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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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from tife AafbyloifiSli dafc&Wfy . A&& shdiild tftfc w& Mtween Russia atttf Turkey take p&cfc , as ibt ti& ptohdMlity it wrll , # e shall soon dfikftfver to whom thii high destiny belotfgs . " JOHN MAKSQ $ f .
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Oh ihi € ffl $ &rtfmof the Ntgiwb . 6 fP
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Sir , IN common , I doubt not , with most of your readers , I feel much obliged to your correspondent Mr . Cooper , for his interesting communications relative to the improvement of the Negroes in the West Indies . The
difficulties that stand in the way of that desirable object are , no doubt , gfreat and numerous , in consequence of the degrading and demoralizing influence of a state of slavery . It cannot be easy to raise , with the hand of mercy , the being whom we continue to trample on with the feet of despotism .
Mr M . C C . from Personal experience , r . , from personal experience , seems to consider the attempt as altogether hopeless , and to think that it is but lost labour to endeavour the religious improvement , till we have obtained the political emancipation , of the IStegVoes . Nfcfer having sfct my
fooj on the xmbtes * shores of & West-Indian 'Island , I should not prestfcafre to call in qued&on the j ustness of ttiis view , wfere 1 tidt struck with a considerable dis&gr ^ Sitfdfat there is between it and the repeat of other labourers in the same field . All indeed represent
the difficulties f | B v £ ry ^ reafc , 'btrt there are many actually engaged in cdntending with them , Who are ao far from thinking them insurmountable , that they are very sanguine in their hopes of final success . To justify this
statement , I wish to lay before your readers a few particulars taken from the last Report of the Wes feian Missions in -this quarter , \ vhieh , among Several undertaken by different Christian Societies , are , 1 believe , the most
considerable . Their ' Committee states , that they " are happy to report the continued progress of the Missions to the Negro Slaves , with scarcely any exception . The number of Missionaries having of late be&n considerably increased , a much larger portion of
this Jon £ -neglected fiefki * has been brought into cultivation , and it has yielded its expected produce of truth and righteousness . Open oppositiofi to the efforts of Missionaries has
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cemed : their objects are better and * more generally understood ';; thgircha ^ raeter $ land iftotivefc have gained re ~ spect ; and a BtfHlbeif of new and ina ** portant friends to Negro 4 nstruetio »
have appeared within the past yfear . " The number of Negroes under the Society ' s instruction is stated to be 22 , 936 ; being an increase in the year of 758 . The children in the schools were 4227- As a representation of that wretched state of the slaves which
calls for these exertions , we may extract the following account of the condition in which they lately were found in the island of Tobago : " The extreme ignorance of the Negroes of this colony concerning whatever pertains to religion , is such as no
language can describe . Their children , as soon as they are able to lisp , are taught the art of dissimulation ; and to speak lies appears as natural and familiar to thefcn to speak at all
as . In their passions , particularly that of anger , they are violent beyond all description ; and seldom do they forget or forgive an injury received . They h&Ve no idea that to steal is an evil .
Without natural affection , they harden themselves against their young ones , as though they were not theirs . A ge ntleman , whose estate I am in the habit of visiting , assured me that Jliere Wefe some female slaves on his plantation , wMi whom he could not enttust the food ftitetid < ed for their own
offspring . In the direful principles of witchcraft they are deeply immersed ; even a look from one reputed an * Obiali man * is sufficient to fill their minds with dread , and they sicken , piiie away and die , under a disease which has no cause but their own superstitious 'fears . "
That to be supplied with the means of Christian instruction and religious worship must be a # reat blessing- to these miserable people , no one could reasonably doubt , and there is much pleasing evidence that this is actually the case . From Antigua they report that several of the managers of the
estates bear testimony to the influence of religion on the slaves . -One $ aid , " A very great change has taken , place in their conduct , since ttoeyi began to act from religious principles . The whip is not needful now ! " Another said , " The sound 6 f the whip is now rarely beard on the estate . Tibe chil-
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1822, page 677, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2518/page/21/
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