"For slaves by truth enlarg'd are doubly freed."
"Thy lips have shed instruction as the dew, Taught me what path to shun, and what pursue. Farewell my former joys! I sigh no more For Africa's once-lov'd, benighted shore: Serving a benefactor, I am free, At my best home, if not exil'd from thee."
Samboe, placed with the respectable Mr. Llwellin, made rapid progress in reading and writing, and in the elements of general knowledge. His quickness gained the entire attention of his preceptor; while these was a charm and freshness in all he said, which could only be derived from quick perceptions and a warm heart--a buoyancy of fancy and a fervid feeling, which won the affections of all those who had to instruct him. With the deepest attention he would listen to Mr. Llwellin, as in a simple and impressive manner he explained to him the general principles of religion, the nature and duty of worshipping God, the creation of man, his fall from virtue and happiness, and the promised restoration through the merits of the Redeemer. It is a mistake that these subjects are beyond the comprehension, and excite no interest in the hearts of children. Practical devotion and the Christian duties, have a forcible influence on the ductile minds and unsophisticated hearts of the young. Hence the transition of instruction is easy, and perfectly understood by them, from the duty and privilege of prayer and praise, to the truth that we are unable to do either, or even to think what is right, without superior guidance and continual aid. The conviction of this at once gives an object and a fervency to prayer; and he who prays fervently and believing, however young he may be, will not be unheeded when thus imploring the divine aid.
It was the invariable custom of Mr. Llwellin to assemble his family in the evening. He then read a portion of the Holy Scriptures, and explained them with admirable simplicity and pathos to his little auditory. It was now that the prayers Samboe had said, as it were mechanically, were now repeated with an earnestness which fully indicated that they were not merely the offering of the lips; and so much did he profit by the pious instructions, example, and care of Mr. Llwellin, that he was admitted into the Christian church by baptism; but, at the request of his young protector, retaining his former name as his usual appellation although he received, at the font, that of Henry.