In reading the rash and uncharitable assertions which I have quoted, I have imagined one of these men expostulating with you. Suppose him to say, Look to the many pious, charitable, and distinguished men who are among us, and say whether you really believe they would rob the widow of her mite for their own aggrandisement? Or do you believe that the labours of a Wilberforce,[82] who has devoted all his talents, and passed a life in unparalleled exertions for the relief of the oppressed Africans, and in communicating to them a knowledge of the Christian religion, are an abomination in the land? You appear to have your mind exercised on account of this people, and have expressed great zeal on their behalf; but your labours seem to be confined to declamations among your friends in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, among whom slavery does not exist, and whose abhorrence of the practice is equal to your own. Footnote 82: He is one of the most active members of the Society for propagating the gospel. Compare these labours with those of one of our brethren,[83] who, under a like concern, believed himself called to visit the mansions of misery, and endeavour to pour into the afflicted bosom of wretchedness, the consolations unfolded by the gospel. He knew the perils and privations that awaited him, and he encountered them all. Excluded from the society of the white inhabitants, and continually assailed with contumely, he passed his days among this miserable and degraded race, until, under the pretext that he fomented rebellion among the slaves, he was imprisoned and condemned to die, on the oaths of some of these wretched beings, whose own lives depended on the testimony they gave. This was all that his enemies could do, for the regulations of the government of England did not permit the execution of the sentence until ratified by them, and the proceedings were no sooner known there than they were annulled. But it was too late! the severity of his imprisonment in an unhealthy climate had hurried him to his grave. His journal and letters show the extent of his labours, and that in many instances, even the imperfect knowledge and experience which his converts must necessarily have had of our religion, had produced a striking improvement in their conduct and conversation, and afforded great encouragement to expect the happiest results. Footnote 83: The missionary Smith. Now, can you believe that this man, who has given such evidence of the sincerity of his belief, and of his devotedness to what he deemed his duty, could be numbered among the enemies of his God? Or that the glimpse of gospel light which he had been instrumental in communicating to the benighted minds of the miserable beings around him, had made them _two-fold more the children of hell than before_?