The life of the Right Reverend Thomas Fanshaw Middleton, D.D.; late Lord Bishop of Calcutta

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1831 Excerpt: ... English crown, in 1662, as a portion of the dowry of Catherine of Portugal, the wife of Charles II. In the year 1714, the Rev. Richard Cobbe, A.M. was appointed, by the East India Company, chaplain to this settlement; and having "considered," he says, in an appendix printed with his sermon, "the inconvenience, and unsuitableness withal, of performing our public devotions in so private a manner as we did in this fort, having only two upper rooms beat into one, which served us for a chapel, and being locked up in the castle during divine according to the use of the Church of England; that all the island might see we had some religion among us, and that the heathens might in time be brought over as converts to our profession." He accordingly recommended this good work in public sermon, and by his zeal and influence at length succeeded in obtaining contributions to the amount of 5,000l. towards which the East India Company subscribed l,000l.; and with this sum, a plain, spacious, and substantial church was erected, 170 feet in length, and 70 feet broad: "large enough," he adds, " for a cathedra." Application was made to the Bishop of London for permission to consecrate it; but the reply was, that this could not be done without the presence of a Bishop. On Christmas-day, 1718, however, the church was open for divine service, "dressed," says Mr. Cobbe, " with palm branches and plantain trees, the pillars adorned with wreaths of greens, and the double crosses over the arches looked like so many stars in the firmament. A whole crowd of black people stood round about, (Rammagee and all his caste), who were so well pleased with the decency and regularity of our way of worship, that they stood it out t...