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time he thought, that, without proceeding to the length of emancipation, much might be done towards ameliorating the condition of the Slaves, by improving them in civilization; by habituating them gradually to milder treatment; and above all, by impressing deeply upon their minds the precepts and the doctrines of the Gospel. In the attainment of these objects, he had long been actively and anxiously engaged; as the ecclesiastical superintendent of the Colonies, he had at various times and in the most earnest manner pressed the religious instruction of the Negroes on the Governors and Proprietors of the different Islands; and one of the last acts of his life was to address to them a public Letter, written, considering his advanced age, with uncommon spirit and energy, in which he urged the expediency of establishing

parochial

parochial schools on the admirable system of Dr. Bell, for the education particularly of the Children of the Slaves in the principles of Christian knowledge. How far they may be induced to follow up this suggestion, experience will decide. Duty and policy unite in recommending it to their observance; and I am induced at least to hope, that, in conjunction with other powerful motives, the respect, which they cannot but feel for the advice and opinion of the late Bishop of London, on a subject to which he had devoted so much consideration, will finally have its due weight upon their minds.

On the 12th of June 1807, the Bishop had the satisfaction of being present at the consecration of a new Chapel, erected at his own expense, in the parish of Sundridge.

Q

Sundridge. During his residence there

in the autumn months, he had been often struck with the situation and circumstances of a small hamlet, called IdeHill, about two miles from that village. It stands on the summit of the hilly tract, which rises gradually from the church, and commands one of the finest prospects that can be imagined. The whole vale of Tunbridge lies beneath; and on each side the eye ranges over å most luxuriant landscape, exhibiting the wild profusion of nature heightened by all the charms of a rich and varied cultivation. To this scene, the hamlet itself, consisting of a few cottages erected without order on a little green, forms a highly picturesque and interesting foreground; and it seemed to the Bishop, when he saw it first, completely to realize the idea of rural happiness, innocence, and

peace.

peace. But upon inquiry he soon found, that, even in this sequestered place, amidst so much natural beauty, there was a more than common share of moral deformity; that the poor inhabitants were in a state of the most deplorable ignorance of the great truths of Revelation; and that with habits of sordid and disgusting beggary they were actually "living without God in the world." A combination of circumstances so peculiar dwelt strongly upon his mind; and as much of the evil seemed to originate in the distance of the hamlet from the parish church, and the difficulty of attending divine worship, especially during the winter, he undertook at his own sole cost to erect and to endow a Chapel of Ease, where the duties of religion might be regularly performed, and at the same time to build a house

for

for a resident minister. All this, at

a very large expense, he lived to accomplish; and thus, by an act of benevolence, of which there are few examples, conferred the greatest of all human benefits. What his own feelings must have been on the day of the consecration, the following extract will best describe.

says,

"On the morning of the 12th," he "the principal Gentry of the neighbourhood assembled at my house, to attend the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Chapel. The day was fine. The sun shone gloriously on the extensive vale below, and brought out all the beauties of that enchanting prospect. Great crowds were assembled on the hill, and presented a most cheerful and animated scene. It was, I confess, a most joyful and gratifying day to me; and I thank

God

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