St. Philip’s, the parish church, is situated upon an ascent, at some distance from Bridgetown, and commands one of the finest views to be met with in any part of the country. The eye ranges with delight over sloping hills and open glades; wood-crowned mountains, and silent valleys. Sugar plantations, in all the beauty of high cultivation, spread out their fields of rich and wavy green beneath our feet, interspersed with groups of simple negro huts, almost hid in their leafy enclosures; while on all sides, the ocean stretched out its interminable blue waters. It was a lovely day when we visited the spot,— “The whispering winds were half asleep, The clouds were gone to play, And on the woods, and on the deep, The smiles of heaven lay. It seem’d as if the day was one Sent from beyond the skies, Which shed to earth above the sun, A light of paradise.” Of the first church dedicated to St. Philip no account can be given; but most probably it was built about the year 1690. The second church to that saint was erected about 1717. It was a wooden building, and no doubt possessed but little claim to architectural beauty. The present church is one of the prettiest I have seen in the West Indies. It is built of the smooth freestone, so generally found in Antiguan quarries; the only fault is, that they are cut too small, which, at a distance, gives them more the appearance of white bricks. The plan, like many of the other Antiguan churches, is cruciform; but there is so much chasteness displayed in the simple arrangement of the interior, that it must please every eye. The large oriel window is furnished with ground-glass, of the most elegant, yet simple devices; and the neat pulpit and desk,—the altar, gallery, and pulpit rails,—the wooden columns which support the roof,—the pews and doors, painted in excellent representation of rich-grained oak, please by their uniformity. They are in the gothic style. The decorations of the altar are very plain, merely consisting of the tables of the Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Creed.