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 THE 
 
 KELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION 
 
 OF 
 
 THE NEGROES, 
 
 A SERMON, 
 
 )ELrV£R£D BEFORE ASSOCIATIONS OF PLANTERS IN LIBERTY AND 
 M'iNTOSH counties, GEORGIA, 
 
 By the Rev. CHARLES COLCOCK JONES, 
 of Savannah. 
 
 TOVRTH EDITION. 
 
 PRINCETON, J?, J. 
 
 PRINTED BY d'hART & CONNOLLY. 
 
 1833. 
 
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 ^i> This excellent Address was twice delivered, as 
 ^' will be seen bv Mr. Jones' notice, before Associations 
 of Southern Planters, and committed for publication 
 at their request. A fourth p.dition is now issued 
 gratuitously, for the purpose of extending its circu- 
 lation, and of bringing before the community, in an 
 unexceptionable form, a safe, practicable and efficient 
 plan for promoting the Religious Instruction of their 
 Negroes. The subject recommends itself at once, 
 not only to the Christian, but to every one who 
 believes that the success of the Gospel is identified 
 with the good morals and temporal prosperity of the 
 community. 
 
 Every Planter, who may receive a copy of this 
 Address, is earnestly requested to give it a perusal. 
 It was written hy a Southern gentleman, who hopes 
 to spend his life among Southern Planters in carrying 
 into execution, as far as may be, the plan proposed. 
 Several Counties, in Georgia, have already adopted 
 it, vviih success. Why may it not be adopted in 
 Virginia, North Carolina, and other States? Every 
 thinsr connected with the subject depends, of course, 
 entirely upon the wishes of the Planters themselves. 
 It is very desirable, therefore, that they should give 
 it a fair examination. 
 
o 
 
 The following Address has been delivered, within a fern 
 weeks, before two /Societies fortned for the Religious 
 Instruction of the Negroes — one in Mcintosh, and the 
 other in Liberty County — and by both Societies it was 
 requested for publication. It is my earnest desire that it 
 may awaken the attention of the public to a subject, long 
 neglected, but of vital importance to us, as citizens of the 
 South, whether we consider it in a civil or in a moral point 
 of view. The Address appears as it was delivered, and 
 refers exclusively to plantation Negroes. 
 
 CHARLES C. JONES* 
 
 Savannah, Georgia^ May SOth, 1831. 
 
CJ'C. 
 
 "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world and 
 preach the Gospel to every creaturcP — Mark 16 : 15. 
 
 Men and Brethren: 
 
 The Lord Jesus Christ was standing on the Mount 
 of Olives surrounded by his deciples. Beneath them 
 lay Jerusalem with its walls, and palaces, and towers, 
 and holy temple, lighted up by the risen sun; and 
 around, as far as the eye could reach, the cities of 
 Palestine, peering above the foliage of the forests, or 
 standing exposed on the plains; the hills and vallies 
 covered with fields of grain, and vineyards and habi- 
 tations of men. The work which his Father had 
 given him to do was now finished. He was about to 
 ascend to the right hand of God. The bright cloud 
 which was to receive him out of their sight, was fast 
 floating along in the clear blue sky, to overshadow the 
 place where he stood. And what now should be his 
 last commands to his disciples'? He seemed with them 
 from the Mount, to survey the world. He had taught 
 them that He was the Redeemer of the world. He 
 had taught them that the field in which this truth should 
 be sown was the world. Then directing their eyes 
 
Abroad on the scene before them, and spreading fort^J 
 his hands over it, he cries out : Go ye into all the world 
 and preach the Gospel to every creature. To procure the 
 power and privilege of giving this command, Christ died 
 and rose again. 
 
 The disciples were the representatives of his church 
 on earth. The command is to his church, and is of 
 perpetual obligation. It is obligatory not only upon 
 ministers of the church, to whom the office of preaching 
 the Gospel is specially committed; but also upon all 
 members of the church, to whom God has given the 
 ability to support the preaching of the Gospel, or talents 
 that qualify them to become teachers of the unlearned. 
 The command implies that all men in the world, no 
 matter of what nation or complexion or condition, are 
 the moral and accountable creatures of God. That 
 they are lost, and need the Gospel of Salvation. When- 
 ever, therefore, any people come within the range of 
 our influence, we, who are acting under this command, 
 have two questions, and but tvvo to settle. Do they 
 need the Gospel? and, Has God put it in our power to 
 give them, the Gospel? The Negroes of our country 
 come fairly within the range of our influence. We 
 believe that they are men — the creatures of God, and 
 like ourselves are moving onward to the retributions of 
 eternity ; and as philanthropists and Christians, we are 
 bound to propose to ourselves and to answer these 
 questions in regard to them. 
 
 I. Do they need the Gospel? 
 
 We can return but one answer to this question, and 
 it is an affirmative one. The description which the 
 Apostle Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, gives of the 
 Heathen world, will apply, with very little abatement, to 
 our Negroes. They lie, steal, blaspheme ; are slothful, 
 envious, malicious, inventors of evil things, deceivers* 
 
covenant breakers, implacable, unmerciful. They are 
 greatly wanting in natural affection, improvident, with- 
 out understanding and gro&ely immoral. Chastity is an 
 exceeding rare virtue. Polygamy is common, and there j 
 is little sacredness attached to the marriage contract. 
 It is entered into for the most part without established 
 forms, and is dissolved at the will of the parties. Nor 
 is there any sacredness attached to the Sabbath. It is 
 a day of idleness and sleep, of sinful amusements, of 
 visiting, or of labor. They are generally temperate 
 through necessity; when ardent spirit can be obtained, 
 they will freely drink it. Numbers of them do not go to 
 church, and cannot tell us who Jesus Christ is, nor have 
 they ever heard so much as the Ten Commandments 
 read and explained. Of the professors of religion among 
 them, there are many of questionable piety who occa- 
 sion the different churches great trouble in discipline, 
 for they are extremely ignorant, and frequently are 
 guilty of the grossest vices. We cannot go more fully 
 Into the moral condition of these people at present. 
 Indeed, it is unnecessary. Generally speaking, they 
 appear to us to be without Hope and without God in the 
 world. A nation of Heathen in our very midst. And if 
 we will believe the testimony of our own eyes and ears, 
 and the testimony of those who know these people most 
 Intimately, we must conclude that they need the Gospel, 
 and need it as much as any people in the world do.* 
 
 II. Has God put it itiio our poiver to give them the 
 Gospel? 
 
 We think that he has. The civil law does not forbid 
 (■js to give them the Gospel orally. We can therefore 
 employ or permit men to visit our plantations for the 
 purpose of instructing them; or we can undertake to 
 
 '*' Se« note A. 
 
instruct them ourselves. And having our plantations, 
 the time and persons of our servants wholly under our 
 control, we can arrange the manner and frequency of 
 our instructions, as we please, and the period of these 
 instructions with as much punctuality, and witli as little 
 interruption, as we can arrange the morning and eve- 
 ning devotions of our own fire-side. Our very children 
 might become, to some extent, teachers, by reading to 
 them plain portions of the Bible, or plain Tracts and 
 things of such sort. And who can condemn us for 
 doing what we conceive to be duty ? Or who can hin- 
 der us? We infringe no law, neither do we violate any 
 man's property or liberty. These two questions, then, 
 being answered in the affirmative, it follows that we are 
 in duty bound to give our Negroes the Gospel. 
 
 We are bound to give them the Gospel — hy Hnma- 
 nity. Were we to see a sheep fallen into a ditch, we 
 would lift it out. Were our ox famishing in the stall, 
 we would loose it and lead it away to watering. Much 
 more, then, should we lift up our servants from the pit 
 of moral pollution and death, into which they have 
 fallen. Much more should we strive to loose them 
 from the bonds of sin and Satan, and lead away their 
 famishing souls to the water of life. How much better 
 is a man than a sheep or an ox? When their bodies are 
 diseased we physic and nurse them. And how can we 
 neglect their diseased soul? Are not their souls more 
 precious than their bodies? 
 
 We are bound to give them the Gospel — hy Consis- 
 tency. We are actually contributing of our substance — 
 or giving our prayers and best wishes to the various 
 benevolent operations of the present day. We pray 
 that Christ's Kingdom may come, and that his Gospel 
 may be preached to every nation and people under the 
 whole heaven. In consistency with this prayer we 
 
have assisted in sending missionaries to the Heathen, 
 thousands of miles from us, and to destitute settlements 
 in our country. We have assisted in printing Bibles and 
 Tracts, and in sending them into every family in our 
 land and in foreign lands. We have assisted in preach- 
 ing the Gospel in our pubhc prisons — in the harbors of 
 our sea-port cities, to those who do business on the great 
 waters. We have assisted in gathering the children of 
 all parents into Sabbath Schools; and we have assisted 
 in staying the swellings of the fiery waves of intempe- 
 rance. But what have we done for our poor Negroes'? 
 With shame must we confess that we have done nothing! 
 An enemy, nay, a friend, might well say to us, how can 
 you contribute to all these benevolent works and pray 
 for their success ? How can you pray for Christ's King- 
 dom to come; how can you pray that God would enable 
 you to do something to hasten its coming, while you 
 are neglecting a people perishing for lack of vision 
 around your very doors'? And what answer could we 
 return in justification of our conduct? None. We could 
 do no more than honestly confess our inconsistency. 
 
 We cannot cry out against the Papists for withholding 
 the Scriptures from the common people, and keeping 
 them in ignorance of the way of life, for we withhold 
 the Bible from our Servants, and keep them in ignorance 
 of it, while we will not use the means to have it read 
 and explained to them. We have been shocked at the , 
 death of forty thousand men annually, by intemperance, j;^ 
 and our community has been thrown into commotion by ) 
 it. But it is probable that as many die annually among ) 
 the Negroes in slave-holding States, whose ^eath is ) 
 equally as hopeless as that of the drunkard, and yet we \ 
 have not thought of this, neither have we felt it. We 
 have been horror-struck at the cruelties of the Heathen, 
 who cast their aged and infirm, and their tender infants 
 
 
10 
 
 into the rivers to be devoured by crockodiles. But we 
 have manifested no emotions of horror at abandoning- 
 the souls of our Servants to the adversary, the roaring 
 Hon that walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. 
 Our inconsistency in withholding the Gospel from ourj 
 Servants, both as Philanthropists and Christians, is most 
 glaring, nor can we deny it. 
 
 We are bound to give them the Gospel — hy the spirit 
 of the Religion which we possess. Religion is compre- 
 hended in one word — Love. Love to God, and love to 
 man. This love, as manifested to man, consists in a 
 tender regard for his interests and an earnest desire for 
 his happiness, not so much, however, in reference to 
 this world as to that to come. Hence it is that the 
 Christian feels such an interest in the conversion and 
 salvation of men, that he is willing to make any sacrifice 
 to obtain this object. Indeed, the very design of God 
 in converting men is to promote his glory, by using 
 them as instruments in the conversion of others. It is 
 therefore an indication of radical defect of Christian 
 character; or most lamentable, may we not say criminal 
 ignorance of duty, when the Christian is insensible to 
 the condition of those who are perishing around him, 
 and makes no effort for their salvation. The desire of 
 the Christian to give men the Gospel, should be in pro- 
 portion to the difficulty to be surmounted, and the need 
 in which they stand of it. 
 
 The great, the golden rule of conduct, which Christ 
 prescribes to his followers, is this: '■'■All things whatso- 
 ever ye iconld tnen icoidd do unto yoif, do ye even so to 
 them.'''' Admitting, then, that we were in the condition 
 of the Negro, and he in our condition, able to read and 
 appreciate the Gospel ; experimentally acquainted with 
 it; a partaker of its privileges and of its eternal hopes; 
 would we not think it his duty to make known to us the 
 
II 
 
 Gospel, which is every thing to perishing sinners, and 
 which alone could yield us happiness in our humble lot"? 
 We surely should. And what would we think of him if 
 he denied it to us ] Could we believe that he possessed 
 the spirit of his religion ] Could we believe that he 
 sincerely beheved and felt all the amazing and soul 
 stirring truths which it contains ; No — we could not. 
 Shall we not, then, by passing over the spiritual wants 
 of our Servants, be deficient in the very spirit of our 
 religion? We feel that we shall; and we tremble to 
 think that should we continue to neglect them, our 
 neglect might not only shut their souls out of heaven, 
 but our own. 
 
 And once more — we are bound to give them the 
 Gospel — by the exj^ress command of God. We are com- 
 manded by Christ to go into all the world and preach 
 the Gospel to every creature, as we have seen. But 
 more particularly is it said to us, as owners of slaves, 
 " Masters give unto your Servants that which is just and j 
 equal, knowing that ye also have a master in heaven." / 
 Col. iv. 1. — i e. Treat your Servants wiih justice and in ) 
 an equitable manner, for you have a Master in heaven f 
 to whom you are accountable for your treatment of \ 
 them. Now, we cannot come up to the spirit and let- 
 ter of these commands, unless we give them the 
 Gospel. 
 
 Yes, our Servants are men — They need the Gospel. < 
 God has put it into our povver to give them the Gospel . / 
 and we are bound to do it, by Humanity — by Consis-f 
 tency — by the Spirit of the Religion ice profess — and by/ 
 the Express cominand of God. This obligation has beenl 
 resting upon us for years. May we not say that its age \ 
 gives it weight? Yea, an awful weight! Wc have here- \ 
 tofore neglected our duty. If we continue to neglect it, 
 we shall be as heretofore, withmit excuse. 
 
12 
 
 ( We cannot excuse ourselves, by saying — that the 
 
 \ Negroes have the Gospel already. Their opportunities 
 
 ' of hearing the Gospel are limited. For although, gene- 
 
 /rally speaking, all are permitted to go to church on 
 
 / Sabbath, yet ojdy a part on the plantations can go on 
 
 each Sabbath, as it is not permitted, nor can we say that 
 
 it is desirable, that all should leave the plantations at a 
 
 time./ And even of this minority, (and an exceeding 
 
 small minority it is, when we reckon children and youth,) 
 
 only a part attend church. So that the majority do not 
 
 hear the Gospel for weeks and months together. And, 
 
 as it is among the whites, so it is among them, many 
 
 never go to church at all. 
 
 But whenever the Negroes hear the preaching of the 
 f Gospel, they hear it at a very great disadvantage. The 
 \ sermons are almost wholly delivered to their masters, 
 \ and are not only, for the greater part, inapplicable to 
 / them, but entirely above their comprehension, both as 
 I to language and thought. The Gospel is preached to 
 f them in an unknown tongue. Occasionally they are 
 / particularly addressed, while worshipping with their 
 masters; and perhaps as often, a regular discourse is 
 delivered at their place of meeting.* We have colored 
 Ministers and exhorters, but their numbers are wholly 
 inadequate to the supply of the Negroes; and while 
 their ministrations are unfrequent, and conducted in 
 great weakness, there are some of them whose moral 
 character is justly suspected, and who may be con- 
 sidered blind leaders of the blind. t 
 
 Nor have the Negroes, at any other time than the 
 
 i Sabbath, any system of stated religious instruction, if 
 we except a few plantations on which they are gathered 
 together and instructed in the evenings. So that on the 
 
 * See note B. f See note C. 
 
13 
 
 whole, considering the fewness of tiie numbers that 
 attend church, the disadvantage under which they hear 
 the Gospel, and the little attention which is paid to their 
 private instructions on the plantations, we must say to 
 our condemnation, that our Servants do not enjoy the 
 privileges of the Gospel. Hence their ignorance of 
 the nature of true religion, and of its fundamental 
 doctrines. 
 
 Nor can we excuse ourselves by saying — that they 
 are incapable of receiving Religions Instruction. It is 
 customary amongst us to entertain very low opinions 
 of the intellectual capacity of the Negroes. Whether 
 this be right or wrong, we leave every man to judge 
 for himself, and to judge likewise whether their mental 
 weakness is to be attributed to the circumstances of 
 their condition, or to any difference as made by the 
 Author of their existence between them and other men. 
 But to suppose them too ignorant to comprehend the 
 plainer and more essential doctrines of Christianity, is 
 certainly to disregard the testimony of. God's word, as 
 well as the testimony of facts. 
 
 It is said that "God is no respecter of persons; but, 
 in every nation, he that feareth Him and worketh right- 
 eousness is accepted with Him." And again, that " He 
 hath made of one blood all nations of men that dwell 
 on all the face of tl'.e earth." (Acts, 10, 34—35, 17, 
 25 — 26.) What then can be plainer than that all men 
 have one common origin, and that all are capable of 
 exercising proper affections towards God; and this 
 necessarily implies a capahility of understanding the 
 Divine Law, no matter under what dispensation of law 
 they live, whether natural or revealed. If it be allowed 
 that the Negroes are men, then these things are true in 
 regard to them, and thus by the word of God does it 
 appear that they are capable of understanding the 
 
14 
 
 Gospel. And this is further evident from fact: Are 
 there not colored communicants in our churches who 
 understand, and in their lives adorn, the doctrine of 
 Jesus Christ ] We must believe that their general 
 ignorance on Divine subjects is wholly owing to their 
 want of proper instruction, and not at all to any natural 
 defect of mental constitution. 
 
 Nor can we excuse ourselves — because the Gospel 
 meets with so little success amongst them. The great 
 wonder with us should be, not that the Gospel meets 
 with so little success, but that it meets with any success 
 \ at all: for we have seen that it is not preached to them 
 I in its fullness and connexion — nor is it preached to them 
 generally, nor intelligibly. And we have also seen that 
 the Negroes are extremely ignorant and vicious; and, 
 . like other men, they naturally hate the light. It should, 
 ^ therefore, be very far from a matter of discouragement 
 ■ to us, that the Gospel, as they have heretofore been 
 accustomed to receive it, has met with so Httle success. 
 On the contrary, it should be a matter of encourage- 
 ment. For if it has met with any success at all, under 
 a feeble and inadequate dispensation of it, what success 
 may we not hope for under a more energetic and ade- 
 quate dispensation of it? 
 
 The world and the glory of it, are outweighed in 
 value by the soul. If, therefore, only one soul is saved 
 from amongst them, the Gospel meets with great suc- 
 cess ; and were it now revealed to us, that the most 
 extensive system of instruction we could devise, requi- 
 ring a vast amount of labor and protracted through 
 ages, woul I result in the salvation of the soul of only 
 one poor African^ we should feel ourselves warranted in 
 cheerfully entering upon the work, for our reward would 
 exceed our toil and care above the computation of any 
 finite mind. But further, if the Gospel meet with no 
 
15 
 
 success at all, it would be no reason why we should not 
 undertake the religious instruction of the Negroes; for 
 if we certainly determine that it is our duty to give them 
 instruction, we should do it. The success of that instruc- 
 tion belongs to God. This is the view which every 
 Christian should take of the subject. God has evidently 
 been speaking to us in favor of our Servants. He has 
 called many of them into his kingdom, and made them 
 rich in faith, as we do know. We have not, as yet, 
 listened to his voice. It is time that we should. He 
 tells us that he is willing to bless the preaching of the 
 Gospel to their salvation. Shall we neglect them? 
 Shall we despise God's voice? 
 
 Nor can we render as an excuse for not giving reli- 
 gious instruction to our servants — that there are before 
 us, peculiar and great difficulties hard to be overcome. 
 For in every enterprise of benevolence, there are diffi- 
 culties; and if we wait, in our efforis to do good, until 
 all difficulties are removed, we shall never commence. 
 Times have suddenly and strangely altered in this world, 
 if Christians can do good without encountering much 
 that will try the purity and the firmness of their purposes. 
 Against new enterprises, there are always men in readi- 
 ness to magnify difficulties and to multiply objections. 
 But when we enter upon them, and have a mind to the 
 work, and the work be of God, difficulties and objections 
 gradually vanish away. One thing is certain: — what- 
 ever difficulties now exist with regard to the religious 
 instruction of our Servants, will continue to exist; for 
 there are no causes now in operation adequate to their 
 removal, nor is there the slightest possibily that there 
 will be any. It is, therefore, the dictate of wisdom to- 
 commence our work at once. And again, if we are 
 called of God to this work, we must, in the best way we 
 can, attempt it, leaving it to Him to remove all obstacles- 
 
 WTP' 
 
16 
 
 to our progress in it. And it will be a proof of the ardor 
 of our feelings and of our sincerity in the work, if we 
 can cheerfully and manfully grapple with difficulty. 
 
 No, we have no excuse for our neglect of our Ser- 
 vants. Before God we must plead guilty, both we and 
 our fathers, and render thanks unto God that his mercy 
 and forbearance have preserved us from merited pun- 
 ishment. From the first introduction of these people 
 into our country, they have been neglected. They 
 have lived and died without the consolations of religion. 
 They have worn out their lives to furnish us with the 
 necessaries and luxuries of life. They have supported us 
 in ease and fulness ; and yet after they have thus com- 
 municated to us of temporal things, we have ungrate- 
 fully failed to make them partakers of our spiritual 
 things. Are they debtors to us? or are we debtors to 
 themi Let the conscience of every man answer. 
 
 The religious instruction of the Negroes properly 
 devolves on us, their legal owners; for they are wholly 
 at our disposal. None are better acquainted with our 
 laws, our local prejudices, the condition and character 
 of the Negroes, than we ; and consequently none are 
 better able to devise and carry into effect unexception- 
 able systems of instruction. 
 
 Now, there are a number of our fellow-citizens, who 
 feel deeply for the spiritual welfare of their Servants, 
 but have been greatly at a loss to know ivhat to do. ' No 
 system of instruction has been proposed for their adop- 
 tion, and they have felt a delicacy in coming before the 
 public with any thing of their own. But it is time to 
 adopt some plan of instruction. Our duty is plain, our 
 Servants must have the Gospel. On this point there 
 can be but one opinion. 
 
 But luhat shall our jAan of instruction he? 
 
 Before we proceed to answer this question, we should 
 
17 
 
 take into consideration the character of the people, and 
 the sort of instruction which they need. They are an 
 ignorant and wicked people, from the oldest to the 
 youngest. Hence, instruction should be committed to 
 them oil, and communicated intelligibly. And that it 
 may be impressed upon their memories, and good order 
 promoted amongst them, it should be communicated 
 frequently and at stated intervals of time. 
 
 We would wish then to communicate religious in- 
 struction to allom servants, intelligibly. , frequently ^d^n^ 
 statedly. 
 
 What plan is there then that will secure all these ne- 
 cessary ends'? 
 
 1. Shall we employ Missionaries to devote their whole 
 time to the Negroes 7 While we allow that the em- 
 ployment of Missionaries for this purpose would be 
 attended with very great advantages, and where it can 
 be done, it ought to be done ; yet, there are objections 
 to this plan, as falling short of the attainment of the 
 ends which we have in view. 
 
 The first is, we could not procure Missionaries. It 
 must be remembered that we want Southern Men. 
 Can our churches furnish themi Where are they? 
 Again, if we could procure Missionaries, the question 
 of their support must be decided. Will our churches, 
 or will communities pledge themselves for the neces- 
 sary funds "? 
 
 And again, suppose the Missionaries and funds for 
 their support obtained, they would, in a majority of 
 cases, be set over extensive territories, and would be 
 compelled to visit the plantations in rotation, so that 
 several weeks would intervene before these visits could 
 be repeated. Their labor would necessarily be stinted. 
 And remembering that the Negroes for the most part 
 must be instructed at night, we may ask, where arc 
 
 m- 
 
18 
 
 the men of such iron constitution as would live in such 
 service in the low country 1 The difficulty on the score 
 of health would not exist in the up-country. 
 
 2. tShall we establish stations contiguous to a number 
 of 'plantations, and give instruction on the Sabbath 7 
 We admit that this is an excellent plan as far as it goes. 
 But it does not meet the wants of the Negroes. There 
 is a radical defect in it. Only a part of every plantation 
 is allowed to be- away at any one time, and admitting 
 that this part attended at the stations for instruction on 
 the Sabbath, a very small part only of the whole popu- 
 lation would enjoy the privileges of the Gospel. But 
 of those who are permitted to leave the plantations on 
 the Sabbath, all would not attend at the stations for in- 
 struction, and thus this very small part would be made- 
 much smaller. 
 
 3. The most efficient plan — the plan which seems to 
 secure all the important ends which we desire, in con- 
 veying the Gospel to the Negroes, is that which your 
 Society has adopted, and which is followed by the so- 
 ciety in Liberty and by the citizens of Bryan county. 
 It is a plan that embraces the two already mentioned 
 and much more in addition : and for the information of 
 those who are nat acquainted with it, let us briefly state 
 it. The plan is this. The Planters form themselves 
 
 rinto a voluntary association, and take the religious in- 
 
 1 struction of the colored population into their own hands. 
 
 1 And in this way : — As many of the association as feel 
 
 ) themselves called to the work, shall become teachers. 
 
 An Executive Committee is to regulate the operation* 
 
 of the Society, to establish regular stations, both for 
 
 instruction during the week and on the Sabbath, and 
 
 \ to appoint teachers who shall punctually attend to 
 
 I their respective charges, and communicate instruc- 
 
 ' tion altogether orally^ and in as systematic and intelH- 
 
19 
 
 gible a manner as possible, embracing all the principles )> 
 of the Christian religion as understood by orthodox { 
 Protestants, and carefully avoiding all points of doctrine ) 
 that separate different religious denominations. 
 
 The teachers are not to be sent to any plantation 
 without the cordial consent of the owner Nor shall 
 they attend at any other time than that specified by 
 him. His wishes and arrangements are to be consulted 
 and complied with. They are to confine themselves to r 
 the religious instruction of the Negroes wholly ; nor \ 
 are they to intermeddle with the concerns of the plan- 
 tation in any manner, nor repeat abroad what their 
 ears hear, or their eyes see on them. They are also ' 
 to make Reports of their labors to the Executive Com- 
 mittee, which Committee shall make a general report 
 to the Society at some specified time. In addition to 
 the instructions of the teachers, where it is practicable, 
 a Missionary may be employed to take a general su- 
 pervision of the whole, occupy Sabbath stations, preach 
 also during the week on plantations, and assist in fra- 
 ming courses of instruction, etc. 
 
 The only difficulty in the execution of this plan, is 
 the procurement of a sufficient number of efficient 
 teachers. In certain sections of our country, no teach- 
 ers can be found ; the white population is so sparse and 
 80 few of them, if any, are pious. In these sections, 
 recourse must be had to one or the otlier of the two 
 plans first mentioned. 
 
 Such is the plan which you have adopted. It has 
 thus far answered your expectations. — But we will not 
 contend for its perfection ; we will hold ourselves in 
 readiness to receive light from any quarter ; it may 
 have its faults. Indeed there have been several objec- 
 tions urged against this plan, which as they may lodge 
 in the minds of some to whom the plan is new, it may 
 not be improper io consider. 
 
20 
 
 1. The plan may succeed in a small neighhorhoodj 
 hut not in a large one. The success of the plan in any 
 neighborhood depends upon the number of efficient 
 teachers; only secure a sufficient number of teachers, 
 and the neighborhood may be increased to any size. 
 And admitting that there are not a sufficient number of 
 teachers in a neighborhood, yet much good may be 
 done by a few. If we can cuhivate only a part of our 
 field, let us do it. It is better to cuhivate a part, than 
 let the whole run to waste. Let us not despise the day 
 of small things. Let us trust in God, who may at some 
 future time enable us to cultivate the whole. 
 X^ 2. This plan of instruction ivill he the means of intro- 
 ducing amongst us men and principles, hostile to our 
 present system of things, and will lead us into trouble. 
 But in what way 1 Is not the plan our own. Do we 
 not carry it into effect ourselves ? Are we not inte- 
 rested persons 1 Will we commission men to go on 
 our plantations to sow discontent and revolt ! Are not 
 the Executive Committee charged with the oversight of 
 the teachers? Have they not power to check or de- 
 pose from office those who give improper instruction ? 
 Our society professes to have nothing to do with the 
 civil instruction of the Negroes^, nor do we desire it. 
 We are concerned with them only as moral and ac- 
 countable beings. Such a thing as stated in the ob- 
 jection cannot take place, unless we ourselves bring it 
 to pass. It is presumed no one will suspect us of it. 
 Every intelligent man ought to know that there is no 
 more effectual method to prevent what is suggested by 
 the objector, than to instruct our Servants in the prin- 
 ciples of Christianity, to be present ourselves in all 
 their assemblies for religious purposes, and to know 
 who are their teachers. Our plan carries our security 
 in it. 
 J S. This plan interferes with the Planters arrange- 
 
21 
 
 ments, and will probably expose him to the slanders of 
 the Teachers. The plan cannot interfere with the 
 Planter's arrangements. If he pleases to permit teach- 
 ers to come on his place, they will come at whatever 
 time he shall appoint, and continue the meetings no 
 longer than may be agreeable to him. The Planter is 
 to please himself. He is not to conform to the arrange- 
 ments of the Society, but the Society is to conform to 
 his ; for the Society very well knows that it has no more 
 right to interfere in his plantation arrangements, than 
 they have to interfere in those of his family. That 
 the Planter will suffer from the slanderous reports of 
 the teachers, we hope may never be the fact. When 
 the teacher comes on a plantation, he comes as it were 
 into a private family. It would almost be unpardonable 
 in a man to come with professions of friendship to do us 
 the kindness and service of religiously instructing our 
 Servants, and then discovering something which he 
 may deem improper in our treatment of our Servants 
 or in their conduct towards us, to go away and make it 
 a matter of public notoriety. He betrays the confidence 
 reposed in him. He is unfaithful to his trust. We hope 
 the Society may never hold in its bosom such a man. 
 We hope it may never shake the hand of fellowship 
 with him. In order to avoid every thing of this n'""^ 
 it should be the duty of the Executive Commit 
 appoint as teachers men of judgment and disc 
 and to inculcate in their private conference with > 
 
 the Christian duty of abstaining from any co^ 
 whatever, upon what they see or hear while e; 
 in the discharge of their important duties. 
 
 4. This plan will take vp much of the Teacher , 
 
 and subject him to great inconvenie?ice. Whf t 
 
 and good work is there that requires no sac f 
 
 time and convenience'? And is the sacrifice e 
 
22 
 
 and convenience in the present work so great as to 
 deter us from it? Let us see if it is. 
 
 As to time^ the teacher will devote perhaps, at most, 
 but one evening to the instruction of the Negroes, and 
 surely he can so arrange his business as not to suffer 
 other engagements to interfere with this. And now 
 what is it for us to devote one evening in the week to 
 our Servants when their whole time is devoted to us 1 
 Especially too, when we seek to promote the salvation 
 of their immortal souls? It is a shame for any man to 
 talk of the sacrifice of time. 
 
 As to inconvenience, the teacher will not ride at the 
 extent, more than a few miles. He may sometimes 
 have his zeal and resolution tested by a dark or rainy 
 evening. But what is the inconvenience of a short 
 ride, and sometimes on a stormy night, for the benefit 
 of those who are employed in labor for us, through all 
 the changes of weather during the year : and who have 
 no other time in the week to attend religious meetings? 
 It is a shame for any man to talk of the sacrifice of 
 convenience. 
 
 The trouble of preparation for his meetings should be 
 something to the teacher. He is engaged in most im- 
 portant and momentous labors ; they reach into eter- 
 nity, and he should discharge them to the best of his 
 abilities. He should bring forth out of his treasures 
 things new and old, so as always to interest and instruct 
 his charge. But considering how many excellent helps 
 we now have in interpreting and illustrating Scripture 
 he may make his trouble comparatively light. And 
 what is the trouble of preparation to a man who feels 
 the value of the soul — to a man engaged in the work 
 of converting men unto God? The trouble is not then 
 thought of. Do then, teachers who are interested in 
 their work, complain of the trouble of preparation ? No. 
 
23 '^ 
 
 They know by experience that the Scripture is true 
 which saith, He that water ethy shall himself he watered. 
 They are watered in having their skirts clear of the 
 blood of souls ; in obtaining a more intimate acquaint-^ 
 ance with the word of God ; and in enjoying the happi- 
 ness consequent upon sincere labors in the cause of 
 Christ. We feel that if we can see our Servants at- 
 tentive to our instructions, improving in morality — 
 above all, heartily embracing religion, we shall feel 
 amply compensated for any sacrifice of time and con- 
 venience to which we shall be subjected. And by the 
 blessing of God, may we not hope for this? 
 vJ 5. This plan of instructing the Negroes will do no 
 good; it will only make them toorse hypocrites and 
 worse men. It has been tried before. We confess that 
 we are unable to feel the force of this objection. Our 
 object will be to teach as God shall enable us, the Gos~ 
 pel to the Negroes. Will any man say that the tendency 
 of the Gospel is to make men worse than they are 1 If 
 any man says this, we earnestly hope that he will put 
 himself to the trouble of examining the Gospel itself, 
 and its legitimate effects upon mankind. We think that 
 he will be convinced of his error. Wherever the Gos~- 
 pel is statedly and faithfully preached, the result is 
 favorable to the piety and morality of the people. We 
 can see no reason whatever, why it should produce an 
 effect on our Nogroes, contrary to that which it is de- 
 signed by infinite wisdom and benevolence to produce^ 
 and which it actually produces on all other men, and on 
 some whose condition is worse than that of- our Ne- 
 groes. And from what people did we, with all our piety 
 and morality, and knowledge, spring 1 From a people 
 once as degraded as Negroes. And what has lifted us 
 so far above our progenitors 1 The Gospel, and nothing 
 else. Is there not then a redeeming power in the Gos^ 
 
24 
 
 pel for the Africans ? We firmly believe that there is^ 
 Without this belief, we would not make an effort to 
 give it to them. The unintelligible or corrupt preach- 
 ing of the Gospel may make men worse, but never 
 the preaching of the pure Gospel. 
 
 We are quite sure that no plan of instruction like the 
 present, has ever been in operation in this country. 
 The efforts heretofore made, have been quite partial 
 and for the most part irregular. And it would not be 
 proper for us, considering God's general course in 
 providence and in grace, to expect much decided good 
 from such efforts. And even admitting that the Ne- 
 groes have hardened themselves, and grown worse 
 under former advantages, this should not discourage 
 us from attempting something more in their behalf. 
 It should operate as an additional and a very powerful 
 reason why we should attempt something more in their 
 behalf But may we not go further? Admitting we 
 were assured before hand, that our labors would be 
 contemned, and result only in great indifference to 
 religion and in increased hardness of heart, even this 
 assurance ought not to deter us from duty. God, 
 sometimes in the accomplishment of his purposes, and 
 of his great mercy, commands advantages to be multi. 
 plied to those who will certainly abuse them. The 
 Jews, in the days of Christ, were a remarkable instance 
 of this. (Matt. 23: 33, 39.) 
 
 But it may be questioned if this objection is supported 
 by a sohtary fact. On the contrary, we believe, that 
 in the judgment of sober, unprejudiced men, whenever 
 the Negroes have etijoyed for any reasonable time the 
 privileges of the Gospel, they will, in point of order and 
 morality, be found in advance of those who have not 
 enjoyed them. 
 
 These are some of the objections which have been 
 
25 
 
 urged against our plan of conveying religious instruc- 
 tion to our Servants, and after duly considering them, 
 we do not think that they are of sufficient weight to 
 deter us from our purpose. It is a matter of astonish- 
 ment, that there should be any objection at all; for the 
 duty of giving religious instruction to our Negroes, and 
 the benefits flowing from it, should be obvious to all. 
 The benefits, we conceive to be incalculably great, and 
 (^some of them are the following : 
 
 ^ 1. There will he a better understayid'mg of the mutual 
 relations of Master and Servant. We doubt not that 
 there are many of our fellow citizens, and we would 
 implicate ourselves in the charge, who have never 
 given themselves the trouble to inquire into the num- 
 ber and nature of those duties which they owe to their 
 Servants, and are in reason and in conscience, bound 
 to perform. Nor do we think that our Servants gener- 
 ally, understand their duties towards us, and from what 
 motives they should be performed. In many instances, 
 they learn them after failure to perform them, through 
 punishment, which might have been saved by a little 
 ^;imely instruction. And although the relative duties 
 of Master and Servant are so important, and are so 
 often insisted upon and defined in the Scriptures, we do 
 not recollect ever to have heard a sermon from the 
 pulpit concerning them. 
 
 2. There will he greater subordination, and a decrease 
 'of crime amongst the Negroes. It is well known that 
 Slavery existed in the Roman Empire during the life 
 of Christ/ and his Apostles, and that many Slaves be- 
 came converts during their preaching. It appears that 
 they did not interfere at all with the civil condition of 
 the Slaves, nor pass any opinion concerning it, but 
 preached to them the plain Gospel which is limited to 
 every class and condition of men, and inculcated the 
 
 >V 
 
26 
 
 duty of obedience in a very high degree. The follow- 
 ing passages will suffice as a specimen: "Servants be 
 obedient to your masters according to the flesh, not 
 with eye-service as men pleasers, but as the Servants 
 of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart." "Ser- 
 vants obey in all things your Masters according to the 
 flesh, and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the 
 Lord, and not unto men." " Let as many Servants as 
 are under the yoke count their Masters worthy of all 
 honor, &c." And the Apostle Paul commands Minis- 
 ters to " Exhort Servants to be obedient unto their own 
 Masters and to please them well in all things, &c. 
 (Eph. 6: 5, 6; Col. 3: 22; 1 Tim. 6: 1; Titus 2: 9,) 
 and other passages of like import which any one may 
 see for himself by consulting the New Testament; 
 particularly the Epistle to Philemon, where it appears 
 that the Apostle Paul sends back Onesimus, a runaway 
 slave to his Master. 
 
 It will be noticed that obedience is inculcated as a 
 Christian duty, binding on the Servants, and thus the 
 authority of Masters is supported by considerations 
 drawn from eternity. Now it would be a prime object 
 with the Teachers to tread in the footsteps of the 
 Apostles. Will the authority of the Masters be wea- 
 kened by instructions of this sort "? No, it will be 
 strengthened. And we believe that their authority 
 can be strengthened and supported in this way only ; 
 for the duty of obedience will never be felt and per- 
 formed to the extent that we desire it, unless we can 
 bottom it on religious principle. 
 
 Our Patrol Laws are not efficiently executed now, 
 and this proposed plan of operation will, to some extent, 
 supply their place. For the simple presence of a white 
 man at stated times amongst the Negroes, will tend 
 greatly to the promotion of good order. 
 
It has been said, that religious instruction tends to 
 create insubordination, and that religious meetings of 
 the Negroes are nurseries for every sort of irregularity, 
 and we have been pointed for an example to the affair 
 in Charleston of 1822. But the example adduced, re- 
 futes the very point it was intended to prove. Those 
 meetings which were held in Charleston for the pur- 
 pose of exciting the colored population, were not reli- 
 gious meetings. They were meetings held under color 
 of religion ; but religion, properly speaking, had nothing 
 to do with them ; nor had the Negroes composing them 
 any connexion with any vv^hite church or congregation.* 
 
 Supposing that it was religion itself that excited those 
 people 1 (which we deny with all our might,) men are 
 religious beings. They will meet for religious purposes 
 again. And in what way shall we prevent the recur- 
 rence of the same consequences'? Only by being 
 present in their meetings ourselves. If our plan of 
 sending a white instructor into every assembly of Ne- 
 groes for religious purposes, had been in operation in 
 Charleston in 1822, there would never have existed any 
 difficulty. As we said before, our plan seems to carry 
 our security in it. 
 
 To shew the influence of true religion upon the Ne- 
 groes, the case of somewhat an extensive insurrection 
 in one of the West India Islands may be cited, wherein 
 all the Negroes attached to the Moravian Missionary 
 Churches, to a man, supported the authority of their 
 Masters against the insurgents. Now, these Moravian 
 Missionaries, as we understand, will have nothing 
 whatever to do with the civil condition of the Slaves, 
 but confine themselves entirely to the work of preach- 
 ing the Gospel of Christ Jesus and him crucified. In 
 
 * Sea note D. 
 
28 
 
 the Danish West Indies, their congregations number 
 10,000 Negroes who profess faith in Christ; and in the 
 British West Indies 15,000. Again — have we not heard 
 individual planters say, that some of their best Servants 
 are those who profess religion and appear to have the 
 root of the matter in them 1 Without doubt, cnme will 
 be diminished. For Teachers, in order to induce a 
 sense of guilt, must charge upon the Negroes those 
 particular sins to which they are so much addicted, and 
 expose their enormity and consequent punishment 
 in the world to come. Many of them are guilty of no- 
 torious sins and know not that they are sins at all. And 
 they will be led to respect each other more ; to pay 
 greater regard to mutual rights ; the strong will not so 
 much oppress the weak; family relations will be less 
 liable to rupture ; in short, all the social virtues will be 
 more honored and respected. Short as has been the ex- 
 istence of your Society, you can testify to the influence 
 of your instructions in restraining crime on some plan- 
 tations. The same may be said of the instructions on 
 some plantations in Bryan county. Indeed the im- 
 provement of the Negroes in morality seems to keep 
 pace with the religious privileges tliey enjoy. 
 
 The plan of instruction pursued by your Society will 
 afford new faciUties, and better opportunities of bring- 
 ing them under the influence of Temperance Societies. 
 It is a matter of astonishment that Masters who are 
 members of Temperance Societicties, or advocates of 
 Temperance, take no steps to prevent the sale of ar- 
 dent spirit to their slaves, especially too when they 
 have it amply in their power. In this matter they seem 
 to lose sight of their own interest^ to say nothing of 
 their duty to their Negroes. 
 
 And again, the religious instruction of the Negroes 
 will deliver them from being made dupes and instru- 
 
29 
 
 ments of sin, by those to whom God in his mercy has 
 given greater light, and who ought to know, and do 
 better. The guilt of those must be tremendous who 
 take advantage of their standing, and knowledge, and 
 power, to entice and compel to sin, their poor degraded 
 fellow creatures, 
 
 Happy then shall we be, if we can increase the spirit 
 of obedience in our Servants, and cherish it by conside- 
 rations drawn from eternity. Happy shall we be if we 
 can raise the standard of their moral character, and 
 place them in some good measure above the influence 
 of evil seducers, and deliver their Masters from the 
 pecuniary loss and the pain of severe discipline, conse- 
 quent upon their negligence and crime.* 
 
 3. Much impleasant discipline will be saved to the 
 Churches. The offences of colored communicants 
 against Christian character and church order, are very 
 numerous and frequently very heinous ; the discipline 
 i^ wearisome, difficult and unpleasant. Excommunica- 
 tions are of continual occurrence, and are usually in a 
 short time followed by applications for read mission. 
 There never will be a better state of things until the 
 Negroes are better instructed in religion. 
 
 4. The Chiirch and Society at large will he benefitted. 
 The way to strengthen and increase holiness in the 
 soul, is to abound in works of holiness. It is by giving 
 our talents to the exchangers that we gain other ta- 
 lents. By taking in hand the religious instruction of 
 the Negroes, a sufficient field is thrown open for the 
 most vigorous exercise of the piety and zeal, and 
 talents of the church. And allowing that her labor 
 proves of no avail to the Negroes, yet for the sake of 
 the benefit to herself, she should persevere in them. 
 
 * See note E. 
 
•f 
 
 30 
 
 Society at large will also be benefitted. Benefitted 
 in a pecuniary point of view. For a faithful Servant 
 is more profitable than an unfaithful one. He will do 
 more and better work, be less troublesome, and less 
 liable to disease. 
 
 And benefitted in a moral point of view. We are so 
 accustomed to sin, in tlie Negroes, which in them 
 appears as a matter of course, that our sensibilities be- 
 come blunted ; we cease to abhor it, and then fall into 
 sin ourselves. We also associate every thing that is 
 mean and degrading with the Negroes, and almost 
 necessarily so, from their mean and degraded charac- 
 ters. The consequence is, they do not seem worthy 
 of our regard, they lose all our respect, and it is no 
 marvel if our conduct towards them is dictated by our 
 opinion of them. Planters will generally confess that 
 the management of them is not only attended with 
 trouble and vexation, but with provocations to sin. And 
 the demoralizing influence w-hich they exert over 
 children and youth, when they are permitted to asso- 
 ciate much watli them, is well known to us all. In fine, 
 the influence of the Negroes on the morals of our white 
 population, is exceedingly pernicious. It is like a mill- 
 stone hanged about the neck of society. But when we 
 shall see them assuming a higher standard of morals, 
 the current of their opinion turning against vice, their 
 appearance and deportment becoming more respectful, 
 then shall we be favorably affected ourselves. Both 
 classes of society will rise together, and in this way 
 only can they ever rise^ so great is the influence of the 
 one over the other. 
 
 5. The Souls of our Servants will he saved. The 
 great object for which we would communicate religious 
 instruction to them is that their souls may be saved. 
 To this all other objects should be subordinate. We 
 
believe that God will bless our instructions according 
 to our desire. Strengthened by our faith, let us be wil- 
 ling to sow in tears, for we shall reap in joy. Let us be 
 willing to go forth weeping and bearing precious seed, 
 for we shall come again with rejoicing, bringing sheaves 
 with us. If the rest of Heaven is sweet to any human 
 being, it is sweet to the poor African. If the cheering 
 hopes of a blessed immortality are necessary to any 
 human being, to animate and sustain him in his pil- 
 grimage below, they are necessary to the poor African. 
 The glory of God may be advanced as much in the 
 salvation of his soul, as in the salvation of the soul of 
 any other man whatever. 
 >/ / 6. We shall relieve ourselves of great responsibility. 
 God, in his mysterious providence has cast this people 
 down under our feet. We rule over them. Why he 
 has subjected them to this bondage, we know not. But 
 one thing we do know : — They are his accountable 
 creatures, and the manner of our treatment of them as 
 such, cannot be a matter of indifference to us, if we 
 have any regard whatever to his approbation or disap- 
 probation. In the exercise of that supreme power over 
 them, v^ested in us by the laws of our country, we can 
 forbid any man's coming on our plantations for the 
 purpose of religiously instructing them; we can forbid 
 all meetings for religious purposes on our plantations ; 
 we can refuse to instruct them ourselves; we can for- 
 bid them the privileges of God's sanctuary on the Sab- 
 bath ; we can literally bar the door of entrance into 
 Heaven against them ; nor is there any power in our 
 government that can compel us to swerve a hair from 
 such treatment of them. The moral destinies of these 
 people are submitted to our disposal, and our responsi- 
 bilities we may neglect, we may despise. But we 
 cannot be delivered from them. They press upon us 
 
32 
 
 with the weight of a mountain, and we can meet them 
 only by giving them the Gospel according to the mea- 
 sure of Christ, " Frecli/ ye have received .freely g-ive." 
 
 Some have thought that God has permitted the Afri- 
 cans to be brought to this country, that His truth 
 might be made known to them. If He has, then may 
 we exclaim : " How unsearchable are His judgments, 
 and His ways past finding out !" He has not only 
 caused the wrath, but the cupidity of man to praise 
 Him. It is certain that the salvation of one soul will 
 more than outweigh all the pain and woe of their cap- 
 ture and transportation, and subsequent residence 
 amongst us. How slow have we been to second the 
 designs of God! How astonishing is it that we have 
 remained so long ignorant of our duty ! May we not 
 hope that at these times of ignorance God has winked; 
 but now commands all men every where to repent 1 
 May we not hope that our repentance in this region 
 has already begun? You, men and brethren, have 
 reason to bless God that he has put it into your hearts 
 to form the first Society for tlie Religious Instruction of 
 the Negroes, ever formed, so far as we know, in the 
 Southern States. From the altar which you have 
 raised, fire may be borne to light up altars throughout 
 our country, on which all the sons of Africa may offer 
 sacrifices to God. A jmblic senti/neiit on this subject 
 has now begun its existence. It must live. It must 
 be cherished. It must become as universal as that on 
 Temperance, or on any other work of philanthropy and 
 Christian benevolence. We hope that the attention of 
 our countrymen will be turned to the moral and reli- 
 gious condition of the Negroes ; and that after a lapse 
 of time, it will be unusual to find a plantation deprived 
 of the means of grace. 
 
 The work itself is great — It is difficult. There is 
 
touch in it to dampen ardour and induce discourage-' 
 ment. To preach the Gospel to any people however 
 Improved and however favorably situated, is discoura- 
 ging; but to preach it to the most ignorant and de- 
 graded, laboring under every disadvantage, is discoura- 
 ging in the extreme. 
 
 But it is the work of God. He can cause mountains 
 to become plains, and rough places to become smooth. 
 In Him must be our trust. In Him there is a sufficiency 
 of power, and wisdom, and grace. And there is a glory 
 in the work which the Apostle to the Gentiles, were 
 he alive, would covet. In imitation of his Master, he 
 was forward to remember the poor. He strove to 
 preach the Gospel, not where Christ was named, 
 lest he should build upon another man's foundation. 
 We tread an untrodden field of enterprise, and the sub- 
 jects of our regard are the poorest of the poor. 
 
 Finally, Men and Brethren — The cry of our perishing* 
 servants comes up to us from the sultry plains, as they 
 bend at their toil. It comes up to us from their humble 
 cottages, when they return at evening to rest their 
 weary limbs. It comes up to us from the midst of 
 their ignorance, and superstition and adultery, and 
 lewdness. Shall we disregard it? The cry is passing 
 up to God and He will hear it. In a little while our 
 opportunity of doing good to our servants will be gone 
 forever. In a little while we shall have done with the 
 artificial distinctions of this world. We shall sleep in 
 the ground, side by side, with them, and return to dust 
 as soon as they. In a little while we shall meet them 
 before Christ the Judge, the Great Master of all, with 
 whom there is no respecter of persons. He will say 
 to us — " These were your servants on earth. They 
 labored for you ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty years. They 
 wore out their lives to supply you with the food, and 
 
34 
 
 raiment, and conveniences, and luxuries, of your mortal 
 life. You had them wholly at your disposal. You had 
 my Gospel in your hands. I made you the almoners 
 of my grace to them. Did you remember their never- 
 dying souls 1 — While they communicated to you of 
 temporal things, did you communicate to them of spiri- 
 tual things 1 Did you urge and entreat them to come 
 to me, who alone could give the weary and heavy laden 
 rest 1 Did you allow them time to seek my face 1 Or 
 did you neglect their eternal interests 1 Did you treat 
 them like the beasts that perish 1 Were they merely 
 the instruments of your profit or of your pleasure 1 Did 
 you forget that they were your fellow creatures 1 Did 
 you forget the price that I paid for their redemption? 
 Did you leave them to perish eternally "?" 
 
 Every owner of slaves has an account to render to 
 / God for his treatment of them. O, how fearful will be 
 his account, who, knowingly and wilfully, will permit 
 them to go down from his fields, and from his very 
 dwelling into the bottomless pit, without making a soli- 
 tary effort to save them T " He that ears to hear, let 
 him hear !" 
 
'^ 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Note A. 
 
 The language of Charles Cotesworlh Pinckney, in his Address 
 before the Agricultural Society of South Carolina, August 18th 1829, 
 on the moral condition of the Negroes, is as follows: — "There needs 
 no stronger illustration of the doctrine of human depravity, than the 
 state of morals on plantations in general. Besides the mischievous 
 tendency of bad example, in parents and elders, the little Negro is often 
 taught by his natural instructors, that he may commit any vice he 
 can conceal from his superiors; and thus falet^hood and deception are, 
 amongst the earliest they imbibe. Their advance in years is but a 
 progression to the higher grades of iniquity. The violation of the 
 seventh Commandment is viewed in a more venial hght than in 
 fashionable European circles. Their depredations of rice have been 
 estimated to amount to twenty-five per cent, on the gross average of 
 crops; and this calculation was made after fifty years experience, by 
 one whose liberal provision for their wants left no excuse for their 
 ingratitude. — Address ^ pp. 10, 11. 
 
 Note B. 
 
 The practice of some churches is to divide the service on the 
 Sabbath between the whites and the blacks. This is an excellent 
 and benevolent arrangement, and it were to be wished that it was 
 more extensively entered into. The servants form as truly a part of 
 the Minister's congregation, as the masters themselves; nor can we 
 «ee how he can officially, not to say conscientiously, omit their regular 
 instruction. 
 
Note C. 
 
 "We look upon the habit of black preaching as a wide spreading 
 evil, not because a black man cannot be a good one, but because in 
 the first place, they are not sufficiently instructed for the sacerdotal 
 office; secondly, not being regularly appointed by any ecclesiastical 
 authority, there is no security for their qualifications, or principles of 
 any kind; thirdly, beaiise they acquire an influence independent of 
 the owner and not subject to his control; and fourthly, when they 
 have possessed this power, they have been known to make an im- 
 proper use of it. Great efforts have been made to abolish this prac- 
 tice, but they have been attended wilh the usual efftcts of religious 
 persecution, secrecy and nocturnal meetings in old fields and planta- 
 tions where no white persons reside. VVe cannot but think ii advisa- 
 ble to afford them an opportunity of contrasting the tense and doc- 
 trine they hear in such places from men whom ihey know to be only 
 their equals, with the religious information to be derived from white 
 teachers, whose superiority in knowledge of every kind they can- 
 not question." — Finckney's Address, JVote E. 
 
 Note D. 
 
 *' On investigation, it appears that all concerned in that transaction, 
 except one, had seceded from the regular Methodist Church in 1817, 
 and formed a separate establishment in connexion with the African 
 Methodist Society ih Philadelphia, whose Bishop, a colored man 
 named Allen, had assumed that office, being himself a seceder from 
 the Methodist Church of Philadelphia. Penn. At this period, Mr. S. 
 Bryan, the local Minister of the regular Methodist Church in 
 Charleston, was so apprehensive of sinister designs, that he addressed 
 a letter to the City Council, on file in the Council Chamber, dated 
 6lh Nov. 1817, stating at length the reasons of his suspicion.".— 
 finckney's Address, JVb. B. p. 20. 
 
57 
 
 Note E. 
 
 " Were true religion propagated amongst this numerous and im- 
 portant class, a sense of duty would counteract tlieir reluctance to 
 labor, and diminishing the cases of feigned sickness, so harressing to 
 ihe planter, wouIJ augment their numerical force and consequent 
 production. The social relations of life being better observed, a 
 greater proportion of domestic happiness would prevail, and render 
 tUon more contented with their situation, and more anxious to pro- 
 mote their owner's welfare. The absence or diminution of theft, false- 
 hood, and many other vices, would render the home of the agricultu 
 alist far more agreeable than it can be, vvhere guilt, which escapes 
 human detection, knows not and fears not another tribunal. The ne- 
 cessity of punishment would decrease ; for the want of Christianity pre- 
 vents their owners from practising its dictates in the forgiveness of in- 
 juries; so little good results from pardoning those who are incapable of 
 appreciating the motst that it is frequently considered sufficient causa 
 for repeating the offence. That moral improvement would follow 
 the introduction of religion among the blacks, may be argued from 
 its influence upon the white population of our own State. It baa 
 been remarked by our oldest judges, that the progress of vice and 
 2rime throughout the upper country, many years since, was more 
 sensibly arrested after the Missionaries commenced their labors, than 
 by the previous establishment of Courts of Justice. Public Schools 
 were not organized until a much later period, 
 
 '•There are some who object to the religious instruction of their 
 people, on the ground that it has been the cloak assumed to cover the 
 nefarious design of insurrection. To this we reply in the first place, 
 that it was the only cloak it could assume. Secondly, that such in- 
 struction was the best antidote to this very disease. And thirdly, 
 that no argiimtMits are entitled to so little weight as those which con- 
 demn the use of any practice because it has been abused. The most 
 valuable medicines become active poisons, when improperly adminis- 
 tered; and shall we forbid this medicine for the soul because a few 
 discontented wretches have perverted its sacred use.'"' — Pinckney't 
 Address, pp. 12. 13. 
 
 The following information, received [from a valued friend 'in 
 Charleston, of 27th April, respecting the manner of conducting the 
 Methodist missions to the Negroes in South Carolina, and their suc- 
 «c»B, will be found of interest. What a change for the better would 
 
38 
 
 be effected in our colored population if similar missions were estab- 
 lished throughout our country ? The usual manner of conducting the 
 missions, is, for the Missionary to preach at the different plantations 
 within the bounds of his mission, on the Sabbath, and at night. During 
 the day, while the adults are at worki the children are catechised and 
 instructed in the first principles of Christianity. When satisfactory 
 evidence is given that any have become truly penitent, they are re- 
 ceived as probationers in the Church, and divided into classes; each 
 class is placed under the charge of a leader, in whom the missionary 
 has confidence, and after a trial of six months, if a favorable report is 
 given b)' the leader and the sanction of ihe owners obtained, they 
 are admitted into the fellowship of the church. 
 
 There are three Missionaries appointed by the South Carolina 
 Conferrence, to labor on the plantations on Pon Pon, Combahee, 
 Santee, and Savannah Rivers. The success has equalled the most 
 sanguine expectations. Gentlemen owning plaotaiions have wil- 
 lingly received the Missionaries and given them free access to their 
 slaves; and in several instances application has been made by those 
 who had not been visited, that their slaves might have the Gospel 
 preached to them; stating as a reason for their request that they had 
 witnessed the beneficial effects resulting to the slaves of their neigh- 
 bors. The number received into the church according to the minutes 
 of the conference are as follows: — Mission on Combahee, Pon Pon, 
 &c. 440; do. Santee, 391 ; do. Savannah River, 246 — making a total 
 of 1077. From the Reports of Sunday Schools in the interior, I 
 learn that in many instances, Blacks are taught in their schools." 
 
 54 * 
 

 
 
 
 
 
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