260 MEMO IB OF DR. HARVEY. 



drove out to see the Bishop of Colombo, to whom I had a letter 

 from Mr. Ward. He was very friendly, and asked me to join a 

 dinner party in the evening, which I did, and found a company 

 of seventeen, among whom was Sir Anthony Oliphant, Chief 

 Justice, an old acquaintance of mine at the Cape. After dinner 

 we had music, viz., anthems and hymns, the latter sung in 

 chorus. The night being dark, the avenue from the gate to 

 the house was lit up with cocoa-nuts fixed on sticks, filled with 

 their own fat, and furnished with stout wicks. They made capital 

 extempore flambeaux. The Bishop is a very agreeable man, but 

 very unpopular with the greater part of the persons I have 

 come across in the island : the fault they find with him is that he 

 is too high church. I suppose he tries to act consistently, and 

 they prefer a laxer rule than the church has ordained. I fancy 

 many of the parishioners are dissenters, who assent to a very 

 lax churchism, either for convenience or for fashion's sake, but 

 who know not what spirit they are of. These cry " Puseyism ! 

 Puseyism !" at what is really only sober Church of England 

 after all. He is building close by his house a very pretty little 

 church as his cathedral. It would be a modest parish church 

 in England, but here it shines forth as the only stone church in 

 the island, all the others being lath and plaster. He told me it 

 had all been built by native workmen, with the exception of 

 the carpentry work inside, which is all being done by a 

 handy soldier, whose heart is evidently in the work. The seats, 

 desk, &c, are of satin-wood, very handsome and durable, and 

 cheap here. They are very tastefully carved in ecclesiastical 

 fashion, and when finished will be beautiful. A handsome stone 

 font was sent from England, and bells and candlesticks are on 

 their way. All will be in keeping. A native choir are in 

 training, so anthems will not lack. I asked the bishop what 

 the building had cost. He could not exactly say, but that it was 

 paid for, from the commencement, every Saturday night, and 

 he hoped it would continue to be so ; it does not owe a penny. 

 The work is solid stone and wood, and the building so planned 

 that it can be enlarged to any required size without injuring its 

 beauty. It is now finished, except to put in the windows, which 

 are coming from England, and to pave the chancel with encaustic 

 tiles. The whole is very creditable to the designer and workers. 

 Attached to the cathedral church is a collegiate school under 



