Oldalképek
PDF
ePub

it would feed him on boiled rice, and furnish a piece of coarse cotton for a garment. The Children are perfectly satisfied with this mode of living; and experience has shewn, that, with the nicest economy, the estimate is sufficient for the purposes above specified. A considerable number of Children are now supported on this plan; having received English Names, at the instance of Benefactors in America, who provide for their support.

At the commencement of the plan, it was obvious to the Missionaries and the Committee, that the maintenance of Children would involve many contingent expenses, no part of which the small payment of Twelve Dollars annually would be sufficient to meet, as that payment would be entirely exhausted by the two articles of food and clothing. It was thought, however, that these contingent expenses might be defrayed out of the general funds of the Board. At that time, it was not foreseen to what an extent the domestic superintendence and education of Heathen Children in Mission Families, may probably be carried in the East; and, of course, it was not foreseen to what an extent the general funds of the Board might be involved by the contingent ex-penses here alluded to. Among these expenses, may be enumerated charges of remittance, loss by exchange, cost of school-rooms, books, stationery, services of catechists, &c.

This whole subject has recently been brought before the Committee by a Letter from the Secretary of

[ocr errors]

the Church Missionary Society in London, and has received very deliberate attention. The Committee of that Society, having it in contemplation to take Children in Ceylon to receive a domestic education, were desirous of fixing the annual payment at such a sum, as would include at least a part of the incidental and contingent expenses. It seemed important, also, that the different So. cieties, labouring in the same field, should adopt nearly the same rules, in reference to this subject.

The Committee of the Board, availing themselves of suggestions made by their highly-respected fellow-labourers, and consulting their own experience, have thought it would be equitable, that Benefactors, who may HEREAFTER provide for the domestic education of Heathen Children in Ceylon, should pay TWENTY DOLLARS a year for each Child. Those Children, who are already provided for, at the rate of Twelve Dollars annually, will be continued in the course of their education, on the terms heretofore proposed: but all, who are to be selected in future, must be considered as received upon the terms now published.

The time during which support is to be stipulated, for each Child hereafter taken into Mission Families, is fixed at SIX YEARS.

The Committee of the Church Missionary Society will probably issue proposals to their friends, to support Children in Ceylon, according to the principles here developed, at FIVE POUNDS STERLING a year.

APPENDIX V.
(See Page 67.)

SOME ACCOUNT OF FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE, RELATIVE TO THE PUBLIC OBSERVANCES OF RELIGION: COMMUNICATED BY THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE COLONY.

(Extracted from a Letter written in May 1821.)

THE population of Freetown and ing to the latest Returns, nearly 5000 of its suburbs, comprehends, accord

persons.

S

The Congregation which attends the CHURCH Consists of the greater portion of the resident Europeans and their Servants, of independent Coloured People, Soldiers of the Garrison, Liberated Africans apprenticed to the King's Works, those Boys and Girls of the Colonial Schools whose Parents attend the Church, and some other persons who do not belong to any of those classes. The Church is, in general, reasonably full; and, at times, as much so as is consistent with convenience. It may therefore be inferred, that a more numerous attendance would take place if the accommodation was more ample; and this inference is strengthened by what is occasionally seen in the instances of individuals, who, if they find a difficulty in obtaining a place on the benches usually frequented by persons of their class, will not immediately again present themselves. This modesty, however, is not frequently prevalent, neither is it necessary; for there is not any absolute appropriation of seats, and Coloured People, by no means of the first class, place themselves without ceremony on the same benches with the principal Europeans. There is a kind of anti-chamber to the Church, which is occupied by Liberated Africans; and a small apartment at the head of the staircase, with a door opening into the Church, admits the Prisoners of the Goal to an imperfect participation of the Service.

The Congregation is, throughout all its classes, orderly, attentive, and decorous in behaviour.

It may not be amiss to mention here a wish expressed by the late Rev. John Collier, when he was Second Colonial Chaplain, that the Town should be divided, so that each Chaplain should have a distinct charge. One great difficulty, however, stood in the way of the execution of this plan the want of a second building which could, with propriety, be employed as a Place of

Worship under the Ministry of one of the Colonial Chaplains. The Colonial School House is the only one sufficiently large; and this is so insecure, that fears are entertained lest it should fall down under the weight of the present occupants.

The propriety of a Parochial Di vision may, however, be made a subject of serious consideration, as soon as a second place suitable for the reception of a Congregation shall be erected. The place now used, besides its limited extent, has the disadvantage of being too remote from the eastern part of the Town, inasmuch as it is situated quite at the western extremity. A Church in the eastern division, or, as it is commonly called, Settler Town, would certainly bring about a great increase of worshippers.

[ocr errors]

Hitherto the Chaplains have endeavoured to counterbalance the defects of the inconvenient situation and limited accommodation of the Church, by carrying their labours collaterally into those places, where they seem most wanted and likely to do the greatest service. The Soldiers of the Garrison receive instruction in their Barracks, and the Discharged Soldiers of the late Fourth West-India Regiment are taught in the huts appropriated for their residence. No part of the population of the Colony stands more in need of improvement, than the Serving and Discharged Soldiers-none so frequently implicated in crimes of violence, or in those depredations upon property with which Freetown is so grievously infested.

The Congregation of the METRODIST CHAPEL consists of some Europeans--a very large majority of the independent and respectable Coloured Householders, and their families, including the greater number of the School Children-with some Liberated Africans placed in the families as apprentices or as domestic servants. Service is given at the Wesleyan Chapel twice every day throughout the

year.

There are, besides, select Prayer-Meetings, and a variety of devotional exercises in families: these lead the Members of the Society to a more intimate connection with one another and with their Ministers.

A good understanding ought, by all possible means, to be cultivated between your Missionaries and those of the Methodists. The Methodists are, more than any others, your natural and legitimate co-operators in the enterprize of converting Heathen Africa to Christianity.

The Wesleyan Chapel, hitherto used, is a wooden building. One of larger dimensions (60 feet by 40) is now in progress outside the old one; which will not be taken down, until the new one shall have been roofed in over it. This New Chapel is of Stone. A liberal subscription has been raised in the Colony in aid of it; but the greater part of the charge must, in all probability, be defrayed by the funds of the Society in England.

A New Chapel is also building at the west end of Freetown, for the use of Wesleyans of the Maroon Class, and principally by means of supplies furnished by them; al. though aided by a large general subscription among the Colonists, to which the principal Europeans liberally contributed. This Chapel is of stone-the extent 60 feet by 24: it is now ready to receive the roof, and will probably be opened for Service about January next.

In addition to the large Congregation at their principal Chapel, the Methodist Missionaries have formed two regular subordinate Meetings.

One of these is at Congo Town; a large Village established by the people of the Congo Nation, upon an inlet of the Bay of Sierra Leone, about a mile west from Freetown. At this place, a neat stone Chapel has been built. The inhabitants are in an advanced state of instruction; and the care bestowed, collaterally, upon the direction of their industry

and on their general improvement, has produced effects highly creditable to their Teachers.

At Portuguese Town, where the second subordinate Meeting is orga nized, the progress is not yet so striking; but it is sufficient to afford good promise; and to cherish exertion, as well by the appearance of present fruit, as by the prospect of A an ample approaching harvest. Sunday School was established at this place, in 1819: and the instruc

tion is now extended to some other

days. The Missionaries give service as often as their occupations will permit, in a Chapel which the Converts have contributed to erect. The other chief Members of the Society in Freetown take charge of the instructions, when the Missionaries are called in other directions. It is said that the people of this Village were of very bad character, some few years since; but now they are among the most orderly and industrious about Freetown. Complaints are, from time to time, made, of vexations sustained by them from the malignant bigotry of a few Mahomedans settled in the Village; who, not content with the perfect toleration of their own religious exercises, abuse the protection so liberally afforded to them, by disturbing the Christian Worship, more especially on the Lord's Day, when they studiously endeavour, by every noisy occupation, to interrupt the Service, and to shew their contempt of the institution of the Sabbath. Patience, forbearance, and temperate remonstrance have hitherto been the only means employed to counteract this offensive conduct. It is hoped that these exalted characteristics of Christianity will, in the end, have the effect of correcting the obduracy of these unfeeling followers of Mahomed; and of converting them to that True Faith, the divine spirit and authority of which they so forcibly prove and exemplify. Harsh mea sures, however provoked, and ey

[ocr errors]

the moderate legal correctives apparently required, as well as warranted, in circumstances such as those here described, ought as little as possible to be employed in the correction of the errors of Africans, in matters touching religion. The free operation of reason will, in the course of time, convince them of the superiority of the doctrine and of the example of the followers of Christ, to those of the False Prophet, as well as to the gross superstitions of Native Paganism.

Several independent Chapels are established in Freetown.

One of these is administered by a Coloured Man, named Domingo Jordon. This man is Parish Clerk of Freetown: he may, of course, be supposed to preach doctrine congenial to that of the Church. His Chapel is well attended. He is a man of integrity and industry in several occupations of ordinary business, one of which is that of a Shingle Manufacturer; and, although he may derive some emolument from his Chapel, it cannot be sufficient to warrant the slightest imputation of his zeal in the cause of religion to interested motives. Not a day passes, without his Morniug and Evening Service. He is much respected in his station; and a subscription, recently instituted for building a New Chapel for him on a larger scale, has received liberal contributions, under names 'which may be understood to convey the best testimonies to his character that the Colony can afford, The present Chapel is of wood, with a thatched roof. The new one is also to be of wood, placed on a foundation of stone, with a shingled roof; the size, 40 feet by 24. The frequenters of the Chapel are to contribute to the work in money, materials, and labour. It is already in progress.

There is also a numerous Baptist Congregation under the direction of a Coloured Man, named Hector Peters; an honest, laborious, and per

severing individual; whose fortune has not been much advanced, in any of the various pursuits, to which his industry has been devoted - burthened, moreover, with a family. His Chapel is not more productive of revenue than that of his co-opetor, Jordon; although, like him, he has Prayers every day, with unabated zeal, before sun-rise, and after the hours of labour in the evening.

Although these men cannot be supposed to be altogether qualified to expound the Sacred Writings, they are persons of superior intelligence in their class; and the rectitude of their general principles, as well as the example of their lives, coming in aid of their instructions, their labours have an evident beneficial influence. This humble cooperation cannot, therefore, be, with justice and propriety, overlooked or undervalued, in any notice, however summary, of what is done in this Colony for the cause of religion.

There are other Officiators, and other Chapels. These are, however, entitled to little consideration, having but few followers, and engaging but a small portion of the regard of the community.

Those who are acquainted with the history and composition of the people of the Colony, may not unnaturally look for some division in religious inclinations and pursuits, connected with the distinction into the two great classes of Maroons and Settlers; but it has been happily ordered by Providence, that this division has not passed into religious concerns. The principal part of both these Classes, in number and in importance, is with the Methodists: some of both have followed the Church: some are with Jordon ; but Peters, and the others of inferior note to him, have in their train all the lowest of the Nova Scotians; probably through a principle of attachment to kindred and to country, which the Maroons and other Classes

could not associate with their reli

gion, having, until very lately, no Teachers of their own community.

The observances which have been noticed will probably be thought sufficient to create a favourable impression of the state of religious feeling and demeanour in the Settlement of Freetown. The Lord's Day is more decorously kept than it is in most other places. The shops are all shut there is no such thing as buying and selling. The Christian part of the people attend worship at the places which they have respectively chosen; and all the congregations are alike remarkable for uniform and respectful attention. Throughout the streets corresponding propriety is noticed: intoxication, in the gross and disgusting form in which it is so commonly seen on the Lord's Day in England, is of very rare occurrence here; with the painful exception of European Seamen, whose conduct and language in their frequent inebriations, on that day especially, are of most depraving example. It is not to be understood that the day passes in PERFECT sobriety: among the inhabitants in general, it is the decency, and not the abstinence, that makes the distinction. Excesses are committed, and are generally brought

under the animadversion of the Magistrates on the Monday, in consequence of the quarrels occasioned by them; but these quarrels are almost universally of a trifling nature. There is not any thing in the circumstances, collectively, to detract from the credit that has been taken.

I have now nearly gone through the different degrees of the state and condition of Christian Worship and Instruction, in Freetown and the adjacent hamlets.

There is still one hamlet left, which requires particular notice. It is called Bambara Town, and is situated about half-a-mile to the Eastward of Freetown. The inhabitants of this place are a mixed collection of Liberated Africans,

chiefly of the Nations in the Interior, A few of them have received a small portion of Christian Instruction: a greater number are Mahomedans; but the majority of all are Pagans. They live by their own exertions, independent of any support from Government, and consequently independent of its controul. They are, in truth, under no superintend

ance whatsoever; and what has been already observed of the inhabitants of Soldier Town, may, in a stronger manner, be applied to them. Fugitives and occasional absentees from the Towns in the Interior of the Colony, occasional and permanent Settlers from the neighbouring nations, Native Artisans, Labourers, and Traders, or mere idle Visitors, swell the irregular population of Bambara Town; and render it, in truth, an African Hamlet in the centre of a British Colony. The associations of country-men and country-women, which have peculiar influence on the minds of Africans, are greatly instrumental to the accumulation of this multitude. The small portion, to which a little Christian Information has been communicated, stands indebted for that great benefit, originally to the labours of some Mea considerable thodist Teachers number of years since, and recently to the facility of access to the Chapel in which the Disbanded Soldiers of the Fourth West-India Regiment are instructed by the Rev. Samuel Flood. The huts, called "The Camp," of the Fourth West-India Regiment are close to Bambara Town; and, to the opportunity thus afforded to the people of Bambara Town, it is to be attributed, that the impressions originally made there long since, are not suffered to die away. But the general mass is infected with every vice. Gaming and licentiousness prevail without restraint; and the depredations so generally committed upon the property of merchants and principal householders in Freetown are found, when discovery supplies

« ElőzőTovább »