The Caymanas Church up to 1839(Part V)
"After I had taken a little refreshment[evidently at the Parsonage] I went out to visit Mr. Drayton theCustos and a few other influential persons in the neighbourhoodof George Town to whom I had letters of introduction. They receivedme with the greatest kindness and afforded me every facility intheir power for the prosecution of my mission.
The largest and most convenient place intown was offered me to preach in, which of course, I gladly accepted,and agreed in accordance with their requests to hold divine serviceon the sabbath morning about half past ten o'clock, of which duenotice was given by the Magistrates."
"I was received with the greatest possiblekindness and not a little amused with a notion which prevailedgenerally among the black population, and which I heard of inevery place. On my arrival on the island I found they had beeneleven months without rain, in consequence of which their plantationshad failed, and their grass pieces had accidentally ignited, itwas supposed from the scorching heat of the sun, and these continuingto burn for the space of many days had levelled trees with theground and spread blackness over a piece of land, perhaps thebest cultivated on the island, not less than twelve or fourteenmiles in circumference.
These and other circumstances which I havenot now time to mention had occasioned a partial dearth in theisland. Acquainted with these things I made mention of them toGod in my prayers both before and after the sermon. Providentiallyabout one o'clock on the Monday morning a heavy storm set in whichcontinued untill near midday with such violence that the mainroad was buried above a foot under water. All this they attributedto my prayer without book as they were pleased to term it. Prayingand preaching without book was to all a matter of very great astonishmentas they had never seen any thing of the kind before. Even thewhite people regarded this, and spoke to me about it as somethingquite supernatural."
"Tuesday, May 22nd was a high day inBodden Town. On account of my arrival and intention to preach,every body left their work put on their best clothes and keptit as a sabbath day. A large building in the centre of the town48 ft by 30 was the place where I was requested to preach by theMagistrates as no other place could be found large enough. ...Assisted by Mr. Glover, their Chief Magistrate, I gave out a numberof Testaments &c to the black and coloured people, who engagedto make good use of them. On retiring from the place many questionswere proposed to me by different members of the congregation whoappeared anxious to understand the scriptures."
"Again on Thursday evening I met thepeople at George Town and after a short address delivered theremainder of the Testaments &c. Many persons who happenedto have been at sea during my visit to Bodden Town had walkedacross the island, for the purpose of seeing me and obtainingif possible a book, which I gave them with great pleasure, especiallyas I found them in every place destitute of the scriptures, ofother books, and of every means of instruction, so that they maywell say No man cares for our souls."
"There are upwards of two thousandsouls, scattered over an island above thirty miles in length andabsolutely perishing for lack of knowledge, for although theyare favoured in George Town with a small church and the residenceof a catechist or curate for a few months in the year, yet theycannot be said to have any regular means of instruction. The peoplegenerally are living without God or hope in the world, and thisis especially the case with the negroes who amount in number totwo thirds of the population."
"I visited no place but the peoplestrongly entreated me to use my best influence with the Committeeto send a Missionary among them. What they especially need isa Missionary who understands and is willing to undertake the dutiesof a school master, for they have no school on the island, andthe children are growing up without a knowledge of letters orof God. To this evil the Parents are now broad awake and wouldmake any sacrifice to get a school amongst them." 5.48 [COMMENT45]
Five and a half years of oversight of theCaymanas Church by the Church of England in Jamaica had unhappilyleft such serious deficiencies that the Wesleyan had no difficultywhatever in spreading the conviction from the highest to the lowestthat there
was the paramount need for an alternative ministry, one that would,indeed, be supplied by Wesleyans if their Missionary Committeecould be persuaded to sponsor the commencement of the work.
From the Wesleyan perspective the deficiencieswere the lack of instruction in the scriptures, the lack of educationof the most basic sort, and the lack of continuity or regularityin the current form of Christian ministry as well as a lack ofdepth or fervour. Particularly noticeable was the enthusiasm ofthe Bodden Towners for this new ministry, which unlike that ofthe Church of England seems to have been presented to them onthe wings of gifts rather than as a burden of obligation.
Perhaps the Rev'd David Wilson himself hadmuch to tell the Bishop on some of these subjects when he returnedto Jamaica for ordination to the Priesthood. If the period ofthis part of his ministry in Grand Caymanas is correctly shownin his report as continuing until the 9th June 1837 he would havehad time to assess the effect of the Wesleyan's visit. As we haveseen the Bishop had already taken a leaf out of Atkins' book byappealing to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG),one of the main Missionary Societies of the Established Churchof England, and the Stipendiary Curate of the Caymanas himselfwas at the time an SPG missionary.
COMMENT 45 Extractsfrom James Atkins' letter to Rev. John Buckam dated August 24th1837 entitled in the Archive Pack "A Wesleyan Missionaryin Grand Cayman, 1837" Atkins does not seem to be quite accurateeither in his description of the residence locally of the curatefor "a few months in the year" or that there was "noschool", even if we accept his general picture of great need.