THE

MISSIONARY REPOSITORY

For Youth.

THE TREAD-WHEEL IN JAMAICA.

WHEN the people of England first resolved to set the slaves in the West Indies free, many said that they were not prepared for freedom, and that it would be dangerous to give them their liberty at once, so it was decided to apprentice them for twelve years, to begin from August 1st, 1834. This time was afterwards altered to six years. The poor slaves heard that they were to be set free, and they rejoiced, but it was a sad, sad disappointment when they found out about this apprenticeship. They were very little better off than before. In two years, sixty thousand apprentices received a quarter of a million of lashes, and fifty thousand other punishments. One of these was the horrid tread-wheel which you see in the picture.

The English soon found that this apprenticeship system did not answer, and on the 1st of August 1838, they put a stop to it, and set the slaves really and entirely free. Let us rejoice that there is no tread-wheel needed in Jamaica now.

THE HISTORY OF DR. VANDERKEMP.
[By the Author of "The Night of Toil."]

CHAPTER II.

DR. VANDERKEMP ON HIS VOYAGE.

WHEN We hear of a person setting out on a journey, or on a voyage, there are several questions that we like to ask. First, we ask, where is he going? You know where Dr. Vanderkemp was going. It was to Africa.

The second question is, why did he go? That you know also. He went to preach the Gospel to the Africans. He went in the

The third question is, when did he go? year 1798; that is nearly fifty years ago.

That is a long

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while. In fifty years more, my little readers, if they are alive, will have grey hair, and dim eyes: but most of you, my dear children, will then be lying in your graves. O may your spirits then be happy with Jesus!

How did That is true.

There is one more question I want you to ask. Dr. Vanderkemp go? In a ship, you say. But what kind of a ship? I do not think you would like to go in such a ship. Some ships are ships of war, and carry guns; some ships are merchant-ships, and carry goods and passengers; some ships are slave-ships-O! that is the worst kind of all. Some ships are convict-ships, and carry thieves to Botany Bay, to work hard in chains. It was in a convict-ship that Dr. Vanderkemp set sail. He liked to go in a convict-ship, for he hoped, before he preached to the heathen, to preach to the most wretched and wicked of those called Christians.

There is one more question to be asked. Who went with him? Three good missionaries, who wished to help him in his labours.

During the voyage, they met with three great trials. The first was from a storm. While they were tossing on the waves, they found that a great deal of water got into the ship. The men tried to pump it out, but still it came rushing in, and they feared the vessel would soon sink. They thought that there must be some hole in the vessel, but they could not find out where it was. The missionaries

were not frightened: they feared not to die: yet they prayed God to save the people in the ship from destruction. Just as the sailors were ready to give up all hope, for they had been pumping for three days, they found that there was no hole in the ship, but that a little door in the lower part had got open. They closed it, and they soon pumped out the water, and were safe. Thus God delivered them.

The second trial the missionaries endured was from the wickedness of the convicts. These men were so fierce, that once when a soldier came amongst them, they seized him, snatched his dagger from him, tore his clothes, and seemed ready to murder him. But the missionaries were not

THE HISTORY OF DR. VANDERKEMP.

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afraid to go down into the dark place where these fierce men were shut up. They carried in their hands, not daggers, but Bibles, and they spoke to them with the gentleness and meekness of Jesus. The convicts were surprised at being treated with so much kindness, and they behaved like lambs to the missionaries, though like lions to every one else. Two who had secretly filed off their irons, confessed to Dr. Vanderkemp what they had done, and begged him to ask the captain to forgive them, and to put their irons on again. Several more seemed very sorry for their past sins. Amongst these, there was one, who had often heard good ministers preach when he lived in London, and who had often thought of repenting, and yet had gone on in his sins. O! what a warning is this to all who hear about God, as my little readers do. O! how dreadful it would be, if any of you, dear children, were ever to be shut up in a prison for stealing! If you are shut up in prison for confessing Christ, as some have been, then you need not fear. Your prison then would be more glorious

than a palace.

Now I come to speak of the third trial the missionaries had to endure. A fever broke out among the convicts; it was a putrid fever-a sort of fever that is very unpleasant to those who come near the sick. Were the missionaries still willing to visit the convicts? Yes, they went down into the close, dark place where the sick lay; they stood over their beds, warning the wicked, and comforting the sorrowful in their last moments. No one can imagine how horrible was the place. The darkness, the heat, the clank of chains, the groans of the dying, made it like a little hell. Yet it was not hell-it was to some the gate of heaven; for some, like the dying thief in the Gospel, believed in Jesus, and were taken to Paradise. None of the missionaries fell ill of the dreadful disease, though thirty-four convicts died of the fever.

After a voyage of fourteen weeks, the ship arrived at the Cape of Good Hope, in Africa. Here the missionaries landed, but the convicts had to go much farther. There was a very