ST. HELENA 69 



of the churches to accommodate them. The following was 



a proclamation issued by the Governor and Council on 



August 20, 1823 : — 



None, it is presumed, \vill be disposed to question that regular 

 attendance at public worship will, in time at least, produce some 

 degree of respect for divine ordinances ; and whatever may be the 

 inattention of many, it can hardly be supposed that all will continue 

 insensible to impressions so liable to be excited by the habitual 

 hearing of the Word of God, and witnessing a congregation uniting 

 in prayer and adoration. It is by teaching a slave the duties of 

 religion that he will learn his duty towards his master, and acquire 

 a proper respect for his own character. It is only, in short, by oblig- 

 ing slaves to go to church, that Sabbath-breaking, and all the de- 

 moralizing vices that accompany idleness can be prevented. The 

 same proclamation in which these objects have been urged to the 

 attention of the inhabitants also states that "Although due regard 

 for religion and its institutions forms the chief ground-work of good 

 conduct, yet we are not to reject the aid of other means to promote 

 the advancement of morals, decency, and industry among the slave 

 population of this island." Slaves, we must remember, are men, 

 and are here to be governed, not less by rewards than by punish- 

 ments. With this view the Governor and Council propose to revive 

 the humane and judicious plan of Governor Patton, by allotting 

 premiums and rewards to meritorious slaves. The Benevolent 

 Society instituted by Governor Wilks did good work ; it was well 

 supported also by General Walker. One of the purposes of the 

 society is relief for pecuniary distress ; but the main object was to 

 rescue from ignorance and vice the children of slaves, free blacks, 

 and the poorer children of the community. 



At this time the island may be looked upon as at the 

 height of p^osperit3^ Still the prosperity was, as I heard 

 it called in a speech by Governor Grey Wilson some years 

 back, a " fictitious inflation " ; for the great increase in the 

 circulation of money caused by Napoleon's residence made 

 the islanders lavish and careless, and drew their attention 

 away from the cultivation of the soil to more easy, but less 

 certain, methods of earning a living. 



The same thing is again seen at the present time. The 

 soil is totally neglected owing to the high rate of wages paid 

 by military authorities for services required in connexion 

 with the prisoners of war from South Africa. This artificial 

 prosperity is always short-lived, and the present generation 

 seem to have lost the knowledge and value of the soil of 

 their beautiful and productive island. In September 1817 

 two successive and almost instantaneous shocks of earth- 



