CHAPTER XV.

ST. GEORGE'S CHURCH

THE want of a house for the residence of the Governor had long been felt by Governor Macarthy's predecessor, Colonel Maxwell, who had made it a subject of frequent complaint to the Home Government. Governor Macarthy also, during the earlier part of his administration, made similar complaints regarding the necessity for the erection of a Government House and a public place of worship. In 1816 he had represented to Earl Bathurst that the need of a church for the amelioration of the condition of the captured slaves was more urgent. The Governor was thereupon advised to rent a house as his predecessor had done, with hopes that, if the amount already voted in Parliament for public works—a part of which had been reserved for the erection of a church-was still unappropriated, it might conveniently be applied to the erection of a residence for the Governor, pending the transmission of an estimate for the erection of the building.

But it was not so much the want of a church as a plan for the amelioration of the Captured Negroes that urged on the necessity for the erection of St. George's Church. It was conceived by Earl

Bathurst, and was so expressed in a despatch to Lieutenant-Colonel Macarthy, dated the 24th of September, 1816, that such a plan was highly essential to the religious and moral inprovement of the Captured Negroes in the Colony. Governor Macarthy was thereupon authorised to undertake the work without any further reference to England, as the matter had received the previous sanction of His Majesty's Government during the administration of Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell. To this service was to be applied any unappropriated part of the sums voted in the estimate for defraying the expense of buildings, etc., which had been incurred during the years 1814 and 1815.

The probable cost of these buildings, St. George's and St. Patrick's Church, was estimated so as not to exceed £1,000 each; but it was not found very easy to keep within this limit, and in December material amounting to £1,072 os. 11d. was forwarded, accompanied with a more liberal provision, extending the limit to £3,927 19s. Id.

In May, 1818, an order amounting to £140 was given to Messrs. Chisholm, the Colonial Agents in London, for procuring communion plate, the foundation-stones of the two churches having been laid on the 9th and 10th of January respectively.

The building was set on foot and carried on very rapidly during Sir Charles Macarthy's administration.

The next intimation we have of St. George's Church was in 1825, upon the assumption of Major-General Sir Charles Turner. In the report of the Major-General on the state of "Public Buildings," he remarked that

"There was not one house belonging to the Government; and the church, which had cost so much, was built of material totally unfit for the purpose. The amount of £10,000, voted annually from the year 1820 in aid of public buildings, appeared to have been laid out chiefly upon an attempt to build a large church and a large market-house; these are the only buildings which I see in the Colony, and they are built of a material-a kind of industrial clay-totally unfit for such buildings; the latter has already fallen down once, and is now unfinished and without roof. The church is roofed, but no more, and the material of which it is built is giving way already in various places."

"With the exception of the time Mr. Hamilton acted as Governor," the Major-General continued, "there is no document to show how this £10,000 a year was appropriated, nor any vouchers for the payment. Lieutenant-Colonel Grant is stated to have carried away with him all documents relating to the expenditure during the time he acted as Governor, and Mr. Haffner has rendered no accounts made by him.* A very ornamental and suitable church might have been built, by contract from

* There is an unintentional error here arising from misinformation. In consequence of the foregoing remarks, the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury called upon the Commissioners of Audit, in 1826, for a report upon Governor Turner's statement, and it was reported that Mr. Haffner, the Colonial Engineer, had not been charged in their books with any amount of public money, nor had he been known to them as a public accountant.

It appeared upon reference to the accounts of the Governors of Sierra Leone for July, 1824, that the expenditure in respect of public works carried on, under the superintendence of Mr. Haffner, had been incorporated in those accounts, and that regular vouchers had been produced in support of the annual vote of £10,000 drawn by the Governor under that head of service, and of which they had rendered distinct accounts supported by vouchers of the Civil Engineer.

England, for about £8,000, and a council-room or town hall for £3,000."

In the year 1826, during the administration of Sir Charles Turner, an estimate was prepared by Mr. Haffner, the Colonial Engineer, by order of the Governor, from which it would seem that the amount of money required for the completion of three buildings -the St. George's Church, St. Patrick's, and the Vegetable Market-was estimated at about £18,000; and as the sum available for this purpose, after deducting unavoidable and permanent outlays, could not be safely estimated, including the parliamentary grants, at a higher rate than £6,0 per annum, it became evident that the whole of the unavoidable means at the disposal of the Colony, applied exclusively to these buildings, would require full three years; and if limited to the available part of the parliamentary grants of £5,000, it would require seven years to complete them.

This time seemed too long for the pressing necessities of the Colony, and so the former alternative was adopted, and the St. George's Church was especially undertaken and completed in the year 1828, after having been left untouched since the assumption of the government by Sir Charles up to 1826.

During this interval the unfinished building of St. George's was used for purposes which we, in these days of enlightenment, might be disposed to call "profane." I know not what our forefathers called it; but it is evident from history

that it was diverted to other use than what it was intended for. It was made use of by the people as a market for the sale of agricultural produce. Sir Neil Campbell once recommended that it should be converted into an office or the archives of the Colony. But that did not take, and it was undertaken and completed in 1827.

"The interesting ceremony of opening St. George's Church," says a writer, "took place on the 13th of January in this year (1828). The Rev. Thomas Davey read the prayers, and the Rev. C. L. F. Haensel preached on the occasion__ from Ezra vi. 16. The following Sunday Mr. Davey preached from Isaiah lv., verses 10 and 11. These clergymen undertook to preach on alternate Sundays until a chaplain was appointed. At first the congregation consisted of the military and school children, and amounted to 600.

"Soon after, however, this number was considerably diminished. When the rains commenced, the military were withdrawn, and some of the young Natives ceased to attend. At the setting in of the dry weather the attendance amounted to about 300. Mr. Haensel writes thus on the subject: 'Free Town has received an immense benefit by the Church being opened. We hear the church bell now every Sabbath, and have, if not a complete nor showy, yet a decent place of worship. I am delighted to see every Sunday a good many benches filled with well-dressed and seemingly attentive young Natives, probably of the better class of mechanics or a step higher.'

"On the 11th June Divine Service was held in the church at the request of the Chief Justice and the other Commissioners. Previous to the opening of the Quarter Sessions a great many coloured people besides a considerable number of Europeans