and in those liberal arts which, according to the old classical motto, soften and humanize the character and manners.

"The central school is a large and convenient building nearly opposite the king's house, and within two minutes' walk of the cathedral. It is impossible to speak in too high terms of this excellent institution, which reflects upon Lord Combermere, who promoted, and the legislature which liberally seconded the undertaking, the utmost credit. At present, about 160 white children are educated here, precisely upon the plan of the National Schools in England; all of them are fed during the day, and the major part are well lodged. The beneficial effects of this charity are already felt on all hands; principles of sobriety and devotion are instilled into their minds, and habits of regularity and peaceful subordination are enforced. From this class of boys, the master tradesmen, mechanics, overseers, and even managers, will hereafter be supplied: and when it is considered how much the comforts and improvement of the slaves must depend upon the character of these persons, their education will be found to be, as it really is, a direct measure of general amelioration. The foundation of another school in the neighbourhood has also been laid by the Bishop, which is to be devoted entirely to girls, who are to be thus separated from the boys, and boarded and lodged by themselves. It is but common justice to say that these are favourite institutions, and that the chief people in the colony, male and female, spare neither pains nor expense in maintaining and strengthening them.

"There is a large school of colored children, chiefly free, in the town, which was formerly supported by the Church Missionary Society, but has since been put by the colored managers of it entirely under the Bishop's superintendance. The children are very well behaved, very docile, very sensible of the advantages which they acquire by a system of methodical instruction; and the actual difference between them and their untaught brethren of the same color, and sometimes same condition, would convince any unprejudiced witness, that it is not to emancipation but to education that the sincere philanthropist ought to direct his present labours. Four more schools have been opened by the indefatigable Bishop, for boys and girls respectively; they are maintained at the expense of government; any color is admitted upon the simple conditions of cleanliness and constant attendance, and the instruction is gratuitous. These schools are scattered about in the parts of the town principally inhabited by the colored people, who are by these means more readily induced to send their children. These children are chiefly of the lowest order of the free-colored and of the domestic and mechanic slaves in Bridge Town and the immediate vicinity. They are not at present taught to write, a point certainly not of any vital importance, and wisely conceded to prejudices which will in due time melt away under a conviction of the propriety of the knowledge and the futility of the prohibition.

"Codrington College is romantically situated on the borders of the Barbadian Scotland; a steep cliff rises on one side of it, from the foot of which an avenue of magnificent cabbage trees leads up to the lawn in front of the building, and on the other side the ground gradually slopes away to some small rocks over the sea. No position could have

been more convenient in every respect; it is retired, possesses a running stream of water, and is ever refreshed by the virgin breezes of the Atlantic. The original plan of the edifice was quadrangular, or perhaps oblong; it actually consists of nothing but one of the long sides and slight projections of two others. It is an exceedingly massive affair, and seems hurricane and earthquake proof. An open archway, as at King's College, Cambridge, corresponds, in the centre of the building, with the head of the avenue. It contains a large schoolroom with a niche, where the statue of Codrington ought certainly to be placed;-a chapel very much out of order; a library, with a few good books and plenty of rubbish; and spacious accommodations for sleeping up stairs. The Principal's lodge is on the same line, but detached from the college, and is, without doubt, one of the most delectable houses in the Antilles.

"This institution, though at present all but useless, may be made the foundation and instrument of a great and lasting change in the entire West Indies. That it was originally intended as an university for youth, and not a mere school for boys, is evident from the terms of the founder's will; and it is in this light alone, and with a view of commencing and ultimately perfecting this character of it, that it deserves the most serious attention of the trustees, the insular legislatures, and even the government at home. It is quite monstrous that the object of so magnificent a charity, and such large actual funds, should be the support and instruction of fourteen or fifteen boys, who might be educated much better elsewhere in the island. If the colony were wanting in schools, which it is not, still the college would be a very objectionable school from various causes connected with the mode of maintenance, and the contact with slaves, which it is not necessary to specify here; but in reality, as a school, the college is lost for all great purposes of improvement; it may or may not exist without affecting the state of society in the smallest degree; what is done there, is not done well, and yet done at an enormous expense. As good colonial Latin and Greek, as far as Virgil and the Analecta Minora, and much better manners, may be more cheaply taught in other parts of the island; and the support of the boys, from the funds of the foundation, is an unnecessary, and, therefore, improper act of charity.

"A great desideratum in the West Indies is a place of study and retirement for young men. As it is, those who cannot afford the heavy expense of going to Oxford or Cambridge, are obliged to break off the yet unfinished work of instruction, to set up at seventeen or eighteen for men, and undertake the charge of duties for which they are utterly unqualified. They come away from school half educated in heart and intellect, and are then, for the most part, placed in situations where every temptation to licentiousness besets their path, and many dangerous privileges are, of necessity, committed to their discretionary exercise.

"With regard to the wants of the Church, the deficiency is still more severely felt; the present plan of general improvement demands such a number of well-informed youths for catechists or clergymen, as the islands under the actual system cannot supply; hence the necessity of bringing men from England, who are, of course, wholly unacquainted

with the peculiar condition of the society in the midst of which they are to labour, or of employing in very difficult enterprizes persons, who, at the best, perhaps, have nothing but their good intentions to recommend them. If the interval between seventeen and twentythree is hazardous in this country, what must it be in the West Indies, where there exists no retreat from the seductions of awakening passion, no scope or aid for the developement of the higher and more latent powers of the human mind!

"A college upon the plan of a university, that is to say, where a reasonable approach to universality of instruction is proposed, would supply this deficiency, remedy the consequent evils, and be a blessing and a source of blessing to the colonies. Its hall and lectures should be thrown open to every white resident in the British West Indies; for their rooms and commons the students should of course pay, and the surplus funds of the charity should be laid out in the erection of fellowships, in salaries to professors, and prizes for youthful talent. Tutors of real zeal and undoubted ability should be provided at all events, and the Principal should be a man of that nerve and judgment, which will be requisite in governing and defending a great and novel institution. The domestic economy of the college would be on a much simpler and less expensive plan than in our universities; less than half of what is now spent by the Creoles in travelling or idleness would decently maintain them, and I am convinced that want of money would never be any impediment to the full consummation of the project. The Bishop, as visitor, should be made available in the way of superintendance, and perhaps order be taken in the proper quarters, for licence and authority to confer the usual academical degrees.

"The trustees of Codrington College comprise a large portion of the learning and virtue of England; their disinterestedness is perfect, their intentions excellent, their care commendable. Their disposable funds are ample, and the trust estates remarkably flourishing. They deserve this prosperity; their zeal for the welfare of their slaves is most exemplary, and they have gone to the utmost bounds of prudence in advancing the condition of those negroes whose happiness and salvation have been committed to them. A chapel and a school have been erected almost exclusively for their use, and a clergyman (the Rev. H. Pinder) fixed amongst them, whose talents, kindness, and simplicity of manners, are not more remarkable than his judgment and piety. The attorney and manager are both of established character; the buildings, especially the hospital, in good order; and the negro huts comfortable. Under these circumstances, and with these means in their possession, the trustees incur a heavy responsibility: they have, indeed, a perfect right to assume the power of providing in a Christian manner for slaves in a Christian land, and they should treat all malignant insinuations of breach of trust with a righteous scorn; but they must at the same time remember that the object of the charity is to educate the whites; and let not them or the public think this object exclusive of the other; so far from it, I am convinced that one of the most effectual measures for bettering the slave would be a thorough and humanizing education of the masters themselves. Towards the attainment of this desirable end, not only in Barbadoes, but

ultimately throughout the whole British West Indies, no man, or society of men, possesses so great means as the trustees of this institution, not merely from large and unfettered funds, but also from superior knowledge and freedom from prejudice. In all the widely extended operations of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, there is no instrument so ready, so safe, so prolific of future good, as this College is, or may be made to be; and without pretending to dictate to, or even admonish, the members of that venerable body, I cannot refrain from exhorting them most earnestly to draw this object closer to them than heretofore, and examine with hope and faith into its capabilities of perfection." Pp. 50-58.

In Trinidad there is a settlement of free negroes, (about 300 in number), "a part of that body of slaves who were excited to insurrection in some of the Southern States of the North American Union by a British proclamation during the last war, and upon the ill success of the expedition against New Orleans, were received on board the squadron commanded by Sir Alexander Cochrane, and finally dispersed about the West Indies, but chiefly established in Trinidad."

The speech in which Sir Ralph Woodford, the governor, introduced the Bishop to this merry and riotous company, contains such good doctrine and advice, that we cannot refrain from extracting it-though possibly in style something more allied to comedy than the gravity of the Christian Remembrancer is wont to indulge in.

"Silence there! . . . What for you make all dat dere noise? Me no tand dat, me can tell you. I hear that there have been great disturbances amongst you; that you have been quarrelling and fighting, and that in one case there has been a loss of life. Now, me tell you all flat... me no allow dat sort of ting. . . me take away your cutlashes, you savey dat? What for you fight? Because you nasty drunk with rum. You ought to be ashamed; you no longer now slave... King George have tak you from America, (you know dis much better place dan America), he make you free... What den? Me tell you all dis... (What for you no make quiet your piccaninny, you great tall ting dere?...) me tell dis... if you free, you no idle; you savey dat? You worky, but you worky for yourselve, and make grow noice yams and plantains... den your wives all fat, and your piccaninny tall and smooth. You try to make your picnies better and more savey dan yourselves. You all stupid... What den! no your fault dat. you no help it. Now but you free, act for yourselve like buckra, and you love your picnies? yes... well den, you be glad to send dem to school, make dem read, write, savey counting, and able pray God Almighty in good words, when you no savey do so yourselve.

"Now de Bishop is come to do all dis; his Majesty King George have sent him from England to take care of you and all of us; he is very much gentleman and he King, you savey, of all de parson. He savey every ting about you, he love you dearly, he come from England across the sea to see your face... no you den very bad people, if you no obey him? Yes, you very bad, much wicked people if you dont." Pp. 84, 85.

This harangue, when followed up by the Bishop's more serious ex

hortation and blessing, produced a great effect.-We hope the like doctrine will be inculcated upon the whole subjugated population of the colonies, and that it may conduce to their lasting benefit.

There seems to be a fair number of Churches in the Islands, though more are yet wanted-and much reparation of the old in many instances. How they have been used to be attended is a different thing. Mr. Coleridge complains a good deal of the activity and influence of the Methodists. We must say he is not remarkable for gentleness or moderation in his language when speaking of those who differ from him in their creed or opinions. We particularly regret one passage about the Abbé O'Hannam, not only as unbecoming, but as really calculated to produce irritation and mischief, where concord is of all things to be wished for. At a public dinner, which was given to the Bishop and his suite at Montserrat, the Abbé O'Hannam, a Roman Catholic clergyman, courteously proposed the health of the Bishop of Jamaica, upon which Mr. Coleridge thus observes, "It was bad taste in Abbé O'Hannam to dine with us at all, but it was gross in the Abbé to give such a toast. The compliment was uncalled for from him, and nobody could think the Abbé sincere in what he said."

Now really we must take leave to say that, at the least, it was bad taste in Mr. Coleridge to indulge in this little ebullition of the "Odium Theologicum." He ought to have abstained, if not out of Christian charity, at least out of gentlemanly feeling. It is painful to reflect how often permanent animosities are excited by a few such wanton words as these.

As is the state of religion, such in general will be the state of morals in the mass of every community. Mr. Coleridge has given a sketch of the life and adventures of a clergyman of Dominica, Mr. Audain by name, which, though not grave and decorous enough for our pages, we regard as an important illustration of the state of public opinion upon serious matters in a society where such a clergyman could continue a clergyman. It cannot be matter of wonder that the flock of Mr. Audain should throw themselves into the arms of the Methodists, or into any arms that were open to receive them. But an effective cohort of real Christian divines, under the superintendance of a wise diocesan, will speedily reform all these things. Where Christian zeal prevails, sectarianism will be found to give way without reluctance in communities too small to afford space for the evolutions of contending factions, and where in point of dignity and due qualifications there can be no comparison between the Episcopal pastors, and the illiterate enthusiasts of the Meeting-houses.

If, therefore, the olive-branch is always held out both to rivals and to strangers, we doubt not but that Christian peace will be the sure foundation of Christian faith and practice; and we think that the new