The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-01-19 00:00:00

inaLEYAV MgSIOAARIES.

The following is an extract Men the Missionary notice), pub- I
Helierl under the ditection of the Committee of the Wesleyan Mis-
sionary society. It is a letter from Mr. k‘hrewntrury. the Al issienai y
in ItartairioeS, riving an account of the demolition of the 3lethutlist
chapel. in Ilridgetown
•• %When the intelligence of the inanimation of the slaves in De-
merara reached Itarbudeett. it was publicly patted up in the ( om-
mercial.riends„ that • The Atthanist clergymen of 1/emarsra were
Mph impristnud, they being delete implicate et in the insurrection
which had broken out in that colony.' Thin falsehood, stated in so
public a manner, se: the people in a flame. Fresh stories were tit-
culeted every day. The island newspapers lone excepted) teemed
with itivectivers against certain hypocritical characters, who, under
the pretence of giving religious instruction to the slaves, were in-
troducing principles entirely subveriive of those foundations on
which the comfort and happiness of society rested. My letter was
again revived, and some confidently asserted, that I had therein
stroll, that • the snorts ought to take their liberty by force, if it
should not hr otherwise obtained.' To silence this report, I carried
the number, containing tee letter, tb the ('nonereial-rooms,that
any one who chow might reed it. This measure considerably
allayed the public ferment, till one of the printers published scraps
of the letter in his paper, with comments upon it, which quickly
revived the public rimentment, add increased it to a rtill higher
pitch. But not only were my words misrepresented, but it was
further said, and by many believed, that the letter I produced was
nut therm! one; that I had obtained that which I made public
front home, merely to blind the eyes of the people; and that the
genuine letter contained the vilest calumnies against the Ilubadimis
that were ever sent home to I:ngland. Yet mare : every sermon
delivered Meanie a subject of conversation afterwards, so that not ,
a reel occurred but I was charted with having said something in
my public iliscoutse which endangered the peace of the colony ;
and to all this it was added, that I held private 'motive with the
slaves, to get all the information from them that I could, to convey
intelligence to the Althea', Institution. These things haveall emu.
hired to amuse the public feelings &rinse us, add the de.
spatelma relative to the late dismission m Parliament coming At this
ovisis, consummated the whole. I especially ant sow hated of all
turn. This hatred hes long manifested itself by angry and emu.
temptuous looks; by shouting after me, • That fellow ought to
have a rope tied round his neck : hang him.' But on Sunday,
October fifth more violent proceedings were had recourse to. In
the midst a our evening service, some unknown individuals threw
,amongst the eongregetion eight bottles, centaining some offensive
chemical mixtures, which created the reateat confusion, and dis.
pereed a pert of toy audience. The first bottle was aimed at one.
and just went over try head. The next tiny I offered 301. currency
reward for the detection of the offenders : but was soon convinced,
that whoever they were, many of the community were die-
posed to countenance them. Hence, offenders were emboldened.
Ihe next :ebbed), the 13th instant, there were many persons
within the chapel, apparently ready far any mischief ; and a
mob of at least two hundred people without. I was forewarned
that evil was meditated against us ; but it did not appear to me
!Wit to be intimidated by any threats from performing my duty.
We sung and prayed in tolerable peace ; but, as we rose frotu
prayer. two men wearing masks, and armed with swords and pis-
tole, came riding swiftly down the chapel street, and, as they gut
opposite the dna:. presented their pistols and tlred. 41Ine pistol did
not go off; and the other providentially did not discharge its con.
Nuts within the chapel. but just at the bottom of the window,
which, ue snou as the mob saw, they shouted, ' Fire ! lire !' to
create an alarm, that those who were within, waiting to injure us,
might take advantage of the contusion to effect their purpose. My
chief concern was for ley dear wile, she being near her confine-
ment • but on looking down I saw per, without the least dread,
take he. stand at the bottom of the. pulpit stairs, determined that
non: should drag me front the pulpit. without first trampling her
under their feet. After a few nilnutes I gave out a hymn, and was
enabled to deliver the sermon with tolerable composure, although
we were every now and then annoyed by the throwing of seines,
but no one received any injury. The following day, instead of
baying protection Aired me, a magistrate sent me a summons to
appear before hint on the 23d instant, to answer for not enrolling
myself in the colonial militia. It is the determination of nnuty to
attempt to make me serve in the miiiria; • for,' say they, • the
Toleration Act, by which Methodist ministers are exempted, does
not extend to the Vreat Indies.' I have personally waited on his
Excellency the Governor, and stated the cue; butt he says it is a
matter of law, and he is not sufficiently acquainted with the law to
decide. I then waited on the Attorney-General ; he was extreme.
ly ill, and could not be seen. I next went to the Solicitor-General,
but he was at a distance in the country, and would not return to
town for three weeks. My last resource is to address the (iocernor
in Council. My present expectation is, that if 1 refuse to serve in
the militia, I shall be thrown into prison ; my next letter, there-
fore, will probably be dated from the town gaol. At preeent I
Cannot remain at the chapel-house in safety ; I have thaefore taken
up my residence fur a few weeks with William King, Esq., my
brother-in-law.

" I am thankful to God for such a retreat and shall esteem it a
mercy indeed if neither I nor my family receive any personal injury
before I quit Berbadoet."
Ins postscript Mr. Shrewsbury adds in hole:—
" Monday, 2Uth.—Last night the chapel Was derneilduetby the
' mob • my Library shuns: wholly destroyed. :qv wife andl. with
tthings sped, are preparing to flee for our lil et :we must quit
weits t island without delly. I will write farther hereafter ;we are
obliged to keep ourselves in secret."
Mr. Shrewsbury was, for a eonairleratja tlaie.,A .111taidnnag at.
betbre Isi went la Barbadian ; and the. character he :as.
' in that island yea given in a letter front the Honourable
John Ross, Esq., .!ember of Council in Grenada, to Joseph
Butterworth, Esq., M.P., dated " CLerke's-enurt, Grenada, 13di
........

Nov.,loanil
answer Leyte inquiries respecting the Wesleyan AI ission-
arks. Mr. Ross &eye, " I have never heard any thing insinuated of
ro impper conduct, in any respect, of any of the Missionaries who
have been In this island The two now here hare unitrd their la-
bours, and we have each of them occasionally in the country.
They now visit and officiate at ttu estates, two of my own, and
eight others, under my direction on which there ars about 2.:40
slaves, the greatest part of whom seem very desirous of instruction,
and I believe they ore already making considerable ptourese ou
sum? of the estates.

___
" I am much obliged to the Committee for sending out Mr. Goy
at my suggestion. lie appears to be a very good man, sod well
fitted fur the office he has undertaken. Mr. Shrewsbury, wilio was
here en his arrival, is • superior man, and would do honour to any
church or society of Christians."
On receiving the intelligence of the destruction of the chapel at
Barbadoes, and the attack upon Mr. Shrewsbury's diameter and
Mr. Butterworth wrote to Mr. Ross, to inquire whether hr
parson,i seen occasion to change his opinion of Mr. Shrewsbury. or of
the other Missionaries, since the year 1' iI, when his former
opinion was given. Mr. Rosa, who happe: at this time to be on
• whit in Smtland, has returned the following ADS wer :
" Aberdeen, 18th Dec. 1823.
" My deer Sir,—A few days ago 1 received your favour of the
11111 inst. communicating the outrage committed against the worthy
Missionary, Mr. Shrewsbury, And the demolition of the 3lethodist
Chapel In Barbadoes, by a lawless and inis.toided mob ; and I
had. with painful feelings, previously notated the same circum-
stance mentioned in the new/simpers.
"Having had an upportuoity of becoming intimately acquainted
with Mr. Shrevrentry, during his residence in Grenada, whence he
went to Barbadom, I can, with great truth, testify that I never
knew a more pious or • better man. Possessed of natural cheer-
nautili of temper, and without any thing of austerity or moroseness
in his manners, he discharged the duties of his profession with zeal
and assiduity, and acquired the good will and esteem of the whole
community 4 and it was to the great regret of all who knew him
that be was taken from us. I believe Mr. Shrewsbury to be inca-
pable of doing an injury to any human being; and I am convinced
he Ins eminently useful as a Christian Minister. both among the
firtarpeople and the Mares. In the island of Grenada. Having been
the first person on the island, who admitted the Missionaries to
inn reset the slaves upon estates, I have great satisfaction in stating
that upon my own estate in particular their labours have been at-
teadsd very considerable success. The character and conduct
of the pope have bees much changed for the better, anti many
hare been regulsrly admitted into society 1 and before I left the
lased in July last, there were 27 couples regularly married, and
living as gas and wife, in • very orderly domestic manner, several
of them the principal people on the estate. On some other estates,
the Kisslonarlea were also making considerable progress; and I
lebk*ieward th coofidest hope to the best mults trout the dif.
helm of eel' an ingructlon.
.6O( the trinomial in general who have been In Grenada,
dlinsel begone Napalmed with them, it is but justice to say that
they bare been pans and melons men, and that I, have never
known or heard of their preaching any improper doctrine to the
'West on the contrary, I have always hd them inculcate •
cheerful eubmiesion to the duties of the station in which they were
placed, and to be contented, satisfied, and obedient.
" I may take another opportunity of giving you some particular
getances of the great advantages of the religious instruction uf the
awls, both to the masters and themselves ; and shall only now
44p060441.141 for not having answered your letter in course, which I
gas prevented doing from unavoidable circumstances.
" I remain, my dear Sir,
" Very sincerely yours,
" To Jon. Butterworth. Esq." " JOHN ROSS."

ON STOMIIO ins Day ROT.—The ravages of the dry
rot ate too well known to persons whose property is invest-
!fed in houses or ships; and every attempt to stop these ra-
vages is entitled to our attention. The usual method is to
impregnate the wood well with the salt left in the prepa-
num of aquafortis, and called sal cnixuin : but Mr.
Raker, of flampstead, has communicated to the Journal
of Sciences, a kind of paint, which not only prevented the
disease, but also cured it, even where it had made consider-
able ravages. Dissolve two ounces of white arsenic, and
half an ounce of copper filings, in a gallon of soft water,
by boiling thew together. Mix together a quart of sire,
half a pound of tar, and a small quantity of fresh slaked
lime in powder, and beat into a kind of paste: this rate,
and a sufficient quantity of powdered linie, is to be added,
by small parcels, to the above arsenic liquor, so as to make a
kind of paint. When a preventive is to be applied to a
new work, it should be painted at least twice with this
composition ; the first coat being quite dry before the se-
mad is applied. But when the dry rot has already made
its appearance, the wood, after being removed and repaired,
should be left exposed to the air to become quite dry, and
then well painted on the side which is to be placed next the
—..llfechar Werl.lil

ARMOURT IN THE rorrait OF LONDON
Whether Tubal Cain, who is described in Scripture as
" ant inatruetor of every artificer in brass and iron," and
who, according to VOlOlll.lll, is the Vulcan of the Greeks
and Romans, taught the manufacture of armour or not,
seems doubtful ; though it is probable, that the first tM its
of art were to 'Mind every possible protection to the body
in the exercise of the chase and the field of war. hero-
flatus deseri hes the ancient ER palette as fighting in aruiour ;
and in Assyria, Persia, and alt the Asiatic empires, it was
in use from the earliest period, whence it was introduced
among the warlike tribes of Europe, who at first contemned
all protectien but their innate courage, and considered any
defence except the shield as a mark of effeminacy. Defen-
sive armour, once introduced, became in constant use, and
vari'd according to the weapons whirl' were saceesdvely
adopted, in older the better to counteract them.
It was lung, however, before any collection of armour
was made, and the several iirmounes of Europe were not
conned until the last age of chivallic splendor—the six-
teenth century, when Henry VIII., Francis 1., Charles V.,
and Maximilian 1., laid the founations of four of the best
armoutieti in Europe ; yet their collections were all ot mo-
dern auditor ; and Dr. Meyrick, in his valueVe inquiry
into the origin of armour, has very satisfactorily proved,
" that although itt private familles a few suits of est.li.r
:late had been preserved in Italy, that of Maximilian, with
its steel lamboys, and that of Healy VII., reneesiliq it,
are the oldest specimens in Germany and England."
Such a declaration is much at variance with all preceding
descriptions of the armour in therm/ter, which has been
confidently given a much higher antiquity; but this is tie
case with all collection of anientir e hence the Ambras.col-
leetion now at Vienna, though containing armour of the
same period as the suits in the Tower, has equally with it
been ssscrted to possess specimens of great antiquity, ex-
hibiting the suite pretended to have been worn by the
German emperors from the time of Albert 1., Etnperce tai
the Romans, down to the period when body amour was
principally relinquished.
It appesrs from a survey made by order of Charles 11.
in October, leen, that the principal armour now in the
Tower was then at Greenwich, whence it has subsequently
been removed. During the civil distractions of the pre-
ceding reign, the armoury in the Green gallery, at Green-
wich, was despoiled by the soldiers, and that what remained
was afterwards transferred to the Tower. In this survey,
which is sighed 41:34 John Rubinson, Lieutenant of the
Tower, and other officers appointed to make the investiga-
tion, there is not the slightest mention of the Spanish
armoury, or the thumb-screws, racks, and wire whips,
which now form so attractive a feature in this exhibition ;
and yet the surveyors give a very minute list of every thing
found it the armouries or the Tower and Gr.-enwich. The
Spanish armoury must therefore have been made up sub-
sequent to the reign of Charles IL, and its genuinmesa
consequently becomes more than doubtful. In Burghlt7's
State Papers, a lottery of foreign armour, probably that of
the Armada, is said to have been drawn in the29th year of
Elizabeth, and, if the instruments of torture, and the
Catholic, banner, now exhibited, are really spoils of the
Armada, they must have been collected at least a century
after they were dispersed by the lottery. There is, how-
ever, so little reason to believe, that any portion of the
armour called Spanish is really so, that little faith can be
placed in the authenticity of the instruments of torture
which the growing enmity to the Roman Catholics would
readily ascribe to them.
The targets with pistols in them, exhibited as Spanish,
were in the Tower in the reign of Edward VI., and there-
fore could not have belonged to the Armada ; the pikes,
,hewn as Spanish, were common to the English soldiery,
as well as the Spaniards ; and the glaives, bills, halberds,
&c. which principally form this collection, were used in
England in the reign of Henry VIII. But then there is
Queen Elizabeth, in the very armour, we are told, which she
wore when she rode on &steed, richly caparisoned, to review
her forces at Tilbury Fort. Unfortunately, however, for the
correctness of this statement, there is not the slightest evi-
dence of her Majesty having worn armour on this memora-
ble occasion; and It farther appears, that the fluted breast-
plate, and the garde-de-reicer in which her figure is now
enviroued, belonged to her hater, and that they could not
have been worn in a sitting posture and the armour for
_her arms WE teases, of (Abodool. Flaw, theiabartores
f the equ: strian exhibition of armour in the Tower mcke
' correct : the armour attribateel to William the Conqueror
is of Edward the Sixth's time, or of the early part of Eli-
' zaiwth's reign ; the suit worn by 7 Edward I. in the Tower,
is also of the reign of the sixth Edward, with the addition
of a nzartel de fer, of the time of James I. placed in his
hand. Edward 111. wears a suit of white armour if Htnry
' VII l.'s time, sal Henry IV. is encased in another suit of
the time of Edward VI.

The armour of Henry V., which we are assured be wore
at the battle of A,;incourt, is composod of various pieces,
some of which were not made until two centuries after this
memorable victory : the upper part of the armour is of the
time of Charles 1., while the legs, which, like those of old
Jacob Tonson, are not fellows, arc of the reign of Henry
VII. Henry VI., and Edwar:l IV., have also each bor-
rowed a pair of legs from Henry VIII., and a suit of body
armour from Charles the First ; whilst Edward V. wears
a rich and highly decorated suit, which appears to have
been made for that promising youth, Henry Prince of
IVales, son of James the First.
Henry the Seventh, no doubt, wears his own armour,
and it is one of the greatest curiosities in the Tower, for
the lamboys, or puckered petticoat. is so contrived, as to
reach the saddle behind, and then fall en each side.

Ilenry VIII. wears what may be fairly considered his
own proper armour—the legs perhaps excepted.
Edward VI. wears a suit, which seems to have been
made for Prince Henry. son of James 1., but in compliment
to the piety of the young king, a variety of scriptural sub-
jects arc engraved on it in dilitrent compartments.
James 1., who would not easily have been induced to
trust himself in a suit of armour, is encased in one which
belonged to the Esrl of Warwick, about the time of
Elisabeth or Mary.
K'ng Charles the First wears a rich suit of gilt armour,
which was presented to him by the City of London, when
Prince of Wales. Hisson and successor, ('harks I 1., weats
a splendid suit, of the time of Edward VI.; as does Wit-
ham M., while George the First and George the Second
wear tha armour of the time of Henry VIII.; the former
having the addition of a Turkish bridle.
Thus, of the Seventeen Monarchs who appear in armour
in the Tower, only three wear that of the period In which
they lived: and in the stnali armoury, the figures which
represent King John, ILur 111., Henry V., and Henry
VI., are all in suits of cavaliers n rmlor, of the time of
Charles 1., with flaming 4words, which are of a still later
date.

1/e Courcy, the ancestor of the Earls of Kinsale, of whose
strength and prowess so many anecdotes are related, wears
the armour of a denii-launcer of the time of Award Vl.,

with a helmet of Henry VII. ; John of Gaunt, "
time-
honourel Lancaster," weirs a gigantic suit of armour,
avven feet high, of the time of Henry VIII. ; Charles
Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and the jester, Will. Somers,
wear suits of the time of Charles the First, or Second.
But although the armour in the 'rower is thus Mappro-
priately displayed, it is sufficiently rich and varied to admit
of a correct arrangement of several perfect snits, and it is
touch to be wished that such a classification of it was made.
But notwithstanding the anachronisms we base ;sainted
out, the armoury in the Tower is highly curious and in.-
terrstitig, not only for the several relics of antiepnty it con-
tains, but for the ingenious and tasteful manner to w bleb
I ito.otio stand of modern arms are displayed. The royal
train of artillery, capable cf dealing destruttion on a'l
around, is also an ohject of wonder and awe; but the
curious will probably he more gratified in viewing state
swords of the Pretender, the shield of the Earl of Mar, or
the axes with which Anne Boleyn, and the F.-,rl of P.sex,
i sex th's favourite, were beheaded; but, for the authority
of which we will net vouch, since, with respect to Anne
Boleyn, Stowe assures us, that her head was at vend from
her body at one blow with a sword.- Percy .11;evt

• -----
On Wednesday an Inquest was taken by T. Earle. (;:nl.
Coroner for %Vim:heater, on view d the body of Th ituyer,
corporal of the Md regiment, lying at Weeden, 6r Nor.ben
shire, whence he was amt with a deserter to the Isle of akin;
whin he arrived thews Its had spent Ifs subsistence noncy, and er-
rowed sa. of a person, which he promised to r.i,:ty on his r:eurn
frig, the island. The man applied for his money. but the tlesis-
eti not havirz wherewith to pay him, wits taken before a Magis-
trate, when I:.. Agresti to pay it in the mornirg. It is *opposed
that the tear of bcb.:: taken before his comma- .lien °Meer. prer.d
urn his mind. Ile retired and shot hinted' through the 'maid.—
chtim—:-../o de se.