Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume 1 (of 2): A full account of the colony and its inhabitants from the time of the Caribs to the present dayLanaghan, Mrs.
History
Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume 1 (of 2): A full account of the colony and its inhabitants from the time of the Caribs to the present day
Lanaghan, Mrs.
Antigua -- Description and travel; Antigua -- History
It may by some be thought folly thus to beautify the place of
death—to garnish that spot where the worm revels upon the once
animated clay!—to plant the gladsome, gaily-tinted flowers where
all is mouldering beneath! Be it so—yet would I see the flowers
blooming over the grave of those I have loved, and while seated
near, feel that the bitterness of death is past, and that their
happy disembodied spirits range, free from all sorrows, amid the
amaranthine bowers of heaven! Like the late talented and
oft-lamented “L. E. L.,” I love to frequent the scene of our last
resting-place—like her, to—
“Stand beneath the haunted yew,
And watch each quiet tomb;
And in the ancient churchyard feel
Solemnity, not gloom.
The place is purified with hope—
The hope that is of prayer;
And human love, and heavenward thought,
And pious faith are there.
The golden cord which binds us all
Is loosed, not rent in twain;
And love, and hope, and fear unite,
To bring the past again.”
The parochial school is held in a small house near the church. It
is conducted upon the same plan as the other schools of the kind
in Antigua; the instruction consisting of lessons in reading,
writing, arithmetic, repetition of catechism and hymns, and
plain-work for the girls.
St. Paul’s has a chapel-of-ease in English Harbour; which was, in
truth, a private dwelling-house, but now, disencumbered of its
partitions, serves as a chapel, and is capable, it is said, of
affording accommodation for 350 persons; during the week, it is
appropriated to the use of an infant school.
The whole of Falmouth is thickly studded with clumps of acacia,
privet, and prickly pear; all of which are of the _thorny
family_, and if report be true, serve the inhabitants instead of
pins. Between Falmouth and English Harbour lies a marshy thickly
covered with sand, and dotted about with groups of
mangrove-trees, in all their glittering, green foliage, forming
so many _oases_ in the midst of a burning desert. The sea
overflows this spot at times, and leaves its tribute in the shape
of small shells and bunches of sea-weed.
Opposite to Falmouth, looking across the waters of the harbour, a
bold promontory stretches out into the ocean, to which has been
given the name of “Black’s Point.” As it belongs to a gentleman
of that name, it is generally supposed in Antigua, to derive its
cognomen from that cause. Such supposition is, however,
incorrect, for it is laid down in an old chart of the island as
“Black’s Point” long before its present possessor came into
existence. The real origin of its bearing that appellation is
from the fact of its having been the place where it was customary
to land the cargoes of newly-imported negroes, prior to the
abolition of the slave trade; and from this circumstance the name
it now bears was given to it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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