duly followed.--But no such pains are taken in
the other case.--They are generally left to themselves, whether they
will serve God, or worship Devils--whether they become christians, or
remain heathens as long as they live: as if either their souls were
not worth the saving, or as if we were under no obligation of giving
them any instruction:--which is the true reason why so many of them
who are grown up, and lived many years among us, are as entirely
ignorant of the principles of religion, as if they had never come into
a christian country:--at least, as to any good or practical purposes.

* * * * *

"I have dwelt the longer upon this head, because it is of the utmost
importance, and seems to be but little considered among us.--For there
is too much reason to fear, that the many vices and immoralities so
common among white people;--the lewdness, drunkenness, quarrelling,
abusiveness, swearing, lying, pride, backbiting, overreaching,
idleness, and sabbath-breaking, everywhere to be seen among us, are a
great encouragement to our Negroes to do the like, and help strongly
to confirm them in the habits of wickedness and impiety.

"We ought not only to avoid giving them bad examples, and abstain from
all appearance of evil, but also strive to set a daily good example
before their eyes, that seeing us lead the way in our own person, they
may more readily be persuaded to follow us in the wholesome paths of
religion and virtue.

* * * * *

"We ought to make this reading and studying the holy scriptures, and
the reading and explaining them to our children and slaves, and the
catechizing or instructing them in the principles of the Christian
religion, a stated duty.

* * * * *

"We ought in a particular manner to take care of the children, and
instil early principles of piety and religion into their minds.

"If the grown up slaves, from confirmed habits of vice, are hard to be
reclaimed, the children surely are in our power, and may be trained up
in the way they should go, with rational hopes that when they are old,
they will not depart from it.--We ought, therefore, to take charge
of their education principally upon ourselves, and not leave them
entirely to the care of their wicked parents.--If the present
generation be bad, we may hope by this means that the succeeding ones
will be much better. One child well instructed, will