"I shall be happy in attending you on Monday morning, and wish it may be in my power to contribute to the charitable work. Mr. Sharp's manuscript notes give, as usual, a concise account of the interviews which took place. MS. s."1776. February 12th. Being desirous to give some instructions to the native of Ulaietea, one of the South Sea Islands, I called this day on Mr. Bates, at the Admiralty, on that subject. Lord Sandwich gave his consent; and from thence I waited on Mr. Banks. "13th. With Mr. Banks and Omai, by appointment. “14th. Omai with me at the Old Jewry. [Mr. William Sharp's house.] 66 66 17th. Called on Omai for about two hours. 18th. Omai with me in Leadenhall Street. [Mr. James Sharp's.] -Dr. Jekyll in the afternoon. 66 20th, 21st, 22d, 26th, and March 2d. Visited Omai all these days with Dr. Jekyll. 66 66 March 5th. Omai for about three quarters of an hour. 8th. Omai came for three hours; and 9th, for two hours with Dr. Jekyll. "11th and 13th. Omai for two hours. "26th. Omai called, but had no time for a lesson. " 28th and April 4th. Omai for a very short time. "6th. Omai was so taken up with engagements that I could have no more opportunity of giving him lessons, which were but fifteen in all. However, in that time I taught him the use of English letters, and made him sound every combination of vowels and consonants that letters are capable of: and he afterwards wrote a letter to Dr. Solander, from the Cape of Good Hope, in his own tongue, but English letters." The noble object in Granville's mind, in his attention to Omai, is sufficiently evident. He not only felt a deep concern for the individual proselyte, but perceived an inlet opened, by his means, for the diffusion of Christian light over a new race of men; and he was anxious to suffer no moment for redemption to be lost. The knowledge of our language was the preliminary step*: and though his short notes do not take notice of any other topic than that of instruction in the English tongue, there remains no doubt that he diligently pursued his design of explaining to his pupil, as far as circumstances would suffer him, the divine truths of our Religion, and the several duties which it enjoins. Of one of his conversations with Omai he has left the following singular relation, of which it may be doubted whether the sense, simplicity, or virtue be most to be admired. It is extracted from an Address to the Maroons in the new English settlement at Sierra Leone, delivered to Mr. Dawes, the governor, at the Court of Directors, November 13, 1800, on the subject of their polygamy. "With respect to the particular point upon which I now address you, it was this perfect law of liberty+' which enabled me, many years ago (in March 1776), to convince a Pagan native of the very distant island of Ulaietea, Mr. Omai, a Black man, who by custom and education entertained as inveterate prejudices in favour of • It will appear, from the following extract, that his treatise on the Pronunciation of the English Language, published in 1767, must have undergone considerable revision at this period.G. S. to the Rev. Dr. Bourke, Dean of Ossory. "I believe that the difficulty of learning to read may be much reduced by proper rules of pronunciation, which in general are totally neglected; for nothing is more absurd and arbitrary than the usual mode of applying the sounds of the vowels to syllables in spelling, without laying down previous rules concerning the variation of the sounds in different combinations of the letters. It is this want of method which makes the English language so exceedingly difficult to foreigners. I took some pains on this subject, for the sake of instructing Omai; and I afterwards printed the work, for the use of the Negro children at Sierra Leone," &c. &c. + "So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty." James ii. 12. "Whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein shall be blessed in his deed." Idem i. 25. "This title, the perfect law of liberty," Mr. Sharp says, "properly belongs to the whole Law or Gospel of Christ, and seems to be so applied by the Apostle." keeping several wives, as any Maroon or African whatsoever. But though he was entirely ignorant of our religion, yet he had a good share of that natural knowledge of good and evil which is inherited by all mankind since the fall of our first common parents ;—a knowledge which they wilfully took upon themselves, contrary to God's command, and which, of course, has rendered every man guilty before God, because we do not always act consistently with that assumed knowledge; which, however, may direct us to regain what we have lost, if we persevere in making a right use of it, by choosing the good and rejecting the evil; but more especially by choosing and preferring, before all other considerations, the supreme good, which includes a perfect love of God, and a grateful acceptance of the means he has freely given us to partake of the Divine nature (2 Pet. i. 4), and become sons of God, and joint heirs with Christ (Rom. viii. 14-19; 1 John iii. 2.) "This is the first branch of the perfect law of liberty; and we cannot possibly attain it, if we neglect to measure our conduct towards our neighbours by the second branch of the same royal law*, which enabled Mr. Omai (when it was fairly stated to him upon the case in question) to condemn, with full conviction of the truth, the injustice of his former opinions against the rights of women. 66 When sitting with him at table one day after dinner, I thought it a good opportunity to explain to him the Ten Commandments. I proceeded with tolerable success in reciting the first six Commandments. He had nothing to object against any of them, though many explications were required before he understood all the terms; and he freely nodded his assent. But when I recited the seventh Commandment, 'Thou shalt not commit adultery,' he said, Adultery! what that? what that?' "Not to commit adultery,' I said, is, that, if a man has got one wife, he must not take another wife, or any other woman.'-' Ohh !' says he, two wives-very good; three wives-very, very good.'— * "......The royal law, according to the Scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." James ii. 8. 'No, Mr. Omai,' I said, not so; that would be contrary to the first principle of the law of nature.'- First principle of the law of nature,' said he ; what that? what that?' The first principle of the law of nature,' I said, 'is, that no man must do to another person any thing that he would not like to be done to himself. And, for example, Mr. Omai,' said I, suppose you have got a wife that you love very much; you would not like that another man should come to love your wife. This raised his indignation: he put on a furious countenance, and a threatening posture, signifying that he would kill any man that should meddle with his wife. 'Well, Mr. Omai," said I, suppose, then, that your wife loves you very much; she would not like that you should love another woman; for the women have the same passions, and feelings, and love toward the men, that we have toward the women; and we ought, therefore, to regulate our behaviour toward them by our own feelings of what we should like and expect of faithful love and duty from them toward ourselves.' 66 This new state of the case produced a deep consideration and silence, for some time, on the part of Mr. Omai. But he soon afterwards gave me ample proof that he thoroughly comprehended the due influence of the law of liberty, when it is applied to regulate, by our own feelings, the proper conduct and behaviour which we owe to other persons. There was an ink-stand on the table, with several pens in it. He took one pen, and laid it on the table, saying, There lies Lord S-' (a Nobleman with whom he was well acquainted, and in whose family he had spent some time); and then he took another pen, and laid it close by the side of the former pen, saying, and there lies Miss W——' (who was an accomplished young woman in many respects, but, unhappily for herself, she lived in a state of adultery with that Nobleman); and he then took a third pen, and placing it on the table at a considerable distance from the other two pens, as far as his right arm could extend, and at the same time leaning his head upon his left hand, supported by his elbow on the table, in a pensive posture, he said, ' and there lie Lady S——, and cry!' 66 Thus it is plain that he thoroughly understood the force of the argument from the law of liberty, respecting the gross injury done to the married lady by her husband in taking another woman to his bed. "There was no need to explain the rights of women any farther to Mr. Omai on that occasion." To the record contained in this First Part of the Memoirs belongs also the notice of some circumstances respecting the Colliers and Salters in Scotland, in whose behalf Mr. Sharp was consulted by one of the Advocates for the amelioration of their condition. Some letters on the subject, dated December 1772, appear in his Correspondence, and demonstrate that there was no concern of humanity in which he was not ready to take an active interest. He might, with as much truth probably as any man that ever lived, have said, in the words of Terence's Chremes, "Homo sum: humani nihil a me alienum puto." |