LETTERS, ADDRESSES, AND THE LIKE THROWING LIGHT ON THE CAREER OF
LOTT CARY[1]
PHILADELPHIA, January 6, 1621 (1821).
The Board of Managers of the General Convention of the Baptist
Denomination in the United States, to their coloured brethren,
Collin Teage and Lott Carey, present the assurance of their
sincere affectionate esteem. They have heard with pleasure, that,
by a vessel about to sail from Norfolk to the coast of Africa, an
opportunity is presented for accomplishing those benevolent
desires which, for many months past, you have been led to
entertain. At the present time, they possess a deep anxiety for
your preservation in a country where so many colonists have
frequently found a grave. They most fervently commend you to the
gracious protection of that God in whose hand your breath is, and
whose are all your ways. May you make the Lord your refuge, even
the Most High your habitation. It is a source of much
encouragement that you will be able to collect useful information
from the experience of your predecessors; and it is hoped that by
the advice of your brethren who have already reached the shores
of your forefathers, you will be enabled to adopt the most
prudent measures for the health and safety of yourselves and
families.
The Board earnestly recommend, what they cheerfully anticipate,
that your conduct before your fellow passengers on the ocean, be
pious and exemplary. Endeavour to secure their good will by every
office of kindness; and, above all, cherish and discover a solemn
concern for their everlasting salvation. Arrived in Africa, you
will find much that will require patience, and prudence, and
mutual counsel. You will have to bear with prejudices that have
descended on the minds of the inhabitants, after having been
cherished for ages, and to instil the sacred truths of the gospel
with meekness and wisdom. While your conversation shall be
without blame, the Board advise you in your ministry to dwell
much on the doctrine of the cross, a doctrine which has been
found in every age of the church of Christ, the power of God.
Have as little to do as possible with what may be called the
politics of the country. Be content with the silence so divinely
exemplified in the Lord Jesus and his apostles to render unto
Caesar the things which are Caesar's. Cultivate a tender regard
for each other. If difference of opinion on any measures occur,
never suffer it to produce alienation of affection. You have
already had opportunities of improving your minds by reading, and
the Board are gratified by the reflection that you bear with your
books that are calculated to add to your general and spiritual
knowledge.
Give yourselves to reading still; and, above all, let the word of
God dwell in you richly. Be much engaged in prayer. If troubles
rise around you, the delightful thought that you have a Father, a
Saviour, in heaven, with whom you are so happy as to hold
communion, will not only soften their severity, but in a good
degree elevate you above their influence.
Let nothing discourage you. Ethiopia shall stretch forth her
hands unto God. You are engaged in the service of Him who can
make the _crooked straight_, and the _rough places_ plain.
The Board wish you, as you shall find opportunity, to write. They
will rejoice to hear that a church, on the principles of the
gospel, is founded as the fruit of your labours. They trust that
at no distant period, many such churches will rise, and the
solitary place be glad for them. They will be happy to facilitate
your prosperity to the utmost of their power.
They pray that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ may be with
you, with your families, and with all who sail or settle with
you; and that the American Colonization Society, and all its
sister institutions, may be rendered instrumental in diffusing
literary, economical, and evangelic light, from the Mediterranean
to the Cape of Good Hope, and from the Atlantic to the Red Sea
and Indian Ocean.
By order of the Board,
WM. STAUGHTON, _Cor. Sec'ry._
Seventh Report of the Board of Managers of the General
Convention, in _The Latter Day Luminary_, Vol. II, pp. 396f.