the Christian faith, though we
fear there is a considerable tincture of enthusiasm among them. All of
them so far as is known fulfil with propriety, the relative duties of
life, even their own masters being judges, or if any occasionally
transgress the rules of morality, they are excluded from the connection,
at least after neglecting due reproof. They have abandoned the practice
of polygamy, the besetting sin of the negroes; and the fatal influence
of Obeah or witchcraft, which is often productive of the most terrible
mischief, among the slaves, is effectually destroyed wherever
Christianity prevails. As a proof of the general good conduct of the
converts, it is not unworthy of notice, that when an office which
requires trust and confidence becomes vacant, such as that of a
watchman, it is a usual practice with the planters and managers to
enquire for a religious negro to fill it. Indeed in Antigua, Nevis,
Tortola and St. Vincent's, the proprietors of estates, and the other
inhabitants, are so fully satisfied with the conduct of the
missionaries, and so sensible of the political, as well as moral and
religious advantages resulting from their labours, that they entirely
support the missions in the island by their voluntary contributions."

The London Missionary Society has also laboured in this field to a
limited extent. In 1807 they established a mission on the river Demarara
in Surinam, in South America. This mission from the first was
encouraging. Many attended the preaching. Many came asking in the
greatest earnestness, the way of salvation. The intemperate were
reformed, and "some whom the whip could not subdue for years, the gospel
subdued in a few months." Prejudice and opposition here were never
violent and soon gave way. A place of worship was soon erected, at which
not less than 400 generally attended. A credible witness says: "Perhaps
a more attentive congregation was never seen." Ungodly men testified to
the good effects of this work. They declared what every Christian would
expect, viz.: that the reception of the gospel made the indolent,
industrious, the noisy, quiet, the rebellious, obedient, the ferocious,
gentle. The great promoter of this mission was a rich planter, whose
name was Post, and to whom it occurred as it often does to others, that
his labours and expenditures seemed to be much more blessed to the
slaves on the neighbouring plantations than to his own. The same society
has established a miss