Joseph Rachel resided in the island of Barbadoes. He was a trader,
and dealt chiefly in the retail way. In his business, he conducted
himself so fairly and complaisantly, that in a town filled with little
peddling shops, his doors were thronged with customers. Almost all
dealt with him, and ever found him remarkably honest and obliging.
If any one knew not where to obtain an article, Joseph would endeavor
to procure it, without making any advantage for himself. In short,
his character was so fair, and his manners so generous, that the best
people showed him a regard which they often deny to men of their own
color, because they are not blessed with the like goodness of heart.
In 1756, a fire happened, which burned down a great part of the town,
and ruined many of the inhabitants. Joseph lived in a quarter that
escaped the destruction, and expressed his thankfulness by softening
the distresses of his neighbors. Among those who had lost their
property by this heavy misfortune, was a man to whose family Joseph, in
the early part of his life, owed some obligations.
This man, by too great hospitality, an excess very common in the West
Indies, had involved himself in difficulties, before the fire happened;
and his estate lying in houses, that event entirely ruined him. Amid
the cries of misery and want, which excited Joseph's compassion, this
man's unfortunate situation claimed particular notice. The generous and
open temper of the sufferer, the obligations that Joseph owed to his
family, were special and powerful motives for acting toward him the
part of a friend.
Joseph had his bond for sixty pounds sterling. "Unfortunate man," said
he, "this debt shall never come against you. I sincerely wish you could
settle all your other affairs as easily. But how am I sure that I shall
keep in this mind? May not the love of gain, especially when, by length
of time, your misfortune shall become familiar to me, return with too
strong a current, and bear down my fellow-feeling before it? But for
this I have a remedy. Never shall you apply for the assistance of any
friend against my avarice."
He arose, and ordered a large account that the man had with him, to
be drawn out; and in a whim that might have called up a smile on the
face of Charity, he filled his pipe, sat down again, twisted the bond
and lighted his pipe with it. While the account was drawing out, he
continued smoking, in a state of mind that a monarch might envy. When
it was finished, he went in search of his friend, with the discharged
account and the mutilated bond in his hand.
On meeting him, he presented the papers to him with this address: "Sir,
I am sensibly affected with your misfortunes: the obligations I have
received from your family give me a relation to every branch of it. I
know that your inability to pay what you owe gives you more uneasiness
than the loss of your own substance.
"That you may not be anxious on my account in particular, accept of
this discharge, and the remains of your bond. I am overpaid in the
satisfaction that I feel from having done my duty. I beg you to
consider this only as a token of the happiness you will confer upon me,
whenever you put it in my power to do you a good office."
The philanthropists of England take pleasure in speaking of him:
"Having become rich by commerce, he consecrated all his fortune to acts
of benevolence. The unfortunate, without distinction of color, had a
claim on his affections. He gave to the indigent; lent to those who
could not make a return; visited prisoners, gave them good advice, and
endeavored to bring back the guilty to _virtue_. He died at Bridgetown,
on that island, in 1758, lamented by all, for he was a friend to all."