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“...stone of the pedestal on February 24th in that
year, performed the unveiling ceremony. The inscrip-
tion on the pedestal runs :
To the Memory op
HORATIO LORD VISCOUNT NELSON, K.B.,
Vice-Admiral of the White,
The Preserver of the British West Indies
In a moment of unexampled peril ;
The Hero, whose various and transcendent merits,
Alike conspicuous in address, decision, action
AND ACHIEVEMENT
Throughout his whole unparalleled, career of glory
NO POWERS OF LANGUAGE CAN SUFFICIENTLY DELINEATE,
This Statue
WAS ERECTED BY
The grateful inhabitants of Barbados,
On a spot of ground appropriated to it
By a public grant of
The Colonial Legislature.
In accordance with the solicitations of a
select Committee.
That so sincere though humble a tribute
Of esteem, admiration, and gratitude to their
Illustrious Deliverer
Might be rendered more congenial
To HIS GENEROUS AND EXALTED SPIRIT,
From the hand of one,
Himself a Hero and a Benefactor to this country,
The first stone of the Pedestal was deposited...”
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“...limits of the city.
Near the water side is a statue of Sir Charles Metcalfe,
Governor from 1839 to *842, by Edward Hodges Baily,
R.A., a pupil of Flaxman, which was first erected in
Spanish Town, the House of Assembly voting £3,000 for
the purpose. It was subsequently placed at the top of
King Street, but was removed to its present site in 1898,
to make room for a statue of Queen Victoria.
Sir Charles Metcalfe is represented bareheaded and
wearing the insignia of the Order of the Bath. On the
pedestal is the following inscription :
This Statue
IS ERECTED IN HONOUR OF
The Rt. Hon. Sir Charles Theophilus Metcalfe, Bart.,k.c.b.
Now Baron Metcalfe
Bv the grateful inhabitants of Jamaica
in commemoration
OF THE BENEFITS DERIVED FROM
HIS WISE, JUST AND BENEFICIAL ADMINISTRATION
OF THE GOVERMENT OF THIS ISLAND
A.D. 1845....”
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“...JAMAICA 261
The lower pedestal, erected to receive Rodney’s
statue (now in Spanish Town, see page 276) is inscribed :
12 FEET WEST OF THE
CENTRE OF THE PEDESTAL,
Commander Green,
U.S.N. IN 1875 ERECTED THE
LONGITUDE STATION OF
Kingston and found it to be
5h. 7m. 10.65s. (76° 47' 39.8")
West of Greenwich.
ï. J.
[Institute of Jamaica]
Proceeding from the Metcalfe statue up King Street,
one comes to the Victoria Market, on the right, a com-
modious iron structure, which cost, including the pur-
chase of the land, £27,778. The market presents an
animated scene in the early hours of the morning,
especially at Christmas, and should be visited at about
6 a.m. Near the intersection of King Street and Har-
bour Street the building of Barclays Bank, with frontages
on the latter and Water Lane, is on the left. It is built
in Queen Anne style from designs by Messrs. Hoare and
Wheeler, and was opened in 1909. The plinth is finished
with green marble from Sweden, and the roof is covered
with green glazed...”
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“...Kirk in Duke Street, the Calabar
Church (Baptist) in East Queen Street; the Wesley
Chapel in Tower Street; and the Jewish Synagogue in
East Street.
Beyond the Parish Church facing down King Street
is a Statue of Queen Victoria from the chisel of E.
Edward Geflowski, which was erected in 1897 at a cost
of £800, voted by the Legislature to commemorate the
Diamond Jubilee. Though the statue was not over-
thrown by the earthquake ten years later, it was turned
about a third of the way round on its pedestal by that
occurrence.
Behind the statue, King Street bisects Victoria Park,
a large garden shaded by trees, which was formerly
1 A chapter is devoted to Ben bow in "West Indian Tales of
Old.** London: Duckworth & Co,...”
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“...and the pavement of white marble.
Opposite King’s House is the building in which the
House of Assembly used to meet.*
The north side of the Square is graced by a stately
memorial to Admiral Rodney, who defeated de Grasse
off Dominica in the Battle of the Saints on April 13th,
1782 (see page 244).1 A temple, with a cupola and
lanthom supported on open arches, and connected with
the neighbouring buildings by a colonnade, shelters a
statue of the naval hero by the elder Bacon. On the
front of the pedestal is the following inscription :
GEORG. BRYDG. RODNEY
BARON RODNEY
NAVAL. PRAEL. VICTORI
PRID. ID. APRILIS
A.D., MDCCLXXXII.
BRITANN. PACEM REST.
D.D.D. S.P.Q. JAMAICENSIS.
This may be rendered :
TO GEORGE BRYDGES RODNEY
BARON RODNEY
VICTOR IN A SEA FIGHT
ON THE DAY BEFORE THE IDES OF APRIL
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1782.
HE RESTORED PEACE TO BRITAIN.
THE LEGISLATURE AND THE PEOPLE OF JAMAICA
PRESENTED [THIS MEMORIAL],
Rodney is inappropriately clad in a short-sleeved tunic
and has a cloak over...”
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“...Eastern-looking building with a
dome and overhanging roof, contains a library and a
museum of plaster casts, ceramics, etc., bequeathed by
Victor Schoelcher (1804-1893), who was mainly respon-
sible for securing the emancipation of the slaves in
1848. In Place Barré, opening out of the Rue Schoel-
cher, there is a statue of that worthy by Marquet de
Vasselot in front of the well-built Palais de Justice.
Schoelcher is shown protecting a negro girl in the attire
characteristic of Martinique, and the pedestal is in-
scribed :
AüCUNE TERRE FRANiJAISE NE PEUT PLUS PORTER D’ESCLAVES !
(No soil of France shall ever more hold slaves.)
On the hill at the head of Rue Schoelcher is a
calvary and chapel from which a superb view of the
harbour can be obtained.
An expedition which can be made in comfort in half a
day or less is one to the Baths of Absalon situated in the
mountains to the north-west of the town. The military
camp of Balata (9 km.) is passed en route. Two kilo-
metres beyond it the road to the...”
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“...Cortes ordered an investiga-*
tion to be made, and after the inquiry the students were pro-*
nounced to be guiltless, those sentenced to transportation being! I
" pardoned.” Many years afterwards, a son of Castafion visitedi I
the cemetery, and after examining the tomb in the presence ot I
a Notary-Public, made a declaration that it had never beem
disturbed.
The monument, which was erected by public subscrip-)
tion and executed by the Cuban sculptor, Saavedra^ I
consists of an elaborately carved pedestal supporting a I
draped shaft. At the base are two figures symbolical I
of Justice, with scales ill-balanced and broken swordj I
and History, upon whose scroll is inscribed the worde I...”
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