Rev A Brandram No.39
Spanish Town 1st January 1835
My Dear Friend
In my last and preceding letter I expressed some fears least our much wished for Books might not perhaps arrive in time for our Christmas distribution and rejoicing. To a certain extent these fears have been realized, inasmuch as some of the vessels bearing the Sacred Treasure have not yet arrived, and those that have reached us did not come in sufficient time before Christmas to enable us to have the Books sent to their respective destinations in the interior by the appointed day. We have however endeavoured to do the best we could under the circumstances in which we found ourselves placed. The Millicent arrived in Kingston on the 3rd ultimo with two cases, and the Packet with ten cases on the 20th. A supply was thus afforded for that place and neighbourhood, but not quite in time to give full announcement before hand for a formal and ceremonial distribution on the given day; and here in Spanish Town, we only received our supply, and that a partial one, on Christmas eve after dark. Our distributions were also affected by two other circumstances on the same left hand side of the equation. One was, the very partial cooperation we obtained from the Clergy, notwithstanding the Bishop's note, as very few lists were sent in by them. One class of this body cooperated with us fully; the other class, I may say, not at all; and unfortunately our friends are at present the fewest. The other adverse circumstance affecting our case, was, the giving out of the customary annual supplies on the estates on Christmas day.
In these misfortunes we do not attribute any blame to our friends in Earl Street. All your time, we are aware, was required to get your books ready; and on the other hand, we know that ships leave England for the West Indies with the intention of reaching only a few days before Christmas, and hence through adverse winds, they often arrive after it. ― Contrary to our expectation, you sent the Books to various ports in the island. This you did no doubt through advice, and for the best. It would however have been better to have sent the whole to Kingston, for from that port we could with more readiness and cheapness have supplied all the ports around the island by means of the various small vessels that leave Kingston almost every day, and touch at all the outports as they move along. One of the first things we did on learning of this unintentional misdirection of our supplies was to order a great number of the cases to be sent to us to Kingston from those ports where they have arrived in too great number, that we may remit them more readily from this quarter in proper quantities according to the demands that may be made for them.
Thus far the unfavourables, and we must now see what good we can find as likely to arise from these partial evils. By the distributions that have been made we expect that a more full announcement will be effected to all the persons concerned, than by any other means; for we were persuaded that after all the measures we had adopted many would still remain uninformed of the gift in question, and that it would in fact require some months to make a full distribution, even supposing all the vessels had arrived in ample time. We have therefore lengthened our period three months, and expect to make another and probably a more ceremonious distribution on Good Friday ensuing. In the mean time notices of this have been circulated, and will probably be more fully circulated in the course of this month. ― We are also not without hopes that some or several of the Clergy will give us a little more aid in this second distribution than in the first. Your Books will now be found in the hands of the Chapel-goers, which will lead the Apprentices who go to Church to inquire how and wherefore they have not been supplied as well as others; and this again will lead to applications for Books and distributions of them on the part of the parochial clergy who have hitherto kept back. We hope therefore at our second period to have gladder tidings to send you than we now have.
In the mean time, we are much cheered by what took place in our distributions on Christmas day. The Books of your Gift were eagerly sought after, and joyfully received. Some we found who had but just begun to read or rather to learn, wished to be considered as already readers, and thought, as many wiser or at least whiter folks sometimes do, that to put on and to put off the harness was the same thing. One woman being well rallied about her being able to read, and still affirming that she could read, was tried with this question, ― and what can you read? To which she courageously answered that she could read A.B.C. ― I attended the distribution in the Baptist and Wesleyan Chapels of this town, on Christmas day, giving a short address in each place. I should have been glad to have done the same in the Parish church also, but was not invited, and no distribution took place there. On the Sunday following the distributions it was truly gratifying to see the people going along the streets to the house of God with their newly acquired book under their arm. I hope this will be the commencement of a new fashion with us, and that we shall soon see it generalised, and extending to all classes. You will thus become the leaders of the fashion to us in this unmodish place, an honour perhaps you did not expect; and yet I suppose you did, as you wished no doubt to change our fashions here for the better; and we could bear in this respect to be still more fashionable than we are.
By the way, I cannot help connecting this circumstance, and the new fashion of the book under the arm going to church, with two circumstances elsewhere. One is, that in one of our delightful associations meetings in delightful Antigua, the Proprietor of the estate where our meeting was held, and a Member of His Majesty's Council for the island, in delivering a very excellent address to his people, told them among other good things, that a poor man, decently put on, with a Bible under his arm going to church was ― a most respectable person. ― The other circumstance is Mr Wray's Toby in Berbice, with your present, his noble quarto, under his arm, crossing the river, and hastening along the King's high way to the house of God. If I go to British Guaiana again I must see Toby and his quarto, and our dear fellow-labourer Mr Wray, whom may God preserve many years to make many such Tobies in that place. Our good friend regretted that I did not see him when in his neighbourhood, and I also regret and have regretted the same. But Time drove me, and I had to hasten away. We may perhaps yet meet, may I trust we shall meet, and when we do, whether in time or eternity, Toby and his fellows and the West Indies will no doubt form parts of our happy intercourse. Give my kind love to our dear friend, for in this odd world, you are nearer him than I am though we two are both in the West Indies, and you 5000 miles from us. Tell him to remember me to Toby.
We have had a noble accession to our missionary strength in this island within these few days. Ten new missionaries have arrived, six from the London Missionary Society, and four from the Wesleyan Society. Glory be to God for all his mercies to us in this island. We shall be up with you in England soon, and past you too, if you do not take good care and hasten onward.
I have just now received your letter of the 5th November brought by Mr Bourne. He arrived the other day at Kingston and has sent me your letter by post. Many thanks for your parcel, so kindly made up. It is still in Kingston, but I expect it in a day or two.
Yours always,
James Thomson.