MANY of the early English settlers in Jamaica were either Puritans or Quakers. George Fox requested the latter to endeavor to train up their slaves in the fear of God, to treat them kindly, and in due time to set them free. How far they acted in accordance with his injunctions there is no possibility of knowing. This only we know, that there were no traceable marks of compliance, and no record of evangelical labors among the slaves until 1754, when three Moravian missionaries were sent out at the request of certain proprietors in the parish of St. Elizabeth. Their difficulties, sufferings, and ultimate success are recorded in the annals of that excellent body.
Much larger results, however, followed the labors of certain Black preachers, some of whom came from America.
The first of these was George Liele, an emancipated slave from Virginia, North America.
George was a member of a Christian church, which had called “him to exercise his gifts as a preacher. His master was a deacon of the church, and gave him his freedom. When George arrived in Kingston, in 1783, and saw the wretched state of his enslaved brethren, living in ignorance and vice, without God and without hope, he was filled with compassion for their souls. His pity took an active form. He went to the racecourse, and boldly proclaimed the gospel of Christ; afterwards he hired a room, and preached regularly. Numbers flocked to listen to the preaching, and not a few received the Word joyfully. Persecution arose, and a restraint was laid upon the slaves, so that their meeting in public worship was forbidden. A. petition to the House of Assembly resulted in a temporary restoration of their privileges.
George Liele sought no earthly reward, but only the salvation of his brethren. He worked with his hands for his bread, and preached the gospel quite freely. He employed a teacher to instruct the children, and sent out such of his converts as gave promise of fitness to preach the gospel in other parts of the island. In little more than seven years, five hundred persons had made a profession of their faith in Christ. In 1793 the contributions of the poor slaves sufficed to purchase a piece of land, and by the aid of a number of white gentlemen, the first meetinghouse was erected in the island.
During the earlier years of his work, Mr. Liele had to endure much opposition, and no little of contumely and reproach. The moral condition of not a few of the planters was of the lowest, and their profanity and bare-faced wickedness appalling. There was a club called the “Hell Fire Club," the members of which went to the extreme of blasphemy and horrid profaneness. One of this too well-named club was rescued by sovereign grace, but all the rest came to an untimely, and some to a tragic end.
One day, when Mr. Liele was preaching, preparatory to the celebration of the Lord's Supper, a so-called gentleman rode his horse into the chapel, and urged him to the front of the pulpit, where he exclaimed with equal profanity and insolence, “Come, old Liele, give my horse the sacrament!”
“No, sir," replied the godly preacher, with equal courage and coolness, "you are not fit yourself to receive it." The intruder soon rode out.
On another occasion, three young men of the same impious character walked into the chapel during service, and, going to the table where the bread and the wine had been placed, one of them took the bread, and, breaking it, gave it to his companion, who, with a horrid oath, swore that it was good ship-bread, and presented it to the third, who refused to take it. Not a week had elapsed, before the first two were ushered into the presence of Him whose sacrament they had profaned. One died raving mad of brain fever, and the other, going out of Kingston Harbor the boat was upset, and he was never seen again.
More than once Mr. Liele was charged with preaching sedition, and was thrown into prison, loaded with irons, and his feet made fast in the stocks. But when brought to trial he was honorably acquitted.
There was a debt on his chapel, and, being unable immediately to satisfy the claims of the builder, he was sent to jail. When urged to take advantage of the Insolvent Debtors' Act, he refused, and remained in prison until he had paid the whole.
In the neighborhood of Kingston was a poor mulatto barber, named Moses Baker, a refugee from America. He was sunk in ignorance, and given to drunkenness and other bad habits. A godly lack man faithfully warned him and his wife of their sins, and entreated them to turn to God. His earnest efforts and prayers were the means God used for their conversion, and Moses Baker and his wife became genuine disciples of Christ, attending the ministry of Mr. Liele.
Soon after this, a Quaker gentleman, named Isaac Lascelles Winn, bought some slaves who belonged, to the flock under Mr. Liele's charge. They were much distressed at the thought of losing their religious privileges. Mr. Winn pitied their sorrow, and set on foot inquiries for a Christian teacher. He was directed to Moses Baker, who at that time was threatened with blindness. The benevolent planter placed him under the care of an able physician, and he soon regained his sight. He sent a man, and horses and money, to bring Moses with his wife and child to his estate, one hundred and twenty miles distant, and gave him a cordial welcome. He commenced his labors there about 1788.
Moses found the people imbued with the singular and grossly superstitious delusion known as obeak, said to have been imported from Africa. Obi-men were a kind of priests, who manufactured and sold their obies, which were bottles filled with such things as feathers, parrots' beaks, dogs' teeth, alligators' teeth, grave-dirt, rum, egg-shells, and similar things. They were used for purposes of sorcery and this gross delusion held the people in terrible bondage, resulting in abounding wickedness and superstition. Moses faithfully told them of their sins, and warned them “to flee from the wrath to come." Unruly at first, they afterwards became attentive, and invited others to hear the gospel.
Multitudes abandoned their evil habits, and not a few received the gospel message, and became obedient to the faith. He soon had access to the Africans on about twenty other sugar estates, and Christian societies were formed at Crooked Spring and Montego Bay. But he was not unmolested, and had a large share of persecution to endure.
On one occasion, when conducting service at Crooked Spring, he gave out the hymn—
"Shall we go on in sin
Because Thy grace abounds,
Or crucify the Lord again,
And open all His wounds?
- - -
We will be slaves no more,
Since Christ has made us free,
Has nailed our tyrants to the cross,
And bought our liberty."
A book-keeper present informed the authorities that Moses Baker was teaching sedition, and stirring up the slaves to rebellion. He was arrested, and taken down to Montego Bay in irons. Subsequently he was admitted to bail, and at the assizes acquitted.
During the wide-spread rising, known as the " Maroon War," not one of the slaves under his instructions joined the insurrection, so great was his influence over them, and the peaceable results of the preaching of the gospel.
On the death of Mr. Winn, Moses Baker was transferred to the estates of the Hon. Samuel Vaughan, who bore high testimony to his worth and the beneficial results of his labors. For eighteen years he continued his work, until, in 1806, a law was enforced forbidding all teaching and preaching on plantations. This continued in force for eight years.
In 1813 Moses came over to England. His appearance at that time has been described by the Hon. Richard Hill, whose father befriended him.
“He appeared a plain, home-spun man, rugged as a honeycomb rock. His eyes were then failing, his head was bound with a handkerchief, for he had suffered torture in America, which had injured both his eyes and ears. His appearance was that of no common man. His language was direct, and his delivery was marked by simplicity."
A Moravian missionary thus wrote of him: — “Moses Baker . . . is a man of the right stamp—a blessed and active servant of our common Lord and Master—notwithstanding old age has almost blinded his eyes, and made his legs to move slowly. . . . I know one man who had him a whole night in the stocks; and others would have destroyed him had they had him in their hands; but God had him in His."
Another black man, who was greatly used by God for gathering in His own, was George Lewis, a native of Guinea. Taken as a slave to Jamaica, he was afterwards removed to Virginia, where he heard the gospel, and was brought to Christ. Returning to Jamaica, he resolved to devote himself to make known the gospel among his fellow slaves, and had good opportunities to do this. Upon paying a monthly sum to his owner, he was allowed to travel the country as a peddler. He often visited the large parishes of St. Elizabeth and Manchester, where nearly all the slaves were living in heathenism, worshipping the cotton tree, keeping idols in their houses, and living in malice and enmity. He preached at first to a few; these brought others; God the Holy Spirit applied the word to the hearts of the people, and great numbers renounced their idolatry, and sought Christian instruction. So much was he loved that the poor people purchased his freedom for one hundred pounds. He continued his labors, though often imprisoned for preaching to the slaves, and was the means of a considerable revival in connection with the Moravian Brethren.
All these men—and there were others little less distinguished—were destitute of human learning, but with the apostle they might have said, "We also believe, and therefore speak." Thus God built up His church, using these humble and godly men, as useful pioneers, and His approval was their reward.
“Not seeking recompense from human kind,
The credit of the arduous work they wrought
Was reaped by other men who came behind;
The world gave them no honor—none they sought;
To one great aim their heart and hopes were given—
To serve their God, and gather souls to heaven."
R. S.