Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1818-07-24

agine you behold her. arrayed in all hel
| native charms, standing at the altar, rea-
dy, with blushiug cheek, trembling
hand aud iaulteriny voice, To link her fate
with yours but the destroyer comes, she
is torn from your arms, and consigned to
the - iortures of "a living death!
liyou would see, love, Joy, and graft.
tude weep at once, help us 10 break the
letters, with which those unhappy fe-
males are bound.
Who, that compares Asia now, with
| what she once was, drops not "a tear 3
Where now, are The nations, that once
fiourished there, renowned alike in arts
and arms ! Where art thou, Babylon,
seat of the sciences, with thy hundred
brazen .aiesI Where the mighty cities,
stately palaces, magnificent comes, III
umphal arches, and all The splendid works
of enlightened man, that once adorned
and beauiiiied The face Ut Asia Fall
len beneath The lapse of years, andswepi
away by the wrath of Il provoked and Of
Tended God. Genius and taste weep over
their sad ruins J.. ..Nirginans Call TO
mluc, thai learning first made It's appear
aure in that quarter of the world, and
tia, You are indebted 10 the ancestors, Of
the wrelciicd people who now claim yoar
care amt instruction, for The ground work
OF your own information: remember tins,
and pay To the children what on owe 10
their fathers, debt OF gratitude.
II the inhabitants OF Asia may be tru-
~ described, thus degraded and mlscra-
ble what shall we say of the wrelched
beings, who wander III the deserts of Al
rIea and III the Willis of America! Be-
hold, the people OF Guinea, bound in the
letters OF Idoialr0Us ignorance, offering
impious homage to their FetciIes or
hollow images, filed with the blood and
bones of men. Hear the brutal iIoitem-
iot, ignorant OF the existence of a God.
Imprecating curses Oh the lightning that
glareS and the thunder that rolls over bis
head. See him sHposc the infant issue of
his own lolns, To be torn by beasts and
birds of prey. Observe lis venerable Ia
thcr and feeble mother, whose heads are
bowed by extreme age 10 their kindrcs
dust still with the year may
Seasons return. but not to thenl returns,
Day, or the sweet approach OF ev'n or morn,
Or sight OF verna, bloom, or summers rose,
Or ilocks or herds, or human face divine
Bat ciOnd instead, and ever during dark
Surrounds them =
Yet, blind and helpless as they are, their
unleeling children conduct them to some
SOLITARY spot, some dreary wild, and there
abandon them To their fate. Think YOU
such hOrrid customs could exist. where
the name OF God was known?
We have SinIed against Africa for
which, we owe her some atOnement. And
can we make her greater or noblerpre-
sent, than, Good assisting us, } therelIg ion
OF Jesus ! Oar crime is common TO us
ali let our exertiOns, therefore, be gene
raj and diligent, and we may vet pur-
chase pardon, both in heaven aud on
earth. Listen to the voice OF nature
g She babe no wretch his thankless Iabour urge
Nor trembling take The piitance and the scourge
No homeless L, bian on the stormy deep,
To call upon his conntTy's naIne and weep"
In word, 1t is evident, that, nearly three
fonrihs OF The human family, drag on
n'Serable existence, covered with igno-
rance and stepped 10 the very lips in mi
sery T; and II you would have them hap
Ply, you must teach them the mild pre-
cepts of religion, and conduct them 10
the arms oi that wisdom, whose WAYS are
ways OF pleasantness, and all whose paths
are peace.
To whom then, next TO the father and
bestower of all good, shall the unctris-
han nations of the earth, owe The han
Ply introduction of religion TO Them q
When the wild hills of the desert shall be
crowned with churches, and they who
nov fall at the feet of idolatry. shall throw
themselves al the foot of the cross in re-
membering their bene!actors, bcfor- the
throne OF heaven, shall not the name of
Virginia be heard! tits surely your wish
That II should. Give us then Your sup
port. Humanity demands il, whilst with
a bleeding heart, she points 10 The poor
deinded ilindOO, expiring beneath the
xl-lI 4 La ~
car; and bids you go 10 The Golvotha
OF Oressa, and look on the Illea hing bnncs
OF superstitlon's victims. There pity, with
her
Sky-worn robes of teuderest blue,
Aud eyes OF dewy light,
bends over the little children, that fondly
watch the mapgled remains of their MUIR
dered parents, often calling 10 them and
weeping, because they receive no answer.
Give us your support. Mercy demands
1t, pleading, alas unavaiingIy, at yonder
pyre, against all inhnman custom, that
links The fate OF the living with tie dead.
There,
The widowed Indian, when her lord EXPIRES
Mounts the dread pile aud braves the funeral nres
wrapped IN one flame, tie living aud the
dead consume together.
Give us your support. Heaven demands
IT, placing before you the contrast be-
tween your own happy condition and The
WretcIed state OF those miserable nations,
aud pronOuncing aloud in vour ears. 4" Do
snto others as We would that thew, i'm 81
miiar circumstances. should do unto Won"
Turn your eyes 10 the desolatiop thai coy
ers the face of Asia remember what she
was, and think on what she is mark her
mourniul ruins. and tremble for your own
possible fate.
We trust there will few be found who
can resist The appeals of misery to their
humanity few, whowiIi not join with the