“ Bid him welcome in the name of the Lord."
"Sir," said a humble and pious laborer, whose heart and tongue always overflowed with Christian kindness, "we are at all times glad to see our dear minister, but especially so to-day, in such company as you have brought with you. We have heard how gracious the Lord has been to him. Give me your hand, good friend," turning to the African; "God be with you here and everywhere; and blessed be His holy name for calling wicked sinners, as I hope He has done you and me, to love and serve Him for His mercy's sake." ”

“ If the heart is composed to His will, what can trouble us? Blessed Master, please to give me an insight into Thy will." He spoke of the comfort and strength which is afforded him to hear the Holy Scriptures read.
"Oh," said he, "if I could only find words to express the feelings I have when I am alone—and yet I do not feel that I am alone either. He cares for us and provides for us; but He is all in all, and over all; He leads us by His spirit; He don't compel us, but enables us. Oh, my blessed Saviour, teach me, oh, teach me the measure of my days, that I may turn my thoughts more to it. ”

“ This was greatly assisted by her mistress, who treated her like a child of the family, admitted her to her own table, and introduced her as an equal to the best society; but Phillis never departed from the humble and unassuming deportment which distinguished her when she stood a little trembling child for sale in the slave market. She respected the prejudice against her color, and, when invited to the tables of the great or wealthy, she chose a place apart for herself, that none might be offended at a thing so unusual as sitting at table with a woman of color. ”

“ Their stories may be considered almost trifling in themselves, and yet summed up as a whole—a people's history—they tell the oft-repeated tale of sorrow, degradation, and oppression in slavery; of hunger and cold, of sickness and suffering, patiently and uncomplainingly borne, in their great struggle for freedom. Every sacrifice, every privation seems insignificant compared to the blessed boon of liberty, to them and to their children. ”

“ Kittletas, I lived, and of him I bought my freedom. And when I went to Mr. Livingston's, he would say, 'Why, Belinda, you have a long life of it here.' I would say, 'Yes, master, the Lord knows, but I don't, why I stay so long'—but, dear man, he is gone!"
On being asked why she lived alone, she said, "If I have somebody with me, they will want other company, and that will make more noise than I like. I love to be still; then I can think. And when I am sick, the people up stairs are kind to me, and do what little I want done." ”

“ Ah, my master! you are so good is the reason I wish not to leave you—I have never been a slave. You have never spoken to me but as you speak to white men; I have lacked nothing, either in sickness or in health; I have never worked more than your neighbors, who have worked for themselves. ”

“ May servants be encouraged to discharge their duty with faithfulness; may they be brought up to industry; and may their minds be cultivated for the reception of the good seed which is promised to all who seek it. I want that we should be faithful in all things, that so we may become a people giving satisfaction to those who have borne the burden and heat of the day in liberating us from a state of slavery. ”

“ Sometimes I go to prayer, and God puts words into my mouth; then other times something here (laying his hand upon his breast) tells me not to pray, but to be still—wait upon God in silence; and did my massa and the white people know how good I felt, they would be glad to come and sit with me. In heaven, mistress, God makes no difference—massa and slave all one. ”

“ Quite overcome with the thought, I threw away my hoe, and kneeling in the hole which I had just dug, I cried aloud to our Saviour, imploring Him to help me in my darkness, and show me what I ought to do. The comforting light was vouchsafed to me at once. While recognizing my sinful conduct in striving for outward gain to the detriment of my soul, I was assured that all my need would be supplied from the bountiful hand of my heavenly Father, and that the right course for me was to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. ”

“ Henry Boyd was born a slave in Kentucky. Of imposing stature, well-knit muscles, and the countenance of one of nature's noblemen. At the age of eighteen he had so far won the confidence of his master, that he not only consented to sell him the right and title to his freedom, but gave him his own time to earn the money. ”

“ Having called one day after he had passed a sleepless and languishing night, I found him, with the Bible fixed before him, reading. He looked animated, and said, "I always loved to read the Bible, but I never understood it until very lately; now I understand it, and I find that religion and pleasure are in no way inconsistent. I feel now that I shall never recover. I am willing to die, and I shall be happy when I am gone from earth—but the Lord is very merciful, and can make me happy as long as He chooses that I should stay. ”

“ Her children went to Sunday-school, and one of them brought his teacher to see Johnny.
"Well, my poor little fellow," said the gentleman, looking with pity on the thin face, clean now, through Aunt Lizzie's care, "I see you are sick; what's your name?"
"No-Account Johnny!"
"Johnny! well, Johnny, do you know that Jesus loves you?"
"Never hearn tell of the Mister, I'm no account. Reckon He don't know me! Missis says I'm no account nohow!"
"But that is a mistake, my boy. You are of great account. You have a soul that can never die. ”

“ I was always bad, always wicked; but since I was brought to this bed of sickness, I have sought for repentance, and I have found it: my sins were as scarlet, but now they are washed as white as snow. But it is all mercy, pure mercy; we have no righteousness of our own to depend upon—no works, no merit of our own will avail us at such a time as this. If these were all we had to look to, we should never be saved. But this [Pg 191] is what Jesus came into the world for—to save us poor sinners; and salvation belongs to Him alone. ”

“ LOVE FOR THE BIBLE.
At a great fire in the city of New York a hundred houses had been burned. Dr. Ely overtook a colored woman who was carrying under one arm a bundle of wood, and under the other a large Bible.
"Poor woman," said he, "have you been burnt out too?" "Yes, sir," said she, "but blessed be God, I'm alive." "You are very old to be turned out of house and home." "I'm well stricken in years, but God does it." "Have you saved nothing but the Bible?" ”

“ Regardless of the honors and pleasures of the world, he followed the example of his Divine Master, in going [Pg 130] from place to place doing good, looking not for a reward from man, but from his Heavenly Father.
Thus walking in the ways of piety and usefulness, and in the enjoyment of an approving conscience, when death appeared, it found him in peace, and ready to depart. Such a calmness and serenity overspread his soul, and showed itself in his countenance, that the heart of even the reprobate might feel the wish, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his." ”

“ I have never repented of any thing, but that I have served my blessed Saviour so poorly."
"But have you not met many trials and difficulties by the way?" "Yes, indeed, master; but out of them all the Lord has delivered me; and having obtained help of God, I continue to this day: blessed be His name; He never will leave me or forsake me; I have good hope of that."
"Well, how did you obtain religious instruction where you lived, as you say there was no preacher of the gospel in the neighborhood?" "Why, by the mercy of my God, I learned to read the Bible; and that showed me the way to Jesus. ”

“ Boyd, however, proceeded to dress a board in a very able and workmanlike manner, while the journeymen from a long line of benches gathered around with looks that bespoke a deep personal interest in the matter. "You may go to work," said the master of the shop, right glad to employ so good a workman. The words had no sooner left his mouth than his American journeymen, unbuttoning their aprons, called, as one man, for the settlement of their wages.
"What! what!" said the amazed Englishman, "what does this mean?" "It means that we will not work with a nigger," replied the journeymen. ”

“ Thou must accept liberty, James; it is a great while since it was due to thee. Would to God, the Father of all men, that the whites had never thought of trading in thy African brethren; may He inspire all men with the desire of following our example. [Pg 202] We, who regard liberty as the first of blessings, why should we refuse it to those who live among us? ”

“ It is an affecting thought, that the wrongs of this poor woman, which commenced at her birth, and were inflicted without interruption during the long years of slavery, still followed her on her passage to the land of freedom, and have been finally consummated in this city, the city of her hopes, her fancied asylum from the oppressor. ”

“ It has been very well said of Carey, that he was one of nature's noblemen. Had he possessed the advantages of education, few men of his age would have excelled him in knowledge or genius. To found a Christian colony which might prove a blessed asylum to his degraded brethren in America, and enlighten and regenerate Africa, was, in his view, an object with which no temporal good, not even life, could be compared. ”

“ He lived the life, and died the death of a Christian. He is gone whence he never shall return, and where he shall no more contend with raging billows and with howling storms. His voyages are all over, he has made his last haven, and it is that of eternal repose. Thither, could we follow him, we should learn [Pg 131] the importance of fulfilling our duty to our Creator, to ourselves, and to our fellow-creatures.
Such was his reputation for wisdom and integrity, that his neighbors consulted him in all their important concerns; and what an honor to the son of a poor African slave! ”

“ When he saw the handwriting of the missionary the tears started, and he pressed the envelope to his lips.
Now, my dear young readers, does not this narrative prove that God thinks of children, and loves them, and cares for them? He is busy with the affairs of the universe, and yet He can turn from them to provide for a heathen mute. He dwells in the high and holy place, and yet He can stoop to be a friend to the fatherless African boy. Who is a God like unto Him? Oh, give your heart to Him, that you, too, may have His wing spread over you, and be able to confide in Him for whatever you want. ”