CODRINGTON COLLEGE, AND THE FOUNDATION SCHOOL IN CONNECTION WITH IT.

As early as the commencement of the eighteenth century, the Legislature of Barbados had under consideration the erection of a College and its endowment, for the purpose of educating the youth in the island, in lieu of sending them to Great Britain, which in many instances the means of the parents would not permit1. About this time General Codrington must have conceived the idea of bequeathing sufficient property for this purpose to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, as the will by which he devises this property is dated 1702.

The Codrington family, already so eminently connected with the historical events of the British possessions in the West Indies, both in the field and the legislature, thus founded a new claim to lasting gratitude, by endowing an institution so calculated, if properly directed, to spread the greatest blessing over Barbados and to augment its importance.

Christopher Codrington, Governor-General of Antigua and the Leeward Islands, made the following bequest, by his will dated the 22nd of February 1702, and recorded in Barbados on the 1st of June 1711:—

"I give and bequeathe my two plantations in the island of Barbados, to the Society for the Propagation of the Christian Religion in Foreign Parts, erected and established by my late good master, King William III.; and my desire

1 It

appears that the young gentlemen from Barbados distinguished themselves at that period in the universities in England by the gaiety of their dress and equipage. Thomas Tryon observes in his letters to a planter in Barbados, "The loose and extravagant education of your youth is a sure indication of calamity and misery to your country, for in a few years they come to govern the public affairs." See The Merchant's and Countryman's Instructor, by Thomas Tryon. London, 1701.

* The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts was incorporated in 1701, by letters-patent (the 13 William III.) under the King's privy seal. The charter was obtained through the exertions of Archbishop Tenison, who annually subscribed £50 to the Society. The reasons given in the charter for the institution of the Society depict the state of religion in the Colonies in the following words:"Whereas we are credibly informed that in many of our plantations, colonies, and factories beyond the seas, belonging to our kingdom of England, the provision for ministers is very mean, and many others of our plantations, colonies and factories are wholly destitute and unprovided of a maintenance for ministers, and the public worship of God; and for lack of support and maintenance for such, many of our loving subjects do want the administration of God's word and sacrament, and seem to be abandoned to atheism and infidelity; and also for want of learned and orthodox ministers to instruct our said loving subjects in the principles of true religion, divers Romish priests and jesuits are the more encouraged to pervert and draw over our said loving subjects to popish superstition and idolatry, &c.; therefore his Majesty considering it as his duty to promote the glory of God by the instruction of his people in the Christian religion, ordains certain provisions to be made for the sufficient

is to have the plantations continued entire, and three hundred negroes, at least, always kept thereon; and a convenient number of professors and scholars maintained there; all of them to be under the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience; who shall be obliged to study and practice physic and chirurgery, as well as divinity; that by the apparent usefulness of the former to all mankind, they may both endear themselves to the people, and have the better opportunities of doing good to men's souls, whilst they are taking care of their bodies; but the particulars of the constitution I leave to the Society, composed of wise and good men."

The author of the European Possessions in America' stated, that "Colonel Christopher Codrington, a native of Barbados, for a great number of amiable and useful qualities both in public and private life, for his courage, and his zeal for the good of his country, his humanity, his knowledge and love of literature, was far the richest production and most shining ornament this island ever had1."

This distinguished individual was the son of General Codrington, the brave companion in arms of Sir Timothy Thornhill. He was born in Barbados in 1668, and educated in later years at Christ Church, Oxford. Having taken in that College, one degree, he was admitted in 1689 Probationer Fellow of All Souls' College, and afterwards entered the army, and was at the siege of Namur. Upon the conclusion of the peace of Ryswick, he was appointed Captain-General and Governor of the Leeward Islands, and showed great bravery at the attack of Guadaloupe on the 12th of March 1703. He shortly afterwards resigned his Government, and applied himself chiefly to literature. As an author he is only known by some verses addressed to Garth, and by some Latin poems in the 'Musa Anglicanæ.' He died at Barbados on the 7th of April 1710, and was buried in Bridgetown on the following day; but his body was afterwards carried to England, and interred in the Chapel of All Souls' College, Oxford; to which college he left his collection of books, valued at £6000 sterling, and £10,000 sterling in money for the erection of a library.

It was only after the opening of the will that the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel became acquainted with the munificent bequest of the plantations, which were computed to yield an annual income of upwards of £2000 sterling, clear of all charges. The estates in Barbados were called Consett's and Codrington's, and consisted of 763 acres of maintenance of orthodox clergy, to reside in such colonies, and for the propagation of the gospel in those parts. And for accomplishing these ends, the King engages, for himself, his heirs and successors, to erect, settle and permanently establish a corporation authorized to receive, manage and dispose of the charity of his loving subjects, as divers persons will be induced to extend their charity to the uses and purposes aforesaid."

1 An Account of the European Settlements in America. Third edition, London, 1760, p. 90.

land, three windmills, with the necessary building for the cultivation and manufacture of sugar, 315 negroes, and 100 head of cattle.

For some time after the bequest, the Society were involved in lawsuits with the executor of the General's will, Lieutenant-Colonel William Codrington, who claimed the produce of the sugar-canes that were in the ground at the death of the testator, and likewise all the moveables on both the plantations, as the personal estate had been left to him. These disputes were amicably settled, and the Society came into actual possession of the two estates on the 22nd of February 1712. They had sent the Rev. Joseph Holt, who possessed due testimonials of his skill in physic and surgery, as Chaplain and Catechist to Barbados, in order to instruct the negroes and their children within the Society's plantations in the Christian religion, and "to superintend the sick and maimed negroes and servants1." It appears however they had already conceived the idea of selecting Codrington as the seat for the education of scholars and the supply of ministers to propagate the Gospel in the West Indies; and, as if prophetically, they hinted as early as 1711, at the possibility of a bishop being at some future time appointed for the government of those parts.

The funds in hand amounted in 1716 to £3823 16s. 8d., and it was then resolved to commence the College. A Commission had been appointed, consisting of the Governor and other influential persons in the colony, to superintend the erection of the building. Colonel William Codrington promised the timber necessary to repair all the buildings upon the estate for seven years to come, and five hundred guineas for the purchase of books. The Government had promised their assistance towards the erection of the buildings, by permitting the felling of timber in Tobago and St. Vincent, which, if the ships of the royal navy in Barbados were not particularly employed, should be conveyed by them to that island free of expense. Mr. John Lane presented the College with a bell, which proved very acceptable. A number of artificers were sent from England to Barbados, and the masonry was finished in 1721. The stone for the building was taken from a hill in front of the intended College, and possessed the property of being cut without great labour into what mouldings the cutters pleased; nevertheless the stone became by exposure to the weather quite hard2. The College remained for many years unfinished, on account of a debt due to the Society's general fund from the Codrington estates, which it did not clear off until 1738.

The Rev. Mr. Holt had been dismissed, and the Rev. Messrs. Irwin and

1 His salary was fixed at £100, with the use of the Society's house, and the allowance of a table for himself and his wife. See "Extracts from the Annual Reports of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, relative to Codrington College in the Island of Barbados," from which the above and the following information has generally been derived.

* The quarry whence the stone has been taken is below the Society's Chapel. It is a conglomerate of limestone, consisting of minute pieces of shells, &c.