| Michael Sawyer,
what exactly is the relevance of this so-called prayer and why are you posting
it?
Quoting postmaster :
>
>
> ----------------------------------------
>
> Governor Clarkson's Prayer for Sierra Leone
>
>
> O Lord, I beseech Thee favorably to hear the prayer of him who wishes to be
> Thy servant, and pardon him for presuming to address Thee from this sacred
> place. O God, I know my own infinity and unworthiness, and I know Thine
> abundant mercies to those who wish to be guided by thy will. Support me. O
> Lord, with thy heavenly grace, and to enable me to conduct myself through
> this earthly life that my actions may be consistent with the words I have
> uttered this day. Thou knowest that I am now about to depart from this place,
> and to leave the people whom it has pleased Thee to entrust to my care. Guide
> them, O merciful God, in the paths of truth and let not a few wicked men
> among us draw down Thy vengeance upon this Colony.
>
> In graft into their hearts a proper sense of duty, and enable them through
> Thy grace to conduct themselves as Christians, that they may not come to Thy
> house without that pleasing emotion which every grateful man must feel when
> paying adoration to the Author of life. But I have a great reason to fear, O
> Lord, that many who frequent thy church do not approach thy presence as
> becomes them, and that they may partly be compared to the Scribes. Pharisees,
> and hypocrites. Pardon, O God, their infirmities, and as thou knowest their
> weakness from the manner in which they have formerly been treated, and the
> little opportunity they have had of knowing thy will and getting acquainted
> with the merits of thy Son, our saviour Jesus Christ look down upon them with
> an eye of mercy and suffer them not to incur thy displeasure, after they have
> had an opportunity of being instructed in the ways of thy commandments.
>
> Bless, O Lord, the inhabitants of this vast continent, and incline their
> hearts towards us that they may more readily listen to our advice and
> doctrines, and that we may conduct ourselves towards them as to convince them
> of the happiness we enjoy under thy almighty protection. Banish from this
> Colony, O Lord all heathenish superstition and let the inhabitants know that
> thou art the only true Lord in which we live and move and have our being. If
> these people who protest thy religion will not be assured of thy superior
> power, convince them. O God, of Thine anger for their profession without
> their practice, for thou knowest I brought them here in hopes of making them
> and their families happy, both in this world and to all eternity.
>
> But I fear they may not be governed by my advice, and that they themselves
> and their children forever by their perverse and general behavior. I entreat
> thee not to let their evil example ruin the great cause in which we have
> embarked, but I would rather see that place in ashes and every wicked person
> destroyed, than that the chance we have now an opportunity of bringing to the
> light and knowledge of thy holy religion should, from the wickedness of a few
> individuals will continue in their accustomed darkness and barbarism. They
> know that I have universally talked of their apparent virtue the goodness,
> and have praised thy name for having permitted me to be the servant employed
> in so great and glorious a cause. If I have been deceived, I am sorry for it,
> and may thy will be done; but I implore thee to accept the sincerity of my
> intentions and my best endeavours to improve the talent committed to my case.
> Only pardon the intuity of my nature, and I will trust to thy mercy.
>
> Should any person have a wicked thought in his heart or do anything knowledge
> to disturb the peace and comfort of our Colony, let him be rooted our O God,
> from off the face of the earth; but have mercy upon him hereafter.
>
> Were I to utter all that my heart now indicates, no time would be sufficient
> for any praise and thanksgiving for all the mercies. Thou has vouchsafed to
> show me, but as thou art acquainted with every secret of my heart, accept my
> thoughts for thanks. I have no words left to express my gratitude and
> resignation to thy will. I entreat thee, O God, if nothing I can say will
> convince these people of thy power and goodness, make use of me in anyway
> thou pleasest, to make an atonement for their guilt. This is an awful and I
> fear too presumptuous, a request; yet if it should be thy will that I should
> lay down my life for the cause I have embarked in, assist me, O Lord with thy
> support, that I may resign it in such a manner as to convince these
> unbelieving people that thou art God indeed. May the heart of this Colony, O
> Lord, imbibe the spirit of meekness, gentleness, and truth; and may they
> henceforth live in unity and godly love, following as far as the weakness of
> their mortal natures will admit, that most excellent and faultless pattern
> which thou hast given us in thy Son our Saviors, Jesus Christ, to whom with
> thee and the Holy Spirit be all honor and glory, now and forever. Amen.
>
Zubairu Wai
PhD Candidate
Department of Political science
Researcher, Centre for International and strategic Studies
York University
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, Ontario
M3J 1P3
Tel: 416 650 2286
Email: zubawai@yorku.ca |