IVIMEY'S
LECTURE
COLONIAI, SLAVERY.
Price 2s. 6d.
\
THE UTTER EXTINCTION OF SLAVERY AN OBJECT
OF SCRIPTURE PROPHECY:
LECTURE
THE SUBSTANCE OF WHICH WAS DELIVERED AT THE ANNUAL MEETING
OF THE
CHELMSFORD
LADIES' ANTI-SLAVERY ASSOCIATION,
IN THE FRIEND'S MEETING-HOUSE,
On TUESDAY, the 17th of APRIL, 1832:
WILLIAM KNIGHT, ESQ. TREASURER, IN THE CHAIR.
With Elucidatory Notes.
BY
JOSEPH IVIMEY,
A MEMBER OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY.
DEDICATED TO WILLIAM WILBERFORCE, ESQ.
" LIBERTY IS THE WORD WITH ME." — jTlsop.
" ABOVE ALL LIBERTY." — Seidell.
LONDON:
SOLD BY G. WIGHTMAN, PATERNOSTER ROW; MESSRS. HATCHARD,
PICCADILLY; MESSRS, SEELEY, FLEET STREET; HOLDSWORTH AND
BALL, ST. Paul's church yard; westley and co. stationers'
COURT; MASON, CITY ROAD, AND PATERNOSTER ROW; DARTON AND
H-IRVEY, GRACECHURCH STREET; J. W". CALDER, O.XFORD STREET;
AND AT THE BOOK ROOM, IN EXETER HALL.
1832.
t^C%.5'6'7^.f^ r>D.3
LONDON :
PRINTED BY J. MESSEDER, 201, HIGH HOLBORN,
TO
WILLIAM WILBERFORCE, ESQ.
Sir,
After the uniform testimony of the
world has been borne, for many years past,
to your philanthrophy toward those unhappy
beings, who are, in common parlance, desig-
nated slaves ; in consequence of your having
procured the abolition of the "trade in the
persons of men," which had, for nearly three
centuries, been the foul disgrace of the Bri-
tish nation; it cannot be deemed flattery,
that I have presumed to dedicate this Lecture
to you: and which I do with feelings of the
most profound respect and veneration. To
you, Sir, belong the highest honour, and the
most refined and exalted pleasure, which ever
any man appropriated to himself: — ''And
when the ear heard me," said the God-fearing,
most upright, and deeply-afllicted Job, " then
it blessed me; and when the eye saw rne, it gave
witness to me. Because I delivered the poor that
cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to
help him. The blessing of him that was ready to
IV
perish came upon me^ and I caused the widow's
heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness^
and it clothed me ; my judgment was as a robe
and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind, and feet
was I to the lame ; I was a father to the poor ;
and the cause which I knew not, I searched out ;
and I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked
the spoil out of his teeth" * Nor can I imagine,
after the proofs which I have experienced of
your friendship, that the freedom which I
have taken, will be deemed an offensive liber-
ty, with your much-loved 7iame, especially
when pronounced in connection with the
abolition of Slavery. -]•
Notwithstanding so much has been said
and published on the subject of Slavery, I
have never known any observations to have
been advanced, relating to its being clearly
pointed out in the scriptures, as one of those
evils which inspired predictions have devoted
to utter extinction. This is one reason why
I have considered it desirable to publish my
thoughts, on the certainty of that event taking
place ; and to state my opinion of the proba-
bility, from existing circumstances, that its
entire abolition is not far distant.
* Job. xxix. 12 — 17.
t See a most eloquent eulogy pronounced on Mr. Wilber-
force, by the late lamented patriot, Sir Samuel Romilly, in
the Appendix, No. 1.
Another reason is, a hope that the discus-
sion of the subject at this most eventful pe-
riod, will arrest the attention of, at least, the
pious part of the community, and lead them
to consider how necessary it is, in order to
the prosperity and salvation of the nation,
that this most crying sin should be repented
of, and put away, that we may be " « saved^
and not a destroyed people."
The NATION has been lately fasting, and
humbling itself before God, because of the
divine visitation, by a most destructive dis-
ease. It appears, at present, that the merci-
ful Jehovah, who spared Ahab, and the king-
dom of Israel, when " he humbled himself;
and who spared Nineveh, when "the king-
proclaimed a fast," and its inhabitants de-
voutly observed it; that HE is turning away
his chastising rod, by checking the awful pes-
tilence, and saying to the destroying angel —
" It is enough " Ought w^e not, then, to prove
the sincerity of our repentance, by resolving
that Slavery shall be immediately abolished
in the British colonies? Let all classes of
the PEOPLE shew the genuineness of their
professed repentance, by petitioning against
Slavery; and let our enlightened legisla-
ture, our reforming ministers, and our
beloved, patriotic and paternal monarch,
prove theirs, hy fixing a specific period^ beyond
VI
which SLAVERY ill the British colonies shall not
exist.
For the purpose of elucidating the manner
in which the " trade in the persons of men" is
at the present time, carried on by British
proprietors, I give the copy of an advertise-
ment, from the " Royal Gazette, Nassau" dated
April 23, 1831, which affords us a specimen
of the assortment of a West Indian auction!
" 0/^ Monday next, the 25th instant, at the Ven-
due-house, at ten o'clock, will be sold, — sugar,
pork, and long leaf' tobacco, candles, soap, SfC.
and a negro woman, a plain cook and house
servant, with one child! Terms — Cash at two
months credit!"
Is it possible to conceive of any transac-
tion more abhorrent to our principles and
feelings as 7nen, as Britons, and especially as
Christians, than a West Indian auction!!
How delightful the thought, then, that the
time is drawing nigh, when the voice of the
British Senate will, it is hoped, prevent other
events from proclaiming to the world, in re-
gard to those who have traded in " slaves,
and souls of men," that, " no man biiyeth their
MERCHANDIZE any more"
The crisis at which we have arrived is truly
awful, and the signs of the times are tremen-
dously alarming ; yet to the friends of human-
ity and religion most cheering and animating :
vu
the negroes in a state of dreadful discontent
and disappointment; the slave-holders, the
planters, and the colonial legislatures, in a
state of rebellion against the government;
His Majesty's ministers, doubtless most desi-
rous, and yet afraid to adopt decisive measures
to put an end to the existence of slavery ; the
nation roused to petition on behalf of their
outraged and oppressed fellow-creatures and
fellow-subjects, that their miseries may be
speedily terminated ; the House of Commons
about to be agitated by the motion of Mr.
Buxton, on the 24th instant, that immediate
emancipation might be granted. O that our
Noahs, our Daniels, and our Jobs, men
mighty in prayer; and some Moses, fervent
in supplication, might be found stretching out
his hands toward heaven, with some Aaron
and HuR to stay his sinking arms; may unite
in earnest supplication, that whilst the army
of Israel is struggling with Amalek in the
plain, the God of heaven, who has always
heard "the cry of the humble,'' and hath
" never said to the seed of Jacob, Seek ye my
face in vain! " might now arise out of his
place, and giye them a decided victory — a
glorious triumph! Then we will erect an al-
tar, and inscribe upon it, " jEHovAH-mss?:
the Lord is our banner; " — " His right hand,
and his holy arm hath gotten him the vie-
Vlll
tory/' " Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but
to thy name we give the glory, for thy mercy
and for thy truth's sake,"
That you, Sir, may at the close of your
most useful life, and in your retirement
from the bustle of worldly business, enjoy all
the rich consolations of the gospel of Christ,
the influence of which you have, for so long a
period, experimentally known and practically
demonstrated, by your sympathetic and bene-
volent exertions to ameliorate and terminate
the sufferings of the enslaved African ; — and
that you may be spared " a little longer, that
you may recover your strength, before you go
hence and be no more seen " ; and thus be
able to join in, and enjoy the complete tri-
umph of your labours, in witnessing the
emancipation of all the sons and daughters
of Africa, in all the colonies of Britain,
and of Europe, and of America! and of
the WORLD, is the devout prayer, and ardent
wish of,
Sir,
Your obliged friend,
and obedient Servant,
JOSEPfl IVIMEY.
51, Devonshire Street, Queen Square.
May 7, 1832.
A LECTURE
^c ^e.
Mr. Chairman,
Being a member. Sir, of the Committee
of " the Anti-slavery Society," I have, at the
request of ^*the Agency Committee," of which I
am also a member, visited Chelmsford, for the
purpose of delivering a Lecture on the evils of
Colonial Slavery: Desirous of promoting, in
every way within my power, the objects of that
philanthropic and useful Society, I have obeyed
their call.
I feel that I shall find a difficulty in speaking,
because I entertain such deep feelings of com-
passion and commiseration for those distressed
creatures, the negroes, as will prevent me from
giving full utterance to the dictates of my heart.
It is not a matter of speculation respecting which
I speak: there are a thousand subjects to which
I might refer, which would not much interest the
feelings; but while I am now speaking, I know
that my fellow-creatures in the British colonies
are perishing.
In this engagement, I consider myself as acting
in accordance with an inspired command : " Open
thy mouth for the dumb, in the cause of all such as
are appointed for destruction. Open thy mouth, judge
righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and
jieedyT * The enslaved negroes cannot speak for
themselves : I speak in their stead, and on their
behalf; and who, that " judgeth righteously," but
will admit that they are " poor and needy," and
" appointed for destruction" ; — not because either
they, or their fathers, brought on themselves this
destitution, by their indolence, or their extrava-
gance ; or by their intemperate habits ; but they
thus suffer, on account of their masters having
unrighteously oppressed them ; and because the
British Government has failed in putting forth its
might, to protect and deliver them ! Was it not
the admitted duty of the government of a free
people to have done this, at the time when the
criminality of the practice was fully acknow-
ledged, by the abolition of the Slave Trade? And
is it not the duty of our present government, in-
stantly to abolish it ? If all the measures of ame-
lioratio7ij (and for which the friends of the slaves
should be thankful) lately sent out, in the ** Orders
of Council," to the Governors of the Crown Colo-
nies in the West Indies, were to be carried into
full effect, which it is not rational to expect will
be the case, since those to whom the execution of
them is committed, are too deeply involved, to
* Prov. xxxi. 8, 9.
admit of equal justice towards the negroes, whom
they consider as their property ! the inherent evils
of Slavery will still exist; nor can the miseries
entailed on the negro population be prevented,
but by the extinction of the system itself: and this
the British Legislature alone can effectually ac-
complish! Was it not an act of wisdom, as
regarded its own interests, in the liox, though
the lord of the forest, not to stain its noble cha-
racter, but to withdraw its heavy paw from the
oppressed, complaining, and insignificant mouse ? *
And may not the period arrive, when even the
British lion may need, for the safety of the na-
tion,or, at least, for the safety of its colonies, the
friendship and help of its most despised subjects:
the now enslaved, and persecuted negroes? who
will doubtless repay, by their gratitude, such an
act of mercy. True Policy, as well as strict
Justice, demand, that the injunction of God to
Israel should be observed by our rulers, " to loose
the bands of tvickedness, to undo the heavy burdens,
and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break
every yoke"'\ Humanity also pleads, that this
divine injunction be immediately regarded, as
much for the safety of the white inhabitants, as for
the effectual amelioration of the condition of the
negroes themselves.
The subject of Slavery, or of man being
claimed as property by his fellow-man, has been
* iEsop's Fables, No. 31. t Isaiah Iviii. 6.
B 2
4
discussed under a variety of considerations, and
its injustice and cruelty most properly exposed,
by many of our distinguished countrymen; but by
Done, in more expressive and suitable language,
than our immortal poet, Milton. His heart, which
alv/ays beat high on the subject of Liberty, was
full of indignation against Slavery, when he penned
the following graphic lines: —
*' O, execrable son! so to aspire
Above his brethren, he himself assuming-
Authority usurped from God, not given:
He g-ave us only over beast, flesh, fowl,
Dominion absolute ; that rig-ht we hold
By his donation ; but man over men
He made not lord ; such title to himself
Reserving", human left from human free."
The view which I am about to give of this
frightful subject, has never yet, so far as I am
aware, been taken. It is, however, the only view
of it which can afford us any pleasure, and that
is, '* The utter extinction of Slavery an
OBJECT OF Scripture Prophecy." The prophecy
which I refer to, will be found in the book of the
Revelation, the 18th chapter, the 11th and 13th
verses: — "And the merchants of the earth
SHALL weep and MOURN,.. FOR NO MAN BUYETH
THEIR MERCHANDIZE ANY MORE:. .THE MERCHAN-
DIZE 0F..BEASTSj and SHEEP, AND HORSES, AND
SLAVES, AND SOULS OF MEN."
I shall divide the Lecture into two parts : the
first. As to the origin of Colonial Slavery, and the
present condition of those wretched beings, who
are called slaves, in the West India Islands : the
second, As to the certainty of the utter extinc-
tion of this horrid system, and the probable
means by which that event will be effected.
I. I commence the discussion, as to the origin
of Colonial Slavery, by adopting the language of
an apologist for it: Bryan Edwards, in his
" History of the West Indies," published in 1793,
calls his work, in so far as it has reference to
Slavery, " The contemplation of human nature, in
its most debased and abject state; the sad prospect
of 450,000 reasonable beings, in a state of bar-
barity and slavery: of whom," he adds, " I will
not say the major part, but great numbers as-
suredly, have been torn from their native country,
and dearest connections, by means which no good
mind can reflect upon, but with sentiments of dis-
gust, commiseration, and horror." *
As I shall confine myself to our own colonies,
and to the guilt which Britain has contracted, in
this infamous merchandize, I give the history of
its commencement, in the words of the same his-
torian, because it is proper that the names of our
wretched countrymen, who were its first perpe-
trators, should be branded with all the public
opprobrium to which they are entitled, and whom,
had they been judged according to divine law,
Exodus xxi. 16, it would have prevented the
* Edwards's History of the West Indies, vol. ii, 34.
6
flowing of oceans of human blood, " He that steal-
eth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his
hand, he shall surely be put to death.""
Edwards says, " Of the English, the first who
is known to have been concerned in this com-
merce, was the celebrated John Hawkins, who
was afterwards knighted by Queen Elizabeth, and
made treasurer of the navy. Having made several
voyages to the Canary Islands, and there received
information, (says Hackluyt, a contemporary his-
torian), that negroes were very good merchan-
dize in Hispaniola, and that store of negroes
might be easily had on the coast of Guiney, he
resolved to make trial thereof, and communicated
that device, with his worshipful friends of London,
Sir Lionel Ducket, Sir Thomas Lodge, Master
GuNsoN, his father-in-law, Sir William Winter,
Master Bloomfield, and others: all which per-
sons liked so well his intention, that they became
liberal contributors and adventurers in the action;
for which purpose there were three good ships
provided : the Salomon, of 120 tunnes, wherein
Master Hawkins himself went, as general; the
Swallow, of 100 tunnes; and the Jonas, a bark of
20 tunnes; in which small fleet. Master Hawkins
took with him a hundred men."
" Hawkins sailed from England for Sierra
Leone, in the month of October, 1562, and," says
Hackluyt, " in a short time after his arrival upon
the coast, got into his possession, by the sword,
and partly by other means, three hundred ne-
groes." In his second voyage, he landed at a
small island, called Alcatrasa, with eighty men,
supplied with arms and ammunition for effecting
their demoniacal purpose ; but as the natives fled,
on their approach, into the woods, they were dis-
appointed of their intended prey. ** But," says
Edwards, "a short time after, we find this rigJi-
teous commander at one of the islands which are
called Samhula. ' In this island,' writes one who
sailed with him, ' we staid certain days, going
every day on shore to take the inhabitants, with
burning and spoiling their towns.' In regard to
Hawkins himself," adds Edwards, " I admit he
was a robber. His avowed purpose in sailing to
Guiney, was to sieze by stratagem, or force, and
carry away the unsuspecting natives, in the view
of selling them as slaves to the people of Hispa-
niola. In this pursuit, his object was present
profit, and his employment and pastime, desola-
tion and murder."
Lest it should appear, from the circumstance
of the queen having afterwards knighted this in-
famous wretch, that she approved of his practices,
it is proper to remark, that, according to Hill,
the naval historian, she was deceived by Hawkins,
thinking that the poor Africans were taken from
their homes with their own consent, for the pur-
pose of being employed, not as slaves, but as/ree
labourers in the Spanish colonies. Hill says, the
queen ** expressed her concern lest any of the
Africans should be carried off without their free
consent, in which case she declared it would be
detestable, and call down the vengeance of heaven
upon the undertakers."
In the reigns of Charles I. and Charles II., we
find that British settlements were formed in the
West Indies, and that, at home, joint-stock com-
panies were chartered, to supply them with
slaves. In 1662, a charter was obtained from
Charles II. for the ** Royal African Company," in
which many persons of high rank and distinction
were incorporated, and at its head was the king's
brother, the Duke of York, afterwards James II.
This company undertook to supply the West India
colonies with three hundred negroes annually. (A.)
According to this engagement, supposing it to
have been fulfilled, more than 10,000 human
beings must, before the end of this century, have
been seized, and carried ofi" from their native
country ; besides those who must have perished
in the wars raised, or encouraged, in order to their
being procured; and those also who must have
died in their passage from Africa to the West
Indies.
It appears that this abominable traffic was car-
ried on with the characteristic energy of British
merchants, in the next century: Edwards says,
*' I state it on sufficient evidence, having in my
possession all the entries, that the number im-
ported into Jamaica alone, from 1700 to 1786, was
610,000! and the total import into all the British
colonies, for the same period, may be put at
0
2,130,000! Ill one year, 1771, there sailed from
England to the coast of Africa, 192 ships, provided
for carrying 47,146 negroes! In the year 1789,
there were in Jamaica," he says, "250,000 ne-
groes, which, reckoned at £50. sterling each,
were worth twelve millions and a half of money ;
and that these were employed in cultivating seven
hundred and ten sugar plantations " ! Add to this
number, the thousands imported during the next
twenty years before the period when the cele-
brated bill was passed, (B.) for the abolition of
this trade in "slaves, and souls of men " and to
these maybe added, all the children who have
been born of these wretched persons, during the
twenty-six years which have since elapsed; and
who can calculate, or even guess, the total
amount — the aggregate number of human beings,
who have been thus subjugated by British cupid-
ity and injustice, to endure such enormous and
multiplied wrongs. Ought we not, as a nation,
to adopt the impassioned language of Jeremiah,
" when the prophet wept for Israel, and wished
his eyes had infinite supplies," and say, in regard
to our guilty native country: — " O, that mine head
were waters, and mine eyes fountains of tears, that I
might weep day and night for the slain of the daugh-
ter of my peopled It is impossible to feel suffici-
ently humble, for the guilt which our nation has
contracted with regard to the crime of Colonial
Slavery.
10
I proceed to give some account oUhe present state
of Slavery in the British Colonies. And, let it be re-
membered, that instead of there being 250,000
negroes in Jamaica, as in 1789, there were, a short
time since, 331,000, — a frightful increase in thirty-
three years of 81,000. And in all our colonies, at
the present time, there are 755,301 of our fellow
men wearing the galling chains. This statement is
according to the latest returns of the numbers in
sixteen colonies, there having been a decrease in
the sugar colonies, on an average of eleven years,
of 55,205. (C.) O, who can calculate what priva-
tions, what sighs, what miseries must have been
endured, to produce such a diminution of human
life in so short a time ! These are called by their
hard-hearted masters, their slaves, and their 'Megal
property," (D) but I call them British <y?^/^'ec^5, and
charge those, who hold them in bondage, with ty-
ranny and oppression, in depriving them of the
right which they have to their own bodies; of the
right which they have to the protection of law for
their persons and property, and to which they
are entitled. It was a glorious decision of
British judges, in Westminster Hall, in May,
1772, that " as soon as a slave sets his foot on
English soil he becomes free." And, 1 doubt not,
but the animating sentiment, " A slave cannot
breathe in England," will, within a short period,
be applied to all the subjects of the British crown !
and it will be said, with increased delight, '* A
slave cannot breathe in the British Colonies:'' so
11
that, perhaps, I may yet live long enough to wit-
ness, that wherever the power of Britain is felt,
there her meixy will be also enjoyed.
It may, I know be said, in opposition to this
statement, that human enactments have been
made in support of holding men in bondage.
Yes, I admit that the colonial legislatures in the
West Indies have done so, — though I deny that
the British Parliament have ever passed any law
to make slavery constitutional : and, if it had, I
should still contend, no human laws cqin make
that to be lawful and right which is in itself es-
sentially wrong; as every thing must necessarily
be, which is in its nature opposed to the revealed
will of God. Would a legislative act, for in-
stance, declaring murder to be no crime, super-
sede the divine command, " Thou shalt do no
murder," — or lawfully exempt a murderer from
the penalty attached to the crime, *' Whoso shed-
deth mans blood by man shall his blood be shed."
Gen. ix. 6.
I insist, then, that a 7nan cannot be justly de-
prived of his natural rights, which, according to
Paley,* are, **a right to his life, limbs, and li-
berty; his right to the produce of his own personal
labour, and to the use, in common with others,
of air, light, and water. If a thousand persons,"
says that enlightened writer, ''from a thousand
different parts of the world, were to be cast toge-
ther upon a desart island, they would from the
* Moral Philosophy.
12
first be every one entitled to those rights." And
our great constitutional lawyer, Blackstone,* re-
marks, "The absolute rights of man, considered
as a free agent, endowed with discernment to
know good from evil, and with power of choosing
those measures which appear to him most desira-
ble, are usually summed up in one general appel-
lation, and denominated the natural liberty of
mankind. This natural liberty consists, properly,
in a power of acting as one thinks fit, without
any constraint or control, unless by the law of
nature, being a right inherent in us by birth, and
one of the gifts of God to man at his creation,
when he endued him with the faculty of free-will.
But every man, when he enters into society, gives
up a part of his natural liberty, as the price of so
valuable a purchase; and in consideration of
receiving the advantages of mutual commerce,
obliges himself to conform to those laws which
the community has thought proper to establish.
Those rights which God and nature have esta-
blished, and are, therefore, called natural rights,
— such as life and liberty, — need not the aid of
human laws to be more effectually invested in
every man than they are ; neither do they receive
any additional strength when declared by the
municipal laws to be inviolable. On the con-
trary, no human legislature has power to abridge
or destroy them, unless the owner himself shall
commit some act which shall amount to a forfei-
t Commentaries.
13
ture. The first and primary end of all human
laws, is, to maintain and regulate these absolute
rights to all individuals." (E.)
It seems necessary that we should lay down
such principles as are incontrovertible, when we
plead that every man has a natural right to free-
dom, but surely I need not stop to shew that Sla-
very violates all these natural rights : for no one
will undertake to prove, that the colonial popu-
lation have voluntarily consented to be deprived
of the exercise of these rights, or that they have
committed any crime which amounts to a for-
feiture of them. Besides, the greater part of
them were born in this degraded condition, and
were, therefore, prospectively deprived of rights
which they never could have forfeited ; this, too,
applies to all their unborn children, so long as the
parents are held in their present state of bond-
age. O, the cruel system of Colonial Slavery!
Can it be justified on the principle that the negro
has a skin of a different complexion to that of his
tyrant lord ? Surely this is no crime! Is it on
this account, ye white tyrants, (for so I should
call them, if I were in the presence of these op-
pressors of their fellow-men) that the produce
of his labour is not his own ; that the property in
his own body is not his own; that his wife and
children do not belong to him but to his tyrant
oppressor? O, the heartless wretch, who treats
his fellow-man as he would his horse, or his dog",
or with greater brutality ! If he be "a wa?? and
14
a brother y'' then every one of the 75,000 negroes in
our colonies has a just right to his liberty, to his
limbs, to the produce of his own labour, and to
all the immunities of a British subject, of '* a
man and a brother T I rejoice that the trade in
man, as mere goods and chattels, has been, by
British justice suppressed, so that no British ship
can be employed in this infamous traffic, even in
Africa ; and that to purchase a man is felony.
And I ardently hope, the time is not far distant,
when a similar law will be passed, with regard to
the British colonies; that persons will no longer
be able to buy and sell their fellow-men, as they
now do by thousands. It is affecting to think,
after all the benevolent labours of Clarkson and
Wilberforce, and other great friends of humanity,
for the abolition of the Slave Trade, that it should
still be carried on, to as great, and perhaps to a
greater, extent than ever — not by the British, but
by the French, the Portuguese, and the Spaniards.
It makes one's heart ache, to know that such
miseries are perpetrated, and that in spite of all
our exertions, and of the tears, the agonies, and
the groans of the suffering thousands of our fellow-
mortals, who are every year kidnapped, and sold
into perpetual slavery.
I was going to apologize for being so warm,
but it is a subject, respecting which, if we do not
feel, and strongly feel, we ought never to appear
as the advocates of the Anti Slavery Cause. I
think I shall never feel ashamed, when a person
15
says to me, ** You are very warm"; but I should
be ashamed, if I were not so, when I talk about
my fellow-creatures being murdered by their
heartless tyrants. I have made use of some hard
words, but I recollect a passage in Bishop Bur-
nett's " History of his own Times," respecting a
person who had spoken very strongly against
popery; and when called to account for so doing,
he replied, "I will tell you why I used those
words — it was because I could find no stronger to
use." And the reason why I make use of the
word tyrant is, because I know not of a more ex-
pressive word for the idea, or I would use it.
Our excellent poet, Cowper, whose heart burned
with honest indignation against the horrors of the
slave trade, when speaking of the Bastile at Paris,
says, (and I shall apply it to the slave-holder) —
*' The sig-hs and groans of miserable men,
Are music such as suits your sovereign ears:
There's not an English heart that would not leap
To hear that ye were fallen at last \"
But I take still another step, and charge */«z;en/
with being at direct variance with the principles
OF THE British Constitution. By the consti-
tution I mean those statutes which secure to every
subject of the empire the enjoyment of his natural
rights, in so far as is consistent with the welfare
of the whole community. We speak with rap-
ture of the rights of the people of England, be-
cause in most other countries formerly, with the
exception of America, and now of France, the
16
liberties of the people are either debased or de-
stroyed. *' And these rights" says Blackstone^
" may be reduced to three primary articles^ the
right of personal security ; the right of personal
liberty; and the n^Ai of private property T Was
it not for the purpose of securing to us these
rights that our noble ancestors struggled for, and
obtained "Magna Charta," in Runnymede?
Was it not to secure us these tights, that our yet
more noble ancestors obtained the " Act of
Settlement," and the '• Bill of Rights," at the
glorious Revolution in 1688 ? Thus guaranteeing
to us and our posterity, our civil and religious
liberties ! But of vi^hat use to our miserable
brethren and fellow subjects in the Colonies are
these enactments ? What do the legislators in
the chartered Colonies care about the freedom
secured by Magna Charta? Does not Slavery set
all its regulations at defiance ? Were not a great
proportion of the negro population born subjects
of the British monarch? Are not thousands of
them the descendants of British fathers ? And
yet these sons and daughters of British freemen
are suffered to endure the most grievous wrongs,
deprived of all their inalienable rights, and that
too in the name of the British nation, and by the
sanction and connivance of the British goviern-
ment! But will it be said, that the West India
legislatures have described the slave, and pre-
scribed regulations for him, as one who has no
natural, no constitutional rights? that he is not to
17
liave " freedom, even by sufferance, and at will
of a superior!" But from what part or parcel of
the laws of the parent state did these colonial
senators! derive power to make such oppressive
enactments? It has been asked,* and I repeat
the question, " Was it not an express condition
in all the charters which empowered the colonies
to make laws for themselves, that the laws and
statutes to be made under them are not to be
repugnant to, but as near as may be agreeable to
the laws and statutes of this our kingdom of Great
Britain."')' But who will undertake to shew that
the colonial laws respecting Slavery, are " as
near as may be agreeable to the laws and statutes
of England V Light and darkness are not more
dissimilar; the iron bondage of the Israelites in
Egypt, and their freedom under Joshua in Canaan
were not more unlike each other! Is it not
almost beyond credibility, that such enormous
wrongs could have been inflicted by subjects of
the British Crown ? Is it not most surprising,
that the power of endurance has been for so
many ages manifested by those whom Colonial
tyrants have branded with the name of Slave ?
I said endurance: I fear it is the grovelling spirit
which vassalage is suited to produce : thus Cow-
per says :—
" Who live?, and is not weary of a life,
Exposed to manacles, deserves them well."
* Godwin's Lectures on Slavery, pag^e 103.
t Charter granted by Charles il. to Jamaica. .
C
18
What Briton is there whose heart does not
respond to the sentiments of this high-minded
Christian poet: —
" I could endure
Chains no where patiently ; and chains at home,
Where I am free by birth-right, not at all."
The chains worn by the negroes in colonies
which belong to the British Crown, must be
peculiarly galling! unless, indeed, they are re-
duced, by their oppression, below the nature and
dignity of men !
But may it not also be demonstrated, that the
state of slavery in which our fellow-men and fel-
low-subjects are held in the Colonies of the
British Empire is in direct opposition to the re-
vealed will of God in his sacred word? Was it not
a positive enactment of the Mosaic code of laws
and which, because of its moral nature, has never
been abrogated, and therefore is still binding
upon all the creatures of God : " He that stealeth
a man, and selleth him, or if he found in his hand,
he shall surely be put to death."" Impious attempt
to place the African negro beyond the pale of
divine law ! How shocking, that so many of our
countrymen should, on the coast of Africa, have
been " men stealers,'''' and that so many of them
should act the part of those who are the pur-
chasers of stolen property; but, as by human
laws, "The receiver is as bad as the thief," so
the laws of heaven regards the kidnapping villain
19
who stole his brother man, and the mammon-
worshipping devotee who holds him in bondage,
in the same point of light ; both being the trans-
gressors of His laws, and amenable to His righ-
teous justice!
Infamous men, who having superciliously de-
cided, without the shadow of reason, that the
negro, because of his sable hue, is inferior in the
scale of being to yourselves, have therefore pro-
ceeded to manacle and scourge him, and to exact
his extremest labour without pay, or just remu-
neration for his toils and sufferings? Did you
never read, '* Have we not all one Father 1 Hath
not one God created usV Did you never consider,
that *' God hath made of one blood all the nations of
theearthV Do you not know that Jehovah has
said, in reference to his creatures, whether white
or black, ** All souls are mine ! "
Nor are the spirit and declarations of the gospel
of Christ less explicit ^ in condemning the practice of
men holding property in the persons of men ! Did
not our Saviour say, *' Therefore, all things what-
soever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even
so to them; for this is the law and the prophets" *
Was such a thing ever known, as a planter being
willing to exchange conditions with his slave?
Or would any slave-holder like to be treated
exactly in the same way, and be subject to the
inconveniences of a slave : even though found in
the circumstances of Phcedrus? of whom it is
* Matthew vii. 12.
c 2
20
said, he ** had the good fortune to have the mild-
est prince that ever vi^as, for his master." No,
they know too w^ell vv^hat it is to be a slave ;
though they say it is a state of Paradise, they
would never choose it for themselves.
And does not the Saviour's representation, in
the parable of the good Samaritan, of the com-
passion due to a wretched fellow-creature, under
the character of a *' neighbour," because belong-
ing to the human family, condemn the unfeeling
brutality of those, who not only witness without
sympathy, their miserable slaves ; but inflict
those wounds, and cause that destitution, which
almost break the hearts of others ! One should
think that every slave-holder would instantly
descry his own features in the characters of the
priest and levite, and feel the blush of confusion
when he hears the Saviour, in commendation of
the benevolent Samaritan, say, "Go thou, and do
likewise! "
But, it is like attempting to prove that the sun
shines, when ** he is going forth in his mighty'' as
fully to shew how alien slavery is to Christianity,
or to attempt to set forth the glaring inconsis-
tency of those, who, while holding property in the
nerves and sinews of their fellow-creatures, yet
call themselves after the sacred name of Christ !
To all such I would earnestly say, ** Either give
up the profession of Christianity, or resolve in-
stantly to emancipate your slaves. Because these
are totally incompatible with each other, and never
21
set well upon the same person. *' A christian
slave-holder is a non-descript."
Having proved the right of the negroes in the
Colonies to the protection and privileges of British
law, I shall now produce some, facts to show how
these rights have been outraged by the cruel
punishments inflicted upon some of them, by the
stocks, the whip, the cat, the thumb-screw, the chains,
and the carcan, from that invaluable work the Anti
Slavery Reporter.* The first is an extract from the
Christian Record, published in Jamaica, No. 3.
" A female, apparently about twenty-two, was
then laid down, with her face downwards ; her
wrists were secured by cords run into nooses ;
her ancles were brought together, and placed in
another noose; the cord composing this last one
passed through a block connected with a post.
The cord was tightened, and the young woman
was thus stretched to her utmost length. The
boatswain of the workhouse, a tall athletic man,
flourished his whip four or five times round his
head, and proceeded with the punishment. The
instrument of punishment was a cat, formed of
knotted cords. The blood sprang from the
wounds it inflicted. The poor creature shrieked
in agony, and exclaimed, *' I don't deserve this ! "
She became hysterical, and continued so until the
punishment was completed. Four other delin-
quents were subsequently treated in the same
* Vol. iv. 132—135.
22
way. One was a woman thirty-six years of age ;
another a girl of fifteen ; another a boy of the
same age; and, lastly, an old woman of sixty,
who really appeared scarcely to have strength to
express her agonies by cries. The boy of fifteen,
as our informant subsequently ascertained, was a
son of the woman of thirty-six ! Painful and
melancholy as is the above detail, we know it to
be but too faithful a picture of what is transacted
from week to week, by order of the magistrates,
within those abodes of human misery and de-
gradation, the workhouses of our island."
" Look again at the case of Mr. Martin, the
overseer in the Temple Hall, at St. Andrews,
which has recently undergone investigation, and
is reported in the [Jamaica] Courant, of the 27th
of October, 1831. It was proved that the girl
Jane had been most severely flogged by him, and
confined in the stocks, although the number given
was less than thirty-nine. Setting aside the cause
which the girl alleged for this punishment, which
was shocking enough, and taking the statement
which Mr. Martin gave as to the offence she had
committed, we find that it amounted to nothing
more than a saucy answer given him."
The next case relates to a negro man, who,
though called a slave, is a respectable mechanic,
and a deacon of the Baptist church at Savannah-
le-Mar, in Jamaica, named Samuel Swiney. The
crime with which he was charged was, his having,
with his master's permission, engaged in evening
23
prayer at the house of his pastor, the Rev. Wm.
Knibb, who was absent from home. For this
crime, no other charge having been alleged, he
was sentenced by the magistrate, (the Hon. David
Finlayson, who was, at that time, Speaker of the
Jamaica House of Assembly !) to be flogged in the
workhouse, with the cart whip, and then worked
in chains on the public roads, for a fortnight; daily
passing his own house, in the sight of the workmen
employed by him. I will give the statement of this
affair in the language of Mr. Knibb. " Early on
the following morning I went to see the disgust-
ing scene that was then enacted. What my
feelings were I cannot now express, for I beheld
a fellow-creature, a respectable tradesman of his
class, stretched indecently on the earth, and
lacerated with the cart whip, and immediately
after chained to a convict, and sent to work on
the road, to gratify the prejudices of those who
hold that preaching and praying are the same,
and equally infractions of the law of Jamaica.
Whether justice has been done in this case," says
Mr. Knibb, " I leave others to determine. For
my own part, I must consider that if the law
sanctions such a conclusion, that law is an abo-
mination and a disgrace to a Christian country."
From this circumstance, might, probably, be seen
what was the cause of Mr. Knibb, and the Baptist
Missionaries, being so much disliked by the
Jamaica magistrates : they had not been courteous
enough, to bow down before these tyrants— those
24
Hamans "in the gale": they had been uncom-
promising in regard to slavery ! I am happy ta
relieve this tale of injustice and persecution, by
saying, that some benevolent persons at home, in
consequence of hearing of the unjust punishment
of this respectable person, soon after purchased
his freedom, his master making an abatement in
the price, from the respect which he bore to the
person and character of this outraged Christian
man.
The next horrible statement, relates to the co-
lony of the Mauritius, Isle of France, and is from
the Protector of Slaves' Report, No. 91, p. 175.
" On the 18th of December, 1829, Francois, be-
longing to M. Marchal, presented himself at the
Protector's Office, at three in the morning, with
his hands fastened together behind him by means
of thumb-screws, fixed so tight as to have pene-
trated the flesh quite to the bone, and caused
considerable swelling and inflammation of the
hands and arms. He also stated that another
slave, named Luff, had been punished precisely
in the same way by his master, and was now
confined in M. Marchal's premises. A surgeon
being sent for, the thumb-screws upon Francois
vv^ere filed ofl"."
The following is from an abridged account of
this case, by Lord Goderich, the Colonial Secre-
tary:— "About twenty-four days ago, Francois
negJected his work, and absented himself for a
whole day. The next day he was arrested, and
25
carried to the police, whence his master caused
him to be conveyed home, and immediately fixed
thumbscrews on his thumbs, and placed both his
feet in the stocks. At night he was taken out of
the stocks, and with the thumb-screws still on,
placed in a machine, called a Carcan, which
consists of two pillars, with a cross plank affixed
at a man's height from the ground, to which he
was attached by means of an iron collar, three
inches broad, fastened to the plank with staples
and padlocks, where he remained standing all
night, and in the morning was released, and placed
again in the stocks for the day. He was thus
treated alternately night and day for a fortnight,
when M. Marchal sent him to his plantation at
Petite Riviere, with the thumb-screws on, to be
flogged ; but being unable to use his hands, he
was sometimes fed by one of his comrades. Luff
was treated in the same manner. The thumb-
screws were screwed so tight as to cut the flesh
almost to the bone, and cause great pain. About
four days ago, Francois announced himself to be
ill, and he was taken out of the stocks and placed
in the hospital, whence last evening he had es-
caped, leaving Luff with his thumb-screws on.
M. Marchal himself put the thumb-screws on
them, and conducted them night and morning
from the carcan to the stocks.''* Could any thing
be more horrible than this ? And yet these persons,,
called slaves, are the subjects of Great Britain I
* Anti-slavery Reporter, voL iv. 401.
26
When I contemplate these horrid, and, except-
ing in some of the British colonies, unequalled acts
of cruelty, committed in the ** Isle of France," I amt
shocked to find such a similarity of character be-
tween the Britons in Jamaica, and the French in the
Mauritius. What a brutalizing system is slavery,
to transform the noble-minded Briton, and the
polite and effeminate Frenchman, into tygers and
leopards ! beasts which can never be satiated with
human blood, and appear to enjoy that draught
the most, which is extracted from the heart, and
causes the most exquisite torture to their misera-
ble victims. May I not, with propriety, adopt,
in reference to such heartless cruelty as the above
cases present, the language of dying Jacob, re-
specting the brutal conduct of two of his sons:
*' Simeon and Levi are brethren: instruments of
cruelty are in their habitations. O, my soul, come
thou not into their secret ; unto their assembly, mine
honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they
slew a man, and in their self-will they digged down a
wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and
their wrath, for it was cruel. '^ *
The warm-hearted and devoted missionary, Mr.
Knibb, felt and expressed himself strongly, in the
following extract, on account of the cruelties prac-
tised upon the negroes generally, and especially
when perpetrated on the members of the church
under his care. This it would be in vain to deny.
But who that possesses the sensibilities of a ma7i,
* Genesis xlix. 5—7. .. .
27
and the sympathies of a christian, could see a fel-
low-creature so "shamefully entreated," and so
barbarously mangled with *' instruments of cru-
elty," and yet have restrained himself from speak-
ing ? A person of inordinate selfishness, might have
looked on without emotion ; and have been con-
gratulated by others, with having manifested the
prudence of wisdom: so both the priest and levite
were doubtless jorM^e;2^ men, " wise in their gene-
ration"; but they felt neither pity for the robbed
and wounded man, nor any feelings of anger
against his murderous enemies. The Samaritan,
forgot himself, and his own interests, in his all-
absorbing concern to ameliorate the condition of
his neighbour, and to emancipate him from his
perishing condition. Calmness, on such a subject,
is brutal insensibility ; caution, a participation in
the crime; and a fear of self-injury, pusillanimity
and cowardice. If impetuosity of feeling has some-
times produced rash expressions, insensibility and
unconcern about every thing which is not imme-
diately connected with self-interest, would not
only leave human misery unrelieved, but would
lead persons to employ all the little energy they
possess, in preventing or censuring those who say,
*' I refuse not to die," if thereby I may save the
lives of others.
Having made these prefatory remarks, 1 intro-
duce an extract from a letter, written by the Rev.
Wm. Knibb, dated Falmouth, November 7, 1831.
After having adverted to certain slanderous im-
28
putations cast on the negroes and their ministers,
which had long been current in Jamaica, and cir-
culated privately in Scotland, he says — "Amidst
all this reproach, the cause of Jesus is triumph-
ing; and whatever charges may be brought
against your missionaries, to the last day they
may safely appeal. Their witness is in heaven,
and their record is on high. The negroes love
you ardently, for your kindness in sending them
the gospel ; and their prayers ascend for your wel-
fare. The religion they have supports them when
enduring the oft-repeated taunt, or when groaning
under the instrument of torture ; it cheers them
in the hour of death, and enables them to look to
heaven as their eternal rest. I speak the feelings
of my experience and my heart, when I say, that
I do not believe there are a race of christians on
earth, who rely more entirely on the atonement
for salvation; or who, considering their circum-
stances, more consistently adorn the profession
they make. To them is given, also, to suffer for
his sake. I have beheld them when suffering un-
der the murderous cart whip; I have seen them
when their backs have been a mass of blood ; I
have beheld them loaded with a chain in the
streets, a spectacle to devils, to angels, and to
men ; and never have I heard one murmur — one
reproach — against their guilty persecutors. Am I
then to be told, that these people display all this
christian heroism through the influence of a piece
of paper, which they have obtained by stealing
29
*' quantum sufficit of their mastery's provisions ? ' The
man who can thus injure the distressed, I despise;
nor would I waste a moment in answering such
falsehoods, did 1 not know 1 was the servant of
the society."
Extracts similar to these might be multiplied
to an almost indefinite amount, but I will not
sicken you, by increasing these disgusting details
of miseries, which exist in those " dark places of
the earth," fitly called, "the habitations of cruelty !''
the colonies of Great Britain ! Alas ! how totally
disregarded is that divine precept, " Do justly,
and love mercy " / and how correct is the following
description of the wise man, ** So I returned, and
considered all the oppressions that are done under the
sun: and behold the tears of such as are oppressed,
and they had no comforter : and on the side of their
oppressors there was power ; but they had no comforter.
Wherefore I praised the dead which a7'e already dead,
more than the living which are yet alive!" That is,
he considered death to be a privilege, compared
with such a life of unpitied oppression, and unmi-
tigated misery! Again he says, *' If thou seest
the oppression of the poor, and violent preverting
of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at
the matter: for he that is higher than the highest
regardeth : and there be higher than they / " ** Mer-
ciful Father of the human race, thou sittest upon
thy throne judging right: *Thy way is in the
sea, and thy footsteps are not known : clouds and
darkness are round about thee; judgment and
30
justice are the habitation of thy throne/ Thou
* makest the wrath of man to praise thee, and the
remainder thereof thou wilt restrain.' We would
adore the sovereignty of thy inscrutable conduct,
in regard to the misery which thou hast righ-
teously permitted to exist, not doubting but the
Judge of the whole earth will do right ; and firmly
believing that thou wilt make the most afflictive
events subserve the accomplishment of thy merci-
ful purposes, in the universal spread of thy gospel,
and the ultimate salvation of the whole body of
thine elect people. * Why withdrawest thou thy
hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy
bosom.' * Remember the covenant, for the dark
places of the earth are full of the habitations of
cruelty. O let not the oppressed return ashamed:
let the poor and needy praise thy name. Arise,
O Lord, plead thine own cause : remember how
the foolish man reproacheth thee daily.' " Oh, that
the Father of the universe, may, in compassion,
arise, and set the enslaved negroes free. We
sometimes sing a hymn, in which there is this
expressive verse: —
" Let the Indian — let the negro —
Let the rude barbarian see
That divine and g-lorious conquest
Once obtained on Calvary :
And redemption,
Freely purchased, win the day."
II. I now come to shew, that, according to the
predictions of the sacred scriptures, Slavery will cer^
31
tainly be brought to an end; and then to mention
some of the ^probable means by which that event will be
accelerated and accomplished.
That judicious commentator, the late Rev.
Thomas Scott, remarks, when speaking of the
divine inspiration of the Bible, *' The prophecies
contained in the sacred scriptures, and which are
fulfilling to this day, fully demonstrate that they
are divinely inspired. These form a species of
perpetual miracles, which challenge the investiga-
tion of men in every age; and which, though
overlooked by the careless and prejudiced, cannot
fail of producing conviction proportioned to the
attention paid to them." *
According to the predictions of the Holy Scrip-
tures, Nijieveh hath been desolated. It was in
reference to the means which would be employed,
in its destruction, that the prophet Nahum so
sublimely represents the judgments of God upon
that wicked city : — ** The Lord hath his way in
the whirlwind, and in the storm, and the clouds are
the dust of his /ee^."f Babylon has been swept
away, as with the besom of destruction. That
description of her utter desolation by Isaiah, has
been most literally accomplished : ** And Babylon,
the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees ex-
cellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and
Gomoi^rah : it shall never be inhabited, neither shall
it be dwelt in from generation to generation ; neither
shall the Arabian pitch his tent the?'e; neither shall
* Preface to the New Testament. t Nahum i. 3.
32
the shepherds make their folds there. But wild beasts
of the desert shall lie there, and their houses shall be
full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there,
arid satyrs shall dance there ; and the wild beasts of
the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and
dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is
near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged." *
It was said, also, of Tj/re,! " And they shall de-
stroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers:
I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her
like the top of a rock. It shall be a place for the
spreading of nets in the midst of the sea ; for I have
spoken it, saith the Lord God, and it shall become a
spoil among the nations.'''' Has not this descriptive
prediction been most minutely fulfilled? It is
worthy of observation, that one of the sins of this
great maritime power was, that her merchants
'* traded in the persons of menj''^ It was this
crime that brought down the fury of God, accord-
ing to the prediction which I have just read. O,
England! England! thou modern Tyre, in wealth
and crime, especially by thy merchants — the traf-
fickers in the persons of men! tremble, lest thou,
having for so long a period — now almost three
CENTURIES, — and to such an awful extent, been
guilty of the sins of Tyre, shouldest be punished
in a similar manner. England ! repent ! repent !
Was it not predicted of Egypt, \'* It shall be the
basest of the kingdoms, neither shall it e.valt itself any
* Isaiah xiii. 19 — 22. t Ezekiel xxvi. 4, S.
§ Ezekiel xxix. 14, 15.
33
^ore among the nations, for I will diminish them, that
they shall no more rule over the nations." Do not
the past history, and the present condition of
Egypt, prove its exact accomplishment ? Did not
our Lord predict the total destruction of the city
of Jerusalem, and the temple ; and the dispersion of
the Jews among all the nations of the earth ? The
condition of Jerusalem from the time when it was
destroyed by Titus Vespasian, and the existence
of the Jews, as a people differing from all others
upon the face of the earth, are standing monu-
ments, on which is legibly inscribed, as in eternal
brass " I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass;
I have purposed it, I will also do it."" *
The argument which i found upon these histo-
rical facts, which are the demonstrative proofs of
the truth of scripture prophecy, is, — that as cer-
tainly as those predictions have been most literally
and with surprising minuteness accomplished, so
other predictions, as yet unaccomplished, shall all
be fulfilled in their season. Such are the prophe-
cies of Daniel, Paul, and John, respecting Baby-
lon, mystical Babylon! which doubtless refers to
the anti-christian church of Rome ! Her dread-
ful, sudden, and overwhelming destruction is
marked with surprizing exactness in this eigh-
teenth chapter of the Revelation : " And the mer-
chants shall weep;'' for what? ^'because no man
buyeth their merchandize any more'"' What article
of merchandize is no longer wanted in the Euro-
* Isaiah xlvi. 11.
D
34
pean markets? ''The merchandize, .of slaves,
and the souls of men:'" Then Slavery will be
extinct.
Before I expatiate on the particular prophecy,
from which my conclusion is drawn, that Slavery
will be utterly extinguished ; I shall briefly notice
some general predictions, which bear upon that
subject, and which corroborate and confirm that
conclusion, such as the following : " Yea, all kings
shall fall down before him ; all nations shall serve
him. For he shall deliver the needy when lie crieth,
the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He shall
spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of
the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit
and violence, and precious shall their blood be in his
sight.'" * When the time shall arrive, for the ful-
filment of these predictions respecting the univer-
sal dominion of the Redeemer, the bodies and souls
of " the poor and needy," who had cried to him
for deliverance and salvation, shall be '* redeemed
from deceit and violence": and to whom does this
description apply so forcibly as to the enslaved
negroes ?
In the predictions of Isaiah, respecting " the
things to come concerning" the church, it is added,
** Thus saith the Lord, The labour of Egypt, and
merchandize of ^THiOFi A, and of the Sabeai>!s, men
of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall
be thine; they shall come after thee: in chains they
* Psalm Ixxii. 11 — 14.
35
SHALL COME OVER UNTO THEE; ami they shall fall
down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee,
saying. Surely God is in thee, and there is none else,
there is fio God. Verily thou art a God that hidest
thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour .'^ ■\ To what
class of Ethiopians and Saheans, both descended
from Ham, the son of Noah, and to these too as
being in chains, can this possibly apply, but to the
enslaved and fettered Africans in the West India
colonies? It opens up to our view, the cheering
prospect of their entire — their spiritual emancipa-
tion, in their coming, through the knowledge
of the gospel, over to the Saviour, even while
literally burdened with chains, and figuratively
with the chains of their sins, that they might
be " delivered from the power of darkness, and
be brought into the kingdom of God's dear Son."
In the spiritual sense, this prophecy has, within
the last few years, been most gloriously fulfilled
among the West Indian Negroes : there is no
doubt but it will also receive a literal, accom-
plishment.
Again — *' And He shall judge among many people,
and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall
heat their swords into plough- shares, and their speai^s
into pruning-hooks : nation shall not lift up a swoi^d
against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
But they shall sit, every man under his vine a tid under
his fig-tree, and none shall make them afraid : for
the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it. In
* Isaiah xlv. 14, 15.
D 2
36
that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that
halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and
her that I have afflicted. And I will make her that
halted a remnant, and her that was cast off a strong
nation : and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount
Zion, from henceforth, even for ever ."* From this
scripture it is most evident, that when the pre-
dicted period shall arrive, the poor '' driven out"
and " afflicted " sons and daughters of Africa shall
possess property, and enjoy pleasures, of which
they have hitherto been deprived, and to which
they, and their progenitors, have, since being
imported into the British colonies, been total
strangers. These now oppressed negroes shall
then experience, to them, the strange delight of
" sitting every man under his [own] vine, and under
his [own] Jig-tree," and sit in such security too,
that no white manager, nor driver, with his cart
whip and thumb-screws, shall ever again ** make
them afraid."
I now come to the particular prophecy, from
which I assert that Slavery will be totally, and for
ever ejctinguished. It is introduced by a scene of
the greatest sublimity: — " / saw,"" says John,
another Angel come down from heaven, having great
power, and the earth was lightened with his glory ;
and he cried mightily with a strong voice : Babylojt
the g7^eut is fallen, is fallen." And the destruction of
the Roman hierarchy, which is doubtless intended
* Micah v- 3 — 7- See also Isaiah ii. 3, 4 and ix. 7 — 9-
37
by these words, will be accompanied with the
total cessation of the trade in '* slaves and souls of
men,'* for no man will buy such merchandize " any
more " ; and if there are no buyers, there can be
no sellers, and then the enormous evil of Slavery
will exist no longer; and this glorious event,
will usher in the jubilee of the world. The
ancient jubilee of the Jews, was called " the
year of release,'" when liberty was proclaimed
throughout all the land, unto all the inhabitants
thereof. Then was liberty proclaimed to broken-
hearted captives, and those who were bound,
were set at liberty ! and so also, when the last
jubilee shall arrive, there shall be no longer mer-
chandize in '' SLAVES and souls of men ! " (F.) The
slave-merchants and slave-holders, " these mer-
chants of the earth, " who have " waxed rich " by
their infamous traffick in the persons of their
fellow men, will weep and lament, because of the
utter extinction of their horrid trade, first invented
by
" Moloch, bloody king.
Besmeared with blood, and parent's tears,"
because no man will buy their slaves any more !
But that which will occasion the most doleful la-
mentation among those who can no longer trade
*' in SLAVES and souls of men," will cause the
friends of the oppressed negro to shout for joy.
And what will be their triumphant song, when
God shall thus say to the oppressed, " Go free! "
when all the whips, stocks, and carcans, which have
38
been employed by their tyrants to torment and
afflict their slaves, shall be cast into one great bon-
fire ; and all the chains, fetters, and thumb-screws
by which they used to confine, and manacle, and
torment their slaves, shall be beaten into hoes
and spades, to perform the cultivation of the
sugar cane by free labour, their hire being no
no longer kept back by fraud, so that the con-
sumers of that pleasant article of West India
produce shall use it without any apprehension of
its having been saturated with negroes' blood!
O, the delightful anticipation, when the horrors
of procuring slaves in Africa shall be known " no
more at all ;" * when the miseries of the middle
passage shall be endured " no more at all;" when
the exhibition of men, women, and children in the
public market, shall take place " no more at
all ;" when affectionate fathers, and mothers, and
children shall be severed from each other " no
more at all," for —
" Skins may differ, but affection
Dwells in black and white the same-"
When it shall " no more at all " be said, at the birth
of an innocent infant, "A slave is hoxn into the
world." When the birth of a son will, for the
first time, cause the negress so much joy as to
forget the anguish which she felt in giving it life!
Then shall connubial love take the place of licen-
tious intercourse, and God's law, in regard to
* See Revelation xviii. 22.
39
marriage, will be observed, '* Those whom God
hath joined together, let no man put asunder;" —
then the slave-holder, who has neither ** feared
God, nor regarded man," shall " no more at all "
separate man and wife asunder, by selling them to
different masters; — then the happy emancipated
negro shall have his children about him, and, en-
lightened by the gospel of Christ, shall train them
up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord ; —
then shall he and his family attend the public wor-
ship of God, apprehending " no more at all" the
burning or razing of the temples of worship, nor
that the servants of God, who have shewTi him the
way of salvation, will be torn from their flocks,
immured in prisons, treated with cruelty, and
exposed to a martyr's death ! (G.)
But I asked, what will be the triumphant song
of all the friends of God and man, in what may be
truly called this " age of gold ? " It will be a simi-
lar song to that which Israel sung when the sea
had swallowed up their enemies, and when they
found themselves emancipated and at liberty, — no
longer Pharaoh's bondmen, but the Lord's free
men, delivered from the furnace of iron, from the
house of bondage, from the oppressor's lash, and the
tyrant's gripe : *' Who is like unto thee, O Lord,
among the gods? who is like unto thee? Glorious
in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. Thou
stretchest out thy right hand; thou in thy mercy
hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed^"
" Great a?ul marvellous are thy works^ Lord God
40
Almighty ; just and true are thy ways, thou King of
saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glo-
rify thy Mime, for thou only art holy : for all nations
shall come and worship before thee : for thy judg-
ments are made manifest J' ^
Tlien shall that animating prediction be appli-
cable to the condition of the emancipated negro,
and to his improved circumstances: ''For ye
shall go forth with joy, and be led forth with peace :
the mountains and the hills shall break forth before
you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall
clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come
up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come
up the myrtle tree : and it shall be to the Lord for a
name, for an everlasting sign, that shall not be
cut off.'' f ^
" The groans of nature in this nether world.
Which heaven has heard for ag-es, have an end,
Foretold by prophets, and by poets sung",
Whose fire was kindled at the prophets' lamp,
The time of rest, the promis'd Sabbath, comes."
I shall now proceed to mention, some of the pro-
bable means, by which the utter CTtinction of Slavery
shall be consummated.
When our Divine Lord foretold the destruction
of Jerusalem, he intimated that certain infallible
signs w^ould precede the event, so that all yv'iso.
observers might know that it was "nigh at hand,
* Exodus XV. 11—13. Rev. xv. 3, 4.
t Isaiah Iv. 12, 13.
41
even at the doors." * I am not about to fix any
precise period when the abolition of Slavery will
take place, as I consider such attempts unwar-
ranted by the style of scripture prophecy, and a
proof of pride or weakness. I am of opinion,
with Prideaux, that providence is the only infallible
ea^positor of prophecy: he says, "It being of the
nature of such prophecies [which relate to the
extirpation of anti-christ] not thoroughly to be
understood, till they are thoroughly fulfilled." f
This sentiment is supported by the following beau-
tiful parable, uttered by our Lord, in reference to
that approaching catastrophe: ''Now behold, and
learn a parable of the fig tree : When its branch is
yet tender, and shoots forth its leaves, ye see and
know of yourselves that smnmer is near at hand. So
likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things come to
pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is 7iigh at
hand, even at the door."" " And there shall be signs
in the sun, and in the yyioon, and in the stars, and upon
the earth, distress of nations, with perple.vity , the sea,
and the waves roaring; mens hearts failing them for
fear, and for looking after those things ivhich are
coming upon the earth.'"'^ I ask whether this is not
a correct picture of the signs of the present
period ? Was there ever a time, in regard to
politics, trade, commerce, and religion, when there
was more "distress of nations," more " per-
* Matthew xxiv. 33.
t Prideaux's Connections, vol. II. book iii. pag-e 219.
42
plexity;" when the hearts of men so failed them
with fear ; or when such portentous expectations
were indulged, as to the final results of various
events which are now taking place at home — in
the colonies of the empire — and, in fact, in every
part of the world ? Are there not visible " signs
in the sun, and the moon, and the stars,"" consider-
ing these to be the symbols of distinguished
rank, authority, and government. The nations are
shaken to their bases, and political measures are
taking place, which will affect the future welfare
of millions, in all the succeeding generations of
men. But I shall notice these only, in so far as
they appear to bear upon the accomplishment of
the prediction in relation to the extinction of that
merchandize — the traffic in " slaves, and souls of
men." At present, the heartless oppressors of
these slaves are saying, in the pride and atheism
of their hearts, " With our tongue will we prevail:
our lips are our own : who is Lord over us ! " and
is it not most evident, from " the signs of the times,"
that the answer to these infidel taunts is also ful-
filling: ^' For the oppression of the poor, for the
sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord;
I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at
him.'' *
Some of the remarkable signs of the present
times, are of a most awful nature, and others of an
animating kind. Of the former description I may
mention the dreadful hurricane, which, a few
* Psalm xii. 4, 5.
43
months since, occasioned the destruction of so
much property, and the loss of so many lives, in
the island of Barbadoes. Listen to the *' Negro's
Complaint": —
" Is there, as ye sometimes tell us,
Is there One who reig^ns on hig^h?
Has he bid you buy and sell us.
Speaking- from his throne, the sky ?
Ask him, if your knotted scourg-es.
Matches, blood-extorting- screws.
Are the means which duty urg-es,
Ag-ents of his will to use?
Hark! he answers — wild tornadoes.
Strewing- yonder sea with wrecks ;
Wasting- towns, plantations, meadows,
Are the voice with which he speaks.
He foreseeing" what vexations
Afric's sons should underg-o,
Fix'd their tyrant's habitations
Where his whiiwinds answer — No ! " *
Another of these tremendous signs is, the mvful
insurrection lately broken out in the island of
Jamaica, which has already been attended with
such immense loss to the planters, and with the
destruction of so many of the discontented ne-
groes. And who, that knows any thing of the
awful cruelties which have been exercised upon
the negroes in that island, for so many years past,
and the almost indescribable wickedness and pro-
faneness that prevail among its inhabitants, espe-
* Cowper.
44
cially the whites, can be surprised that the hand
of God is gone out against them? "Because,''
says the prophet, " they have cast away the law of
the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy
One of Israel: therefore is the anger of the Lord
kindled; and he hath stretched forth his hand against
them, and hath smitten them : and the hills did trein-
hle, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the
streets. For ail this his anger is not turned away,
hut his hand is stretched out still.'''
If, to the above mentioned enormities, I add the
implacable malice which they have lately discovered
against the Baptist missionaries in Jamaica, evi-
dently thirsting for their blood ; is it too much to
expect that the divine hand will be upon them, in
a similar manner as when it fell upon the Jewish
nation, at the time of Jerusalem's destruction: —
" Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own
prophets, and have persecuted us : and they please
not God, and are contrary to all men, forbidding
us TO SPEAK TO THE GeNTILES, THAT THEY MIGHT
BE SAVED, to fll up their sins alway: for the wrath .
is come upon them to the uttermost." * Their perse-
cuting the ministers of Christ was the " filling-up"
sin! (H.)
I consider another of the awful signs, and which
is a certain prognostic of direful calamities in the
colonies, at least for a season, the spiiit of contu-
macy and rebellion, on the part of the West India
body, both in the colonies and in England, towards
* 1 Thess ii. 15, 16.
45
His Majesty's government ; and this merely because
some ameliorating measures have been adopted in
regard to the negroes. That any class of subjects,
and that too in the metropolis of the empire,
should have pronounced an act of the king's coun-
cil, " unjust and oppressive," is sufficiently
alarming; but that these mendacious epithets
should be employed, merely because they were
commanded to provide their "own property"
with suitable protection, and sufficient food; and
that their '* cattle " should not be so over-
worked, and under-fed, as to reduce their value
in the market, shews the malignant feelings of
their hearts, when any thing is attempted, in order
that the captive might be delivered from their
rapacious gripe. It is not difficult, however,
to perceive how this resistance to the wise and
humane provisions of the king and his ministers,
may tend to the more speedy destruction of the
system. There is a maxim, the truth of which
the history of the world confirms, that " God
infatuates whom he intends to destroy J"
I said there were some signs of the times, of
the most animating kind: I allude to such as
these:- — 1. The recent emancipation of upwards of
TWO THOUSAND slttvcs, which had been escheated to
the king, and therefore called *' crown slaves."
This is to be regarded as a symptom of the de-
sire, and probably of the intention, of His Majes-
ty's present ministers, to put an end to the whole
system of slavery. 2. The late " Orders (I.) in Coun-
46
cUr which, instead of recommendations, as in all
former instances, contain positive commands to
the governors of the crown colonies, and expressive
hints to the legislatures of the chartered colonies to
ameliorate the condition of the negroes, from a day
named in those orders. May not this be regarded
as expressive of their determination, no longer to
trust to the hollow professions of the planters, that
they are themselves opposed to slavery in the ab-
stract, a state of things which never has, nor can
possibly exist, and that they will, as speedily as
possible, ameliorate the circumstances of the
negroes. 3. The avoiued and Ji.ved intention of the
government, to relieve, by a remission of "part of the
sugar duties, those colonies ivhich ivill carry their
*' Orders'' into full effect, while they will grant
no relief to those which resist them.
To these cheering signs, may be added — 4. The
general feeling of the British public, in regard to the
crime of Slavery, and that its immediate and total
abolition ought to be carried into effect ; as ex-
pressed by their presenting, in the last session of
parliament, to the legislature, almost 6,000 peti-
tions. And, in the last place, that the public
press, in several instances at least, begins to advo-
cate the right of the negro to freedom.
I add to these signs, that most animating fact,
that so many thousands of the negroes have, of late
years especially, been made the subjects of the
renewing and saving grace of God. I am not ac-
quainted with the state of this fact among other
47
societies, but in regard to the Baptist mis-
sionaries, they have indeed, in a most remarkable
manner, been made *' fishers of men." They have
been directed, by their divine Lord, how to cast
the net of the gospel on the right side of the ship,
and they have drawn thousands — many thousands
of converted negroes, from the vortex and whirl-
pool of ignorance and vice, to the shores of
spiritual knowledge and holiness of life. During
the last ten years, there have been from 10 to
12,000 negroes baptized, upon a credible profes-
sion of " repentance towards God, and faith
in our Lord Jesus Christ," and received as mem-
bers of the churches in the island of Jamaica.
There were connected with the Baptist Mission,
before the late insurrection, about 30,000 persons,
all (with the exception of a very few whites) free
and enslaved negroes. Is not this a proof, that
Jehovah has heard the voice of their groaning, and
granted them emancipation of the highest kind :
even the glorious liberty of the children of God ?
What an illustrious proof of divine sovereignty, that
has thus called the oppressed negro to freedom,
whilst their haughty tyrants have been left, by the
righteous j udgment of God, to the dominion of their
sins! '' I thank thee, O Father J' said the Lord
Jesus Christ, " Lord of heaven and earth, that thou
hast hid these thhigs from the wise and prudent, and
revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it
seemeth good in thy sight." Thus " He raiseth up
the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar
48
from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and
to mdke them inherit the throne of glory : for the
pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he hath set
the world upon them."* "For he hath looked
down from the height of his sanctuary; from
heaven did the Lord behold the earth; to hear the
groaning of the prisoner, to loose those that are
appointed to death." f " Who is like to the Lord
our God, who dwelleth on high, who humbleth
himself to behold the things that are in heaven
and in the earth. He raiseth up the poor out of
the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill,
that he may set him with princes, even the princes
of his people : Praise ye the Lord ! " J (K.)
Again, it is a most remarkable and encouraging
sign of the times, that vv^e should have, at such a
time as this, one of the most patriotic monarchs
that ever sat even on the British throne. I can-
not refrain from quoting an extract from the
declaration made to the Council at the Court of
St. James's, on the 26th June, 1830, by our noble
King, William IV. (whom, with his royal consort
the Queen, may the God of all grace bless and
preserve, and make their reign long, prosperous,
and happy) — ** I will," said His Majesty, *' un-
der THE BLESSING OF DiVINE PrOVIDENCE, MAIN-
TAIN THE Reformed Religion, established by
law; PROTECT the RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES; AND
PROMOTE THE PROSPERITY AND HAPPINESS OF ALL
* 1 Sam. ii. 10 t Psalm cii. 19, 20.
X Psalm cxii. 5 — 9.
49
CLASSES OF MY PEOPLE."* O that HE, *' by
whom kings reign, and princes decree justice,"
may now put the thing into the king's heart, to
" promote the prosperity and happiness" of that
unhappy class of his people, the oppressed negroes
in the British colonies, by granting them instant
emancipation.
From all the considerations which I have men-
tioned, I feel myself warranted in adopting our
Lord's language to his disciples, in application to
the groaning and weeping descendants of the kid-
napped, and robbed, and spoiled, and murdered
sons and daughters of Africa, and to conclude
in relation to the prediction concerning the total
abolition of slavery, that " this generation shall
not pass away, till all these things be fulfilled. '\'
Hear, then, for your comfort, ye sable brethren of
the human race — ye most oppressed of the family
of man — Hear the Saviour of the world saying
unto you. He that hath *' all power, both in
heaven and in earth; " and who sits as " King in
ZioN,": — "Lift up your heads, for your
PtEDEMPTlON DRAWETH NIGH." + (L.)
I shall conclude this Lecture, by noticing
some of THE USES to which its principles are ap-
plicable.
L The certainty that Slavery in the bodies of
men will be utterly extinguished, should excite
* Morning- Herald, June 28, 1830.
t Matthew xxiv. 34. X Luke xxi. 28.
E
50
us to the MOST ZEALOKS USE OF EVERY MEANS
which is within our power, likely to contribute
towards that extinction. *' Until," says Toplacly,
" I have tried every means to accomplish any
purpose, 1 know not which of them God has de-
signed to bless." The foreknowledge of God has
no influence upon man to destroy his free agency ;
and the predestinating counsel of Jehovah does not
interfere with man's accountability. The niost firm
believer in the doctrine of a divine superintending
providence over all events, will be the most active
person in attending to all divine commands;
knowing, from the scriptures, that God has joined
the end and the means so firmly together, that
they can never be separated ; " for the sluggard
that will not plough by reason of the cold, shall
beg in harvest, and have nothing." The apostle
Paul had an absolute assurance from an angel of
God, when he and his companions were exposed
to the peril of shipwreck, that the life of no
one on board should be lost; yet when he
saw the sailors about to leave the wreck, by let-
ting down the boat, he instantly said, '* Except
these [sailors] abide in the ship ye cannot be
saved." That the crew would be all saved was
certain, from the promise of God ; but that their
safety was essentially connected with the nautical
skill of the sailors, was equally true. The judi-
cious Dr. Doddridge calls this passage of scrip-
ture, " a remarkable illustration of the obligations
we are under to use the most pr^oper means for
51
security and success, even while we are commit-
ting ourselves to the care of divine providence,
and waiting for the accomplishment of God's own
promises. For it would be most unreasonable to
imagine, that he ever intended any promise to
encourage rational creatures to act in a wild
irrational manner: or to remain inactive, when he
has given them natural capacities of doing some-
thing, at least, for their own benefit. It is in
exerting these, that we are to expect his power-
ful aid ; and all the grace, beauty, and wisdom of
the promise would be lost, if we were to take it
in any other view : to abuse it in a contrary view,
is, at best, vain and dangerous presumption, if all
pretence of relying upon it be not profane hypo-
crisy ^ *
I hope I have proved, from the inspired scrip-
tures, that the extinction of Slavery is absolutely
certain, because God has decreed it, and his word
hath declared it. So far, however, from this ex-
pectation tending to unnerve our arm, or relax
our exertions, let it stimulate us to a renewed use
of all those moral and constitutional eftbrts which
are likely to lead to so desirable a result. If it
be by abstinence. from the produce of the abused
sugar-cane; if it be by associating together for
the purpose of diffusing correct information upon
the evils of slavery ; if it be by using the public
press yet more extensively ; if it be by more ur-
gently, and more numerously petitioning the
* Family Expositor.
E 2
52
legislature ; or by adopting a measure as yet un-
tried, that of presenting a most earnest petition
to our noble patriot king! Let us, I say, while
certain that slavery will come to its end, and
that none shall help it; come forth "to the help
of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the
mighty."* Let us never cease supplicating the
British government, to perform this act of justice
and mercy towards more than 755,000 of our
fellow-men and fellow-subjects, until they shall
fix a day, beyond which no child shall be born
in slavery ; and determine that no person, of either
sex, at present in bondage, shall continue any
longer in thraldom and misery.
2. The certainty that slavery is doomed to total
extinction should lead all pious persons to "pray
without ceasing,'" that God would succeed the means
employed to better the condition of the negroes, and to
iDork their speedy release. We have several scrip-
ture examples of the prayers of the godly being-
encouraged by the certainty of the blessing sought
being promised. David thus expresses himself: —
*' For thou, O Lord God of hosts, God of Israel, hast
r^evealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee an
house : therefore, hath thy sej^vant found in his heart
to pray this prayer unto ^/?ee."| So Daniel: — " /,
Daniel, understood by books the number of the years,
whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the
prophet, that he would accomplish the seventy years in
the destruction of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto
* Judo-es V. 23. t I Samuel vii. 27-
53
the Lord God, to seek bi/ prayer and swpplications,
with fasting, with sackcloth, and tvith ashes.''* To
make the revealed purposes of Jehovah, the ground
of importunate prayer, is to act according to his
will. " Vet for ail these things will I be enquired of
by the house of Israel, to do these things for themy t
It has been well said, " Prayer moves the hand
that moves the universe," " / said not,'" said
Jehovah, " unto the house of Jacob, seek ye my face
in vain.''
There is every encouragement then for us " to
seek by prayer and supplication," that our fellow-
men may be speedily emancipated from their griev-
ous thraldom of slavery. Nor should we forget
especially to pray, that whether the present race
of negroes live to enjoy this, or whether their pos-
terity shall possess the blessing, that they should
all know a liberty of an higher kind ; liberty from
the bondage of sin and Satan: — '• For if the Son
make you free," said the Lord Jesus, " ye shall be
free indeed" : —
" But there is yet 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 whidh persecution, fraud,
Oppressions, prisons, have no power to bind;
Which whoso tastes can be enslaved no more.
^Tis liberty of heart derived from heaven,
Boug"ht with His blood, who g-ave it to mankind,
* Daniel ix. 2, 3. t Ezekiel xxxvi. 37.
54
And sealed with the same token. It is held
By charter, and that charter sanctioned sure
By the unimpeachable and awful oath
And promise of a God.
•?» T» 'F ^
Grace makes the slave a freeman."*
3. As the total extinction of slavery is certain,
then those persons especially who call themselves
Christians, and who hold their fellow-men in bondage,
should instantly declare their slaves to be free. '' And
/Ae«?'^," says John, "another voice from heaven,
saying, Come out of her my people, and be not partakers
of her plagues.'^-f This was addressed to persons
who were traffickers in '* beasts, and sheep, and
horses, and slaves, and the souls of men" ; and,
therefore, supposes that persons calling them-
selves the followers of the Lamb, will be found,
when the destruction of that awful merchandize
shall take place, within the walls of that city,
which, with all who remain in her, shall be burnt
with fire. How seriously should this solemn call
sound in the ears of christian slave-holders!
Should not "the Society for propagating the
Gospel" instantly emancipate those of their fellow
subjects whom they have converted into slaves,
and still hold in bondage ? And should not the
Moravian Missionary Society, from a regard to
religion, justice, and humanity, at once let the
oppressed go free? (M.) And should not those
rich Protestant Dissenting gentlemen, and others,
* Cowper t Rev. xviii. 4.
55
who hold slaves, or manage slave estates, forego
every secular advantage, and disentangle them-
selves from every engagement which prevents
them from proclaiming liberty to the captives?
In a letter written from Jamaica, in February,
1831, one of the Baptist Missionaries says — " I
wonder how such good men as Mr. and
Mr. — can have any thing to do with such a
horrid system."
I shall mention an instance of an eminent minis-
ter, who cleared himself from a participation in
the crimes of the slave trade. This was the late
Rev. John Newton, who, for some time after his
conversion, was employed as the captain of a
slave-ship. He says, " However, I considered
myself as a sort of gaoler or turnkey, and I was
sometimes shocked with an employment that was
perpetually consonant with chains, bolts, and
shackles. In this view, I had often petitioned in
my prayers, that the Lord in his own time would
be pleased to fix me in a more humane calling.
My prayers were now answered."
The next instance is of that pious lady Mrs.
Isabella Graham, who was left with a young
family at Antigua, and of whom it is said in her
memoir, that, after she became a widow, — '' On
examining into the state of her husband's affairs
she discovered there remained not quite two
hundred pounds sterling in her agent's hands.
The circumstances afforded an opportunity for the
display of the purity of Mrs. G.'s principles; and
56
her ri^id adherence to the commandments of her
God in every situation. It was proposed to her,
and urged with great argument, to sell the two
Indian girls, her late husband's froperty. No con-
siderations of interest, or necessity, could prevail
upon her to make merchandize of her fellow creatures,
the works of her heavenly father s hand; immortal
beings! One of these girls accompanied her to
Scotland, where she was married, the other died
in Antigua, leaving an affectionate testimony to
the kindness of her dear master and mistress."
I am happy to add, that I have heard from our
Missionaries, that several persons in Jamaica have,
lately, from the power of the gospel upon their
hearts, given up their slaves, who like Mrs. G.
could not any longer " hold property in their
fellow creatures— immortal beings." One of these
is the persecuted Baptist Missionary, Mr, William
Whitehorn, who, on his conversion, two or three
years since, immediately liberated his domestic
slaves. (N.) Worthy examples these for the imi-
tation of all who profess themselves to be the
disciples of Christ. Should not such persons in
particular, who profess to owe to, and to expect
every blessing from, the divine compassion, to
remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he
said: — '* Ougi-itest tkou not to have had
PITY ON THY FELLOW-SERVANT, EVEN AS I HAD
PITY ON THEE? "
No, 1. Pao-e iv.
o
As one proof of the correctness of this statement I quote
an extract from a speech of the lamented patriot, the late Sir
Samuel Romilly, delivered by him on the memorable nig"ht of
the abolition of the Slave Trade, a speech vv^hich was received
with such disting-uished applause, that the delivery of one
animated passag-e was followed by three distinct plaudits,
an event which never perhaps occurred before in the House of
Commons. Towards the conclusion he introduced the fol-
lowing- brilliant apostrophe: — " When I look at the man
(^Napoleon Bonaparte] at the head of the French monarchy,
surrounded as he is with all the pride of power, and all the
pride of victory, distributing- king-doms to his family, and prin-
cipalities to his followers; seeming- as he sits upon his throne
to have reached the summit of human ambition, and the
pinnacle of earthly happiness ; — and when I follow him into
his closet, or to his bed, and contemplate the ang-uish with
which his solitude must be tortured by the recollection of the
blood he has spilt, and the oppressions he has committed ; and
when I compare with these pang-s of remorse the feeling-s
which must accompany my honourable friend [Mr, Wilber-
force] from this house to his home, after the vote of this
nig-ht shall have accomplished the object of his humane
and unceasing- labburs ; when he shall retire into the bosom
of his delig-hted and happy family ; when he lay himself down
upon his bed, reflecting- on the innumerable voices that will be
raised in every quarter of the world to bless his name ; how
much more enviable his lot in the consciousness of having-
preserved so many millions of his fellow creatures, than that
of the man with whom I have compared him, on a throne to
which he has waded throug-h slaughter and oppression ! Who
will not be proud to concur with my honoured friend in pro-
58
moting- the greatest act of national benefit, and securing- to
the Africans the greatest blessing- which God has ever put it
in the power of man to confer on his fellow creatures." — The
Legal Observer, or Journal of Jurisprudence, for April,
1832, p. 383.
(A.) Page 8.
That such a charter as that which constituted the " Royal
African Company" should have been g-ranted by such a licen-
tious proflig-ate monarch as Charles II., as one of the first acts
of his reig-n, is not at all surprising-. Nor is it wonderful that
no remonstrance on the part of the then obsequious parliament
should have been made ; nor, as far as appears, any protest le/t
respecting- it. A charter to en&\di\e freemen on the coast of
Guinea was quite in keeping with the " Act of Uniformity,"
passed in the same year, by which more than 2,000 Ministers
were ejected from their parishes ; and the "Act for compelling-
Quakers to take an oath," which exposed them to g-reat hard-
ships; and the "Conventicle Act." for tormenting- Noncon-
formists, and preventing- their separate meeting-s, should
have been also passed in the same year. I can easily conceive
that Milton would have felt so indig-nant on account of the
proceeding-s of this " Royal African Company," as to have
produced the most emphatic lines introduced at the com-
mencement of this Lecture, in pag-e 4.
(B.) Page 9.
The bill for the abolition of the Slave Trade was passed on
March 25, 1807- By this act it ivas enacted that no slave
should be imported into our colonies after March 1, 1808.
(C.) Page 10.
It is said (pag-e 10) that from 1780 to 1830 there had been an
increase in the number of slaves in Jamaica of 81,000, Lest
this should convey an erroneous idea, it should also be known
that " there have been imported into that island alone, since
its conquest by Britain, no less than 850,000 Africans ; and if
50
we add to this number 40,000 previously brought by the
Spaniards, we have a total of 890,000, exclusive of all the
births which have taken place since that period, and yet two
years ag-o, from the oppressive hardships under which the slave
population have laboured, they were reduced to 33,000." —
The Negro's Friend, No. 19, Page 5.
A paper has been circulated, which will throw still further
lig"ht upon this dreadful topic of the rapid diminution of
human life in the colonies, entitled "A Statement of the
Decrease of the Slave Population in the Sug-ar Colonies,"
sig-ned Thomas Fowell Buxton, and dated April 4, 1832, and
said to be drawn up from official returns. The following-
statement is the " Recapitulation": —
Antig-ua . .
Decrease
in 1 1 years
868
Berbice
ditto
9 ditto
1,844
Demerara
ditto
12 ditto
13,367
Grenada
ditto
12 ditto
2,597
Jamaica
ditto
12 ditto
19,163
Montserrat
ditto
1 1 ditto
131
Nevis
ditto
11 ditto
192
St. Christopher's
ditto
10 ditto
69
St. Lucia
ditto
13 ditto
1,942
St. Vincent's
ditto
10 ditto
1,248
Tobag-o
ditto
10 ditto
2,803
Tortola
ditto
10 ditto
143
Trinidad
ditto
13 ditto
6,068
Decrease in the above 13 Colonies, the aver-
age being- 11 -fV years . . 50,435
Mauritius . . Decrease in lOf years 10,767
61,202
Deduct. Increase in the two following-
Colonies, viz. —
Dominica . in 9 years . 11
Barbadoes . in 12 years . 5,986
5,997
Total Decrease in the Slave Population in the
Sug-ar Colonies, on an average of 1 1 years 55,205
60
(D.) Page 10.
At the Annual Meeting- at Exeter Hall, on the 23d of
April, 1831, Mr. O'Connell said, — " But the speech of Mr.
Burg-e, had filled him with such disg-ust and indignation that
he could not then, [on the evening- when Mr. Buxton's mo-
tion was before the house,] have spoken calmly. ' What,'
said Mr. Burg-e, ' would you come in between a man and his
freehold!' I started," said Mr. O'Connell, " as if something-
unholy had trampled on my father's grave, and I exclaimed
with horror, — A freehold hi a human being!" — Anti-slavery
Reporter, vol. iv, page 268.
(E.) Page 13.
The following- extracts from Blackstone's Commentaries
the intellig-ent reader will perceive bear strong-ly upon the
state of the question between the planter and the neg-ro, ad-
mitting- the arg-ument to be settled, that whether considered
as an alien, born out of the King-'s dominions, or as natural
born within the dominions of the king-dom of England, all
the negroes in our colonies, under one or other of these de-
sig-nations, are subjects of the British Crown. They are
from the chapters entitled, " The Rig-hts of Persons," and
the " Absolute Rig-hts of Individuals." — Book 1.
" The first and most obvious division of the people is into
aliens and natural-born subjects. Natural born within the
dominions of the crown of England ; that is, within the lig-e-
ance, or as it is g-enerally called, the alleg-iance of the king- ;
and aliens, such as are born out of it. Alleg-iance is the tie or
ligamen which binds the subject to the king-, in return for
that protection which the king affords the subject.^*
" Next to personal security, the law of Eng-land, reg-ards,
asserts, and preserves the personal liberty of individuals.
This personal liberty consists in the power of loco-motion, of
changing- situation, or moving one's person to whatever place
our own inclination may direct ; without imprisonment or re-
straint, unless by due course of law, concerning which we
61
may make the same observations as upon the preceding"
article , that it is a rig-ht strictly natural ; that the laws of Eng"-
land have never abridged it without sufficient cause."
" A man's limbs are also the gifts of a merciful Creator, to
enable him to protect himself from external injuries in a state
of nature. To these, therefore, he has a natural inherent
right, and they cannot be wantonhj destroyed or disabled
without a manifest breach of civil liberty."
The nature of the government of Jamaica is thus described
by Blackstone, in his chapter " Of the countries subject to the
laws of Eng-land." " Charter g-overnments, are of the nature
of civil corporations, with the power of making- bye-laws for
their own immediate reg-ulation, not contrary to the laws of
England ; and with such rights and authorities as are specially
given them in their charlers of incorporation." " It is particu-
larly declared by statute 7 and 8 William III. c. 22, that all
laws, bye-laws, usages, and customs, which shall be in prac-
tice in any of the plantations, repugnant to any law, made
or to be made in this kingdom relative to the said plantations,
shall be utterly void and without effect."
(F.) Page 37.
On this verse my late excellent friend, the Rev. Andrew
Fuller, in his common-sense, " Expository Discourses on the
Apocalypse," remarks, " The kings are joined in their lamen-
tations by the ' merchants/ and who seem to be those who
have made a trade of religion ; which, however it may include
many amongst the laity, must refer more immediately to the
mercenary part of the clergy. The most notable article in
the list of her commodities is ' the souls of men.' There is
doubtless an allusion to Ezek. xxvii. 13, but ' the persons
of men,' can there mean only slaves, whereas the souls of
men are here distinguished from slaves. Tyre dealt only in
men's bodies, but Rome in their souls. I know not what else
to make of the sale of indulgencies, and pardons; of the buy-
ing and selling church-livings ; of confessions, prayers for the
dead, and of every other means of extorting money from the
ignorant."
62
(G.) Page 39.
As so much odium has been cast upon the Baptist Mission-
aries, and especially upon the Rev. Mr. Burchell, and his col-
leag*ues at Monteg-o-bay, it seems proper somewhat more than
a mere allusion should be made to their characters and labours.
In February 17, 1830, a Missionary, Mr. James Mann,
died. He had been associated with Mr. Burchell. Let a
most respectable gentleman, on whose estates Mr. Mann
laboured, be heard, in pronouncing- his eleg-y, which was ad-
dressed to the Rev. J. Dyer, Secretary of the Baptist Mission-
ary Society.
" It g-ives me g-reat pleasure to have it in my power to aiford
you the following- satisfactory evidence of the conduct of your
Missionaries in Jamaica, as extracted from a letter of my bro-
ther to me, dated Aug-ust 28 ; and that the following- statement
may and should carry the more weight with it, I think it right
to say, that he has been a resident in that island for upwards
of two years, and that both he and I, having a considerable
interest at stake there, must necessarily feel much alive to
every circumstance likely to disturb the peace and well-being
of that colony. He begins by speaking of your Missionary at
Falmouth, Mr. Mann.
" ' I cannot help expressing my astonishment, that men
placed in the situation of Mr. Mann, holding strongly upon
the affections of the people by the medium of religion, should
use their influence so wisely, because so moderately, that they
scarcely seem to clash with the prejudices of the planter.
Can there be a greater proof afforded, of the temperate ex-
ercise of power over these uneducated people's minds, than
that, though every eye is upon the alert to detect an abusive
influence, and every imagination is at work to construe some
disturbance amongst the negroes, as attributable to the
Baptists, no proof has yet been given, founded upon any
thing like liberality or fairness, that they have ever worked
upon any other feeling than that of religion. Through good
and through evil report they travel on, availing themselves of
the assistance of the proprietor, wherever the least encourage-
ment is held out to them, and disconnecting themselves from
local as well as general politics.' He then goes on to say,
63
that, in compliance with my desire, he had made arrange-
ments with your Missionary, Mr. Mann, to g-o once a week to
my estates, distant from the place of his residence seven miles,
in order to preach, and teach the negroes, for which purpose
a part of Wednesday is appropriated. I need now merely
add, from the great g"ood, moral and relig"ious, which I antici-
pate from this labour of love amongst them, how much I
should deplore any steps being taken by the Legislature in
Jamaica, and to be sanctioned by his Majesty's ministers at
home, likely in the remotest degree to frustrate w^hat I am
convinced can alone tend to improve the condition of the
slave, and raise him in the scale of our common humanity."
The following was printed in the Baptist Missionary Herald
in June, 1831, which will shew the spirit of opposition which
had begun to manifest itself: — " At Montego-bay, Mr. Bur-
chell continues to be subject to vexatious annoyance, from
those ' who love darkness rather than light.' As if to shew
how fully they answer to this inspired description, they have
actually seized the lamps in the chapel, under the pretext of
some new local impost laid on the building, and which Mr. B.
properly declined paying till he could receive directions from
home. Steps will of course be taken to ascertain how far the
perpetrators of these dishonourable proceedings can act thus
with impunity ; but, surely we may hope, the day approaches
in which effectual measures will be taken, both at home and
abroad, to secure religious worship from insult, and those who
maintain it from oppression."
(H.) Page 44.
The following' is copied from the " Despatches and Corres-
pondence, respecting" the Slave Insurrection in the West India
Colonies," ordered to be printed 29th March, 1832; and is
an extract from No. 8, entitled " Copy of a Despatch from
Viscount Goderich to the Earl of Belmore, dated Downing
Street, 1st of March, 1832," and will afford high gratifica-
tion to all the friends of the Redeemer, and cause " abundant
thanksgivings to God," that the affairs of the Colonies, at
this crisis, should be confided to so judicious and christian a
nobleman as Lord Goderich.
64
Speaking- of the malice ag-ainst the Baptist Missionaries, hi«
Lordship says, " It is not, however, merely to a misconcep-
tion of relig"ious truth, but to the direct instig-ation of some of
the missionaries, that the recent insurrection is ascribed in
some of the documents which your Lordship has transmitted.
1 have observed, with g-reat satisfaction, the eiforts which you
so judiciously made, to g-uard the persons to whom it would
belong" to sit in judg-ment on the missionaries, ag-ainst the
influence of rehg-ious prejudices; and I trust that the caution
which you have g-iven, will effectually prevent the manifes-
tation of any intemperate or hostile spirit towards them in any
subsequent stag-e of the proceeding's. I must distinctly avow
my conviction that the improbability of the charg-e is so ex-
treme, that nothing- short of the most irresistible evidence could
induce a belief of it. The missionaries who eng-ag-e in the
office of converting- the slaves in our colonies, cannot, with
charity or justice, be supposed to be actuated by any views of
secular ambition or personal advantag-e. They devote them-
selves to an obscure, and arduous, and ill-requited service ;
they are well apprized that distrust and jealousy will attend
them, and that the path they have chosen, leads neither to
wealth nor reputation. If in their case, as in that of other
men, motives less exclusively sacred than those which are
avowed may exercise some influence on their minds, it were
irrational either to feel surprize, or to cherish suspicion on that
account. The ^reat ruling- motive must in g-eneral be that
which is professed, since in g-eneral there is no other advan-
tag-e to be obtained, than the consciousness of having- contri-
buted to the diffusion of Christianity throug-hout the world.
To suppose men who act habitually on such a principle, either
so insensible to the restraints of conscience, or so perverted in
their estimate of right and wrong-, as to foment insurrection
and civil war, for the subversion of slavery ; or to believe them
insensible to the extreme dang-er and suffering- in which, by
eng-ag-ing- in such an enterprize, they must involve those for
whose benefit the contest was to be undertaken, would arg-ue
rather an heated and prejudiced mind, than a discerning- judg--
ment, and a correct acquaintance with human character.
When, therefore, I consider that no motive can be rationally
assig-ned, which should have induced the missionaries to em-
65
bark in so g'liilty and desperate an undertaking-, I cannot but
earnestly trust, that the trial of any of their number, who may
be charg-ed with a participation in this rebellion, may have
been postponed until comparative tranquillity should have
succeeded to the first panic ; and that such trials may have
been conducted, not before a military tribunal, but with all
the regular forms of law. Should any such missionary have
been convicted, and be awaiting the execution of his sentence
on the arrival of this despatch, your Lordship ivill not permit
that sentence to be carried into effect, till His Majesty's
pleasure can be known."
(I.) Page 45.
In the letter of Lord Goderich to the Colonies, dated
Downing- Street, December 10, 1831, his lordship says — " 1
am anxious to convey to them an adequate impression of the
necessity which exists, for us to take at length some effective
steps towards the redemption of the pledges given, with the
concurrence of the West India body, in 1823, and of the soli-
citude which we have felt to consult the interests of the
planters, simultaneously with those of the slaves, and to
accomplish, by such means as should be the least unacceptable
to the owners of West India property, an object which it has
become impossible to postpone, without compromising the
dignity and consistency of the imperial legislature, and occa-
sioning danger to all parties concerned."
" If His Majesty's present advisers have resolved to pursue
no further this course of warning and entreaty, it is not that
they are in any degree less anxious to conciliate the goodwill,
whilst they consult the real interests of the colonists, but only
because they feel that the language of admonition has been
exhausted, and that any further attempt to produce an im-
pression upon the legislature, by the same means alone, could
add nothing of the respect of those bodies for the authority of
the Crown, whilst it would be in vain to expect that it could
contribute any thing to the accomplishment of the object in
view."
F
66
" It cannot be too distinctly explained, that the measure to
be submitted to Parliament, will be so framed, that the indis-
pensable condition of receiving- the consequent benefit, will be
the fact of a statute having passed the colonial legislature,
simply, and without qualification in terms, or limitation of
time, declaring the order in ccnincd to possess the force of
law in the colony."
(K.) Page 48.
The following- affords a specimen of the kind of instruction
which have been g-iven by the Missionaries, and of the mental
character of the persons admitted by them to baptism .■ —
" The contributor of the following- brief article, was once
a little sceptical about the g-reat success of the Baptist West-
India Missionaries, on account of the vast number of supposed
conversions ; but, having- been permitted to see their labours
and the g-ood effected, he beg-s leave to g-ive as a sample a
few of the many queries and answers which the missionary and
the candidate for baptism respectively put and received, prior
to that ordinance.
" What is sin? " All that don't fitten." Another, " All
the badness we do 'foretime." Who is Jesus Christ? " The
Son of God." And what has He done for our salvation?
" Him ^tand for we." Another, " Him g-et himself wound
for we." Do you repent of sin? " Ebery ting- me do 'fore-
time, me sorry for to me heart." How did you know your-
self to be a sinner ? " Me tink me a sinner ; for me hearee de
Bible read." Do you love Jesus? " Me lub me Massa Jesus ;
me wish me always at Him feet." Why do you love the
Saviour? " For Him come down and be crucified, and Him
'till pray." Can you do g-ood of yourself ? " By de power of
Jesus." Why do you wish to be baptized? " Massa Jesus
leave de word, and me wish to follow him track." But if
any one should mock you afterwards, what would you do ?"
" Me take him hand, and me say, how you do?" What does
the minister break the bread for, and pour out the wine?
" To mind upon it, and 'member upon it, how Massa Jesus
67
foody broke for we, how Him precious blood 'pilt for we."
Why do you wish to partake of the Lord's Supper? " It
bring- feeling- over me mind ; for Him wounded for me sin."
One of them having- been asked if she loved God, replied in
the affirmative ; and on being- further asked, whether she
loved all the brethren and sisters, answered, " Hi Massa!
me no lub me broder and me sisters, who me see ebery day,
when me lub God who me neber see." — Missionary Herald^
January, 1832.
(L.) Page 49.
I had a few months since an opportunity of speaking- to the.
Rev. Mr. Wray, who has been a Missionary more than twenty
years in Demerara and Berbice. He was the intimate friend
and bi'other of the faithful Smith, the murdered Missionary.
I asked Mr. Wray, whether from the knowledg-e which he
had of the neg-roes he thoug-ht their emancipation would be
attended with any injurious consequences: he instantly re-
plied, " If I had the power I would give them all emancipa-
tion to-morrow." I was pleased with his frank and explicit
reply ; but should have been better satisfied had he not said,
" to-morrow," but ^' to-day" because I know that when, in
cases of extreme importance, persons have said, like a Roman
soldier, " serious thing's to-mm-row ;" the events of " the day,"
on which it is said, may prevent, as in that instance, the pos-
sibility of attending- to " serious thing-s to-morrow." This
has always been the plea of the British Leg-islature respecting-
slavery: " It oug"ht," it has said, " certainly to be abolished;
but not ' to-day,'—' to-morrow!'" This is the spirit of the
Government at the present moment. Let us, say they, first
prepare the slaves by ameliorating measures for liberty; and
then " to-morrow " we will grant them emancipation. Alas !
I fear that the " to-morrow" opportunity, for setting- the op-
pressed neg-roes free by law may never arrive ; therefore, I
earnestly and respectfully say, to all persons concerned, " Do
it to-day."
68
(M.) Page 54.
I am happy to have it in my power to introduce the senti-
ments of the Rev. Joseph Fletcher, D.D. of Stepney, on the
sin of Slavery, as delivered in a Sermon preached at Spa-fields
Chapel, on the 3rd instant, on behalf of the Moravian Mis-
sions, which makes the remarks the more valuable, as the
Rev. p. Latrobe, and his father, the Rev. C J. Latrobe, both
contend, in their recent correspondence with me, that the
slaves belong-ing to the Unitas Fratrum, are their " legal
property." Dr. F.'s text, was Rom. i. 14 — " / am debtor
both to the Greeks and to the barbarians: both to the wise
and the unwise." Applying* his observations to slavery,
he said this debt of obligation to serve persons of all descrip-
tions, by preaching- the g-ospel to them, was enforced by the
command of Jesus Christ ; and after alluding- to the late Orders
in Council, and the Instructions to the Governors of the Colo-
nies by Lord Goderich, which he pronounced to be truly
christian in their sentiments and spirit, and noble and elevated
in their style and composition ! he said (as I am told by an
intellig-ent g-entleman, who took down the words at the time)
" This debt and oblig-ation are binding- upon those who hold
persons in bondag-e, and whom they proudly and unjustly
call their property, and as unjustly have made them slaves!
It is the duty of their masters to impart unto them that
knowledge of the g-ospel, which is able, through faith in
Christ Jesus, to make them the Lord's free-men."
(N.) Page 56.
The following letter, signed by six of the Baptist Missiona-
ries, against whom no proceedings had been taken, in vindi-
cation of themselves, their brethren, and the Society, against
the malicious slanders propagated by the slave-holders, is
copied from the " Jamaica Watchman," of the 25th of
February, 1832.
" To the Editor of the Watchman-
" Sir — Considering the present state of public opinion, as
induced by heavy charges alleged against the ' Sectarians,'
69
relative to the late rebellion ; it is probable that those by
whom our characters are appreciated, and doctrines understood,
mig-ht inquire why we have not earlier appeared in defence of
the one, and explanation of the other? Our delay has not
arisen from fear of investigation, or reluctance to defend the
doctrines'we inculcate : but long" accustomed to revileraent and
false accusation ; considering" the improbable and contradictory
nature of the charg-es alleged, together with the total igno-
rance manifested by those who made them, both of our senti-
ments and discipline ; and feeling happy in a conscious reetitude
of our motives and conduct, we were disposed to pass over in
silence such unfounded allegations. But having exercised our
patience, until the lawless rage of those, who are alike inimi-
cal to the laws of God and man, has demolished ten or eleven
of our chapels, and thus destroyed full £16,000. worth of pro-
perty belonging to the Baptist Mission in this island, we deem
it high time, on the part of ourselves, and our brethren with
whom we are not able at present to confer, to offer the
following remarks, with a view to vindicate our characters,
and repress such disgraceful depredations.
" Oar missionaries here, and the society at home, have been
reviled and calumniated by every species of abuse that
ingenuity could invent, or malice promulgate. Every epi-
thet has been employed that could blacken the character,
or misrepresent the motives, both of the society and their
agents. We have been charged with preaching doctrines
of a seditious and dangerous character, and of propagating,
among the slave population, principles and sentiments tend-
ing to disobedience and insubordination. This charge we
FLATLY DENY, and Call On our accusers for proof.
The doctrines we maintain, we are prepared, at any
proper time, modestly but fearlessly to defend ! But, not
thinking it necessary to trouble the public at present with an
extended statement of our belief, nor considering a newspaper
the most proper medium for a confession of faith, it may suf-
' fice to remark, that our religious doctrines, however misrepre-
sented by our enemies, differ not from those contained in the
authorized compositions of the Established Church; nor, as
they regard the present question, from those of any other body
of true christians.
70
*' Our doctrines are not only charg-ed with destroying the
relative oblig-ations between master and servant, but of leading-
to robbery, sedition, incendiarism, and murder ! How they
can tend to such evils, motie than the doctrines of the Estab-
lished Church, we are at a loss to ascertain, since the funda-
mental doctrines of our belief are to be found in her articles.
" We are said to be sent hither as spies and incendiaries ;
encouraged by our society to propagate sedition ; and, finally,
to accomplish the destruction of the colony. Charges so ridi-
culous, must carry with them, to every unprejudiced mind,
their own refutation. With reference to our society, the follow-
ing quotations from the Instructions given to every missionary,
on leaving England, will clearly evince that their object is not
to spread anarchy and confusion, but, without any interference
whatever with the political constitution of the colony, to seek
the happiness of the slaves, by presenting to them the blessings
of Christianity, in the life that now is, as well as that which is
to come; and inculcating attention to all the social and rela-
tive duties of life.
" ' We enjoin it upon you ever to remember that the office
you have voluntarily undertaken, is wholly of a spiritual na-
ture. Leaving to others the acquisition of property, and the
management of temporal affairs, you go forth in the service
of Jesus Christ, and to seek the salvation of immortal souls.
" ' It is matter of the first importance, that you carefully
abstain from all interference whatever in political affairs, or
with the civil business of the town and neighbourhood in
which you reside. To the island of Jamaica this direction
applies with peculiar force. Be careful, therefore, that your
conduct, without any mixture of a worldly or temporizing
spirit, be such as shall give no just occasion of offence, and
that none may be able to bring any accusation against you,
save in the matter of the Lord your God. As you are going
amongst a people, many of whom are in a state of slavery, it
will be incumbent upon you to use great caution, both as to
your language and conduct, that there may not be the least
ground for the charge of interfering with their civil relations.
On all persons in the condition of slaves, you will diligently
and plainly enforce the following apostolic precepts : Eph. vi.
5 — 8, Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters
71
according to thejlesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness
of pour heart, as unto Christ ; not with eye-service, as men-
pleasers ,• but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of
God from the heart: With good will doing service, as to the
Lord, and not unto men- Knowing that whatsoever good thing
any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether
he be bond or free. Col. iii. 22 — 25, Servants obey in all
things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye-
service as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing
God. And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord,
and not unto men ; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive
the reward of the inheritance ; for ye serve the Lord Christ-
But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which
he hath done, and there is no respect of persons.'
" We mig-ht leave these instructions to speak for them-
selves, simply requesting" the public to observe that no
missionary could deviate from them, w^ithout incurring- the
discountenance of his associates here, and separation from the
society in Eng-land. But lest it should be alleg-ed, that al-
thoug-h we have received such instructions, yet, the many
cases in which Baptists are said to have been implicated in the
late rebellion, prove that we have not acted according-ly, we
beg" to sug-g-est some considerations, which we think should
induce the public to pause, before they draw this inference.
" The number of slaves connected with our chapels, in the
districts chiefly disturbed, is very larg-e, much larg-er, we be-
lieve, than the number connected with any other places of
worship in that neig-hbourhood ; so that if only an equal pro-
portion of Baptists were implicated, their number would
necessarily exceed that of other denominations.
" But as to the real number of persons calling- themselves
Baptists, actually ehg-ag-ed in the rebellion, we have as yet no
authentic information. Their number, in fact, have not been
ascertained ; nor are our brethren at present in a situation to
discover it. The statements made in the Cornwall Chronicle,
Courier, &c., on this point, have been so mixed up with others
already proved false, that they are plainly unworthy of cre-
dence. And even of those actually imphcated, and who call
themselves Baptists, many will, we are satisfied, be found, on
impartial inquiry, to have no connection whatever with our
72
churches, nor even to attend at our chapels ; for it is a fact,
well known to most relig-ious persons, that besides a great
number of casual hearers, such as are found in all denomina-
tions of christians, there exist a multitude of people in diife-
rent parts of the island, who desig^nate themselves Baptists,
but yet have no connection whatever with the Baptist
Mission.
" But suppose that some of our members have really been
involved, which we fear is the case, it deserves inquiry, what
proportion of this number voluntarily eng-aged in it ; because,
it is notorious, that many neg-roes were driven to join the rebels
by their threats, or induced by their relative connections with
them.
" Besides, let it be remarked, that the more intellig"ent and
crafty of the rebel * chiefs, would be strong-ly induced to use
the name of any Missionary, as an arg-ument to prevail on
others to join them. This remark applies especially to Mr.
Burchell's name, because, being- off the island at the time, he
could not frustrate such an attempt ; so that the g-uilt of any
Missionary cannot be inferred from that circumstance, since
his name mig-ht have been thus used, without his consent or
knowledg"e.
* I could have wished our Missionaries had not called men
"rebels," who were only struggling for the " right which every
matt,'' as Blackstone says, (see page 61) " has to his own limbs'. "
" Oh ! most degrading of all ills that wait
On man, a mourner in his best estate !
All other sorrows virtue may endme,
And find submission more than half a cure;
Grief is itself a medicine, and bestowed
To improve the fortitude thai bears the load,
To teach the wanderer, as his woes increase,
The path of wisdom, all whose paths are peace ;
But slavery ! — Virtue dreads it as her grave ;
Patience itself is meanness in a slave ;
Or if the will and sovereignty of God
Bid suffer it awhile, and kiss the rod.
Wait for the dawning of a brighter day.
And snap the chain the moment when you may.
Nature imprints upon whate'er T^re see
That has a heart and life in it,— Be free."— Co/rfier.
73
** Moreover, the fact oug-ht certainly to be borne in mind,
that the evidence hitherto laid before the public, has, for the
most part, been indirect, and second-hand. In nearly every
case of crimination, the neg-roes are said to have stated, not
that they themselves had heard either of the Missionaries say
they were to be made free at Christmas, hut that they had been
' told' that Mr. Burchell or Mr. Knibb, &c. had said so.
" We cannot be expected, in this article, to answer to spe-
cific charg-es alleg-ed against our brethren, whom distance and
other circumstances prevent us from consulting-; but, on the
above gTounds, we beg* the public, for the present, to suspend
their judg-ment; at the same time, expressing- our conviction
that their suspense will be of short duration, as leg-al proceed-
ing-s will probably be soon commenced, on one side or the
other, which may afford them an opportunity of forming- a more
correct opinion.
" We only add, that tliere are thousands of respectable and
intellig-ent persons, capable of perceiving- the real tendency of
our preaching- and conduct, who are among- our reg-ular leaders,
and many of whom are slave-holders ! ! * Let such persons be
enquired of by those who wish to obtain a just idea of our
proceeding-s, and the objects they have in view. To them we
fearlessly appeal, being- fully assured, that our innocence will
be established, in proportion as the truth is told.
" We are, Sir, your obedient Servants,
Joshua Tinson Samuel Nichols
Joseph Burton John Clarke
Henry C. Taylor John R. Andrews."
* This is the first time that I ever heard there were slave-
holders among- the 'members and leaders of the Baptist
churches in Jamaica ; nor have I any reason to think, that the
secretary or any member of the committee of the Baptist
Missionary Society was aware of the fact. A few years since?
when a Missionary had purchased two slaves, thoug-h from a
motive of humanity, he was directed to g-ive them their free-
dom immediately ; and a motion was proposed and adopted^ —
" That any missionary possessing slaves, should thereby
dissolve his connection with the Society."
G
74
I exceedingly regret that any of my brethren, of whom
I have thoug-ht so hig-hly, should, in carrying- up the super-
structure of a church of Christ, have used as materials, not
only " gold, and silver, and precious stones," but also,
wood, and ha/, and stubble." I consider that this circum-
stance alone, involves in it so much g-uilt in those who
encourag-ed it, knowing- as they do, " men stealers," are con-
sidered by the law of God to be the " lawless and disobe-
dient," whom, with sinners of the vilest description, are
declared to be acting-, '^contrary to sound doctrine" ;
(1 Tim. i. 10, II) that it fully accounts for all the evils that
have come upon us as a Society! 1 shall take the earliest
opportunity to bring- this matter under the notice of the Com-
mittee, as the Missionaries have, in this matter, acted in direct
opposition to the instructions which they received from the
Society, that they should " be careful their conduct should
be without any admixture of a worldly or temporizing
spirit."
THE END.
H-'t
J. Mksseder, Printer,
201, HighHolbora.
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