Page:Annual report of the missionary to the Negroes of Liberty County, (Ga.).djvu/14

 shall see a moral elevation in the character of servants, which we have never yet witnessed either in this County, or in any other part of the Southern country.

The number of actual conversions your Agent has no means of giving you. He receives those who profess conversion in no particular Church; nor is it his custom to inquire where they received their first serious impressions. He preachesinquiry meetings are heldinstruction is giventhe individuals are examined on the evidences of conversion, and then directed to make application to the white Churches, which ever they wish to join, whether Presbyterian, Baptist, or Methodist. The conversion of souls is the great, the all-important object which we aim at; and we have reason, I trust, to believe that, in this respect our labours have not been in vain, though they have not been attended with any remarkable blessing. I cannot describe the peculiar and joyful feelings that have possessed my mind, when I have seen penitents from this long neglected and degraded people, inquiring what they must do to be saved. It is not building upon another man's foundation. You are in the high-ways and hedges. You gather the first fruits yourself, and the undivided joy takes full possession of the soul. God grant to this Association numberless seals to their Christian efforts; and may the blessing of many a poor African ready to perish rest upon it! 2. In relation to owners of servants. We think that there is an increase of interest in the religious instruction of the negroes. It is becoming in the minds of many a duty, that we cannot slight without incurring guilt. We may say, in the minds of some ChristionsChristians [sic] amongst us, a conscience has been formed; and we hope the day may speedily arrive, when one of the standing evidences of our conversion to God will be, our attention to the spiritual wants of our servants, as it certainly should be. Those planters who have been kind enough to attend one or more of our Sabbath exercises, have testified to the pleasantness of the meetings, and the interest which they felt in them. Your Missionary deeply regrets, that he has not been supported as frequently as he could wish, in this way. It is not expedient, generally, to have in attendance a large number of white persons; but the presence of two, three or four, is always agreeable and profitable to the Missionary and the people. We may mention one other effect on masters in the way of success. It is this; an elevation in their regards of the