Rev A Brandram No.33
Kingston, Jamaica, July 3, 1834.
My dear Friend,
I have the pleasure of informing you of my safe arrival in this island, an object long looked for by me, and now happily come to pass, through the goodness and mercy of Him who has preserved me all my life long unto this day, and in all my wanderings. Glory be to his blessed name and may his blessed name be glorified in me in this place! I arrived or the 27th ultimo, after a short and pleasing voyage, from Jacmel, which we left on the 25th. I have here received three letters from your hand of the dates 2nd January, 6th March, and 5th April. The accounts you give me in them are all very interesting; but we turn to self and our own little sphere of things, as sure as the needle turns to the pole; and hence it is, that, though gratified with all you say about the progress making in the kingdom of heaven over the world, I am particularly so at what you say about flocks of Missionaries coming out to these West Indian islands, and to us poor slaves, long, long neglected, but at length remembered in heaven and on earth. Come along to the Lord's work, my dear fellow-labourers; and come all of you, for there is work for you all, and for ten times more than will visit us at this time. But come those who are ready, and let the nine-tenths follow afterwards. Perhaps, my brother, it will not be a wide deviation from my usual communications, if tell you that I and my companion in travel have been constantly praying to the Lord of the harvest, to send Missionaries out to this quarter, when we have seen the fields waving and yellow from place to place as we moved along, and with almost nobody to gather in this falling corn. The Lord has heard our prayers, and abundantly answered them. Your letters and others were waiting us in this island, all full of these pleasing notices; and the gratifying intelligence has come all upon us in an hour by the accumulation of letters in this spot. Now our supplication is turned into thanksgiving, for the mercies in prospect for these long neglected and injured islands! May the Lord send us right and true men to labour here, and may he crown their labours with most abundant success.
In the midst of this joy, my dear friend, from these blessed notices and prospects, I have met with a great disappointment in our particular sphere, the Bible cause. I said to you from port (on the 10th ultimo: "I hope I shall find a supply of the report for 1833 waiting be in Jamaica." But I am truly disappointed in finding none. Whilst I was thus regretting, Mr. Jackson's letter of 8 May came into my hands with invoice of books. The reports must be here I said. I looked at the invoice, but none were noticed in it. I thought this was an oversight in the invoice, but that with certainty I should find them in the top of one of the cases. I opened one. There was none. I opened another, and so on the five cases but not a single report was there. My Dear Friend, I know not how to excuse you all for this great oversight. I expected to put your report into the hands of the Governor and others here, to show them your Society generally, and more particularly what had been done in other islands of the West Indies under the patronage of the Planters, Merchants, and other chief inhabitants, so as to take off suspicion here, and induce them to act on the same plan. But I am disappointed, and I am afraid that if our cause and objects are not seriously
(remainder of letter missing)