Of this the Prophet appears to have had a Feeling, when he said, Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created us? Why then do we deal treacherously every Man with his Brother, in prophaning the Covenant of our Fathers? Mal. ii. 10.
He who of old heard the Groans of the Children of Israel under the hard Task-masters in Egypt, I trust hath looked down from his Holy Habitation on the Miseries of these deeply oppress'd People. Many Lives have been shorten'd through extreme Oppression while they labour'd to support Luxury and Worldly Greatness; and tho' many People in outward Prosperity may think little of those Things, yet the gracious Creator hath Regard to the Cries of the Innocent, however unnoticed by Men.
The Lord in the Riches of his Goodness is leading some into the Feeling of the Condition of this People, who cannot rest without labouring as their Advocate; of which in some Measure I have had Experience, for, in the Movings of his Love in my Heart, these poor Sufferers have been brought near to me.
The unoffending Aged and Infirm made to labour too hard, kept on a Diet less comfortable than their weak State required, and exposed to great Difficulties under hard-hearted Men, to whose Sufferings I have often been a Witness, and under the Heart-melting Power of Divine Love, their Misery hath felt to me like the Misery of my Parents.
Innocent Youth taken by Violence from their Native Land, from their Friends and Acquaintance; put on board Ships with Hearts laden with Sorrow; exposed to great Hardships at Sea; placed under People, where their Lives have been attended with great Provocation to Anger and Revenge.
With the Condition of these Youth, my Mind hath often been affected, as with the Afflictions of my Children, and in a Feeling of the Misery of these People, and of that great Offence which is minister'd to them, my Tears have been often poured out before the Lord.
That Holy Spirit which affected my Heart when I was a Youth, I trust is often felt by the Negroes in their Native Land, inclining their Minds to that which is righteous, and had the professed Followers of Christ in all their Conduct towards them, manifested a Disposition answerable to the pure Principle in their Hearts, how might the Holy Name have been honoured amongst the Gentiles, and how might we have rejoiced in the fulfilling of that Prophecy, I the Lord love Judgment, I hate Robbery for Burnt-offerings, and I will direct their Work in Truth, and make an everlasting Covenant with them. Their Seed shall be known amongst the Gentiles, and their Offspring amongst the People: All that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the Seed which the Lord hath blessed, Isaiah lxi. 8, 9.
But in the present State of Things, how contrary is this Practice to that meek Spirit, in which our Saviour laid down his Life for us, that all the Ends of the Earth might know Salvation in his Name!
How are the Sufferings of our blessed Redeemer set at nought, and his Name blasphemed amongst the Gentiles, through the unrighteous Proceedings of his profess'd Followers!
My Mind hath often been affected, even from the Days of my Youth, under a Sense of that marvellous Work, for which God, in infinite Goodness, sent his Son into the World.