In this plan there is no pretension to ornament in any respect that may incur unnecessary expense, except, perhaps, in the small cupola for the bell; and this appendage, trifling as it is, gives to the whole that characteristic feature which distinguishes it as a public building. To you, my dear Edward, it is unnecessary to remark one circumstance, which you may, perhaps, find an opportunity of inculcating to your parishioners; that, in providing for the future comforts of the poor, they may possibly be anticipating the future happiness of themselves, or their descendants; since we too often see the hard-hearted opulent oppressor, in the vicissitudes of life, reduced to look for support to those public institutions to which he has reluctantly contributed*. *[This plan was, at first, highly approved by the leading persons in the parish, till it was discovered that the situation proposed was so desirable, that the site, occupied in private houses, would produce more profit, and, therefore, the poor, for the present, continue in their former unwholesome abode; but, as a late orator observed of negro slaves, compared with eels flayed alive- "they are used to it."
