“Where were you born?”

“In Africa. Me was very little boy when me was made slave by de white men.”

“How was that?”

“Me left father and mother one day at home to go get shells by de sea-shore, and as I was stooping down to gather dem up, some white sailors came out of a boat and took me away. Me never see father nor mother again.”

“And what became of you then?”

“Me was put into ship, and brought to Jamaica, and sold to a master, who kept me in his house to serve him some years; when, about three years ago, Captain——, my master dat spoke to you, brought me to be his servant on board his ship. And he be goot master; he gave me my liberty, and made me free, and me live with him ever since.”

“And what thoughts had you about your soul all that time before you went to America?” I asked him.

“Me no care for my soul at all before den. No man teach me one word about my soul.”

“Well, now tell me farther about what happened to you in America. How came you there?”

“My master take me dere in his ship, and he stop dere one month, and den me hear de goot minister.”

“And what did that minister say?”

“He said, me was great sinner.”

“What, did he speak to you in particular?”

“Yes, me tink so; for dere was great many to hear him, but he tell dem all about me.”

“What did he say?”

“He say about all de tings dat were in my heart.”

“What things?”

“My sin, my ignorance, my know noting, my believe noting. De goot minister made me see dat me tink noting goot, nor do noting goot.”

“And what else did he tell you?”

“He sometimes look me in de face and say, dat Jesus Christ came to die for sinners, poor black sinners, as well as white sinners. Me tought dis was very goot, very goot indeed, to do so for wicked sinner.”

“And what made you think this was all spoken to you in particular?”

“Because me sure no such wicked sinner as me in all de place. De goot minister must know me was dere.”

WHEN we endeavor to estimate the worth of an immortal soul, we are utterly lost in the attempt. The act of spiritual computation is not governed by the same principles and rules which guide our speculations concerning earthly objects. The value of gold, silver, merchandise, food, raiment, lands, and houses, is easily regulated by custom, convenience, or necessity. Even the more capricious and imaginary worth of a picture, medal, or statue, may be reduced to something of systematic rule. Crowns and sceptres have had their adjudged valuation, and kingdoms have been bought and sold for sums of money. But who can affix the adequate price to a human soul? “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

The principles of ordinary arithmetic all fail here; and we are constrained to say, that He alone who paid the ransom for sinners, and made the souls of men his “purchased possessions,” can comprehend and solve the arduous question. They are indeed “bought with a price:” but are “not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” We shall only ascertain the value of a soul, when we shall be fully able to estimate the worth of a Saviour.

Too often have we been obliged to hear what is the price which sordid unfeeling avarice has affixed to the body of a poor negro slave; let us now attempt, while we pursue the foregoing narrative, to mediate on the value which infinite Mercy has attached to his soul.

Not many days after the first interview with my negro disciple, I went from home with the design of visiting and conversing with him again at his master's house, which was situated in a part of the parish near four miles distant from my own. The ride which I took lay over a lofty down, which commands a prospect of scenery seldom exceeded in beauty and magnificence. It gave birth to silent but instinctive contemplation.

In rising upwards by the road which winds round from the foot of the hill to its summit, I was struck with the gradual unfolding or prospect, which meets the eye at different stages of the ascent. At every step of the traveller's progress, a new and expanding range of lovely objects claims his attention. The effect which on this delightful eminence is singularly produced by the successive development of near and distant beauty, is at length crowned by the perfect circle of fine landscape and sea-view which the high ground at the top of the hill exhibits.

The down itself was covered with sheep, grazing on its wholesome and plentiful pasture. Here and there a shepherd's boy kept his appointed station, and watched over the flock committed to his care. I viewed it as an emblem of my own situation and employment. Adjoining the hill lay an extensive parish, wherein many souls were given me to watch over, and render an account of, at the day of the great Shepherd's appearing. The pastoral scene before me seemed to be a living parable, illustrative of my own spiritual charge. I felt a prayerful wish, that the good Shepherd who gave his life for the sheep, might enable me to be faithful to my trust.

It occurred to me, about the same time, that my young African friend was a sheep of another more distant fold, which Christ will yet bring to hear his voice. For there shall be one fold and one Shepherd, and all nations shall be brought to knowledge that he alone “restoreth our souls, and leadeth us into the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.”

On the left hand of the hill, as I advanced eastward, and immediately under its declivity, extended a beautiful tract of land intersected by a large arm of the sea, which (as the tide was fast flowing in) formed a broad lake or haven of three miles in length. Woods, villages, cottages, and churches, surrounded it in most pleasing variety of prospect. Beyond this lay a large fleet of ships of war, and not far from it another of merchantmen, both safe at anchor, and covering a tract of the sea of several miles in extent. Beyond this again, I saw the fortifications, dock-yards, and extensive public edifices of a large seaport town. The sun shone upon the windows of the buildings, and the flags of the ships, with great brightness, and added much to the splendour of the view.

I thought of the concerns of empires, the plans of statesmen, the fate of nations, and the horrors of war. Happy will be that day, when He shall make wars to cease unto the end of the earth, and peace to be established on its borders!

In the mean time, thankfulness is due for those vessels and instruments of defence, which, under the guidance of God, preserve our country from the hand of the enemy and the fury of the destroyer. What, thought I, do we not owe to the exertions of the numerous crews on board those ships, who leave their homes to fight their country's battles, and maintain its cause, while we sit every man under his vine and fig tree, tasting the sweets of a tranquillity unknown to most other nations in these days of conflict and bloodshed!

On my right hand, to the south and south-east, the unbounded ocean displayed its mighty waves. It was covered with vessels of every size, sailing in all directions: some outward bound to the most distant parts of the world; others, after a long voyage, returning home, laden with the produce of remote climes: some going forth in search of the enemy; others sailing back to port after the hard-fought engagement, and bearing the trophies of victory in the prizes which accompanied them home.

At the south-west of the spot on which I was riding, extended a beautiful semicircular bay, of about nine or ten miles in circumference, limited by high cliffs of white, red, and brown coloured earths. Beyond this lay a range of hills, whose tops are often buried in cloudy mists, but which then appeared clear and distinct. This chain of hills, meeting with another from the north, bounds a large fruitful vale, whose fields, now ripe for harvest, proclaimed the goodness of God in the rich provision which he makes for the sons of men. It is he who “prepares the corn; he crowns the year with his goodness, and his paths drop fatness. They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness, and the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn: they shout for joy, they also sing.”

As I looked upon the numerous ships moving before me, I remembered the woods of the Psalmist: “They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters: these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of the trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad, because they be quiet: so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. O! that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men.” (Ps. cvii.)

The Negro Servant then occurred to my mind. Perhaps, thought I, some of these ships are bound to Africa, in quest of that most infamous object of merchandise, a cargo of black slaves. Inhuman traffic for a nation that bears the name of Christian! Perhaps these very waves, which are now dashing on the rocks at the foot of this hill, have, on the shores of Africa, borne witness to the horrors of forced separation between wives and husbands, parents and children, torn asunder by merciless men, whose heart have been hardened against the common feeling of humanity by long custom in this cruel trade. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” When shall the endeavours of that truly Christian friend of the oppressed negro be crowned with success, in the abolition of this wicked and disgraceful traffic?*

As I pursued the meditations which this magnificent and varied scenery excited in my mind, I approached the edge of a tremendous perpendicular cliff, with which the down terminates; I dismounted from my house, and tied it to a bush. The breaking of the waves against the foot of the cliff at so great a distance beneath me, produced an incessant and pleasing murmur. The sea-gulls were flying between the top of the cliff where I stood, and the rocks below, attending upon their nests, built in the holes of the cliff. The whole scene, in every direction, was grand and impressive: it was suitable to devotion. The Creator appeared in the works of his creation, and called upon the creature to honour and adore.

To the believer, this exercise is doubly delightful. He possesses a right to the enjoyment of nature and Providence, as well as to the privileges of grace. His title-deed runs thus: “All things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's.”

I cast my eye downwards a little to the left towards a small cove, the shore of which consists of fine hard sand. It is surrounded by fragments of rock, chalk-cliffs, and steep banks of broken earth. Shut out from human intercourse and dwellings, it seems formed for retirement and contemplation. On one of these rocks I unexpectedly observed a man sitting with a book, which he was reading. The place was near three hundred feet perpendicularly below me; but I soon discovered by his dress, and by the black colour of his features, contrasted with the white rocks beside him, that it was no other than my negro disciple; with, as I doubted not, a Bible in his hand. I rejoice at this unlooked-for opportunity of meeting him in so solitary and interesting a situation. I descended a steep bank, winding by a kind of rude staircase, formed by fishermen and shepherds' boys in the side of the cliff, down to the shore.

He was intent on his book, and did not perceive me till I approached very near to him.

“William, is that you?”

“Ah! Massa, me very glad to see you. How come Massa into dis place? Me tought nobody here, but only God and me.”

“I was coming to your master's house to see you, and rode round by this way for the sake of the prospect. I often come here in fine weather, to look at the sea and the shipping. Is that your Bible?”

The interesting and affecting conversation which I had with the Negro servant, produced a sensation not easy to be expressed. As I returned home, I was led into meditation on the singular clearness and beauty of those evidence of faith and conversion of heart to God, which I had just seen and heard. How plainly, I thought, it appears, that salvation is “freely by grace through faith; and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast.” What but the Holy Spirit, who is the author and giver of the life of grace, could have wrought such a change from the once dark, perverse, and ignorant heathen, to this now convinced, enlightened, humble, and believing Christian? How manifestly is the uncontrolled sovereignty of the divine will exercised in the calling and translating of sinners from darkness to light! what a lesson may the nominal Christian of a civilized country sometimes learn from the simple, sincere religion of a converted heathen!

I afterwards made particular inquiry into this young man's domestic and general deportment. Every thing I heard was satisfactory; nor could I entertain a doubt respecting the consistency of his conduct and character. I had some further conversations with him, in the course of which I pursued such a plan of scriptural instruction and examination, as I conceived to be the most suitable to this progressive state of mind. He improved much in reading, carried his Bible constantly with him, and took every opportunity, which his duty to his master's service would allow, for perusing it. I have frequently had occasion to observe, that amongst the truly religious poor, who have not had the advantage of being taught to read in early youth, a concern about the soul, and a desire to know the word of God, have proved effectual motives for their learning to read with great ease and advantage to themselves and others. It was strikingly so in the present case.

I had, for a considerable time, been accustomed to meet some well-disposed persons once a week, in a cottage at no great distance from the house where he lived, for the purpose of religious conversation and ministerial instruction. Having found these occasions remarkably useful and interesting, I thought it would be very desirable to take the Negro there, in order that they might all become witnesses to the simplicity and sincerity of real Christianity, as exhibited in the character of this promising young convert. I hoped it might prove an eminent mean of grace to excite and quicken the spirit of prayer and praise amongst some of my parishioners, over whose spiritual progress I was anxiously watching.

I accordingly obtained his master's leave that he should attend me to one of my cottage assemblies. His master, who was thoroughly convinced of the extraordinary change in conduct and disposition which religion had produced in his servant, was pleased with my attention to him, and always spoke well of his behaviour.

I set out on the day appointed for the interview. The cottage at which we usually assembled was near four miles distant from my own residence: the road lay along the foot of the hill mentioned in my last account of the Negro, from the summit of which so luxuriant a prospect was seen. On my right hand the steep acclivity of the hill intercepted all prospect, except that of numerous sheep feeding on its rich and plentiful produce. Here and there the nearly perpendicular side of a chalk-pit varied the surface of the hill, contrasting a dazzling white to the sober green of the surrounding bank.

On the left hand, at the distance of near half a mile, the tide flowed from the sea into a lake or haven of considerable length and breadth. At one end of it, several fishing and pilot vessels lay at anchor: at the other appeared the parish church amongst the adjoining woods and fields. The bells were ringing; a gently swelling sound was brought along the surface of the water, and an echo returned from a prominent part of the hill, beneath which I was riding. The whole scene was delightful.

I passed some rural and beautifully situated cottages, which seemed to be formed as fit residences for peace and tranquillity; each was surrounded by a garden, and each had a little orchard or field adjacent, while the husbandman's cow enjoyed her own pasture, and at the same time prepared rich provision for her owner's family. Such was the wise and considerate allotment which the landlords and farmers had here made for the labouring poor. The wholesome vegetable, the medicinal herb, and the sweet-scented flower, intermingled as they grew round these little dwellings; and reminded me, as I looked upon them, a comfortable lot is that of the industrious poor, whose heart have learned the lesson of gratitude, in the school of heavenly wisdom! For them, as mercifully as for their richest neighbour, the sun shines, the rain descends, the earth brings forth her increase, the flower blossoms, the birds sing; their wants are few, and contentment makes them less. How great the blessing of being poor in this world, but rich in faith, and a chosen inheritance in a better!

I knew that this was the character of some, whose humble, but neat and cleanly cottages I passed. A few such features in a prospect render it most lovely. Peace be to their memory, both as pilgrims and strangers here; and as ransomed souls, whom I hope to meet in glory hereafter!

The house to which I was travelling was situated at the corner of an oak wood, which screened it both from the burning heat of summer suns, and the heavy blasts of winter south-west storms. As I approached it, I saw my friend the Negro sitting under a tree, and waiting my arrival. He held in his hand a little tract which I had given him: his Bible lay on the ground. He rose with much cheerfulness, saying, “Ah! Massa, me very glad to see you: me tink you long time coming.”