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and a different line of conduct pursued. Instead of importing ministers of the gospel, blood-hounds were procured from the Spanish settlements, by which means the island has gathered infamy, where it might have planted laurels which would never fade. Unhappily it has removed, by exile and the sword, a race of men who might have afforded it both honour and defence.

As one principal object of this work is, to diffuse an evange lical knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to develop its happy influence in preserving good-will and peace among mankind, while it enforces due obedience to civil authority among all orders of men in all parts of the inhabited globe, it is with heart-felt pleasure that we re-copy the instructive letter of governor Wentworth. This gentleman, by his residence. the Maroons in their new abode, has had an opportuamong nity of appreciating the importance of those principles for He has seen these unenlightened savages which we contend. taken from a mode of life, to which both themselves and their ancestors had been accustomed for ages that are beyond our reach. He has seen them removed to a climate almost the reverse of that in which they had been cherished, and labouring under those disadvantages which are inseparable from all infant colonies. Yet he confidently assures us, that their behaviour has been orderly and decorous, and that their lives are far from being uncomfortable.

His observations being founded upon their conduct in the early months of their settlement, in which the period of turbulence is naturally to be expected from savage life, encourage us to look forward, with pleasing expectation and hope, to a degree of improvement which the measures adopted seem calculated to ensure. As they grow better acquainted with their new mode of life, and have their understandings illuminated by that light which the gospel was designed to impart, their condition must.necessarily improve. But we cannot avoid concluding, that the same measures would have produced the same effects in their native land; and if so, infamy, exile, and carnage, would have been avoided.

The conclusions which we have thus drawn have been suggested to us by a train of facts that will admit of no dispute: and that similar effects might have been produced among the Maroons, the following letter of governor Wentworth places "The Maroons (says he) are beyond all reasonable doubt. now comfortably settled, and their situation will be daily improving. They are hitherto quiet, orderly, and contented. I have long had experience useful for this occasion, and have no doubt but that these will be an happy and useful people. In this

country they can do no harm, nor do they seem disposed to do any. They are exceedingly attached to me. I have appointed a missionary and chaplain, with an assistant teacher, to perform the service of the Church of England, to instruct them in Christianity, and to teach the youth and children to read, write, and cipher. Last Sunday I attended public worship in their chapel, at opening the church. The Maroons were particularly attentive, decent, and most exceedingly delighted. Next Sunday many are to be baptized, and the remainder in due course. They are solicitous for this duty, and appear desirous of instruction; from whence civilization will naturally result. The climate is, and will be salutary to them. The children were emaciated, and most of the adults worn down by war, imprisonment, and sea-sickness they are now healthy, strong, and as hearty as any white people in the province. They are, therefore, and I have no doubt will continue to be, infinitely benefited by their removal to Nova Scotia; and the most judicious and sensible among them are perfectly satisfied, and happy in their future prospects." If such then were the happy effects of religion upon these poor savages, in the short space of three months, what a change might have been wrought in the conduct of their forefathers to the white inhabitants of Jamaica, which would have been transmitted to their descendants, if Mr. Long's timely admonition had been properly regarded! But the members of the assembly of Jamaica must have had the same turn of mind as Mr. Edwards, who considers "the conversion of savage men, from a life of barbarity to the knowledge and practice of Christianity, as a work of much greater difficulty than many pious and excellent persons in Great Britain seem fondly to imagine."

Actuated by that selfish policy which extends the horizon of happiness no farther than momentary or worldly interests, the legislature made no efforts to rescue this race of men from a savage state. The depredations which the Maroons occasionally made upon the white inhabitants, were sufficient admonitions of the approaching danger; and their various insurrections were both the consequences and the punishment of that indiscretion which marked the conduct of the legislature from the capture of Jamaica in 1655, to the period of their exile in 1796. The great misfortune was, that these people were suffered to wander through the forests, and to traverse the mountains of Jamaica, without instructions and without a guide. They were found in a savage state, and in a savage state they were suffered to remain. The principal objects that the legislature had in view were, to keep them at a distance by coercive measures, and to awe them by the sword, Succeeding gene

rations trod in the same paths which their predecessors had cho sen, and the Maroons were always neglected, till their crimes awakened resentment, and led to punishments that prudence might have prevented.

By those wise measures which Mr. Long so judiciously recommended, the victorious but expensive and disgraceful war which we have been contemplating would, in all probability, have been avoided, and the Maroons would have been happy and free on their native spot. Five hundred thousand pounds, which had been expended long before the insurgents were transported from the island, would have been completely saved; and those depredations which were made on private property would have been prevented by measures that would have softened the ferocity of those savages by imperceptible degrees. The inculcation of virtue and religion would, under the blessing and grace of God, have introduced among them the domestic virtues, which the calamities incident to life would not have been able to demolish. The treaties into which they entered would have been adhered to from the noblest of motives; and they would have been the friends of our country from principle instead of fear. The bickerings of war, which from time to time disturbed the internal tranquillity of the island, would have been unknown; and our settlers would not have had to learn this lesson from them-that "who overcomes by force, conquers but half his foe."

But the truth is, that the advantages of commerce and worldly interests engrossed the attention of the settlers and planters; and as the means of acquiring opulence by the cultivation of the lands increased, an indifference toward the Maroons hardened into an habitual neglect. The clergy of the established church, however well disposed they might have been, had no encouragement held forth to them, by the magistrates and other principal inhabitants, to undertake the painful and perilous task of itinerant preachers, and instructors of a savage race, scattered here and there in woods almost impenetrable, and on mountains, and in the caverns of rocks, inaccessible to persons not accustomed to their mode of life, or not determined to sacrifice all for Jesus Christ.

How far a stationary ministry might have been available in the accomplishment of the important work, is certainly a point that will admit of much dispute. The habits of life which these people had acquired were of a peculiar nature, and therefore demanded the adoption of extraordinary methods to render instructions beneficial, and to crown exertions with success. In situations so eccentric, no stated rules can be given. In a thousand cases in life we are obliged to be governed by circumstances

as they rise and pass before us, to which no regular methods can apply, and which no established rules can reach. Just such must have been the mode of preaching the gospel among the Maroons, if an amelioration of their condition, and, infinitely above all, the welfare of their souls, were the great objects which the missionary had in view.

For though in some places it might be said that they associated together, and lived in a state of society, in towns which they had erected, yet multitudes were scattered upon the mountains, and lived in a manner as solitary as the wild boars which they pursued. These must have been sought out in their lonely habitations, or the instructions which were intended for them could not be conveyed. No other method could therefore have been adopted than that of an established itinerancy, which might have given the missionaries a discretionary power to travel among them, and seize those favourable moments of which none but themselves could judge.

It was by the adoption of similar methods that the Jesuits acquired such an amazing influence over the Indians of South America, and bound them to their interests by almost indissoluble ties. But how politic soever these Jesuits were in the adoption of the means, their views were sordid, and terminated in that worldly interest with which the gospel disowns all connexion. Hence no beneficial consequences resulted from their labours, at least none that could lead the savage nations to happiness and to God. God has declared that his ministers must be crucified to the world and every sordid interest, and his blessing has invariably accompanied the exertions of those who have answered this glorious character. His promise is still the same; and he has assured us, that our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord.

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CHAP. VIII.

HISTORY OF JAMAICA.

County of Middlesex-description of St. Jago de la Vega, or Spanish Town, both ancient and modern-public bath-magistracy -police-number of inhabitants-mode of living-Passage Fort Port Henderson-Sixteen Mile Walk-Seville Nueva-its ruins visited by Sir Hans Sloane.

THE COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX.

Description of St. Jago de la Vega, or Spanish Town, and the other Towns and Parishes, &c.

HAVING taken a general survey of Jamaica, and considered it in a collective point of view, we now proceed to a nearer inspection, in which we must dissect and analyze its parts. Enjoying the same common government with ourselves, and being peopled with inhabitants from various parts of the British dominions, a likeness to our native land is preserved, not only in constitution and laws, but also in those subordinate departments which appear in topographical descriptions.

The island is divided into counties, and these counties again into parishes; all which divisions bear a near resemblance to those of the mother country. The names of the counties are Middlesex, Surry, and Cornwall: to each of these we shall direct the attention of the reader as they pass in succession before us, noting at the same time those peculiarities in them which may be deemed worthy of regard. We shall begin with Middlesex, and the town of St. Jago de la Vega, or Spanish Town.

This capital of the county of Middlesex, now most commonly called Spanish Town, may be considered as the metropolis of the island. As it is the residence of the governor, and both the legislative assembly and the supreme courts of judicature hold their sessions in it, the principal inhabitants of the two other counties frequently resort to it on business. It is situated in a pleasant valley on the banks of the river called Rio Cobre, and in the time of the Spaniards was very populous. At that period it contained upwards of 2000 private houses, besides several superb public edifices, particularly an abbey and

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