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 DISCOURSE 
 
 fA^.-A/' 
 
 ov 
 
 COLONIAL SLAVERY. 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN NELSON GOULTY. 
 
 / . 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY RICHARD CLAY, DEVONSHIRE STREET, 
 BISHOPSGATE. 
 
 1826, 
 
NOTE. 
 
 The following Discourse was delivered in 
 Union Street Chapel, Brighton, on Sunday Evening, 
 Feh, 5, 1 826, and, at particular request, again 
 delivered on the next Sunday Evening, in the late 
 Countess of Huntingdmis Chapel, It is printed 
 at the desire of many who heard it in each place, 
 and the expense liberally home hy the Author's 
 Congregation, 
 
 I, N. a 
 
 Brighton, 
 
 Fei.n, 1826. 
 
A DISCOURSE. 
 
 The subject to which your attention is now 
 requested, is Colonial Slavery — a subject on 
 which the public mind is highly excited, though 
 not yet sufficiently so, and in which we are, as 
 Britons, peculiarly interested ; not only on behalf 
 of our national character, and our Christian pro- 
 fession, but as being participators of the produce 
 of Slavery, and as having the power, as a nation, 
 over its continuance or abolition in the Colonies 
 of Great Britain. 
 
 If this view of the subject should seem to bear 
 any thing of a political aspect, I beg to observe, 
 that we do not intend to treat the subject poli- 
 tically. This, I conceive, is neither the time nor 
 the place for that — but we may observe, that 
 that course of policy which is founded in injustice, 
 cruelty, and oppression, can have no correspond- 
 ence with truth, and no foundation in Christianity. 
 
 B 
 
6 
 
 With regard to the present state of the question, 
 it is a remarkable fact (from which the best results 
 may be expected) that it is not a contest between 
 differing political parties, but it is, among all 
 parties, a contest between the principles of right 
 and the operation of personal interest — between 
 the love of gain and the right of freedom. Who- 
 ever may be found in that state of neutrality 
 on the question that fears to do right lest he should 
 do wrong ; there is not, I believe, an individual 
 who has hardihood enough to stand forward as 
 the avowed advocate of Slavery, or even as its 
 apologist, whose opinions on the subject may not 
 be traced to relative connexion or worldly interest, 
 or whose familiarity with degradation and cruelty 
 has not reduced his mind to a mark beneath the 
 reach of argument and the touch of feeling. 
 
 Viewing the subject as one that calls for legis- 
 lative interference, it is with a pleasure which I 
 know not how to express, that we recognize it, as 
 taken up by the Cabinet Ministers of our rightful 
 Sovereign. It is never a gratification to us, who 
 are known to exercise the right of thinking for 
 oiiis;§elve3, to differ from the constituted authorities 
 of Government ; but it is always with real regret 
 that we find ourselves, in any instance, at apparent 
 variance with them. More especially would it be 
 so, as the case now stands, in this happy country. 
 
under a Monarch, whose liberal mind gives a tone 
 to those around him, not. inferior to his exalted 
 station, and under a Ministry, which catches that 
 tone with an avidity that proves the high standard 
 of their minds and of their policy. Thus is the 
 helm directed and the honour preserved of a free 
 and mighty nation — the gem of the ocean — the 
 envy of every people — and the glory of the world. 
 In this national distinction, it is not the smallest 
 part — that, 
 
 " Slaves cannot breathe in England ; if their lungs 
 Receive our air, that moment they are free ; 
 They touch our country, and their shackles fall. 
 That's noble, and bespeaks a nation proud 
 And jealous of the blessing. Spread it then, 
 And let it circulate through every vein 
 Of all your empire — that where Britain's power 
 Is felt, mankind may feel her mercy too." 
 
 The object of introducing the subject to you 
 now, is to present the claims of about 800,000 of 
 our fellow men, who are at this moment, under 
 the British Crown, in a state of Slavery. It is 
 asserted that the existence of this state of things 
 is important, if not necessary, in order to maintain 
 the rights of property, and to afford the luxuries 
 of the country. It is, moreover, added, that such is 
 the debased condition of the Slave population, that 
 it is the only state in which these miserable beings 
 
 b2 
 
8 
 * 
 can exist at all. I wish to present the subject to 
 
 you in the strongest light, and therefore have thus 
 
 stated it. The question before us is, — so far as 
 
 our judgment, voice, and influence extend, — Shall 
 
 this state of things continue ? Shall the proprietors 
 
 of West-India Slavery, and the participators in the 
 
 produce of Slavery, still lie under the guilt of 
 
 oppression and the charge of inhumanity ? Shall 
 
 the claims, in unholy property, of about 1800 
 
 proprietors be allowed to stand against those of 
 
 800,000 Slaves ? 
 
 For one, I stand forward thus publicly, in my 
 
 place, adopting the language of 
 
 Nehemiah, 5th Chapter, and last clause of the 
 10th Verse, the language of decision and of in- 
 treaty, " Let us leave off this usury." 
 
 Yes, brethren, whatever be its profits, whatever 
 be its luxuries, wherever it touches us, '' Let us 
 leave oflP this usury." 
 
 '' And there was a great cry of the people and 
 " of their wives against their brethren the Jews. 
 " For there were that said. We, our sons, and our 
 " daughters, are many : therefore we take up corn 
 ^^ for them, that we may eat, and live. Some also 
 ** there were that said. We have mortgaged our 
 *^ lands, viney^ds, and houses, that we might buy 
 
'* corn, because of the dearth. There were also 
 " that said. We have borrowed money for the 
 '^ king's tribute, and that upon our lands and 
 " vineyards. Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of 
 " our brethren, our children as their children : and, 
 '' lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our 
 '' daughters to be servants, and some of our 
 '^ daughters are brought unto bondage already : 
 " neither is it in our power to redeem them ; for 
 '^ other men have our lands and vineyards. And 
 '' I was very angry when I heard their cry and 
 '' these words. Then I consulted with myself, 
 '' and I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and 
 " said unto them. Ye exact usury,»every one of his 
 ^' brother. And I set a great assembly against 
 '' them. And I said unto them. We after our 
 '^ability have ' redeemed our brethren the Jews, 
 " which were sold unto the heathen ; and will ye 
 " even sell youi; brethren ? or shall they be sold 
 *' unto us ? Then held they their peace, and found 
 " nothing to answer. Also I said. It is not good 
 " that ye do : ought ye not to walk in the fear of 
 " our God because of the reproach of the heathen 
 '' our enemies ? I likewise, and my brethren, and . 
 '' my servants, might exact of them money and 
 " corn : I pray you, let . us leave off" this usury. 
 " Restore, I pray you, to them, even, this day, their 
 " lands, their vineyards, their olive^ards, and. their 
 
10 
 
 " houses, also the hundredth part of the money, 
 " and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, that ye 
 " exact of them. Then said they. We will restore 
 '' them, and will require nothing of them ; so will 
 " we do as thou sayest." 
 
 Adopting this sacred and appropriate text as 
 a motto to our Discourse, let me request your 
 attention to these three general points : — 
 
 I. To THE NATURAL AND RELATIVE CONDITION 
 
 OF THE Negro Population in the West 
 Indies. 
 
 ii. to their moral and spiritual condi- 
 TION. 
 
 III. To THE PRACTICAL QUESTION — WhAT CAN 
 WE DO FOR THEM? 
 
 In entering upon the subject, allow me to ob- 
 serve that I do it without any solicitude as to 
 '' the delicacy of the question," and certainly 
 without anxiety as to its ultimate issue. 
 
 I. The natural and relative condition of the 
 Negro population in the West Indies. 
 
 In their natural condition we assert that they 
 are human — in their relative condition they are 
 Slaves, 
 
 To say much in answer to those soothings of 
 conscience by which some men attempt to justify 
 their apathy, or to support their interest in Slavery, 
 
11 
 
 would be trifling with you, were it not that, by 
 creating a strong prejudice (which has been ex- 
 tensively done), the energies of others have been 
 quieted, or their opposition to the whole system of 
 Slavery suppressed. It has been roundly asserted 
 that Slaves are only a species of being resembling 
 man — a link only with apes and baboons in the 
 chain that connects the instinct of animals with 
 the powers of intelligence — that a Slave is only a 
 degree above " the brute that perisheth," and 
 incapable of the social virtues. Could this be 
 proved, the question would assume quite another 
 aspect. But what is the fact ? The fact is this — 
 that in the shape of man, speaking the language 
 of man, and only differing in the colour of his skin, 
 the Slave is subject to the same feelings of our 
 common nature, exhibits the same faculties of 
 mind, the same sympathies, the same power not 
 only to love his companion and his offspring, but 
 to love his God. The same hopes and fears, it is 
 manifest, alternately agitate his bosom, while he is 
 liable to the same infirmities, diseases, woes, and 
 destinies. Of these things we shall give some 
 illustrations presently. Let us first turn to " the 
 law and to the testimony:'' *' What saith the 
 Scripture ?" 
 
 Let the varied tribes of men upon the face of 
 God's earth be summoned before the eye of your 
 
12 
 
 mind. Behold the white inhabitants of the 
 Northern pole, and the swarthy Indians under a 
 Southern sun — the untutored Negro, and the 
 polished European ; — and have they not an equal 
 right, upon the testimony of revelation, to say, 
 "Have we not all one Father? Hath not one 
 God created usT Have they not all descended 
 from one common parent, whose fall in Eden 
 " brought death into the world and all our woe T 
 Do we not read that " God hath made of one 
 hlood all the nations for to dwell on the face of 
 the earth T and that " there is no respect of 
 persons with himT 
 
 In the plan of social and civil life, the divine 
 instruction is — '^ Honour all men, love the bro- 
 therhood, fear God, honour the King ;" while 
 the universal law of Christ is, " love thy neighbour 
 as thyself y 
 
 In the scheme of redemption, the record runs 
 thus : '' God will have all men to he saved f that 
 is, the salvation of men, as men, is the delight of 
 Jehovah. " In Christ Jesus, the Seed of Abra- 
 ham, all the families'' (not of Europe only, but 
 all the families) " of the earth shall be blessed," 
 When Christ came into our fallen world, we read, 
 that '^ He took upon him our nature^ Let the Bible 
 be translated into the language of every people, 
 and the poor Negro will read, as well as we, '' He 
 
13 
 
 took upon Mm our nature" In that nature '' He 
 tasted death for every man" Observe, moreover, 
 the form of the Saviour's commission ; it is with- 
 out restriction or limitation : ^^ Go ye into all tJw 
 world, and preach the Gospel to every creature** 
 And mark the correspondence of New-Testament 
 prophecy, on the accomplishment of which we 
 assuredly depend. " / saw another angel fly in 
 the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel 
 to preach unto them tJmt dwell on the earth ; to 
 every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people** 
 '' In Christ Jesus** or under the dispensation of 
 the Gospel, '^ there is neither Greek nor Jew, 
 Barbarian nor Scythian, bond nor free." " Can 
 the Ethiopian change his skin 9** No. But 
 " Ethiopia shall stretch out her hands unto God** 
 
 In their relative condition, we have now to 
 advert to the fact that they are Slaves — in bondage 
 and vassalage to their fellow-man. 
 
 Here a question may perhaps arise. How came 
 they to be Slaves ? Is there not an original law, 
 or divine judgment, which entails slavery as a 
 curse upon the children of Ham ? This inquiry 
 may easily be answered, both in reference to slavery 
 in general, and to the slavery of the West Indies 
 in particular. 
 
 With respect to all slavery, it is common to 
 
14 
 
 trace its origin to the malediction of Noah 
 (Gen. ix. 25) " Cursed he Canaan, a servant of ser- 
 vants shall he he unto his hrethren" Supposing this 
 language to have been a curse (and not a pro- 
 phecy, as perhaps it was), it in no way applies to 
 the inhabitants of Africa, but to the tribes of 
 Canaan : but supposing it to have applied to all, 
 it was under a dispensation which for 1800 years 
 has been superseded by the universal benevolence 
 of the Gospel, '' Glory to God in tlie highest, on 
 earth peace; good will to menr It cannot, 
 therefore, now be pleaded against any of the tribes 
 of men. 
 
 With respect to the Slaves of the West Indies. — 
 Ah ! my brethren, they may, many of them, now 
 be natives of the soil ; but their ancestors were 
 not so : these were torn from their native shores 
 of Africa by the inhuman Slave-trade, and brought 
 hither as cattle to the market and to the field of 
 labour ! ! '' It has been calculated that Africa 
 has been annually robbed of 150,000 of her chil- 
 dren. Multiply this by the ages through which 
 the injury has been protracted, and the amount 
 appals and rends the heart ! What an accu- 
 mulation of misery and wrong ! Which of the 
 sands of her deserts has not been steeped in tears, 
 wrung out by the pang of separation from kindred 
 
15 
 
 and country ! What wind has passed over her 
 plains without catching up the sighs of bleeding 
 or broken hearts ! " * 
 
 How, we demand, is the Slave-trade to be utterly 
 abolished, while Slavery at all continues ? Though 
 it no longer stains the character of our national 
 commerce, and is sentineled at every j^o^^/^/^ point 
 by our laws, yet it is notorious, that under other 
 flags, the system rages with brutal avarice. '' In 
 September (1825), a French brig, from Mar- 
 tinique, was lying within 70 miles of Sierra Leone, 
 waiting for her cargo of 400 Slaves, 100 of whom 
 were seen in irons on the shore." f 
 
 But what is their actual condition, as Slaves ? 
 The apologists of Slavery will tell you, that they 
 are happy in that condition, and that they are 
 better off than the poor of Ireland, or even than 
 many of the poor in England. It is not denied 
 that their condition might be improved : but we 
 are told, that it is not necessary, and that the 
 attempt might be dangerous. 
 
 I appeal to the observation, to the feeling, and 
 to the judgment of this assembly : Is there a poor 
 wretch in this or in our sister country, who, with 
 all his sufferings in a land of freedom, would barter 
 
 * Watson's Sermon before the Wesleyan Missionary So- 
 ciety, 1 824. 
 
 t Missionary Register, January, 1826. 
 
16 
 
 away his liberty for a maintenance! Personal 
 liberty is of all things most dear and valuable to 
 our nature. It is the gift of God : we inherit it 
 from " Him who gives us all things richly to 
 enjoy'* 
 
 But is this statement true ? " Judge ye" from 
 the following particulars. 
 
 Slaves in the West Indies are treated as things, 
 not men— as chattels that .may be bought or sold 
 in merchandize, or seized for debt ; they may be 
 sold together or apart from their families! and 
 are so treated with a remorseless and savage bar- 
 barity. 
 
 In a paper, containing ^' Extracts from the 
 Royal Gazette, published at Jamaica, in June last," 
 there are upwards of twenty advertisements of 
 Slaves for sale, promiscuously inserted, and in 
 the same form and letter, with advertisements of 
 sale of horses, and other beasts of burden. Here 
 are also upwards of 100 notices of deserted and 
 strayed Negroes, who, if not claimed in the given 
 time, will be sold to pay expenses.* 
 
 When Slaves are sold, the master commonly 
 
 * It is part of the rigid cruelty and avarice of the Slave 
 system, that if a Negro should be taken up under the suspicion 
 of his being a Slave, he must himself prove his freedom ; and 
 if he cannot, though really free, but perhaps unable to esta- 
 blish his case to the satisfaction of the officers, he is sold, 
 and again enslaved. 
 
17 
 
 puts his mark upon them, as the dealers in Smith- 
 field do upon their cattle, by a slit in the ear, or 
 a gash in their flesh, or by the application of a 
 burning iron. Such is the treatment of them as 
 articles of merchandize, beasts of burden, degraded 
 outcasts, and means of brutish gain. 
 
 To the field of labour they are driven as herds 
 of swine, and lashed to their work by the cart- 
 whip ; and thus females are treated as well as 
 men. It is true, there may be, and (for the honour 
 of human nature, degraded as it is by the Fall) 
 we hope there are some masters of more tender 
 feelings than others ; but where there is one such 
 character, it is to be feared that there are a hundred 
 who are governed by foul and violent passions and 
 hardened feeling. And what tenderness of feel- 
 ing, I should be glad to learn, may be expected in 
 cases of offence, when we read of devoted victims 
 doomed to undergo the protracted torture of '^ a 
 
 THOUSAND LASHES, AND TO BE WORKED IN CHAINS 
 DURING THE RESIDUE OF THEIR LIVES !" Such WaS 
 
 the case at Demerara lately. Let us not be un- 
 derstood as being the apologists of insurrection. 
 Is there no difference between the risings of in- 
 sulted feeling — the bleeding complaints of a 
 wounded heart — and deliberate hostility to go- 
 vernment? The latter we pronounce to be a 
 violation of the national compact, the very spirit 
 
18 
 
 of rebellion, condemned by the testimony of Scrip- 
 ture : but in the former, with which we think 
 that this has no connexion, we recognize the 
 common feelings of our nature : resistance to, or 
 contempt of which, cannot but be deemed as 
 rebellion against the laws of nature, and a de- 
 liberate defiance of the laws of God. 
 
 '^ But what was the cause, what was the 
 immediate occasion of this insurrection ? What 
 goaded these poor wretches on to brave the dread- 
 ful hazards of rebellion ? One of them, now hanging 
 in chains at Demerara,was sold and separated from 
 his wife and family of ten children, after a marriage 
 of eighteen years, — and thereby made a rebel. 
 Another was a Slave of no common intellect, whose 
 wife, the object of his warmest affections, was torn 
 from his bosom, and forced to become the mis- 
 tress of an overseer. His domestic happiness thus 
 destroyed for ever, he became disaffected and 
 desperate. Such provocations, added to their com- 
 mon and every day wrongs, seem almost beyond 
 human endurance."* 
 
 The following is the statement of Mr. Thomas 
 Clarkson, whose name, with that of Wilberforce, 
 has obtained an immortal distinction in the cause 
 of the oppressed and injured African. 
 
 * Immediate, not gradual Abolition, p. 22. 
 
19 
 
 '' It appears," says he, " 1st, From the tes- 
 timony of living witnesses, whose accounts have 
 never been disproved, and from documents laid 
 upon the table of the House of Commons from 
 time to time, and up to this present year, that 
 the Slaves in the British Colonies, to the number 
 of 800,000 souls, are, all of them, considered as 
 property — as goods and chattels — as cattle. Like 
 cattle, they are branded at the discretion of their 
 owners. Like cattle they are sold. And here it 
 must be obvious, that a great deal of misery may 
 occasionally arise ; for it sometimes happens, that 
 the father, the mother, and the children, are bought 
 by different persons, and thus, it may be, separated 
 for ever. 
 
 " It appears, 2d, From the same authority, 
 that they are made to work without wages ; that 
 they are made to work in their provision grounds, 
 where they have any, on the Sunday, or they 
 must starve ; and that they are made to work, 
 males and females alike, under the whip. A driver 
 follows them with a whip of such tremendous power, 
 that he can, if he pleases, cut out a flake of flesh 
 at a single stroke. 
 
 " It appears, 3d, That it is not only while they 
 are at work, that they are subject to the whip. 
 They are subject to the whip, the stocks, the 
 chain, and other modes of punishment at all times. 
 
20 
 
 whenever their masters or overseers may think 
 fit. Their word is law. They can constitute any 
 circumstance, however trivial, into a crime ; and 
 be it remembered, that if any of these poor people 
 lift up their hands against these their oppressors, 
 the punishment is death. 
 
 ^' It appears, 4th, That against these and other 
 injuries, they have little or no redress. Their 
 testimony is seldom taken against the whites, and 
 never against their owners. 
 
 " It appears, 5th, That their marriages are not 
 protected by law. Any master or overseer can 
 take from any slave his wife or daughter for the 
 purposes of debauchery, and these practices are 
 too common on the plantations. 
 
 '' It appears, 6th, That the Slaves being obliged 
 to cultivate their provision grounds on the Sunday, 
 and to hold their markets on the same day, little 
 or no opportunity can be had for religious in- 
 struction. Here and there a well-disposed owner 
 or overseer endeavours to make way for it ; but in 
 forty cases out of fifty both owners and overseers 
 set their faces against it ; so that these poor crea- 
 tures are deprived of the only comfort which in 
 their situation they could experience, the comfort 
 of religion. 
 
 " It appears, 7th, that a considerable tax is 
 put upon manumission, so that taking this cir- 
 
21 
 
 cumstance into consideration, and tiie very little 
 time, that even the most favoured Negro can have 
 to work for himself, it is not in the power of one 
 field Slave in one thousand to purchase his own 
 freedom ; not one field Slave in one thousand, has 
 any other hope of a termination of his earthly 
 sufferings, but in death *." 
 
 Such a description is too shocking to pursue, or 
 we might occupy more than the limits of a service 
 like the present, with details of the same nature ; 
 — and I trust it is unnecessary. Who that has been 
 in any way upholding such a system ; who that 
 appreciates the blessings of this favoured land ; 
 who that knows any thing of the privileges of 
 distinguishing and sovereign grace, does not ex- 
 iplaim, '' Lord, what is man ? " 
 
 and what man seeing this. 
 
 And having human feelings, does not blush 
 And hang his head, to think himself a man ? 
 I would not have a slave to till my ground, 
 To carry me, to fan me while I sleep, 
 And tremble when I wake, /or all the wealth 
 That sinews bought and sold have ever earned. 
 No : dear as freedom is, 
 
 •I had rather be myself the Slave, 
 
 And wear the bonds, than fasten them on him. 
 We have no Slaves at home — then why abroad 1 
 And they themselves, once ferried o'er the wave 
 That parts us, are emancipate and loosed." 
 
 * Speech at Ipswich, December 13, 1825. 
 C 
 
22 
 
 Let me remind you, brethren, that we are pro- 
 fessedly the disciples of Him who came ^' to proclaim 
 liberty to the captives, the opening of the prison 
 to them that are hound; to loose the hands of 
 wickedness, to undo heavy burdens, and to let the 
 oppressed go free" As such, let the cause of the 
 Negro Slave come before us ; for '' the Lord is 
 the refuge of the oppressed" And he charges 
 his own people thus : ^* Wash you^ make you clean; 
 put away the evil of your doings from before mine 
 eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek 
 justice; relieve the oppressed." Then " let 
 us leave off this usury." 
 
 I have been accustomed, my hearers, to con- 
 sider the subjection of distant nations and islands 
 to the British Crown, as events in Providence that 
 would be for their temporal and eternal interests ; 
 and in this respect I have looked upon all India 
 as a field of treasure, not for her gold and spices, 
 but as a sphere of religious and spiritual operation, 
 the most interesting and important. And surely, 
 surely, the West-India islands were given by an 
 unerring Providence to the guardianship and care 
 of this country, for a far higher and nobler pur- 
 pose than to be robbed of its hearts' blood in cruel 
 and debasing slavery, to pamper our appetites and 
 sweeten the luxuries of our tables ! Let us beware 
 lest that come upon us which is spoken 'by the 
 
23 
 
 Prophet, ''Let his table become a snare and a 
 trap,'' 
 
 Let two things, here, have the consideration 
 which they deserve. The one is, that the plagues 
 of Egypt were brought on in consequence of the 
 children of Israel being kept in bondage, while 
 the character of Pharaoh stands recorded as a 
 melancholy instance of that hardness of , heart 
 to which the habits of Slavery may reduce the 
 oppressor : thus *' the moral perceptions of the 
 Slaveholder are likely to be more perverted than 
 those of the Slave. Oppression is more debasing 
 and injurious to the intellect and feeling of the 
 oppressor, than it is to the oppressed." 
 
 The other subject of consideration we here 
 notice, is the importance of individual influence in 
 this cause, more especially as religious professors. 
 While the character of a nation is, in the sight 
 of God, composed of the moral character of its 
 individual inhabitants, its judgments may be ag- 
 gravated or averted, and its blessings lost or 
 multiplied, by the influence of individual effort. 
 While, therefore, those who are interested or 
 indifferent will be careless or active abettors of 
 Slavery, Oh ye, who have access to the Throne of 
 Grace, making mention of the name of Immanuel ; 
 ye Abrahams in the Church of Christ, ye Israelites, 
 that have power to prevail with God ; go ye, 
 
 c2 
 
24 
 
 oppose to such unholy influence the power of 
 prayer, of personal and united prayer ; intreat for 
 this Sodom and Gomorrah ; for *' the effectual 
 
 FERVENT PRAYER OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN AVAILETH 
 MUCH." 
 
 We come now to notice, 
 
 11. The moral and spiritual condition of 
 
 THE slave population. 
 
 We have seen what is the state of degradation 
 to which these unhappy fellow - creatures and 
 fellow-men are reduced with reference to this 
 world ; — and what is to be expected, with regard 
 to their moral state, but a corresponding depravity 
 and pollution, ignorance and brutality ? To de- 
 scribe this state of things is both painful and un- 
 necessary. It is easy to conceive what must be 
 the moral condition of a people who have compa- 
 ratively no instruction ; who are treated and herded 
 together like cattle ; who know no Sabbath except 
 as a market-day ; whom no laws protect in mar- 
 riage, and who recognize few examples of truth 
 and purity. In such a soil, theft, deception, lust, 
 and every foul and hellish passion, must grow in 
 all the luxuriance of nature. 
 
 But this is nothing, with all the horrid and 
 abominable things implied in it, comparatively 
 nothing, to the spiritual condition and prospects 
 
25 
 
 of these wretched victims of avarice and oppres- 
 sion. What an awful scene must be the afflic- 
 tions, the death, the hell, of such degraded out- 
 casts ! far from righteousness, and without hope 
 for ever ! But are they immortal ? Yes, they 
 are ! and every individual soul of more value than 
 a world. '^ WJiat shall it profit a man if he gain 
 the whole world, and lose his soul 9 or what shall 
 a man give in exchange for his soul ? " Methinks 
 I hear some of you inquiring with almost breath- 
 less anxiety. Are they, then, lost for ever ? This 
 is a question which, perhaps, it would not become 
 us explicitly to answer. What the merciful Father 
 may do for these ignorant and debased crea- 
 tures, it is not for us to determine : shall not 
 " the Judge of all the earth do right F" But this 
 we know, that as moral beings they are all under 
 the curse, all under sin, alienated from God ; and 
 that unless they are reconciled, they cannot be 
 saved. ^^ Marvel not I' said the Redeemer, ^^ tliat 
 ye must he horn again. Verily, verily, I say unto 
 you, Except a man he horn again, he cannot enter 
 the kingdom of heaven:' and while we are assured 
 that "there is no other name under heaven, given 
 among men, wJierehy they can he saved, but the 
 name of Jesus, in the absence of the only remedy, 
 the alternative must be tremendous ! 
 
 In the Slave population in general, we recog- 
 
26 
 
 nize an empire of spiritual darkness and death, 
 at once extensive and deplorable. The great 
 enemy of souls may harass and vex us here : but 
 he may well be content with a nominal Chris- 
 tianity among us, while he is left in undisturbed 
 possession of the successive generations that are 
 in Colonial Slavery ; and malignantly rejoice in 
 the awful account which we have to render of 
 our responsibility for them: '^Brethren, we are 
 'eerily guilty concerning our brother l"" — ^^ The 
 voice of our brother's hlood criethfrom the ground" 
 
 But it is asserted, as a sweeping reply to all 
 this, that Slaves and Hottentots are not in a 
 state of moral accountability, and not capable of 
 spiritual instruction. If so, to what causes this 
 degradation may be traced, and with whom the 
 consequences will lie, we leave to your own de- 
 cision, after furnishing you with some materials to 
 assist your reflections. 
 
 1st. Let me here present to you an extract 
 from the pen and the testimony of the Rev. 
 Richard Watson. 
 
 "And yet, will it be believed, that this con- 
 temned race can, as to intellect and genius, ex- 
 hibit a brighter ancestry than our own ? that they 
 are the offshoots, wild and untrained, it is true — 
 but still the offshoots of a stem which was once 
 proudly luxuriant in the fruits of learning and 
 
27 
 
 taste ; whilst that from which the Goths, their 
 calumniators, have sprung, remained hard, and 
 knotted, and barren ? For, is Africa without her 
 heraldry of science and of fame ? The only 
 probable account which can be given of the Negro 
 tribes is, that, as Africa was peopled, through 
 Egypt, by three of the descendants of Ham, they 
 are the offspring of Citsh, Misraim, and Put 
 They found Egypt a morass, and converted it into 
 the most fertile country in the world ; they reared 
 its pyramids, invented its hieroglyphics, gave 
 letters to Greece and Rome, and, through them, 
 to us. The everlasting architecture of Africa still 
 exists, the wonder of the world, though in ruins. 
 Her mighty kingdoms have yet their record in 
 history. She has poured forth her heroes on the 
 field ; given bishops to the church, and martyrs 
 to the fires; and for Negro physiognomy, as 
 though that could shut out the light of intellect, 
 go to your national museum, contemplate the 
 features of the colossal head of Memnon, and the 
 statues of the divinities on which the ancient 
 Africans impressed their own forms, and there see, 
 in close resemblance to the Negro feature, the 
 mould of those countenances which once beheld, 
 as the creations of their own immortal genius, the 
 noblest and most stupendous monuments of her 
 skill, and taste, and grandeur. In imperishable 
 
28 
 
 porphyry and granite is the unfounded and pitiful 
 slander publicly, and before all the world, refuted* 
 There we see the Negro under cultivation; if he 
 now presents a different aspect, cultivation is 
 wanting : that solves the whole case ; for, even 
 now, when education has been expended upon the 
 pure and undoubted Negro, it has never been 
 bestowed in vain. Modern times have witnessed, 
 in the persons of African Negroes, generals, phy- 
 sicians, philosophers, linguists, poets, mathema- 
 ticians, and merchants, all eminent in their 
 attainments, energetic in enterprise, and honour- 
 able in character ; and even the mission schools in 
 the West Indies exhibit a quickness of intellect 
 and a thirst for learning, to which the schools 
 of this country do not always afford a parallel." 
 
 This able advocate and fearless defender of 
 Missionary enterprise, in another passage, beauti- 
 fully and eloquently brings the subject home to 
 spiritual reality. '' Your Missionaries," says he, 
 *^ have dived into that mine from which we were 
 often told that no valuable ore, or precious stone, 
 could be extracted; and they have brought up 
 the gem of an immortal spirit, flashing with the 
 light of intellect, and glowing with the hues of 
 Christian graces." 
 
 Allow me to present you with two or three of 
 these gems, selected, indeed, but yet only spe- 
 cimens. 
 
29 
 
 The first is the case of a poor Hottentot girl, 
 who belonged to Bethelsdorp, South Africa, which 
 is about five hundred miles east of the Cape. It 
 happened in the days of Dr. Vanderkemp. This 
 girl had been instructed by the Missionaries at 
 the Cape, and on her way back to Bethelsdorp, she 
 lialted at the dwelling of a Dutch farmer, or Boor. 
 She was asked who she was, and whence she came; 
 to which the girl replied, that she had been at the 
 Cape, and was going back to Bethelsdorp. She 
 was asked what she had been doing at the Cape; 
 she said, she had been learning to read and to 
 write. " What!" said the farmer, in utter sur- 
 prise, '' read and write ! Impossible ! It is all 
 false. Never was it known that a Hottentot could 
 write!'' She said, indeed she could, and if he 
 pleased, she would prove it to him. Expecting 
 to prove her to be false, the means of writing were 
 put before her, when she instantly began, and 
 proved her veracity by writing— what ? — ^her own 
 
 name, or the name of the place she was going to ? 
 
 No ; but she wrote the following words ; '^ It is a 
 faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that 
 
 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" 
 
 (1 Timothy i. 15.) 
 
 The second case is as follows : When the Rev. 
 
 John Campbell first visited the interior of Africa, in 
 
 the year 1813, in one of the kraals (or settlements) 
 
30 
 
 of the Hottentots, he conferred with them on the 
 subject of having Christian Missionaries sent 
 among them, which they eagerly desired. ^' A 
 very aged miserable looking man," says Mr. Camp- 
 bell, '' coming into the hut during the conference, 
 with scarcely a rag to cover him, excited my at- 
 tention: he came and took a seat by my side, 
 kissed my hands and legs, and by most significant 
 gestures, expressed his extreme joy in the prospect 
 of a Missionary coming amongst them. His con- 
 duct having deeply interested me, I asked him 
 whether he knew any thing about Jesus Christ ? 
 His answer was truly affecting : he said, ' I know 
 no more about any thing than a beast.' " 
 
 The result of Mr. Campbell's visit and conference 
 was, that Mr. Pacalt was stationed among these 
 Hottentots as a Christian Missionary. 
 
 In 1819, Mr. Campbell again visited the interior 
 of Africa ; and after being highly delighted with 
 the civilized and cultivated condition of the people, 
 ^' I went," he says, "to the house of a person, 
 known by the name of Old Simeon, the very inan 
 who sat, in such a wretched plight, at my side in 
 the hut, when I first visited tJie place, and who 
 then said he Mew no more about any thing than a 
 brute! I was informed that he had become a 
 Christian, and had been baptized, and named 
 ^ Simeon,' and because of his great age, they 
 
31 
 
 called him ' Old Simeon.' I found him sitting 
 alone in the house, deaf and blind with age. 
 When they made known to him who I was, he 
 instantly embraced me with both hands, while two 
 streams of tears ran down his sable cheeks. * I 
 have done,* said he, ' with the world now ! I have 
 done with the world now ! I am waiting till Jesus 
 Christ says to me, ' Come !' I am just waiting till 
 Jesus Christ says to me, ' Come!' in the spirit of 
 Simeon, who embraced the infant Saviour — 'Lord, 
 now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for 
 mine eyes have seen thy salvation,' "* 
 
 The third is the case of a poor Negro Slave 
 boy, who, under the instruction of the Mission- 
 aries, had embraced the faith of the gospel in 
 simplicity and truth, and who was honoured with 
 the crown of Christian martyrdom. His religious 
 character had excited a persecuting spirit in his 
 master, who threatened to '' beat his religion out 
 of him," and attempted the execution of his cruel 
 purpose. After much violent and abusive language, 
 he ordered him to be flogged. *' Give him," said 
 he, " five-and-twenty lashes ;" after which, in a 
 tone of blasphemous ridicule, he exclaimed, '' What 
 can Jesus Christ do for you now ?" ^* He enables 
 
 ♦ A very interesting narrative of this case, much more at 
 length, together with other interesting and important matter, 
 may be found in a little pamphlet, pubhshed last year, entitled 
 " Pacaltsdorp" by Rev. John Campbell, price ninepence. 
 
32 
 
 me" said the poor little Negro^ " to bear it." 
 " Give him five-and-twenty lashes more/' exclaimed 
 his cruel master. After which, *' What can Jesus 
 Christ do for you now ?" said the unfeeling monster. 
 '' He helps me/' said the innocent sufferer, '' to 
 look forward to a future reward." '^ Give him 
 five-and-twenty lashes more/' said the inhuman 
 tyrant, in a transport of rage. This was done ; 
 and while he listened with savage delight to the 
 groans of his dying victim, he again asked — '' And 
 what can Jesus Christ do for you now ?" The 
 youthful martyr, with the last effort of expiring 
 nature, meekly answered, '' He enables me, Massa, 
 to pray for you /' and thus saying, he breathed 
 his last. 
 
 These are gems for the crown of Him who was 
 once insulted with a wreath of thorns. 
 
 Let us here pause for a moment, to indulge a 
 few reflections. 
 
 1. What must be the state of mind and feeling 
 which is cherished by the advocates of Slavery ! 
 How awful is the process of the love of gain ! It 
 petrifies the heart, and incrusts it with the world : 
 it deadens and destroys the conscience. 
 
 " Vice is a monster of such frightful mien, 
 As, to be hated, needs but to be seen ; 
 But, seen too oft, familiar with Jierface, 
 We first endure, then pity, then embrace." 
 
33 
 
 2. As a Christian congregation, let me intreat 
 you to reflect on the infinite power of our divine 
 Mediator, and the countless value of the blood of 
 the cross ! What import and v^hat consolation 
 there is in the language of John ! — " If any man 
 sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus 
 Christ tJie Righteous: and the blood of Jesus 
 Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." 
 Oh! to know and to make known that that '^ foun- 
 tain is open for sin and for uncleannessf and that 
 the Redeemer says, " Come unto me, all ye that 
 labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you 
 rest: Whosoever cometh unto me, I will in 
 no wise cast out." 
 
 " Though foul are the sins, poor Negro ! that stain'd thee, 
 The blood of atonement can wash them away ; 
 Though galling and base are the bonds that enchain thee. 
 The God of the Christian can lighten the sway." 
 
 3. We are here further led to reflect on the 
 infinite power and influence of the Holy Spirit. 
 With Him, my friends, is the effect of our 
 labours, in this, and in every moral and spiritual 
 cause. No interest, no persuasion, no human 
 legislature, can accomplish all that we desire. 
 The '' new heart and the right spirit" are alone 
 the province of divine agency to bestow, and 
 
34 
 
 without that co-operation we do but labour in 
 vain. '^ Paul may plant, and Apollos water; hut 
 it is God that giveth the increase" Come then. 
 Oh thou holy and blessed Spirit ! open the eyes, 
 touch the hearts, carry conviction to the con- 
 science, and direct" the judgment of all '' who 
 profess and call themselves Christians :" influence 
 the public minjd, and bless the efforts of unre- 
 mitting perseverance. 
 
 4. What a different state of mind and feeling 
 accompanies the earnest desire for Negro eman- 
 cipation, to that which is cherished by its adver- 
 saries ! Blessed be God for the gospel, and that 
 that gospel has free course among us! It is 
 impossible for arithmetic to calculate, or the 
 power of numbers to declare, the amount of 
 value to be put upon this blessing ; in civil and 
 social life, it has an influence which thousands 
 are enjoying, unconscious of the source to which 
 they are indebted for it. Let that kindness, 
 sympathy, and benevolence, which divine and 
 holy truth, which the spirit and power of the 
 gospel inspire, animate our minds, and temper our 
 zeal in all the pursuits of this glorious and im- 
 portant object, till " ALL NATIONS SHALL CALL 
 
 THE Redeemer blessed.'* 
 Let us now consider. 
 
35 
 
 III. What can be done for the Negro po- 
 pulation? What can we do? 
 
 What would Nehemiah say ? '' Let us leave 
 
 OFF THIS USURY." 
 
 If it be usury to receive produce in such 
 a manner as deserves reproach, never was 
 usury more justly applied than in the pre- 
 sent case. Let us, then, not merely express 
 our abhorrence of the system, and grieve over 
 the sufferings of the oppressed; but let us 
 carry out our principles into actions expressive 
 of those principles — confidently asking, " Who 
 hath despised the day of small things?'' The 
 community is made up of individuals; and all 
 we have to do is, first, personal with ourselves, 
 and then influential with others; but whether 
 others will be influenced by us, or not, let us 
 " wash our hands in innocencyf '' Let us leave 
 off this usury" 
 
 Success in this cause is as certain as that the 
 gospel will ultimately triumph; for Slavery and 
 Christianity are incompatible. Just as dark- 
 ness flees before the orb of day ; so Slavery must 
 disappear, in proportion as the gospel extends 
 its triumphs. Jehovah has said, " My word 
 shall not return unto nw void: but it shall accom- 
 plish that which I please, and prosper in the thing 
 whereto I sent it" We have the word of God— 
 
36 
 
 we have truth and justice with us ; let us anti- 
 cipate a triumphant result. 
 
 " Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees, 
 Relies on that alone ; 
 Laughs at impossibilities, 
 
 And says — It shall be done." 
 
 It may here be very properly enquired. How 
 may success be expected? We answer, there 
 are two ways in which it may be expected; the 
 one, which we deprecate, is that of violence; the 
 other, which we recommend, is that of kindness. 
 Of the excitement of the Slaves to seek, by all 
 possible means, their liberation, no man can, for 
 a moment, doubt ; if their feelings should continue 
 to be made the subject of protracted cruelty and 
 indifference. They already know that the pater- 
 nal government of England has expressed a wish, 
 which the colonial authorities have resisted. They 
 ^' neighbour upon states which are breaking off 
 their connexion with European powers, and 
 emancipating their brethren;" while the free dis- 
 cussion of the subject at home, by means of the 
 press, undoubtedly reaches them, in various ways ; 
 and would any Christian man wish that discussion 
 to be perpetually withheld from them ? or can any 
 friend of man suppose, that if they are refused 
 their liberation as a boon, they will never attempt 
 
37 
 
 to claim it as a right? Whether it be wise to 
 hazard such a result, may be an important 
 question of policy ; but can be no question in the 
 mind of a Christian moralist. 
 
 But you probably begin to be anxious for the 
 question. What can we do ? 
 
 1. We can petition the legislature of our 
 country. This is our privilege — the legal, con- 
 stitutional way of proceeding. Let us adopt it 
 with energy and perseverance. What shall we 
 ask for? I would say, as an individual, ask for 
 all that you want ; — ask for their absolute and im- 
 mediate freedom. Do not weaken your cause by 
 half measures, and a delusive system of expe- 
 diency. " The difficulty is only rendered dange- 
 rous, by our own timidity in attempting it." 
 '' Truth and justice make their best way in the 
 world, when they appear in bold and simple 
 majesty; their demands are most willingly con- 
 ceded, when they are most fearlessly claimed." 
 
 The government of our country have attempted 
 much, and they are desirous of doing more. Let 
 us hold up their hands, by bold and manly deci- 
 sion. It was the public voice that carried the 
 abolition of the Slave-tradey after a struggle 
 of twenty years ; and why, it may be asked, was 
 not Slavery then abolished? Why? because the 
 friends of the measure were afraid of losing all 
 
 D 
 
38 
 
 by asking too much; and because they trusted 
 to the one as leading directly to the other. But 
 what has been done by the abolition of the Slave- 
 trade, towards the abohtion of Slavery ? Compa- 
 ratively nothing. Time has been lost, the enemy 
 threatened, whereby he has been excited to more 
 subtle policy, and deeper schemes of opposition. 
 
 '' It would," indeed, " have been well ;" it will 
 Tiow be well, to confide more in the goodness of 
 the cause ; to depend more upon divine, and less 
 upon human support; to assert the rights of 
 Africa, " with more of the spirit of Christian 
 combatants, and less of worldly politicians;" 
 remembering that it is a conflict of sacred duty 
 against sordid interest, and of right against power. 
 Let us not be discouraged; the feebleness of the 
 instrument is no ground of fear in the cause- of 
 God, of truth, and of humanity: " the race is 
 not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; for 
 it is 7iot hy might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, 
 saith the Lord" 
 
 As to immediate abolition, I firmly believe it 
 would be safe and prosperous. An American 
 gentleman (one of the Society of Friends, who 
 are always alive to the interests of humanity and 
 benevolence) became possessed of a small estate, 
 on which there were Slaves, as part of the pro- 
 perty. He instantly granted to them their liberty. 
 
39 
 
 and employed them as free servants in the cultiva- 
 tion of the produce. After twenty years, the 
 report of that estate said that the population upon 
 it had been doubled, and that not a single instance 
 had occurred among them of any offence that 
 called for the interference of the magistrate. 
 
 The v^^hole Island of St. Domingo is another 
 case well known to the public ; and in fact the 
 enemies of the measure may be safely challenged 
 to produce an authentic instance of liberated Slaves 
 having abused their freedom. No instance is re- 
 corded. It is really distressing to contemplate 
 the subject, after so many years of delay and 
 cruelty, as still only a distant and gradual process. 
 Must the whole of the present generation die in 
 slavery ? Let us ask for the liberty of all. Who 
 can tell, if the friends of truth and humanity are 
 firm and persevering, but God may put it into the 
 hearts of the Legislature to ^' do even more than 
 we ash or thinJc T 
 
 The following passage from the pages of an 
 anonymous pamphlet, that reflects a lasting ho- 
 nour upon the writer, is at least worthy of serious 
 consideration here, as a forcible application of that 
 Scripture, ^^ Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, 
 do it with thy might" 
 
 " By converting the cry for immediate into 
 gradual emancipation, the prince of slaveholders 
 
40 
 
 * transformed himself, with astonishing dexterity, 
 into an angel of light.' He saw very clearly, that 
 if public justice and humanity, especially, if 
 Christian justice and humanity, could be brought 
 to demand only a gradual extermination of the 
 enormities of the slave system ; — if they could be 
 brought to acquiesce, but for one year, or for one 
 month, in the slavery of our African brother, — in 
 robbing him of all the rights of humanity, — and 
 degrading him to a level with the brutes ; — that 
 then, they could imperceptibly be brought to ac- 
 quiesce in all this for an unlimited duration. He 
 saw, very clearly, that the time for the extermina- 
 tion of Slavery, was precisely that, when its horrid 
 impiety and enormity were first distinctly known 
 and strongly felt. He knew, that every moment's 
 unnecessary delay, between the discovery of an 
 imperious duty, and the setting earnestly about 
 its accomplishment, was dangerous, if not fatal to 
 success. He knew, that strong excitement was 
 necessary to strong effort; — that intense feeling 
 was necessary to stimulate intense exertion ; — 
 that, as strong excitement and intense feeling are 
 generally transient, in proportion to their strength 
 and intensity, the most effectual way of crushing 
 a great and virtuous enterprise, was to gain time, 
 to defer it to ' a more convenient season,' when the 
 zeal and ardour of the first convictions of duty had 
 
41 
 
 subsided ; — when our sympathies had become lan- 
 guid ; — when considerations of the difficulties and 
 hazards of the enterprise, the solicitations of ease 
 and indulgence should have chilled the warm glow 
 of humanity, — quenched the fervid heroism of 
 virtue ; — when familiarity with relations of violence 
 and outrage, crimes and miseries, should have 
 abated the horror of their first impression, and 
 at length induced indifference." 
 
 But immediate emancipation, it is said, involves 
 the question of i^emuneration. If this be a matter 
 of national honour, on the faith of Parliament, let 
 the case be fairly put ; and if justice is to be the 
 line of direction, '^ let justice take her free and 
 impartial course— let compensation be made in the 
 first instance, where it is most due — let compensa- 
 tion be first made to the slave, for his long years 
 of uncompensated labour, degradation, and suf- 
 fering." If this be too much to expect in any 
 other form, at least, let the sense of justice appear 
 in the more prompt and kind attention to the relief 
 of their woes — let us not attempt, only by insult and 
 indifference, to wipe out the long arrears of justice. 
 
 With respect, however, to the slave proprietor, 
 I am far from wishing to urge a single step that 
 should seem to indicate resentment towards them, 
 or unconcern about their interests. As a minister 
 of Him ^^ wh) gave his life a ransom for rrmnyl' I 
 
42 
 
 would be forward to recommend any legitimate 
 sacrifice in support of our petitions, and I doubt 
 not that the friends of humanity and religion 
 would be willing to take their share in an honour- 
 able compensation. The connexion of Slavery 
 with our character as a Christian nation is a 
 reproach upon our profession, and a stumbling- 
 block to the progress of the Gospel. Let us 
 follow up the consistency of Nehemiah, (verse 9.) 
 ^' It is not good that ye do: Ought ye not to walk 
 in the fear of our God because of the reproach 
 of the Jieathen our enemies? I pray you let us 
 leave off this usury" 
 
 The latest intelligence, my friends, which has 
 been received from the Colonies, make it but too 
 evident that all hopes of success, by recommenda- 
 tion and entreaty to the Colonial legislators, are 
 vain. Our cause is thus rendered the more clear 
 and plain, — Parliament must be urged to pursue 
 their course ; and " I trust that the voice of the 
 nation will be raised, from north to south, and from 
 east to west, in favour of 800,000 of our fellow-men, 
 whose proprietors now hold, and would continue to 
 hold for ever, in the most miserable thraldom." 
 
 If immediate emancipation cannot be obtained, 
 let us ask for a reduction of duties upon the pro- 
 duce of free labour ; but whether this be granted 
 or not, let us. 
 
43 
 
 2. At all the sacrifice, substitute the East India 
 produce for that of the West. By this means we 
 may, at least, relieve our own minds from all un- 
 comfortableness arising from a participation in the 
 produce of Slave labour. It is not only necessary 
 to petition — something must be done as well as 
 said. About thirty years ago the use of West 
 India sugar (which is the chief article of Slave 
 labour) was extensively given up, and doubt- 
 less had a powerful effect upon the question 
 of the Slave-trade, as evincing the feeling of the 
 nation — to this we must again resort* ; all other 
 means have been tried to little or no purpose ; and 
 I confess, that while I feel the fullest confidence in 
 the government on this question, I am far from 
 being disposed to trust the question of Colonial 
 Slavery solely in the hands of the ^' hundred and 
 ninety-three honourable members of Parliament, 
 who, in the last session, voted that the Missionary 
 Smith did not suffer more than he deserved." 
 
 The operation of that practical proceeding to 
 which we have adverted, will, I understand, in no 
 way injure the personal condition of the Slaves; 
 the proprietors are too much alive to their own 
 interest to suffer them to be depreciated, when by 
 
 * It is hoped that the views taken of the subject in this dis- 
 course will be an answer to the aspersion, that the proposal is 
 an artifice of East India merchants. 
 
44. 
 
 the process of free labour they may employ them 
 to greater advantage. 
 
 As to the danger apprehended, from immediate 
 emancipation, to the lives of the white population, 
 this savours too much of the cowardice of guilt to 
 be worth much attention. Is it in the nature of 
 things, that when blessings are bestowed, and a stu- 
 dious attention is paid to their best interests, that 
 massacre and bloodshed are to be expected ? and is 
 there no civil power, and no Divine Providence on 
 which to rely in such a season of mercy ? It is the 
 province of guilt alone, to ''fear where no fear isl' 
 — '' the wicked fleeth when no man pursuethr 
 We come now to the last point : viz. — 
 3. Let us send them the Gospel, and earnestly 
 pray for its success. Thus we shall be rendering 
 them the most effectual and important service. 
 The Gospel will proclaim to them — 
 
 " I A liberty unsung 
 
 By poets, and by senators unpraised ; 
 Which monarchs cannot grant, nor all the powers 
 Of earth and hell confederate take away : 
 A liberty, which persecution, fraud, 
 Oppression, prisons, have no power to bind. 
 Which whoso tastes can be enslaved no more." 
 
 ^* If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be 
 free indeed" 
 
 By instituting among them the blessing of a 
 
45 
 
 preached Gospel — planting the standard of the 
 cross, and unfurhng the banner of peace — the 
 best security will be given for the safety of the 
 Colonies, and the best redress will be offered for 
 their long neglected and aggravated wrongs — a re- 
 turn will be made, at once the most valuable to them, 
 and the most important to the proprietors, while it 
 will aid the great and scriptural design of sending 
 the Gospel " to every kindred, tongue and people" 
 (e Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in 
 the desert a high-way for our God, Every valley 
 shall he exalted, and every mountain and hill shall 
 be made low; and the crooked shall be made 
 straight, and the rough places plain: and the 
 glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all 
 FLESH shall see it together : for the mouth of the 
 Lord hath spoken it" ' 
 
 But it is more than to be feared, that this reli- 
 gious object, this spiritual design, is not unconnected 
 with the secret of that opposition which has- been 
 manifested in the West India Colonies ; and has 
 not this secret been too much overlooked in con- 
 nexion with this cause ? Is not the bitterest per- 
 secution levelled against the Gospel of Christ ? 
 Have not the West India planters — the Houses of 
 Assembly — assumed the language, the to7ie, the 
 attitude of avQwed hostility to the cause of Chris- 
 
 E 
 
46 
 
 tian missions * ? Is it not here that all this spirit 
 of oppression and of wrong is seated ? They 
 have, indeed, done well ; they put an honour upon 
 the Gospel of Christ, in that they have connected 
 the doctrine of emancipation from Slavery with the 
 doctrine of the Cross. If it be the duty of the 
 disciples of Christ to send the Gospel '^ into all 
 the world" I ask, whether it be possible to do so 
 in a land where the very first principles of that 
 Gospel may not be uttered ? where it is necessary 
 to prune away from the New Testament all " the 
 offence of the cross," — all that is unwelcome to 
 interested proprietors and cruel oppressors ? What 
 would be left, if thus the testimony of God were 
 accommodated to " tJie heart of man, which is at 
 enmity with God 9 " Brethren, '^ the word of God 
 is not bound," it must have ^' free course to he 
 glorified'" and woe be to that man who shall 
 abridge his commission to preach that Gospel, in 
 all \he fulness and in all the freeness of its sal- 
 vation — " TO EVERY CREATURE." 
 
 * Instances. — The case of the martyred Smith. The de- 
 struction of the chapel at Barbadoes, and the dehberation of 
 the House of Assembly at Barbadoes, April 5, 1825. The 
 Governor of Demerara told the Missionary, when applying 
 for permission to instruct the Slaves in the duties of religion, 
 that he " would banish any man who presumed to teach the 
 Slaves to read / / " 
 
47 
 
 Our authority in this glorious cause is infinitely 
 superior to all the authority of opposition to it ; 
 and while we have friends in the cabinet of our 
 beloved Sovereign, and in the Parliament of our 
 country, let it be remembered, that we have a 
 greater Friend above, " who sitteth at the right 
 hand of God, making intercession for us:'' to 
 Him let us first and constantly look ; in Him let 
 us trust, for ^' all power is given to him in heaven 
 and in earths At the same time, we must " work 
 while it is day ;" we must give ourselves prac- 
 tically, humbly, firmly, and perseveringly, to the 
 undertaking. ^' Watchfulness without prayer," 
 says St. Agustine, '^ is atheism ; and prayer with- 
 out watchfulness is presumption." " This,'' said 
 our Saviour, '' ought ye to have done, and not left 
 the other undone," ^' If ye know these things, 
 happy are ye if ye do them." 
 
 In connexion with the spirit and the habit of 
 earnest prayer, let us also bear in mind the in- 
 fluence of our country, and seek its highest honour 
 and prosperity in the right application of its power : 
 
 " England ! the nations know thy voice, 
 'Tis thine to make the awful choice : 
 'Tis thine to bid a world rejoice, 
 Or close the gates of liberty ! ! " 
 
 FINIS. 
 
LONDON : 
 
 RICHARD CLAY, PRINTER, 
 BISHOPSGATE, 
 
HTllt5 
 
871780 
 
 ^/•*' 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
\ 'l