The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1856-10-16

of success browning the tolls and sacrifices
love of Christ. Sent out from England but as
aschoolmaster, fifteen hundred liberated negroes
were placed under his spiritual care; aud, writing
of his place of appointment, he says: "Well, l
will go in the strength of the Lord. l will
teach them to read, and tell them of Jesus"
We have read much in the public journals, by
distinguished men of the South, boasting that
their favorite institution of Slavery, which pre-
cludes the slave from learning to read, and so
shuts out the Bible as God has given it to US
from Him, is the greatest missionary institution
of the age. Let such read this volume; behold
the word of God in the hands of these poor, once
degraded, barbarous negroes, some of whom are
characterized as of incredible brutality; let
them see the effects of the instruction given
them, the Transforming power of Gods Spirit. by
these instrumentalities, blush for their arro-
gance, and bethink them how God, whose search
ing eye goes down to their hearts motives, will
judge pleas like theirs to sustain so foul sys-
tenn of cupidity and denominations. Let Chris
tians of every name read this book, and see what
God has done in answer to prayer, and take
renewed courage to themselves to go onward
in fulfilling their obligation to bring the world
back to Christ. Let all, both of the professed
people of God and those who are not, ponder the
recorded experience, the death-bed scenes, of
these poor negroes, and ask themselves if these
and others like them will not rise up swift wit
nesses against them in the last great day, for
wasting and misimproving privileges such as
never fell to the lot of those who, when they
heard, so soon believed and submitted themselves
to their Saviour. So decided were the results of
Mr.. Johnson's labors, that in 1929 the year of
his death, only seven years after he first broke
ground in that field of his enterprise, Mrs. Pal
mer, missionary, writing from Sierra Leone
and speaking of Regents Town, calls it That
blessed, highly blessed place." This volume is
gathered from work published about three
years ago, entitled "The Memoir of the Rev. w.
A. B. johnson" and is we'll arranged compen-
dunn drawn from his diary and letters. We
are glad to see its reprint among us. 1t ought
to do good, and we cannot but hope it will do
so to many in our land. 1t ought to stir up the
serious inquiry of every Christian who reads it.
If such be the soul of the negro, if the power of
the Gospel is brought to bear upon him and
washed from his sins in the blood of his Re.
deemer, what account is our land and our people
to render to the Judge of All, when so many
thousands of souls, equally capable of regener-
alton, among us, are held by our laws, and re-
garded by even protesting disciples of Christ,
as brutes, mere chattels, to do and suffer their
masters will? And is not the present struggle
to prevent the further extension of Slavery, even
in its relation to the negro and the STAKEHOLDER,
something more than question as to physical
comfort, or pecuniary advantage or loss Is it
not rather in behalf of souls, and to save our
land from the righteous judgments of Heaven ?