Biographical Sketches And Interesting Anecdotes Of Persons Of Color: To Which Is Added A Selection Of Pieces In Poetry (1839)

PREFACE. THE object of this selection is not to set forth the exploits of the warrior, who has drenched fields in blood, istroyed cities by fire, and their inhabitants by famine wno has made the mother a widow, and her children fatherless, and deprived the aged of their comfort and support in declining life. It is not to rehearse the ha rangues, nor to set forth the eloquence of the man of science but to encourage virtue and morality in the dif- lerent classes of society and, by bringing into view the erfects which a system of slavery has on the human mind, and the dreadful consequences of that arbitrary power invested in the slaveholder over his fellow-being to show how it hardens the heart and petrifies the feel ings. No doubt there are some men, who, in early life, and Before they were placed in authority, like Hazael, would have been shocked to hear predicted what they have afterward, and under different circumstances, put in practice but there are others, who, being trained up in the midst of slavery, and inured from their infancy to see the sufferings of the poor slaves, and to hear their cries, become almost insensible to the responsibility of their station, and the enormity of the evils they are com mitting. For these, as well as for the slaves, our tender- est sympathy ought to be awakened, and our aspirations to ascend before Him who can unstop the deaf ear, and open the eyes even of those who are blind. The design of this selection is also to show the bane-ful effects of that degradation to which the children of Africa have, in an especial manner, been subjected by the slave trade j and to exhibit, for encouragement and imitation, the salutary and cheering influence of theChristian religion on such as have faithfully followed its dictates, though some of them havebeen held in bcrdage. Here we may observe, that it is not the inhabitants of any particular country or climate that are the favorites of Him who, without respect of persons, judgeth every man according to his works, and the integrity of his heart but it is the faithful, and those only, who can look for ward to the termination of their pilgrimage here, wkh. a hope that they will then be admitted into the mansions of bliss, where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary find rest. Some instances will be found, where men, by yielding to the convicting power of truth, and the noble feelings of justice, have broken the chains of slavery, and said to the captive, Go free. May others, by following their example, share in the reward attendant on such acts of benevolence...