60 THE AFRICAN TRADER.

and do what Jesus Christ did when He was on
earth, den you have living faith, and you are free,
and God no say longer that you owe Him debt,
but He call you His dear children, and when you
leave this world He receive you in heaven.’

‘Why, Paul,’ I exclaimed, after listening with
astonishment to what he had said, ‘I little ex-

2

 

pected to hear such things come out of a
(I was going to say negroe’s mouth, but changed
it to) ‘ African sailor’s mouth. You ought to be
a missionary.’

‘Every Christian man ought to be a mission-
ary,’ he answered. ‘If he love the Lord Jesus,
and know that the Lord Jesus love him, then he
ought to tell that love to others, and if he knows
the-value of his own soul then he values the souls
of others, and try to win those souls for Christ.
The truth is, massa, I do want to be missionary,
and I seek to go to England to learn more. I
there learn to preach the gospel, and when I come
back I carry the glad tidings of salvation to my
ignorant countrymen.’

I was very much struck with Panul’s earnest-
ness and zeal, though at that time I could scarcely
comprehend all he said—I myself knew nothing