The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African: Written By HimselfEquiano, Olaudah
History
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African: Written By Himself
Equiano, Olaudah
Enslaved persons -- Great Britain -- Biography; Enslaved persons -- United States -- Biography; Equiano, Olaudah, 1745-1797
Kitts, in the same state in which he remained till kind
death released him out of the hands of his tyrants. During this
disagreeable business I was under strong convictions of sin, and
thought that my state was worse than any man's; my mind was
unaccountably disturbed; I often wished for death, though at the same
time convinced I was altogether unprepared for that awful summons.
Suffering much by villains in the late cause, and being much concerned
about the state of my soul, these things (but particularly the latter)
brought me very low; so that I became a burden to myself, and viewed
all things around me as emptiness and vanity, which could give no
satisfaction to a troubled conscience. I was again determined to go to
Turkey, and resolved, at that time, never more to return to England. I
engaged as steward on board a Turkeyman (the Wester Hall, Capt.
Linna); but was prevented by means of my late captain, Mr. Hughes, and
others. All this appeared to be against me, and the only comfort I
then experienced was, in reading the holy scriptures, where I saw that
'there is no new thing under the sun,' Eccles. i. 9; and what was
appointed for me I must submit to. Thus I continued to travel in much
heaviness, and frequently murmured against the Almighty, particularly
in his providential dealings; and, awful to think! I began to
blaspheme, and wished often to be any thing but a human being. In
these severe conflicts the Lord answered me by awful 'visions of the
night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed,'
Job xxxiii. 15. He was pleased, in much mercy, to give me to see, and
in some measure to understand, the great and awful scene of the
judgment-day, that 'no unclean person, no unholy thing, can enter into
the kingdom of God,' Eph. v. 5. I would then, if it had been possible,
have changed my nature with the meanest worm on the earth; and was
ready to say to the mountains and rocks 'fall on me,' Rev. vi. 16; but
all in vain. I then requested the divine Creator that he would grant
me a small space of time to repent of my follies and vile iniquities,
which I felt were grievous. The Lord, in his manifold mercies, was
pleased to grant my request, and being yet in a state of time, the
sense of God's mercies was so great on my mind when I awoke, that my
strength entirely failed me for many minutes, and I was exceedingly
weak. This was the first spiritual mercy I ever was sensible of, and
being on praying ground, as soon as I recovered a little strength, and
got out of bed and dressed myself, I invoked Heaven from my inmost
soul, and fervently begged that God would never again permit me to
blaspheme his most holy name. The Lord, who is long-suffering, and
full of compassion to such poor rebels as we are, condescended to hear
and answer. I felt that I was altogether unholy, and saw clearly what
a bad use I had made of the faculties I was endowed with; they were
given me to glorify God with; I thought, therefore, I had better want
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account