean trimmed her sails, quickly 
 passed down the Channel, and crossed the dreaded Bay of 
 Biscay in fine weather. Madeira was reached without any 
 special incident. The monotony of the voyage was 
 pleasantly varied by converse, and by study and religious 
 exercises, and in recording the impressions which the 
 changing aspects of the sea and sky were calculated to 
 produce. The mind of Mr. Phillippo was from his 
 earliest years peculiarly susceptible of the beauties of 
 nature, and his diaries frequently contain sketches of the 
 scenery through which, in his many journeys, he passed. 
 Thus, in the latitude of the trade-winds, he speaks of the 
 " beauty of repose upon the sea " created by " the un- 
 intermitting sunshine." The world of waters, spread out 
 on every side, "was tinted with lines of most delicate 
 colour. Pathways of beryl, emerald, amethyst, and pearl 
 were traced upon the surface of the deep, sometimes 
 stirred by a flood of restless and insufferable lustre 
 poured forth by the orb of day," and he thought of that 
 crystal sea which is ever before the throne of God and 
 the Lamb. 
 
 Proceeding Southward, the night watches disclosed a 
 new heaven to his excited gaze. Its calm depths, in- 
 tensely blue and gloriously bright, revealed innumerable 
 stars unknown to dwellers in Northern latitudes. One 
 night he relates how the constellations seemed to glow 
 with unusual splendour. " Jupiter and Saturn appeared 
 nearly touching each other, shining with a steady lustre 
 in the north-east. In the zenith and in the north the 
 fixed stars were sown so thickly that they seemed to 
 twinkle all at once, and the galaxy gleamed beyond them, 
 as it were the twilight of eternity. It was a spectacle of 
 wonder and beauty, whose silence spoke to the soul in 
 language that may be felt, but not uttered. I forgot 
 everything entirely for the time. The hope of immortality 
 
32 The Voyage. [1823 
 
 carried adoring thoughts to the footstool of the throne of 
 Him who liveth for ever and ever." On such evenings 
 the friends would linger on deck till a late hour, often 
 giving relief to their feelings in sacred song, ming- 
 ling therewith thoughts of home, of the dear ones left 
 behind, and of the unknown life that awaited them in the 
 land towards which their eyes were ever turned. 
 
 The course of the vessel gave the voyagers a sight of 
 the varied, but grand and fertile, scenery of the islands of 
 Guadaloupe, Antigua, and Porto Rico, and on the 18th 
 December the Blue Mountains of Jamaica were seen on 
 the horizon. The majestic heights of this magnificent 
 range were before them, distinct and clear, as though cut 
 out on the dark blue sky. On the following day they 
 reached land at Point Morant. They were soon boarded 
 by negro boatmen, who demanded exorbitant fares to 
 carry them ashore. With some trouble they at length 
 landed, and were glad to accept the hospitality of a 
 Scotch gentleman, a storekeeper of the place. The 
 readiness of their reception for a moment made them 
 imagine they were the guests of an hotel-keeper, but 
 they soon found that, then as now, hotel accommodation 
 is rarely to be met with in Jamaica. The owner of the 
 house was absent, but, returning in the evening, he gave 
 them a warm welcome. Early the following morning, 
 after a bountiful breakfast, they started for Kingston, 
 forty miles distant, by boat, laden by their host with fresh 
 fruit and other necessaries for the long day's voyage 
 before them. Mr. Phillippo writes : — " The sea was calm, 
 the land breeze having died away, and the early freshness 
 of the day was most delightful. We beguiled the 
 tediousness of the way by singing favourite hymns, 
 reciting pieces of sacred poetry, but especially by 
 observations on the novelty, the beauty, and the magnifi- 
 cence of the coast scenery. A flood of glory was shed 
 
1823] The Voyage. 33 
 
 over the entire landscape at noon, but towards evening 
 the spectacle of splendour gradually diminished, the 
 atmosphere became dense, the brightness of the sunset 
 faded away, and a blue mist rose from the sea and 
 enveloped us on every side." The haze partially con- 
 cealed from them the long spit of land known as The 
 Palisades, which closes in the harbour of Kingston. It 
 was dark as they rowed by the gibbeted bodies of a 
 notorious gang of pirates that had lately infested these 
 seas, but about nine o'clock they safely landed under the 
 guns of the fort of Pore Royal. " The cheering of the 
 sailors," says Mr. Phillippo, "the lights from the ship- 
 ping and the shore, made us, for a moment, think that our 
 passage from England was a dream." 
 
 " On landing we were taken," he continues, " to the house 
 of a respectable widow of colour, a Mrs. Thomas, a 
 member of the Baptist church at Kingston. The house was 
 soon crowded with coloured people. We were welcomed 
 with the liveliest cordiality by our hostess and her pious 
 friends. Among them was a Mrs. Freeman, a good old black 
 woman, well known among sailors who visit this port from 
 England and elsewhere for her generous kindness in 
 poverty and sickness. On the following morning, the 21st 
 December, being the Sabbath, we were taken in a boat to 
 Kingston by two black men, members of the East Queen 
 Street Church, and conducted to the mission-house, forcing 
 our way through the dense masses that thronged the market- 
 place, almost stunned by the loud vociferations of the 
 traffickers. We were soon visited by brethren Tinson and 
 Thomas Knibb and their wives, Mr. and Mrs. Coultart, the 
 missionaries of the station, being then in England. At 
 eleven o'clock we attended the service, Mr. Knibb 
 preaching in the morning, and Mr. Tinson in the 
 afternoon, to immense congregations. Both of them, 
 by their pale appearance, impressed us unfavourably 
 
34 The Voyage. [1823 
 
 with regard to, the climate in which we were about 
 to live." 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Phillippo remained in Kingston till 
 Christmas-day was past, when they left the companions of 
 their voyage in charge of the station, which arrangement 
 continued till the arrival of Mr. Coultart in the following 
 April. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 SETTLEMENT AT SPANISH TOWN— 1824. 
 
 The Christmas carnival over, Mr. Phillippo on the next 
 day paid his first visit to Spanish Town, to which station 
 he had been appointed by the Committee of the 
 Missionary Society, and which he continued to occupy till 
 within two or three years of his departure, at a good old 
 age, to his rest. The ancient name of the place was St. 
 Jago de la Vega. It was at that time the capital of the 
 island, which it continued to be till a few years ago, when 
 the Government offices were removed to Kingston. Mr. 
 Phillippo has left on record the following description of 
 the city in his interesting work on Jamaica : — 
 
 "Spanish Town is situated on the banks of the Rio 
 Cobre, nearly at the extremity of a noble plain, bounded 
 by the Cedar Valley Mountains on the N. and N.W., and 
 is six miles distant from the sea at Port Henderson and 
 Passage Fort. A large square occupies the centre of the 
 town, formed by public buildings in the Spanish American 
 style, which are extensive, and display considerable 
 architectural taste. Government House, including 
 beneath the same roof the Council Chamber, the Court of 
 Chancery, and various other offices, occupies the whole of 
 the west side. It was erected by the colonists at a cost 
 of ^"50,000. A range of equal extent, called the House 
 of Assembly, but which includes the County Court-house, 
 and the offices of judicial and other functionaries, stands 
 directly opposite. At one end of the northern range is 
 
 d 2 
 
36 Settlement at Spanish Town. [1824 
 
 the Arsenal and Guard-house ; at the other, the offices of 
 the Island Secretary, connected by a temple that contains 
 a statue of Lord Rodney, erected in commemoration of 
 his victory over the French fleet in 1782, and a beautiful 
 semi-circular colonnade. A range on the south side 
 contains magnificent rooms for public amusement, and 
 offices for miscellaneous public purposes. A considerable 
 portion of the area thus formed contains a garden in 
 beautiful order, intersected by gravel walks, ornamented 
 by choice trees, flowers, and shrubs, and protected from 
 spoliation by elegant palisades. The barracks, the 
 church, the Wesleyan chapel, and the premises of the 
 Baptist Missionary Society, in addition to a few beautiful 
 villas that adorn the suburbs of the town, are the principal 
 objects of attraction to the stranger. The population is 
 estimated at about 10,000." * 
 
 The mission premises referred to were not the buildings 
 that awaited his occupation in 1824. On entering 
 Spanish Town, he found the streets crowded with 
 Christmas revellers, whose hideous yells and revolting 
 attitudes, with the rough music of their African ancestry, 
 deafened the ears of the missionary and his companions 
 as they almost forced their way to the mission-house. An 
 unsightly brick wall formed an enclosure (once the 
 artillery ground) containing a dwelling of two rooms 
 with a piazza. It was inconvenient and dirty, and the 
 walls of the dilapidated interior were daubed with lamp- 
 black as a protection to the eyes of a former occupant. 
 Miserable as was the outlook, Mr. and Mrs. Phillippo set 
 to work with characteristic courage, and soon rendered 
 the place fairly habitable. 
 
 These were not the qriginal premises of the mission. 
 
 * "Jamaica : its Past and Present State," by James M. Phillippo, of 
 Spanis.ll Town, Jamaica (London: John Snow ; 1843), p. 63. 
 
1824] Settlement at Spanish Town. 37 
 
 They had been purchased as a temporary residence on 
 the burning down of the mission-house, by an incendiary 
 hand, on the evening of the 17th July, 1820. The station 
 owed its origin to the labours of the Rev. Thomas Godden, 
 who came to Spanish Town in April, 18 19. At first, he 
 was not permitted openly to preach the Gospel ; but, 
 having obtained a licence, on the nth of the following 
 July he preached for the first time from the words, 
 " What think ye of Christ ? " 
 
 His congregations were immediately large. The en- 
 thusiasm of the people was beyond description. In the 
 early part of the following year a considerable number of 
 persons were baptized, and a church was formed with 
 every token of prosperity. Mr. Godden's labours were, 
 however, soon interrupted by sickness, which was greatly 
 increased by his narrow escape from being burnt in his 
 bed on the night of the fire, and by the early death of his 
 wife. In 1823 he was compelled to return to England, 
 shortly after which he expired at Lawrence Hill, near 
 Bristol, " faithful unto death." 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Phillippo were scarcely settled in their 
 wretched habitation, when the difficulties of the work 
 began to make themselves felt. From a very early period, 
 the planters had shown a most determined hostility to the 
 propagation of the Gospel among their slaves. But the 
 first organised effort to stop the work took place in 1802, 
 when a Mr. Taylor, of the parish of Trelawney, by his 
 influence with the House of Assembly, obtained an " Act 
 to prevent preaching by persons not duly qualified by 
 law," which was at once approved by the Lieutenant- 
 Governor, Nugent.* The Act was disallowed by the home 
 authorities, amidst the bitter remonstrances and indigna- 
 
 * " History of Jamaica," by W. J. Gardner (London : Stock; 1873), 
 
 P-348 
 
38 Settlement at Spanish Town. [1824 
 
 tion of the planters, but not before several Wesleyan 
 ministers had been silenced. Other similar attempts to 
 repress the Word of God followed, in the teeth of the 
 strongly expressed orders of the English Government to 
 the Governors of Jamaica to veto all such measures. But 
 in 1823 this hostility assumed a form of more than usual 
 virulence. It sprang out of the action taken by Mr. 
 Thomas Fowell Buxton in the House of Commons. In 
 March of that year that eminent man brought forward 
 a resolution declaring that slavery was repugnant to the 
 principles of the British Constitution and of the Christian 
 religion, and that it ought to be gradually abolished 
 throughout the British dominions. It was not adopted, 
 but a resolution of a similar, though less comprehensive, 
 kind was carried by Mr. Canning and commended by 
 him to the consideration of the colonial legislature. 
 
 " This mild recommendation was received," says Mr. 
 Phillippo, " with indignation, and finally rejected with 
 contempt and scorn. Ebullitions of feeling against the 
 missionaries of different denominations, but against the 
 Baptist missionaries in particular, were now more violent 
 than ever. They were denounced by the white portion of 
 the populace, by the press, and by the colonial legisla- 
 ture as being in league with the Anti-Slavery Society, by 
 whom the Government was instigated to effect their ruin. 
 They were frequently cited before Committees of the 
 House of Assembly for the most coutemptible of purposes, 
 harassed with warrants for not serving in the militia, cir- 
 cumscribed and impeded by oppressive laws, and treated 
 with all the indignity and virulence which prejudice and 
 mortified tyranny could dictate." 
 
 It was in this state of affairs that Mr. Phillippo 
 presented himself to the authorities to ask permis- 
 sion to. preach. He laid before them at a court of 
 quarter sessions his credentials from the Society, the 
 
1824] Settlement at Spanish Town. 30, 
 
 recommendations of his brother missionaries, together 
 with the testimony of an excellent Christian gentleman 
 residing in Spanish Town, Major Anderson, of the 91st 
 Regiment. Two of the three magistrates present angrily 
 objected to grant the licence, on the frivolous ground 
 that the signatures on the paper were not accompanied by 
 the seals of the signatories. Notwithstanding the re- 
 monstrances of the Chairman, who was the Custos of the 
 parish, the licence was peremptorily refused. To return 
 home to England, baffled in his object, Mr. Phillippo was 
 resolved not to do, even though, as he told the magis- 
 trates, he were made to wait seven years for their 
 permission.* The scandalous conduct of the majority 
 of the bench was reflected in the insulting language and 
 demeanour of K the attendants in the court. 
 
 Four or five months necessarily elapsed, in those days 
 of sailing vessels, before another certificate, having the 
 names and seals of the leading ministers of the denomi- 
 nation, was received from England. It was imme'diately 
 taken to the Custos, who at once pronounced it satisfactory, 
 and gave Mr. Phillippo leave to preach till the next sessions 
 
 * It may be well to preserve the following characteristic account of 
 this incident, taken from a colonial paper, under date of July io, 1824 : — 
 
 " At a court of quarter sessions, held in this town on Tuesday, an 
 application was made by the Rev. James Phillippo, a Baptist mission- 
 ary, for leave to preach in this parish, but the documents he produced, 
 being without a known seal or signature, were considered unsatisfac- 
 tory, and leave was refused. He was informed that, in the present 
 perilous state of these colonies, it became the duty of the magistrates 
 to be extremely cautious in granting such permissions ; more especially 
 as many of the sectaries in the mother country had declared their 
 avowed intention of effecting our ruin, and had united in becoming 
 publicly and clamorously the justifiers of such a man as Smith, whose 
 seditious practices in Demerara had been proved by the clearest 
 evidence. The papers now produced had several signatures, all, no 
 doubt, sectaries, and, in all probability, ranking among the number of 
 our enemies. Such questionable recommendations could not be 
 
Settlement at Spanish Town. [i gz 4 
 
 were held. The congregations were large, the people 
 animated with hope, and the prospects cheering. They 
 were, however, doomed to disappointment. , Amid the 
 insults of the clerk of the peace, and the supercilious 
 sneers of a crowded auditory, Mr. Phillippo presented his 
 new credentials to the court. But the document was again 
 contemptuously rejected. It was declared to be nothing 
 better than waste paper, being without the sanction and 
 seal of the Lord Mayor of London ! If the result gave 
 pleasure to those connected with the planting interest, 
 the coloured and black people were smitten with grief. 
 Many wept aloud. Prayer-meetings and religious services 
 were set up and multiplied in private houses, until more 
 months elapsed and the required affidavits were procured. 
 Meanwhile, further annoyances were in store • for the 
 missionary. Though seriously ill, he was suddenly 
 arrested by two young officers of the militia, on a 
 summons that he had not, according to law, enrolled 
 himself in the militia.. The president of the court would 
 not listen to the plea that he was a minister of the Gospel. 
 He was enrolled and dismissed amid the jeers of the officers 
 present. Three months' leave of absence was granted 
 
 attended to, nor any but such as came supported by authorised seals 
 and well-known signatures. We sincerely hope this example will be 
 followed throughout the island, for there never was a time when more 
 caution was required from the magistrates. The fears we have for 
 some time laboured under, from the efforts of the saints and sectaries 
 in England, seconded by many of our mistaken friends, have induced 
 us to be much too easy in permitting preachers and teachers of all 
 descriptions to be introduced among us, greatly to the injury of the 
 slaves ; and it would, perhaps, be a very useful inquiry, in every 
 parish, to ascertain the reduction in comforts they have experienced by 
 the fasts imposed upon them, and the moneys they are obliged to 
 contribute, out of their slender means, towards the support of their 
 teachers. This is a consideration which, in the end, may prove, per- 
 haps, of as much importance to the welfare of the island as the 
 suppression even of seditious practice? ." 
 
1824] Settlement at Spanish Town. • 41 
 
 him; but, as the term expired before the arrival of the 
 Lord Mayor's seal, he was again summoned. On this 
 occasion, the marshal of the regiment came to the Lord's- 
 day morning service, and, flourishing the warrant* in the 
 preacher's face, demanded his immediate surrender, or the 
 payment of the fine. The attitude of the congregation seems 
 to have cowed this boisterous and insulting agent of the law, 
 and he retired, threatening the next day either to carry 
 Mr. Phillippo to gaol, or to levy the fine on his goods. 
 Two attempts were made to free Mr. Phillippo from 
 militia duty, and a protection order was at length obtained 
 from the Governor, the Duke of Manchester ; but it was 
 not till the court which sat on the 7th January, 1825, when 
 his credentials, attested by Lord Mayor Waithman's 
 signature and seal, were presented, that the licence, which 
 could no longer be refused, was duly granted, to the ex- 
 treme vexation of his antagonists. " How," says Mr. 
 Phillippo, " shall I describe the scene which followed ! 
 Crowds pressed onward along the streets towards the 
 mission premises, and I was received by the multitude 
 with clamorous congratulations and unbounded expres- 
 sions of joy. The whole of the morning had been spent 
 
 * It may be interesting to preserve this curious document. It runs 
 thus : — 
 
 "Jamaica. St. Catharine. 
 "You are hereby authorised to require and levy on the goods and 
 chattels of James Phillippo, private of the Light Infantry Company, the 
 sum of 20s., being due for absence at a muster on the nth of Decem- 
 ber, being for the said offence, and for default of goods and chattels 
 whereon a levy can be made, to take his body to the common gaol, 
 there to remain, without bail or mainprize, for the space of twenty- 
 four hours, agreeable to the militia law now in force. 
 
 " Given under my hand and seal, this nth day of December, in the 
 year of our Lord, One thousand eight hundred and twenty-four. 
 " To Mr. D. Fonseca, "J. G. JACKSON, Col. 
 
 "St. Cath. Regt." 
 
42 Settlement at Spanish Town. [1824. 
 
 by the church in fasting and prayer, and the day was closed 
 with thanksgiving and praise. On the following Sabbath I 
 commenced my stated labours, after a delay of upwards of 
 twelve months, with audiences that crowded the chapel 
 and the premises around." 
 
 The weary months of waiting had not been wasted. 
 Mr. Phillippo had begun the preparations for a new 
 chapel. He had also announced his intention of opening 
 a school, and in the course of a few days after his 
 advertisement appeared he received numerous applica- 
 tions for admission, among which were twenty from 
 Jewish parents, Jews forming a numerous and influential 
 portion of the Jamaica community. A Sabbath-school 
 and a Bible-class were formed. He had also visited the 
 neighbouring towns, preaching wherever the prohibition 
 was either not known or not regarded. Nor was he 
 without the discipline of sorrow, arising from the illness of 
 himself and his dear wife, and the trial which befell them 
 in the death of their eldest child. Nevertheless, amidst 
 every discouragement and trial, his faith failed not. He 
 felt that he was " in the Lord's hand, to live or to die as 
 might be His will." 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 COMMENCEMENT OF REGULAR LABOURS— 
 
 1825 TO 1826. 
 
 With the opening of the year 1825, Mr. Phillippo was 
 able to devote himself, without fear of any further claim 
 upon him for military duty, to the great object of his life. 
 A despatch from the Colonial Secretary, Earl Bathurst, 
 was received, giving instructions that not only Mr. 
 Phillippo, but all ministers of religion, and all school- 
 masters sent out by Christian societies at home, should be 
 held free from militia service and from attendance on juries 
 throughout the colonies. Not that Mr. Phillippo was entirely 
 free from molestation or from many petty annoyances within 
 the reach of the enemies of the Gospel. One day he was 
 informed that the rector of the parish had made an 
 affidavit before the magistrates that he had interfered 
 with his rights and duties as chaplain of the gaol, by 
 visiting a poor man under sentence of death, although it 
 was done at the convict's own request. The excitement 
 of this incident had hardly subsided before Mr. Phillippo 
 was brought before the bench of magistrates for harbour- 
 ing persons (that is, slaves) on the mission premises 
 before six o'clock in the morning and after sunset in the 
 evening. The occasion was a public baptism on the 
 premises. Soon after he was cited again on a similar 
 charge of baptizing in the river Rio Cobre. Indeed 
 scarcely a month passed without a summons to meet some 
 frivolous complaint of violating law or order. 
 
44 Commencement of Regular Labours. j_ 1 825 
 
 Towards the close of the year the hostility of the so- 
 called " aristocracy of Jamaica " culminated in the 
 passing of a new slave law by the House of Assembly. It 
 was styled in the original motion : " An Ordinance to 
 prevent the profanation of religious rites, and of false 
 worshipping of God, under pretence of preaching and 
 teaching by illiterate and ill-disposed persons, and the 
 mischief consequent thereupon." It was, in fact, a revival 
 of an old law first enacted in 18 16. 
 
 "The object of one section," writes Mr. Phillippo, 
 " was said to be to show to the religious, or ' Religio- 
 Politico Missionaries,' that the magistrates had not only 
 power to prevent their prostituting Christianity for the 
 purposes of sedition, and to forewarn their audiences of 
 the serious evils that contumacy and resistance bring upon 
 them, but to prevent the slaves from contributing their 
 own money and other means for religious objects, and the 
 missionaries from receiving it from them under a heavy 
 penalty.'' 
 
 On the motion of Mr. Buxton in the House of 
 Commons this law was vetoed by Mr. Canning, who was 
 then Prime Minister. This exercise of Royal authority 
 was met by the planting interest with an outbreak of 
 wrath and bitterness, and an attempt to pass yet more 
 cruel and oppressive enactments. It was Mr. Canning's 
 wish to give the owners of slaves time to prepare for 
 the inevitable period of emancipation. But, in a violent 
 address of the Assembly to the King, they declared that 
 " it was a false assumption that the slaves were either ill- 
 treated or unhappy. They recapitulated their own 
 sufferings, as planters, in consequence of English wars 
 and war duties ; said they had never taken an oath of 
 allegiance to the English Parliament, and would not 
 submit to the degradation of having their internal affairs 
 regulated by a body whose power in Great Britain was 
 
1825] Commencement of Regular Labours. 45 
 
 not greater than their own in Jamaica." * Such lofty 
 language and undisguised threats of rebellion we shall 
 find recurring again and again during the struggle for the 
 destruction of slavery, which had now earnestly begun. 
 
 The difficulties of his position did not, however, deter 
 Mr. Phillippo from prosecuting with untiring energy his 
 plans for the erection of a chapel suitable to the wants of 
 the station ; and truly it was greatly needed. " The Word 
 of God was not bound." Crowded audiences wherever he 
 preached evinced the intense desire of the slaves for the 
 knowledge of the consoling truths of the Gospel. On the 
 6th of November, he writes to his mother-in-law : — " My 
 congregation increases astonishingly. Last Sabbath 
 evening there were more hearers outside than within. 
 The school also prospers beyond my most sanguine 
 expectations. The present number of scholars is 150, 
 forty of whom are children of Jewish parents, and it is not 
 a little surprising that almost all voluntarily attend the 
 Sunday-school, which is now very large and prosperous, 
 and practically superintended by my dear wife. ' Oh, for a 
 heart to praise my God ! ' My dear wife is at present in 
 good health. We are not only both of us happy in our 
 work, but also in ourselves." 
 
 In urging on the Secretary of the Society that he should 
 receive some aid from home towards the erection of the 
 large structure he required to accommodate his growing 
 congregation, he says : — "I conscientiously declare that I 
 never ascend the pulpit but at the risk of my life. I am 
 in a tropical climate, a small place of worship, the pulpit 
 only two feet from the floor, and my head nearly touching 
 the ceiling, a congregation literally packed together, some 
 standing on the pulpit stairs even to the top ; the rays of 
 the sun piercing through the shattered roof, not a breath 
 
 * Gardner s History, p. 259. 
 
46 Commencement of Regular Labours. [1825 
 
 of air stirring, every avenue to its admission stopped up 
 by the crowds — all this, from which you must be 
 convinced that the heat must be almost insupportable and 
 the disadvantages in other respects incalculable. I assure 
 you I feel it to be so. On going into my chamber after 
 having exerted myself to make all the people hear, I have 
 felt myself so enfeebled by excessive perspiration that I 
 have been hardly able to stand. For two or three days 
 afterwards I have felt the effects. I am sure if the Com- 
 mittee knew all the circumstances, they would never let it 
 be said that the cause at Spanish Town droops, and that 
 Mr. Phillippo is dead, for the sake of a few hundred 
 pounds." 
 
 If further reasons were required, they might be found in 
 the constantly increasing number of the members of the 
 church. On Mr. Phillippo's arrival the church consisted 
 of about two hundred and fifty persons, all black people, 
 with the exception of three or four white and brown persons.' 
 In the course of the year 1825, he added many more. 
 Thus, on the 1st of May, he records the baptism of sixty 
 candidates,* besides some forty others in an earlier month. 
 
 The appeal was not in vain. Considerable sums were 
 received from England ; and he tells us, " I was much 
 engaged in collecting funds for the erection of the new 
 chapel. In addition to monthly contributions by the 
 people, I obtained, by personal application to the most 
 respectable inhabitants of the town, upwards of ^490 
 currency, several of them my former opponents."! Jt is 
 
 • One of the persons baptized was a well-proportioned, intelligent 
 black man, perfectly blind, who, with all his companions on the slave 
 ship, had been cruelly deprived of sight to prevent their rising in 
 mutiny, on the appearance of some symptoms of resistance during the 
 passage. 
 
 t Mr. Phillippo notes that £10 14s. 4d. currency was given by an 
 old Court House antagonist 
 
1825] Commencement of Regular Labours. 47 
 
 gratifying to see that at this early period of his missionary 
 career the Christian, courteous demeanour and strict 
 integrity of Mr. Phillippo had won general respect and 
 esteem, even from many of his adversaries. He soon 
 obtained sufficient means to justify him in proceeding to 
 build, and the memorial-stone of the new chapel was laid 
 on the 13th of November. "Very interesting and impressive 
 services," he says, " were conducted on the occasion by 
 brethren Coultart and Tinson, and listened to with great 
 apparent attention and interest by the very large assemblage 
 on the occasion." Thebuilding was planned of large dimen- 
 sions, of red brick, and estimated to cost ^5,400 currency, 
 exclusive of furniture and the enclosure of the premises by 
 a wall and railing. Slaves, under his daily superintendence, 
 were almost entirely employed in its erection, giving the 
 time they could spare from the cultivation of their own 
 provision grounds. 
 
 From the commencement of his work in Jamaica, Mr. 
 Phillippo had been impressed with the importance of 
 education as an invaluable instrument in the elevation of 
 the people, and as necessary to prepare them for freedom. 
 He therefore lost no time in laying the foundation of an 
 institution which later on became a very prominent 
 branch of his labours. Some years afterwards he thus- 
 records its commencement : — " On or about the 5th of May 
 I established a private school and a Lancastrian school. 
 The one for the education of scholars in the higher 
 departments of elementary knowledge, classical and 
 literary, admitted on regular terms (of payment), which was 
 conducted by myself. The other for the gratuitous 
 instruction of children of the poorer classes, slave and 
 free. On the first public advertisement of my purpose, 
 and for months — I may say years — the press poured out 
 torrents of abuse from day tp day, attributing to me the 
 basest motives, and as acting under the influence of a 
 
48 Commencement of Regular Labours. [1825 
 
 pseudo-philanthropic crew who sought the aggrandisement 
 of themselves by destroying the institutions of the country 
 and jeopardising the lives of the colonists. Some of the 
 most influential inhabitants of the town actually called to 
 remonstrate with me, saying I was about to revolutionise 
 the country by attempting to put the slaves on an equality 
 with white men, rendering them discontented with their 
 condition." One gentleman of high position, finding 
 remonstrances with the husband inefficacious, actually 
 visited Mrs. Phillippo to urge her to stop him in the 
 dangerous course he had resolved to pursue. The school 
 was opened under the charge of a young man whose 
 salary, as well as the cost of the necessary furniture of the 
 school-room, was provided from the receipts of the high 
 school. After a few months the health of the teacher 
 broke down, and for some time both schools were 
 conducted by Mr. Phillippo on the ground floor of his 
 dwelling. This amalgamation of white, coloured, and 
 black, slave and free, in one school gave great offence to 
 the parents of the better classes, and that part of his 
 project failed till he was able to re-establish the institution 
 afresh, with the assistance rendered by the Missionary 
 Committee and the Society of- Friends. 
 
 The molestation to which Mr. Phillippo had been 
 exposed in Spanish Town did not extend to his efforts to 
 introduce the Gospel into Passage Fort and Old Harbour, 
 villages on the coast, about six miles from the capital. 
 The scenery around Passage Fort is peculiarly lovely. 
 "The sea or harbour," says Mr. Phillippo, "is nearly 
 surrounded with long reaches of land glittering as with 
 emeralds in the golden sun, waving trees and shrubs 
 dropping their branches into the water. The smooth 
 sands of the beach are covered with shells, sparkling with 
 all the hues of the prism. Birds of beautiful plumage 
 skim over the surface of the silver sea, and glance in and 
 
1 8z 5 J Commencement of Regular Labours. 49 
 
 out from groves laden with fruits and flowers. The 
 harbour, landlocked by these flowery labyrinths, retains its 
 tranquillity even during the tempests of the summer 
 months. Across the harbour may be seen the town of 
 Kingston and the embrasures of Fort Augustus, and, 
 beyond, the magnificent Blue Mountains, well defined on 
 the clear blue sky." Here Mr. Phillippo had the happiness 
 of baptizing into Christ many converts during his long 
 ministry, and at Old Harbour of directing the building of 
 a large chapel for the use of the increasing numbers that 
 flocked to the services from the country round.* It was 
 accomplished by the loving toil of slaves anxious to 
 provide themselves with a house for the worship of God, 
 working during the bright moonlight nights after their 
 day's tasks were done. Mr. Phillippo's visits to these 
 stations were chiefly made in the evenings of the week. 
 
 The last part of the year 1825, with the early months of 
 the following one, was a time of pleasant and encouraging 
 labour in Spanish Town. His enemies were made to be 
 at peace with him. Writing to the Committee under date 
 of September 19, he says : — " All hostility has ceased, and 
 persecution hides its head. My congregation continues 
 overflowing. Nor am I without witnesses of the power 
 and efficacy of sovereign grace. Many, I hope, are 
 earnestly imploring mercy through the blood of Christ. 
 If I recollect rightly, about fifty more are candidates for 
 baptism. One is an elderly lady of colour, in circumstances 
 
 * At a baptism of thirty-six persons at Old Harbour in the middle of 
 the year, Mr. Phillippo notes particularly the benefit derived by a lame 
 woman at the celebration of the rite. She "went down" into the 
 water on her crutches, which she laid aside at the moment of her 
 immersion. She did not need to resume them on rising from the 
 water, and from that moment recovered the complete and healthy use 
 of her limbs. " She gave," says Mr. Phillippo, " evidence of unusual 
 faith and devotedness to the period of her death, several years after." 
 
 E 
 
50 Commencement of Regular Labours. [1826 
 
 of affluence. A little time ago, she was proud and 
 scornful ; but now, O delightful spectacle ! she is sitting at 
 the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in her right mind. Believe 
 me, with travelling and preaching, the school, the chapel, 
 the church, and a variety of other engagements, I sometimes 
 feel nearly exhausted. Hitherto, however, ' the Lord hath 
 helped me,' and, I hope, ' stood by and strengthened me.'. 
 I do not shrink from labour ; I trust that I feel an increasing 
 desire to ' work while it is called to-day ; ' but my kind 
 friends, who have had greater experience of the influence 
 of the climate than I, are constantly telling me that I am 
 doing what is impossible for any man in Jamaica to do 
 long." 
 
 Five months later he writes : — 
 
 " My school increases beyond my most sanguine ex- 
 pectations. I have now 140 children, thirty of whom are 
 children of Jewish parents who read the New Testament 
 daily. One, of about thirteen or fourteen years of age, 
 is the son of the Rabbi of this town. Several of the 
 number, from the inferior circumstances of their parents, 
 I have taken into the school gratuitously. About thirty of 
 my scholars are advanced considerably beyond the limits 
 of the system in arithmetic ; some are in mensuration and 
 fractions. Many learn Latin, Hebrew, geography, and 
 grammar. You know my other duties ; and when I 
 inform you that for three months past I have had no one 
 to assist me, and the school to organise, that I am obliged 
 to superintend the building of the chapel and exert 
 myself for subscriptions towards it, I am confident that 
 you will be convinced that I not only require assistance, 
 but will forward it to me as expeditiously as possible. Nor 
 is the prosperity of my school establishment my only en- 
 couragement. God has graciously condescended to smile 
 on my ministerial exertions. Since my arrival here, I 
 think no one has had greater reason for gratitude to the 
 
1826] Commencement of Regular Labours. 51 
 
 Father of Mercies. Some little time ago, I had the 
 happiness of adding to the church about sixty individuals 
 whose conduct hitherto appears to be ' such as becometh 
 the Gospel of Christ.' " 
 
 The assistance for which Mr. Phillippo so earnestly- 
 longed reached him on the 7th of June, when Mr. Edward 
 Baylis arrived from England, and at once undertook the 
 management of the school. He also assisted Mr. Phillippo 
 in the ministerial work at Spanish Town and Old Harbour 
 until, in the month of April, 1827, he was removed to a 
 new station at Mount Charles, some thirty-six miles 
 distant. But he continued for some time longer to preach 
 at Old Harbour on alternate Sabbaths. 
 
 In the first months of 1825, the bad health of Mrs. 
 Phillippo was the source of great sorrow and anxiety to 
 her husband, occasioned by the perfidy of a trusted 
 servant. The premature confinement brought on en- 
 dangered for many days the life of his beloved partner, 
 while the loss of the child was the cause of deep dis- 
 appointment. It was the third child in succession that 
 death had torn from their embrace. One brief extract 
 from Mr. Phillippo's diary will sufficiently disclose the 
 feelings with which he regarded this bitter trial : — " I 
 cannot, will not, dare not repine ! O Thou All-wise and 
 ever-blessed God, my Father and my Friend, assist me 
 rather to rejoice for having spared to me the dearest 
 object of my tenderest, fondest, earthly love. Is not this 
 more than I ought to have expected ? Dear brother and 
 sister Knibb were here, and have been witnesses of the 
 sad, sad scene ; I am truly grateful for their sympathising 
 and friendly aid." He also found support in the warm 
 and affectionate words of his people : " Dear minister, 
 don't grieve so much ; don't you often tell us that it is 
 wrong to sorrow as those without' hope, and that we must 
 thank God for all things ? God is too good to us poor 
 
 E 2 
 
52 Commencement of Regular Labours. ['827 
 
 sinners. What minister do, if God take missus, and left 
 the child ? " 
 
 j The weakness entailed on Mrs. Phillippo, and also the 
 pressure on the health of the husband, led them : 
 to resort to the salubrious mountain air of the district 
 around Spanish Town, where at Red Hill, St. John's, they 
 found a temporary shelter in a hired house. From this 
 residence they were soon driven by the intolerable 
 multitudes of rats which constantly invaded their rooms 
 at night, and even in the day the house was not entirely 
 free from their inroads. Another cottage was obtained at 
 Garden Hill. Here, on his weekly journeys from Spanish 
 Town, Mr. Phillippo was in the habit of preaching every 
 evening to the large numbers of slaves who came together 
 from the estates of the neighbourhood. A station was 
 ultimately formed in the district as the result of his 
 energetic toil. The health of Mrs. Phillippo received, 
 however, no permanent benefit, so that in the month 
 of March, 1827, her husband was constrained, with 
 feelings of deep grief, to send her to her native land. 
 From this visit she derived the greatest benefit, and re- 
 joined her husband early in the following year, refreshed 
 in body and mind, and able to resume her needed duties 
 in the family and school. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 OPENING OF THE NEW CHAPEL— 1827. 
 
 On the 18th of February, 1827, Mr. Phillippo's labours in 
 the erection of the new chapel were brought to an end, 
 and he had the happiness on this opening day to see 
 its spacious interior crowded with a deeply interested 
 congregation. He speaks in the warmest terms of the 
 spirit which had animated the people. " The interest," he 
 says, writing on the 7th of August preceding, "the people 
 take in the new chapel is astonishing. The steadiness 
 and zeal with which they adhere to their determination of 
 affording all the pecuniary aid in their power, the cheer- 
 fulness with which they bring their offerings, and the 
 universal harmony which prevails among them, cannot 
 fail to animate my zeal and warm my heart. Many free 
 persons of colour both in the church and congregation 
 actually submit to the greatest drudgery, solely that they 
 may present the profits thereof as an offering to the 
 house of God." In a long letter to his beloved tutor, 
 Dr. Steadman, he relates at length the particulars of the 
 opening services. A few extracts will be interesting : — 
 
 " The chapel is now finished. It is a substantial and" 
 peculiarly neat building, estimated to accommodate from 
 twelve to 1,500 hearers. The site it occupies is excellent. 
 The premises form a large square, or nearly so, enclosed 
 with palisades attached to neat brick pillars, and almost 
 surrounded by public roads. On the west side, 
 commanding a view of three roads, stands the school, on 
 
5+ Opening of the New Chapel. [' 82 7 
 
 the front of which appears in large printed letters, ' The 
 Lancastrian Institution.' Between, and in front of the 
 chapel and the school, there is an area of about a 
 hundred feet, on which are growing in verdure and beauty 
 orange and other ever-blooming, ever-bearing fruit-trees. 
 The chapel was crowded to excess. Upwards of two 
 thousand persons, with those who could not gain admission, 
 were present on the occasion. Numbers came from Port 
 Royal, many from a distance of thirty or forty miles, and 
 multitudes from Kingston. The road, I am told, from 
 the latter place exhibited the day previous every sign of 
 life and motion. Some were in chaises, some in carts, 
 some in wains drawn by oxen, some on horseback, and 
 not a few on foot, bearing in baskets on their heads their 
 better garments for the morrow." 
 
 " On the morning of the day brother Tinson preached 
 a very appropriate sermon from Isa. lv. 10, n. In 
 the afternoon one no less suitable and edifying was 
 delivered by brother Flood from Ps. cxxii. i. The 
 hymns were given out, and the devotional services con- 
 ducted, by brother William Knibb, brother Baylis, and 
 myself. It was indeed an interesting day ! The pleasure 
 it was calculated to create in our minds can scarcely be 
 conceived by those who have never beheld the marked 
 attention, the decent appearance, and the motley aspect 
 of a West Indian congregation. The collection amounted 
 to £%i r 6s. 8d." 
 
 Notwithstanding the liberality of the slaves, and of 
 many well-wishers in the island, and the still larger 
 contributions from England, about ^2,000 remained as a 
 debt, which, for some years, caused Mr. Phillippo great 
 anxiety, and rendered necessary, on his part, much 
 personal sacrifice and self-denial. 
 
 This work completed, Mr. Phillippo turned his attention 
 to the dilapidated mission-house, which it was necessary 
 
1827] Opening of the New Chapel. 55 
 
 to enlarge and re-model. To effect this his kind friend, 
 the Custos, the chief magistrate of Spanish Town, lent 
 him the sum required, which was repaid in annual instal- 
 ments of the value of the rent, till the entire debt was 
 extinguished. By these means, and with severe economy, 
 he was able to make the house all that could be desired 
 for convenience and comfort. 
 
 The labours of Mr. Phillippo in the largely increased 
 sphere opened to him by the erection of his chapel, were 
 speedily followed by many marks of the Divine blessing. 
 The administration of the Ordinance of Baptism was 
 especially attractive to the people, and multitudes would 
 assemble to witness the initiation of their fellow-slaves 
 into the Kingdom of the Redeemer. One such scene at 
 Spanish Town the grateful pastor has pictured for us in 
 a very vivid manner. He is writing to Dr. Steadman: — 
 
 " What will you say when I inform you that a few 
 weeks ago I was called to administer the ordinance in 
 Spanish Town to eighty-nine more ? Surely you will say, 
 ' The time to favour Zion, yea, the set time, is come.' 
 These were baptized in the Rio Cobre, a celebrated river 
 which rises in the interior of the country, and, after 
 dashing through a wilderness of nature, adding perfection 
 to scenery the most romantic and highly diversified, 
 assumes a milder aspect as it washes the eastern bound- 
 aries of the town. 
 
 " The morning was far from being favourable. Torrents 
 of rain had fallen during the night, accompanied by such 
 bursts of thunder and flashes of lightning (scarcely con- 
 ceivable by those who have never been within the tropics) 
 as made me decide on postponing the administration to a 
 future day. Several times after the hour of midnight I 
 looked anxiously through the window for a star. Nothing, 
 however, was discoverable but the appalling gloom and 
 wild confusion of a tempest-driven sky — nothing but what 
 
56 Opening of the New Chapel. [1827 
 
 forbade the least hope of relieving the anxious minds of 
 the candidates that morning. Under this impression I 
 again laid me down. Scarcely had I done so when I was 
 aroused and told that the candidates, and hundreds of 
 spectators, were waiting at the river-side. 
 
 " It was now five o'clock, and the rain was still falling, 
 though more moderately. Brother Flood and myself 
 immediately hastened to the spot, and, after the usual 
 introduction to this solemn rite, I baptized the number 
 mentioned in the presence of a large and respectable 
 assembly, who witnessed the impressive scene with such 
 a degree of interest as to remain in the most peaceful 
 and, apparently, solemn manner, notwithstanding the 
 falling of the rain and the clouds of exhalation which 
 rose around them. 
 
 " The place we selected for the purpose was not only 
 convenient, but magnificent and enchanting in a high 
 degree. In looking around me, at the water's edge, to 
 which we descended by a narrow and precipitous avenue, 
 I found myself encircled by an apparently boundless 
 amphitheatre of wood ; trees and shrubs of every diversity 
 of form, tint, and perfume met the eye in every direction. 
 A little above us the river divided itself, without any 
 perceptible cause, into two streams, having between them 
 an island (crowned with lofty trees and rank luxuriance), 
 to which the candidates and others passed over on a rude 
 bridge constructed for the occasion. Directly opposite 
 was a plain (over which, during the periodical inundations, 
 the river sweeps with impetuous fury), where the candidates 
 were arranged, and where booths were erected for their 
 accommodation. Many of the spectators stood in two 
 nearly parallel lines on each side the stream, beneath 
 trees of almost impervious foliage, whose branches 
 formed a beautiful arcade, while the hoarse murmur 
 of the opposite stream as it tumbled over its rocky bed, 
 
1827] Opening of the New Chapel. 57 
 
 the beautiful scenery all around us, the distant mountains 
 with their sides shrouded in mist, and occasionally illumi- 
 nated by the lightning that played on their summit in ten 
 thousand brilliant coruscations, the thunder reverberating 
 from peak to peak, added to the screeches and the liquid 
 melody of the birds, as though hailing the appearance of 
 a tranquil sky, could not fail to inspire the mind with a 
 mixture of delight and awe. 
 
 " In such large additions to our churches it may be 
 supposed that we rejoice over them with trembling ; 
 although, considering the previous habits of the people, 
 and the few advantages we possess of giving many of 
 them private instruction or exhortation, instances of ex^ 
 elusion are less frequent than might be imagined. This 
 may be accounted for partly from the strictness of our 
 discipline, partly from delay in admitting them into the 
 church. I am not aware that there are more than two 
 individuals out of the 172 recently baptized, but who have 
 been probationers, and led a life becoming the Gospel of 
 Christ for the period of two, three, or four years. Some 
 of them, indeed, had made a profession of religion for 
 even seven years, and, as far as I could learn, had con- 
 ducted themselves, during that time, with the consistency 
 of real disciples of the Redeemer. The account they 
 gave of their conversion to God was not only satisfactory, 
 but in many cases highly interesting, and evidently proved 
 that the ignorance with which their race is charged arises 
 not from stupidity of intellect, but merely from a lack of 
 mental improvement." 
 
 The rapid growth of the various missionary churches 
 throughout the island could not but be observed by the 
 slaveholding interest with somewhat like dismay. Writes 
 one of these gentlemen in the St. /ago Gazette, just after 
 the opening of the chapel : " In coming through Spanish 
 Town, a few days ago, I viewed with surprise the magnifi- 
 
5 8 Opening of the New Chapel. [1827 
 
 cent Anabaptist chapel which has arisen like an exhalation 
 in a community of very limited extent and very diminished 
 resources. And my astonishment has been increased by 
 hearing that a building is about to be erected for a 
 Methodist chapel on a similar scale of magnificence, 
 whilst the cathedral of the Bishop looks like an old barn, 
 without accommodation for the inhabitants, and not only 
 without ornament or decoration, but without a decent 
 exterior." He therefore urges that every proprietor of 
 slaves should explain to them that after the 1st day of May 
 they can be prosecuted for giving any money, or other aid, 
 to any Dissenting minister or religious teacher. The 
 deluded people, he says, are simply cheated out of their 
 small means, for the support of establishments intended 
 to overawe Church and State. 
 
 The Act referred to was passed in the House of 
 Assembly in the previous month of December,* and was 
 
 * The clause, the 85th, referred to above, runs as follows : — 
 And whereas, under pretence of offerings and contributions, large 
 sums of money and other chattels have been extorted by designing men 
 professing to be teachers of religion, practising on the ignorance and 
 superstition of the negroes in this island, to their great loss and im- 
 poverishment : And whereas an ample provision is already made, by 
 the public and by private persons, for the religious instruction of the 
 slaves : Be it enacted by the authority aforesaid. That, from and after 
 the commencement of this Act, it shall not be lawful for any Dissenting 
 minister, religious teacher, or other person whatsoever to demand or 
 receive any money or other chattel whatsoever from any slave or slaves 
 within this island for affording such slave or slaves religious instruction, 
 by way of offering contributions, or under any other pretence whatso- 
 ever ; and, if any person or persons shall, contrary to the true intent 
 and meaning of this Act, offend herein, such person or persons shall, 
 upon conviction before any three justices, forfeit and pay the sum of 
 twenty pounds for each offence, to be recovered in a summary manner, 
 by warrant of distress and sale, under the hands and seals of the said 
 justices, one moiety thereof to be paid to the informer, who is hereby 
 declared a competent witness, and the other moiety to the poor of the 
 parish in which such offence shall be committed, and, in default of pay- 
 
1827] Opening of the New Chapel. 59 
 
 ordered to come into operation on the 1 st of May, though it 
 should not have received the sanction of the home Govern- 
 ment. Its purpose was to break up the religious organisa- 
 tions which in any way derived their support from the 
 slaves. Mr. Phillippo soon found that he was not to be 
 allowed to pursue his ministry of peace unmolested. On 
 the 1 ith of June he received intelligence that an information 
 had been filed against him in the police-court for breach 
 of the clause which enacted " that no sectarian minister, 
 or other teacher of religion, is to keep open his place of 
 meeting between sunset and sunrise." The charge was 
 that, on the night previous to the baptism recorded above, 
 Mr. Phillippo had held an illegal meeting. Up to this 
 time it had been the custom of the slaves coming from 
 great distances to assemble during the night, as their only 
 opportunity for prayer before the administration of the 
 ordinance at sunrise. To avoid every cause of complaint, 
 Mr. Phillippo on this occasion had arranged for the 
 omission of the customary service ; but many individuals, 
 wearied with their long journey, had sought rest and 
 shelter within the chapel. The police, on visiting the 
 building, found a few negroes occupying the benches. 
 After some inquiries, they left, threatening the people 
 with the workhouse (the place of penal punishment) 
 and the minister with arrest. On reaching the court- 
 house, in obedience to the summons, Mr. Phillippo 
 found a quorum of magistrates awaiting his presence. 
 After the information, the affidavits of the informer, and 
 the clause of the Slave Law under which the action 
 
 ment, the said justices are hereby empowered and required to commit 
 such offender or offenders to the common gaol for any space of time not 
 exceeding one calendar month. 
 
 Another clause provided that " slaves found guilty of preaching and 
 teaching as Anabaptists, or otherwise, without a permission from their 
 owner and the quarter sessions for the parish, shall be punished by 
 whipping, or by imprisonment in the workhouse to hard labour. " 
 
60 Opening of the New Chapel. ['827 
 
 was laid had been read, the following examination 
 ensued : — 
 
 The Custos : " You see, sir, that the law expressly 
 prohibits all meetings of slaves after dark." 
 
 Mr. Phillippo : " Being unaccustomed to appear before 
 gentlemen of your position, and unacquainted as I am 
 with the forms adhered to on such occasions, I take the 
 liberty of requesting you to tell me whether I may be 
 allowed to question the informant." 
 This was permitted. 
 
 Mr. Phillippo (turning to the informant) : " Will you, 
 then, allow me, sir, to ask you whether you saw me in the 
 chapel at the hour you entered it ? " 
 Informant : " My affidavit attests the contrary." 
 Mr. P. : " Did you hear any singing ? " 
 Informant : " No." 
 
 Mr. P. : " Was any o,ne teaching, or preaching, or 
 praying ? " 
 Informant: "No." 
 
 Mr. P. : " Was there any confusion in the chapel ? " 
 Informant : " None. Some were sitting, others lying, 
 on the benches ; but all were peaceable." 
 Mr. P. : " What might be the number assembled ? " 
 Informant : " I do not know exactly ; but sufficient to 
 make it an unlawful assembly." 
 
 Mr. P. : " Was it not your duty, sir, if you knew the 
 assembly to be unlawful, to have immediately dispersed it, 
 or, as I lived at such a short distance, to have availed 
 yourself of the offer of a person to go for me ? " 
 
 His duty, it was stated, was only to lodge an information 
 with the magistrates. 
 
 Mr. Phillippo then explained that he had always taught 
 his hearers to be obedient to the law, that he had 
 discountenanced such assemblages at night and dis- 
 continued them ; that, expecting a large number of persons 
 
1827] Opening of the New Chapel. 61 
 
 to be present at the baptismal service, he had gathered 
 many together at six o'clock the previous evening, and 
 strictly forbade anything to be done that could be con- 
 strued into a breach of the law ; and, on receiving promises . 
 of strict obedience, he had left for his residence for the 
 night. 
 
 Magistrate : " But there was a meeting in the chapel, 
 and as the chapel was under your control you ought to 
 have seen that the gates were locked, and that there was i 
 no unlawful proceeding." 
 
 Mr. P. : "As, sir, I do not keep the keys of the 
 chapel, and as it is a well-known custom even in England - 
 to open the doors, both of chapels and churches, on the 
 evening preceding the Sabbath for the purpose of ventila- 
 tion, I really do not think that I can be accountable for 
 the act of a few tired persons from the country resting, 
 themselves in such a public place, to be ready for worship 
 on the ensuing day. I will, however, do my best to 
 prevent any unpleasantness of the kind for the future." 
 
 Magistrate : " We certainly shall consider you respon- 
 sible for what is going on in the chapel, Mr. Phillippo, 
 and you must beware of acting contrary to law. This is 
 not the first time that meetings have been held in the 
 chapel at night." 
 
 Mr. P. : " Begging your pardon, sir, for contradicting 
 you, but it is the first time. I am ready to testify on 
 oath that for two years past not half-a-dozen persons 
 have been found on the premises after dark." 
 
 Magistrate : " You said, sir, that the people in the 
 chapel on Saturday night did not meet there by your 
 desire ; was it with your knowledge ? " 
 
 Mr. P. : " It was not with my knowledge, as I have 
 already asserted." 
 
 Custos : " As the assembly of the people was not with 
 your knowledge the magistrates have nothing further to 
 
62 Opening of the New Chapel. ['8 2 7 
 
 say to you on the subject, but to admonish you to be 
 more obedient to the laws in future." 
 
 Some observations followed on the humiliation to which 
 Mr. Phillippo was subjected by appearing in a police- 
 court, when a gentleman present remarked on the 
 impropriety Mr. Phillippo was guilty of in assembling 
 such a vast crowd of people before sunrise to witness the 
 baptismal rite. To this Mr. Phillippo replied that he did 
 not leave his house for the river-side before the sun had 
 risen, and that he surely could not be responsible for the 
 conduct of people who came from all quarters and at 
 their own desire. 
 
 Custos : "But you are wrong, sir, in supposing that you 
 are not responsible for the conduct of the people then 
 assembled ; for if your chapel attracts such multitudes of 
 people that a mob is apprehended, it will be our duty, as 
 magistrates, to shut the doors." 
 
 Mr. P. : " There was no mob, sir, or the least appear- 
 ance of one." 
 
 Custos : " I hope we shall not see you here again, sir, 
 on a similar business. If we do we must enforce the law 
 with the utmost rigour." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE SLAVE CODE— 1827. 
 
 The opinion of the home Government on the Slave 
 Code, the operation of which is above exemplified, was 
 not known until the 22nd of September. A remarkable 
 despatch from Mr. Huskisson conveyed the Order in 
 Council disallowing the Act. It was a surprise to the 
 ruling classes of the island authoritatively to learn that 
 the Toleration Act was in force in Jamaica, in common 
 with all other parts of his Majesty's dominions ; that the 
 Island Legislature could not imprison, at their will, 
 the ministers of religion, who, to use the language of 
 an island print, were "dismally grunting and groaning, 
 because, forsooth, two of their brotherhood have been 
 confined in gaol for defying and contravening the law of 
 this island." The excitement created was intense. The 
 white inhabitants held meetings in every parish to de- 
 nounce the conduct of the parent Government, and of 
 Mr. Huskisson, the Colonial Secretary, in particular. The 
 speeches were of the most inflammatory character. In 
 their wild oratory the planters threatened to transfer their 
 allegiance to the United States, or even to assert their 
 independence after the manner of their continental 
 neighbours. 
 
 Writing to Mr. Dyer on the 30th of November, Mr. 
 Phillippo says : — " Nothing was more unexpected than 
 the disallowance of the slave law ; nothing could have 
 created greater consternation in the House of Assembly. 
 
64 The Slave Code. [1827 
 
 Meetings respecting Mr. Huskisson's despatch were 
 called in every parish on the island, and I know not 
 what will be done or said to us, it being supposed that we 
 are the authors of their calamities. One minister in 
 Kingston (not of our denomination, I am happy to say) 
 appeared uninvited at a meeting convened for the express 
 purpose of taking into consideration this act of his 
 Majesty's Government, and declared, to the no small 
 satisfaction of the Assembly, that he and his denomina- 
 tion were as much opposed to the said despatch as they 
 were; that they had never collected more than £\o per, 
 annum from slaves ; and that they never had anything to 
 do with the disallowed laws but to obey them. In 
 consequence of this declaration, a resolution (to be, 
 forwarded to Mr. Huskisson) appeared in the public prints 
 stating that the disallowance of the law was opposed by 
 all the ' sectarian ' ministers themselves. It affords me 
 the highest happiness to say that this was no sooner 
 discovered by us than we totally disclaimed them as our 
 sentiments, and declared that we considered ourselves 
 laid under the deepest obligations of gratitude to the 
 British Government for having thus struck off our fetters. 
 I believe a storm in consequence is gathering over us ; 
 but we fear it not." 
 
 The resolution Mr. Phillippo refers to was the fourth of 
 the. series passed at the meeting. It stated that the 
 clauses of the disallowed Act which concerned religion 
 were necessary as a means of defence against " the spurious 
 tenets of the sectarians " — and of preserving " the religion 
 yvhich has been handed down to them from their fore- 
 fathers, and that it has ever been our most anxious desire 
 to promote by every possible means the moral and 
 religious improvement of the slave population," and 
 immediately subjoins, "yet we are convinced, from our 
 own experience, as well as from the testimony of the 
 
1827] The Slave Code. 65 
 
 sectarian ministers themselves, that the restrictions 
 contained in our slave law with respect to Dissenters are 
 indispensable." The reply to this audacious statement 
 was signed by all the Baptist ministers in the island, and a 
 like remonstrance was also published by the Wesleyan mis- 
 sionaries. " We are decidedly of opinion," say the former, 
 " that the restrictions are not indispensable, that they are 
 not calculated to promote the welfare of the colony, and 
 that they are strongly opposed to the equitable and 
 peaceable doctrines of Christianity, to the liberties of 
 good and loyal subjects, and to the rights of Christians." 
 
 The commotion throughout the island was, however, 
 only as the outskirts of a storm to the tempest of wrath 
 which burst from the benches of the House of Assembly. 
 Calumnies of the vilest kind, expressed in the most virulent 
 language, were heaped on the heads of the " sectarian 
 ministers." 
 
 The leaders of the anti-slavery party in England, Clark- 
 son, Wilberforce, Macaulay, and others, were assailed by 
 name, from day to day, in the most malignant language. 
 This violence certainly could find no justification in the 
 language or tone of the message in which the Lieutenant- 
 Governor, Sir John Keane, conveyed the Colonial 
 Secretary's despatch to the House of Assembly. He 
 said that his Majesty fully appreciated the valuable im- 
 provements contained in portions of the new Slave Code, 
 and he was convinced that the House would give the 
 measure a temperate re-consideration. He trusted that 
 the House would endeavour to avoid, in any new Bill, 
 those provisions which would act " as a restraint on the 
 religious liberties to which all his Majesty's subjects, 
 whatever may be their civil condition, are alike entitled." 
 He called attention to the calm and measured language 
 in which Mr. Huskisson had stated that the restrictions 
 on religious instruction were an invasion of that toleration 
 
66 The Slave Code. [1827 
 
 which is due to all his Majesty's subjects, that the prohibi- 
 tion of religious meetings between sunset and sunrise 
 would operate as a total denial of the privilege of common 
 worship, and would be felt with peculiar severity by domestic 
 slaves. The despatch further commented on the invidious 
 distinctions established among the various denominations 
 in the island, and objected to the penalties imposed upon 
 persons collecting contributions for religious purposes 
 among the slaves. Such a law was a stigma on the religious 
 teacher, and prevented the slave from obeying a Christian 
 precept. It was finally and distinctly declared to be " the 
 purpose of his Majesty's Government to sanction no 
 colonial law which needlessly infringes on the religious 
 liberty of any class of his Majesty's subjects,'' and forbade 
 the Governor to assent to any measure containing such 
 restrictions, unless it contained a clause suspending its 
 operation till his Majesty's pleasure could be known. 
 
 The reading of the despatch excited the most violent 
 sensation. The House was beside itself with anger, and 
 again and again the most opprobrious language burst 
 forth with respect to it. Nevertheless it was determined 
 to prepare a reply, and a committee was appointed to 
 take it into consideration. It is not possible in any brief 
 compass to epitomise the extraordinary and lengthy 
 document which was adopted by the House of Assembly 
 as an answer to Mr. Huskisson's despatch. It must 
 suffice to cull a few of the more noticeable statements it 
 contains. It was declared to be impossible to discover 
 any sound reason for the course that had been pursued ; 
 his Majesty's Government had lost sight of the fact that 
 the House was legislating, not for free men, but for slaves. 
 Toleration on religious subjects was utterly at variance 
 with the institutions of Jamaica. The preaching and teach- 
 ing of slaves had been attended with the most pernicious 
 consequences, The " pious motives of the King's 
 
1827] The Slave Code 67 
 
 Ministers" are appreciated, but they know nothing of the 
 African character. The slave must not be permitted to 
 injure his health, nor strip himself of clothing, nor barter 
 his tools and food, to support itinerant expounders of the 
 Gospel. The Negro must not be left to be the prey of 
 " the oily and delusive tongue of a self-ordained preacher." 
 Unhallowed men " are known to cajole slaves out of 
 their substance," and even threaten their simple followers 
 with <f hell fire and eternal damnation if they are slow and 
 scanty in their contributions.'* Owners of slaves will never 
 allow a spy to enter their families under the guise of a 
 protector of the slaves ; nor will they allow any public 
 supervision of the punishments it may be necessary to inflict 
 upon them. The use of the whip in the field cannot be 
 abandoned, nor "until Negro women have acquired more 
 of the sense of shame that distinguishes European 
 females " will it be possible to " lay aside punishment by 
 flogging." Masters must continue to retain unchecked 
 the power of imprisoning their slaves and of authorising 
 the gaoler to inflict punishment without trial. This 
 strange document is closed by the statement that they can- 
 not pass a new Bill " without sacrificing their independ- 
 ence and endangering the safety of the island." Only 
 when the Crown withdraws its instruction to the Governor, 
 by which their legislative power is unlawfully limited, will 
 the House of Assembly once more take the Slave Code 
 into their serious consideration. 
 
 To obtain proofs of these allegations respecting the 
 practices of the " sectarian preachers," the House of 
 Assembly resolved to summon them from all parts of the 
 island before a committee. The questions put were of 
 the most inquisitorial nature. Mr. Phillippo has preserved 
 a portion of his own examination, and an extract from it 
 will give a fair idea of the puerile as well as inquisitorial 
 character of the inquiry. 
 
 F 2 
 
68 The Slave Code. [1827 
 
 " My turn," he says, " at length came, and I was ushered 
 into the presence of these august inquisitors. As the oath 
 to be taken was said to be unconditional, I respectfully 
 declined taking it, assigning as my reason the probability 
 of the evidence being published, and of its involving a 
 disclosure of private affairs. This was resented as a 
 breach of privilege, and I was reminded of the presence 
 of the serjeant-at-arms. I was at length allowed to object 
 to any question not specially relating to the subject under 
 investigation. 
 
 " After a few preliminary inquiries as to my name, 
 office, creed, ordination, the difference between Particular 
 and General Baptists, the length of time I had been in 
 the island, &c, I was questioned by the Secretary and 
 others. 
 
 " Question : We wish to know how you are supported, 
 whether by your Society in England, or by your con- 
 gregation here ? 
 
 " Answer : I have received a regular salary from the 
 Society at home. 
 
 " Q. : What may be the amount of your salary per 
 annum ? 
 
 " A. : I must beg you to excuse my declining to reply 
 to this question for the reason I have already stated 
 
 " Q. : Why? The answer would involve nothing that 
 you need care for the world to know. 
 
 " A. : Possibly not ; but it is not pleasant for everybody 
 to know what one receives and spends. 
 
 " Q. : The Wesleyans have been very frank, and have 
 told us that their salaries are proportioned according to 
 circumstances— a single man has so much, and so on in 
 proportion to the number of his children. 
 
 " A. : I have before told you that I am a Baptist and 
 not a Wesleyan, and the organisation and practices of 
 these societies differ. 
 
1827] The Slave Code. 6q 
 
 " Q. : Well, sir, do you make any collections among the 
 slaves and others of your congregations ? If so, how often, 
 and to what amount ? 
 
 "A.: Yes; I make collections once a month and oftener, 
 as circumstances may require ; but I cannot tell the 
 amount, as I keep no books.* 
 
 " Q. : Who receives these collections ? 
 
 " A. : They are usually received by the officers of the 
 church, and are afterwards handed or accounted for to 
 me. 
 
 " Q. : You said just now that you received your salary 
 regularly from home. 
 
 " A. : I did not say that I received it regularly from 
 home, but that I received a regular salary from home ; 
 that is, I draw for it when I want it, sometimes before and 
 sometimes after it is due. 
 
 " Q. : Well, then, what do you appropriate the amount 
 to that you make by collections ? 
 
 " A. : I apply it to buying grass for my horse. (Chair- 
 man smiling, as I bought the grass from him.) 
 
 " Q. : You had better say, perhaps, that you apply it to 
 the incidental expenses of your establishment. 
 
 " A. : Yes. Establishment or station, as you please. 
 
 " Q. : Be good enough, now, to inform us if you receive 
 any presents or offerings from the slaves and others of 
 your congregation — such as fowls, pigs, goats, provisions, 
 fruits, &c, &c.f 
 
 " A. : Presents of fowls, &c. ! I am at a loss to under- 
 
 * The accounts were kept by the deacons. 
 
 t For some time previous to, and during, the inquiry Mr. Phillippo 
 had declined to receive such contributions from his people, because in- 
 formers had been sent in every direction to discover matter for 
 accusation. The slaves had also been told by their masters that any 
 gifts to their ministers would bring upon them severe punishment. — 
 Letter to Mr. Dyer, December 24th, 1827. 
 
70 The Slave Code. [1827 
 
 stand the bearing of this question on this investigation. 
 I have before said that the Society to which I belong 
 did not send me out here to be dependent upon the 
 precarious benevolence of a few poor Negro slaves. 
 
 "Q. : Shall I say, then, that you do not receive any 
 very great presents. You know there would be nothing 
 wrong in this. It is natural for the people to show their 
 love and gratitude to their minister in this way. I should 
 feel no difficulty in doing so myself if in your situation. 
 
 " A. : I do not doubt it. 
 
 "Q. : Well, sir, I wait for your reply. You have not 
 answered the question. 
 
 " A. : As I do not exactly comprehend the bearing or 
 object of the question, I shall be obliged by your giving it 
 me in writing. . 
 
 " (I was again called to order.) 
 
 " Mr. Capon (one of the Committee), to the President, 
 angrily : ' Really, Mr. Chairman, this person seems to be 
 trifling with us, and we are losing time. The question is 
 plain enough. Ask him if he receives the offerings 
 named from the slaves of his church. ■ Yes or no ? ' 
 (Haughtily casting a look at the sectarian parson.) 
 
 "A.: As you, sir (looking at the questioner), seem so 
 anxious to know if I am in the habit of receiving presents 
 from my congregation, I have no objection to say that I 
 have not received any for some time, except a capon 
 which a good woman brought me the other day. 
 
 "(A suppressed titter followed, in which all joined except 
 the questioner himself.)* 
 
 " The Secretary, doubtless enjoying the fun, inquired 
 what he should record. 
 
 *This gentleman had made himself somewhat notorious by the 
 insulting remarks he had, on more than one occasion, addressed to the 
 missionaries and their wives, and by his bitter hostility to missionary 
 work. 
 
1827] The Slave Code. 71 
 
 " Mr. Capon, looking up to the Chairman, said : ' I 
 should think, sir, that question had better be omitted 
 altogether.' 
 
 " Chairman : Yes. You, sir (to Mr. Phillippo, with a 
 smile), are now at liberty to withdraw." 
 
 Mr. Phillippo bowed, and withdrew accordingly. 
 
 The session of the Assembly closed by the re-enactment 
 of the Slave Law, in all its material features unchanged. 
 But before separating the House of Assembly directed a 
 guard of honour to attend at King's House, and voted a 
 grant of 3,000 guineas for a sword of honour, with the hope 
 that the Lieutenant-Governor would thereby be induced to 
 transmit the Code to the Colonial Office with his recom- 
 mendation. As may be supposed, Sir John Keane rejected 
 the bribe, and obeyed the instructions he had received by 
 placing his veto on the Bill. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE GOSPEL OF SALVATION— 1828. 
 
 The busy life of Mr. Phillippo in Spanish Town did not 
 preclude frequent endeavours to diffuse the knowledge of 
 salvation in the neighbouring parishes. For some years 
 Mr. Gibbs, a native Baptist, had preached to a small 
 gathering of people at Jericho, in St. Thomas-in-the-Vale. 
 After his death most of these people joined the congrega- 
 tion in Spanish Town. The chapel in which they met 
 had been destroyed by a planter of the vicinity, but the 
 site, with a large piece of land adjoining, was now offered 
 to Mr. Phillippo. On his first visit he had preached under 
 a tree, on the premises of a Miss Cooper, a free woman of 
 colour, and, finding no better accommodation, he spent the 
 night in her hut. This was represented as being done for 
 seditious purposes, and the rector denounced the missionary 
 at the next meeting of the Vestry as a low, uneducated 
 man, animated by the worst intentions. Even the land 
 could not be surveyed without opposition, and the timber 
 collected for the erection of a new chapel was in open 
 day carted away by the owner of the adjoining estate, and 
 used in the erection of his own house. The Attorney- 
 General was appealed to ; but he gave it as his opinion 
 that the cost of seeking redress, and the risk of obtaining 
 it, were too great to be ventured upon. A jury of slave- 
 holders would certainly refuse to convict where the defend- 
 ant was a slaveholder and the plaintiff a Baptist missionary. 
 A further difficulty sprung up. The owner of the land was a 
 
1828] The Gospel of Salvation. 73 
 
 slave, and by law had no power to give a title to land. 
 Mr. Phillippo was therefore dispossessed, and compelled 
 reluctantly to submit to this gross act of injustice. 
 Coming from the estate, "I was met in the road," says 
 Mr. Phillippo, "by the noble-looking coloured female 
 already named, who at that time made no pretension to 
 religion. She was much excited on hearing the result 
 of the survey, and exclaimed, ' Minister ! have they really 
 taken away the land ? They don't want the Gospel to 
 come into the parish. But keep heart. Follow me,' and 
 going on before me with great energy, till we came to a 
 rising ground beyond her cottage, ' Here,' she said, ' is a 
 beautiful spot where you can build a chapel, with as much 
 land as you will want ; and let them come and turn you 
 off if they dare. It is my own freehold.'" 
 
 Mr. Phillippo at once accepted the generous gift, and 
 arranged with the donor to celebrate Divine service on 
 her premises till suitable accommodation could be pro- 
 vided. Not long after, he had the pleasure of receiving 
 her into the church, and for many years she sustained, 
 undismayed by persecution, the character of a genuine 
 Christian. 
 
 About this time, Mr. Phillippo was urged to carry the 
 Gospel into, Vere, which was represented to be in a more 
 deplorable condition than any other parish, both as to the 
 ignorance of the people and the depraved and irreligious 
 character of the overseers and white inhabitants. The 
 departure, however, of Mr. Baylis for Mount Charles 
 threw the school again on Mr. Phillippo's care, and he 
 was compelled to cease from the efforts which he had 
 begun. 
 
 The arrival of Mr. Taylor in the following year enabled 
 Mr. Phillippo to give Old Harbour into his charge, and to 
 make better provision for the spiritual need of this large 
 district. Mr. Taylor had come to Jamaica in connection 
 
74 The Gospel of Salvation. [1828 
 
 with the Church Missionary Society, but, changing his 
 views, he relinquished that connection, and was baptized 
 by Mr. Phillippo. It was not without the most persistent 
 hostility, and much persecution of the poor slaves, that 
 the Gospel at last obtained a footing in Vere. In the 
 issue, the labours of Mr. Phillippo and his willing 
 coadjutor were crowned with large success. 
 
 The return of Mrs. Phillippo early in 1828, much 
 benefited by her voyage home, and the engagement of a 
 young man of the name of Andrews, whose discharge from 
 the army Mr. Phillippo purchased, gave a new impetus 
 to the schools in Spanish Town. The general aspect of 
 the congregation was also the source of great joy. Writing 
 to Mr. Dyer on the 5th of May, he says: " Mr. Andrews 
 affords me valuable assistance in almost everything 
 connected with the duties of my station. The schools, 
 both Sabbath and weekly, are in a very thriving con- 
 dition, the Sabbath-school especially. It contains now 
 about one hundred and twenty children and twenty 
 adults. The station in all its departments continues to 
 wear a very smiling aspect. I might have said, appear- 
 ances are more pleasing than at any former time. Our 
 chapel on a Sabbath afternoon is often crowded. The 
 congregation, being principally composed of young and 
 interesting persons, really exhibits, on a Lord's-day, a 
 very pleasing spectacle. But, above all, I have the 
 most gratifying evidence that I do not ' labour in 
 vain, nor spend my strength for nought.' On the first 
 Sabbath in June, I expect to baptize about sixty persons, 
 many of whom are very interesting characters indeed. 
 Among them is Mr. Andrews, two more white persons, 
 and about a dozen respectable individuals of colour. I 
 have every reason to believe that the sacred leaven is still 
 operating in the hearts of many of my congregation. 
 What a cause for zeal and thankfulness ! " 
 
1828] The Gospel of Salvation. 75 
 
 From a letter to a friend in Oxford, later in the year, is 
 extracted the following fuller account of his schools. He 
 was an ardent advocate of education for the Negro, and 
 struggled through many difficulties and much opposition 
 to maintain them in an efficient state. 
 
 " There are two schools in connection with this station, 
 a Sabbath and a weekly one. The former has been in 
 operation four years and a-half; the latter since July, 18Z5. 
 The object of their establishment was to afford moral and 
 religious instruction gratuitously, and on the most liberal 
 principles, to slave children and those of the indigent free, 
 both black and of colour. The Sabbath-school is entirely 
 a gratuitous institution, but, owing to a total destitution of 
 resources, children are admitted into the other on terms 
 suitable to the circumstances of their parents, or corre- 
 sponding with the benevolence or the pecuniary abilities of 
 their owners. Thus, of the eighty children this school 
 now contains, forty-two are admitted free, about twenty at 
 the small sum oi£\ 4s. each per annum, and the remainder 
 at the rate of from £z 8s. to £4. 16s. per ditto, making the 
 whole receipt per annum, as nearly as can be calculated, 
 deducting for bad debts, about £10 sterling. 
 
 "The Sabbath-school contains 201 children and twenty- 
 four efficient teachers. Of the latter, exclusive of the super- 
 intendent and patron, five are whites. Both these schools 
 are conducted principally on the Lancasterian plan. It 
 might be said that they were conducted on a plan which 
 embraced the excellences of both the popular systems, as 
 the person to whom their management is more especially 
 entrusted, having previously superintended one in the 
 army on the National plan, considers that by such a union 
 he has improved the discipline of the school, and in some 
 degree facilitated the progress of the scholars. 
 
 "Owing to the great proficiency of the children generally, 
 the uniform consistency of the discipline maintained, the 
 
76 The Gospel of Salvation. [1828 
 
 excellent qualifications of my assistant, together with my 
 own and Mrs. Phillippo's constant oversight, residing 
 beneath the same roof, these schools are now highly 
 interesting and prosperous. The instruction of negro 
 children is no longer an experiment ; their capacity to 
 receive it is proved beyond a doubt. Difficulties, too, have 
 vanished, prejudices are subsiding, and sufficient fruit has 
 been collected to warrant the most sanguine hopes of an 
 approaching rich and abundant harvest." 
 
 The expenses attendant on these institutions, and his 
 family requirements, often pressed heavily on his resources. 
 But Mr. Phillippo was ever ready to endure straits, if need 
 be, for the cause on which his heart was set. To a friend 
 he writes, on the 29th of May: — "I can conscientiously 
 declare that every fragment of my incomings, over and 
 above what has been expended for the necessaries and 
 conveniences of life, has been appropriated to the blessed 
 cause to which I have consecrated my life. I was pecu- 
 liarly struck, soon after entering Bradford Academy, with 
 the singular disinterestedness of its venerated president, 
 Dr. Steadman, in his great Master's cause. I earnestly 
 pray that his example, in this respect as well as in others, 
 may be imitated by me to the latest period of my life. If 
 I know anything of my own heart I feel a greater interest 
 than ever in the prosperity of the Redeemer's Kingdom. 
 The cause here is very near my heart, and my attachment 
 to Spanish Town, the immediate sphere of my labour, is 
 far greater than I should feel for any other under heaven. 
 I earnestly hope that I shall at last be numbered with 
 those who will be accounted faithful." 
 
 The pecuniary difficulties of the position were much 
 enhanced by the growing opposition of the planters. In 
 the same letter he says : " The community here is more 
 hostile than ever to our receiving contributions from 
 slaves, and men are positively lying in wait to ascertain 
 
1828] The Gospd of Salvation. 77 
 
 whether we do so or not. Our characters are traduced 
 on this account more grossly than ever in the public 
 print." 
 
 Nevertheless, the Word of God was not bound. Writing 
 on the 4th of August, Mr. Phillippo says : " My prospects 
 of usefulness are wider and better than at any former 
 period. The field for exertion is extending on the right 
 hand and on the left. Multitudes are anxiously inquiring 
 after the pearl of great price, and multitudes, I trust, have 
 found it. A few Sabbaths ago I baptized sisty-seven 
 individuals on a public profession of their faith in the 
 Lord Jesus. Two of them were whites, twenty were 
 respectable persons of colour, and the rest blacks. I 
 never recollect having spent a happier day. Not fewer, 
 I should imagine, than one thousand six hundred persons 
 witnessed the solemn spectacle, and, with the exception of 
 a little confusion before the gates were thrown open, 
 scarcely a word was uttered during the whole ceremony. 
 Many were in tears. About four hundred and fifty were 
 present at the ordinance of the Lord's Supper — six whites, 
 myself excepted, the rest of every diversity of colour. 
 Our congregation is oftentimes as large as the chapel will 
 admit of, and additions to it are constantly making. In 
 these few last Sabbaths not a seat has been unoccupied ; 
 many, indeed, have been obliged to sit on the window- 
 seats and on the staircases." 
 
 Again, in November, he writes : — " Having preached 
 three times yesterday, and occupied two hours in each 
 service, I feel very tired. Had it been otherwise, I should 
 have sent you an account of a baptizing at Old Harbour 
 on the Sabbath before last. I administered that ordinance 
 to ninety-five persons in the presence of, I suppose, a 
 thousand spectators, and then preached out of doors, on a 
 chair, soon after, to a congregation of the same number. 
 On the following morning Mr. Taylor accompanied me to 
 
78 The Gospel of Salvation. [1828 
 
 another parish, about sixteen miles from Old Harbour 
 and twenty-seven from Spanish Town, where we have 
 succeeded in forming a new station, not likely to be of any 
 expense to the Society." 
 
 Towards the close of the year an incident happened 
 which became the source of much distress to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Phillippo, and of misapprehension of their motives 
 of action. Owing to the legal difficulties in the way 
 of the immediate manumission of a slave,* and the 
 imperfect acquaintance of Mr. Phillippo with the law, 
 his name appeared in the Almanack of the year as the 
 registered proprietor of certain slaves. The circumstances 
 of the case will be clearly understood from the following 
 letter, addressed by Mrs. Phillippo to the Rev. John Dyer, 
 but it gave occasion to the unfounded charge that Mr. 
 Phillippo was a dealer in slaves, and, though a minister 
 of the Gospel, a man who did not scruple to hold in 
 degrading bondage his fellow-men. Even some of his 
 missionary brethren too readily entertained the reproach, 
 and for a little while he lay under suspicions which only 
 his integrity, together with a true knowledge of the facts, 
 ultimately dispelled, Mrs. Phillippo thus explains the 
 affair : — 
 
 " To the Rev. John Dyer. 
 
 " I must beg you to excuse the liberty I take in 
 
 addressing you. My object is to endeavour to repel the 
 
 serious accusation made against my dear husband, as the 
 
 charge more immediately refers to my own conduct, not 
 
 * One condition imposed by the law of Jamaica on manumission was 
 that if a slave obtained his freedom by purchase, or by the gift of his 
 master, a security bond must be lodged with the churchwarden of the 
 parish for an annuity of ^5, contingent on his ever becoming a pauper. 
 The bond could be given by any free person of any class or colour. 
 — Barclay's "West Indies," p. 274. 
 
1828] The Gospel of Salvation. 79 
 
 to his. He, I can assure you, never had the least to do 
 whatever with the purchase of slaves. The case is simply 
 this. Mr. Coultart had a woman he had hired for some 
 time as a servant, who having proved an excellent and 
 trustworthy woman, her owner gave two of her children 
 their freedom, and I believe had given her also reason to 
 expect her own manumission on the same account. Before 
 that, however, was done the owner died, and the poor 
 woman and her family were immediately for sale. She 
 had a paper given her to find a purchaser by a certain 
 time, which if she did not, herself and family were to be 
 put up at public auction and sold to the highest bidder. 
 The poor creature, from the dread of being separated, 
 perhaps for ever, from her husband, her children, and the 
 ordinances of God's house (for she was a pious woman 
 and a member of Mr. Coultart's church), and being sold to 
 a cruel master or one who would turn her into the field, 
 to which labour she had never been accustomed, was, as 
 may easily be conceived, much distressed ; she implored 
 Mr. Coultart, with tears running down her cheeks, to 
 purchase her, or to get some one of his acquaintance to 
 do it for her. Mr. Coultart was then about leaving the 
 island, and therefore could not do anything himself for 
 her ; but, being no longer able to resist her unremitting 
 and moving importunities, he begged me, if I possibly 
 could, to get some kind person in Spanish Town to 
 purchase her and her family. On hearing the above I felt 
 exceedingly for the poor creature, and began to think if 
 something could nqt be done. Had I been a person of 
 property I felt as though I would most cheerfully have 
 laid the money down for her ; but I had not the means. 
 At length, after much thought, a plan occurred to me. I 
 felt convinced that it might be done, and in such a way 
 too as to ensure her entire manumission and that of her 
 whole family in a short time. My plan succeeded. The 
 
80 The Gospel of Salvation. [1828 
 
 money at which she and her family were valued was 
 kindly advanced by a few members of the church, on the 
 very easy condition that I should pay it them at the rate 
 of three dollars a week until it was entirely paid — a sum 
 which I had been obliged to pay to the owners of the 
 two servants I then had — and then they should be 
 manumitted. Thus you will perceive I have done no 
 more than hire this family, and yet at the same time I 
 have had what I consider the honour, and what I really felt 
 to be a gratification, of freeing this whole family and all 
 their posterity from perpetual bondage. For I can assure 
 you that, according to my original purpose, they are, and 
 have been for some time, as Mr. Coultart can testify, duly 
 and properly manumitted. I have had to do with only 
 one more instance of the kind. This was the case of a 
 poor old Negro woman who lived with Mr. Godden two or 
 three years, and who has been our washerwoman from 
 the time of our arrival. As kind and good a creature, I 
 believe, as ever lived, she worked for us for less than half 
 the regular wages, and never would be prevailed on by me 
 to take more, often replying, when I said, ' Rosina, I am 
 afraid you will hurt yourself,' 'Nebermind, missa; I know 
 you can't afford for pay much, and you gib up all for de 
 good of me poor Negro, and me ought not to mind work 
 a little for de good Word.' She was Mr. Godden's 
 faithful attendant in all his sickness, and I really believe 
 would almost lay down her life for myself and Mr. 
 Phillippo. She has attended us and watched over us with 
 all the solicitude of the fondest and most indulgent 
 parent, and has even wept and rejoiced over us as occasion 
 seemed to dictate. This dear old creature, sixty years of 
 age, who does not stir out of the yard for weeks for fear of 
 being seized and carried to gaol for her master's debts 
 (where, probably, she might have remained until she pined 
 away and died), was at last seized in our yard by the 
 
1828] The Gospel of Salvation. 81 
 
 sheriff's officer and cast into that dismal dungeon. I, of 
 
 course, felt distressed on her account, as I knew her poor 
 
 worn-out frame could not long endure such confinement ; 
 
 but while I was deliberating on what to do a black man, a 
 
 member of our church, who, with his wife, had formerly 
 
 been a slave, but who now is worth considerable property, 
 
 came and said if I would be answerable for Rosina's 
 
 appearance on the day of sale — for it was afterwards 
 
 determined upon that she should be sold — he would go 
 
 and be bound for her. I was, of course, thankful for such 
 
 a proposal, and she was accordingly let out of gaol the next 
 
 day. This good man, moreover, came to me soon after, 
 
 and said, ' Me know missa no able to buy Rosina, and him 
 
 be very sorry for him to be sold away ; myself will buy him 
 
 for him own good, if missa will keep part of de money 
 
 him give Rosina every week for washing till him pay him 
 
 again, and him manumission papers shall be made out and 
 
 missa shall have no more trouble.' It was impossible to 
 
 have rejected such a proposal. This man purchased her 
 
 the next day for £\a currency. In less than twelve 
 
 months, in the manner before mentioned, she paid the 
 
 purchase-money, and has ever since been receiving for 
 
 herself the whole of her earnings, when before she had to 
 
 pay ten shillings per week to her master. This, sir, is the 
 
 utmost I have ever had to do with purchasing of slaves, 
 
 and surely, as it must appear from this that my sole 
 
 desire has been to deliver them from bondage, I shall 
 
 not be charged for a moment as an aider and abettor of 
 
 slavery. 
 
 " I am, my dear Sir, 
 
 " Very truly yours, 
 
 " H. S. Phillippo." 
 
 When the case became known in England several friends 
 
 in Reading, Kingston, Oxford, and other places remitted 
 
 money for the redemption of others from slavery, and not 
 
82 The Gospel of Salvation. [1828 
 
 a few individuals were rescued from a doom of misery, 
 infamy, and shame.* 
 
 The trials and difficulties which beset the missionary's 
 path were not without their spiritual fruit. They led Mr. 
 Phillippo more simply to the Cross of Christ and to the 
 throne of grace ; to a deeper knowledge of his own heart, 
 and of the riches of that grace which sustained him. 
 "They have taught me," he says, "many important 
 lessons which I never should have learned in any other 
 school. By them I have been led to see more of my 
 own insufficiency, and have learned my entire dependence 
 upon God." Strengthened in the inner man, Mr. Phillippo 
 continued abundant in labour, reaping a harvest of bless- 
 ing which he ever ascribed to God, " to whom only the 
 honour and glory are due." 
 
 This chapter of busy and successful toil may fittingly be 
 closed by an extract from a letter to his mother, in which 
 he briefly describes the routine of his daily life. " Our 
 days," he says, " are never too long. On the contrary, I 
 never recollect going to rest without regretting and 
 sometimes feeling angry with myself that the day has not 
 been more devoted to the great purpose of my life. I 
 rise every morning at five o'clock, spend an hour in my 
 study, pass another hour in my garden, or walking about 
 to inhale the freshness of the morning air. I then return 
 to my study, and remain there till eight. Breakfast ; 
 conduct family worship, including any persons who may 
 happen to be on the premises. We afterwards go down 
 
 *In a note dated 1875 Mr. Phillippo adds that the five or six young 
 women redeemed were afterwards respectably married, and, with one 
 exception, became members of the Church of Christ. Three or four 
 became the wives of schoolmasters. One opened a private school, and 
 her son is a solicitor in good practice in Jamaica. Her daughter is 
 the wife of a native clergyman. The families of the rest are numerous, 
 and are much respected. 
 
1828] The Gospel of Salvation. 83 
 
 into the school, which is on the floor beneath us, and 
 which we superintend, and there remain until other 
 engagements require attention. At two o'clock, when at 
 home, I again visit the school, and remain till it is over 
 for the day, concluding it as it was begun, with singing 
 and prayer. 
 
 " About half-past four we dine, then get ready for 
 chapel, class-meetings, singing-classes, leaders' meetings, 
 evening adult school, or meetings of some kind or another 
 in town or country every day in the week. They usually 
 commence at six o'clock and continue for an hour and a 
 half. We then take tea, have family prayers, and at 
 nine or half-past retire for the night. 
 
 " This is the regular routine, interrupted, of course, on 
 the week days by services in the country, at Old Harbour, 
 thirteen miles distant, and elsewhere, by visits to the sick • 
 by monthly intercourse with members and inquirers, by 
 experience meetings and church-meetings, by settlement 
 of disputes, and by marriages and burials, &c." 
 
 This is truly a scene of active and arduous- work, and a 
 key to that large amount of blessing it pleased God to 
 grant to His servant during the early years of his missionary 
 career. 
 
 G 2 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 PERSECUTION— VOYAGE TO THE UNITED STATES— 
 
 1828 TO 1829. 
 
 The labours of Mr. Phillippo and his brethren were 
 perpetually in danger of destruction from the besotted 
 folly of the planters. Just as the year 1828 was about to 
 close the Sectarian Committee presented its report to the 
 House of Assembly. It was adopted with only one 
 dissentient. It professed to be founded on evidence 
 furnished by men of various positions in life, among 
 whom were members of the missionary societies. The 
 island was ransacked for the calumnies and slanders that 
 passed from mouth to mouth, among them that one of 
 the missionaries (understood to be Mr. Phillippo) had 
 baptized seventy- five persons in the Rio Cobre, "bare as 
 Nature made them."* The character of some of the 
 witnesses may be judged of by the fact that one witness 
 was brought before the committee by a constable, being 
 in custody on a charge of assault and robbery. A local 
 newspaper even ventured to say " that subornation the 
 most gross must have been resorted to in procuring the 
 
 *The following is a mild specimen of the abuse lavished on the 
 missionaries by the island press: — " Among the absurd, preposterous, 
 unjustifiable, and irreligious regulations which they have irreverently 
 adopted as the text of their creed is the prohibition of indulgence in 
 dancing, and other innocent amusements of a similar kind; and in 
 doing so they belie their Saviour and imitate the devil himself." 
 
1829] Persecution. 85 
 
 evidence, unsubstantial as it is." The presumed facts 
 thus ascertained were said to justify the following state- 
 ments of the report : — " That the principal object of the 
 sectarians is to extort money from their congregations 
 by every possible pretext, and by the most indecent 
 expedients ; that they inculcate the doctrines of equality 
 and the rights of men, and preach and teach sedition 
 even from the pulpit ; that they occasion abject poverty, 
 loss of comfort, and discontent among the slaves fre- 
 quenting their chapels, and deterioration of property to 
 their masters ; and such is their outrageous thirst for 
 gain that they recommend females to prostitute them- 
 selves to get money to swell their contributions ! " These 
 monstrous charges were immediately repelled by the 
 missionaries ; but the report was printed in large num- 
 bers and sent to England for wide distribution, with the 
 hope of inducing the Colonial Secretary to pass the 
 re-enacted Slave Law. Writing to Mr. Dyer on the 5th of 
 January, 1829, Mr. Phillippo says: — " I do trust that no 
 exertion will be spared by the friends of missions to 
 defeat the diabolical purposes of our adversaries and of 
 the enemies of God. If these men gain their point we 
 might as well leave the island at once. It may materially 
 affect the missions of every denomination in every part of 
 the world. Every denomination should unite in an in- 
 flexible determination to frustrate such unholy, unjust, 
 disgraceful, and destructive purposes. Never, perhaps, 
 has there been such an important crisis as the present in 
 the annals of missions." Happily, the agent of the colony 
 at once saw that the circulation of this vile document 
 in England would infinitely damage the planters' cause. 
 It was, therefore, prudently withheld from the public 
 eye, while in the island itself it found many strenuous 
 opponents. The persecuting clauses of the Slave Law 
 were withdrawn, but the Secretary of State retained many 
 
86 Persecution. [1829 
 
 others which were used to harass the missionaries and 
 hinder their work. 
 
 In Vere Mr. Phillippo had to complain of the persecu- 
 tion of the slaves for holding class-meetings on some of 
 the numerous estates of the parish. The oppression was, 
 perhaps, more grievous than in any other part of the 
 island. The old white man whose house Mr. Phillippo 
 had hired was ousted from his holding by the rector and 
 magistrates, treated with indignity, and threatened with 
 the enmity of the neighbouring planters. On one estate 
 a Negro slave was flogged to death for conducting a 
 prayer-meeting in the class-house, and another was severely 
 punished for the like crime. It was with great difficulty 
 that Mr. Phillippo obtained a licence for the preaching- 
 place. Similar hostility had also to be encountered in 
 the parish of St. Thomas-in-the-Vale. 
 
 A few of the more moderate among the planters felt, 
 however, that it was necessary, in some degree, to meet 
 the demands of the English Government for an ameliora- 
 tion in the condition of the slaves. A meeting to con- 
 sider the matter was called at the Half-way Tree House, 
 at which, says Mr. Phillippo, the following resolution, 
 wholly at variance with the representations of the House 
 of Assembly, was passed : — " That this meeting, observing 
 a progressive improvement in the moral and religious 
 condition of the slave population of this island, is of 
 opinion that they are in a state sufficiently advanced to 
 be permitted to enjoy the civil rights and immunities 
 intended for their benefit by the new Slave Law." But no 
 good came of such resolutions, and the tale of woe 
 continued unchecked. The promoters of the movement 
 did not even attain what was their true object — that of 
 blinding the eyes of the people and Government of 
 England to the real condition of their bondsmen, or to 
 the fallacious nature of the relief, said to be the intention 
 
1829] Voyage to the United Slates. 87 
 
 of the enactment, which for so long a time had been in 
 controversy with the home Government. 
 
 Multiplied and laborious duties, added to the perpetual 
 anxieties occasioned by the course taken by the planters, 
 at length painfully affected Mr. Phillippo's health. Rest 
 and a resort to a cooler climate for a time became absolutely 
 necessary, and were only delayed until he could safely 
 leave Mrs. Phillippo, after the birth of their eldest daughter, 
 Hannah, which took place on the 5th of April. On the 24th 
 of July Mr. Phillippo set sail from Port Royal, with two very 
 disagreeable passengers as companions. He soon found 
 that the crew of the vessel consisted of a most disreputable 
 lot of men. Even before leaving the harbour his store of 
 provisions was pillaged. The voyage was one scene of 
 disaster to its close. Two of the sailors were concealed 
 pirates, and nearly succeeded in carrying the vessel to the 
 Isle of Pines, the well-known rendezvous of sea brigands. 
 The captain, being possessed of little nautical knowledge, 
 blunderingly sailed into the Gulf of Mexico instead of the 
 Gulf of Florida. The reckoning was lost, and they lay be- 
 calmed for ten days, exhausting their provisions and exposed 
 to the fierce rays of a tropical sun. Slowly drifting with the 
 current they came in sight of Havana, and entered the 
 harbour with their flag half-mast high, in distress for water 
 and food. The Cuban authorities treated them as spies 
 upon the expedition of General Santa Anna, just then 
 about to sail for the Spanish main. By a judicious use of 
 money, Mr. Phillippo and one of his fellow-passengers 
 were permitted to land, and to purchase the provisions of 
 which they stood in such great need. But when on shore 
 they were not safe. Passing along a street, they were 
 arrested, as strangers who had violated the law by 
 traversing the city without a passport. After an angry 
 interview the Alcalde allowed them to return on board 
 their vessel. The captain of a Portuguese brig in the 
 
Voyage to the United States. [i 829 
 
 harbour next entreated Mr. Phillippo, hearing that he was 
 an English clergyman, to go aboard his ship to console 
 his fever-stricken crew. It was a frightful sight. The 
 sick and dying men lay in a semicircle round the bulwarks 
 with parched and bleeding lips. Their faces were bloated 
 and yellow with disease. " I gave out a verse or two of a 
 hymn," says Mr. Phillippo, " and sang them to the tune 
 of the Old Hundredth, in which some from early recollec- 
 tion tried to join. I then prayed amidst the sobs and 
 hearty amens of all, and spoke to them of ' The Lamb 
 of God which taketh away the sins of the world.' Their 
 eyes were fixed upon me, many were in tears, some sobbed 
 aloud, and the captain at my side wept like a child. It 
 was a solemn moment. All seemed to feel that the hand 
 of death was upon them, and that they were going unpre- 
 pared before the tribunal of the great Judge of all. The 
 short service over, I stepped into ■ the boat, some raising 
 themselves up and looking over the bulwarks, and invoking 
 blessings on my head." 
 
 After another arrest, another visit to the guardship, and 
 to the officer of the port, the vessel was allowed to depart, 
 only to encounter a tremendous hurricane, which lasted for 
 two or three days and nights. The captain and mate 
 were incapable, and, until lights from the shore were 
 discovered, Mr. Phillippo, at the request of his companions, 
 assumed charge of the navigation of the ship. Several 
 days more of anxious watching followed, when on the 
 fiftieth day of their voyage they arrived at Staten Island, 
 to find that, owing to the delays that had been ex- 
 perienced, the ship's owners had given her up for lost, and 
 had obtained the insurance money, and were now highly 
 incensed with the captain for having brought her into port. 
 After a short quarantine, from which he escaped with the 
 assistance of General van Buren, Mr. Phillippo paid brief 
 visits to Philadelphia, New York, Boston, New Providence, 
 
1829] Voyage to the United States. 89 
 
 and other places, receiving a hearty welcome from various 
 ministers of his own denomination, among whom he 
 briefly mentions the names of Drs. Brantley and Day, 
 Cone and Maclay, Wayland and Sharp. He was every- 
 where received with much Christian kindness. His 
 health rapidly improved, notwithstanding the privations 
 and dangers through which he had passed. The return 
 voyage, by way of St. Thomas, though sufficiently trying 
 and anxious, was not marked by any striking incidents. 
 As a minister of the Gospel, he was enabled to lead a 
 fellow-passenger, dying with consumption, to the Saviour's 
 feet, and to place some check on the unbridled tongues of 
 the crew. He reached Spanish Town in safety on the 
 23rd of September, finding his family well. Soon after 
 his return, he had the happiness of baptizing 129 persons. 
 Most of them had been accepted as candidates for church- 
 fellowship before he left for the United States. Many 
 more, he was happy to find, were seeking " to enter the 
 gates of Zion," and were ready "to declare what the 
 Lord had done for their souls." 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 SUCCESSFUL LABOUR— ILLNESS— DEPARTURE FROM 
 JAMAICA— 1830 to 1831. 
 
 It will be unnecessary to give in detail an account of 
 the prosperous condition of the stations under Mr. 
 Phillippo's immediate direction during the eighteen 
 months that followed his brief visit to the United States. 
 He has, however, preserved a letter addressed to the 
 Rev. Isaac Mann, of Maze Pond, London, in which he 
 more particularly describes the feelings with which he 
 carried on his manifold and arduous labours. The cor- 
 respondence sprang out of an arrangement made by the 
 Committee of the Society, by which the missionaries would 
 be brought into more intimate relations with its members. 
 They were invited to confide, more fully than in official 
 letters is usually done, the anxieties, the spiritual ex- 
 periences, and the trials through which a missionary must 
 make his way. The sympathy thus begotten would, it 
 was conceived, bear fruit in a fuller appreciation of the 
 missionary's difficulties, and in a more prayerful and stren- 
 uous interest in his labours. The revelation to a tried 
 servant of God of the heart's emotions would meet with 
 a fraternal and loving response, and the missionary be 
 girded to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 It was in answer to a letter from Mr. Mann — the first of 
 the series — that Mr. Phillippo wrote on the 19th of April, 
 1830, portions of which may be given. He first speaks of 
 
1S30] Successful Labour. 
 
 9 1 
 
 the prejudicial effect of the climate on his health. 
 " Gibbon was not far from the truth when he styled this land 
 the grave of Europeans. On this side, and on that, it may 
 emphatically be said, mankind fall off like leaves in 
 autumn. The most healthy and vigorous of mankind are 
 cut down at a stroke. Nor are the signals of Death's 
 approach to be detected at a distance. That, indeed, is 
 the interval between the arrest and the execution of 
 his commission. A raging fever touches the brain, or 
 some other prevalent disease seizes the springs of life, 
 and no physician's skill can administer either antidote or 
 cure. Such circumstances have never failed to remind 
 me forcibly of my own mortality ; nor have they failed in 
 some measure, I trust, to exert a beneficial influence on my 
 engagements as a minister of Christ. But I never felt 
 myself so much of a sojourner in the world as now. I 
 literally view myself as standing amidst a shower of shot 
 and shell and heaps of slain, every moment liable to 
 receive the mortal wound, and appear before my Judge. 
 I never felt so much before the necessity of personal 
 piety; of diligence, as a student of the records of eternal 
 life ; of cultivating the temper and disposition of the 
 Saviour ; of working while it is day ; and of setting my 
 house in order." 
 
 " I think I have already replied to some parts of your 
 very kind letter, and have expressed my gratitude to you 
 for selecting me for your quarterly correspondent. I have 
 wanted an experienced friend at home. There have been 
 moments when I have greatly needed disinterested 
 counsel, encouragement, and sympathy ; but, above all, I 
 have wanted excitement to personal piety, as it is that, 
 I conceive, upon which our conduct, character, and 
 usefulness as ministers of Christ so materially depend. 
 
 " If I have had no particular causes for joy, I have had, 
 I can truly say, no occasion for sorrow. My bread has 
 
92 Successful Lahour. ['^3° 
 
 been given me, and my water has been sure. I have as 
 tranquil and happy a home as is to be found anywhere in 
 this world of vicissitude. As to spiritual things, ' I know 
 whom I have believed.' The atoning blood and perfect 
 righteousness of the Redeemer are the foundation on 
 which I build all my hopes for eternity, and the source 
 from which I draw all my consolation. Often as I have 
 had reason to mourn over the decay of the graces of 
 religion, both in myself and in others, and' numerous and 
 powerful as have been the temptations that have assailed 
 me, yet I have reason to bless God that my faith in Christ, 
 as the only, yet all-sufficient, Saviour of sinners, has never 
 been shaken. Not even in my darkest moments do I 
 remember that I have ever questioned the evidences of 
 my individual interest in the merits of His blood. Though 
 I feel myself more than ever the subject of countless 
 frailties and imperfections — a sinful worm of the earth 
 habitually carrying ab out a body of sin and death — yet I 
 hope I do not deceive myself when I say, that I am not 
 more certain that the sun shines in the firmament than 
 that I shall be finally presented faultless and spotless 
 before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.'' 
 
 After expressing his delight in his work, Mr. Phillippo 
 proceeds : — 
 
 " The Lord has done great things for us indeed, whereof 
 we are glad. During the comparatively short period since 
 I was permitted to commence my public labours, I have had 
 the high honour of adding unto the church, on a profession 
 of their faith in the Lord Jesus, nearly one thousand 
 individuals ; 145 have been added since the last annual 
 report. The influences of the Holy Spirit have certainly 
 been poured out upon the churches here in no ordinary 
 degree — the effect more especially, I cannot help con- 
 ceiving, of that spirit of prayer that is 'poured out upon 
 the church at home. Do but continue your supplications 
 
1830] Successful Labour. 93 
 
 for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and, feeble as your 
 missionaries may be of themselves, they will be ' mighty 
 through God.' They will feel no discouragement as to 
 the issue of their exertions ; it will animate them in their 
 work, and fill them with a resolution and confidence of 
 success which the united opposition of earth and hell can 
 never alter or shake. 
 
 "At all the stations the prospects are such as to awaken 
 our gratitude and animate our zeal. In every direction 
 new fields for cultivation are rising up to view. My own 
 congregation continues good, and, what I regard as a 
 very pleasing circumstance, our white attendants are on 
 the increase. There is now among that class a disposition 
 to hear. We have sometimes on a Sabbath evening 
 between twenty and thirty gentlemen and ladies present, 
 and an equal number of soldiers. Several of the former 
 (many of whom I regard as regular hearers) are Jews, who 
 not only appear to hear the Word with great attention and 
 seriousness, but who read the New Testament and mani- 
 fest a willingness for tracts. Pray for them, my dear sir ; 
 let your church pray for them ; and oh ! that the whole 
 Christian world would manifest a more ardent desire for 
 their subjection to the sceptre of Emmanuel ! " 
 
 In closing, Mr. Phillippo observes : — " Opposition, you 
 say, can never injure us if we are right. The whole of 
 your remarks on this subject are truly valuable. It is 
 more than ever my conviction that no obstacle can be 
 removed, or any material good effected, by rendering evil 
 for evil. I have never entirely lost sight of the advice 
 with which your letter concludes — I mean, rather, your 
 hint in 1823. I have given myself credit for having 
 acted with considerable prudence as the result of that 
 admonition ; but I must have my trials, and they cannot 
 but be such as I must feel. I pray earnestly that I may 
 be enabled to bear them in the spirit of my Lord." 
 
94- Successful Labour. [ J ^30 
 
 Among the interesting events in which Mr. Phillippo 
 took part during the year 1830, he specially mentions 
 the formation, in Kingston, of an auxiliary to the British 
 and Foreign Bible Society, and a few days later another 
 in Spanish Town. The first public meeting was held on 
 the 2nd of February, 1831, in Wesley Chapel, Kingston. 
 It was a crowded meeting, and, in Mr. Phillippo's words, 
 " formed an era in the history of the colony, being the 
 first of the kind ever held in the island, and which a 
 short time since could not have been attempted for fear 
 of the hostility it would have excited." 
 
 But while fully and incessantly occupied with the press- 
 ing duties of his own immediate locality, Mr. Phillippo's 
 active mind was often engaged with the question how 
 best to supply the many openings for Christian labour 
 which offered themselves in the districts around. Writing 
 to Mr. Dyer on the 3rd of December, 1830, he says: "I 
 charge myself with much negligence in not having more 
 repeatedly and powerfully urged upon the Committee the 
 claims of the adjacent parishes. If you cast your eye 
 over the map of Jamaica you will perceive the parishes of 
 St. Elizabeth, Manchester, and Clarendon. All these, with 
 the exception of a small Moravian settlement and one soli- 
 tary Evangelical minister of the Establishment, are entirely 
 without the faithful preaching of the Gospel." He then 
 indicates a salubrious spot at Black River, in St. Eliza- 
 beth, as suitable for a station, and relates his endeavours 
 for six years past to establish stations in various parts of 
 St. Thomas-in-the-Vale. At all these places some hun- 
 dreds of eager hearers had been collected. In one he 
 had only a mud hut in which to sleep, and often had 
 to return home from others late at night, through long 
 distances, utterly exhausted. In two or three Spots land 
 had been offered him on which to erect chapels and 
 houses, but the pecuniary means were wanting. He had 
 
1830] Successful Labour. 95 
 
 frequently gone to St. Thomas-in-the-Vale on a Saturday 
 evening and preached next day in the woods till noon, 
 beneath the shade of a tree. After a brief repast he had 
 then ridden eighteen miles in a burning sun, or sometimes 
 drenched with rain, to preach to a crowded congregation 
 in Spanish Town. This exposure to rain, and sun, and 
 dew had greatly injured his health. " Now," he patheti- 
 cally adds, "I am good for nothing, surrounded by 
 claims, and I cannot satisfy them." He reminds his cor- 
 respondent how that at Kingwood the magistrate of the 
 parish, a member of the House of Assembly, had stolen 
 the materials collected for building a chapel, and applied 
 them to the erection of a house for himself. " This 
 justice of the peace," he adds, "is now glorying in his 
 shame, taunting the poor Negroes on his triumph over 
 sectarianism, and threatens to expel religion from the 
 parish. And shall he expel it ? I would ask the Christian 
 world if I had a voice to make them hear. Shall he 
 expel it from upwards of five hundred poor Negroes, who 
 have for years been bleeding under the persecutions they 
 have had to endure for the sake of Christ ? I must beg 
 the Committee to reply." But he hopes the people will 
 themselves build a chapel on the site sold him by a noble- 
 minded female of colour, if only the Society will vote a 
 grant for the erection of a house. The need was great, 
 for the parish contained 8,000 Negroes, and no other 
 Christian teaching was within their reach. He concludes 
 his earnest and powerful appeal by reminding the Com- 
 mittee that established stations require continuous support, 
 and that his own decayed state of health must shortly 
 oblige him to return to England, when Spanish Town 
 itself, with all its numerous agencies, must be supplied. 
 
 It was this state of things which had led Mr. Phillippo, 
 on more than one occasion, to press on Mr. Dyer the 
 importance and necessity of some arrangement being 
 
g 6 Illness. ['831 
 
 made for the employment of native labourers, and the 
 establishment of a seminary for their education. " I have 
 now," he says, "five whom I could thrust into the field ; 
 and, well satisfied of their qualifications for the work, I 
 have no doubt of their success. I repeat my conviction 
 that in the interior of the country they would soon be far 
 more efficient than Europeans." * To Mr. Phillippo 
 belongs the credit of being one of the first to realise this 
 necessity, and to insist on the means required to meet it. 
 The project met with Mr. Dyer's cordial approval, and it 
 was one of the subjects set down for the consideration of 
 the deputation which the home Committee at that time 
 contemplated sending to Jamaica. It was not, however, 
 destined to be realised till later on in the history of the 
 mission, and under circumstances more favourable for its 
 success. 
 
 With the opening of the year 1831 it became more and 
 more evident that Mr. Phillippo must seek re-invigoration 
 of health in a more favoured clime. The new year, he 
 remarks, " already begins to proclaim the realities of 
 which it is the exponent. What a mercy it is that we do 
 not hear the whole of its utterances, either of joy or 
 sorrow, at once ; or it might have many things to say 
 which we could not bear. While time is passing, may my 
 future opportunities of doing good be more improved 
 than in the past, remembering that 
 
 ' Time destroyed 
 Is suicide, where more than blood is spilt.' " 
 
 The urgency of his health compelled the Society to 
 make arrangements for his speedy return to England, and 
 the first months of the year were spent in anxious 
 expectation of the arrival of the Rev. John Griffiths, who 
 had been appointed to fill his place. Mr. Griffiths landed 
 
 * Letter to Mr. Dyer, July 14th, 1831. 
 
1 8 3 1 J Successful Labour. g 7 
 
 in Kingston on the 1 ith of July, only, alas ! in ten days to 
 fall a prey to the fatal fever of the tropics. Mr. Phillippo's 
 departure, however, could no longer be delayed. Com- 
 mitting his stations to the care of the Rev. John Clarke, 
 with the full approval of his brethren, and obtaining 
 the island licence to leave,* he sailed for his native 
 land on the 7th of August, taking with him his wife and 
 two children, and the bereft widow of Mr. Griffiths. 
 While full of regrets at this break in his missionary 
 labours, Mr. Phillippo felt thankful that he had so long 
 been spared to labour in the vineyard of his Lord. 
 Whatever might be the will of his heavenly Father, it was 
 his duty joyfully to acquiesce in it, only solicitous to be 
 found walking in the path which His providence and His 
 word should mark out for him. It was amid the loudly 
 expressed regrets of his flock, and tokens of the warm- 
 est affection from all classes, that he departed. It will 
 suffice to copy one brief extract from a note received from 
 the Rev. C. Dallas, an island curate. " May the blessing 
 of the God of all grace," says Mr. Dallas, "bless both you 
 and yours, and sanctify your voyage to you ! I would 
 come to shake you by the hand once more, but cannot. 
 Be assured I will remember you among my Christian 
 friends and brother servants of the Lord at His throne of 
 grace. May He strengthen and establish you for His 
 work, and send you forth again in health to preach the 
 truth, accompanied by His power! " 
 
 *At this time no one was allowed to leave the island without 
 advertising his name in the Gazette for three weeks, and obtaining a 
 certificate from the Island Secretary's office. Mr. Phillippo's licence 
 was signed by the Governor, and was dated St. Jago de la Vega 
 (Spanish Town), 6th of August, 1831. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 FIRST VISIT TO ENGLAND— 1831 to 1833. 
 
 It was with a heavy heart, and in silent sorrow, that the 
 parents embarked, for their youngest child was very ill. 
 They hoped and trusted in God that He would disperse 
 the dark cloud which hung over them. The dear child, 
 however, became worse, suffering extreme pain. She 
 required incessant nursing and other care, by night and 
 day, while the vessel afforded anything but comfortable 
 accommodation. In three or four days from Kingston, 
 the little one died, and her precious remains were com- 
 mitted to the " hoary deep." The following extract from 
 Mr. Phillippo's diary well expresses the bitterness of this 
 trial : — " This sweet infant (she was a little over nine 
 months old) had endeared itself to us all in a more than 
 ordinary degree, and the circumstances under which the 
 grim messenger snatched her from our embrace have left 
 a wound which nothing but the Balm of Gilead can heal. 
 During her sufferings my proud heart was at times ready 
 to rebel ; but, O my God and Father, grant me that holy 
 resignation to Thy will which I trust I sincerely desire. 
 Help us both to say from our heart of hearts, ' Thou hast 
 done all things well ! ' The Lord gave and the Lord hath 
 taken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord." 
 
 The voyage was long, and by no means a pleasant one. 
 It terminated at Falmouth, then the rendezvous of the 
 Mail Packet Service, on the 5th of September. On landing, 
 they were met by the Rev. W. F. Burchell, the pastor of 
 
"83 1 J First Visit to England qg 
 
 the Baptist church in Falmouth, and other friends, and 
 soon found a welcome and a home amongst the kind and 
 hospitable members of the congregation. After a few 
 days' gratifying intercourse, the voyagers re-embarked on 
 board the Irish packet for London. It was inconveniently 
 crowded with Portuguese refugees and Irish labourers, and 
 the voyage was rendered exceedingly unpleasant by the 
 quarrelling of the passengers, the miserable berths, and the 
 disgusting habits of the occupants of the steerage. Great 
 anxiety was felt from the obvious incapacity of the captain, 
 who ran the ship aground near Plymouth. One amusing 
 incident tended to relieve Mr. Phillippo's vexations. 
 Dreading to occupy his appointed berth, Mr. Phillippo 
 delayed seeking rest till all the lights were out. Having 
 to step over a portly person who had stretched himself in 
 the lower tier, he grasped the leg of a man who, as he 
 for a moment supposed, had by mistake entered the berth 
 appropriated to him. His cry awoke the sleeper beneath, 
 who vociferated, " That is my leg. Please give it to me." 
 " I beg your pardon, I did not know that any one would 
 occupy that berth." He found next day that it was a 
 cork leg and thigh, and its owner was that distinguished 
 personage, the Marquis of Anglesea. 
 
 Although Mr. Phillippo's health was much improved by 
 the voyage home, he was constrained by the advice of his 
 physician to decline the numerous engagements which 
 were at once pressed upon him on his arrival in London. 
 After a brief stay, he proceeded to Chipping Norton, 
 taking Oxford on the way, to find among old friends and 
 associations the rest he so sorely required. His enforced 
 leisure was, however, well occupied in the preparation of 
 a reply to some strictures on the " Leader and Ticket 
 system " pursued by the Baptist missionaries in Jamaica. 
 This paper does not appear to have been published, and 
 the painful events which took place in Jamaica in the 
 
 h z 
 
ioo First Visit to England. [1832 
 
 opening- months of the new year (1832) set this and all 
 other questions of missionary policy aside. 
 
 It was on the 20th of February that tidings reached 
 England that the island was in a dangerous state ; that the 
 Negroes had broken out into open insurrection in the 
 parishes of St. James and Hanover ; and that the works 
 and trash houses on numerous estates had been burnt, 
 together with the houses and settlements of many free 
 persons of colour. The militia had been called out, and 
 the regular troops sent to the scene of the outbreak. 
 Subsequent mails brought the further information that 
 three Baptist missionaries (Knibb, Whitehorn, and 
 Abbott) and two Wesleyan missionaries had been 
 arrested — ostensibly because they would not serve in the 
 militia, but truly because they were suspected of being 
 promoters of the insurrection ; and that not less than ten 
 Baptist chapels and mission-houses had been destroyed 
 by the enraged planters. Mr. Taylor, the colleague of 
 Mr. Phillippo, was also seized, and his nearly completed 
 chapel in Vere razed to the ground. With this exception, 
 the scenes of tumult and bloodshed were confined to the 
 northern portion of the island. In Portland, a society, 
 consisting of 103 persons, was formed with the avowed 
 object of destroying all the " sectarian chapels." At a 
 meeting of the Colonial Union, convened to take measures 
 to remove all " sectarians " from the island, the following 
 resolution was adopted :— " We, the undersigned, most 
 solemnly declare that we are resolved, at the hazard of our 
 lives, not to suffer any Baptist or sectarian preacher or 
 teacher, or any person professedly belonging to these sects, 
 to preach or to teach in any house in towns, or in any 
 districts of the country, where the Colonial Union extends, 
 and this we do, maintaining the purest loyalty to his 
 Majesty King William the Fourth, as well as the highest 
 veneration for the Established religion." 
 
1 83 2 J First Visit to England. 10 1 
 
 Seven Baptist missionaries in all were at one time or 
 another imprisoned, until their innocence of all complicity 
 with the outbreak was established. The rebellious Negroes 
 were very speedily overthrown, and the ringleaders shot 
 after a brief trial by Court-martial. The rising began 
 the day after Christmas-day, and by the middle of January 
 the danger was past. Few, if any, white men lost their 
 lives, either in the first rush of the insurrection, or during 
 its suppression ; but many hundred slaves were slain or 
 hanged, in the endeavour to loosen from their necks the 
 oppressors' yoke. 
 
 The rising was unexpected. In England a planters' 
 rebellion was feared, rather than one on the part of the 
 slaves. Since the disallowance of the Slave Law threats of 
 transferring the allegiance of the colony to the United 
 States had openly been made, even in the House of 
 Assembly. Meetings of delegates were held in several 
 parishes at which this treasonable act was violently 
 advocated, and the slaves were given to understand that, 
 in such a case, they would be slaves for ever. There is 
 no doubt that a general idea prevailed among the Negroes 
 that their freedom had been declared by the British Parlia- 
 ment, and that it was unrighteously withheld from them. 
 Even where the colonists did not sympathise with the 
 violence of many of their number, they regarded the 
 action of the British Government as a mischievous and 
 unjust interference with the rights of property, and as a 
 breach of their political constitution. The proposed 
 ameliorations in the condition of the slaves were held 
 to be most dangerous incitements to turbulence, and 
 calculated to ruin the colony. If improvements were 
 required, it was argued, they ought to come from them- 
 selves. The slave-owners were abetted in these views by 
 the West India mercantile body of London, who, on the 
 6th of April, protested against the Order in Council as 
 
J 02 First Visit to England. [1832 
 
 "unjust and oppressive, inconsistent with the parlia- 
 mentary resolutions of 1823, and destructive of the rights 
 of property." 
 
 The struggle for emancipation was now transferred to 
 England. The planters would not confer any of the 
 liberties so ardently desired, and their bondsmen could 
 not wrest freedom from their grasp. It only remained 
 to arouse the British people to the sufferings of the slave, 
 and to fight the battle of the oppressed in the constitu- 
 tional arena of the British Parliament. It is needless, 
 here, to pursue the history of the conflict, which, after 
 stirring the nation to its depths, issued in the emancipa- 
 tion of all slaves held in bondage in any portion of the 
 dominions of Great Britain. It is a part, and a noble 
 part, of the annals of our country. It must suffice here 
 briefly to indicate the share taken in the " good fight" by 
 the subject of this memoir. 
 
 Mr. Phillippo's first appearance on the platform as an 
 advocate for the slave was at the anniversary of the 
 Baptist Missionary Society held on the 21st of June, 
 in Spa Fields Chapel. The Rev. William Knibb had 
 arrived from Jamaica a few days before, and, at Mr. 
 Dyer's request, Mr. Phillippo left to his eloquent colleague 
 the description of the true nature of Negro slavery, and 
 the narrative of the insurrection and of the sufferings 
 that he and his brethren had undergone.* It was Mr. 
 Phillippo's duty to dwell on the missionary aspect of 
 their work. The stations, he urged, must not be deserted 
 because of this dreadful interruption ; the chapels must 
 be rebuilt, and the missionary band must be replenished 
 
 * Mr. Hinton, in his Life of Knibb (p. 144), seems to imply that 
 Mr. Phillippo was silent on the horrors of slavery from a desire to 
 avoid the subject. Mr. Hinton was not aware that this topic was left 
 to Mr. Knibb by pie-arrangement with the Secretary, Mr. Dyer. 
 
1832] First Visit to England. 103 
 
 and increased. He testified that the intellectual powers 
 of the slaves had been awakened ; that their superstitions 
 were giving way, and that they heard the Gospel gladly. 
 From fifty to sixty thousand souls had been converted, and 
 from eighty to one hundred thousand were seeking the 
 way to heaven, in connection with the various denomina- 
 tions. He depicted the eagerness of the people to hear 
 the Word of God ; and recounted the sacrifices they made 
 for the purpose of attending the house of prayer, and 
 stated that Christian natives were being raised up to 
 carry on the ministry of grace among their Negro 
 fellow-men. Finally, he anticipated the time when the 
 quondam slaves of Jamaica would return to Africa, and 
 carry to the homes of their fathers the glad tidings of 
 salvation. For himself, he was ready to return and die 
 in Jamaica, and did not doubt that the events which 
 had taken place would be overruled for the furtherance 
 of the Gospel. 
 
 The demand made on Mr. Phillippo by the numerous 
 meetings now held up and down the country was often 
 greater than his strength could bear. Everywhere he had 
 to encounter the false and slanderous statements of the 
 Jamaica journals, which were widely disseminated in this 
 country. The letters he received from the brethren 
 Taylor and Clarke, who were supplying his stations, told 
 him of the indignities to which they and their congrega- 
 tions were subject. Their lives were in constant jeopardy. 
 The most deadly opposition to the progress of the Gospel 
 among the slaves and towards their ministers continued, 
 and the whole country presented an aspect of discontent 
 that offered little prospect of a return to peace and 
 prosperity. 
 
 Mr. Phillippo's defence of his missionary brethren, and 
 his expositions of the character of slavery in the West 
 Indies, were not confined to his appearances on the plat- 
 
104 First Visit to England. ['832 
 
 form.* He communicated many facts to the public papers, 
 and in Norwich, at the request of the late J. J. Gurney, 
 Esq. (who took the chair), and other friends, such as the 
 Revs. J. Alexander and W. Brock, and the Sheriff of 
 Norwich, he delivered, in the autumn, a course of four 
 lectures on Jamaica, and on the state of the West Indian 
 colonies. The attendance was very large. The event did 
 not, however, pass away without calling forth strenuous 
 opposition from the friends of colonial interests in the 
 local press. The lectures were not, indeed, without 
 influence in Jamaica. For the Rev. J. Taylor, writing 
 at the end of the year on "the gross and infamous 
 oppression" to which the people were subject, and on 
 the virulent persecution that he himself had to endure, 
 tells Mr. Phillippo "that it would not be prudent" for 
 him to return at present. But the people hoped that his 
 absence would not be prolonged. There were some 
 indications, however, that hostility, in its worst forms, had 
 begun to subside. For Mr. Taylor reported that he was 
 able again to visit some of the stations which he had been 
 obliged for several months to abandon. 
 
 At the beginning of the year 1833, Mr. Phillippo's 
 health was so far improved that he could accept the 
 invitations which poured in upon him from all quarters, 
 not from ministers and churches of his own denomination 
 only, but also from those of the London Missionary Society 
 and from the Anti-Slavery Society and its auxiliaries in 
 London and elsewhere. He spoke in Exeter Hall at the 
 meetings of the London Mission, the British and Foreign 
 School Society, the Religious Tract Society, the Sunday- 
 
 * His state of health at the time prevented Mr. Phillippo from 
 giving the evidence, which he was requested to do, before the Select 
 Committee of the House of Commons, appointed on the 30th of May, 
 1832, on the extinction of slavery throughout the British dominions. 
 
1833] First Visit to England. 105 
 
 School Union, and also enjoyed frequent and gratifying 
 intercourse with many eminent men and philanthropists 
 of the day. " My engagements," he says, '' at this time 
 were at Portsmouth, Portsea, &c, in conjunction with my 
 friend and brother, Mr. Knibb, where we held very 
 interesting and successful meetings. The venerable Dr. 
 Cox and friends next claimed my services at Hackney, 
 and soon after I went down again to Norfolk to fulfil 
 engagements there. During my short stay I took a last 
 look at East Dereham, the town of my birth, and the 
 residence of my earliest years. I was the subject, more 
 than on my first visit, of a feeling of isolation. I found 
 myself a stranger, unable to say which were the most 
 painful, the things that were changed, or those that were 
 not." 
 
 In a letter to his wife he gives us the following brief 
 notes of a tour made in Wales in the month of August. 
 He entered Wales at Swansea. 
 
 "Here I called," he says, "on Mr. Roff, the Baptist 
 minister, and was advised by him and others not to stop 
 at Carmarthen, but proceed at once to Milford Haven. I 
 therefore arrived on the following morning by mail. In 
 the afternoon Mr. Stephens, the deputation with me, and 
 some other ministers, arrived. The meeting in the 
 evening was a good one. Next day we proceeded by 
 boat to Pembroke Dock, and there held a meeting also. 
 Saturday I was accompanied by a Welsh brother and 
 Robert Smith, the black brother from Jamaica, to 
 Haverfordwest. Here I preached on the Sabbath to a 
 very large congregation in the morning, and to a still 
 larger one at the Independent place in the evening. On 
 Monday evening was the missionary meeting, when 
 brother Stephens and myself, as the deputation, were 
 specially engaged, and a very interesting and successful 
 one it was. Tuesday we proceeded in a kind of car to a 
 
106 First Visit to England. |_ l8 33 
 
 place called Bethlehem. Here brother Stephens preached 
 in Welsh, and I in English. We dined on bacon at a 
 good old farmer's house, which was as dark as a prison, 
 and then went on to Beulah, where we found a meeting of 
 the annual Association for the county. A good old 
 Welsh brother, his head enveloped in a red kerchief, was 
 giving utterance to some of the strangest guttural sounds 
 I ever before heard, and accompanying them with such 
 violence of voice and action as made me almost tremble 
 for his poor frail body. The chapel was crowded, and 
 much devotion appeared to be manifested, although at 
 first it was considerably disturbed by the appearance of 
 Robert Smith, at whom all stared as if he had dropped 
 from the clouds, and been the inhabitant of another world 
 than ours. On the outside of the chapel a stage was 
 erected, where we, the deputation in particular, were to 
 exhibit on the morrow. Very much fatigued, Smith and 
 myself proceeded to the quarters designed for us. After 
 breakfast on the morrow we held a most animating 
 meeting, presided over by the squire of the district and 
 an M.P., and proceeded onward to Beulah. The service 
 was already begun in Welsh. A good old brother and 
 my companion preached in Welsh, I in English. Again 
 we found ourselves on our way, passing through clouds 
 of dust, and narrowly escaping an accident by the break- 
 ing down of our vehicle, which compelled us to walk 
 for two or three miles to reach our destination. In the 
 town all soon became bustle and confusion. The 
 shoemaker threw down his lapstone, the carpenter his 
 axe, the blacksmith his hammer — in a word, all business 
 seemed at a stand, the inhabitants rushing to the doors 
 and windows, and into the streets, to see our black 
 companion, having previously heard of him and his 
 history, and some never having seen a black man before. 
 Here at Fishguard we partook of some refreshment and 
 
1833] First Visit to England. 107 
 
 were again ready for our work. A very large congregation 
 was present, but a very small collection was made, though 
 said to be a better one than usual. The next morning we 
 pursued our course to Newport. Here we held a public 
 meeting, and stayed at a public-house in the intervals 
 between the services. The following morning we started 
 for Cardigan, where I now am. On entering the town, it 
 being market-day, Smith again excited much interest and 
 wonderment. We were followed along the streets by 
 hundreds of men, women, and children to the place of 
 our temporary abode. And here again came the trial of 
 our lungs and physical endurance. We each had to 
 preach twice in the country at considerable distances in 
 the day, and towards evening delivered addresses from a 
 platform in a field, where the whole town and neighbour- 
 hood seemed to be gathered. Thus far at present. We 
 are to occupy the same field again this evening, and then 
 proceed, attending to other claims, to Aberystwith. Now 
 farewell." 
 
 The Negro, Robert Smith, above referred to, had made 
 his escape from slavery and imprisonment in Jamaica, 
 and, as a fugitive, reached England, hidden in the hold of 
 a vessel, to seek redress by an appeal to his mistress. He 
 had paid a large sum for his freedom to this lady's agent 
 in Jamaica, who had fraudulently failed to give a receipt 
 for the money, and to secure for the man his papers of 
 manumission. Being arrested and in danger of re-sale 
 because he could not produce his " free papers," allowed 
 only to visit his dying wife manacled and under guard, he 
 resolved to escape. This he accomplished, and, landing 
 in London, found his way to Mr. Phillippo's lodgings at 
 Clapham.* With much difficulty, owing to her marriage 
 
 * He was known to Mr. Phillippo as an inquirer, from attending the 
 classes of the congregation in Spanish Town. 
 
io8 First Visit to England. [1833 
 
 and change of name, Mr. Phillippo discovered the lady's 
 residence, and there strangely enough encountered her 
 agent. He absolutely denied the facts, and in the lady's 
 presence denounced both the missionary and the slave as 
 impostors, threatening both, on their return to Jamaica, 
 with summary vengeance. He was curtly told that, at any 
 rate, would be prevented, and that if Smith returned at all 
 it would be as a free man, and that he would most surely 
 be placed beyond his grasp. Smith's history becoming 
 known, it excited the deepest interest. His simple story, 
 supplemented by a relation of atrocities suffered by others 
 still in bondage, deeply touched the audiences he 
 addressed, and helped to swell that great wave of national 
 feeling which broke on the system of slavery with over- 
 whelming force, and swept it from the world-wide empire 
 of Great Britain. While in London Smith was baptized 
 and united with the church in Eagle Street, under the 
 pastoral care of the Rev. Joseph Ivimey. . On his return to 
 Jamaica, he settled down as a tradesman at Old Harbour, 
 where, after some years, he died looking for " the mercy of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." * 
 
 As Mr. and Mrs. Phillippo's health was sufficiently 
 improved to justify their return to Jamaica with their two 
 boys, their passage was taken, and on the day before 
 Christmas-day they bade farewell to their friends in 
 London, after a pleasant, though in some respects sorrow- 
 ful, devotional service — sorrowful because they were about 
 to leave behind, not only old attached friends, but their 
 eldest daughter Hannah. " Keen, indeed," says Mr. 
 Phillippo, " was the pang of separation. So great a trial 
 
 * In a picture painted by Mr. R. Rippingill to commemorate the 
 passing of the Act of Emancipation, the portraits of Smith, and his 
 wife and child, appear, expressing their thanks to the British nation 
 that they are free. 
 
1834] First Visit to England. 109 
 
 had we not endured since we committed her dear little 
 sister to the deep on our voyage home." 
 
 They did not, however, finally leave England till the 7th 
 of February. Their vessel, with many others, was detained 
 in the Channel by contrary winds. The tedium of this 
 delay was pleasantly varied by visits to hospitable friends 
 at Portsmouth and Ryde. In the latter place, they met a 
 band of not fewer than twenty-six missionaries of various 
 Societies, wind-bound like themselves. " We are now, 
 at length," writes Mr. Phillippoin a letter to the Secretary 
 of the Society, " near the Needles, going along delightfully, 
 all our sails spread. The morning is very fine, and the 
 wind fair. Upwards of three hundred vessels, many of 
 which are now around us, are estimated to have left the 
 Wight this morning. Governors for the East and West 
 Indies, admirals, ambassadors, missionaries, emigrants, , 
 all proceeding to their several destinations. What a train 
 of interesting reflections do these circumstances create ! " 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 RENEWAL OF MISSIONARY LABOURS— 1834. 
 
 Severe gales had to be encountered, and once a dangerous 
 storm of three days' duration, before the voyagers could 
 land at Kingston, on the 13th of March. But their recep- 
 tion speedily effaced from their minds the discomforts of 
 the passage. "Our welcome can be imagined," Mr. Phil - 
 lippo says, " only by those acquainted with the impulsive- 
 ness and affection of the Negro character. On our 
 arrival at the mission-house, they rushed into the premises 
 from all parts of the town, and soon after from all parts of 
 the surrounding country, to bid us welcome. The chapel 
 and the entire mission premises were crowded. The 
 joyous excitement was not exceeded by anything that 
 could be conceived of, even by those who are not 
 strangers to the African race. Our brethren also seemed 
 to vie with each other in their congratulations on our 
 arrival, so long delayed, in improved health and buoyant 
 spirits, and had sent conveyances for us to Kingston. 
 The next day was the Lord's-day, and crowded congrega- 
 tions assembled to greet us, and again to listen to the 
 message of eternal life from the lips of the servant of the 
 Lord." 
 
 The old work immediately engaged the attention of 
 Mr. Phillippo. With regard to the state of the church 
 and congregation in Spanish Town, he says: "I feel 
 myself laid under almost inexpressible obligations to 
 
1 834J Renewal of Missionary Labours. 1 1 1 
 
 brother Clarke. I found everything as I could have 
 desired — the premises, the Sunday-school, the church — 
 everything. He is a dear and valuable brother, nor is 
 his wife less excellent. They are both exceedingly 
 beloved by the church and congregation, and, I may add, 
 by all. I have expressed to them my most cordial thanks, 
 and I should feel very much gratified if the Committee 
 would show that they are not backward to commend 
 where commendation is deserved. Everything begins 
 again to look natural, and I am very far from regretting 
 my return." * 
 
 Arrangements were immediately made to place in Mr. 
 Clarke's hands the stations in the parish of St. Thomas-in- 
 the-Vale, having Jericho as the centre of his missionary 
 operations. But Mr. Phillippo speedily endeavoured to 
 establish himself at "Above Rocks" in the mountains, 
 and also at other spots in St. John's. Writing on the 29th 
 of May, he reports his Sabbath-school as more than ever 
 interesting. The children in attendance were principally 
 those of slaves coming various distances from the farms 
 and pens, and exhibiting a strange thirst for the knowledge 
 which should fit them for the freedom now so near. He 
 again organised an adult school, and found that reading- 
 books were in great demand. " Meet a Negro," he says, 
 " on the road, and give him a spelling-book or a tract, 
 and his benediction will follow you as far as you are 
 visible.'' Influenced by what he had seen in England, 
 Mr. Phillippo soon added a temperance society to his 
 measures for benefiting the Negro, and his example was 
 quickly followed by his colleagues — Mr. Taylor at Old 
 Harbour, and Mr. Clarke in St. Thomas. His congrega- 
 tion in Spanish Town necessarily received the chief 
 attention. On the Lord's-day it was his custom to hold 
 
 * Letter to Mr. Dyer, May 17th, 1834. 
 
ii2 Renewal of Missionary Labours. ['83 4 
 
 three public services in the chapel, besides occasional 
 church-meetings, and exercising constant supervision over 
 the Sabbath-school. Monday evenings were devoted to a 
 prayer-meeting, Wednesdays to a Bible-class, Thursdays to 
 the weekly lecture. Preaching visits were paid to the 
 country, and to the stations at Passage Fort, Red Hills, 
 and in the mountains of St. Catharine. These employments, 
 together with the pastoral duties imposed by a fellowship 
 of nearly a thousand members and the erection 'of school 
 buildings and chapels as they were required, demanded 
 incessant diligence, and left little time for relaxation or 
 repose. But he was cheered and sustained by evident 
 proofs that his labours were not in vain, and that God 
 continued to smile on his " feeble efforts," as he terms 
 them. 
 
 It has been seen that from his first arrival in the island 
 Mr. Phillippo gave great attention to the question of 
 education. It was his conviction that, great as were the 
 advantages of freedom, it would lose much of its value if 
 the slave remained in the degrading state of ignorance to 
 which slavery had doomed him. During his stay in 
 England he had pressed the subject on the Committee of 
 his own Society, but more particularly on the considera- 
 tion of the British and Foreign School Society. In the 
 following letter to Mr. Henry Dunn, dated April, 1834, 
 Mr. Phillippo briefly explains his plans, and narrates the 
 steps he had taken to fulfil his desires : — 
 
 " You are aware that before I left England I designed 
 the erection of a school-room for the education of 
 the poor children, chiefly black and coloured, on the 
 principles and plan of the British and Foreign School 
 Society. Immediately on my arrival I commenced the 
 necessary arrangements, and, on the assumption of the 
 Government by the Marquis of Sligo, I entered into 
 negotiations for the purchase of land for the purpose. 
 
1834] Renewal of Missionary Labours. 113 
 
 "A few days ago, hearing that both his Excellency and 
 the Marchioness were well disposed towards the education 
 of the people, I thought it would be well to apprise them 
 of my intentions. After a few days, I received his 
 Excellency's reply. In the meantime, however, or soon 
 thereafter, it was currently reported that prompt and 
 decided measures were to be taken for the establishment 
 of a model school on the Madras system, by and under the 
 auspices of the Governor. This report was soon con- 
 firmed, as in a day or two after receiving his Excellency's 
 reply an application was made by the Governor's 
 secretary to a person who had been conducting our 
 school to take charge of a similar institution to be 
 established by Government, distinctly stating that it was 
 to be on the Madras system, the secretary being well 
 acquainted with that system, he having witnessed its 
 operation and success in Madras. One of my objects in 
 now writing you is to apprise you of this, and to ask 
 if trie funds at the disposal of the Home Government and 
 in the hands of the Governor here are to be applied to 
 one exclusive system. This may not possibly be the wish 
 of the Governor, who is regarded as truly liberal in his 
 views on the subject ; but there is danger from the 
 advisers around him. It will either be sustained by patron- 
 age, or by pecuniary means on the part of Government, 
 and, after the novelty is passed away, be suffered to 
 languish for want of interest on the part of its quondam 
 friends. As the Negro will not acquire virtue by the 
 simple Act of Emancipation, neither by that Act will the 
 prejudices of the master undergo revolution. What 
 guarantee, therefore, have we of the permanency of such 
 an institution ? It is with the conviction that such an 
 institution would be comparatively inefficient, and only in 
 a trifling degree meet the wants of the masses, that I write ; 
 but, even if it should succeed better than can reasonably 
 
 1 
 
114 Renewal of Missionary Labours. ['834 
 
 be expected, there will still be room for the exercise of 
 private benevolence. 
 
 " Under any circumstances, I am still determined to 
 persevere in my purpose to build the school-room, and 
 even to lay the foundations broader and deeper than at 
 first proposed. It is now my purpose, not only to include 
 boys in my plan, but girls and infants (each department 
 separate), and, if possible, to fit up a room in which 
 the children will have the advantage, as formerly, of 
 being instructed after school - hours in several useful 
 and productive arts, or in the general pursuits of 
 agriculture. To carry out the plan to the full extent, 
 and with the most cheering prospects of success, all 
 that is necessary is to secure the sympathies and aid 
 of that part of the British public which is distinguished 
 by its attachment to the principles of civil and religious 
 liberty." 
 
 The erection of the school-rooms on the plan proposed 
 was begun on the 25th of September, when the foundation- 
 stone was laid by the Custos of the parish, the Hon. 
 T. J. Barnard, and P. Watkis, Esq., the latter a barrister and 
 gentleman of colour, and an uncompromising advocate 
 of emancipation, amidst a great assemblage of all classes. 
 The cost of these structures was largely met by the 
 liberality of friends in England ; but soon after their 
 completion he was able to announce that a sum of ^"450, 
 granted by Lord Glenelg (Secretary of State for the 
 Colonies) through the representations of Lord Sligo and 
 two esteemed Friends in England, had enabled him to 
 finish the buildings and furnish them throughout. The 
 schools were two in number, one for boys and one for 
 girls, and were calculated to hold 300 scholars. They 
 ranged with the mission premises, and- had a frontage, 
 including a committee-room in the centre, of seventy-two 
 feet. At the same time the chapel was enlarged so as 
 
1 8 3 4- J Renewal of Missionary Labours. 1 1 5 
 
 to hold 500 more hearers. The scene at the opening a 
 few months later Mr. Phillippo thus describes: — 
 
 " Last Sabbath-day there were more persons present 
 than on the first Sabbath in August. The chapel was 
 crowded almost to suffocation. Between three and four 
 hundred were estimated to have been outside ; and multi- 
 tudes went away, unable to bear exposure to the sun, or to 
 hear the preacher's voice. The members were not only 
 so numerous as to throng completely the lower part of 
 the chapel, but the porticoes also, and the gallery stairs. 
 Four or five had literally squeezed themselves into the 
 little enclosure beneath the pulpit, which I occupy as my 
 stand at my week-day evening services, and to some the 
 sacred elements were handed through the windows. The 
 appearance which this vast assemblage presented in the 
 neighbourhood on its egress from the chapel, exchanging 
 mutual congratulations, and covering the whole face of 
 the ground, was deeply interesting. Some of this multi- 
 tude came from a distance of ten and fourteen miles, 
 whilst hundreds came from beyond a circle of five miles 
 from the centre of the circuit. It was a high and 
 hallowed day on many accounts. Not only did a thousand 
 (more or less) of us sit down and commemorate the dying 
 love of our once crucified, but now risen and exalted, 
 Saviour, but I had the honour and happiness of introducing 
 to that ' feast of love,' and of giving the right hand of 
 fellowship to, one hundred and seventeen persons, who never 
 before enjoyed the privileges of their high and holy 
 relationship, and to whom I had just administered the 
 sacred rite of baptism on a profession of their faith in 
 Christ, in the presence of a great cloud of witnesses. 
 
 " Some of these were young and interesting — had been 
 nurtured almost from childhood in our Sabbath-school — 
 had been ' turned from darkness unto light, and from the 
 power of Satan unto God,' chiefly through the instrumen- 
 
 1 2 
 
"6 Renewal of Missionary Labours. ['834 
 
 tality of instructions there received ; and, above all, were 
 among the 'first fruits ' of that blessed institution unto 
 Christ. No less than six of these interesting young 
 persons were before me. Though once scholars, they 
 were now Sunday-school teachers. And under the influence 
 of feelings and principles which sound Scriptural education 
 inspires, they seemed so fully aware of the nature of the 
 vows they had vowed, and of their deep responsibility to 
 God and to His Church, that they continued bathed in 
 tears during the greater part of my address to them. 
 These circumstances awakened the sympathies of the 
 whole assembly ; and, while all eyes were turned towards 
 them, many and fervent, I doubt not, were the prayers 
 offered up that God would preserve them from all the 
 future dangers of their pilgrimage, and at last minister 
 unto them an abundant entrance into glory. There was 
 a third circumstance of interest connected with these 
 youthful converts, and which I must not omit to mention. 
 Three of the females had been slaves ; one of them had 
 been redeemed under circumstances of painful interest 
 by friends at Reading; the others under circumstances 
 of interest no less painful by friends in Jamaica. Two of 
 them are the active and efficient school-mistresses in the 
 'Jamaica Metropolitan School,' and the other is training 
 for the same department of usefulness." 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE APPRENTICESHIP— 1834 to 1S3S. 
 
 By these and other plans Mr. Phillippo hoped to prepare 
 his people for the enjoyment of that modified measure of 
 freedom enacted by the first reformed British Parliament 
 in 1833, and appointed to come into operation on the 1st 
 of August, 1834. The agitation for this humane measure 
 had proceeded concurrently with the great struggle for " the 
 emancipation of the people of Great Britain from the rule 
 of an oligarchy which for two centuries had been the 
 predominant force in English politics." At the election 
 which immediately succeeded the passing of the Reform 
 Act, a large number of members were returned pledged to 
 the abolition of slavery. It may truly be said that it was 
 only the intense feeling displayed by the middle and 
 working classes which forced the Bill on an unwilling 
 Legislature, and compelled the Ministry of Earl Grey to 
 attempt the settlement of the question. " A great part of 
 the nation," says the historian Alison, " including a vast 
 majority of the urban constituencies, were seized with a 
 passion on the subject not less strong than that which 
 carried reform, and more estimable, as being less impelled 
 by selfish ambition, and more springing from humane 
 feelings." * The Nonconformist bodies were first and 
 foremost in this merciful and beneficent agitation. 
 Every congregation was visited, and the villagers of the 
 
 * Alison's " History of Europe," vol. v., p. 420. 
 
1 1 8 The Apprenticeship. [1834 
 
 remotest hamlets assembled in crowds to listen to the 
 voice of the missionaries Knibb, Burchell, Phillippo, and 
 others, pleading for freedom for the slave. It was fitting 
 that Mr. Buxton, a member of the Society of Friends, a 
 Dissenter from the Established Church, which, on this as 
 on so many other occasions, held aloof from the popular 
 agitation for human rights, should bring the subject before 
 the House of Commons. The Government yielded to his 
 urgent representations. Not that the members of it 
 withheld their sympathy from the movement, but, in their 
 opinion, there were many other measures which had 
 long been pressing for settlement, and which seemed to 
 demand their immediate attention. For there was not 
 a department of the State which did not need reform. 
 Nevertheless the Government resolved to listen to the 
 voice of the nation, and to make a strenuous and final 
 effort to remove the blot of slavery from every portion of 
 the empire, and it will ever remain as the especial glory 
 of the first reformed Parliament that many of its earliest 
 hours were given to the accomplishment of this " act of 
 national virtue, unparalleled in the history of the world." 
 
 On the 14th of May, 1833, Mr. Stanley, who had become 
 Colonial Secretary, explained to a committee of the whole 
 House the measure on which the Cabinet had determined.* 
 Great as were the pecuniary interests at stake, they were 
 not, he said, to be compared with the moral and social 
 consequences which must result. " The freedom of 
 800,000 of our own, and many millions of foreign, slaves, 
 the emancipation and happiness of generations yet unborn, 
 the ultimate destiny of almost a moiety of the human race, 
 were bound up with the question." But it was not 
 possible longer to delay a settlement of it in the face of 
 the " growing determination on the part of the people of 
 
 * Molesworth's " History of England," vol. i., p. 255. 
 
1834] The Apprenticeship. 119 
 
 this country at once to put an end to slavery — a 
 determination the more absolute and the less resistible 
 that it was founded in sincere religious feelings, and in a 
 solemn conviction that things wrong in principle cannot 
 be expedient in practice." * The Government, therefore, 
 proposed the immediate abolition of slavery, and the 
 substitution during a period of fourteen years of a system 
 of apprenticeship, in which the emancipated slave might 
 be prepared for the full enjoyment of personal liberty. 
 After prolonged discussions, the measure ultimately took 
 the form of a gift of twenty millions to the owners of 
 slaves, as a compensation for their claims, and the 
 establishment of an apprenticeship of seven years for 
 predial slaves, and of five years for all others. This 
 portion of the Bill met with strenuous opposition from 
 Mr. Buxton, Lord Howick, and other friends of the Negro, 
 but was advocated by Lord Macaulay, and by the members 
 of the Government and their supporters.^ " Against this 
 part of the scheme," says Mr. Phillippo, " I strongly 
 protested at a meeting held by the Anti-Slavery Society in 
 the Guildhall Coffee House, and would have done so 
 publicly at the meeting, in the conviction that the greater 
 part of the slaves would be worked to death before the 
 
 * Alison, vol. v., p. 421. 
 
 t Lord Palmerston's views are stated in a letter to the Hon. 
 W. Temple, under date of June 25th: — "Both West Indians and 
 saints are moderately dissatisfied with our plan for the abolition of 
 slavery. To be sure, we give the West Indians a tolerably good 
 compensation. I really believe that the twenty millions are about the 
 whole value of all the estates, at the present market price ; so that 
 they will receive nearly the value of their estates, and keep those 
 estates into the bargain. I must say, it is a splendid instance of 
 generosity and justice, unexampled in the history of the world. 
 People are sometimes greatly generous at the expense of others ; but 
 it is not often that men are found to pay so high a price for the luxury 
 of doing a noble action." — " Life of Lord Palmerston," vol. ii., p. 163. 
 
The Apprenticeship. ['^34 
 
 fourteen years had expired ; but I was persuaded to be 
 silent by an influential member of the Society of Friends. 
 I also undertook to declare my conviction, as representing 
 the whole slave population, that they would sooner remain 
 in bondage than accept the boon proposed. I made my 
 protestations known to several of the gentlemen present, 
 who seemed to think it would be unwise to throw any 
 impediment in the way likely to postpone a settlement of 
 the question ; that we must be thankful for what we had 
 got, and not risk a certainty for an uncertainty." We 
 shall presently see how completely subsequent events 
 justified the forecast of one who so thoroughly understood 
 both the Negro and his master.* 
 
 Still, extravagant and imperfect as were the terms, 
 slavery had received its death-blow ; and great were the 
 preparations made to welcome the day on which the first 
 gleam of freedom should shine. Mr. Phillippo has given 
 usa lively and graphic account of the events of the day at 
 Spanish Town, and it is a fair example of the rejoicings 
 which took place in all parts of the island. 
 
 " According to previous arrangement among our mis- 
 sionary brethren generally, the day was to be set apart as a 
 day of devout thanksgiving to Almighty God. On the joyful 
 morning, a morning (notwithstanding the suffocating 
 closeness of the atmosphere and the threatening aspect 
 of the clouds the day before, exciting apprehensions of 
 a hurricane) as serene and beautiful as ever shone out of 
 the heavens, the apprentices were seen at an early hour 
 clothed in clean and neat attire, flocking from all parts of 
 the country into the town. Most of them repaired to the 
 houses of their respective neighbours and friends for rest 
 
 * Mr. Stanley, when Lord Derby, in a speech in the House of Lords 
 on the 7th of February, 1838, stated that the apprenticeship was only 
 a system of modified slavery. — Hansard, vol. xcvi., p. 175. 
 
183+] The Apprenticeship. 121 
 
 and refreshment, after which thousands hastened to the 
 different places of worship open to receive them — almost 
 literally as "doves to their windows." At ten o'clock the 
 chapel was so crowded that I could scarcely find my way 
 into the pulpit ; and, by the time the service was 
 commenced, multitudes could not get within reach of the 
 doors or windows. This was before intimated to be a 
 meeting of devout acknowledgment to God for the great 
 boon the principal part of my sable congregation had 
 that day received ; and never shall I forget my feelings 
 when I saw them for the first time in my life standing 
 before me in all the consciousness of freedom. 
 
 " It seemed as if I was in a new world, or surrounded 
 by a new order of beings. The downcast eye, the gloomy 
 countenance, and, strange as it may seem, even the vacant, 
 unintellectual physiognomy had vanished. Every face 
 was lighted up with smiles, and I have every reason to 
 believe that every heart rejoiced. After such an introduc- 
 tion as the occasion would naturally dictate, I called on 
 several of my sable brethren to lead the devotions. Their 
 addresses to the Divine footstool, which they approached 
 with great reverence and self-abasement, were a mingled 
 flow of supplication and gratitude, adoration and love. 
 There was scarcely a tongue in the vast assembly that did 
 not respond to every sentiment and utter a hearty Amen. 
 Those I had chiefly fixed upon to engage in these holy 
 exercises, being more immediately interested in the great 
 event that blessed morning had ushered in, might be 
 expected to have dwelt with peculiar emphasis on the 
 subject of their present altered condition and future 
 prospects as to this present world ; but it was not so. 
 These considerations seemed lost in the overwhelming 
 importance attached to them in reference to things 
 spiritual and eternal. 
 
 " Said one : ' O Lord, our gracious Saviour, what we is 
 
The Apprenticeship. ['S3+ 
 
 meet togeder for dis mornin' when we don't usual do so 
 dis day of de week ? We is come to bless and to 
 magnify dy great and holy name dat dou has done dis 
 great blessin' unto us, to bring us out of de house of 
 bondage dis day. O Lord, what is dis dat we eye see, 
 and we ear hear ? Dy Word tell we dat king and prophet 
 wish to see de tings dat we see, and to hear de tings dat 
 we hear, and die without de sight. O Lord, if we 
 desperate wicked and tubborn heart won't prais dee as 
 dey ought, pluck dem up by de root ! Here, Lord, we 
 give dem up unto dee ; melt dem wid de fire of dy lov, 
 wash dem in de pure fountain of dy blood, and make dem 
 what dow would have dem to be.' 
 
 " ' Blessed Lord,' said another, ' as dou so merciful pare 
 we, to let we see dis blessed morning, we want word, we 
 want tongue, we want heart to praise de. Debil don't do 
 de good to us, but dou do de good to us, for dou put it 
 into de heart of blessed European to grant us dis great 
 privilege ! O derefore may none of we poor sinner praise 
 de debil by makin' all de carouze about de street, but 
 fock like dove to deir window to praise arid glorify dy 
 great name.' 
 
 " ' Since dou has don' dis great ting,' said a third, ' O 
 dat we may love dee and dy Gospel — may we neber turn 
 dy blessing into a curse, may we be diligent in our proper 
 calling, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. O Lord, now 
 do dou make thine arm bare, and turn de heart of all de 
 people unto dee. We bless dee dat dou has incline so 
 many poor dyin' sinner to come up to dy house dis day, 
 O Lord, teach deir heart — turn dem from deir own way, 
 same as dou did de city of Nineveh ! Now make dem 
 trow down deir rebellious weapon, fight against dee no 
 more ; for dou says, Who eber fight 'gainst dee, and 
 prosper ? Our eye is up unto dee, we cannot let dee go 
 except dou bless us wid dy grace — dou only canst change 
 
1834] The Apprenticeship. 123 
 
 de stubborn heart, turn it like de river of water is turned, 
 dat all may serve dee from de least even unto de greatest.' 
 " Among the hymns sung on this deeply interesting 
 occasion was one which, as missionaries, had we ever 
 given out before, would have subjected us to a charge of 
 treason. It was sung in loud chorus, the vast assembly 
 simultaneously rising up on the repetition of the two first 
 lines : — 
 
 ' Blow ye the trumpet, blow, 
 The gladly solemn sound ! 
 Let all the nations know, 
 To earth's remotest bound, 
 The year of jubilee is come ; 
 Return, ye ransom'd sinners, home.' 
 
 " The service concluded, Mrs. Phillippo having a 
 considerable number of pin-cushions, bags, &c, sent by 
 kind friends from England, left on hand after the sale, I 
 gave notice that I would distribute them as far as they 
 would go among the female part of the congregation, on 
 condition of their keeping them in commemoration of the 
 day, and that on presenting them when the term of their 
 apprenticeship expired {i.e., those who survived) they 
 should each be presented with a gift more worthy their 
 acceptance. Happy should I have been to have distri- 
 buted among the more intelligent part of them the 
 munificent gifts voted them by the British and Foreign 
 Bible Society ; but they had not arrived. 
 
 " By this time (nearly two o'clock) the children, to the 
 number of four hundred, had again assembled, and had 
 seated themselves in the centre of the chapel, they 
 especially having been led to expect some little memento 
 from Christian friends in England on this never-to-be- 
 forgotten day. They were clothed in their best attire, 
 and looked remarkably clean and neat. We distributed 
 among them medals, pin-cushions, bags, and books, 
 
124 The Apprenticeship. ['834 
 
 completely exhausting the stock of these articles we 
 possessed. The closing devotional exercises being 
 attended to, they then returned in an orderly manner to 
 their homes. After a short interval for refreshment and 
 rest, the hour arrived for evening service. The congrega- 
 tion was again overwhelming, and exhibited, as usual, 
 every grade of colour, and, I was about to say, every 
 diversity of creed, and circumstance, and character. I 
 preached as well as my exhausted energies of both body 
 and mind allowed, and thus closed the services of one of 
 the most interesting and glorious days that has ever 
 adorned the page of history." 
 
 The following Sunday was even a more remarkable day. 
 With slavery, Sunday markets were abolished. All the 
 shops were accordingly closed, and thousands upon thou- 
 sands of the newly enfranchised peasantry came from all 
 parts of the country to their sanctuaries. "It was a high 
 day," says a missionary ; " a Sabbath long to be remem- 
 bered, a foretaste of better things to come."* 
 
 Mr. Phillippo was soon confirmed in his belief that 
 greater atrocities than ever would be committed on the 
 slaves by their owners, " in order to make the best (the 
 worst ?) of a system forced upon them, as they considered, 
 by their enemies." During the few months antecedent to 
 the 1st of August, persecution was especially directed 
 against slaves connected with Baptist missionaries. In 
 February, 1834, Mn Phillippo reports that, while some 
 Negroes were engaged in prayer after returning from a 
 funeral, their merciless proprietor came to the house, de- 
 manding in a rage that the individual who had been pray- 
 ing should be delivered up to him. The man escaped, 
 but the occupant of the house was immediately seized, 
 handcuffed, and made fast in the stocks. Next day he 
 
 Gardner's " History of Jamaica,' - p. 301. 
 
1834J The Apprenticeship. 125 
 
 was sent to Rodney Hall Workhouse to be further punished. 
 The female slave of the same house was also laid on the 
 ground and severely flogged. On the 30th of April 
 several slaves and free persons of colour were indicted at 
 the quarter sessions for attending a so-called illegal meet- 
 ing of slaves held for the purpose of hearing the missionary 
 preach. The slaves were found guilty, admonished, and 
 discharged. The free people, four in number, were fined, 
 and on refusing to pay were sent to gaol. But these acts 
 of inhumanity were only a prelude to the far worse 
 cruelties that were to come. In November eleven ap- 
 prentices, for some trifling offence, were publicly flogged 
 in the market-place of Spanish Town. The culprits were 
 marched to the place of punishment under an escort of 
 police, and the special magistrate improved the event by 
 ■an address to the spectators. The sufferers were then 
 paraded, with their backs lacerated and bleeding, about 
 the town, and before Mr. Phillippo's door — "a spectacle," 
 he adds, " I had never seen in the worst times of absolute 
 slavery." "The atrocities committed under colour of 
 law," continues Mr. Phillippo, " were greater than I had 
 ever known. I wrote to Lord Sligo (the Governor of the 
 island) and to friends in England, stating some of the 
 cases of severe flogging, by order of special magistrates, 
 for the most trifling offences, and stated my conviction 
 that, if the system was not soon abolished, the slaves — for 
 such they really were — would be goaded to an insurrection 
 more general and far more disastrous in its consequences 
 than had ever yet occurred. This communication was read 
 in the House of Lords, and was noticed by Lord Brougham. 
 There is reason to believe that at the same time it influ- 
 enced Lord Sligo shortly after to set his apprentices 
 entirely free. With this determination, he appointed two 
 gentlemen and myself to see that his purpose was carried 
 into effect." Lord Sligo had replaced Lord Mulgrave in 
 
r26 The Apprenticeship. ['834 
 
 April, 1834, with the especial view of carrying out the 
 Emancipation Act. Numerous special or stipendiary magis- 
 trates were appointed under the Act, who appear to have 
 been selected with little care, for some of them proved to 
 be more cruel and ignorant than the planters themselves. 
 It is said of one, records Mr. Phillippo, a navy officer, 
 that, in conversation with a gentleman who had offered 
 him advice, he thus expressed himself: — " The fact is, sir, 
 that we have entered on a new area, that corrosive 
 measures must be used, and that there must be mutual 
 condescensions on both sides ! " 
 
 The course taken by the House of Assembly, and the 
 spirit displayed in the Session of 1834-5, more than justified 
 the apprehensions of Mr. Phillippo. A Bill was brought 
 in for the infliction of corporal punishment for minor 
 offences. " Messrs. Hodgson and Fowler thought flagel- 
 lation a very laudable practice, and that no occasion should 
 be lost of allowing it in reasonable measure. Mr. Hylton 
 conceived it to be a most unnecessary waste of fine feel- 
 ings to spare the apprentices, whom he designated as a 
 set of barbarians only fit to be cudgelled. Here and there 
 only a member was found sufficiently bold to protest 
 against the wild talk of his colleagues." A Mr. Watkins, a 
 gentleman of colour, intimated his opinion that these 
 civilisers of barbarians might themselves be benefited by 
 an application of the lash on their own backs, " as it was 
 the only chance of making them wise legislators." Every 
 attempt, however well-meant, on the part of any member 
 of the Assembly to meet the necessities of the hour in a 
 fair spirit, was met with contumely and indignant reproach. 
 In a letter to a friend, Mr. Phillippo thus describes the 
 state of things shortly after the system had come into full 
 operation : — 
 
 " When with you in London, I ventured to predict, as 
 you will remember, that the apprenticeship would not 
 
1835] The Apprenticeship. 127 
 
 work. Nor does it ! Nor can it be made to do so. Both 
 the Governor and the planters are at their wits' end to 
 know what to do. The whip, it is feared, has only 
 changed hands, and what matters it to the sufferer by 
 whom that instrument is wielded ? 'The Negroes will not 
 work,' say their masters. ' Massa give me no lowance ' 
 (allowance), says the apprentice. ' He no give me 
 Friday — no make leave off four o'clock good' (viz., at the 
 proper time), 'make me work when me no able — old man, 
 old woman, and piccaninney, all work.' Under such 
 circumstances, can tranquillity and peace be expected ? 
 Almost everywhere there is confusion and every evil work. 
 May God avert another insurrection ! But before I can 
 expect this devout wish to be realised I must pray, and 
 the friends of the African and of humanity must pray, 
 and work more earnestly than ever until this accursed 
 species of quasi-s\a.very be completely abolished." 
 
 By many friends in England these fears were thought 
 to be exaggerated. Remonstrances were addressed to 
 Mr. Phillippo against the forwarding of what were said 
 to be " excited tales " of the atrocities committed under 
 the new regime. It was declared to be inconceivable 
 that the planters should so recklessly act in the teeth, as 
 it seemed, of their own interests. But the exasperation 
 of the planters and masters of the apprentices increased 
 in violence against the Home Government as well as 
 against the philanthropists of England and the mission- 
 aries. Stipendiary magistrates who endeavoured con- 
 scientiously to fulfil their duties with justice and impar- 
 tiality were bitterly assailed. " They were denounced," 
 says Mr. Phillippo, "in the House of Assembly in the 
 most disgraceful manner, and in the coarsest language. 
 Another order of that august body was issued to the 
 missionaries to appear before a committee of that House 
 to answer such questions as they might think proper to 
 
128 The Apprenticeship . [1835 
 
 propose.* This investigation was owing to the action of 
 the Baptist missionaries in endeavouring to promote the 
 social interests of the people in opposition to the oppres- 
 sions and exactions of their former owners. On this 
 account they were more virulently than ever, if that were 
 possible, denounced as political parsons and demagogues. 
 They were told that it was their duty to preach the Gospel, 
 and to leave to statesmen, legislators, and judges the 
 enactment and administration of civil laws." 
 
 Mr.Phillippo, however, did not thus limit his conceptions 
 of his duty, and he continued to adopt such measures as 
 seemed to him best adapted to elevate the Negro, to col- 
 lect such facts as would illustrate the state of the people, and 
 to forward the result of his inquiries to parties interested in 
 the success of the Act of Emancipation. He also willingly 
 united with his brethren in the publication of a protest 
 against the Report of the Committee of the House of As- 
 sembly to which the inquiry into the causes of discontent 
 had been referred. This curious document asserted that 
 a pernicious influence had been " exercised by sectarian 
 clergymen over the minds of the head people on the 
 plantations, who were led to believe that they were violat- 
 ing the principles of their faith and their duty to God " 
 by obeying the laws ! In their reply the missionaries 
 declare these statements to be false. They affirm that 
 the Assembly was acting on unsupported statements or 
 on garbled and ex parte evidence, and that their untiring 
 
 * The order to Mr. Phillippo ran as follows : — " You are hereby 
 required to attend the committee appointed to inquire into the causes 
 of the discontent among the apprentices — their reluctance to work as 
 formerly, even during the limited time prescribed by law, and the 
 almost universal determination on their part not to work for wages 
 during their own time— on Wednesday, the 12th inst., at ten o'clock, 
 in the Assembly Room." 
 
1836] The Apprenticeship. 129 
 
 efforts were '• directed towards the preservation of the 
 peace of the community." 
 
 It had been the cherished hope of the Home Govern- 
 ment that the planters would make the best use of the 
 interval provided by the apprenticeship, to pass such 
 measures of legislation and social improvement as would 
 prepare the way for the period of full liberty. Never was 
 hope more painfully disappointed. The result cannot be 
 better expressed than in the following portions of a speech 
 addressed by the Marquis of Sligo to the Assembly in 
 February, 1836 : — 
 
 " The very extraordinary nature of the message I 
 have received from the House of Assembly compels 
 me to point out to the Legislature of Jamaica the 
 position in which the conduct of one of its branches 
 has placed the colony ; to that branch, therefore, must 
 I more particularly address myself, while I review its 
 proceedings during the present Session — while I point 
 out what disposition it has evinced to meet the wishes of 
 the mother country. 
 
 " I pressed on you the establishment of more Courts 
 of Assizes, so strongly recommended by the pre- 
 sentment of the Grand Jury. You took no notice of 
 it. A revision of the laws affecting the discipline of 
 gaols, and other places of confinement, was recom- 
 mended to you. All these subjects have remained 
 unnoticed. The whipping of females, you were in- 
 formed by me, officially, was in practice ; and I called 
 upon you to make enactments to put an end to con- 
 duct so repugnant to humanity, and so contrary to law. 
 So far from passing an Act to prevent the recurrence of 
 such cruelty, you have in no way expressed your disapproba- 
 tion of it. 
 
 " I informed the House that, in the opinion of the 
 British Government, the taxation imposed by the local 
 
 K 
 
130 The Apprenticeship. ['836 
 
 authorities on the property of apprentices was quite illegal ; 
 vou totally disregarded this suggestion. 
 
 " I sent you down no less than four messages on the 
 subject of an extended system of education ; as no 
 measure on the subject has emanated from the House, 
 can I do otherwise than conclude that you are indifferent 
 to it ? I informed you that _£~z5, 000 sterling had been voted 
 by England for the support of education in the colonies, 
 with the promise of still further assistance being afforded, 
 andyou have taken no steps to make it available. I trans- 
 mitted to you despatches from the Secretary of State, 
 recommending the repeal of the 33rd Clause, with a view 
 to increase religious instructio n in the colony ; you have 
 not attended to the recommendation. 
 
 " I recommended the introduction of an Emigration 
 Bill ; I pointed out to you the injury done to the poorer 
 classes of the claimants for compensation by the schemes 
 of interested persons ; I communicated to you the cir- 
 cumstances, arising out of your own decision, relating to 
 the Police Bill ; you have taken no notice of it." 
 
 " Thus," says Mr. Phillippo, in a letter to the Morning 
 Chronicle, " they have positively treated with contempt and 
 scorn every benevolent and wholesome recommendation 
 of the parent Government, and continue venting their 
 malignity against the Executive, as the organ of the Govern- 
 ment, in a shameful and unparalleled degree. Nothing 
 can be more evident than that, even at the time they were 
 giving their sanction to the Abolition Act, our legislators 
 were determined to nullify every provision of it which 
 wore a favourable aspect to the Negro. It is out of all 
 reason that such a course can any longer be pursued. 
 What will the British Government do in this extremity ? 
 Their course is plain. They must either arm the 
 Governor with full powers to enforce obedience to their 
 own wholesome and holy determinations, annihilate the 
 
183b] The Apprenticeship. 1 3 1 
 
 local legislature, or, although last not least, at once and 
 for ever subdue our political strifes and heart-burnings by 
 proclaiming our peasantry totally and unconditionally 
 free." 
 
 In a subsequent page the issue of this conflict will 
 appear. 
 
 k 2 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL LABOURS— 1835 to 1837. 
 
 It has already been seen that Mr. Phillippo gave much 
 attention to the question of education, and made un- 
 ceasing efforts to promote it within the range of his 
 personal action, In January, 1835, we find him replying 
 at some length to a series of questions forwarded by the 
 Secretary of the Society, and it was very gratifying to him 
 to learn that his proposal" for the establishment of an 
 institution for the training of young men for the ministry 
 was favourably viewed by the Committee. Its necessity 
 became daily more evident to the missionaries, from the 
 rapid growth of the mission, and from the altered social 
 condition of the people. Some idea of Mr. Phillippo's 
 own exertions may be learnt from his reply to a message 
 from the Government of the island on the subject. He 
 states that he had in his charge the following schools : — 
 
 "In Spanish Town, connected with the Metropolitan 
 establishment. One boys' school, one girls' school, and 
 one also for training teachers, as a normal school ; a 
 Sunday-school for boys and girls, an adult Sunday- 
 school, and an adult daily and evening-school for both 
 sexes. 
 
 "At Highgate or Sligoville. One day-school on 
 the plan of Fellenburgh, one boys' and one girls' day- 
 school, a Sunday-school, an adult Sunday-school, and 
 an adult evening-school for apprentices of both sexes. 
 
 " At Passage Fort. A day-school for boys and girls, 
 
1835] Educational Labours. 133 
 
 a Sunday-school, and an adult day-school for apprentices 
 of both sexes." 
 
 A still wider range of influence was opened to him by a 
 communication from the Marquis of Sligo on the 29th 
 of June. Lord Sligo, from the commencement of his ad- 
 ministration, had shown himself much interested in the 
 education of the labouring classes. He now requested 
 Mr. Phillippo* to lay before him a plan of general educa- 
 tion, having special application to the circumstances of 
 Jamaica, in which there existed so many people attached 
 to religious denominations other than the Establishment. 
 It was desirable that the plan adopted should not inter- 
 fere with the peculiarities of any. 
 
 The important document forwarded by Mr. Phillippo is 
 too long for insertion here; but it may be briefly sum- 
 marised. In the first place, Mr. Phillippo commends the 
 plan of the British and Foreign School Society as liberal 
 and comprehensive, while its simplicity and economy are 
 unrivalled. It knows no creed, recognises no sect, teaches 
 no catechism, but takes as its fundamental principle the 
 common Christianity of Christendom, and adopts the 
 Bible as a class-book. The discipline of its schools is 
 cheerful and inspiring, and encourages habits of industry. 
 Mr. Phillippo then proceeds to point out its adaptation to 
 
 * Lord Sligo wrote as follows : — " Highgate, June 29th, 1835. — Dear 
 Sir, —As I know you have turned your mind to the education of the 
 poor Negroes, I should feel much obliged if you would communicate 
 to me any plan of general education, without reference to any peculiar 
 religious opinions, which you may have formed. I have been for some 
 time endeavouring to collect information on the subject, and to form 
 some plan ; but, up to this day, I have not been able to hit upon any 
 system which is at all likely to answer, without so enormous an out- 
 lay as I do not think the Government at home would find the House 
 disposed to agree to. Will you, therefore, be land enough to com- 
 municate to me any such plan as you may think feasible ? — I remain, 
 my dear Sir, your faithful Servant, Sligo." 
 
1 3 + Educational Labours. f 1 8 3 5 
 
 the needs of Jamaica, and advocates, after suitable in- 
 quiries, the formation of a central Government school, with 
 dependent parochial schools, under mixed committees of 
 all colours and creeds. He further estimates the cost at 
 £t.$o for each school of 100 children, most of which 
 would be obtained from the school fees, supplemented by 
 the liberal support of the friends of education. But he par- 
 ticularly urges, as indispensable, the immediate formation 
 of a model school in Spanish Town for the training of 
 teachers, without which, in the then condition of the 
 island, no local schools could be furnished with suitable 
 schoolmasters or mistresses.* 
 
 Wise as these suggestions appear, the Governor was 
 unable to induce the House of Assembly to take the sub- 
 ject into consideration, nor was it until after the Disturb- 
 ances of 1865-66, and the voluntary suicide of the House 
 of Assembly, that the Government of Jamaica was able to 
 introduce into the island a general system of elementary 
 instruction. The efforts of the Home Government were 
 equally unavailing. 
 
 In October, Mr. Phillippo was busily engaged in reply- 
 ing, at the request of Lord Sligo, to a despatch from the 
 Colonial Secretary of State, Lord Glenelg, as to the possi- 
 bility of educating adult Negroes, and the prospect there 
 was of employing them, in the instruction of their fellows. 
 In the long and important paper supplied to the Governor, 
 Mr. Phillippo treats the subject from every point of view, 
 
 * The Governor replied as follows :— "Highgate, July 3rd, 1835. 
 
 Many thanks, my dear Sir, for your prompt attention to my wishes on 
 the subject of education. I shall, if you will allow me, keep the books, 
 &c, for some time, till I collect the whole of the information I am 
 seeking for, as I confess myself quite at sea on the matter, and have 
 seen so many objections to those that have suggested themselves to 
 me that I have as yet decided on none. I hope, however, ere long to 
 be able to hit on something, when I will probably have to trouble you 
 further on the subject. — My dear Sir, your faithful Servant, Sligo." 
 
1836] Educational Labours. 135 
 
 more especially urging the necessity of an immediate 
 attempt to educate the Negro in order to remove from his 
 mind and habits of life the pernicious effects of slavery, 
 and to fit him for a life of patient, continuous, and suc- 
 cessful toil as a free man. The paper is an able state- 
 ment of the entire case, and deserved the commendation 
 it received from Lord Glenelg,*' to whom it was sent by 
 Lord Sligo, with strong expressions of approval, and a 
 recommendation that the plans suggested should be 
 adopted. Mr. Phillippo did not, however, approve of a 
 compulsory system of education, either for children or 
 adults, which, in a subsequent despatch to the House of 
 Assembly, was advocated by Lord Glenelg. No doubt 
 these circumstances contributed largely to the favourable 
 reception of the memorial which, about this time, was 
 addressed to the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's 
 Treasury by Mr. Phillippo, and supported in the strongest 
 manner by Lord Sligo. It was a request for help in the 
 erection of the buildings of the Metropolitan school. 
 The sum of £500 was immediately granted, and with ex- 
 pressions of pleasure by Lord Glenelg highly gratifying to 
 Mr. Phillippo. 
 
 The encouragement he received prompted Mr. Phillippo 
 to establish schools in every place within his reach, and 
 he also interested himself in bringing to the notice of 
 the Government the schools of his brethren that were 
 
 * Lord Glenelg's despatch is as follows : — " Downing Street, 
 January 1st, 1836.— My Lord,— I have the honour to acknowledge your 
 lordship's despatch, No. 174, of 25th October, enclosing a communi- 
 cation from the Rev. Mr. Phillippo on Negro education. I have 
 perused these papers with the interest which they well deserve, and I 
 beg to thank your lordship for the information they contain. My 
 thanks are also due to Mr. Phillippo for the valuable suggestions 
 which his experience of the Negro population in Jamaica has enabled 
 him to make.— I have, &c, &c, Glenelg." 
 
i 3 6 Educational Labours. [ 1 8 3 6 
 
 needing aid.* He also laid before his friends in Jamaica 
 and England the plan of a college, similar in some 
 respects to those established in India at Serampore and 
 elsewhere, for the culture of the Negro race in the higher 
 departments of learning. His report of the issue of his 
 endeavours for this object is, " that the scheme was re- 
 garded with the utmost apathy," and that his efforts, both 
 in Jamaica and in England, with respect to it were in vain. 
 The object, however, long possessed his mind, and in his 
 volume on "Jamaica, Past and Present," published in 
 1843, he has inserted in the Appendix his plan in full 
 detail. Since then some attempts have been made to 
 accomplish it, both by the Government and by private 
 individuals or societies ; but in its main features the 
 scheme remains unfulfilled. 
 
 About this time Mr. Phillippo addressed an interesting 
 letter to Mr. James Cropper, of Liverpool, on the estab- 
 lishment of an orphanage for both sexes on some salu- 
 brious spot in Jamaica. The subject had been discussed 
 with Mr. Cropper when he was last in England. Mr. 
 Phillippo now gave that gentleman the results of his 
 inquiries, earnestly recommending the adoption of the 
 plan, in the conviction that it might be highly useful, and 
 might be made self-supporting. He also pointed out a 
 spot near Highgate, in the mountains above Spanish 
 Town, as eminently adapted for the experiment. This 
 project, however, amid the pressure of other events, was 
 laid aside, and never carried into execution. 
 
 Some extracts from a letter addressed to his generous 
 friend, Joseph Fletcher, Esq., in the month of September, 
 1835, will suitably close the above record of Mr. 
 Phillippo's educational labours during the period under 
 
 * As in the case of the Suffield school-house at Falmouth, then in 
 course of building by the Rev. W. Knibb. 
 
1 835 J Educational Labours. 137 
 
 review. After referring to the prosperous condition of his 
 school undertakings in Spanish Town, he proceeds: "I 
 have intimated that his Excellency the Governor is 
 favourable to religious instruction. A few days ago I had 
 the pleasure to receive a letter from him, stating, among 
 other things, that the plan embraced by my communica- 
 tion was the most eligible that had come before him, and 
 that it should have his most earnest recommendation to 
 the Government. I, of course, urged the voluntary 
 principle. His Excellency, indeed, has expressed it 
 verbally to me as his decided opinion that the general 
 establishment of schools would be one of the most im- 
 portant and salutary acts of beneficence to all classes 
 of the community that could be conferred upon the 
 country. 
 
 " The addition to our chapel has been long since 
 completed ; but, had I made it twice the present 
 dimensions, I should by no means have exceeded the 
 provision required. Our chapel on a Sabbath morning is 
 usually crowded to excess, and seldom is it the case but 
 that multitudes are obliged to sit or stand in the yard, 
 unable to gain admittance within the walls. The addition 
 was principally intended for the Sabbath-school, and will 
 seat between four and five hundred children and teachers. 
 Almost every Sabbath I find on my descent from the 
 pulpit full fifty boys and girls sitting upon and about the 
 staircase, where it is impossible for them to benefit by the 
 service. We have lately had a gratifying increase of 
 respectable and efficient teachers, principally the sons and 
 daughters, or relatives, of respectable merchants in the 
 town, or persons of independent circumstances. One of 
 them was a teacher in Surrey Chapel Sunday-school for a 
 period of twelve or fourteen years. 
 
 " At Passage Fort the foundation-stones of a chapel and 
 school-room were laid last week. Groups of children came 
 
138 Educational Labours. ['835 
 
 from Kingston and Spanish Town to witness the ceremony 
 and pass the day. Besides the children, no less than five 
 hundred spectators were present. Many were overseers, 
 proprietors, and others, who came to testify their good- 
 will to the undertaking. If no other good was effected on 
 the occasion, it was one of the greatest triumphs achieved, 
 over vulgar prejudice that was perhaps ever known in the 
 West Indian colonies. Respectable persons of almost all 
 colours met around the same table in acknowledged 
 equality. At the table at which I had the honour to pre- 
 side was a magistrate, a candidate for parliamentary 
 honours, a solicitor, a merchant, a doctor and his lady, 
 several missionaries, and a considerable number of ladies, 
 some white, some brown, all mingled together as members 
 of the same great family. On a comparison with the state 
 of society a few years ago, I could not forbear reflecting 
 on the wonders which the Gospel effects in the civilisation 
 of mankind, and in the restoration of that peace and har- 
 mony among them which sin has so fatally disturbed. 
 
 "A school will be attached to the station (as to each of 
 the others), and, from the favourable disposition mani- 
 fested by the overseers, managers, and others, I apprehend 
 no lack of scholars. There are about three thousand ap- 
 prentices within a distance of three miles of the location, 
 the greater part connected with my church and congrega- 
 tion. I have no doubt means will be forthcoming. The 
 silver and the gold are His, under whose direction and 
 smile we have, we trust, begun the execution of the plan." 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 WHITE UNTO HARVEST— 1835 to 1836. 
 
 The numerous demands on Mr. Phillippo's energies from 
 without by no means rendered him unmindful of the 
 spiritual necessities of the people under his special charge. 
 In January, 1835, he is writing in the most urgent terms 
 to the Secretary of the Mission to supply him with means 
 for the extension of the Gospel in various parts of the 
 parishes of St. Catherine and St. John. The claims of 
 Passage Fort, of Highgate, and of Red Hills are pressed 
 in detail. The people, he states, are urgent for instruc- 
 tion ; and the more anxiously does he seek for aid since 
 "the feeling of the lower classes in these districts is 
 universally in favour of the Baptists." " I most earnestly 
 hope," he adds, "the Committee will give the question 
 their very serious consideration ; I, indeed, implore them 
 to do so." If, however, he found the Committee unable to 
 meet his wishes to the fullest extent of his needs or desires, 
 he yet gratefully records that their grants were kindly and 
 liberally apportioned. On the 8th of August he returns to 
 the subject. "The whole land is before us," he says, 
 " and when once we take possession of it, which we as a 
 denomination are doing in a most unexampled manner, 
 the warfare to a great degree will be over. After a few 
 years more of patient, persevering, and zealous effort on 
 the part of the Society and their agents here, I much 
 question if the Baptists do not outnumber all other re- 
 ligious societies. By a letter just received from brother 
 
14° While unto Harvest. ['835 
 
 Burchell, it appears that he preached on the 1st inst. to 
 a congregation of seven thousand persons. A communi- 
 cation from brother Knibb furnishes accounts almost 
 equally delightful. I was on that memorable day at St. 
 Thomas-in-the-Vale, and laid the foundation-stone of the 
 chapel there being erected by brother Clarke, and the 
 attendance, and everything, indeed, connected with the 
 event, was most cheering. On the following day, brother 
 C. baptized, as I understand, 184 persons. Brother Taylor 
 baptizes to-morrow." 
 
 In the month of May he records, in a very graphic 
 manner, the baptism of forty-eight converts at Passage 
 Fort. "It was a high and hallowed day," he says, "to 
 that part of my sable flock whose earliest associations 
 were connected with the place. Such general solemnity, 
 or so great a degree of interest, I never saw exhibited 
 before. The whole scene was delightful — I might have 
 said inspiring. The majestic, but (at that early hour of the 
 morning when the preliminary hymn was sung) half-de- 
 veloped outline of the Liguanea Mountains stretching 
 themselves before me in all the glowing depths of shade ; 
 the deep purple of a mass of retiring clouds overhead, 
 tinging with a darker hue the already dark-blue surface of 
 the sea ; the solemn stillness of the atmosphere, the 
 gently languid ebbing of the waves upon the beach, added 
 to the deep-toned feeling of devotion which such an 
 occasion may be supposed to create in every pious mind, 
 - exerted an influence upon my spirit which I seldom feel. 
 I seemed to breathe the atmosphere of love, combined 
 with an almost indescribable sensation of reverential awe. 
 Surely God was with us. And have we not the promise of 
 His special presence, and of the peculiar manifestations of 
 His grace, if we seek Him in His ordinances ? 
 
 " At half-past ten a.m. I found myself standing amidst a 
 congregation amounting to 1,500 or 1,600 persons. The 
 
1835] White unto Harvest. 141 
 
 premises contained three large dilapidated sheds, which 
 stood originally detached, but which, by the exertions of the 
 candidates the day before, were now united by a roof con- 
 structed of the branches of the cocoa-nut and mangrove- 
 tree. This afforded a tolerable shelter for nearly the whole 
 mass ; but the entire range of buildings, if buildings they 
 may be called, being situated so closely to the water's 
 edge, and indeed of such irregular and novel construction 
 as to render a sight of all impossible, it required no small 
 effort to make myself distinctly heard. 
 
 " Here, too, as at the solemn ceremony that had just 
 been witnessed, circumstances were of an unusually interest- 
 ing character. The very spot on which we were now assem- 
 bled was the old Spanish Fort, from which the village 
 derives its name ; and of this we had sufficient proofs from 
 the decayed rampart which encircled us, and the heavy 
 pieces of artillery that were planted here and there. Here 
 it was that a handful of our countrymen, under the com- 
 mand of Colonel Jackson, long before the conquest of the 
 island by Penn and Venables, are reported to have effected 
 a landing, from which they advanced to St. Jago de la 
 Vega (now Spanish Town), the capital, plundered it of its 
 wealth, and put again to sea. Within these very battle- 
 ments, over which the proud and bloody ensign of Spain 
 so long floated, and where, amidst the disgusting scenes 
 of riot and debauchery that were exhibited, her impious 
 sons often chanted the Salve Regina, and other hymns, 
 was planted the peaceful standard of the Cross, and were 
 sung, but we trust in higher and holier strains, the high 
 praises of Immanuel. On such an occasion, and under 
 such circumstances, it was natural that a train of reflection 
 should be awakened in my bosom as to the contrast with 
 those bygone days now exhibited before me, and that I 
 should embody them in my address to the dense mass that 
 hung upon my lips. The effects produced seem to have 
 
I+ 2 White unto Harvest. [_ l8 3 6 
 
 been salutary. May they be permanent, and God shall 
 have all the glory! " 
 
 Later in the year the new chapel at Sligoville was 
 opened for Divine worship. Although numbers present 
 had scarcely ever been in a place of worship before, the 
 greatest possible seriousness and attention were visible on 
 every countenance. All were cleanly and neatly attired. 
 They returned to their homes highly gratified by the 
 interesting and impressive services of the day. The 
 chapel was built on a spot of great picturesque beauty, 
 and could be seen from long distances around. 
 
 These large and rapid additions to the churches of 
 persons so lately living in a bondage in its very nature 
 degrading and immoral, naturally awakened the fear in 
 many thoughtful minds that they could not be in all cases 
 the subjects of Divine grace. It was also supposed that 
 the discipline of the churches must suffer from the 
 want of efficient supervision where such large numbers 
 were concerned. Mr. Phillippo was perfectly aware of 
 these presumptions, and, on their being stated to him by 
 a friend, at once set himself to reply. The most impor- 
 tant portions of his letter are the following : — " When 
 individual churches comprise such numbers as are com- 
 prised in most of our churches in Jamaica, and when it is 
 taken into account that most of our converts have 
 suddenly emerged from a state of semi-heathenism, it is 
 scarcely to be expected that they should endure a 
 critic's eye, or that there should not be found amongst 
 them occasional inconsistencies and sins ; this the more 
 especially as from the influences of unjust and oppressive 
 laws we, as ministers, have been precluded access to the 
 dwellings of our flocks, and have been unable to see the 
 influence of religion on them in their families. Any 
 instances of dereliction among them each missionary 
 deplores as deeply as the pastor of any other church, and 
 
1836] White unto Harvest. 143 
 
 I feel confident that none could more diligently labour, 
 both in the pulpit and out of it, to prevent them. 
 
 " In the admission of members, it is impossible for us to 
 be more cautious. I hesitate not to say that we carry 
 matters in this respect to an extreme. Seldom is it the 
 case that we admit any one to communion under a two 
 years' probation, whilst it is the common case that they 
 have been three, four, five, and even seven years." 
 
 After citing various cases as illustrations, Mr. Phillippo 
 then proceeds to remark on the methods by which 
 discipline was maintained : — 
 
 " So much for the admission of members — now for 
 discipline. Most of us have a church-meeting every week ; 
 and having one or two deacons (or those who act as such, 
 by assisting us in the discharge of our pastoral duties) on 
 almost every estate, numerous as our churches are, 
 scarcely a single act of serious discrepancy can arise without 
 our knowledge. Things, indeed, of the most trivial nature, 
 and others less trivial, but which are connived at at home, 
 are brought for adjustment before our churches here. As 
 soon as any one is convicted of being in the indulgence 
 of actual sin, the preliminary steps, of course, being taken, 
 he is instantly excluded, and the cause of that exclusion 
 is publicly proclaimed. To show to the world our in- 
 tolerance of sin, in whomsoever it is found, we have been 
 apt to exceed the apostolic command ; hence ' suspen- 
 sions ' are very little known amongst us, and of those who 
 are the subjects of excision, scarcely one in ten turns back 
 again into the world. So far as my own church is con- 
 cerned — and I have a right to presume that others of the 
 same standing are equally uncorrupt — I am persuaded that 
 a purer church, under the same circumstances, does not 
 exist in any missionary station in the world. I might have 
 gone farther, and put it on a footing with the churches 
 with which I am acquainted in England and America. 
 
14+ White unto Harvest. [1836 
 
 But if the churches in Jamaica are inferior to them in 
 piety and sound Scriptural knowledge, what has been the 
 cause, and who are to blame ? Not the missionaries and 
 their flocks, but British Christians, in so scantily supply- 
 ing the field with labourers. I, for instance, have a 
 church amounting to nearly 1,500 members, with perhaps 
 an equal or a greater number of inquirers — this, together 
 with preaching at three subordinate stations, exclusively 
 of regular week-day services at Spanish Town, with 
 marriages and funerals, and chapel and school-house 
 building, &c, &c. I can, therefore, scarcely be supposed 
 to perform so many pastoral visits, or to possess so many 
 opportunities for communicating private instruction, as a 
 pastor at home, who has less than one-third of such duties 
 to perform. 
 
 " Our incessant and earnest cry to Britain, as mission- 
 aries, has ever been, ' Come over and help us ; for the 
 harvest is great, and the labourers are few.' " 
 
 The assistance here called for was indeed most urgent. 
 The modified measure of freedom allowed by the Emanci- 
 pation Act had been followed by an enormous increase 
 in the congregations throughout the island. The mission- 
 aries were overwhelmed with the demands on their time 
 and strength. They were regarded as the only true and 
 sincere friends of the oppressed, and were resorted to in 
 every case of distress. Their interposition in cases of 
 cruelty was prompt and frequent, and the gratitude of the 
 people showed itself in their most ready acquiescence in 
 the wishes of their pastors, and in the most liberal con- 
 secration of their earnings to the cause of God. In his 
 letter to the Association which met at Kingston in March, 
 1836,* Mr. Phillippo speaks with enthusiasm of the 
 
 * This Association had been broken up by the persecutions of 
 1831-2, but was revived at Rio Bueno in 1835. — "Voice of Jubilee " 
 p. 89. 
 
1836] While unto Harvest. 14.5 
 
 "delightful prospects of usefulness to the Church of 
 God " everywhere apparent. " Obligations of the deepest 
 gratitude to the Head of the Church," he said, " were 
 laid upon them by the extraordinary success with which it 
 had pleased Almighty God to crown the efforts of His 
 ministers and people." As a proof of this, Mr. Phillippo 
 proceeds to mention that since his return from England 
 435 persons had been added to the church by baptism in 
 Spanish Town alone, which, after deducting deaths and 
 exclusions during the year, left a clear increase to its 
 fellowship of 401. The spiritual state of the church hethus 
 describes: — " We have been in the almost uninterrupted 
 enjoyment of peace. Attendance upon the outward 
 ordinances of religion has been increasingly regular and 
 punctual. A spirit of Christian love, manifested in acts of 
 kindness towards each other, is more and more visible. 
 The personal and relative duties of our holy religion have 
 been more faithfully and perseveringly performed. The 
 discipline of the church has been more strictly and im- 
 partially administered, and a growing attachment has been 
 manifested for the local interests of religious truth, and for 
 its diffusion throughout the world. Both in our collective 
 and personal capacity we have deeply to lament our barren- 
 ness and unfruitfulness in the knowledge of God ; but at 
 the same time we trust we do not deceive ourselves when 
 we express the hope that, forgetting the things that are 
 behind, we are pressing forward towards the things that 
 are before — ' towards the mark for the prize of our high 
 calling of God in Christ Jesus.' With many of our dear 
 friends we have had to part through their removal by 
 death. The last moments of all were peaceful, and of 
 some it may be said they were triumphant. Angels seemed 
 to beckon them away, or waited to convey their happy 
 spirits to the purchased possession." Mr. Phillippo then 
 records the interesting fact that in the year and seven 
 
 L 
 
146 White unto Harvest. ['836 
 
 months that had elapsed since his return from England 
 he had celebrated between two and three hundred 
 marriages ; distributed 1,500 copies of the Scriptures, sent 
 as gifts by the Bible Society to the apprentices who 
 could read ; circulated thousands of tracts, and kept the 
 books of two libraries in constant use amongst the in- 
 telligent members of the congregation. He closes his 
 interesting letter with the following words : — " Thus 
 blessed with abundant means, everything with us is cheer- 
 ing in an unexampled degree. The fields all around us, 
 as we have been led to anticipate is the case in almost 
 every district of the island, are white unto harvest. That 
 holy influence, without which we are deeply sensible all 
 human efforts for the final happiness of man must prove 
 abortive, seems not only to follow, but to go before us, 
 preparing the soil for the seed of the Kingdom ; so that 
 whatever may be the difficulties and anxieties with which 
 we go forth to our labour, we return again with rejoicing, 
 bringing our sheaves with us." 
 
 It was a spring-time of bright hopes, and full of promise 
 for the future. No cloud had yet arisen in the horizon 
 to threaten the glorious harvest time in view. 
 
 N.B. — The following are the statistics of the Baptist churches and 
 schools in Jamaica for the year ending March, 1837, under the care 
 of sixteen missionaries and schoolmasters : — ■ 
 
 Number baptized during the year 
 
 ,, ofMembers ... ... .,„ 
 
 ,, of Inquirers 
 
 Clear increase of Members 
 
 Total number connected with the Mission 
 
 2,95° 
 16,821 
 16,146 
 
 2,800 
 3 2 »966 
 
 Schools. 
 
 Number of day scholars . . 1,622 
 
 „ of evening scholars, adult 451 
 
 „ of Sunday scholars ,., 5,594 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE APPRENTICESHIP ABANDONED— 1836 to 1838. 
 
 Such were the oppressions to which the apprentices con- 
 tinued to be subject that, at the suggestion of Mr. 
 Phillippo, and with his aid, a petition was sent to the 
 House of Commons by those living in and around 
 Spanish Town, setting forth their grievances, and praying 
 earnestly for the abolition of the system. They found it 
 to be more galling than slavery itself. It was goading 
 them almost to madness. They were charged, often most 
 unjustly, with neglect of duty, disobedience, and insolence, 
 and for the slightest offence flogging in its worst forms 
 was inflicted both on men and women. During the first 
 year of the apprenticeship, upwards of 25,000 punish- 
 ments were adjudged in various parts of the island, and 
 in the first eight months of the second year 27,000 
 more were recorded. " During two short years," says Mr. 
 Phillippo, " 60,000 apprentices received in the aggregate 
 one quarter of a million of lashes, and 50,000 other punish- 
 ments by the tread-wheel, the chain-gang, and other 
 modes of legalised torture. But for the influence exerted 
 by the Governor, the missionaries, and some of the special 
 magistrates, the exasperation produced by these enor- 
 mities would, in all probability, have broken out into open 
 and general rebellion." Rumours, indeed, were rife that 
 the apprentices were preparing on the istof August to 
 assert their freedom, especially in the parishes of St. 
 James and Hanover, so that, on the 27th of July, the Mar- 
 
 L2 
 
148 The Apprenticeship Abandoned, ['836 
 
 quis of Sligo addressed a note to Mr. Phillippo requesting 
 him to ascertain through his brother missionaries how far 
 such rumours were true. The fears of the planters, 
 justified indeed by their cruelties, were found to be the 
 real source of their anxieties, the more so as some of them 
 notified to their apprentices that they were not to make a 
 holiday on the 1st of August, which by law the appren- 
 tices had every right to do. From Messrs. Knibb, 
 Burchell, Abbott, Thomson, and others, replies were 
 received, expressing astonishment at the rumours referred 
 to, which they declared to be utterly groundless. " If 
 there be anything of the sort," replies one of them, " it 
 has not come to my knowledge, notwithstanding all my 
 opportunities of knowing. But on Friday last I did hear 
 from Mr. Knibb that somebody, having authority, had 
 given intimation on his estates that yesterday, the 1st of 
 August, was not to be, and was not in law, a holiday. 
 Mr. Knibb, however, declared the contrary to the people, 
 and intended to see that nothing should hinder them from 
 enjoying their right." The day passed in perfect peace. 
 Neither military forces, nor a ship of war, as asked for, 
 were sent, and Mr. Phillippo had the gratification of re- 
 ceiving the thanks of the Governor for the information he 
 had acquired. "It was suspected," he adds, "that the 
 demand for a preventive force was really meant to intimi- 
 date the apprentices into the acceptance of a mere 
 nominal rate of wages, the result of a combination of 
 planters, who, by their princely hospitality to the 
 Governor's informant, had thus induced him to aid them 
 in their object." 
 
 The breach already existing between Lord Sligo and the 
 planting interest now became irreparable. His liberality, 
 his impartiality, his resolve that the provisions of the 
 abolition law in favour of the apprentices should not be 
 infringed, were unpardonable offences. His appeal to the 
 
1836] The Apprenticeship Abandoned. 149 
 
 House of Assembly to reconsider some decision respecting 
 the Act was treated as a breach of privilege. This, and 
 the wavering support he received from the Colonial 
 Office, at length caused him to resign his post, amidst 
 expressions of the profoundest regret and gratitude from 
 the people whom he had endeavoured, so ineffectually, 
 to protect and serve. 
 
 A meeting was held in Mr. Phillippo's chapel to invite 
 the Marquis to reconsider his decision. It was violently 
 and illegally interrupted by a magistrate, and the Riot 
 Act read, though the assembly was in perfect order. 
 The meeting, however, under Mr. Phillippo's guidance, 
 maintained its right, and the memorial was adopted. A 
 similar address, drawn up by Mr. Phillippo, was also pre- 
 sented to Lord Sligo on the part of the Baptist mission- 
 aries. On the 30th of August, Sir Lionel Smith arrived in 
 Jamaica as his successor, and with instructions, if possible, 
 to harmonise the clashing interests of the planters with 
 the plans and purposes of the British Government. As an 
 old West Indian Governor, the planters formed high 
 expectations of the favourable results to their interests 
 which would flow from Sir Lionel Smith's presumed 
 sympathy with their claims ; and some of his first actions 
 seemed to justify their confidence. But as the true char- 
 acter of the position came to be understood, and as the 
 hopes that his coming had inspired were proved to be 
 fallacious, the hatred and hostility endured by his pre- 
 decessor soon fell upon him. 
 
 In his first speech to the House of Assembly indications 
 were not wanting that Sir Lionel Smith was a friend to 
 humanity and progress. He had the boldness to com- 
 mend the missionaries to their esteem. " The first 
 object," he said, " is to instil the doctrines of Christianity. 
 . . . I firmly believe that the assistance of the missionaries 
 is most necessary to this end. Gentlemen, you have 
 
150 The Apprenticeship Abandoned. [1836 
 
 hardly four more years to watch over the experiment of 
 apprenticeship. Give every facility you can to the 
 missionaries' labours. Banish from your minds the 
 idea that they are your enemies. I will answer with 
 my head for their loyalty and fidelity. Encourage 
 their peaceable settlement among your people. Let 
 every four or five contiguous estates combine for the 
 erection of chapel-schools ; and knowing, as you well 
 do, the attachment of the Negro to the place of his 
 birth and the burial-place of his parents, you may, I 
 sincerely believe, by these means locate on your estates 
 a contented peasantry.'' 
 
 It was in vain. The House of Assembly was in no 
 mood to listen to words of moderation and wisdom. 
 " The system of apprenticeship," says Mr. Phillippo, 
 "was unsatisfactory to all parties, and beneficial to none. 
 It was the source of the most unparalleled difficulty, 
 labour, and obloquy to the noble-minded individuals 
 under whose eventful and successive administrations it was 
 carried on. It therefore failed — and failed signally. It 
 was obnoxious to the master, hateful to the slave, and 
 perplexing to the magistracy. Slavery will admit of no 
 modification." The strong representations which reached 
 the friends of the Negro in England led, in the Parlia- 
 mentary Session of 1836, on the motion of Mr. Buxton, 
 to the appointment of a Committee of the House of 
 Commons to inquire into the working of the system. 
 The charges of cruelty were fully substantiated ; yet on the 
 whole the Committee thought that the system worked not 
 unfavourably. The conduct of the apprentices generally 
 was declared to be good, they worked for wages, were, in 
 most cases, fairly treated, and were more industrious than 
 in slavery. But this admitted good conduct on the part 
 of the labourers only rendered it the more intolerable 
 that they should be so often unjustly and so cruelly dealt 
 
1837] The Apprenticeship Abandoned. 151 
 
 with. It was no wonder that the Anti-slavery party should 
 oppose the decision of the Committee to allow the system 
 to continue till the close of 1840, the period determined 
 by law, or that they should resolve to put forth their 
 utmost efforts to bring a system so productive of evil to a 
 speedier end. 
 
 The earlier cessation of the apprenticeship was due in 
 a very large measure to the calm, exhaustive, and irrefut- 
 able report of a deputation which visited the chief islands 
 of the West Indies in the cold season of 1836-7. It 
 consisted of Mr. Joseph Sturge, Mr. Thomas Harvey, 
 William Lloyd, Esq., M.D., members of the Society of 
 Friends, and of Mr. John Scoble ; but the report was the 
 work of the first two gentlemen. They visited Antigua, 
 Montserrat, Dominica, St. Lucia, Barbadoes, and Jamaica. 
 It was on the 22nd of January, 1837, that they reached 
 Jamaica. Six days afterwards they visited Spanish Town 
 and made the acquaintance of Mr. Phillippo. Of a 
 visit paid to the Metropolitan Girls' School, on the 7th of 
 February, they thus speak : — " There were ninety children 
 present, many of whom were the coloured offspring of 
 overseers. There were at one time in this school four or 
 five children of a late Governor, the Duke of Manchester ; 
 and one of its present teachers is the daughter of the 
 Duke's celebrated secretary, Bullock. Her freedom was 
 purchased some years ago by the English patronesses 
 of the school. The dreadful state of social disorganisa- 
 tion in Jamaica is legibly written even on the surface of 
 society. Its ' bad eminence ' is doubtless to be attri- 
 buted, in part, to the corrupting influence of the long 
 administration of the above-mentioned Governor. Many of 
 the children are apprentices, of whom fourteen coloured 
 girls are sent by their attorney from a single estate 
 in the neighbourhood. They are intended to become 
 teachers of estates' schools. The principal teacher, a 
 
152 The Apprenticeship Abandoned. ['837 
 
 coloured young woman, was purchased and made free by 
 an old Negro, her grandfather, who is still himself an 
 apprentice." * The " bad eminence " here alluded to is 
 derived from a remark of Sir Lionel Smith to the deputa- 
 tion, to the effect that he considered the Negroes of 
 Jamaica far more degraded than those of Barbadoes, 
 or the other islands of which he had been Governor. 
 Even during the administration of his predecessor no 
 progress had been made in preparing the people for 
 freedom, for the time had been lost in " squabbling " 
 with the planters. 
 
 On the 19th the deputation attended the various Lord's- 
 day services of Mr. Phillippo. The meeting-house was 
 densely crowded, chiefly by apprentices, whose attention 
 and decorum much pleased them. Of the deacons and 
 leaders, some were free, but others were estate-hands and 
 apprentices. With these men, whom they considered to 
 be fully equal to English peasants in intelligence and 
 information, they had, at Mr. Phillippo's request, con- 
 siderable intercourse. One informed them that he was a 
 constable. It was difficult, he said, to act according to 
 his oath, as he was expected to do everything for his 
 master, and nothing for the people. He had frequently 
 to remonstrate with the overseer about the oppressions he 
 practised. The regular allowances of clothing and food 
 were capriciously withheld, and the overseer often took 
 away their time whenever he wanted it. " On our asking 
 whether the people would be willing to work after 1 840, 
 he said, ' Nothing was sweeter than for a man to labour 
 for his own bread' — a sentiment to which all present 
 responded." Many had been flogged or sent to the tread- 
 mill who had never been punished during slavery. One 
 poor woman present, the mother of eight children, in 
 
 * " The West Indies in 1837," pp. 181, 183. 
 
1837] The Apprenticeship Abandoned. 153 
 
 declining years and health, had been sent to the 
 treadmill because she could not keep her place in the 
 field-gang. In slavery she had lived in comparative 
 ease, but her house had been pulled down since the 
 commencement of the apprenticeship. All complained 
 of the difficulty of securing an impartial trial before the 
 magistrates. 
 
 On the 20th of February the deputation record, " On 
 several occasions we have seen the penal gang of men 
 and women, in chains and collars, in the streets of Spanish 
 Town, and to-day observed two pregnant women chained 
 together in the gang." * On another day they met in the 
 streets of the town seven women handcuffed, who had 
 been apprehended as runaway apprentices. They were 
 free women, and had been illegally taken from their houses 
 and avocations without the shadow of a reason. For this 
 outrage no compensation was given them.f The general 
 conclusion to which these gentlemen came must be 
 stated in their own words : — 
 
 " Not a single slave-owner can complain of being 
 defrauded in whole or in part of his share of compensa- 
 tion. The sum of twenty millions sterling has been paid 
 with accumulated interest, and free of all charges. The 
 nation has fulfilled its part of the compact, and even 
 exceeded its stipulations. The Negroes, though no parties 
 to the agreement, have yet fulfilled all its onerous and 
 unjust conditions. But, on the other hand, in every 
 essential particular it has been violated by the planters, 
 with the connivance, and even the active participation, of 
 the Executive Government. Each succeeding Colonial 
 
 * " The West Indies in 1837," pp. 197, 199. 
 
 \ Ibid., p. 277. These cases have been selected from the mass of 
 similar cruelties with which the pages of the report are filled ; because, 
 taking place in Spanish Town, they illustrate the accuracy of Mr. 
 Phillippo's representations to his correspondents at home. 
 
1 54 The Apprenticeship Abandoned. ['^37 
 
 Minister has trodden in the same steps, and the conceal- 
 ment and defence of successive errors have led to the 
 establishment, by authority, of the new system such as we 
 have described it. At the present moment, the shelves of 
 the Colonial Office groan under accumulated evidence of 
 the wrongs and sufferings of the Negro." * 
 
 In a letter to the Rev. John Dyer, soon after the depar- 
 ture of the deputation, Mr. Phillippo thus refers to their 
 visit: — "Of our English friends, Messrs. Sturge and Harvey 
 I know most, as they did me the honour of abiding at my 
 house during their residence in Spanish Town, and I can- 
 not but say that I not only esteem them very highly for 
 their work's sake, but also for their personal virtues, for 
 their purity of motive, their singleness of eye to the 
 Divine glory and the good of men, which shone out so 
 conspicuously in all their plans and efforts for the accom- 
 plishment of their object. In further accordance with 
 your wish, I also afforded our friends every opportunity 
 of informing themselves as to the state of my church, 
 congregation, and schools. Of the results of the mission 
 of these benevolent men, as to its main object, I shall 
 say but little. Nor need I, as I am persuaded that ere 
 this reaches you the appalling disclosures will have been 
 made. A man must have an iron heart not to sympathise 
 with the poor apprentices in the sorrow they are enduring; 
 and as my sensibilities, notwithstanding all my familiarity 
 with oppression, are not yet paralysed, most earnestly do 
 I hope that no time may be lost, nor effort spared, in 
 securing the destruction of the last vestige of that 
 accursed system by which, under the name of liberty, the 
 people are enthralled and bowed down. ' Disguise thy 
 form as thou wilt, still, Slavery, still thou art a bitter 
 draught ! '" 
 
 P-3/2- 
 
1 838 J The Apprenticeship Abandoned. 155 
 
 Immediately on his arrival in London, May 30th, 1837, 
 Mr. Sturge laid before an assemblage of the Society of 
 Friends, of from 1,500 to 2,000 persons in number, 
 gathered from all parts of the United Kingdom, the 
 documents and facts with which he was burdened. After 
 two hours' discussion, the assembly came to the unani- 
 mous conclusion that they would exert all their influence 
 to urge the people of England to demand the abolition of 
 the apprenticeship system at the earliest possible moment. 
 The fire quickly spread. The press raised its powerful 
 voice, and within six months deputations of varying 
 magnitude gathered in London from all parts of the 
 country. Downing Street and Westminster Hall were 
 besieged. Petitions were presented, signed by upwards 
 of a million persons — a mighty host, marshalled and led 
 on by the piety, talent, learning, eloquence, and philan- 
 thropy of the best portion of the community — in which 
 the abolition of the system was imperatively demanded, 
 on the ground of the violation of the contract by the 
 planters.* 
 
 The motion of Lord Brougham in the House of Lords on 
 the 20th of February, 1838, that the apprenticeship should 
 cease on the 1st of August, was supported by only seven 
 peers ; f and in the Commons the same motion, made on 
 the 29th of March, was lost, the Government opposing it, 
 by a majority of fifty-four in a House of 484 members. But 
 a bolder proposal was brought forward on the 22nd of May, 
 viz., that the Negro should at once, and for ever, be free. 
 It took the Government by surprise, and the motion was 
 carried by a majority of three. Although a week later the 
 
 * Phillippo's "Jamaica: Past and Present," p. 174. 
 
 t In the course of this debate, the Marquis of Sligo quoted letters 
 which he had received from Mr. Phillippo on the treatment of the 
 apprentices. 
 
156 The Apprenticeship Abandoned. [1838 
 
 resolution was virtually rescinded, it was evident that the 
 cause of the oppressor was lost.* 
 
 The Legislature of Jamaica, after an adjournment, met 
 on the 5th of June. The Governor called their attention to 
 the uncontrollable agitation existing in the mother country. 
 It was evident that the Government of England itself was 
 unable to ensure the continuance of the apprenticeship as 
 an act of national obligation in the face of the national 
 protest. The Negroes also were in a state of excitement, 
 expecting that the 1 st of August would set them free; so that 
 the Administration was sending circulars to the mission- 
 aries entreating them to use their influence to quiet the 
 agitation. In some of the other islands the local Legis- 
 latures had already decreed the abolition, and there were 
 proprietors, like Lord Sligo,f in Jamaica itself, preparing 
 to release the predials and non-predials on the same day ; 
 while the amending Acts of the British Parliament 
 threatened to override the free action of the House of 
 Assembly. Thus pressed, the House, on the third day of 
 their sitting, read for the first time a Bill to terminate the 
 apprenticeship on the 1st of August. After a brief 
 adjournment it was read a second time, and on the next 
 
 * Mr. Kitson, writing Mr. Phillippo, thus refers to this incident : 
 " Our joy is turned into mourning, on account of the failure of all our 
 efforts for the abolition of the apprenticeship next August. Our harps 
 are on the willows ; but our hope and trust is still in God. Though 
 our petitions and addresses are disregarded by our earthly Sovereign, 
 our supplications will rise up to the King Eternal that He may arise 
 and plead the cause of the oppressed ; and who can resist His power ! " 
 
 + Mr. Phillippo, writing to Lord Sligo on the 29th of May, reports 
 that the Marquis's declaration in the House of Lords that he should 
 set free all his apprentices on the 1st of August had produced " an 
 astonishing effect " in Jamaica. It had been hailed by the people 
 with enthusiasm, but with a mixture of " despondency and bravado " 
 by the pro-slavery party. Their hopes of perpetuating the system 
 were irrevocably gone. 
 
1838] The Apprenticeship Abandoned. 157 
 
 day, a few amendments being made in committee, a third 
 time, and was passed. It quickly ran its course through the 
 Council, and on the 1 6th of June it received the Governor's 
 assent. The grace of the concession was in some measure 
 dimmed by the protest that accompanied the Act. The 
 House declaimed vehemently against the interference of 
 the British Parliament with the internal affairs of Jamaica. 
 It was declared to be illegal and unconstitutional ; they 
 " would neither assume the responsibility, nor exonerate 
 the public faith." Nevertheless, freedom was secured, and 
 the three hundred thousand bondsmen of Jamaica were 
 made absolutely free* 
 
 Mr. Phillippo was not without some expectation of this 
 event. Writing Mr. George Stacey on the 14th of April, 
 1838, he says: — "Lord Brougham's speech has created 
 the most extraordinary sensation here. Let the Govern- 
 ment now be firm, and the planters will give up the 
 system in August next, it is my firm opinion, without a 
 struggle. All of tyrannical character are heartily tired of 
 it, and I am persuaded would much rather freedom were 
 universally proclaimed than agree to the provisions 
 proposed by Lord Glenelg. I most earnestly hope that 
 the friends of freedom will succeed in securing a universal 
 jubilee in August next." 
 
 Mr. Phillippo was present as a spectator at the opening 
 sitting in which this important measure was proposed, 
 and, in a letter to Mr. E. Sturge, has, in a very lively 
 manner, described the scene : — "Our local Legislature met 
 on Tuesday, the 5th inst., according to announcement. 
 The Governor's speech was straightforward and to the 
 purpose. Sir Lionel read his speech to both Houses dis- 
 tinctly, and in a firm tone of voice— in a manner alto- 
 gether indicative, as I thought, of a determination not to 
 
 Gardner's " History of Jamaica," pp. 315, 317 
 
158 The Apprenticeship Abandoned. Q1838 
 
 be trifled with any longer. He stated with much frank- 
 ness his own conviction that, as the law stood, it was 
 impossible that the apprenticeship could go on. When 
 the tidings of Lord Glenelg's amendments of the Emanci- 
 pation Act first reached us here, I understood it to be the 
 determination of the members of the Assembly generally 
 to abolish the apprenticeship themselves, and thereby 
 prevent the infraction of their charter, as well as avoid 
 the degradation of an abject submission to a power they 
 could no longer resist. The Governor, however, by 
 attending strictly to his orders from Downing Street, and 
 issuing the proclamation within the given time after its 
 reception, was supposed to have created a reaction, and it 
 was, therefore, with considerable anxiety that I mingled 
 with the crowd, and followed this august body from the 
 Council Chamber to the arena where the general feeling 
 would be disclosed. The rules of the House having been 
 read, a member, from whom it was least to have been 
 expected, to my great surprise moved that the speech 
 should be made the order of the day for the morrow, in 
 the hope that arrangements might be made for abandoning 
 the system on the following Sunday ! His proposition, 
 however, was overruled, and the committee for the con- 
 sideration of the speech was appointed, as customary. 
 The address in answer to the speech was soon prepared, 
 and from the debate on it I was no longer in doubt as to 
 the general determination. The only point, indeed, that 
 seemed to arise regarded the time when the proclamation 
 of liberty should be made. Would it not be well to ter- 
 minate the unnatural system at the close of the present 
 week, on the coronation day of their youthful Queen ? 
 Or shall it be deferred until the rst of August ? These 
 questions were asked with deepest interest. The members 
 in general manifested more moderation than was to have 
 been expected. Only two individuals broke in upon 
 
1838] The Apprenticeship Abandoned. 159 
 
 this feeling. The ravings and wailings in which these 
 gentlemen indulged were disgraceful in the extreme, and 
 as I looked towards the French Commissioner, who wit- 
 nessed the exhibition,* I could have wept for our national 
 honour. One who had lately sold his estates at a good 
 profit indulged in such invectives against Mr. Hill, the 
 member for Trelawney, as to excite general indignation. 
 The whole House was thrown into confusion and uproar. 
 The monster Slavery was now in his final agonies, and it was 
 natural that his pangs should be manifested in his most 
 sensitive members. A few amendments were made, and 
 the address was ultimately carried by a small majority. 
 The member for St. Catherine immediately gave notice 
 that he would, on the following day, introduce a Bill to 
 abolish the apprenticeship system on the 1st of August 
 next, which was responded to by hearty cheers outside the 
 bar. I did not hear the few words that immediately 
 followed, but I soon ascertained that a decision had been 
 come to that the Bill should emanate from a committee." 
 The issue has been already told. " When," continues 
 Mr. Phillippo, " the result of the Bill could not be mis- 
 taken, I held a meeting for thanksgiving to Almighty God 
 for the joyous event. The hearts of the people seemed 
 filled with gratitude to overflowing. On the 1 st of August I 
 expect we shall have a joy unparalleled in the history of the 
 world. What shall we render unto the Lord for all His 
 benefits ? These, my dear friends, are the results, under 
 God, of your benevolent visit to our shores." In a brief 
 note to Mr. Kitson, Mr. Phillippo refers to the same event. 
 "Since my last letter, the Bill for full and unconditional 
 
 * This gentleman, M. Chevalier, who was commissioned by the 
 French Government to report on the condition of the apprentices in 
 Jamaica and the question of emancipation, was at the time on a visit 
 to Mr. Phillippo. 
 
160 The Apprenticeship Abandoned. ['838 
 
 emancipation has passed the Legislature here without a 
 dissentient voice, and, but for some little amendment by 
 the Council, it would have been borne by the present 
 mail, as on the wings of the wind, to the Colonial Office. 
 Every humane and feeling heart is filled with gratitude at 
 the result, and the tongue of every bondsman will soon 
 sing for joy. To God be all the glory. Amen and Amen." 
 
 Although the die was cast, and slavery, whether real or 
 disguised, was doomed in a few weeks to extinction, there 
 were not wanting some individuals among the overseers 
 and book-keepers and others on the estates who, for 
 purposes of their own, seemed determined to annoy the 
 people by insulting behaviour, and by threats of expulsion 
 from their little holdings except on the most oppressive 
 conditions as to rent and labour. Happily, this conduct 
 was by no means general. Mr. Phillippo has given us, 
 under date of July 7th, in a letter addressed to the Rev. 
 John Dyer, an interesting account of the feelings with 
 which the day of absolute freedom was awaited and pre- 
 pared for. 
 
 " It cannot be dissembled, that many proprietors and 
 managers, to their disgrace be it spoken, seem to manifest 
 every disposition to annoy and impose upon the people 
 under them by idle threats of expulsion from their 
 properties, and by disgraceful proposals for their future 
 services. As a consequence of the dissatisfaction occa- 
 sioned by these circumstances, and others of a similar 
 kind, occasioned by misrule, I have often within this last 
 week or two been ready to sink beneath the fatigue of 
 travelling from place to place, for the purpose of securing 
 permanent and general good- will. 
 
 " A day or two ago I visited almost every estate and 
 penn in the neighbourhood in which I understood the 
 least excitement prevailed — assembled the people privately 
 in their towns, and at their work, and, with all the earnest- 
 
1838] The Apprenticeship Abandoned. i6j 
 
 ness and arguments I could exercise and command, 
 entreated them, even under the most trying- circumstances, 
 to manifest the patience, forbearance, and respectful 
 demeanour of true followers of Christ. Nor, in any 
 single instance, were these efforts unavailing ; all with one 
 voice declared their resolution to take off the crops 
 without delay, to agree to whatever was equitable, and to 
 cultivate future habits of industry and peace. But, while 
 I have thus judged it advisable to apprise you of the real 
 cause of any discontent that may possibly reach your ears, 
 I would, at the same time, guard you against the appre- 
 hension of anything extreme. The 1st of August, I doubt 
 not, will pass over with all the peacefulness and sanctity 
 of a Sabbath ; and the majority of planters, I am persuaded, 
 acting in accordance with the spirit and changes of the 
 time, will secure the willing services of the people on the 
 .following Monday. This, however, I may say, I have 
 obtained almost as a pledge from the whole apprentice 
 population by whom I am surrounded, both in town and 
 country, amounting probably to 10,000 individuals. Some 
 of the proprietors and attorneys, and these among the 
 most wealthy and respectable, have submitted for my 
 remarks their calculations relative to a scale of wages, &c. ; 
 at the same time declaring their determination, as 
 ultimately most advantageous to themselves, to act 
 towards their labourers upon the strictest principles of 
 equity. Terms acceptable and beneficial to all parties 
 once concluded upon one or two of the principal 
 properties in this parish, under the management or in 
 the possession of persons heretofore reputed liberal and 
 humane, I have cheerfully offered my services to facilitate 
 their universal adoption as far as my humble influence 
 extends ; and I have no doubt, from the character of the 
 persons with whom the proposals originate, and from the 
 importance and influence of the parish, that such an 
 
 M 
 
1 62 The Apprenticeship Abandoned. [1838 
 
 impetus will be given as will secure their speedy adoption 
 more or less extensively by the mass. As the effect of the 
 changes that are so rapidly progressing, and as illustrative 
 of the ease with which men regulate their policy by their 
 interests, I must not omit to inform you of the bright and 
 glorious prospects which are now opening up to us for the 
 prosecution of our glorious work. I am persuaded that 
 there is now scarcely a proprietor or manager of any 
 extent, in the whole district which I occupy, but who 
 would be glad to afford me all the encouragement in his 
 power in imparting religious instruction to his people. At 
 the present moment I have invitations from not fewer 
 than a dozen of the most influential individuals in town 
 and country to establish schools and preaching in the 
 vicinity of their estates, accompanied, in almost every 
 case, by an offer of land and materials for the purpose 
 of a religious establishment. The people in general 
 are looking forward with intense interest to the 1st of 
 August. The very wilds are already fascinated with the 
 productions of their own native muse, and as to the towns 
 there is no moving for the poets which the occasion has 
 created. I have no doubt but the event will prove the 
 most interesting that ever transpired in the annals of the 
 world. British Christians, come, or send over, and help 
 us ! What is to be done must be done quickly, for the 
 fields are ripe and the harvest is great." 
 
 The following letter from the Marquis of Sligo is so 
 honourable to that nobleman, and so illustrative of the in- 
 fluence enjoyed by Mr. Phillippo, that it cannot be omitted 
 from the history of the events recorded in this chapter. 
 From the Marquis of Sligo to the Rev. J. M. Phillippo. 
 
 London, April 8th, 1838. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The last packet will have brought to you an account 
 of my resolution to emancipate my Negroes on the 1st August next. 
 
1838] The Apprenticeship Abandoned. 163 
 
 I was considering the matter since last spring, and did not come to 
 the determination without much doubt and difficulty. Even now, I 
 am not without misgivings that I may have been wrong. It is on 
 account of this feeling, and to try and obviate such danger, that I now 
 address you. My fears have been that the Negroes of the estates sur- 
 rounding mine may be led to think that they are illegally kept in 
 servitude when they see mine set free on the 1st of August, and I 
 have had considerable uneasiness in my mind as to my conduct pro- 
 ducing any bad effects of that sort. I know well your influence with 
 your flock, and I have conscientiously done you justice as well in my 
 writings as in my speeches ; I do hope you will repay me in the only 
 way I ask for any repayment, by exerting that influence to prevent any 
 injury arising from my emancipating my Negroes. I am anxious that 
 my own Negroes should continue to conduct themselves properly after 
 being emancipated ; that the Negroes of those estates around mine 
 should not show any signs of discontent, but should continue in their 
 labour quietly and properly. They must feel that I have made a great 
 sacrifice to promote their freedom two years sooner than it would 
 naturally come to them. I don't wish any repayment for that, except 
 that I should have influence enough over them and their comrades to 
 prevent their committing any either active or passive breaches of the 
 law. I am anxious to point out to them that much of their future 
 prospects as regards legislation in the Colonies, and the approbation 
 here of those laws, depends upon the manner in which they shall com- 
 port themselves on this trying occasion. There are many other 
 points, which will suggest themselves to you much more advantageously 
 than I can name them, which I am most desirous should be impressed 
 on them by their pastors. I am quite confident that Mr. Taylor, or 
 whoever is in charge of the Old Harbour district, might effect a great 
 deal by impressing these sentiments on them continually till the 1st of 
 August, by pointing out to mine that, having been selected for the ex- 
 periment, it behoves them to show that they are fit for it, and to the 
 surrounding ones that much of the future position of the Negroes 
 depends on their tranquil and willing obedience to the laws. It is 
 unnecessary for me to say more. I am sure that we have but one feel- 
 ing, and that is mutual, a desire to do the greatest possible quantity 
 of good. From the prominent part which I have taken in this case, I 
 am perhaps morbidly sensitive on the result of my conduct, and I 
 may, therefore, bore you by all this ; but I should not be tranquil did I 
 omit doing anything to contribute to produce the effect I desire, and 
 most uneasy shall I be till I hear the result of the 1st of August. I 
 hope that you will find time to write to me before then, as to what 
 your opinions are of the way it will be received, and your general 
 
 M 2 
 
164 The Apprenticeship Abandoned. [1838 
 
 views of their conduct on the occasion, and also to write me a few lines 
 after August how the day has gone off, and your opinion as to their 
 future conduct. — My dear Sir, most truly yours, 
 
 Sligo. 
 
 Bernal of Cherry Garden was the man, as I hear, who proposed at 
 the West India meeting that they should all follow my example. I 
 am told that they almost kicked him out of the room. He deserves 
 great merit for the attempt, and it ought to be known. 
 
 The unexpected action of the House of Assembly 
 happily rendered unnecessary the precautions here sug- 
 gested. Unconditional freedom was decreed for appren- 
 tices of every class. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 CELEBRATION OF FREEDOM— 1838. 
 
 The 1st of August, 1838, dawned amidst scenes of intense 
 excitement. Thousands of people had gathered in the 
 chapel and on the mission premises on the previous 
 evening, and many more kept pouring in from all quarters 
 throughout the night. Appropriate and deeply interest- 
 ing services of mingled prayer and praise, interspersed with 
 addresses, were held until dawn ; and when the sound 
 of the clock striking six was heard, one universal shout 
 burst forth from the lips of the multitude within the build- 
 ing, echoed by the greater multitude without. " Freedom's 
 come ! Our wives and our children are free ! Glory to de 
 God for dis blessed day!" Hymns prepared for the 
 occasion were sung in strains that showed unmistakably 
 the melody of the heart, and none with fuller emotion 
 than the opening hymn, beginning with the verse : — 
 
 Joy ! for every yoke is broken, 
 
 And the oppressed all go free : 
 Let us hail it as the token 
 
 That our much-loved land may be 
 Blessed of the Lord Most High, 
 Ruler of the earth and sky. 
 
 Another service, with a sermon, commenced at ten 
 o'clock ; and at eleven, according to an arrangement made 
 with his Excellency the Governor, a procession, with 
 numerous banners having appropriate mottoes, and with 
 bands of music, Mr. Phillippo at its head, marched to the 
 
1 66 Celebration of Freedom. (^1838 
 
 Parade, in front of the King's House. The entire popu- 
 lation of the town were present, and, with the multitudes 
 from the country, were addressed by Sir Lionel Smith, 
 surrounded by the Bishop, the Chief Justice, and his per- 
 sonal staff, in a speech full of feeling and paternal advice. 
 The deep impression it made was quite remarkably seen in 
 the attention, the respect, and the gratitude with which it 
 was received. It is due to Mr. Phillippo to quote the re- 
 marks of an observer describing this affecting scene. " The 
 writer is free to confess that he can hardly refrain from 
 polluting with feelings of envy the admiration with 
 which he beheld a man who had brought forward an 
 immense portion of the population, who were ready to 
 acknowledge themselves indebted under God to him for 
 having been rescued from barbarism and sin, and re- 
 ceived at his hands the blessings of religion, morality, and 
 education." During the delivery of the speech, his 
 Excellency was greeted by reiterated and enthusiastic 
 cheers as their friend and benefactor, and, with three 
 closing cheers for the Queen, the mass attended their pastor 
 to the mission-house, saluting him in the most enthusiastic 
 manner. The close of the day's proceedings must be given 
 in the words of an eye-witness. 
 
 " Arrived in the immediate neighbourhood of the chapel, 
 the multitude surrounded him, grasped him in their arms, 
 and bore him, in the midst of shouts and caresses, into his 
 house. The enthusiasm of the multitude being now 
 wound up to the highest pitch, they declared themselves 
 unwilling to separate without greeting the different flags ; 
 and flags and banners were accordingly unfurled, and for 
 nearly an hour the air rang with the shouts of exultation 
 that were thus poured forth from thousands of joyous 
 hearts. 
 
 "The school children had remained behind to sing 
 several airs before the Government House, and just as the 
 
1838] Celebration of Freedom. 167 
 
 mass were cheering the last banner, upon which was in- 
 scribed in large capitals, ' We are free, we are free ; our 
 wives and our children are free ! ' they all entered, and, 
 adding their shrill voices to the rest, created an acclaim 
 that seemed to rend the air. 
 
 "The whole scene which the mission premises presented 
 on that day was delightful, and will never be forgotten. 
 Over the two principal entrances to the chapel were three 
 triumphal arches, decorated with leaves and flowers, and 
 crowned with flags, bearing the several inscriptions of — 
 'Freedom's come;' 'Slavery is no more ; ' 'Thy chains 
 are broken, Africa is free ! ' while in addition to these, 
 and the flags and banners borne by the procession, one 
 was seen waving from the cupola of the Metropolitan 
 School, with the motto, ' The 1st August, 1838.' " 
 
 On the following Thursday and Friday a bazaar was 
 held for the benefit of the schools ; and an examination 
 of the children on the Saturday, attended by the Governor 
 and his suite, closed the proceedings of this memorable 
 week — a week unequalled in the annals of the country, 
 and unstained, as far as was known, by a single act of in- 
 temperance or violence. 
 
 During the ensuing weeks the event was celebrated by 
 the members of the church and congregation in a very 
 becoming manner, on several of the different penns and 
 estates around. At Dawkin's Caymanas the late appren- 
 tices gave a banquet to the Governor and several special 
 magistrates. In all cases the ever-memorable day was 
 celebrated with the utmost good feeling towards their late 
 owners on the part of the people. To Mr. and Mrs. 
 Phillippo these gatherings were of intense interest. 
 Nothing could exceed the reception they met with. Over- 
 powering congratulations everywhere attended their steps, 
 and from Cumberland Penn they were accompanied home 
 by an escort of the newly enfranchised peasantry on horse- 
 
J 68 Celebration of Freedom. [ l8 3^ 
 
 back. "The whole scene," says a writer in the Jamaica 
 Gazette, " was deeply interesting, and the order and pro- 
 priety observed would have done credit to Christians 
 of the most civilised country in the world. The conduct 
 of the people in this district generally, in other respects 
 also, is such as to entitle them to the highest commenda- 
 tion. Well knowing the inconvenience to which their 
 masters' customers would be otherwise reduced from a 
 want of food for their horses and cattle, they voluntarily 
 went out to work on the second day, and in some instances 
 on the following, and supplied the usual demand of the 
 market, presenting their labour thus voluntarily given as a 
 free-will offering to their employers." 
 
 " God," says Mr. Phillippo, " was universally recognised 
 as the Giver of the bounties enjoyed, and from first to last 
 He was regarded as the Great Author of their deliverance 
 from bondage."* 
 
 * Fuller details of these celebrations may be seen in Phillippo's 
 "Jamaica: Past and Present," p. 175 ; and also in the "Missionary 
 Herald " under date. Engravings of the scenes before the King's 
 House, and of some others, were also published at the time. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 PROGRESS UNDER DIFFICULTIES -1838 TO 1841. 
 
 The three years following entire emancipation were to 
 Mr. Phillippo years of intense, arduous, and exciting 
 labour. Scarcely had the people quieted down after the 
 stirring events of August, 1838, than we find him record- 
 ing that the enfranchised peasantry were working admir- 
 ably, and in the most generous manner devoting their 
 earnings to the erection of schools and chapels, and the 
 extension of the means of grace. From the commerce 
 carried on between the towns and country, and from the 
 appearance and manners of the people, it was evident that 
 the enjoyment of freedom was acting as a stimulus to 
 industry and enterprise. The people were cheerful and 
 happy. They seemed to exist in a new world, and to 
 breathe a new atmosphere. The happy effects of the 
 change surpassed the hopes of their friends, while many 
 opponents to freedom became converts to its advantages. 
 Hence the missionaries were welcomed on many estates 
 formerly closed to them, and the opportunities for ex- 
 tended operations opened on every hand so rapidly and 
 widely that Mr. Phillippo expresses the opinion, towards 
 the close of the year, that " if the Society could but aid us 
 in our struggle for two years longer, with men and with in- 
 creased means of a pecuniary kind, they might then leave 
 us to ourselves. There is scarcely an estate or property of 
 any kind, for miles around, upon which I have not been 
 invited to establish schools and erect a place of worship. 
 If I have had one acre of land offered me for this purpose 
 
170 Progress under Difficulties. ['839 
 
 I have had a hundred, and in almost every case accom- 
 panied with the offer also of building materials, and a 
 part of the labour requisite in the erection." 
 
 In his endeavours to meet this state of things, Mr. 
 Phillippo involved himself in large pecuniary liabilities, so 
 that we find him constantly appealing to friends in England 
 for aid, especially for the maintenance of the numerous 
 schools he was encouraged to commence. The congrega- 
 tions formed before freedom was complete had to pay off 
 the debts incurred on the buildings in Spanish Town, 
 Passage Fort, and Sligoville, so that little help could be 
 rendered for the present need. " Men of Israel," he 
 exclaims, " help ! It must be painful indeed to a mis- 
 sionary to labour among a people who manifest no dispo- 
 sition to listen to his message ; but I often persuade my- 
 self that it is still more so where he is unable to satisfy 
 the insatiable appetite of hundreds hungering and thirsting 
 for the bread and water of eternal life. What is to be 
 done, I really cannot tell. Wants requiring pecuniary 
 means arise on every hand. In addition to the need of 
 new chapels, all those already erected require enlarge- 
 ment. Spanish Town and Passage Fort scarcely hold 
 half the congregations." 
 
 The assistance rendered by the Committee of the 
 Society, though again and again acknowledged by Mr. 
 Phillippo to be generous, was far from meeting his neces- 
 sities. The same cry came from all parts of the island, 
 and the resources of the Society were taxed to the utmost 
 to supply only a small part of the demands that came 
 before them. There can be little doubt that the extra- 
 ordinary liberality of the Negro congregations * in some 
 
 * In a letter to Mr. Dyer on the 28th of December, 1840, Mr. 
 Phillippo warns his correspondent that this extraordinary liberality was 
 owing to the exceptional circumstances of the case, and could not be 
 expected to continue. 
 
1 840] Progress under Difficulties. 1 7 1 
 
 measure disguised from the churches at home the need of 
 immediate and unstinted action ; but it maybe questioned 
 whether, if these requirements had been met, the difficul- 
 ties which afterwards arose would not have been inten- 
 sified. Burdened on every side, Mr. Phillippo never- 
 theless pressed onwards, and new congregations, new 
 chapels, new school-houses, sprang up with extraordinary 
 rapidity. A brief extract from a letter to the Rev. John 
 Dyer, dated February 25th, 1840, will give some idea of the 
 pressure upon his energies, both of mind and body. After 
 stating that he had been compelled to draw on the 
 Treasurer, he says, " The facts of my condition are briefly 
 these. I have had upwards of £\oo to pay this year for 
 doctors' bills. Nearly ^"500 for the last addition to the 
 chapel out of ^1,000, the total cost. _£~5°o towards 
 liquidating the debts on the chapels at Passage Fort and 
 Sligoville. Full /'soo for the salaries of schoolmasters ; 
 £iSo for land at St. John's (on which the people of the 
 district have offered to build a chapel, principally by their 
 own labour), and I am full £700 in debt. I have indulged 
 the hope that, after all, I might be able to obviate the 
 necessity of an application to the Committee, by an appeal 
 to the inhabitants of the town in general ; but, the calamity 
 at Savanna-la-Mar happening just at the time * I was con- 
 templating it, I was, of course, induced to forego my own 
 appeal in favour of brother Hutchins and his people, 
 on whose behalf I obtained ^250. For the payment of 
 the £100 I am now pressed to such a degree that I am 
 driven to draw ^100 upon the Committee by next packet, 
 to which, under the circumstances, I feel confident they 
 will not object." 
 
 * On the night of the 23rd of November, 1839, a fire broke out in a 
 store, and soon reached the new and beautiful chapel built by Mr. 
 Hutchins, at a cost of ^4,000 currency, and completely destroyed it. 
 — "Voice of Jubilee," p. 114. 
 
172 Progress under Difficulties. [1840 
 
 A little later, May 13th, he writes: "I am greatly 
 harassed for means to carry on my various schools. My 
 people are now about making an effort to refund my ad- 
 vances, but I am almost afraid to press them. Our new 
 chapel at the Red Hills is already begun, and next week 
 I contemplate preparations for the enlargement of that at 
 Sligoville, which is to be twice its present dimensions. 
 Thus I have more labour and anxiety in prospect than 
 ever. With these incessant building engagements, with 
 their attendant anxieties, added to the cares and labours 
 of more direct ministerial duty, I must again inform you 
 that I am almost worn down. To go on much longer as 
 I am now doing will be impossible." 
 
 With all this he was unable to resist the appeals that 
 were made to him. He reports, among others, frequent 
 deputations from the parish of Manchester, begging, with 
 tears in their eyes, for a minister to be settled among 
 them, and promising to provide all the expenses of the 
 station if the Committee will send them one. " This," 
 says Mr. Phillippo, " is probably saying more than can be 
 done ; but I have no doubt they would support a minister 
 comfortably after twelve months, if not before, their ener- 
 gies being directed during that term to the erection of a 
 dwelling-house and the completion of their chapel." 
 
 The appeal made to the Committee met with a very 
 cordial reception ; but their arrangements did not meet 
 his case. Writing to the Secretary on the 1st of October, 
 he says : " The resolution of the Committee with regard to 
 the terms on which they will consent to supply us with 
 additional labourers are ruly generous. But I deeply 
 regret to say that it is out of my power to avail myself of 
 their advantages. First, because in a week or two's time, 
 although the debt incurred by the erection of the building 
 is scarcely liquidated, I must begin an addition to the 
 chapel at Passage Fort that will involve an expense of 
 
1840] Progress tender Difficulties. 173 
 
 £s°°- Secondly, because I have already begun the 
 erection of a large place of worship at the Red Hills, or 
 Kitson Town, that will probably involve a still larger 
 sum ; and thirdly, because I am now in the midst of 
 pecuniary claims to a large amount for an addition to the 
 chapel at Sligoville— far larger than I shall be able to 
 collect from my people. Add to this the heavy and 
 pressing demands of my schools, eight in number, and 
 which cost little less than /"i4 a week, to say nothing 
 of incidental expenses and the support of my family. For 
 the latter items I am dependent on the Spanish Town por- 
 tion of my church, and the uncertain assistance afforded by 
 benevolent friends in England. These have always been 
 inadequate to my wants, as well as uncertain, and occasion 
 me no small degree of anxiety and pain. These things I 
 have never felt more keenly than at present, as it has been 
 my resolution, if possible, to accomplish my building 
 plans independently of foreign aid. It will require my 
 most strenuous efforts to extricate myself for two years to 
 come at least. But help I must have, or I must either 
 sink beneath my labours and responsibilities, or subject 
 the Society and myself to the reproach of doing the 
 work of the Lord imperfectly. To my load of cares and 
 responsibilities, already far too numerous, I have just added 
 the purchase of a property called Kensington, consisting 
 of 350 acres of land, for the purpose of forming another 
 township and missionary station. In a few weeks I 
 expect the whole will be sold to the poor peasantry 
 of the district, and the money be in possession of the 
 salesman." 
 
 The Committee so far relaxed the terms of their proposal 
 that, in January, 184.1, Mr. Phillippo was joined by Mr. and 
 Mrs. William Hume, to act with him as assistant-minister 
 and schoolmaster ; and in the following April Mr. John 
 Williams arrived from England to relieve Mr. Phillippo of 
 
174 Progress under Difficulties. [1841 
 
 trie charge of the work in Manchester, where, in the 
 interval, at Porus, he had gathered a congregation. 
 
 The pecuniary difficulties of the Society towards the 
 close of the year led the Committee, in order to economise 
 their agencies, to contemplate the removal of Mr. Hume 
 to Westmoreland. It did not take place till the beginning 
 of 1842, when the Rev. Thomas Dowson came to his aid. 
 The proposal, however, called forth an earnest and eloquent 
 remonstrance from Mr. Phillippo, and led to the following 
 description of his necessities and the extent of his 
 labours : — " I have been alone in this district for the last 
 seventeen years and upwards. I have eight stations, some 
 of them full twenty miles distant from the central one, 
 each of which requires the services of a regular minister at 
 least once a month on the Sabbath, as well as occasional 
 meetings on a week-day. Eight schools are under my 
 superintendence, and are solely dependent on me for sup- 
 port. I have three new chapels in building, and one 
 being enlarged, the cost of which, full ^3,000 sterling, I, 
 in some way or other, must meet. I have services to 
 maintain three times on the Sabbath invariably in Spanish 
 Town, and a church-meeting and Sabbath-schools to 
 attend, besides two week-day services, all of which probably 
 involve as much mental labour as in a respectable town 
 in England ; with marriages and funerals, visits to the sick, 
 and a thousand other pastoral duties to discharge arising in 
 churches of between two and three thousand members in 
 town and country. The Spanish Town station, except 
 during the enlargement of the chapel, has supported me for 
 years. To the utmost of my ability, and even beyond it, 
 I can most conscientiously declare I have endeavoured to 
 avoid being burdensome to the Society. The number of 
 stations that I have been instrumental in forming and 
 carrying on for a time have not been fewer than seventeen. 
 Some of these stations, such as Jericho, Springfield, Old 
 
1 84. 1 ] Progress under Difficulties. 175 
 
 Harbour, Vere, and others, have become the parents and 
 centres of surrounding ones, and are now among the 
 most important of any in the island. I think the sums 
 had for these stations were peculiarly small, while for those 
 still under my care I have been in the habit of receiving 
 from the Society only the proportion of /"30 per annum 
 for each. The whole of the stations under my charge do 
 not raise for one benevolent object and another less than 
 ^2,000 sterling per annum — I mean objects connected 
 especially with our own denomination, such as chapel- 
 building, support of schools, the African Mission, and 
 others of a local kind." 
 
 It is not possible to conceive of these exhaustive 
 labours as other than most trying to the constitution and 
 spirits of the healthiest and strongest man working in 
 the tropical climate of the West Indies, and it will be no 
 surprise that Mr. Pnillippo should utter, towards the close 
 of 1841, the following touching words respecting it : — " My 
 health, and spirits too, have given way beneath the 
 pressure of these engagements and anxieties, sustained 
 for so many years. I am indeed now laid almost totally 
 aside by the failure of my voice, occasioned by its almost 
 incessant and too violent exercise for years past in and 
 out of doors. My medical adviser positively tells me 
 that, unless I cease altogether from public speaking for 
 two or three months, I shall lose its use in public. My 
 dear wife also, having shared my anxieties and labours, 
 and borne a large family of nine children, five of whom 
 have been torn from her by death, and often sicknesses 
 which many times have brought her to the very gates of 
 the grave, is now in such extremely delicate health and 
 bad spirits as to be obliged to reside almost entirely at 
 Sligoville, where I must leave her, as it were, in solitude 
 the greater part of each week. Thus, from the moment 
 of my arrival in the island until now, I have scarcely 
 
176 Progress under Difficulties. [1838 
 
 known a respite from distracting care and exhausting 
 toil." 
 
 But his exertions were not without an ample reward in the 
 Divine blessing that accompanied them. Each year bore 
 witness to his success, in large additions to the fellowship 
 of the churches, and in the growing intelligence and piety of 
 the members. A few extracts from his letters and reports 
 will suffice to show the gracious approval of his Lord on 
 his manifold labours. Writing on the z 8th of February, 1838, 
 he says : " God has been pleased to bless the church in 
 Spanish Town with prosperity as to members ; nor has He 
 left us without such tokens of His grace as have visibly 
 promoted the growing influence of vital piety over the 
 minds and habits of the church in general. The nature 
 and extent of the Divine requirements with regard to the 
 Sabbath are more generally understood, and the duty of 
 regular and punctual attendance upon the public worship 
 of God is more regarded. Brotherly love continues, and 
 peace and harmony prevail amongst us. Owing to the 
 regular preaching of the Word at Passage Fort and Sligo- 
 ville, and the late dismission to the latter station of 218 
 members, the congregation here is somewhat diminished ; 
 but our place of worship is still as full as it will con- 
 veniently accommodate, and is often so crowded as to 
 render a separate service in the school-room necessary. 
 God has not only been with us, but in His holy influences 
 H~ has gone before us, preparing the hearts of the people 
 to receive the seed of the Kingdom." During the year 
 he had baptized nearly three hundred persons, and the 
 number of members in communion at the three stations 
 was 2,191. The nineteen schools he supported con- 
 tained 1,588 scholars. 
 
 Writing again on the 16th of April, 1839, nine months 
 after the enjoyment of complete freedom, after reporting 
 that the churches had suffered some losses by defection, 
 
1839] Progress under Difficulties. 177 
 
 he proceeds to remark that, amidst the excitement attend- 
 ing the celebration of freedom, it would have been no 
 wonder if many had been betrayed into intemperance and 
 other excesses at variance with their profession, and the 
 habitual self-denial required of the disciples of Christ. 
 But, "in no case," he says, "have these fears been 
 realised. The conduct of our friends and brethren was 
 such as became the followers of our Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ, uniformly modest, sober, and devout, their 
 enemies themselves being judges. In every instance, when 
 treated with the consideration due to human beings, and 
 in the prospect of fair remuneration, have they been 
 diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. 
 From general imperfection, and from individual acts of 
 sin on our part, as a Christian society, we by no means 
 consider ourselves exempt. But as the pastor of the 
 church, in some degree, I trust, aware of my awful responsi- 
 bility to God, I most solemnly declare, in opposition to 
 all that may have been insinuated to the contrary, that 
 wholesome discipline and the most vigilant oversight 
 have been anxiously and unremittingly maintained. The 
 habitual exercise of wholesome discipline I have regarded 
 as in every way advantageous to the prosperity of the 
 church, and this I have ever found it. By its exercise, a 
 greater dread of sin has been inspired, the weak have been 
 strengthened, the backslider reclaimed, and the purity of 
 the church and the glory of God preserved. 
 
 "The increase of our stated congregations since the 
 great boon of freedom has been enjoyed has been so 
 great that a third enlargement of our chapel at Spanish 
 Town has become necessary, and also of those of Passage 
 Fort and Sligoville. Such, indeed, is the desire on the 
 part of the poorer classes of the people generally for the 
 Gospel, and of the late apprentices in particular, that if 
 each of the chapels I have already built were twice its 
 
178 Progress under Difficulties. Qi 841 
 
 present dimensions, and half-a-dozen more could be 
 erected, I have not the least doubt of all being filled." 
 
 The net increase of his churches during the year had 
 been 326 members, while no less than 2,598 children and 
 adults were under constant instruction. 
 
 A similar bright picture may be given of the Christian 
 work of the year 1 840 ; but with some brief excerpts from 
 the report of 1841 this chapter shall be closed. They are 
 taken from a letter dated 1st of February, addressed to 
 the ministers and messengers of the associated Baptist 
 churches about to assemble at Falmouth. Mr. Phillippo 
 writes : — " The chapel at Spanish Town, which has been a 
 third time enlarged, is too small for the numbers that 
 usually flock to it on the Sabbath. On the first Sabbath 
 of the month, on which day the Lord's Supper is ad- 
 ministered, although a separate service for the children is 
 held in the school-room, the members present so far exceed 
 what the chapel will accommodate that from one to two 
 hundred communicants are sometimes obliged to sit 
 outside. Our Sabbath morning prayer-meetings are still 
 maintained, having been carried on without intermission 
 during a period of seventeen years. We have also a 
 similar service on the Monday evening. The contem- 
 plated establishment of a mission to Africa by our Society, 
 the interest felt in the enterprise by British Christians, 
 and the actual devotion of our beloved brethren Clarke 
 and Prince to the object, have especially contributed to 
 the spiritual warmth and vigour which we trust we now 
 enjoy with reference to the extension of the Redeemer's 
 Kingdom. There is generally manifested amongst us a 
 growing acquaintance with the truth as it is in Jesus, and 
 an increased relish for spiritual enjoyments. Peace and 
 harmony remain unbroken. Love to God, to one another, 
 and to the whole household of faith, it is hoped, continues 
 to increase. The sacred Scriptures, by being more widely 
 
1 841] Progress under Difficulties 179 
 
 diffused, are more generally read, and consequently better 
 understood, whilst personal and relative duties have been 
 more correctly discharged. 
 
 " Removals by death have been comparatively few, and 
 with respect to every one of them evidences were afforded 
 of their having entered into rest. Holy and exemplary in 
 their lives, they exhibited in their last moments a 
 tranquillity which death could not ruffle, and a confidence 
 that the King of Terrors could not shake. 
 
 " Many have betrayed symptoms of a backsliding state 
 which have demanded the exercise of discipline. Yet few 
 have remained hardened in impenitence, and a consider- 
 able number have been welcomed back again to a 
 participation of the privileges of Christian communion. 
 
 " At the close of the year the membership numbered 
 2,551 persons, and at all the stations, both principal and 
 subordinate, the attendance on the means of grace was 
 increasing. 
 
 " Thus," concludes the letter, " amidst many discourage- 
 ments, it is evident that the blessing of the Lord our God 
 has been upon us, prospering the work of our hands. 
 With this conviction, let us animate each other to 
 increased energy and perseverance, forgetting the things 
 that are behind, and pressing on towards things that are 
 before, looking for and trusting unto the day of God." 
 Thus, " in weariness, in painfulness, and in watchings 
 often," Mr. Phillippo pursued his arduous work, sustained 
 by the assurance that the Lord was with him, giving effect 
 to His Word, and crowning his efforts with success. 
 
 n 1 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 ORIGIN AND FORMATION OF TOWNSHIPS— 1838 to 1841. 
 
 The system of apprenticeship was scarcely carried into 
 effect in 1834 than disputes arose between the planters 
 and their apprentices as to the wages which should be 
 paid for their toil ; and when full freedom came in 1838 
 little or no progress had been made in settling this im- 
 portant question. To this day it can scarcely be said to 
 have reached a final and equitable decision. There were, 
 however, not a few proprietors of estates who at once 
 endeavoured to meet the case in a fair spirit, and who 
 requested the missionaries to exercise the influence they 
 possessed with the labourers to bring about an amicable 
 settlement. Mr. Phillippo especially mentions, among 
 other large proprietors and attorneys who took this 
 course, the Hon. A. Bravo and the Hon. T. J. 
 Bernard. As a representative of the people, he was 
 present, by desire, at a meeting of the agents of these 
 gentlemen with their apprentices to consider the propo- 
 sals of the estate-owners. After long discussions, these 
 proposals, with some modifications as recommended by 
 Mr. Phillippo, were adopted to the satisfaction of all 
 parties. But these mutually beneficial conferences were 
 the exception, and not the rule. Other meetings, not so 
 gratifying in their result, took place, of one of which Mr. 
 Phillippo has preserved the following lively account. It 
 was held in St. Thomas-in-the-Vale, and was marked by 
 the presence of the Governor. His Excellency, finding 
 
1838] Origin and Formation of Townships. 181 
 
 there would be no one there to represent the people, in- 
 vited the services of Mr. Phillippo for the occasion. " A 
 very large assemblage of both parties," says Mr. Phillippo, 
 " were at the tavern where the conference was to be held. 
 I arrived before his Excellency, and found myself in a 
 large room filled with planters and others of the ruling 
 class, including the rector and curate of the parish. I 
 was treated with superciliousness and contempt. The 
 Governor had no sooner entered than he was surrounded 
 by the planter-complainants, who occupied him for 
 upwards of two hours in efforts to prejudice him against 
 the labourers. The people, who had crowded round the 
 entrance to the house, expressed their dissatisfaction to 
 me. Their complaints, they said, were disregarded, and 
 they handed to me, over the heads of the crowd, in the 
 cleft of long sticks, receipts for the rent of houses and 
 grounds, some of which amounted to more than the 
 wages given them, rent being charged for almost, if not 
 quite, every member of the family. These I investigated, 
 amid the rude insults and threatenings of one or two 
 roughs of overseers, who were watching my movements. 
 I then forced my way to his Excellency, and told him that 
 the labourers outside were afraid that they would not be 
 allowed to make their complaints or defence. He at 
 once followed me into the yard, and seated himself under 
 the shade of a tree. The people gathered round, and put 
 into his hands their papers. Both by word and gesture 
 his Excellency expressed his indignation against the per- 
 petrators of the injustice and oppression, and then, 
 ordering his carriage, hastily withdrew and returned home. 
 The planters started for Rodney Hall, where they re- 
 assembled, and passed resolutions condemnatory of the 
 Governor, and especially that he had insulted the rector, 
 and through him the church and the whole parish, in 
 treating a sectarian minister as his chaplain and counsellor. 
 
1 82 Origin and Formation of Townships. [1838 
 
 They further embodied their complaints in a document 
 which they forwarded to the Colonial Office."* 
 
 On many estates the people were cajoled by promises 
 never intended to be performed. Relieved by the 
 Emancipation Act of 1838 from the stringent clauses of 
 the Act of 1834, the planters were entirely at liberty to 
 pursue any course they saw fit, and the most despicable 
 arts were frequently resorted to to obtain labour for almost 
 nothing. If the miserable remuneration was refused, the 
 cottages of the recalcitrant labourers were pulled down, 
 the estates' cattle driven into their provision grounds, and 
 the growing crops destroyed. Homeless and houseless, 
 great numbers, whether in health or sickness, old or 
 young, were driven to the bush for shelter. A standard 
 of a day's labour and its value had gradually been formed 
 during slavery, and it was naturally expected by the 
 apprentices that their remuneration would be laid 
 accordingly. Some efforts were put forth by the Govern- 
 ment, in connection with committees of planters, to 
 establish a tariff of work and wages, on the principle that 
 a free man would be sure to labour more heartily, and 
 give a better return to his master, than a slave. But these 
 tariffs generally failed of adoption, the planters preferring 
 perfect freedom of contract, which would allow them to 
 exercise any pressure within their reach on the necessi- 
 tous labourer. They were altogether unwilling to pay 
 such wages as the new circumstances of the Negro 
 
 * Mr. J. J. Gurney thus speaks of the usefulness of the Baptist 
 missionaries : — " The Baptist missionaries in Jamaica, for many years 
 past, have been the unflinching and untiring friends of the Negro. No 
 threats have daunted them ; no insults or persecutions have driven 
 them from the field. They are now [1840] reaping their reward in the 
 devoted attachment of the people, and the increasingly prevalent 
 acknowledgment of their integrity and usefulness." — " "Winter in the 
 West Indies," p. 120 
 
1838] Origin and Formation of Townships. 183 
 
 required. For with enfranchisement came a demand for 
 better dwellings than the miserable huts of the estate in 
 which they had hitherto been housed. Greater comforts 
 and conveniences were sought after, and the social, moral, 
 and intellectual elevation of the enfranchised people 
 required larger provision to be made for its attainment. 
 
 Foreseeing these difficulties, Mr. Phillippo, shortly after 
 1834, with several of his missionary brethren, assisted by 
 some wealthy gentlemen in England, began to purchase 
 land for the settlement of the labouring classes. The 
 lawlessness and tyranny to which they had been subject 
 taught them that they could not be sure of a home unless 
 they possessed freeholds of their own. The opportunity 
 of relief from this oppression was eagerly seized on 
 the arrival of emancipation, and the allotments made 
 on the properties thus purchased were immediately 
 bought. Estate-hamlets were abandoned, and free vil- 
 lages and townships sprang up in all parts of the island. 
 The acquisition of land was rendered more easy by the 
 large number of properties that came into the market. 
 This arose partly from the impracticability of working 
 with profit many of the estates in the interior now 
 that unpaid and forced labour could not be secured ; and 
 partly from proprietors who had received compensation 
 for their slaves, which, as Lord Palmerston said, in 
 many instances was an amount equal to the value of 
 the fee simple of the land itself, abandoning the culti- 
 vation of sugar, and the island altogether. 
 
 Mr. Phillippo was among the first to make provision 
 for the large emigration from the estates that took place. 
 Early in 1835 he purchased twenty-five acres of land, 
 which were afterwards increased to fifty, in the mountains 
 above Spanish Town, in the first instance to form a mis- 
 sion station. It now became the nucleus of a settlement. 
 The position was unrivalled for beauty and salubrity, and 
 
184 Origin and Formation of Townships. [184.0 
 
 stood in the midst of a district entirely destitute of reli- 
 gious privileges. The settlement was named Sligoville, 
 in honour of the Marquis of Sligo, whose country residence 
 was near at hand, and who, with his family, took great 
 interest in its formation, as the first town to arise on the 
 ruins of slavery. When purchased, the land was an un- 
 reclaimed wilderness. It was covered with masses of 
 rock, and with a rank luxuriance of vegetation that ob- 
 structed the prospect. The first building erected was a 
 chapel and a school-room under one roof. It was begun 
 in the month of October, 1835. A larger building soon 
 became necessary. This was completed in July, 1838, 
 immediately preceding the close of the apprenticeship 
 system. About two months before the proclamation of 
 entire freedom, the first lot of land was purchased by 
 Henry Lunan, formerly a slave and head-man on the 
 Hampstead plantation adjoining. The remainder of the 
 land was rapidly bought by the apprentices of the neigh- 
 bourhood, and on the 12th of June, 1840, the settlement 
 was formally opened by a religious service in the chapel. 
 The township then contained about 100 families; but 
 when all the purchasers had built their houses and entered 
 on their tenancies they would be increased to 200. 
 Though surrounded with many difficulties incident to the 
 first settlement of such a spot, there was every prospect 
 of a prosperity as conducive to the interests of the colony 
 as to those of the labourers and artisans themselves, all of 
 whom gradually found employment at moderate wages on 
 the properties around. 
 
 The township was visited by Mr. Joseph John Gurney, 
 attended by Mr. Phillippo, on the 7th of March, 1840. 
 Mr. Gurney thus describes his impressions : — " We spent 
 [here] several hours. It is located on a lofty hill, and is 
 surrounded by fifty acres of fertile mountain land. This 
 property is divided into 150 freehold lots, fifty of which 
 
184.0] Origin and Formation of Townships. 185 
 
 had already been sold to the emancipated Negroes, and 
 had proved a timely refuge for many labourers who had 
 been driven by hard usage from their former homes. 
 Some of them had built good cottages ; others, temporary 
 huts ; and others, again, were preparing the ground for 
 building. Not a hoe, I believe, had ever been driven into 
 that land before. The people settled there were all 
 married pairs, mostly with families, and the men employed 
 the bulk of their time in working for wages on the neigh- 
 bouring estates. The chapel and the school were imme- 
 diately at hand, and the religious character of the people 
 stood high. Never did I witness a scene of greater 
 industry, or one more marked by contentment for the 
 present and hope for the future." * 
 
 A medical gentleman visiting the town some two years 
 later, and remaining there a week, thus speaks of what he 
 saw : — " Every allotment of land is now sold, and many of 
 the people are applying in vain for more. The canes, 
 provisions, and fruit are equal, if not superior, to any in 
 the island. Many of the settlers had not a penny when 
 they came ; but they have worked and paid for the land 
 by its produce. They have erected comfortable cottages, 
 and are now living in perfect happiness, as far as human 
 happiness can be perfect. They have no anxieties ; and 
 are eminently grateful, both to Christians who worked for, 
 and to the God who gave them, freedom." 
 
 Sturge Town, situated about seven miles from Spanish 
 Town, and named after the eminent philanthropist Joseph 
 Sturge, was the next township formed. The land was 
 purchased by Mr. Phillippo, with moneys supplied from 
 England, and formed part of a large estate of a thousaud 
 acres, the whole of which was purchased in the following 
 
 * " A Winter in the West Indies," by Joseph John Gurney 
 (London: 1840), pp. 115, 116. 
 
1 86 Origin and Formation of Townships. [1840 
 
 year. At the other extremity of the estate, the village of 
 Kensington was afterwards built, and opened in August, 
 1841. By this purchase some loss was incurred by Mr. 
 Phillippo, as a few of the planters, finding they would be 
 altogether deprived of labourers if they refused them home- 
 steads, offered portions of their outlying lands for sale, 
 and at a price less than that which Mr. Phillippo could 
 afford. 
 
 The lands of Kitson Town, eight miles from Spanish 
 Town, consisting of 195 acres, were bought with assistance 
 found on the spot, in August, 1839, and were sold chiefly 
 to labourers who had been turned off from estates. The 
 township was situated in the midst of a dense agricultural 
 population, and was opened with a suitable ceremony on 
 the 3rd of July, 1841.* 
 
 Clarkson Town, the fourth township in order of settle- 
 ment, was commenced by Mr. Phillippo in 1839. It is 
 distant eight miles from Spanish Town, in a glade near 
 an estate called Taylor's Caymanas. The mountains on 
 either side of the long valley rear their summits to the 
 clouds and nearly meet at their base. The town was 
 divided into three principal streets, one of which, by an 
 angle in its centre, became two, named respectively 
 Victoria and Albert. Along these streets, leaving a piece 
 of garden ground in front, the cottages were ranged on 
 either side, at equal distances. The township was opened 
 with a very interesting ceremony on the 12th of May, 
 1842, "At the appointed hour," says Mr. Phillippo, "the 
 words ' Come to prayers ' being vociferated two or three 
 times by one of the most robust and active of the villagers, 
 who ascended the summit of a detached hill for the purpose, 
 
 * Tradition reports that the settlement was on the site of a large 
 Carib settlement called Guanaboa. Indian utensils and other remains 
 are often found in the woods. 
 
1840] Origin and Formation of Townships. 187 
 
 every individual in the settlement was seen wending his 
 way to the rural sanctuary, under the widespread branches 
 of the trees, fixed upon for the service. The aged and 
 infirm came supporting themselves on a staff, and others 
 more vigorous climbed the steep ascent with quick and 
 eager step. They were seated in semi-circles, on planks 
 affixed to uprights placed in the ground." A sermon was 
 preached by the Rev. T. Dowson, followed by an address 
 from the pastor, who proceeded afterwards to name the 
 streets of the town. " May this infant township," were 
 his closing words, " rise under the blessing of Almighty 
 God ; and may its inhabitants to the most distant posterity, 
 united in bonds of Christian love and fellowship, be as one 
 family, with one feeling to prompt and one principle to 
 govern ! " 
 
 Visiting this township on his return from Sligoville, Mr. 
 J. J. Gurney says : — "We returned towards Spanish Town 
 by a very wild path, over stones, and through brakes and 
 briars, until we came to Clarkson Town. Here we were 
 refreshed by the hospitable people with draughts of 
 lemonade. We found them industriously engaged in 
 cultivating their own freeholds. Many of them had long 
 been labourers on a neighbouring estate, from which they 
 had at last been forced away by ill-treatment. Their 
 cocoa-nut trees had been felled, their huts demolished. 
 What could they do but seek a new home ? They crowded 
 round us, and expressed the most entire willingness again 
 to work on the property if they were but treated with 
 fairness and kindness. They were well known to my 
 friend Phillippo, being many of them members of his 
 church, and a better-conditioned or better-mannered 
 peasantry could not easily be found." * 
 
 In December, 1840, Mr. Phillippo opened the sixth of 
 
 * " Winter in the West Indies," pp. 116, 117. 
 
Origin and Formation of Townships. [1841 
 
 these townships at Porus, in Manchester. This property- 
 was bought by a combination of the people among them- 
 selves, but laid out by Mr. Phillippo, who named it Vale 
 Lionel, after the excellent Governor, Sir Lionel Smith, 
 who on the site of it had addressed the people previous 
 to freedom. It is at the present time a populous place, 
 and the seat of a large coffee market. 
 
 In 1842, Mr. Phillippo calculated that the above settle- 
 ments contained about 3,150 individuals. To these should 
 be added several villages or townships the formation of 
 which, more or less, he directed or superintended. It is 
 difficult, if not impossible, he adds, to ascertain the 
 number of similar settlements which sprang up within 
 five or six years of emancipation. Lord Stanley stated in 
 the House of Commons, in 1840, that in one parish alone 
 there had been acquired by the enfranchised peasantry 
 7,340 freeholds, consisting of houses and lands of -various 
 extent. A hundred thousand acres of land must have 
 passed into the hands of the people in that short space of 
 time, and a very large number of labourers were thus 
 permanently withdrawn from sugar cultivation on the 
 estates.* 
 
 In a letter to Mr. Sturge, dated October 30, 1841, Mr. 
 Phillippo thus sums up the general condition of the 
 people : — 
 
 " The labouring population are in the most striking 
 manner falsifying the planters' loud predictions respecting 
 their conduct. The sloth and idleness which were 
 imputed to them by anticipation turn out a mere dream 
 
 * Among the numerous free villages established by Baptist mission- 
 aries may be mentioned, Bethel Town and Mount Carey, by Mr. 
 Burchell ; Kettering and Hoby Town, by Mr. Knibb ; Wilberforce 
 and Buxton, by Mr. Clark ; Victoria, in St. Thomas-in-the-Vale, by 
 Mr. John Clarke ; and the Alps and Calabar, by Mr. Dexter. 
 
1841] Origin and Formation of Townships. 189 
 
 of fancy. The mass of the people are truly industrious ; 
 and, I am persuaded, there is as much labour performed 
 in the island, in the aggregate, as ever there was in slavery ; 
 the failure in the last two years' crops is not attributable 
 to want of labour, but solely to the calamitous drought 
 with which the country has been afflicted. 
 
 " So far as steady industry, sobriety, and honesty of 
 conduct, and mild and peaceable demeanour are con- 
 cerned, the ' grand experiment ' has in this island, not 
 only perfectly succeeded, but has proved a universal and 
 unalloyed blessing. 
 
 " In some parts of the country there is still a cry for 
 labour ; the real want, however, is confined to a very 
 limited number of estates in particular localities, and, in 
 most instances, it originates in the gross mis-management 
 or tyrannical conduct of the parties themselves ; the great 
 bulk of the planters find no difficulty in procuring all the 
 labour they require, if prepared with the means of paying 
 the regular market price for it ; great numbers have not 
 the necessary command of cash, and, unwilling to confess 
 their own poverty, dishonestly impute their failure to 
 deficiency in the labour market. 
 
 " The true meaning of the outcry of the planters is not 
 that labour is deficient, but that cheap labour is required ; 
 they declare that one shilling or one shilling and sixpence 
 per day is more than they can afford ; they flatter them- 
 selves that by means of immigration they may reduce the 
 market price to sixpence orninepence per day — a palpable 
 delusion ; if they could even succeed in introducing fifty 
 thousand immigrants, I am persuaded it would not be the 
 means of reducing the price of labour one penny." 
 
 Mr. Phillippo's intimacy with Sir Lionel Smith afforded 
 him many opportunities of serving the cause of the 
 oppressed, which he was not slow to embrace ; but his 
 exertions brought upon him no small amount of abuse. 
 
190 Origin and Formation of Townships. [1841 
 
 "I was called," he tells us, "'the notorious parson 
 Phillippo,' ' the principal adviser of the Governor,' ' the 
 fabricator of apprentices' petitions,' 'the political parson,' 
 ' arch agitator,' &c, &c, all which, by-the-by, from the 
 character of the sources from which they spring, I regard 
 as the highest compliment I could receive." Sir Lionel 
 Smith left the island on the 1st of October, 1839, amid 
 the profound regrets of the people, and was succeeded in 
 his office by Sir Charles Metcalfe, who was able, though 
 with considerable difficulty, to obtain from the Legislature 
 various Acts suited to the changed circumstances of the 
 times. Amongst these new laws was one to legalise, 
 register, and confirm marriages by Dissenters and others 
 not members of the Established Church, in the progress 
 of which through the Assembly Mr. Phillippo took deep 
 interest. With the united aid of his brethren,* changes 
 were made in the original form of the proposals, by which 
 the ministers of all denominations were able to work in 
 harmony with its provisions. Within four years of the 
 passing of the law, the Baptist missionaries alone cele- 
 brated three thousand marriages, and took their full share 
 in the endeavour to remedy the enormous mischiefs of the 
 system of concubinage, which, until slavery was abolished, 
 had prevailed throughout the island. 
 
 Among the incidents of the commemoration of the first 
 anniversary of freedom in Spanish Town, in 1839, Mr. 
 Phillippo especially mentions the formation of a branch 
 Anti-Slavery Society in connection with the English 
 Society formed in the previous April in Exeter Hall, to 
 promote the abolition of slavery throughout the world. 
 The speech he made on this occasion was published. It 
 is an animated address on the progress made since 
 
 * Mr. Phillippo was examined by a Committee of the House of 
 Assembly on the subject. 
 
184-1] Origin and Formation of Townships. 191 
 
 1 8 1 1 in the overthrow of slavery and the slave trade, and 
 urges at length the necessity which still existed to seek 
 the destruction of this enemy of human rights in all parts 
 of the globe. "It cannot be," he said, "that the sons 
 and daughters of Africa in Jamaica and the other British 
 islands of the West, now enjoying freedom, that best 
 earthly gift to man, can be indifferent to the liberties of 
 their brethren and friends. Well may you determine to 
 tell the merciless tyrants who ravage your fatherland that 
 the days of their guilt are numbered, and that their ill- 
 gotten gains are at an end. You will tell them that Africa 
 is about to become her own guardian, and to avenge her 
 own wrongs by the devotion of her own sons and 
 daughters, now disenthralled, to the sacred cause of her 
 liberty ; and that her freedom they will have, whatever be 
 the labour, and whatever the sacrifice." It was most 
 gratifying to the feelings of Mr. Phillippo that his people 
 should heartily cherish the hope of assisting the down- 
 trodden in their fatherland, and be so ready to help, in 
 however feeble a manner, to dry up at their source the 
 evils from which they had so recently escaped. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 VISIT TO WINDWARD ISLANDS— 1841 TO 1842. 
 
 During the year 1841 the strifes and dissension between 
 the planters and their labourers were to some extent 
 allayed, and a better understanding was established. 
 Individual instances of wrong and oppression were not 
 indeed infrequent ; but the mass of the population 1 was 
 happy and prosperous. The conciliatory conduct of 
 Sir C. Metcalfe, the Governor, towards the House of 
 Assembly largely contributed to the passing of measures 
 suitable to the altered condition of the country ; while the 
 improved well-being of the people enabled them to bear 
 without much suffering the drought with which the island 
 was visited. The exertions of Mr. Phillippo during the 
 anxious months immediately following entire emancipa- 
 tion had greatly impaired his health, so that a period of 
 rest had become absolutely necessary ; but he was not 
 able till the close of the year to seek the relaxation he 
 required. 
 
 A recognition of his labours received in the month of 
 June gave him much satisfaction. It consisted of a 
 diploma of membership in the " Council of the Institute 
 of Africa " in France, accompanied by a very flattering 
 estimate of his services to the cause of freedom. In his 
 reply he says : — " Although I fear the kindness and 
 partiality of friends have led them greatly to overstate 
 the influence I have been enabled to exert for the general 
 benefit of the African race, and thereby multiplied the 
 
1 841] Visit to Windward Islands. 193 
 
 claims I possess upon the consideration of your honour- 
 able Committee, yet I flatter myself I may affirm, without 
 suspicion to the contrary in the breasts of those around 
 me, that the temporal and spiritual interests of this 
 oppressed and benighted people have long been a subject 
 of my most ardent solicitude. I cannot but regard 
 association with your Society in the benevolent designs it 
 contemplates as a distinguished privilege and honour. 
 The nature and extent of my engagements will, I am 
 apprehensive, preclude the probability of my rendering 
 material service to the Institution in the way of official 
 correspondence ; but I hope, by practical efforts for the 
 furtherance of its designs, I shall not wholly disappoint 
 the expectations that have been formed of my qualifications 
 and character." 
 
 It was with no little pleasure that Mr. Phillippo saw 
 and encouraged the desire of his congregations to share 
 in the plans now in course of preparation by the parent 
 Society for an evangelistic mission on the Western Coast 
 of Africa.* At the missionary meeting held in the chapel 
 at Spanish Town on the 2nd of August he read to them the 
 letters of Messrs. Clarke and Prince, then on a tour of 
 exploration, and contrasted with great effect the condition 
 of Jamaica with that of their fatherland. His address 
 called forth the warmest expressions of sympathy, and a 
 resolve that they would not be behind their brethren in 
 
 *At the annual meeting of the Western Association in Brown's 
 Town, 1840, it was resolved to request Mr. Knibb, then about to visit 
 England, to bring before the Committee of the Baptist Missionary 
 Society the importance of a mission to Western Africa. The project 
 was favourably entertained by the Committee, and they engaged the 
 Rev. John Clarke, then in England, and Dr. Prince to undertake an 
 exploratory visit to the coast. They left England in October, 1840, 
 and arrived at Fernando Po on the 1st of January, 1841. — "Voice of 
 Jubilee," p. 119. 
 
 O 
 
194 Visit to Windward Islands. [184.1 
 
 other parts of the island in energy and zeal for the pro- 
 motion of this sacred cause. 
 
 It was on the gth of December, 1841, that Mr. Phillippo 
 was at length able to leave his charge and to go on board 
 the Firefly, one of H.M.'s steamers, to seek that relief to 
 body and mind now become imperative. The vessel was 
 bound for Barbadoes. The brief stay of the steamer at 
 the various ports on the route allowed but few observa- 
 tions to be made on the condition of their inhabitants ; 
 but he was charmed with the beauty and grandeur of the 
 scenery as they coasted along the shores of the numerous 
 islands that form the breakwater of the Caribbean Sea 
 against the waves of the Atlantic. 
 
 The first port to be reached was St. Jago, in Cuba. Mr. 
 Phillippo did not venture to land, well knowing the hatred 
 of the Spaniards to all friends of liberty to the slave. 
 Threats of assassination had only recently driven from the 
 island a Wesleyan minister, an agent of the Bible Society, 
 then on a brief visit to Havana. Slavery existed in Cuba 
 in all its horrors, and the decay everywhere visible in the 
 town and its surroundings, as seen from the ship, bore 
 ample evidence to the wretchedness which follows its 
 hateful presence. 
 
 A short hour's visit to Porto Rico did not afford much 
 matter of interest, but at nine o'clock the same evening 
 they reached the Island of St. Thomas, where the next 
 day was occupied with rambles about the city, visiting the 
 stores, and climbing the mountain side which dominates 
 the small but beautiful harbour. 
 
 Two days and a-half were spent in Barbadoes while 
 waiting for the return steamer. " Barbadoes," he says, " is 
 very different in appearance to Jamaica, being all under 
 cultivation, and presenting none of the bold mountain 
 scenery which characterises the West India Islands 
 generally. Bridge Town, the capital, is much more 
 
1 841] Visit to Windward Islands. 195 
 
 regularly built, and much more in the style of English 
 towns, than any town I have seen in these colonies. At 
 each extremity of the town, and in the interior of the 
 island, are the very beautiful villas and residences of the 
 merchants and others of the more wealthy inhabitants, 
 embosomed in groves of fine trees and lovely flowering 
 shrubs. I collected a few seeds of plants new to me, but 
 the time was unfavourable to my making a good collec- 
 tion." 
 
 The longest stay was made in the Island of Haiti, where 
 he stopped on his return voyage. He landed at Cape Henry 
 on the 30th of December, and, possessing letters of introduc- 
 tion, he received a hearty welcome from the Commandant, 
 General Bottex, and his son, Captain Bottex. On reaching 
 the palace he found the General in bed, but was immediately 
 admitted to his chamber, and received a most hearty wel- 
 come as the friend of the slave. " The General," he relates, 
 " spoke with great enthusiasm of the philanthropists of 
 England, many of whom he named, and of the noble gener- 
 osity of the Government. On retiring he grasped my hand 
 with much apparent cordiality and affection. His son, in 
 conversation afterwards, expressed himself strongly in 
 favour of Protestantism, denouncing the errors of Popery 
 and the conduct of the priests as tending to lead intelli- 
 gent men into Deism. He said that Christophe at the 
 commencement of his reign sent to England for school- 
 masters, and established schools on the Lancasterian 
 system. I was present one evening at a soiree in the 
 palace. Most of the company were, of course, coloured 
 and black. Their costume and manners were exact 
 reproductions of the French. All was in Parisian fashion, 
 but the greatest propriety was observed throughout the 
 evening. 
 
 " I found in the city of Port au Prince only one Protestant 
 congregation, a very small community of Wesleyans, under 
 
 02 
 
igb Visit to Windward Islands. [1842 
 
 the care of the missionary, the Rev. Mr. Bird. There were 
 also in the town a few American Baptists, who held 
 services among themselves. To Mr. Bird and his excellent 
 wife I needed no introduction, as I had known them in 
 Jamaica. Mr. Bird very kindly took me about the city, 
 and explained the causes of the dilapidated condition of 
 the forts, the public offices, and many of the best private 
 buildings. The city is beautifully laid out. The houses 
 are mostly two and three stories high, with trellises, 
 covered with flowers, the entire length of the galleries in 
 front of the houses. But many of the houses are un- 
 roofed, the street paving is broken up, and the whole city 
 tells the sad tale of the desolation and horrors of war. 
 
 "The proprietor of the estate, which was once the 
 principal country residence of Christophe, invited me to 
 take a day's excursion to see the advantages of the 
 Metairie system of cultivation on his property. He- ac- 
 cordingly buckled on his sword, and we started, passing 
 on our way through rivers haunted by alligators. The estate 
 had no doubt been a splendid one, as the ruins of the house 
 and the magnificent gateway, with its avenue of palm- 
 trees, testified. But I was not enamoured of his system. 
 He paid the labourers their share of profits in kind, which 
 was mostly spent, before it was earned, in intemperance. 
 I said, ' This plan, while it might do well for the master, 
 ruined the labourer.' He replied, ' I have nothing to do 
 with that ; every man must do the best for himself.' 
 
 " In the evening I rode out into the suburbs of the 
 city with Mr. Thompson, who showed me the remains of 
 a residence of Christophe's, where he had committed so 
 many murders, the dens into which the bodies had been 
 thrown, his palace, which he did not live to finish, and the 
 ruins and grounds of the Jesuits' College. He also pointed 
 out to me the spot hallowed by the memory of Toussaint 
 l'Ouverture." 
 
1842] Visit to Windward Islands. 197 
 
 The principal object of this brief sojourn in Haiti may 
 be gathered from the following extract from a letter to 
 the Rev. John Dyer, dated Spanish Town, the 21st 
 January, 1842, a fortnight after his return to Jamaica : — 
 " I passed the interval of a packet at Cape Haitien, 
 availing myself of letters of introduction from gentlemen 
 here to personal acquaintances. I was hospitably enter- 
 tained and most kindly treated by them, especially by the 
 British Consul and the Governor. My communications 
 with the latter related almost entirely to the moral and 
 religious state and prospects of Jamaica and Haiti, and I 
 am happy to say as the result that Haiti presents an 
 open door to the preaching of the Gospel by Baptist 
 missionaries — the most ample protection being afforded 
 by the Government to ministers and Christians of all de- 
 nominations." Encouraged by the representations of Mr. 
 Phillippo, the Society shortly after commenced its inter- 
 esting mission in Haiti, at Jacmel, a town on the sea- 
 coast on the south side of the island, and a port fre- 
 quented by the English mails on their route to Jamaica. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 INDEPENDENCE ASSUMED BY THE CHURCHES— 
 1842. 
 
 Matters of great importance engaged Mr. Phillippo's 
 attention immediately on his return. The continuation of 
 the letter just quoted will best describe them. " I arrived 
 in Spanish Town about a fortnight ago, very shortly 
 before the meeting of our Annual Association, I am 
 thankful to say the better for the trip, although the disease 
 of which I complained is yet far from being removed. 
 Several matters of importance were attended to at the 
 Association, some of which I will briefly notice. 
 
 " I. — It was unanimously resolved (to the effect) that, 
 after the 1st of August next, no further drafts be made on 
 the parent Society in aid of the Jamaica Mission, and that 
 the amounts required by any brother previously to that 
 time be ascertained and forwarded to the Committee. 
 
 "Although I and others of my brethren who are not in 
 the secrets of the Western Union had some cause to com- 
 plain of the circumstances under which this resolution 
 was proposed, yet so glorious in all respects would be 
 its results, if carried into effect, that, deeply involved as I 
 am in a pecuniary way, I not only cordially approved the 
 resolution, but publicly expressed the honour I felt in pre- 
 siding on the occasion. I, therefore, as the senior mis- 
 sionary here, on the assurance that the Committee would 
 not object to the grant of a loan in relief of present 
 liabilities, at once set the example to the brethren simi- 
 larly circumstanced with myself, of entirely relinquishing 
 all further drafts on the Society, except under very pecu- 
 
1842] Independence assumed by the Churches. 199 
 
 liar circumstances, from the commencement of the pre- 
 sent year. The consequence of this will be, as I then 
 stated, a suspension to a very considerable degree of 
 my chapel-building operations, and a diminution of the 
 number and efficiency of my schools; and this will, of 
 course, greatly increase and protract my anxieties, as well 
 as involve no ordinary sacrifice of feeling. Impossibilities 
 cannot be done, and if in the ' last great day ' I shall be 
 accounted faithful over the few things committed to my 
 trust it will be enough. 
 
 "II. — The Institution. — After some debate it was car- 
 ried, as an amendment to an original resolution, that, no 
 premises having been found more central, Calabar, near 
 Rio Bueno, be fixed on as its seat, until others more 
 eligible can be found. The opinion of those on the south 
 side is, decidedly, that Kingston, the neighbourhood of 
 Spanish Town, or the centre of the parish of St. Ann's 
 are in all respects preferable ; and I fear, if any attempt be 
 made to continue it at Calabar, where it would be almost 
 exclusively under the influence of the Western Union, it 
 will lead to very unpleasant consequences. 
 
 " III. — The subject of the African Mission scarcely 
 admitted of a difference of opinion. All engaged to help 
 it forward to the utmost practicable extent. Brother Mer- 
 rick — subject, of course, to the approval of the Committee 
 — goes to join his beloved pastor (the Rev, John Clarke) in 
 Africa. As a neighbour and friend I shall deeply regret 
 his loss ; a more pious, devoted, and amiable man cannot 
 be found in the mission. 
 
 " IV. — A long discussion ensued as to the matter of the 
 calumnies circulated against us as missionaries and our 
 churches, on which it was resolved that some one of our 
 brethren should be appointed a deputation to England for 
 the especial object of disproving them, and counteracting 
 their influence on the public mind. As brethren Abbott, 
 
200 Independence assumed by the Churches. [1842 
 
 Oughton, and Clarke intimated their intention, or desire, 
 to return home during the summer, it was resolved, after a 
 prayer-meeting for Divine direction in our choice, that the 
 individual should be selected by ballot. The lot fell upon 
 brother Knibb, who had eleven votes out of the nineteen 
 given ; and, as it was represented that he was sent for by the 
 Committee to attend the Jubilee of the Society, and as at 
 the same time some anxiety was expressed that his appoint- 
 ment should be unanimous, all coincided in the decision. 
 
 " I regret to hear, what I sincerely hope is incorrect, 
 that the Committee have at length recognised both the 
 Western Union and the Annual Association in their 
 associate capacity, as power may thereby be acquired 
 which may not only be extremely injurious to the happi- 
 ness of individuals and the general welfare of the mission 
 here, but which may operate materially against the Society 
 at large, of which it is possible the Committee themselves 
 may become the first victims, or, at all events, which they 
 might find it very difficult to control. If anything like a 
 Presbytery is countenanced, our bond of union is dissolved, 
 and the citadel will be desolated by foes within. 
 
 " If ever there was a time in the history of the Jamaica 
 Mission that particularly called for the exercise of prudence 
 and discretion on the part of the Committee, it is now. 
 I would reiterate it to the Committee with earnestness. 
 Continue to maintain your legitimate influence over the 
 Jamaica Mission, and be jealous of the least usurpation of 
 your rights. I throw these out as hints, considering that 
 in doing so I am only fulfilling an obvious duty." 
 
 It is clear from this letter that Mr. Phillippo had a full 
 perception of the importance of the measures taken by 
 the Association. The resolution to cut the mission adrift 
 from the funds of the Society did not meet with his entire 
 approbation ; and it is due to him that a note appended 
 to the copy of the above letter in his journal, and dated so 
 
1842] Independence assumed by the Churches. 201 
 
 late as the year 1876, should be given. "Thus, not to 
 stand in the way of accomplishing the object (that is, the 
 complete cessation of drafts on the Society), if it could be 
 done, as was confidently affirmed by Messrs. Knibb and 
 others, I, however, opposed the resolution as premature, 
 and as likely to be a death-blow to the mission, proposing 
 a diminution of the drafts first. One or two of the 
 brethren also entered their protest. I only agreed on the 
 condition of loans being granted by the Committee. I 
 now record (in 1876) that our mission began to decline 
 from this day onwards to the present time." 
 
 Leaving to subsequent pages to justify or otherwise the 
 concluding words of this note, it is matter for surprise 
 that neither at the time, nor for two years afterwards, 
 until the necessities of the brethren forced attention to 
 the subject, was there any attempt made to define the 
 future relations of the missionaries to the Society, or to 
 arrange those many questions of detail which were ne- 
 cessarily involved in this momentous decision. That the 
 churches in Jamaica would at some period become inde- 
 pendent of the funds of the Society, and be thrown on 
 their own resources for the maintenance of the Gospel of 
 Christ in their midst, was not indeed a new idea. The 
 proved capability of many of the churches to support 
 their pastors, as in the case of Mr. Phillippo himself, who 
 for several years had drawn his stipend from the church in 
 Spanish Town ; the frequent assertion of such representa- 
 tive men as Mr. Knibb,* Mr. Burchell, Mr. Dendy, and 
 
 * Thus, in relation to the support of the African Mission, Mr. 
 Knibb said to the Home Committee, "I will pledge my church to 
 ^1,000, and I will get it in a week. I will pledge Mr. Dendy's 
 church for ^500 or £boo, and he will get it in a few days. I will send 
 to Jamaica, and I am sure we shall get our money as soon as you get 
 yours." — Memoir, p. 364, And this in addition to the ordinary con- 
 tributions of the people. 
 
202 Independence assumed by the Churches. [1842 
 
 others, that the churches were both able and willing to 
 undertake this duty ; and the large sums that were raised 
 for new chapels, manses, and school-houses frequently led 
 the Committee at home to inquire whether, and how soon, 
 the Society could be relieved from the burden and 
 responsibility of their support. The drain on the revenue 
 of the Society for Jamaica objects* could not be met with- 
 out incurring constant and increasing debt, nor with- 
 out neglecting the obligations the Society was under to 
 its older missions in the East ; so that the pressure from 
 home was not inconsiderable to realise the bold and san- 
 guine forecasts of the Jamaica brethren. The demand 
 for relief to the home treasury became in 1841 more 
 urgent than ever. It was absolutely necessary to escape 
 in some way from the embarrassments which the rapid 
 growth of the requirements of Jamaica brought upon the 
 Society.f The Committee at home, therefore, hailed with 
 joy the resolution of the missionaries ; and, if in any 
 minds there were doubts of the wisdom of the measure, 
 they were quieted by the manifest proofs which the Jamaica 
 churches had given of their ability to fulfil their pledge. 
 This was the more confidently relied upon since the 
 demand for new chapels was rapidly being met ; and, 
 although debts of considerable amount remained to be 
 liquidated, there was at the time no sign that the 
 prosperity the island then enjoyed would meet with an 
 early check, or that the means of the people would 
 undergo a rapid and painful diminution. 
 
 * In 1839, the cost to the Society of the Jamaica Mission was 
 £6,514; in 1840, £6,870; in 1841, £9,016; in 1842, £9,701. 
 
 t In 1839 the debt of the Society was ,£2,631; in 1840, £3,341 ; 
 in 1841, £1,958 ; in 1842, £3,943 ; notwithstanding that daring the 
 first three of these years £4,610 had been contributed by the British 
 churches to remove the yearly accruing deficit. The average income 
 of the Society for the four years was only £16,944, to support all its 
 missions both in the East and West. 
 
1842] Independence assumed by the Churches. 203 
 
 The wish expressed by Mr. Phillippo that the parent 
 Society should retain some control over the future develop- 
 ment of the churches does not seem to have met with 
 any sympathy from the majority of the missionaries, nor 
 was it ever brought before the Committee as a desirable 
 object to secure. Indeed, under the laws which usually 
 govern Baptist churches, it is difficult to see how the 
 Society, when it had ceased to furnish pecuniary aid to 
 the congregations in Jamaica, could claim or exercise 
 any authority or control over their proceedings. Arrange- 
 ments were made shortly afterwards to secure by the trust 
 deeds the permanent use of the property of the churches 
 for the purposes for which it had been acquired, by giving 
 to the Missionary Society the reversion in case of any 
 future abandonment or misappropriation ; but, beyond 
 this, Baptist principles forbade any interference on the 
 part of an extraneous body with the internal development 
 or practices of the churches. Thus independence of 
 pecuniary support from without carried with it independ- 
 ence of control from without ; and no one would have been 
 more jealous of interference on the part of the Society 
 than the brethren who felt themselves able to carry 
 forward the work of Christ's Kingdom in Jamaica without 
 the necessity of seeking its pecuniary aid. As it was, the 
 chief hesitation to enter on this new stage in the mission 
 on the part of Mr. Phillippo and those who thought with 
 him arose from the difficulties they were then experiencing 
 in the payment of their chapel debts. 
 
 The warning given by Mr. Phillippo in the closing 
 paragraph of his letter has special reference to his fear 
 that efforts would be made in Jamaica itself to interfere 
 with the lawful independence of the churches. On more 
 than one occasion in former years he had expressed 
 anxiety on this point, arising from what he thought were 
 symptoms of " Presbyterianising " on the part of the 
 
204 Independence assumed by the Churches. [1842 
 
 Western Union and the Annual Association. Of the 
 Union he had long ceased to be a member ; but he con- 
 tinued his alliance with the more general body, the Annual 
 Association. Thus, in a letter to the Rev. John Dyer, 
 dated September, 1837, he says that he fully agrees with 
 the Committee " in their opinion as to the impolicy of 
 recognising the brethren here (in Jamaica) as an asso- 
 ciated body, and of corresponding with them in their 
 united capacity. You will remember that I have more 
 than once in my letters seriously deprecated such a re- 
 cognition, as likely to entail serious consequences both 
 to the Committee and to the independence of our respect- 
 ive churches." In the following passage from his diary, 
 under date of 1837, he more particularly refers to the 
 origin of the above remarks : — " Several attempts have 
 been made by some of the brethren to form an associa- 
 tion of ministers and churches, assimilated to a Presby- 
 terian synod, and thus to concentrate in a few of the 
 brethren the power of an executive body, destroying the 
 individuality of the churches and the independence of 
 their action, as also that of their pastors. I felt the im- 
 portance of standing out against this innovation for 
 several years, and succeeded to a considerable degree in 
 preventing its adoption and in neutralising its occasional 
 exercise." Mr. Phillippo's fears were not altogether 
 imaginary, and subsequent years have testified to the 
 wisdom and discretion he displayed in opposing the 
 existence of a power that would undoubtedly have shaken 
 the mission to its foundation. 
 
 The establishment of an institution for the training of 
 Jamaica Christian men for the ministry had for many 
 years been a favourite object with Mr. Phillippo. It has 
 already been referred to. But in 1837 he pressed the 
 matter on the Committee in an elaborate letter, in which 
 he fully entered on the various aspects of the question. 
 
1842] Independence assumed by the Churches. 205 
 
 On the employment of a native agency, he says : " I have 
 almost hitherto imagined that I have been in advance of 
 the Society in this particular. Hence I have at this time, 
 and have long had, the services of upwards of forty sub- 
 ordinate agents, each of whom has a class-house, or place 
 of worship, in which he conducts the regular worship of 
 God one or two evenings of the week. I refer to my 
 leaders and deacons, being naturally the most intelligent 
 and worthy members of my churches, who are in almost 
 every sense of the word as much native assistants, or local 
 preachers, as some of the converts in Hindustan. They 
 have not been ordained to the work of evangelists for 
 various reasons. Most of them are apprentices, and not 
 more than two or three of them can read intelligibly. 
 From their circumstances they are not eligible to the 
 office of pastors. I have, however, already applied to the 
 Committee for assistance in support of three or four 
 young men who may be employed to advantage, having 
 received a tolerably good education, and proved their 
 qualifications for the work by their disinterested labours 
 and addresses in our Sabbath-schools." 
 
 The abolition of the apprenticeship opened the way for 
 the education and employment of such young men as these, 
 and in 1840 the missionary brethren arranged that one of 
 the senior missionaries, the Rev. Joshua Tinson, should 
 commence the work. Six young men, who gave promise 
 of becoming useful preachers of the Gospel, were selected ; 
 but the sudden failure of Mr. Tinson's health brought the 
 effort to a premature close. Encouraged, however, by the 
 promise of aid from the Jubilee Fund of the parent 
 Society, the subject was not permitted to fall into abey- 
 ance, and, as the statement of Mr. Phillippo shows, the 
 institution was now determined upon. The premises at 
 Calabar, on the north side of the island, were purchased, 
 and the college buildings erected at the cost of the 
 
206 Independence assumed by the Churches. [1842 
 
 Society. It was opened on the 6th of October, 1843, under 
 the presidency of Mr. Tinson, who had returned in good 
 health from England, with eight students, to whom four 
 more were added before the close of the year. Here 
 Mr. Tinson continued to labour till his lamented death in 
 December, 1850. The formation of such a " school of the 
 prophets " had become essential, in order to supply pas- 
 tors to the numerous churches which had sprung up in all 
 parts of the island, and the more so since there was no 
 prospect that the Society would continue to send labourers 
 from England, either to open up new spheres of labour, 
 or to fill vacancies which death or other causes might 
 bring about. In the last years of the Society's grants for 
 the support of the mission, a considerable number of men, 
 both as schoolmasters and missionaries, had been sent 
 out.* But it seems now to have been understood on all 
 sides that, with the independence of the churches, they 
 must be left to their own resources to multiply pastors 
 and ministers of the Word. 
 
 It will be noticed in the above extract from Mr. 
 Phillippo's letter on native agency that reference is made 
 to the employment of a large number of uneducated and 
 untrained men as leaders to conduct Divine worship in the 
 numerous class-houses belonging to his congregations. 
 The leader-system was adopted throughout the island by the 
 Baptist missionaries, and sprang out of the necessities of 
 the time. Slavery had no compassion for the ignorant, 
 and rare indeed were the instances in which a slave-owner 
 attempted to instruct his slaves, either in the art of read- 
 ing or in the knowledge of salvation. Some organisation 
 was required, however rude or imperfect, to watch over 
 and control the multitudes who crowded to the churches 
 
 * In 1840 ten new missionaries were sent out in answer to the elo- 
 quent appeals of the Rev. W. Knibb, who visited England for the ' 
 purpose, at a cost of more than ^2,000. 
 
1 842 J Independence assumed by the Churches. 207 
 
 and filled the ranks of inquirers. The missionaries, from 
 necessity, fell back upon the more intelligent among their 
 slave members, and placed them over their fellow-slaves, 
 both because the overseers of estates regarded with ex- 
 treme jealousy the visits of strangers to the homes of the 
 slaves on their properties, and because no others could 
 be found. For some years, especially after the appren- 
 ticeship was abolished, representations were made by 
 various persons, for the most part inimical to the mission, 
 that the missionaries displayed great carelessness in the 
 selection and oversight of these agents, and that as a class 
 they were ignorant, superstitious, and often immoral men ; 
 that the tickets which were given to recognised inquirers 
 and church members were regarded as passports to 
 heaven ; and that the missionaries baptized great numbers 
 of unconverted men. It added to the authority, if not 
 to the gravity, of these charges that two or three of their 
 own brethren in some measure combined with ministers 
 of other bodies to affirm their truth. It was certainly not 
 requisite that the missionaries should assert that there was 
 no truth at all in the accusations. The known conditions 
 of their work rendered it impossible that there should not 
 be here and there individual adherents worthy of reproba- 
 tion. Yet there can be no doubt, on the other hand, that 
 the general implication that the entire system was fatally 
 and wilfully faulty was untrue, and a calumny on the noble, 
 generous, and disinterested efforts of multitudes of good 
 men, trained indeed in slavery, but whose earnest desire 
 it was to lead their fellow-bondsmen to Christ. They 
 exposed themselves to bitter suffering and persecution, and 
 even death itself. To this day there are living old men who 
 bear on their persons the marks of the deadly whip, or the 
 gunshot wound received in the service of Christ. By far 
 the greater part of them proved by their Christian lives 
 and happy deaths that they were Christians indeed. 
 
zo8 Independence assumed by the Churches. [1842 
 
 The brunt of this attack had to be borne chiefly by the 
 missionaries on the north side of the island. Hence the 
 selection of the Rev. W. Knibb to represent them in Eng- 
 land, and whose triumphant vindication now renders any 
 further explanation unnecessary.* Mr. Phillippo, however, 
 shared in the defence, and, though unable from his ill- 
 health to unite with Mr. Knibb in the public justification 
 of himself and brethren on the platform, yet with his pen, 
 in the various periodicals of the day, he bore his testimony 
 on behalf of truth and righteousness. It will be suffi- 
 cient to quote the deliberate judgment of the Committee, 
 after a very diligent examination into the whole subject, 
 given in their parting address to the churches : — " We 
 have been rejoiced on all occasions to find that these ac- 
 cusations cannot be substantiated. The unsolicited testi- 
 mony of men of unimpeachable judgment and impar- 
 tiality — we refer to the published works of Messrs. 
 Gurney, Sturge, and Candler ; the well-attested results of 
 your own church discipline, as apparent in the annual 
 return of the Association ; and the maxim of Divine 
 authority, that a tree is to be known by its fruits, have 
 concurred with our specific inquiries to satisfy us of the 
 general falsehood of the charges which have been brought 
 against you." 
 
 On his return from the Windward Islands Mr. Phillippo 
 had hoped for a long spell of earnest and continuous 
 work. But after a few Sabbaths of labour the former 
 symptoms of ill-health returned, and he felt himself con- 
 strained to accept the invitation of the Committee to 
 assist in the Jubilee services at Kettering, which he had 
 at first declined, and to seek in England a season of rest. 
 He could leave his charge with satisfaction in the hands 
 of the Rev. Thomas Dowson, who reached Jamaica in 
 
 * See " Memoir of Knibb," by Rev. J. H. Hinton, pp. 423-426. 
 
1842] Independence assumed by the Churches. 209 
 
 the early part of the year. The churches were flourishing. 
 In February he had baptized at Passage Fort, in the River 
 Cobre, near its mouth, " twenty-eight individuals who had 
 for some time previously given evidence of repentance 
 towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the 
 midst of hundreds who crowded the beach, and multitudes 
 in canoes, which formed a semi-circle around the place of 
 baptism." His schools generally were prosperous, and a 
 most interesting and successful examination of the metro- 
 politan schools had been held in the presence of the 
 Hon. T. J. Bernard. In April he opened the new 
 chapel at Sligoville, and in the following month the new 
 township called Clarksonville was ready for settlement. A 
 brief extract or two from a letter forwarded to him by the 
 deacons of his church well expresses the feelings with 
 which they viewed his departure : — " We earnestly hope 
 that the blessing and peace of God may attend you, your 
 dear wife, and all who go along with you, and we would 
 entreat you never to lose sight of your promise, or suffer 
 any other thought to take root in your mind, than that of 
 coming back to labour among the people that you have for 
 so many years been the instrument of turning from nature's 
 darkness to the saving knowledge of our Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ, and some of whom are the subjects of sor- 
 row at parting with you, and exhibit the utmost concern 
 for your safety by their earnest supplications to Almighty 
 God. They cherish the hope that you will soon have re- 
 covered your wonted strength and ability, and that not 
 many months shall have passed before they have the 
 privilege of seeing you again in the flesh." 
 
 Mr. Phillippo, with his wife and his younger son, Edwin, 
 sailed on the 12th of June in the Rawlins, and, after a 
 long and, on the whole, pleasant passage, arrived in 
 London on the 9th of July. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 RESIDENCE IN ENGLAND— 1842 to 1843. 
 
 Mr. Phillippo had scarcely arrived in London than very- 
 numerous applications were pressed upon him to give his 
 services at missionary and anti-slavery meetings. He 
 had hoped to take part in the jubilee meeting of the 
 Society at Kettering in the autumn of the year, as well as to 
 communicate to public assemblies his rich stores of infor- 
 mation on all matters relative to Jamaica and the results 
 of emancipation. In this he was painfully disappointed. 
 During the eighteen months of his sojourn in England, 
 the occasions were rare in which he was able to appear 
 in public, and though he enjoyed in private intercourse 
 frequent opportunities of meeting leading ministers and 
 philanthropists, and of conferring with them on many 
 points of interest and doubt, he felt deeply the seclusion 
 to which he was consigned. The doctors whose advice he 
 sought — and among them were some of the most eminent 
 men of the day — one and all prescribed rest and entire 
 abstinence from public speaking. The organs of speech 
 had been so sorely tried in the overwhelming duties of 
 his work in Jamaica that his future usefulness was im- 
 perilled should he fail to obtain relief. In a letter from 
 Norwich to his life-long friend, the Rev. J. P. Mursell, he 
 thus describes the condition of his health : — " My throat 
 is in so relaxed and inflamed a state that I am here with 
 my brother, undergoing a course of treatment for it 
 which binds me to his surgery, and positively forbids the 
 
1 842 J Residence in England. 211 
 
 slightest degree of exposure or excitement. Every 
 physician, moreover, whom I have consulted expresses it 
 as his full conviction that, unless the treatment I am now 
 under is continued without interruption for some months, 
 and unbroken silence is observed, the probability is that 
 my public duties will be or are at an end. This would be 
 a very painful consequence, and one, I am sure, neither you 
 nor my Leicester friends would wish me to hazard on any 
 consideration. From the same cause I cannot go to 
 Ireland with you, which you will believe me when I say it is 
 to me a source of real and painful regret. A good cause, 
 plenty to say, physical vigour and health at disposal, but 
 the lips sealed ! No one can tell the sacrifice it is to me. 
 But I must not murmur ! " From Norwich he went to 
 Hastings, where he spent most of the autumn and 
 winter, though to little purpose, and it was not till 
 towards the close of 184.3 tnat ne was pronounced equal 
 to a moderate amount of public employment. 
 
 He found some consolation in the warm welcome he 
 received from his many friends ; among whom none 
 exhibited more watchful care and constant attentions 
 than Joseph Fletcher, Esq. To this gentleman he had 
 been, moreover, greatly indebted for numerous liberal gifts 
 towards the support of his schools. Their friendship was 
 now confirmed and deepened yet more, and bore generous 
 fruit. Mr. Fletcher's was the strong arm that nobly 
 sustained Mr. Phillippo during those coming years of 
 trouble and distress, the shadows of which even now at 
 times seemed to throw their gloom over his mind in his 
 retirement. The following brief but characteristic note 
 preserved by Mr. Phillippo will sufficiently indicate the 
 warm interest in his welfare displayed by this staunch 
 friend : — 
 
 "Shooter's Hill, August 29th, 1842.— My dear Sir, — 
 The dispensation is trying, and you need all that faith and 
 
 p 2 
 
212 Residence in England. [1842 
 
 patience which are promised to the believer, and are 
 sufficient to perfect his strength by a communication from 
 the Almighty, who does not anything in vain. You must 
 strictly be obedient, and waive present gratification for the 
 hope of future enjoyment. Act the Christian philosopher, 
 armed by a power the Grecians never knew. If ' enter not 
 into temptation ' had been rightly understood, you would 
 not have been seen in the large party at J. J. Gurney's. 
 The chaplet of flowers, ornamental to the victim, was to it 
 no compensation for the sacrifice ; and where you will 
 meet one who will understand that friend Phillippo must 
 not talk, you will find a thousand who will prefer hearing 
 our friend to his safety and future usefulness. Say notthat 
 I am censorious. The truth I write (being a libel upon man, 
 which sages say means woman also) is a truth neverthe- 
 less. I trust that much good will come out of your 
 affliction, and that you will be rendered the means of 
 opening the eyes of the public to the delusion under which 
 they so long have suffered. May you be preserved and 
 directed ; all you do being under a holy influence, and 
 being caused to bear upon the best interests of men. We 
 all return to Mrs. Phillippo and to you our kindest 
 remembrance, and shall be happy when you renew your 
 visit under circumstances of less privation and more 
 enjoyment." 
 
 The " censorious " remark of Mr. Fletcher met with a 
 very complete justification at the Annual Meeting in April, 
 1843. Mr. Phillippo was introduced to the assembly by 
 the Rev. Dr. Brock as an old missionary lying under a 
 strict injunction not to attempt to speak. But the injunc- 
 tion availed nothing; he was compelled by the warm 
 expressions of sympathy called forth, and by the urgency 
 of some brethren sitting near him, to rise and address a 
 few words to the assembly. He said that he " should have 
 been glad to advert to the extraordinary change which had 
 
1843] Residence in England. 213 
 
 been effected in the entire aspect of society in Jamaica 
 since the commencement of missionary operations, to have 
 adduced facts and anecdotes illustrative of the purity of the 
 churches, and to have urged these successes as a stimulus 
 to more persevering and vigorous effort for the extension 
 of the Gospel throughout all the West India Islands, 
 South America, and Africa." But he -was bound to abide 
 by the decision of his physician, and listen to the urgent 
 objections of friends around him. Happily, the fruits of 
 his experience were not lost to the Christian Church. The 
 chief employment of Mr. Phillippo in his enforced leisure 
 was the preparation of the work which he published in 
 the autumn of 1843, under the title of " Jamaica : its Past 
 and Present State."* The work was entered upon after 
 much consultation with friends, and in a spirit of devout 
 dependence on Divine aid. In the following lines he 
 expresses the feelings with which he undertook the task : — 
 
 " If Thine, Great Spirit ! is the cause I plead, 
 
 Then deign my erring mind and pen to guide : 
 
 For well I know the wisdom which I need 
 Can only be by Thine own hand supplied ; 
 Without Thee, I am lost in thought's wild tide. 
 
 Oh ! let no love of self my work impair ; 
 I would be well content Thy voice to be : 
 
 Make me like pearly dew, or morning air : 
 From love of power, and vain ambition free : 
 Unseen and lost, except when serving Thee." 
 
 The book was well received, and had a large and 
 remunerative circulation, three editions being rapidly 
 exhausted. The earlier portion of the volume is devoted 
 to a sketch of the geography and history of the island, 
 its physical aspects, vegetable and mineral productions. 
 
 * The full title is " Jamaica : its Past and Present State. By James 
 M. Phillippo, of Spanish Town, Jamaica ; Twenty Years a Baptist 
 Missionary in that Island. London : John Snow. 1843." 
 
214. Residence in England. ['843 
 
 Mr. Phillippo next describes the population, the govern- 
 ment, and the divisions necessary for purposes of 
 administration. After a brief account of the white and 
 free coloured portions of the population, he gives an 
 animated picture of the condition of the slaves, which 
 naturally introduces an account of the slave trade, the 
 establishment of the apprenticeship system, and the final 
 overthrow of slavery by the great Act of Emancipation on 
 the 1st of August, 1838. Interesting disquisitions follow 
 on the intellectual character and social condition of the 
 Negroes under slavery, with a description of its dreadful 
 effects on the moral life of society. Several chapters are 
 then devoted to the state of religion in the island, its 
 spread through the labours of missionaries of various 
 Christian denominations, and its blessed results on the 
 life and conduct of the people. The work closes with an 
 appeal to the sympathies and benevolence of the Christian 
 world to complete and perfect the work so well begun. 
 
 The volume is an excellent specimen of Mr. Phillippo's 
 powers as an author. His taste for scenery, and his 
 delight in the study of natural history, are apparent through- 
 out. It is never tedious. It is enlivened in parts by 
 quaint and sometimes pathetic anecdotes illustrative of 
 the Negro character. Their proverbs, their superstitions, 
 their African usages, find a place in his picture. Their 
 conduct under both slavery and freedom is brought 
 distinctly before the reader ; and there is given the 
 fullest information as to the causes and results of emanci- 
 pation. The style is here and there ornate, with an 
 occasional poetical phrase, somewhat diffuse, but in the 
 main simple and direct, while every touch and sketch 
 bears the marks of the writer's truthfulness and integrity. 
 Highly as his work was commended in the various publi- 
 cations of the day, perhaps not one testimony to its 
 interest and value pleased its author more than that con- 
 
1 843] Residence in England. 2 1 5 
 
 tained in a brief note from the venerable Clarkson, who 
 said : " I have read the book with no ordinary pleasure. 
 To the Abolitionist it will afford a great treat, because he 
 will see in the conduct of the emancipated slaves all that 
 is praiseworthy beyond all his former ardent expectations ; 
 and to the Christian it will afford a rich feast of joy 
 whenever he thinks on the subject." 
 
 The work was published at an opportune moment. The 
 first steps of freedom had been safely taken. The people, 
 the planters, and the churches were yet untried by the 
 painful and unforeseen events which tested to the utter- 
 most the faith and hope of the friends of the Negro, and 
 gave to the enemies of free labour apparent grounds for 
 denying its value and success. For, however advanta- 
 geous may have been up to this time the results of free- 
 dom to the slave, the years 1842 and 1843 witnessed 
 another of the ever- recurring periods of depression in the 
 sugar industry of the island. At the request of Mr. 
 Clarkson, Mr. Phillippo wrote a paper on the subject. It 
 is too long to be given here ; but, in the judgment of Mr. 
 Phillippo, the difficulties of estate owners were to be 
 traced to the vicious system of management which, pre- 
 valent under slavery, was still adhered to ; to the absentee- 
 ism of proprietors ; to the want of capital, and the high 
 rate of interest for loans ; to the dishonesty of agents ; to 
 effete methods in use in the cultivation and manufacture 
 of the sugar ; to the mortgaged condition of the produce ; 
 and, in frequent cases, to the unsettled relations between 
 the labourer and his employer. 
 
 The tedium of Mr. Phillippo's retirement was further 
 relieved by the favourable news he received of the progress 
 of his stations. Letters from some of the teachers gave 
 him the liveliest joy ; while their assurances of sympathy 
 and desire for his return filled him with gratitude. But 
 he was more especially pleased by the setting apart of 
 
2i6 Residence in England. ['^43 
 
 Mr. Alexander Fuller for mission work in Africa, though, 
 to his deep regret, his medical advisers refused him per- 
 mission to be present at the solemn service. This 
 coloured man was a member of his church in Spanish 
 Town, and came with him to England. For some months 
 Mr. Fuller was placed under the instruction of the Rev. 
 Wm. Salter, of Amersham, who bore high testimony 
 to his Christian character. His course in Africa was 
 short, but his speedy removal has been more than supplied 
 by the vigorous and successful career of his son, Mr. 
 Joseph Fuller, who as a lad went out to his father in 
 the Chilmark with the native band of helpers that Jamaica 
 gave to the work of Christ in their fatherland. 
 
 But the father's heart was more deeply touched when his 
 beloved daughter, Hannah, whose piety had long been 
 manifest, " put on Christ" by a public profession of His 
 name in baptism, which was administered by the Rev. 
 John Aldis, of Maze Pond. She united in fellowship, 
 however, with the church at Brixton Hill. 
 
 The relief afforded to the funds of the Society by the 
 cessation of drafts from Jamaica, and the noble and 
 generous response made by the denomination to the 
 appeal for contributions that should be worthily com- 
 memorative of the fiftieth year of the Society's labours, 
 enabled the Committee to hasten its measures for the 
 achievement of the plans contemplated in raising the 
 Jubilee Fund. These embraced not only the relief of the 
 Society from its indebtedness, and the erection of a 
 Mission House in London that should become the centre 
 of denominational activity, but also the establishment of 
 the proposed mission on the West Coast of Africa and 
 the extension of the mission to other islands of the West 
 Indies. The Rev. John Clarke and Dr. Prince, both of 
 the Jamaica Mission, had pioneered the way in Africa. 
 The Committee now turned to Mr. Phillippo to assist 
 
1 843 J Residence in England. 217 
 
 them in their plans for the West Indies. He was invited 
 to spend some months among the Windward Islands, to 
 report fully their condition, and to inquire as to the 
 prospects they held out for evangelistic effort. An 
 incidental advantage would be a further period of relaxa- 
 tion, during which Mr. Phillippo's health might become 
 thoroughly restored. 
 
 Furnished with the requisite instructions, Mr. Phillippo 
 set sail for the West Indies in the mail packet on the 
 2nd of December, taking with him Mrs. Phillippo, his 
 little girl, and his youngest son. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 DEPUTATION TO THE WEST INDIA ISLANDS— 1844. 
 
 Mr. Phillippo found among his fellow-passengers on 
 board the Trent the Venerable Archdeacon Trew and 
 Mrs. Trew, on their way to the Bahamas, and the Rev. R. 
 Young, a Wesleyan minister, and deputation to Jamaica. 
 Calling at Madeira, he had an interview with Dr. Kalley, 
 then incarcerated in a filthy prison for speaking on reli- 
 gious subjects and distributing Testaments and tracts 
 among the Portuguese, who desired to hear and know the 
 truth from the pure fount of the Word of God. 
 
 At Grenada, he parted from his wife and daughter, who 
 went forward to Jamaica, and proceeded, on the 27th of 
 December, to Trinidad, which was reached on the evening 
 of the same day. From this point the letters and reports 
 of Mr. Phillippo contain very copious accounts of his 
 inquiries. His reports to the Society have already been 
 printed in full, and may be found in the Annual Reports for 
 the years 1844 and 1845. It is therefore unnecessary to re- 
 produce them here. They were exhaustive and satis- 
 factory, and guided the action of the Committee with 
 respect to the missions that were afterwards established 
 in Trinidad, the Bahamas, and Haiti. It will, however, be 
 interesting to extract a few personal notices from the 
 copious materials at hand. 
 
 Of the visit to Dr. Kalley's prison he writes, De- 
 cember 23rd : — " I went in company with Dr. Trew and 
 Mr. Young. Dr. Kalley was cheerful, but was looking 
 with great anxiety for his acquittal and release. Through 
 
i?4+J Deputation to the West India Islands. 219 
 
 the kindness of an influential friend or two in the island 
 he has been removed from the loathsome cell to which he 
 was condemned, and was occupying two or three com- 
 modious rooms above the prison. He, however, con- 
 tinues to distribute tracts ; and visitors of all classes, 
 which will appear surprising, are allowed access to him in 
 twos and threes at a time. The sympathy of the people 
 with him in his persecution is astonishing, and justifies 
 the hope that a light is kindled here which the world, the 
 Pope, and the devil will not be able to extinguish. Dr. 
 Kalley has now been imprisoned for several months for 
 his noble testimony to the truth, and, without the exertions 
 and prayers of the Christian Church on his behalf, he may 
 there remain as many years." 
 
 The approach to Trinidad he thus describes : — " The 
 high mountains of Cumana on the South American con- 
 tinent on the one side, and the magnificent Gulf of Paria 
 like a polished mirror, at the extremity of which stands 
 Port of Spain, the capital, were before us. We anchored 
 at some distance from the town, from the shallowness of 
 the water occasioned by the vast quantities of mud 
 brought into the gulf by the waters of the Orinoco. Mr. 
 Cowen met me at his gate, and both himself and wife 
 received me kindly, and insisted on my remaining with 
 them during my stay. I have attended his little place of 
 worship two or three times, and have addressed the people, 
 about fifty in number, more than once without injury to 
 my throat." 
 
 " On New Year's Day I witnessed the gew-gaw exhibi- 
 tions at the papal cathedral, when my spirit was really 
 stirred within me. I have walked a good deal about the 
 town, and, excepting the awful ignorance and superstition 
 of the people, am pleased with it, nor do I doubt the suc- 
 cess of Protestant missions in the island. 
 
 " On Monday afternoon I went in company with Mr. 
 
220 Deputation to the West India Islands. \ 1844. 
 
 Cowen to a place called Tacarigua, where is a settlement 
 of disbanded soldiers of the 1st West India Regiment. 
 I slept in a hammock for the first time in my life, and 
 returned last evening after a fatiguing ride of thirty miles 
 on horseback.'' 
 
 " If you look at the map of Trinidad you will see a 
 place marked on it, 'Mission — Savanna -la- Grande.' 
 Here I have been several days among the native Indians 
 and American settlements of disbanded soldiers. While 
 in the neighbourhood I visited the mud volcano, and have 
 taken a rough sketch of the place, which I shall want my 
 dear Hannah to fill up and complete for me under my 
 direction." 
 
 A lively description of this natural curiosity is con 
 tained in a letter to his two boys : — " The people call the 
 mud volcano — for what reason I could not ascertain — 
 ' The Devil's Woodyard.' It lay in the midst of an im 
 mense forest of palm and other trees, which was so dark, 
 and at the same time so dangerous from the badness of the 
 roads and the immense creepers, which like ropes of all 
 dimensions threw themselves from tree to tree across the 
 path, that I began almost to despair of reaching the place. 
 I came suddenly upon it. The top of the crater formed 
 a circle of about a hundred yards in diameter. The sur- 
 face was flat, with a number of mounds scattered over it 
 from two to four feet in height, much like a cone flattened 
 at the top. About every ten minutes one or two of them 
 threw up a quantity of soft mud of a sulphurous smell. 
 Within the crater scarcely any shrub was known to grow, 
 but outside its limits magnificent trees and stately palms 
 formed a most splendid amphitheatre. I left the neigh- 
 bourhood with regret, because the people seemed anxious 
 to hear the Gospel." 
 
 In another letter he continues the journal of his visit: — 
 
 "The minister of the Scotch church here [Port of 
 
1844J Deputation to the West India Islands. 
 
 Spain] is exceedingly friendly, and is anxious for a whole 
 batch of Baptists to come from Jamaica. I have spoken 
 occasionally at the different meetings I have attended, and 
 last Sabbath evening I preached for the Presbyterian 
 minister, at his earnest request. I am not the worse for 
 it by any means, but I will still be careful. Many very 
 respectable people were present, anxious to hear the 
 Baptist Bishop, as I am called. I have been strongly 
 urged to deliver a lecture or two on Jamaica, or to speak 
 at a public meeting, but I have steadily declined. I have 
 been collecting some seeds of different plants, which I 
 hope to forward to you before I see you." 
 
 From Trinidad Mr. Phillippo proceeded to St. Vincent, 
 " where," he says, " I met with a considerable number of 
 black American Baptists, or rather from New Providence, 
 in the Bahamas. They said they had been praying for 
 years for a Baptist missionary to be sent among them. 
 They were brought here by a Colonel Brown. There 
 were originally about three hundred of them, but are 
 now reduced to one hundred and twenty. They are still 
 residing on their old master's estate. I held a very inter- 
 esting service among them, and promised to intercede for 
 them with the Committee. I had also repeated interviews 
 with some Caribs descended from the original inhabitants 
 of the island. I also visited the volcano, and stayed for 
 this purpose two or three days under the hospitable roof 
 of the Rev. Mr. Moister, Wesleyan minister. I had a 
 very pleasant tour of the island, and it was also successful 
 as far as my object was concerned. I was very much 
 pleased with St. Vincent. It is more beautiful (not 
 magnificent) than any of the islands I have previously 
 seen. I shall write to urge the Committee to send out 
 one or two missionaries without delay." 
 
 The next visit was paid to St. Lucia. "I embarked for 
 St. Lucia on the afternoon of the 5 th of February, in a 
 
222 Deputation to the West India Islands. [1844 
 
 small sloop passing along the eastern side of St. Vincent, 
 and the still more enchanting scenery presented by the 
 western shore of the former island. The lofty mountains 
 of St. Lucia, covered with majestic forests, their spiral 
 tops appearing above the stratum of clouds that rolled 
 their dense masses along their precipitous sides ; its gentle 
 undulations and spacious valleys clothed with the vivid 
 green of the sugar-cane, contrasting beautifully with the 
 dark purple of the surrounding heights ; and its steep and 
 hoary cliffs, ascending abruptly from the sea, presented a 
 picture which, indisposed as I was, could not fail to attract 
 my attention and fascinate my eye. I landed about nine 
 o'clock in the evening at a small town called Sauffrere, 
 passing between the celebrated Pilons, the magnificent 
 spiral mountains which rise like pyramids out of the sea 
 at the entrance of the bay, and which, but a few hours 
 before, were spanned to the very bosom of the dark blue 
 waters with a rainbow of the most perfect form, and of 
 the most splendid colours, I had ever seen. Next day I 
 proceeded in a passage boat to Castries, the capital, about 
 twenty miles distant, situated on the western side of the 
 island. 
 
 " Here I was most kindly entertained for several days 
 by the Hon. W. Muter, one of my fellow-passengers on 
 board the Trent, during which I called on the Governor, 
 a pious, excellent man, whose wife had been the widow of 
 a Congregational missionary in India. On breakfasting 
 with them one or two mornings, in company with the 
 rector, the only Episcopal or other Protestant minister in 
 the island, I was requested to conduct family worship. 
 Government House is beautifully situated on a hill called 
 the Morne, from which not only the town of Castries, but 
 also Martinique and another island or two, are distinctly 
 visible, presenting a scene to which no description can 
 do justice. Mr. Muter took me to see two or three of his . 
 
1 844 J Deputation to the West India Islands. 223 
 
 estates, and also to different parts of the island. He 
 lamented that, with one or two recent exceptions, no 
 attempt had been made to establish even a school in the 
 colony. Mr. Muter had imported several mechanics 
 from Scotland, and settled them on his properties in 
 comfort ; and had several young men, also from Europe, 
 in his mercantile establishments. The result of my 
 inquiries was this : There could hardly be found an island 
 in these seas in greater spiritual need, or one in which 
 there was a greater prospect of success. I gave in my 
 report to Fen Court accordingly." 
 
 He left St. Lucia by the mail steamer, and reached 
 Dominica on the nth of February. Here he stayed eight 
 days. He found a home in the hospitable residence of 
 Mr. Gordon, the superintendent of the schools sustained 
 by the Mico Charity. "There is," he says, " a good 
 opening in this island for a missionary or two ; but they 
 would have very hard work, with little encouragement, for 
 several years, all the people being Roman Catholics and 
 speaking the French language." 
 
 Among other curious places, he visited the " Sauffrure," 
 or Sulphur Hill. " I walked over a mountain of burning 
 sulphur, which is supposed to be perfectly hollow beneath. 
 Water was bubbling up in various spots, and flowing in 
 streams hot enough to boil in a few minutes almost any 
 article of food. Sometimes we were completely enveloped 
 in clouds of vapour that proceeded from the boiling 
 fountains. In the town, the fumes of sulphur are some- 
 times so strong as to render the place almost uninhabitable. 
 This excites considerable alarm, as it is caused by the 
 extension of the boiling streams of a souffrure to the 
 westward arising from subterranean action. Almost 
 everything is turned black in the houses, and it is scarcely 
 possible to keep anything clean. On this account, the 
 inhabitants of the different islands are very much afraid of 
 
224 Deputation to the West India Islands. [1844 
 
 an explosion, but the Dominicans are perfectly uncon- 
 cerned respecting it." In a letter home he reports : — 
 
 " I am, blessed be God, quite well in health, but very, very 
 anxious to be with my dear wife and family. When once 
 I find myself on the way from Grenada to Haiti, I shall 
 be half at home. Be sure you take care of yourself. I 
 can scarcely trust myself to think of the happiness I shall 
 enjoy on finding myself once more in possession of my 
 happy home, and in the presence of her who makes it so. 
 My voice is very much improved, for I am very careful. 
 I have but little time for writing, so that you must beg 
 my brethren, Dowson and Lynch, as well as my dear 
 people, to excuse my apparent neglect of them. Soon I 
 hope to see them, and then I will try and make amends for 
 all neglect. Cease not to pray for my health and success 
 and safe return, and beg an interest in the supplications of 
 all my friends for the same end." 
 
 Mr. Phillippo reached Jacmel, in the Island of Haiti, on 
 the 15th of March, but, on landing, he found the inhabit- 
 ants in a state of great excitement from an apprehension of 
 war between the French and Spanish portions of the 
 island. A strong detachment of militia had just left for 
 Port au Prince, and upwards of five hundred refugees had 
 come into Jacmel from the disturbed districts. The in- 
 surrection was reported as everywhere prevalent. Acting 
 under the advice of the authorities, he thought it best to 
 postpone his investigations to a later period, and accord- 
 ingly returned on board the steamer to proceed to Jamaica, 
 where he landed on the 20th. 
 
 Writing to Dr. Angus on the 1st of April he says, in 
 closing the account of his deputation : " I arrived here a 
 few days ago amidst the almost overwhelming gratulations 
 of my beloved people, and had the happiness to find my 
 dear wife and family well in health. Nor was I less de- 
 lighted, nor, I trust, less thankful to God, for the state 
 
1844] Deputation to the West India Islands. 225 
 
 and circumstances in which I found my church and dif- 
 ferent congregations throughout the district. My highly 
 esteemed brethren, Dowson and Lynch, to whose over- 
 sight my stations were committed, have done their utmost 
 to promote their interests, and, although I am aware it is 
 God's blessing alone that renders human instrumentality 
 successful, yet I feel that I should be chargeable with a 
 want of affection for my flock and of proper concern for 
 the Divine glory were I not to express to you the deep 
 obligations of gratitude under which I feel myself laid to 
 them." 
 
 Thus, after an absence of nearly two years, with health 
 very much improved, having fulfilled with great ability 
 and success the commission entrusted to him by the 
 Society, and restored to the home in which his affections 
 enjoyed unalloyed happiness, Mr. Phillippo resumed his 
 labours as a missionary, only too soon to enter on a 
 period, prolonged through seven years, of constant anxiety 
 and distress. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 THE LAW SUIT— 1844 to 1851. 
 
 The amicable arrangements made by Mr. Phillippo with 
 his two assistants were soon interrupted by the departure 
 of Mr. Dowson for England on a matter of private 
 interest; and not till his return, six months after, in 
 the month of November, did Mr. Phillippo become 
 aware of a change in the feelings of that gentleman 
 towards him. Till now, the most entire confidence 
 had subsisted between them. During Mr. Phillippo's 
 stay in England, he had received from Mr. Dowson and 
 from the churches many letters " of kindness and affec- 
 tionate gratitude, such as perhaps few ministers could 
 produce, and which were most creditable to himself 
 and them."* On Mr. Phillippo's arrival in Jamaica, he 
 was welcomed with every show of cordiality, and the 
 resumption of his work as pastor was in every way 
 facilitated by Mr. Dowson. No change was thought 
 of, or spoken about as desirable, in the relative positions 
 they had hitherto occupied. Mr. Dowson had scarcely 
 settled down on his return before he put forth the claim 
 of being the pastor of the church in Spanish Town. 
 Efforts were made to alienate the affections of the 
 people from Mr. Phillippo, and Mr. Dowson unhappily 
 succeeded in gathering round him a band of sympathisers 
 
 * These words are those of the Vice-Chancellor's judgment. 
 
1845] The Law Suit. 227 
 
 who demanded possession of the chapel. To give colour 
 to these proceedings, a meeting of the seceders, increased 
 in number by the most unjustifiable extension of the rights 
 of membership to others, was held in a booth that had 
 been hastily constructed, at which Mr. Phillippo was 
 deposed from the pastorate, and Mr. Dowson was elected 
 in his room. One of the two trustees remaining in the 
 island, without reference to his co-trustees in England, 
 next created a new trust-deed, on the faith of which 
 turbulent, and even violent, attempts were repeatedly 
 made to obtain possession of the mission premises by 
 excited mobs. Legal proceedings were therefore neces- 
 sarily resorted to by Mr. Phillippo for the protection of 
 the property, and the securing of the position he had 
 for more than twenty years sustained. 
 
 It is unnecessary, as it is also undesirable, to enter into 
 the details of the protracted litigation which ensued. 
 In the course of the conflict, Mr. Phillippo's character 
 was unsparingly assailed by portions of the press, as well 
 as by his adversaries, in order to induce him to quit the 
 island in disgust. His advocacy of the cause of the slave 
 and his exertions to obtain emancipation were now re- 
 membered against him, and the occasion seized to his 
 injury by those whose hostility his benevolent action 
 had aroused. But the warm and cordial support of his 
 brethren was not wanting to him ; with two or three 
 exceptions, they and their congregations came to his 
 aid. But especially did he find the most generous 
 sympathy in the unfailing regard of his friend Joseph 
 Fletcher, Esq., and in the aid rendered by an English 
 Committee, of which Mr. Fletcher was treasurer. The 
 suit brought into view most of the leading ecclesiastical 
 principles of Baptist churches, and had the effect of 
 placing on a foundation of colonial practice and law 
 the legal rights of Baptist congregations. It made 
 
 Q z 
 
228 The Law Suit. [1850 
 
 clear the meaning and extent of the independence 
 assumed by the churches and their pastors, for it was 
 held, as expressed in a letter from the Rev. J. Angus, 
 the Secretary, addressed to Mr. Phillippo on the 4th of 
 June, 1845, that, "the Committee having given up 
 mission work in Jamaica, there is no propriety in their 
 interfering at all in points in dispute between churches 
 and ministers." An unfortunate intermediate judgment 
 of the Vice-Chancellor, at an early stage of the suit, 
 greatly contributed to delay its decision for nearly six 
 years, but the courage and persistence of Mr. Phillippo 
 in the maintenance of his just rights were at length 
 rewarded by complete success. The cost was great. 
 His pecuniary resources were crippled by the secession 
 of so many members of his congregation, as well as 
 by the general depression which had set in in the 
 agricultural and commercial condition of the island. 
 The heavy expenses of the suit, though largely met by 
 generous friends in England, pressed most heavily on 
 his congregation, and entailed personal distresses and 
 sacrifices scarcely to be borne ; still the weary months 
 and years, incessantly occupied with research, with the 
 collection of evidence, with the copying of innumerable 
 documents, and with consultations with his legal advisers, 
 came to a close. 
 
 On the 4th of November, 1850, the suit reached its 
 end, when the judgment was given in the High Court of 
 Chancery of the island by the Vice-Chancellor. "To 
 describe the feelings," says Mr. Phillippo, " excited 
 thereby in my own mind, and in the minds of others most 
 interested in the successful result, would be impossible. 
 It was the Lord's doing. No wisdom or power but His 
 could have prevailed against the wicked and powerful 
 conspiracy that was formed against the cause of truth 
 and righteousness. The congratulations of friends were 
 
1851] The Law Suit. 
 
 229 
 
 warm and flattering to a degree that could not fail to 
 excite the sincerest expressions of esteem and gratitude, 
 such that I doubt not I shall carry with me to my grave. 
 Friends ' in need ! Among those in this country who 
 encouraged and applauded my resolution, though un- 
 ostentatiously, to abide the issue were persons of 
 property and influence, as well as nine-tenths of the 
 class to whom the anarchists belonged." But although 
 sustained by the sympathies and generous aid of many 
 friends, both in Jamaica and England, Mr. Phillippo felt 
 most acutely the defection of a few brethren from his side, 
 some of whom appear to have thought all law-suits ille- 
 gitimate in a Christian missionary. It was therefore a 
 source of intense gratification to him to receive the 
 unanimous congratulations of the Committee of the Mis- 
 sionary Society, and their recommendation to the friends 
 of the Society to assist him in the disbursement of 
 the costs. In publishing this resolution, the circular, 
 signed by the Rev. J. Aldis, says : " It is matter of devout 
 thanksgiving that the oldest missionary in Jamaica has 
 thus been sustained in his important position, and that 
 property which cost £1 0,000 has been rescued from law- 
 less misappropriation. It is yet more important that 
 this esteemed servant of God has been enabled to pass 
 through a severe trial with honour to himself and the 
 missionary cause, while the interests of the Jamaica 
 churches have been greatly promoted."* 
 
 The decision of the Vice-Chancellor was not, however, 
 immediately followed by security. Two more riotous 
 attempts were made by the defeated party to obtain 
 possession of the mission property, the last of which 
 
 * The funds collected by this Committee were chiefly expended on 
 the repairs of the mission premises. The costs of the suit were almost 
 whoDy bome by Mr. Fletcher. 
 
230 The Law Suit. [185 1 
 
 for some hours threatened the lives of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Phillippo and their daughter, with those of the missionary 
 brethren Teall and Hewett, who happened to be staying 
 with them. Much damage was done, both to the chapel 
 and the mission-house, but the administrators of the law 
 at length secured a peaceable termination to the strife. 
 Mr. Phillippo and his people, by the close of the year 
 1 85 1, were able to worship in peace, and to resume those 
 ministries of grace and truth which these lamentable events 
 had so long interrupted. 
 
 There can be no doubt that the painful incidents of 
 this conflict greatly affected Mr. Phillippo's judgment 
 of the Negro character. The bright side had ever pre- 
 sented itself to him in the early years of his missionary 
 life. He had hitherto known the people as remarkably 
 accessible to kindness, and to the influence of those who 
 had sought their freedom and the advancement of their 
 highest interests. He had seen them as peculiarly im- 
 pressionable to Divine teaching, docile to those in 
 authority, and grateful for sympathy under their op- 
 pressions. But now he had to learn that slavery could 
 not be abolished without leaving behind a legacy of 
 evil, and that its mischievous effects were not to be at 
 once removed by the righteous act of emancipation. He 
 had with grief to discover that even liberty could not 
 by a breath of sweetness melt away the uncorrected 
 tendencies of barbarism and savage life, or remove 
 habits peculiar to the " vile institution " of slavery. The 
 saying of the old Greek poet seemed on the eve of 
 verification in the face of Christian hope itself. " Half 
 our virtue," says Homer, "is torn away when a man 
 becomes a slave, and the other half goes when he becomes 
 a slave let loose." To use Mr. Phillippo's own words, 
 he was compelled to recognise with the bitterness of 
 disappointed feeling " a state of society for which he 
 
1851] The Law Suit. 231 
 
 was not prepared. The people," he continues, " have 
 not spirit to struggle against poverty ; too many give 
 themselves up to abject melancholy. They are subject to 
 extremes of joy and sorrow, as well as to love or hatred ; 
 of strong, ardent, and impetuous feelings and passions, 
 they can do little except under excitement. Ardent for 
 a time in what they undertake from benevolent motives, 
 they as quickly cool. It is hard work to keep them to 
 duty even when voluntarily undertaken." He speaks of 
 the change in some as " awful ; " the worst passions of 
 half-civilised men were let loose, and the town itself for 
 a time was given over to anarchy and sin. The change 
 in the condition of the people appeared to be for the 
 worse, and not for the better. The want of employment, 
 the absence of all provision for helpless poverty, the dense 
 ignorance which the Legislature made no real effort to 
 remove, the cruel banishment of the peasantry by many 
 of the estate owners and managers from the little holdings 
 and cottages in which they had been born and bred, 
 provided an abundant field for the operations of evil- 
 minded men. 
 
 The ten years from 1842 to 1851 was a period of in- 
 tense anxiety, suffering, and trial to every interest in the 
 island. The wonder is that, with a hostile Legislature, a 
 feeble Executive, and every class of the community de- 
 pressed by the decay of cultivation and decimated by the 
 fatal pestilence which swept through the island in 1850, 
 emancipation did not become a disastrous failure. To one 
 who had laboured as Mr. Phillippo had done, the dis- 
 appointment of so many bright hopes was great. If the 
 people were free, it was also evident that long years of 
 patient labour were yet needed to bring to maturity the 
 seeds of truth and righteousness, purity and order, which 
 it had been his aim and that of many other benevolent 
 men to sow. 
 
232 The Law Suit. [1846 
 
 This biography would not be a faithful picture of Mr. 
 Phillippo's life were it to pass over the severe spiritual 
 struggles to which these events gave rise. Although of a 
 happy and sanguine disposition, there were moments when 
 his faith and hope in God were well-nigh gone. It may 
 not be that the veil should be entirely drawn aside from 
 those scenes of dark trial and conflict through which he 
 was called to pass ; yet a few passages may be culled 
 from his diary which will sufficiently indicate his mental 
 sufferings. At first, when the hope of a speedy settlement 
 of the affair was in prospect, he bore the trial with equa- 
 nimity and fortitude, so that he could say, " Blessed be 
 God, I have a consciousness of having done everything 
 for the best, for the promotion of God's glory, and the 
 good of the Church. Therefore I enjoy peace of mind." 
 But as the evil days came more thickly, and unfolded 
 their dark burden of sorrow and anxiety, the shadows 
 deepened over his spirit. At the dawn of day his mind 
 would be hopeful. " Calm and composed," he says ; 
 " scarcely ever more so since these troubles commenced. 
 Communed with my own heart upon my bed, and was 
 still. It seemed as though I was sure God would not 
 allow the enemies of His truth to gain their object. I 
 therefore felt myself strong in the Lord, and in the 
 power of His might." But the shades of evening would 
 bring a different phase of feeling. " May God mercifully 
 deliver us from our long and distressing troubles, and 
 grant us again peace and prosperity! O Lord, sup- 
 port and strengthen me in this arduous conflict, if Thou 
 shouldst not see fit yet to deliver me from it. My heart 
 is lifted up to Thee. Leave not my soul desolate ! " But 
 this was in an early stage of his troubles. A little later 
 he writes (October 18, 1846): "I lay awake long before 
 day, under a very heavy depression of mind. My way 
 appeared more hedged up than ever. A hundred fears 
 
1847] The Law Suit. 233 
 
 took hold upon me. My heart fainted within me, and 
 out of the depths I cried unto the Lord, though with a 
 mixture of dissatisfaction, unbelief, and confidence. I 
 was, however, enabled to say, ' Mine eyes are ever toward 
 the Lord, for He shall pluck my feet out of the net. Turn 
 Thou unto me, and have mercy upon me, for I am deso- 
 late and afflicted.' " Then, in a day or two, he comforts 
 himself by the example of Henry Martyn, whose memoir 
 he was reading. " What contempt and scorn had he to 
 endure at Shiraz ! And how meekly did he bear it all 
 for Christ. May I feel and say as he did : — 
 
 ' If on my name, for Thy dear sake, 
 
 Shame and reproaches be ; 
 All hail reproach, and welcome shame, 
 
 If Thou remember me ! ' " 
 
 More especially does he feel the depressing influence of 
 his circumstances when, on a Lord's-day morning-, he has 
 to meet, in the school-rooms, the large congregation 
 which still attended his ministry. "June 27, 1847. Sab- 
 bath morning. — My mind still oppressed with care and 
 apprehension as to the future, but had, as usual, recourse 
 to God in prayer. Poured out my heart before Him. Oh ! 
 how mysterious His providences are respecting me. 
 Darkness still besets me round. Preached in the even- 
 ing ; my mind very gloomy. Felt little unction throughout 
 the whole service. What happy seasons I once enjoyed ! 
 How sweet their memory still ! O Lord, I am oppressed ; 
 undertake for me." And a day or two later he exclaims: 
 " Show me, O Lord, wherefore Thou contendest with me, 
 and hidest Thy face from me. O Lord, Thou hast been 
 my helper ; leave me not, neither do Thou forsake me, 
 O God of my salvation ! I have acted, as I hope, for Thy 
 glory and the good of Thy Church. Be not, therefore, 
 far from me. Let not my enemies triumph over me." Not 
 always, however, was he thus cast down. Some act of 
 
23+ The Law Suit. |_ ,8 +9 
 
 kindness from his people, some hopeful incident in the 
 progress of the trial, or a few bright words from his cor- 
 respondents at home would induce a more cheerful tone. 
 Thus, under date of February 26, he writes : " My mind 
 was disquieted yesterday by some gloomy apprehensions ; 
 but I am thankful to say they have not been realised. It 
 is true I knew not what awaited me, but I knew what- 
 ever befell me depended on the government of an infi- 
 nitely wise and gracious God. I know the love He bears 
 me. I am comforted by His mercy. Were I to doubt 
 of the gracious providence of my God, all my past days 
 would witness against me and reprove my folly, distrust, 
 and ingratitude. All nature would make me ashamed. 
 Every bird, every insect, would reprove my unbelief, and 
 heaven and earth would appear against me as witnesses 
 of Providence. Almighty Ruler of the world, my God and 
 Father, I will not dishonour Thee by my anxious cares. 
 I will commit them all to Thee. As a child, with tender 
 love I will look up to Thee, and with joyful confidence 
 expect from Thee every good." 
 
 Thus was Mr. Phillippo led into deeper acquaintance 
 with his own heart's necessities, and to cry earnestly to 
 God for more growth in grace and holiness. "I am 
 dissatisfied," he says, on the 13th of March, " with my 
 want of faith, and zeal, and holy love ; with my 
 frequent impatience under my trials. Oh, that it were 
 otherwise ! that I could bear, not with patience only, 
 but with pleasure, what my heavenly Father has 
 appointed me to bear ; the same when concealed from 
 public observation as when exposed to the gaze of 
 multitudes ; that I may be a priest who presents 
 himself a living sacrifice to God ; that I may feel the 
 sanctity and height of my calling ; that my sympathies 
 may be more tender, my zeal more fervent, glowing, and 
 energetic. May I make the Lord's own words in some 
 
'8s i J The Law Suit. 
 
 2 35 
 
 measure the motto of my life : ' I must work the works of 
 Him that sent Me while it is day, for the night cometh.' " 
 One more extract will suffice to reflect the changeful 
 experience of these days so burdened with anxiety and 
 care. " My mind is greatly depressed, and it doubtless 
 gives its tinge to my communications home. I felt sad, 
 and at times almost in despair. I tried to pray, but could 
 not. Language failed me. I could only sigh out my 
 feelings, and thus relieve my oppressed heart. And this 
 oppression clung to me, diverted for a time by occupation, 
 but recurring as soon as thought was no longer absorbed 
 by a different subject of interest. I turned to the 46th 
 Psalm, to Luther's Psalm, and read over the experience of 
 David. My mind became more calm, more disposed to 
 trust. ' God is my refuge and strength, a very present 
 help in trouble.' 
 
 ' O Thou, who driest the mourner's tear, 
 How dark this world would be 
 If, when deceived and wounded here, 
 
 We could not fly to Thee ! 
 ***** 
 ' Oh ! who could bear life's stormy doom, 
 Did not Thy wing of love 
 Come brightly wafting through the gloom, 
 Our peace-branch from above ? '" 
 
 Looking back over this troublous period, he could at 
 last joyfully recognise the gracious leadings of the Divine 
 hand in it all. At the close of the year 1851 he writes : 
 " At its opening my cup was full of bitterness and my 
 prospects were gloomy in the extreme. How different 
 now ! This is the Lord's doing ; it is marvellous in my 
 eyes." The chapel had been restored, though in a 
 damaged state, to his possession. Larger congregations 
 than ever hung upon his lips, and with a sanctified feeling 
 of joy and desire he concludes the diary of the year : 
 
236 The Law Suit. [185 1 
 
 " Here I raise my Ebenezer. Bless the Lord, O my soul, 
 and forget not all His benefits. Oh, that I had more 
 reverence for God, more of a sense of His presence and 
 superintendence, more of trust in Providence, more of sub- 
 mission to His will, more of consciousness that He doeth 
 all things well ! " 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 STATE OF THE MISSION— 1844 to 1848. 
 
 The events narrated in the preceding chapter interfered 
 to a painful degree with the evangelistic labours of Mr. 
 Phillippo. For a large part of the time, his Spanish Town 
 congregation could only meet in the school-rooms, which, 
 happily, being large, would hold from twelve to fifteen 
 hundred worshippers. But his ministry was not without 
 many gratifying evidences of the attachment of his people ; 
 and he thankfully records that many Sabbaths were marked 
 by the Divine presence and blessing. Thus, on April 1 2th, 
 1846, he writes: "Sabbath Day. Early prayer-meeting. 
 Well attended. Sabbath-school also. At half-past ten, 
 chapel literally crowded ; persons coming from all parts 
 of the country in carts, on horseback, &c. Not fewer than 
 thirty horses in the burial ground and yard, besides those 
 left in other and different parts of the town. Preached 
 from Mark xiii. 12, 13, 14. Felt very much at liberty, 
 and people seemed greatly interested. Administered the 
 Lord's Supper. About one thousand partook of it ; a very 
 interesting service, the most so I have experienced for 
 many months. People full of animation. Refreshed 
 myself and attended a church-meeting. Preached in 
 evening. A large congregation also." Again, on the 7th 
 of June, he writes : " Rose before daylight. At six o'clock 
 went to prayer-meeting. Held conversation with several 
 of the country people for nearly an hour. Numbers of 
 people pouring into the school-room from all quarters ; 
 
238 State of the Mission. [1848 
 
 some coming on horseback, some in carts, &c. Preached 
 from Gen. xxviii. 22: 'And the stone which I have set 
 for a pillar,' &c. Felt aroused and animated by the con- 
 gregation, so large and so attentive, that I preached with 
 great fluency and comfort, and I hope not without benefit 
 to my audience. They literally seemed to hang upon my 
 lips, and by their looks and gestures appeared ready to 
 lay down their lives for me. That they have borne so 
 much obloquy with so much Christian fortitude and 
 forbearance, as well as made so many sacrifices, is 
 sufficient to redeem the black and coloured people as 
 a mass from the imputations with which they are 
 charged in consequence of the conduct of some towards 
 me. On the dispersion of the multitude, which filled the 
 whole three apartments of the school-house, it seemed 
 immense, crowding the streets in all directions." 
 
 These scenes were more especially seen on the days 
 devoted to the administration of the Lord's Supper. 
 Nevertheless, at other times, and even when the prospect 
 of success in the suit was problematical, the congrega- 
 tions were large. Amid the deepening distress of the 
 people he continued to receive manifold proofs of 
 personal affection and regard. So that, writing on the 
 1 8th of October, 1848, he could say that, while accounts 
 from all the West India Islands spoke of ever-increasing 
 depression, and which were fully corroborated by his 
 brethren in Jamaica, yet, " however torn and embarrassed 
 the church at Spanish Town has been, it appears to be as 
 truly prosperous in all respects as any one in the island." If 
 this was the case during the dark time of trouble, it may 
 readily be conceived with what joy the pastor and his 
 people re-entered their disused sanctuary on the execu- 
 tion of the Vice-Chancellor's decree. This longed-for 
 event took place on the 7th of February, 1851. Writino- 
 on March 4th, Mr. Phillippo says : "After the customary 
 
1 851] State of the Mission. 
 
 2 39 
 
 morning meeting, the chapel doors were thrown open. 
 A very large congregation assembled at half-past ten 
 o'clock. The preliminary part of the service was con- 
 ducted by brother Teall, and I preached from 2 Cor. 
 viii. 5. The afternoon was devoted to the interests of 
 the Sunday-school. We closed the day with grateful 
 thanksgiving to God for our success. Great, indeed, it 
 was ! I cannot doubt that it was gained by the inter- 
 position of God. ' Not unto me, not unto me, O Lord, 
 but unto Thy name be all the glory ! ' " Similar blessings 
 were enjoyed on the following Lord's-day. " My mind 
 and the minds of all my people overflowed with gratitude 
 to God in the belief that our deliverance was complete. 
 I preached from 1 John iv. 10 : ' Herein is love,' &c, 
 and felt great pleasure and more at liberty than for some 
 time past in the delivery of my message." One more 
 extract from his diary will show the joy and comfort with 
 which the resumption of his work in the sanctuary that he 
 had built filled his heart. " April 20, 1851. — Easter Sun- 
 day. Expected a large congregation this day, and was 
 not disappointed. The early prayer-meeting was well 
 attended, and before ten o'clock the people came in 
 streams from every quarter, so that the attendance was 
 greatly increased. A larger number of children were also 
 present at the Sabbath-school. I visited it between the 
 morning services, and was highly gratified. Especially 
 was I delighted to see the long line of them, attended by 
 their teachers, going from the school to the chapel. It 
 called forth the recollections of long past times. The school 
 bell rang merrily in my ears, and told of our being active and 
 vigorous again. I looked to see the children pass along, 
 until tears of thankfulness and pleasure filled my eyes. The 
 Lord has done great things for us, whereof we are glad." 
 
 Besides the services in Spanish Town, Mr. Phillippo 
 visited, at more or less regular intervals, the stations at 
 
240 State of the Mission. [1848 
 
 Sligoville and Passage Fort. Sligoville had fallen much 
 into decay during the years of trouble from his inability 
 to supply its wants. But as he now frequently occupied a 
 small farm residence in the neighbourhood he was able to 
 give more time to its interests, and was rewarded by wit- 
 nessing a revival of its temporal and spiritual prosperity. 
 
 Passage Fort enjoyed throughout a fair measure of pros- 
 perity, and he often mentions large congregations, interest- 
 ing Sabbaths, social gatherings of his flock, and baptismal 
 times as giving him unalloyed pleasure and satisfaction. 
 
 The incessant demands of the law suit on his attention, 
 the labours incident to the stations, and his pastoral visita- 
 tion of the sick and aged left Mr. Phillippo little time to 
 devote to the extension of the Gospel in the surrounding 
 districts. Still he often shared with his ministerial 
 brethren the more general engagements which the welfare 
 of the mission throughout the island required. Thus the 
 1 st of February, 1848, he is met with at the meeting of 
 the Association as chairman, when numerous questions 
 relating to the state of the mission were discussed. Later 
 in the year he is at Calabar, taking part in the annual 
 examination of the students, then under the care of the 
 Rev. J. Tinson. At another time he visits Vale Lionel to 
 assist in the formation of a new church. 
 
 These excursions were a great refreshment to his spirit. 
 Always fond of scenery, he delighted in the mingled 
 grandeur and beauty of the mountains and deep valleys of 
 Jamaica among which he journeyed. Gorgeous visions of 
 colour and celestial softness would alternate with tempest 
 and storm, the echoes of the rocks being awakened with 
 appalling sounds by the terrific thunder that accompanied 
 them. A few extracts from his diary will express the 
 enjoyment he derived from these scenes, and also illus- 
 trate his powers of description. This from his mountain 
 home. February 18, 1848 — "Two showers of rain fell 
 
1 8+8] State of the Mission. 241 
 
 during the middle of the day. The black, lowering clouds 
 to the north-east and south indicated an abundant fall, but 
 it fell on the plains embracing Kingston, Spanish Town, 
 Old Harbour, and Milk River. In my rambles I was 
 struck with the beautiful appearance of the clumps of 
 coffee-trees, covered with pearly white blossoms, in fine 
 contrast with the deep-green, laurel-like leaves. The little 
 supply of water that has been received has attracted the 
 birds hither from the lowlands. Large flocks of teal flew 
 past as I was gazing on the splendid scenery that lay 
 before me in the short twilight, with the sound almost of 
 a hurricane, produced by the rapid vibration of their 
 wings. The moon is at the full, and the evening star 
 hangs brilliant on the verge of the western horizon, and 
 gives an indescribable charm to the sky. The night is 
 bright and clear of clouds, except to the south, and the 
 atmosphere is at rest." Rising at sunrise the next day, 
 he says, " I took a long walk, gun in hand, hoping .to 
 meet with some birds that would supply the morning 
 meal. Heard for the first time for some weeks the cooing 
 of the wild dove, but saw nothing except the loggerhead. 
 The woodpecker was tapping at the trees like a ship's 
 carpenter ; the ground dove, the beautiful green todie 
 {todus viridis), the nightingale, and the humming-birds, 
 which are very numerous, were gambolling on every side 
 in the dewy freshness of the morning. The dew was 
 abundant, dripping like rain from the trees, and sparkling 
 in the morning sun like globules of crystal. The forests 
 were tinged with the rays of the luminary of day, a still- 
 ness reigned that might be felt, and colours, like those of 
 an English forest in autumn, gave an entrancing interest 
 to the scene, and I could but exclaim — 
 
 ' These are Thy glorious works, Parent of good, Almighty : 
 Thine this universal frame, thus wondrous fair ; 
 Thyself how wondrous then !" 
 
 R 
 
242 State of the Mission. [ J 8so 
 
 It is remarkable that few trees hybernate in the tropics, 
 and those that do are the softest and least valuable of 
 woods, such as the bombax ceiba, the baobab, the Spanish 
 plum, &c. These, and several others of the deciduous 
 species, being now leafless, add to the charm of this 
 autumnal scene." 
 
 A very different outlook is recorded on the 27th of 
 May, 1850. "A more dreadful night of storm I have never 
 known. The rain descended as though the vast floodgates 
 of the sky were suddenly opened for the purpose of over- 
 whelming us. But the terror inspired came from the 
 lightning and thunder. The flashes were incessant during 
 the whole night, illuminating the entire hemisphere, and 
 in the innermost chambers of the house it streamed over 
 myself and family as we lay in bed. I rose to look at it. 
 The thunder shook the house, and once or twice it 
 literally rocked to and fro like a cradle. Added to this 
 war of elements a high wind increasing to a hurricane 
 arose, driving the rain into the house and deluging it. 
 The streets were filled with water, and for hours were well- 
 nigh impassable after the storm had passed away." 
 
 Another brief extract describes a ride between Clark- 
 sonville and Brown's Town, in company with his dear 
 friend the Rev. John Clark, of the latter place, on the 
 nth of August, 1852. " It was late in the afternoon when 
 we started, passing through a more picturesque district 
 than I had seen before, as also a more fertile one, although 
 the greater number of fine properties along the road were 
 abandoned to ruinate. We passed along a splendid ravine, 
 at the foot of which rolled a celebrated river that 
 loses itself underground, and re-appears #fter some miles 
 as an impetuous torrent. It is reported that, as a gentle- 
 man and his servant were once driving rapidly along the 
 steep road leading to Clarksonville, the horse dashed 
 down the precipice into the river. They were afterwards 
 
1S52] State of the Mission. 243 
 
 found at the distance of many miles from the spot, having 
 been carried by the torrent along its subterraneous 
 course. We passed by Bethany Chapel, another of brother 
 Clark's stations, and arrived at Brown's Town at dark, 
 a journey of fifteen miles." 
 
 One more description of the incidents of tropical life 
 may be interesting. " Wednesday, July 7th, 1852. — While 
 sitting in my study intent on reading a book that had 
 absorbed my interest, I was aroused by a loud shaking of 
 the doors and windows ; but thought for the moment it 
 might be caused by the carpenters that were at work in 
 the house, or by some passing cart or wain. I then felt 
 the house rocking, and, rising from my seat, was nearly 
 thrown down. I felt an extreme nausea, like that of sea- 
 sickness. It continued for a minute or two, and I went 
 downstairs. The vibration continued, alarming the whole 
 family, the house seeming literally to rise and fall like a 
 wave of the sea. It was a shock of earthquake. I went 
 afterwards to Passage Fort, and about five o'clock the 
 shock was repeated, and I took occasion to refer to it in 
 my address." The next day the diary continues : — " The 
 earthquake is the subject of universal talk. The Jews, as 
 usual, flew to their synagogue, and at other places thanks- 
 giving meetings were held. The intervals between the 
 shocks, or the few minutes that pass after the first shock 
 subsides, are minutes of awful suspense, and sometimes, 
 especially in the dead of night, of awful terror. On this 
 occasion there were two distinct shocks, passing from 
 north to south. The first was a tremulous. motion, which 
 lasted for some fifteen or sixteen seconds. The second 
 was an awful heaving of the earth, like the pitching of a 
 ship in a heavy sea, and its duration was about thirty 
 seconds. In some houses the chandeliers swung to and 
 fro for ten minutes. Pictures were moved on the walls. 
 An iron bridge rose and fell so as to appear falling 
 
 r 2 
 
244 State of the Mission. [1848 
 
 prostrate upon the river. Bells rang, clocks stopped, and 
 the water in reservoirs was agitated so much as to over- 
 flow the brim. Walls were thrown down, and the inmates 
 of some houses were precipitated into the streets." 
 
 The general state of the mission during these years 
 gave Mr. Phillippo the gravest concern. At the Associa- 
 tion that met in the month of February, 1848, at which he 
 was called to preside, he records that the gathering 
 was one of " melancholy interest." Many congregations 
 were reported to be without pastors. Many missionaries 
 had either left, or were on the eve of leaving, the island, 
 from the inability of the churches to support them.* 
 " After prayer, long and very interesting," he says, "were 
 the discussions on the state of churches. Various were 
 the causes assigned for their present condition, and as 
 various the propositions made for their revival ; but as all 
 the other denominations share equally the depression, 
 though differing so widely in church government and 
 discipline, I was of opinion that what had been said were 
 but the adjuncts of some great evil existing which was not 
 discovered, an evil by which the Spirit of God had been 
 grieved, and which must be found out and renounced 
 before He would again return to us." 
 
 There can be little doubt, now, that the chief cause of 
 the evils deplored was the general state of poverty, and 
 the decay of trade and employment from which every class 
 of the population was suffering. Scarcely was the resolu- 
 tion of the missionaries to rely on the resources of the 
 churches for their support carried into effect, before 
 pecuniary difficulties, arising from the distress of the 
 people, began to press upon them. To this cause must 
 
 * In his diary at this time, Mr. Phillippo writes : " About sixteen 
 missionaries and schoolmasters have either left Jamaica or are dead 
 within the last few years, and some of the brethren on the north side 
 of the island are starving " 
 
1848] Slate of the Mission. 245 
 
 be added the action of the planters in breaking up the 
 villages on their estates, and turning out the occupants 
 without any provision for the sick and needy ; difficulties 
 arising out of the question of labour ; the purchase of 
 small properties by the peasantry, which absorbed their 
 savings, and taxed their earnings to meet the cost of the 
 erection of cottages in the newly founded townships, and 
 the clearing of the land. All these things drew largely on 
 the resources of the people, so that contributions to the 
 service of Christ began to decline ; besides which, the 
 moneys needed for the completion of manses and chapels 
 were necessarily devoted to the support of the pastor, so 
 that debts were incurred or left to accumulate. A time of 
 widespread sickness also set in. The health of many 
 brethren needed a change which they were unable to 
 secure, while unanticipated emergencies sorely beset the 
 ministers of the smaller congregations. Such entries as 
 the following again and again recur in Mr. Phillippo's 
 diary. " What will become of the mission I cannot, nor 
 can any one else, conjecture, except that in four or five 
 years' time, if vigorous measures are not used, it will 
 become a complete wreck. All are dispirited. Several 
 speak of returning to England" (December 30, 1847). 
 " The future is dark and gloomy. The country is 
 increasing in poverty, and religious feeling is rapidly 
 declining. But the Lord reigneth, therefore will I hope 
 in Him" (October 20, 1852). " Many of my brethren 
 are even in greater straits than I. Says one in a letter 
 written from a bed of sickness, to which both himself and 
 his wife, with almost all his family, were then confined, ' We 
 have been without money and almost without food, little 
 as we have required for our own use ; but what time the 
 last fowl was boiled another has come in, and, when the 
 last piece of yam has been used, more has come in just as 
 it has been wanted. So you see, though we are cast down, 
 
24-6 State of the Mission. f 1 845 
 
 we are not destroyed, neither have our perplexities driven 
 us to despair. We shall have a new song put into our 
 mouth, even praise unto our God'" (September 23, 
 1849). " I am daily becoming convinced that the 
 apparent indifference of the people, and the decay of their 
 old liberality, are attributable entirely to their poverty " 
 (May 19, 1850). 
 
 This state of things could not but awaken the deepest 
 anxiety in the minds of the friends of the Mission at 
 home. It was absolutely necessary to render some aid 
 to the ministers thus struggling with debt, and with per- 
 plexities of various kinds springing out of the social 
 changes freedom had entailed. The first step was taken 
 in 1845, when the Committee of the Society resolved to 
 raise a sum of ,£6,000 * to assist in the liquidation of the 
 debts existing on the manses and chapels to the extent of 
 /~i8,ooo. In the distribution of this fund care was taken, 
 by mutual consent, that nothing should be done to inter- 
 fere with the independence of the pastors and their 
 congregations. With that one and only condition the 
 money was freely bestowed. 
 
 Important as was the help thus rendered it did not 
 touch, except incidentally, the personal circumstances of 
 the missionaries. The later months of 1845 and the 
 early part of the following year added to their difficulties, 
 and the most pressing representations were sent home of 
 the absolute need of further assistance. The general 
 condition of the island was worse than ever. The deaths 
 of the Revs. W. Knibb and T. Burchell increased the 
 gloom, and intensified the forebodings of evil which found 
 expression in the letters of the sufferers. In October, 
 1846, the Committee of the Society therefore resolved to 
 invite the Revs. Dr. Angus and C. M. Birrell to visit 
 
 * The sum actually contributed reached ^6,300. 
 
1 846] State of the Mission. 247 
 
 Jamaica "to confer with the brethren," and to make the 
 fullest inquiry into the condition of the mission. For 
 their personal relief Sir Morton Peto, one of the Trea- 
 surers, most generously placed ^2,000 at the disposal of 
 the deputation. 
 
 It was an important part of the duty of the deputation 
 to ascertain whether it was desirable to interfere with the 
 state of independence which had been established. Some 
 of the missionaries, and Mr. Phillippo was one of them, 
 with many friends in England, were inclined to think thac 
 the absolute freedom of the congregations from home in- 
 fluence and control was injurious to them, that they were 
 still in an immature state, and too weak in faith and pur- 
 pose to be left safely to their own guidance and strength. 
 No doubt the trial of the voluntary principle in this case 
 was a severe one. It was put to the test under circum- 
 stances of the greatest possible difficulty. But, with all 
 the facts before them, the deputation were unable to 
 counsel a change in the action of the Committee. It was 
 held that the Baptist churches in Jamaica were generally 
 stronger in number and resources than the majority of 
 Baptist churches in England, and that, by co-operation 
 and mutual help, they might well sustain the cause of 
 Christ in their midst. Only such aid, therefore, should be 
 expected from England as might be rendered in cases of 
 great and unforeseen emergency. 
 
 Towards the close of 1849 numerous and painful appeals 
 were again addressed to the Society for relief. The 
 necessity was fully acknowledged by the Committee, and 
 arrangements were made to give some temporary aid. 
 The assistance was, however, rendered from independent 
 sources, on the ground that the missionaries themselves 
 as well as the Committee felt it to be " most undesirable 
 that the Jamaica churches should be thrown into a posi- 
 tion of unconditional dependence on the funds of the 
 
Z4-S State of the Mission. [_ l8 4 8 
 
 Baptist Missionary Society." The result has established 
 the wisdom of this decision. The churches in Jamaica 
 have largely increased in number, and, barring unexpected 
 calamities, there seems no reason to doubt that they are 
 generally well able to sustain the ordinances of the Gospel 
 and the means of grace. 
 
 One of the most urgent of the questions pressed on 
 the attention of the deputation was the need of ministers 
 to fill the numerous vacancies existing in the pastorate 
 of the churches. Immediately after emancipation the 
 Society resolved to attempt to raise an indigenous ministry, 
 and the Institution at Calabar, near Rio Bueno, was 
 formed for the purpose. This object had the warmest 
 support from Mr. Phillippo. He never doubted the 
 capacity of the Negro to receive and respond to the 
 training that might fit him to become a preacher of the 
 Gospel and a pastor of souls. The progress at first was 
 slow. Few of the emancipated people were found to 
 possess even the elementary knowledge requisite to enjoy 
 the advantages of the Institution. But Mr. Phillippo 
 never lost heart. Thus he says, under date of February 
 10, 1848 : "If the cause of missions is to be maintained 
 here it must be by the efforts of native labourers, and how 
 great soever the difficulties that may be in the way, and 
 however unpromising at present the agents, yet this 
 object must be pursued, and the sooner it is begun the 
 better. On this account I earnestly hope the Institution 
 at Calabar will be maintained." After referring to the 
 arrival of the Rev. J. Tinson, the tutor, who had been on 
 a visit to England, he says, under date of July nth, 1848: 
 " The Institution is progressing prosperously. This ought 
 to be kept up as the only means of preventing, if I may 
 say so, the complete extinction of the Baptist cause 
 throughout the island, as I am persuaded still that 
 scarcely a white minister will be in the island in two or 
 
1848] State of the Mission. 249 
 
 three years to corrje, unless some sympathy and aid are 
 experienced from England very shortly." 
 
 It is beyond the scope of this Memoir to narrate the 
 measures taken by the Society at various times to main- 
 tain a certain number of European ministers in Jamaica. 
 It is sufficient to say that Mr. Phillippo's fears have not 
 been justified by the events. He lived to see his hope of 
 an indigenous ministry amply fulfilled, and a large number 
 of Jamaica's own sons are now filling with credit, honour, 
 and success the pastorate of many of its numerous con- 
 gregations. A large number of schoolmasters have also 
 gone forth from the Institution, and obtain their fair 
 share of the grants-in-aid by which the Government now 
 seeks to render universal the instruction of the children. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 THE STATE OF THE ISLAND— THE CHOLERA— 
 1849 TO 1850. 
 
 This incessant occupation with the affairs of the Spanish 
 Town chapel and church, and the trying condition of the 
 mission in which he so largely shared, withdrew Mr. 
 Phillippo's attention, to a degree unusual with him, from 
 matters of public interest. So far as the free-trade 
 legislation of the English Parliament affected the sugar 
 cultivation of Jamaica, he sympathised with the planters. 
 He believed, beneficial as that legislation might be to 
 the general welfare of the empire, that it was fraught 
 with destruction to the protected interests of the West 
 Indies. In his journeys he could not but notice, with 
 regret, estates formerly the scene of a flourishing industry 
 abandoned to neglect and decay. Thus he notes in his 
 diary on the 29th of June, 1849: "Since the passing of 
 the Emancipation Act, of the 653 sugar estates then under 
 cultivation in the island, 140, containing 168,032 acres of 
 land, have been abandoned and the works broken up. 
 They employed, when in full operation, 22,553 labourers. 
 Many of the poor, who from 1839 to 1844 were paid at 
 the rate of is. 6d. per day, are now glad of employment 
 for sixpence."* On the 8th of December, 1848, he writes: 
 " Great complaints exist among all classes of the popula- 
 tion as to the pressure of the times. Estates continue to 
 
 * The authority for Mr. Phillippo's statement was a committee of 
 the House of Assembly appointed in 1849 to inquire into the extent of 
 agricultural distress. The same authority states that, in the same space 
 of time, 465 coffee plantations had been abandoned, containing 188,400 
 acres of land, and which employed, in 1832, 26,830 labourers. 
 
(849] The State of the Island. 
 
 be thrown out of cultivation, and every day adds to the 
 list of those for sale. This has been owing evidently to 
 the admission of the produce of slave labour into the 
 British market. And yet this policy, which must issue in the 
 ruin of the sugar colonies, is persisted in by the present 
 Government, and, what is worse than all, it gives a powerful 
 impetus to the slave trade " 
 
 Although Mr. Phillippo declined to attend the numerous 
 meetings which were held to protest against the removal 
 of the duties on sugar, he used what influence he possessed 
 to induce his people to be present at them. In the 
 following sentences he states in a brief form the reasons 
 which actuated him : — " The fact of the distress of a 
 country is not the ruin merely of holders of property. It 
 involves the poverty and oppression of the labourer. You 
 cannot ruin the former without entailing poverty on the 
 latter. In no country can you make men, hitherto 
 wealthy, impoverished, without rendering the labourer a 
 beggar. This measure [that of 1846] will not only do 
 this, but will seriously retard the progress of civilisation 
 among the people." His interest in the question arose 
 chiefly, if not entirely, from its bearing on the well-being of 
 the peasantry. His solicitude was mainly on their account. 
 
 Writing in 1840, Mr. Joseph John Gurney fully antici- 
 pated these results from a policy which was then only in 
 prospect. " Once equalise the lower duty charged on the 
 sugar produced in these islands, the sugars of Jamaica 
 will lose their market, the planters will withdraw from the 
 production of sugar, the labourer will lose his employ- 
 ment and his wages, the merchant and the shop-keeper 
 will feel their sources of profit cut off, and the Abolitionist 
 will discover with dismay that a fresh impetus of vast 
 force is given to slavery and the slave trade." * 
 
 * " A "Winter in the West Indies," p. 24c. 
 
252 The State of the Island. [1849 
 
 The first measure in which the principles of free trade 
 were applied by Parliament to the sugar-growing colonies 
 of Great Britain was passed, under the Government of 
 Lord John Russell, in August, 1846. The object was to 
 provide for the immediate reduction and the speedy aboli- 
 tion of the heavy differential duties then levied on all foreign 
 sugar. A slight reduction had been made in 1 844 in 
 favour of countries in which slavery did not exist. Full 
 effect, however, was not given to the Act of 1846 till 1848. 
 Then sugar from all countries, whether the product of 
 free or slave labour, was admitted into this country , at 
 equal duties.* This is not the place to discuss the merits 
 of the question of free trade as against protection. One 
 thing is certain, that neither protection nor the enforced 
 labour of slaves had ever given prosperity to Jamaica even 
 in its palmiest days ; for the records of Parliament are 
 crowded with incessant and clamorous appeals from the 
 " ruined interests " of Jamaica for still further privileges. 
 The Legislature of Great Britain did, however, attempt to 
 lessen to the utmost the injury it was affirmed that free- 
 trade legislation would inflict, which, perhaps, was 
 inevitable, on the islands of the West.f Among these 
 measures must be mentioned the Act that allowed the 
 colonies to admit foreign goods on the same terms as 
 
 * The price of sugar fell from the average of 37s. 3d. per cwt. in 
 1846 to 24s. 6d. in the eight following years. — " Slavery and Free- 
 dom," by Charles Buxton, Esq., M.P., p. 33. For further explanation 
 of the causes of the depression in the sugar colonies, reference may be 
 made to this excellent paper. 
 
 t " A severe temporary pressure upon all concerned in sugar cul- 
 tivation was no doubt to be anticipated while the change of policy was 
 in prospect ; but, until it had been accomplished, it was certain that 
 society in these colonies could not be placed in a sound and healthy 
 condition ; and the longer it was delayed the more painful would be 
 the crisis which must be. passed through." — " The Colonial Policy of 
 Lord John Russell's Administration," by Earl Grey, vol. i., p. 60. 
 
1849] The Stale of the Island. 253 
 
 British goods. They also benefited by the complete 
 repeal of the Navigation Laws. Increased and successful 
 efforts were also put forth to suppress the slave trade 
 on the coast of Africa. The Government, moreover, 
 listened favourably to the schemes of immigration 
 urged upon them by the planters, which in some cases 
 were scarcely distinguishable from slavery itself. But 
 these schemes were condemned by the Anti-slavery 
 party in England, and met with strenuous opposition 
 from the missionaries, in the interest of the emancipated 
 peasantry. " The papers," writes Mr. Phillippo, under 
 date of January 29, 1848, "are filled with accounts of 
 meetings held to petition the British Government against 
 immigration, ,£15,000 more of the public money having 
 been voted by the Assembly for the purpose. I might 
 well have said wasted ; it is worse ! The evils of it are 
 awful. Of the hundreds, if not thousands, of coolies 
 imported, all are dead, or soon will be. Now, none but 
 Africans are desired — the hapless men who were so long 
 calumniated as the most ignorant, depraved, and idle of 
 all the human family." And on the 6th of March he 
 records the presentation of a petition to the Governor, 
 for transmission to the home Government, against the 
 system. This he had prepared, and it was adopted at a 
 meeting at which he took the chair. 
 
 On the other hand, the Jamaica House of Assembly 
 refused to listen to any measures proposed by the home 
 Government for the improvement of the condition of the 
 people. " The statute-book of the island," says Lord 
 Grey, in 1853, "for the last six years presents nearly a 
 blank, as regards laws calculated to improve the condition 
 of the population and to raise them in the scale of 
 civilisation."* In fact, the people were utterly uncared 
 for by the ruling power in the Assembly. In the country 
 
 * "The Colonial Policy," &c, vol. i., p. 173. 
 
254 The Stale of the Island. ['849 
 
 districts they were left to perish miserably for want of 
 medical aid. Agricultural as well as other instruction 
 was entirely neglected, and every possible measure was 
 passed that tended to check the spirit of independence. 
 The finances were scandalously mismanaged, and often 
 misappropriated. The ordinary supplies were refused, on 
 the plea of the necessity of retrenchment, and to force the 
 Government to yield to the reckless demands of the 
 Assembly. The plans of the Government were thwarted, 
 and justice was administered in a grossly partial manner. 
 The educational schemes brought forward were so arranged 
 as to advance the interests of the Established Church, and 
 to throw obstacles in the way of the schools founded by 
 the missionary bodies. One of the measures pressed upon 
 the Government was an " Orphan Asylum Bill," which, 
 though professedly for the benefit of the orphans of those 
 who had fallen a prey to the cholera, was so framed as to 
 re-introduce the system of predial apprenticeship ; and to 
 expose the youth educated in the asylum, and afterwards 
 placed under masters, to a modified species of slavery. 
 The intention of the Bill was evidently to secure a supply 
 of forced agricultural labour. To this measure Mr. 
 Phillippo gave the most strenuous opposition. He pre- 
 pared memorials to the Governor and the English Legisla- 
 ture on behalf of his congregation, and, in an interview 
 with the Governor, urged its inexpediency and injustice. 
 It met with the opposition of the Nonconformist bodies 
 throughout the island, and of the friends of freedom at 
 home, and was at length laid aside. Irreparable injury 
 was done to the island, and at a time when it needed the 
 highest wisdom to meet the new condition that emanci- 
 pation had introduced, as well as to improve the position 
 of the Negro population, and to prepare them for the 
 exercise of that influence and power to which it was 
 obvious they must at some time necessarily advance. 
 
1850] The Cholera. 255 
 
 Early in 1850 Mr. Phillippo, nevertheless, writes: 
 " Things are, I hope, a little improving here. A great 
 demand is still made for colonial produce in England — 
 sugar, coffee, pimento, and logwood ; this latter scarcely 
 ever found a better or more remunerative market. An 
 impulse is also given to the growth of cotton, which it is 
 hoped will in some degree restore prosperity. Among 
 other improvements which necessity has induced it is 
 pleasing to see the attention now paid to gardening." 
 
 The closing months of the year were, however, a period 
 of extreme suffering. The cholera swept over the land, 
 sparing neither sex nor age. Not less than 20,000 per- 
 sons fell before the blast of the pestilence in three months, 
 and, before its ravages ceased on the following year, it is 
 calculated that at least one-tenth of the population be- 
 came its prey. Agricultural operations came to a stand, 
 and labour almost entirely ceased. Mr. Phillippo records, 
 under date of October nth, that he had just heard of its 
 appearance at Kingston. " I trust," he says, " that it 
 will induce greater cleanliness in the towns." On the 
 13th he reports that he was shocked to hear of several 
 deaths in Kingston and Port Royal, and that boards of 
 health had been formed to encounter the fell disease. On 
 the 1 6th he himself is nominated a member of the board 
 appointed for Spanish Town. With his colleagues, the 
 next few days are fully occupied in perambulating every 
 street, visiting every court, removing nuisances, and 
 making arrangements for an immediate supply of medi- 
 cine. 
 
 The first case was reported on the evening of the 19th, 
 and he thus describes the effects of the seizure : — " The 
 agony suffered by the subject of this malignant disease 
 was intense. It is indeed the pestilence that walketh in 
 darkness, and the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 
 It is the most fearful form of disease that ever visited 
 
256 The Cholera- [1850 
 
 man. It is sudden. I thought of the gist Psalm as an 
 antidote against the fear of it, and a precious antidote it 
 is." In spite of every precaution the pestilence daily 
 multiplied its victims, and heartrending were the scenes 
 into which his duties led this fearless servant of Christ. 
 Even when there were symptoms of its crossing his own 
 threshold, he did not shrink from the post of danger. In 
 conjunction with the Vice-Chancellor, to whom, with him- 
 self, certain wards of the city were apportioned, he visited 
 the sick daily, dispensing medicines, comforting and 
 praying with the smitten, and watching their closing 
 moments, and often accompanying their remains to the 
 tomb. 
 
 One or two extracts from his diary will suffice to bring 
 these sorrowful events distinctly before the mind, and 
 exhibit the character of Mr. Phillippo at such a time of fear. 
 On the 27th of October he writes that, having just returned 
 from a funeral, he heard of the seizure of Miss McNeal, 
 one of the most pious and interesting young people of his 
 church, -and of her mother, on their return from chapel 
 the previous evening. " I went almost immediately, and 
 found both of them in great agony, but both sensible. 
 Eliza knew me, and addressed me. At intervals her coun- 
 tenance was benign and heavenly, and she often expressed 
 her gratitude to me as the instrument of her salvation. 
 She surrendered herself to her Saviour, in body, soul, and 
 spirit, in language and with looks and gestures that drew 
 tears from all present. From hence I accompanied Dr. 
 Morales to the hospital. And what a sight was here ! 
 Two lying dead, and about sixteen or seventeen more 
 rapidly following them. The nurses were once of my 
 flock, and so were the people. I asked them if they 
 wished me to pray. Several of the dying cried out, almost 
 choked with the vehemence with which they uttered the 
 words, ' Yes, minister, yes ! ' I did so, kneeling on the 
 
J 8 so] The Cholera. 257 
 
 floor in the middle of the room, the poor creatures lying 
 on mats around me. Numbers were attracted from all 
 parts of the hospital as soon as I began, and all responded 
 with sighs, ejaculations, and tears." 
 
 One more entry will suffice. The next day was the 
 Lord's-day. " Sunday: Went to prayer-meeting as usual. 
 A large congregation. Heard of the death of Miss 
 McNeal and her mother. Went to Passage Fort. Called 
 at several houses. Saw several persons dead and dying. 
 Called at the hospital and found more dead there, and 
 the hospital in a filthy state. Preached to a thin con- 
 gregation, owing to the great mortality in the neighbour- 
 hood. Called again at the hospital, and ordered a nurse 
 to be procured. From thence went to Cumberland Pen ; 
 several cases of the disease existing, and several deaths. 
 The Kraal Pen had been in a dreadful state, but was some- 
 what improving. The Farm Pen, the property of Lord 
 Carrington, was rapidly decimating ; several had been 
 interred without coffins, and numbers were being taken 
 with the epidemic every hour. I prayed with all the 
 patients, and returned to town at dark. Preached in the 
 evening to a large congregation." 
 
 Thus, day by day, with unwearied step and unshaken 
 courage, this servant of Christ carried the balm of conso- 
 lation to the dying, and sought to cheer their closing 
 minutes with words of salvation and hope. The strain 
 was great for the few weeks during which the mortality 
 was greatest ; but, towards the end of November, the 
 pestilence began to abate in Spanish Town and its 
 vicinity, and by Christmas the south side of the island was 
 nearly free of its ravages. About 2,500 persons fell victims 
 to the pestilence in the parish of Spanish Town, while in 
 the city of Kingston, fourteen miles away, 10,000 were 
 stated to have perished. Through the gracious Providence 
 of God, not a missionary in the island fell a prey to the 
 
 s 
 
258 The Cholera. [1850 
 
 disease ; so mercifully was fulfilled the promise, " A 
 thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy 
 right hand ; but it shall not come nigh thee." The Baptist 
 churches in England raised nearly ^2,500 for the assist- 
 ance of the sufferers in Jamaica. Large quantities of 
 medicine were also sent out. In the distribution every 
 class of the population was assisted, and. very welcome 
 aid given to the pastors, whose privations were scarcely 
 less painful than those with which the poor people were 
 afflicted. 
 
 The closing days of the year had an additional tinge of 
 sadness added to them by the decease, after a long and 
 painful illness, of the Rev. J. Tinson, the tutor of the 
 Calabar Institution. It was the sorrowful duty of Mr. 
 Phillippo to preach his funeral sermon, on the 18th 
 December, before a large congregation. Mr. Phillippo 
 afterwards embodied his reminiscences of his very dear 
 friend in a brief memoir, which was inserted in the Baptist 
 Magazine for May, 1 8 5 1 . 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 TIMES OF REFRESHING— 1852 to 1853. 
 
 With the opening days of the year 1852, Mr. Phillippo's 
 prospects began to brighten ; and he was able to resume 
 in all its departments, his pastoral and evangelistic work. 
 January 5, 1852, he writes: "This morning I was privi- 
 leged to administer the ordinance of believer's baptism to 
 sixty-three persons, chiefly young and intelligent. It took 
 place at Passage Fort, and the whole of the previous night 
 was occupied by a prayer-meeting, I giving an address at 
 frequent intervals. The chapel and yard were crowded, and 
 all the services were deeply interesting. On the following 
 Lord's-day the baptized, with eight others who had sought 
 restoration, I had the happiness to receive into the church, 
 and to introduce to the table of the Lord. It was indeed 
 a delightful day — ' a time of refreshing from the presence 
 of the Lord.' I can truly say that, all things considered, 
 appearances of prosperity were never greater at any 
 previous period of the church's history." 
 
 The people entered heartily into the plans for the 
 repairs of the chapel and the manse. Some gave their ser 
 vices gratuitously as masons and carpenters ; others, of the 
 better class, cheerfully superintended the progress of the 
 work. Subscriptions to the amount of /"zoo were sent in 
 during the first six months of the year. The people at 
 Sligoville and at Kensington built kilns, and burnt lime 
 sufficient for the entire restoration. " And they came, 
 every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one 
 
 S 2 
 
2bo Times of Refreshing. ['852 
 
 whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord's 
 offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congre- 
 gation " (Exod. xxxv. 21). At Sligoville, he says, 
 " about thirty-seven turned out to work with the greatest 
 hilarity and energy, some cutting down trees for firing, 
 some collecting stones, others breaking them. The scene 
 was really inspiring. They had a mind to work ; and, 
 before the close of day, the foundation of a very large 
 kiln was laid, which rose three feet from the ground. A 
 still larger number turned out the next day. Glad should 
 I have been had some of those been present who affirm 
 the impossibility of getting the peasantry to work, except 
 for a very high rate of wages, as well as to see the effect 
 of the voluntary principle. Altogether, fully a hundred 
 hands were employed. I, besides superintending the 
 gangs, felled about a dozen trees myself, to show that I 
 was willing to bear a hand with them.'' Ten days later he 
 records : " Both kilns finished to-day, and set fire to. 
 They blazed beautifully, as seen from the elevation the 
 house commands." 
 
 Later on, Mr. Phillippo records that these appearances 
 of prosperity were not deceptive. "Sunday, March 10, 
 a good prayer-meeting, and about the best congregation 
 I have ever seen in the chapel for years— the first Lord's- 
 day in January not excepted. The sight was deeply inter- 
 esting ; and I should have been ungrateful indeed had I 
 not magnified the Lord for His goodness. The great 
 number of decently dressed, intelligent young people 
 especially interested me. I never saw so many before. 
 At no former time, indeed, have so many been connected 
 with us. This is a source of great encouragement as to 
 the future." 
 
 His congregation at Sligoville also participated in this 
 pleasing revival. " March 17 — Sunday : A very excellent 
 congregation. I scarcely ever saw a better ; so many young 
 
1 852] Times of Refreshing. 261 
 
 persons, and so good a Sabbath-school." "May 10— A 
 very large congregation, notwithstanding the rain which 
 had deluged the mountain district for some weeks 
 previously. People all in good spirits." 
 
 The effect on his own spiritual feeling, too, was most 
 cheering. Thus, under date of June 1 1, he writes : " Had, 
 I trust, some profitable thoughts and meditations this day 
 on the text, ' Seeing then that we have a great High 
 Priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of 
 God,' &c. (Heb. iv. 14, 15). O Thou Light of the world, 
 enlighten our souls. Teach us to know more of Thy 
 infinite, unsearchable riches, Thou great God-Man, that 
 we may love Thee with an increasing love, and serve Thee 
 with an increasing zeal, till Thou bringest us to glory. 
 
 " ' Give me Thyself, from every boast 
 
 From every wish set free ; 
 Let all I am in Thee be lost, 
 
 But give Thyself to me. 
 Thy gifts, alas ! cannot suffice 
 
 Unless Thyself be given ; 
 Thy presence makes my Paradise, 
 
 And where Thou art is heaven.' " 
 
 His delight in nature and natural objects burst forth 
 with new freshness. " June 18. Up long before day and 
 listened with indescribable sensations of delight to the 
 concert of the birds, the mocking bird leading the choir, 
 and his liquid melody heard above all, the rest being like 
 an accompaniment. The birds are very numerous now, 
 being, as I suppose, so little disturbed, especially the 
 nightingales. Their song is almost incessant in the imme- 
 diate neighbourhood of the house. Sometimes one sings 
 on a tree just before the door at nine o'clock, and on 
 moonlight nights until midnight. The humming birds, 
 too, are greatly increased in number with my increased 
 stock of flowers and flowering shrubs, and other birds 
 also, less known to me, but not less beautiful." 
 
262 Times of Refreshing. [_'%5 Z 
 
 The general and happy influence of the severe trials 
 through which the church had passed he thus summarises : 
 — " Sunday, June 27. Our difficulties, our long and great 
 difficulties, are surmounted ; but, like the Israelites when 
 they achieved the conquest of Canaan, many Canaanites 
 lurking about the walls of our Zion give us annoy- 
 ance, and are permitted occasionally to hurt us. 
 This we may expect for years to come. We are now 
 placed in our right position as a church in relation to the 
 world. The line that separates the two has now become 
 distinctly visible. We never were so before, and perhaps 
 no section of the Church in this island is in the same 
 situation. We are the first in Jamaica that are really 
 separated from the world. It is fit it should be so, that 
 such a reformation should take place under the oldest 
 missionary and in the metropolis of the island." With the 
 secession the most unworthy members of the flock had 
 been carried away. 
 
 It was with no little joy that, the repairs being completed, 
 the chapel was re-opened on the 1st of August. For some 
 days previous the several classes of the church were busy 
 in cleaning and beautifying the neat but spacious edifice. 
 At an early hour of the day a prayer-meeting was held, 
 presided over and addressed by Mr. Phillippo. The preva- 
 lent sickness to some extent diminished the attendance, 
 but throughout the day the people, with " an exuberant " 
 joy beaming on every countenance, flocked to the various 
 services. The interest was both deep and devout. The 
 morning service was conducted by the Rev. D. J. East, 
 who had a few months before arrived in Jamaica to take 
 charge of the Calabar Institution. His "excellent" 
 discourse was founded on the words of the 13th verse 
 of the 1 02nd Psalm. In the evening, a scarcely less 
 impressive sermon was preached by Mr. Phillippo's 
 staunch friend, the Rev. W. Teall. In the afternoon, a 
 
1R5 2 ] Times of Refreshing. 263 
 
 service, commemorative of the Act of Emancipation as 
 well as the re-opening of the sanctuary, was held, and 
 the happiness of the occasion found expression in several 
 addresses from the pastor and others present to share in 
 their gladness. In a note referring to the proceedings of 
 the day Mr. Phillippo says : "The chapel and the whole 
 premises, being just repaired and painted, looked neat 
 and beautiful, in great contrast with the desolation and 
 ruin they so lately exhibited. These improved aspects 
 of the outward condition of the church, added to the 
 happy circumstances which these services especially 
 commemorated, excited in the minds of all, not only deep 
 and lively gratitude, but also the devout and earnest 
 aspiration of the Psalmist, ' Save now, I beseech Thee, O 
 Lord ; O Lord, I beseech Thee, send now prosperity.' " 
 
 Towards the close of the year the small-pox spread as 
 an epidemic throughout the island, and, although it was 
 not so fatal as the cholera, it added to the distress which 
 still prevailed. But Mr. Phillippo and his congregation 
 were more especially affected by the sudden decease of 
 their tried friend, Joseph Fletcher, Esq. The painful 
 tidings was communicated to Mr. Phillippo by the Rev. 
 John Cox, of Woolwich, Mr. Fletcher's pastor, and it is 
 due to the services rendered by Mr. Fletcher that the 
 reply should be recorded here, expressing as it does Mr. 
 Phillippo's estimate of their value : — " Spanish Town, 
 December 23rd, 1852. — My dear Friend, — It was with 
 deeper sorrow than I can express that I received your letter 
 announcing the death of my beloved and venerated friend, 
 Mr. Fletcher. I felt deeply for myself, for Mrs. Fletcher, 
 and for the beloved family, and for the Church of God. 
 We have each and all sustained a loss never again, at 
 least in two of these respects, to be supplied. 
 
 " For myself and family, and, I may add, the whole 
 church at Spanish Town, we feel that we are bereaved. 
 
264 Times of Refreshing. [ J 85 2 
 
 We have lost a faithful, kind, and generous friend — a 
 father ; and our poignancy of sorrow may be in some 
 measure conceived. His name and generous actions are 
 engraven on the hearts of thousands in Jamaica, and his 
 memory will be cherished here to the end of time. God 
 has honoured him to accomplish a work for us that no 
 other man could or would have effected." 
 
 " I am extremely obliged to you for the details you have 
 given me of the last moments of our revered friend. I 
 shall read your letter on next Lord's-day, and I will 
 venture to say that it will call forth feelings that I shall be 
 unable to withstand." 
 
 " None, perhaps, but you, myself, and a very few others 
 know what our beloved friend was in the domestic circle, 
 and none, therefore, can so fully estimate their loss. He 
 was, without exception, the kindest, most loving, and 
 beloved father of a family I ever knew. Beneath his roof, 
 amidst the tender, generous hospitality of himself and his 
 beloved wife and children, myself and those dearest to me 
 have enjoyed some of the happiest hours of our existence, 
 and it is a pang in our sorrow, that we shall never cease to 
 feel, that our earnest hopes, so fondly cherished, of seeing 
 him once more in theflesh are broken off and disappointed." 
 
 Mr. Phillippo subsequently prepared a brief sketch of 
 his friend's life, which appeared in the Baptist Magazine 
 of the year 1853. 
 
 Apart from these sad events, the spiritual growth of his 
 congregation filled Mr. Phillippo's heart with gratitude 
 and joy. The schools in Spanish Town, re-opened in 1847 
 under the care of Mr. O'Meally, who had been his faithful 
 helper in all his troubles, gave him unalloyed pleasure. 
 The following letter, written in the early part of the year 
 1853, presents a very pleasant picture of the busy and suc- 
 cessful pastor : — 
 
 " I am thankful to say that our peace and prosperity as 
 
1853] Tim es of Refresh ing. 265 
 
 a church and congregation continue. On the morning of 
 the new year I had the pleasure of adding to ,the church, 
 by baptism, thirty-two persons, and on the following day, 
 being the first Sabbath of the new year, they were re- 
 ceived into the fellowship of the church in the presence 
 of a very large and deeply interested assembly. The 
 greater number of those thus received were, as has been 
 usual of late, young persons, the children of pious parents, 
 who have mostly been taught the first rudiments of educa- 
 tion in our schools. It is gratifying also to notice that not 
 fewer than eight or ten of the number attributed their con- 
 version to God to services that were held during the preva- 
 lence of cholera. Among the young people was an African 
 girl, some short time since, together with some twenty or 
 thirty more, rescued from a slave-ship and placed on an 
 estate in the neighbourhood. She gave such clear and, 
 in every respect, such satisfactory evidences of her piety 
 as both interested and astonished me. 
 
 " I have had the great happiness of adding to the 
 church by baptism since I have been restored to full 
 possession of the chapel, including a period of about two 
 years, upwards of one hundred and fifty members, and 
 have received about fifty who had from various causes 
 previously discontinued their attendance on the public 
 means of grace, or who had gone to other places of 
 worship, making a total of full two hundred. 
 
 "Yesterday, in accordance with previous announce- 
 ment, I preached a sermon to young people, when the 
 chapel was crowded, and more strangers were present 
 than I have seen for many years past ; some, indeed, were 
 present who, I believe, were never in our place of wor- 
 ship before. 
 
 " Although great poverty is experienced by the people 
 in general, in which we, as ministers of voluntary churches, 
 of course largely participate, we have much to encourage 
 
266 Times of Refreshing. ['853 
 
 us. May God graciously, in His own good time, afford us 
 temporal as well as spiritual prosperity ! 
 
 "As soon as we can get a little free from the remainder 
 of our embarrassments I hope to hold a missionary meeting 
 here, to try what we can do for Africa and the Calabar 
 Institution. We shall, however, have much to do for 
 some time to come in the repairs of the mission premises 
 at Sligoville and Passage Fort, which have suffered much 
 during our long struggle and consequent inability to pre- 
 serve them from decay. Another object that "claims our 
 anxious concern and most vigorous efforts are our schools, 
 which have been injured also from the same causes. We 
 have, indeed, much work before us, and I pray God to give 
 us grace to do what we have to do with all our might. 
 
 " Both myself and people are much gratified and cheered 
 by the kindness of the different individuals and churches 
 who have so readily and generously assisted us by their 
 donations towards our repairs at Spanish Town, as also 
 to the brethren by whom our cause has been espoused and 
 advocated." 
 
 The meetings referred to in the above letter were held 
 in the month of July in Spanish Town, Passage Fort, and 
 Sligoville. They proved to be gatherings of the deepest 
 interest, and called forth strong expressions of wonder 
 and gratitude from Mr. Phillippo and the numerous 
 friends who assisted him. A friend from England, Mr. 
 D. Haddon, occupied the chair on each occasion. The 
 meetings were crowded to excess. In addition to the 
 great numbers of the inhabitants of the town, many hun- 
 dreds came from various parts of the country, some on 
 horseback, and whole families in carts. The utmost 
 order and decorum prevailed. There was not the slightest 
 interruption, either within or without doors, during any of 
 the services. This series of meetings, says Mr. Phillippo, 
 " were a matter of grateful astonishment to me. I could 
 
1 8 5 3 J Tim es of Refresh ing. 267 
 
 not but regard the presence of many as a token of their 
 regret at the share they had taken in my troubles. Every- 
 where the most marked deference is manifested towards 
 me. This clears the atmosphere around me, and will do 
 wonders. I have now a smooth sea before me, and I may 
 put more canvas on my bark. This is the Lord's doing. 
 
 Lord ! keep me from pride and vainglory ; but more 
 than all from forgetfulness of Thy mercy and goodness. 
 
 1 may truly say, What has God wrought ! " 
 
 His active participation in public affairs was now much 
 sought after. He entered very warmly into a proposal 
 that was made to the missionaries, that they should nomi- 
 nate representatives to join a mission of delegates to 
 England, to lay before the Queen's Ministers the decayed 
 state and perilous condition of all the interests of the 
 country, and made several journeys to the north side of 
 the island to confer with his brethren on the matter. He was 
 summoned (March gth, 1853) by the House of Assembly, 
 to attend and give evidence before the Committee "ap- 
 pointed to inquire into and report upon the moral and 
 social condition of the labouring people of the island 
 since 1845, the educational wants of the juvenile popula- 
 tion, and whether the future good of the island would be 
 best consulted by making education compulsory."* 
 
 On this last topic the interest of Mr. Phillippo was deep. 
 From the beginning of his life in Jamaica he had devoted 
 much time and energy to the spread of instruction amongst 
 the people. Next to the preaching of the Gospel he re- 
 garded it as the most effectual method for promoting their 
 civilisation and well-being. Among his numerous references 
 to this subject, he has left the following brief compendium, 
 written at this time, of the views he entertained : — 
 
 " The friends of education may be divided into two 
 
 * He had been summoned in the previous February to give evidence 
 on the necessity of a bridge over the Rio Cobre., 
 
268 Times of Refreshing. ['^53 
 
 classes. First, those who hold that the spread of educa- 
 tion should be left to the voluntary action of the people. 
 These may again be divided into two sections : (i) Those 
 who dislike the principle of Government interference in all 
 matters affecting the moral interests of the community ; 
 (2) Those who distrust the working of such measures. 
 
 " The former deprecate any plan not religious. The 
 latter fear that Government interference would in its 
 immediate results be injurious to the'interests of religion, 
 and, perhaps, ultimately lead to tyranny by the controlling 
 power it would give to the inculcation of the opinions of 
 the governors. 
 
 " By the first of these a Government plan would be 
 opposed as unjust ; by the last, as inexpedient. 
 
 " 2. The advocates of State interference may in like 
 manner be divided into two parties : (1) Those who wish 
 to see both original and controlling power vested in a 
 central board ; (2) Those who would confine the function 
 of Government to the aid of schools already in existence, 
 or to the establishment of new ones in connection with 
 local effort on fixed and understood principles." 
 
 Mr. Phillippo then proceeds to state his own conclusions 
 as follows : — 
 
 " 1. If Government interfere at all in the education of 
 the people, it must do so rather by aiding and promoting 
 voluntary efforts than by centralisation and direct control. 
 
 " 2. That education, in order to be useful, must be moral 
 and religious, without being sectarian or exclusive. 
 
 "3. That the Bible is better adapted than any other 
 book for general use in schools, its introduction without 
 note or comment involving us in fewer difficulties, and 
 offering greater advantages, than any other plan that has 
 yet been devised for the religious instruction of the popu- 
 lation. 
 
 " If these points can be successfully established, the 
 
1853] Times of Refreshing. 269 
 
 path of duty will be plain. Good men of all parties must 
 unite to lay the foundation of public virtue and private 
 worth in the general education of the people on Scriptural 
 and comprehensive principles. A system of instruction 
 established on any other basis would be a public calamity, 
 since it would not only supersede voluntary efforts, but 
 convert public instruction either into an engine for the 
 promotion of spiritual tyranny, or into a channel for the 
 propagation of latitudinarianism." 
 
 These views were by no means acceptable to the ruling 
 authorities in Jamaica, and no real effort was made or 
 attempted to provide for the instruction of the peasantry. 
 The discussions in the local journals were frequent, often 
 bitter, and on not a few occasions did Mr. Phillippo 
 vindicate in the press the enlightened views he held. 
 Twelve or fourteen years had to elapse, and a frightful 
 calamity fall upon the island, before the education of the 
 masses was brought home to the minds of the rulers with 
 a force and necessity they could no longer withstand. 
 
 Among other matters of lighter interest we find Mr. 
 Phillippo delivering, in April, a series of lectures on Cuba 
 and other islands of the West Indies, to a literary and 
 reading society which had been recently formed in 
 Spanish Town. Later in the year he was engaged in 
 preparing a reply to a series of questions on Jamaica 
 addressed to him by the secretary of the Statistical branch 
 of the British Association. 
 
 The year closed with the reception of the very gratifying 
 news that their eldest son had passed his examination in 
 Edinburgh, and had attained the degree of M.D. It was 
 a joy to his parents that he soon after commenced practice 
 in Spanish Town, and that their declining years were 
 cheered by his filial care. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 THE WORK OF FAITH-1854 to 1855. 
 
 Between three and four years of pleasant and successful 
 labour were now granted to Mr. Phillippo. With renewed 
 energy and diligence he gave himself to the ministry of 
 the Word, and reaped the fruit of his labours in constant 
 additions to the churches under his care, and in their 
 steady growth in Christian knowledge and faithfulness. 
 The difficulties of previous years were at an end, and he 
 often wondered as he witnessed the favour which God 
 gave him in the eyes of all classes. He records with 
 especial pleasure the incidents that attended the observ- 
 ance of the 1 st of August, 1854, as showing that his 
 " expectations with respect to the cause in Spanish Town 
 were not disappointed." The commemoration of the day 
 of emancipation was preceded by missionary services on 
 the 1 6th and j 8th of July, in connection with the Calabar 
 Institution and mission work on the Western Coast of 
 Africa. The day itself was observed with a baptismal 
 service at Clair Park Pen, near Spanish Town. The 
 attendance was larger than on any previous occasion, the 
 people flocking in during the night from all parts, 
 encamping under the trees, and with bonfires illuminating 
 the scene. At daylight, a thanksgiving meeting was held. 
 The booth which had been erected proving too small for 
 the crowds, this solemn act of worship was conducted in 
 the open air. The candidates for baptism were then 
 seated under the branches of a wide-spreading tree, the 
 
1854J The Work of Faith. 271 
 
 spectators standing around. After Mr. Phillippo had 
 addressed them, they proceeded to the river-side. Here 
 the pastor delivered an impressive discourse on the 
 subject of baptism, and after singing and prayer the 
 candidates, forty-two in number, were baptized. "The 
 place selected for the observance of the sacred rite," says 
 Mr. Phillippo, " was a truly beautiful one, the wooded 
 banks rapidly ascending from the river's bed on both 
 sides, giving the appearance of a vast amphitheatre, 
 thronged with people. The greatest silence and solemnity 
 prevailed throughout, and numbers were deeply affected. 
 The lawn before the house was covered with horses, carts, 
 gigs, and all kinds of vehicles." Interesting and striking 
 indeed must such a scene have been even to an indifferent 
 spectator ; but to those who knew what slavery had been, 
 who had seen the degradation and cruelty that attended it, 
 who had become acquainted with the persecution that 
 some of these very people had suffered for professing their 
 love to Christ; but more especially to Mr. Phillippo 
 himself, the veteran advocate of freedom and fast friend 
 of the enslaved — such a sight must have excited emotions 
 too deep and thrilling for words to express. At the re- 
 ception of the baptized into the church on the following 
 Sunday at the table of the Lord the chapel was crowded 
 to excess, and the services seem to have created a revival 
 among the strangers, as well as the usual congregation 
 present on the occasion. 
 
 A similar delightful season is recorded on the last Sab- 
 bath of the year, when forty-three, chiefly young and intel- 
 ligent, people were baptized in the Rio Cobre. Mr. 
 Phillippo writes : " It seemed as though the whole town 
 and neighbourhood had poured forth their population to the 
 spot. On fronting them from the river's bank, I beheld a 
 compact mass of heads upwards and on each side, as far 
 as my eye could reach. The address was listened to 
 
272 The Work of Faith. [1854 
 
 throughout with an interest and attention that could not 
 be exceeded. I had previously requested that none of 
 the spectators should move from their places until I 
 emerged from the water and pronounced the Benediction. 
 This request was implicitly obeyed ; not one stirred from 
 the spot or broke the universal silence, until I gave the 
 signal, when they moved away with the same decorum and 
 order as they had exhibited in coming, and during the 
 whole ceremony. The circumstances altogether were 
 deeply solemn and impressive — such as a few years since 
 I could not have anticipated ; while I have reason to 
 believe that many present were spiritually benefited ; 
 many were in tears. Others who had been undecided 
 added their names to the list of inquirers ; and some who 
 had backslidden promised a renewed dedication of them- 
 selves to God and His cause." 
 
 Such days as these do not stand alone in the records 
 Mr. Phillippo has left behind. Again and again it was 
 his joy to receive into the church individuals of all ages, 
 who testified to the saving power of the Gospel irrespect- 
 ive of race or station. But nothing gave Mr. Phillippo 
 greater happiness than to learn that men who had for- 
 merly been his bitterest adversaries, as well as the 
 greatest oppressors of the slave, had become the servants 
 of the Master he loved. Referring to one such case which 
 happened at this time, he says : " How marvellous are the 
 works of God ! Mr. L., the magistrate who did his utmost 
 to prevent the introduction of the Gospel into his parish, 
 who interrupted the surveyors engaged in measuring the 
 piece of land purchased by the slaves, and some others 
 of the people who were free, for the purpose of building a 
 chapel ; who ordered the materials collected to be carted 
 away to his own premises ; and who was one of the 
 greatest enemies in the country to missionary operations, 
 has returned to Jamaica ' a new man in Christ Jesus.' He 
 
i8ss] The Work of Faith. 273 
 
 now attends the place of worship which he aimed to 
 destroy, and is a contributor to the cause he laboured to 
 overthrow." 
 
 The year 1855 was marked by much sickness and mor- 
 tality among the members of his flock, some of the most 
 pious and useful being amongst those who entered their 
 rest. And although this year did not bring additions to 
 the community, yet " the state and prospects of the church 
 and congregation were most pleasing." He adds: "We 
 have a considerable number of young people who are 
 anxious to unite with us in Christian fellowship. Some 
 of them are of unusual interest and promise, whom we 
 hope to baptize in a few weeks. Our peace and harmony 
 continue unbroken. Prejudices and other unfavourable 
 circumstances seem to have entirely disappeared, and every- 
 thing indicates future repose and prosperity, consisting in 
 the devotion of heart and life to God. We have had two 
 or three deeply interesting missionary meetings during 
 the year, which were most numerously and respectably 
 attended." 
 
 The large school in Spanish Town, on which he had 
 expended so large a measure of time and cost, gave him 
 much satisfaction. At the examination conducted by 
 Dr. Morales, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, that 
 gentleman observed " that the children had acquitted 
 themselves in a manner that reflected great credit on 
 themselves and their teacher. And to you [turning to 
 Mr. Phillippo] great praise is due for the indefatigable 
 zeal you manifest in raising and continuing these institu- 
 tions. You, I believe, were among the first in this island 
 to set in operation institutions for popular education. 
 This school is associated with many pleasing recollec- 
 tions of my past career. So far back as twenty-five years 
 I had the pleasure of visiting it, and it is still more gratify- 
 ing to me to learn that the present master, Mr. O'Meally, 
 
2 74 The Work of Faith. [1855 
 
 was educated here, whose work is worthily seen in the 
 efficiency of the scholars I have had the privilege of 
 examining to-day." 
 
 The crowning happiness of the year was, however, the 
 tidings that his two younger sons had been baptized and 
 united in fellowship with the churches at Lucea and 
 Mount Carey. " Thus," he records, " my three sons and 
 only daughter, in the morning of their days, relying on 
 strength and grace from above, have given their hearts 
 to God, and have consecrated their lives to His service." 
 
 The general affairs of the mission had also a full share 
 of Mr. Phillippo's attention. As a consequence of his 
 previous connection with many of the churches and his 
 long experience as a missionary, he was not unfrequently 
 requested to mediate in matters of importance beyond the 
 circuit of his own ministrations, and to reconcile both in- 
 dividuals and churches between whom causes of strife had 
 arisen. He was eminently a peacemaker, and sought to 
 infuse in every association with which he was connected 
 his own spirit of gentleness and respect for the views of 
 others. He gladly took part in the management and in 
 the annual examinations of the Calabar Institution, and 
 gave his hearty support to the enlargement of its useful- 
 ness, which took place in 1854, by the formation of a 
 normal school department. 
 
 The death of the greatly esteemed Treasurer of the 
 Society, W. B. Gurney, Esq., early in the year, called forth 
 a warm expression of regard and esteem from the mission- 
 aries assembled at Calabar. In forwarding their resolutions 
 to the Committee, Mr. Phillippo seized the opportunity to 
 give his own personal sentiments. " To say our late 
 Treasurer was a great and good man is not enough. 
 He was one of the princes of the people, and of the heads 
 of the elders of Israel. In personal, practical devotedness 
 to the cause of God, and real benevolence in its support, 
 
1 855.] The Work of Faith. 275 
 
 it seems scarcely possible that he could have a superior. 
 His habits and the whole tenor of his life proved that the 
 good of souls and the advancement of Christ's Kingdom in 
 the world were his meat and drink, his study and his recrea- 
 tion, the goal tovvards which his efforts, his prayers, ever 
 seemed to tend. Oh ! that many who have similar 
 capacities for usefulness may catch his fallen mantle. 
 The Society has great cause for thankfulness that the 
 successor [Sir S. Morton Peto] of their late honoured 
 Treasurer is a man of like spirit ; but we want such men 
 multiplied a hundredfold. Mr. Gurney died, it seems, 
 just as it was expected he would, his mind calm and 
 serene, not trusting in his own righteousness or depending 
 upon his good works, but as a sinner looking for the 
 mercy of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ' Let me 
 die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like 
 his.'" 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 PUBLIC AFFAIRS— [854 to 1856. 
 
 Early in 1854 an important change was made in the 
 government of Jamaica, by the formation of a salaried 
 Executive Council of three persons, who should act as 
 responsible advisers of the Governor, and with whom all 
 money Bills were to originate, instead, as heretofore, with 
 individual members of the Assembly. A much-needed 
 check was thus placed on the extravagant expenditure so 
 frequently authorised at the instance of interested parties. 
 Under the administration of Sir Henry Barkley, who 
 succeeded Sir Charles Grey in October, 1853, these 
 changes worked well ; and a brief period of political 
 repose aided the growth of the general industries of the 
 island. The value of all kinds of produce increased, and 
 an impetus was thereby given to trade. The sugar estates 
 were slowly falling into the hands of resident owners, and 
 were being cultivated, especially on the north side of the 
 island, with a spirit and success unknown for many years. 
 The Governor's visits, during April and May, to various 
 parts of the country filled him with pleasure. He could 
 not but be pained to witness the large number of estates 
 still lying ruinate ; but the indications of progress among 
 the peasantry were an ample compensation. If their 
 education had been neglected by the propertied classes, he 
 found others active in the cause, and bore willing testi- 
 mony to the energetic and successful labours of the various 
 missionary bodies. Still, the subject was one that called 
 
5854] Public Affairs. 277 
 
 forth incessant discussion. In February, 1854., Mr. 
 Phillippo was requested, by a communication from the 
 Governor, in common with other missionaries, to supply 
 returns annually of the state and progress of education at 
 his stations ; and, shortly after, the House of Assembly 
 took up the question, and made an effort to pass a Bill 
 which, in the judgment of Mr. Phillippo and his 
 colleagues, was calculated to jeopardise mission schools, 
 and to give an undue prominence and control over public 
 instruction to the clergy of the Establishment. 
 
 The measure was hurried through the House oj 
 Assembly in order to prevent any remonstrance from the 
 Nonconformist communities. " I attended," says Mr. 
 Phillippo, " a meeting held in Mr. H.'s office, to prepare a 
 memorial to the House, and to the Governor in Council, 
 against this renewed attempt to ignore and obviate the 
 good being done by missionaries. The Bill appears to 
 have secured the favour of the Council, since it was 
 brought in by the acting Attorney-General, although a 
 professed Liberal. Such was its nature that one of the 
 brethren writing to me thus expressed himself : ' If that 
 Bill becomes law, I think all of us had better put ourselves 
 in a posture ready for flight at a moment's notice, as any 
 rabble may immediately cause us to be ousted from our 
 homes, and the protection of the law be completely taken 
 away from us.' Being in the metropolis, and having the 
 opportunity of seeing the members of the Council, I was 
 expected to do all in my power to arrest the progress of 
 ' this monstrous Bill.' The measure was arrested by the 
 combined action of the Nonconformist missionaries. I 
 furnished them particulars respecting its provisions and 
 their operation, and waited on the Governor with an 
 address, being deputed by the body for the purpose." 
 
 The subject of education continued also to be much 
 agitated in the press. Mr. Phillippo published several 
 
27 s Public Affairs. [i^S4 
 
 letters in the Watchman and the Standard newspapers, 
 which were afterwards reprinted in a collected form, and 
 obtained a wide and useful circulation.* Mr. Phillippo's 
 own schools were conducted on the system of the British 
 and Foreign School Society, and supported entirely by 
 voluntary contributions. He therefore strongly opposed 
 another Bill brought into the House of Assembly, in 
 1856, at the suggestion of Lord Glenelg, the Secretary of 
 State for the Colonies, which would have enforced a com- 
 pulsory system of education throughout the island, for 
 which it was totally unprepared. It was Mr. Phillippo's 
 conviction " that the machinery proposed would involve 
 a mischievous waste of public money, that the grants 
 would be perverted to private gain, and that they would 
 augment the evils which the system professed to correct 
 and obviate." 
 
 Not less strenuous was his opposition to the scheme, 
 which, in the session of 1854-5, found favour with the 
 House of Assembly, for making appropriations from the 
 public funds to any and every religious community that 
 would receive them. " Grants," says Mr. Phillippo, 
 " were lavishly made, not only for the support of the 
 Established Church and the Church of Scotland, but were 
 also offered to the Moravians, the Wesleyans, the native 
 Baptists (the latter unconnected with the organised body 
 of Baptist missionaries), and Roman Catholics, and would 
 possibly have been given to any other sect had they existed 
 in sufficient numbers to be thought worthy of such 
 consideration." 
 
 " The Roman Catholics seem to have had special 
 advocates in their favour in the House ; and such persons 
 were commended by them and the press for their liberality 
 
 *■ The pamphlet was entitled, "A Plea for Education on the 
 Voluntary System. In Letters addressed to the Members of the 
 Honourable House of Assembly, Jamaica, 1856." 
 
1855] Public Affairs. 279 
 
 of sentiment. No doubt the Jews, United Presbyterians, 
 Congregationalists, and Baptists would have been equally 
 successful, if they could so far have forgotten their 
 principles, and bartered their spiritual rights and inde- 
 pendence. With regard to the Roman Catholics, the 
 Nonconformists had lifted up their voice year by year 
 against such a prostitution of the public money by a 
 professedly Protestant Legislature. Our Presbyterian 
 brethren acted nobly in the matter; giving expression to 
 the sentiments of their Synod in strong language, as did 
 others, asserting that such grants were an endowment of 
 Popery. My correspondence with brethren on this subject 
 was very considerable, as may be supposed from the 
 locality of my residence." 
 
 At Mr. Phillippo's suggestion, the Baptist missionaries, 
 when assembled at the annual meeting of the Calabar 
 Institution, opened communications with the Presbyterian 
 missionaries, expressing their great willingness to co- 
 operate with them in suitable measures of opposition to 
 all grants for religious purposes from the island treasury. 
 But these grants were not finally withdrawn or discon- 
 tinued till the measure for the Disestablishment of the 
 Church of England in the colony was passed in 1870. 
 
 One other public matter much occupied Mr. Phillippo's 
 time in the 3'ears 1855-7. The old Clergy Bill, by which 
 the salaries and status of the island clergy were fixed, 
 had yet some four years of its original term of fourteen to 
 run. But, as the Legislature seemed in a compliant 
 mood, the partisans of the Establishment resolved, if 
 possible, to secure their position for a longer time, and to 
 perpetuate their privileges for another like term at the 
 close of the current period, even though, to secure it, 
 they might have to submit to some reduction in the 
 stipends then payable. Mr. Phillippo and his colleagues 
 thought it an opportune moment to raise the general 
 
Public Affairs. ( 1856 
 
 question of the need of an Establishment at all. He 
 commenced a series of letters in the Watchman newspaper, 
 and carried on an active correspondence with his Non- 
 conformist brethren throughout the island. " Now," he 
 says, "as the Clergy Bill was likely to dispel all hopes of 
 Disestablishment for many years, a conference of all the 
 ministers of voluntary churches was thought necessary, 
 and I forwarded circulars for the purpose." The con- 
 ference was held in the Metropolitan school-room, in 
 Spanish Town, and a memorial, both to the Governor and 
 to the Colonial Office, was adopted. But it was of no 
 avail; and in January, 1857, "this scandalous Clergy 
 Bill," as he terms it, " passed into law." 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES AND ENGLAND— 
 
 I856 TO 1857. 
 
 On the 9th of June, 1856, Mr. Phillippo embarked in the 
 Robert Lush, Captain Graham, for a brief visit to the 
 United States. For some time it had been evident that 
 the strain of the last twelve years of anxiety and labour 
 had greatly affected his health. A change was eminently 
 desirable, if not absolutely necessary. The voyage, which 
 was attended by fine weather throughout, had its customary 
 invigorating effect on his constitution, and he arrived in 
 Baltimore, on the 25th of June, in safety and improved 
 health. He at once found himself in the midst of friends, 
 among whom he specially mentions the Baptist ministers 
 of the city, and Mrs. Kingdon, the widow of a former 
 missionary and colleague in Jamaica. 
 
 Learning that the Congress was in session, he hastened 
 to Washington, "the city of magnificent distances," 
 finding everywhere a welcome, and enjoyed brief inter- 
 course with some of the leading celebrities of the State. 
 During a short visit to Philadelphia, he renewed his 
 acquaintance with Dr. Belcher, an old English friend 
 who had transferred his ministry to the United States, 
 and with whom he consulted concerning the publication 
 of his work on the United States and Cuba, which for 
 some years he had been busy in his more leisure moments 
 in bringing to completion. He availed himself of every 
 opportunity which his journey afforded to increase his 
 
282 Visit to the United Stales and England. [i 856 
 
 stores of information and to test the accuracy of his 
 views. Another English acquaintance whom he met 
 was the Rev. Mr. Berg, who had been for some time 
 settled at Williamsburgh, and for whom he preached. A 
 few days after he reached New York, and in an interesting 
 letter to his wife, dated Brooklyn, July 13th, he thus refers 
 to the state of things around him : — 
 
 " I am thankful to say that the affection of my voice is 
 much better than when I left. I have preached only once 
 on each of the two Sabbaths I have been here, although 
 I have much to do in replying to questions about Jamaica 
 and its people on each day of the week ; that is, in 
 correcting the misrepresentations and in counteracting 
 the slanders that are put abroad here by the pro-slavery 
 party respecting the results of emancipation in our island. 
 Some are astonished and gratified; others look suspiciously, 
 and evidently do not like my reports. I went to the Anti- 
 slavery office the other day, and saw Lewis Tappan, Esq., 
 the Clarkson and Sturge of America. He heard my 
 representations of the real state of things in Jamaica with 
 great interest, and expressed much anxiety that I would 
 embody my statements in an article which he would place 
 in some of the leading periodicals. This I could not 
 possibly do then, but I promised to- comply with his 
 request, if I can command sufficient leisure to do so, on 
 my return from Canada. The subjects of Slavery and Free- 
 dom are the all-absorbing ones at this time in America. 
 Everything seems to hinge upon and take its colouring 
 from them. Nothing else scarcely, except business, is 
 thought or talked of. Slavery is most certainly doomed ; 
 — the only fear is the results of the conflict for its aboli- 
 tion to the integrity of the union in relation to North and 
 South. From all I hear I am of opinion that disruption 
 would not follow this great measure of justice to the 
 African race. The alliance between these two portions of 
 
1856] Visit to the United Slates and England. 283 
 
 the union is too complex and powerful both socially and 
 commercially. I think the free States have only to place 
 the helm of the State in the hands of Fremont, and he will 
 guide the vessel safely, though not without loss and 
 danger, into port. Party feeling runs high in relation to 
 the next President. The candidates are Buchanan, Fil- 
 more, and Fremont. The latter is against the institution 
 of slavery — the others advocate or tolerate it. The 
 principal chances, it seems, are between Buchanan and 
 Fremont. Filmore is the idol of the ' know-nothings,' 
 and is said to have no chance of success." 
 
 In a postscript, he adds, very characteristically, " Please 
 tell Mr. Hall, and all the deacons, leaders, and people, 
 both in Spanish Town, Sligoville, Passage Fort, and all 
 round the country, that I feel sometimes very anxious 
 about them, and that I most earnestly hope they will be 
 regular in their attendance at the chapel and on all the 
 means of grace, and otherwise conduct themselves in such 
 a manner as to cause me no pain on my return. I have 
 here to listen sometimes to very great misrepresentations, 
 both of the people and the state of things generally in 
 Jamaica, but I unfailingly make known the truth." 
 
 From New York Mr. Phillippo proceeded to Canada, 
 making a delightful voyage up the Hudson to Albany, and 
 thence by rail to Niagara. Here he met Mr. and Mrs. 
 Landon, with whom he sojourned for a few days, enjoying 
 the recollections and amenities of their old friendship 
 in Jamaica. He reached Montreal by way of the St. 
 Lawrence, and has preserved the following graphic 
 description of his shooting the rapids of Lachine : — 
 
 "At a small Indian village we pause a moment to 
 receive on board our steamer an Indian pilot, who takes 
 complete control of the vessel. Four men are at the 
 wheel. There is hardly a breath of air stirring, everything 
 is calm and quiet, and our steamer glides as noiselessly 
 
284 Visit to the United Slates and England. [1856 
 
 and gently down the river as she would along an ordinary 
 canal. Suddenly a scene of wild grandeur breaks upon 
 us. Waves are lashed into spray, and into breakers of a 
 thousand forms, by the dark rocks they are dashed 
 against in the headlong impetuosity of the river. Whirl- 
 pools, narrow passages beset with rocks, a storm-lashed 
 sea, all mingle their sublime terrors in a single rapid. In 
 an instant we are in the midst of them ; now passing with 
 lightning speed within a few yards of rocks, upon which, 
 were our vessel but to touch, she would be reduced to an 
 utter wreck before the sound of the crash could die upon 
 the air ; again shooting forward like an arrow towards a 
 rocky island, which our bark avoids by a turn almost as 
 rapid as the movements of a bird. Then from crests of 
 great waves rushing down precipices our craft is flung 
 upon the crests of others as they recede ; she trembles to 
 her very keel from the shock, and the spray is thrown far 
 in upon her decks. 
 
 " Now we enter a narrow channel hemmed in by 
 threatening rocks, with white breakers leaping over them ; 
 yet we dash through on our lightning way, spurning the 
 countless whirlpools beneath us. Forward is an absolute 
 precipice of water ; on every side of it breakers are thrown 
 high into the air. Where shall we go ? Ere the thought 
 has come and gone we mount the wall of wave and foam 
 like a bird, and glorious, sublime science lands us a 
 second afterwards upon the calm, unruffled bosom of a 
 gentle river. The seemingly dangerous Lachine Rapids 
 are left behind us, and onward we come ; the fear and 
 excitement of our apparently perilous descent gives way to 
 admiration, as we gaze upon the gigantic structure before 
 us spanning the river, the ' Victoria Bridge.' " 
 
 During the few days devoted to Montreal, he enjoyed 
 the hospitalities of Dr. and Mrs. Davies, meeting with 
 many friends " from Yorkshire, Leicestershire, Hastings, 
 
1857] Visit to the United States and England. 285 
 
 and elsewhere." '• All along my route," he continues to 
 his wife, " I have met with friends and acquaintances from 
 England and Jamaica almost innumerable. I scarcely 
 stop in a place for a day but I meet with many 
 persons I have known before, and even in places where I 
 am not personally known, to my great surprise, oftentimes 
 it is said my name has for years been a household word." 
 
 This delightful intercourse, however, necessarily came 
 soon to a close, and after a short visit to the Grand Ligne 
 Mission he passed through Boston and Rhode Island to 
 New York, where he embarked for Jamaica, having in 
 company the young lady to whom his youngest son, Edwin, 
 was about to be united in marriage. They arrived in 
 Jamaica on the 6th of October. 
 
 This short holiday did not, however, produce all the 
 beneficial results which Mr. Phillippo hoped would 
 follow. In his reply to a very cordial letter from the late 
 Dr. Brock urging him to visit England, dated February 
 24th, 1857, he announces his intention to adopt the advice 
 of his friend, and says : — " My principal object will, of 
 course, be to seek renovated health. I have now been in 
 this climate nearly three-and-thirty years, and, not having 
 been idle, nor without my share of the anxieties and cares 
 to which flesh is heir, it will not appear surprising that 
 my constitution should begin to betray signs of decay. 
 I have not been really well for several months past, and 
 my symptoms are such that I feel persuaded if I do not 
 get away from my work here, and find a more bracing 
 atmosphere for a time, my future usefulness will be greatly 
 diminished, and probably my life be jeopardised. I have 
 been home twice during the three-and-thirty years, but 
 both times I delayed doing so till my health and strength 
 were so prostrated, or disease had become so seated in my 
 constitution, as almost to preclude the hope of recovery, 
 even after a residence of years, I was better for my hasty 
 
286 Visit to the United Slates and England. |^i 857 
 
 visit to the States ; but the advantage was only temporary. 
 At the same time, as it appears now pretty evident that 
 the will of God is for me to find my grave in Jamaica, 
 and as I am so far verging towards the common limit of 
 human life as to preclude the prospect of bidding farewell 
 to my relatives and friends if I postpone my visit much 
 longer, my wife and family unite in urging my visit as a 
 duty I owe both to myself and them, and to the cause of 
 God in Spanish Town. Under these circumstances, 
 added to your kind invitation to your hospitalities, you 
 will be among the first to whom I shall present myself on 
 my arrival." 
 
 Mr. Phillippo accordingly sailed for England in the 
 Alrato on the 26th of March, accompanied on board by his 
 sons Cecil and George. On the previous evening a fare- 
 well, but deeply interesting, prayer-meeting was held by 
 his flock to commend him to the care and blessing of 
 God. 
 
 It is unnecessary to say that he received a hearty wel- 
 come from Dr. Brock. On his arrival at Southampton he 
 was greeted by a letter from him, and, lest Mr. Phillippo 
 should not take him at his word and proceed at once to his 
 house, Dr. Brock sent his son to bring him thither. He 
 was scarcely settled comfortably in the cheerful home of 
 his warm-hearted host and hostess than he was over- 
 whelmed with applications for his services at missionary 
 meetings, to most of which he sooner or later responded. 
 He was also called upon by several influential members of 
 the Liberal party in London, and by his friends of the 
 Anti-Slavery Society, anxious to hear from his lips some 
 authentic evidence on the state of affairs in Jamaica. 
 
 The views to which he gave utterance he at length 
 embodied in three letters, which appeared in the columns 
 of the Freeman in the month of June, and, as they con- 
 tain his matured judgment on the various matters referred 
 
1 857] Visit to the United States.jznd England. 287 
 
 to in them, it is due to his memory to give some general 
 outline of their nature. 
 
 The objections or statements he had to encounter 
 took generally the following form : — It was affirmed that the 
 emancipated peasantry had fallen into a state of deeper 
 degradation and immorality than that which existed an- 
 terior to the era of freedom ; that Obeahism and Myalism, 
 and other kindred superstitions, had greatly increased ; 
 that idleness had become a painful characteristic of large 
 masses of the population, and that no wages would tempt 
 them to steady and continuous labour; that the grossest 
 immorality and licentiousness were unblushingly practised ; 
 that anarchy and resistance to lawful authority were on 
 the increase ; that irreligion was increasing on every side ; 
 and, finally, that the Negro exhibited no inventive faculty, 
 and no desire for social progress or material improve- 
 ment. 
 
 Mr. Phillippo's reply to these allegations consisted of 
 two parts : of an explanation, and of a statement of facts 
 drawn from his own experience. 
 
 By way of explanation, he points out that it was natural 
 to expect that, when the pressure of a slavish condition 
 was removed, the true character of the Negro would 
 become more visible ; that many of the evils deplored 
 were the sure result of the wicked system from which the 
 slave had so recently escaped ; that the Legislature had 
 placed no check on the increase of gambling-houses and 
 taverns, where the means of intoxication were cheap and 
 abundant ; that many superstitions which were dying out 
 had been re-awakened in power by the introduction of 
 liberated slaves from Africa, and of emigrants from India 
 and other heathen lands. He freely admits that riots and 
 other breaches of the laws had become not unfrequent, 
 but traces them to the action of a few demagogues and 
 others who, at elections, by the most unworthy means, 
 
288 Visit io the United States and England. [1857 
 
 sought the electoral support of the rising class of free-- 
 holders. He regrets the increasing neglect of the ordi- 
 nances of the Gospel, but remarks that it was partly 
 owing to poverty, and still more to the subsidence of the 
 excitement which attended emancipation. At all events, 
 it had one beneficial result — there was less hypocrisy and 
 fewer unworthy members of the churches bearing the 
 name of Christian. But more particularly he traces many 
 of the evils and difficulties under which Jamaica was then 
 suffering to the mortgaged condition of many estates, to 
 the decay of cultivation;* to the competition of the slave- 
 grown sugar from Cuba and elsewhere in the English 
 markets ; to the great increase of taxation, which was 
 made to press with unfair weight on the peasantry ; and, 
 as the consequence of all this, the diminished means of 
 the better classes and the resulting poverty of the labour- 
 ers. He calculates the loss which the island sustained 
 from these causes at not less than ^"800,000 a year, for 
 the most part borne by the labouring classes. " It can- 
 not," he concludes, " be difficult to conceive that this 
 combination of circumstances must have had a powerful 
 effect on the whole country in producing the poverty de- 
 scribed, and the utmost ruin to its agricultural and com- 
 mercial interests, as well as in the deep injury that must 
 have been inflicted by their operation on the ministers of 
 the Gospel, and on the religious and school establish- 
 ments dependent upon the voluntary contributions of the 
 humbler classes for support." 
 
 But there was another side to the picture. The con- 
 dition of Jamaica was not all dark. If the moral and 
 social condition of the people was not altogether satis- 
 factory, or even if it had in some respects retrograded, 
 
 * He states that oul of six hundred estates under cultivation pre- 
 vious to emancipation thiee hundred had been abandoned and become 
 ruinate. 
 
1857] Visit to the United States and England. 289 
 
 nevertheless, " considering," he says, " the demoralising 
 influence of the system to which the masses were subject 
 for so many generations, it is my opinion that the degree 
 of their advancement in the moral and social scale during 
 the last ten or twelve years is without a parallel in the his- 
 tory of any country. The masses are advancing steadily 
 onward towards that higher state of civilisation and 
 morality to which I believe them destined by nature and 
 Providence." 
 
 He then goes on to affirm that some of the indications 
 of deterioration referred to are rather evidences than 
 otherwise of progress ; they are the effect of " the decline 
 of superstition," of " their recovery from intellectual pros- 
 tration," and " the effervescence of freedom in minds 
 suddenly let loose from sullen and ancient depression." 
 The charge of idleness he declares to be " decidedly and 
 palpably untrue. In all my journeyings through the ex- 
 tended district under my superintendence, in which there 
 are sugar estates, coffee and pimento plantations, and 
 several extensive villages, I have scarcely seen an indi- 
 vidual at any time loitering about, or indisposed to labour 
 for reasonable wages duly and punctually paid." On this 
 point Mr. Phillippo lays great stress, as it was notorious 
 that in numerous instances this condition was "shamefully 
 violated." He then proceeds to remark on the improve- 
 ments he had witnessed in the style and manner of living, 
 on the increase of well-built and well-furnished houses; 
 surrounded by land purchased with the savings of the 
 people, and cultivated in sugar, ginger, and other tropical 
 and profitable products of the soil. In numerous cases 
 these freeholds were gradually assuming all the features of 
 sugar estates, small mills rising up, and the manufacture 
 of sugar increasing year by year. In fact, a very con- 
 siderable portion of the sugar consumed on the island was 
 produced by these small cultivators, while hundreds of 
 
2Q0 Visit to the United States and England. [1857 
 
 barrels were exported to England and America. He 
 mentions one parish as having produced at least a thou- 
 sand barrels for export. 
 
 These improvements, he affirms, were largely owing to 
 the increased pastoral visitation on the part of the mis- 
 sionaries, the easier access to the people in their own 
 homes enjoyed by ministers and teachers, the pressure of 
 church discipline, and, above all, the instruction constantly 
 and strenuously imparted in church and school. There 
 had been indeed a great falling off in their contributions, 
 " not occasioned to any extent by decreased inclination 
 on the part of the people to contribute to benevolent 
 objects, but to their real inability from the prevalence of 
 poverty." But there had been a remarkable display of 
 liberality by these recently enfranchised slaves. " I am of 
 opinion," he concludes, " that, since 1845, more than two- 
 thirds of the full amount required for perpetuating the 
 operation of these agencies, including schools, the erec- 
 tion and repairs of places of worship, and the support of 
 schoolmasters and ministers, have been raised on the 
 spot." 
 
 " In conclusion, emancipation has increased the oppor- 
 tunities of the people for improvement, induced in them 
 a relish for the comforts as well as the necessaries of life, 
 aroused them to a sense of the value of property, and 
 brought about habits of industry. The path has been 
 opened by which all the highest, and best, and noblest 
 human possessions may be obtained by the once despised 
 and oppressed bondsmen of Jamaica." 
 
 This exposition of the condition of Jamaica was every- 
 where warmly welcomed, and, happily, though Mr. 
 Phillippo's health was sorely tried by the numerous en- 
 gagements which pressed upon him, he was able to visit 
 the chief centres of population and intelligence, and to 
 convey to many parts of the kingdom a true picture of the 
 
1 857] Visit to the United States and England. 29 1 
 
 results of the great boon of freedom. He further aided 
 the cause of Jamaica by becoming a member of a deputa- 
 tion, promoted by the committee of the Anti-Slavery 
 Society, to wait on Lord Palmerston on the subject of 
 African immigration. His practical knowledge of the 
 question led to his being put forward as the chief speaker 
 on the occasion. The deputation, he says, " was most 
 graciously received, and Lord Palmerston promised to 
 give his best consideration to the subject." 
 
 The general affairs of the mission also called for his 
 constant attention, the Committee of the Society em- 
 bracing the opportunity of his presence, with that of the 
 Rev. W. Dendy and others, to confer with them on the 
 interests and well-being of the churches and their pastors. 
 These conferences bore fruit in after-years ; and he 
 strongly expressed his grateful appreciation of the 
 cordiality with which his views and suggestions were 
 received by the Committee, and by the friends of the 
 mission in all parts of the country. 
 
 Towards the close of October he spent some happy 
 days with his relatives in Norfolk, where his aged mother 
 still lived to rejoice in his usefulness. Having accom- 
 plished, beyond his expectations, the objects which brought 
 him to England, Mr. Phillippo embarked on board the 
 mail-steamer Parana, at Southampton, on the znd of 
 November, and bade farewell once more to his native 
 land. After a somewhat unfavourable voyage of twenty- 
 four days, he landed in Jamaica on the 26th. 
 
 " I journeyed," he says, " the following day to Spanish 
 Town in safety and health. I need not say that my return 
 was cordially welcomed by the people. My own thank- 
 fulness and joy were especially excited by the health of 
 my beloved wife and family, and the happiness they 
 expressed in finding me once more amongst them. The 
 means of grace had been regularly maintained at my 
 
 U2 
 
292 Visit to the United States and England. [1857 
 
 several stations during my absence, and uninterrupted 
 peace and harmony had prevailed." But Mr. Phillippo 
 found that the advance of years was not without its power- 
 ful influence on his energies, and he adds : " One thing, 
 however, occasions me deep regret, and this is my sense 
 of inability to perform the work of former years. My 
 district embraces a circle of full fifty miles, and requires 
 constant labour in travelling, preaching, and pastoral 
 supervision, to say nothing of superintendence of the 
 schools." 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 RESUMPTION OF LABOUR— 1858 to i860. 
 
 The agreeable and extended visits paid by Mr. Phillippo 
 to the large circle of friends he formed in the United States 
 and in England brought upon him on his return home a 
 constant stream of correspondence on various subjects 
 connected with the well-being of Jamaica. Among his 
 American correspondents, Mr. Tappan, the well-known 
 opponent of American slavery, is particularly mentioned ; 
 and in the month of April, 1858, he had the pleasure of 
 entertaining in Spanish Town the brother of that 
 gentleman, and of introducing him to his congrega- 
 tion. The distinguished Abolitionist was anxious 
 to possess information on the working of emanci- 
 pation, and this Mr. Phillippo gladly supplied. The 
 editors of several newspapers in the States frequently 
 asked his aid, and threw open their columns to his ex- 
 position of island affairs. At the same time he maintained 
 an active interchange of letters with various parties in 
 England, more especially keeping the leaders of the 
 Anti-slavery Movement informed of the progress of events 
 under the administration of the new Governor, Captain 
 Darling, who, having been long resident in the colony, 
 and employed as secretary under Lord Sligo and Sir 
 Lionel Smith, possessed in a special degree an ac- 
 quaintance with the wants of the country. To several of 
 his friends, from whom he had received assistance for his 
 schools, and enjoyed marked proofs of personal regard, 
 
294 Resumption of Labour. ['858 
 
 he forwarded collections of the fauna and flora of Jamaica, 
 to the study of which he had devoted many leisure hours 
 during his long residence. Referring especially to a 
 collection of land shells that he had made, he says : 
 " I was for some years ignorant of these beautiful fabrics 
 of insect manufacture, but, when aware of their variety in 
 form and the splendour of their colouring, it became so 
 fascinating a study, and so interesting to collect them, 
 that it beguiled many a walk and journey, and occupied 
 what might have been useless minutes to obtain and 
 classify." He also soon became involved in the discus- 
 sion of many matters of local interest. On the 1st of 
 April he is the spokesman of a deputation to the 
 Governor, congratulating his Excellency on his assump- 
 tion of the high office he was called to fill. Next he is 
 making urgent applications to the local authorities to 
 increase the facilities needed by the people to convey 
 their produce to market, and to improve the condition of 
 the roads. He presses on their attention the destructive 
 inundations caused by the overflowings of the Rio Cobre 
 in and around the village of Passage Fort, the chapel and 
 mission-house being at times rendered unapproachable, 
 except by boats. A few days after he is taking part in a large 
 public meeting, which was held at his mountain home, to 
 consider the impassable state of the roads in the district 
 between Sligoville or Highgate and Spanish Town. 
 The memorials adopted at these meetings were laid before 
 the House of Assembly in order that the money needed 
 might be obtained. Of a more general nature were the 
 efforts he put forth, in common with his missionary 
 brethren, to prevent the adoption of an immigration law, 
 which they held to be both unnecessary, in the presence 
 of the large amount of unemployed labour in the island, 
 and unfair to the newly emancipated peasantry dependent 
 on their daily toil. 
 
1858] Resumption of Labour. 295 
 
 Soon after his return Mr. Phillippo had the pleasure of 
 receiving copies of his new work on " The United States 
 and Cuba,"* which had just issued from the press at home. 
 The book quickly ran into a second edition, and was 
 received with much commendation, both in England and 
 the United States. The substance of the volume, during 
 several years, had been delivered in a course of lectures 
 before various literary and scientific societies. The 
 materials were drawn from every publication within his 
 reach, corrected, enlarged, and enlivened by his personal 
 recollections and observations. The scope of the volume 
 is very wide, embracing almost every conceivable subject 
 connected with the United States. The discovery of the 
 country, the history of the States, their geography, 
 government, laws, measures, customs, education, social and 
 religious life, natural phenomena, geology, zoology, and 
 other subjects, all in turn find a place in the panoramic 
 picture he has drawn. The work has seldom been 
 equalled for completeness. If in some parts it is too 
 statistical, these dry matters are relieved by descriptions 
 of scenery, and a pleasant account of the various sorts of 
 people which formed the mingled population. The volume 
 overflows with information carefully compiled, and con- 
 veyed in a style at once fluent and clear. An American 
 authority pronounced it to be the best work that had ever 
 appeared on the subject ; and another critic speaks of it 
 as a book which " deserves the widest circulation in Great 
 Britain, America, and the West India Colonies." Time 
 has in some measure deprived the work of its value. The 
 twenty-two years that have elapsed since its publication 
 have added immensely to the resources of the States, and 
 witnessed the growth of innumerable cities in magnitude 
 
 * "The United States and Cuba." By James M. Phillippo. 
 London : I'ewtress & Co. 
 
296 Resumption of Labour. ['858 
 
 and wealth. The great war of emancipation has changed 
 the entire aspect of its civil and social life. But Mr. 
 Phillippo's book may always be consulted with profit, and 
 will remain a valuable and trustworthy description of the 
 country at the time to which it relates. 
 
 At the meeting of the association of the churches held 
 in Falmouth on the 31st of March, Mr. Phillippo met with 
 a very hearty welcome, and an address, signed by all the 
 ministers present, twenty in number, was presented to 
 him. " We are not unmindful," they say, "of your long- 
 tried and faithful services, of the wisdom and experience 
 you have acquired by them, nor of the immense advan- 
 tages that experience is calculated to confer on the mission. 
 We highly appreciate your untiring efforts during your 
 sojourn in England to promote the best interests of our 
 own mission, and our educational institutions in particular, 
 and to promote the welfare of the people generally. For 
 these self-denying labours accept, dear brother, our united, 
 hearty thanks. Our hope is that we shall yet reap no 
 small profit from them." 
 
 During his stay in England, Mr. Phillippo was able to 
 obtain considerable promises of support for his schools, 
 so that on resuming his labours they were both revived and 
 strengthened. In a letter to a friend he thus reports 
 upon them, under date of February 1, 1859: — "The 
 metropolitan schools were re-opened soon after my return 
 to Jamaica, amidst demonstrations of joy throughout the 
 town, and are now amongst the best conducted and most 
 efficient institutions of the island. 
 
 " These schools already contain one hundred and six 
 scholars of both sexes, of which number ninety-five are in 
 daily attendance. They are conducted by Mr. and Mrs. 
 O'Meally, who, though once slaves, and received their 
 education in the schools over which they now preside, are 
 among the best qualified teachers in the country. They 
 
1859] Resumption of Labour. 297 
 
 were for many years teachers of these schools before their 
 discontinuance ; they subsequently kept a respectable 
 private school ; and Mr. O'Meally was latterly second 
 master of a free grammar-school in the town, to which, in 
 all probability, he would have succeeded as principal but 
 for his inability to produce the testimonials of a graduate 
 of one of the English universities. Mr. and Mrs. O'Meally 
 are also exemplary members of the Christian Church, and 
 their character as well as their literary qualifications are 
 unquestionable. 
 
 " The country schools, three in number, containing 
 upwards of two hundred children, and presided over by four 
 teachers, male and female, are not only still in existence, 
 but have been brought into greater efficiency since my 
 return, I having been enabled, by the increased means 
 afforded, to secure in two of them better qualified teachers 
 than those previously employed. 
 
 " Altogether, my most sanguine expectations with 
 regard to the efficiency and general prosperity of these 
 schools, as the result of the generous subscriptions and 
 donations of the friends of the Negro, have been hitherto 
 more than realised, and, in reliance upon the faithful 
 performance of the promises of friends made for the two 
 succeeding years, I flatter myself still that the chief 
 difficulties in the permanent maintenance of these institu- 
 tions will be overcome." 
 
 Not less vigorously did Mr. Phillippo labour for the 
 spiritual welfare of his people. Three weeks later he 
 writes : — " The church here (Spanish Town) has continued 
 in peace, and has been blessed with some degree of 
 prosperity. Fourteen, chiefly young persons, have been 
 added to it by baptism, and several more who have given 
 evidence of repentance towards God and faith in our 
 Lord Jesus Christ have signified their desire of putting 
 on Christ by a public profession of His name. The 
 
298 Resumption of Labour. L'^59 
 
 attendance on the public worship of God during the 
 former part of the year was not encouraging, but we are 
 thankful to say it has latterly been more in accordance 
 with our desires. The ordinances have been duly ad- 
 ministered, and outdoor services have occasionally been 
 held in the suburbs of the town and other adjacent 
 localities. The Sunday-school suffered awhile from 
 various causes, but it is now supplied with a sufficient 
 staff of teachers, and the prospects of future prosperity are 
 encouraging. The day-schools here, and those in con- 
 nection with this station at Passage Fort and Caymanas, 
 are well attended and efficient. But constant efforts, 
 here and at Passage Fort, for the repairs of the premises 
 have diminished our ability to aid foreign objects. 
 
 " At Sligoville, the church and congregation are in an 
 encouraging condition. Thirteen young persons have 
 been added to our number by baptism, and many to our list 
 of inquirers, while the congregation has very considerably 
 increased. The day-schools here and at Kensington have 
 fluctuated as to numbers, but the Sunday-school is large, 
 interesting, and efficient. The teachers make good use of 
 their library, and are anxious to purchase another from 
 the Tract Society." 
 
 In a letter to a friend in the United States he enters 
 more fully on the general state of the mission. "Our 
 churches here, as you know, were in a highly prosperous 
 condition for some years. Hundreds, I may say thousands, 
 of persons were added to them year after year. Indeed, 
 during the thirty-five years of my missionary life, I have 
 baptized and added to the churches under my own care 
 several thousands who were, I have reason to believe, 
 truly converted to God. 
 
 " The religious excitement that formerly prevailed has, I 
 regret to say, considerably declined during the last few years, 
 which was to have been anticipated ; but we are thankful 
 
1859] Resumption of Labour. . 299 
 
 to say, looking at the field before us in its full extent, and 
 calculating all the circumstances connected with our popu- 
 lation, that we have no cause for discouragement. Our 
 chapels are in general well filled with attentive hearers, and 
 there are being added constantly to our churches such, we 
 have every reason to believe, as will be saved. 
 
 "The Baptists, as a denomination, are, perhaps, in some 
 respects the least flourishing at present, owing to difficulties 
 they have had to encounter in consequence of their entire 
 dependence upon the voluntary contributions of their 
 people for support. 
 
 " But they have sanguine hopes that they will be able, 
 with the temporary aid of the parent Society, or with that 
 of the ministry and churches at home still interested in 
 our welfare, to overcome these difficulties and become 
 more really prosperous than ever. 
 
 "We have lately held our annual Association, and it may 
 not be unacceptable to you to be furnished with a few 
 statistics of our present circumstances and condition. 
 
 " We have connected with us, as a union or association, 
 fifty-two chapels, accommodating 38,565 persons; attend- 
 ing the ministry, 44,704; average attendance, 28,192 — i.e., 
 sixty-five per cent, of adherents ; fifty-seven out-stations, 
 fifty-three assistant preachers, seventy-seven deacons and 
 others conducting services in the absence of pastors ; 
 sixty-one day-school teachers, about 5,000 day scholars, 
 730 Sunday-school teachers, and 8,746 Sunday scholars. 
 Members, 15,682. Inquirers, 2,043. 
 
 "Added to these items, we enumerate 140 class-houses 
 on estates and in Negro villages, twenty-eight dwelling- 
 houses or pastors' residences, school-rooms separate from 
 chapels accommodating 450 hearers. 
 
 " We have raised altogether for missionary purposes this 
 year upwards of £,£>oo, besides amounts for the repair of 
 premises, building new chapels, and support of ministers. 
 
300 Resumption of Labour. [1859 
 
 " I must not omit to observe that these statistics do 
 not include all the churches and congregations connected 
 with our denomination on the island, as several are not 
 associated with us as a union, and are therefore not 
 reported." 
 
 Successful as had been the exertions of the missionaries, 
 there were nevertheless many reasons for anxiety as to the 
 future well-being of the churches, partly occasioned by the 
 general condition of affairs, but more particularly arising 
 out of the progress that had been secured. 
 
 The question of sending a second deputation to 
 Jamaica to inquire into the condition of the mission had 
 been brought before the Committee of the Baptist Mis- 
 sionary Society in 1857 by a l etter from ten of the most 
 influential of the European brethren. This desire had 
 still further been earnestly pressed upon the Committee 
 by Mr. Phillippo and Mr. Dendy, during their stay in 
 England in the following year. It was not, however, until 
 the close of 1859 that the Committee were able to secure 
 the services of the Rev. J. T. Brown, of Northampton, and 
 myself for this important task. At the request of the 
 Committee, in the months of September and October I 
 visited Trinidad and Haiti, and Mr. Brown joined me at 
 Kingston, in Jamaica, on the 25th of November. This is 
 not the place to recount the investigations of the deputa- 
 tion, which lasted over a period of five months, or to give 
 the conclusion to which they were led on the manifold 
 topics that received their attention.* The stations at 
 
 * By those interested in these questions, reference may be made to 
 the Reports of the Society for 1860-61 ; to the Missionary Herald of 
 December, i860; and to the following work: "The West Indies: 
 their Social and Religious Condition. By Edward Bean TJnderhill. 
 London : Jackson, Walford, & Hodder, 1862." Also, "Emancipation 
 in the West Indies : Two Addresses by the Deputation at a Public 
 Meeting held at Willis's Rooms, February 20th, 1861. London : 
 1 861." 
 
i860] Resumption of Labour. 301 
 
 Spanish Town and its vicinity were the first visited, and 
 the last public meeting in which the deputation took part 
 was held in Mr. Phillippo's spacious chapel, a member of 
 the Government occupying the chair, and the audience a 
 large one, consisting not only of the congregation usually 
 attending Mr. Phillippo's ministry, but of the most in- 
 fluential persons of the town. 
 
 It may, however, be interesting to give Mr. Phillippo's 
 account of the visit, and the impressions produced on his 
 mind. They are found in a letter he addressed to the 
 Rev. Mr. Berg in the month of June, i860. 
 
 " A few weeks since I forwarded you a few lines to 
 introduce my friend Mr. Brown, who had been sent as a 
 deputation to our churches here at the request of the 
 missionaries generally. Owing to the misrepresentations 
 of self-interested and prejudiced persons, much miscon- 
 ception had arisen in the public mind in England as to 
 the state of things amongst us. At the same time, owing to 
 the changes that had taken place in the condition of the 
 people connected with our churches, and in that of the 
 missionaries also, and the necessity of some modification 
 of existing plans to meet the exigencies that had arisen, 
 the Committee were persuaded to depute the Rev. J. T. 
 Brown, and one of the secretaries, to visit us, and report 
 to their constituents the result. 
 
 " The brethren were most cordially welcomed by both 
 ministers and churches throughout the island, and were 
 well received everywhere by the proprietors and managers 
 of estates, and by gentlemen of respectability. At public 
 meetings held at some of the principal towns, the attend- 
 ants at which comprehended all classes of the inhabitants, 
 they gave full and free expression to their views. These 
 were very favourable as to the condition of the island 
 socially, morally, and religiously, and their opinions were 
 heartily acquiesced in by all the various classes comprising 
 
302 Resumption of Labour. [1860 
 
 these assemblies. At a missionary meeting held in Spanish 
 Town, their sentiments were endorsed by several of the 
 most influential members of the Legislature who were 
 present, one of whom occupied the chair. Their opinions 
 of the state and character of the masses of the people in 
 a religious aspect appear to have been much higher 
 than those entertained by them previously to their visit, 
 and to those formed by Christians at home. In a word 
 they seem to think that a greater work has been accom- 
 plished in the island than the Christian world supposed, 
 high as was the estimate they in this respect had formed ; 
 that Jamaica stood indeed unrivalled as a field of suc- 
 cessful missionary enterprise ; and that, with continued 
 sympathy on the part of British Christians in relation to 
 schools, and in some other ways, no cause would exist for 
 apprehension in the future." 
 
 "Our annual Association was held this year at Montego 
 Bay, in the month of February, and was one of unusual 
 interest, especially from the presence of our brethren, the 
 deputation; Several interesting and important papers 
 were read relating to the present state and prospects of the 
 churches, as also to the theological institution for the 
 training of native young men of talent for the ministry and 
 for day-school teachers. The statistics of the churches, 
 though gratifying in some instances, were not on the 
 whole encouraging, and resolutions were unanimously 
 adopted that a week should be set apart specially to invoke 
 the influences of the Holy Spirit with a view to the re- 
 vival of religion amongst us. Among the encouraging 
 incidents recorded were the erection of new chapels, the 
 repair of old ones, and the generally increased attend- 
 ance on public worship. The contributions to our local 
 missionary society were very gratifying, showing a con- 
 siderable increase in the year. We have long wished to' 
 raise at least £ 1,000 a year for home and foreign mission 
 
1 860] Resumption of Labour. 303 
 
 work; the amount this year was exceeded. Day and 
 Sunday-schools are in most cases connected with our con- 
 gregations, and the latter contain 10,000 scholars. 
 
 " The number of brethren assembled was greater than 
 usual. Our public meetings were large and deeply 
 interesting, and our conferences were marked by much 
 good feeling, and tended greatly to our mutual profit. 
 The special conference with our brethren deputed by the 
 parent Society, to which we mutually looked forward with 
 some anxiety, was everything, in regard to the manner in 
 which it was conducted, that we could have desired. 
 Messrs. Brown and Underhill acted towards us with the 
 greatest urbanity and kindness, at the same time in a 
 manner frank and generous, so that confidence in them 
 was inspired from the outset. We found at once that, 
 while they would think and act for themselves, they came 
 bolstered with no prejudices, and were influenced by a 
 simple desire to ascertain the real state of things as they 
 exist among us — to afford counsel and advice under 
 difficulties, and to give their opinions as to the best 
 practicable means to ensure the future progress of the 
 work." 
 
 The visits of the deputation to Mr. Phillippo's stations 
 gave them unmingled pleasure, while the kindness and 
 hospitality of their reception, the Christian intercourse 
 they enjoyed with him, his admirable wife, and other 
 members of his family, remain a fragrant and grateful 
 memory. They could not but admire the manly character 
 of their friend, tempered as it was with Christian courtesy 
 and affection. They rejoiced to witness the high esteem 
 in which he was held by every class of the community. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 THE REVIVAL— 1860 to 1861. 
 
 The earliest indications of the result of the meetings 
 resolved upon by the annual Association were communi- 
 cated to the Society by Mr. Phillippo, under date of the 
 23rd of June, i860. Writing to me he says : — 
 
 " Since you left our shores we have held the revival 
 meetings as decided on at our meeting at Montego Bay. 
 I have carried them on from the last Sabbath in April to 
 the present time throughout the extended district in which 
 my stations are scattered. In the chapels at my different 
 stations, in the class-houses, and in private houses, both 
 in town and country, prayer-meetings have been held, in 
 most cases morning and evening, I going first to one and 
 then to another, to encourage the masses attending them 
 (especially in the country) by out-of-door addresses, 
 accompanied by my wife and daughter. The results, I 
 regret to say, have not been such hitherto as we desired ; 
 but they have been far from discouraging. In addition to 
 greatly increased congregations, there is evidently a deeper 
 tone of religious feeling prevalent, an indication, as we 
 trust, that God the Holy Spirit will yet again pour out His 
 blessings upon us like showers that water the earth. 
 Added to the agency already named, a committee for tract 
 distribution has been formed, and among the applicants 
 for these silent messengers of mercy are several respectable 
 planters and their wives and families. More than this — and 
 I record it as an evidence of God's purpose to bless and to 
 
i860] The Revival. 305 
 
 bring into the fold of Christ some even of the class so long 
 at enmity with the cause of God and truth — three or four 
 attorneys and managers of properties have requested me 
 personally, and by messages by the people employed on 
 the different estates and pens, to preach at their resi- 
 dences. On one large property in this parish, having 
 published my intention to preach in the Negro village 
 near, the manager sent to request me to hold the meeting 
 in a booth he offered to erect in front of the great house, 
 that I might address the assembly from the steps or a 
 window, that himself, family, and domestics might have an 
 opportunity of being present. With this request I could 
 not then comply, as a large congregation had then 
 assembled on my arrival at the Negro village. His wife 
 and family accompanied us, however, and after the service 
 expressed their willingness to become tract distributors 
 and Scripture readers among the people of the district. 
 I have since heard that this lady meets with the people in 
 their class-house, and does all in her power to encourage 
 them by her presence and efforts. I have promised to 
 repeat my visit to this property as soon as possible, when 
 I have consented to occupy the manager's house. Last 
 week I received a message from an attorney of several 
 sugar estates requesting me, when I repeated my visit to 
 the property on which he resided, to occupy his house as 
 the place in which to hold the service ; or that, if I will 
 hold service occasionally on the Sabbath-day, he will erect 
 a temporary place of worship in the immediate vicinity of 
 the works. In a word, all opposition on the part of 
 planters and others against the progress of the Gospel 
 has ceased, and everything seems to indicate that the set 
 time to favour our Zion again is near. God grant that our 
 hopes may be fully realised ! " 
 
 Shortly after it became evident that the Divine blessing 
 was about to manifest its power in a remarkable manner. 
 
 x 
 
306 The Revival. [i860 
 
 The first striking display of the gracious influence of the 
 Spirit of God took place at a station of the Moravian 
 mission, in one of the southern parishes. It quickly spread 
 to the eastward, and its effects were briefly sketched in a 
 letter from Mr. Phillippo on the 25th of December: — 
 
 " You have probably heard before now that the revival 
 for which we as ministers and churches here have been 
 so long praying and labouring has at length been 
 realised in numerous districts of the island. On its 
 occurrence in Manchester and Clarendon some weeks ago 
 I went down to these parishes to the assistance of brother 
 Claydon, and there had sufficient evidence that the work 
 was of God. Since then it has, though at present in a more 
 moderate manner as to its external manifestations, found 
 its way to Spanish Town ; so that our places of worship 
 are thronged, and services are continued in them, I may 
 almost say, from morning until night of every day of the 
 week. Intelligence of the rapid extent and wonderful 
 concomitants of this awakening are reaching us by every 
 post. On this south side of the island it has extended 
 itself from Savannah-la-Mar to Old Harbour and Spanish 
 Town ; and on the north, from Bethel Town and Mount 
 Carey, onwards through Montego Bay, Falmouth, Stewart 
 Town, Brown's Town, to St. Ann's Bay. It is spreading 
 and rolling onwards like a mighty river, and wili no doubt 
 cover the whole island. The results, as in Ireland and 
 elsewhere, are not altogether unmixed with evil ; but 
 wherever the movement has been under the guidance of 
 pious and devoted ministers of the Gospel the fruits are 
 such as demonstrate them the production of the softening, 
 converting, almighty operation of the Spirit of the Lord 
 of Hosts." 
 
 Under these circumstances, the customary New Year's 
 Day services, and the baptismal service accompanying 
 them, were of unusual interest. The concourse of people 
 
1861] The Revival. 307 
 
 was immense. They poured in from the surrounding 
 district. It was a beautiful morning, and, amidst the 
 deepest emotion, twenty-four persons submitted to the 
 sacred rite. " Such," says Mr. Phillippo, " was the 
 seriousness and propriety observed that nothing occurred 
 to disturb the solemnity of the service from its commence- 
 ment till its close." 
 
 " On the following Lord's-day the newly baptized, 
 together with several others who had long been separated 
 from the Church (making an addition of sixty during the 
 year), were admitted to Christian fellowship. Gratifying 
 as the attendance on the public worship of God had been 
 since the commencement of the religious awakening in 
 the town, the spacious chapel was now filled to excess — 
 the aisles, the porticoes, the gallery stairs, the children's 
 gallery behind the pulpit, all were occupied, and many 
 were out of doors. Full two thousand persons were 
 supposed to have been present. 
 
 " During the morning service considerable excitement 
 prevailed. Numbers cried out for God to have mercy 
 upon them, and others gave expression to their feelings in 
 sobs and tears. There was nothing, however, witnessed 
 or heard that was unbecoming the sacredness of the place 
 or the services — nothing, except for a short time, that 
 obstructed the regular performance of worship. Upwards 
 of a hundred of all sexes were present who were under 
 conviction. 
 
 " In the afternoon, Divine service was also held in the 
 school-rooms, there not being room in the 'body of the 
 chapel for those who had been the subjects of excitement 
 in the morning." 
 
 In harmony with the meetings for prayer held during 
 the first days of the year all over the world, the first 
 fortnight of January was devoted to religious meetings 
 with the most happy results. "All the meetings," says 
 
30 8 The Revival. [1861 
 
 Mr. Phillippo, " have been numerously attended, and such 
 has been the apparent sincerity — such the earnestness and 
 appropriateness of the petitions presented to the Throne 
 of Grace — as to leave no doubt in any Christian's mind 
 that they were heard in heaven. Of this, indeed, we have 
 had abundant evidence. They were quickly followed by 
 the revival influences experienced in other parts of the 
 island ; and, almost simultaneously with them, hundreds in 
 the town and neighbourhood have been under deep 
 concern for their souls' salvation, and have cried aloud 'for 
 mercy and forgiveness. 
 
 "It has not, however, reached the haunts of profligacy 
 and general wickedness either in this town or in Kingston. 
 Neither has the awakening been characterised by the de- 
 grees of physical excitement described as so common in 
 other parishes. But it doubtless will come here with 
 power, for it is still progressing, notwithstanding the 
 counteracting influences consequent on the visit of Prince 
 Alfred to our shores.* Scarcely a day passes but we hear 
 of numbers in different parts of the district arrested, 
 sometimes suddenly, in their career of sin, while not a 
 Sabbath-day closes but instances of conviction and con- 
 version occur. 
 
 "Among these are numerous persons, chiefly young, 
 who were once united to our congregations as inquirers, 
 but who had abandoned their profession, or had relapsed 
 into a state of carelessness and spiritual insensibility. Of 
 this latter class, principally, I baptized on the morning of 
 Good Friday last forty-two, kindly assisted in the services 
 on the occasion, which were deeply interesting, by 
 brethren J. E.' and G. Henderson, the former of whom, 
 
 * Prince Alfred arrived in Jamaica on the 24th of March, but was 
 summoned home by the death of the Duchess of Kent. He left on 
 the 6th of April, suddenly cutting short the great preparations made 
 for his reception. 
 
1 86 r J The Revival. 309 
 
 on the first Sabbath in this month, received them into 
 the church, and conducted the other services of the day, 
 I having been at length laid aside by sickness — from 
 which, though now nearly a month has passed, I am but 
 just recovering. 
 
 " It will thus be seen that, in the course of a few months, 
 upwards of a hundred careless, thoughtless, and, in some 
 instances, abandoned sinners in connection with our 
 church and congregation have been brought to the feet 
 of Jesus, clothed and in their right mind ; these, however, 
 we trust, are but the first-fruits of the revival here." 
 
 The movement extended to all the stations under Mr. 
 Phillippo's care : at Kitson Town, Caymanas, Passage 
 Fort, Sligoville, and at almost every settlement and class- 
 house in the district. At Sligoville, he says, " On ap- 
 proaching the chapel, I heard singing, in which all hearts 
 and voices appeared to be engaged. This subsided soon 
 after I entered. The converted were arranged on benches 
 before me, some with countenances beaming with joy and 
 peace, others expressing deep sadness and sorrow of 
 heart. Most of them I found to be young people. Some 
 of them prayed with an eloquence and earnestness I never 
 heard excelled, one little girl especially — she could not 
 have been more than ten years of age. Every one seemed 
 melted to tears by her entreaties for the pardon of herself, 
 her parents, brother, and sister, and all around her. The 
 commencement of the awakening here was on the pre- 
 ceding Sunday, when the chapel was crowded to excess ; 
 and meetings have been held night and day ever since, most 
 of the people remaining to the present time almost 
 without food or sleep." 
 
 In a brief account of a very crowded meeting held in 
 the large chapel in Spanish Town, Mr. Phillippo has 
 preserved a vivid picture of the scenes frequent on these 
 occasions. "The building was filled from top to bottom, 
 
3 i o The Revival. [ i S 6 1 
 
 and soon after the service commenced the greatest excite- 
 ment prevailed. In one direction were poor unlettered 
 Africans pouring out their supplications in some such 
 language as this, and in the words of one of them with 
 the utmost earnestness, his voice heard above the tumult; 
 ' O Lord, have mercy on me poor soul. O Lord, me 
 heart black like me kin (skin); wash him in dy precious 
 blood. O dear, precious massa Jesus, take kale (scales) 
 off me dark eye. Dow sa come and dead to save poor 
 sinner from death and hell. Lord, save me — me a sinner — 
 me a drunkard, me de tief, me de Sabbat-broker. For- 
 give me for mercy-sake. O Jesus, save me by dy precious 
 blood.' 
 
 " Another cries out in another direction in great ap- 
 parent distress, ' What must I do to be saved ? Lord 
 have mercy upon me ! Jesus, dow Saviour of sinners, I 
 look to de. Oh ! save me, else me perish.' 
 
 "A third rises up under great anguish, uttering un- 
 earthly moans and piercing cries, which, once heard, can 
 never be forgotten : ' What, what must I do to be saved ? ' 
 His whole soul was in the question, nor could he rest till 
 completely satisfied by the minister's exhortation to cast 
 himself entirely on Jesus. Heaven, hell, Christ, salvation 
 were now no longer uninteresting, unmeaning words and 
 notions, but living, substantial realities, which rang in the 
 ears and burned in the hearts of the people. 
 
 "While the countenances of some expressed the most 
 childlike submission and perfect trust, others proclaimed 
 aloud, with all the animation of perfect sincerity, their 
 full assurance of God's mercy through Christ, their full 
 joy struggling for expression. Love, peace, gratitude, 
 and adoration welled up spontaneously from their hearts, 
 prompting them to tell to others what great things the 
 Lord had done for them." 
 
 With the advancing months of the year, the fervour of 
 
1861] The Revival. 
 
 the early portion of the movement declined, but the last- 
 ing benefits were seen in the increased attendance on the 
 house of God, and a more general regard for the ordi- 
 nances of religion. If many fell away from their first love 
 as the excitement ceased, the gain in genuine discipleship 
 was large, and it became from year to year evident that it 
 was indeed a time of refreshing from the presence of the 
 Lord. 
 
 Mr. Phillippo thus sums up the issues of this great 
 movement : — 
 
 " The direct religious results have been such as to leave 
 no doubt on the minds of Christian men who have been 
 familiar with it in all its phases, that it originated in the 
 wonder-working power of God. On the part of the 
 churches, it has been a revival of Scriptural knowledge, 
 vital piety, and practical obedience, an unusual warmth of 
 attachment to each other, and to all who love our Lord 
 Jesus Christ in sincerity, added to visible, zealous, per- 
 severing efforts for the salvation of their careless and 
 impenitent fellow-creatures. It may be said of our 
 members in general, but especially of the more intelligent 
 among them, that they laboured for the promotion of this 
 good work night and day, through many months. Their 
 efforts were distinguished by familiar conversation, more 
 general visiting from house to house, more direct and 
 earnest labour in Bible and inquirers' classes, a deeper 
 interest in the operations of Sabbath-schools, addresses 
 at prayer-meetings, the distribution of religious tracts, 
 a sympathetic regard for the wants of the necessitous, the 
 tempted, and the stricken ; by family devotion and dis- 
 cipline, and, individually, by exemplary conduct and 
 character." 
 
 " These agencies, in addition to direct and more 
 frequent ministerial efforts, were followed, as may be 
 supposed, by vastly increased congregations, by demands 
 
312 The Revival. [1861 
 
 on the part of the converts for private Christian instruc- 
 tion, and by the multitude generally, both in town and 
 country, for multiplied prayer-meetings and the regular 
 worship of God — services that were conducted in streets 
 and lanes, class-houses and public thoroughfares in 
 general. Nor must it be forgotten, in the enumeration of 
 these results, that an anxious, earnest desire was every- 
 where expressed for the possession of religious books 
 and tracts, but especially to read, understand, and possess 
 the Book of God." 
 
 " With reference to the multitudes who had been living 
 without Christ and without hope in the world, and who, 
 in numerous instances, had seldom — in some cases, per- 
 haps, never — been within the walls of a place of worship, 
 the manifestation of Divine influence in inclining such 
 to throng the houses of God, to manifest such sincerity 
 and earnestness of desire for pardon, peace, and salvation 
 — to unite themselves to the people of God, and to walk 
 in a course of holy obedience — is, perhaps, without a 
 parallel in the modern history of the Church. Thousands 
 of sinners of all descriptions of character, among whom 
 were numbers distinguished for profligacy of manners 
 and for overt general wickedness — men sunk in im- 
 morality and obdurate in crime — reclaimed from such 
 enormities, subdued, converted, animated with joy and 
 peace in believing, not to mention others less ostensibly 
 depraved and vicious ! Thousands of these, together 
 with many a conceited Pharisee and rationalist, ' plucked 
 as brands from the burning,' have been added to the 
 different churches within a few months, and as many have 
 enrolled themselves on the list of probationers for church- 
 fellowship. 
 
 " To an intelligent observer the power of God cannot 
 but be visible in the effects produced. A striking change 
 is observable in the conversation, temper, deportment, 
 
1 8 6 1 ] The Revival. 3 1 3 
 
 and even in the very countenances of the converts. In the 
 immediate localities where this awakening has been most 
 powerfully and efficaciously manifested there is scarcely a 
 person to be seen on the Sabbath, except going to or 
 returning from some place of religious worship, or on 
 week evenings, unless on their way to or from a social 
 prayer-meeting, or some place to listen to the reading of 
 the Scriptures and religious tracts. Profane conversation 
 and indecent jesting, drunkenness, gambling, quarrelling, 
 concubinage, and the superstitious practices of Obeahism 
 and Myalism, which presented so great a barrier to the 
 progress of the truth among the more ignorant and de- 
 praved of the population, and which operated so fatally 
 to the peace and purity of the churches at large, have in 
 a great measure ceased. In some districts the unnatural 
 custom of wakes, where assemblies were gathered on the 
 decease of neighbours and friends, and where whole 
 nights were spent in noisy mirth and superstitious vigils, 
 have been discontinued, or the revolting practices of such 
 occasions substituted by religious conversations, reading 
 the Scriptures and prayer, with the usual vocal accompani- 
 ments of psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs. 
 
 " The minds of some were for a time unsettled, and 
 cases were not rare in which appearances of insanity 
 were visible ; but, like the Apostle, the subjects of such 
 paroxysms appeared to solace themselves with the con- 
 viction that, if they were beside themselves, it was for 
 God. 
 
 " As a final remark, it may be said that nothing has 
 ever occurred in the Christian Church so calculated to 
 promote a spirit of union and harmony of co-operation 
 among ministers and people of different denominations. 
 Were revivals universal, the Evangelical Alliance would 
 embrace the whole Church on earth. Like the rainbow 
 of the Covenant, it would indeed include within the arch 
 
3 1 4 The Revival. [ 1 8 6 1 
 
 of its promise and the glory of its protection the whole 
 family of God in earth and heaven." 
 
 The additions to the Baptist churches were a striking 
 testimony to the remarkable influence of the revival 
 throughout the island. The returns at the close of the 
 year from fifty-nine out of the sixty- one churches in 
 union state that 3,757 persons were baptized, while there 
 were restored to fellowship, from a backsliding state no 
 fewer than 1,570. The net increase to the churches 
 exhibited a total of 4,422, bringing up the membership to 
 20,026 persons of all ages. The classes of inquirers were 
 also largely filled, and numbered 6,058 individuals. The 
 testimony of nearly all the ministers of every denomina- 
 tion was that the revival was a real blessing and a 
 permanent good. " It was," concludes Mr. Phillippo, 
 " like a tempest passing over, and with one blast purifying 
 the atmosphere, and calling into new life a thousand 
 beauties over the Christian landscape. It was, indeed, a 
 dispensation which, with all its attendant evils, there are 
 few ministers or churches who would not wish for its 
 recurrence. It gave a higher tone of piety to the churches 
 generally, it excited attention, induced prayer and 
 unwonted zeal. In one word, it was an awakening from 
 spiritual death." 
 
CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 PATIENT TOIL— 1861 to 1865. 
 
 The three or four years following the revival were years 
 of patient toil. The large additions to the churches 
 required the pastor's watchful care, so that Mr. Phillippo 
 was unable to pursue that wide evangelistic labour which 
 had in so marked a manner characterised his ministry. 
 Besides, the advance of years was making itself felt, and 
 the conviction was pressed upon him that his energies 
 were becoming unequal to the strain they had hitherto 
 successfully borne. This was especially manifest with 
 regard to his schools, which languished for want of more 
 regular support. For although his correspondents in 
 England, more especially those belonging to the Society 
 of Friends, and other supporters resident in Jamaica, 
 liberally answered his appeals, the correspondence in- 
 volved and the uncertainty of the supplies were an 
 incessant trial of his faith and patience. 
 
 To one of his friends in Jamaica he addressed the 
 following letter, November 3rd, 1861 : — " I received your 
 kind note yesterday with its enclosure, and scarcely 
 know in what terms to express my sense of obliga- 
 tion. I have five schools in the district, for the 
 support of which I am alone responsible, and I find 
 it hard work to carry them on from year to year. I 
 am, however, with you, ^deeply convinced of the great 
 necessity of education to the progress and prosperity 
 
3 1 6 Patient Toil. [1863 
 
 of this country, both temporal and spiritual. I have for 
 upwards of thirty years devoted myself to the work. I 
 have laboured on through many difficulties and discourage- 
 ments, but have the satisfaction (the purest, perhaps, that 
 can be experienced in the present world) to know that 
 some thousands of my fellow-creatures have been benefited 
 by my efforts. My chief difficulty of late years, in the 
 support of these schools, has arisen from the conviction 
 of many in England that Jamaica ought now to support 
 its own institutions. As I could not bear the thought of 
 relinquishing them, I am constrained to ask your aid, and 
 that of all the friends of their country who I thought were 
 likely to lend a helping hand." 
 
 One of the modes in which he sought to sustain his 
 school operations he thus refers to in his diary, under 
 date of May 10, 1863 : " Having become, almost insensibly 
 I may say, much interested in the study of conchology and 
 ornithology, I made offers of forming collections for gentle- 
 men on condition that they would aid me in the support of 
 my schools. With this object in view, I had frequent 
 communications with W. T. Marsh, Esq." To a friend at 
 Newcastle, who had requested various specimens, he 
 writes : " Both myself and my daughter tried for some 
 time to procure and preserve the different specimens you 
 request, but I have found great difficulty in doing so." 
 He then goes on to describe his work: " In addition to 
 my regular ministerial and pastoral duties, extending over 
 a very large district, I have to bear the ever-multiplying 
 cares and anxieties created by the insufficient means I 
 possess of supporting my schools. It is a perpetual 
 struggle to preserve their existence. I am often driven to 
 such shifts for money to pay the teachers that the close of 
 the institutions, one and all, at times seems inevitable. 
 But, hoping against hope, I have hitherto, most providen- 
 tially, been able to continue them to this day. Among 
 
1863] Patient Toil. 317 
 
 the whole mass of philanthropists in England, the Society 
 of Friends only have steadily pursued their course, and 
 to them is due the honour of having been the main 
 instruments in securing the happy results of freedom 
 visible in the social happiness that exists around us. 
 Happy is it amid many depressing influences to reflect 
 that the Lord reigneth, and that, whatever may be present 
 discouragements, His cause must and will go on. What 
 cause have we to pray that our faith and hope may not 
 fail ! " 
 
 But if the difficulties in carrying on the schools were 
 great, Mr. Phillippo had the gratification of knowing that 
 his exertions were fully appreciated by intelligent observers 
 on the spot, and that his exertions were rewarded by the 
 progress made by the children under his care. "That 
 venerable and highly esteemed gentleman," said a well- 
 informed person in Spanish Town, " it is well known, has, 
 during the whole period of his lengthened career as a 
 missionary on this island, interested himself, with an 
 energy, activity, and perseverance worthy of all praise, in 
 the work of advancing popular education, and many are 
 the living witnesses of the great good which has resulted 
 from his philanthropic labours in this direction. With 
 unabated zeal, he is still doing what he can to further the 
 cause of popular education, although under difficulties and 
 trials of no ordinary kind. Many in positions of respecta- 
 bility in our island have to thank these institutions for all 
 they are worth, mentally, morally, and materially. May 
 they go on and prosper ! May'the venerable servant of 
 Christ, who has taken so much interest in them for so 
 many years, see abundant proofs arising around him from 
 time to time that his labour has not been in vain ! " 
 
 Nor was Mr. Phillippo without many pleasing indica- 
 tions that his ministry was blessed to the effectual 
 calling of many into the fold of Christ. Writing April 17, 
 
3 18 Patient Toil. [1865 
 
 1865, he says: "You will be pleased to hear that on Friday 
 morning last (Good Friday) I had the happiness to add 
 to my church here by baptism twelve young persons. 
 Some of them had for years been . connected with the 
 congregation as inquirers or catechumens, and all the 
 others had been on probation during several months. 
 They were, of course, carefully examined as to their 
 religious knowledge and experience, and the evidence 
 they afforded of true conversion to God was of a very 
 gratifying character." 
 
 " The administration of the ordinance was arranged to 
 take place soon after dawn in a very secluded and romantic 
 spot on the river, between one and two miles from town. 
 For those members of the congregation coming from a 
 distance, as lodgings could not be obtained for them, it 
 was arranged that services should be conducted in the 
 chapel during the entire night. They commenced at 
 ten o'clock p.m., at which time great numbers began to 
 pour in. I delivered in the intervals of singing and 
 prayer three addresses, occupying until long after mid- 
 night. At four o'clock a.m. the masses began to move, 
 and by five all were on their way to the place appointed, 
 forming an immense procession, with such order and 
 quietness that many of the inhabitants of the streets along 
 which they passed were not aware of the movement. I 
 followed in the rear. Arrived at the chosen spot, the 
 multitude arranged themselves without the least confusion 
 or disorder on the high banks of the stream, while I 
 placed myself in a position which with little inconvenience 
 could command the whole assemblage. After a hymn and 
 prayer I addressed the concourse, atter which, while 
 singing the favourite hymn, ' Jesus, and shall it ever be ? ' 
 &c, I administered the sacred rite in the name of the Holy 
 Trinity. It was a very solemn and interesting scene. 
 Many were in tears. Not a word was heard, not a gesture 
 
1 8 Oi J Patient Toil. 319 
 
 seen, so far as I could learn, that was not in harmony with 
 the solemn character of the service in which we were 
 engaged." 
 
 " I have since heard that not only were some of the 
 spectators deeply moved, but that two or three at once 
 enrolled themselves as inquirers after the way of salvation." 
 
 "On the first Sabbath of the coming month these 
 brethren and sisters in Christ will be privileged for the 
 first time to commemorate the dying love of Christ at His 
 table, and I trust it will prove ' a time of refreshing from 
 the presence of the Lord.' " 
 
 Among the persons baptized about this time was Mr. 
 George W. Gordon. This event took place on Christmas- 
 day, 1 86 1. "Of the number who on this occasion 
 followed their Lord," writes Mr. Phillippo, " by submit- 
 ting to the solemn and impressive rite of baptism, was a 
 merchant and large landed proprietor of the island. He 
 was the last of sixty who on that lovely morning were 
 immersed in the gently flowing stream. When, standing 
 by his side, in front of the vast assemblage that covered 
 the river's bank almost as far as the eye could reach, I 
 asked him if he felt any shame or reluctance to put on 
 Christ by this public and open profession of His name, 
 his heart was too full to allow him to reply in words, but 
 his looks and gestures were not to be mistaken, and, like 
 the Ethiopian eunuch, he rose from the liquid grave, and 
 went his way rejoicing." The unuttered words were after- 
 wards expressed in a brief note to Mr. Phillippo on the 
 same day. " This day," he writes, " the Lord witnesses 
 the actions and motives of us all who have made an open 
 profession of Him. But the secret of the Lord is with 
 them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant. 
 I pray to-day that henceforth my life may be ' hid with 
 Christ.' May His grace keep and defend me in running 
 the race which is now before me ! " 
 
320 Patient Toil. [1863 
 
 Although baptized by Mr. Phillippo, Mr. Gordon con- 
 tinued to maintain his connection with the United 
 Presbyterian Church ; but on various occasions he sought 
 Mr. Phillippo's advice, and rendered important services 
 in the promotion of the Gospel in the parishes in which 
 his property lay. He took a prominent part at the 
 missionary meeting held at Spanish Town on the 1st of 
 August of the same year, and in the April following he is 
 found consulting Mr. Phillippo with regard to some 
 religious meetings in which he desired Mr. Phillippo's 
 assistance. "May the Lord," he exclaims, "bless all 
 these [services], and may the seed be flourishing many 
 years hence ! Oh, how much yet to do ! What fallen land 
 yet to break up ! May the Lord have mercy, and early 
 manifest His glory in all the earth, and particularly in 
 Jamaica!" In March, 1863, Mr. Gordon announced to 
 Mr. Phillippo his election as a member of the House of 
 Assembly for St. Thomas-in-the-East, and expresses the 
 hope that the Lord will grant him " wisdom, patience, 
 and grace to guide" him in the intricate future. After 
 referring to his obligations to Mr. Phillippo, he further 
 tells him that he has given much attention to the native 
 Baptists, and attributes to them his election. " See what 
 the Baptists have done here, the poor native Baptists, by 
 peaceable means ; they have raised at last a representative 
 for the Baptist people and churches of all classes in this 
 island. You know I was honoured by being baptized by 
 you, my dear friend ; and I found you liberal and unselfish 
 in your views, not discouraging me from going among the 
 poor natives, but encouraging always to every good 
 work. May the Lord bless and keep you always in this 
 spirit ! " In his diary, under date of January of the follow- 
 ing year, Mr. Phillippo records: "G. W. Gordon, Esq., 
 has occupied himself in preaching and doing good openly 
 and in various ways, and I recommended him to originate 
 
1864] Patient Toil. 321 
 
 an independent cause under his own superintendence. He 
 has met with much persecution, is denominated a hypo- 
 crite, and by some, of whom better things might be 
 expected, ' a troubler in Israel.' " 
 
 It is interesting to preserve these notices ofthemanwho 
 in less than two years was falsely accused of treason to 
 the State, and illegally, and contrary to all right, executed 
 as a rebel against the Sovereign whom, in common with 
 all his people, he venerated and loved. 
 
 The annual meeting of the Jamaica Baptist Union was 
 arranged to take place at Montego Bay in the beginning 
 of the year 1 864, on the spot where just fifty years before 
 the Rev. John Rowe commenced his labours as the first 
 missionary sent to the island by the Baptist Missionary 
 Society. It was resolved to celebrate the occasion as a 
 jubilee. An immense concourse of persons, estimated at 
 more than ten thousand, gathered to take part in the 
 festive services. All the free places of worship in the 
 town were thrown open, and were crowded with the 
 multitudes that flocked to them. Mr. Phillippo left home 
 on the 17th of February, accompanied by several members 
 of his family, and arrived at Montego Bay on the 20th. 
 On the following day, the Sabbath, he preached in the 
 spacious chapel erected by that estimable missionary, and 
 Mr. Phillippo's beloved friend, the Rev. Thomas Burchell. 
 The jubilee meeting was held in the same place on Tues- 
 day, July 23rd. "Being by some years," he says, "the 
 oldest missionary on the island then living, I was honoured 
 to occupy the chair on the occasion. The congregation 
 was immense. The large chapel was filled to excess, and 
 numbers could hardly obtain a standing-place, even out- 
 side the building." Mr. Phillippo's address does not 
 appear to have been preserved, but from the other 
 addresses delivered we learn that since the commencement 
 of the mission 106 Baptist missionaries had been engaged, 
 
322 Patient Toil. [1864 
 
 and the fruit of their labours was seen in the seventy-four 
 churches that had been organised, one or more of which 
 might be found in every parish in the island. The member- 
 ship in these churches consisted of about thirty thousand 
 persons, and for twenty years, notwithstanding the diffi- 
 culties through which the island had passed, the converts 
 had not only built numerous chapels, many of large 
 dimensions, with manses and school-houses, but had also 
 supported their ministers and the means of grace without 
 foreign aid. Nineteen of the forty-one pastors in active 
 service were natives of the island, and had received a 
 suitable education in the college at Calabar, near Rio 
 Bueno. The institution also embraced as one of its 
 objects the training of masters for the day-schools, which 
 numbered about ninety, and contained 3,500 scholars. If 
 to this number were added the children of the Sunday- 
 schools, there were not fewer than ten thousand under 
 constant instruction. Nor was the missionary spirit 
 wanting among the people. About _^~i,2oo a year were 
 willingly contributed for home and foreign work. Besides 
 the overthrow of slavery, social and temporal blessings of 
 no common value had been secured. Sunday markets had 
 been abolished. Equal civil rights had been granted 
 irrespective of colour or race ; marriage had come to be 
 regarded as a necessary and honoured institution ; many 
 thousands of the people had made themselves possessors 
 of freehold lands, and were independent of estate cultiva- 
 tion ; education, though not so extensive as desirable, was 
 unfettered ; persecution for conscience' sake was stayed; 
 and the superstitious and wicked practices of Obeahism 
 and Myalism had been driven into dark places. Thus the 
 Gospel of God's grace had proved its wondrous power — 
 first in the regeneration and salvation of multitudes of 
 bondsmen, and then in the social reformation it had 
 accomplished during the years of liberty. 
 
1 864] Patient Toil. 323 
 
 The papers prepared for this gathering were afterwards 
 collected into a volume entitled " The Voice of Jubilee," 
 Mr. Phillippo contributing to its pages an elaborate 
 "Argument and Appeal for Christian Missions." This 
 treatise extends to more than a hundred pages, and em- 
 braces a full statement of the magnitude, claims, facilities, 
 successes, and blessings of the missionary enterprise. Nor 
 does Mr. Phillippo fail to show the reflex blessings 
 which flow from the devout pursuit of this great object 
 on the Christian character both of individuals and com- 
 munities. Speaking of the Baptist churches in Jamaica, 
 he says : " Think of thirty thousand souls converted to 
 God in this our island alone ! Every one of them once 
 depraved, but now regenerated sons and daughters of 
 Ham, together with the thousands now before the throne 
 of God and the Lamb; and thousands more gathered into 
 the fold of Christ through the instrumentality of other 
 societies, altogether amounting, on a moderate calculation, 
 to little less than two hundred thousand souls, had it not 
 been for missionary exertions, would, in all probability, 
 have been still either sitting in darkness and the shadow 
 of death, or have entered upon a state of hopeless and 
 interminable woe." 
 
 These great results Mr. Phillippo had been privileged 
 to witness, all of them secured during the period of his 
 missionary life, he, himself, being not one of the least 
 eminent of the noble band who, in the hands of God, had 
 achieved them. Other good and great men shared with 
 him in the blessedness and joy of these triumphs of the 
 Cross ; but it was his happiness, of all the pioneers of the, 
 mission, to live to tell at the jubilee "the generation 
 following " what great things the Lord had done. 
 
 Notwithstanding occasional attacks of illness, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Phillippo were able to carry forward their great work 
 during these years without much interruption. Towards 
 
 y 2 
 
324 Patient Toil. [186+ 
 
 the close of 1864 they were permitted to rejoice in the 
 call of their second son, George, to the bar in England, 
 and his hearty reception by the bench and bar of Jamaica 
 on his commencing practice in the courts of his native 
 land. Their happiness was also increased by the marriage 
 of their daughter to the Rev. W. Claydon, missionary in 
 Clarendon ; while from all their children they enjoyed 
 much assistance, combined with a very large amount of 
 filial reverence and affection. The progress of years was, 
 however, made only too apparent by a slow but real dimi- 
 nution of the energies with which their labours in the 
 cause of God had hitherto been pursued. But the love 
 and respect which gathered about their home, and the 
 happiness inspired by the "blessed hope" of the Gospel, 
 brightened their days and filled their hearts with peace 
 and joy. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 THE DISTURBANCES— 1865 to 1866. 
 
 On the 14th of April, 1865, Mr. Phillippo makes the follow- 
 ing entry in his diary : — "A list of questions was this day 
 received from the Governor relative to the condition of 
 the peasantry in the country, as a consequence of Dr. 
 Underbill's letter to the Right Hon. E. Cardwell, 
 Colonial Secretary of State, to which I replied, and sent a 
 copy of my reply to the Secretary of the Union for the 
 perusal of the brethren, to be forwarded to his Excellency 
 with their approval." The Letter which called forth Mr. 
 Phillippo's explanation was sent to the Colonial Office on 
 the 5th of the preceding January. Its object was to call 
 the attention of the Colonial Minister to the lamentable 
 condition of Jamaica, and to entreat an early interposition 
 on its behalf. For two or three years the most painful 
 representations of the poverty and sufferings of the people, 
 and consequently of the pastors, had been received by 
 the Missionary Committee. Two years of drought had 
 desolated the provision grounds and deprived the 
 peasantry of their usual food. The American War, and 
 increased taxation on imports, made costly the supply of 
 breadstuffs, employment necessarily failed, and the moral 
 and spiritual improvement of the people had come to a 
 stand. Other matters affecting the well-being of the 
 population were also brought to the Minister's attention. 
 The increase of crime, owing to the prevailing poverty, 
 was alarming. Work on the estates was scarcely to be 
 
32 6 The Disturbances. ['865 
 
 had ; nor had the estate owners capital to employ the 
 labourers, who, since slavery, had rapidly increased in 
 numbers. The Legislature made no effort to improve the 
 condition of the people. Its members were elected by 
 a mere fraction, and they legislated in favour of their own 
 class, imposing the burdens of the State unequally, and 
 refusing just tribunals.* " It is more than time," said the 
 Letter, "that the unwisdom (to use the gentlest term) that 
 has governed Jamaica since emancipation should be 
 brought to an end — a course of action which, while it in- 
 calculably aggravates the misery arising from natural and, 
 therefore, unavoidable causes, renders certain the ruin of 
 every class, planter and peasant, European and Creole." 
 
 This letter was forwarded by Mr. Cardwell to Lieutenant- 
 Governor Eyre, with instructions to report on its contents. 
 
 In the course of a few weeks, it was sent by him direct 
 to the custodes of parishes, to the judges and magistrates, 
 to the Bishop of Kingston, and through official channels 
 to the clergy and ministers of all denominations. It was 
 accompanied by a circular requesting these various parties 
 to furnish his Excellency with the materials for his report 
 to the Colonial Office. It was but natural that the subject, 
 under such circumstances, should almost exclusively 
 occupy public attention. The columns of the press 
 teemed with articles, and, as the Governor took no steps 
 to ascertain from the people themselves the nature of their 
 complaints, or the causes of the distress under which they 
 groaned, meetings were called in almost every parish, 
 attended by orderly and patient crowds, to record their 
 
 * Lord Grey's observations on this point are very remarkable : The 
 Assembly " have used their power to spare their own friends, and to 
 burden severely those who were opposed to them. The affairs of the 
 administration were distinguished by corruption, jobbing, and they 
 exhibited a total want of judgment in the local authorities in adapting 
 their measures to the existing state of things." 
 
1 865 J The Disturbances. 327 
 
 grievances and to ask for redress. In every case these 
 " Underhill meetings," as they were called, " endorsed" 
 the statements of the Letter. At the Spanish Town meet- 
 ing, on the 1 6th of May, at which Mr. Phillippo was present 
 and gave his hearty sympathy, but in which he took no 
 part, " the present depressed state of the inhabitants of 
 the colony" was deplored; and it was stated that "the 
 meeting views with alarm the distressed condition of 
 nearly all classes of the people from the want of employ- 
 ment, in consequence of the abandonment of estates, and 
 the staple of the country being no longer remunerative, 
 caused by being brought into unequal competition with 
 slave-grown produce." The third resolution expressed 
 sympathy " with the distressed state of the mechanics, 
 who are suffering from the injustice done to them by the 
 Legislature having imposed the same import duty of izj 
 per cent, on the raw materials as on the manufactured 
 articles imported into the island." The fifth resolution 
 gives, as an example of distress : " That there are in 
 Spanish Town, the capital of this island, nearly 150 
 carpenters, 60 masons, 91 shoemakers, 127 tailors, 772 
 sempstresses, and 800 servants — that is, about 1,900 in- 
 dividuals out of an adult population of 3,124 of all classes, 
 many of whom are without knowing where to obtain 
 their daily bread, and all of whom are suffering more or 
 less from the high prices of food and raiment and 
 excessive taxation." A seventh resolution " corroborated 
 Dr. Underbill's statements," and thanked him for " the 
 sympathy he evinced towards suffering humanity in this 
 island." 
 
 The reply of the Baptist missionaries to the Governor's 
 circular was a document of great value and importance. 
 It consisted of returns supplied by almost every Baptist 
 missionary, both coloured and European, and deals with 
 nearly every part of the island. It is remarkable for its 
 
328 The Disturbances. Qi 865 
 
 moderation and candour, for the carefulness with which 
 the facts were collected and its conclusions formed. 
 The missionaries were possessed of the best means of 
 information. Their congregations were in the main 
 composed of the labouring classes, and, from their 
 intimate relations and constant intercourse with them, 
 they had every opportunity of knowing the truth. From 
 the facts thus accumulated, it was but too painfully 
 evident that the distress was not confined to any one class 
 of the community, and that the proprietary and peasantry 
 were suffering alike. It was beyond controversy that the 
 number of estates under cultivation was yearly becoming 
 less, and on those in work the cultivation was considerably 
 diminished. The small settlers, by their industry, frugality, 
 and thrift, were better off ; but even they felt the unjust 
 pressure of taxation. The landless labouring classes were 
 stricken down by poverty, low wages, irregular employ- 
 ment, and the high price of food and clothing. The evi- 
 dence of Mr. Phillippo, from his long residence in Jamaica, 
 and his known moderation and truthfulness, was particularly 
 valuable. He states that within the range of his observa- 
 tion there was very great poverty. Cases of real distress 
 were very numerous. The clothing of the people, both 
 as to quality and quantity, was not so good as formerly. 
 Numbers who formerly possessed horses, breeding mares, 
 mules, donkeys, and small stock were now unable to keep 
 them. " I think I am within the truth in saying that 
 upwards of a hundred of the labouring classes in this 
 parish who used to keep horses and carts have been 
 obliged to part with them or to discontinue their use within 
 the last two or three years. I have seen from thirty to 
 forty horses and carts frequently on the mission premises 
 on a Sabbath-day, by which whole families were conveyed 
 to the house of God and the Sabbath-school. Within the 
 last two years they have been reduced to a third of the 
 
1865] The Disturbances. 329 
 
 number. Many who manifested a blamable fondness for 
 dress are now in rags, while numbers are scarcely ever 
 seen at public worship from insufficiency of necessary 
 apparel. Nearly one- half of my congregation absent 
 themselves from this cause alone." 
 
 On the causes of this distress Mr. Phillippo is not less 
 explicit. "They are," he says: — "(1) Long-prevalent 
 epidemic sickness, measles, whooping-cough, small-pox, 
 and fever of a malignant type ; at one time excessive rain, 
 then droughts, with unpropitious seasons, the first rotting 
 provisions, the second withering them. (2) Heavy taxes 
 on the working stock of the peasantry. (3) Excessive 
 dearness of imported articles of food. (4) Want of 
 employment. (5) Inadequate wages. In the lowlands of 
 the parish the people have suffered much from heavy 
 imports on their taxable property, particularly on their 
 horses and carts. On the imposition of the exorbitant tax 
 on their carts and horses the death-blow was given to the 
 commerce and resources and aspirations of the growers of 
 provisions. The market fees are also high and capriciously 
 collected, while the confidence of the people in their 
 representatives had been shaken by their mistaken policy." 
 
 The excitement created among all sections of the 
 community by the Governor's distribution of the Letter 
 was greatly increased among the poorer classes by the issue 
 from Government House of two placards purporting to be 
 the " Queen's Advice " to the peasantry of Jamaica, in 
 reply to an appeal for her sympathy and aid. The 
 existence of distress was not denied, but the peasantry 
 were assured that they were labouring under misapprehen- 
 sion as to the better condition of the similar classes in 
 other countries, and that they had only to exercise their 
 own industry and prudence in order to enjoy the means of 
 prosperity within their reach. This " Advice " was felt as 
 a mockery of their distress. It added to the irritation 
 
33° The Disturbances. ['865 
 
 and mistrust already existing. Many Baptist ministers 
 refused to publish the placards, as they were requested to 
 do by the Executive, as only likely to aggravate the 
 universal discontent. 
 
 "A bundle of these proclamations," says Mr. Phillippo, 
 " was sent to me to be posted up in every public place of the 
 district I frequented, accompanied with the request that I 
 would read it, with suitable observations, to my congrega- 
 tions. But I did neither — first, Because the people were 
 perfectly peaceable ; secondly, Because doing so would 
 be likely to exasperate such as might be dissatisfied ; and, 
 thirdly, Because they would think the proclamation was 
 the result of ' lies ' told to ' Missis Queen,' which 
 they said the Governor and the House of Assembly were 
 always doing, to destroy their character. I was censured 
 for my disobedience by some in authority ; but I judged 
 that I acted right to let well alone. There are few things 
 that disturb and irritate the people here more than the im- 
 pression that the authorities endeavour to give them a bad 
 character to the Queen." * 
 
 * In a letter, written to Dr. TJnderhill, dated September 8, 1865, 
 Mr. G. W. Gordon thus refers to this "Advice" : — "Mr. Eyre, the 
 Governor, has issued a letter of Mr. Cardwell as the ' Queen's Advice.' 
 This document is extensively circulated and sent to all the ministers of 
 religion. By several it has been accepted' and read in the churches for 
 effect, so that the poor people begin to think that there is no hope for 
 them. The planters rejoice over it, and seem delightfully encouraged 
 in their acts of unreasonableness and oppression. The condition of 
 the people continues deplorable, especially in the sugar districts, and 
 nowhere that I have been more so than in the parish of Vere. The 
 state of matters here is really serious — children naked and starving, and 
 coolies too ; adults in misery, and not having raiment even to come 
 out to the meeting. From these causes the places of worship are 
 nearly empty, and the schools badly attended, so that, in point of fact, 
 the social fabric is giving way." He further gives a deplorable picture 
 of the way in which the poor were treated by the planter magistracy, 
 and no redress could be obtained from the Governor. 
 
1865] The Disturbances. 331 
 
 The climax was reached on the 7th of October, when a 
 court of petty sessions was held at Morant Bay. An un- 
 satisfactory and partial decision of the magistrates led to 
 the release of the prisoner by a disorderly mob, and then 
 to the issue of warrants against Paul Bogle and others who 
 had taken part in the fray. Resistance was made to the 
 service of the warrants on the following Monday, the police 
 were seized and beaten, and only released on their taking 
 an oath to side with the people. The next day but one 
 the people came from their mountain homes to the meet- 
 ing of the Vestry in great numbers, some of them armed. 
 In the confusion that speedily arose the Riot Act was 
 read, stones were thrown, and the volunteers, who had 
 been unwisely called out, fired on the crowd, some of 
 whom fell. An attack on the court-house immediately 
 followed. A school-house adjoining and the court-house 
 were set on fire, and, as the parties within attempted to 
 escape, they were set upon and killed. The number of 
 persons who fell a prey to the violence and passions of 
 the mob appears to have been eighteen, and the number 
 of the wounded thirty-one. A wild scene of destruction 
 and disorder ensued. Stores were broken into and 
 ransacked, the prison was assailed and fifty-one prisoners 
 were released. 
 
 If resistance to the execution of the unjust decisions 
 of the magistrates was at all preconcerted, which seems 
 doubtful, there can be no doubt it was occasioned by the 
 despair of the people of being treated with justice. In a 
 letter addressed to the Governor, with respect to the 
 events of the 7th, and which he received before the 
 subsequent military excesses began, they pathetically say : 
 " We call upon your Excellency for protection, seeing 
 we are her Majesty's loyal subjects, which protection if 
 refused to will [sic] be compelled to put our shoulder to 
 the wheel ; as we have been imposed upon for a period of 
 
■?3 2 The Disturbances. [1865 
 
 twenty-seven years with due obeisance to the laws of our 
 Queen and country, and we can no longer endure the 
 same." 
 
 The flame of the rising immediately spread to the 
 country around. Several estates were ravaged and some 
 of the occupants wounded, but it does not appear that any 
 person was killed, though several seem to have narrowly 
 escaped with their lives. 
 
 It is not within the range of this work to describe the 
 methods taken for the suppression of this outbreak. If 
 the riot at Morant Bay was attended by many circum- 
 stances of horror, the retribution was frightful. The inno- 
 cent and guilty suffered alike, and large numbers of persons, 
 without even the mock trial of the courts-martial that 
 were set up, were flogged or shot down, or hanged, to 
 glut the cruel thirst for blood which animated the avenging 
 soldiery. The Royal Commissioners ascertained that at 
 least 439 persons were put to death, and a thousand dwell- 
 ings of the peasantry destroyed. Six hundred men and 
 women were subjected to cruel floggings, in some instances 
 intensified in cruelty by fine wire inserted in the lash. No 
 condemnation can be stronger than the plain, bare, con- 
 cluding statements of the Royal Commissioners: "The 
 punishments inflicted were excessive." "The punishment 
 of death was unnecessarily frequent." " The floggings 
 were reckless, and at Bath positively barbarous." " The 
 burning of a thousand homes was wanton and cruel." 
 
 The letters of Mr. Phillippo at this time are, as may be 
 supposed, filled with details of these lamentable events, as 
 they came to his knowledge. His first communications to 
 the Mission House appear to have been intercepted by 
 the authorities, so that it is not until nearly the end of 
 December that we obtain a glimpse of the state of things 
 around him. He says : — 
 
 " We are still in the midst of a very sad state of things, 
 
1865] The Disturbances. 333 
 
 which you will have found by the newspapers, notes, and 
 enactments of the House of Assembly I forwarded you by 
 the two last mails — that is, if they have reached you, as it 
 is here understood that all letters suspected of containing 
 anything likely to reflect on the Government authorities 
 here are opened at the post-office ; and that, in such 
 cases, the writer is subject to arrest at any hour for sedi- 
 tion, and his papers ruthlessly searched. 
 
 " On that account it is that I have addressed you 
 through the medium of Mr. Baynes, and for the same 
 reason you will not at present learn the full particulars of 
 the riot in St. Thomas-in-the-East, and the circumstances 
 connected with it. I perceive from the Evening Star, 
 kindly sent to me by Mr. Snow, that the matter begins to 
 be seen at home in its true light. I say begins, as the in- 
 telligence since received will, I have no doubt, open the 
 eyes of the public still wider, and, as I trust, force them 
 to the resolution to have the whole matter most thoroughly 
 and impartially investigated from first to last. 
 
 "This must be done in justice to your calumniated 
 missionaries, and for the future good of the island, temporal 
 and spiritual. No effort or expense must be spared to this 
 end, especially by the Christian and philanthropic portion 
 of the people of England. And if activity and determina- 
 tion are more necessary on the part of one section of the 
 Christian community than another, the Dissenters are 
 that portion, as it is evident that every effort will be made, 
 and is now being made, to swamp them.* 
 
 * Mr. Phillippo here alludes to the violent measures, following on 
 the proclamation of martial law, taken by the House of Assembly to 
 destroy civil liberty, the liberty of the press, and the teaching of all 
 religious bodies, except that of the Churches of England and Rome, 
 the Kirk of Scotland, and the Jews, under the plea of preserving the 
 worship of God from scandalous abuses, superstitious practices, and 
 sedition. 
 
334 The Disturbances. ['865 
 
 " As an evidence how little we have to expect, it is only 
 necessary to refer to the Bill brought in by the Executive 
 Committee, and, as would seem, with the approval of his 
 Excellency the Governor, but which was rejected, with 
 apparent disdain even, by the House of Assembly. 
 
 " One consequence of the new Act since passed will 
 inevitably be, under existing circumstances, that the hope 
 of reduction or removal of the taxes for State-Church 
 purposes is utterly extinguished. Little doubt, indeed, 
 can be entertained that they will be greatly increased by 
 the change. 
 
 " With reference, again, to the Public Worship Bill, I 
 herewith forward you the substitute for one which was 
 withdrawn. I am informed that this was drawn up or 
 received the sanction of ministers of different Dissenting 
 denominations (Wesleyans included) in Kingston. It may 
 be as well for me to say that / had nothing to do with it, 
 entirely repudiating, as I do, all laws restrictive of full 
 religious liberty. Of the acts of which an ignorant and 
 superstitious Ministry may be guilty I am fully aware ; 
 but I believe, irrespective of higher considerations, that 
 such restrictions would be impolitic, and would only 
 increase the evil they propose to cure. 
 
 " The Martial Law Bill I forwarded you by last mail, and 
 I am anxious to know what the British public think of it, as 
 it has actually passed into law. By this, the liberty of the 
 press is destroyed, and public opinion, judged so necessary 
 in England to good government, is struck dumb ; while, the 
 term ' sedition ' being undefined, no one is safe if he make 
 an observation on occurrences around him — none less so 
 than ministers of the Gospel, who have supposed sympa- 
 thies with the labouring population. They are at the 
 mercy of any ignorant, unprincipled informer to whom 
 five shillings would be a temptation. The evidence of 
 such men may fail to convict the accused, but he may be 
 
1 865] The Disturbances. 335 
 
 set upon by the harriers of the press, may have his papers 
 rifled, and, in violation of the Act, may be publicly flogged, 
 or sent to Morant Bay to be tried by court-martial and 
 hanged. 
 
 " Is it possible that the British Parliament will sanction 
 such a state of things ? 
 
 " Nor is this all. There are Acts passed or in progress 
 equally subversive of liberty and dangerous to the ex- 
 pression of public opinion, to which pray call the attention 
 of some of your legal and philanthropic friends, particularly 
 that, as you will do, of our invaluable Treasurer.* 
 
 " I trust you have received the list of the more respectable 
 persons arrested, which I sent you a few weeks since. 
 This, however, was only a part of the number arrested. I 
 will, if possible, forward the entire list, with some particu- 
 lars respecting the parties, that it may be known how far 
 the Times and any other slanderers of the Baptists are 
 implicated in the calamity in St. Thomas-in-the-East. 
 
 " I think I before informed you that, among some other 
 efforts I had made on behalf of brother Palmer.f I sent a 
 letter to his Excellency the Governor, asking if any charge 
 was made against him ; if so, as to its nature, and when 
 proceedings would be taken, in order to secure counsel 
 for his defence ; otherwise, that he might be released from 
 his imprisonment, which had then extended over a month 
 (now to nearly two), in a filthy dungeon at Morant 
 
 * These Acts were disallowed by the home authorities, and 
 ultimately the Legislature of Jamaica itself surrendered all its powers, 
 charters, and privileges into the hands of the Crown. From that time 
 to the present the island has been governed as a Crown colony. 
 
 fThe Rev. E. Palmer was a coloured Baptist minister, and the 
 pastor of Hanover Street Church in Kingston, He was arrested on the 
 charge of sedition, having attended and spoken at an " Underhill 
 meeting." He was put in irons on board a man-of-war and taken to 
 Morant Bay. After a cruel imprisonment of nearly two months, 
 without trial, he was brought back to Kingston, 
 
336 The Disturbances. L'^^5 
 
 Bay. Mrs. Palmer also wrote me, and I replied at 
 once, that her husband should not be victimised without 
 a fair trial. I accordingly advised her to place his 
 case in the hands of Mr. Thomas Oughton, who had 
 previously interested himself in the matter, promising 
 to do my best towards meeting any reasonable expenses, 
 as also to speak to my son, the barrister, to undertake 
 his defence. 
 
 " A day or two since both Mrs. Palmer and Mr. 
 Oughton waited on me on the subject, when it was 
 decided not to go to the expense of a ' Habeas Corpus,' 
 but to wait the result of proceedings in the case of the 
 editor of the County Union,v/ho had also been arrested on a 
 similar charge, for whom my son was engaged as counsel. 
 The case was argued before the Chief Judge yesterday ; 
 and the accused were at once admitted to bail.* I under- 
 stand that the argument of counsel for the defence was 
 such, supported as it was by the highest legal authority, that,, 
 if correct, it vitiates all the past proceedings both as to 
 the declaration of martial law and all its consequences — 
 yes, consequences — the destruction, as is now stated or 
 
 * Mr. Phillippo himself became one of Mr. Palmer's sureties. 
 Under a law passed by the House of Assembly in its last moments, a 
 Special Commission Court was formed, before which Mr. Palmer was 
 indicted in February — first, for seditious language at an Underbill 
 meeting held in Kingston, five months before the outbreak; and. 
 secondly, with others, for conspiracy. One indictment was quashed 
 from informality in the impannelling of the jury. It was renewed 
 before the same jury. A conviction was obtained, and a sentence of 
 eight weeks' confinement passed. Up to the day of the trial the terms 
 of the charge were kept from the knowledge of the prisoner and the 
 defence. The construction of the court and the jury, and the desperate 
 efforts made to secure a conviction in order to gain some apparent 
 justification to the plea of the Governor before the Royal Commission- 
 ers, deprived the conviction of all moral value. The indictment for 
 conspiracy broke down altogether, and, at the suggestion of the court 
 itself, was abandoned. Mr. Palmer is still the honoured, though now 
 aged, pastor of the church in Hanover Street. 
 
1865] The Disturbances. 337 
 
 rumoured, of upwards of 3,000 (! !) of the population of the 
 district and the adjoining ones in which the outbreak 
 occurred.* 
 
 " I am happy to say that every part of the island is in 
 peace, and, as it would seem, the revolutionary plots 
 against the white and more respectable coloured inhabit- 
 ants are entirely without foundation. So also, as would 
 seem, is the complicity in them by the exiles from Haiti, 
 as no evidence has been substantiated against them. 
 
 " A Mr. Davis, of the Customs, who was said to have 
 secreted stores of gunpowder beneath the floor of his 
 house, and was arrested on this supposition, and some 
 others under similar circumstances, have been set at 
 liberty, and Mr. Davis has been restored to his office. 
 So with a considerable number of others, after an im- 
 prisonment of from six to eight weeks, fed only, if reports 
 are true, on bread and water. 
 
 " The Maroons (who committed frightful outrages in St. 
 Thomas-in-the-East) are to become a regular organised 
 force. They have been marched through the island on a 
 visit to their brethren in the different districts of their 
 location, and have everywhere been received with enthu- 
 siasm, and feasted to satiety by a certain class of the 
 population. Some ask if this is wise or politic, and, it 
 
 * The inquiries of the Royal Commission happily reduced this 
 number. Speaking of these events, Professor Goldwin Smith said, at 
 a missionary meeting held in Oxford on the 17th of December, 1866 : 
 "The vast atrocities which in the first wild paroxysm of alarm were 
 imputed to the Negro, and which formed a pretext for the most 
 dreadful severities, were afterwards disproved. On the other hand, 
 ■ the worst atrocities imputed to the whites unfortunately cannot be 
 disproved, for they are attested by the damning evidence of their own 
 reports. An English colonel boasts of having forced his wretched 
 prisoners to hang each other. He tells you how he put up a prisoner 
 at four hundred yards as a mark for his riflemen. And then he says 
 that nothing can endear a man to the Established Church so much as 
 a campaign in Jamaica." — The Missionary Herald, January, 1867, p. 3. 
 
 Z 
 
338 The Disturbances. [1866 
 
 may be, not without reason. Detachments of the military 
 are also sent to most of the principal towns on the sea- 
 board, and, in some cases, into the interior — in some 
 instances to the astonishment, and in others, as would 
 seem by Colonel Whitfield's letter to the Governor, to the 
 displeasure, of the labouring population." 
 
 A month later, January 5th, 1866, Mr. Phillippo con- 
 tinues his narration in the following letter : — 
 
 " I have been kindly favoured with several of the English 
 papers, and am rejoiced to learn from most of them that, 
 while they naturally deplore and condemn the atrocities 
 committed by the people on the authorities at Morant Bay, 
 they condemn in still stronger terms the fearful massacre 
 that has resulted from the means used for the repression 
 of the riot, and that indignation has been roused through- 
 out the country by the cold-blooded murders that were 
 perpetrated in the name of justice after the riot was 
 quelled. 
 
 " I now set myself to the task of jotting down a few 
 more particulars, which, coming from the neighbourhood 
 of the late scene of slaughter, may not be uninteresting. 
 We, even here, are yet without any very definite idea of the 
 predisposing causes of the outbreak. They, however, 
 appear to me more remote and more numerous than 
 persons at a distance are aware of. Complaints have 
 been made of the paramount influence of one family, 
 which was used adversely to the interests of the people ; 
 of injustice in the petty courts, of summary ejectments, 
 of insufficient and unpaid wages, and many other annoy- 
 ances or grievances too numerous to detail. These 
 evidently culminated in the determination of the mis- 
 guided mass to take the law into their own hands, and 
 inflict summary punishment upon those they regarded as 
 their oppressors. It does not appear that they originally 
 intended to take away life, or to destroy or appropriate 
 
1 866] The Disturbances. 339 
 
 property ; their spirit of revenge was not aroused until 
 fired upon by the volunteers or the police. 
 
 " I must not, however, omit one or two other important 
 considerations, tending to account for the dissatisfac- 
 tion that appears to have prevailed in the minds of the 
 peasantry in St. Thomas-in-the-East, viz., Mr. G. W. 
 Gordon's treatment by his Excellency the Governor for 
 his complaints of the wretched condition of the prison, 
 and of the conduct of some of the authorities — specially 
 of the conduct of the Custos in ejecting Mr. Gordon from 
 his office of churchwarden, and the extraordinary circum- 
 stances of persecution that followed, all which, considering 
 that it was the result of opposition to them — they regarding 
 Mr. Gordon as their only friend — tended naturally to in- 
 crease the dissatisfaction. 
 
 " Nor was this all ; the only remaining friend they had, 
 owing, it is said, to a complaint he, as a special justice, 
 felt himself constrained to make of some exactions by 
 individuals in office, and on some other accounts, was 
 removed, so that they felt themselves abandoned to in- 
 justice and misrule, saying they no sooner had a person 
 upon whom they could look as a friend, or one to do 
 them justice, than he was marked for persecution, disgraced, 
 or driven to another parish.* Lastly, was their appeal to 
 the Queen, whom, I have no- hesitation in saying, the 
 whole coloured and black population adore, and the 
 disappointment occasioned by the proclamation of the 
 Governor, was the chief if not the principal cause of dis- 
 satisfaction throughout the country. 
 
 " You need no additional details of the horrors that 
 were perpetrated on the so-called rebels by the soldiers 
 — Maroon and others of equal savagery — employed in 
 
 * Mr. Gordon was removed from the magistracy by Governor Eyre, 
 but was reinstated by the Duke of Newcastle, the Colonial Minister at 
 the time, under circumstances of much humiliation to the Governor. 
 
 Z % 
 
34° The Disturbances. [1866 
 
 executing summary punishment, or I might tell you of 
 reports still more harrowing than any you have heard, — of 
 men wantonly shot down from the roof of their houses 
 when employed in repairing them ; of women stabbed, in 
 their huts, with children at their breasts, or in other in- 
 describable condition, the children dashed upon the 
 ground and murdered — of men flogged, then hanged — of 
 numbers paraded through the town to execution, with 
 halters round their necks — and of still greater atrocities 
 perpetrated in the woods and open fields. Suffice it to 
 say that the perpetrators of these outrages have fixed a 
 stain upon our country which nothing but their total con- 
 demnation by the Government and country will wipe out. 
 
 " I perceive that the Times and one or two other 
 journals still persist in attributing the outbreak to the 
 Baptists, notwithstanding the decided and palpable evi- 
 dence that has been brought to bear by Sir Morton Peto 
 and others against their assertions. Men with such pro- 
 clivities as the editor of the Times no argument or amount 
 of evidence would move to recantation. There are, how- 
 ever, others who seem inadvertently to have fallen into 
 the mistake of supposing that, while the Baptist mis- 
 sionaries and their people, in connection with the Baptist 
 Missionary Society, are exonerated from complicity in 
 the riot, the native Baptists, or 'so-called Baptists' 
 in the vocabulary of the Governor, were mostly its 
 originators and agents. This also I consider myself 
 warranted in saying is a mistake. The greater number 
 by far consisted of men connected with no religious 
 society, Africans as ignorant and debased as in their 
 native wilds, supplemented by Church of England men, 
 native Methodists, and others. 
 
 " As an evidence of the calumny that seeks to fix the out- 
 break upon the Baptist body, even including all who bear 
 that name, it is only necessary to contrast the number of 
 
1 866] The Disturbances. 341 
 
 that denomination, among the most respectable individuals 
 that have been arrested on suspicion of complicity in the 
 miscalled rebellion, with those belonging directly or indi- 
 rectly to other communions, and which are as follows : — 
 
 Three Baptists of the Baptist Missionary Society. 
 
 Three native Baptists. 
 
 Three Jews. 
 
 One native Wesleyan. 
 
 One United Methodist. 
 
 One Independent. 
 
 One Scotch Kirk. 
 
 Twenty-six Church of England. 
 
 Thirty and upwards Roman Catholics. 
 Thus you will see the slender ground upon which our 
 friends were arrested, had their papers rifled, and them- 
 selves carried away from their homes and families and 
 cast into a loathsome dungeon for weeks or months. Of 
 the three Baptists first on the list, two have been acquitted, 
 or rather dismissed without charge, leaving one only to 
 take his trial before a commission on the 23rd inst. for 
 imputed seditious expressions at a public meeting held 
 five months anterior to the tmeute. 
 
 " Of the other sixty or seventy, more than two-thirds, 
 after all their losses and sufferings, were told that there 
 were no warrants of detention against them. The residue, 
 about six in number, are out on bail. 
 
 " Among other doings which seem to have especially 
 excited the indignation of your journalists and ' humani- 
 tarians ' at home was the employment of the Maroons in 
 the work of death. And with reason. Fancy them like 
 blood-hounds in full cry upon the track of their victims, 
 or like lions watching for their prey, crouching beneath 
 the thick umbrage of the forest ! But what will they 
 think of the policy or humanity of trailing these men 
 through the country, and of extolling and feasting them at 
 
34-2 The Disturbances. [1866 
 
 festive boards ? Past history has surely spoken to our 
 rulers in vain, and the lessons of modern wisdom in 
 statesmanship are equally lost upon them. 
 
 " As to the plot that had been so deeply laid for the de- 
 struction of all the white inhabitants in Kingston, in which 
 the Haitian refugees were said to be implicated with a view 
 to the transfer of the island to the rule of a new Haitian 
 Republic, it has proved a mere fiction of the imagination. 
 It had not the slightest foundation in fact. It has 
 altogether vanished as a dream, and such as were said to 
 be the principal conspirators were acquitted of the charge. 
 As if to confirm the report of an expected general rising 
 of the people, an individual or two have been arrested on 
 suspicion in several remote parishes, but nothing has 
 been as yet disclosed that would lead to the suspicion 
 that disaffection in an organised form existed beyond the 
 limits of St. Thomas-in-the-East, if even much beyond the 
 precincts of Morant Bay. And what, but to throw dust in 
 the eyes of the British people, is the calling out of the volun- 
 teers, special constables, and the police at the present 
 holiday season, including an interval of two or three weeks? 
 All is as peaceful around and everywhere as a stagnant lake, 
 while our rulers, free from fear, have long betaken them- 
 selves, alone and unprotected, to their isolated mountain 
 homes, or to the calm quiet of their woods and fields. 
 
 " Poor George William Gordon ! my heart bleeds when 
 I think of his untimely death. I cannot for a moment 
 bring my mind to believe that he was in the least privy 
 to the outbreak, or that any man could have a greater 
 horror of such an outbreak. I believe him to be, and ever 
 have done since I first knew him, now many years ago, a 
 sincere, benevolent, and truly godly man. He was called 
 enthusiastic, hypocritical, and many other names which 
 have ever been applied by an ungodly world, and by 
 unreasonable and wicked men in all past times, and as are 
 
1 866^| The Disturbances. 343 
 
 even now applied, to the greatest of men and the highest 
 ornaments of our country. The men who can stigmatise our 
 Broughams and Gurneys, Buxtons and Petos and Morleys, 
 as pseudo - philanthropists and Exeter Hall humanity- 
 mongers, and the noblest and best women in the country 
 as a set of ' idle scandal-mongers,' are capable of any lan- 
 guage towards such as condemn their conduct by their 
 Christian zeal and exemplary and consistent lives. 
 
 " Among other circumstances of a peculiar character 
 that attended Mr. Gordon's death, and which I have 
 scarcely seen noticed, but which has made a deep impres- 
 sion on the minds of hundreds of people here — which is 
 said, indeed, to have induced the Maroons to desist from 
 their work of blood — was the long-continued shocks of 
 earthquake that occurred on the morning, and about the 
 very hour or moment, of the execution. I was in my room 
 at the time, almost petrified at the severity and length of 
 the vibrations, though not knowing that this was the 
 morning when the martyred spirit of my friend ascended 
 to his blissful inheritance. ' Surely there is a God who 
 judgeth in the earth.' " * 
 
 * Lord Chief Justice Cockbum, in his charge to the grand jury in 
 the case of The Queen v. Nelson and Brand, thus sums up his review of 
 Gordon's case: — "No doubt a lamentable event has taken place. A 
 man has been condemned, sentenced to death, and executed upon 
 evidence which would not have been admitted before any properly 
 constituted tribunal, and upon evidence which, if admitted, fell 
 altogether short of establishing the crime with which he was charged." 
 In a note he adds, ; ' No one, I think, who has the faintest idea of what 
 the administration of justice involves could deem the proceedings on 
 this trial consistent with justice, or, to use a homely phrase, with that 
 fair play which is the right of the commonest criminal." — "A Charge 
 by the Lord Chief Justice of England, &c." (London: Ridgway, 1867), 
 PP- 153, 165. The same view was taken by the Royal Commissioners. 
 They say, " The evidence, oral and documentary, appears to us to be 
 wholly insufficient to establish the charge upon which the prisoner took 
 his trial." — Report, p. 37. 
 
344- The Disturbances. [1866 
 
 The English Government lost no time in making 
 arrangements for an exhaustive inquiry into these lament- 
 able events. Sir Henry Storks, G.C.B., Russell Gurney, 
 Esq., Q.C., Recorder of the City of London, and J. B. 
 Maule, Esq., Recorder of Leeds, were appointed Royal 
 Commissioners to investigate the origin, nature, and 
 circumstances of the disturbances, and the means adopted 
 for their suppression. They arrived in Jamaica on the 
 20th of January, 1866, and the Commission was formally 
 opened on the 23rd, the following Tuesday, and from that 
 time till the 21st of March sat daily, without intermission, 
 except on Sundays. They visited the scene of the 
 disturbances and received the testimony of eye-witnesses 
 and of persons of all classes able to throw any light on 
 the subject of their inquiries. The accusations so freely 
 made by Governor Eyre against Baptist missionaries, as 
 well as one of the Secretaries of the Society, as having been 
 more or less implicated in the outbreak, or at all events 
 contributing to it by their letters and speeches, induced 
 the Committee to engage the services of George Phillippo, 
 Esq., who a few years before had been called to the Bar 
 in England, and was now practising in Jamaica, to appear 
 before the Commissioners on their behalf. No attempt, 
 however, was made by Mr. Eyre to establish the charges 
 he had so recklessly made, or, when challenged, to repeat 
 them. In a letter which Mr. Phillippo addressed to Sir 
 Henry Storks, conveying a memorial from all the Baptist 
 missionaries, then in annual session in Spanish Town, 
 requesting an opportunity of vindicating before the Com- 
 missioners both themselves and the Secretary from the 
 charges expressed or implied of being " accessory to the 
 riot at Morant Bay," they received the reply that his 
 Excellency the President " could not accede to the request 
 as no evidence had been given before the Commissioners 
 affecting the character of Dr. Underhill or the Baptist 
 
1 866] The Disturbances. 345 
 
 missionaries in relation to the recent disturbances in St. 
 Thomas-in-the-East." 
 
 It must not, however, be forgotten that, by the seizure of 
 their letters in the Post Office, and by listening to every 
 foolish rumour in the island, the most active efforts had 
 been made to find "matter of wrong" against them. 
 Mr. Phillippo records that persons were set " as spies to 
 note the principal persons who frequented" his residence, 
 and, " as I was known to be a friend of Gordon's, it was 
 presumed that I might have been in league with him and 
 other promoters of the ' widespread sedition,' or rebellion, 
 conjured up by Mr. Eyre and his half-demented auxili- 
 aries." Happily, every attempt to implicate Mr. Phillippo 
 and his brethren utterly failed, and Mr. Phillippo especially 
 enjoyed frequent opportunities, in his intercourse with Sir 
 Henry Storks and the other Commissioners, of knowing 
 that their conduct was approved, and their character held 
 in the highest estimation, by these gentlemen. As touch- 
 ing these matters, they were blameless. There was not 
 the shadow of excuse for the obnoxious and calumnious 
 charges brought forward by Mr. Eyre in his despatches 
 to the home Government. The ordeal through which 
 the accused missionaries passed left their honour unstained, 
 their integrity untouched, and their Christian character 
 undimmed. 
 
 On the general question of the state of feeling among 
 the peasantry, and their condition, several of the mission- 
 aries, however, were called to appear. As Mr. Phillippo's 
 evidence is very brief, the substance of it, as recorded by 
 himself, may here be given : — 
 
 " I am the oldest Baptist missionary, and, I believe, of 
 any religious denomination in the island. I have been in 
 Jamaica nearly forty-three years. My knowledge extends 
 over the whole island, but I have not been to Morant 
 Bay, in St. Thomas-in-the-East and Portland, until lately. 
 
3+6 The Disturbances, [1866 
 
 I have been most acquainted during the last few years 
 with the parishes of St. Catherine, the high lands of St. 
 Thomas-in-the-Vale, St. Dorothy, and St. John. My 
 knowledge of numbers of the people in these parishes has 
 been intimate, having had, I may say, continual intercourse 
 with them as a minister of the Gospel, and in various 
 other ways as a pastor, and in my efforts to improve their 
 social condition. I established the village of Sligoville 
 and several others, and promoted education among the 
 people by the establishment and support of schools 
 during fqrty years. Sligoville, as a missionary station and 
 village, was begun before the termination of the ap- 
 prenticeship system. It is a very extensive village ; I am 
 not certain as to the number of the population. The 
 people, with scarcely an exception, are sober, peaceable, 
 and industrious. There has never been a grog-shop in the 
 settlement from the time of its first establishment to the 
 present day. Not the slightest indication of disaffection 
 appeared among the people, either at Sligoville or in any 
 other part of the country with which I am familiar, either 
 before the outbreak or during the time of the excitement 
 caused by it, or since. The people were all most 
 peaceable, quiet, loyal. Nothing occurred at any of my 
 stations in the parishes I have named that excited in my 
 mind the least suspicion of discontent with the constituted 
 authorities, or of any intended disobedience to law. 
 There might have been expressions of complaint on 
 account of poverty and distress, but none of disaffection." 
 On the 1 st of March, Mr. Phillippo, accompanied by the 
 Rev. Thomas Lea, started on a visit to the parish of St. 
 Thomas-in-the-East. This journey, which occupied about 
 ten days, was undertaken at the request of the Jamaica 
 Baptist Union, with the object of ascertaining the practi- 
 cability of commencing a mission in Morant Bay and its 
 vicinity. The subject had been earnestly pressed on Mr. 
 
1 866] The Disturbances. 34.7 
 
 Phillippo's attention by Sir Henry Storks, who also, on his 
 return to England, had an interview with the Treasurer 
 and Secretaries of the Society to urge upon them the 
 same duty. Mr. Phillippo mentions that they came upon 
 " numerous evidences of the devastation occasioned by 
 the late outbreak and of its repression, and many tales and 
 sights of distress resulting from them exacted our sym- 
 pathies with the sufferers." The issue of their inquiries 
 was most encouraging, and, before the close of the year, 
 the Committee placed at the disposal of the Jamaica 
 missionaries a sum sufficient to establish stations in and 
 around Morant Bay, and to maintain them in operation 
 for three years. The period of support was afterwards 
 extended to seven years, and, under the energetic action 
 of the Rev. W. Teall, to whose hands the work was com- 
 mitted, efficient churches were established and suitable 
 buildings purchased or erected at Morant Bay and 
 Monklands. The mission in this district now embraces 
 five stations and churches, under the superintendence of 
 two native pastors, with a membership of 1,080 persons. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 HARTLANDS— 1866. 
 
 While the Commission was sitting, an event occurred 
 which illustrates in a striking manner some of the chief 
 causes of the Disturbances, and, at the same time, the 
 usefulness, activity, and tact of Mr. Phillippo. 
 
 It was suddenly announced that a calamity like that at 
 Morant Bay was impending at a settlement called Hart- 
 lands, about five miles from Spanish Town, and measures 
 were taken, at the instigation of the partisans of Mr. 
 Eyre, that threatened another " carnival of blood."* The 
 narrative can, happily, be given in Mr. Phillippo's own 
 words : — 
 
 " The land on which this settlement was established be- 
 longed to a merchant of the name of Hart, and comprised 
 about 2,500 acres. The village was situated about five 
 
 * Mr. Eyre immediately availed himself of this incident to justify his 
 proceedings at Morant Bay. In a letter he addressed to Sir Henry 
 Storks, on the 6th of April, after referring to the despatch of troops to 
 Hartlands on the 14th of March, he says : — " This incident shows 
 forcibly the state of feeling amongst the Negroes even now in respect to 
 such questions [that is, the occupation of land] ; and as there are many 
 cases very similar to that at Hartlands all over the island, but without the 
 advantage of their being near the seat of Government, and within the 
 immediate reach of a large military force, it is almost certain that great 
 difficulty, if not disturbance, will arise wherever attempts are made to 
 ascertain whether the Negro occupants have any legal right to the lands 
 upon which they have located themselves." — Parliamentary- Papers on 
 Disturbances in Jamaica, February, 1866, p. 312. 
 
1 866] Hartlands. 349 
 
 miles from Spanish Town. Almost immediately after the 
 abolition of slavery, portions of this land, in an uncultivated 
 state, were purchased by people principally from the neigh- 
 bouring estates. 
 
 " Some of these, at periods varying with their circum- 
 stances, paid for their allotments and had their titles ; 
 some paid by instalments, and had receipts given them 
 on that condition. The original proprietor, some years 
 after, died, and his affairs were transferred to his son, 
 or were left in the hands of executors on his behalf. 
 This gentleman neglected his interests at Hartlands for 
 nearly twenty years, hardly considering them, it is 
 supposed, worth the time and attention they demanded. 
 During this long period, trespasses were said to have been 
 committed on the portions of the land unsold. The 
 attention of the proprietor being at length called to the 
 matter, the settlers were required to show the legality of 
 their claims. Some few exhibited their titles, others their 
 receipts, and others again declared that they had paid in 
 full or by instalments for their purchases to an agent 
 appointed by the original proprietor, who had absconded 
 with their money, or, at least, had not accounted for it to 
 his employer, and on various pretences gave them no 
 acknowledgment. Many of the receipts, and some of 
 the titles, were taken to the present owner of the unsold 
 land, and left with him at his request, in order, as he 
 represented, that he might have the opportunity of ac- 
 quainting himself with the circumstances of the case as 
 they related to each individual settler. Soon after — 
 namely, in i 862 — the great fire in Kingston occurred, in 
 which these papers were consumed, together with the 
 premises in which they were deposited. After the lapse 
 of some years, during which the matter was again at rest, 
 the proprietor or claimant sent a surveyor to survey the 
 lands, including that portion of them which comprehended 
 
350 Harllands. [1866 
 
 the settlement or homesteads of the people. This was 
 regarded by the latter, many of whom possessed titles and 
 receipts, as an attempt to dispossess them indiscriminately 
 of their holdings, in violation of their rights ; and they 
 quietly, but determinately, resisted by forming themselves 
 in line across the private road, for such it was, leading to 
 the settlement, demanding of the intruders their authority, 
 and signifying their determination to protect their rights 
 by an appeal to law. On this account these people were 
 denounced as squatters, thieves, robbers, factious outlaws; 
 conspirators against lawful authority, &c. With equal 
 untruthfulness also they were said to have possessed 
 themselves of ammunition and firearms — to have thrown 
 up barricades at every entrance to their settlement, &c. — 
 reports which were proved to be utterly without founda- 
 tion on the authority of the police sent to ascertain the 
 truth ; and their settlement was stigmatised as the asylum 
 or rendezvous of the refuse and scum of the population of 
 the island — in every sense a real modern Alsatia. 
 
 " During the suppression of the outbreak at Morant Bay, 
 or rather after the riot there had terminated, threats of 
 exterminating the settlement at Hartlands by the military 
 were common in Spanish Town, and that these threats 
 would be executed as soon as they returned from St. 
 Thomas-in-the-East. About this time I became accident- 
 ally acquainted with two or three of the principal persons 
 of the village, and, after referring pleasantly to the 
 notorious character that was given them, I inquired if 
 there would be any opposition by the people generally if I 
 visited and preached to them. Fully assured to the 
 contrary, I fixed the day, and met three or four hundred, 
 who were most orderly, attentive, and courteous. This 
 was before the riot at Morant Bay, and I repeated my 
 visit immediately after the arrival of the Royal Com- 
 missioners. In the midst of the sittings of the latter, I 
 
1 866] Hartlands. 351 
 
 casually heard that a body of police, headed by the county 
 inspector and accompanied by a surveyor, had repeated 
 the attempt to survey the lands with a view of ejecting the 
 inhabitants, and that the people, as before, although 
 ■without any intention of resorting to force, as they 
 declared at the time, besides being without any weapons 
 of offence whatever, quietly, and even pleasantly, yet 
 decidedly, refused permission for them to proceed. These 
 gentlemen, after calling upon witnesses to prove op- 
 position, returned to report to the authorities. The next 
 morning, to my astonishment, I heard that a strong body 
 of police and of the military were on their way to 
 Hartlands, unknown to Sir Henry Storks, or at all events 
 not by his order, and that another Morant Bay tragedy 
 might be apprehended. I immediately hastened to 
 Government House and offered my services to Sir Henry 
 Storks to endeavour to influence the people to obviate 
 such calamity by acquiescing in such an arrangement as 
 would not jeopardise their rights. Sir Henry Storks at 
 once acceded to my request, and, as no time was to be 
 lost, a carriage was at once placed at my disposal by one 
 of the Royal Commissioners. I overtook the police and 
 military when within a mile or two from the settlement, 
 told my object to the inspector of the police, and begged 
 them to halt and not enter the village. I immediately 
 mounted a horse, lent me by the inspector, and proceeded 
 about two or three miles along the settlement, calling the 
 inhabitants, who were standing in groups by their 
 cottages, to meet me in the road on my return. Finding 
 out the principal men, I urged my advice upon them, 
 stating that I had authority to say their claims, if they 
 had any, would be considered, notwithstanding the survey 
 that was to be made ; although my object was simply to 
 prevent their ejectment, and the probable destruction of 
 their property, if not of life. They unanimously said, 
 
352 Hartlands. [1866 
 
 ' Minister is our friend, and we will do what he tells us. 
 The surveyor can go on.' The people followed me in 
 crowds, at my request, to announce this to the police and 
 military, who had by this time advanced near the 
 village, where they halted. I then urged their return. 
 They complied, on condition that I would guarantee the 
 preservation of the peace, or be responsible for any 
 adverse consequences. I agreed, and continued all day 
 on horseback to fulfil my pledge. The soldiers returned, 
 and peace and quietness were preserved. Danger did 
 exist two or three times from provocations by some 
 of the soldiers and others ; but that was ultimately 
 obviated by my promise to those assaulted to present 
 their complaints to his Excellency, which I did the next 
 morning. 
 
 " On the following morning I saw the Governor, and 
 communicated to him the occurrences of the day and the 
 results, when I had the honour to receive his thanks. 
 The affairs of Hartlands now shared the particular interest 
 of his Excellency, he having repeated interviews with the 
 deputations from the people. He arranged that the matter 
 between the contending parties should be settled by 
 arbitration. In the meantime the people were advised 
 not to assure themselves too confidently that their hopes 
 in this respect would be realised, but to provide against 
 probable defeat by uniting their contributions to secure 
 the services of a competent and respectable solicitor. 
 The people failed to act on this advice, repeatedly given, 
 partly, as they afterwards said, from inability to meet the 
 expense, from having for years been drained of all their 
 little means without advantage, and partly in the confident 
 hope that the terms proposed by his Excellency the 
 Governor would ultimately be acceded to. The matter, 
 however, was successively postponed by the claimants, 
 until Sir H Storks' functions as Governor ceased. In the 
 
1 866] Hartlands. 
 
 353 
 
 interval, as it would seem, between the departure of Sir 
 Henry Storks and that on which a representation could 
 be properly made to the new Governor, Sir J. P. Grant, 
 the claimants, without apprising the defendants of their 
 design, had applied to a court of law, and, there being 
 consequently no representative of the claims of the people 
 present on the occasion, judgment went against them by 
 default, and a writ was issued for the summary ejectment 
 of certain of the inhabitants from their houses and 
 grounds. The deputy-marshal, surveyor, and some 
 police and other attendants lost no time in attempting to 
 enforce the orders of the court. The parties concerned 
 were thus taken by surprise, and the whole settlement 
 thrown into commotion, apprehending that the purposes 
 of their antagonists were now sought to be accomplished 
 by stratagem. The executors of the law, therefore, were 
 again civilly, but decidedly, opposed, those more imme- 
 diately concerned insisting that the matter was to have 
 been settled by arbitration, and that they had been 
 unfairly dealt with by their opponents ; their feelings, at 
 the same time, were somewhat provoked by the taunt of 
 one of the attendants on the officials, that it ' was not 
 Governor Storks' time now,' thus conveying the impression 
 that an advantage had actually been taken of them, if not 
 an act of injustice perpetrated towards them. 
 
 " Representations of this renewed obstruction was at 
 once made to the principal authorities of the parish, and 
 a body of police was ordered to accompany the deputy- 
 marshal and others, to compel obedience by force ; 
 while it was rumoured that a detachment of military 
 was ordered to be in readiness in the event of failure 
 by the police. 
 
 " At this stage, his Excellency Sir J. P. Grant signified 
 his desire for an interview with me on the subject. I 
 promised, as the result of his Excellency's representations, 
 
 A A 
 
354 Hartlands. [1866 
 
 and on a sufficient knowledge of all the circumstances 
 then existing to enable me to act justly towards the 
 opposing parties, to do all in my power to induce the 
 people to yield to the requirements of the authorities. 
 The documents were forwarded to me, and from them, 
 added to some explanations from a party well acquainted 
 with the subject in all its bearings, I resolved to prevent 
 the apprehended disturbance at once. My purpose was 
 to go in person to Hartlands to see the people collectively; 
 but, subject as I had been for some time previously to 
 serious indisposition, I was induced from this cause, and 
 the inclement state of the weather, to send a messenger to 
 request the principal people to come as a deputation to 
 me in town, I purposing, at the same time, to go to them 
 personally if necessary. About forty of them soon after 
 arrived. I explained to them all the circumstances of the 
 case, and urged their compliance with the terms proposed, 
 especially as they included some favourable conditions I 
 had recently secured by conferences with one of the 
 opposing parties. 
 
 " To these terms they unanimously acceded ; and each 
 individually expressed his acquiescence in my proposal, 
 all pledging themselves to allow the writ of ejectment to 
 be executed without resistance or complaint. 
 
 " I immediately represented the promise thus made me 
 to the Governor, and he ordered the detachment to return 
 to Kingston accordingly. 
 
 " On the following morning the deputy-marshal, at my 
 request, proceeded to the settlement alone and unarmed. 
 And thus, unattended, he executed the writ, I only 
 sending an intelligent person to see that no cause was 
 given by either party for collision or dispute. On the 
 evening of the day, both the deputy-marshal and the 
 messenger returned and reported that the writ had been 
 duly executed, and that without the slightest interruption. 
 
1 866] Hartlands. 355 
 
 I announced this fact to his Excellency the Governor, and 
 received his kind acknowledgment as follows : — 
 
 " ' Sir, — The Provost Marshal General having officially 
 reported the peaceable execution of the writ of ejectment 
 on the settlers at Hartlands, the Governor desires me, 
 on this satisfactory conclusion of the business, to convey 
 to you his cordial thanks for the assistance you have 
 rendered on this occasion to the Government. 
 
 " ' It is a matter of gratification to his Excellency, and 
 it must be so to yourself, that the people were induced 
 voluntarily to obey the law, and without the exhibition of 
 force on the part of the Government ; and he is sensible 
 that your active personal exertions, and the pains you 
 took to advise the people, and to explain to them their 
 legal position, have very materially contributed to this 
 satisfactory result. 
 
 " ' I have the honour to be, your obedient Servant, 
 
 " ' Henry T. Irving.' 
 
 "At the time when the action of the military was ob- 
 viated, as stated at the commencement of this narrative, 
 Messrs. Harvey and Brewin, the deputation from the 
 Society of Friends, were in Spanish Town, who, hearing of 
 the circumstances, as also of the great destitution of the 
 inhabitants of Hartlands (supposed to amount to upwards 
 of 2,000, all ages) of religious and lettered instruction in 
 regard both to themselves and children, as also their 
 desire for these advantages, very kindly offered to give 
 twenty pounds per annum for three years towards the 
 support of a schoolmaster among them possessing the 
 necessary qualifications as to piety and practical teaching. 
 I almost immediately made arrangements for the estab- 
 lishing of the school, very kindly aided as to some of the 
 minor requirements by two or three proprietors in the 
 neighbourhood. The scholars soon amounted to eighty, 
 
 a a 2 
 
3S 6 Harllands. [1866 
 
 while adults in considerable numbers expressed them- 
 selves anxious to avail themselves of the advantages to be 
 offered by the proposed formation of a night or evening 
 class. The school was thus commenced under very 
 favourable circumstances." 
 
 Subsequently a suitable school-house was built, and 
 also a chapel to accommodate two hundred hearers. A 
 church, however, was not formed till the year 1872, and it 
 consists, at the present time, of rather more than seventy 
 members. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 EDUCATION AND DISESTABLISHMENT— 1866 to 1869. 
 
 During his brief stay in Jamaica as a Royal Commissioner 
 and the temporary Governor, Sir Henry Storks won 
 golden opinions from all classes. This was fully ex- 
 pressed in an address, prepared by Mr. Phillippo, and 
 signed by upwards of three thousand of the inhabitants 
 of St. Catherine's and the contiguous parishes. The 
 personal and social character of his Excellency had no 
 small share in reconciling differences and in promoting 
 the harmony and good- will which, with few exceptions, 
 prepared the way for the inauguration of the new system 
 of government. 
 
 On the recall of Mr. Eyre, which followed immediately 
 on the presentation of the Report of the Royal Commis- 
 sioners to the Queen, Sir John Peter Grant was appointed 
 Governor, and arrived in the island in the first days of 
 August, 1 866. The new Legislative Council met for the 
 first time on the 16th of October. It consisted partly of 
 official personages and partly of prominent civilians 
 nominated by the Crown, and its proceedings speedily 
 displayed a striking contrast to the representative system 
 which it superseded. All departments of the administra- 
 tion underwent the severest scrutiny, and changes of the 
 greatest importance were rapidly introduced. District 
 courts, under stipendiary magistrates sent from England, 
 with improvements of procedure, ensured justice to the 
 people, and not a little stir was made when it became 
 
358 Education and Disestablishment. ['867 
 
 distinctly clear that neither colour nor class could pervert 
 or hinder the due administration of the law. " These 
 judicial changes," says the most recent historian of 
 Jamaica* "have had a marked effect upon the com- 
 munity at large. Confidence in the rectitude of legal 
 decisions is now general ; old abuses have been swept 
 away, and simple, but effectual, remedies are provided for 
 those who are compelled to have recourse to law." 
 
 The taxes, at first rendered more burdensome in order 
 to provide for the cost of the " Disturbances " and the 
 heavy deficits of preceding Governments, were modified 
 and more fairly levied, the Governor seeking, through 
 Mr. Phillippo, the aid of the missionaries to reconcile the 
 people to this increase with the promise of ultimate relief. 
 Mr. Phillippo's communication was addressed to the 
 secretary of the Jamaica Baptist Union, the committee of 
 which institution was then in session at Rio Bueno. It 
 was dated March 30, 1867. After stating that it was His 
 Excellency's desire to avoid either dissatisfaction or 
 misrepresentation with respect to the new taxation, and 
 his hope that the ministers of the denomination would, in 
 a quiet and unostentatious manner, endeavour to quiet 
 any discontent that might arise, he says that the increase 
 was owing to the lavish expenditure of former Govern- 
 ments, to the expenses incurred through the recent 
 calamities, and to the formation of new courts of justice 
 which would give ready and cheap redress to the 
 labouring classes. As a compensation the taxes would be 
 more equally levied, and many beneficial reforms be 
 introduced, such as a system of education, which would 
 have in view the welfare of all classes, even the poorest. 
 His Excellency deeply regretted the necessity for these 
 new imposts, but ultimately the people would reap an 
 
 * Gardner, p. 498. 
 
1867] Education and Disestablishment. 359 
 
 ample return from the changes that would ensue. " I 
 need make no apology to my brethren," he concludes, 
 " for consenting to becdme the medium of this communi- 
 cation. My residence in Spanish Town naturally led His 
 Excellency to avail himself of my services for this 
 purpose." 
 
 The promise of alleviation in the burdens of the people 
 has been amply fulfilled, and in later years the revenue, 
 partly aided by the improving condition of the country, has 
 been found more than sufficient to meet the expenditure. 
 The debt of the colony has been reduced,* and many 
 useful institutions, such as hospitals and dispensaries, have 
 been established from the annual surplus. Savings 
 banks have been placed on a permanent basis, and the 
 defalcations of former years checked. The post-office 
 and the roads have undergone great improvement, and 
 immigration has been brought under more effective 
 control. 
 
 But the greatest and most important of the changes 
 introduced by Sir John P. Grant were the disestablish- 
 ment of the English Church and the introduction of a 
 system of elementary education for the entire body of the 
 people. The latter was among the first of the many 
 subjects which engaged the attention of the Governor. 
 In September, scarcely a month after his arrival, Mr. 
 Phillippo records that, " having been introduced to Sir 
 John P. Grant by Sir Henry Storks, I was favoured with 
 frequent opportunities of intercourse with him. On the 
 6th of September, after kindly acknowledging the receipt 
 of my volume on Jamaica, he expressed his desire for my 
 opinion on the subject of education, when the question 
 came up before the Council. His Excellency soon after 
 
 *The public debt in 1867 was a trifle less than ^"719,000. It was 
 reduced in 1877 to a little more than ^"485,000. Since 1868 the 
 addition to the taxation has been little or nothing. 
 
360 Education and Disestablishment. ['867 
 
 requested me to- call upon him on that and other matters." 
 A circular addressed to the ministers of all the religious 
 bodies in the island quickly followed, forty copies of 
 which were sent to Mr. Phillippo for distribution among 
 his missionary brethren. To this he replied in a long 
 and elaborate letter, giving the results of his experience 
 and practical knowledge during forty years. 
 
 The new regulations were placed in the hands of the 
 Legislative Council in July, 1867, and were adopted, with 
 a few modifications suggested by Mr. Phillippo and others. 
 The old House of Assembly had for many years devoted 
 some ^"1,400 or ^1,500 a year to the purposes of educa- 
 tion, but the grants were made to a few favoured institu- 
 tions only, while nothing was done to promote instruction 
 among the masses of the population. The principles of 
 the new system were those with which Sir J. P. Grant was 
 already familiar as an old East India Governor, and which 
 were laid down for the promotion of education in India 
 by the celebrated despatch of Sir Charles Wood in 1 854. 
 It was a system of grants-in-aid, apportioned to the 
 position of the school as to numbers and the attainments 
 of the scholars, as tested in an annual examination by 
 Government Inspectors, judged by certain standards fixed 
 from time to time by the administration. 
 
 Up to this time the schools under missionary superin- 
 tendence were for the most part independent of Govern- 
 ment assistance ; in the case of Baptist schools universally 
 so, from conscientious objections to any kind of State aid, 
 which would have carried with it a certain measure of 
 interference with the religious instruction imparted in 
 them. Not a few also thought that education, like religion, 
 was better left to the voluntary efforts of Christian men. 
 These had been the views of Mr. Phillippo in the early 
 years of his ministry. But the regulations now adopted 
 were so comprehensive and liberal in their scope, so 
 
1867] Education and Disestablishment. 361 
 
 free from attempts or prospect of interference with the 
 religious principles of the managers of the schools, that 
 in a short time the most ardent voluntaries gave way, 
 and the Government school system was accepted through-* 
 out the island. It has ptoved a great success.* At the 
 time of its establishment in 1867 there were 329 element- 
 ary schools in the island, for the most part conducted by 
 the ministers of religion. That useful superintendence 
 has not been withdrawn, but the mission-schools are now 
 everywhere merged in the Government system. In 1878 
 there were 617 schools under inspection, with a registered 
 bodyof 51,488 children attending them, and the character 
 of the schools has greatly improved.^ 
 
 The excessive proportion of the revenue appropriated 
 to the support of the Episcopal Church did not escape 
 the attention of the Royal Commissioners, and among 
 Sir John Peter Grant's earliest measures to avert the 
 bankruptcy which threatened the country was one already 
 suggested to Sir H. Storks by the Bishop of Kingston, 
 which threw the miscellaneous charges connected with 
 Church services on the voluntary contributions of the 
 congregations. A saving to the State was thus effected of 
 about £1,000 a year. Some reforms were also introduced 
 in the appointments of the clergy, and several livings in 
 places where their services were not required were left 
 unfilled. Still the entire charge of the Establishment, 
 notwithstanding these reforms, remained at about ^"40,000 
 
 * An interesting proof of the growing influence of education is seen 
 in the quantity of books imported. In 1866-67, the value of the 
 importation was ^624 ; in 1876-77, ^9,628. 
 
 t In 1868, the first year of the new system, only 96 schools could 
 be classed out of the 286 submitted to inspection; in 1878, out of 
 617 schools, only 44 were left unclassed. The expenditure of the 
 Government on elementary education is now little short of ^20.000 a 
 year. 
 
362 Education and Disestablishment. ['867 
 
 a year. The system was so ill-managed that, in the 
 judgment of the Governor, less than half the money 
 would have afforded a better result than that which was 
 secured by this large outlay. " Practically, the clergy were 
 under no effective control ; for if they avoided gross 
 offences they could not be corrected. Several of them 
 were physically incapacitated, but none could be forced 
 to retire. There was no retiring pension. Whilst the 
 Establishment could boast of many excellent, hard-working, 
 and useful men, there were some upon it whose usefulness 
 was as nothing, or as next to nothing. For such cases 
 there was no remedy. Whilst at some places there were 
 more clergymen than were wanted (an all but empty 
 church being sometimes found close to a fully attended 
 meeting-house), extensive and populous tracts of country 
 were left destitute of all religious instruction of any 
 sort. Such being its condition, that the Established 
 Church was in discredit was not surprising." * Besides 
 all this, the number of adherents claimed as belong 
 ing to the Church of England, and which included 
 nearly all the white population, for the most part well 
 able to support their own religious institutions, did 
 not number more than a twelfth part of the entire 
 community.f 
 
 The expiration of the Clergy Bill at the end of the year 
 1869 presented a favourable opportunity for a considera- 
 
 * Jamaica Gazette, December 18, 1869. Despatch from Sir J. P. 
 Grant to Earl Granville, dated July 23, 1869. 
 
 t Sir J. P. Grant estimated the population of Jamaica at 460,000 
 souls. The clergy claimed as their average congregations 31, 638 persons; 
 the Nonconformist communities an average attendance of 80,896. 
 According to the Bishop of Kingston, the number of persons under the 
 charge of Nonconformist ministers was 200,000, which the Governor 
 thought was about the correct figure. On the other hand, it was 
 an excessive estimate to take the entire body of adherents to the 
 Establishment at 100,000. — Jamaica Gazette, December 18, 1869. 
 
1 868] Education and Disestablishment. 363 
 
 tion of the entire question of State support ; and accordingly 
 the Jamaica Baptist Union, at their meeting in 1866, in 
 anticipation of it, requested Mr. Phillippo and his son-in- 
 law, the Rev. W. Claydon, to open communications with 
 other Nonconformist bodies on the island, and also with 
 the Liberation Society of England, for the purpose of 
 organising an opposition to its renewal. Petitions and 
 memorials to the Queen and to the Governor were pre- 
 sented, in which it was urged that there ought to be no 
 renewal of the Clergy Act, but that on its expiring the 
 churches of the people of Jamaica should be left to the 
 action of the voluntary principle. The petition of Mr. 
 Phillippo and his congregations argued that the connec- 
 tion between the Church and State was hostile to liberty 
 of conscience ; was unjust to all other denominations in 
 the island ; that it was unnecessary as well as inexpedient, 
 impolitic, and inequitable, from the inefficiency of the 
 clergy and their cost ; that it was contrary to the teaching 
 of Holy Scripture ; and that it was opposed to the best 
 interests of Jamaica as much as the disestablished Church 
 of Ireland had been to the inhabitants of that country. 
 Thousands of suitable tracts, furnished by the Liberation 
 Society, were scattered throughout the island ; and at its 
 expense a large edition of a series of letters, published in 
 the first instance in an island newspaper by Mr. Phillippo, 
 was issued. These letters, in their collected form, were 
 entitled, " The Practical Working of the Voluntary 
 Principle in America ; or, Facts for the Episcopalians of 
 Jamaica." It had a wide circulation, and is marked by 
 that fulness and accuracy of information which is a 
 striking feature of all the author's productions. It was 
 from no special hostility towards Episcopalians, he says, 
 that he had taken part in the controversy. " I only object 
 to the connection of their denomination, as I should to 
 any other, with the State — to the support of its ministers 
 
364 Education and Disestablishment. [1868 
 
 and its institutions from the public revenue, and to the in- 
 justice and hardship suffered by Nonconformists, who 
 compose three-fourths of the population, and who are 
 mostly of the poorest, in being compelled to contribute 
 towards the church of the wealthy, while they at the same 
 time feel it their duty to support their own establish- 
 ments." 
 
 Writing to a friend on the 8th of October, 1868, Mr. 
 Phillippo gives a very lively account of the agitation in 
 progress. " We Baptists have been inundating the 
 Council Chamber with petitions against the renewal of 
 the Clergy Act, soon to expire, and for the entire separa- 
 tion of Church and State. We possibly have gone too far 
 in creating such a clamour so long before the matter is 
 likely to come before the Council, but it will show our 
 friends at home that we are alive to our condition and 
 rights. We are emphatically the fighting sect. Some 
 others cheer us on, but seem afraid of sharing the obloquy 
 and labour of the first onset with us. Our Presbyterian 
 brethren have shown their sympathy with us in combination, 
 but our Independent brethren are slow in taking the field. 
 From the Wesleyans we have no hope of aid at present. 
 I am not sanguine about the total disestablishment of the 
 Church, but I see that the subject assumes an improved 
 aspect in the minds of the higher classes here, who are 
 mostly Presbyterians and Jews." 
 
 The struggle was not confined to Jamaica. In 
 England, in 1868, Mr. Mills obtained from the Con- 
 servative Government of the day a measure, which passed 
 without opposition, to withdraw on the deaths of the 
 recipients the grants amounting to ^20,300 annually paid 
 out of the Consolidated Fund for the ecclesiastical 
 establishments of the West Indies, of which £7, 100 fell to 
 the share of Jamaica. The Bishop of Jamaica was non- 
 resident, and, till his death in 1872, never visited the 
 
i86g] Education and Disestablishment. 365 
 
 diocese from which he gained his title and salary of 
 /~3,ooo a year. In June, 1869, two deputations waited 
 upon the Colonial Secretary, with whom the decision 
 virtually rested, one consisting of Presbyterians from 
 Scotland, the other composed of members of various 
 Dissenting bodies and of persons specially interested in 
 Jamaica. For some time it had been understood that the 
 English Government contemplated a system of " con- 
 current endowment ; " but this idea found no favour 
 either with the Governor of Jamaica or with the Non- 
 conformists. In November Earl Granville definitely 
 informed Sir J. P. Grant that " concurrent endowment " 
 must be regarded as impossible, and that even the mild 
 proposal of the Governor to support schoolmasters in 
 outlying districts of the island, who, though not ostensibly 
 ministers of the Gospel, should devote their spare time 
 and their Sundays to the religious instruction of the 
 people, could not probably be adopted, because of the 
 opposition it would excite. 
 
 At length, on the 10th of December, the Governor 
 announced to the Legislative Council a measure for the 
 complete disestablishment of the Church of England in 
 the colony, subject only to the continued payment of the 
 stipends of the clergy during the lives of the existing 
 incumbents. Disestablishment in Jamaica presented no 
 question of difficulty. There were no Church lands or 
 funds belonging to clerical corporations. There were no 
 tithes, nor any funds whereby an income was assured to 
 the holder of any ecclesiastical office. Even the churches, 
 rectory-houses, and glebes were the property of the State ; 
 so that the only support of the clergy was derived from 
 salaries paid out of the taxes, under temporary laws, 
 renewable from time to time at the pleasure of the 
 Legislature. There were, therefore, no vested interests to 
 be provided for. It was simply for the Legislature to 
 
366 Education and Disestablishment. [1869 
 
 withhold the customary appropriations, or to continue them 
 on such terms as they pleased.* 
 
 In a letter addressed to the Rev. F. Trestrail, one of 
 the Secretaries of the Society, on the 20th of December, 
 Mr. Phillippo reports the decision of the Legislative 
 Council. " I have to inform you, and I do so with a 
 degree of pleasure I cannot express, that the union 
 between Church and State in Jamaica is dissolved. His 
 Excellency the Governor met the Council a few days 
 since, and laid before them a voluminous correspondence 
 between himself and the Secretary of State for the 
 Colonies on the subject. 
 
 "It was rumoured, both in England and in this island, 
 that the Governor had recommended * concurrent endow- 
 ment ' in his despatch to the home Government. This 
 is now ascertained to have had no foundation in truth. 
 The surmise, however, may be in some measure accounted 
 for from the fact that, from the gloomy representations 
 made to his Excellency of the vast numbers of people in 
 the interior parishes relapsing into barbarism, &c, he 
 proposed — in the belief that such people were unable or 
 unwilling to remunerate ministers for their services, and 
 to build the necessary places of worship — that ministers, 
 of whatever denomination, who settled among them 
 should be aided in their support, and in the erection 
 of the churches and chapels required.- 
 
 " His Excellency seems to have been of opinion that, 
 under such circumstances, little or no objection would be 
 made, even by Nonconformists, to an arrangement of the 
 kind, and so expressed himself to the noble Earl at the 
 head of the Colonial Department. The Earl, although 
 questioning the concurrence of the Dissenters in such a 
 measure, signified his willingness to acquiesce in the 
 scheme, if concurrence on the part of Nonconformists 
 
 * Sir J. P. Grant's despatch in Jamaica Gazette, par. 4. 
 
1869] Education and Disestablishment. 367 
 
 was general, but that he would await the result with some 
 anxiety. 
 
 "After the meeting of the Council a note was forwarded 
 to the mission-house, marked ' Immediate,' expressing 
 his Excellency's wish to see me. It was Saturday, and I 
 had already gone up to Sligoville for the Sabbath. I 
 returned early on Monday morning and waited on the 
 Governor. He informed me of the particulars of the 
 correspondence above referred to, stating that it was still 
 his firm belief that the Nonconformists, under the cir- 
 cumstances, might accept Government grants for destitute 
 localities. I replied unhesitatingly that no Dissenters 
 on the island would accept Government pay for any such 
 purpose, as the acceptance of such pay involved an 
 abandonment of their principles, which they held inviolably, 
 being founded on the Word of God. I added that I was 
 assured not one minister of the three denominations 
 connected with home societies would receive a penny for 
 exclusively religious purposes, and that I thought I could 
 state with equal certainty, from what I had heard, that 
 the Wesleyans were equally firm in their repudiation of 
 such aid for such purposes. 
 
 " His Excellency then said that settled the matter, as, if 
 the different denominations were averse to the proposal, 
 he felt he had no alternative than to fall back upon the 
 voluntary principle. At this he expressed his regret, as 
 in that case he could not see how the thousands referred 
 to as being uncared for could be reached." 
 
 Considerable discussion then ensued between Mr. 
 Phillippo and the Governor on the practicability of 
 employing schoolmasters as missionaries to meet the 
 wants of destitute districts, and on this point Mr. Phillippo, 
 at the Governor's request, opened a correspondence with 
 some of his brethren. In a few days it became apparent 
 that the assent of the Nonconformist ministers to this 
 
3&8 Education and Disestablishment. [1869 
 
 suggestion could not be obtained, and that it would be 
 repudiated as involving equally with " concurrent endow- 
 ment" a violation of their most cherished principles, and 
 be opposed as inimical to the rights of the tax-payers at 
 large. Under these circumstances the Governor felt that 
 he must decide on complete disestablishment and dis- 
 endowment, for in no other way could the equality 
 insisted upon by the parent Government be secured. 
 
 Thus was accomplished an event which, says Mr. 
 Phillippo, in his report to the Jamaica Baptist Union, 
 assembled at Kingston on the 10th of July, 1870, "will 
 be regarded as one of the most important events bearing 
 immediately on the cause of God that has ever occurred 
 in the history of the island — such, indeed, as excites both 
 our astonishment and gratitude. It has been evident 
 that, in this conflict of truth and righteousness against 
 unrighteousness and oppression, Almighty God, whom no 
 stratagems can baffle and against whom no combinations 
 can succeed, has been on our side, and to Him alone be 
 all the glory." 
 
 This subject may be dismissed with the gratifying 
 remark of Sir J. P. Grant, in the despatch already quoted, 
 " that it is but justice to all communions to say that 
 nothing could be better than the spirit in which this great 
 question has been agitated here. This acknowledgment 
 is due equally to Conformists and Nonconformists, to 
 ministers of religion and laymen." 
 
CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 THE AGED PASTOR— 1868 to 1869. 
 
 The public events of the years 1865 to 1869, while they 
 occupied a considerable portion of Mr. Phillippo's time, 
 were not suffered to abstract too much from his more 
 distinctly spiritual and congregational duties. It is 
 matter for surprise that, with many indications of the 
 weakening influence of age, he was yet able to undertake 
 the amount of work that he accomplished. His schools, 
 his Sabbath exercises, his numerous class- and prayer- 
 meetings, were maintained with almost unvarying 
 regularity, nor did he hesitate to enlarge the sphere of 
 his operations when circumstances seemed to require. 
 He was ever ready to labour, even beyond his strength, 
 where the welfare of his fellow-men and the salvation of 
 souls were at stake. At the beginning of 1868 he opened a 
 •portion of the buildings of the Metropolitan schools for 
 industrial instruction, and readily assumed the spiritual 
 and educational charge of the new station at Hartlands. 
 He also actively co-operated with the president and com- 
 mittee in the removal of the Calabar Institution to King- 
 ston, which took place in 1868. 
 
 On the 14th of October, 1868, he entered on the 
 seventieth year of his age, and a selection from the 
 entries in the diary of the year will best illustrate 
 both the extent and the indefatigable nature of his 
 exertions. "This," he says, "is the commencement 
 of my seventieth year. What a host of long-slumbering 
 
37° The Aged Pastor. [1868 
 
 recollections does this day awaken ! Through mercy, my 
 health is good, but my anxieties and labours are sometimes 
 depressing, and almost overwhelming. May I increasingly 
 feel strength given me from on high equal to my day ! " 
 
 "November 17th. — A missionary meeting was held this 
 day, when my son Cecil occupied the chair, which was a 
 truly gratifying sight to me and the people who were 
 present. The congregation was overflowing. The 
 brethren engaged were Messrs. East, J. E. Henderson, 
 Clarke, of Jericho ; Clark, of Brown's Town ; Millard, Clay- 
 don, Fray, Roberts, and Edwards. It was an admirable 
 meeting ; closed at ten o'clock. On the following 
 morning I attended business connected with the Calabar 
 Institution, as also on the following day, when the site of 
 the college building was decided upon, and other im- 
 portant matters were finally arranged. I had reason to 
 be satisfied that my views respecting the site of the 
 college and other buildings were approved and acted 
 upon." 
 
 " December 1 5th. — After morning exercises and break- 
 fast went to Jones's Penn to marry a couple. Met there 
 several backsliders, and talked to them seriously for a long 
 time, before and after the ceremony — I trust with some 
 effect. The pair were respectable of their class, the man 
 a shoemaker. I found Bunyan's ' Pilgrim's Progress, 
 ' Holy War,' and other religious books on their centre 
 table. They had both been educated in the Metropolitan 
 Schools, and could read and write well. On returning to 
 town called at Government House, but the Governor not 
 in town." 
 
 " December 20th. — At Spanish Town. The congrega- 
 tion scant, which grieved me. I thought at first I could 
 not preach I had prepared notes which I hoped would 
 enable me to preach earnestly, faithfully, a sermon which 
 I wished for a larger congregation to hear. If, however, 
 
1 868] The Aged Pastor. 37 1 
 
 it did good but to a few it will not have been preached in 
 vain. Went to Hartlands after the morning service in the 
 pouring rain. It continued all the way. Found only 
 about a dozen people. Rained on returning. Reached 
 home at dark, and went at once into the pulpit." 
 
 " December 22nd. — Suffered much from neuralgia for 
 several days, and am still suffering ; but rose as usual at 
 peep of day, and after an hour's occupation in reading a 
 devotional dissertation of a good old author and attend- 
 ing to some other matters, went again to Kingston to 
 inspect the work done at East Queen Street." 
 
 " Christmas Day. — A prayer-meeting at six o'clock as 
 usual. At eleven had prayer-meeting and church-meeting. 
 At the latter, the low financial condition of the church 
 was a subject of serious consideration. Dined to-day at 
 our son's house with our own family only." 
 
 "December 26th. — Adjourned church-meeting, ex- 
 amined twenty-one candidates for baptism. Received 
 them, and was glad to find that they had more intelligent 
 knowledge of' the great doctrines of the Bible than any 
 others I had previously examined. To be baptized on 
 the morning of New Year's Day." 
 
 " December 28th. — Having promised to assist Mr. 
 Claydon at his missionary meetings at Four Paths, I 
 proceeded after service on my journey, hoping to get to 
 Saxony, his residence, that evening. The hired horse 
 refused to draw, and the other, my own, was already 
 fagged from the badness of the road. With this one 
 horse I reached Rosswell. The night was dark, the road 
 dangerous, and my horse was knocked up. I called up a 
 cottager by the side of the road, and requested shelter for 
 the night. He said that he could not offer it, his cottage 
 was so mean ; but putting some chairs together, and 
 rolling myself up in my cloak, I lay till about three 
 o'clock. Then putting my trusty steed into the buggy, he 
 
 b h 2 
 
372 The Aged Pastor. [1869 
 
 having had a bundle or two of grass for his refreshment, I 
 reached Saxony before the family were up, to their 
 astonishment and gratification. After breakfast went to 
 the meeting at Four Paths and Jubilee. On the following 
 morning was at Porus, and thence to Mandeville. All the 
 meetings were in every respect good." 
 
 "January 1st, 1869, Spanish Town. — At the close of 
 the watch-night service I retired to my chamber, and 
 threw myself on my bed with my clothes on, and after a 
 few intervals of sleep, as the service was being carried on 
 by the deacons and others, I rose, and at four o'clock 
 returned to the chapel, which was crowded with an 
 orderly congregation, and again addressed them. At 
 half-past four we proceeded to the river-side. There the 
 gathering was immense. After an address of twenty 
 minutes, I baptized the twenty-nine candidates. The 
 occasion was deeply interesting and solemn, the vast 
 assembly conducting themselves with the greatest de- 
 corum." 
 
 " Another new year ! How quickly life passes on ! 
 Gnce it seemed to. me to walk leisurely onward ; then it 
 ran ; now to fly swiftly towards eternity, like a ball rolling 
 rapidly down a steep hill. May I reach the goal in safety, 
 trimming my lamp, and continue to give myself to Him 
 who bought me with His blood, until my work is done 
 and my warfare is accomplished." 
 
 " January 9th. — Superintended the voluntary efforts of 
 about twenty members of the church in cleaning the 
 burial-ground. They worked cheerfully and well, several 
 of the female members having subscribed to provide a 
 hearty meal for them. Afterwards, though very tired, 
 went to Orange Grove for the coming Sabbath. The 
 following day being rainy, had but a small congregation." 
 
 "January 31st. — Attended prayer-meeting at six o'clock 
 a.m., and started at nine for Passage Fort Had an excel- 
 
1869] The Aged Pastor. 3,, 
 
 lent congregation and school. Addressed the children, 
 and preached from the parable of the barren fig-tree. The 
 deacons, not liking that the rooms used for the occasional 
 residence of the pastor and his family should be occupied 
 by the school, and the master and his wife, propose 
 erecting a separate residence for them. I was but too 
 glad to express my approbation of the proposal." 
 
 " February 17th. — When about to start to Orange 
 Grove, I received a message from a poor young woman 
 from the country to see her as she was dying. She was 
 once in the school and a member of the church. I 
 talked and prayed with her. Addressed myself, also, to 
 several thoughtless, ungodly women who crowded into 
 and around the house. On mounting my horse the 
 stirrup broke and I was obliged to return home. After 
 some delay I reached my destination." 
 
 " February 22nd. — Went to the court-house and was 
 welcomed by the judge, who gave me a seat beside 
 himself. He said he wished to see me there sometimes 
 during the sessions, as my presence had a salutary effect 
 on the tongues and tempers of some of the violators of 
 the law and on the loungers at the bar. Crime is evidently 
 much diminished, and I was struck with the fact that 
 hardly ever was a person connected with our mission 
 churches found among the delinquents." 
 
 " March 28th. — Started to Old Harbour at a very 
 early hour, accompanied by brother Clark, to assist at the 
 opening of the chapel there after extensive repairs. 
 Brother C. preached in the morning, and self in the 
 evening. The chapel has not only been extensively 
 repaired, but new modelled, and is now one of the neatest 
 and most attractive places of worship in any of the rural 
 districts of the country. It is a real ornament to the 
 village." 
 
 " May 14th. — Went over to Kingston to take part in 
 
374 The Aged Pastor. [1869 
 
 the recognition services of brother East. The service 
 took place in the evening. Representatives of various 
 denominations were present. Altogether it was a most 
 interesting and impressive service ; the congregation, 
 which was very large, was increased by the novelty of the 
 occasion." 
 
 "June 14th. — Rode to Orange Grove by Osborne 
 Bridge and Kensington, a long and fatiguing journey. 
 Met an old black woman near a hamlet named Trial, 
 who asked me to visit her daughter. She was very ill. 
 Talked faithfully to her, as also to several neighbours who 
 had gathered round the house. They had forsaken the 
 house of God, and seemed to regret their present 
 condition. They promised to remember from whence 
 they had fallen and do their first works." 
 
 " July 24th. — Brother Hewett, being in Spanish Town 
 for two or three days, drove my dear wife up to Orange 
 Grove. She has not been here for many months, being 
 unable to sit on horseback. They arrived in safety, 
 though the roads were rugged and in some parts 
 dangerous. We spent the afternoon in strolling on the 
 green sward among the orange and other fruit trees, and 
 the evening in talking over occurrences and scenes of early 
 life, and the encouragements and discouragements of 
 recent times. This visit of our friend was very grateful, 
 as it enabled me and my beloved partner to avail our- 
 selves of a respite from constant and oppressive duty, 
 which we so much required. The following day we 
 visited Kensington and other places in the neighbour- 
 hood, which pretty much exhausted our physical energies. 
 The evening was spent in the portico looking into the 
 garden, still enjoying the reminiscences of old scenes, 
 old friends, and old times." 
 
 " July 5th.— Received a letter from Dr. Underhill in 
 reply to one from me, relating to my relief from a part of 
 
1869] The Aged Pastor. 375 
 
 my labours, and to which the Committee, with warm 
 expressions of esteem, have at once consented. Next to 
 the approbation of God and my own conscience, I, as 
 most others do, and should do, value the good opinion of 
 good men." 
 
 "July 19th. — Rose after a restless night in a feverish 
 state of body. My work is evidently too much for me, 
 and begins to affect me sensibly. Made arrangements 
 for opening a school-room at Hartlands, and for an ex- 
 amination of the Metropolitan School." 
 
 "August 1 st. — Baptized ten persons in the river near 
 Turnbull's Penn. A vast congregation present. Returned 
 to Spanish Town for service at eleven o'clock. The con- 
 gregation very large, and I preached with more than usual 
 freedom and, I think, earnestness. Afternoon — the Lord's 
 Supper, and received the baptized and seventeen others 
 into the church." 
 
 "August 3rd. — The usual thanksgiving meeting. In 
 the evening delivered a lecture on the progress of anti- 
 slavery principles throughout the world." 
 
 " August 4th. — The usual annual festival of the children 
 of the Metropolitan School. Went this year also to 
 Cumberland Penn, four of the schools meeting there, viz., 
 Hartlands, Passage Fort, Caymanas, and Spanish Town ; 
 about three hundred children in number and five hundred 
 adults. A very interesting day." 
 
 " August 30th. — Received applications for aid from 
 many persons in distress, widows entreating me to petition 
 the Municipal Board on their behalf for relief from taxes ; 
 from persons in gaol ; and from others for compensation 
 for damages sustained in various ways, they having an 
 idea that my advocacy of their claims is sure to secure 
 their success. These and similar demands on my time 
 are so numerous that I had need almost to keep a 
 secretary to enable me to attend to them." 
 
37 6 The Aged Pastor.- [1869 
 
 "September 19th. — Preached in town at eleven o'clock 
 and went to Hartlands at one. A terrible journey, amidst 
 rain, mud, and stagnant water. On arrival, but few 
 people present, except children, whom the mud did not 
 seem to inconvenience. Arrived home late and found my 
 congregation waiting for me. Was much fatigued, but 
 preached to a large congregation." 
 
 "October 14th.— This is my seventieth birthday. It 
 being rather more than a common occasion among 
 missionaries and a period beyond which the laws of 
 nature and of God seldom suffer human life to be ex- 
 tended, it was regarded with some special interest. 
 My family, brethren, and friends, who were near at hand, 
 spent the day with me. Many things were said, con- 
 gratulatory of my dear wife, self, and family, much that I 
 felt that I did not deserve. The evening was spent very 
 pleasantly in singing, prayer, and Christian conversation, 
 chiefly in recalling past events of personal history during 
 the seventy years of my pilgrimage and the seventy-sixth 
 of that of my beloved wife. Here one seemed to stand 
 upon the mount, and to review the way in which we have 
 been led. But how little we could penetrate into the 
 future ! Shall we all see another decade ? or is this the 
 last time we shall all meet on a similar occasion ? " 
 
 " Blest is my lot, whate'er befall ; 
 What can disturb me, who appal, 
 While as my Strength, my Rock, my All, 
 Saviour, I cling to Thee ? " 
 
CHAPTER XL. 
 
 RETIREMENT FROM THE PASTORATE— 1869 to 1872. 
 
 It will have been seen that towards the middle of the 
 year 1868 Mr. Phillippo opened communications with the 
 Mission Committee as to some relief from his arduous 
 and incessant toil. Nearly two years, however, elapsed 
 before the subject assumed a practical shape. Early in 
 January, 1870, he had to mourn over the decease of his 
 son-in-law, the Rev. W. Claydon. This lamentable 
 event brought upon him for some months the charge of 
 the churches in the extensive district covered by the 
 labours of Mr. Claydon. He soon found it all but im- 
 possible to meet the claims of the stations in Clarendon 
 and Manchester besides his own, and with gladness sur- 
 rendered his charge at the end of the month of May into 
 the hands of the Rev. W. H. Porter, M.A., " a good brother 
 from Halifax, N.S., who had come to Jamaica for health." 
 Mr. Porter's bad health, however, after fourteen months' 
 trial, brought about his resignation, and again Mr. 
 Phillippo was importuned by the people to supply such 
 services as his manifold occupations would allow. Early 
 in 1872 he was relieved from this heavy additional burden 
 to his cares by the arrival of the Revs. Wm. Gummer and 
 P. Williams, the one from Demerara and the other from 
 Wales. " I accompanied them," writes Mr. Phillippo, 
 " on the 1 2th of March, and some following days, to the 
 stations and churches under my temporary charge and 
 
378 Retirement from the Pastorale. ['871 
 
 care as trustee and pastor in Clarendon and Manchester, 
 and introduced them to these churches, resigning my 
 pastorate over them. The invitation of the churches was 
 cordially accepted by these brethren, and they have 
 entered upon their labours with cheering prospects of 
 happiness and usefulness — brother Gummer at Four 
 Paths, Jubilee, and Porus ; and brother Williams at 
 Mandeville and Cabbage Hall." 
 
 But, although thus partially relieved from the weight of 
 care which burdened him, his increasing years constrained 
 him to think of retirement. Mrs. Phillippo's health also 
 began to fail, and he sorely felt the loss of social inter- 
 course which ensued on the removal of the seat of govern- 
 ment from Spanish Town to Kingston. Many of his 
 old friends were drawn off to the new capital. His eldest 
 son with his family also was obliged to follow, while the 
 congregation suffered in many ways, both from the dimi- 
 nution of employment and the emigration to more 
 prosperous places which the change necessarily brought 
 about. Towards the close of the year (1871) he there- 
 fore prepared for the Mission Committee a full statement 
 of his position, and of the requirements which his pastoral 
 duties laid upon him. It is dated October 14th. He 
 says: " I am now in the seventy-third year of my age, 
 and my dear wife is verging on her eightieth year. I was 
 received by the Society as a missionary student in 1819. 
 I may, therefore, be considered as having been connected 
 with it fifty-two years, and at the close of two more, if 
 spared, I shall have been a missionary in Jamaica, and the 
 pastor of the church at Spanish Town, full half a 
 century. It has long been my hope and determination, if 
 possible, to remain firmly at my post to the end of this 
 latter period at least. I have informed you at times that 
 I felt the infirmities of age creeping upon me, as also that 
 my labours and responsibilities were becoming too heavy 
 
1 87 1 J Retirement from the Pastorate. 379 
 
 a burden for me to bear without progressive diminution 
 of health and strength, physically and mentally. To such 
 a degree have I felt myself worn down by incessant 
 labour and anxiety, during the last few months, that I have 
 been compelled to think seriously about the necessity of 
 circumscribing my efforts within narrower limits, thereby 
 also to diminish my responsibilities and cares, as both my 
 sight and hearing, and even voice as to compass, have 
 begun sensibly to fail. My general health is good and 
 my constitution sound ; with moderate labour and care, 
 therefore, if life is mercifully spared, I may labour on use- 
 fully for years to come. But it is evident to others, as 
 well as to myself, that if not relieved of some of my 
 duties soon I may render my future life useless and 
 myself a burden." 
 
 " I urge thus my growing infirmities as the principal 
 reason why I think a change necessary, both with respect 
 to myself and the church. But there are two or three 
 other considerations which, while they have no influence 
 in inducing me to seek the change I propose, indicate 
 that it is desirable. I may premise that the contemplated 
 alteration in my position and circumstances is not owing 
 to any cause existing at any of the stations I occupy. 
 The churches are, and have been for years, in uninter- 
 rupted peace. Many are being added annually to their 
 number, and the congregations are everywhere increasing. 
 Almost everything, indeed, is more encouraging than 
 in former years, while, so far as I can judge, I believe 
 I have never enjoyed more fully the confidence, respect, 
 and affection of the people at large." 
 
 " You may now perhaps ask me how my difficulties may 
 be obviated, and my relief from a portion of my present 
 numerous and arduous labours secured. I reply, by 
 resigning the pastorate in whole or in part at Spanish 
 Town, and of the stations at Passage Fort and Kitson 
 
380 Retirement from the Pastorate. (^1 87 2 
 
 Town, together with all the minor appendages of such 
 stations respectively, such as class-houses, &c, to a 
 younger brother, I retiring to Sligoville or its neighbour- 
 hood, and attending to some dark spots around, giving 
 occasional services at Spanish Town " 
 
 It did not require any prolonged consideration or 
 correspondence on the part of the Mission Committee to 
 meet the wishes of their venerable friend and fellow- 
 labourer. On the 4th of January, 1872, he gratefully 
 records that, in reply to his letter, " the Committee had 
 cheerfully and unanimously agreed to give as an annuity 
 all I proposed as necessary to support us comfortably in 
 my retirement. The Committee did this, says the Secre- 
 tary, in consideration of my long and faithful services in 
 the mission." They warmly recognised the great services 
 Mr. Phillippo had rendered to the cause of Christ in 
 Jamaica, and his invaluable labours in the emancipation 
 and elevation of its Negro population. 
 
 At a very large gathering of the church on Good Friday, 
 March 29th, he accordingly announced his intention to 
 resign the pastorate of the above churches and stations on 
 the following 1st of August. The announcement was 
 received with deep and loud expressions of regret, 
 followed by a unanimous vote that " the resignation be 
 not accepted." Many arguments were used by the 
 deacons and others of the more influential members of 
 the church to dissuade their minister from his purpose, 
 and in the result Mr. Phillippo consented to remain the 
 nominal pastor of the church till December, 1873, when 
 he would have completed the fiftieth year of his ministry 
 among them. Not without loud and general expressions 
 of concern was this decision accepted. The crowd of 
 members lingered long in the chapel and its precincts. 
 They were losing, they said, not their minister only, but 
 " their father and their friend; they had hoped he would 
 
1872] Retirement from the Pastorate. 381 
 
 never leave them until the Great Master above called him 
 to his rest and his reward," so that they might have 
 buried him among themselves and mourned over his 
 grave. 
 
 In the month of May the church invited the Rev. Thomas 
 Lea, of Lucea, to the pastorate, which he accepted, and 
 on the 13th of August Mr. Phillippo, with his family, sur- 
 rendered the mission-house to his successor, and left for 
 the new home in a cottage that he had hired. "Thus," 
 he records in his diary, " we bade farewell to the old house 
 and premises occupied by us for nearly fifty years, and 
 came to occupy Felstead Cottage in the outskirts of the 
 town. It was not without many reflections that we thus 
 retired to comparative privacy, and not without melancholy 
 musings that we left the old abode, with all its associations 
 of peace and turmoil, joy and sorrow. It is one of the 
 most important events of my life, but one which I trust 
 God has sanctioned." 
 
 But if deeply moved on relinquishing so much of his 
 life's work, it was a source of grateful feeling that he 
 could report favourably of the promising state of things 
 around him. In a letter to the Mission House, giving the 
 particulars of the new arrangements, he says, " Our 
 churches are in peace, the congregations increasing, and 
 many, chiefly young persons, are inquiring the way to 
 Zion with their faces thitherward. Hence additions are 
 shortly to be made at Spanish Town, Sligoville, and Old 
 Harbour, while two or three new schools have been 
 established in previously destitute localities. Pious young 
 men, as teachers, are breaking the bread of life on the 
 Sabbath to hundreds hitherto perishing for want of it. 
 Everywhere prospects with respect to religion, education, 
 and morals are encouraging." 
 
 His life had indeed been one of great usefulness and 
 honour. What changes he had seen ! How many events 
 
382 Retirement from the Pastorate. ['872 
 
 most important in the history of his adopted country had 
 taken place, in which he had borne no inconsiderable 
 share ! What anxieties he had passed through to secure 
 the harvest now so abundant around him ! He might 
 hopefully anticipate that his few closing years would pass 
 in restful peace, and his joy receive no check. 
 
CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 THE JUBILEE OF HIS MINISTRY-1873. 
 
 The interval between his partial retirement from the 
 pastorate in March, 1872, and the jubilee of his 
 ministry at Christmas, 1873, was filled up by Mr. 
 Phillippo with frequent services at the two or three 
 minor stations that he retained under his own care. 
 He also visited with his colleague the churches in 
 Clarendon, taking part in the missionary meetings. 
 His leisure hours were diligently employed on his auto- 
 biography, and in completing his lectures on the West 
 Indies, and on two manuscripts that he hoped to pass 
 through the press, one on the " Claims of the World on the 
 increased Benevolence of the Christian Church," and the 
 other on Prayer. This hope, however, was not fulfilled. 
 On his removal from his old habitation he presented his 
 well-selected library to the Calabar Institution. One 
 great trial fell upon him and his beloved wife — the death 
 of their youngest son in the early morning of the 18th of 
 November, 1872. He was the object of their warm 
 affection and of many prayers, and, though there had been 
 much to give them anxiety in the later years of his life, 
 they were comforted by his dying words. He passed away 
 expressing his confidence in God, a firm hope that " his 
 sins were forgiven, and his entire dependence upon Christ 
 for salvation." The funeral was necessarily performed 
 before the close of day. " Brethren East and Lea con- 
 ducted the service amidst the sighs and tears of a very 
 
384 The Jubilee of his Ministry. [[1873 
 
 large assemblage of spectators and friends. The bearers 
 were young men of the church and congregation." 
 
 For a few weeks before the day fixed for the observance 
 of the jubilee Mr. Phillippo was seriously ill, the result 
 of being thrown from his horse down a precipice in the 
 mountains. This was not the first accident of the kind he 
 had met with during his numerous journeys among beetling 
 rocks and unfrequented paths. But he was now seriously 
 injured, and for some weeks compelled to keep his room. 
 " I was, however," he says, "much gratified and cheered 
 by notes of sympathy received from my brethren far and 
 near, and among them one from good brother Clarke, 
 who also anticipated the pleasure of being present at the 
 celebration of the jubilee of my pastorate." 
 
 This long-looked-for event took place on the 14th of 
 January, 1874. Great preparations were made for its 
 celebration. A large platform was erected on the 
 grounds of his cottage, decorated with flags and cocoa- 
 nut branches. Two tents were provided by the kindness 
 of a friend for the accommodation of the assemblage. 
 Preliminary services were held in the chapel and school- 
 rooms, and there the children assembled to walk in 
 procession, carrying flags and banners, to Mr. Phillippo's 
 residence. A similar display came from Sligoville. At 
 eleven o'clock a very large number of friends arrived, 
 coming from various distances of from five to fifteen 
 miles, all gathered to honour the venerable servant of 
 Christ, and to testify to his usefulness and worth. On 
 the platform might be seen not only his missionary 
 brethren, but many of the higher class of the inhabit- 
 ants of Spanish Town, among whom he had passed so 
 many long years of labour, anxiety, and suffering. After 
 an appropriate opening of the meeting by singing and 
 prayer, conducted by the Rev. D. J. East, who occupied 
 the. chair, an address from the church and congregation of 
 
1 8 73 J The Jubilee of his Ministry. 385 
 
 Spanish Town, signed by the deacons, leaders, and mem- 
 bers, and adopted at a full church meeting-, was read by 
 the Rev. Thomas Lea as the representative of the church 
 on the occasion. It was as follows : — 
 
 "Dear Minister, — We, the undersigned deacons, 
 leaders, and members of the Baptist church of Spanish 
 Town and the adjacent stations, feel it our duty to convey 
 to you our sentiments of gratitude and affection. 
 
 " Your long, arduous, and devoted labours amongst us, 
 as churches, in the cause of our blessed Lord ; your un- 
 tiring efforts for the promotion of the interests and wel- 
 fare of the masses of the people amongst whom the wise 
 Providence of our Heavenly Father has cast your lot for 
 these fifty years past, and the distinguished and abundant 
 usefulness to our fathers, and to us their children, lay us 
 under greater obligations than any words of ours can 
 express. We thank God on your behalf that you have 
 been the honoured instrument in His hands to accomplish 
 so much. Glory be to His great name! 
 
 " Reverend Sir, — Your retirement from the pastorate 
 of the church at Spanish Town was keenly felt by us all. 
 We know not how to express our sorrow in parting with 
 you. You have been, not only a pastor, but a father to 
 us, and we shall always remember you with love and 
 gratitude. As we have told you before, we had hoped 
 that nothing but death would have severed the tie which 
 bound us to each other ; yet we feel that your advanced 
 age justifies the step you have deemed it necessary to 
 take ; we therefore sympathise with you, and feel obliged 
 to submit. 
 
 "And now, on this jubilee of your faithful ministry, we 
 most cordially offer you our congratulations that you, and 
 the beloved companion of your days, have so long been 
 spared to live and labour in the Saviour's service. This 
 fiftieth anniversary of your ministrations amongst us as 
 
 c c 
 
386 The Jubilee of his Ministry. [^1873 
 
 churches and people is a high day to us all, and not only 
 to us, but to the inhabitants of this town and neighbour- 
 hood, and not only to this town and neighbourhood, but 
 to a large portion of at least this side of the island over 
 which your evangelistic labours have extended. 
 
 " We must also make mention of your zealous service 
 in the cause of education. You have not only laboured 
 for its advancement by the personal superintendence and 
 oversight you have given to it, and by the establishment 
 of schools in numerous places, but you have collected 
 large sums of money in the mother country to aid in 
 carrying on the good work of educating the young and 
 rising race. 
 
 " May the Almighty Disposer of all events spare your 
 valuable life and grant you days of greater usefulness ; 
 and that your last days be your best is the sincere prayer 
 of your attached friends and people ! " 
 
 This address was followed by another, also read by Mr. 
 Lea, expressive of similar sentiments from the church at 
 Sligoville, still under Mr. Phillippo's pastoral oversight. 
 Both these addresses were strictly the addresses of the 
 people — prepared by themselves. Their former pastor 
 read to them the reply which follows, under the influence 
 of deep emotion, amid the flowing tears of many who, 
 from earliest infancj', had sat under his ministry, and who 
 were truly his own children in the faith of Christ. 
 
 " My Christian Brethren and Friends, — Under the cir- 
 cumstances altogether amidst which I now appear before 
 you, I shall be believed when I say that I am deeply 
 affected by the immense assemblage present, and with 
 the sentiments contained in your address ; while I regret 
 that I cannot command language equal to the warm 
 emotions of gratitude I feel in my heart for the dis- 
 tinguished honour you this day confer upon me. 
 
 " At the same time, I trust I shall be thought equally 
 
1 873] The Jubilee of his Ministry. 387 
 
 sincere when I assure you that I feel unworthy of the high 
 terms in which you speak of my character and usefulness. 
 I therefore request you to regard my acceptance of your 
 address more as a genuine expression of your kindness 
 towards me personally, and of your sympathy with me in 
 my great work as a Christian minister, than for the extent 
 of usefulness you have attributed to me. 
 
 " In my application to the Missionary Society to be 
 employed under their patronage, I expressed my desire to 
 exercise my ministry in any part of the world, and to 
 occupy any sphere to which they might think proper to 
 direct me. My destination was fixed for Jamaica, and 
 Spanish Town was to be my sphere of labour. 
 
 " I arrived at my post, accompanied by my beloved wife 
 at the close of the year 1823. Thus, more than half a 
 century ago, I came to this town a stranger, with youth 
 and experience little adapted to the anxious and arduous 
 work I then ventured to undertake. Friends, however, 
 though humble, in the course of time gathered around 
 me, whose esteem it has been my honour and happiness to 
 enjoy. I have had my afflictions, personal and relative, 
 as well as difficulties, in the prosecution of my labours ; 
 but, ' having obtained help of God, I continue unto this 
 day, 1 while I can gratefully testify to the goodness and 
 faithfulness of God that, if my trials have abounded, my 
 consolations have abounded also. 
 
 "About the time of my arrival, owing to several causes, 
 more than ordinary hostility was manifested towards 
 missionaries by a certain class throughout the island, of 
 which I had to endure no inconsiderable share, being, 
 among other annoyances, prevented by the authorities 
 from entering upon my ministerial duties for several 
 successive months. These obstacles were at length sur- 
 mounted, and I at once entered upon my labours, though 
 prosecuting them amidst long-continued obloquy and 
 persecution. c c 2 
 
388 The Jubilee of his Ministry. [ l8 73 
 
 " You have been kind enough to say that I have dis- 
 charged the duties of my office with fidelity and zeal, and 
 that my great work of preaching the Gospel, and gather- 
 ing sinners into the fold of Christ, has been crowned with 
 success. 
 
 " While, I trust, my feeble efforts for the promotion of 
 the glory of God in the salvation and happiness of my 
 fellow-men have not been in vain, I must, at the same 
 time, acknowledge that my success has been, to a con- 
 siderable degree, owing to the persistent and self-sacri- 
 ficing co-operation of the deacons and others of my church. 
 Any spiritually beneficial result of my own direct labours 
 I ascribe to the ' Grace of God which was with me,' and 
 can from my heart say, ' Not unto me, O Lord, not unto 
 me, but unto Thy name be all the praise.' 
 
 " You have been pleased to refer to my efforts to pro- 
 mote the temporal interests of the inhabitants of the town 
 and other districts of the country by the establishment 
 and support of schools, &c. While this was not a work I 
 was requested to perform by the Society which sent me 
 forth, and although I was informed by them that, if under- 
 taken, it must be on my own responsibility, as they had no 
 funds for appropriation to direct educational objects,, yet, 
 seeing the children of the poorer classes, bond and' free, 
 abandoned to ignorance and vice, I assumed the respon- 
 sibility of establishing a day-school for them, providing 
 for its support by the proceeds of a higher department 
 conducted by myself, the former, as you kindly intimate, 
 having continued in operation to the present day. 
 
 " Great, however, as have been the anxieties — I may say 
 sacrifices — involved in the maintenance of this and other 
 similar institutions throughout the district, through a long 
 course of years, I have felt myself richly compensated by 
 seeing the blessings that have resulted to the thousands 
 who have participated in their advantages, numbers 
 
1873] The Jubilee of his Ministry. 389 
 
 among whom have been qualified thereby for the duties of 
 estate managers and the engagements of mechanical, 
 commercial, and official life. 
 
 " In the great social change occasioned by the abolition 
 of slavery, I did not act so conspicuous a part as some of 
 my brethren, owing to particular circumstances. It is, 
 however, truly gratifying to me to know that I was regarded 
 by many, both in England and Jamaica, as being no in- 
 different worker in accomplishing the destruction of that 
 monster evil, especially when, to secure its permanent 
 dominion it aimed to interrupt the progress of civilisation, 
 morality, and true religion. And never shall I forget, and 
 I am sure never will you who witnessed it forget, the triumph 
 of that day — the glorious 1st of August, 1838 — when, at the 
 head of a procession of upwards of 7,000 of the population, 
 I had the honour to present you before the then King's 
 House in this town to hear the proclamation of full and 
 unconditional freedom from the lips of our veteran 
 Governor, Sir Lionel Smith, by command of our then 
 youthful Sovereign, Queen Victoria, whom may God 
 Almighty long continue to preserve and bless ! " 
 
 The whole assembly, on the uttering of these words, 
 simultaneously expressed their loyalty by singing " God 
 save the Queen," accompanied by repeated cheers. 
 
 "Permit me further to say that it was from the same 
 regard for the temporal as well as for the spiritual interests 
 of the masses of the people that I was induced to do what I 
 could to promote more practically their social condition, 
 by purchasing lands, and otherwise assisting them in the 
 establishment of villages in the districts where my influence 
 extended. But in this also I have been more than re- 
 warded for the time and labour and temporal loss involved, 
 by the knowledge that thereby hundreds of families, other- 
 wise without houses and friends, have been collected and 
 located in their own comfortable freeholds, provided at 
 
39° The Jubilee of his Ministry. ['873 
 
 the same time with all the means and appliances of 
 Christian worship and school instruction in their midst. 
 
 " Nor have I been wanting, I flatter myself, in a willing 
 co-operation with my fellow-townsmen in any plan for 
 redressing wrong where it existed ; for promoting the 
 elevation of the ignorant ; or for advancing the interests, 
 especially of the labouring classes, of the country at large. 
 But for these things I have not asked and deserve no 
 thanks, as I have acted only up to my convictions of 
 right and of Christian duty, endorsing it as a principle 
 'that everyone capable of doing service to his fellow- 
 men ought to sacrifice his own ease, means, and time to 
 the welfare of those unable to help themselves.' 
 
 " In the faithful and conscientious discharge of my 
 official duties I have seen it right to differ from some 
 around me on some social as well as ecclesiastical ques- 
 tions. Whilst, however, I have never shrunk from a 
 candid avowal of my principles, but have ever been ready 
 to defend them, both from the pulpit and the press, yet I 
 persuade myself I have endeavoured to do so with Chris- 
 tian moderation, conceding to others the same freedom of 
 action and purity of motive I have claimed for myself. If, 
 however, I have spoken or acted offensively towards any, 
 I gladly avail myself of this opportunity of expressing my 
 regret. 
 
 " Seeing so large an assembly around me, consisting of 
 all classes of my fellow-townsmen, and of all creeds and 
 conditions of life, I cannot but think it due to you, 
 my friends, and to myself to testify to the uniform kindness 
 and courtesy with which I have been favoured, and that 
 not only by the ministers of the different Christian 
 societies in the town and neighbourhood, but by the 
 inhabitants generally. 
 
 " I think it impossible, indeed, for any one to have met 
 with greater respect and kindness from any people in any 
 
1873] The Jubilee of his Ministry. 391 
 
 part of the world ; and I have great pleasure in tendering 
 to all the assurance of my high appreciation of their 
 conduct in this respect. 
 
 " In all the relations I have sustained to the members 
 and congregation of my late charge, I have met with 
 nothing but confidence and affection. Under the trials 
 and difficulties of my path (and they have been neither few 
 nor insignificant) I have received from you all the com- 
 fort and consolation which the tenderest sympathy could 
 dictate. Be assured that the recollection of them, with 
 the deepest gratitude and affection, will be cherished by 
 me and by one equally a sharer in them to the latest 
 moment of our lives. 
 
 '" Owing to circumstances it is unnecessary to repeat on 
 this occasion, I relinquished the pastorate of the church 
 de facto in favour of my friend and brother, the Rev. 
 Thomas Lea, but have remained connected with it in 
 some slight degree, to enable me to fulfil my pledge, long 
 made, of celebrating this jubilee. 
 
 " This slender tie was dissolved on the 21st of the past 
 month ; and now on the first public opportunity presented 
 I bid you a final farewell. I do this, I must say, not 
 without feelings of regret, as the ties and association of 
 fifty years' growth are too deeply rooted to be torn asunder 
 in a day without a pang. But the stern behests of duty 
 are not to be disobeyed. My feelings, however, are 
 overborne by the conviction that my successor, by his 
 ability and zeal, will more than compensate for my 
 retirement, and, by the blessing of God, be more success- 
 ful in our Great Master's work, and in promoting the 
 general good, than my limited qualifications have allowed. 
 
 " Having outlived my friends in my native land — having 
 been permitted to see my children and my children's 
 children growing up around me, added to the fact of 
 having formed friendships here which nothing but death 
 
392 The Jubilee of his Ministry. ['873 
 
 can sever — I purpose, should Providence permit, to pass 
 the evening of my days among you, and to find a grave in 
 Spanish Town where my ashes may repose in peace. 
 
 " If, in your Address, there is one particular more 
 gratifying to my feelings than another, it is that in which 
 you refer to my beloved partner. She has most nobly and 
 unflinchingly borne with me the heat and burden of the day 
 — has been a 'true fellow-helper in the truth' — and 
 deserves largely to share the approbation you have so 
 kindly expressed to me. I have to request you, therefore, 
 to receive on her account the warmest sentiments of 
 affectionate gratitude. 
 
 " And now, Christian brethren and friends, permit me 
 to say in conclusion that it is my earnest prayer that a 
 hundredfold of blessings from on high may be rendered 
 to you and your families, and that the means and oppor- 
 tunities of spiritual enlightenment with which God in His 
 Providence has favoured you may be effective, through 
 Divine grace, to the sanctification of your souls and your 
 preparation for a happy immortality." 
 
 By the direction of the Committee of the Baptist 
 Missionary Society, the following letter was addressed to 
 Mr. Phillippo on this auspicious occasion : — 
 
 " My dear Brother, — At our quarterly meeting of Com- 
 mittee, held a few days ago, reference was made to the 
 jubilee services about to be held in Spanish Town to 
 commemorate your fifty years of service in the island 
 of Jamaica in the cause of our Lord and Saviour. I 
 was directed to write you and express in the warmest 
 possible manner the hearty congratulations of your 
 brethren on this side the Atlantic. This I do with the 
 greatest pleasure. 
 
 " It is a source of gratitude to God that your life has 
 been so long preserved, and that, with few interruptions, 
 you have been able to continue your valuable work during 
 
1873] The Jubilee of his Ministry. 393 
 
 that long period of time with the greatest benefit to the 
 people of Jamaica, and with not a few tokens of the 
 favour of God. You have seen the Gospel take deep root 
 in the island, the number of believers wonderfully 
 multiplied, and the curse of slavery for ever removed. In 
 all this you have had no mean share. You have passed 
 through many painful scenes also. You have seen the 
 people quivering under the lash, disease and death 
 ravaging their homes, and the most savage injustice in- 
 flicted upon them. In all this, too, you have sympathised 
 with them, and been their friend and counsellor. Great 
 is the contrast of their present condition with those days 
 of suffering. Peace everywhere prevails, freedom is secured 
 both for body and soul, the sanctuaries of God daily 
 increase in number, and the people cheerfully sustain the 
 cost of their religious institutions ; justice is fairly ad- 
 ministered in the courts, and a period of prosperity at 
 length rewards their endurance and patient service. 
 Your jubilee might be regarded as their jubilee, even 
 as it is a fitting time for them to display their regard 
 for you and to express the esteem in which you are 
 universally held. It is also a cause of gratitude that 
 your dear wife survives to share with you these blessed 
 memories, and to rejoice with you in the general ex- 
 pressions of esteem and attachment the occasion has 
 called forth. 
 
 "You are not unaware that the Committee hold you in 
 high esteem, and have in various ways expressed it. 
 Receive, my dear friend, this one more expression of it, 
 and be assured that we think of you with affection and 
 honour you for your consistent life and your devoted 
 service in the cause of our Lord and Master. May your 
 closing days, and those of your dear wife, be filled with 
 peace and an ever-present sense of the Divine favour ; 
 and then at last may the Master welcome you with His 
 
39+ The Jubilee of his Ministry. [1873 
 
 words of approval, 'Well done; enter ye into the joy of 
 your Lord ' ! — Believe me to remain, yours very truly, 
 
 "Edward B. Underhill." 
 
 A few months later a handsome clock and a service of 
 plate, to which contributions were made from persons of 
 every class, were presented to Mr. Phillippo. This 
 generous and appropriate gift did not arrive in time for 
 presentation at the jubilee meeting. 
 
 With this touching event, surrounded by those members 
 of his family who were then in Jamaica, and many dear 
 friends with whom he had fought " the good fight " of 
 truth, righteousness, and liberty, the public life of Mr. 
 Phillippo may be said to have closed, though not, as will 
 presently be seen, his services to the churches he had 
 gathered and so long led to the " streams of living 
 waters." The words of the "just and devout" Simeon 
 were on his lips: "Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant 
 depart in peace, according to Thy word ; for mine eyes 
 have seen Thy salvation." 
 
 A few more trials, however, awaited this servant of God 
 before that hoary head should receive, the crown of an 
 immortal and eternal life. 
 
CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 DECEASE OF HIS WIFE— 1874. 
 
 For some weeks before the celebration of the jubilee, 
 Mr. Phillippo was laid aside by illness, occasioned by a 
 fall from his horse down a precipice. The injury then 
 done to one of his legs he never thoroughly recovered, 
 and, although he endeavoured to supply the wants of the 
 stations he retained in his charge, and met with great 
 encouragement in his ministry, he found horse exercise, 
 by which means only he could reach the stations, increas- 
 ingly difficult. Growing infirmities led him to resign his 
 office of " President of the Mutual Relief Society" for the 
 town and district, which he had held for about eight 
 years, and he also relinquished other minor engagements 
 which his energetic nature and active habits had long 
 enabled him to fulfil. Though with difficulty, he still went 
 on his journeys of loving ministration to the poor and 
 needy, and bore the fatigues and peril with a buoyant 
 spirit. 
 
 But a dark day was at hand, the narrative of which 
 must be given in his own words : — 
 
 " June 19th. — On arrival home I was told the sad tidings 
 of the illness of my beloved wife, whom I had left so 
 shortly before in her usual health. I left her on Wednes- 
 day last to return to Orange Grove to arrange for opening 
 the new school-room and chapel at Thankful Hill, 
 receiving from her her usual parting caress with the inquiry 
 
396 Decease of his Wife. [1874 
 
 when I should return, accompanied by an admonition to 
 avoid unnecessary exposure to the sun. I returned on the 
 Friday about eleven o'clock. On alighting from my 
 horse, the servant said, with a sadness both of tone and 
 countenance, 'Missus is not well ; she got up this morning, 
 but was obliged to return to bed.' I hastened to the 
 room, and found her speechless and insensible. Not a 
 word in reply to my anxious inquiries, nor a single look of 
 recognition ! I saw the hand of death was upon her, and 
 immediately sent a messenger to Kingston for our son and 
 daughter. Just then Mrs. Claydon, not knowing what had 
 happened, was driven to the door. Dr. Stamer, who 
 resided in the town, came immediately, and, on seeing the 
 patient, shook his head ominously. My son soon after 
 arrived and pronounced the case hopeless. Everything 
 that a skilful physician and affectionate son could do was 
 done. She lingered, without a sign of consciousness or 
 pain during that and the following day and night." 
 
 "June 2 1 st. — At thirty minutes past four o'clock this 
 morning the loved one breathed her spirit into the hands 
 of Him who gave it. I sat by her bedside in deep anguish 
 of mind, and when she drew her last breath it seemed as 
 though my heartstrings burst asunder." 
 
 " She passed away without even a sigh. No indication 
 of pain from first to last. This a little sweetened the 
 wormwood and the gall. But hush, my soul ! nor dare 
 repine. The circumstances altogether call for gratitude 
 to my heavenly Father. She was ripe for the sickle, and 
 the great Husbandman gathered her into His garner. 
 No ; great as is my grief, I must not repine. My loss' is 
 her gain ; I have lost an earthly friend, she has gained a 
 heavenly Friend. I have, too, other alleviations. My 
 children and my children's children strive to soothe my 
 wounded spirit. Brethren testify their sympathy ; while all 
 the tenderness and kindness which long-tried friends can 
 
1874] Decease of his Wife. 397 
 
 show have been manifested to an extent and in a degree 
 I could not have expected.'' 
 
 Her body was borne to the grave on the following 
 Monday morning amidst an immense number of people, 
 whose lamentations, controlled by deep and sincere 
 feeling, testified more than words can express the high 
 estimate formed of her Christian character and social 
 virtues. Profound indeed must have been the sorrow of 
 the aged husband as, with tottering steps, supported by 
 their eldest son, he accompanied the remains of his life- 
 long companion to the grave. She had been the sharer 
 of his joys and sorrows, his trials, his conflicts, and his 
 successes, for more than fifty years. 
 
 Of the numerous letters of sympathy which reached 
 him, there was not one, he remarks, that he valued so 
 much as the following. Its writer was once a slave-girl 
 whose freedom Mrs. Phillippo had purchased by the 
 liberality of some ladies at Reading. 
 
 " Spanish Town, June 23, 1874. — My dear and beloved 
 Pastor, — I, as an humble member under your pastorate for 
 so many years, and one who from a child has been with 
 you and your dear departed friend, do sincerely sympa- 
 thise in your loss. I know you have felt (and will feel) 
 greatly the loss of her ; and more so when you think that 
 you were not permitted to hear from her in her last hours 
 what was the state of her mind on the merits of her 
 Saviour. I can assure you, from what I have heard from 
 her at different times, that she was one waiting for her 
 Saviour's coming, and I do believe (according to God's 
 Word) that she is now among the saved. Although we 
 have not been able to hear a word from her this time, yet 
 on a former occasion when she was taken, and after she 
 was a little better, I asked her if she wished me to read 
 for her, and she said ' Yes.' I read to her the 108th Psalm, 
 and when I closed the book she said, ' My heart is fixed ; 
 
398 Decease of his Wife. [ l8 74 
 
 my heart is fixed ! Oh, how merciful is God to us, yet we 
 are such unworthy creatures ! Oh, if we could love and 
 praise Him more !' While at her bedside, witnessing her 
 departure, I thought I heard her saying these same words, 
 ' My heart is fixed ! ' 
 
 "I hope, my dear minister, you will be encouraged by 
 these words, and look to Him who only can save unto the 
 uttermost those that come to Him by faith, ' seeing He 
 ever liveth to make intercession for us.' 
 
 " With love and respect to you and your daughter, I 
 am, yours obediently, 
 
 " Mary O'Meally." 
 
 In the memoir prepared by Mr. Phillippo for the pages 
 of the Baptist Magazine he begins by!:quoting the words 
 of Washington Irving : — " No one knows what a minis- 
 tering angel the wife of his bosom is until he has gone 
 with her through the fiery trials of this world." Such was 
 Mrs. Phillippo to the husband of her choice, through all 
 the long years in which she fully shared the trials, the 
 self-denial, the sufferings and persecutions which befell 
 them. She was possessed of a sound and vigorous 
 constitution, was of an amiable and gentle disposition, in 
 manners unostentatious, of a sound judgment, and en- 
 dowed with good practical common-sense. Her piety 
 was unobtrusive, but deep and sincere, ever exhibiting its 
 power by deeds of mercy, by her efforts to lead all around 
 her to Christ, by ordering her household in the fear of 
 God, and by a firm persistence in the paths of truth and 
 holiness. Her diffidence led her to withdraw much into 
 the quiet of her own home ; but no one could fail to be 
 struck with her clearness of purpose, the firmness of 
 her resolve, and the blamelessness of her life. Under the 
 painful loss of children, she was resigned to the Divine 
 will, and bore with a chastened calmness the trials 
 through which her path and that of her husband so often 
 
187+] Decease of his Wife. 399 
 
 lay. She cheered him in his anxieties, burdened herself 
 with his cares, and was his surest counsellor and friend. 
 She made his home a happy one. " It was," says the 
 bereaved husband, " the dearest spot to him on earth, one 
 which he preferred to everything else — a shelter from the 
 ills and anxieties of life. Whenever distant from it, it 
 was to him always a refuge of pleasant thought. There, 
 shut in from the outer world of strife and turmoil, he 
 possessed a peace and happiness he could not find 
 elsewhere. In thus making home a happy one to her 
 husband and children, it is hardly necessary to say that 
 she found it one herself." 
 
 Mrs. Phillippo was the mother of nine children. Three 
 only survived her — two sons and a daughter. They are 
 still living to testify to the worth and affection of her who 
 trained their childhood, watched over their later life with 
 maternal anxiety, and rejoiced in the honourable positions 
 to which they have attained. That affection they returned, 
 and now hold in reverence and love the memory of her 
 virtues, her piety, and example. 
 
 She passed away in the eighty-second year of her age 
 and the fifty-first of her married and missionary life. 
 
 " Night dews fall not more gently to the ground, 
 Nor weary worn-out winds expire more soft." 
 
CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 THE AGED CHRISTIAN— 1874 TO 1876. 
 
 In the year following the decease of his wife, the health 
 of Mr. Phillippo considerably improved, and with occa- 
 sional interruptions he was able, for about two years and 
 a-half, to visit his stations, and to take an interest in 
 the progress of affairs around him. Soon after the death 
 of Mr. Dowson he took charge of the station at Old 
 Harbour, and this church, with Sligoville and Rosswell, 
 he continued to watch over as his strength allowed. Both 
 in his visits and in the management of the churches, as 
 also in his correspondence, he enjoyed the constant and 
 invaluable aid of his daughter. She accompanied him 
 in his journeys, kept the accounts of the stations, and 
 assisted him in his pastoral work. If there were wanting 
 the vigour, the activity, and the success of former days, 
 these qualities were more than compensated by the ripe- 
 ness of his judgment and the mellowness of his piety. 
 The variety of his labours, and the spirit in which they 
 were pursued, can best be illustrated by a few selections 
 from his diary, which, with great assiduity, he continued 
 daily to keep. 
 
 "July 19th, 1874. — Thankful Hill school-house I was 
 now enabled to open on its completion. A very large 
 congregation, almost as many outside as within. About 
 sixty children were present. I preached from 1 Chron. 
 xxix. 5. All seemed gratified, and gave hope of future 
 
1874] The Aged Christian. 401 
 
 attendance. May God grant the realisation of these 
 anticipations ! " 
 
 This building, erected for use as a chapel as well as 
 school-house, was on a rising ground in the centre of 
 three or four villages, and in a district that had been 
 described by a late Governor as one of the dark spots 
 which were a disgrace and a danger to Jamaica. There 
 was no other school or place of worship within five or six 
 miles. It was estimated that the villages in its vicinity 
 could very well furnish at least one hundred children in 
 daily attendance. 
 
 "August gth. — At Rosswell. Preached from words, ' If 
 the Lord delight in us He will bring us into that good 
 land,' &c. Things were as encouraging as usual. There 
 really seems to be a good work going on here, which I 
 must place against discouragements elsewhere. This 
 ought to strengthen and stimulate for future action, as 
 well as preserve me from anxious care." 
 
 "August 22nd. — Old Harbour day. The congregation 
 was small on account of prevalent sickness. All very 
 cold. Mission-house still untouched. I preached, I 
 trust, in a way calculated to rouse them. They were 
 attentive, but asleep still. I fear this is the result of the 
 apathy of one or two whose worldly speculations absorb 
 all their thoughts and energies. I returned home in the 
 evening, calling, on the way, on a respectable coloured 
 family. The mother had been known to me from a 
 child. I left some periodicals for their perusal, as usual. 
 My horse became lame, and the harness broke, but I 
 arrived safely home, though at a late hour." 
 
 "October 14th. — My birthday, terminating my seventy- 
 sixth year. Thoughts crowd upon my mind while I think 
 of all the way in which my heavenly Father has led me. 
 
 " How rapidly is my time on earth passing away ! How 
 long my life may be continued, of course, I cannot tell, 
 
 D D 
 
402 The Aged Christian. ['874 
 
 but in all the circumstances and conditions of it help 
 me, O God, to look for Thy special blessing. I may have 
 many losses and crosses yet to endure ; help me to bear 
 them, my God and Father, as dispensations of Thine 
 intended for my good, and give me wisdom and grace to 
 see Thy designs in them ! " 
 
 "December ist. — Final leave was taken this day of 
 Felstead Cottage by Mrs. Claydon, self, servants, and 
 chattels. On taking a last farewell look at this neat and 
 comfortable cottage, associated as it ever will be in my 
 mind with the last hours of my beloved wife, her last 
 earthly home, I became the prey of melancholy reflections, 
 which I found it difficult to restrain within proper bounds. 
 Henceforward, for some days, I was busy in arranging 
 furniture, &c, in the new home at Rivoli, which in some 
 degree diverted my thoughts from the sad retrospect of 
 the past few months." 
 
 " December 6th. — At Orange Grove and Sligoville. The 
 morning fine. The hurricane and rain-storm have not 
 proved so destructive as I feared. The congregation was 
 good, and all seemed cheerful. I held a church-meeting 
 before and after service, when several young persons were 
 proposed for baptism, to take place (D.V.) the first 
 Sabbath in January. Preached and administered the 
 Lord's Supper. May the Lord give effect to His Word ! " 
 
 "December 25th. — Christmas-day. The fifty-first 
 anniversary of it to me in Jamaica. How unlike this to 
 the savage scenes, abominable and wicked customs that 
 prevailed in 1823. The change is wonderful, and all is to 
 be ascribed to the influence of the Gospel faithfully and 
 earnestly preached." 
 
 "March 4th, 1875. — According to previous arrange- 
 ments, ajuvenile picnic was held at Orange Grove for the 
 children of Thankful Hill and Sligoville schools ; over 
 a' hundred and sixty present. It was a very interesting 
 
1875] The Aged Christian. 403 
 
 gathering, and managed in a far less troublesome way to 
 all concerned, and also more" satisfactory, than on any 
 previous occasion. I trust it will stimulate the parents on 
 behalf of their children's education ; their continued 
 interest in it greatly requires incentives." 
 
 " March 6th. — At Sligoville, accompanied by my daugh- 
 ter. A very large congregation was present. Preached 
 from Matt. xxvi. 56 : ' And all His disciples forsook Him 
 and fled.' I tried to produce impression, and looked 
 up anxiously to God for His blessing." 
 
 "March 31st. — Unwell; fever hanging about me, and 
 remained in bed the greater part of the day. The imme- 
 diate cause of this illness was doubtless the exposure to 
 the cold night air after my efforts in speaking at the meet- 
 ings in Kingston, and driving home after ten o'clock at 
 night." 
 
 "May 26th. — I now received the first instalments of the 
 Government grants for my schools : Sligoville, Thankful 
 Hill, Free Town, Spring Garden, and Rosswell. Received 
 £si 8s." 
 
 " June 1 3th, Sunday. — At Rosswell. A very large and 
 attentive congregation was present. I preached on the 
 nature, the necessity, advantages, and means of promoting 
 Scriptural revivals. Several began to exhibit excitement, 
 as at a former time ; but I insisted on its discontinuance, 
 requesting such as were really under concern to meet me 
 in the vestry after the service. It is almost dangerous to 
 speak to the people here with very much earnestness, as 
 their feelings are so little under control." 
 
 "June 17th. — Particularly requested by brethren East 
 and Roberts, went over to Kingston to the examination 
 of the High School at the Calabar Institution and the 
 distribution of prizes. Colonel Cox, Commander of the 
 Forces, in the chair. I delivered an address. On the 
 following day I returned to Rivoli." 
 
 d d 2 
 
4°4 The Aged Christian. [ l8 7S 
 
 "July 13th. — Morning duties being observed, I held an 
 hour's service with the lame, the halt, and the blind in 
 the poor-house now brought near my residence. Several 
 of these poor people seemed to know the hymns sung, 
 and heartily united in singing them. I addressed them 
 for about half-an-hour on the first Psalm. They paid great 
 attention, and thanked me very heartily at the close. I 
 found it good to be there." 
 
 " September 8th. — Called on some of my old friends 
 whose minister I had so long been. Among them was 
 Emily Thomas, a good, devoted woman, who, though 
 ninety years of age, crept by aid of her staff to every 
 public service. She was on her death-bed, and I bade 
 her a last farewell. She said she hoped to be the first to 
 welcome me to her Father's house, where she was going 
 a little before me. In the evening, Mrs. Claydon and 
 myself were favoured with the company of some Wesleyan 
 friends. Had a pleasant and profitable two or three 
 hours in recounting the way in which God had led us the 
 many years past. A tremendous tempest came over the 
 town soon after our friends had left, and continued all 
 night. Awful flashes of lightning and peals of thunder 
 seemed to conspire our destruction. At length, by the 
 force of the wind, which drove the storm before it, it 
 rolled away in the distance. A few thin clouds lingered 
 after the storm and sank slowly to the verge of the 
 horizon. This awe-inspiring scene .solemnised my mind, 
 forcing upon my thoughts the mighty thunderings and 
 blinding lightnings of the last great day." 
 
 "October 14th.— My birthday. I have this day closed 
 my seventy-seventh year. Although thought by friends to 
 have remarkable health and strength at such an ao-e, I 
 nevertheless feel that my days are fast ebbing away. A?e 
 is bringing out the weak points of my constitution slowly, 
 but sensibly. Every year adds to the increasing number 
 
1876] The Aged Christian. 405 
 
 of my infirmities. May I, by the inspiration of the Holy 
 Spirit, form such holy resolutions as if I were now about 
 to leave this earthly life to be made a partaker of the 
 Supper of the Lamb ! Blessed is that servant whom 
 his Lord, when He cometh, shall find watching." 
 
 " November 24th. — Returned to town, and was duly 
 installed as chairman of the missionary meeting in the 
 evening. Many brethren and friends present. I was 
 considerably nervous, finding my memory beginning to 
 fail. My address was about twenty minutes in length. I 
 felt tired and languid after the meeting from the evening 
 air, the excitement, and standing so long. I shall have to 
 discontinue attending and engaging in public, missionary, 
 and other meetings — at all events, such large, exciting 
 ones as at Kingston and Spanish Town." 
 
 "January ist, 1876. — Another year has passed with all 
 its toils and trials, privileges and mercies. The former, I 
 am thankful to say, though numerous and weighty, have 
 yet been mixed with mercy ; while the blessings I have 
 received have been such as call for my devout gratitude to 
 God. Oh ! for more faith and love, more consecration to 
 Christ, more growth in grace, more and better knowledge 
 of my Lord and Saviour, more likeness to Him, more 
 boldness for Him, more usefulness in His service ! " 
 
 " January 2nd. — Went up to Sligoville. The congrega- 
 tion was very large, as almost everywhere at the 
 commencement of the year ; but, sad to say, the people 
 gradually decline in attendance as the year advances. I 
 preached from John i. 36: 'Behold the Lamb of God!' 
 and I feel I am sincere when I say that I preached 'as 
 though .1 ne'er should preach again.' In the afternoon 
 the Lord's Supper. The people were cheerful and hearty 
 in their salutations, wishes, and prayers for the best of 
 blessings on their minister and family." 
 
 "January 16th. — Preached at the re-opening of East 
 
406 The Aged Christian ['^7 & 
 
 Queen Street Chapel after repairs. There was a very 
 large congregation of all classes. I felt nervous at the 
 commencement for fear of breaking down physically, but 
 was, as I believe, Divinely assisted, and I hope the 
 blessing of God was largely experienced." 
 
 In the month of February, Mr. Phillippo's health was 
 far from good, so as to awaken the anxieties of his friends 
 and to call forth an earnest appeal to him to lessen the 
 frequency of his visits to his distant stations. Their 
 condition weighed upon his spirits and gave him much 
 anxiety, as he was unable to exercise that vigilant 
 watchfulness over their spiritual state so necessary to 
 their well-being. 
 
 "April 13th and 14th. — From multiplied and multiply- 
 ing claims, involving almost incessant labour and no 
 inconsiderable responsibility in relation to churches, 
 repair of chapels, erection of school-houses, and support 
 of schoolmasters, with other things too numerous to detail, 
 I have been depressed for some time past. A dark and 
 impenetrable cloud has seemed to overshadow me. I 
 prayed earnestly for faith to lay hold of the promises of 
 my Lord that He would sustain and bring me through the 
 darksome way. Amidst all, I know that God has not 
 forsaken me, while I sometimes feel that it is really good 
 for me to be thus tried. It draws me closer to God 
 through my adorable Saviour. Take courage, O my soul ; 
 endure with patience and fortitude. Let me gird on 
 afresh the armour of hope, faith, and contentment, and 
 press onward to my journey's end." 
 
 It was not in Mr. Phillippo's nature to relinquish any 
 post of service till it was impossible for him to hold it ; he 
 therefore continued to do his utmost to carry on the work 
 in hand, and amid every difficulty to persevere. 
 
 "April 1 8th. — Unable through indisposition to accom- 
 pany the inspector to the school at Spring Garden, my 
 
1876] The Aged Christian. 407 
 
 daughter kindly undertook my duties, and I was glad to 
 find the result satisfactory both to the teacher and 
 inspector. This Government system is a great blessing to 
 the labouring class of the population and to the country 
 generally, and cannot fail to cheer the hearts of the 
 ministers of the Gospel in particular. But on some of the 
 latter, who are managers, it entails very considerable 
 sacrifices of time, labour, and expense." 
 
 " October 14th. — This day seventy-eight years ago I first 
 drew my breath in this world of sin and sorrow. Once 
 again I raise my Ebenezer. The Lord has done great 
 things for me, and for the stations under my charge, 
 whereof I am glad. I would thus record His great 
 goodness and exalt His glorious name. I am not without 
 evidence that my labour has not been in vain, nor has the 
 Lord failed to show me that He has made me useful in 
 the conversion and building up of souls in the hope of 
 the Gospel. To Him be all the glory ! " 
 
 " December 20th. — Thought it my duty, being in King- 
 ston at the opening of a new wing to the Mico Institution, 
 the Governor (Sir William Grey) being present, and having 
 been introduced to him, to call upon him, when I was 
 invited to luncheon, and was afterwards favoured with a 
 long conversation on the length of time I had been in 
 the country, the climate, the social, moral, and religious 
 state and aspects of the island generally, as also on the 
 condition of the labouring classes." 
 
 The active duties of the year closed with a series 
 of missionary meetings at Old Harbour, Sligoville, and 
 Rosswell. At these gatherings Mr. Phillippo presided, 
 and was sustained by various brethren, both of his own 
 and other denominations, in the vicinity. The heavy 
 rains and impassable roads interfered with the attendance 
 at one meeting ; but the services were deeply interesting 
 and instructive, while an excellent spirit was manifested 
 
4o8 The Aged Christian. [1876 
 
 by the people. Pledges of deeper interest and increased 
 liberality were given, and the aged Christian's heart was 
 gladdened by the love and esteem that were freely ex- 
 pressed for him. The closing words of his diary for the 
 year are : — " If I am called, O Lord, to continue my 
 action in Thy cause, work in me to will and to do, for my 
 experience proves that without Thee I can do nothing." 
 
CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 FINAL VISIT TO ENGLAND— 1877. 
 
 The year did not open without some anxious thoughts. 
 Services that he had long observed at the close of the 
 old and commencement of the new year were not re- 
 garded by those around him with the same pleasure and 
 excitement as of yore. He felt painfully, at times, the 
 weight of increasing years throwing him more and more 
 on home employments to fill the yearnings of his active 
 mind. "In my reflections," he says, "I naturally held 
 communion with my own heart, in which I felt much to 
 condemn. Help me, O Lord, to search my heart ! Do 
 Thou Thyself examine me and prove me. Oh, let me 
 never be deceived about myself, nor be fatally a stranger 
 to my own spirit, or the principles of action within me ! 
 Let these be all simple, pure. May I have no corrupt 
 motives or desires, nothing but what proceeds from Thee, 
 or leads to Thee again ! I know not what my future 
 experience may be ; be Thou with me, however, and all 
 will be well." 
 
 A few days were made bright by the presence of two of 
 his grandchildren and two young Haitian girls of colour, 
 daughters of parents residing in Haiti, and reclaimed 
 from Popery through the instrumentality of the late Mr. 
 Webley, missionary at Jacmel. He was also gladdened 
 by the receipt of a very flattering address which had been 
 presented to his younger son (Mr. Justice Phillippo) by 
 the Bar of Hong Kong, where for some time he had held 
 
4'o Final Visit to England. ['^77 
 
 the office of acting Chief Justice, speaking in the highest 
 terms of the calm, dispassionate manner, acumen, and 
 courtesy with which he had filled that high office. But 
 his mind continually relapsed into a state of dread of 
 the future, as if overshadowed by the event disclosed in 
 the following extract from his diary : — 
 
 " March 29th. — I this day received an astounding letter 
 from brother Lea, stating that he had actually applied to 
 the Bishop of Kingston for ordination at his hands, and 
 for admission into the Episcopal Church, he having been 
 of Nonconformist parentage, four years a student at the 
 Baptist College, Bristol, sixteen years a Baptist missionary 
 in Jamaica, and a nephew of William Knibb. It is 
 extraordinary that he never gave me nor the church the 
 slightest intimation of his purpose, until two or three days 
 before his resignation of the pastorate of the church." 
 
 This unexpected and surprising resignation was com- 
 municated to the church in Spanish Town on the following 
 Sabbath, April 1 st. Without a moment's delay or hesitation 
 the members at once turned for counsel and aid to their 
 aged friend, their old and attached minister. Unani- 
 mously they pressed him to re-assume the pastorate, and to 
 this request, with deep feeling, he felt it his duty to assent. 
 " I am in health," he said, "and I will never allow, while 
 I retain possession of it, my life-work to be ignored nor to 
 come to an end, nor will I suffer all my sacrifices of 
 labour, and money, and life to be given to the winds. 
 The state of things must of necessity involve me in very 
 great additional anxiety, responsibility, and toil. But 
 while I ask for the wisdom that is from above, I must 
 trust to the God of wisdom to give me strength and grace 
 equal to my day." 
 
 The position was indeed a most anxious and painful 
 one. His "life-work" truly seemed in danger of 
 destruction, and the churches he had gathered and 
 
1877] Final Visit to England. 411 
 
 watered with his tears and prayers were apparently 
 threatened with dispersion. Earnestly and prayerfully, he 
 pondered the steps to be taken to fill the pastorate in the 
 future, sought the advice of brethren near at hand, and 
 after several sleepless nights, with a bold and marvellous 
 decision, he resolved to leave his people to the care of the 
 Rev. D. J. East ; his daughter, ever helpful, and endowed 
 with an energy like his own, could undertake the corre- 
 spondence necessary to obtain supplies to fill the pulpit 
 during his absence, and he would seek in England the 
 Christian minister who, animated with a truly evangelistic 
 spirit, should henceforth feed the flock in the pastures in 
 which they had so long dwelt. " I did not wish to go 
 home," he writes, " before this crisis came, because I had 
 no special object to accomplish. Now I have. If I am 
 told I might endanger my life by the voyage and excite- 
 ment, I reply, ' It is necessary for me to go to England ; 
 it is not necessary for me to live.' " 
 
 Accordingly, gathering up his energies, and strengthened 
 by faith and prayer, he went forth on this toilsome 
 mission. The interval of preparation was short. He left 
 in the packet which sailed from Kingston on the 10th of 
 April. It was thus he hoped to save many months of 
 weary waiting and negotiation, and to bring back with 
 him in a few short weeks a successor in his work. He 
 reached Southampton on the morning of the 29th in 
 health and safety after a moderately pleasant voyage of 
 nineteen days. 
 
 During his stay in England, Mr. Bhillippo kept his 
 daughter well informed of his movements ; but as his 
 letters consist of very little more than a list in some detail 
 of the numerous places he visited and of the many friends 
 he met with, they do not furnish many passages for 
 extract. His first letter is dated from my house, whither 
 he came direct on arriving in London, and he continued 
 
412 Final Visit to England. Qi 877 
 
 to be my guest for several days until arrangements were in 
 progress for obtaining the minister for whom he was in 
 search. His burden of care was greatly relieved by the 
 deep sympathy which the situation called forth on every 
 side, by the warm affection which greeted him from old 
 friends and new, and by the promptitude with which the 
 Committee proceeded to fulfil his request. The intervals 
 of his attendance at the Mission House were occupied 
 with visits to former scenes and to the homes of those he 
 had known in earlier years. Some, like Dr. Steane, even 
 more than himself, were suffering from the infirmities of 
 age ; others, like the Rev. S. Green, the friend and com- 
 panion of his youth, still bore bravely and almost unhurt 
 the assaults of time ; while others, as Dr. Brock, had 
 entered in the joy of their Lord. At a meeting of peculiar 
 interest at Dr. Landels' chapel, at which he was present, 
 he met with a large number of friends who, he says, 
 " expressed their astonishment at my courage in coming 
 home, and at my vigour of body and mind." 
 
 After more than one conference with the Mission 
 Committee, and visiting many London friends, he pro- 
 ceeded to his brother's house at Norwich. There he 
 found a happy home, where he could recruit his strength, 
 and obtain relief from a severe cold that he had taken. 
 Then he proceeded to Leicester and Birmingham. At 
 Birmingham he was the guest of Mr. and Mrs. William 
 Morgan. " Here," he reports to his daughter, " I stayed 
 four days, during which my kind friends did everything in 
 their power to render my visit enjoyable, and I may say 
 profitable. They took me to call upon many friends, 
 some of whom knew my dear wife from a girl, and 
 remembered me a student at Chipping Norton ; while we 
 had parlour-gatherings and conferences every night. 
 These meetings were deeply interesting, and said to have 
 been instructive. All sympathised with me and the 
 
1877] Final Visit to England. 413 
 
 people so suddenly deserted. I have suffered somewhat 
 from cold and cough, the weather having been unusually 
 severe ; but I am better. I tire in walking, but not in 
 riding even long distances. I am afraid you will have too 
 much to do, and too many cares ; but you must remember 
 that overdoing is undoing." 
 
 In July he took part in the annual meeting of Regent's 
 Park College, when he gave the closing address. It took 
 the form of a brief review of his experience as a mission- 
 ary in Jamaica for fifty-four years. After recounting the 
 events of his early years, he thus summed up some of the 
 results : — 
 
 " During these fifty-four years, I have endeavoured, 
 with my brother missionaries and others, to aid in the 
 promotion of all the great and important changes that 
 have taken place in the island — changes civil, social, 
 educational, religious, and ecclesiastical ; in all, indeed, 
 in which especially the great interests of the masses of the 
 people were concerned. And while I have assisted in 
 accomplishing these vast revolutions to the extent of 
 my ability, I flatter myself that my efforts have in some 
 humble degree contributed to their accomplishment. In 
 the abolition of slavery and- of the previous system of 
 apprenticeship, the establishment of free villages, the 
 erection of school-houses and places of worship, and, 
 though last not least, the disestablishment and disendow- 
 ment of the State Church in Jamaica, and the establishment 
 of a college in Kingston in connection with our mission 
 for the education of native young men for the work of the 
 Christian ministry, and as a training institution for 
 teachers of schools, I have been a sincere, if not a very 
 efficient, worker. Of the results of my great work of 
 winning souls to Christ by the preaching of the glorious 
 Gospel, I thank God, with all humility of mind, that I am 
 not without witnesses. Some hundreds, I may say thou- 
 
414 Final Visit to England. ['^77 
 
 sands, of the once-enslaved and unregenerated sons and 
 daughters of Africans, and their descendants around me 
 who have been turned from darkness to light, have been 
 my joy here, and will, I doubt not, be ' my crown of 
 rejoicing in the day of the Lord Jesus.' Nor have the 
 results of the education of the children of these descend- 
 ants of Ethiopia been less numerous and satisfactory." 
 
 In his closing "words he touchingly alludes to his own 
 personal feelings with regard to the past and to the near 
 future : — 
 
 " In thus labouring so long in the service of the Master, 
 I have been called to suffer, as may be supposed, much 
 personal and relative affliction — to endure much persecu- 
 tion, with exposure at times to violence and death — 
 to experience much difficulty in my work, and to endure 
 numerous and sore trials arising out of my special employ- 
 ment as a minister of Christ ; but I rejoice to say that, 
 though I have been tired in the work, I have never been 
 tired of it, and that, if ' my trials have abounded, my 
 consolations have abounded also.' I can further say — and I 
 can say it with all sincerity of heart — that had I a thousand 
 lives I would willingly consecrate them all to the same 
 great work, even in prospect of the same great difficulties 
 and trials, and with the same jeopardy of health and life 
 as heretofore endured. It cannot be expected from my 
 advanced age that my life will be long protracted ; but, 
 whenever the hour of my warfare ends, I trust I shall be 
 found with my harness on and my face towards the foe. 
 While thus, I trust, I have been enabled, by strength and 
 grace from on high, to fight the good fight and to keep 
 the faith, I can now look calmly into the grave, waiting 
 till my great Master calls me to my rest. And in this 
 anticipation I can say I would not exchange my present 
 condition and prospects with the greatest monarch that 
 ever swayed a sceptre, looking forward, as I can do, with 
 
1877] Final Visit to England. 415 
 
 cheerful hope — I will say with firm confidence — through 
 the alone merits of the Redeemer, to the inheritance, 
 incorruptible, undefined, and that fadeth not away." 
 
 A portion of Mr. Phillippo's time in London was 
 devoted, in company with the Rev. J. Hewett, who was 
 then in England on account of health, in conferring with 
 the Committee on the condition and needs of the churches 
 in Jamaica. In the early months of the year twenty-eight 
 European and native brethren had united to ask the Com- 
 mittee for their aid. They stated that the mission was in 
 a most critical state, and that without a supply of ministers 
 it would sink into decrepitude. For, although in the 
 seventeen years that had elapsed since the visit of the 
 deputation, in i860, ten pastors had been added to the 
 thirty-six then existing, there had been so large an 
 accession of churches as to render the proportion 
 between the number of churches and pastors less 
 favourable than at that time. The seventy-six churches 
 had grown to ninety-nine, while fifteen more were with- 
 out any pastoral oversight at all. The members had 
 increased from 19,360 in i860 to 25,268 in 1877. Thus 
 the lapse of time had made the want of ministers more 
 urgent. The Committee so far yielded to these represen- 
 tations as to promise " to exercise their good offices to 
 assist in the selection of suitable pastors for the churches 
 needing European ministers," and to give grants in aid 
 in cases where the churches were unable to meet the 
 cost of outfit and passage. Some three or four brethren, 
 before the close of the year, were sent out under these 
 conditions. It was gratifying to Mr. Phillippo and Mr. 
 Hewett to recognise the cordiality with which they were 
 received on the part of the Committee and the attention 
 given to the statements they were charged by their 
 brethren to make. 
 
 The main object of Mr. Phillippo's visit was accom- 
 
4> 6 Final Visit to England. L'^77 
 
 plished when, in the month of July, the Rev. J. H. 
 Holyoak, pastor of the church at Onslow Chapel, 
 Brompton, accepted the invitation of the Committee to 
 proceed to Jamaica to take the pastorate at Spanish Town. 
 
 Previous to departure, Mr. Phillippo paid several fare- 
 well visits to friends in various parts of the country. It 
 will be sufficient to record his final visit to his native 
 place. 
 
 " Unwilling," he says, " to leave for my adopted home 
 without a last look at, and bidding a final farewell to, my 
 dear old native town, I went over to Dereham, accom- 
 panied by my brother. It was Saturday, the market-day, 
 when I might chance to meet old acquaintances from the 
 country, as well as in the town. We went to the Corn 
 Exchange, wandered about the streets, called at some of 
 the old houses, with whose tenants I was once so familiar, 
 and at one or two of the principal inns, but, on my part, 
 without the slightest recognition, except in one instance 
 by a distant relative, though only twenty years had passed 
 since my last visit. That visit, however, was so brief that 
 it may be said I had been absent from Dereham fifty 
 years. Equally disappointed was I in the result of my 
 inquiries after the notabilities of my boyish days. Most 
 of the old families had almost entirely passed away, root 
 and branch. The tenants of the house where I was born 
 looked incredulous when I stated the fact, and requested 
 permission to look around me. The lower story was now 
 occupied as a large ironmongery store, and I should have 
 been at a loss to identify it but for the sign of the ' Black 
 Bull ' opposite. Yes ; there was the * Black Bull,' 
 unaltered in form and size and noble bearing as eighty 
 years ago. All else seemed changed. The streets looked 
 narrower, distances much shorter, the houses smaller, 
 though externally more attractive; the old Baptist and 
 Independent chapels superseded by new ones, more con- 
 
1 8 77 J Final Visit ta England. 417 
 
 spicuous, larger, and ornamental. Improvements were 
 everywhere considerable, especially in the suburbs, where 
 beautiful villa residences had sprung up, rendering the 
 dear old place still more worthy of the eulogy of the 
 author of 'Lavengro ' : 'Pretty Dereham ! thou model of an 
 English country town ! ' Fatigued with my perambula- 
 tions, and straitened for time, I reached the station just 
 previously to the starting of the train, in which my brother 
 and myself took places for Norwich. But I was a stranger 
 at home, and was sad." 
 
 His object in coming to England was now accom- 
 plished. Farewells to dear friends were said ; and on the 
 3rd of September, in company with Mr. and Mrs. Holyoak 
 and their two children, he set sail from Southampton. It 
 was a cloudy, rainy, and dismal day, but the passage 
 was a pleasant one, the company on board bright and 
 cheerful — of various nationalities, and some of them ac- 
 quaintances and friends, returning, like himself, to their 
 homes in Jamaica, after a holiday. In one gentleman he 
 found a Norfolk man, and pleasant were the chats over 
 times passed in their native county. 
 
 The vessel arrived in Kingston on the 21st, and warm 
 indeed was the welcome, and loud were the congratu- 
 lations, which greeted the arrival of the old and the new 
 pastors. As they passed along the road and through the 
 streets it seemed as if the whole of the people of Spanish 
 Town had turned out to receive them. " The chapel doors," 
 says Mr. Phillippo, " were immediately thrown open — all 
 - were urged on to hold a thanksgiving meeting — thanks- 
 giving to God for His goodness both to those of us who 
 had arrived, and for His goodness to the church in having 
 so graciously answered the prayers presented for what 
 they now beheld." 
 
 The bright expectations thus apparently fulfilled were 
 suddenly destroyed, and, to the consternation of Mr. 
 
 E E 
 
4i 8 Final Visit to England. [^1877 
 
 Phillippo and the church, at the end of six days Mr. 
 Holyoak announced his intention to return to England. 
 Remonstrance was in vain, and by the next packet after 
 his arrival Mr. Holyoak and his family departed for 
 England. 
 
 It can be more easily imagined than described with 
 what a weary heart Mr. Phillippo again resumed the 
 pastoral duties to the churches whose hopes were thus 
 shattered at the very moment of their realisation. 
 
CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 HIS LAST DAYS— 1877 to 1879. 
 
 If it was with a " weary heart" that Mr. Phillippo again 
 faced the difficulties so suddenly sprung upon him, he 
 met them with somewhat of his ancient spirit and energy. 
 " On Sabbath following," he says, " I entered upon the 
 onerous duties thrown upon me with all the energy I could 
 command, stimulated by the sympathies of the vast congre- 
 gation that had gathered, and by those of all the inhabitants 
 of the town and district. My text was (purposely to avoid all 
 details of past occurrences) from 1 Peter i. 10, n: 'Of which 
 salvation,' &c. Supported and aided, as I felt sure I was, 
 by the Divine presence and blessing, I felt unusually at 
 home, and seemed possessed of more than customary 
 strength and energy. I felt, moreover, that the Word 
 would not be like water spilt upon the ground. In the 
 administration of the Lord's Supper in the afternoon, I 
 felt equally sensible that God was with me." 
 
 The church, on its part, lost no time in assuring their 
 aged friend that he enjoyed their most entire confidence 
 and warmest affection. They were grateful for his devo- 
 tion to their interests and his self-denial ; and, though 
 his arduous visit to England had proved unavailing, they 
 were only too happy to confide in his judgment for the 
 future. They were confident that he would be guided by 
 wisdom from above in his management of the affairs of 
 the church in this season of great emergency. 
 
 Mr. Phillippo immediately made arrangements to meet, 
 
 E e 2 
 
420 His Last Days. [ l8 77 
 
 to the best of his ability, the claims now pressing upon 
 him. After three weeks' trial, in a letter to the Secretary 
 of the mission, Mr. Baynes, dated October 25th, he thus 
 describes the nature of the task laid upon him. After 
 referring to Spanish Town, Old Harbour, Rosswell, and 
 Sligoville, he says : — " These places have to be supplied 
 monthly, with half-a-dozen more, and about ten schools 
 to be superintended, and the schoolmasters to be paid 
 and to be kept to their work. Altogether, I have the 
 claims of ten stations, with their schools, upon me, from 
 five to sixteen miles distant, added to almost incessant 
 details of work that these stations involve. They would 
 tax the energies of three or four healthy and energetic 
 men. How am I to get through all this without 
 jeopardy to health and life ? It is impossible. After 
 preaching at Spanish Town I was so exhausted as to be 
 hardly able to sit up in the evening. On returning from 
 Sligoville, I felt as though I could hardly venture on horse- 
 back for any distance again. It was much the same after 
 the service and long journey to and from Rosswell yester- 
 day. I fear I shall not be able to undergo the fatigue of 
 these long journeys much longer. Yet the same routine is 
 to be gone through again and again. Old Harbour next 
 Sabbath, then Spanish Town, &c, &c. Of course I have to 
 get supplies for intervals ; but these are very expensive, 
 often inefficient, and difficult to obtain." 
 
 Under such circumstances, he could not but seek the 
 aid of the Committee. "I will not," he continues, "stir 
 from my post ; but my mind as well as my body has lost 
 its elasticity. A mountain of care and difficulty lies 
 before me, and a dark impenetrable cloud overshadows 
 me. I beg that, as soon as a brother of a true missionary 
 spirit offers himself, you will relieve our minds by 
 announcing it to us by telegram." 
 
 An accident which he met with in the early days of 
 
1878] His Last Days. 421 
 
 January disabled him from going to his more distant 
 stations, and it was not without great suffering that he 
 could take the first service of the year in Spanish Town. 
 Although the condition of his leg improved, it continued 
 throughout the year a source of much anxiety, and, with 
 the sense of his inability to fulfil the duties which were 
 required, there came upon him great depression of mind 
 which it needed all his faith to surmount. 
 
 "January 9th. — What am I to do," he writes, "under my 
 complicated trials, for they multiply and ' almost bear me 
 down ? Evidently, to trust, to hope, to wait, that in a 
 short time all will end well and redound to the Saviour's 
 honour and my own comfort. Possibly comfort may come 
 like angels' visits, ministering to me the fruits of right- 
 eousness to the glory and praise of God. I will trust, and 
 not be afraid." Again: "January 19th. — I go to Old 
 Harbour to baptize in the sea, but with a heavy heart, 
 not as formerly. Cares, labours, and responsibilities 
 almost overcome me by their number and importance. 
 There are also other causes. I feel myself unequal to 
 bear the load from infirmities of age, additionally so from 
 the sufferings entailed by my late accident." 
 
 But brighter moments intervene, and he can say, after 
 recalling the sorrows endured and the fervent prayers 
 which " daily, almost hourly," they led him to pour out 
 before the Father of Mercies, " I can now testify that my 
 prayers are answered, and that I can again, as often before, 
 set to my seal that God is true. May I ever henceforth 
 see the folly of doubts and fears where the promises of my 
 heavenly Father are concerned, nor suffer myself to 
 anticipate evils that may never come ! " 
 
 Light shone upon his path when he learnt, in March, 
 that a successor had been found in the person of the Rev. 
 Carey B. Berry, the pastor of the church at Cullingworth, 
 Yorkshire. On the 5th of June he had the pleasure of 
 
422 His Last Days. ['878 
 
 welcoming Mr. Berry to Jamaica, and on the following 
 Sunday of introducing him to his flock. Although many 
 of the country members did not know of Mr. Berry's 
 arrival, he was "enthusiastically" received by a crowded 
 congregation. On the Lord's-day, the 7th of July, Mr. 
 Phillippo finally laid down the office which, so long, and 
 under such changes of circumstances, he had filled, and, 
 amid deep silence and many tears, he bade the people he 
 so loved as their pastor a final farewell. The whole 
 congregation rose up to do him reverence, and in a 
 similar manner, at his request, they bade their new pastor 
 welcome to the honoured post. It was with joy that Mr. 
 Phillippo records : " The welcome was all that could have 
 been desired, while the personal salutations that followed 
 could have left no doubt upon the young pastor's mind, 
 had any existed, that he commenced his work in the full 
 confidence and warm affection of his whole church and 
 congregation." The union was ratified at the table of the 
 Lord, and it is pleasant to conclude with the remark that 
 the issue has fulfilled the hopes and desires of the aged 
 servant of God whom Mr. Berry has. succeeded. 
 
 For the next few months there is little to record. Mr. 
 Phillippo continued, as his strength would allow, to visit 
 the two or three stations which remained in his charge, 
 and to pay attention to a few matters of public interest. 
 With the cessation of the multiplicity of occupations that 
 had borne him down, the elasticity of his spirit returned ; 
 so that on his eightieth birthday, with "a gladsome mind," 
 he could say : " On looking back I see, indeed, many 
 mistakes, infirmities, shortcomings, and sins ; but I 
 rejoice that the blood of Christ has washed them all away. 
 I know not what may happen to me in the future, but I 
 know that I am in my heavenly Father's hands, and that 
 surely all things will work together for my good. In 
 looking to the future, all is bright, brighter than I can 
 
1878] His Last Days. 423 
 
 find words to describe. I shall be at length with Christ, 
 and be like Him for ever. Let me, therefore, wait for the 
 Lord, that whenever He comes I may open to Him 
 immediately, and say with joy and triumph to the Lord's 
 promise to come shortly, ' Even so ; come, Lord Jesus.' " 
 
 In October Mr. Phillippo was laid aside by a severe 
 attack of ague and fever ; from this seizure he so far 
 recovered as to be able to assist Mr. Berry in the services 
 customarily held at Christmas and on New Year's Day. But 
 from this time forward the indications began to multiply 
 that the shades of life's evening were closing around him. 
 On the 30th of January he records that some threatening 
 symptoms had obliged him to consult his son, and, 
 although on the 2nd of February he was able to ride to 
 Sligoville and to arrange for Mr. Berry's recognition as 
 the pastor of the church there, he was taken worse in the 
 evening, and lay all night in a violent fever. On the next 
 day an attack of aneurism in the femoral artery came on, 
 which paralysed the whole of his left side, accompanied 
 with intense pain. He bore the journey in a litter to 
 Spanish Town, where only medical aid could be procured, 
 with great fortitude. The dangerous symptoms in a few 
 days abated, and, in the months of March and April, he 
 was able to leave his room and renew his intercourse with 
 friends. 
 
 The entries in his diary, though necessarily brief, are 
 sufficiently indicative of the state of his mind during this 
 period of retirement. Thus, under February 6 : " The 
 doctor came in again, and signified that recovery was still 
 doubtful. My mind calm and trusting in God, and wait- 
 ing His will, desiring rather to depart and to be with 
 Christ." February 7 : " Still in great pain night and day. 
 Able to read occasionally, which was a great relief, the 
 subjects most attractive being biographical sketches of 
 the closing days of good men. Oh, that I had that 
 
4 2 + His Last Days. ['^79 
 
 ardour of devotion, that poverty of spirit, which some of 
 them exemplified ! " 
 
 Several days succeed in which no entries are made, and 
 in which he was confined to his bed. On the 20th they 
 are resumed in pencil : " Continued in bed suffering more 
 or less pain ; not out of danger.' Mind calm and waiting 
 on God." 
 
 "21 st. — A night of very great pain. I am still in doubt 
 how it will go with me. But I look to my heavenly Father 
 to soften the pain. ' Not my will, but Thine be done.' " 
 A few days follow in which much pain was endured ; but 
 slow amendment was apparent. On Sunday, March 2nd, 
 he pencils down : " Much better, and was able to con- 
 centrate my thoughts on subjects relating to the blessed 
 world to which I feel I am going. I bless God that in 
 prospect of it my faith and hope do not fail." 
 
 " March 3rd. — Better ; got up and sat in the dining- 
 room. Friends and relations congratulate me on my 
 progress thus far ; but I can hardly thank them for their 
 wishes for my continuance here. Rath er, I say with the 
 Apostle, I desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is 
 far better." 
 
 " March 7th. — Not suffering much from pain. It is now 
 probable I may recover. The Lord's will be done. My 
 mind calm, thoughtful, and hopeful. Reflected on all the 
 way He had led me." 
 
 On the 1 3th he was able to take a short drive. " Amidst 
 all," he adds, " I recognise a Father's hand and love. I 
 am especially thankful that I am able to read and thus 
 acquaint myself with the home to which I am going, and 
 my obligations to Him who has loved me and given Him- 
 self for me." 
 
 From this time a slight but continuous improvement of 
 the ailing limb went on, so that he was able to interest 
 himself in the affairs of the stations, in making arrange- 
 
1879] His Last Days. 425 
 
 ments for their future welfare, and in receiving visits from 
 friends and brethren. Some were sanguine that he would 
 sufficiently recover to resume a portion of his old duties ; 
 but he adds, in recording their kind wishes, " I have no 
 hope of this. I feel that the time of my departure is at 
 hand. I have- no desire to know the time ; but it is 
 sufficient to know that my blessed Lord sustains me by 
 His grace. May I have the joy this hope inspires when in 
 the final hour I lie languishing on the bed of death, wait- 
 ing from moment to moment for Christ and my dismission 
 to be with Him." 
 
 " Where'er my head must take its long repose, 
 
 Oh, keep Thy presence nigh, my God, my Friend ; 
 And tenderly my eyelids close, 
 
 While to Thy Spirit's care I mine commend. " 
 
 The final entry in his diary, on the gth of May, relates 
 to the departure of his dear friends, the Rev. E. and 
 Mrs. Hewett, after a brief visit, in which he had greatly 
 enjoyed their presence. He also spent part of the day 
 in dictating to his daughter a letter to Mr. Baynes, in 
 which he speaks of his expected recovery, and the hope 
 that he might again visit some of the scenes of his former 
 labours. "Why," he says, "I am thus spared I do not 
 know, but, as God does nothing without design, whatever 
 He does or permits is right. It is, therefore, for me 
 cheerfully to acquiesce in His will, knowing that all that 
 will is love. As I am now, however, verging on my 
 eighty-first year, the time of my departure cannot be far 
 distant. My trust is that, whenever the summons comes, 
 I may be fully prepared to enter into the joy of my Lord." 
 It was hidden from him that this was the last letter he 
 would ever write. 
 
 Two days wore slowly away, when, after a Scripture 
 lesson on the Sabbath afternoon to the Negro boy in 
 attendance upon him, in the evening the Master's voice 
 
426 His Last Days. [' 8 79 
 
 was heard. His daughter, Mrs. Claydon, thus describes 
 the event : — " He seemed as well as usual all day Sunday, 
 and retired to rest at his usual hour, but soon after he was 
 in bed he was seized with shortness of breath and violent 
 pains in the chest, and before medical aid could be 
 obtained he had breathed his last. He retained his 
 consciousness until the end, and was perfectly calm and 
 untroubled, saying that his time was come and his 
 work was ended. In an hour all was over." Later she 
 continues : " I dp not know that I can add more to what 
 I have said respecting my dear father's death. He knew 
 that his hour for departure had come, and said his work 
 was done. His last words, at intervals, were : ' My 
 Jesus ; ' ' my Saviour ; ' ' my Friend.' ' Lord, into Thy 
 hands I commend my spirit' '" 
 
 Referring to his interview with him on the previous 
 Friday, Mr. Hewett writes : — " I left him on the Friday 
 afternoon, and he passed away quite suddenly and quietly 
 on Sabbath evening. When I left he was cheerful and 
 happy, calmly waiting for the great change. His last 
 words were : ' Father, into Thy hands I commend my 
 spirit.' In his death we have lost the oldest missionary 
 of any denomination in the island. For more than fifty 
 years he has been an earnest worker in the dear Redeemer's 
 cause, abundantly successful in gathering congregations, 
 building of chapels, and in converting sinners from the 
 error of their ways. His life has been a long scene of 
 devotedness, consistency, and usefulness. What more than 
 this can be said to his praise and to the glory of God ?" 
 
 From a communication of the Rev. D. J. East to the 
 Freeman of the 1 ith of July the following additional 
 particulars of the closing days of the venerable saint will 
 be welcomed : — 
 
 " How beautiful the closing scene ! Except an affection 
 in the circulation of the leading arteries of one leg — 
 
1879] His Last Days. 427 
 
 an affection, however, which conveyed to him the last 
 summons — he seemed full of health, and enjoyed cheerful 
 spirits almost to the last. Yet since the removal of his 
 loving wife he had felt that the appointed time of his 
 departure was drawing nigh. He cast up and closed his 
 works and the care of the churches. He arranged his 
 family affairs in an interview by special appointment with 
 the writer. He then bound up the fragments of his life, 
 work, and times for us to read when he was gone, com- 
 mitting the revision and publication of his autobiography 
 to the hands of his valued and beloved friend, Dr. 
 Underhill. He then calmly, placidly waited at eventide 
 the sunset that must rise in the 'morning land.' He was 
 to all things here as one who hopefully, instantly expected 
 the coming of the Master. Only nine days before the 
 event, in a farewell letter to the writer of this brief notice 
 of a friend and brother faithful and beloved, he says, 
 'You must not suppose, from the tone of this epistle, 
 that my mind is disquieted at the apprehension of my 
 departure from this world of sin, and imperfection, and 
 turmoil so near at hand. I am thankful to say it is far 
 otherwise with me, as, my work being to all appearance 
 done, my desire, with the reservation of one family tie, is 
 to be with Christ. My life and times, however, are at the 
 disposal of my great Master and Lord. 
 
 " While here, to do His will be mine, 
 And His to fix my time of rest." 
 
 It is sufficient for me that He sustains me by His grace, 
 and grants me the assurance that I shall be for ever with 
 Him in the blessed world to which I am going. In relation, 
 however, to your departure hence for a season, how 
 delightful to think that, should we meet no more on 
 earth, we shall meet where there will exist no magnet, 
 no source of attraction, but the Lamb in the midst of the 
 throne.' 
 
428 His Last Days. L 1 879 
 
 " On the Sunday night of his departure, after reading 
 a portion from the Ephesians, he finally closed the blessed 
 Book, to hear in a few minutes the Master indeed calling. 
 He raised his hands, as if to bless his people, in prayer, 
 saying, ' Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit,' 
 and passed away without a pain or sigh. As an infant on 
 his mother's breast, so he fell asleep on the bosom of his 
 Lord. 
 
 " The earthly remains of our departed brother were 
 buried beside those of his sainted wife, while thousands 
 of all ranks from the plains and hills around looked or 
 sobbed their unspoken sorrow. His record is on high ! 
 
 " In view of such life, what a call his death is for new 
 labourers ! Shall we not pray in his own words in the 
 ' Voice of Jubilee ' ? — ' O Lord Jesus ! Lover of souls, 
 Director of spirits, Conqueror of hearts, choose Thine 
 own instruments, select Thine own sacrifices, open to 
 some understandings the glory of this work, touch some 
 hearts with the invisible constraints of Thy dying love. 
 Let him that is feeble be as David — let souls be so bound 
 to this work that they may resolve to engage in it.' 
 
 " Whether the monument of our brother be raised or 
 his epitaph be written in marble, or not, may we not quote 
 his own words in his loving portrait of the sainted Burchell 
 and Knibb, and say, ' His requiem will be chanted by 
 thousands who have known him, or who have heard of 
 him, and by millions yet unborn. He occupied the high 
 places of the field — he hazarded his life for the sake of 
 the Lord Jesus. He saw the work of his hand and heart 
 in the freedom of the slave, in the enfranchisement of 
 multitudes of the sons of Ethiopia from the thraldom of 
 the god of this world to a 
 
 " Liberty 
 Monarchs cannot grant, and all the powers 
 Of earth and hell confederate take away " ' ? 
 
1879] His Last Days. 429 
 
 " His actions threw a light around his living steps ; his 
 name was written before his eyes in the temple of immor- 
 tality. As a servant of the Most High God, faithful unto 
 death, he has now his rest and his reward."* 
 
 But few words are required to sum up the life-story of 
 James Mursell Phillippo. He has himself characterised 
 it in the words of the motto with which as a student he 
 began his career. They were, " Energy, Prudence, 
 Economy, Temperance, Perseverance, with ardent love to 
 God and man." f Through weal and woe, with an un- 
 faltering step, he pursued the object to which he had 
 consecrated his life, and whatever powers he possessed, 
 whether of body or mind, were absolutely, and without 
 reserve, given to the service of his Saviour and to the 
 well-being of Africa's children. In person he was 
 of a comely presence, somewhat above the average in 
 height ; in manners, urbane and courteous, and, in his 
 intercourse with men of every sort, considerate of their 
 wants and feelings. Though sensitive to praise or blame, 
 neither to obtain the one nor to avoid the other did he 
 sacrifice his convictions or swerve from the path of 
 rectitude. His principles were firmly grasped and 
 earnestly maintained, and neither smiles nor frowns 
 prevailed to restrain their assertion. In the presence of 
 the direful evils and miseries of slavery, he wrought 
 righteousness, and was the helper and succourer of the 
 oppressed. Every faculty was strained to destroy the 
 curse which darkened the fair land of Jamaica, and to 
 
 * " Most of the paragraphs between inverted commas, with some 
 slight variations, excepting the extract of the farewell letter which has 
 been interpolated, are from a ' Sermon on the Death of the Rev. Jas. 
 Mursell Fhillippo, preached in East Queen Street Baptist Chapel, 
 Kingston, Jamaica, by the Rev. F. Seed Roberts, of the Baptist 
 Missionary Society, London, Tutor of Calabar College.' " 
 f See p. 16. 
 
+30 His Last Days. [ l8 79 
 
 remedy the mischiefs, worse than crops of nightshade, it 
 produced. His labours for the education and elevation 
 of the emancipated slave, both morally and socially, were 
 incessant, and often pursued under circumstances of great 
 discouragement. Every undertaking in Spanish Town 
 and its vicinity, for the improvement of men, whether 
 coloured or white, enjoyed his sympathy, and was often 
 benefited by his wise counsel and instructive communica- 
 tions. He was benevolent to the fullest extent of his 
 means, and it was his delight to visit the poor in their 
 homes, to sympathise with their sorrows, and to aid them 
 in their efforts for advancement. Rich and poor, high 
 and low, alike sought his counsel ; he was the friend 
 of all. Throughout the stormy scenes of the period in 
 which he lived, he observed a dignified moderation, and 
 won and kept the respect, the good-will, and veneration 
 of two generations of men, often stirred to their depths 
 by the passions and antagonisms of great and momentous 
 events. He preserved to the last the freshness, the 
 buoyancy, and gentleness of his early days ; maintained 
 his tastes for literary and elegant pursuits, and was 
 continually adding to his stores of information. His 
 mind was stored with facts, and perhaps no living man 
 possessed such a knowledge of the island of Jamaica, its 
 history and institutions, as he had acquired. His life was 
 more active than contemplative, more addicted to the 
 practical than the speculative. His works abound in 
 knowledge of the facts with which he deals, but seldom 
 touch on the deeper questions which underlie the move- 
 ments of society, or which occupy modern thought. 
 He was popular as a lecturer on literary, scientific, and 
 historical subjects, wrote with clearness and force, and 
 spoke with fluency and effect. 
 
 As a Christian minister, he adorned the doctrine of his 
 God and Saviour in all things. He was simple in his 
 
1879] His Last Days. 431 
 
 habits, truthful in action and speech, and a faithful 
 preacher of the doctrines he believed. He loved Christ. 
 Christ was the light of his steps and the object of his 
 fervent adoration. The circumstances did not require, 
 nor did his flock expect, disquisitions on the profound 
 mysteries of the Christian faith. The salvation and love 
 of Christ in their regenerating and practical aspects and 
 results were the topics on which he delighted to dwell — 
 
 "For, above all, his luxury supreme, 
 And his chief glory, was the Gospel theme.'' 
 
 He lived in constant communion with his Lord, and his 
 strength and purpose were daily fed and sustained by his 
 inner fellowship with things unseen. 
 
 As a missionary of the Gospel of Christ, his course 
 cannot better be described than in the resolution passed 
 by the Committee of the Baptist Missionary Society, with 
 which institution he had been so long associated : — 
 
 " In recording the decease of the Rev. James Mursell 
 Phillippo, the senior missionary of the Society, the Com- 
 mittee desire to ' glorify the grace of God ' manifested in 
 the long and unwearied labours of this excellent servant of 
 Jesus Christ. Born in the year 1798, he entered on 
 mission life in Spanish Town, Jamaica, in January, 1 824, 
 and for fifty-five years he consecrated all his powers to the 
 service of the people of that island. Many were slaves 
 when he began to preach to them the unsearchable riches 
 of Christ ; with many other eminent men, he toiled through 
 evil and good report to obtain their freedom. That great 
 boon secured, by well-devised schemes of education, by 
 the planting of villages, by the incessant advocacy of 
 righteous and just legislation, by sheltering the poor and 
 defending the oppressed, and by faithful instruction in 
 Christian truth and duty, he laboured both day and night, 
 in arduous journeys and with unsparing effort, often at the 
 risk of life, to impart the elements of knowledge, and to 
 
43 2 His Last Days. [ l8 79 
 
 assure the welfare and civilisation of the emancipated 
 peasantry. He was ever the friend of the distressed, the 
 comfort of the sorrowful, the advocate of the miserable, 
 and the true pastor of his flock. Endowed with both 
 natural and acquired gifts, he was the faithful minister of 
 Christ, the courteous gentleman, and the loving friend. 
 With Christian courage and fortitude he passed through 
 many trials. He was the valued counsellor of his 
 ministerial brethren, and prompt to co-operate with them 
 and to aid in every good design devised for the benefit of 
 the people whom he loved. He lived to see the blessed 
 results of emancipation, the great and successful increase 
 of the mission, and to rejoice in the wide diffusion of the 
 principles of liberty and piety of which he was the manly 
 and conscientious advocate. His long service for Christ 
 has terminated with honour to himself, is crowned with 
 the grateful affection of his brethren and of the Society 
 which he served with so much respect and esteem. His 
 memory will be cherished by thousands of the children of 
 Africa to whom he brought the blessings of salvation, and 
 his name will be enrolled among the noble band of men 
 who struggled for and won freedom for the slave." 
 
 " The exile is at home ; 
 
 O nights and days of tears ! 
 O longings not to roam ! 
 
 O sins and doubts and fears ! 
 What matters now ? O joyful day ! 
 The King has wiped all tears away ! " 
 
 THE END. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 F F 
 
435 
 
 I.— LIST OF STATIONS AND SCHOOLS 
 
 ESTABLISHED IN WHOLE OR IN PART BY THE 
 REV. J. M. PHILLIPPO. 
 
 1824 TO 1874. 
 
 Parish of St. Catherine. 
 
 Spanish Town Commenced by Rev. T. Godden. Chapel-house, 
 
 school-rooms, burial-ground. Built and pur- 
 chased by Mr. Phillippo. 
 
 . . . Chapel, residence, and out-offices built and pur- 
 chased. 
 
 . . . Chapel and school-house. 
 
 Passage Fort ... 
 
 Hartlands 
 
 Kent Village ... 
 Taylor's Caymanas 
 Thankful Hill ... 
 Kensington 
 
 Clarkson Town... 
 Sturge Town ... 
 
 School-house, used as chapel and teacher's house. 
 Land bought and two villages established with 
 
 class-houses. 
 Village. 
 Village. 
 
 St. Dorothy. 
 
 Old Harbour Station commenced and chapel erected. 
 
 Spring Garden Chapel or school-house built. 
 
 Rosswell Chapel restored twice and school established. 
 
 Sligoville 
 
 Constant Spring 
 Rock River 
 
 St. Thomas-in-the-Vale. 
 
 ... Land purchased for village; chapel-house and 
 
 out-offices and school-house built. 
 . . . Now Jericho. 
 
 F F 2 
 
43& 
 
 St. John's. 
 Garden River, New \ Qh , buflt _ 
 
 Point Hill ) 
 Kitson Town ... 
 
 Beecher Town . . , 
 Hayes' Savanna 
 Rose Hill 
 
 Land bought for township. Chapel built and 
 school established. 
 
 Verb. 
 Station commenced. 
 
 St. Andrews. 
 
 Manchester. 
 
 Vale Lionel (Poms)... 
 
 Victoria 
 
 Mandeville 
 
 Cabbage Hall 
 
 Four Paths 
 
 DAY SCHOOLS WERE ESTABLISHED IN THE 
 FOLLOWING PLACES :— 
 
 St. Catherine's ... 
 
 St. Dorothy., 
 
 St. Thomas-in-the-Vale . 
 
 St. John's 
 
 Manchester., 
 
 Clarendon 
 
 Metropolitan Schools, Spanish Town. 
 
 Passage Fort. 
 
 Hartlands. 
 
 Taylor's Caymanas. 
 
 Thankful Hill. 
 
 Kensington. 
 
 Spring Garden. 
 
 Rosswell. 
 , Sligoville. 
 
 Rock River. 
 
 Kitson Town. 
 
 Beecher Town. 
 
 Porus. 
 
 Mandeville. 
 
 Victoria. 
 
 Cabbage Hall. 
 , Free Town. 
 
 It is calculated that between five and six thousand persons were 
 baptized by Mr. Phillippo at the various stations, and some five 
 thousand children educated in the schools established and superintended 
 by him. 
 
437 
 
 II.— EFFECTS OF DISESTABLISHMENT. 
 
 BY SIR ANTHONY MUSGRAVE, K.C.M.G., GOVERNOR 
 OF JAMAICA. 
 
 From a Paper read before the Royal Colonial Institute, 
 April 20, 1880. 
 
 "The manner in which the people support their religious institu- 
 tions deserves note and praise. The same writer from whom I have 
 just quoted, himself a minister of long residence and experience in 
 Jamaica, remarks : — 
 
 " ' This last is a fact specially worthy of remark, as significant not 
 •Only of the growth of deep-rooted religious sentiment, but of social 
 progress. Religion in this colony has been disestablished and dis- 
 endowed. Yet I venture to say that the Episcopal Church, which has 
 suffered most from this change, was never, at least to outward 
 observation, so strong and vigorous as at the present moment. As a 
 rule, I believe, the congregations have shown themselves both willing 
 and able to provide for the ministrations of the sanctuary, while, with 
 very few exceptions, we see on almost every side signs of activity and 
 zeal the most gratifying. 
 
 " ' Other Christian denominations have passed through a similar ordeal 
 consequent upon the missionary societies of the mother country 
 having seen it their duty, either wholly or in part, to withdraw the 
 pecuniary aid which they had been wont to afford. Up to within the 
 last few years these societies were paying the salaries of their agents ; 
 now, for the most part, pastors and missionaries are thrown upon their 
 respective bodies or their individual congregations for support. In 
 general, whatever may have been the difficulties and struggles, this 
 new burden has been cheerfully assumed by the people. Nor do I 
 know of any missionary station which has been abandoned in conse- 
 quence. On the contrary, there is hardly a parish in which one does 
 not see new and handsome church-buildings erected, or in course of 
 erection, mainly through the voluntary contributions of the congrega- 
 tions, while old ones on all sides are being repaired and beautified.' " 
 —P. 24. 
 
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