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Show 98 JAMAICA. ary appeared to us to have a fm· more extensive influence over the laboring population, than ru1y other individual in SpanishLawn; and we can, from our own observation, venture to assert, that he exerts it in a beneficial mmmer-grcatly to the advantage of the planter, as well as the laborer. 'l'hrough many ditficnlties, he has worked his way to tt condition of comparative ease, and of g1·eat usefulness. He has eight missionary stations nnd eight schools, tmder his care, and like his brethren in other parts of the island, is greatly beloved and respected by the people. By the last accounts, the Baptists of Jamaica have twenty- six thousand members in church communion, and the Methodists, twenty-two thousand ; besides the multitude, not in membership, who attend their respective places of worshipSchools are connected, as a matter of course, with most of their numerous congregations. We saw five hundred black children, at once, assembled in J. M. Phillippo's chapel. 'Who can calculate the moral advantages derived to the negro population from these extensive efforts in the cause of religion- efforts which have been almost doubled, in efficacy, since the abolition of slavery? That these advantages are at once great and solid, and appeared to us to be counteracted by no w1fair bins, we are bound to bear our unequivocal testimony. We can easily suppose that individual missionmies, during that long continuance of conflict and difficulty to which they have been exposed, have not always confined themselves within the bounds of prudence and moderation. We are ourselves aware of some such instances. But ~hese circumstances are as nothing, when compared to the general influence of these pious men, in promoting both the temporal and spiritual welfare of all classes of the community. The Baptist missionaries in hmaica, for many years past, have been the unflinching, untiring, friends of the negro. No threats have daunted them, no insults or persecutions have driven them from the field. They are now reaping their reward, in the devoted attachment of the people, m1d the increasingly prevalent acknowledgement of their integrity and usefulness. JAMAICA, 99 "We left Spm1ishtown under a hot sun, the dust flying; and after travellmg c1ghtecn miles to the northward, we arrived at Jericho, a Baptist settlement, in the highlands, in the midst of clouds, mist, and violent min. This sort of weather is co~n1on t:mlong the mountains in Jmnaicu, while the JeveJ pla1ns on the coast arc almost burning" with heat. Our course lay through the fertile tmd well-wooded parish of St. Thomas in the Vale,. partly along the banks of the Bog river, which present a vm·1cty of p1cturesquc scenmy. The perpendicular rocks of white limestone, close beside the stream, arc, in one spot very lofty; and the trees of various kinds arc rendered singular by the immense creepers, which hu"' their trunks Some of these creepers bear a large white tr~1mpet blossom: and arc very hm1dsome. Near the road-side stands Rodney workhouse, a place of confinement and punishment, notorious m former days, as a scene of cruelty. Under freedom it has lost at once its inmates, and its tcmors. \Vc were 1kindl received by the missionary Merrick and his sister, •md accon;: modatcd free of all e,xpensc, with bed and board- a mountain kid was cooked for our dinner. A meeting for worship had been appomtcd for the evening, which, notwithstanding the stormy weather, was attended by many hundreds of the laboring people; and was an occasion · of much feeling and mtercst. Another meeting was appointed for the followin()' evening at St. Anne's Bay, on the northern coast, at a distance of thirty-five miles, and as our road lay over Mount Diavolo it was necessary to start very early in the morning. llut o'u r horses, WhiCh had been turned out to grass, wcro lost in the fog, and we were foiled in our attempt to commence our journey, before the usual breakfast hour. The ascent of Mount D1avo!o IS laborious, continuing for many miles ; and in order to rehcve our horses, it was necessary to walk, in the heat, most of the way. llut for. this exertion we were amply repaid. The scenery was dehghtful-thc hills are covered with forest and the distant plain s, be au tI' fu 11 y cu1 l i·v ated, were seen in a su'c ces- |