his state of slavery was
not disagreeable to him, and whether he would not gladly exchange it
for his liberty?"

"Massah," said he, looking seriously upon me, "I have wife and
children; my massah takes care of them, and I have no care to provide
anything; I have a good massah, who teach me to read; and I read good
book, that makes me happy." "I am glad," replied I, "to hear you say
so; and pray what is the good book you read?" "The Bible, massah,
God's own good book." "Do you understand, friend, as well as read this
book? for many can read the words well, who cannot get hold of the
true and good sense." "O massah," says he, "I read the book much
before I understand; but at last I found things in the book which made
me very uneasy." "Aye," said I, "and what things were they?" "Why
massah, I found that I was a sinner, massah, a very great sinner,
I feared that God would destroy me, because I was wicked, and done
nothing as I should do. God was holy, and I was very vile and naughty;
so I could have nothing from him but fire and brimstone in hell, if I
continued in this state." In short, he fully convinced me that he was
thoroughly sensible of his errors, and he told me what scriptures came
to his mind, which he had read, that both probed him to the bottom of
his sinful heart, and were made the means of light and comfort to his
soul. I then inquired of him, what ministry or means he made use of
and found that his master was a Quaker, a plain sort of man who had
taught his slaves to read, and had thus afforded him some means of
obtaining religious knowledge, though he had not ever conversed with
this negro upon the state of his soul. I asked him likewise, how he
got comfort under all his trials? "O massah," said he, "it was God
gave me comfort by his word. He bade me come unto him, and he would
give me rest, for I was very weary and heavy laden." And here he went
through a line of the most striking texts in the Bible, showing me, by
his artless comment upon them as he went along, what great things God
had done in the course of some years for his soul....--Bishop William
Meade's "Tracts, Dialogues," etc., in the Appendix of Thomas Bacon's
_Sermons Addressed to Masters and Servants_.

LETTER TO ABBE GREGOIRE, OF PARIS, 1809

I have received the favor of your letter of August 19th, and with
it the volume you were so kind as to send me on the Literature of
Negroes. Be assured that no person living wishes more sincerely tha