great numbers, and likewise extending its ravages to the missionary settlements. Most of our brethren and sisters suffered from it; and in less than five weeks three bre thren and two sisters, finished their earthly pilgrimage, and entered into the joy of their Lord. This distressing intelligence was received by the last letters, which have arrived from the missionaries in these islands. The concluding remark of the directors of the missions in notifying this painful event, will very suitably form the closing paragraph of this section: "What shall we say? we bow with deep humility under the chastening hand of the Lord, that hand which wounds and which heals,' and we entreat him, that he would bless our brethren and sisters there with his divine comfort, and support them with his mighty power, that they may serve the great missionary work there with the needful grace, till we are enabled to send fresh labourers to supply the places of those, who are now resting in the presence of their Lord." SECTION II. Jamaica, SEVERAL respectable gentlemen in London, who possessed considerable estates in Jamaica, had with much zeal and expense supported various measures for the instruction of their Negroes in christianity, but without any apparent success. Becoming in the sequel acquainted with the Brethren and their successful labours in St. Thomas, they requested them to send some missionaries to instruct their slaves, adding, that it would be particularly gratifying to them if the Rev. Zacharias George Caries, whose sermons they had themselves attended with acceptance and profit, should be found willing to engage in this service. Brother Caries readily consented, and with two other brethren, sailed for Jamiaca in October 1754. On their arrival every thing favoured their undertaking. The promoters of it generously cared for their external support, and erected a house on a piece of land, given by them for the use of the mission, and which was called CARMEL. They also encouraged the Negroes to attend the preaching of the gospel, allowing them the necessary time and liberty. They came in great numbers, and, at the end of the first year, the missionaries computed their regular hearers at about eight hundred, of whom twenty-six had been baptized. Besides preaching on the three estates belonging to the promoters of the mission, brother Caries was invited by several other gentlemen to instruct their Negroes also. He met with but little opposition from the white people, even those, who at first were rather hostile in their views, changed their sentiments almost as soon as they heard and conversed with him. Indeed they attended his sermons in such numbers (in many cases with evident blessing to themselves,) that he found it necessary to preach separately to them and the Negroes *. In this prosperous state the mission continued for two or three years. There were two regular missionary stations, namely at CARMEL and EMMAUS, and preachings were kept on three other plantations, the Bogue, Island, and Mesopotamia. The number of catechumens amounted to four hundred, and that of the baptized to seventyseven. More labourers being now required, some brethren arrived from Europe and North America in 1757 and 1759. But differing in opinion from their predecessors, and conceiving that the Negroes had been too hastily admitted to baptism, they treated them with greater strictness, and prolonged the time of probation of the catechumens. This discouraged the poor slaves; many of them withdrew and even absented themselves from the public preaching; the harmony of the missionaries was interrupted and their zeal in the cause paralized. In 1759 brother Caries returned to Europe with brother Nath. Seidel, who had been sent over on a visitation. But his endeavours to revive the sinking cause were but partially successful, and several years clapsed before the mission recovered the detriment it had sustained *. * Brethren's History, Vol. i. p. 430. ↑ Ibid. p. 482. Amidst these disheartening circumstances, it was an encouragement to our brethren to find, that none of the slaves belonging to the five plantations, where they had regularly preached the gospel, were implicated in the rebellion excited by the Negroes in 1760. On the contrary, they were often in danger of being surprised by the rebels, till the latter were driven to seek an asylum in the woods and mountains In 1764, and the following years, the prospect again as sumed a brighter appearance. Brother Frederic Schlegel, having arrived in order to undertake the general superintendence of the mission, was enabled, by divine grace, to restore harmony among the missionaries, and reanimate their drooping zeal. The effect was that those Negroes, who had been formerly baptized, returned, and the smothered embers of the divine life in their souls were rekindled, so that the missionaries could employ some of them as assistants in preaching to their countrymen. By degrees the number of their hearers was increased, and they found opportunities of declaring the gospel in some new places, and even of visiting the Negroes, who live in the mountains. In the year 1767 one hundred and thirty-one were admitted to holy baptism, and the following year very nearly the same number +. After the decease of brother Schlegel, who entered into rest in 1770, the promising revival in this mission received a fresh check. The eagerness of the Negroes to hear the gospel subsided, and even some of the baptized relapsed into paganism. It ought to be mentioned, that the labours of our missionaries were, through necessity, almost wholly restricted to the slaves, belonging to a few plantations. In subsequent years, various difficulties, an oppres sive scarcity of provisions, and fears of a hostile attack in 1778, tended still further to impede the progress of this mission ‡. Things remained in this languishing state for several * Brethren's History, Vol. i. p. 545. † Ibid. p. 599. Ibid. Vol, ii. P. 104, and 275. succeeding years. Even at the BOGUE, which still presented the greatest field for usefulness, the auditory seldom consisted of more than sixty people, and never amounted to a hundred. Consequently the annual addition to the church, by new converts from the heathen, was very small, Nothing could have encouraged the missionaries to remain at their post, but the consideration, that in the sight of God one human soul is of infinite value *. The insalubrity of the climate exposed our brethren to frequent indispositions, and often rendered a change of missionaries necessary. Thus brother Sam. Church, who, since 1787 had superintended the affairs of this mission, with great faithfulness, found himself necessitated to return with his wife to England in 1792. Brother Nath. Brown and his wife, on their voyage from Philadelphia to Jamaica 1797, were captured by a French privateer off Cape Nicola Mole in St. Domingo, and carried to fort Jean Rabel. They were kept prisoners for a fortnight, but treated with great civility, and, after due examination, set at liberty and suffered to proceed. An American merchant procured them a passport from the governor, and on the 7th of August they sailed with an American brig, which was engaged as a flag of truce, and in a few hours reached the Mole. Proceeding under convoy with several vessels, they arrived at Kingston, in Jamaica, on the 4th of September. During their stay in this town they experienced much kindness from the Methodists, especially from the Rev. Mr, Fish. The slow progress of this mission was still further impeded, about this time, by the rebellion of the Maroons †, and the consequent introduction of martial law. Thus tranquillity was disturbed, all business was at a stand, and every person obliged to bear arms. From the last, however, our missionaries were exempted; and their places of abode were at a considerable distance from the theatre * Brethren's History, Vol. iii. p. 363. Slaves who have eloped from their masters, and live in the mountains, where they occupy several villages. of these disturbances. They were likewise preserved from those depredations and murders, which were committed by the run away Negroes in 1798, And, what more particularly excited their gratitude, was that they observed a greater attention to the gospel in many of the slaves *. About this time some gentlemen in London, who had considerable possessions in this island, applied to the Brethren for one or more missionaries, to be sent out for the special purpose of instructing the Negroes, belonging to their plantations, taking upon themselves the entire maintenance of these missionaries, so as not to trench upon the general fund, the resources of which were barely sufficient to meet the exigencies of the more promising fields, hitherto cultivated by the Brethren. In order to meet the wishes of these gentlemen, the brethren Joseph Jackson, (who was born in this island, his father having formerly laboured in this mission) and Thos. Ellis, and their wives, went to Jamaica in the spring of 1800. On their arrival they found most of the resident missionaries ailing. Brother Howel and his wife were gone to North America for the recovery of their health, and brother Brown, after the decease of his wife, had returned to Pennsylvania. The service of the new missionaries, therefore, were immediately needed in the old settlements; and in this they acquiesced the more readily as the requisite arrangements, for their accommodation, had not yet been made in those places, for which they were properly destined +. In subsequent years appearances became rather more hopeful, and the attendance of the Negroes, especially at UNION and ELIM (two new places) was encouraging. Noticing the celebration of the aniversary of this mission in 1804, it being fifty years since its commencement, our brethren remark: "Though we cannot exult over a very abundant harvest of souls, which these fifty years have produced, or even over present prospects, yet we find sufficient cause of gratitude to the Lord, for having preserved a seed in Jamaica also, which in his own good time may grow up into a rich harvest. It appears from the * Brethren's History, Vol. iv. p. 611-616. + Ibid, p. 617-619. |