By Means Of Those Books Many Of The Converted Negroes
Have Acquired An Acquaintance With Some Of The Remarkable Events
Recorded In The Old Testament.
The account of our first parents,
the death of Abel, the Deluge, the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob,
The story of Joseph and his brethren, the history of Moses,
David, Solomon, etc; all these have been related to me, in the
Mandingo language, with tolerable exactness by different people; and
my surprise was not greater, on hearing these accounts from the lips
of the negroes, than theirs on finding that I was already acquainted
with them; for although the negroes in general have a very great
idea of the wealth and power of the Europeans, I am afraid that the
Mohammedan converts among them think but very lightly of our
superior attainments in religious knowledge. The white traders in
the maritime districts take no pains to counteract this unhappy
prejudice, always performing their own devotions in secret, and
seldom condescending to converse with the negroes in a friendly and
instructive manner. To me, therefore, it was not so much the
subject of wonder as matter of regret to observe that, while the
superstition of Mohammed has in this manner scattered a few faint
beams of learning among these poor people, the precious light of
Christianity is altogether excluded. I could not but lament that,
although the coast of Africa has now been known and frequented by
the Europeans for more than two hundred years, yet the negroes still
remain entire strangers to the doctrines of our holy religion.
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