n giving a description of the moral condition
of the people of Jamaica, after speaking of the licentiousness which
they received as a legacy from those who denied them the pure joys of
holy wedlock, and trampled upon and scourged chastity, as if it were a
fiend to be driven out from among men--that enduring legacy, which, with
its foul, pestilential influence, still blights, like the mildew of
death, every thing in society that should be lovely, virtuous, and of
good report; and alluding to their intemperance, in which they have
followed the example set by the governor in his palace, the bishop in
his robes, statesmen and judges, lawyers and doctors, planters and
overseers, and even professedly Christian ministers; and the deceit and
falsehood which oppression and wrong always engender, says: 'It must not
be forgotten that we are following in the wake of the accursed system of
_slavery_--a system that _unmakes man_, by warring upon his conscience,
and crushing his spirit, leaving naught but the shattered wrecks of
humanity behind it. If we may but gather up some of these floating
fragments, from which the image of God is well nigh effaced, and pilot
them safely into that better land, we shall not have labored in vain.
But we may _hope to do more_. The chief fruit of our labors is to be
sought in the _future_, rather than in the _present_.' It should be
remembered, too, (continues the Report,) that there is but a small part
of the population yet brought within the reach of the influence of
enlightened Christian teachers, while the great mass by whom they are
surrounded are but little removed from actual heathenism." Another
missionary, page 33, says, it is the opinion of all intelligent
Christian men, that "nothing save the furnishing of the people with
ample means of education and religious instruction will save them from
relapsing into a state of barbarism." And another, page 36, in speaking
of certain cases of discipline, for the highest form of crime, under the
seventh commandment, says: "There is _nothing_ in public sentiment to
save the youth of Jamaica in this respect."

The missions of this Association, in Jamaica, differ scarcely a shade
from those among the actual heathen. On this point, the Report, near its
close, says:

"For most of the adult population of Jamaica, the unhappy victims of
long years of oppression and degradation, our missionaries have great
fear. Yet for even these there may be hope, even tho